Subset (3)

corpus · 45.3k rows

Split (1)

train · 45.3k rows

relevant_id large_string	earliest_claim_jusrisdiction string	jurisdiction list	ipcr_codes_str string	earliest_claim_date timestamp[ms]	earliest_claim_year string	classifications_ipcr_list_first_three_chars_list list	title_en string	abstract_en string	claims_text string	description_en string
025-914-248-768-223	JP	[ "WO", "CN", "US", "EP", "JP" ]	H02K41/02,H02K11/00,H02K41/03,H02P25/06,H05K13/04,H02K11/215,H02K16/02	2008-03-28T00:00:00	2008	[ "H02", "H05" ]	linear motor unit and electronic component placing apparatus provided with the linear motor unit	a linear motor unit is provided with a plurality of linear motors each of which has a stator, a movable element which linearly reciprocates along the stator, and a magnetic sensor which can detect the position of the movable element. the magnetic sensors of the adjacent linear motors are arranged at different positions in the moving direction of the movable element.	1 . a linear motor unit comprising a plurality of linear motors, each having a stator, a movable element that linearly reciprocates along the stator, and a magnetic sensor that can detect a position of the movable element, wherein the magnetic sensors of the adjacent linear motors are disposed so as to be placed in mutually different positions in a moving direction of the movable element. 2 . the linear motor unit according to claim 1 , comprising a linear scale that is fixed to the movable element and storing information specifying a position of the movable element, wherein the linear scale has origin signal information indicating an index mark, the origin signal information is marked at least two places with a predetermined interval therebetween. 3 . the linear motor unit according to claim 1 , comprising a linear scale that is fixed to the movable element and storing information specifying a position of the movable element, wherein the linear scale has origin point signal information indicating an index mark, the origin point signal information is marked at one predetermined place, and wherein the origin signal information of the adjacent linear motors are marked at mutually different places so that each of which corresponds to the position of the magnetic sensor. 4 . the linear motor unit according to claim 1 , wherein the linear motors are classified into a plurality of types on a basis of attachment positions of the magnet sensors, and linear motors of different types are arranged alternately in a predetermined sequence. 5 . the linear motor unit according to claim 4 , comprising a linear scale that is fixed to the movable element, and the origin signal information marked at a plurality of places with an interval therebetween so that every linear motor of plural types identifies only one index mark. 6 . the linear motor unit according to claim 1 , wherein the magnetic sensors have respective bias magnets that prevent a barkhausen effect, and the bias magnets are disposed so as to be placed in mutually different positions in a moving direction of the movable element. 7 . an electronic component transfer device that holds a supplied electronic component, moves the electronic component to a predetermined position, and places the electronic component to the predetermined position, the electronic component transfer device comprising: a linear motor unit including a plurality of linear motors, each having a stator, a movable element that linearly reciprocates along the stator, and a magnetic sensor that can detect a position of the movable element; the magnetic sensors of the adjacent linear motors being disposed so as to be placed in mutually different positions in a moving direction of the movable element; and a nozzle member integrally mounted on the movable element of each of the linear motors of the linear motor unit, vertically reciprocating as the movable element moves, and holding the electronic component.	technical field the present invention relates to a linear motor unit and an electronic component transfer device equipped with the linear motor unit, and more particularly to a linear motor unit that is used in a state in which it is provided with a plurality of linear motors and to an electronic component transfer device equipped with the linear motor unit. background art a surface mounting machine and a component inspection device are provided with a head unit as an electronic component transfer device. the head unit includes a nozzle member and a means for lifting the nozzle member. the head unit being supported by a component conveying unit provided on a platform travels in the horizontal direction to hold, with the nozzle member, an electronic component that has been fed to a predetermined position. the head unit then transfers and mounts the electronic component to a predetermined position. as described in patent document 1, the means for lifting the head unit is in the form of a linear motor unit in which a plurality of linear motors are provided in parallel. each linear motor has a stator, a movable element that linearly reciprocates along the stator, and a magnetic sensor that can detect the position of the movable element. each magnetic sensor detects a transfer position of the corresponding movable element. patent document 1: japanese patent application publication no. 2006-67771 disclosure of the invention the object of the present invention is to avoid external disturbance that would occur when magnetic sensors relating to adjacent linear motors would come close to each other. the first aspect of the present invention relates to a linear motor unit including a plurality of linear motors. each liner motor has a stator, a movable element that linearly reciprocates along the stator, and a magnetic sensor that can detect a position of the movable element. the magnetic sensors of the adjacent linear motors are disposed so as to be placed in mutually different positions in a moving direction of the movable element. according to this aspect, magnetic sensors relating to the adjacent linear motors are disposed so as to be placed in mutually different positions in the moving direction of the movable element, and a large opposing distance is set therebetween. therefore, external disturbances which would occur when the magnetic sensors would come close to each other can be avoided and various inconveniences caused by the external disturbances can be prevented. other features and operation effects of the present invention will be made more apparent by embodiments described below in detail with reference to appended drawings. brief description of the drawings [ fig. 1 ] is a schematic plan view for illustrating schematically a surface mounting machine according to one embodiment of the present invention. [ fig. 2 ] is a front view for explaining a head unit according to the embodiment shown in fig. 1 . [ fig. 3a ] is a view for explaining a first linear motor according to the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and a nozzle member mounted on the first linear motor, and illustrates a state in which the nozzle member is positioned at the uppermost end. [ fig. 3b ] is a view for explaining a first linear motor according to the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and a nozzle member mounted on the first linear motor, and illustrates state in which the nozzle member is positioned at the downmost end. [ fig. 4a ] is a view for explaining a second linear motor according to the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and a nozzle member mounted on the second linear motor, and illustrates a state in which the nozzle member is positioned at the uppermost end. [ fig. 4b ] is a view for explaining a second linear motor according to the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and a nozzle member mounted on the second linear motor, and illustrates a state in which the nozzle member is positioned at the downmost end. [ fig. 5 ] is a view for explaining schematically a linear motor unit and a nozzle member according to the embodiment shown in fig. 1 . [ fig. 6 ] is a view for explaining schematically a first linear motor and a second linear motor according to the embodiment shown in fig. 1 . [ fig. 7 ] is a view for explaining schematically a first linear motor and a second linear motor according to the embodiment shown in fig. 1 . [ fig. 8 ] is a view for explaining the spacing of two pieces of origin signal information marked with a linear scale according to the embodiment shown in fig. 1 . [ fig. 9 ] is a schematic drawing illustrating a first linear motor and a second linear motor according to another embodiment of the present invention. [ fig. 10 ] is a schematic drawing illustrating another form of a first linear motor and a second linear motor according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. [ fig. 11 ] is a schematic drawing illustrating another form of a linear motor unit according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. best mode for carrying out the invention the preferred embodiment of the invention will be explained below with reference to the appended drawings. the explanation below uses a three-dimensional xyz coordinate system in which a vertical direction is represented by the z axis. referring to fig. 1 , a surface mounting machine 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a platform 20 , a conveyor 21 for board conveyance that conveys a printed board p carried to the platform 20 to a predetermined position on the platform 20 , a board support device 25 that supports the printed board p conveyed by the board conveyor 21 to the predetermined position so that the board is lifted up, component feed units 23 that feed a predetermined electronic component to a predetermined position on the platform 20 , a head unit 1 as an electronic component transfer device that hold the electronic component fed from the component feed units 23 , a component conveying unit 22 that supports the head unit 1 so that the head unit can move in the horizontal direction, and a component image pick-up unit 24 that picks up an image of the electronic component held by the head unit 1 . the board conveyor 21 includes a pair of rails provided along the x axis direction in the figure so as to cross the platform 20 , and an endless belt rotating between the rails about the y axis. when the printed board p is carried above the platform 20 , the printed board p is placed on the endless belt of the board conveyor 21 and then the printed board p is transferred to the board support device 25 at the central location on the platform 20 by rotation of the endless belt. the board support device 25 is provided between the pair of rails of the board conveyor 21 . the board support device 25 includes a lifting device, a sheet-like back-up plate provided at the upper end of the lifting device, and a plurality of back-up pins supported in a vertical state by the back-up plate. when the lifting device is driven, the back-up plate and back-up pins move upward. the distal ends of the back-up pins come into contact with the lower surface of the printed board p. the printed board p is further pushed up by the distal end of the back-up pins, until the back-up pins support the printed board p at a predetermined height correcting the deflection of the printed board p is corrected. the component feed units 23 are in pairs and disposed outwardly so that the component feed units 23 on the platform 20 sandwich the board conveyor 21 in the y axis direction. the component feed units 23 include a plurality of tape feeders 23 a that are provided side by side in the x axis direction and have tapes fed out in the y axis direction. each tape feeder 23 a has a reel holding unit that holds reels having the tape wound thereon and a feed-out means for feeding out the tape. a plurality of convex spaces is formed in the tape with a predetermined interval along the longitudinal direction of the tape, and an electronic component is accommodated in each space. each reel holding unit caries reels onto which the tape is wound so that the tape can be fed out in the y axis direction, and the component feed position is provided downstream in the feed-out direction (in the y axis direction on the side close to the board conveyor 21 ). as the tape is intermittently supplied forward in the y axis direction by the feed-out means, the electronic components are successively fed to the component feed position. the component conveying unit 22 includes an x axis direction support unit 22 b that supports the head unit 1 so that the head unit can move in the x axis direction and an y axis direction support unit 22 a that support the x axis direction support unit 22 b supporting the head unit 1 , such that the x axis direction support unit can move in the y axis direction. where the head unit 1 holds an electronic component by suction at the component feed position of the component feed unit 23 , a motor 22 a 1 of the y axis support unit 22 a is driven, and a ball screw shaft 22 a 2 receives drive power of the motor 22 a 1 and rotates. the x axis direction support unit 22 b is linked to the ball screw shaft 22 a 2 via a ball nut (not shown in the figure). therefore, the ball nut and the x axis direction support unit 22 b linked to the ball nut receive the rotation of the ball screw shaft 22 a 2 and move in the longitudinal direction of the ball screw shaft 22 a 2 , that is, in the y axis direction. when the x axis direction support unit 22 b reaches a predetermined position in the y axis direction, a motor 22 b 1 of the x axis direction support unit 22 b is driven and a ball screw shaft 22 b 2 receives drive power of the motor 22 b 1 and rotates. the head unit 1 is linked to the ball screw shaft 22 b 2 via a ball nut (not shown in the figure). therefore, the ball nut and the head unit 1 linked to the ball nut receive the rotation of the ball screw shaft 22 b 2 and move in the longitudinal direction of the ball screw shaft 22 b 2 , that is, in the x axis direction. thus, the head unit 1 is supported by the x axis direction support unit 22 b and the y axis direction support unit 22 a so that the head unit can move in the horizontal direction. the component image pick-up unit 24 picks up an image of the electronic component held by the head unit 1 . more specifically, the component image pick-up unit 24 includes an area camera, an illumination device, and the like and is fixed in a posture that faces up on the platform 20 . in the beginning, the electronic component held by the head unit 1 is moved from a component suction position of the component feed unit 23 to a position above the component image pick-up unit 24 . then, the component image pick-up unit 24 picks up from below, an image of the electronic component held by the head unit 1 . next, the head unit 1 and a linear motor unit 1 b provided on the head unit 1 of the present embodiment will be described below in greater detail. referring to fig. 2 , the head unit 1 includes a board image pick-up unit 1 a that picks up an image of the upper surface of the printed board p, a plurality of nozzle members 1 c each of which holds the supplied electronic component by suction at the distal end thereof, and the linear motor unit 1 b that will be described below in greater detail. the board image pick-up unit 1 a includes an area camera having an image pick-up element such as ccd and an illumination device. the board image pick-up unit 1 a facing down is attached to the head unit 1 . the board image pick-up unit 1 a picks up the images of marks displayed on the surface of the printed board p. referring to figs. 3a to 4b , the nozzle member 1 c is driven upwardly or downwardly by linear motors of the linear motor unit 1 b and is rotated about the central axis of the nozzle by a rotation drive mechanism. the nozzle member 1 c has a drive shaft 1 c 1 and a suction nozzle 1 c 2 detachably provided at the lower end of the drive shaft 1 c 1 . the nozzle member 1 c is connected to a negative pressure generating device (not shown in the figure) via an internal passage of the drive shaft 1 c 1 and a switching valve. when an electronic component is to be held by suction, a negative pressure is generated by the negative pressure generating device and the electronic component is held by suction at the distal end of the suction nozzle 1 c 2 . as will be described below in greater detail, the linear motor unit 1 b according to the present embodiment includes two types of linear motors (first land second linear motors a and b) (see fig. 5 ). the first and second linear motors a and b are integrated as a unit in a state of alternate arrangement and used as the linear motor unit 1 b. an assembly in which one nozzle member 1 c is attached to one linear motor a (b) is called a head. a plurality of heads are mounted on the head unit 1 as an integrated unit, and the head unit 1 transfers a plurality of electronic components in one cycle of reciprocating movement. in the present embodiment a total of ten heads are integrated as a unit and mounted on a head unit. each of the first and second linear motors a and b is provided with a frame member 10 , a stator 13 , a movable element 12 that linearly reciprocates along the stator 13 , a linear scale 14 that is fixed to the movable element 12 and marks information specifying the position of the movable element 12 , a magnetic sensor 15 that can read information marked with the linear scale 14 , a return spring 16 (shape is omitted), and a control unit 19 . the frame member 10 is a member that accommodates or holds the stator 13 , movable element 12 , linear scale 14 , magnetic sensor 15 , and return spring 16 . a space for accommodating the movable element 12 , linear scale 14 , and stator 13 is formed in the frame member 10 . this space is open to allow the nozzle member 1 c 1 to move in the vertical direction in a state of integral attachment to the movable element 12 . a linear guide 17 for guiding the movable element 12 is attached in the space of the frame member 10 so as to extend along the z axis direction. further, a pair of stoppers 11 that define a stroke s 1 of the reciprocating movement of the movable element 12 in the z axis direction are attached at both ends (in the z axis direction) of the linear guide 17 . a sensor fixing portion 10 a for fixing the magnetic sensor 15 is provided at the frame member 10 . the sensor fixing portion 10 a is configured so that the magnetic sensor 15 can be displaceable in the z axis direction or the direction parallel to the moving direction of the movable element 12 , to be arranged and fixed. the stator 13 includes a comb-shaped core, a pair of sub-teeth that helps to form a magnetic flux at both ends of the stator in the z axis direction when the linear motor is driven, and a coil wound about the core. when the linear motor is driven, an electric current of any phase from among u phase, v phase, and w phase, which are mutually different phases, flows in each coil. as a result, the stator 13 is caused to function as an electromagnet and a predetermined magnetic flux is generated around each coil. referring to figs. 6 and 7 , the movable element 12 includes a movable element body 12 b and permanent magnets 12 a fixed to the movable element body 12 b. the movable element body 12 b is formed in an elongated frame-like shape with an almost u-like cross section. the permanent magnets 12 a are fixed in positions of the movable element body 12 b that face the stator 13 , so that an s pole and an n pole are alternately displayed. further, the nozzle member 1 c is attached by an attachment arm 18 to a side surface of the lower end portion of the movable element 12 (see figs. 3a to 4b ). where a predetermined electric current is supplied to the coil of the stator 13 , the stator 13 functions as an electromagnet, the magnetic flux of the electromagnet interacts with the magnetic flux of the permanent magnet 12 a of the movable element 12 , and a propulsion force is generated. as a result, the movable element 12 reciprocates along the z axis direction with respect to the stator 13 within the stroke s 1 defined by a pair of stoppers 11 . therefore, the nozzle member 1 c mounted on the movable element 12 is lifted or lowered following the displacement of the movable element 12 . the linear scale 14 is a magnetic scale on which position information is magnetically marked. more specifically, the linear scale 14 is configured such that a magnetic signal is held by using a hard, narrow elongated sheet-like magnetic material and a magnetic signal field corresponding to the magnetic signal is generated from the linear scale 14 . in the present embodiment, scale information indicating a fine position with a fixed spacing along the z axis direction and origin information indicating a calculation index mark of movement amount are recorded. the linear scale 14 is fixed with respect to the movable element 12 in a position opposite the below-described magnetic sensor 15 . in the embodiment shown in fig. 6 , the linear scale 14 is used on which two pieces of the origin signal information corresponding to types of linear motors a and b is marked with a predetermined interval. the magnetic sensor 15 is the so-called mr sensor (magneto resistance sensor) and is provided with a detection element 15 b that detects a magnetic signal marked with the linear scale 14 and a bias magnet 15 a for preventing the noise generated in the detection process of the detection element 15 b. the detection element 15 b is provided with a magnetosensitive pattern facing the linear scale 14 . the magnetosensitive pattern is formed by depositing a thin soft magnetic film of permalloy or the like. it is known that if a magnetic signal field applied in substantially perpendicular to the magnetosensitive pattern when the linear scale 14 moves, the electric resistance of the magnetosensitive pattern will be slightly reduced by a magnetoresistance effect. by allowing a constant current to flow in the magnetosensitive pattern utilizing this physical phenomenon, it is possible to obtain a voltage signal corresponding to the intensity of the magnetic signal field relating to the magnetic signal marked with the linear scale 14 . suppose λ is a pitch from the n pole to the s pole. the maximum of magnetic signal field will occur at a λ/2 position, while the minimum at a λ=0 position, that is, when n or s poles coincide. therefore, on the linear scale 14 , the magnetic signal field will change almost sinusoidally with a period of λ. accordingly, the output of the detection element 15 b will also vary with a period of λ. where the output of the detection element 15 b is subjected to an appropriate waveform processing, an electric signal corresponding to the position is obtained. therefore, the position of the movable element 12 can be indirectly specified on the basis of the magnetic signal (scale information or origin information). the bias magnet 15 a has an approximately band-like shape. in order to avoid erroneous detection of the detection element 15 b caused by the barkhausen effect, the bias magnet 15 a is arranged in a position facing the linear scale 14 , such that the detection element 15 b is interposed therebetween in the y axis direction, and extended to a comparatively large length in the z axis direction. further, s poles and n poles are arranged opposite each other in the x axis direction so as to form a magnetic flux around the y axis that passes through the detection element 15 b. the return spring 16 is in the form of a tension coil spring extending in the z axis direction and mounted between the upper portion of the frame member 10 and the attachment arm 18 provided below the movable element 12 . the return spring 16 biases the movable element 12 upwardly. when the movable element 12 moves downward, the nozzle member 1 c descends against the biasing force of the return spring 16 , and when the movable element 12 moves upward, the nozzle member 1 c receives the biasing force of the return spring 16 and ascends. the control unit 19 is provided with a current control unit (not shown in the figure), a position signal information detection unit (not shown in the figure), and an origin signal information detection unit (not shown in the figure). the current control unit controls the electric current supplied to the electromagnet of the below described stator 13 correspondingly to the relative positions between the electromagnet of the stator 13 and the permanent magnet of the movable element 12 . the position signal information detection unit measures the movement amount of the movable element 12 on the basis of the detection signal of the magnetic sensor 15 . the origin signal information detection unit detects the origin position for the measurement the movement amount of the movable element 12 on the basis of the detection signal of the magnetic sensor 15 . the difference between the first and second linear motors a and b will be explained below. the difference between the first and second linear motors a and b is in the arrangement of (the bias magnets 15 a of) the magnetic sensors 15 . as shown in fig. 5 , the magnetic sensors 15 in the first linear motors a are disposed in a first region i, whereas, the magnetic sensors 15 in the second linear motors b are disposed in a second region ii, rather than in the first region i. the first and second regions i and ii are set in series in the z axis direction. therefore, when the magnetic sensors 15 are disposed in the respective regions, the bias magnets 15 a located in the magnetic sensors 15 do not overlap each other in the moving direction. if the first and second linear motors a and b are arranged alternately and integrated in a unit, as shown in fig. 5 , the positions of magnetic sensors 15 in the adjacent linear motors a and b differ in the moving direction of the movable element 12 , that is, in the z axis direction. therefore, the bias magnet 15 a contained in the magnetic sensor 15 of the first linear motor a and the bias magnet 15 a contained in the magnetic sensor 15 of the second linear motor b arranged adjacently to the first linear motor a have mutually different places and do not face each other in the x axis direction. for this reason, magnetic fields of the bias magnets 15 a contained in the magnetic sensors 15 relating to the adjacent linear motors a and b can avoid the mutual interactions with each other. this difference between the first and second linear motors a and b will be described below in greater detail. referring to figs. 6 and 7 , the linear motors a and the second linear motors b shown in these figures are equipped with linear scales 14 of identical specifications, regardless of the arrangement positions of magnetic sensors 15 . more specifically, first origin signal information 14 a that can be read by only the magnetic sensor 15 disposed in the first region i and second origin signal information 14 b that can be read by only the magnetic sensor 15 disposed in the second region ii are recorded as magnetic signals in the linear scale 14 . as shown in fig. 8 , a spacing s 2 between the first origin signal information 14 a and the second origin signal information 14 b is set larger than the stroke s 1 of the movable element 12 and smaller than a distance s 3 from the first origin signal information 14 a to the position (or reading position) of the detection element 15 b of the magnetic sensor 15 (shown by virtual line in fig. 8 ) of the adjacent second linear motor b. by establishing such a relationship s 1 <s 2 <s 3 and maintaining a series relationship between the first and second regions i and ii, the first origin signal information 14 a is read by only the magnetic sensor 15 disposed in the first region i while the second origin signal information 14 b is read by only the magnetic sensor 15 disposed in the second region ii. therefore, in the first linear motors a, as shown in figs. 6 and 7 , the first origin signal information 14 a is read by the magnetic sensors 15 disposed in the first region i to control the drive of the first linear motors a. in the second linear motors b, as shown in figs. 6 and 7 , the second origin signal information 14 b is read by the magnetic sensors 15 disposed in the second region ii to control the drive of the second linear motors b. because the origin signal information are marked at two places with a predetermined interval in the linear scale 14 , the magnetic sensors 15 can read the origin signal information marked at any one of two places on each linear scale 14 , even if there are differences in arrangement positions and in reading ranges of the magnetic sensors 15 on the adjacent first and second linear motors a and b. moreover, because the linear scales 14 provided in the linear motors can be standardised to the entire linear motor unit 1 b, the components can be easily managed, and the linear motors a and b can be efficiently assembled. according to the present embodiment as described hereinabove, the bias magnet 15 a in the magnetic sensor 15 is used in order to avoid erroneous detection of the detection element 15 b caused by the barkhausen effect. by the way, in a configuration in which the linear motors are arranged side by side with a pitch as small as possible, the disturbance in the magnetic force lines between the magnetic sensors of adjacent linear motors would occur, so that the function of preventing the barkhausen effect could also be impeded. to prevent the malfunctions caused by the disturbance in magnetic force lines, the conventional devices have constraints of providing shielding members between the linear motors, or taking a considerable space between the linear motors. in the present embodiment, on the contrary, the magnetic sensors 15 of the adjacent first land second linear motors a and b are provided in the mutually different places in the moving direction (z axis direction) of the movable element 12 . in other words, with respect to the adjacent first land second linear motors a and b, the bias magnets 15 a contained in the magnetic sensors 15 are arranged so as not to face each other in the x axis direction. therefore, the disturbance in the magnetic force lines of the bias magnets 15 a incorporated in the magnetic sensors 15 between the adjacent first land second linear motors a and b can be avoided and the function of preventing the barkhausen effect can be ensured, thereby making it possible to prevent erroneous detection of the movable element 12 by the detection elements 15 b. in the linear motor unit 1 b according to the embodiment illustrated by figs. 1 to 8 , the first and second linear motors a and b that differ from each other only in the positions of magnetic sensors 15 are arranged alternately. however, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. for example, linear scales 14 , 14 ′ of different specifications, which mark the origin signal information at only one place, may be used for the first and second linear motors a and b, as in the linear motor unit 1 b shown in fig. 9 . more specifically, one first origin signal information 14 a that can be read by only the magnetic sensor 15 provided in the first region i is marked at the linear scale 14 of the first linear motor a, and one second origin signal information 14 b that can be read by only the magnetic sensor 15 provided in the second region ii is marked at the linear scale 14 ′ of the second linear motor b. therefore, in the first linear motor a, the first origin signal information 14 a of the linear scale 14 is read by the magnetic sensor 15 disposed in the first region i and used to control the drive of the first linear motor a. in the second linear motor b, the second origin signal information 14 b of the linear scale 14 ′ is read by the magnetic sensor 15 disposed in the second region ii and used to control the drive of the second linear motor b. thus, the first and second linear motors a and b, which are adjacent alternately in the linear motor unit 1 b, are provided with linear scales 14 , 14 ′ of which the origin signal information are marked at respectively different positions so that each of which corresponds to the position of magnetic sensors 15 . in other words, the types of linear scales to be attached to the stators 12 are different from each other according to the arrangement positions of the magnetic sensors 15 in respective first and second linear motors a and b. as a result, even if there are differences in arrangement positions and in read ranges of the magnetic sensors 15 on the adjacent first and second linear motors a and b, the origin signal information can be readable using linear scales 14 , 14 ′ each of which origin signal information is marked only one place. in another possible configuration, as shown in fig. 10 , pasting positions of the linear scale 14 with respect to the movable element 12 in the first and second linear motors a and b are shifted with respect to each other in the z axis direction and the first origin signal information 14 a is read by the magnetic sensor 15 . as another linear motor unit 1 b as shown in fig. 11 , the configuration may have three or more linear motors (in fig. 11 , a first linear motor a, a second linear motor b, and a third linear motor c) with different positions of the magnetic sensors 15 so that adjacent types thereof differ from each other. to read the origin signal information by the magnetic sensor 15 in fig. 11 , the linear scale may have the origin signal information marked at three different places spaced with predetermined interval therebetween, or one single place corresponding to the arrangement position of the magnetic sensor 15 . any of the above-described linear motor units can be applied to the surface mounting machine explained with reference to fig. 1 . further, not only the surface mounting machine, but also a component inspection device or a dispenser may be installed as the component transfer device. the explanations of the present embodiment was related to a configuration in which one magnetic sensor 15 was disposed for one linear motor. the present invention is, however, not limited to this configuration. the present invention can also be applied in the case of a linear motor unit in which a plurality of magnetic sensors are disposed for one linear motor. in such a case, magnetic sensors of linear motors adjacent in the linear motor unit may be disposed so that the magnetic sensors do not overlap in the moving direction (z axis direction) of the movable element. accordingly, a linear motor unit in accordance with the present invention is provided with a plurality of linear motors, each having a stator, a movable element that linearly reciprocates along the stator, and a magnetic sensor that can detect a position of the movable element, wherein the magnetic sensors of the adjacent linear motors are disposed so as to be placed in mutually different positions in a moving direction of the movable element. in accordance with the present invention, magnetic sensors relating to the adjacent linear motors are disposed so as to be placed in mutually different positions in the moving direction of the movable element, and a large opposing distance is set therebetween. therefore, external disturbances which would occur when the magnetic sensors would come close to each other can be avoided and various inconveniences caused by the external disturbances can be prevented. in a preferred embodiment, the linear motor unit in accordance with the present invention includes a linear scale that is fixed to the movable element and storing information specifying a position of the movable element, wherein the linear scale has origin signal information indicating an index mark, the origin signal information is marked at least two places with a predetermined interval therebetween. because the origin signal information are marked at least two places with a predetermined interval in the linear scale in such an embodiment, each of the magnetic sensors can read the origin signal information marked at any one of two places on each linear scale, even if there are differences in the arrangement positions and in the reading ranges of the magnetic sensors on the adjacent first linear motors. moreover, the linear scales provided in the linear motors can be standardised to the entire linear motor unit, the components can be easily managed, and the linear motors can be efficiently assembled. in a preferred embodiment, the linear motor unit in accordance with the present invention includes a linear scale that is fixed to the movable element and storing information specifying a position of the movable element, wherein the linear scale has origin point signal information indicating an index mark, the origin point signal information is marked at one predetermined place, and wherein the origin signal information of the adjacent linear motors are marked at mutually different places so that each of which corresponds to the position of the magnetic sensor. in such an embodiment, the adjacent linear motors are provided with linear scales of which the origin signal information are marked at respectively different positions. in other words, the types of linear scales to be attached to the stators are different from each other according to the arrangement positions of the magnetic sensors in respective linear motors. as a result, even if there are differences in arrangement positions and in read ranges of the magnetic sensors on the adjacent linear motors, the origin signal information can be readable using linear scales each of which origin signal information is marked only one place. in a preferred embodiment, the linear motors are classified into a plurality of types on a basis of attachment positions of the magnetic sensors, and linear motors of different types are arranged alternately in a predetermined sequence. in this embodiment, because the liner motors of a plurality of types are arranged alternately in order to differ the positions of magnetic sensors from each other, external disturbances that would occur when adjacent magnetic sensors in linear motors of a limited number of types would come close to each other can be avoided. as a result, linear motors of a limited number of types can be assembled in a simple manner and a linear motor unit with high resistance to the effect of external disturbances can be readily created. in a preferred embodiment, the linear motor unit in accordance with the present invention includes a linear scale that is fixed to the movable element, and the origin signal information marked at a plurality of places with an interval therebetween so that every linear motor of plural types identifies only one index mark. in such an embodiment, because a general-purpose linear scale can be obtained, the components can be easily managed and the linear motors can be assembled with good efficiency. in a preferred embodiment, the magnetic sensors have respective bias magnets that prevent a barkhausen effect, and the bias magnets are disposed so as to be placed in mutually different positions in a moving direction of the movable element. in such an embodiment, erroneous detection of magnetic sensors caused by the barkhausen effect can be prevented by providing the bias magnets. furthermore, the disturbance in the magnetic force lines of the bias magnets which would occur when bias magnets in adjacent liner motors would come close to each other can be prevented. therefore, the disturbance in the magnetic force lines can be avoided and the function of preventing the barkhausen effect can be ensured, thereby making it possible to prevent erroneous detection by the magnetic sensors. an electronic component transfer device in accordance with the present invention holds a supplied electronic component, moves the electronic component to a predetermined position, and places the electronic component to the predetermined position, the electronic component transfer device including: a linear motor unit provided with a plurality of linear motors, each having a stator, a movable element that linearly reciprocates along the stator, and a magnetic sensor that can detect a position of the movable element, the magnetic sensors of the adjacent linear motors being disposed so as to be placed in mutually different positions in a moving direction of the movable element; and a nozzle member integrally mounted on the movable element of each of the linear motors of the linear motor unit, vertically reciprocating as the movable element moves, and holding the electronic component. according to this invention, by providing the electronic component transfer device with above-described linear motor unit, it is possible to avoid external disturbances that would occur when adjacent magnetic sensors would come close to each other and to prevent erroneous position detection of the movable element. therefore, even in an electronic component transfer device provided with a plurality of nozzle members brought close to each other to improve mounting efficiency, the position of the movable element can be accurately detected without being affected by external disturbances that would occur when adjacent magnetic sensors would come close to each other, and damage of electronic components that would occur if the electronic components would be pressed by excess force when being held or placed by the nozzle members attached to the movable element can be avoided.
026-256-151-533-254	US	[ "US" ]	G03D3/14	1982-09-02T00:00:00	1982	[ "G03" ]	web tension and break sensor system for photosensitive web processors	a sensing system senses web movement and web tension of a photosensitive web moving through a processor. the system includes a sensing arm pivotally attached about a pivot to the processor and a transport roller rotatably attached to one end of the sensing arm. the photosensitive web engages the transport roller such that the roller rotates. the other end of the sensing arm, on an opposite side of the pivot point, is biased in a direction opposing the web tension of the photosensitive web. a tension detecting mechanism detects the movement of the sensing arm when the web tension overcomes the biasing force and transmits an alarm signal indicating that the web tension has increased beyond a predetermined value. a web break detecting mechanism is preferably included and detects the rotation of the transport roller and transmits a signal when the transport roller stops rotating indicating that a web break has occurred.	1. an apparatus for sensing both web movement and web tension of a photosensitive web moving through a photographic processor, the apparatus sensing both web movement and web tension through a singular contact with the photosensitive web, the processor having a frame structure, the apparatus comprising: a longitudinal sensing arm pivotally attached to the processor about a pivot point and having a first end and a second end; a single roller for engaging the photosensitive web and rotatably attached to the first end of the sensing arm such that movement of the web rotates the roller, the roller including a magnet positioned within the roller such that the magnet rotates with the roller; a first stationary magnetically actuated switch disposed on the sensing arm such that the first stationary magnetically actuated switch is actuated by the magnet each time the magnet passes the switch due to contact of the film with the single roller; alarm control means for measuring the time between actuations of the first switch and comparing the time to a predetermined value such that when the time between said first switch actuations is greater than the predetermined value an alarm is actuated; a coil spring attached at one end to the second end of the sensing arm on a side of the pivot point opposite from the roller and at another end to a stationary part of the photographic processor, biasing the arm against a tension force caused by the film contacting the roller; and a second stationary switch positioned proximate the second end of the sensing arm such that the second switch is actuated by movement of the sensing arm due to contact of the film with the single roller when the tension force caused by the film becomes greater than the biasing force of the spring such that both web movement and web tension are detected by contact of the film with the single roller. 2. in a photographic processor an improved sensing system including a plurality of sensing devices for sensing web movement and web tension of a photosensitive web moving through the photographic processor, each sensing device sensing both web movement and web tension through a singular contact with the photosensitive web, each sensing device comprising: a longitudinal sensing arm pivotally attached to the processor about a pivot point and having a first end and a second end; a single roller for engaging the photosensitive web and rotatably attached to the first end of the sensing arm such that movement of the web rotates the roller, the roller including a magnet positioned within the roller such that the magnet rotates with the roller; a first stationary magnetically actuated switch disposed on the sensing arm such that the first stationary magnetically actuated switch is actuated by the magnet each time the magnet passes the switch due to contact of the film with the single roller; alarm control means for measuring the time between actuations of the first switch and comparing the time to a predetermined value such that when the time between said first switch actuations is greater than the predetermined value an alarm is actuated; a coil spring attached at one end to the second end of the sensing arm on a side of the pivot point opposite from the roller and at another end to a stationary part of the photographic processor, biasing the arm against a tension force caused by the film contacting the roller; and a second stationary switch positioned proximate the second end of the sensing arm such that the second switch is actuated by movement of the sensing arm due to contact of the film with the single roller when the tension force caused by the film becomes greater than the biasing force of the spring such that both web movement and web tension are detected by contact of the film with the single roller.	background of the invention 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to sensor systems that sense web tension and web movement in processors of photosensitive web. 2. description of the prior art in photofinishing, it is typical to continuously process long webs of photosensitive material by transporting the web through a series of processing tanks which contain different chemical solutions, and then through a dryer that dries the web. both photographic film and photographic print paper are commonly processed in this manner. in the case of photographic film, it is typical to splice together individual strips of undeveloped photographic film for processing. cine processor machines are used to develop continuously the long web of photographic film formed by splicing the individual strips of film. in a cine processor, the film web is transported through the tanks by sets of transport rollers on transport racks having an upper set and a lower set of rollers. the film enters the transport rack on one side and is transported in a helical manner between the upper and the lower rollers of the rack until it reaches the outside of the rack where it is transferred to the next transport rack. as is easily apparent, a malfunction such as a film break results in costly down time and possible damage to the photosensitive film web. the rawlings u.s. pat. no. 4,344,073 granted on aug. 10, 1982 and assigned to the same assignee as the present application, discloses a film break detector in a photographic film dryer. the apparatus disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 4,344,073 works quite well in detecting a film break in a dryer. however, a further improvement in the art of sensing web breaks in photographic processing equipment would be to forecast such breaks before they occurred and wherein such a system would operate in a dryer or in a chemical tank. advanced warning of the film breaks would provide the operator with time to correct the problem and avoid possible damage to the photosensitive web. summary of the invention the present invention is an improved sensing system that senses web movement and web tension of a photosensitive web moving through a processor. the improved sensing system warns the operator of an increase in web tension in addition to a web break if one has occurred. the system includes a sensing arm that is pivotally attached to the processor about a pivot point. an idler transport roller is rotatably attached to an end that extends into the film transport area of the processor and engages the photosensitive web such that movement of the web rotates the transport roller. the sensing arm at another end, on a side of the pivot point opposite from the transport roller, is biased in a direction opposing the tension caused by the moving photosensitive web over the transport roller. a tension detecting mechanism detects the movement of the sensing arm when the web tension increases such that the biasing force biasing the sensing arm is overcome. when the tension detecting mechanism detects the movement, a signal is transmitted indicating that an increase in web tension has occurred. a first detecting mechanism detects the rotation of the transport roller and transmits a signal when the roller stops rotating indicating that a web break has occurred. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cine processor which preferably includes the web break/web tension detection system of the present invention. fig. 2 is a sectional view along section 2--2 of fig. 1. fig. 3 is a sectional view along section 3--3 of fig. 2. fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the web break/web tension detector positioned between two racks. fig. 5 is a sectional view along section 5--5 of fig. 2. fig. 6 is a sectional view along section 6--6 of fig. 2. fig. 7 is a sectional view along section 7--7 of fig. 3. fig. 8 is a sectional view along section 8--8 of fig. 7. fig. 9 is a diagrammatical view of the web break/web tension alarm control system. detailed description of the preferred embodiments fig. 1 shows a typical cine processor, generally indicated at 10, for continuous processing of webs of photographic film. photographic film is transported from a loader accumulator assembly 12, through a plurality of modular processing tanks 14, through a film dryer 16 and then to a takeup assembly 18. a wall 20 divides the modular processing tank 14 for processing photographic film such that the film is processed in the absence of natural light through some of the tanks 14. the processing tanks 14 have various chemicals which process the photographic film. a photographic film 34 is transported through the various tanks 14 by transport racks 22, as illustrated in fig. 2. the film 34 is threaded within each individual rack 22 from a first set of upper rollers 24 to a second set of lower rollers directly beneath the upper set of rollers 24 in a helical fashion. when all of the racks 22 in the tank 14 are threaded with film, the film 34 is transferred to the next tank 14 over tank walls 26. as can be seen from the above description, a film break results in costly downtime and damage to the photosensitive film web 34. the present invention provides a manner for initially warning the operator when the film tension has increased above a predetermined value and then to warn the operator where and when a film break has occurred. a sensing device of the sensing system of the present invention is generally indicated at 28 in figs. 2, 3 and 4. the sensing system preferably includes a plurality of sensing devices 28 for sensing film tension and film breaks within the processing tanks 14 at various locations. the sensing devices 28 operate independently of each other, thus providing an indication of film tension and film breaks at separate locations. the sensing device 28 includes a sensing arm 30 pivotally movable within an aperture 32 (see fig. 3) positioned in a wall 36 of the processor 10. an idler transport roller 38 is rotatably attached to the sensing arm 30 proximate an end portion 39 positioned within the processor 10 such that the film 34 may be transported from one individual tank 14 to the next tank 14 using the transport roller 38 as shown in fig. 4. the transport roller 38 is an idler roller freely rotating when engaging the film 34 as indicated by arrow 40 in fig. 5. a ceramic magnet 42 is positioned within a rear flange 44 of the transport roller 38. a reed switch 48, as illustrated in figs. 2, 3 and 5, is fixedly attached to the shaft 30. the reed switch 48 is attached to a collar 50 by a pair of screws 52. the collar 50 in turn is fixedly attached to the shaft 30. the reed switch 48 is of conventional construction and typically has contacts mounted on ferromagnetic reeds sealed within a glass tube that are designed for actuation by an external magnetic field, such as the ceramic magnet 42 positioned within the transport roller 38. when the transport roller 38 is engaged and rotated by the film web 34, the ceramic magnet 42 passes by the reed switch 48 and magnetizes the reeds which attract each other and close the switch. an alarm control 51, as illustrated in fig. 9, keeps track of the amount of time elapsed between switch closings and when the elapsed time exceeds a predetermined value, suitable circuitry activates a suitable annunciator 53 for warning the operator that a film break has occurred. the shaft 30 is biased at an end portion 54 in a direction of arrow 56, as illustrated in fig. 3. preferably, the shaft 30 is biased by a pair of coil springs 58 attached at one end to a fixed portion 60 of the processor frame and at another end to the end portion 54 of the shaft with a bolt 57, as illustrated in figs. 2, 3 and 8. the coil springs 58 bias the shaft 30 about the aperture 32 in a direction opposing the film tension created by the film 34 engaging the transport roller 38. in other words, the tension of film 34 tends to pull roller 38 downward and raise end portion 54 of shaft 30. the bias force of springs 58 tends to pull end portion 54 downward and raise roller 38. a u-shaped member 62 is fixedly attached to the shaft 30 proximate the coil springs 58. the portion 54 of the shaft 30 and the u-shaped member 62 pivot within an opening 64 of a substantially upright wall section 66 of the processor as illustrated in fig. 7. the u-shaped member 62 has a pair of legs 68, 70 which are spaced apart with a portion of the wall 66 therebetween as shown in figs. 2 and 7. the legs 68, 70 pivot on opposite sides of the wall section 66. a bolt 72 is threadably inserted within aligned threaded apertures 74, 76 located in legs 68, 70, respectively. the leg 68 is biased toward the wall 66 by the coil spring 78. the coil spring 78 fixes a position of the u-shaped member 62 to maintain parallel alignment of the transport roller 38 with respect to the upper rack rollers 24. the coil spring 78 also keeps the contact pressure between the leg 68 and the wall 66 at a controlled level. a distal end 80 of the bolt 72 engages a switching mechanism 82 that is attached in a suitable manner to the frame of the processor in a stationary position relative to the movement of the bolt 72, as illustrated in fig. 7. the bolt 72 extends through a slot 81 in wall portion 66, which permits movement of the bolt 72 and shaft end 54 in the general direction indicated by arrow 83 in fig. 8. the switching mechanism 82 is preferably a microswitch having a switching member 84 that is engaged by the distal end 80 and is secured to a stationary bracket 86 with nuts 88 and bolts 90. the film tension, as indicated by arrow 92 in fig. 3, pivots the end 54 of the shaft 30 in a direction of arrow 94. the bias force of the bias springs 58 oppose the film tension 92, as indicated by arrow 56, such that the distal end 80 of the bolt 72 is in contact with the switching member 84. when the bolt 72 is in contact with the switching member 84, the tension on film web 34 has a normal or desired value for processing of the film through the cine processor 10. however, when the film tension increases within the processor 10 and becomes greater than the bias force of the bias springs 58, the bolt 72 moves to the position illustrated by broken lines 72a. with the bolt 72 positioned at 72a, the distal end 80 is no longer in a contact relationship with the switching member 84 and consequently the microswitch 82 closes and warns the operator through suitable circuitry that the tension has increased to a potentially dangerous level. during the increase in tension, the film 34 has been in contact with the idler transport roller 38, freely rotating the idler transport roller 38. if the film tension increases to a level that causes a film break within the processor 10, the transport roller 38 will stop rotating, indicating that a film break has occurred. since the film tension and film break detection system of the present invention includes a plurality of detector devices 28, the location of a film break or the increase in tension is easily determined by suitable circuitry and warning system indicating to the operator where the problem is occurring. conclusion the present invention is an improved sensing system that senses web tension and web movement of a photosensitive web through a cine processor. the sensing system warns the operator of an increase in web tension and when the web tension reaches a level at which a web break may be imminent and if a break occurs the sensing system warns the operator that a break has occurred. in addition, the system provides a method to determine the location of web tension increases or film breaks within the processor. the system of the present invention can also be used not only in the tanks but throughout the processor including such sections as the dryer 16. although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
027-058-568-950-300	TW	[ "TW", "US" ]	B27C9/00,G05B19/418,G06Q50/06,B25H3/00,G01R21/00	2016-05-04T00:00:00	2016	[ "B27", "G05", "G06", "B25", "G01" ]	integrated system of wood ware processing that controls electricity consumption and a gas flow to reduce the possibility of accidents caused by electricity overload	an integrated system of wood ware processing can be connected with an external power supply and includes a cabinet body, a management control center, and a plurality of equipment fixing seats. the management control center is arranged in the cabinet body and is connected with the power supply and an air pressure terminal located outside or inside the integrated system in order to control electricity consumption of input power and a flow of input gas, and to control pneumatic equipment such as a dust collector, and also comprises at least one set of power output lines and an air pressure output line. the equipment fixing seats are arranged inside the cabinet body and are connected with the power output line or the air pressure output line. therefore, the present invention allows processing facilities required by consumers to be integrated into the cabinet body and the entire system can be sold as one piece of product. this saves the trouble of the user for purchasing and installing individual parts, and allows for joint control of the electricity consumption and the gas flow to reduce the possibility of accidents caused by electricity overload.	1 . an integrated woodworking system, connectable to an external source of electricity, the integrated woodworking system comprising: an enclosure; a management and control center provided in the enclosure, wherein the management and control center is connectable to the source of electricity and a source of gas pressure, is configured to control consumption of electricity input from the source of electricity and a flow rate of gas input from the source of gas pressure, and has at least one electricity output cable and at least one gas output hose; and a plurality of tool holders provided in the enclosure and each connected to the electricity output cable or the gas output hose, wherein each the tool holder is configured to accommodate and hold at least one electric or at least one pneumatic tool. 2 . the integrated woodworking system of claim 1 , wherein the source of gas pressure is located inside the integrated woodworking system. 3 . the integrated woodworking system of claim 1 , wherein the enclosure is a shipping container. 4 . the integrated woodworking system of claim 2 , wherein the management and control center further comprises a power consumption monitoring unit for measuring the consumption of the input electricity and the flow rate of the input gas. 5 . the integrated woodworking system of claim 4 , wherein when the consumption of the input electricity exceeds a predetermined value according to measurement of the power consumption monitoring unit, the management and control center cuts off electricity supplied to the tool holders. 6 . the integrated woodworking system of claim 1 , wherein the integrated woodworking system further comprises a screen, the management and control center further comprises a data transmission unit, the screen is electrically connected to one of the tool holders, and the data transmission unit is configured to transmit a file to the screen for display. 7 . the integrated woodworking system of claim 6 , wherein the data transmission unit transmits the file to the screen wirelessly. 8 . the integrated woodworking system of claim 1 , wherein the management and control center further comprises a remote electricity management unit controllable by an external computer in order for the management and control center to cut off electricity supplied to the tool holders. 9 . the integrated woodworking system of claim 1 , further comprising a cutter storage area and a material storage area, both provided in the enclosure. 10 . the integrated woodworking system of claim 1 , wherein the electricity output cable and the gas output hose are partially embedded in a lateral wall of the enclosure.	background of the invention 1. technical field the present invention relates to a system of woodworking equipment. more particularly, the present invention relates to a modular integrated woodworking system where various pieces of woodworking equipment are incorporated into a single enclosure so that not only can the cables and hoses of the equipment in the enclosure be arranged as a whole, but also power consumption and all the pneumatic equipment (e.g., a dust collector) can be monitored and managed with ease. 2. description of related art conventionally, one who wishes to perform a carpentry project would go to a woodworking tool manufacturer or shop to buy the necessary tools, and then carry out the woodworking activities in a chosen working environment 70 (e.g., a personal workshop or garage) as shown in fig. 1 . as the working environment 70 may lack a comprehensive planning or be inadequately equipped in the first place, the following drawbacks are likely to be found: 1. due to the absence of proper planning, one who is working in the working environment 70 tends to use whichever source of electricity 71 they can find in order to operate an electric drill 72 , electric saw 73 , or computer 74 . likewise, a pneumatic nail gun 75 or dust collector 76 to be used is usually connected to a source of gas pressure 77 that is fetched impromptu. consequently, the cables and hoses of those tools may run all over the place, inviting accidents and making it difficult to control the overall electrical load. 2. now that a well-designed dust collection system is not in place, the collection of wood chips and dust may be incomplete, and risks associated with flammable dust are therefore high. 3. when the working environment 70 needs expansion or an addition of woodworking tools, the initial conditions of the working environment 70 may hinder their implementation such that the environment cannot be utilized to the greatest extent. 4. woodworking tools are typically purchased and installed one at a time, which is very inconvenient. in view of the above, the conventional woodworking environments and the use of such an environment still leave room for improvement. brief summary of the invention one objective of the present invention is to provide an integrated woodworking system where all the woodworking tools one needs are incorporated into an enclosure. the entire system can be sold as a product to spare the buyer the trouble of having to purchase and install the tools separately. another objective of the present invention is to provide an integrated woodworking system which improves the cable and hose arrangement of woodworking tools, which features ease and safety of use, and which allows the electrical loads of the system to be managed as a whole. to achieve the foregoing objectives, the present invention provides an integrated woodworking system connectable to an external source of electricity, wherein the integrated woodworking system includes an enclosure, a management and control center, and a plurality of tool holders. the management and control center is provided in the enclosure and is connectable to the source of electricity and a source of gas pressure. the management and control center is configured to control the consumption of electricity input from the source of electricity and the flow rate of gas input from the source of gas pressure. the management and control center further has at least one electricity output cable and at least one gas output hose. the tool holders are provided in the enclosure and are each connected to the electricity output cable or the gas output hose. according to the present invention, the management and control center distributes electricity or gas to each tool holder through the corresponding cable or hose and thus manages the electricity and gas used by the entire system. the present invention, therefore, not only improves the way cables and hoses are conventionally arranged, but also makes it possible to manage the electrical loads of the system as a whole and thereby prevent accidents which may otherwise result from overloading. in one aspect of the present invention, the enclosure may be a standard 40-foot shipping container so that the integrated woodworking system can be transported worldwide through modern logistics means, e.g., by marine transportation and/or a container trailer. also, the standardized dimensions of shipping containers allow the integrated woodworking system to be modularized. the interior layout of such a shipping container and the woodworking tools installed therein can be planned according to the sizes and materials of the intended workpieces as well as the user's budgets, in order for the integrated woodworking system to meet practical needs. in another aspect of the present invention, the electricity output cable or the gas output hose may be partially embedded or installed in a lateral wall or the floor of the enclosure in advance to better arrange, and avoid a tangle of, the cables and hoses to be used. in yet another aspect of the present invention, the management and control center may further include a power consumption monitoring unit, which in turn may include an analog/digital wattmeter and a pressure gage for example, in order for the management and control center to measure, under software- or hardware-based control, the consumption of the input electricity and the flow rate of the input gas. to ensure safe use of electricity, the power consumption monitoring unit may be so configured that, once the consumption of electricity exceeds a predetermined value, the management and control center is triggered to cut off the electricity supplied to the tool holders. brief description of the several views of the drawings fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional woodworking environment; and fig. 2 schematically shows the integrated woodworking system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. detailed description of the invention to elucidate the features of the present invention, a preferred embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to fig. 2 . the integrated woodworking system 1 is configured to connect with an external source of electricity 3 and an external source of gas pressure 5 . the source of electricity 3 can be the standard 110-v or 220-v mains electricity in taiwan but is by no means limited thereto; in other words, the source of electricity 3 may vary in specification from one country to another. the source of gas pressure 5 in this embodiment is an air compressor by way of example and is provided outside the integrated woodworking system 1 . it is also feasible to place the source of gas pressure 5 inside the integrated woodworking system 1 ; the present invention imposes no limitations in this regard. the integrated woodworking system 1 of the present invention essentially includes an enclosure 10 , a management and control center 20 , and a plurality of tool holders 30 . the structures of and the relationship between these components are detailed below: as shown in fig. 2 , the enclosure 10 is a standard 40-foot shipping container. the management and control center 20 is provided in the enclosure 10 and is connected to the external source of electricity 3 and external source of gas pressure 5 . the management and control center 20 can be a central server or an equivalent computation device and is configured to manage and control, via a conventional software or hardware control method, the consumption of electricity input from the source of electricity 3 and the flow rate of gas input from the source of gas pressure 5 . for example, a central server is used to control an electronic switch for turning on and off the input of electricity, and a pressure valve for turning on and off the input of gas. the management and control center 20 further has at least one electricity output cable 21 and at least one gas output hose 22 for delivering electricity or gas to each electric or pneumatic tool mentioned further below. the electricity output cable 21 or the gas output hose 22 may be partially embedded or installed in a lateral wall of the enclosure 10 so that, by planning beforehand, all the cables and hoses to be used can be laid out in an orderly fashion. in addition, the management and control center 20 may optionally be provided with a data transmission unit 24 , a power consumption monitoring unit 23 , and a remote electricity management unit 25 . the data transmission unit 24 is configured to communicate with a remote computer c (e.g., a computer located at the user's residence) through a wireless or wired network, allowing the user to issue a command remotely to turn on or off the supply of electricity to the management and control center 20 . when finishing a computer-aided graphic design on the computer c, the user may also send the completed cad file to the management and control center 20 through the data transmission unit 24 . the power consumption monitoring unit 23 , which may include a digital wattmeter and a pressure gage for example, is configured to measure the consumption of the input electricity and the flow rate of the input gas by a software control method or a circuit control method. should the consumption of the input electricity exceed a predetermined value, the management and control center 20 will automatically cut off the supply of electricity to prevent accidents. the remote electricity management unit 25 is provided in the management and control center 20 . when, by operating control software remotely, the user issues a command for turning on or off the supply of electricity to the management and control center 20 , the remote electricity management unit 25 will turn on or off the supply of electricity as instructed after the data transmission unit 24 receives the command and redirects the command to the remote electricity management unit 25 . this allows the user to power off the integrated woodworking system 1 remotely to prevent accidents. the tool holders 30 are provided in the enclosure 10 in a pre-planned manner and are configured to accommodate and hold various electric or pneumatic tools respectively. each tool holder 30 is connected to either the electricity output cable 21 or the gas output hose 22 , in order for the corresponding electric tool to connect electrically to the management and control center 20 through the tool holder 30 and the electricity output cable 21 , or for the corresponding pneumatic tool to connect to the management and control center 20 through the tool holder 30 and the gas output hose 22 . the electric tools can be electric drills, electric saws, and like woodworking tools. the pneumatic tools can be pneumatic nail guns, dust collectors, and so on. moreover, the integrated woodworking system 1 may optionally be provided with a screen 40 . the screen 40 , if provided, is connected to one of the tool holders 30 so that, through a wireless network, the data transmission unit 24 can transmit a cad file or other data to the screen 40 for display to facilitate woodworking. it is worth mentioning that some or all of the tool holders 30 may be arranged side by side in the enclosure 10 . furthermore, a cutter storage area 50 and a material storage are 60 may be provided in the enclosure 10 . the cutter storage area 50 and the material storage area 60 are each divided into a plurality of numbered sections where cutters (e.g., drill bits) or the materials to be worked on can be placed. the numbering schemes for the cutter storage area 50 and the material storage area 60 and the data of the cutters and materials placed in those areas can be synchronized with the management and control center 20 in order for the user to access and put away the cutters and materials with ease, or to enable automated retrieval and storage of the cutters and materials. a woodworking tool vender who has received a buyer's order for the integrated woodworking system 1 can provide the buyer with a pre-planned integrated woodworking system 1 according to the sizes and materials of the workpieces the buyer intends to make as well as the buyer's budgets. the integrated woodworking system 1 may also be modularized or customized. as the integrated woodworking system 1 features a pre-planned cable and hose arrangement, the cables and hoses of the various woodworking tools in the system will not be entangled. moreover, accidents associated with overloading are avoided thanks to the management and control center 20 , which manages all the electrical loads on the electricity output cable 21 and the gas output hose 22 as a whole. further, the present embodiment may optionally be connected with an external water source (not shown). in that case, the system will also be provided with pipes/hoses leading from the water source to the corresponding tool holders 30 in order to supply water to those tool holders 30 . it should be pointed out that the components disclosed in the foregoing embodiment serve illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be restrictive of the scope of the present invention. all equivalent components and structural variations should be viewed as falling within the scope of the invention.
027-412-658-915-356	US	[ "US" ]	B32B9/00	2007-10-30T00:00:00	2007	[ "B32" ]	systems and devices related to nitric oxide releasing materials	the present disclosure relates to systems and devices related to nitric oxide releasing materials.	1 . a device comprising: one or more substrates; one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates; and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with the one or more light sources. 2 .- 8 . (canceled) 9 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more substrates comprise: one or more light permeable substrates. 10 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more substrates comprise: one or more adhesives. 11 .- 14 . (canceled) 15 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more substrates comprise: one or more sensors. 16 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more substrates comprise: one or more sensors that are configured to detect nitric oxide. 17 . (canceled) 18 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more substrates comprise: one or more sensors that are configured to detect one or more nitric oxide donors. 19 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more substrates comprise: one or more status indicators. 20 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates comprise: one or more light emitters. 21 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates comprise: one or more power supplies. 22 . (canceled) 23 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates comprise: one or more power supplies that include one or more solar cells. 24 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates comprise: one or more power supplies that include one or more capacitors. 25 . (canceled) 26 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates comprise: one or more control units. 27 . (canceled) 28 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates comprise: one or more light sources that are associated with one or more quantum dots. 29 . (canceled) 30 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates comprise: one or more light sources that are associated with one or more optical waveguides. 31 .- 33 . (canceled) 34 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates comprise: one or more light sources that are associated with one or more rare-earth materials. 35 .- 36 . (canceled) 37 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates comprise: one or more light sources that emit infrared light. 38 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates comprise: one or more light sources that are configured to emit light that specifically facilitates release of nitric oxide from the one or more nitric oxide donors. 39 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates comprise: one or more light sources that are configured to emit light that is selected to avoid damaging one or more tissues. 40 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates comprise: one or more status indicators. 41 . (canceled) 42 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with the one or more light sources comprise: one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that include one or more diazeniumdiolates. 43 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with the one or more light sources comprise: one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are associated with one or more quantum dots. 44 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with the one or more light sources comprise: one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are associated with one or more rare-earth materials. 45 .- 46 . (canceled) 47 . the device of claim 1 , further comprising: one or more control units. 48 .- 49 . (canceled) 50 . the device of claim 47 , wherein the one or more control units comprise: one or more receivers that are configured to receive one or more signals. 51 . the device of claim 47 , wherein the one or more control units comprise: one or more receivers that are configured to receive one or more signals from one or more sensors. 52 . the device of claim 47 , wherein the one or more control units comprise: one or more transmitters. 53 . the device of claim 47 , wherein the one or more control units comprise: one or more control units that regulate the one or more light sources. 54 .- 59 . (canceled) 60 . the device of claim 47 , wherein the one or more control units comprise: one or more control units that regulate in response to one or more programs. 61 . the device of claim 47 , wherein the one or more control units comprise: one or more control units that regulate in response to one or more commands. 62 . the device of claim 47 , wherein the one or more control units comprise: one or more control units that regulate in response to one or more timers. 63 .- 65 . (canceled) 66 . the device of claim 1 , further comprising: one or more nitric oxide permeable layers. 67 . the device of claim 66 , wherein the one or more nitric oxide permeable layers comprise: one or more nitric oxide permeable layers that include one or more adhesives. 68 . the device of claim 66 , wherein the one or more nitric oxide permeable layers comprise: one or more nitric oxide permeable layers that include one or more nitric oxide selective membranes. 69 . (canceled) 70 . the device of claim 47 , further comprising: one or more sensors. 71 . the device of claim 70 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise: one or more sensors that are configured to detect nitric oxide. 72 . (canceled) 73 . the device of claim 70 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise: one or more sensors that are configured to detect one or more nitric oxide donors. 74 . the device of claim 70 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise: one or more sensors that are operably coupled to the one or more control units. 75 . (canceled) 76 . the device of claim 70 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise: one or more sensors that are configured to transmit one or more signals. 77 .- 82 . (canceled) 83 . the device of claim 70 , further comprising: one or more nitric oxide permeable layers. 84 . the device of claim 83 , wherein the one or more nitric oxide permeable layers comprise: one or more nitric oxide permeable layers that include one or more adhesives. 85 .- 86 . (canceled) 87 . a system comprising: circuitry for operating one or more light sources that are operably associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors and one or more substrates. 88 .- 106 . (canceled) 107 . the system of claim 87 , further comprising: circuitry for operating one or more control units. 108 .- 125 . (canceled) 126 . the system of claim 107 , further comprising: circuitry for operating one or more sensors. 127 .- 138 . (canceled) 139 . a system comprising: means for operating one or more light sources that are operably associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors and one or more substrates. 140 . the system of claim 139 , further comprising: means for operating one or more control units. 141 . the system of claim 140 , further comprising: means for operating one or more sensors. 142 . a system comprising: a signal-bearing medium bearing: one or more instructions for operating one or more light sources that are operably associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors and one or more substrates. 143 .- 145 . (canceled) 146 . the system of claim 142 , further comprising: one or more instructions for operating one or more control units. 147 . the system of claim 146 , further comprising: one or more instructions for operating one or more sensors.	cross-reference to related applications the present application is related to and claims the benefit of the earliest available effective filing date(s) from the following listed application(s) (the “related applications”) (e.g., claims earliest available priority dates for other than provisional patent applications or claims benefits under 35 usc §119(e) for provisional patent applications, for any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of the related application(s)). related applications for purposes of the uspto extra-statutory requirements, the present application constitutes a continuation-in-part of u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/981,743, entitled methods and systems for use of photolyzable nitric oxide donors, naming roderick a. hyde as inventor, filed 30 oct. 2007, which is currently co-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date. for purposes of the uspto extra-statutory requirements, the present application constitutes a continuation-in-part of u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/998,864, entitled systems and devices that utilize photolyzable nitric oxide donors, naming roderick a. hyde as inventor, filed 30 nov. 2007, which is currently co-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date. for purposes of the uspto extra-statutory requirements, the present application constitutes a continuation-in-part of u.s. patent application ser. no. unknown, entitled devices and systems that deliver nitric oxide, naming roderick a. hyde, muriel y. ishikawa and lowell l. wood, jr. as inventors, filed 21 dec. 2007, which is currently co-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date. for purposes of the uspto extra-statutory requirements, the present application constitutes a continuation-in-part of u.s. patent application ser. no. unknown, entitled nitric oxide sensors and systems, naming roderick a. hyde, muriel y. ishikawa and lowell l. wood, jr. as inventors, filed 21 dec. 2007, which is currently co-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date. for purposes of the uspto extra-statutory requirements, the present application constitutes a continuation-in-part of u.s. patent application ser. no. unknown, entitled devices configured to facilitate release of nitric oxide, naming roderick a. hyde, muriel y. ishikawa and lowell l. wood, jr. as inventors, filed 21 dec. 2007, which is currently co-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date. for purposes of the uspto extra-statutory requirements, the present application constitutes a continuation-in-part of u.s. patent application ser. no. unknown, entitled condoms configured to facilitate release of nitric oxide, naming roderick a. hyde, muriel y. ishikawa and lowell l. wood, jr. as inventors, filed 21 dec. 2007, which is currently co-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date. the united states patent office (uspto) has published a notice to the effect that the uspto's computer programs require that patent applicants reference both a serial number and indicate whether an application is a continuation or continuation-in-part. stephen g. kunin, benefit of prior-filed application, uspto official gazette mar. 18, 2003, available at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/2003/week11/patbene.htm. the present applicant entity (hereinafter “applicant”) has provided above a specific reference to the application(s) from which priority is being claimed as recited by statute. applicant understands that the statute is unambiguous in its specific reference language and does not require either a serial number or any characterization, such as “continuation” or “continuation-in-part,” for claiming priority to u.s. patent applications. notwithstanding the foregoing, applicant understands that the uspto's computer programs have certain data entry requirements, and hence applicant is designating the present application as a continuation-in-part of its parent applications as set forth above, but expressly points out that such designations are not to be construed in any way as any type of commentary and/or admission as to whether or not the present application contains any new matter in addition to the matter of its parent application(s). all subject matter of the related applications and of any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of the related applications is incorporated herein by reference to the extent such subject matter is not inconsistent herewith. technical field the present disclosure relates to systems and devices related to nitric oxide releasing materials. summary in some embodiments one or more devices are provided that include one or more substrates, one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with the one or more light sources. the device may optionally include one or more control units. the device may optionally include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers. the device may optionally include one or more sensors. the device may optionally include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers. in addition to the foregoing, other aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure. in some embodiments one or more systems are provided that include circuitry for operating one or more light sources that are operably associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors and one or more substrates. the system may optionally include circuitry for operating one or more control units. the system may optionally include circuitry for operating one or more sensors. in addition to the foregoing, other aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure. in some embodiments one or more systems are provided that include means for operating one or more light sources that are operably associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors and one or more substrates. the system may optionally include means for operating one or more control units. the system may optionally include means for operating one or more sensors. in addition to the foregoing, other aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure. in some embodiments one or more systems are provided that include a signal-bearing medium bearing one or more instructions for operating one or more light sources that are operably associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors and one or more substrates. the system may optionally include one or more instructions for operating one or more control units. the system may optionally include one or more instructions for operating one or more sensors. in addition to the foregoing, other aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure. in some embodiments, means include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the herein referenced functional aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein referenced functional aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer. in addition to the foregoing, other system aspects means are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present disclosure. in some embodiments, related systems include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the herein referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer. in addition to the foregoing, other system aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application. the foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. in addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings, claims, and the following detailed description. brief description of the figures fig. 1 illustrates an example system 100 in which embodiments may be implemented. fig. 2 illustrates embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 3 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 4 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 5 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 6 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 7 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 8 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 9 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 10 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 11 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 12 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 13 illustrates embodiment 1300 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 14 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 1300 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 15 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 1300 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 16 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 1300 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 17 illustrates embodiment 1700 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 18 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 1700 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 19 illustrates embodiment 1900 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 20 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 1900 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 21 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 1900 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 22 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 1900 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 23 illustrates embodiment 2300 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 24 illustrates alternate embodiments of embodiment 2300 of device 102 within system 100 . fig. 25 illustrates a partial view of a system 2500 that includes a computer program for executing a computer process on a computing device. fig. 26 illustrates a partial view of a system 2600 that includes a computer program for executing a computer process on a computing device. fig. 27 illustrates a partial view of a system 2700 that includes a computer program for executing a computer process on a computing device. fig. 28a illustrates an embodiment of device 102 . fig. 28b illustrates an embodiment of device 102 . fig. 29a illustrates an embodiment of device 102 . fig. 29b illustrates an embodiment of device 102 . fig. 30a illustrates an embodiment of device 102 . fig. 30b illustrates an embodiment of device 102 . detailed description in the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. in the drawings, similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise. the illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here. while various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. the various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims. fig. 1 illustrates a system 100 in which embodiments may be implemented. system 100 may include one or more devices 102 that include one or more light sources 106 and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, system 100 may include one or more control units 116 , one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 , one or more sensors 120 , and substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, the photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be physically coupled with the one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, the one or more light sources 106 may be coated with the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, the one or more light sources 106 may include one or more polymeric materials that are coupled to at least one of the photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be coated with a composition that includes one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be included within a housing that is coated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be in direct contact with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be in indirect contact with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, the device 102 may include one or more operably coupled control units 116 . in some embodiments, the one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled to the one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, the one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled to the one or more light sources 106 and may be used to control the operation of the one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, the one or more control units 116 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 . in some embodiments, the one or more control units 116 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 from one or more transmitters. in some embodiments, the one or more control units 116 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 from one or more sensors 120 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 and one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 , one or more light sources 106 , and one or more control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 , one or more light sources 106 , one or more control units 116 , and one or more sensors 120 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 , one or more light sources 106 , one or more control units 116 , one or more sensors 120 , or substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, one or more devices 102 may be operably coupled to one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 . in some embodiments, system 100 may include one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 that are configured to receive electromagnetic energy. in some embodiments, system 100 may include one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 that are configured to receive electromagnetic energy 110 that is transmitted by one or more electromagnetic transmitters 112 . in some embodiments, the one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 may be operably coupled to the device 102 . in some embodiments, the one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 may be operably coupled to the one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, the one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 may be operably coupled to the one or more light sources 106 such that the one or more light sources 106 are energized through receipt of electromagnetic energy. in some embodiments, system 100 may include one or more light sources 106 , one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 , one or more control units 116 , one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 , one or more sensors 120 , one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 , one or more electromagnetic transmitters 112 , or substantially any combination thereof. device system 100 includes one or more devices 102 . a device 102 may be configured in numerous ways. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to a surface of an individual 126 . in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured for application to an inside surface of an individual 126 . for example, in some embodiments, a device may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to an oral surface, a nasal surface, and the like. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured for application to an outside surface of an individual 126 . for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to the skin of an individual 126 . accordingly, a device 102 may be configured in numerous ways to deliver nitric oxide to a surface or region of an individual 126 . in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide as a therapeutic agent (e.g., u.s. patent application no.: 2007/0088316). for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to a person to combat infection. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to a person to assist in removal of necrotic tissue. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to a person to reduce inflammation. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to a person to upregulate the expression of collagenase. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to a person to facilitate vascularisation. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to a person suffering from diabetes. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to tissue lesions. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide as a sanitizing agent. in some embodiments, a device may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to an accident victim. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured as a bag into which a burn victim may be inserted. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to the surface of a table, a chair, to surgical instruments, and the like. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured as a wearable article. examples of such wearable articles include, but are not limited to, hats, gloves, mittens, socks, pants, shirts, hoods, patches, tapes, wraps, and the like. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured as a bag. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured as a bag that will enclose a person. in some embodiments, such a bag may be used to deliver nitric oxide to the surface of an individual 126 . in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured as a sleeve that will enclose a portion of a person. in some embodiments, such a sleeve may be used to deliver nitric oxide to the surface of an individual 126 . in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide in a controlled manner. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be associated with a nitric oxide sensor 120 that facilitates generation of nitric oxide in a controlled manner. for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be operably coupled with one or more sensors 120 such that the light sources act in response to the one or more sensors 120 . accordingly, in some embodiments, the light sources may be regulated to facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors in a controlled manner. in some embodiments, such a configuration allows the nitric oxide concentration within an area to be maintained within a selected range. numerous concentrations of nitric oxide may be maintained. for example, in some embodiments, the nitric oxide concentration within a wound area may be maintained at about 160 to about 400 parts per million. such a concentration range has been reported to reduce microbial infection within a wound site, reduce inflammation, and increase collagenase expression without inducing toxicity to healthy cells within the wound site (e.g., u.s. patent application no.: 2007/0088316). light source numerous light sources 106 may be used within system 100 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be used to facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit light of multiple wavelengths. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit light that is selected to facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit one or more wavelengths of light that are selected to facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more identified photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit one or more wavelengths of light that are selected based on the absorption spectrum of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit one or more wavelengths of light that are selected based on decomposition of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit one or more wavelengths of light that cause decomposition of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 without causing injury to adjacent structures and/or tissues. in some embodiments, a first light source 106 may be configured to emit one or more wavelengths of light that cause a first photolyzable nitric oxide donor 104 to release nitric oxide and a second light source 106 may be configured to emit one or more wavelengths of light that cause a second photolyzable nitric oxide donor 104 to release nitric oxide. accordingly, numerous light sources 106 may be coupled with numerous types of photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 to provide for selective release of nitric oxide. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more quantum dots (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 7,235,361; herein incorporated by reference). for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit one or more wavelengths of light that are absorbed by one or more quantum dots. in some embodiments, one or more quantum dots may be configured to absorb light and then emit one or more wavelengths of light that cause release of nitric oxide from one or more nitric oxide donors 104 . accordingly, in some embodiments, emission from one or more first quantum dots may be tuned to facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more first photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 and emission from one or more second quantum dots may be tuned to facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more second photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . a light source 106 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to include one or more energy sources (e.g., one or more batteries, one or more thin-film batteries, one or more solar cells, one or more capacitors, and the like). in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to include one or more light emitters (e.g., one or more light emitting diodes, one or more filaments, and the like). in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to include one or more optical fibers. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to include one or more control units 116 . in some embodiments, a light source 106 may be remotely controlled. for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 that include instructions for operation of the one or more light sources 106 . such instructions may be associated with emission of light, non-emission of light, time when light is emitted, length of light emission, intensity of light emission, wavelengths of emitted light, and the like. in some embodiments, light sources 106 may be configured to include one or more control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to include a switch that may be used to turn the light source 106 on and off. for example, in some embodiments, a light source 106 may be configured to include a push button switch to turn the light source 106 on and off. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more light emitters that are coupled to one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 . the one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 may be configured to couple with one or more electromagnetic transmitters 112 that produce one or more electromagnetic fields that induce an electrical current to flow in the one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 to energize the light emitters (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,571,152; herein incorporated by reference). accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured such that they are remotely coupled to an energy source. a light source 106 may be configured to emit numerous types of light. in some embodiments, emitted light may be visible light. in some embodiments, emitted light may be infrared light. in some embodiments, emitted light may be ultraviolet light. in some embodiments, emitted light may be substantially any combination of visible light, infrared light, and/or ultraviolet light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit fluorescent light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit phosphorescent light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit light continuously. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit light as a pulse. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit light as a flash. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit light continuously, as a pulse, as a flash, or substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, one or more light emitters and/or light sources 106 may be configured to provide for upconversion of energy. in some embodiments, infrared light may be upconverted to visible light (e.g., mendioroz et al., optical materials, 26:351-357 (2004)). in some embodiments, infrared light may be upconverted to ultraviolet light (e.g., mendioroz et al., optical materials, 26:351-357 (2004)). in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more rare-earth materials (e.g., ytterbium-erbium, ytterbium-thulium, or the like) that facilitate upconversion of energy (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 7,088,040; herein incorporated by reference). for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be associated with nd 3+ doped kpb 2 cl 5 crystals. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be associated with thiogallates doped with rare earths, such as caga 2 s 4 :ce 3+ and srga 2 s 4 :ce 3+ . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be associated with aluminates that are doped with rare earths, such as yalo 3 :ce 3+ , ygao 3 :ce 3+ , y(al,ga)o 3 :ce 3+ , and orthosilicates m 2 sio 5 :ce 3+ (m:sc, y, sc) doped with rare earths, such as, for example, y 2 sio 5 :ce 3+ . in some embodiments, yttrium may be replaced by scandium or lanthanum (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 6,812,500 and 6,327,074; herein incorporated by reference). numerous materials that may be used to upconvert energy have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 5,956,172; 5,943,160; 7,235,189; 7,215,687; herein incorporated by reference). photolyzable nitric oxide donor/nitric oxide numerous photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be used within system 100 . examples of such photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 include, but are not limited to, diazeniumdiolates (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 7,105,502; 7,122,529; 6,673,338; herein incorporated by reference), trans-[rucl([15]anen4)no]+2 (ferezin et al., nitric oxide, 13:170-175 (2005), bonaventura et al., nitric oxide, 10:83-91 (2004)), nitrosyl ligands (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,665,077; herein incorporated by reference, chmura et al., nitric oxide, 15:370-379 (2005), flitney et al., br. j. pharmacol., 107:842-848 (1992), flitney et al., br. j. pharmacol., 117:1549-1557 (1996), matthews et al., br. j. pharmacol., 113:87-94 (1994)), 6-nitrobenzo[a]pyrene (e.g., fukuhara et al., j. am. chem. soc., 123:8662-8666 (2001)), s-nitroso-glutathione (e.g., rotta et al., braz. j. med. res., 36:587-594 (2003), flitney and megson, j. physiol., 550:819-828 (2003)), s-nitrosothiols (e.g., andrews et al., british journal of pharmacology, 138:932-940 (2003), singh et al., febs lett., 360:47-51 (1995)), 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane (e.g., pou et al., mol. pharm., 46:709-715 (1994), wang et al., chem. rev., 102:1091-1134 (2002)), imidazolyl derivatives (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,374,710; herein incorporated by reference). in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be used in association with additional nitric oxide donors that are not photolyzable. in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be used in association with additional agents. examples of such additional agents include, but are not limited to, enzyme inhibitors (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 6,943,166; herein incorporated by reference), agents that increase the effects and/or concentration of nitric oxide (e.g., methylene blue and n(w)-nitro-l-arginine (l-noarg) (see chen and gillis, biochem. biophys. res. commun., 190, 559-563 (1993) and kim et al., j. vet. sci., 1:81-86 (2000)), l-arginine (e.g., u.s. published patent application no.: 20020068365 and u.s. pat. nos. 6,635,273; herein incorporated by reference), agents that stabilize nitric oxide donors (e.g., dimethly sulfoxide and ethanol), agents that increase the half life of nitric oxide (e.g., u.s. published patent application no.: 20030039697; herein incorporated by reference), and the like. control unit numerous types of control units 116 may be used within system 100 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled with one or more light sources 106 , one or more sensors 120 , one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 , one or more electromagnetic transmitters 112 , or substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled to other components through use of one or more wireless connections, one or more hardwired connections, or substantially any combination thereof. control units 116 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, a control unit 116 may be configured as an on/off switch. accordingly, in some embodiments, a control unit 116 may be configured to turn a light source on and/or off. in some embodiments, a control unit 116 may be configured to control the emission of light from one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may regulate the intensity of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , the duration of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , the frequency of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , wavelengths of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , or substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 from one or more sensors 120 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be configured to control one or more light sources 106 in response to one or more signals 118 received from one or more sensors 120 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may sense a low concentration of nitric oxide in one or more tissues and send one or more signals 118 to one or more control units 116 . the one or more control units 116 may then turn one or more light sources 106 on to facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may sense a high concentration of nitric oxide in one or more tissues and send one or more signals 118 to one or more control units 116 . the one or more control units 116 may then turn one or more light sources 106 off to end release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be programmed to control one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be programmed to turn one or more light sources 106 on for a predetermined amount of time and then turn off. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be preprogrammed. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be dynamically programmed. for example, in some embodiments, one or more management units 122 may receive one or more signals 118 from one or more sensors 120 and program one or more control units 116 in response to the one or more signals 118 received from the one or more sensors 120 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more receivers that are able to receive one or more signals 118 , one or more information packets, or substantially any combination thereof. control units 116 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled to one or more light sources 106 that include numerous light emitting diodes that emit light of different wavelengths. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may control the wavelengths of light emitted by the one or more light sources 106 by controlling the operation of light emitting diodes that emit light of the selected wavelength. accordingly, control units 116 may be configured in numerous ways and utilize numerous types of mechanisms. substrate numerous substrates 114 may be used within system 100 . substrates 114 may be constructed from numerous types of materials and combinations of materials. examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, metals, metal alloys, polymers, copolymers, ceramics, cloth, fabric, and the like. substrates 114 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be one or more sheets of one or more materials to which one or more light sources and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors may be associated. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured to accept one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include electrical connections that may be operably coupled to one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured to be associated with one or more power supplies. for example, in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more solar cells. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more batteries (e.g., thin-film batteries). in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more capacitors. substrates 114 may exhibit numerous physical characteristics. for example, in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be elastomeric. methods to prepare elastomeric materials are known and have been reported (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 6,639,007; 6,673,871; 7,105,607). in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be inelastic. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be fabricated from one or more metal foils. in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be fabricated with pressure sensitive fibers. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more elastomeric materials that self-adhere. accordingly, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured in the form of self-adhering athletic tape. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more adhesives that are applied to one or more portions of the substrate. accordingly, substrates 114 may be fabricated in numerous configurations. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more storage films that are configured for energy storage and energy conversion (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 7,238,628). nitric oxide permeable layer numerous types of nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be used within system 100 . nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured for application to an individual 126 . nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to facilitate application of nitric oxide to a surface. in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to facilitate application of nitric oxide to one or more surfaces of an individual 126 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured as a sheet that may be positioned on a skin surface of an individual 126 to deliver nitric oxide to the skin surface. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may be configured as a wearable article. examples of such wearable articles include, but are not limited to, hats, gloves, mittens, pants, shirts, hoods, patches, tapes, wraps, and the like. in some embodiments, nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured as bags. for example, in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured as a bag that will enclose a person. in some embodiments, such a bag may be used to deliver nitric oxide to the surface of an individual 126 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured as a sleeve that will enclose a portion of a person. in some embodiments, such a sleeve may be used to deliver nitric oxide to the surface of an individual 126 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose at least a portion of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose at least a portion of one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose at least a portion of one or more control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose at least a portion of one or more sensors 120 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 and one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 , one or more light sources 106 , and one or more control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 , one or more light sources 106 , one or more control units 116 , and one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 , one or more light sources 106 , one or more control units 116 , one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 , or substantially any combination thereof. nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be constructed of numerous types of materials and combinations of materials. examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, ceramics, polymeric materials, metals, plastics, and the like. in some embodiments, nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include numerous combinations of materials. for example, in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a nitric oxide impermeable material that is coupled to a nitric oxide permeable material. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable membranes (e.g., u.s. patent application no.: 20020026937). in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a selectively permeable membrane. for example, in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a selectively permeable membrane that is a hydrophilic polyester co-polymer membrane system that includes a copolymer with 70% polyester and 30% polyether (e.g., sympatex™ 10 μm membrane, see hardwick et al., clinical science, 100:395-400 (2001)). in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a scintered glass portion that is permeable to nitric oxide. accordingly, nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include numerous types of porous ceramics that are permeable to nitric oxide. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a porous metal portion that is permeable to nitric oxide. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a nitric oxide permeable coating (e.g., u.s. patent application nos.: 20050220838 and 20030093143). sensor numerous types of sensors 120 may be used within system 100 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be used to determine the presence of nitric oxide in one or more tissues. in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may be configured for use on the outside surface of an individual 126 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to detect the concentration of nitric oxide on the surface of skin, a wound, a surface of a table, and the like. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to be included within one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to be included within one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 . in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may be configured to utilize fluorescence to detect nitric oxide. for example, in some embodiments, a sensor may detect nitric oxide through use of one or more fluorescent probes, such as 4,5-diaminofluorescein diacetate (emd chemicals inc., san diego, calif.). in some embodiments, a sensor may detect nitric oxide through use of one or more electrodes. for example, in some embodiments, a sensor may utilize an electrode that includes a single walled carbon nanotube and an ionic liquid to detect nitric oxide (e.g., li et al., electroanalysis, 18:713-718 (2006)). numerous sensors 120 are commercially available and have been described (e.g., world precision instruments, inc., sarasota, fla., usa; u.s. pat. nos. 6,100,096; 6,280,604; 5,980,705). in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may include one or more transmitters. in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may include one or more receivers. in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may be configured to transmit one or more signals 118 . in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 . many types of sensors may be used within system 100 . examples of such sensors include, but are not limited to, temperature sensors 120 , pressure sensors 120 (e.g., blood pressure, hydrostatic pressure), pulse rate sensors 120 , clocks, bacterial contamination sensors 120 , strain sensors 120 , light sensors 120 , nitric oxide sensors 120 , and the like. electromagnetic receiver numerous types of electromagnetic receivers 108 may be used within system 100 . in some embodiments, one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 may be used to electromagnetically couple power to energize one or more light sources 106 from an external power supply. methods to construct such electromagnetic receivers 108 have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,571,152). briefly, in some embodiments, one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 may be associated with one or more rectifier chips. the one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 may include one or more cores about which are wrapped an electrical conductor. in some embodiments, cores may comprise a material, such as a ferrite material, due to its relatively high magnetic permeability and low magnetic hysteresis. however, other materials can be used for this purpose. in some embodiments, the electromagnetic receiver 108 may be operably coupled to a light emitting diode. electromagnetic transmitter numerous types of electromagnetic transmitters 112 may be used within system 100 . methods to construct electromagnetic transmitters 112 have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,571,152). briefly, in some embodiments, the electromagnetic transmitter 112 may include a ferrite core around which is wrapped an electrical conductor. other types of material having high magnetic permeability and relatively low magnetic hysteresis may be used for the core. insulating tape may be wrapped around the electrical conductor, or the electromagnetic transmitter 112 may be dipped in a resin to form a coating that stabilizes and fixes the electrical conductor on the core. a return lead from one end of the electrical conductor may include one of two leads that are coupled to an ac power supply. electromagnetic energy electrical power may be electromagnetically coupled from one or more electromagnetic transmitters 112 with one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 . accordingly, electrical power that is transferred to the one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 may be used to power one or more operably linked light emitters. methods and devices that may be used to transmit electrical power to a light emitter have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,571,152). management unit in some embodiments, system 100 may include one or more management units 122 . in some embodiments, a management unit 122 may be configured as a computer. accordingly, in some embodiments, a management unit 122 may be configured to accept input and provide output. for example, in some embodiments, a management unit 122 may receive one or more signals 118 from one or more sensors 120 , process the one or more signals 118 , and then transmit one or more signals 118 . in some embodiments, one or more transmitted signals 118 may be received by one or more control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more transmitted signals 118 may be received by one or more light sources 106 . accordingly, in some embodiments, a management unit 122 may be configured to manage nitric oxide production by a device 102 . for example, in some embodiments, a management unit 122 may include and execute a set of instructions for the operation of one or more control units 116 that facilitate production of nitric oxide by one or more devices 102 at preselected times and for preselected concentrations. in some embodiments, such production may be regulated through control of the intensity of light emitted by one or more light sources 106 , the duration of light emitted by one or more light sources 106 , the frequency of light emitted by one or more light sources 106 , and the like. in some embodiments, a management unit 122 may dynamically control the production of nitric oxide by one or more devices. for example, in some embodiments, a management unit 122 may be configured to maintain a nitric oxide concentration within a range of concentrations. accordingly, the management unit 122 may receive one or more signals 118 from one or more sensors 120 indicating a current concentration of nitric oxide. the management unit 122 may then determine if the nitric oxide concentration is within a range of nitric oxide concentrations or out of a range of nitric oxide concentrations and then increase nitric oxide production, decrease nitric oxide production, or maintain nitric oxide production to cause the nitric oxide concentration to be maintained within a range. accordingly, a management unit 122 may be used on numerous ways to regulate nitric oxide production. transmitter the system 100 may include one or more transmitters. in some embodiments, one or more transmitters may be operably coupled to one or more sensors 120 . in some embodiments, one or more transmitters may be operably coupled to one or more management units 122 . in some embodiments, one or more transmitters may be operably coupled to one or more control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more transmitters may be operably coupled to one or more sensors 120 , one or more control units 116 , one or more management units, or substantially any combination thereof. numerous types of transmitters may be used in association with system 100 . examples of such transmitters include, but are not limited to, transmitters that transmit one or more optical signals 118 , radio signals 118 , wireless signals 118 , hardwired signals 118 , infrared signals 118 , ultrasonic signals 118 , and the like (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. re39,785; 7,260,768; 7,260,764; 7,260,402; 7,257,327; 7,215,887; 7,218,900; herein incorporated by reference). in some embodiments, one or more transmitters may transmit one or more signals 118 that are encrypted. numerous types of transmitters are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. and published u.s. patent applications: 7,236,595; 7,260,155; 7,227,956; us2006/0280307; herein incorporated by reference). signal numerous types of signals 118 may be used in association with system 100 . examples of such signals 118 include, but are not limited to, optical signals 118 , radio signals 118 , wireless signals 118 , hardwired signals 118 , infrared signals 118 , ultrasonic signals 118 , and the like. in some embodiments, one or more signals 118 may not be encrypted. in some embodiments, one or more signals 118 may be encrypted. in some embodiments, one or more signals 118 may be sent through use of a secure mode of transmission. in some embodiments, one or more signals 118 may be coded for receipt by a specific individual 126 . in some embodiments, such code may include anonymous code that is specific for an individual 126 . accordingly, information included within one or more signals 118 may be protected against being accessed by others who are not the intended recipient. receiver system 100 may include one or more receivers. in some embodiments, one or more receivers may be operably coupled to one or more sensors 120 . in some embodiments, one or more receivers may be operably coupled to one or more management units 122 . in some embodiments, one or more receivers may be operably coupled to one or more control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more receivers may be operably coupled to one or more sensors 120 , one or more control units 116 , one or more management units, or substantially any combination thereof. numerous types of receivers may be used in association with system 100 . examples of such receivers include, but are not limited to, receivers that receive one or more optical signals 118 , radio signals 118 , wireless signals 118 , hardwired signals 118 , infrared signals 118 , ultrasonic signals 118 , and the like. such receivers are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. re39,785; 7,218,900; 7,254,160; 7,245,894; 7,206,605; herein incorporated by reference). user interface/user system 100 may include numerous types of user interfaces 124 . for example, one or more users (e.g., individuals 126 ) may interact through use of numerous user interfaces 124 that utilize hardwired methods, such as through use of an on/off switch, a push button, a keyboard, and the like. in some embodiments, the user interface 124 may utilize wireless methods, such as methods that utilize a transmitter and receiver, utilize the internet, and the like. individual a device 102 may be used to deliver nitric oxide to an individual 126 . in some embodiments, an individual 126 may be a human. in some embodiments, an individual 126 may be a human male. in some embodiments, an individual 126 may be a human female. a device 102 may be used within numerous contexts. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be used to deliver nitric oxide to an individual 126 to treat sexual dysfunction. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be used to treat female arousal disorder. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be used to treat male erectile disorder. in some embodiments, sexual dysfunction may be due to a physical condition. for example, in some embodiments, sexual dysfunction may result from surgery, a physical injury, pharmaceutical use, age, or the like. in some embodiments, sexual dysfunction may be due to a mental condition. for example, in some embodiments, sexual dysfunction may be due to depression, lack of interest, insecurity, anxiety, or the like. in some embodiments, a device 102 may deliver nitric oxide to increase sexual performance and/or pleasure. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be used to deliver nitric oxide to the skin of an individual 126 . in some embodiments, such delivery may be for cosmetic purposes. in some embodiments, such delivery may be for therapeutic purposes. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be used to deliver nitric oxide to a skin lesion, such as a skin ulcer, a burn, a cut, a puncture, a laceration, a blunt trauma, an acne lesion, a boil, and the like. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be used to deliver nitric oxide to a skin surface to increase the expression of endogenous collagenase. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be used to deliver nitric oxide to a skin surface to regulate the formation of collagen. in some embodiments, a device 102 may be used to deliver nitric oxide to reduce inflammation (e.g., reduce exudate secretion) at the site of a lesion (e.g., u.s. patent application no.: 2007/0088316). in some embodiments, a device 102 may be used to deliver nitric oxide to reduce the microbial burden within a wound site. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be used to deliver nitric oxide as an antibacterial agent against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. a device 102 may deliver nitric oxide to an individual 126 at numerous concentrations. for example, in some embodiments, nitric oxide may be delivered at a concentration ranging from about 160 ppm to about 400 ppm. such concentrations may be used without inducing toxicity in the healthy cells around a wound site (e.g., u.s. patent application no.: 2007/0088316). fig. 2 illustrates embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 . in fig. 2 , discussion and explanation may be provided with respect to the above-described example of fig. 1 , and/or with respect to other examples and contexts. however, it should be understood that the modules may execute operations in a number of other environments and contexts, and/or modified versions of fig. 1 . also, although the various modules are presented in the sequence(s) illustrated, it should be understood that the various modules may be configured in numerous orientations. the embodiment 200 may include module 210 that includes one or more substrates. embodiment 200 of device 102 may include one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more light sources and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . a substrate 114 may be made of numerous materials and combinations of materials. examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, metals, metal alloys, polymers, copolymers, ceramics, cloth, fabric, and the like. substrates 114 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be one or more sheets of one or more materials to which one or more light sources and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors may be associated. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured to accept one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include electrical connections that may be operably coupled to one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured to be associated with one or more power supplies. for example, in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more solar cells. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more batteries (e.g., thin-film batteries). in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more capacitors. substrates 114 may exhibit numerous physical characteristics. for example, in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be elastomeric. methods to prepare elastomeric materials are known and have been reported (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 6,639,007; 6,673,871; 7,105,607). in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be inelastic. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be fabricated from one or more metal foils. in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be fabricated with pressure sensitive fibers. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more elastomeric materials that self-adhere. accordingly, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured in the form of self-adhering athletic tape. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more adhesives that are applied to one or more portions of the substrate. accordingly, substrates 114 may be fabricated in numerous configurations. the embodiment 200 may include module 220 that includes one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates. embodiment 200 of device 102 may include one or more light sources operably associated with one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be directly coupled to one or more substrates 114 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be embedded within one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be indirectly coupled to one or more substrates 114 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be coupled to one or more materials that are coupled with one or more substrates 114 . accordingly, numerous laminates may be coupled to one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, a light source may include a thin-film battery that is coupled to one or more light emitting diodes and configured as a sheet or film. in some embodiments, such a sheet or film may be laminated onto one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, the laminate may be associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors to produce an embodiment of device 102 . the embodiment 200 may include module 230 that includes one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with the one or more light sources. embodiment 200 of device 102 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, the one or more light sources 106 may be directly coupled to one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . for example, in some embodiments, the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be chemically coupled to a surface of the light source 106 (e.g., chemically coupled to a polymer coating on the light source). in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be indirectly coupled to one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be included within a material that is used to coat the one or more light sources 106 . fig. 3 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 2 . fig. 3 illustrates example embodiments of module 210 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 302 , an embodiment 304 , an embodiment 306 , an embodiment 308 , and/or an embodiment 310 . at embodiment 302 , module 210 may include one or more fluid impermeable substrates. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more fluid impermeable substrates 114 . numerous materials may be used to fabricate fluid impermeable substrates 114 . examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, polycarbonates, polystyrenes, latex, metals, ceramics, wood, metal alloys, and the like. fluid impermeable substrates 114 may be configured in numerous ways. examples of such configurations include, but are not limited to, clothing and/or protective gear (e.g., hoods, gloves, socks, shirts, pants, etc.), surgical drapes, tape, bell jars, and the like. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be selectively permeable. for example, in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be fluid impermeable and vapor permeable. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include a hydrophilic polyester co-polymer membrane system that includes a copolymer with 70% polyester and 30% polyether that is nitric oxide permeable (e.g., sympatex™ 10 μm membrane, see hardwick et al., clinical science, 100:395-400 (2001)). at embodiment 304 , module 210 may include one or more gas impermeable substrates. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more gas impermeable substrates 114 . numerous materials may be used to fabricate fluid impermeable substrates 114 . examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, polycarbonates, polystyrenes, latex, metals, ceramics, wood, metal alloys, and the like. fluid impermeable substrates 114 may be configured in numerous ways. examples of such configurations include, but are not limited to, clothing and/or protective gear (e.g., hoods, gloves, socks, shirts, pants, etc.), surgical drapes, tape, bell jars, and the like. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 that are gas impermeable may be configured to retain nitric oxide in one or more areas. for example, in some embodiments, a gas impermeable substrate 114 may be configured as a bell jar with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors associated with the inside of the jar. accordingly, nitric oxide released from the one or more nitric oxide donors is retained within the bell jar when the open end of the bell jar is placed against a surface. in some embodiments, such configurations may be used to deliver nitric oxide to a surface. in some embodiments, one or more gas impermeable substrates 114 may be configured as an outside surface of a device 102 having one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are associated with an inside surface of the device 102 such that nitric oxide released from the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors is blocked from passage through the gas impermeable substrate. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured as a sheet of material with one or more gas impermeable substrates 114 forming an outside surface of the material and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors associated with the inside surface of the material relative to a surface to which nitric oxide is to be delivered. an example of such a device 102 is a body wrap (e.g., tape) that may be wrapped around one or more surfaces of an individual to which nitric oxide is to be delivered. at embodiment 306 , module 210 may include one or more vapor impermeable substrates. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more vapor impermeable substrates 114 . numerous materials may be used to fabricate vapor impermeable substrates 114 . examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, polycarbonates, polystyrenes, latex, metals, ceramics, metal alloys, and the like. vapor impermeable substrates 114 may be configured in numerous ways. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 that are vapor impermeable may be configured to retain water vapor in one or more areas. for example, in some embodiments, one or more vapor impermeable substrates 114 may be used to retain water vapor at a site to which nitric oxide is to be delivered. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more vapor impermeable substrates 114 may be configured as an outside surface of a device 102 having one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are associated with an inside surface of the device 102 such that water vapor is blocked from passage through the vapor impermeable substrate. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured as a sheet of material with one or more vapor impermeable substrates 114 forming an outside surface of the material and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors associated with the inside surface of the material relative to a surface to which nitric oxide is to be delivered. an example of such a device 102 is a body wrap (e.g., tape) that may be wrapped around one or more surfaces of an individual to which nitric oxide is to be delivered. at embodiment 308 , module 210 may include one or more light impermeable substrates. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more light impermeable substrates 114 . numerous materials may be used to fabricate light impermeable substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be selectively light impermeable. for example, in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be impermeable to light that facilitates photolysis of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be impermeable to ultraviolet light. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be selectively impermeable to light that causes damage to tissue. at embodiment 310 , module 210 may include one or more fluid permeable substrates. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more fluid permeable substrates 114 . fluid permeable substrates 114 may be fabricated from numerous types of materials. in some embodiments, such substrates 114 may include porous materials. in some embodiments, such substrates 114 may include perforated materials. in some embodiments, such substrates 114 may include materials into which channels are cut. in some embodiments, such substrates 114 may include capillaries and the like. in some embodiments, one or more fluid permeable substrates 114 may be included within a portion of device 102 . for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may include one or more fluid permeable substrates 114 to facilitate movement of one or more fluids through device 102 . in some embodiments, one or more fluid permeable substrates 114 may be configured to facilitate translocation of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are associated with one or more fluids. for example, in some embodiments, one or more fluid permeable substrates 114 may be configured to deliver one or more fluids to the surface of an individual. in some embodiments, one or more fluid permeable substrates 114 may include one or more fluid reservoirs and be configured to facilitate translocation of one or more fluids. for example, in some embodiments, one or more fluid permeable substrates 114 may include one or more reservoirs and one or more channels that are configured to deliver one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors in fluid form to one or more sites. fig. 4 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 2 . fig. 4 illustrates example embodiments of module 210 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 402 , an embodiment 404 , an embodiment 406 , an embodiment 408 , and/or an embodiment 410 . at embodiment 402 , module 210 may include one or more gas permeable substrates. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more gas permeable substrates 114 . gas permeable substrates 114 may be fabricated from numerous types of materials. in some embodiments, such substrates 114 may include porous materials. in some embodiments, such substrates 114 may include perforated materials. in some embodiments, such substrates 114 may include materials into which channels are cut. in some embodiments, such substrates 114 may include capillaries and the like. in some embodiments, one or more gas permeable substrates 114 may be included within a portion of device 102 . for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may include one or more gas permeable substrates 114 to facilitate movement of one or more gases through device 102 . in some embodiments, one or more gas permeable substrates 114 may be configured to facilitate translocation of nitric oxide. for example, in some embodiments, one or more gas permeable substrates 114 may be configured to deliver nitric oxide to the surface of an individual. at embodiment 404 , module 210 may include one or more vapor permeable substrates. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more vapor permeable substrates 114 . in some embodiments, a vapor permeable substrate 114 may be selectively permeable. for example, in some embodiments, a vapor permeable substrate 114 may be permeable to vapor but impermeable to fluid. in some embodiments, a device 102 may include one or more portions that include one or more vapor permeable substrates 114 that facilitate release of water vapor. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be a body wrap that is configured to deliver nitric oxide to the surface of an individual and to facilitate release of perspiration from the surface of the individual's skin. at embodiment 406 , module 210 may include one or more light permeable substrates. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more light permeable substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more selectively light permeable substrates 114 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be selected to be permeable to light that does not facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be selected to be permeable to light that facilitates release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . at embodiment 408 , module 210 may include one or more adhesives. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more adhesives. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured for adherence to one or more surfaces. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more devices 102 may include one or more substrates 114 that include one or more portions that are coated with one or more adhesives to facilitate placement of the one or more devices 102 onto one or more surfaces. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may be configured to include one or more adhesives that facilitate placement of the device 102 over a skin lesion and/or wound on an individual. at embodiment 410 , module 210 may include one or more flexible substrates. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more flexible substrates 114 . in some embodiments, all portions of a substrate 114 may be flexible. in some embodiments, one or more portions of a substrate 114 may be flexible. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more inflexible portions and one or more flexible portions. in some embodiments, a device 102 may include one or more substrates 114 that include one or more inflexible portions that are configured to create a closed space above a surface without contacting the surface and one or more substrates 114 that include one or more flexible portions that allow the device 102 to be adhered to the surface. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may include an inflexible substrate 114 that is shaped like a bell jar to facilitate delivery of nitric oxide to a surface and a flexible substrate 114 that facilitates adhesion of the device 102 to the surface to which nitric oxide is to be delivered. accordingly, a flexible substrate 114 may be configured in numerous ways. fig. 5 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 2 . fig. 5 illustrates example embodiments of module 210 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 502 , an embodiment 504 , an embodiment 506 , and/or an embodiment 508 . at embodiment 502 , module 210 may include one or more inflexible substrates. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more inflexible substrates 114 . in some embodiments, all portions of a substrate 114 may be inflexible. in some embodiments, one or more portions of a substrate 114 may be inflexible. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more inflexible portions and one or more flexible portions. in some embodiments, a device 102 may include one or more substrates 114 that include one or more inflexible portions that are configured to create a closed space above a surface without contacting the surface and one or more substrates 114 that include one or more flexible portions that allow the device 102 to be adhered to the surface. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may include an inflexible substrate 114 that is shaped like a bell jar to facilitate delivery of nitric oxide to a surface and a flexible substrate 114 that facilitates adhesion of the device 102 to the surface to which nitric oxide is to be delivered. accordingly, a flexible substrate 114 may be configured in numerous ways. at embodiment 504 , module 210 may include one or more metallic substrates. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more metallic substrates 114 . in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be entirely constructed with one or more metallic materials. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be a metal foil. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be partially constructed with one or more metallic materials. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more portions that are metallic and one or more portions that are non-metallic. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include metallic portions that are configured as one or more electrical connections. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include metallic portions that include one or more electrical connections that are configured to associate with one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include metallic portions that include one or more electrical connections that are configured to associate with one or more sensors 120 . in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include metallic portions that include one or more electrical connections that are configured to associate with one or more control units. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include metallic portions that may be coupled to one or more nitric oxide donors that release nitric oxide in response to electrical current (e.g., hou et al., chem. commun., 1831-1832 (2000)). at embodiment 506 , module 210 may include one or more non-metallic substrates. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more non-metallic substrates 114 . in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be entirely constructed with one or more non-metallic materials. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be a plastic sheet. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be partially constructed with one or more non-metallic materials. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more portions that are non-metallic and one or more portions that are metallic. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more non-metallic portions that are configured as insulators for one or more metallic portions that are configured as electrical connections. accordingly, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more non-metallic portions and one or more metallic portions that are configured as one or more electrical connections that may associate with one or more light sources 106 , one or more sensors 120 , one or more control units 116 , or substantially any combination thereof. at embodiment 508 , module 210 may include one or more sensors. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more sensors 120 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors may be integrated within one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors may be associated with one or more surfaces of one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors may be associated with one or more electrical connections associated with one or more substrates 114 . numerous types of sensors may be associated with one or more substrates 114 . examples of such sensors include, but are not limited to, temperature sensors 120 , pressure sensors (e.g., blood pressure, hydrostatic pressure), pulse rate sensors 120 , clocks, bacterial contamination sensors 120 , strain sensors 120 , light sensors 120 , nitric oxide sensors 120 , and the like. fig. 6 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 2 . fig. 6 illustrates example embodiments of module 210 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 602 , an embodiment 604 , an embodiment 606 , and/or an embodiment 608 . at embodiment 602 , module 210 may include one or more sensors that are configured to detect nitric oxide. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more sensors that are configured to detect nitric oxide. in some embodiments, one or more sensors may be integrated within one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors may be associated with one or more surfaces of one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors may be associated with one or more electrical connections associated with one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, a sensor 120 that is configured to detect nitric oxide may be configured for use on the outside surface of an individual 126 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 that are configured to detect nitric oxide may be configured to detect the concentration of nitric oxide on the surface of skin, a wound, a surface of a table, and the like. in some embodiments, a sensor 120 that is configured to detect nitric oxide may be configured to utilize fluorescence to detect nitric oxide. for example, in some embodiments, a sensor may detect nitric oxide through use of one or more fluorescent probes, such as 4,5-diaminofluorescein diacetate (emd chemicals inc., san diego, calif.). in some embodiments, a sensor may detect nitric oxide through use of one or more electrodes. for example, in some embodiments, a sensor may utilize an electrode that includes a single walled carbon nanotube and an ionic liquid to detect nitric oxide (e.g., li et al., electroanalysis, 18:713-718 (2006)). numerous sensors 120 are commercially available and have been described (e.g., world precision instruments, inc., sarasota, fla., usa; u.s. pat. nos. 6,100,096; 6,280,604; 5,980,705). in some embodiments, a sensor 120 that is configured to detect nitric oxide may include one or more transmitters. in some embodiments, a sensor 120 that is configured to detect nitric oxide may include one or more receivers. in some embodiments, a sensor 120 that is configured to detect nitric oxide may be configured to transmit one or more signals 118 . in some embodiments, a sensor 120 that is configured to detect nitric oxide may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 . at embodiment 604 , module 210 may include one or more sensors that are configured to detect nitric oxide synthase. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more sensors that are configured to detect nitric oxide synthase. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to detect nitric oxide synthase activity. nitric oxide synthase detection kits are commercially available (e.g., cell technology, inc., mountain view, calif.). in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to detect nitric oxide synthase messenger ribonucleic acid (mrna). methods that may be used to detect such mrna have been reported (e.g., sonoki et al., leukemia, 13:713-718 (1999)). in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to detect nitric oxide synthase through immunological methods. methods that may be used to detect nitric oxide synthase directly been reported (e.g., burrell et al., j. histochem. cytochem., 44:339-346 (1996) and hattenbach et al., ophthalmologica, 216:209-214 (2002)). in some embodiments, microelectromechanical systems may be used to detect nitric oxide synthase. in some embodiments, antibodies and/or aptamers that bind to nitric oxide synthase may be used within one or more microelectromechanical systems to detect nitric oxide synthase. methods to construct microelectromechanical detectors have been described (e.g., gau et al., biosensors & bioelectronics, 16:745-755 (2001)). accordingly, sensors may be configured in numerous ways to detect one or more nitric oxide synthases. at embodiment 606 , module 210 may include one or more sensors that are configured to detect one or more nitric oxide donors. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more sensors that are configured to detect one or more nitric oxide donors. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more surface plasmon resonance chemical electrodes that are configured to detect one or more nitric oxide donors. for example, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more surface plasmon resonance chemical electrodes that include antibodies and/or aptamers that bind to one or more nitric oxide donors. accordingly, such electrodes may be used to detect the one or more nitric oxide donors through use of surface plasmon resonance. methods to construct surface plasmon resonance chemical electrodes are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,858,799; lin et al., applied optics, 46:800-806 (2007)). in some embodiments, antibodies and/or aptamers that bind to one or more nitric oxide donors may be used within one or more microelectromechanical systems to detect one or more nitric oxide donors. methods to construct microelectromechanical detectors have been described (e.g., gau et al., biosensors & bioelectronics, 16:745-755 (2001)). at embodiment 608 , module 210 may include one or more status indicators. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more status indicators. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more status indicators that indicate the concentration of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more status indicators may be operably associated with one or more sensors 120 that detect one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more status indicators that indicate output from one or more power supplies. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more status indicators may be operably associated with one or more power supplies. in some embodiments, one or more status indicators may be associated with one or more light emitters and indicate output from one or more light sources 106 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more status indicators may be used to indicate if a power supply, a light emitter, a photolyzable nitric oxide donor 104 , or substantially any combination thereof has been diminished and/or exhausted. in some embodiments, one or more status indicators may be configured to indicate that one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors should be replaced. in some embodiments, one or more status indicators may be configured to indicate that one or more light emitters should be replaced. in some embodiments, one or more status indicators may be configured to indicate that one or more power supplies should be replaced and/or recharged. a status indicator may be configured in numerous ways. in some embodiments, a status indicator may include one or more lights. for example, in some embodiments, a status indicator that is associated with one or more sensors that detect one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may illuminate a green light to indicate and adequate amount of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 and illuminate a red light to indicate an inadequate amount of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, a status indicator may display one or more messages on a liquid crystal display. status indicators may be configured in numerous ways. fig. 7 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 2 . fig. 7 illustrates example embodiments of module 220 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 702 , an embodiment 704 , an embodiment 706 , an embodiment 708 , and/or an embodiment 710 . at embodiment 702 , module 220 may include one or more light emitters. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more light emitters. numerous types of light emitters may be associated with one or more light sources 106 . examples of such light emitters include, but are not limited to, light emitting diodes, filaments, arc lamps, fluorescent light emitters, phosphorescent light emitters, chemiluminescent emitters, and the like. in some embodiments, one or more light emitters may be coupled with one or more quantum dots. in some embodiments, one or more light emitters may be coupled with one or more rare-earth materials. at embodiment 704 , module 220 may include one or more power supplies. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more power supplies. numerous types of power supplies may be associated with one or more light sources 106 . examples of such power supplies include, but are not limited to, batteries (e.g., thin film batteries), electromagnetic receivers 108 , solar cells, capacitors, line power, and the like. at embodiment 706 , module 220 may include one or more power supplies that include one or more batteries. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more power supplies that include one or more batteries. in some embodiments, a battery may include a thin-film fuel cell for providing electrical power. in some embodiments, the fuel cell may be of a solid oxide type (sofc), a solid polymer type (spfc), a proton exchange membrane type (pemfc), and/or substantially any combination thereof. methods to fabricate such thin-film fuel cells are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 7,189,471). in some embodiments, one or more batteries may include one or more storage films that are configured for energy storage and energy conversion. methods to fabricate such storage films are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 7,238,628). in some embodiments, a battery may be a biobased battery (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 6,994,934). in some embodiments, one or more batteries may be thin film batteries. methods to fabricate thin-film batteries are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 7,194,801; 7,144,655; 6,818,356). in some embodiments, one or more thin-film batteries may be laminated onto one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, laminates that include a substrate 114 and a thin-film battery may be additionally laminated with one or more light emitting diodes. in some embodiments, laminates that include a substrate 114 , a thin-film battery, and one or more light emitting diodes may be additionally laminated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, laminates that include a substrate 114 , a thin-film battery, one or more light emitting diodes, and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors may be additionally laminated with one or more nitric oxide permeable layers. accordingly, numerous types of batteries may be used. at embodiment 708 , module 220 may include one or more power supplies that include one or more solar cells. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more power supplies that include one or more solar cells. solar cells may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, a solar cell may be configured as a two junction cell. in some embodiments, a solar cell may be configured as a three junction cell. in some embodiments, a solar cell may be configured to selectively absorb energy in a selected photon range. for example, in some embodiments, a cell may be constructed that include an alloy that includes in, ga, and n having an energy bandgap range of approximately 0.7 ev to 3.4 ev. such cells provide a good match to the solar energy spectrum (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 7,217,882). methods that may be used to fabricate solar cells are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 7,294,779). at embodiment 710 , module 220 may include one or more power supplies that include one or more capacitors. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more power supplies that include one or more capacitors. capacitors may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, a battery may include a micro-supercapacitor. in some embodiments, such a micro-supercapacitor may include a capacitor substrate; a pair of spaced apart electrodes; a separator disposed between the spaced apart electrodes that define a pair of cavities between the separator and the electrodes; a porous insulator disposed on an outside surface of the spaced apart electrodes; and a top layer closing the pair of cavities (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 6,621,687). methods that may be used to fabricate capacitors are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 7,301,754; 7,301,751 and 7,298,605). fig. 8 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 2 . fig. 8 illustrates example embodiments of module 220 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 802 , an embodiment 804 , an embodiment 806 , an embodiment 808 , and/or an embodiment 810 . at embodiment 802 , module 220 may include one or more electromagnetic receivers. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 . in some embodiments, one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 may be used to receive electromagnetic energy 110 for use in providing power to one or more light emitters. methods to construct electromagnetic receivers 108 have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,571,152). at embodiment 804 , module 220 may include one or more control units. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more control units 116 . in some embodiments, the one or more control units 116 may be operably associated with one or more light sources 106 through use of a hardwired connection. in some embodiments, the one or more control units 116 may be operably associated with one or more light sources 106 through use of a wireless connection. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include numerous types of receivers. examples of such receivers include, but are not limited to, receivers that receive one or more optical signals 118 , radio signals 118 , wireless signals 118 , hardwired signals 118 , infrared signals 118 , ultrasonic signals 118 , and the like. such receivers are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. re39,785; 7,218,900; 7,254,160; 7,245,894; 7,206,605; herein incorporated by reference). at embodiment 806 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that are coated with at least one of the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be coated with at least one photolyzable nitric oxide donor 104 . for example, in some embodiments, a light source 106 may be configured as a wand that emits light which can be coated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, a light source 106 may be configured as a sheet that is coated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be partially coated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . at embodiment 808 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that are associated with one or more quantum dots. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be associated with one or more quantum dots (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 7,235,361; herein incorporated by reference). for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit one or more wavelengths of light that are absorbed by one or more quantum dots. in some embodiments, one or more quantum dots may be configured to absorb light and then emit one or more wavelengths of light that cause release of nitric oxide from one or more nitric oxide donors. accordingly, in some embodiments, emission from one or more first quantum dots may be tuned to facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more first photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 and emission from one or more second quantum dots may be tuned to facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more second photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . at embodiment 810 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that are associated with one or more optically transmitting materials. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be associated with one or more optically transmitting materials. in some embodiments, optically transmitting materials include all substances that function to alter or control electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet, visible, or infrared spectral regions. such materials may be fabricated into optical elements such as lenses, mirrors, windows, prisms, polarizers, detectors, and modulators. these materials may refract, reflect, transmit, disperse, polarize, detect, and/or transform light. examples of optically transmitting materials include, but are not limited to, glass, crystalline materials, polymers, plastics, and the like. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include fused silica which transmits to about 180 nm. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include calcium fluoride which transmits into the ultraviolet region to about 140 nm. accordingly, a light source 106 may include numerous types of optically transmitting materials. fig. 9 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 2 . fig. 9 illustrates example embodiments of module 220 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 902 , an embodiment 904 , an embodiment 906 , an embodiment 908 , and/or an embodiment 910 . at embodiment 902 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that are associated with one or more optical waveguides. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be associated with one or more optical waveguides. numerous types of optical waveguides may be associated with one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, a waveguide may be an optical fiber waveguide. in some embodiments, a waveguide may be a rectangular waveguide. in some embodiments, a waveguide may be a dielectric slab waveguide. in some embodiments, optical waveguides may include, but are not limited to, planar waveguides, strip waveguides, and/or fiber waveguides. in some embodiments, an optical waveguide may have a single-mode structure. in some embodiments, an optical waveguide may have a multi-mode structure. in some embodiments, an optical waveguide may exhibit a step refractive index distribution. in some embodiments, an optical waveguide may exhibit a gradient refractive index distribution. an optical waveguide may be constructed from numerous types of materials that include, but are not limited to, glass, polymers, semiconductors, and the like. methods to construct optical waveguides have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 7,283,710). at embodiment 904 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that are associated with one or more fluorescent materials. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more light sources that are associated with one or more fluorescent materials. numerous fluorescent materials may be associated with one or more light sources 106 . examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, 1,4-diphenylbutadiyne; 9,10-diphenylanthracene; benzene; biphenyl; ethyl-p-dimethylaminobenzoate; naphthalene; p-terphenyl; ethyl-p-dimethylaminobenzoate; stilbene; tryptophan; tyrosine; 1,2-diphenylacetylene; 7-methoxycoumarin-4-acetic acid; anthracene; indo-1; popop; p-quaterphenyl; pyrene; and the like. at embodiment 906 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that are associated with one or more light emitting diodes. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more light sources that are associated with one or more light emitting diodes. one or more light sources 106 may include one or more light emitting diodes that are configured to emit light of select wavelengths. for example, light emitting diodes may be configured to emit infrared light, visible light, near-ultraviolet light, or ultraviolet light. in some embodiments, a light source 106 may include a conventional light emitting diode that can include a variety of inorganic semiconductor materials. examples of such materials and the emitting light include, but are not limited to, aluminium gallium arsenide (red and infrared), aluminium gallium phosphide (green), aluminium gallium indium phosphide (high-brightness orange-red, orange, yellow, and green), gallium arsenide phosphide (red, orange-red, orange, and yellow), gallium phosphide (red, yellow and green), gallium nitride (green, pure green, emerald green, blue, and white (if it has an algan quantum barrier)), indium gallium nitride (near ultraviolet, bluish-green and blue), silicon carbide (blue), silicon (blue), sapphire (blue), zinc selenide (blue), diamond (ultraviolet), aluminium nitride (near to far ultraviolet), aluminium gallium nitride (near to far ultraviolet), aluminium gallium indium nitride (near to far ultraviolet). at embodiment 908 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that are associated with one or more rare-earth materials that facilitate upconversion of energy. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be associated with one or more rare-earth materials that facilitate upconversion of energy. in some embodiments, infrared light may be upconverted to visible light (e.g., mendioroz et al., optical materials, 26:351-357 (2004)). in some embodiments, infrared light may be upconverted to ultraviolet light (e.g., mendioroz et al., optical materials, 26:351-357 (2004)). in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more rare-earth materials (e.g., ytterbium-erbium, ytterbium-thulium, or the like) that facilitate upconversion of energy (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 7,088,040; herein incorporated by reference). for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be associated with nd3+ doped kpb2cl5 crystals. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be associated with thiogallates doped with rare earths, such as caga2s4:ce3+ and srga2s4:ce3+. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be associated with aluminates that are doped with rare earths, such as yalo3:ce3+, ygao3:ce3+, y(al,ga)o3:ce3+, and orthosilicates m2sio5:ce3+ (m:sc, y, sc) doped with rare earths, such as, for example, y2sio5:ce3+. in some embodiments, yttrium may be replaced by scandium or lanthanum (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 6,812,500 and 6,327,074; herein incorporated by reference). numerous materials that may be used to upconvert energy have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 5,956,172; 5,943,160; 7,235,189; 7,215,687; herein incorporated by reference). at embodiment 910 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that are associated with one or more rare-earth materials. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 that are associated with one or more rare-earth materials. in some embodiments, one or more rare-earth materials may include one or more rare-earth elements. the rare-earth elements are a collection of sixteen chemical elements in the periodic table, namely scandium, yttrium, and fourteen of the fifteen lanthanoids (excluding promethium). in some embodiments, one or more rare-earth materials may include one or more rare-earth elements that fluoresce. fig. 10 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 2 . fig. 10 illustrates example embodiments of module 220 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 1002 , an embodiment 1004 , an embodiment 1006 , an embodiment 1008 , an embodiment 1010 , and/or an embodiment 1012 . at embodiment 1002 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that emit ultraviolet light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit ultraviolet light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit a broad spectrum of ultraviolet light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit a narrow spectrum of ultraviolet light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 that emit one or more wavelengths of ultraviolet light that are specifically selected to release nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit ultraviolet light that does not include one or more wavelengths of light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit ultraviolet light that is selected to avoid and/or reduce damage to structures and/or tissues of an individual 126 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit ultraviolet light that does not include wavelengths of light that are absorbed by nucleic acids. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit ultraviolet light that does not include wavelengths of light that are absorbed by polypeptides. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit light that does not include one or more wavelengths of ultraviolet light within the following range: 250-320 nm. for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may not emit 260 nm light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may not emit 280 nm light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may not emit 260 nm light or 280 nm light. accordingly, numerous combinations of wavelengths of light may be excluded from emission by one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, light may be emitted continuously. in some embodiments, light may be emitted as a flash. in some embodiments, light may be emitted alternately as continuous light and a flash. in some embodiments, light may be emitted as a pulse. in some embodiments, light may be emitted continuously, as a flash, as a pulse, or substantially any combination thereof. at embodiment 1004 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that emit visible light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit visible light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit a broad spectrum of visible light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit a narrow spectrum of visible light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit one or more wavelengths of visible light that are specifically selected to release nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit visible light that does not include one or more wavelengths of light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit visible light that is selected to avoid and/or reduce damage to structures and/or tissues of an individual 126 . accordingly, numerous combinations of wavelengths of light may be excluded from emission by one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, light may be emitted continuously. in some embodiments, light may be emitted as a flash. in some embodiments, light may be emitted alternately as continuous light and a flash. in some embodiments, light may be emitted as a pulse. in some embodiments, light may be emitted continuously, as a flash, as a pulse, or substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, the visible light may be upconverted. at embodiment 1006 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that emit infrared light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit infrared light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit a broad spectrum of infrared light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit a narrow spectrum of infrared light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit one or more wavelengths of infrared light that are specifically selected to release nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit infrared light that does not include one or more wavelengths of light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit infrared light that is selected to avoid and/or reduce damage to structures and/or tissues of an individual 126 . accordingly, numerous combinations of wavelengths of light may be excluded from emission by one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, light may be emitted continuously. in some embodiments, light may be emitted as a flash. in some embodiments, light may be emitted alternately as continuous light and a flash. in some embodiments, light may be emitted as a pulse. in some embodiments, light may be emitted continuously, as a flash, as a pulse, or substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, the infrared light may be upconverted. at embodiment 1008 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that are configured to emit light that specifically facilitates release of nitric oxide from the one or more nitric oxide donors. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit light that specifically facilitates release of nitric oxide from the one or more nitric oxide donors. for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit light that includes one or more wavelengths of light that correspond to the absorption maximum for one or more nitric oxide donors. examples of nitric oxide donors and their associated λ max (nm) are provided in table i below. accordingly, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit numerous wavelengths of light. table iexample nitric oxide donorscompound nameλ max (nm)o 2 -(acetoxymethyl) 1-(n,n-diethylamino)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate230o 2 -(acetoxymethyl) 1-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate256sodium 1-(n-benzyl-n-methylamino)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate252o 2 -[(2,3,4,6-tetra-o-acetyl)-β-d-glucosyl] 1-[4-(2,3-232dihydroxypropyl)piperazin-1sodium 1-[4-(2,3-dihydroxypropyl)piperazin-1-yl-]diazen-1-ium-1,2-248.5diolateo 2 -methyl 1-[(4-carboxamido)piperidin-1-yl]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate241o 2 -(2-chloropyrimidin-4-yl) 1-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate274o 2 -(2,4-dinitrophenyl) 1-[4-(n,n-diethylcarboxamido)piperazin-1-300yl]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolateo 2 -(2,4-dinitrophenyl) 1-(4-nicotinylpiperazin-1-yl)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate300o 2 -(2,4-dinitrophenyl) 1-{4-[2-(4-{2-300methylpropyl}phenyl)propionyl]piperazin-1-yl}diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolatesodium 1-(4-benzyloxycarbonylpiperazin-1-yl)diazen-1-ium-1,2-252diolateo 2 -(2,4-dinitrophenyl) 1-[4-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)piperazin-1-299yl]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolateo 2 -(2,4-dinitrophenyl) 1-(4-acetylpiperazin-1-yl)diazen-1-ium-1,2-394diolateo 2 -(2,4-dinitrophenyl) 1-[4-(succinimidoxycarbonyl)piperazin-1-300yl]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolateo 2 -(2,4-dinitrophenyl) 1-(piperazin-1-yl)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate,297hydrochloride salto 2 -(2,3,4,6-tetra-o-acetyl-d-glucopyranosyl) 1-(n,n-228diethylamino)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolateo 2 -(-d-glucopyranosyl) 1-(n,n-diethylamino)diazen-1-ium-1,2-228diolatesodium (z)-1-(n,n-diethylamino)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate2501-[n-(2-aminoethyl)-n-(2-ammonioethyl)amino]diazen-1-ium-1,2-252diolatesodium 1-(n,n-dimethylamino)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate250o 2 -(2,4-dinitrophenyl) 1-(n,n-diethylamino)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate3021-[n-(3-aminopropyl)-n-(3-ammoniopropyl]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate2521-[n-(3-aminopropyl)-n-(3-ammoniopropyl]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate252bis-diazeniumdiolated benzyl imidate dehydrate264p-bisdiazeniumdiolated benzene316methane trisdiazeniumdiolate trihydrate316o 2 -(β-d-glucopyranosyl) 1-(isopropylamino)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate278sodium 1-[4-(5-dimethylamino-1-naphthalenesulfonyl)piperazin-1-344yl]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate1-(2-methyl-1-propenyl)piperidine diazeniumdiolate2461-(2-methyl-1-propenyl)pyrrolidine diazeniumdiolate246o 2 -vinyl 1-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate2681-{n-[3-aminopropyl]-n-[4-(3-aminopropylammoniobutyl)]}diazen-2521-ium-1,2-diolatedisodium 1-[(2-carboxylato)pyrrolidin-1-yl]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate2521-[n-(3-ammoniopropyl)-n-(n-propyl)amino]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate250(z)-1-{n-methyl-n-[6-(n-methylammoniohexyl)amino]}diazen-1-250ium-1,2-diolateo 2 -(2,4-dinitrophenyl) 1-[(4-ethoxycarbonyl)piperazin-1-yl]diazen-1-300ium-1,2-diolate at embodiment 1010 , module 220 may include one or more light sources that are configured to emit light that is selected to avoid damaging one or more tissues. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be configured to emit light that is selected to avoid damaging one or more tissues. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit light that is selected to avoid and/or reduce damage to structures and/or tissues of an individual 126 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit light that does not include wavelengths of light that are absorbed by nucleic acids. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit light that does not include wavelengths of light that are absorbed by polypeptides. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may emit light that does not include one or more wavelengths of light within the following range: 250-320 nm. for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may not emit 260 nm light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may not emit 280 nm light. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may not emit 260 nm light or 280 nm light. accordingly, numerous combinations of wavelengths of light may be excluded from emission by one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, light may be emitted continuously. in some embodiments, light may be emitted as a flash. in some embodiments, light may be emitted alternately as continuous light and a flash. in some embodiments, light may be emitted as a pulse. at embodiment 1012 , module 220 may include one or more status indicators. in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may include one or more status indicators. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may include one or more status indicators that indicate output from one or more power supplies. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more status indicators may be operably associated with one or more power supplies. in some embodiments, one or more status indicators may be associated with one or more light emitters and indicate output from one or more light sources 106 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more status indicators may be used to indicate if a power supply, a light emitter, a photolyzable nitric oxide donor 104 , or substantially any combination thereof has been diminished and/or exhausted. in some embodiments, one or more status indicators may be configured to indicate that one or more light emitters should be replaced. in some embodiments, one or more status indicators may be configured to indicate that one or more power supplies should be replaced and/or recharged. a status indicator may be configured in numerous ways. in some embodiments, a status indicator may include one or more lights. for example, in some embodiments, a status indicator that is associated with one or more power supplies may illuminate a green light to indicate and adequate amount of battery power and illuminate a red light to indicate a diminished amount of battery power. in some embodiments, a status indicator may display one or more messages on a liquid crystal display. accordingly, status indicators may be configured in numerous ways. fig. 11 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 2 . fig. 11 illustrates example embodiments of module 230 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 1102 , an embodiment 1104 , an embodiment 1106 , and/or an embodiment 1108 . at embodiment 1102 , module 230 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are physically coupled to the one or more light sources. in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 that are physically coupled to the one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, the one or more light sources 106 may be directly coupled to one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . for example, in some embodiments, the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be chemically coupled to a surface of the light source 106 (e.g., chemically coupled to a polymer coating on the light source). in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be indirectly coupled to one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be coupled to a material that is used to coat the one or more light sources 106 . at embodiment 1104 , module 230 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that include one or more diazeniumdiolates. in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that include one or more diazeniumdiolates. many photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 that are diazeniumdiolates are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 7,122,529). examples of such diazeniumdiolates include, but are not limited to, o 2 -benzyl,o 2 -naphthylmethyl substituted diazeniumdiolates and o 2 -naphthylallyl substituted diazeniumdiolates. at embodiment 1106 , module 230 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are associated with one or more quantum dots. in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are associated with one or more quantum dots. for example, in some embodiments, one or more diazeniumdiolates may be associated with one or more quantum dots. in some embodiments, one or more quantum dots may be tuned to emit light that facilitates photolysis of one or more nitric oxide donors. in some embodiments, a quantum dot may be tuned to emit light that specifically facilitates photolysis of one or more nitric oxide donors. for example, in some embodiments, one or more quantum dots may emit select wavelengths of light that correspond to wavelengths of light that cause photolysis of one or more nitric oxide donors. in some embodiments, one or more quantum dots may be selected that absorb light emitted by one or more light sources 106 and emit light that facilitates photolysis of one or more nitric oxide donors. at embodiment 1108 , module 230 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are associated with one or more rare-earth materials. in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 that are associated with one or more rare-earth materials. in some embodiments, one or more rare-earth materials may include one or more rare-earth elements. the rare-earth elements are a collection of sixteen chemical elements in the periodic table, namely scandium, yttrium, and fourteen of the fifteen lanthanoids (excluding promethium). in some embodiments, one or more rare-earth materials may include one or more rare-earth elements that fluoresce. fig. 12 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 200 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 2 . fig. 12 illustrates example embodiments of module 230 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 1202 and/or an embodiment 1204 . at embodiment 1202 , module 230 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are associated with one or more rare-earth materials that facilitate upconversion of energy. in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are associated with one or more rare-earth materials that facilitate upconversion of energy. in some embodiments, infrared light may be upconverted to visible light (e.g., mendioroz et al., optical materials, 26:351-357 (2004)). in some embodiments, infrared light may be upconverted to ultraviolet light (e.g., mendioroz et al., optical materials, 26:351-357 (2004)). in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be associated with one or more rare-earth materials (e.g., ytterbium-erbium, ytterbium-thulium, or the like) that facilitate upconversion of energy (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 7,088,040; herein incorporated by reference). for example, in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be associated with nd 3+ doped kpb 2 cl 5 crystals. in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be associated with thiogallates doped with rare earths, such as caga 2 s 4 :ce 3+ and srga 2 s 4 :ce 3+ . in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be associated with aluminates that are doped with rare earths, such as yalo 3 :ce 3+ , ygao 3 :ce 3+ , y(al,ga)o 3 :ce 3+ , and orthosilicates m 2 sio 5 :ce 3+ (m:sc, y, sc) doped with rare earths, such as, for example, y 2 sio 5 :ce 3+ . in some embodiments, yttrium may be replaced by scandium or lanthanum (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 6,812,500 and 6,327,074; herein incorporated by reference). numerous materials that may be used to upconvert energy have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 5,956,172; 5,943,160; 7,235,189; 7,215,687; herein incorporated by reference). at embodiment 1204 , module 230 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are coupled to one or more polymeric materials. in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors that are coupled to one or more polymeric materials. for example, in some embodiments, one or more polymer matrices may be impregnated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,994,444). in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be bound to a polymer. methods that can be used to couple nitric oxide donors to a polymeric matrix have been reported (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,405,919). in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be coupled to polymeric materials used to produce condoms. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be coupled to a condom. fig. 13 illustrates alternative embodiment 1300 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 1 . in fig. 13 , discussion and explanation may be provided with respect to the above-described example of fig. 1 , and/or with respect to other examples and contexts. in some embodiments, modules 210 , 220 , and 230 as described with respect to embodiment 200 of device 102 of fig. 2 may correspond to modules 1310 , 1320 , and 1330 as described with respect to embodiment 1300 of fig. 13 . however, it should be understood that the modules may execute operations in a number of other environments and contexts, and/or modified versions of fig. 1 . also, although the various modules are presented in the sequence(s) illustrated, it should be understood that the various modules may be configured in numerous orientations. the embodiment 1300 includes module 1310 that includes one or more substrates. embodiment 1300 of device 102 may include one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more light sources and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . a substrate 114 may be made of numerous materials and combinations of materials. examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, metals, metal alloys, polymers, copolymers, ceramics, cloth, fabric, and the like. substrates 114 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be one or more sheets of one or more materials to which one or more light sources and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors may be associated. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured to accept one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include electrical connections that may be operably coupled to one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured to be associated with one or more power supplies. for example, in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more solar cells. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more batteries (e.g., thin-film batteries). in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more capacitors. substrates 114 may exhibit numerous physical characteristics. for example, in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be elastomeric. methods to prepare elastomeric materials are known and have been reported (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 6,639,007; 6,673,871; 7,105,607). in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be inelastic. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be fabricated from one or more metal foils. in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be fabricated with pressure sensitive fibers. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more elastomeric materials that self-adhere. accordingly, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured in the form of self-adhering athletic tape. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more adhesives that are applied to one or more portions of the substrate. accordingly, substrates 114 may be fabricated in numerous configurations. the embodiment 1300 includes module 1320 that includes one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates. embodiment 1300 of device 102 may include one or more light sources operably associated with one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be directly coupled to one or more substrates 114 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be embedded within one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be indirectly coupled to one or more substrates 114 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be coupled to one or more materials that are coupled with one or more substrates 114 . accordingly, numerous laminates may be coupled to one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, a light source may include a thin-film battery that is coupled to one or more light emitting diodes and configured as a sheet or film. in some embodiments, such a sheet or film may be laminated onto one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, the laminate may be associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors to produce an embodiment of device 102 . the embodiment 1300 includes module 1330 that includes one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with the one or more light sources. embodiment 1300 of device 102 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, the one or more light sources 106 may be directly coupled to one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . for example, in some embodiments, the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be chemically coupled to a surface of the light source 106 (e.g., chemically coupled to a polymer coating on the light source). in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be indirectly coupled to one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be included within a material that is used to coat the one or more light sources 106 . the embodiment 1300 includes module 1340 that includes one or more control units. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more control units 116 . a device 102 may include numerous types of control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled with one or more light sources 106 , one or more sensors 120 , one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 , one or more electromagnetic transmitters 112 , or substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled to other components through use of one or more wireless connections, one or more hardwired connections, or substantially any combination thereof. control units 116 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, a control unit 116 may be configured as an on/off switch. accordingly, in some embodiments, a control unit 116 may be configured to turn a light source 106 on and/or off. in some embodiments, a control unit 116 may be configured to control the emission of light from one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may regulate the intensity of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , the duration of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , the frequency of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , wavelengths of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , or substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 from one or more sensors 120 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be configured to control one or more light sources 106 in response to one or more signals 118 received from one or more sensors 120 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may sense a low concentration of nitric oxide in one or more tissues and send one or more signals 118 to one or more control units 116 . the one or more control units 116 may then turn one or more light sources 106 on to facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may sense a high concentration of nitric oxide in one or more tissues and send one or more signals 118 to one or more control units 116 . the one or more control units 116 may then turn one or more light sources 106 off to end release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be programmed to control one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be programmed to turn one or more light sources 106 on for a predetermined amount of time and then turn off. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be preprogrammed. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be dynamically programmed. for example, in some embodiments, one or more management units 122 may receive one or more signals 118 from one or more sensors 120 and program one or more control units 116 in response to the one or more signals 118 received from the one or more sensors 120 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more receivers that are able to receive one or more signals 118 , one or more information packets, or substantially any combination thereof. control units 116 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled to one or more light sources 106 that include numerous light emitting diodes that emit light of different wavelengths. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may control the wavelengths of light emitted by the one or more light sources 106 by controlling the operation of light emitting diodes that emit light of the selected wavelength. accordingly, control units 116 may be configured in numerous ways and utilize numerous types of mechanisms. fig. 14 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 1300 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 13 . fig. 14 illustrates example embodiments of module 1340 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 1402 , an embodiment 1404 , an embodiment 1406 , an embodiment 1408 , and/or an embodiment 1410 . at embodiment 1402 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that are operably associated with the one or more light sources. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units that are operably associated with the one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, the one or more control units 116 may be operably associated with one or more light sources 106 through use of a hardwired connection. in some embodiments, the one or more control units 116 may be operably associated with one or more light sources 106 through use of a wireless connection. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include numerous types of receivers. examples of such receivers include, but are not limited to, receivers that receive one or more optical signals 118 , radio signals 118 , wireless signals 118 , hardwired signals 118 , infrared signals 118 , ultrasonic signals 118 , and the like. such receivers are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. re39,785; 7,218,900; 7,254,160; 7,245,894; 7,206,605; herein incorporated by reference). at embodiment 1404 , module 1340 may include one or more receivers that are configured to receive one or more information packets. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more receivers that are configured to receive one or more information packets. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be configured to receive one or more information packets that include numerous types of information. examples of such information include, but are not limited to, intensity of light to be emitted by one or more light sources 106 , duration of light to be emitted by one or more light sources 106 , frequency of light to be emitted by one or more light sources 106 , wavelengths of light to be emitted by one or more light sources 106 , and the like. at embodiment 1406 , module 1340 may include one or more receivers that are configured to receive one or more signals. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more receivers that are configured to receive one or more signals 118 . a control unit 116 may include a receiver that is configured to receive numerous types of signals 118 . examples of such signals 118 include, but are not limited to, optical signals 118 , radio signals 118 , wireless signals 118 , hardwired signals 118 , infrared signals 118 , ultrasonic signals 118 , and the like. in some embodiments, one or more signals 118 may not be encrypted. in some embodiments, one or more signals 118 may be encrypted. in some embodiments, one or more signals 118 may be sent through use of a secure mode of transmission. in some embodiments, one or more signals 118 may be coded for receipt by a specific individual 126 . in some embodiments, such code may include anonymous code that is specific for an individual 126 . accordingly, information included within one or more signals 118 may be protected against being accessed by others who are not the intended recipient. at embodiment 1408 , module 1340 may include one or more receivers that are configured to receive one or more signals from one or more sensors. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more receivers that are configured to receive one or more signals 118 from one or more sensors 120 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more receivers that are configured to receive one or more signals 118 from one or more nitric oxide sensors 120 . control units 116 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 from numerous types of sensors 120 . examples of such sensors 120 include, but are not limited to, temperature sensors 120 , blood pressure sensors 120 , pulse rate sensors 120 , hydrostatic pressure sensors 120 , clocks, and the like. at embodiment 1410 , module 1340 may include one or more transmitters. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be associated with one or more transmitters. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may transmit one or more signals 118 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may transmit one or more information packets. accordingly, in some embodiments, control units 116 may be configured to operate within a feedback scheme that can receive information and transmit information to regulate the generation of nitric oxide. for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may regulate one or more light sources 106 to generate nitric oxide and then transmit information related to the operation of the one or more light sources 106 . fig. 15 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 1300 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 13 . fig. 15 illustrates example embodiments of module 1340 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 1502 , an embodiment 1504 , an embodiment 1506 , an embodiment 1508 , an embodiment 1510 , and/or an embodiment 1512 . at embodiment 1502 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that regulate the one or more light sources. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that regulate one or more light sources 106 . one or more control units 116 may regulate numerous aspects of one or more light sources 106 . examples of such aspects include, but are not limited to, intensity of emitted light, duration of emitted light, pulse frequency of emitted light, wavelengths of emitted light, and the like. at embodiment 1504 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that regulate intensity of light emitted by the one or more light sources. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that regulate the intensity of light emitted by one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may regulate the current flowing through a light source 106 to regulate the intensity of light emitted from the light source 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include a potentiometer. at embodiment 1506 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that regulate one or more pulse rates of light emitted by the one or more light sources. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that regulate one or more pulse rates of light emitted by the one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may cause a light source 106 to emit light in short pulses (e.g., nanosecond pulses, microsecond pulses). in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may cause a light source 106 to emit light in medium pulses (e.g., second pulses, minute pulses). in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may cause a light source 106 to emit light in medium pulses (e.g., hour pulses, day long pulses). at embodiment 1508 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that regulate energy associated with one or more pulses of light emitted by the one or more light sources. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that regulate energy associated with one or more pulses of light emitted by the one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may regulate the current flowing through a light source 106 to regulate the energy associated with one or more pulses of light emitted by the one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may regulate what wavelengths of light are emitted by a light source 106 to regulate the energy associated with one or more pulses of light emitted by the one or more light sources 106 . at embodiment 1510 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that regulate one or more wavelengths of light emitted by the one or more light sources. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that regulate one or more wavelengths of light emitted by one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be coupled to a light source 106 that includes numerous light emitting diodes that emit light of different wavelengths. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may regulate wavelengths of light emitted from the light source 106 by selectively illuminating light emitting diodes that emit the desired wavelengths of light. at embodiment 1512 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that regulate one or more times when light is emitted by the one or more light sources. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that regulate one or more times when light is emitted by the one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may facilitate illumination of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 at predetermined time intervals. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may facilitate illumination of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 at predetermined time intervals. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may facilitate illumination of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 at selected times during the day. accordingly, one or more control units 116 may regulate one or more times when one or more light sources 106 emit light. fig. 16 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 1300 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 13 . fig. 16 illustrates example embodiments of module 1340 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 1602 , an embodiment 1604 , an embodiment 1606 , an embodiment 1608 , an embodiment 1610 , an embodiment 1612 , and/or an embodiment 1614 . at embodiment 1602 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that regulate duration of light emitted by the one or more light sources. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that regulate the duration of light emitted by one or more light sources 106 . for example, one or more control units 116 may cause one or more light sources 106 to emit light for a period of nanoseconds, microseconds, milliseconds, seconds, minutes, hours, days, and the like. at embodiment 1604 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that regulate in response to one or more programs. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that are responsive to one or more programs. for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be responsive to a programmed set of instructions. in some embodiments, the one or more control units 116 may be directly programmed. for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include a programmable memory that can include instructions. in some embodiments, the one or more control units 116 may receive instructions from a program that is associated with one or more management units 122 . at embodiment 1606 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that regulate in response to one or more commands. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that are responsive to one or more commands. for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may receive one or more signals 118 that act as commands for the one or more control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may receive one or more information packets that act as commands for the one or more control units 116 . at embodiment 1608 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that regulate in response to one or more timers. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that are responsive to one or more timers. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be configured to include one or more timers to which the one or more control units 116 are responsive. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be responsive to one or more timers that are remote from the one or more control units 116 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be responsive to one or more timers that are associated with one or more management units 122 that send instructions to the one or more control units 116 . at embodiment 1610 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that include memory. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that include memory. numerous types of memory may be associated with one or more control units 116 . examples of such memory include, but are not limited to, magnetic memory, semiconductor memory, and the like. at embodiment 1612 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that include memory having one or more associated programs. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that include memory having one or more associated programs. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include memory that includes a program that provides instructions for operating one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may receive information with regard to a current concentration of nitric oxide within an area and then process the information with one or more programs to determine one or more operating parameters for one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may receive information with regard to bacterial contamination within an area and then process the information with one or more programs to determine one or more operating parameters for one or more light sources 106 . accordingly, one or more control units 116 may include one or more programs that may be configured to respond to numerous types of information. at embodiment 1614 , module 1340 may include one or more control units that regulate one or more associations of the one or more light sources with the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more control units 116 that regulate one or more associations of one or more light sources with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may regulate one or more connections that couple one or more light sources 106 with one or more optical fibers that are associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may regulate light emission through regulation of the coupling of one or more light sources 106 with one or more optically transmitting materials that are associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . fig. 17 illustrates alternative embodiment 1700 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 1 . in fig. 17 , discussion and explanation may be provided with respect to the above-described example of fig. 1 , and/or with respect to other examples and contexts. in some embodiments, modules 1310 , 1320 and 1330 as described with respect to embodiment 1300 of device 102 of fig. 13 may correspond to modules 1710 , 1720 , and 1730 as described with respect to embodiment 1700 of fig. 17 . however, it should be understood that the modules may execute operations in a number of other environments and contexts, and/or modified versions of fig. 1 . also, although the various modules are presented in the sequence(s) illustrated, it should be understood that the various modules may be configured in numerous orientations. the embodiment 1700 includes module 1710 that includes one or more substrates. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more light sources and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . a substrate 114 may be made of numerous materials and combinations of materials. examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, metals, metal alloys, polymers, copolymers, ceramics, cloth, fabric, and the like. substrates 114 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be one or more sheets of one or more materials to which one or more light sources and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors may be associated. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured to accept one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include electrical connections that may be operably coupled to one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured to be associated with one or more power supplies. for example, in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more solar cells. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more batteries (e.g., thin-film batteries). in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more capacitors. substrates 114 may exhibit numerous physical characteristics. for example, in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be elastomeric. methods to prepare elastomeric materials are known and have been reported (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 6,639,007; 6,673,871; 7,105,607). in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be inelastic. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be fabricated from one or more metal foils. in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be fabricated with pressure sensitive fibers. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more elastomeric materials that self-adhere. accordingly, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured in the form of self-adhering athletic tape. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more adhesives that are applied to one or more portions of the substrate. accordingly, substrates 114 may be fabricated in numerous configurations. the embodiment 1700 includes module 1720 that includes one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more light sources operably associated with one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be directly coupled to one or more substrates 114 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be embedded within one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be indirectly coupled to one or more substrates 114 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be coupled to one or more materials that are coupled with one or more substrates 114 . accordingly, numerous laminates may be coupled to one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, a light source may include a thin-film battery that is coupled to one or more light emitting diodes and configured as a sheet or film. in some embodiments, such a sheet or film may be laminated onto one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, the laminate may be associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors to produce an embodiment of device 102 . the embodiment 1700 includes module 1730 that includes one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with the one or more light sources. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, the one or more light sources 106 may be directly coupled to one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . for example, in some embodiments, the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be chemically coupled to a surface of the light source 106 (e.g., chemically coupled to a polymer coating on the light source). in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be indirectly coupled to one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be included within a material that is used to coat the one or more light sources 106 . the embodiment 1700 includes module 1750 that includes one or more nitric oxide permeable layers. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 . a device 102 may include nitric oxide permeable layers 128 that are fabricated from numerous types of material. examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, ceramics, polymeric materials, metals, plastics, and the like. in some embodiments, nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include numerous combinations of materials. for example, in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a nitric oxide impermeable material that is coupled to a nitric oxide permeable material. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable membranes (e.g., u.s. patent application no.: 20020026937). in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a selectively permeable membrane. for example, in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a selectively permeable membrane that is a hydrophilic polyester co-polymer membrane system that includes a copolymer with 70% polyester and 30% polyether (e.g., sympatex™ 10 μm membrane, see hardwick et al., clinical science, 100:395-400 (2001)). in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a scintered glass portion that is permeable to nitric oxide. accordingly, nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include numerous types of porous ceramics that are permeable to nitric oxide. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a porous metal portion that is permeable to nitric oxide. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a nitric oxide permeable coating (e.g., u.s. patent application nos.: 20050220838 and 20030093143). nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured for application to an individual 126 . nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to facilitate application of nitric oxide to a surface. in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to facilitate application of nitric oxide to one or more surfaces of an individual 126 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured as a sheet that may be positioned on a skin surface of an individual 126 to deliver nitric oxide to the skin surface. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may be configured as a wearable article (e.g., hats, gloves, mittens, pants, shirts, hoods, patches, tapes, wraps, and the like). in some embodiments, nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured as one or more bags. for example, in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be included within a bag and/or sleeve that is configured to deliver nitric oxide to an individual. in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose at least a portion of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose at least a portion of one or more light sources 106 , at least a portion of one or more control units 116 , at least a portion of one or more sensors 120 , at least a portion of one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 or substantially any combination thereof. fig. 18 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 1700 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 17 . fig. 18 illustrates example embodiments of module 1750 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 1802 , an embodiment 1804 , and/or an embodiment 1806 . at embodiment 1802 , module 1750 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers that include one or more adhesives. in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 that include one or more adhesives. in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include one or more adhesives that facilitate adhesion of at least a portion of a nitric oxide permeable layer to a surface. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may include a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 that includes at least one portion which includes one or more adhesives and that is configured to deliver nitric oxide to a surface adjacent to the nitric oxide permeable layer 128 . accordingly, such an embodiment of device 102 may be used to deliver nitric oxide to a select surface by positioning the device on and/or over the select surface and attaching the device 102 at points adjacent to the select surface with the one or more adhesives. in some embodiments, such an embodiment of device 102 may be configured as tape, a body wrap, a sleeve, a surgical pad, and the like. at embodiment 1804 , module 1750 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers that include one or more nitric oxide selective membranes. in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers that include one or more nitric oxide selective membranes. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a selectively permeable membrane. for example, in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a selectively permeable membrane that is a hydrophilic polyester co-polymer membrane system that includes a copolymer with 70% polyester and 30% polyether (e.g., sympatex™ 10 μm membrane, see hardwick et al., clinical science, 100:395-400 (2001)). methods to fabricate nitric oxide permeable membranes are known (e.g., u.s. patent application no.: 20020026937). at embodiment 1806 , module 1750 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers that include at least one of polypropylene, polydialkylsiloxane, polyisoprene, polybutadiene, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinylidine, poly(dimethylsiloxane), poly(acrylamide-co-diallyldimethylammonium chloride). in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers that include at least one of polypropylene, polydialkylsiloxane, polyisoprene, polybutadiene, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinylidine, poly(dimethylsiloxane), poly(acrylamide-co-diallyldimethylammonium chloride). fig. 19 illustrates alternative embodiment 1900 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 1 . in fig. 19 , discussion and explanation may be provided with respect to the above-described example of fig. 1 , and/or with respect to other examples and contexts. in some embodiments, modules 1310 , 1320 , 1330 , and 1340 as described with respect to embodiment 1300 of device 102 of fig. 13 may correspond to modules 1910 , 1920 , 1930 and 1940 as described with respect to embodiment 1900 of fig. 19 . however, it should be understood that the modules may execute operations in a number of other environments and contexts, and/or modified versions of fig. 1 . also, although the various modules are presented in the sequence(s) illustrated, it should be understood that the various modules may be configured in numerous orientations. the embodiment 1900 includes module 1910 that includes one or more substrates. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more light sources and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . a substrate 114 may be made of numerous materials and combinations of materials. examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, metals, metal alloys, polymers, copolymers, ceramics, cloth, fabric, and the like. substrates 114 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be one or more sheets of one or more materials to which one or more light sources and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors may be associated. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured to accept one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include electrical connections that may be operably coupled to one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured to be associated with one or more power supplies. for example, in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more solar cells. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more batteries (e.g., thin-film batteries). in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more capacitors. substrates 114 may exhibit numerous physical characteristics. for example, in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be elastomeric. methods to prepare elastomeric materials are known and have been reported (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 6,639,007; 6,673,871; 7,105,607). in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be inelastic. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be fabricated from one or more metal foils. in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be fabricated with pressure sensitive fibers. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more elastomeric materials that self-adhere. accordingly, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured in the form of self-adhering athletic tape. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more adhesives that are applied to one or more portions of the substrate. accordingly, substrates 114 may be fabricated in numerous configurations. the embodiment 1900 includes module 1920 that includes one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more light sources 106 operably associated with one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources 106 may be directly coupled to one or more substrates 114 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be embedded within one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be indirectly coupled to one or more substrates 114 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be coupled to one or more materials that are coupled with one or more substrates 114 . accordingly, numerous laminates may be coupled to one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, a light source 106 may include a thin-film battery that is coupled to one or more light emitting diodes and configured as a sheet or film. in some embodiments, such a sheet or film may be laminated onto one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, the laminate may be associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 to produce an embodiment of device 102 . the embodiment 1900 includes module 1930 that includes one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with the one or more light sources. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 operably associated with one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, the one or more light sources 106 may be directly coupled to one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . for example, in some embodiments, the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be chemically coupled to a surface of the light source 106 (e.g., chemically coupled to a polymer coating on the light source 106 ). in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be indirectly coupled to one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be included within a material that is used to coat the one or more light sources 106 . the embodiment 1900 includes module 1940 that includes one or more control units. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more control units 116 . a device 102 may include numerous types of control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled with one or more light sources 106 , one or more sensors 120 , one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 , one or more electromagnetic transmitters 112 , or substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled to other components through use of one or more wireless connections, one or more hardwired connections, or substantially any combination thereof. control units 116 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, a control unit 116 may be configured as an on/off switch. accordingly, in some embodiments, a control unit 116 may be configured to turn a light source 106 on and/or off. in some embodiments, a control unit 116 may be configured to control the emission of light from one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may regulate the intensity of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , the duration of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , the frequency of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , wavelengths of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , or substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 from one or more sensors 120 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be configured to control one or more light sources 106 in response to one or more signals 118 received from one or more sensors 120 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may sense a low concentration of nitric oxide in one or more tissues and send one or more signals 118 to one or more control units 116 . the one or more control units 116 may then turn one or more light sources 106 on to facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may sense a high concentration of nitric oxide in one or more tissues and send one or more signals 118 to one or more control units 116 . the one or more control units 116 may then turn one or more light sources 106 off to end release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be programmed to control one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be programmed to turn one or more light sources 106 on for a predetermined amount of time and then turn off. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be preprogrammed. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be dynamically programmed. for example, in some embodiments, one or more management units 122 may receive one or more signals 118 from one or more sensors 120 and program one or more control units 116 in response to the one or more signals 118 received from the one or more sensors 120 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more receivers that are able to receive one or more signals 118 , one or more information packets, or substantially any combination thereof. control units 116 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled to one or more light sources 106 that include numerous light emitting diodes that emit light of different wavelengths. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may control the wavelengths of light emitted by the one or more light sources 106 by controlling the operation of light emitting diodes that emit light of the selected wavelength. accordingly, control units 116 may be configured in numerous ways and utilize numerous types of mechanisms. the embodiment 1900 includes module 1960 that includes one or more sensors. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more sensors 120 . numerous types of sensors 120 may be associated with one or more devices 102 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be used to determine the presence of nitric oxide in one or more tissues. in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may be configured for use on the outside surface of an individual 126 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to detect the concentration of nitric oxide on the surface of skin, a wound, a surface of a table, and the like. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to be included within one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be associated with one or more electrical connections associated with one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to be included within one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 . in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may be configured to utilize fluorescence to detect nitric oxide. for example, in some embodiments, a sensor may detect nitric oxide through use of one or more fluorescent probes, such as 4,5-diaminofluorescein diacetate (emd chemicals inc., san diego, calif.). in some embodiments, a sensor may detect nitric oxide through use of one or more electrodes. for example, in some embodiments, a sensor may utilize an electrode that includes a single walled carbon nanotube and an ionic liquid to detect nitric oxide (e.g., li et al., electroanalysis, 18:713-718 (2006)). numerous sensors 120 are commercially available and have been described (e.g., world precision instruments, inc., sarasota, fla., usa; u.s. pat. nos. 6,100,096; 6,280,604; 5,980,705). in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may include one or more transmitters. in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may include one or more receivers. in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may be configured to transmit one or more signals 118 . in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 . numerous types of sensors 120 may be associated with one or more devices 102 and/or utilized within system 100 . examples of such sensors 120 include, but are not limited to, temperature sensors 120 , pressure sensors 120 (e.g., blood pressure, hydrostatic pressure), pulse rate sensors 120 , clocks, bacterial contamination sensors 120 , strain sensors 120 , light sensors 120 , nitric oxide sensors 120 , and the like. fig. 20 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 1900 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 19 . fig. 20 illustrates example embodiments of module 1960 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 2002 , an embodiment 2004 , an embodiment 2006 , an embodiment 2008 , and/or an embodiment 2010 . at embodiment 2002 , module 1960 may include one or more sensors that are configured to detect nitric oxide. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more sensors 120 that are configured to detect nitric oxide. nitric oxide sensors 120 may be configured in numerous ways. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide sensor 120 may be configured to utilize fluorescence to detect nitric oxide. for example, in some embodiments, a nitric oxide sensor may detect nitric oxide through use of one or more fluorescent probes, such as 4,5-diaminofluorescein diacetate (emd chemicals inc., san diego, calif.). in some embodiments, a nitric oxide sensor may detect nitric oxide through use of one or more electrodes. for example, in some embodiments, a nitric oxide sensor may utilize an electrode that includes a single walled carbon nanotube and an ionic liquid to detect nitric oxide (e.g., li et al., electroanalysis, 18:713-718 (2006)). numerous nitric oxide sensors 120 are commercially available and have been described (e.g., world precision instruments, inc., sarasota, fla., usa; u.s. pat. nos. 6,100,096; 6,280,604; 5,980,705). at embodiment 2004 , module 1960 may include one or more sensors that are configured to detect one or more nitric oxide synthases. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more sensors 120 that are configured to detect one or more nitric oxide synthases. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to detect nitric oxide synthase activity. nitric oxide synthase detection kits are commercially available (e.g., cell technology, inc., mountain view, calif.). in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to detect nitric oxide synthase messenger ribonucleic acid (mrna). methods that may be used to detect such mrna have been reported (e.g., sonoki et al., leukemia, 13:713-718 (1999)). in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to detect nitric oxide synthase through immunological methods. methods that may be used to detect nitric oxide synthase directly been reported (e.g., burrell et al., j. histochem. cytochem., 44:339-346 (1996) and hattenbach et al., ophthalmologica, 216:209-214 (2002)). in some embodiments, microelectromechanical systems may be used to detect nitric oxide synthase. in some embodiments, antibodies and/or aptamers that bind to nitric oxide synthase may be used within one or more microelectromechanical systems to detect nitric oxide synthase. methods to construct microelectromechanical detectors have been described (e.g., gau et al., biosensors & bioelectronics, 16:745-755 (2001)). accordingly, nitric oxide sensors 120 may be configured in numerous ways to detect one or more nitric oxide synthases. at embodiment 2006 , module 1960 may include one or more sensors that are configured to detect one or more nitric oxide donors. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more sensors 120 that are configured to detect one or more nitric oxide donors. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more surface plasmon resonance chemical electrodes that are configured to detect one or more nitric oxide donors. for example, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more surface plasmon resonance chemical electrodes that include antibodies and/or aptamers that bind to one or more nitric oxide donors. accordingly, such electrodes may be used to detect the one or more nitric oxide donors through use of surface plasmon resonance. methods to construct surface plasmon resonance chemical electrodes are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,858,799; lin et al., applied optics, 46:800-806 (2007)). in some embodiments, antibodies and/or aptamers that bind to one or more nitric oxide donors may be used within one or more microelectromechanical systems to detect one or more nitric oxide donors. methods to construct microelectromechanical detectors have been described (e.g., gau et al., biosensors & bioelectronics, 16:745-755 (2001)). at embodiment 2008 , module 1960 may include one or more sensors that are operably coupled to the one or more control units. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more sensors 120 that are operably coupled to one or more control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be operably associated with one or more control units 116 through a hardwired connection. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be operably associated with one or more control units 116 through a wireless connection. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to send one or more signals 118 to one or more control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 from one or more control units 116 . at embodiment 2010 , module 1960 may include one or more sensors that are configured to transmit one or more information packets. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more sensors 120 that are configured to transmit one or more information packets. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to transmit one or more information packets to one or more control units 116 . information packets may include numerous types of information. examples of such information include, but are not limited to, nitric oxide concentration, temperature, time, pulse, blood pressure, bacterial contamination, and the like. fig. 21 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 1900 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 19 . fig. 21 illustrates example embodiments of module 1960 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 2102 , an embodiment 2104 , an embodiment 2106 , and/or an embodiment 2108 . at embodiment 2102 , module 1960 may include one or more sensors that are configured to transmit one or more signals. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more sensors 120 that are configured to transmit one or more signals. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to transmit one or more signals 118 . numerous types of signals 118 may be transmitted. examples of such signals 118 include, but are not limited to, optical signals 118 , radio signals 118 , wireless signals 118 , hardwired signals 118 , infrared signals 118 , ultrasonic signals 118 , and the like. at embodiment 2104 , module 1960 may include one or more sensors that include one or more electrochemical sensors. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more sensors 120 that include one or more electrochemical sensors 120 . sensors 120 may include numerous types of electrochemical sensors 120 . for example, in some embodiments, an electrochemical sensor may be configured as a nitric oxide specific electrode. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide specific electrode may include ruthenium and/or at least one oxide of ruthenium. methods to construct such electrodes are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 6,280,604; 5,980,705). in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may include an amperometric sensor that includes a sensing electrode that is configured to oxidize nitric oxide complexes to generate an electrical current that indicates the concentration of nitric oxide. methods to construct such electrodes are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. patent application no.: 20070181444 and ikeda et al., sensors, 5:161-170 (2005)). numerous types of electrochemical sensors 120 may be associated with one or more sensors 120 (e.g., li et al., electroanalysis, 18:713-718 (2006)). electrodes that may be used to detect nitric oxide are commercially available (world precision instruments, sarasota, fla.). in some embodiments, such electrodes may be used to detect nitric oxide at concentrations of about 0.5 nanomolar and above, and may be about 100 micrometers in diameter (world precision instruments, sarasota, fla.). at embodiment 2106 , module 1960 may include one or more sensors that include one or more semiconductor sensors. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more sensors 120 that include one or more semiconductor sensors 120 . in some embodiments, the sensor may be a molecular controlled semiconductor resistor of a multilayered gaas structure to which a layer of multifunctional no-binding molecules are adsorbed. such nitric oxide binding molecules may include, but are not limited to, vicinal diamines, metalloporphyrins, metallophthalocyanines, and iron-dithiocarbamate complexes that contain at least one functional group selected from carboxyl, thiol, acyclic sulfide, cyclic disulfide, hydroxamic acid, trichlorosilane or phosphate (e.g., u.s. published patent application no.: 20040072360). in some embodiments, a semiconductive sensor 120 may employ a polycrystalline-oxide semiconductor material that is coated with porous metal electrodes to form a semiconductor sandwich. in some embodiments, the semiconductor material may be formed of sno 2 or zno. the porous electrodes may be formed with platinum and used to measure the conductivity of the semiconductor material. in some embodiments, the conductivity of the semiconductor material changes when nitric oxide is absorbed on the surface of the semiconductor material (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,580,433; international application publication number wo 02/057738). one or more sensors 120 may include numerous other types of semiconductor sensors 120 . at embodiment 2108 , module 1960 may include one or more sensors that include one or more chemical sensors. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more sensors 120 that include one or more chemical sensors 120 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more chemical sensors 120 that include a reagent solution that undergoes a chemiluminescent reaction with nitric oxide. accordingly, one or more photodetectors may be used to detect nitric oxide. methods to construct such detectors are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 6,100,096). in some embodiments, ozone may be reacted with nitric oxide to produce light in proportion to the amount of nitric oxide present. the light produced may be measured with a photodetector. in some embodiments, sensors 120 may include one or more charge-coupled devices to detect photonic emission. fig. 22 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 1900 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 19 . fig. 22 illustrates example embodiments of module 1960 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 2202 , an embodiment 2204 and/or an embodiment 2206 . at embodiment 2202 , module 1960 may include one or more sensors that include one or more fluorescent sensors. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more sensors 120 that include one or more fluorescent sensors 120 . in some embodiments, a fluorescent sensor may include one or more fluorescent probes that may be used to detect nitric oxide. for example, in some embodiments, 4,5-diaminofluorescein may be used to determine nitric oxide concentration (e.g., rathel et al., biol. proced. online, 5:136-142 (2003)). probes that maybe used to detect nitric oxide are commercially available (emd chemicals inc., san diego, calif.). at embodiment 2204 , module 1960 may include one or more sensors that include one or more raman sensors. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more sensors 120 that include one or more raman sensors 120 . methods to use raman spectroscopy to detect nitric oxide are known and have been described (e.g., u.s. patent application no.: 20060074282). in addition, raman spectrometers are commercially available (e.g., raman systems, austin, tex. and b&w tek, inc., newark, del.). at embodiment 2206 , module 1960 may include one or more sensors that include one or more micro-electro-mechanical sensors. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may include one or more sensors 120 that include one or more micro-electro-mechanical sensors 120 . in some embodiments, microelectromechanical systems may be used to detect nitric oxide synthase. in some embodiments, antibodies and/or aptamers that bind to nitric oxide synthase may be used within one or more microelectromechanical systems to detect nitric oxide synthase. methods to construct microelectromechanical detectors have been described (e.g., gau et al., biosensors & bioelectronics, 16:745-755 (2001)). accordingly, nitric oxide sensors may be configured in numerous ways to detect one or more nitric oxide synthases. fig. 23 illustrates alternative embodiment 2300 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 1 . in fig. 23 , discussion and explanation may be provided with respect to the above-described example of fig. 1 , and/or with respect to other examples and contexts. in some embodiments, modules 1910 , 1920 , 1930 , 1940 and 1960 as described with respect to embodiment 1900 of device 102 of fig. 19 may correspond to modules 2310 , 2320 , 2330 , 2340 and 2360 as described with respect to embodiment 2300 of fig. 23 . however, it should be understood that the modules may execute operations in a number of other environments and contexts, and/or modified versions of fig. 1 . also, although the various modules are presented in the sequence(s) illustrated, it should be understood that the various modules may be configured in numerous orientations. the embodiment 2300 includes module 2310 that includes one or more substrates. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 are associated with one or more light sources and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . a substrate 114 may be made of numerous materials and combinations of materials. examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, metals, metal alloys, polymers, copolymers, ceramics, cloth, fabric, and the like. substrates 114 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be one or more sheets of one or more materials to which one or more light sources and one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors may be associated. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured to accept one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include electrical connections that may be operably coupled to one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured to be associated with one or more power supplies. for example, in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more solar cells. in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more batteries (e.g., thin-film batteries). in some embodiments, one or more substrates 114 may be configured to associate with one or more capacitors. substrates 114 may exhibit numerous physical characteristics. for example, in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be elastomeric. methods to prepare elastomeric materials are known and have been reported (e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 6,639,007; 6,673,871; 7,105,607). in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be inelastic. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be fabricated from one or more metal foils. in some embodiments, substrates 114 may be fabricated with pressure sensitive fibers. for example, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more elastomeric materials that self-adhere. accordingly, in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may be configured in the form of self-adhering athletic tape. in some embodiments, a substrate 114 may include one or more adhesives that are applied to one or more portions of the substrate. accordingly, substrates 114 may be fabricated in numerous configurations. the embodiment 2300 includes module 2320 that includes one or more light sources operably associated with the one or more substrates. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more light sources operably associated with one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be directly coupled to one or more substrates 114 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be embedded within one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be indirectly coupled to one or more substrates 114 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more light sources may be coupled to one or more materials that are coupled with one or more substrates 114 . accordingly, numerous laminates may be coupled to one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, a light source may include a thin-film battery that is coupled to one or more light emitting diodes and configured as a sheet or film. in some embodiments, such a sheet or film may be laminated onto one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, the laminate may be associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors to produce an embodiment of device 102 . the embodiment 2300 includes module 2330 that includes one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with the one or more light sources. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors operably associated with one or more light sources 106 . in some embodiments, the one or more light sources 106 may be directly coupled to one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . for example, in some embodiments, the one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be chemically coupled to a surface of the light source 106 (e.g., chemically coupled to a polymer coating on the light source). in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be indirectly coupled to one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 may be included within a material that is used to coat the one or more light sources 106 . the embodiment 2300 includes module 2340 that includes one or more control units. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more control units 116 . a device 102 may include numerous types of control units 116 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled with one or more light sources 106 , one or more sensors 120 , one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 , one or more electromagnetic transmitters 112 , or substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled to other components through use of one or more wireless connections, one or more hardwired connections, or substantially any combination thereof. control units 116 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, a control unit 116 may be configured as an on/off switch. accordingly, in some embodiments, a control unit 116 may be configured to turn a light source 106 on and/or off. in some embodiments, a control unit 116 may be configured to control the emission of light from one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may regulate the intensity of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , the duration of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , the frequency of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , wavelengths of light emitted from one or more light sources 106 , or substantially any combination thereof. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 from one or more sensors 120 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be configured to control one or more light sources 106 in response to one or more signals 118 received from one or more sensors 120 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may sense a low concentration of nitric oxide in one or more tissues and send one or more signals 118 to one or more control units 116 . the one or more control units 116 may then turn one or more light sources 106 on to facilitate release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may sense a high concentration of nitric oxide in one or more tissues and send one or more signals 118 to one or more control units 116 . the one or more control units 116 may then turn one or more light sources 106 off to end release of nitric oxide from one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be programmed to control one or more light sources 106 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be programmed to turn one or more light sources 106 on for a predetermined amount of time and then turn off. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be preprogrammed. in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be dynamically programmed. for example, in some embodiments, one or more management units 122 may receive one or more signals 118 from one or more sensors 120 and program one or more control units 116 in response to the one or more signals 118 received from the one or more sensors 120 . in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may include one or more receivers that are able to receive one or more signals 118 , one or more information packets, or substantially any combination thereof. control units 116 may be configured in numerous ways. for example, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may be operably coupled to one or more light sources 106 that include numerous light emitting diodes that emit light of different wavelengths. accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more control units 116 may control the wavelengths of light emitted by the one or more light sources 106 by controlling the operation of light emitting diodes that emit light of the selected wavelength. accordingly, control units 116 may be configured in numerous ways and utilize numerous types of mechanisms. the embodiment 2300 includes module 2360 that includes one or more sensors. in some embodiments, device 102 may include one or more sensors 120 . numerous types of sensors 120 may be associated with one or more devices 102 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be used to determine the presence of nitric oxide in one or more tissues. in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may be configured for use on the outside surface of an individual 126 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to detect the concentration of nitric oxide on the surface of skin, a wound, a surface of a table, and the like. in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to be included within one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be associated with one or more electrical connections associated with one or more substrates 114 . in some embodiments, one or more sensors 120 may be configured to be included within one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 . in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may be configured to utilize fluorescence to detect nitric oxide. for example, in some embodiments, a sensor may detect nitric oxide through use of one or more fluorescent probes, such as 4,5-diaminofluorescein diacetate (emd chemicals inc., san diego, calif.). in some embodiments, a sensor may detect nitric oxide through use of one or more electrodes. for example, in some embodiments, a sensor may utilize an electrode that includes a single walled carbon nanotube and an ionic liquid to detect nitric oxide (e.g., li et al., electroanalysis, 18:713-718 (2006)). numerous sensors 120 are commercially available and have been described (e.g., world precision instruments, inc., sarasota, fla., usa; u.s. pat. nos. 6,100,096; 6,280,604; 5,980,705). in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may include one or more transmitters. in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may include one or more receivers. in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may be configured to transmit one or more signals 118 . in some embodiments, a sensor 120 may be configured to receive one or more signals 118 . numerous types of sensors 120 may be associated with one or more devices 102 and/or utilized within system 100 . examples of such sensors 120 include, but are not limited to, temperature sensors 120 , pressure sensors 120 (e.g., blood pressure, hydrostatic pressure), pulse rate sensors 120 , clocks, bacterial contamination sensors 120 , strain sensors 120 , light sensors 120 , nitric oxide sensors 120 , and the like. the embodiment 2300 includes module 2350 that includes one or more nitric oxide permeable layers. embodiment 2300 of device 102 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 . a device 102 may include nitric oxide permeable layers 128 that are fabricated from numerous types of material. examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, ceramics, polymeric materials, metals, plastics, and the like. in some embodiments, nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include numerous combinations of materials. for example, in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a nitric oxide impermeable material that is coupled to a nitric oxide permeable material. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable membranes (e.g., u.s. patent application no.: 20020026937). in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a selectively permeable membrane. for example, in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a selectively permeable membrane that is a hydrophilic polyester co-polymer membrane system that includes a copolymer with 70% polyester and 30% polyether (e.g., sympatex™ 10 μm membrane, see hardwick et al., clinical science, 100:395-400 (2001)). in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a scintered glass portion that is permeable to nitric oxide. accordingly, nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include numerous types of porous ceramics that are permeable to nitric oxide. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a porous metal portion that is permeable to nitric oxide. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a nitric oxide permeable coating (e.g., u.s. patent application nos.: 20050220838 and 20030093143). nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured for application to an individual 126 . nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to facilitate application of nitric oxide to a surface. in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to facilitate application of nitric oxide to one or more surfaces of an individual 126 . for example, in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured as a sheet that may be positioned on a skin surface of an individual 126 to deliver nitric oxide to the skin surface. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may be configured as a wearable article (e.g., hats, gloves, mittens, pants, shirts, hoods, patches, tapes, wraps, and the like). in some embodiments, nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured as one or more bags. for example, in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be included within a bag and/or sleeve that is configured to deliver nitric oxide to an individual. in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose at least a portion of one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors 104 . in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may be configured to enclose at least a portion of one or more light sources 106 , at least a portion of one or more control units 116 , at least a portion of one or more sensors 120 , at least a portion of one or more electromagnetic receivers 108 or substantially any combination thereof. fig. 24 illustrates alternative embodiments of embodiment 2300 of device 102 within system 100 of fig. 1 . fig. 24 illustrates example embodiments of module 2350 . additional embodiments may include an embodiment 2402 , an embodiment 2404 , and/or an embodiment 2406 . at embodiment 2402 , module 2350 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers that include one or more adhesives. in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 that include one or more adhesives. in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include one or more adhesives that facilitate adhesion of at least a portion of a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 to a surface. for example, in some embodiments, a device 102 may include a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 that includes at least one portion which includes one or more adhesives and that is configured to deliver nitric oxide to a surface adjacent to the nitric oxide permeable layer 128 . accordingly, such an embodiment of device 102 may be used to deliver nitric oxide to a select surface by positioning the device on and/or over the select surface and attaching the device 102 at points adjacent to the select surface with the one or more adhesives. in some embodiments, such an embodiment of device 102 may be configured as tape, a body wrap, a sleeve, a surgical pad, and the like. at embodiment 2404 , module 2350 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers that include one or more nitric oxide selective membranes. in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 that include one or more nitric oxide selective membranes. in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a selectively permeable membrane. for example, in some embodiments, a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 may include a selectively permeable membrane that is a hydrophilic polyester co-polymer membrane system that includes a copolymer with 70% polyester and 30% polyether (e.g., sympatex™ 10 μm membrane, see hardwick et al., clinical science, 100:395-400 (2001)). methods to fabricate nitric oxide permeable membranes are known (e.g., u.s. patent application no.: 20020026937). at embodiment 2406 , module 2350 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers that include at least one of polypropylene, polydialkylsiloxane, polyisoprene, polybutadiene, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinylidine, poly(dimethylsiloxane), poly(acrylamide-co-diallyldimethylammonium chloride). in some embodiments, one or more nitric oxide permeable layers 128 may include one or more nitric oxide permeable layers that include at least one of polypropylene, polydialkylsiloxane, polyisoprene, polybutadiene, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinylidine, poly(dimethylsiloxane), poly(acrylamide-co-diallyldimethylammonium chloride). fig. 25 illustrates a partial view of a system 2500 that includes a computer program 2504 for executing a computer process on a computing device. an embodiment of the system 2500 is provided using a signal-bearing medium 2502 bearing one or more instructions for operating one or more light sources that are operably associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors and one or more substrates 114 . the one or more instructions may be, for example, computer executable and/or logic-implemented instructions. in some embodiments, the signal-bearing medium 2502 may include a computer-readable medium 2506 . in some embodiments, the signal bearing medium 2502 may include a recordable medium 2508 . in some embodiments, the signal bearing medium 2502 may include a communications medium 2510 . fig. 26 illustrates a partial view of a system 2600 that includes a computer program 2604 for executing a computer process on a computing device. an embodiment of the system 2600 is provided using a signal-bearing medium 2602 bearing one or more instructions for operating one or more light sources that are operably associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors and one or more substrates and one or more instructions for operating one or more control units. the one or more instructions may be, for example, computer executable and/or logic-implemented instructions. in some embodiments, the signal-bearing medium 2602 may include a computer-readable medium 2606 . in some embodiments, the signal bearing medium 2602 may include a recordable medium 2608 . in some embodiments, the signal bearing medium 2602 may include a communications medium 2610 . fig. 27 illustrates a partial view of a system 2700 that includes a computer program 2704 for executing a computer process on a computing device. an embodiment of the system 2700 is provided using a signal-bearing medium 2702 bearing one or more instructions for operating one or more light sources that are operably associated with one or more photolyzable nitric oxide donors and one or more substrates, one or more instructions for operating one or more control units 116 , and one or more instructions for operating one or more sensors 120 . the one or more instructions may be, for example, computer executable and/or logic-implemented instructions. in some embodiments, the signal-bearing medium 2702 may include a computer-readable medium 2706 . in some embodiments, the signal bearing medium 2702 may include a recordable medium 2708 . in some embodiments, the signal bearing medium 2702 may include a communications medium 2710 . fig. 28a illustrates an embodiment of device 102 . a porous substrate 114 is shown in association with a photolyzable nitric oxide donor 104 and a light source 106 . fig. 28b illustrates an embodiment of device 102 . a substrate 114 is shown in association with a light source 106 and a photolyzable nitric oxide donor 104 . fig. 29a illustrates an embodiment of device 102 . a substrate 114 is shown in association with a light source 106 , a photolyzable nitric oxide donor 104 , and a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 . fig. 29b illustrates an embodiment of device 102 . a substrate 114 is shown in association with a light source 106 , a photolyzable nitric oxide donor 104 , a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 , and a control unit 116 . fig. 30a illustrates an embodiment of device 102 . a substrate 114 is shown in association with a light source 106 , a photolyzable nitric oxide donor 104 , a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 , and a sensor 120 . fig. 30b illustrates an embodiment of device 102 . a substrate 114 is shown in association with a light source 106 , a photolyzable nitric oxide donor 104 , a nitric oxide permeable layer 128 , a control unit 116 , and a sensor 120 . with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. the various singular/plural permutations are not expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity. while particular aspects of the present subject matter described herein have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from the subject matter described herein and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is defined by the appended claims. it will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). it will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. for example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. however, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. in addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of a, b, and c, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of a, b, and c” would include but not be limited to systems that have a alone, b alone, c alone, a and b together, a and c together, b and c together, and/or a, b, and c together, etc.). in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of a, b, or c, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of a, b, or c” would include but not be limited to systems that have a alone, b alone, c alone, a and b together, a and c together, b and c together, and/or a, b, and c together, etc.). it will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. for example, the phrase “a or b” will be understood to include the possibilities of “a” or “b” or “a and b.” those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the art has progressed to the point where there is little distinction left between hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems; the use of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that in certain contexts the choice between hardware and software can become significant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs. those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are various vehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologies described herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/or firmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context in which the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies are deployed. for example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly software implementation; or, yet again alternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. hence, there are several possible vehicles by which the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies described herein may be effected, none of which is inherently superior to the other in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choice dependent upon the context in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns (e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any of which may vary. those skilled in the art will recognize that optical aspects of implementations will typically employ optically-oriented hardware, software, and/or firmware. the foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of the devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples. insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understood by those within the art that each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. in one embodiment, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via application specific integrated circuits (asics), field programmable gate arrays (fpgas), digital signal processors (dsps), or other integrated formats. however, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. in addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal-bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. examples of a signal-bearing medium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a compact disc (cd), a digital video disk (dvd), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and a transmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link, etc.). in a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various embodiments described herein can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by various types of electro-mechanical systems having a wide range of electrical components such as hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof; and a wide range of components that may impart mechanical force or motion such as rigid bodies, spring or torsional bodies, hydraulics, and electro-magnetically actuated devices, or virtually any combination thereof. consequently, as used herein “electro-mechanical system” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry operably coupled with a transducer (e.g., an actuator, a motor, a piezoelectric crystal, etc.), electrical circuitry having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one application specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g., a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein, or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein), electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of random access memory), electrical circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electrical equipment), and any non-electrical analog thereto, such as optical or other analogs. those skilled in the art will also appreciate that examples of electro-mechanical systems include but are not limited to a variety of consumer electronics systems, as well as other systems such as motorized transport systems, factory automation systems, security systems, and communication/computing systems. those skilled in the art will recognize that electro-mechanical as used herein is not necessarily limited to a system that has both electrical and mechanical actuation except as context may dictate otherwise. in a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various aspects described herein which can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various types of “electrical circuitry.” consequently, as used herein “electrical circuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one application specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g., a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein, or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein), electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of random access memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electrical equipment). those having skill in the art will recognize that the subject matter described herein may be implemented in an analog or digital fashion or some combination thereof. those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the art to implement devices and/or processes and/or systems in the fashion(s) set forth herein, and thereafter use engineering and/or business practices to integrate such implemented devices and/or processes and/or systems into more comprehensive devices and/or processes and/or systems. that is, at least a portion of the devices and/or processes and/or systems described herein can be integrated into other devices and/or processes and/or systems via a reasonable amount of experimentation. those having skill in the art will recognize that examples of such other devices and/or processes and/or systems might include—as appropriate to context and application—all or part of devices and/or processes and/or systems of (a) an air conveyance (e.g., an airplane, rocket, hovercraft, helicopter, etc.), (b) a ground conveyance (e.g., a car, truck, locomotive, tank, armored personnel carrier, etc.), (c) a building (e.g., a home, warehouse, office, etc.), (d) an appliance (e.g., a refrigerator, a washing machine, a dryer, etc.), (e) a communications system (e.g., a networked system, a telephone system, a voice-over ip system, etc.), (f) a business entity (e.g., an internet service provider (isp) entity such as comcast cable, quest, southwestern bell, etc), or (g) a wired/wireless services entity (e.g., such as sprint, cingular, nextel, etc.), etc. although the user interface 124 is shown/described herein as a single illustrated figure that is associated with an individual 126 , those skilled in the art will appreciate that a user interface 124 may be utilized by a user that is a representative of a human user, a robotic user (e.g., computational entity), and/or substantially any combination thereof (e.g., a user may be assisted by one or more robotic based systems). in addition, a user as set forth herein, although shown as a single entity may in fact be composed of two or more entities. those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in general, the same may be said of “sender” and/or other entity-oriented terms as such terms are used herein. the herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. it is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. in a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality. specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components. all publications, patents and patent applications cited herein are incorporated herein by reference. the foregoing specification has been described in relation to certain embodiments thereof, and many details have been set forth for purposes of illustration, however, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the details described herein may be varied considerably without departing from the basic principles of the invention.
028-575-876-947-332	JP	[ "JP", "US" ]	B81B3/00,B81C1/00,G02B26/02,G02B26/00	2003-05-23T00:00:00	2003	[ "B81", "G02" ]	transmissive type optical modulator element and method of manufacturing the same	<p>problem to be solved: to provide a method of manufacturing a transmissive type optical modulator element in which a through hole is not required to be provided on a si substrate (opaque substrate) and the miniaturization and the integration are not limited as in a conventional type substrate. <p>solution: a pixel driving circuit is formed on an soi substrate composed of an soi substrate, an insulation layer and a second silicone layer in the first step, and the soi substrate is removed in a state that the pixel driving circuit side is supported in the second step, further a transparent substrate is joined and an mem optical modulation part is formed on the pixel driving circuit. <p>copyright: (c)2005,jpo&ncipi	1. a transmissive spatial light modulator having a light-transmission area, comprising: a transparent substrate; a pixel drive circuit provided on the transparent substrate to form an area other than the light-transmission area; and a transmissive light modulation section including a micro-electromechanical element, the transmissive light modulation section being controlled by the pixel drive circuit and being provided above the pixel drive circuit. 2. the transmissive spatial light modulator according to claim 1 , further comprising a microlens array provided integrally on at least an entrance side of an incident light in the transmissive light modulation section so that at least part of the incident light is converged on at least one of the light-transmission area and the light modulation section. 3. the modulator of claim 1 , wherein the transparent substrate comprises light transmissive glass. 4. the transmissive spatial light modulator according to claim 1 , wherein the pixel drive circuit controls the transmission of light through the light-transmission area. 5. a method of manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator by use of an soi substrate comprising a first silicon layer, an insulation layer and a second silicon layer in this order, the method comprising: forming a pixel drive circuit on the insulation layer, the pixel drive circuit including at least part of the second silicon layer; eliminating the first silicon layer while a portion other than the first silicon layer is supported; attaching a transparent substrate to the location from which the first silicon layer was removed; and forming a transparent light modulation section including a micro-electromechanical element above the pixel drive circuit. 6. the method of manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator according to claim 5 , wherein a microlens array is provided integrally on at least an entrance side of an incident light in the transmissive light modulation section; and wherein at least part of the incident light is converged on at least one of a light-transmission area of the transmissive spatial light modulator and the light modulation section. 7. the method of claim 5 , wherein the transparent substrate comprises light transmissive glass. 8. the method of claim 5 , wherein eliminating the first silicon layer comprises removing a thickness of the first silicon layer across a surface of the first silicon layer. 9. a method of manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator by use of an soi substrate comprising a first silicon layer, an insulation layer and a second silicon layer in this order, the method comprising: forming a pixel drive circuit including at least part of the second silicon layer on the insulation layer; attaching a transparent substrate to the pixel drive circuit; eliminating the first silicon layer; and newly forming a transmissive light modulation section including a micro-electromechanical element in the area from which the first silicon layer was removed. 10. the method of manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator according to claim 9 , wherein a microlens array is provided integrally on at least an entrance side of an incident light in the transmissive light modulation section; and wherein at least part of the incident light is converged on at least one of a light-transmission area of the transmissive spatial light modulator and the light modulation section. 11. the method of claim 9 , wherein the transparent substrate comprises light transmissive glass. 12. the method of claim 9 , wherein eliminating the first silicon layer comprises removing a thickness of the first silicon layer across a surface of the first silicon layer. 13. a method of manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator, comprising: forming a pixel drive circuit on a transparent substrate through a thin-film transistor forming process; and forming a transmissive light modulation section including a micro-electromechanical element above the pixel drive circuit. 14. the method of manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator according to claim 13 , wherein a microlens array is provided integrally on at least an entrance side of an incident light in the transmissive light modulation section; and wherein at least part of the incident light is converged on at least one of a light-transmission area of the transmissive spatial light modulator and the light modulation section. 15. the method of claim 13 , wherein the transparent substrate comprises light transmissive glass.	background of the invention 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to a one-dimensional or two-dimensional spatial light modulator array to be provided on an on-demand digital exposure system employed in a photolithography process, an image forming apparatus employing digital exposure, a projection display device such as a projector or the like, and a microdisplay device such as a head-mount display. 2. description of the related art jp-a-10-39239, jp-a-2002-214543, jp-t-9-510797 and jp-a-7-311391 can be mentioned as known publications in this field. among the inventions described in these documents, the invention of jp-a-10-39239 enables provision of a shutter drive circuit or the like on a substrate without involvement of an essential drop in the numerical aperture of the lens, and can be said to be typical of such inventions. to this end, there are provided a microlens for converging light for converging light on an light modulation section formed from a micro-electromechanical element [a micro-electromechanical element formed by means of a micromachine technology is simply called mem (micro-electromechanical) and will be hereinafter referred to as an “mem light modulation section”]; a substrate on which the light converged by the microlens falls and has a through hole for permitting passage of the light; and a shutter provided on a substrate for controlling passage and blockage of the light having fallen on the through hole. such a configuration enables a reduction in the ratio of an opening section of the through hole to the entire surface of the substrate as compared with the ratio of a conventional counterpart without involvement of a drop in the numerical aperture of the lens, assurance of a space to be used for providing a drive circuit or the like on the substrate, a reduction in a distance over which the shutter is actuated, and easy opening and closing action of the shutter by means of electrostatic attractive force. therefore, a simpler process can be employed to manufacture a space spatial light modulator which involves little chance of faulty operation. a high-contrast image or the like can be formed on a screen through use of the space spatial light modulator. an invention of jp-a-2002-214543 is directed toward a device comprising a light-transmission substrate and a circuit panel having a fixed array of transistors, wherein the transistors are fixed to a substrate by means of a bonding layer, connected together by means of conductive row lines and conductive column lines, and connected to an array of pixel electrodes. the device is further provided with liquid-crystal material interposed between a first panel and an opposing electrode of a second panel parallel to the first panel, wherein the first panel is formed from the surface of an essential monocrystal silicon material of the circuit panel. the pixel electrode is positioned between the first panel and the light-transmission substrate, and an electric field or signal-which is generated by the respective electrodes and applied to the liquid-crystal material-changes the optical characteristic of the liquid-crystal material. an invention of jp-t-9-510797 is directed toward a method for manufacturing an active matrix display. the method comprises: forming an array of transistor circuits through use of a semiconductor layer provided on a first substrate; forming opening sections for limiting pixel electrode areas in the semiconductor layer; forming an array of pixel electrodes in the respective pixel electrode areas; electrically coupling the respective pixel electrodes to one of the transistor circuits; forming an insulation layer on the transistor circuit; forming a light-shielding material on the transistors and the insulation layer; and transferring the transistor circuits, the array of pixel electrodes, and the light-shielding layer from the first substrate to the second substrate. the first substrate is an soi substrate, and a circuit is transferred on the transparent substrate, whereby an si substrate is removed by means of etching. an invention of jp-a-7-311391 is directed toward a method for manufacturing a transmissive lcd device from a high-performance monocrystalline silicon substrate possessing superior field-effect electron mobility. the method comprises: a first step of forming an epitaxial layer of a polycrystalline section in an area on a monocrystalline silicon substrate where pixel openings are to be formed and an epitaxial layer of a monocrystalline section in another area on the monocrystalline silicon substrate; a second step of forming a switching transistor section and a peripheral circuit section for driving purpose on the epitaxial layer of the monocrystalline section and eliminating the epitaxial layer of the polycrystal line section through etching; a third step of forming an embedded layer from transmissive resin in the area from which the epitaxial layer of the polycrystalline section has been removed and subsequently forming a pixel electrode section on the embedded layer; a fourth step of laminating a highly-flat mount glass on the surface of a monocrystalline silicon substrate and adhesively holding the thus-laminated substrate; a fifth step of grinding and abrading a back of the monocrystalline silicon substrate and etching the silicon substrate, as required, to thus expose the back of the embedded layer and form a polycrystalline silicon frame from the epitaxial layer of the monocrystalline section; and a sixth step of laminating the back of the monocrystalline silicon frame to a color filter substrate or a lower glass substrate by means of a transparent adhesive. however, the invention of jp-a-10-39239 is configured such that an opening section (through hole) for permitting transmission of light is formed in an opaque substrate (e.g., an si substrate). hence, the invention suffers from a drawback of a limitation imposed on miniaturization and integrity, as well as complication of a process, thus increasing costs. since the invention of jp-a-2002-214543 employs a liquid-crystal element, light originating from a backlight is caused to pass through a plurality of layers, such as a polarizing plate and a filter, thereby raising a problem of a drop in efficiency for light utilization. further, sealing of liquid crystal between two substrates and orientation of the liquid crystal results in difficulty in increasing the area of the liquid-crystal element. moreover, light is caused to pass through the orientated liquid-crystal molecules, thereby introducing drawbacks, such as a decrease in the field of view or low responsiveness. further, the invention of jp-t-9-510797 also employs a liquid-crystal element, and hence the above-described drawbacks apply to the invention, as well. further, since the pixel electrode is formed in the opening section, there is no degree of freedom in manufacture, thus posing difficulty in manufacture of the display. particularly when a microlens array to be described later is used, manufacture of the display becomes difficult. moreover, since the light-shielding layer and the pixel electrode are indispensable configurations, manufacturing processes become complicated, thus adding to costs. the invention of jp-a-7-311391 employs a liquid-crystal element as well, and hence the foregoing drawbacks are applied to the invention. moreover, the method requires the fifth step of forming the monocrystalline silicon frame from the epitaxial layer of the monocrystalline section; and the sixth step for laminating the color filter substrate or the lower glass substrate on the back of the monocrystalline silicon frame by means of a transparent adhesive, and hence manufacturing processes become complicated and costs become high. summary of the invention the present invention is to solve the problems and aims at providing an inexpensive, high-performance transmissive spatial light modulator which does not entail formation of a through hole in an si substrate, and hence involves no limitation on miniaturization and integrity and a simple process, and has the same function as that mentioned previously, as well as providing a method for manufacturing the transmissive spatial light modulator. to solve the drawbacks, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a transmissive spatial light modulator having a light-transmission area, comprising: a transparent substrate; a pixel drive circuit provided on the transparent substrate to form an area other than the light-transmission area (here, the expression “an area other than the light-transmission area” may be the whole non light-transmission area or part of the non light-transmission area); and a transmissive light modulation section including a micro-electromechanical element, the transmissive light modulation section being controlled by the pixel drive circuit and being provided above the pixel drive circuit. by means of such a configuration, the entire substrate equipped with the transmissive light modulation section is supported by a transparent substance. hence, there can be obviated a necessity for forming a through hole in an si substrate (i.e., an opaque substrate), such as that described in jp-a-10-39239. as a result, a transmissive spatial light modulator which has the same function and is not limited in terms of miniaturization or integrity is obtained through a simple process. it is noted that “on the transparent substrate” actually refers to both of “directly on the transparent substrate” and “indirectly on the transparent substrate via at least one intermediate such as insulating layer of, e.g., sio 2 ”. according to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided the transmissive spatial light modulator as set forth in the first aspect of the invention further comprising a microlens array provided integrally on at least an entrance side of an incident light in the transmissive light modulation section so that at least part of the incident light is converged on at least one of the light-transmission area and the light modulation section. employment of such a configuration further improves a light-converging characteristic of the transmissive spatial light modulator which is not limited in terms of miniaturization or integrity and has the same function. according to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator by use of an soi substrate comprising a first silicon layer, an insulation layer and a second silicon layer in this order, the method comprising: forming a pixel drive circuit on the insulation layer, the pixel drive circuit including at least part of the second silicon layer; eliminating the first silicon layer while a portion other than the first silicon layer is supported (e.g., while a pixel drive circuit side is supported); attaching a transparent substrate to the location from which the first silicon layer was removed; and forming a transparent light modulation section including a micro-electromechanical element above the pixel drive circuit. by means of such a configuration, the entire substrate equipped with the light modulation section is supported by a transparent substance. as a result, there can be produced, through a simple process, a transmissive spatial light modulator which obviates a necessity for forming a through hole in an si substrate (an opaque substrate), such as that described in jp-a-10-39239, and is not limited in terms of miniaturization and integrity. according to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided method of manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator by use of an soi substrate comprising a first silicon layer, an insulation layer and a second silicon layer in this order, the method comprising: forming a pixel drive circuit including at least part of the second silicon layer on the insulation layer; attaching a transparent substrate to the pixel drive circuit; eliminating the first silicon layer; and newly forming a transmissive light modulation section including a micro-electromechanical element in the area from which the first silicon layer was removed. by means of such a configuration, as in the case of the manufacturing method in the third aspect of the invention, the entire substrate equipped with the light modulation section is supported by a transparent substance. as a result, there can be produced, through a simple process, a transmissive spatial light modulator which obviates a necessity for forming a through hole in an si substrate (an opaque substrate), such as that described in jp-a-10-39239, and which is not limited in terms of miniaturization and integrity. according to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator, comprising: forming a pixel drive circuit on a transparent substrate through a thin-film transistor (hereinafter called a “tft”) forming process; and forming a transmissive light modulation section including a micro-electromechanical element above the pixel drive circuit. by means of such a configuration, as in the case of the manufacturing method in the third or fourth aspect of the invention, the entire substrate equipped with the light modulation section is supported by a transparent substance. as a result, there can be produced, through a simple process, a transmissive spatial light modulator which obviates a necessity for forming a through hole in an si substrate (an opaque substrate), such as that described in jp-a-10-39239, and which is not limited in terms of miniaturization and integrity. according to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided the method of manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator as set forth in any of the third to fifth aspects of the invention, wherein a microlens array is provided integrally on at least an entrance side of an incident light in the transmissive light modulation section; and wherein at least part of the incident light is converged on at least one of a light-transmission area of the transmissive spatial light modulator and the light modulation section. by means of such a configuration, a transmissive spatial light modulator which is not limited in terms of miniaturization or integrity and has a superior light-converging characteristic can be provided through a simple process. brief description of the drawings figs. 1a to 1i are views describing steps for manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator according to a first embodiment of the invention; figs. 2a to 2h are views describing steps for manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator according to a second embodiment of the invention; figs. 3a to 3e are views describing steps for manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator according to a third embodiment of the invention; figs. 4a to 4g are views showing an example of specific processes for manufacturing a cmos circuit through use of an soi substrate; figs. 4h and 4i are views describing processes for forming an mem light modulation section on a drive circuit and a wiring circuit, both being shown in figs. 4a to 4g ; figs. 5a to 5c show an example which uses a known comb-shaped electrostatic actuator for a light shutter; and fig. 6 shows an example in which a microlens array is provided on an entrance-side of an incident light in an spatial light modulator. detailed description of the invention first embodiment a first embodiment will be described by reference to figs. 1a to 1h . figs. 1a to 1h show a method for manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator according to a first embodiment of the invention, wherein a silicon circuit is transferred from a back surface to a glass substrate. in fig. 1a , a silicon insulator (soi) substrate is used as a starting substrate. specifically, as illustrated, the soi substrate is configured such that an insulating layer 12 of, e.g., sio 2 (silicon dioxide), is provided on an si (silicon) layer 11 and such that an si layer 13 is further laid on the insulating layer 12 . in fig. 1b , a pixel drive circuit (e.g., cmos-sram) 14 is fabricated through use of the si layer 13 by means of a normal semiconductor manufacturing process. reference numeral 15 designates a thin-film transparent insulating film which is formed from sio 2 or a nitride film. a piece 20 provided on the insulating film is a lower electrode of an mem to be fabricated later and serves as a pixel electrode. in fig. 1c , a temporary support 17 is bonded to the transparent insulating film 15 and the lower electrode 16 of the mem. glass or resin is suitable for the temporary support 17 , and the temporary support 17 is laminated through use of an adhesive tape (not shown). in fig. 1d , the si layer 11 is removed while the temporary support 17 is supported. electro-chemical etching of the si layer 11 or a grinding/abrading method is employed as a removal method. in addition, the si substrate can also be exfoliated by means of a lift-off method. for instance, a lift-off layer is formed of the si layer 11 beforehand, and the lift-off layer is removed in the step shown in fig. 1d . in fig. 1e , a transparent glass substrate 18 is laminated in place of the removed si layer 11 . as a result, since the entire substrate is supported by a transparent substance, there is obviated a necessity for forming a through hole in the si substrate (an opaque substrate) such as that described in known jp-a-10-39239. in fig. 1f , the temporary support 17 supported in the step fig. 1d and the adhesive tape are exfoliated. after exfoliation, an mem is to be fabricated in the area from which the temporary support and the adhesive tape have been removed, and hence the surface of the insulating film and that of the lower electrodes are cleansed. in fig. 1g , an mem light modulation section is fabricated. specifically, reference numeral 20 designates a lower electrode (pixel electrode); 21 designates an optical spacer; 22 designates a sacrificial layer; 23 designates a movable film; 24 designates an upper electrode (common electrode); and 25 designates a half mirror. metal, such as aluminum, an aluminum alloy, or mo, polysilicon, or metal silicide is used for the lower electrode 20 ; a transparent dielectric, such as sin or mgf 2 , is used for the optical spacer 21 ; a glass material, such as sio 2 , psg, bpsg, or sog, is used for the sacrificial layer 22 ; sin is used for the movable film 23 ; metal, such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy, polysilicon, or metal silicide is used for the upper electrode 24 ; and a dielectric multilayer film formed from a metal oxide film is used for the half mirror 25 . however, the invention is not limited to these materials. in fig. 1h , the sacrificial layer 22 is etched away, whereby an mem substrate is completed. the mem light modulation section comprises the lower electrode 20 ; an insulating support (not shown) interposed between the lower electrode 20 and the movable film 23 to form a gap therebetween; the movable film 23 formed on the insulating supports so as to extend and bridge therebetween; the upper electrode (movable electrode) 24 formed in an extending manner on each of the movable films 23 ; and the multilayer film 25 formed in the gap. a voltage is imparted between the lower electrode 20 and the upper electrode (movable electrode) 24 , thereby moving the movable film 23 in the gap and thereby permitting transmission of light. an spatial light modulator of interference type or a mechanical shutter can be applied to the mem spatial light modulator, and mem spatial light modulators of other types are also applicable. as mentioned above, according to the first embodiment, a pixel drive circuit is fabricated on the soi substrate. subsequently, the opaque si layer is removed, and a transparent glass substrate is provided instead, thereby forming an mem light modulation section on the pixel drive circuit. since the entire surface equipped with the mem light modulation section is supported by the transparent substance, there is obviated a necessity for forming a through hole in the si substrate (the opaque substrate) such as that described in known jp-a-10-39239. as a result, through a simple process there can be obtained a transmissive spatial light modulator which is not limited in terms of miniaturization and integrity and has the same function. depending on the application, bonding of a microlens array (mla) on the mem light modulation section is also conceivable. therefore, a step shown in fig. 1i is provided. in fig. 1i , a spacer 27 is provided around the mem light modulation section, and an mla substrate 28 is attached on the spacer 27 . after the space defined in the soi substrate is filled with a rare gas and then sealed. subsequently, the soi substrate is diced, and the thus-sliced spatial light modulator is mounted by means of bonding electrodes, whereupon formation of the first embodiment is completed. if an soi substrate (a quartz substrate or a glass substrate is usually employed as a transparent substrate) formed by laminating transparent substrates is introduced as the soi substrate, the mem light modulation section can be formed directly. material of the glass substrate and bonding procedures are dependent on a process temperature for the mem light modulation section. dicing may be performed before removal of the sacrificial layer. in connection with bonding of the mem spatial light modulator substrate to the mla substrate, the tolerance of alignment accuracy can be reduced by means of increasing the area of numerical aperture of the mem light modulation section second embodiment a second embodiment of the invention will now be described by reference to figs. 2a to 2h . figs. 2a to 2h show a method for manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator according to a second embodiment of the invention, wherein a silicon circuit is transferred from a surface to the glass substrate. in fig. 2a , a silicon insulator (soi) substrate is used as a starting substrate. specifically, as illustrated, the soi substrate is configured such that the insulating layer 12 of, e.g., sio 2 (silicon dioxide), is provided on the si (silicon) layer 11 and such that the si layer 13 is further laid on the insulating layer 12 . in fig. 2b , the pixel drive circuit 14 is fabricated through use of the si layer 13 by means of a normal semiconductor manufacturing process. reference numeral 15 designates a transparent insulating film which is formed from sio 2 or a nitride film. the piece 20 provided on the insulating film is a lower electrode of an mem to be fabricated later and serves as a pixel electrode. in fig. 2c , a glass substrate 32 is bonded to the transparent insulating film 15 and the mem lower electrode 20 via a protective film or a bonding layer 31 . in fig. 2d , the si layer 11 is removed. electro-chemical etching of the si layer 11 or a grinding/abrading method is employed as a removal method. in addition, the si substrate can also be exfoliated by means of a lift-off method. for instance, a lift-off layer is formed from the si layer 11 beforehand, and the lift-off layer is removed. in fig. 2e , the glass substrate 32 in the state shown in fig. 2d is situated at a lower position, and the insulating layer 12 is located at a higher position. since an mem light modulation section is formed on the insulating layer 12 , the surface of the insulating layer is cleansed. in fig. 2f , an mem light modulation section is formed. specifically, reference numeral 20 designates a lower electrode; 21 designates an optical spacer; 22 designates a sacrificial layer; 23 designates a movable film (e.g., sin); 24 designates an upper electrode (common electrode); and 25 designates a half mirror (multilayer film). as shown in fig. 2g , the sacrificial layer 22 is removed, whereupon formation of an mem substrate is completed. as mentioned above, according to the second embodiment, the pixel drive circuit is fabricated on the soi substrate. subsequently, the transparent glass substrate is provided, and the opaque si layer is removed, thereby forming an mem light modulation section on the pixel drive circuit. since the entire surface equipped with the mem light modulation section is supported by the transparent substance, there is obviated a necessity for forming a through hole in the si substrate (the opaque substrate) such as that described in known jp-a-10-39239. as a result, by means of a simple process, there can be obtained a transmissive spatial light modulator which is not limited in terms of miniaturization and integrity and has the same function. the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment only in that the pixel drive circuit is provided upside down, thereby omitting the processes for bonding and exfoliating the temporary frame. depending on the application, bonding of the mla on the mem light modulation section is also conceivable. therefore, a step shown in fig. 2h is provided. in fig. 2h , the spacer 27 is provided around the mem light modulation section, and the mla substrate 28 is attached on the spacer 27 . subsequently, the space defined in the soi substrate is filled with a rare gas and then sealed. subsequently, the substrate is diced, and the thus-sliced spatial light modulator is mounted by means of bonding electrodes, whereupon formation of the second embodiment is completed. third embodiment a third embodiment of the invention will now be described by reference to figs. 3a to 3e . figs. 3a to 3e show a method for manufacturing a transmissive spatial light modulator according to a third embodiment of the invention, wherein a high-temperature polysilicon tft is fabricated directly on a glass substrate. the polysilicon tft has high mobility and can fabricate a high-speed circuit such as a drive circuit. in fig. 3a , a quartz substrate 51 is used. in fig. 3b , a high-temperature poly-si tft is fabricated on the quartz substrate 51 . in fig. 3c , the mem light modulation section is formed on the high-temperature poly-si tft. specifically, reference numeral 20 designates a lower electrode; 21 designates an optical spacer; 22 designates a sacrificial layer; 23 designates a movable film (e.g., sin); 24 designates an upper electrode (common electrode); and 25 designates half mirror (multilayer film). as shown in fig. 3d , the sacrificial layer 22 is removed, whereupon formation of the mem substrate is completed. as mentioned above, according to the third embodiment, the high-temperature polysilicon tft is fabricated on the glass substrate, and the processes can be omitted significantly. further, as in the case of the first and second embodiments, the entire surface equipped with the mem light modulation section is supported by the transparent substance, and hence there is obviated a necessity for forming a through hole in the si substrate (the opaque substrate) such as that described in known jp-a-10-39239. as a result, by means of a simple process, there can be obtained a transmissive spatial light modulator which is not limited in terms of miniaturization and integrity and has the same function. depending on the application, bonding of the microlens array (mla) on the mem light modulation section is also conceivable. therefore, a step shown in fig. 3e is provided. in fig. 3e , the spacer 27 is provided around the mem light modulation section, and the mla substrate 28 is attached on the spacer 27 . subsequently, the space defined in the soi substrate is filled with a rare gas and then sealed. subsequently, the substrate is diced, and the thus-sliced spatial light modulator is mounted by means of bonding electrodes, whereupon formation of the third embodiment is completed. in addition, there may also be adopted a combination of a glass substrate having a low fusing point and a low-temperature poly-si tft (high mobility transistor). in addition, cgs or laser annealing may be adopted in place of the low-temperature poly-si tft. particularly, as described in jp-a-6-244103, cgs (continuous grain silicon) is an si film having a superior crystalline characteristic, wherein the cds film is formed by depositing a trace amount of a certain kind of metal element, such as ni, on the surface of an amorphous silicon film (hereinafter called an “a-si” film) and heating the film. fig. 4a to 4g show an example of a more specific process for manufacturing a cmos circuit on the previously-described soi substrate. a): a known soi (silicon-on-insulator) substrate 60 is used as a starting substrate. the soi substrate 60 is formed by means of forming an insulating layer 60 b , such as sio 2 , on an si substrate 60 a , and forming crystalline si or an si thin-film layer 60 c equivalent to the crystalline si on the insulating layer 60 b . the soi substrate can be produced by means of various manufacturing methods. however, a typical, known manufacturing method includes a recrystallizing method, an epitaxial growth method, an insulating film embedding method (simox, fipos, or the like), or a laminating method. any of these are usable. the thickness of the insulating layer 60 b has a value ranging from 200 nm to 2 μm; and the thickness of the si thin-film layer 60 c assumes a value ranging from 100 nm to tens of micrometers. the thickness of the si thin-film layer 60 c employed for forming a cmos circuit preferably assumes a value ranging from 100 nm to 500 nm or thereabouts. when compared with a cmos circuit fabricated from a conventional bulk si substrate, the cmos circuit formed from such a soi substrate 60 is characterized by being superior in high-speed responsiveness, high-pressure tightness, and high integrity. b): because of lateral isolation of the transistor element, there is employed a locos method which selectively oxidizes a portion of a semiconductor substrate through thermal oxidation, to thereby form a field oxide film 61 in an element isolated region. c): impurity ions b+, p+ are implanted into the si region, to thus form a p-type si semiconductor 62 p and an n-type si semiconductor region 62 n. d): a gate oxide film (sio 2 ) 63 a is formed on the region of the p-type si semiconductor 62 p and that of the n-type si semiconductor 62 n , through thermal oxidation or the like, and subsequently the poly-si film is grown through cvd or the like. the film is then patterned through rie or the like, to thus fabricate a gate electrode 63 b . subsequently, an insulating film (sio 2 ) is grown through cvd, and sidewalls 63 c are formed on both sides of the gate electrode through rie or the like. e): a high concentration of impurity ions p+ and a high concentration of impurity ions b+are implanted into the p-type si semiconductor region and the n-type si semiconductor region through self-alignment by utilization of the sidewalls, whereby a source region 64 s and a drain region 64 d are formed from an n + -type si semiconductor and a p + -type si semiconductor. subsequently, in order to establish reliable electrical connection with a metal wiring layer to be described later, a silicide layer is formed on an upper portion of the gate electrode, an upper portion of the source region, and an upper portion of the drain region (not shown). as a result, an n-type mos-fet ( 65 n ) and a p-type mos-fet ( 65 p ) are fabricated. f): there is formed metal wiring (aluminum or the like) 67 which is connected to the gate electrode, the source region, and the drain region by way of an interlayer insulating film 66 (such as psg, bpsg, or a silicon nitride film) formed through cvd or the like. as shown in g), the interlayer insulating film 66 and the metal wiring 67 may be stacked as an interlayer insulating film 66 ′ and a metal wiring 67 ′ in accordance with a circuit configuration and the degree of integrity. as mentioned above, a desired cmos circuit is fabricated, and the cmos circuit acts as a circuit for controlling and driving an mem spatial light modulator to be described later. figs. 4h and 4i is a view for briefly describing a process for forming an mem light modulation section on the drive circuit and the wiring circuit shown in figs. 4a to 4g . first, an insulating film (sio 2 or the like) 71 , which is to act as a base material for the mem light modulation section, is formed on the drive circuit and the wiring circuit. subsequently, there is provided a contact hole 72 (shown in fig. 4i ) to be used for connecting an output wire of the drive circuit with a drive electrode of the mem spatial light modulator, and metal 73 is embedded in the contact hole. in order to achieve high flatness, the insulating film and the embedded metal layer are made flat through cmp, as required. i): the mem spatial light modulator is fabricated. h): the insulating film (sio 2 or the like) 71 , which is to act as a base material of the mem light modulation section, is provided on the drive circuit and the wiring circuit. subsequently, the contact hole 72 ( fig. 1 ), which is to be used for connecting the output wiring of the drive circuit to the drive electrode of the mem spatial light modulator, is provided, and the contact hole is embedded with the metal 73 . in order to achieve high flatness, the insulating film and the embedded metal layer are made flat through cmp, as required. i): the mem spatial light modulator is formed. the mem spatial light modulator assumes various structures and modes according to an application. the embodiment shows an mem spatial light modulator of a mechanical light shutter based on comb (comb) drive (the mechanical shutter per se based on the comb drive will be described later). the mem spatial light modulator of the mechanical shutter based on a comb drive comprises a fixed electrode 74 , and a partially-supported movable electrode 75 , and the movable electrode 75 is formed from a light-shielding section 75 a and an opening section 75 b . reference numeral 76 designates a protective film. the fixed electrode 74 and the movable electrode 75 are connected to respective outputs of the drive circuit of the base, and the movable electrode 75 is displaced in a direction horizontal to the substrate by means of application of a voltage between the fixed electrode 74 and the movable electrode 75 . when the movable electrode 75 has been deflected rightward in the drawing by means of the displacing movement, the incident light l enters the opening section 75 b and passes through the same (see (a) of fig. 4i ). when the movable electrode 75 has been deflected leftward in the drawing, the incident light l falls on the light-shielding section 75 a , whereby the light is blocked (see (b) of fig. 4i ). thus, light modulation is performed. here, the mem spatial light modulator may be formed on the lower drive circuit or on any area other than the lower drive circuit. here, the light modulation area is provided in the area (transparent region) other than the lower drive circuit, and the incident light is not blocked by the drive circuit. in relation to a manufacturing method, an sin film, which is to act as an etching protective layer, is grown through cvd, and an sio 2 (or psg, bpsg, or sog), which is to act as a sacrificial layer, is grown through cvd or the like. subsequently, the fixed electrode formation area is removed through etching. next, the poly-si layer, which is to form the fixed electrode and the movable section (including the movable electrode), is grown through cvd. subsequently, the poly-si layer is patterned through photolithography etching, thereby forming the fixed electrode and the movable section (including the movable electrode) in desired patterns. finally, the sacrificial layer (sio 2 or the like) is etched away through use of hf or the like, to thus fabricate the mem spatial light modulator. it is preferable to perform super critical drying through use of co 2 so that the movable section is not affixed to the substrate during a drying process after elimination of the sacrificial layer. figs. 5a to 5c show an example in which a known comb-type electrostatic actuator is used for the light shutter. it is noted that ( 1 ) of fig. 5a , ( 1 ) of fig. 5b and ( 1 ) of fig. 5c show top views of the example, and ( 2 ) of fig. 5a , ( 2 ) of fig. 5b and ( 2 ) of fig. 5c show cross sectional views of ( 1 ) of fig. 5a , ( 1 ) of fig. 5b and ( 1 ) of fig. 5c along the line ii—ii, respectively. by means of the manufacturing method of the invention, a drive circuit 885 is formed on a transparent substrate (e.g., a glass substrate, a quartz substrate, a sapphire substrate or the like) 881 (see ( 2 ) of fig. 5a , ( 2 ) of fig. 5b and ( 2 ) of fig. 5c ) via an insulating layer (sio 2 or the like) 882 . for instance, the drive circuit can be realized by means of a transistor circuit fabricated through an si process, particularly, a cmos circuit. an interlayer insulating film 883 , a wiring circuit 884 , and a planarized insulating film 887 are arranged. at this time, the light-shielding members, such as the drive circuit 885 and the wiring circuit 884 , are arranged in an area other than a light-transmission section 886 . a transparent material, such as that of the insulating layer (e.g., silicon oxide or silicon nitride), is formed in the light-transmission section 886 . an actuator section is formed on the drive circuit 885 and the planarized insulating film 887 . an illustrated embodiment is an example of the light shutter employing a comb-type electrostatic actuator, and the shutter comprises a first fixed electrode 81 , a second fixed electrode 82 , a movable electrode 83 , and a support section 84 for supporting the movable electrode 83 on a substrate 88 . as can be seen from the drawings, the first fixed electrode 81 , the second fixed electrode 82 , and the movable electrode 83 are formed such that mutually-opposing sides of the first fixed electrode 81 and the movable electrode 83 and mutually-opposing sides of the second fixed electrode 82 and the movable electrode 83 are formed into such a shape that each of the sides has comb-shaped projections and recesses and such that the teeth of the combs are meshed with each other such that the teeth do not contact each other. by means of such a configuration, effective drive force can be induced by even a small drive voltage. the movable electrode 83 is preferably formed from a conductive material, such as metal or semiconductor, but may be formed from a combination of insulating material and conductive material. the electrodes are connected to outputs of the drive circuits 885 provided on the substrate 88 via the wiring circuit 884 , and potentials of the respective electrodes can be controlled arbitrarily. figs. 5a to 5c show a case where light falls on the lower side of the substrate 88 (i.e., a downward direction in the drawing). in this case, there is provided the light-shielding layer 884 , wherein the opening section 886 is provided on the side of the light-shielding layer 884 facing the transparent substrate 881 . the movable electrode 83 is displaced toward the optical path passing through the opening section 886 , to thereby align either the light-shielding section 883 or the opening section 832 and to thus control the light shutter. the light-shielding function of the substrate and that of the movable electrode may be embodied as either a light-absorbing characteristic or a light-reflecting characteristic. preferably, a superior light reflection characteristic is achieved, and generation of heat, which would otherwise be caused by absorption, can be prevented. further, in the case of the light-reflecting characteristic, a multilayer film mirror is preferably provided in addition to a semiconductor. operation of the light shutter will be described by reference to the embodiment shown in figs. 5a to 5c . potential differences between the electrodes are assumed to be as follows: v 1 =a potential difference between the first fixed electrode 81 and the movable electrode 83 ,v 2 =a potential difference between the second fixed electrode 82 and the movable electrode 83 . a): when v 1 >v 2 , the movable electrode 83 is displaced toward the first fixed electrode 81 (see fig. 5a ). at this time, the opening section 886 of the substrate overlaps the light-shielding section 831 of the movable electrode 83 , thereby blocking the light l. b): when v 1 =v 2 , the movable electrode 83 becomes stable between the first fixed electrode 81 and the second fixed electrode 83 (see fig. 5b ). at this time, the opening section 886 overlaps the light-shielding section 831 of the movable electrode 83 , thereby blocking the light l. c): when v 1 <v 2 , the movable electrode 83 is displaced toward the second fixed electrode 82 (see fig. 5c ). at this time, the opening section 886 of the substrate matches the opening section 832 of the movable electrode 83 , thereby permitting passage of the light l. the above descriptions are provided for the embodiment, and the configuration, method, material, and driving method of the mechanical light shutter may be modified, so long as they comply with the gist of the invention. for instance, a flap-type shutter is also effective, wherein a rotationally-displaceable light-shielding film is rotationally displaced, to thereby permit passage of incident light or block the incident light. further, although in the embodiment the transparent member, such as an insulating film, is formed in the optical path of the light-transmission section 886 of the substrate 88 , a gap may be employed. in this case, the gap can be formed readily by means of etching the insulating film at an area on the light-transmission section 886 . light may be caused to enter the shutter from the side opposite the substrate. as mentioned above, the present invention renders the transmitted light path transparent by forming the drive circuit and the wiring circuit in an area other than the transmitted light path, as required. accordingly, the transmitted light path is not made transparent by forming a through hole in an opaque substrate (e.g., an si substrate), as practiced in the related art, and hence processes can be simplified. further, areas to be used for fabricating the drive circuits and the modulation elements can be utilized effectively. particularly, the soi substrate is taken as a known starting substrate, and drive circuits are fabricated by means of a known method. subsequently, the drive circuit section is transferred onto the transparent substrate (e.g., a glass substrate), whereby the semiconductor drive circuit can be readily fabricated at arbitrary positions on the transparent substrate. the drive circuits fabricated in the soi substrate are also superior to the drive circuit fabricated from a bulk si substrate in terms of integrity, a high-speed characteristic, and high pressure tightness. even when a transparent substrate (e.g., a glass substrate) is taken as a starting substrate and a drive circuit based on a known tft is fabricated, a semiconductor drive circuit can be fabricated readily at an arbitrary position on the transparent substrate. particularly, according to the technique, such as cgs, a high-mobility tft corresponding to crystalline si can be readily implemented through low-temperature processes, as well. hence, the processes can be simplified significantly, and costs of the glass substrate can be reduced further. fig. 6 is a view showing an example in which the microlens (hereinafter called an “mla”) is provided at the entrance side of an incident light in the spatial light modulator. in the drawing, the previously-described comb-shaped electrostatic actuator is disposed on the soi substrate 88 formed from the drive circuit (e.g., cmos). when an opening section 832 formed in the movable electrode 83 that can be displaced horizontally between the first fixed electrode 81 and the second fixed electrode 82 coincides with the opening section 886 of the substrate 88 , the light l 1 becomes transparent light. when the light-shielding section 831 ′ coincides with the opening section 886 ′ of the substrate 88 , the light l 2 is blocked. in this case, the number, shape, and size of projection lenses of the mla 92 , the interval between the lenses, and a distance between opening section 886 and the distance (i.e., height from a spacer 91 ) are determined such that a collimated light ray falling on the substrate 88 at right angles is converted on the respective opening sections 886 . therefore, the majority of the collimated light ray reaching the substrate 88 at right angles is converted on the respective opening sections 886 , thereby enabling effective utilization of light. as has been described, the present invention renders the transmitted light path transparent by forming the drive circuit and the wiring circuit in an area other than the transmitted light path, as required. accordingly, the transmitted light path is not made transparent by forming a through hole in an opaque substrate (e.g., an si substrate), as practiced in the related art, and hence processes can be simplified. further, areas to be used for fabricating the drive circuits and the modulation elements can be utilized effectively. particularly, the soi substrate is taken as a known starting substrate, and drive circuits are fabricated by means of a known method. subsequently, the drive circuit section is transferred onto the transparent substrate (e.g., a glass substrate), whereby the semiconductor drive circuit can be readily fabricated at arbitrary positions on the transparent substrate. the drive circuits fabricated in the soi substrate are also superior to the drive circuit fabricated from a bulk si substrate in terms of integrity, a high-speed characteristic, and high pressure tightness. the entire disclosure of each and every foreign patent application from which the benefit of foreign priority has been claimed in the present application is incorporated herein by reference, as if fully set forth.
029-050-006-140-572	US	[ "US" ]	H01J1/16,H01J1/304,H01J9/02	2004-04-14T00:00:00	2004	[ "H01" ]	electron-emission type field-emission display and method of fabricating the same	an electron-emission type field-emission display and a method of fabricating the same are disclosed, of which the beeline distance of the electron emission is identical. the structure of the field-emission display has a cathode electrode so configured that beeline distances between all surface points of the cathode electrode and a gate conductive layer thereover are identical. the cathode electrode is fabricated from a silver paste and a carbon nanotube. to configure the silver paste, a gray-scale mask with a gradient light transmission rate from a center to a periphery thereof is used as a photomask to perform exposure upon the silver paste.	1 . a field-emission display with improved electron emission, comprising: an anode electrode layer, having at least one anode formed thereon; a cathode electrode layer, having at least one cathode formed thereon, wherein the cathode is aligned with the anode; and a gate conductive layer disposed between the anode electrode layer and the cathode electrode layer, the gate conductive layer having at least one aperture aligned with the anode and the cathode; wherein the cathode is so configured that beeline distances between all surfaces points and the conductive layer are identical. 2 . the display of claim 1 , wherein the anode electrode layer comprises a substrate, and the anode comprises a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer formed on the substrate sequentially. 3 . the display of claim 2 , wherein the substrate is fabricated from glass material. 4 . the display of claim 2 , wherein the first conductive layer is fabricated from ito material. 5 . the display of claim 4 , wherein the second conductive layer is fabricated from phosphor powder. 6 . the display of claim 1 , further comprising a dielectric layer formed and patterned on the cathode electrode layer to encompass the cathode therein. 7 . the display of claim 6 , wherein the gate conductive layer is formed on the dielectric layer. 8 . the display of claim 1 , wherein the cathode electrode layer comprises a substrate, and a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer formed on the substrate. 9 . the display of claim 8 , wherein the first conductive layer is fabricated from silver paste. 10 . the display of claim 8 , wherein the second conductive layer is fabricated from carbon nanotube. 11 . a cathode electrode of a field-emission display, comprising: a substrate; and a cathode electrode formed on the substrate, wherein the cathode electrode has a center gradually descending towards a periphery thereof. 12 . the electrode of claim 11 , wherein the cathode comprises a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer. 13 . the electrode of claim 12 , wherein the first conductive layer includes a patterned silver paste. 14 . the electrode of claim 12 , wherein the second conductive layer includes a carbon nanotube. 15 . a method of fabricating a field emission display, comprising: forming at least one cathode electrode on a cathode substrate, wherein the cathode electrode has a protruding center gradually descending towards a periphery of the cathode electrode; forming a dielectric layer on the cathode substrate, wherein the dielectric layer is patterned to encompass the cathode electrode therein; forming a gate conductive layer on the dielectric layer, wherein the gate conductive layer has an aperture aligned with the cathode electrode; and forming at least one anode electrode on an anode substrate over the gate conductive layer, wherein the anode electrode is aligned with the cathode electrode. 16 . the method of claim 15 , wherein the step of forming the cathode electrode further comprising: applying a silver paste on the substrate; providing a gray-scale mask over the silver paste; exposing silver paste the silver paste with a light through the gray-scale mask, wherein the gray-scale mask has a gradually increasing transmission rate of the light from a center to a periphery thereof; and removing the portion of the silver paste that has been exposed by the light. 17 . the method of claim 15 , wherein the step of forming the anode electrode includes: forming an indium tin oxide layer on the anode substrate; and forming a phosphor layer on the indium tin oxide layer.	background of the invention the present invention relates in general to an electron-emission type field-emission display and a method of fabricating the same, and more particular, to a cathode electrode having a configuration that the beeline distance between every surface point of the cathode electrode layer and a gate conductive layer over the cathode electrode is identical. the invention of carbon nanotube (cnt) has stimulated a novel competition in the development of minimizing nanotechnology globally. currently, application of the carbon nanotube in optoelectronic display includes carbon-nanotube field-emission display (cnt fed), which is the most potential flat display panel as recognized in the industry. the conventional field-emission display is constructed by a front panel and a substrate, which generates a spike discharge at the cathode spike to emit an electron beam. the electron beam then impinges the phosphor layer coated on the screen to generate image. such type of display has the characteristics of larger display area, shorter response time, and wider viewing angle. thereby, it can be broadly applied to electronic products that require flat panel display to replace the conventional cathode ray tube (crt) screen. the front panel and the substrate are housed in a vacuum package. a spacer is disposed between the front panel and the substrate to prevent the glass plate from being broken by atmosphere pressure. in the past, the high fabrication cost becomes a bottle neck of the development of the field-emission display. however, the development of carbon nanotube resolves the high-cost issue while the image quality of cathode ray tube is maintained. the carbon nanotube field-emission display also includes the power saving and small-volume features. however, the current carbon-nanotube field-emission display is still problematic in application. fig. 1 illustrates conventional field-emission display that includes an anode electrode layer 1 a and a cathode electrode layer 2 a . the anode electrode layer 1 a includes a substrate 11 a , a first conductive layer 12 a on the substrate 11 a , and a second conductive layer 13 a covering the second conductive layer 12 a . the first and second conductive layers 12 a and 13 a construct an anode 14 a to be impinged by an electron beam from a cathode 26 a . the cathode electrode layer 2 a includes a substrate 21 a , a first conductive layer (silver paste) 24 a (silver paste) formed on the substrate 21 a and a second conductive layer (carbon nanotube) 25 a formed on the first conductive layer 24 a . the first and second conductive layers 24 a and 25 a construct the cathode 26 a . a dielectric layer 26 a is formed on the substrate 2 a around the cathode 26 a , and the field-emission display further comprises a gate conductive layer 3 a formed on the dielectric layer 22 a . the gate conductive layer 3 a has a through hole 31 a aligned over the cathode 26 a . as shown, the beeline distance between the periphery area of the second conductive layer 25 a and the gate conductive layer 3 a is shorter than that between the central area of the second conductive layer 25 a and the gate conductive layer 3 a . therefore, the electric field at the periphery area of the second conductive layer 25 a is higher than that of the central area of the second conductive layer 25 a . as a result, the electrons drained at the periphery have a density larger than that of the electrons drained at the central area. the distribution of electrons results in a donut-shape electron beam. the non uniform distribution of electrons also results in leakage of electron beams through the gate conductive layer 3 a. brief summary of the invention the present invention provides a cathode so structured that the beeline distance between any point the cathode and a gate conductive layer is identical. therefore, a uniform electric field is resulted at all points of the cathode. therefore, the electron emission from the cathode is uniform, and an electron beam with a uniform distribution is generated. as a result, the image quality is enhanced. the cathode structure provide by the present invention has a higher center and a lower periphery. that is, the center of the cathode gradually descends towards the periphery thereof, such that the beeline distance between each point of the cathode structure and the gate conductive layer is identical to generate a uniformly distributed electron beam. brief description of the drawings these as well as other features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the drawings therein: fig. 1 illustrates a pixel structure of a conventional carbon-nanotube field-emission display; fig. 2 shows a pixel structure of a carbon-nanotube field-emission display in one embodiment of the present invention; figs. 3 to 5 shows the process flow of a cathode electrode layer of the carbon-nanotube field-emission display; and fig. 6 shows the electron emission status of the pixel structure as shown in fig. 2 . detailed description of the invention referring to fig. 2 , a pixel structure of a carbon nanotube field-emission display is illustrated. the carbon nanotube field-emission display includes an anode electrode layer 1 , a cathode electrode layer 2 , and a gate conductive layer 3 disposed between the anode and cathode electrode layers 1 and 2 . the anode electrode layer 1 includes a plurality of anode electrodes 14 formed on a common substrate 11 . each of the anode electrodes 14 includes a first conductive layer 12 formed on the substrate 11 and a second conductive layer 13 wrapping the first conductive layer 12 therein. preferably, the substrate 11 is fabricated from glass material, and the second conductive layer is fabricated from phosphor material. the cathode electrode layer 2 includes a plurality of cathode electrodes 26 formed on a common substrate 21 . around at least one of the cathodes 26 , a dielectric layer 22 is formed and patterned on the substrate 21 . as shown, the dielectric layer 22 is patterned by photolithography and etching process to form a recessed region 23 in which the cathode 26 is encompassed thereby. the gate conductive layer 3 is then formed on the dielectric layer 22 . as shown, aligned with each cathode 26 and the corresponding anode 14 is an aperture 31 (gate hole) extending through the gate conductive layer 3 . each cathode 26 includes a first conductive layer 24 in the shape of a semi-spherical lump as shown in fig. 2 . the protruding center of the first conductive layer 24 gradually descends towards the periphery thereof. on top of the central region of the first conductive layer 24 , a second conductive layer 25 is formed by spray or photolithography. thereby, the cathode 26 having all surface points equidistant to the gate conductive layer 3 is formed. figs. 3 to 5 illustrate the fabrication process of the field-emission display as shown in fig. 2 . one of pixels is exemplarily shown in figs. 3 to 5 . during the fabrication of the cathode electrode layer 26 , a silver paste 4 with a thickness of about 20 microns is formed on the substrate 21 by screen printing. it is appreciated that the thickness may vary according to specific requirement. a gray-scale mask 5 is used to perform photolithography on the silver paste 4 using the gray-scale mask 5 as a photomask. the gray-scale mask 5 placed over the substrate 4 is radiated by a yellow light 6 . in this embodiment, the gray-scale mask 5 allows about 20% of the yellow light radiation to pass through from a center 52 thereof and about 100% of the radiation to pass through from a periphery 51 thereof. preferably, the transmission rate of the gray-scale mask 5 gradually increases from 20% at the center 52 to 100% at the periphery thereof. therefore, after the yellow light radiation through the gray-scale mask 5 , subsequent process is performed to result in a patterned silver paste 4 as shown in fig. 4 . as shown in fig. 4 , the patterned silver paste 4 gradually descends from the center to the periphery thereof. the patterned silver paste 4 serves as the first conductive layer 24 . as shown in fig. 5 , carbon nanotube powders 7 are sprayed on the surface of the first conductive layer 24 . a vacuum sintering process is then performed allowing the carbon nanotube powders 7 adhered to the first conductive layer 24 to serve as the second conductive layer 25 . referring to fig. 6 , in operation, an electron beam 8 generated by the cathode electrode 26 propagates through the aperture 31 of the gate conductive layer 3 to impinge upon the second conductive layer 13 of the anode 14 . as the center of the cathode electrode 26 protrudes over the periphery thereof, the beeline distance between every surface point and the gate conductive layer 3 is identical. as a result, the electric field drained by the cathode electrode 26 for generating the electron beam is the same all over the cathode electrode 26 . therefore, the current density of the electron beam 8 is uniform, and the donut impurity of image displayed by each pixel is eliminated. while an illustrative and presently preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art.
030-559-854-378-361	JP	[ "CN", "US", "JP" ]	G06F1/16,G06F1/18,G01R33/02,G01R33/00,H01R13/62,H02J7/00,G01B7/14,G06K1/00,H02J1/00,H04M1/00,G01C17/32	2015-03-09T00:00:00	2015	[ "G06", "G01", "H01", "H02", "H04" ]	electronic device equipped with a magnetic sensor, and magnetic sensor control method for same	the invention provides an electronic device equipped with a magnetic sensor and a magnetic sensor control method for the same. the electronic device equipped with a magnetic sensor which detects a magnetic field around the electronic device, a connector connection section to connect to a magnetic connector including a magnet which is positioned on one end side of a connection cable, and a sensor controller which controls to stop a measuring operation in the magnetic sensor when judged that the connector connection section is connected to the magnetic connector.	1 . an electronic device comprising: a magnetic sensor which detects a magnetic field around the electronic device; a connector connection section to connect to a magnetic connector including a magnet which is positioned on one end side of a connection cable; and a cpu, wherein the cpu controls to stop a measuring operation in the magnetic sensor when judged that the connector connection section is connected to the magnetic connector. 2 . the electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the cpu detects a predetermined voltage supplied via the connection cable, and judges whether the connector connection section and the magnetic connector have been connected to each other, based on a detection result of the detected predetermined voltage. 3 . the electronic device according to claim 1 , further comprising: a switch section which operates when the connector connection section and the magnetic connector are physically connected to each other, and detects a status of physical connection between the connector connection section and the magnetic connector, wherein the cpu detects a predetermined voltage supplied via the connection cable and a connection status of the switch section, and judges whether the connector connection section and the magnetic connector have been connected to each other, based on a detection result of the detected predetermined voltage and the connection status of the switch section. 4 . the electronic device according to claim 3 , wherein an external device is connectable to the other end side of the connection cable, wherein the predetermined voltage is a voltage supplied from the external device, and wherein the cpu judges that the connector connection section and the magnetic connector have been physically connected to each other but the external device has not been connected to the other end side of the connection cable or that the external device has been connected to the other end side of the connection cable but the external device is in an off state, and gives a notification regarding a judgment result, when the connector connection section and the magnetic connector are detected to have been physically connected to each other by the switch section and the predetermined voltage has not been detected. 5 . the electronic device according to claim 2 , further comprising: a secondary battery, wherein the cpu detects, as the predetermined voltage, a charging voltage supplied from the external device via the connection cable in order to charge the secondary battery. 6 . the electronic device according to claim 2 , further comprising: an interface section which is used for transmitting and receiving predetermined data to and from the external device, wherein the cpu detects a supply voltage superimposed on the data as the predetermined voltage when the predetermined data is transmitted or received via the connection cable. 7 . the electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the cpu stops the measuring operation in the magnetic sensor by cutting driving electric power that is supplied to the magnetic sensor or controlling the magnetic sensor to enter a sleep mode. 8 . a magnetic sensor control method for an electronic device equipped with a magnetic sensor which detects a magnetic field around the electronic device and a connector connection section to connect to a magnetic connector including a magnet which is positioned on one end side of a connection cable, comprising: judging whether the connector connection section connects to the magnetic connector; and controlling to stop a measuring operation in the magnetic sensor when judged that the connector connection section is connected to the magnetic connector. 9 . the control method according to claim 8 , wherein a predetermined voltage supplied via the connection cable is detected, and whether the connector connection section and the magnetic connector have been connected to each other is judged based on a detection result of the detected predetermined voltage. 10 . the control method according to claim 8 , wherein the electronic device has a switch section which operates when the connector connection section and the magnetic connector are physically connected to each other, and detects a status of physical connection between the connector connection section and the magnetic connector, and wherein a predetermined voltage supplied via the connection cable and a connection status of the switch section are detected, and whether the connector connection section and the magnetic connector have been connected to each other is judged based on a detection result of the detected predetermined voltage and the connection status of the switch section. 11 . the control method according to claim 10 , wherein an external device is connectable to the other end side of the connection cable, wherein the predetermined voltage is a voltage supplied from the external device, and wherein a judgment is made that the connector connection section and the magnetic connector have been physically connected to each other but the external device has not been connected to the other end side of the connection cable or that the external device has been connected to the other end side of the connection cable but the external device is in an off state, and a notification regarding a judgment result is given, when the connector connection section and the magnetic connector are detected to have been physically connected to each other and the predetermined voltage has not been detected. 12 . the control method according to claim 9 , wherein the electronic device has a secondary battery, and wherein a charging voltage supplied from the external device via the connection cable in order to charge the secondary battery is detected as the predetermined voltage. 13 . the control method according to claim 9 , wherein the electronic device has an interface section which is used for transmitting and receiving predetermined data to and from the external device, and wherein a supply voltage superimposed on the data is detected as the predetermined voltage when the predetermined data is transmitted or received via the connection cable. 14 . the control method according to claim 8 , wherein the measuring operation in the magnetic sensor is stopped by driving electric power that is supplied to the magnetic sensor being cut or the magnetic sensor being controlled to enter a sleep mode. 15 . a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a program that is executable by a cpu of an electronic device equipped with a magnetic sensor which detects a magnetic field around the electronic device, a connector connection section to connect to a magnetic connector including a magnet which is positioned on one end side of a connection cable, and the cpu, the program being executable by the cpu to perform functions comprising: controlling to stop a measuring operation in the magnetic sensor when judged that the connector connection section is connected to the magnetic connector. 16 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15 , wherein a predetermined voltage supplied via the connection cable is detected, and whether the connector connection section and the magnetic connector have been connected to each other is judged based on a detection result of the detected predetermined voltage. 17 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15 , wherein the electronic device has a switch section which operates when the connector connection section and the magnetic connector are physically connected to each other, and detects a status of physical connection between the connector connection section and the magnetic connector, and wherein a predetermined voltage supplied via the connection cable and a connection status of the switch section are detected, and whether the connector connection section and the magnetic connector have been connected to each other is judged based on a detection result of the detected predetermined voltage and the connection status of the switch section. 18 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 17 , wherein an external device is connectable to the other end side of the connection cable, wherein the predetermined voltage is a voltage supplied from the external device, and wherein a judgment is made that the connector connection section and the magnetic connector have been physically connected to each other but the external device has not been connected to the other end side of the connection cable or that the external device has been connected to the other end side of the connection cable but the external device is in an off state, and a notification regarding a judgment result is given, when the connector connection section and the magnetic connector are detected to have been physically connected to each other and the predetermined voltage has not been detected. 19 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 16 , wherein the electronic device has an interface section which is used for transmitting and receiving predetermined data to and from the external device, and wherein a supply voltage superimposed on the data is detected as the predetermined voltage when the predetermined data is transmitted or received via the connection cable. 20 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15 , wherein the measuring operation in the magnetic sensor is stopped by driving electric power that is supplied to the magnetic sensor being cut or the magnetic sensor being controlled to enter a sleep mode.	cross-reference to related application this application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior japanese patent application no. 2015-045588, filed mar. 9, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. background of the invention 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to an electronic device equipped with a magnetic sensor and a magnetic sensor control method for the electronic sensor. 2. description of the related art in recent years, highly-functional electronic devices are significantly prevalent, such as smartphones (high-functionality portable telephones), tablet terminals, and wearable devices, and many of these electronic devices are equipped with various sensors, such as an acceleration sensor, angular velocity (gyro) sensor, or magnetic sensor (for example, japanese patent application laid-open (kokai) publication no. 2007-232415). also, many of these electronic devices have a structure where a device is driven and its internal battery is charged with predetermined electric power supplied from a commercial alternating-current power supply via a predetermined power supply cable, and data transmission and reception are performed by the device being connected to an external device via a predetermined communication cable. in recent years, a connection cable including a magnetic connector has been known which is capable of power supply and data transmission and reception by removably connecting a power supply cable or communication cable (hereinafter referred to as “connection cable”) to a connection section of a device by using magnetic force. summary of the invention in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic device comprising: a magnetic sensor which detects a magnetic field around the electronic device; a connector connection section to connect to a magnetic connector including a magnet which is positioned on one end side of a connection cable; and a cpu, wherein the cpu controls to stop a measuring operation in the magnetic sensor when judged that the connector connection section is connected to the magnetic connector. the above and further objects and novel features of the present invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description when the same is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. it is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. brief description of the drawings fig. 1a is a schematic block diagram showing the entire structure of an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; fig. 1b is a detailed diagram showing the main structure of the electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 is a detailed block diagram showing an example of the structure of the main portion of the electronic device according to the first embodiment; fig. 3 is a flowchart of an example of a control method for the electronic device according to the first embodiment: fig. 4 is a flowchart of a modification example of the control method in the electronic device according to the first embodiment; fig. 5a is a schematic block diagram showing the entire structure of an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present invention; fig. 5b is a detailed diagram showing the main structure of the electronic device according to the second embodiment of the present invention; fig. 6 is a flowchart of an example of a control method for the electronic device according to the second embodiment; fig. 7 is a flowchart of a modification example of the control method for the electronic device according to the second embodiment; fig. 8a is a schematic perspective view showing an application example of the electronic device according to the present invention; and fig. 8b is a schematic perspective view showing another application example of the electronic device according to the present invention. detailed description of the preferred embodiments hereafter, embodiments of an electronic device equipped with a magnetic sensor and a magnetic sensor control method for the electronic device according to the present invention will be described in detail. first embodiment electronic device fig. 1a is a schematic block diagram showing the entire structure of an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 1b is a detailed diagram showing the main structure of the electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. fig. 2 is a detailed block diagram showing an example of the structure of the main portion of the electronic device according to the present embodiment. an electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment is connected to an external device 200 constituted by another electronic device or a charger (or power-feeding power supply adaptor), for example, via a connection cable 300 including a magnetic connector 310 , as depicted in fig. 1a . this electronic device 100 includes, for example, a magnetic sensor 110 , a connector connection section 120 , a connector connection detecting section 130 , a charging circuit and power supply circuit (hereinafter referred to as “charging/power supply circuit”) 140 , a battery 145 , an interface section (hereinafter referred to as “i/f section”) 150 , an arithmetic processing section 160 , an input operation section 170 , a display section 180 , and a memory section 190 , as depicted in fig. 1a . here, the connector connection detecting section 130 , the charging/power supply circuit 140 , and the arithmetic processing section 160 correspond to a sensor control section according to the present invention. the magnetic sensor 110 performs a measuring operation for detecting the magnetic field of the earth (magnitude and direction of the magnetic field) based on driving electric power (drive power vdd_sensor) supplied from the charging/power supply circuit 140 described later, and outputs a detection signal to the arithmetic processing section 160 , as depicted in fig. 1a , fig. 1b , and fig. 2 . the detection signal outputted from the magnetic sensor 110 is used for processing by the arithmetic processing section 160 to calculate an azimuth with reference to the electronic device 100 . here, the magnetic sensor 110 and the arithmetic processing section 160 are connected to each other via a synchronous serial interface (i 2 c2 in the drawing) such as i 2 c (inter-integrated circuit), and the arithmetic processing section 160 receives the detection signal from the magnetic sensor 110 in synchronization with the magnetic sensor 110 , as depicted in fig. 2 . note that the sensor provided in the electronic device 100 is not limited to the magnetic sensor 110 described above. the electronic device 100 may further include various sensors, such as an acceleration sensor and angular velocity sensor (gyro sensor) which detect force applied to the electronic device 100 , the direction of the force, and the like, and a positioning sensor using gps (global positioning system) for acquiring geographic position information based on latitude and longitude information. the connector connection detecting section 130 detects an electric connection status between the electronic device 100 and the external device 200 . specifically, the magnetic connector 310 included in the connection cable 300 is connected to the connector connection section 120 as indicated by arrow a in the drawing, and the connector connection detecting section 130 detects a bus voltage vbus supplied from the external device 200 to the electronic device 100 , whereby a detection signal is outputted to the arithmetic processing section 160 . here, when the external device 200 is a charger (or a power-feeding power supply adaptor), the bus voltage vbus is supplied to the electronic device 100 as a charging voltage (or power-feeding voltage; vbus and gnd). when the external device 200 is another electronic device, the bus voltage vbus is supplied by being superimposed on data or the like transmitted and received between the electronic device 100 and the external device 200 . note that the connector connection detecting section 130 may be incorporated, for example, as part of functions of the arithmetic processing section 160 described later, as depicted in fig. 2 . in this case, the arithmetic processing section 160 receives the bus voltage vbus supplied via the connector connection section 120 as an interrupt signal. the charging/power supply circuit 140 performs an operation by which the battery 145 constituted by a secondary battery such as a lithium-ion battery is charged with the charging voltage (or power-feeding voltage; vbus and gnd) supplied from the external device 200 or the bus voltage vbus supplied by being superimposed at the time of data transmission or reception, and performs an operation of supplying driving electric power to each section of the electronic device 100 . also, based on a control signal from the arithmetic processing section 160 described later, the charging/power supply circuit 140 supplies or cuts driving electric power (driving voltage vdd_sensor) from the battery 145 or the external device 200 to the magnetic sensor 110 , and thereby controls the operation status of the magnetic sensor 110 . here, the charging/power supply circuit 140 and the arithmetic processing section 160 are connected to each other via a synchronous serial interface (i 2 c1 in the drawing) such as i 2 c, and the arithmetic processing section 160 transmits a control signal to the charging/power supply circuit 140 in synchronization with the charging/power supply circuit 140 , as depicted in fig. 2 . when the external device 200 is another electronic device, the i/f section 150 performs data transmission and reception or the like based on a control signal from the arithmetic processing section 160 described later. that is, the i/f section 150 transmits data or the like stored in the memory section 190 to the external device 200 via the connector connection section 120 and the connection cable 300 , and stores data or the like received from the external device 200 in a predetermined storage area of the memory section 190 . the arithmetic processing section 160 is an arithmetic processing device such as a cpu (central processing unit) or mpu (micro processing unit), and executes a predetermined program based on driving electric power (driving voltage vdd_cpu) supplied from the charging/power supply circuit 140 . as a result, the arithmetic processing section 160 controls various operations, such as a measuring operation and calibration processing in the magnetic sensor 110 , an operation of calculating an azimuth with reference to the electronic device 100 , a power supply operation in the charging/power supply circuit 140 , and an information display operation on the display section 180 . also, the arithmetic processing section 160 performs a sensor control operation of judging the connection status of the magnetic connector 310 to the connector connection section 120 based on a detection signal from the connector connection detecting section 130 , and controlling the operation status of the magnetic sensor 110 . note that a series of control operations including sensor control in the arithmetic processing section 160 is described in detail later. the input operation section 170 , for example, has an operation switch provided on the housing of the electronic device 100 , a touch panel provided on the front surface (view field side) of the display section 180 described later, and the like. this input operation section 170 is used for various input operations such as an on/off operation for the operation power supply of the electronic device 100 and a specific function, an operation for application software, and a setting operation for items to be displayed on the display section 180 . the display section 180 , for example, has a display panel of a liquid-crystal type or light-emitting-element type, and displays position information and cartographic information including an azimuth calculated based on a detection signal outputted from the magnetic sensor 110 described above, information regarding the charging status of the battery and the status of connection with the external device 200 including the status of transmission and reception of data or the like, and any other information desired by the user. the memory section 190 stores in a predetermined storage area a detection signal outputted from the above-described magnetic sensor 110 in association with time data. also, the memory section 190 stores various data generated by a processing operation (including sensor control operation) performed in the arithmetic processing section 160 . moreover, the memory section 190 stores control programs for operations in the respective sections such as the magnetic sensor 110 , the charging/power supply circuit 140 , and the display section 180 , and algorithm programs for performing predetermined sensor control operations based on detection signals from the connector connection detecting section 130 . note that these programs may be incorporated in advance in the arithmetic processing section 160 . in addition, the memory section 190 may be partially or entirely in a form of a removable storage medium such as a memory card, and may be structured to be removable from the electronic device 100 . the connection cable 300 for connecting the electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment and the external device 200 has the magnetic connector 310 provided on at least one end to be connected to the electronic device 100 . the magnetic connector 310 , for example, has a magnet 312 and electrodes 314 and 316 , as depicted in fig. 1b . on the other hand, the connector connection section 120 of the electronic device 100 has a magnetic body (ferromagnetic body) 122 made of iron, cobalt, nickel, or an alloy thereof, a ferrite, and electrodes 124 and 126 . here, the magnet 312 of the magnetic connector 310 and the magnetic body 122 of the connector connection section 120 are arranged opposing each other. when the magnetic connector 310 is brought closer to the connector connection section 120 in the direction indicated by arrow a with the magnet 312 of the magnetic connector 310 and the magnetic body 122 of the connector connection section 120 opposing each other, these magnet 312 and magnetic body 122 are attached to each other by a moderate magnetic force (force not allowing easy detachment), which causes the magnetic connector 310 and the connector connection section 120 to be physically connected to each other. the electrodes 314 and 316 of the magnetic connector 310 and the electrodes 124 and 126 of the connector connection section 120 are provided opposing each other in a one-to-one relation. the electrode 314 and the electrode 124 come in contact with each other and the electrode 316 and the electrode 126 come in contact with each other with the magnet 312 and the magnetic body 122 being attached to each other by magnetic force and the magnetic connector 310 and the connector connection section 120 being physically connected to each other, whereby the magnetic connector 310 and the connector connection section 120 are electrically connected to each other. as a result, the bus voltage vbus is supplied from the external device 200 to the electronic device 100 via the connection cable 300 . in fig. 1b , the structure has been described in which the magnetic connector 310 and the connector connection section 120 are electrically connected to each other by two electrodes. however, the present invention is not limited thereto. for example, a structure may be adopted in which the magnetic connector 310 and the connector connection section 120 are electrically connected to each other by three or more electrodes, as in a case where data or the like is transmitted and received by a specific communication standard such as usb (universal serial bus). also, the other end (an end on an external device 200 side) of the connection cable 300 , for example, may be integrally connected to the external device 200 , or may be removably connected to the external device 200 via a connection terminal 330 meeting a specific standard such as usb, as will be described further below (refer to fig. 8a and fig. 8b ). (control method for electronic device) next, a control method (magnetic sensor control method) for the electronic device according to the present embodiment is described with reference to the drawings. here, the following control method for the electronic device is achieved by the above-described arithmetic processing section 160 performing processing by following a predetermined control program and algorithm program. fig. 3 is a flowchart of an example of the control method for the electronic device according to the present embodiment. in the control method for the electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment, first, a user turns on a power supply switch of the input operation section 170 , and thereby activates the electronic device 100 , as depicted in the flowchart of fig. 3 . specifically, driving electric power (drive voltage vdd_cpu) is supplied from the battery 145 to the arithmetic processing section 160 to execute a predetermined program. also, based on a control signal from the arithmetic processing section 160 , driving electric power is supplied by the charging/power supply circuit 140 from the battery 145 to each section including the magnetic sensor 110 . here, drive voltage vdd_sensor is supplied to the magnetic sensor 110 as driving electric power so as to drive the magnetic sensor 110 (power supply “on”) (step s 102 ). here, immediately after the electronic device 100 is activated, the arithmetic processing section 160 sets a flag defining the operation status of the magnetic sensor 110 at “0” as an initial value, and stores the flag in a predetermine storage area of the memory section 190 . next, the arithmetic processing section 160 performs calibration processing for correcting an error (offset) due to an external magnetic field in an azimuth calculated based on a detection signal outputted from the magnetic sensor 110 (step s 104 ). note that a method of the calibration processing is not limited to a particular method, and any known method related thereto can be used. for example, as a method of the calibration processing, a method can be used in which the user swings the electronic device 100 (makes a swiveling movement) such that the electronic device 100 draws a specific path (for example, a figure of eight) on a horizontal plane with respect to a ground plane, and thereby causes the arithmetic processing section 160 to calculate an offset correction value based on a detection signal outputted from the magnetic sensor 110 . also, as another method of the calibration processing, a method can be used in which the arithmetic processing section 160 performs known arithmetic processing based on detection signals in triaxial directions detected by the magnetic sensor 110 (without the user swinging the electronic device 100 ), and thereby automatically calculates an offset correction value. the offset correction value calculated by the calibration processing is stored in a predetermined storage area of the memory section 190 . next, the arithmetic processing section 160 causes an operation of measuring a magnetic field (sensing operation) to be started by the magnetic sensor 110 (step s 106 ), associates detection signals sequentially outputted from the magnetic sensor 110 with time data, and stores the resultant data as magnetic data in a predetermined storage area of the memory section 190 . here, the measuring operation by the magnetic sensor 110 may be performed constantly (or may be substantially continuously performed at very short time intervals), or may be performed intermittently at relatively long time intervals. then, the arithmetic processing section 160 uses the magnetic data stored in the memory section 190 to perform predetermined arithmetic processing, and thereby calculates an azimuth with reference to the electronic device 100 . the calculated azimuth is displayed on the display section 180 in combination with, for example, position information, cartographic information, and the like. next, the arithmetic processing section 160 detects whether the bus voltage vbus has been supplied from the external device 200 (step s 108 ). specifically, the magnetic connector 310 provided to the connection cable 300 is connected to the connector connection section 120 , and the connector connection detecting section 130 detects the bus voltage vbus supplied from the external device 200 to the electronic device 100 , whereby a detection signal is outputted to the arithmetic processing section 160 . subsequently, based on the presence or absence of this detection signal, the arithmetic processing section 160 judges the status of connection between the electronic device 100 and the external device 200 . then, when the connector connection detecting section 130 detects the bus voltage vbus (yes at step s 108 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 judges that the magnetic connector 310 has been connected to the connector connection section 120 . then, the arithmetic processing section 160 performs control to output a control signal to the charging/power supply circuit 140 and cut the supply (power supply “off”) of driving electric power (drive voltage vdd_sensor) from the battery 145 or the external device 200 to the magnetic sensor 110 (step s 110 ). as a result, all operations including the measuring operation by the magnetic sensor 110 are suspended. here, the arithmetic processing section 160 resets the flag defining the operation status of the magnetic sensor 110 at “1”, and stores (that is, updates) it in the memory section 190 . note that, at step s 110 , the arithmetic processing section 160 performs control such that, even when the supply of driving electric power to the magnetic sensor 110 is cut, predetermined driving electric power is supplied by the charging/power supply circuit 140 from the battery 145 or the external device 200 to each of the sections of the electronic device 100 excluding the magnetic sensor 110 . then, the arithmetic processing section 160 returns to step s 108 to repeatedly perform the processing operations at steps s 108 to s 110 described above until the bus voltage vbus supplied from the external device 200 is not detected by the connector connection detecting section 130 . at step s 108 , when the bus voltage vbus is not detected or is no longer detected by the connector connection detecting section 130 (no at step s 108 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 judges that the magnetic connector 310 has not been connected to the connector connection section 120 or has been detached from the connector connection section 120 . subsequently, the arithmetic processing section 160 judges whether the flag defining the operation status of the magnetic sensor 110 is indicating “1” (step s 112 ). specifically, the arithmetic processing section 160 reads out the flag defining the operation status of the magnetic sensor 110 stored in the memory section 190 , and judges whether the flag has been set at “1” and the supply of driving electric power to the magnetic sensor 110 has been cut (power supply “off”) at step s 110 described above. then, when judged that the flag has not been set at “1” and driving electric power has been supplied to the magnetic sensor 110 (no at step s 112 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 returns to step s 108 to repeat the processing operations at steps s 108 and s 112 described above and cause the measuring operation by the magnetic sensor 110 to be continued until the bus voltage vbus is detected. conversely, when judged that the flag has been set at “1” and driving electric power to the magnetic sensor 110 has not been cut (yes at step s 112 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 returns to step s 102 , supplies driving electric power to the magnetic sensor 110 (power supply “on”) again to drive it, resets the flag at “0”, and repeatedly performs the processing operations at steps s 102 to s 112 described above. note that, although omitted in the flowchart of fig. 3 , the arithmetic processing section 160 constantly or regularly monitors for an input operation for cutting or ending a control operation and a change in the operation status while the series of sensor control operations is being performed and, when an input operation or a status change is detected, forcibly ends the sensor control operation. specifically, the arithmetic processing section 160 detects a power off operation on the power supply switch by the user, a decrease in the battery remaining amounts of the charging/power supply circuit 140 and the battery 145 , anomaly in a function or an application being executed, and the like, and then forcibly stops and ends the series of sensor control operations. as described above, in the electronic device 100 equipped with the magnetic sensor 110 in the present embodiment, in a case where the battery 145 is charged or data or the like is transmitted or received via the connection cable 300 having the magnetic connector 310 , a predetermined voltage (bus voltage vbus) supplied from the external device 200 is detected, whereby the status of the connection of the magnetic connector 310 to the electronic device 100 is judged. subsequently, when a judgment is made that the magnetic connector 310 has been connected to the electronic device 100 and the predetermined voltage (bus voltage vbus) has been supplied from the external device 200 , the supply of driving electric power (drive voltage vdd_sensor) to the external device 200 is cut (power supply “off”), and all operations including a measuring operation by the magnetic sensor 110 are stopped. then, when the magnetic connector 310 is detached from the electronic device 100 and the predetermined voltage (bus voltage vbus) supplied from the magnetic sensor 110 is cut, the supply of the driving electric power (drive voltage vdd_sensor) to the magnetic sensor 110 is restarted (power supply “on”), and calibration processing and a measuring operation are performed by the magnetic sensor 110 . that is, in some cases, in a state where the magnetic connector 310 has been connected to the electronic device 100 , a magnetic field generated from the magnet provided to the magnetic connector 310 may affect the magnetic sensor 110 provided to the electronic device 100 and make correct azimuth detection impossible. in the present embodiment, during a period where a predetermined voltage is supplied from the external device 200 (that is, the magnetic connector 310 has been connected to the electronic device 100 ), control is performed such that the power supply of the magnetic sensor 110 is turned “off” to disable unnecessary operations such as a measuring operation. as a result, erroneous azimuth detection during power feeding to the electronic device and data transmission and reception can be prevented. in addition, power consumption in the magnetic sensor 110 can be reduced, whereby power consumption in the electronic device 100 can be suppressed. modification example next, a modification example of the control method for the electronic device according to the present embodiment is described. fig. 4 is a flowchart of the modification example of the control method for the electronic device according to the present embodiment. note that processing operations equivalent to those of the first embodiment are provided with the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof are simplified. in the sensor control method for the electronic device 100 according to the modification example, first, the electronic device 100 is activated, and driving electric power (drive voltage vdd_sensor) is supplied to the magnetic sensor 110 , whereby the magnetic sensor 110 is driven (power supply “on”), as depicted in the flowchart of fig. 4 (step s 122 ). here, immediately after the electronic device 100 is activated, the arithmetic processing section 160 causes the magnetic sensor 110 to operate in a normal mode, and sets a flag defining the operation status at “0” as an initial value. then, the arithmetic processing section 160 performs calibration processing by the magnetic sensor 110 (step s 124 ), and then starts a magnetic field measuring operation by the magnetic sensor 110 (step s 126 ). next, when the magnetic connector 310 provided to the connection cable 300 is connected to the connector connection section 120 , and the arithmetic processing section 160 detects based on a detection signal from the connector connection detecting section 130 that the bus voltage vbus has been supplied from the external device 200 (yes at step s 128 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 performs control to output a control signal to the magnetic sensor 110 and cause the magnetic sensor 110 to enter a sleep mode that is a power-power saving mode where the measuring operation is stopped and minimum electric power is supplied (sleep mode “on”) (step s 130 ). as a result, at least the measuring operation in the magnetic sensor 110 is stopped. here, the arithmetic processing section 160 resets (updates) the flag defining the operation status of the magnetic sensor 110 in the sleep mode at “1”. then, the arithmetic processing section 160 returns to step s 128 to repeatedly perform the processing operations at steps s 128 to s 130 described above until the bus voltage vbus is no longer detected by the connector connection detecting section 130 . on the other hand, when the magnetic connector 310 has not been connected to the connector connection section 120 or has been detached from the connector connection section 120 and the bus voltage vbus is not detected or is no longer detected by the connector connection detecting section 130 (no at step s 128 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 judges whether the flag defining the operation status of the magnetic sensor 110 indicates “1” (step s 132 ). that is, the arithmetic processing section 160 judges whether the flag has been set at “1” at step s 130 to cause the magnetic sensor 110 to be set in the sleep mode (sleep mode “on”). when judged that the flag has not been set at “1” and the magnetic sensor 110 has not been set in the sleep mode (no at step 132 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 returns to step s 128 to repeat the processing operations at steps s 128 and s 132 described above and cause the measuring operation to be continued in the magnetic sensor 110 until the bus voltage vbus is detected. conversely, when the flag has been set at “1” and the magnetic sensor 110 has been set in the sleep mode (yes at step 132 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 performs control to output a control signal to the magnetic sensor 110 and thereby cancel the sleep mode (sleep mode “off”) so as to cause the magnetic sensor 110 to operate in the normal mode (step s 134 ), and also resets the flag at “0”. then, the arithmetic processing section 160 returns to step s 124 to cause the magnetic sensor 110 to perform calibration processing and a measuring operation again, and repeatedly performs the processing operations at step s 124 to s 134 described above. in this flowchart of fig. 4 as well, the arithmetic processing section 160 constantly or regularly monitors for an input operation for cutting or ending a control operation and a change in the operation status while the series of sensor control operations is being performed and, when an input operation or a status change is detected, forcibly ends the sensor control operation, as with the first embodiment. as described above, in the modification example, a predetermined voltage (bus voltage vbus) supplied from the external device 200 is detected by using a method similar to that of the above-described first embodiment, whereby the status of the connection of the magnetic connector 310 to the electronic device 100 is judged. subsequently, when a judgment is made that the magnetic connector 310 has been connected to the electronic device 100 and the predetermined voltage (bus voltage vbus) has been supplied from the external device 200 , the magnetic sensor 110 enters the sleep mode that is a power-saving mode (sleep mode “on”), whereby at least a measuring operation by the magnetic sensor 110 is stopped. then, when the magnetic connector 310 is detached from the electronic device 100 and the predetermined voltage (bus voltage vbus) supplied from the external device 200 is cut, the magnetic sensor 110 reverts to the normal mode from the sleep mode (sleep mode “off”) and restarts calibration processing and the measuring operation. according to the modification example, during a period where a predetermined voltage is supplied from the external device 200 , the magnetic sensor 110 enters the sleep mode so as not to perform unnecessary operations, whereby power consumption can be suppressed and erroneous azimuth detection due to a magnetic field generated from the magnet provided in the magnetic connector 310 can be prevented, as with the above-described first embodiment. also, when the predetermined voltage supplied from the external device 200 is cut (that is, the magnetic connector 310 is detached from the electronic device 100 ), the magnetic sensor 110 enters the normal mode from the sleep mode, so that calibration processing and a measuring operation in the magnetic sensor 110 can be quickly restarted, whereby correct azimuth detection can be quickly achieved. second embodiment next, a second embodiment of the electronic device according to the present invention is described with reference to the drawings. note that sections and processing operations similar to those of the first embodiment are only briefly described. in the configuration of the above-described first embodiment, a state where the magnetic connector 310 has been connected to the connector connection section 120 is detected by the connector connection detecting section 130 detecting the bus voltage vbus supplied from the external device 200 via the connection cable 300 . however, in the configuration of the second embodiment, a state where the magnetic connector 310 has been physically connected to the connector connection section 120 is directly detected. (electronic device) fig. 5a is a schematic block diagram showing the entire structure of the electronic device according to the second embodiment, and fig. 5b is a detailed diagram showing the main structure of the electronic device according to the second embodiment. the electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment has a structure equivalent to that of the above-described first embodiment except that the connector connection section 120 includes a mechanical switch 128 for detecting a state where the magnetic connector 310 provided to the connection cable 300 has been physically connected. the mechanical switch 128 , for example, is a mechanical-type switch such as a push button. when the magnetic connector 310 is attached to the magnetic body 122 of the connector connection section 120 by magnetic force of the magnet 312 as indicated by arrow a in the drawings to cause the magnetic connector 310 and the connector connection section 120 to be physically connected to each other, the mechanical switch 128 is pressed or turned on as indicated by arrow b in the drawing, and outputs a switch signal at this timing. the connector connection detecting section 130 outputs a detection signal by the magnetic connector 310 being electrically connected to the connector connection section 120 and the bus voltage vbus supplied from the external device 200 to the electronic device 100 being detected, as with the above-described first embodiment. the arithmetic processing section 160 performs a sensor control operation of judging the status of the physical and electrical connection of the magnetic connector 310 to the connector connection section 120 and controlling the operation status of the magnetic sensor 110 , based on the switch signal outputted from the connector connection section 120 and the detection signal outputted from the connector connection detecting section 130 . (control method for electronic device) next, the control method (magnetic sensor control method) for the electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment is described. the control method for the electronic device in this embodiment is also achieved by the arithmetic processing section 160 performing processing in accordance with a predetermined control program and algorithm program. fig. 6 is a flowchart of an example of the control method for the electronic device according to the second embodiment. in the sensor control method for the electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment, as with steps s 102 to s 106 described in the first embodiment, the arithmetic processing section 160 first supplies driving electric power to the magnetic sensor 110 in response to the activation of the electronic device 100 , and thereby drives the magnetic sensor 110 (power supply “on” and flag “0”), as depicted in the flowchart of fig. 6 (step s 202 ). subsequently, the arithmetic processing section 160 performs calibration processing in the magnetic sensor 110 (step s 204 ), and starts a magnetic field measuring operation by the magnetic sensor 110 (step s 206 ). next, the arithmetic processing section 160 judges whether the magnetic connector 310 provided to the connection cable 300 has been connected to the connector connection section 120 (step s 208 ). specifically, based on a switch signal outputted from the connector connection section 120 by the magnetic connector 310 provided to the connection cable 300 being connected to the connector connection section 120 and the mechanical switch 128 being pressed or turned on, the arithmetic processing section 160 judges the status of a physical connection between the magnetic connector 310 and the connector connection section 120 . then, when judged based on the switch signal outputted from the connector connection section 120 that the magnetic connector 310 has been connected to the connector connection section 120 , (yes at step s 208 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 detects whether the bus voltage vbus has been supplied from the external device 200 (step s 210 ). that is, the arithmetic processing section 160 judges the status of an electrical connection between the electronic device 100 and the external device 200 based on a detection signal outputted from the connector connection detecting section 130 by the bus voltage vbus supplied from the external device 200 being detected. then, when the bus voltage vbus is detected by the connector connection detecting section 130 (yes at step s 210 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 performs control to output a control signal to the charging/power supply circuit 140 so as to cut the supply of driving electric power to the magnetic sensor 110 (power supply “off” and flag “1”) (step s 214 ). conversely, when the bus voltage vbus is not detected or is no longer detected by the connector connection detecting section 130 (no at step s 210 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 judges that the magnetic connector 310 and the connector connection section 120 have been physically connected to each other but the bus voltage vbus has not been supplied from the external device 200 . accordingly, the arithmetic processing section 160 causes the display section 180 to display information indicating that power is not being fed from the external device 200 and the connection cable 300 may have been detached from the external device 200 or the power supply of the external device 200 may have been turned off, so as to give a notification regarding this to the user (step s 212 ). for example, in a situation where the magnetic connector 310 has been connected to the connector connection section 120 to charge the battery 145 , the notification indicates a (non-charging) state where the battery 145 has not been charged although it is supposed to be charged. in a situation where data communication is to be performed between the external device 200 and the electronic device 100 , the notification indicates a state where communication has not been performed although it is supposed to be performed. in the present embodiment, the user can be notified of this state, which prevents troubles and improves user convenience. then, the arithmetic processing section 160 performs control to output a control signal to the charging/power supply circuit 140 so as to cut the supply of driving electric power to the magnetic sensor 110 (power supply “off” and flag “1”) (step s 214 ). after step s 214 , the arithmetic processing section 160 returns to step s 208 to repeatedly perform the processing operations at step s 208 to s 214 described above until a judgment is made that the magnetic connector 310 has not been connected to the connector connection section 120 or has been detached from the connector connection section 120 . at step s 208 , when the connection of the magnetic connector 310 to the connector connection section 120 is not detected or is no longer detected (no at step s 208 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 judges whether the flag defining the operation status of the magnetic sensor 110 indicates “0” (step s 216 ). that is, the arithmetic processing section 160 judges whether driving electric power to the magnetic sensor 110 has been supplied (power supply “on”). when judged that the flag has been set at “0” and the driving electric power has been supplied to the magnetic sensor 110 (yes at step s 216 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 returns to step s 208 to repeat the processing operations at steps 208 to s 216 described above, and causes the measuring operation to be continued in the magnetic sensor 110 until the connection of the magnetic connector 310 to the connector connection section 120 is detected. conversely, when judged that the flag has not been set at “0” and driving electric power to the magnetic sensor 110 has been cut (no at step s 216 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 returns to step s 202 to supply driving electric power to the magnetic sensor 110 for driving it again (power supply “on” and flag “0”) and repeatedly perform the above-described processing operations at steps s 202 to s 216 . as described above, in the present embodiment, when the magnetic connector 310 of the connection cable 300 has been physically connected to the electronic device 100 , driving electric power to the magnetic sensor 110 is cut (power supply “off”). when the magnetic connector 310 of the connection cable 300 has been connected to the electronic device 100 but the bus voltage vbus has not been supplied from the external device 200 , the user is notified of the status of the charging of the battery 145 and the status of power feeding from the external device 200 . then, when the magnetic connector 310 is detached from the electronic device 100 , the supply of driving electric power (drive voltage vdd_sensor) to the magnetic sensor 110 is restarted (power supply “on”), and calibration processing and a measuring operation in the magnetic sensor 110 is performed. according to the present embodiment, during a period where the magnetic connector 310 is connected to the electronic device 100 , the power supply of the magnetic sensor 110 is turned “off”, so that unnecessary operations can be stopped, whereby power consumption can be suppressed and erroneous azimuth detection due to a magnetic field generated from the magnet provided to the magnetic connector 310 can be prevented. also, when the magnetic connector 310 has been connected to the electronic device 100 but the predetermined voltage has not been supplied from the external device 200 , it is possible to notify the user of the charging status and the power feeding status in the electronic device 100 . that is, an electronic device that is excellent in usability can be provided. modification example next, a modification example of the control method for the electronic device according to the present embodiment is described. fig. 7 is a flowchart of the modification example of the control method for the electronic device according to the present embodiment. note that processing operations equivalent to those of the second embodiment are provided with the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof are simplified. in the sensor control method for the electronic device 100 according to this modification example, as with steps s 122 to s 126 described in the modification example of the first embodiment, the arithmetic processing section 160 first supplies driving electric power to the magnetic sensor 110 in response to the activation of the electronic device 100 , and thereby drives the magnetic sensor 110 in a normal mode (power supply “on” and flag “0”), as depicted in the flowchart of fig. 7 (step s 222 ). subsequently, the arithmetic processing section 160 performs calibration processing in the magnetic sensor 110 (step s 224 ), and starts a magnetic field measuring operation (step s 226 ). next, when it is detected based on a switch signal from the connector connection section 120 that the magnetic connector 310 provided to the connection cable 300 has been connected to the connector connection section 120 (yes at step s 228 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 further detects whether the bus voltage vbus has been supplied from the external device 200 (step s 230 ). then, when the bus voltage vbus has been supplied from the external device 200 (yes at step s 230 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 performs control to output a control signal to the magnetic sensor 110 and controls the magnetic sensor 110 to enter a sleep mode that is a power-saving mode (sleep mode “on” and flag “1”) (step s 234 ) so as to stop at least the measuring operation in the magnetic sensor 110 . conversely, when the bus voltage vbus has not been supplied from the external device 200 (no at step s 230 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 judges that the magnetic connector 310 and the connector connection section 120 have been physically connected to each other but the bus voltage vbus has not been supplied from the external device 200 . accordingly, the arithmetic processing section 160 causes the display section 180 to display information indicating that power is not being fed from the external device 200 and the connection cable 300 may have been detached from the external device 200 or the power supply of the external device 200 may have been turned off, so as to give a notification regarding this to the user (step s 232 ). then, the arithmetic processing section 160 performs control to output a control signal to the magnetic sensor 110 and controls the magnetic sensor 110 to enter a sleep mode that is a power-saving mode (sleep mode “on” and flag “1”) (step s 234 ) so as to stop at least the measuring operation in the magnetic sensor 110 . after step s 234 , the arithmetic processing section 160 returns to step s 228 to repeatedly perform the above-described processing operation at steps s 228 to s 234 until a judgment is made that the magnetic connector 310 has not been connected to the connector connection section 120 . at step s 228 , when the connection of the magnetic connector 310 to the connector connection section 120 is not detected (no at step s 228 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 judges whether the flag defining the operation status of the magnetic sensor 110 indicates “0” (step s 236 ). that is, the arithmetic processing section 160 judges whether the magnetic sensor 110 has been set in the normal mode (sleep mode “off”). when judged that the flag has been set at “0” and the magnetic sensor 110 has been set in the normal mode (yes at step s 236 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 returns to step s 228 to repeat the above-described processing operations at steps s 228 to s 236 and cause the measuring operation to be continued in the magnetic sensor 110 until the connection of the magnetic connector 310 to the connector connection section 120 is detected. conversely, when judged that the flag has not been set at “0” and the magnetic sensor 110 has been set in the sleep mode (no at step s 236 ), the arithmetic processing section 160 performs control to output a control signal to the magnetic sensor 110 to cancel the sleep mode (sleep mode “off” and flag “0”) and cause the magnetic sensor 110 to be operated in the normal mode (step s 238 ). then, the arithmetic processing section 160 returns to step s 224 to cause the magnetic sensor 110 to perform the calibration processing and the measuring operation again, and repeatedly performs the above-described processing operations at steps s 224 to s 238 . as described above, in the present modification example, the status of the connection of the magnetic connector 310 to the connector connection section 120 is directly detected by the mechanical switch 128 by use of a method similar to that of the above-described second embodiment, whereby the status of the physical connection of the magnetic connector 310 to the electronic device 100 is judged. when the magnetic connector 310 has been connected to the electronic device 100 , the magnetic sensor 110 enters the sleep mode that is a power-saving mode (sleep mode “on”), so that at least a measuring operation in the magnetic sensor 110 is stopped. when the magnetic connector 310 has been detached from the electronic device 100 , the magnetic sensor 110 reverts to the normal mode from the sleep mode (sleep mode “off”) and restarts calibration processing and the measuring operation. according to this modification example, during a period in which the magnetic connector 310 is connected to the electronic device 100 , the magnetic sensor 110 enters the sleep mode that is a power-saving mode so as not to perform unnecessary operations, whereby power consumption can be suppressed and erroneous azimuth detection due to a magnetic field generated from the magnet provided in the magnetic connector 310 can be prevented, as with the above-described second embodiment. also, when the magnetic connector 310 is detached from the electronic device 100 , the magnetic sensor 110 enters the normal mode from the sleep mode, so that calibration processing and a measuring operation in the magnetic sensor 110 can be quickly restarted, whereby correct azimuth detection can be quickly achieved. examples of application next, examples of electronic devices to which the present invention can be applied are described with reference to the drawings. fig. 8a and fig. 8b are schematic perspective views showing examples of application of the electronic device according to the present invention. the present invention can be applied to an electronic device 100 such as a smartphone or tablet terminal, as depicted in fig. 8a and fig. 8b . that is, electronic devices 100 commercially available in recent years such as smartphones or table terminals often include a magnetic sensor as a standard. this type of electronic device 100 is generally connected via a connection cable 300 to another electronic device such as a charger, a power-feeding power supply adaptor, or a personal computer. here, in a case where a connection cable 300 including a magnetic connector 310 is applied as a connection cable for this electronic device 100 , in a state where a magnetic connector 310 has been connected to a connector connection section 120 provided in the housing, a magnetic field generated from a magnet provided in the magnetic connector 310 may affects a magnetic sensor 110 provided in the electronic device 100 , whereby a correct azimuth cannot be detected. however, by the present invention being applied to this electronic device 100 , operations and effects equivalent to those of the above-described embodiments can be acquired. in fig. 8a and fig. 8b , a smartphone and a tablet terminal are depicted each as an example of the electronic device 100 to which the present invention can be applied. however, the present invention is not limited thereto and can be applied to any electronic device as long as it includes at least the magnetic sensor 110 and is connected to the external device 200 such as a charger or another electronic device via the connection cable 300 including the magnetic connector 310 . for example, the present invention can be applied to a gps logger, a digital camera, a navigation system, and a wearable terminal rapidly and widely spread in recent years. also, the connection cable 300 depicted in fig. 8a and fig. 8b has the magnetic connector 310 provided at one end side to be connected to the connector connection section 120 of the electronic device 100 , and the connection terminal 330 meeting a specific standard such as usb and provided at the other end side to be connected to the external device 200 . however, the present invention is not limited thereto. for example, the connection cable 300 may be integrally connected to the external device 200 . note that, in fig. 8a , reference numeral 210 denotes a receptacle for commercial alternating-current power supply to which the external device 200 such as a charger or a power-feeding power supply adaptor is connected. while the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it is intended that the invention be not limited by any of the details of the description therein but includes all the embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims.
030-631-372-504-55X	US	[ "AU", "BR", "EP", "KR", "SG", "CA", "RU", "JP", "US", "TW", "MX" ]	G02F1/21,G02B26/00,G09G3/16,G09G3/34,B81B3/00,G01J3/26,G02B26/08,G02F1/01,B81B7/02,B81B7/00,B81C1/00	2004-09-27T00:00:00	2004	[ "G02", "G09", "B81", "G01" ]	system and method of providing mems device with anti-stiction coating	in various embodiments of the invention, an anti-stiction coating 160, 170 is formed on at least one surface of an interior cavity of a mems device 80. particular embodiments provide an anti-stiction coating 160, 170 on one or more mirror surfaces of an interferometric light modulation device (imod). in other embodiments, an interferometric light modulation device is encapsulated within a package and the anti-stiction coating 160, 170 is applied after the package is fabricated. in one embodiment, one or more orifices are defined in the package, e.g., in a seal, a substrate or a backplate and the anti-stiction coating material is supplied into the interior of the package via the orifice(s). in one embodiment, the anti-stiction coating material includes a self-aligned (or self-assembled) monolayer. in yet another embodiment, the anti-stiction layer coating can be incorporated into a release process where a sacrificial layer of an interferometric light modulation device is etched away with the use of a gas.	a method for manufacturing an interferometric light modulating device, comprising: providing a transmissive element; providing a reflective element; and providing an anti-stiction coating, wherein said anti-stiction coating is located between at least a portion of said reflective element and said transmissive element. the method of claim 1, further comprising: providing a sacrificial layer located between said reflective element and said transmissive element; and etching at least a portion of the sacrificial material prior to providing an anti-stiction coating. the method of claim 1, further comprising: providing a sacrificial layer located between said reflective element and said transmissive element, wherein said anti-stiction coating is provided on at least a portion of said sacrificial layer. the method of claim 1, further comprising: providing a transparent substrate; providing a seal; providing a backplate; and adhering said substrate and said backplate with said seal, wherein said reflective element, said transmissive element, and said anti-stiction coating are located between said substrate and said backplate. the method of claim 4, wherein said steps of providing a substrate, seal and a backplate, and adhering said substrate and said backplate with said seal occur prior to said step of providing an anti-stiction coating. the method of claim 4, wherein said step of providing an anti-stiction coating occurs prior to said step of adhering said substrate and said backplate with said seal. the method of claim 4, wherein said seal, said substrate or said backplate have at least one orifice for providing said anti-stiction coating. the method of claim 4, further comprising providing a desiccant, wherein said desiccant is located between said substrate and said backplate. the method of claim 1, wherein said anti-stiction coating comprises a self-aligning monolayer. the method of claim 1, wherein said anti-stiction coating comprises at least one of: teflon, perfluorodecanoic carboxylic acid, octadecyltrichlorosilane (ots), dichlorodimethylsilane, fluoro silane, chloro-fluoro silane, methoxy silane, trichlorosilane, silicone, polystyrene, polyurethane, a block copolymer containing a hydrophobic component, polysilazane, graphite, diamond-like carbide (dlc), silicon carbide (sic), hydrogenated diamond coating, and fluorinated dlc. the method of claim 1, wherein said anti-stiction coating is provided on at least a portion of said reflective element. the method of claim 1, wherein said anti-stiction coating is provided on at least a portion of said transmissive element. an interferometric light modulating device made or manufacturable by the method of any one of claims 1 to 12. an electronic microelectromechanical systems (mems) device, comprising: reflective means for reflecting light; transmissive means for transmitting light therethrough; modulating means for modulating light transmitted through said transmissive means; and means for reducing attractive forces between said reflective means and said transmissive means. the device of claim 14, wherein said reflective means comprises a mirror. the device of claim 14 or 15, wherein said transmissive means comprises a partially reflective mirror. the device of claim 14, 15 or 16, wherein said modulating means comprises an array of interferometric modulators. the device of claim 14, 15, 16 or 17, wherein said reducing means comprises an anti-stiction coating the device of claim 18, wherein said anti-stiction coating is applied on at least a portion of said transmissive means. the device of claim 18, wherein said anti-stiction coating is applied on at least a portion of said reflective means. the device of claim 14, further comprising a transparent substrate, wherein said substrate is adhered to a backplate with a seal to form a sealed package, and wherein said reflective means and said transmissive means are located within said sealed package. the device of claim 21, further comprising a desiccant, wherein said desiccant is located within said sealed package. the device of claim 21, further comprising at least one orifice in said package. the device of claim 23, wherein said at least one orifice is an orifice in said seal, said substrate or said backplate. the device of claim 18, wherein said anti-stiction coating comprises a self-aligning monolayer. the device of claim 18, wherein said anti-stiction coating comprises at least one of: teflon, perfluorodecanoic carboxylic acid, octadecyltrichlorosilane (ots), dichlorodimethylsilane, fluoro silane, chloro-fluoro silane, methoxy silane, trichlorosilane, silicone, polystyrene, polyurethane, a block copolymer containing a hydrophobic component, polysilazane, graphite, diamond-like carbide (dlc), silicon carbide (sic), hydrogenated diamond coating, and fluorinated dlc. the device of claim 14, further comprising a sacrificial layer located between said reflective means and said transmissive means, wherein said means for reducing attractive forces comprises an anti-stiction coating applied to at least a portion of said sacrificial layer. the device of claim 14, wherein said mems device comprises an interferometric modulator. the device of claim 14, further comprising: a processor that is in electrical communication with said modulating means, said processor being configured to process image data; and a memory device in electrical communication with said processor. the device of claim 29, further comprising a driver circuit configured to send at least one signal to said modulating means. the device of claim 30, further comprising a controller configured to send at least a portion of said image data to said driver circuit. the device of claim 29, further comprising an image source module configured to send said image data to said processor. the device of claim 32, wherein said image source module comprises at least one of a receiver, transceiver, and transmitter. the device of claim 29, further comprising an input device configured to receive input data and to communicate said input data to said processor.	background the field of the invention relates to micro-electro-mechanical (mems) systems. more specifically, the invention relates to systems and methods of providing an anti-stiction coating in a mems device, including an interferometric light modulator. mems include micro mechanical elements, actuators, and electronics. micromechanical elements may be created using deposition, etching, and or other micromachining processes that etch away parts of substrates and/or deposited material layers or that add layers to form electrical and electromechanical devices. spatial light modulators are an example of mems systems. spatial light modulators used for imaging applications come in many different forms. transmissive liquid crystal device (lcd) modulators modulate light by controlling the twist and/or alignment of crystalline materials to block or pass light. reflective spatial light modulators exploit various physical effects to control the amount of light reflected to the imaging surface. examples of such reflective modulators include reflective lcds, and digital micromirror devices (dmd™). another example of a spatial light modulator is an interferometric modulator that modulates light by interference. an interferometric modulator may comprise a pair of conductive plates, one or both of which may be transparent and/or reflective in whole or part and capable of relative motion upon application of an appropriate electrical signal. one plate may comprise a stationary or fixed layer deposited on a substrate, the other plate may comprise a metallic membrane separated from the stationary layer by an air gap. such devices have a wide range of applications, and it would be beneficial in the art to utilize and/or modify the characteristics of these types of devices so that their features can be exploited in improving existing products and creating new products that have not yet been developed. an imod™ is one example of an interferometric light modulator. the imod employs a cavity having at least one movable or deflectable wall. as the wall, typically comprised at least partly of metal, moves towards a front surface of the cavity, interference occurs that affects the color of light viewed by a user. summary the system, method, and devices of the invention each have several aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirable attributes. without limiting the scope of this invention, its more prominent features will now be discussed briefly. after considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled "detailed description of certain embodiments" one will understand how the features of this invention provide advantages over other display devices. in various embodiments of the invention, an anti-stiction coating is provided on at least one surface of a mems device in order to reduce attractive forces between the at least one surface and other surfaces of the mems device. more specifically, in certain embodiments, the anti-stiction coating is provided on at least one surface on an interior portion of an interferometric light modulating cavity. this interior portion with the anti-stiction coating may be a reflective element, such as a mirror, a transmissive element, such as a transparent substrate, or another layer on said reflective element or transmissive element. in one embodiment, an interferometric light modulating device is provided, said device comprising: a reflective element; a transmissive element; and an anti-stiction coating located between at least a portion of said reflective element and said transmissive element. in another embodiment, a method for manufacturing an interferometric light modulating device is provided, said method comprising: providing a transmissive element; providing a reflective element; and providing an anti-stiction coating, wherein said anti-stiction coating is located between at least a portion of said reflective element and said transmissive element. in another embodiment, an interferometric light modulating device is provided, said device comprising: reflective means for reflecting light; transmissive means for transmitting light therethrough; modulating means for modulating light transmitted through said transmissive means; and means for reducing attractive forces between said reflective means and said transmissive means. in another embodiment, an interferometric light modulating device is provided by a method of manufacturing, said method comprising: providing a reflective element; providing a transmissive element; and providing an anti-stiction coating, wherein said anti-stiction coating is located between at least a portion of said reflective element and said transmissive element. brief description of the drawings figure 1 is an isometric view depicting a portion of one embodiment of an interferometric modulator display in which a movable reflective layer of a first interferometric modulator is in a released position and a movable reflective layer of a second interferometric modulator is in an actuated position. figure 2 is a system block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an electronic device incorporating a 3x3 interferometric modulator display. figure 3 is a diagram of movable mirror position versus applied voltage for one exemplary embodiment of an interferometric modulator of figure 1. figure 4 is an illustration of a set of row and column voltages that may be used to drive an interferometric modulator display. figures 5a and 5b illustrate one exemplary timing diagram for row and column signals that may be used to write a frame of display data to the 3x3 interferometric modulator display of figure 2. figure 6a is a cross section of the device of figure 1. figure 6b is a cross section of an alternative embodiment of an interferometric modulator. figure 6c is a cross section of another alternative embodiment of an interferometric modulator. figures 7a-7c are schematic views of a basic package structure for an interferometric modulator. figure 8 is a detailed side view of an interferometric light modulator. figure 9 illustrates an interferometric modulator coated with anti-stiction material according to one embodiment of the invention. figure 10 illustrates an interferometric modulator coated with anti-stiction material according to another embodiment of the invention. figures 11a, 11b, and 11c illustrate an interferometric modulator coated with anti-stiction material according to another embodiment of the invention. figures 12a and 12b illustrate an interferometric modulator coated with anti-stiction material according to still another embodiment of the invention. figure 13 illustrates an anti-stiction layer coating system for an interferometric modulator according to one embodiment of the invention. figure 14 is a flow chart of a method of providing an anti-stiction coating to a mems device according to one embodiment of the invention. figure 15 is a flow chart of a method of providing an anti-stiction coating to an interferometric light modulating device according to one embodiment of the invention. figures 16a and 16b are system block diagrams illustrating an embodiment of a visual display device comprising a plurality of interferometric modulators. detailed description of the preferred embodiments in various embodiments of the invention, an anti-stiction coating is formed on at least one surface of an interior cavity of a mems device. stiction occurs when surface adhesion forces are higher than the mechanical restoring force of the micro-structure. one purpose of the anti-stiction coating is to prevent two movable layers of the device from sticking together. particular embodiments provide an anti-stiction coating on one or more mirror surfaces of an interferometric light modulation device, also known as an imod. in some embodiments, theanti-stiction coating material includes a self-aligned (or self-assembled) monolayer. in various embodiments, an interferometric light modulation device is encapsulated within a package and the anti-stiction coating is applied to the device after the package is fabricated. in one embodiment, one or more orifices are defined in the package, e.g., in a seal, a substrate or a backplate and the anti-stiction coating material is supplied into the interior of the package via the orifice(s). in another embodiment, the anti-stiction coating can be incorporated into a release process wherein a sacrificial layer of an interferometric light modulation device is etched away with the use of a gas, such as xef 2 . for example, a mixture of the anti-stiction coating material and xef 2 may be pumped into a chamber within the device. the chemistry of self aligning monolayers is generally compatible with xef 2 and can be made to be co-existing processes in the same chamber. in another embodiment, the anti-stiction coating can be applied after the xef 2 etching is complete. in yet another embodiment, the anti-stiction coating may be applied to the sacrificial layer prior to an etching process. in one embodiment, sacrificial material is located within the interior cavity of the interferometric light modulating device. after the anti-stiction coating is applied to the sacrificial layer, another surface within the cavity comes in contact with the sacrificial layer, thereby coating at least a portion of the other surface. the sacrificial layer may then be etched away leaving at least a portion of the other surface with an anti-stiction coating. in some embodiments, the other surface may be a reflective surface such as a mirror, a transmissive surface such as a substrate, or another layer upon one or more of the reflective or transmissive surfaces. the following detailed description is directed to certain specific embodiments of the invention. however, the invention can be embodied in a multitude of different ways. in this description, reference is made to the drawings wherein like parts are designated with like numerals throughout. as will be apparent from the following description, the invention may be implemented in any device that is configured to display an image, whether in motion (e.g., video) or stationary (e.g., still image), and whether textual or pictorial. more particularly, it is contemplated that the invention may be implemented in or associated with a variety of electronic devices such as, but not limited to, mobile telephones, wireless devices, personal data assistants (pdas), hand-held or portable computers, gps receivers/navigators, cameras, mp3 players, camcorders, game consoles, wrist watches, clocks, calculators, television monitors, flat panel displays, computer monitors, auto displays (e.g., odometer display, etc.), cockpit controls and/or displays, display of camera views (e.g., display of a rear view camera in a vehicle), electronic photographs, electronic billboards or signs, projectors, architectural structures, packaging, and aesthetic structures (e.g., display of images on a piece of jewelry). mems devices of similar structure to those described herein can also be used in non-display applications such as in electronic switching devices. one interferometric modulator display embodiment comprising an interferometric mems display element is illustrated in figure 1. in these devices, the pixels are in either a bright or dark state. in the bright ("on" or "open") state, the display element reflects a large portion of incident visible light to a user. when in the dark ("off' or "closed") state, the display element reflects little incident visible light to the user. depending on the embodiment, the light reflectance properties of the "on" and "off" states may be reversed. mems pixels can be configured to reflect predominantly at selected colors, allowing for a color display in addition to black and white. figure 1 is an isometric view depicting two adjacent pixels in a series of pixels of a visual display, wherein each pixel comprises a mems interferometric modulator. in some embodiments, an interferometric modulator display comprises a row/column array of these interferometric modulators. each interferometric modulator includes a pair of reflective layers positioned at a variable and controllable distance from each other to form a resonant optical cavity with at least one variable dimension. in one embodiment, one of the reflective layers may be moved between two positions. in the first position, referred to herein as the released state, the movable layer is positioned at a relatively large distance from a fixed partially reflective layer. in the second position, the movable layer is positioned more closely adjacent to the partially reflective layer. incident light that reflects from the two layers interferes constructively or destructively depending on the position of the movable reflective layer, producing either an overall reflective or non-reflective state for each pixel. the depicted portion of the pixel array in figure 1 includes two adjacent interferometric modulators 12a and 12b. in the interferometric modulator 12a on the left, a movable and highly reflective layer 14a is illustrated in a released position at a predetermined distance from a fixed partially reflective layer 16a. in the interferometric modulator 12b on the right, the movable highly reflective layer 14b is illustrated in an actuated position adjacent to the fixed partially reflective layer 16b. the fixed layers 16a, 16b are electrically conductive, partially transparent and partially reflective, and may be fabricated, for example, by depositing one or more layers each of chromium and indium-tin-oxide onto a transparent substrate 20. the transparent substrate 20 may be any transparent substance capable of having a thin film or mems device built upon it. such transparent substances include, but are not limited to, glass, plastic, and transparent polymers. the layers deposited on the substrate 20 are patterned into parallel strips, and may form row electrodes in a display device as described further below. the movable layers 14a, 14b may be formed as a series of parallel strips of a deposited metal layer or layers (orthogonal to the row electrodes 16a, 16b) deposited on top of posts 18 and an intervening sacrificial material deposited between the posts 18. when the sacrificial material is etched away, the deformable metal layers are separated from the fixed metal layers by a defined air gap 19. a highly conductive and reflective material such as aluminum may be used for the deformable layers, and these strips may form column electrodes in a display device. with no applied voltage, the cavity 19 remains between the layers 14a, 16a and the deformable layer is in a mechanically relaxed state as illustrated by the pixel 12a in figure 1. however, when a potential difference is applied to a selected row and column, the capacitor formed at the intersection of the row and column electrodes at the corresponding pixel becomes charged, and electrostatic forces pull the electrodes together. if the voltage is high enough, the movable layer is deformed and is forced against the fixed layer (a dielectric material which is not illustrated in this figure may be deposited on the fixed layer to prevent shorting and control the separation distance) as illustrated by the pixel 12b on the right in figure 1. the behavior is the same regardless of the polarity of the applied potential difference. in this way, row/column actuation that can control the reflective vs. non-reflective pixel states is analogous in many ways to that used in conventional lcd and other display technologies. figures 2 through 5 illustrate one exemplary process and system for using an array of interferometric modulators in a display application. figure 2 is a system block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an electronic device that may incorporate aspects of the invention. in the exemplary embodiment, the electronic device includes a processor 21 which may be any general purpose single- or multi-chip microprocessor such as an arm, pentium®, pentium ii®, pentium iii®, pentium iv®, pentium® pro, an 8051, a mips®, a power pc®, an alpha®, or any special purpose microprocessor such as a digital signal processor, microcontroller, or a programmable gate array. as is conventional in the art, the processor 21 may be configured to execute one or more software modules. in addition to executing an operating system, the processor may be configured to execute one or more software applications, including a web browser, a telephone application, an email program, or any other software application. in one embodiment, the processor 21 is also configured to communicate with an array controller 22. in one embodiment, the array controller 22 includes a row driver circuit 24 and a column driver circuit 26 that provide signals to a pixel array 30. the cross section of the array illustrated in figure 1 is shown by the lines 1-1 in figure 2. for mems interferometric modulators, the row/column actuation protocol may take advantage of a hysteresis property of these devices illustrated in figure 3. it may require, for example, a 10 volt potential difference to cause a movable layer to deform from the released state to the actuated state. however, when the voltage is reduced from that value, the movable layer maintains its state as the voltage drops back below 10 volts. in the exemplary embodiment of figure 3, the movable layer does not release completely until the voltage drops below 2 volts. there is thus a range of voltage, about 3 to 7 v in the example illustrated in figure 3, where there exists a window of applied voltage within which the device is stable in either the released or actuated state. this is referred to herein as the "hysteresis window" or "stability window." for a display array having the hysteresis characteristics of figure 3, the row/column actuation protocol can be designed such that during row strobing, pixels in the strobed row that are to be actuated are exposed to a voltage difference of about 10 volts, and pixels that are to be released are exposed to a voltage difference of close to zero volts. after the strobe, the pixels are exposed to a steady state voltage difference of about 5 volts such that they remain in whatever state the row strobe put them in. after being written, each pixel sees a potential difference within the "stability window" of 3-7 volts in this example. this feature makes the pixel design illustrated in figure 1 stable under the same applied voltage conditions in either an actuated or released pre-existing state. since each pixel of the interferometric modulator, whether in the actuated or released state, is essentially a capacitor formed by the fixed and moving reflective layers, this stable state can be held at a voltage within the hysteresis window with almost no power dissipation. essentially no current flows into the pixel if the applied potential is fixed. in typical applications, a display frame may be created by asserting the set of column electrodes in accordance with the desired set of actuated pixels in the first row. a row pulse is then applied to the row 1 electrode, actuating the pixels corresponding to the asserted column lines. the asserted set of column electrodes is then changed to correspond to the desired set of actuated pixels in the second row. a pulse is then applied to the row 2 electrode, actuating the appropriate pixels in row 2 in accordance with the asserted column electrodes. the row 1 pixels are unaffected by the row 2 pulse, and remain in the state they were set to during the row 1 pulse. this may be repeated for the entire series of rows in a sequential fashion to produce the frame. generally, the frames are refreshed and/or updated with new display data by continually repeating this process at some desired number of frames per second. a wide variety of protocols for driving row and column electrodes of pixel arrays to produce display frames are also well known and may be used in conjunction with the present invention. figures 4 and 5 illustrate one possible actuation protocol for creating a display frame on the 3x3 array of figure 2. figure 4 illustrates a possible set of column and row voltage levels that may be used for pixels exhibiting the hysteresis curves of figure 3. in the figure 4 embodiment, actuating a pixel involves setting the appropriate column to-vbias, and the appropriate row to +δv, which may correspond to -5 volts and +5 volts respectively releasing the pixel is accomplished by setting the appropriate column to +vbias, and the appropriate row to the same +δv, producing a zero volt potential difference across the pixel. in those rows where the row voltage is held at zero volts, the pixels are stable in whatever state they were originally in, regardless of whether the column is at +vbias, or-vbias. as is also illustrated in figure 4, it will be appreciated that voltages of opposite polarity than those described above can be used, e.g., actuating a pixel can involve setting the appropriate column to +v bias , and the appropriate row to -δv. in this embodiment, releasing the pixel is accomplished by setting the appropriate column to -v bias , and the appropriate row to the same -δv, producing a zero volt potential difference across the pixel. figure 5b is a timing diagram showing a series of row and column signals applied to the 3x3 array of figure 2 which will result in the display arrangement illustrated in figure 5a, where actuated pixels are non-reflective. prior to writing the frame illustrated in figure 5a, the pixels can be in any state, and in this example, all the rows are at 0 volts, and all the columns are at +5 volts. with these applied voltages, all pixels are stable in their existing actuated or released states. in the figure 5a frame, pixels (1,1), (1,2), (2,2), (3,2) and (3,3) are actuated. to accomplish this, during a "line time" for row 1, columns 1 and 2 are set to-5 volts, and column 3 is set to +5 volts. this does not change the state of any pixels, because all the pixels remain in the 3-7 volt stability window. row 1 is then strobed with a pulse that goes from 0, up to 5 volts, and back to zero. this actuates the (1,1) and (1,2) pixels and releases the (1,3) pixel. no other pixels in the array are affected. to set row 2 as desired, column 2 is set to -5 volts, and columns 1 and 3 are set to +5 volts. the same strobe applied to row 2 will then actuate pixel (2,2) and release pixels (2,1) and (2,3). again, no other pixels of the array are affected. row 3 is similarly set by setting columns 2 and 3 to -5 volts, and column 1 to +5 volts. the row 3 strobe sets the row 3 pixels as shown in figure 5a. after writing the frame, the row potentials are zero, and the column potentials can remain at either +5 or -5 volts, and the display is then stable in the arrangement of figure 5a. it will be appreciated that the same procedure can be employed for arrays of dozens or hundreds of rows and columns. it will also be appreciated that the timing, sequence, and levels of voltages used to perform row and column actuation can be varied widely within the general principles outlined above, and the above example is exemplary only, and any actuation voltage method can be used with the present invention. the details of the structure of interferometric modulators that operate in accordance with the principles set forth above may vary widely. for example, figures 6a-6c illustrate three different embodiments of the moving mirror structure. each of the embodiments depicted in figures 6a-6c comprise a moveable highly reflective element 14, a transparent substrate 20, and a thin film stack 31 layered upon said substrate 20, wherein said thin film stack 31 comprises a fixed partially reflective layer 16. figure 6a is a cross section of the embodiment of figure 1, where the moveable reflective layer 14 comprises a strip of metal material that is deposited on orthogonally extending supports 18. in figure 6b, the moveable reflective material 14 is attached to supports at the corners only, on tethers 32. in figure 6c, the moveable reflective material 14 is suspended from a deformable layer 34. this embodiment has benefits because the structural design and materials used for the reflective material 14 can be optimized with respect to the optical properties, and the structural design and materials used for the deformable layer 34 can be optimized with respect to desired mechanical properties. the production of various types of interferometric devices is described in a variety of published documents, including, for example, u.s. published application 2004/0051929. a wide variety of well known techniques may be used to produce the above described structures involving a series of material deposition, patterning, and etching steps. figures 7a-7c are schematic views of a basic package structure for an interferometric modulator. as shown in figure 7a, the basic package structure 40 includes a transparent substrate 41 (e.g., glass) and a backplate or "cap" 42. as illustrated in figures 7a-7c, an interferometric light modulator array 43 is encapsulated within the package structure 40. the backplate 42 may be formed of any suitable material, such as glass, metal, foil, polymer, plastic, ceramic, or semiconductor materials ( e.g ., silicon). a seal 44 is typically provided to join the transparent substrate 41 and backplate 42 to form the package structure 40. depending on embodiments, the seal 44 may be a non-hermetic, semi-hermetic, or hermetic seal. an example of a hermetic sealing process is disclosed in u.s. patent no. 6,589,625, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference. in one embodiment, a desiccant 46 is provided within the package structure 40 to reduce moisture within the package structure 40. in one embodiment, the desiccant 46 is positioned between the array 43 and the backplate 42. desiccants may be used for packages that have either hermetic or semi-hermetic seals. suitable desiccant materials include, but are not limited to, zeolites, molecular sieves, surface adsorbents, bulk adsorbents, and chemical reactants. the desiccant 46 can also be referred to as a getter material or can be used in addition to a getter material where the getter material is removing other materials as oxygen or particles. in one embodiment, the amount of a desiccant used in the interior of the package 40 is chosen to absorb the water vapor that permeates through the seal 44 during the lifetime of the device 40. generally, the packaging process may be accomplished in a vacuum, pressure between a vacuum up to and including ambient pressure, or pressure higher than ambient pressure. the packaging process may also be accomplished in an environment of varied and controlled high or low pressure during the sealing process. figure 7b illustrates flux of water vapor into the package 40 and absorption of the permeated water vapor by the desiccant 46. referring to figure 7b, the desiccant 46 absorbs water or water vapor existing in the interior of the package 40. the desiccant 46 also absorbs water or water vapor 47 which has been permeated into the interior of the package 40 as shown in figure 7b. in one embodiment, the package structure 50 may eliminate the need for a desiccant as shown in figure 7c. in this embodiment, the seal 44 is preferably a hermetic seal so that moisture traveling from the atmosphere into the interior of the package 50 is prevented or minimized. in another embodiment, instead of sealing the backplate 42 to the transparent substrate 41, a thin film (not shown) can be deposited on the transparent substrate 41 to encapsulate the array 43 within the package structure 50. figure 8 is a detailed side view of interferometric light modulating device 80 comprising a light modulating cavity 108 where optical resonance occurs between a fixed partially reflective layer 102 and a moveable highly reflective layer 106. a partially reflective layer 102 is a transmissive element that transmits light and may be partially reflective. a moveable highly reflective layer 106 is a reflective element that reflects light and may be partially transmissive. the partially reflective layer 102 is layered upon a transparent substrate 100, which may be any transparent substrate capable of having thin film, mems devices built upon it. such transparent substances include, but are not limited to, glass, plastic, and transparent polymers. the partially reflective layer 102, depicted here as a thin film stack of multiple sublayers, typically comprises an electrode sublayer 110 and a primary mirror sublayer 120. the primary mirror sublayer 120 may be made of a metallic film. in this embodiment an insulatingsublayer 130 is disposed above the primary mirror sublayer 120 and functions as an insulator and also enhances reflection from the partially reflective layer 102. the moveable highly reflective layer 106, depicted here as a membrane of multiple sublayers, typically includes a secondary mirror sublayer 140 and an electrode sublayer 150. the secondary mirror sublayer 140 may be made of a metallic film. posts 104 are formed to support the moveable highly reflective layer 106. in one embodiment, the posts 104 are insulators. the electrode layers 110 and 150 are connected to the voltage source (v) shown in figure 1 so that the voltage (v) can be applied across the two layers 102 and 106. other interferometric modulator configurations and operating modes are disclosed in u.s. patent no. 5,835,255, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. as used herein, the terms reflective element and transmissive element are to be given their broadest ordinary meaning. a reflective element is at least one layer that reflects light and may be partially transmissive to light. the term reflective element may refer to, but is not limited by, the elements described herein as the moveable highly reflective layer 106 or the secondary mirror sublayer 140. a transmissive element is at least one layer that transmits light and may partially reflect light. the term transmissive element may refer to, but is not limited by, the elements described herein as the fixed partially reflective layer 102 or the primary mirror sublayer 120. referring to figure 8, in the driven state of an interferometric light modulating device 80, the moveable highly reflective layer 106, depicted here as a membrane, may make contact with the fixed partially reflective layer 102, depicted here as a thin film stack. when a potential difference is applied to layers 102 and 106, a capacitor is formed between these two layers, which creates electrostatic forces that pull the highly reflective layer 106 towards the partially reflective layer 102. this results in the cavity 108 collapsing. if the voltage is high enough, the highly reflective layer 106 may be deformed and forced against the partially reflective layer 102 completely collapsing the cavity 108. when no potential difference is applied, however, the mechanical restoration forces of the moveable highly reflective layer 106 and its surrounding structure may return layer 106 to its original position, thereby restoring the cavity 108. but even in the undriven state, both of the layers 106 and 102 are closely located to each other, e.g., about 0.2 µm. thus, the mechanical restoration forces of the moveable highly reflective layer 106 should be carefully balanced with the electrostatic forces created between the layer 106 and the fixed partially reflective layer 102 in order to ensure proper operation and responsiveness of the interferometric light modulating device 80. there are additional attractive forces that may disturb the balance of forces described above. these additional attractive or adhesive forces include "capillary water condensation" and/or "van der waals forces." during the lifetime of an interferometric light modulating device, water vapor (or water) can continuously permeate into the interior of the device (as depicted in figure 7b) and the permeated water vapor can exist on the surfaces of each of the layers 102 and 106. the water vapor can cause the two layers 102 and 106 to have an additional attractive capillary force between them due to water condensation. furthermore, the "van der waals" forces, which are short range forces causing adjacent materials to become attracted at the molecular level, can cause the layers 102 and 106 to have an additional attractive force between them. in an interferometric light modulating device 80, the moveable highly reflective layer 106, including the secondary mirror sublayer 140, moves toward and from the fixed partially reflective layer 102, which includes the primary mirror sublayer 120, depending on the operation state. if there are additional attractive forces between layers 102 and 106, the device 80 may fail to operate properly, even to the point to where the layers may stick together. thus, in embodiments of the invention, means for reducing attractive forces between layers 102 and 106 include an anti-stiction coating applied on one or more of the layer surfaces (or sublayer surfaces) of an interferometric light modulating device 80 so that the additional attractive forces between adjacent surfaces due to events such as capillary water condensation or van der waals forces may be minimized or eliminated. as used herein, the term anti-stiction coating is to be given its broadest ordinary meaning, including but not limited to a material that reduces attractive forces between surfaces. the term anti-stiction coating may refer to, but is not limited to, a self-aligned monolayer (also referred to as a self-assembled monolayer). in some embodiments, an example of an anti-stiction coating includes, but is not limited to, a self-aligning monolayer such as one or more of the following: fluoro silane, chloro-fluoro silane, methoxy silane, trichlorosilane, perfluorodecanoic carboxylic acid, octadecyltrichlorosilane (ots), or dichlorodimethylsilane. in some embodiments, an example of an anti-stiction coating includes, but is not limited to, polymeric materials such as one or more of the following: teflon, silicone, polystyrene, polyurethane (both standard and ultraviolet curable), a block copolymer containing a hydrophobic component (for example poly-methylmethacrylate), or polysilazane (especially with polisiloxane). in some embodiments, an example of an anti-stiction coating includes, but is not limited to, inorganic materials such as one or more of the following: graphite, diamond-like carbon (dlc), silicon carbide (sic), a hydrogenated diamond coating, or fluorinated dlc. in some embodiments, the anti-stiction coating does not significantly adversely affect the optical responses or characteristics of the optical cavity 108, such as the optical responses and/or characteristics of layers 102 or 106. figure 9 illustrates an interferometric light modulating device 80 with portions of layers 102 and 106 within the light modulating cavity 108 coated with anti-stiction material 160 and 170, respectively, according to one embodiment of the invention. in other embodiments, at least a portion of all surfaces within the light modulating cavity 108 are coated with an anti-stiction material, including the posts 104. figure 10 illustrates an alternative embodiment of interferometric light modulating device 80 with layers 102 and 106 coated with anti-stiction material according to another embodiment of the invention. in this embodiment, anti-stiction coating layers 160 and 170 are formed on surfaces of the layers 106 and 102 that are interior to the cavity 108. in this embodiment, the moveable highly reflective layer 106 includes its own vertical support mechanism via a domed shape, unlike the figure 9 embodiment where there are separate posts 104 formed between the two layers 106 and 102. although figures 9 and 10 depict anti-stiction coating layers 160 and 170 as covering the entire surface of layers 102 and 106 within light modulating cavity 108, only coating a portion of layer 102 and/or layer 106 is contemplated by the present invention. for example, in one embodiment, only a portion of layer 102 comprises an anti-stiction coating. in another embodiment, only a portion of layer 106 comprises an anti-stiction coating. figures 11a, 11b, and 11c illustrate an interferometric light modulating device 80 with selective coating of one or more layers according to embodiments of the invention. in figure 11 a, the anti-stiction layer 160 is provided on the surface of the moveable highly reflective layer 106 and not on the fixed partially reflective layer 102. conversely, in figure 11b, the anti-stiction layer 170 is provided on the surface of layer 102 and not on layer 106. as depicted in figure 11c, one way to accomplish the selective coating illustrated in figures 11a and 11c is to use a covering element 175. during the coating process, the surfaces which are not intended to be coated, depicted here as the fixed partially reflective layer 102, may be covered with the covering element 175, such as a sacrificial material, so that the anti-stiction coating layer is not formed on the surfaces covered by the covering element 175. in other embodiments, the covering element 175 may be provided on any surface(s) within the cavity 108 where an anti-stiction coating is not desired, such as the surface of posts 104 that are within the cavity 108. figures 12a and 12b illustrate an interferometric light modulating device package 85 with layers 102 and layer 106 coated with anti-stiction material according to another embodiment of the invention. in these embodiments, layers 102 and 106 are encapsulated within the package 85 and the application of the anti-stiction coating is performed after the package 85 is fabricated. in one embodiment, the backplate 42 is a recessed structure or a formed structure, but not necessarily so if the amount of a desiccant (not shown in figures 12a and 12b) in the package 85 is reduced or removed. in this embodiment, the requirements on the recessed depth can be lessened or eliminated. in one embodiment, the use of anti-stiction layers 160 and 170 (e.g., self-aligning monolayers) can allow for altered cap (backplate) designs to reduce the required recess compared to the recess needed if using a desiccant. in the embodiments depicted in figures 12a and 12b, an orifice 176 is defined in the package, e.g., in the seal 44 as shown in figure 12a or 12b. in these embodiments, the anti-stiction coating material may be supplied into the interior of the package 85 via the orifice 176. in another embodiment, two orifices 176 and 177 are created in the package 85, e.g., in the seals 44 and 45 for the delivery of the anti-stiction material, as shown in figure 12b. in still another embodiment, more than two orifices (not shown) can be defined in the package 85 and the anti-stiction coating material is supplied into the interior of the package 20 via the orifices. in other embodiments, orifice(s) may be formed in the substrate 100 or the backplate 42. thus, having orifice(s) within the seal 44, substrate 100, and/or backplate 42 for the delivery of the anti-stiction coating is within the scope of the present invention. in these embodiments, the orifice(s) formed in the package 85 may also be used to remove water vapor from the interior of the package 85. after the orifice(s) are no longer needed, they may be plugged, welded or sealed, depending on the nature of the orifice(s). figure 13 illustrates an anti-stiction layer coating system for an interferometric light modulating device 80 according to one embodiment of the invention. referring to figure 13, the system 180 comprises a chamber 181, a coating material container 182, a valve 184, and a carrier gas reservoir 186. a person skilled in the art will appreciate that the system 180 is only exemplary and other coating systems, which can exclude some of the elements of the system 180 and/or include additional elements, may be used. in one embodiment, the system 180 may perform an anti-stiction coating for the fabricated package as shown in figures 11a, 11b and 11c. the valve 184 controls feeding the coating material into the chamber 181. in one embodiment, the valve 184 is controlled by a computing device. in one embodiment, the valve 184 may be any suitable valve for this anti-stiction coating process. in another embodiment, the valve 184 may be used to properly mix and time the carrier gas with the xef 2 etchant gas. the container 182 contains anti-stiction coating material. in various embodiments, as discussed above, an example of an anti-stiction coating can include, but is not limited to, the following: a self-aligning (or self-assembling) monolayer such as ots, dichlorodimethylsilane, etc.; other polymeric materials such as teflon, polystyrene, etc.; or other inorganic materials such as graphite, dlc, etc. in another embodiment, the coating material includes any anti-stiction material which does not significantly adversely affect the optical responses or characteristics of the optical cavity 108, such as the optical responses and/or characteristics of layers 102 or 106. in one embodiment, the carrier gas reservoir 186 contains a carrier gas such as nitrogen (n 2 ) or argon, which is used to transport the anti-stiction coating material to the chamber 181 by a known pumping mechanism. in another embodiment, the carrier gas can incorporate other types of getter material or chemistries as long as the performance of the interferometric light modulating device 80 is not significantly adversely affected. in another embodiment, the carrier gas can be integrated into the chemistry of the release etchant gas of xef 2 . figure 14 is an exemplary flowchart describing an anti-stiction coating process according to one embodiment of the invention. a skilled person will appreciate that depending on the embodiments, additional states may be added, others removed, or the order of the states changes. referring to figures 7-12, the anti-stiction coating procedure according to embodiments of invention will be described in more detail. anti-stiction coating material is provided in step 90. the interferometric light modulating device 80, whose surface(s), such as layers 102 and/or 106, will be coated, is placed in the chamber 181 at step 92. an anti-stiction layer coating is applied on the surfaces to be coated in step 94. in one embodiment, the surface of layers 102 and/or 106, such as a mirror surface or an insulator surface, may be heated so that water vapor existing on the surfaces to be coated is removed before the anti-stiction coating is performed. in one embodiment, the insulating sublayer 130 is not provided and the anti-stiction layer is formed on the surface of the primary mirror sublayer 120 (depicted in figure 8). in another embodiment, the anti-stiction layer is formed on the surface of the secondary mirror sublayer 140 (depicted in figure 8). in another embodiment, the anti-stiction layer is formed on the surfaces of the insulatingsublayer 130 and secondary mirror sublayer 140 (depicted in figure 8). in one embodiment of the anti-stiction coating process, the anti-stiction layer is formed during an interferometric light modulating device fabrication process. for example, the anti-stiction layer coating may be incorporated into a "release" process. in the release process, a sacrificial layer 175 (depicted in figure 11c) of the interferometric light modulating device 80 is etched away with the use of a gas, for example, xef 2 . in one embodiment, a mixture of the anti-stiction coating material and xef 2 may be pumped into the chamber 181. in another embodiment, the anti-stiction coating can be applied after the xef 2 etching is complete. typically, the release process is performed by a mems etching system, for example, x3 series xetch available from xacix, usa, and mems etcher available from penta vacuum, singapore. in another embodiment of the anti-stiction coating process, the anti-stiction layer is formed uniformly in its thickness. in another embodiment, the thickness of the anti-stiction coating layer may not be uniform. generally, an anti-stiction layer such as a self-aligned monolayer is a thin film coating and thus it does not significantly affect the optical characteristics (or responses) of the layers 102 or 106, including mirrors 120 and 140 (depicted in figure 8), even if the anti-stiction coating is not uniform. in one embodiment, the anti-stiction coating is performed using a process disclosed in, for example, "dichlorodimethylsilane as an anti-stiction monolayer for mems," journal of microelectromechanical systems, vol. 10, no. 1, march 2001 and u.s. patent no. 6,335,224, which are hereby incorporated by reference. in another embodiment, the anti-stiction coating is performed using a deposition process, such as chemical vapor deposition or a physical vapor deposition. in still another embodiment, any suitable anti-stiction coating method on mirror or insulator surfaces, either known or developed in the future, can be used. the anti-stiction coating process is then completed in step 96 and the interferometric light modulating device 80 is removed from the chamber 181 in step 98. figure 15 is a flowchart describing an anti-stiction coating method for an interferometric light modulating device according to one embodiment of the invention. this figure illustrates another method for reducing attractive forces between layers within a light modulating device. in accordance with this method, the interferometric light modulating devices described in instant application may be fabricated, including the devices described with reference tofigures 7-12. in this method, a transmissive element is provided in step 200. the transmissive element may be provided by layering the transmissive element upon a substrate. this transmissive element may be, for example, the fixed partially reflective layer 102 or any of its sublayers, such as the primary mirror sublayer 120, the insulating sublayer 130, or electrode sublayer 110 depicted in figure 8. a reflective element is provided in step 210. the reflective element may be provided by forming a stack over the transmissive element. this reflective element may be, for example, the moveable highly reflective layer 106 or any of its sublayers, such as the secondary mirror sublayer 140 or the electrode sublayer 150 depicted in figure 8. an anti-stiction coating is then provided in step 220, wherein the anti-stiction coating is located between at least a portion of the reflective element and the transmissive element. the anti-stiction coating may be provided as described herein with reference to figures 11-14. a person skilled in the art will appreciate that the method depicted in figure 15 is only exemplary and other coating methods, which may exclude some of the elements or steps in the depicted method and/or include additional elements or steps, may be used. for example, in another embodiment, the reflective element may be provided before the transmissive element is provided. also, in other embodiments, the anti-stiction coating is provided after either the reflective element or the transmissive element is provided. also, in other embodiments, covering elements, such as a sacrificial layer, may be applied to portions of the interferometric light modulating device where an anti-stiction coating is not desired. then, if desired, after the anti-stiction coating is provided, other elements may make contact with the coated covering element(s), thereby providing an anti-stiction coating by transfer contact. the covering elements and/or sacrificial layers may then be etched. in other embodiments, a sacrificial layer is provided between the reflective element and the transmissive element and the sacrificial layer is then etched prior to providing the anti-stiction coating. ln other embodiments, the transmissive element and reflective element are packaged into an interferometric light modulating device package, such as one depicted in figures 12a and 12b, prior to providing the anti-stiction coating. in other embodiments the anti-stiction coating is provided prior to the packaging. figures 16a and 16b are system block diagrams illustrating an embodiment of a display device 2040. the display device 2040 can be, for example, a cellular or mobile telephone. however, the same components of display device 2040 or slight variations thereof are also illustrative of various types of display devices such as televisions and portable media players. the display device 2040 includes a housing 2041, a display 2030, an antenna 2043, a speaker 2045, an input device 2048, and a microphone 2046. the housing 2041 is generally formed from any of a variety of manufacturing processes as are well known to those of skill in the art, including injection molding, and vacuum forming. in addition, the housing 2041 may be made from any of a variety of materials, including but not limited to plastic, metal, glass, rubber, and ceramic, or a combination thereof. in one embodiment the housing 2041 includes removable portions (not shown) that may be interchanged with other removable portions of different color, or containing different logos, pictures, or symbols. the display 2030 of exemplary display device 2040 may be any of a variety of displays, including a bi-stable display, as described herein. in other embodiments, the display 2030 includes a flat-panel display, such as plasma, el, oled, stn lcd, or tft lcd as described above, or a non-flat-panel display, such as a crt or other tube device, as is well known to those of skill in the art. however, for purposes of describing the present embodiment, the display 2030 includes an interferometric modulator display, as described herein. the components of one embodiment of exemplary display device 2040 are schematically illustrated in figure 16b. the illustrated exemplary display device 2040 includes a housing 2041 and can include additional components at least partially enclosed therein. for example, in one embodiment, the exemplary display device 2040 includes a network interface 2027 that includes an antenna 2043 which is coupled to a transceiver 2047. the transceiver 2047 is connected to the processor 2021, which is connected to conditioning hardware 2052. the conditioning hardware 2052 may be configured to condition a signal (e.g. filter a signal). the conditioning hardware 2052 is connected to a speaker 2045 and a microphone 2046. the processor 2021 is also connected to an input device 2048 and a driver controller 2029. the driver controller 2029 is coupled to a frame buffer 2028 and to the array driver 2022, which in turn is coupled to a display array 2030. a power supply 2050 provides power to all components as required by the particular exemplary display device 2040 design. the network interface 2027 includes the antenna 2043 and the transceiver 2047 so that the exemplary display device 2040 can communicate with one or more devices over a network. in one embodiment the network interface 2027 may also have some processing capabilities to relieve requirements of the processor 2021. the antenna 2043 is any antenna known to those of skill in the art for transmitting and receiving signals. in one embodiment, the antenna transmits and receives rf signals according to the ieee 802.11 standard, including ieee 802.11(a), (b), or (g). in another embodiment, the antenna transmits and receives rf signals according to the bluetooth standard. in the case of a cellular telephone, the antenna is designed to receive cdma, gsm, amps or other known signals that are used to communicate within a wireless cell phone network. the transceiver 2047 pre-processes the signals received from the antenna 2043 so that they may be received by and further manipulated by the processor 2021. the transceiver 2047 also processes signals received from the processor 2021 so that they may be transmitted from the exemplary display device 2040 via the antenna 2043. in an alternative embodiment, the transceiver 2047 can be replaced by a receiver. in yet another alternative embodiment, network interface 2027 can be replaced by an image source, which can store or generate image data to be sent to the processor 2021. for example, the image source can be a digital video disc (dvd) or a hard-disc drive that contains image data, or a software module that generates image data. processor 2021 generally controls the overall operation of the exemplary display device 2040. the processor 2021 receives data, such as compressed image data from the network interface 2027 or an image source, and processes the data into raw image data or into a format that is readily processed into raw image data. the processor 2021 then sends the processed data to the driver controller 2029 or to frame buffer 2028 for storage. raw data typically refers to the information that identifies the image characteristics at each location within an image. for example, such image characteristics can include color, saturation, and gray-scale level. in one embodiment, the processor 2021 includes a microcontroller, cpu, or logic unit to control operation of the exemplary display device 2040. conditioning hardware 2052 generally includes amplifiers and filters for transmitting signals to the speaker 2045, and for receiving signals from the microphone 2046. conditioning hardware 2052 may be discrete components within the exemplary display device 2040, or may be incorporated within the processor 2021 or other components. the driver controller 2029 takes the raw image data generated by the processor 2021 either directly from the processor 2021 or from the frame buffer 2028 and reformats the raw image data appropriately for high speed transmission to the array driver 2022. specifically, the driver controller 2029 reformats the raw image data into a data flow having a raster-like format, such that it has a time order suitable for scanning across the display array 2030. then the driver controller 2029 sends the formatted information to the array driver 2022. although a driver controller 2029, such as a lcd controller, is often associated with the system processor 2021 as a stand-alone integrated circuit (ic), such controllers may be implemented in many ways. they may be embedded in the processor 2021 as hardware, embedded in the processor 2021 as software, or fully integrated in hardware with the array driver 2022. typically, the array driver 2022 receives the formatted information from the driver controller 2029 and reformats the video data into a parallel set of waveforms that are applied many times per second to the hundreds and sometimes thousands of leads coming from the display's x-y matrix of pixels. in one embodiment, the driver controller 2029, array driver 2022, and display array 2030 are appropriate for any of the types of displays described herein. for example, in one embodiment, driver controller 2029 is a conventional display controller or a bi-stable display controller (e.g., an interferometric modulator controller). in another embodiment, array driver 2022 is a conventional driver or a bi-stable display driver (e.g., an interferometric modulator display). in one embodiment, a driver controller 2029 is integrated with the array driver 2022. such an embodiment is common in highly integrated systems such as cellular phones, watches, and other small area displays. in yet another embodiment, display array 2030 is a typical display array or a bi-stable display array (e.g., a display including an array of interferometric modulators). the input device 2048 allows a user to control the operation of the exemplary display device 2040. in one embodiment, input device 2048 includes a keypad, such as a qwerty keyboard or a telephone keypad, a button, a switch, a touch-sensitive screen, a pressure- or heat-sensitive membrane. in one embodiment, the microphone 2046 is an input device for the exemplary display device 2040. when the microphone 2046 is used to input data to the device, voice commands may be provided by a user for controlling operations of the exemplary display device 2040. power supply 2050 can include a variety of energy storage devices as are well known in the art. for example, in one embodiment, power supply 2050 is a rechargeable battery, such as a nickel-cadmium battery or a lithium ion battery. in another embodiment, power supply 2050 is a renewable energy source, a capacitor, or a solar cell, including a plastic solar cell, and solar-cell paint. in another embodiment, power supply 2050 is configured to receive power from a wall outlet. in some implementations control programmability resides, as described above, in a driver controller which can be located in several places in the electronic display system. in some cases control programmability resides in the array driver 2022. those of skill in the art will recognize that the above-described optimization may be implemented in any number of hardware and/or software components and in various configurations. while the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointed out novel features of the invention as applied to various embodiments, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the device or process illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. as will be recognized, the present invention may be embodied within a form that does not provide all of the features and benefits set forth herein, as some features may be used or practiced separately from others.
030-738-228-580-371	US	[ "US", "CA", "EP", "CN", "JP", "TW", "WO" ]	C01B31/02,D01F9/12,H01C1/00,H01C17/065,H01L29/08,H01L51/00,H01L51/30,H01L51/40,H01B1/00,H01L21/8238,H01L27/092,H01L29/06,H01B1/04,H01B1/24	2004-06-03T00:00:00	2004	[ "C01", "D01", "H01" ]	applicator liquid for use in electronic manufacturing processes	certain spin-coatable liquids and application techniques are described, which can be used to form nanotube films or fabrics of controlled properties. a spin-coatable liquid containing nanotubes for use in an electronics fabrication process includes a solvent containing a plurality of nanotubes. the nanotubes are at a concentration of greater than 1 mg/l. the nanotubes are pretreated to reduce the level of metallic and particulate impurities to a preselected level, and the preselected metal and particulate impurities levels are selected to be compatible with an electronics manufacturing process. the solvent also is selected for compatibility with an electronics manufacturing process.	1. an applicator liquid for use in an electronics manufacturing process, comprising: an electronics-grade solvent and a plurality of nanotubes, wherein the applicator liquid is free of polymers and is free of surfactant, wherein the nanotubes are at a concentration of greater than or equal to 10 mg/l, wherein the nanotubes are separated from one another and are distributed in the solvent without precipitation or flocculation and can remain separated for about at least one week; wherein the nanotubes are pretreated to reduce a level of metal impurities to less than about 1×10 18 atoms/cm 3 , and wherein said applicator liquid is free of particulates having a diameter greater than about 500 nm. 2. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the solvent is selected for compatibility with the electronics manufacturing process. 3. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the solvent is selected for compatibility with a semiconductor manufacturing process. 4. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the applicator liquid is compatible with a semiconductor manufacturing process. 5. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the nanotubes are at a concentration of greater than 100 mg/l. 6. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the nanotubes are at a concentration of greater than 1000 mg/l. 7. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the solvent is a non-halogen solvent. 8. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the solvent is a non-aqueous solvent. 9. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the solvent comprises ethyl lactate. 10. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the nanotubes are single-walled nanotubes. 11. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the applicator liquid is free of particulate impurities having a diameter greater than about 200 nm. 12. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the applicator liquid is free of particulate impurities having a diameter greater than about 100 nm. 13. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the applicator liquid is free of particulate impurities having a diameter greater than about 45 nm. 14. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the applicator liquid comprises less than about 1×10 18 atoms/cm 3 of transition metal impurities. 15. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the applicator liquid comprises less than about 1×10 18 atoms/cm 3 of heavy metal impurities. 16. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the applicator liquid comprises less than about 1×10 18 atoms/cm 3 of group i and group ii metal impurities. 17. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the applicator liquid comprises less than about 15×10 10 atoms/cm 3 of metal impurities. 18. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the applicator liquid comprises less than about 15×10 10 atoms/cm 3 of transition metal impurities. 19. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the applicator liquid comprises less than about 15×10 10 atoms/cm 3 of heavy metal impurities. 20. the applicator liquid of claim 1 , wherein the applicator liquid comprises less than about 15×10 10 atoms/cm 3 of group i and group ii metal impurities.	cross-reference to related applications this application is related to the following applications, all of which are assigned to the assignee of this application, and all of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety: nanotube films and articles (u.s. pat. no. 6,706,402) filed apr. 23, 2002; methods of nanotube films and articles (u.s. patent application ser. no. 10/128,117) filed apr. 23, 2002; and patterning of nanoscopic articles (u.s. provisional patent appl. no. 60/501,033) filed on sep. 8, 2003. background 1. technical field this invention describes spin-coatable liquids for use in the preparation of nanotube films. such liquids are used in creating films and fabrics of nanotubes or mixtures of nanotubes and other materials on a variety of substrates including silicon, plastics, paper and other materials. in particular, the invention describes spin-coatable liquids containing nanotubes for use in electronics fabrication processes. furthermore, the spin-coatable liquids meet or exceed specifications for a semiconductor fabrication facility, including a class 1 environment. 2. discussion of related art nanotubes are useful for many applications; due to their electrical properties nanotubes may be used as conducting and semi-conducting elements in numerous electronic elements. single walled carbon nanotubes (swnts) have emerged in the last decade as advanced materials exhibiting interesting electrical, mechanical and optical properties. however, the inclusion or incorporation of the swnt as part of standard microelectronic fabrication process has faced challenges due to a lack of a readily available application method compatible with existing semiconductor equipment and tools and meeting the stringent materials standards required in the electronic fabrication process. standards for such a method include, but are not limited to, non-toxicity, non-flammability, ready availability in cmos or electronics grades, substantially free from suspended particles (including but not limited to submicro- and nano-scale particles and aggregates), and compatible with spin coating tracks and other tools currently used by the semiconductor industry. individual nanotubes may be used as conducting elements, e.g. as a channel in a transistor, however the placement of millions of catalyst particles and the growth of millions of properly aligned nanotubes of specific length presents serious challenges. u.s. pat. nos. 6,643,165 and 6,574,130 describe electromechanical switches using flexible nanotube-based fabrics (nanofabrics) derived from solution-phase coatings of nanotubes in which the nanotubes first are grown, then brought into solution, and applied to substrates at ambient temperatures. nanotubes may be derivatized in order to facilitate bringing the tubes into solution, however in uses where pristine nanotubes are necessary, it is often difficult to remove the derivatizing agent. even when removal of the derivatizing agent is not difficult, such removal is an added, time-consuming step. there have been few attempts to disperse swnts in aqueous and non-aqueous solvents. chen et al. first reported solubilization of shortened, end-functionalized swnts in solvents such as chloroform, dichloromethane, orthodichlorobenzene (odcb), cs2, dimethyl formamide (dmf) and tetrahydrofuran (thf). see, “solution properties of single-walled nanotubes”, science 1998, 282, 95-98. ausman et al. reported the use of swnts solutions using sonication. the solvents used were n-methylpyrrolidone (nmp), dmf, hexamethylphosphoramide, cyclopentanone, tetramethylene sulfoxide and ε-caprolactone (listed in decreasing order of carbon nanotube solvation). ausman at el. generally conclude that solvents with good lewis basicity (i.e., availability of a free electron pair without hydrogen donors) are good solvents for swnts. see, “organic solvent dispersions of single-walled carbon nanotubes: toward solutions of pristine nanotubes”, j. phys. chem. b 2000, 104, 8911. other early approaches involved the fluorination or sidewall covalent derivatization of swnts with aliphatic and aromatic moieties to improve nanotube solubility. see, e.g., e. t. mickelson et al., “solvation of fluorinated single-wall carbon nanotubes in alcohol solvents”, j. phys. chem. b 1999, 103, 4318-4322. full-length soluble swnts can be prepared by ionic functionalization of the swnt ends dissolved in thf and dmf. see, chen et al., “dissolution of full-length single-walled carbon nanotubes”, j. phys. chem. b 2001, 105, 2525-2528 and j. l. bahr et al chem. comm. 2001, 193-194. chen et al. used hipco™ as-prepared (ap)-swnts and studied a wide range of solvents. (hipco™ is a trademark of rice university for swnts prepared under high pressure carbon monoxide decomposition). the solutions were made using sonication. bahr et al. (“dissolution of small diameter single-wall carbon nanotubes in organic solvents?”, chem. commun., 2001, 193-194) reported the most favorable solvation results using odcb, followed by chloroform, methylnaphthalene, bromomethylnaphthalene, nmp and dmf as solvents. subsequent work has shown that good solubility of ap-swnt in odcb is due to sonication induced polymerization of odcb, which then wraps around swnts, essentially producing soluble polymer wrapped (pw)-swnts. see niyogi et al., “ultrasonic dispersions of single-walled carbon nanotubes”, j. phys. chem. b 2003, 107, 8799-8804. polymer wrapping usually affects sheet resistance of the swnt network and may not be appropriate for electronic applications where low sheet resistance is desired. see, e.g., a. star et al., “preparation and properties of polymer-wrapped single-walled carbon nanotubes”, angew. chem. int. ed. 2001, 40, 1721-1725 and m. j. o'connell et al., “reversible water-solubilization of single-walled carbon nanotubes by polymer wrapping”, chem. phys. lett. 2001, 342, 265-271. while these approaches were successful in solubilizing the swnts in a variety of organic solvents to practically relevant levels, all such attempts resulted in the depletion of the π electrons that are essential to retain interesting electrical and optical properties of nanotubes. other earlier attempts involve the use of cationic, anionic or non-ionic surfactants to disperse the swnt in aqueous and non aqueous systems. see, matarredona et al., “dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes in aqueous solutions of the anionic surfactant”, j. phys. chem. b 2003, 107, 13357-13367. while this type of approach has helped to retain the electrical conductivity and optical properties of the swnts, most such methods leave halogens or alkali metals or polymeric residues, which tend to severely hamper any meaningful use in microelectronic fabrication facilities. there is a need for a method of solvating or dispensing nanotubes in solvents for use in electronics applications. there remains a further need for methods that meet the criteria outlined above for low toxicity, purity, cleanliness, ease of handling and scalability. summary of the invention one aspect of the present invention is directed to spin-coatable liquids for formation of high purity nanotube films. according to one aspect of the present invention, a composition of nanotubes for use in an electronics fabrication process includes a liquid medium containing a plurality of nanotubes pretreated to reduce the level of metal and particulate impurities to a preselected level. the solvents are present at commercially meaningful levels, e.g., the nanotubes are at a concentration of greater than 1 mg/l. the nanotubes are homogeneously distributed in the liquid medium without substantial precipitation or flocculation. in one aspect of the present invention, a nanotube composition includes a stable distribution of nanotubes in a liquid medium and is substantially free of particulate and metallic impurities. the level of particulate and metallic impurities is commensurate with preselected fabrication requirements. in one aspect of the invention, a spin-coatable liquid for formation of a nanotube film is provided including a liquid medium containing a controlled concentration of purified nanotubes, wherein the controlled concentration is sufficient to form a nanotube fabric or film of preselected density and uniformity, and wherein the spin-coatable liquid comprises less than 1×10 18 atoms/cm 3 of metallic impurities. in one aspect of the invention, a spin-coatable liquid containing nanotubes for use in an electronics fabrication process includes a solvent containing a plurality of nanotubes, wherein the nanotubes are pretreated to reduce the level of metal and particulate impurities to a preselected level, wherein the nanotubes are substantially separated from one another and are distributed in the solvent without precipitation or flocculation, and wherein the solvent is selected for compatibility with an electronics manufacturing process. in another aspect of the invention, a spin-coatable liquid containing nanotubes for use in an electronics fabrication process includes a solvent containing a plurality of nanotubes wherein the nanotubes are at a concentration of greater than 1 mg/l, wherein the nanotubes are pretreated to reduce the level of metallic and particulate impurities to a preselected level, and wherein the preselected metal and particulate impurities levels are selected to satisfy a criteria of an electronics manufacturing process. according to one aspect of the present invention, methods and compositions for creating nanotube compositions for use in fabrication facilities having high standards of non-toxicity and purity are provided. such processes include semiconductor fabrication processes, for example, cmos and advanced logic and memory fabrications. such fabrication processes may produce devices having fine features, e.g., ≦250 nm. according to other aspects of the present invention, the nanotube compositions are of a purity that is suitable for use in electronics fabrication facilities having less stringent standards for chemical composition and purity. such processes include, for example, interconnect fabrication and fabrication of chemical and biological sensors. brief description of the drawing the invention is described with reference to the drawing, which is presented for the purpose of illustration only and which is not intended to be limiting of the invention. fig. 1 illustrates a typical scanning electron micrograph (sem) of an unpurified nanotube fabric; and fig. 2 illustrates a typical sem image of a purified nanotube fabric. detailed description of the invention nanotubes have been the focus of intense research efforts into the development of applications that take advantage of their electronic, biological, and/or material properties. in one or more embodiments, a spin-coatable liquid containing a controlled concentration of purified nanotubes is prepared in a liquid medium. the spin-coatable liquid may be used to create nanotube films and fabrics of substantially uniform porosity. certain embodiments provide spin-coatable liquids having a purity level that is commensurate with the intended application. other applications provide spin-coatable liquids meeting or exceeding specifications for class 1 semiconductor fabrication. in one or more embodiments, a nanotube composition includes a liquid medium containing a mixture of single-walled or multi-walled nanotubes that is stable enough for certain intended applications, such as spin coating in a class 1 production facility. the nanotubes in the nanotube composition remain suspended, dispersed, solvated or mixed in a liquid medium without substantial precipitation, flocculation or any other macroscopic interaction that would interfere with the ability to apply the nanotube solution to a substrate and form a uniform porosity. if there were significant precipitation or aggregation of the nanotubes, the nanotubes would clump together and form non-uniform films, which would be undesirable. the nature by which the nanotubes interact with the solvent to form a stable composition is not limited. thus, for example, the nanotubes may be suspended or dispersed in the solvent or they may be solvated or solubilized in the solvent. the stable nanotube composition typically forms a homogeneous distribution of nanotubes in the solvent. at the present time, it is desirable that the nanotubes remain distributed in the solvent medium without substantial precipitation, flocculation or other macroscopic interaction, for at least one hour, or for at least 24 hours, or even for at least one week. substantial precipitation and flocculation and the like can be detected by a variety of methods. precipitates and aggregates can be detected by visual inspection. alternatively, precipitation or flocculation can be detected by analytical techniques, such light scattering or absorbance, or by observation of nanotubes once they are deposited on a substrate from the nanotube solution. a stable nanotube composition can exhibit prolonged suspension (typically several weeks to few months) of the swnt in the medium with little or no detectable change in the scattered light intensity, or absorbance at a given wavelength, or viscosity. light scattering is measured using a monochromatic beam of light traveling through the solution. a change of light scattering intensity over time is recorded usually by a detector placed normal to the beam direction or from multiple detectors placed at various angles including the right angle. another indicator especially at low concentrations of swnt is the fall in absorbance (at a given wavelength) as function of time. for higher concentrations of the solution, between the semidilute and nematic regimes, precipitation of individually suspended tubes leads to a noticeable fall in the viscosity of the suspension. other methods of determining the stability of a nanotube composition for its intended purpose will be apparent to those of skill in the art. the nanotubes used in one or more embodiments of the present invention may be single walled nanotubes or multi-walled nanotubes and may be of varying lengths. the nanotubes may be conductive, semiconductive or combinations thereof. conductive swnts are useful in the manufacture of nanotube films, articles and devices and can be used in the nanotube solutions according to one or more embodiments of the invention. thus, the nanotube composition is integratable into current electronic fabrication processes including, by way of example, cmos, bipolar-transistor, advanced memory and logic device, interconnect device, and chemical and biological sensor fabrications. in selecting a solvent for the nanotube composition, the intended application for the nanotube composition is considered. the solvent meets or exceeds purity specifications required in the fabrication of intended application. the semiconductor manufacturing industry demands adherence to the specific standards set within the semiconductor manufacturing industry for ultra-clean, static-safe, controlled humidity storage and processing environments. many of the common nanotube handling and processing procedures are simply incompatible with the industry standards. furthermore, process engineers resist trying unfamiliar technologies. according to one aspect of the present invention, a solvent for use in a nanotube composition is selected based upon its compatibility or compliance with the electronics and/or semiconductor manufacturing industry standards. exemplary solvents that are compatible with many semiconducting fabrication processes, including but not limited to cmos, bipolar, bicmos, and mosfet, include ethyl lactate, dimethyl sulfoxide (dmso), monomethyl ether, 4-methyl-2 pentanone, n-methylpyrrolidone (nmp), t-butyl alcohol, methoxy propanol, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, gamma butyrolactone, benzyl benzoate, salicyladehyde, tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide and esters of alpha-hydroxy carboxylic acids. in one or more embodiments, the solvent is a non-halogen solvent, or it is a non-aqueous solvent, both of which are desired in certain electronic fabrication processes. in one or more embodiments, the solvent disperses the nanotubes to form a stable composition without the addition of surfactants or other surface-active agents. in one aspect of the invention, nanotube compositions include a plurality of single-walled or multi-walled nanotubes in ethyl lactate as the solvent. ethyl lactate is one among the common solvent systems used by the electronics and electronic packaging industry and is an industry-accepted solvent that meets the industry standards for safety and purity. ethyl lactate is available as a high purity solvent, or it can be purified to acceptable purity levels. ethyl lactate has surprisingly been shown to exhibit excellent solubilizing capabilities for nanotubes. furthermore, ethyl lactate can form stable nanotube compositions even in the presence of significant levels of impurities, thereby providing a versatile solution for application for formation of nanotube films and fabrics in a variety of applications. in one or more embodiments of the present invention, a nanotube solution of swnt in ethyl lactate is provided. purified swnts can be solubilized in ethyl lactate at high concentrations, e.g., 100 mg/l, or even higher. nanotube compositions include nanotubes homogeneously distributed in ethyl lactate without significant precipitation or flocculation. typical nanotube concentrations range from about 1 mg/l to 100 g/l, or from about 1 mg/l to 1 g/l, or about 10 mg/l, or about 100 mg/l, or even about 1000 mg/l with a common concentration used for memory and logic applications of 100 mg/l. such a concentration is exemplary various useful concentrations ranges depend upon the application. for example in the case where a monolayer fabrics is desired one could use a less concentrated composition with a single or a few applications of the nanotube composition, e.g., by spin coating, to the substrate. in the event that a thick multilayer fabric is desired, a spraying technique could be employed with a nearly saturated nanotube composition. the concentration is, of course, dependent upon the specific solvent choice, method of nanotube dispersion and type of nanotube used, e.g., single-walled or multiwalled. nanotubes may be prepared using methods that are well known in the art, such as for example, chemical vapor deposition (cvd) or other vapor phase growth techniques (electric-arc discharge, laser ablation, etc.). nanotubes of varying purity may also be purchased from several vendors, such as carbon nanotubes, inc., carbolex, southwest nanotechnologies, elicarb, nanocyl, nanolabs, and buckyusa (a more complete list of carbon nanotube suppliers is found at http://www.cus.cam.ac.uk/˜cs266/list.html). vapor-phase catalysts are typically used to synthesize nanotubes and, as a result, the nanotubes are contaminated with metallic impurities. furthermore, formation of nanotubes may also be accompanied by the formation of other carbonaceous materials, which are also a source of impurities in the nanotubes. in one or more embodiments of the present invention, metallic particles and amorphous carbon particles are separated from nanotubes. the purification process reduces alkali metal ions, halogen ions, oligomers or polymers as active or inactive chemical components as part of the swnt solution. the nanotube solutions according to certain embodiments of the present invention are substantially free of high levels of these particulate and/or insoluble materials (as well as other soluble materials that are incompatible with the semiconducting fabrication process). the nanotube solutions are thus purified for use in cmos processing or other semiconducting fabrication process. appropriate purification techniques desirably remove impurities without affecting the nanotube chemical structure or electronic properties. impurities may be removed for example, by dispersing the nanotubes in dilute acid solution to dissolve metal impurities, followed by separation of the nanotubes from the metallic solution. a mild acid treatment with nitric acid or hydrochloric acid may be used. other suitable methods for metal removal include magnetic purification. amorphous carbon may be removed, for example, by a combination of high speed centrifugation using an ultracentrifuge and filtration techniques for example but not limited to gravity filtration, cross flow filtration, vacuum filtration and others. other suitable purification techniques include the preferential oxidation of non-fullerenic carbonaceous materials. multiple purification steps may be desired in order to obtain nanotubes of a purity for use in a cmos-grade nanotube solution. see, for example, chiang, et al., j. phys.chemb 105, 1157 (2001); and haddon, et al., mrs bulletin, april 2004) in one or more embodiments, nanotubes are pretreated to reduce the metallic impurity levels to preselected levels. in one or more embodiments, the nanotubes composition contains less than about 10 18 atoms/cm 3 of metal impurities, or less than about 10 16 atoms/cm 3 of metal impurities, or less than about 10 14 atoms/cm 3 of metal impurities, or less than about 10 12 atoms/cm 3 of metal impurities, or less than about 10 10 atoms/cm 3 of metal impurities. compositions having lower levels of metallic impurities, e.g. ca. 10 10 -10 12 atoms/cm 3 , may be used in the manufacture of advanced devices having fine features, for example, devices having features of less than or equal to 250 nm. heavy metals, for examples metals having a specific gravity of 5 g/ml, are generally toxic in relatively low concentrations to plant and animal life and tend to accumulate in the food chain. examples include lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic. such compounds are carefully regulated in the semiconductor fabrication industry and are desirably maintained at minimum levels. in one or more embodiments, the nanotube composition includes less than about 10 18 atoms/cm 3 of heavy metal impurities, or less than about 10 16 atoms/cm 3 of heavy metal impurities, or less than about 10 14 atoms/cm 3 of heavy metal impurities, or less than about 10 12 atoms/cm 3 of heavy metal impurities or even less than about 15×10 10 atoms/cm 3 of heavy metal impurities. similarly, the concentration of group i and group ii elements is regulated due to the deleterious effect of elements such as sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium, and the like, on the performance characteristics of the electronic device. in one or more embodiments, the nanotube composition includes less than about 10 18 atoms/cm 3 of group i and group ii element impurities, or less than about 10 16 atoms/cm 3 of group i and group ii element impurities, or less than about 10 14 atoms/cm 3 of group i and group ii element impurities, or less than about 10 12 atoms/cm 3 of group i and group ii element impurities or even less than about 15×10 10 atoms/cm 3 of group i and group ii element impurities. lastly, transition metals are also avoided due to their ready migration and the deleterious effect of such migration to the device performance. see, mayer, et al. electronic materials science: for integrated circuits in si and gaas, 2nd ed, macmilliam, new york, 1988. as is the case for heavy metals and group i and group ii metals, it is desired to maintain the impurity level of transition metals, such as copper, iron, cobalt, molybdenum, titanium and nickel, to less than preselected values. in one or more embodiments of the present invention, the nanotube composition includes less than about 10 18 atoms/cm 3 of transition metal impurities, or less than about 10 16 atoms/cm 3 of transition metal impurities, or less than about 10 14 atoms/cm 3 of transition metal impurities, or less than about 10 12 atoms/cm 3 of transition metal impurities or even less than about 15×10 10 atoms/cm 3 of transition metal impurities. the impurity content of the nanotubes can be monitored using conventional methods, such as transmission electron microscopy (tem) and scanning electron microscopy (sem) and using analytical techniques such as x-ray microanalysis (edax), or vapor phase decomposition and inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (vpd, icp/ms). metallic impurity levels may be measured using conventional methods such as edax and vpd, ipc/ms. if large quantities of solution (e.g., >about 1000 ml), are available for testing, direct volumetric concentration measurements (atoms/cm 3 ) can be determined. alternatively, a known volume of the composition may be deposited over a known surface area and the surface impurity concentration (atoms/cm 2 ) can be determined. in other embodiments of the present invention, nanotubes are pretreated to reduce the particulate impurities levels to a preselected level. the semiconductor industry has established standardized particulate impurity levels for particular processes, and the nanotubes may be pretreated to reduce the nanotube particulate levels to below the accepted levels. in one or more embodiments, the composition is substantially free of particle impurities having a diameter of greater than about 5 micron (μm), or about 1 μm, or about 3 μm, or about 500 nm, or 300 nm, or 100 nm, or even 45 nm. guidelines for particulate and metal impurity levels are found in the international technology roadmad for semiconductors (itrs roadmap). for example, the itrs roadmap states that at the 65 nm dram ½ pitch, the critical particle size is 33 nm and only 1 particle/m 3 is allowed over the critical size. from the itrs 2002 update, at the 90 nm dram ½ pitch node, the critical particle size is 45 nm with only 2 particles/m 3 allowed above the critical particle dimension. the itrs roadmap for 90 nm dram ½ pitch mode allows for <15×10 10 atoms/cm 3 of metal contamination during fabrication. liquid chemicals utilized for wafer fabrication may contribute <10 particles/ml of surface contamination. other fabrication specifications may be identified by the itrs. the semiconductor industry has well-established testing protocols for monitoring the particulate levels at, for example, 5 μm, 3 μm, 1 μm, 500 nm, 300 nm and 100 nm. the metrology employed for detecting the particulate contaminate will have a resolution of 0.2 nm. typical equipment include kla tencor surfscan™ and the like. such testing methods and equipment may be readily adapted for use in evaluating the particulate levels of nanotube compositions. in one or more embodiments of the present invention, the nanotube composition is a homogeneous mixture of purified single walled carbon nanotubes in ethyl lactate at concentrations high enough to be useful in practical applications in the electronics industry, e.g., ≧10 mg/l. the nanotube composition can be electronics-grade purity. in some embodiments, nanotubes purified to an impurity content of less than 0.2 wt %, or less than 0.1 wt % free metal are solubilized in electronics-grade ethyl lactate or other suitable solvent. it has been surprisingly discovered that nanotubes that have been pretreated to reduce the metallic and particulate impurity levels to below preselected levels, such as described herein, can form stable nanotube dispersions in a variety of solvents. nanotubes, by way of example, swnts, and further by way of example purified swnt, may be solubilized by dispersion in the appropriate solvent. one or more steps of grind or agitating the nanotubes in the selected solvent and sonication may enhance solubilization. the solution is appropriate for use as a spin-on swnt solution for electronic and electronic packaging applications. the inventors envision that the addition of various optional additives may be useful to facilitate long term storage and stabilization properties of carbon nanotube solutions. such additives include, but are not limited to stabilizers, surfactants and other chemicals known or accepted as additives to solutions used for fabrication of electronics. the nanotube solution according to one or more embodiments of the present invention and the methods of making the solution of nanotubes have been standardized for cmos compatibility as required in conventional semiconductor fabrication systems, i.e. the chemicals, spin coating tracks and other related machineries necessary to create the solutions of the present invention may be found in typical cmos processing facilities or more generally may be present in many types of services common to the electronics industry including fabrication and packaging facilities. the nanotube composition can be placed or applied on a substrate to obtain a nanotube film, fabric or other article. a conductive article includes an aggregate of nanotubes (at least some of which are conductive), in which the nanotubes contact other nanotubes to define a plurality of conductive pathways in the article. the nanotube fabric or film desirably has a uniform porosity or density. in many applications, the nanotube fabric is a monolayer. many methods exist for the application procedure including spin coating, spray coating, dipping and many others known for dispersing solutions onto substrates. for thicker fabrics beyond a monolayer, more applications or more concentrated solutions may be required. in fact other techniques for application of the fabric may be required as has been outlined elsewhere (see nanotube films and articles (u.s. pat. no. 6,706,402) filed apr. 23, 2002 and methods of nanotube films and articles (u.s. patent application ser. no. 10/128,117) filed apr. 23, 2002). in one aspect of the invention, a highly purified nanotube article is provided. the article contains a network of contacting nanotubes for form pathway through the article. the nanotube network may form a ribbon or non-woven fabric. the article contains less than 0.2 wt % or 0.1 wt % free metal, or even less. in one or more embodiments, the nanotubes article contains less than about 10 18 atoms/cm 2 of metal impurities, or less than about 10 16 atoms/cm 2 of metal impurities, or less than about 10 14 atoms/cm 2 of metal impurities, or less than about 10 12 atoms/cm 2 of metal impurities, or less than about 10 10 atoms/cm 2 of metal impurities. compositions having lower levels of metallic impurities, e.g. ca. 10 10 -10 12 atoms/cm 2 , may be used in the manufacture of advanced devices having fine features, for example, devices having features of less than or equal to 250 nm. heavy metals, for examples metals having a specific gravity of 5 g/ml, are generally toxic in relatively low concentrations to plant and animal life and tend to accumulate in the food chain. examples include lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic. such compounds are carefully regulated in the semiconductor fabrication industry and are desirably maintained at minimum levels. in one or more embodiments, the nanotube article includes less than about 10 18 atoms/cm 2 of heavy metal impurities, or even less than about 15×10 10 atoms/cm 2 of heavy metal impurities. similarly, the concentration of group i and group ii elements is regulated due to the deleterious effect of elements such as sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium, and the like, on the performance characteristics of the electronic device. in one or more embodiments, the nanotube article includes less than about 10 18 atoms/cm 2 of group i and group ii element impurities, or even less than about 15×10 10 atoms/cm 2 of group i and group ii element impurities. lastly, transition metals are also avoided due to their ready migration and the deleterious effect of such migration to the device performance. as is the case for heavy metals and group i and group ii metals, it is desired to maintain the impurity level of transition metals, such as copper, iron, cobalt, molybdenum, titanium, and nickel, to less than preselected values. in one or more embodiments of the present invention, the nanotube article includes less than about 10 18 atoms/cm 2 of transition metal impurities, or even less than about 15×10 10 atoms/cm 2 of transition metal impurities. the use of the term “about” reflects the variation that occurs in measurement and can range up to 30% of the measured value. for example, when determining metal impurity levels using vpd icp-ms, the accuracy of the measurement is related to the precision of analytical signals, the recovery of trace metals from the wafer surface, and the accuracy of the standards used. overall accuracy of the vpd icp-ms technique varies from ±15%, at concentration levels higher than 10 times above the method detection limit, to ±30% or higher at concentration levels lower than 10 times the detection limits. similar variability is expected in other measurements. the following example are provided to illustrate the invention, which is not intended to be limiting of the invention, the scope of which is set forth in the claims which follow. example 1 this example describes the purification of nanotubes. single-walled carbon nanotubes (swnts) were purified by stirring in 7.7m hno 3 for 8 h followed by refluxing at 125° c. for 12 h. the acid refluxed material was washed with di water three times by a sonication-centrifugation-decantation cycle. the di water washed material was then vacuum filtered over a 5 micron filter until a dried swnt membrane was obtained on the filter paper. this purified swnt material was collected and used for making a swnt composition. example 2 this example describes the preparation of a nanotube composition and a nanotube article. in order to avoid recontamination of the nanotubes, clean room conditions, for example, class 100 or greater, were maintained during preparation and processing of the nanotube composition. twenty-one mg of single-walled nanotubes (swnts), purified as described above in example 1 were soaked in 10 ml ethyl lactate (electronics grade—sigma), ground with a mortar and pestle, sonicated and centrifuged to remove the supernatant. these steps were repeated as necessary to solubilize the carbon nanotubes. the solubilized nanotubes had a final concentration of 21 mg carbon nanotubes per 250 ml ethyl lactate, and the optical density at 550 nm of the solution was measured to be 1.001. each individual step of the solubilization process is detailed in the table 1 for the solubilization of swnts in ethyl lactate (el). this protocol is illustrative of one means of forming a solubilized nanotube solution. many other methods of forming such a solution are possible by adding or subtracting steps involving agitation and solubilization depending upon the specific requirements for concentration, solution stability and ultimate performance metrics of the desired fabric. table 1process flow chart for swnt solubilization in ethyl-lactatestepprocessdurationremarks1soak in 10 ml el30 minin mortar2grind10 minin mortar3soak in 10 ml el1 h 20 minin mortar4add 90 ml elafter transfer to 250 ml flask5bath sonicate0.5 h5° c.6centrifuge (10k rpm, 20° c.)0.5 hin teflon container7decant supernatantcollect in 500 ml flask (100 ml); 25 c.8grind sediment in 10 ml el10 minin mortar9soak50 minin mortar10add 90 ml elafter transfer to 250 ml flask11bath sonicate0.5 h5° c.12centrifuge (10k rpm, 20° c.)0.5 hin teflon container13decant supernatantcollect in 500 ml flask (200 ml); 25° c.14grind sediment in 10 ml el10 minin mortar15soak50 minin mortar16add 90 ml elafter transfer to 250 ml flask17bath sonicate0.5 h5° c.18centrifuge (10k rpm)0.5 hin teflon container19decant supernatantcollect in 500 ml flask (300 ml); 25° c.20allow to stand12 hat 25° c. in closed flask21sonicate1 h5° c.22metricsnacheck for sheet resistance and sem23storage conditionsnain 250 ml polypropylene (pp) bottle; 5° c. example 3 this example describes an alternative method of preparing a nanotube composition. twenty-one mg carbon nanotubes were mixed in 10 ml el and subjected to sonication, centrifugation, decanting of the supernatant and remixing of carbon nanotubes in el for repeated sonication until the tubes were sufficiently solubilized; i.e., the nanotubes were subjected essentially the same steps as in example 2, without grinding with mortar and pestle. the steps of the process are shown in table 2. table 2alternate process flow chart for swnt solubilization in ethyl-lactatestepprocessdurationremarks1place 100 mg in 800n/ain 1 l polypropylene (pp)ml elbottle.2add teflon impellersn/ain 1 l pp bottle3place on autoshaker100 hpowered through a timer4collect in a 1 l rbn/ahf cleaned flask, incleanroom5bath sonicate1 h5° c.6centrifuge (15k rpm,2 h6 × 250; beckman pp15° c.)bottles7decant supernatant~15 mincollect in 1000 ml flask8check for optical densityn/aif above 1.25 this needs toat 550 nanometer.be adjusted to 1.25 byadding neat el9bath sonicate2 h5° c.10centrifuge (25000 rpm,2 h8 × 50 cc, beckman pp in 315° c.)batches12decant supernatantn/acollect in 1000 ml flask(200 ml); 25° c.13check for final metricsn/abottled in a 1 l pp bottleincluding sheet resistancerinsed with cmos gradeand semel, example 4 this example describes the preparation of a nanotube article on a silicon substrate. the solution prepared in example 2 was spin coated onto a 100 mm oxide-coated silicon wafer. for comparison, a nanotube solution in el using as-prepared, i.e., unpurified, nanotubes was spin coated onto a similar 100 mm oxide-coated silicon wafer. six applications were used to generate a fabric or film onto the wafer surface. figs. 1 and 3 illustrate sem images of unpurified swnt material and purified swnt material, respectively coated from a solution of swnts in ethyl lactate. the presence of particulate impurities is apparent in the unpurified sample ( fig. 1 ). the purified swnt film showed significant reduction in amorphous carbon contamination after completion of the purification process ( fig. 2 ). the figures do not necessarily represent ideal electronics grade fabrics, but are shown simply to represent spun-on fabrics created from ethyl lactate. upon generation of a fabric the sheet resistance was measured to be 70 kohm (center); 129+/−22 kohm (edge). the following table (table 3) summarizes several metric parameters including the optical density of a typical purified swnt solution as well as the resistivity of a swnt fabric on a 100 mm silicon wafer coated with a thick gate oxide. table 3metrics of typical swnt fabricmetricsdataremarksoptical density (550 nm)1.001sheet resistance70 k ohm (center),6 spins:129 +/− 22 k ohm (edge)60 rpm, 500 rpm,4000 rpm the solution can be used to form a component of nram memories, such as described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 09/915,093, entitled “electromechanical memory array using nanotube ribbons and method for making same”, filed jul. 25, 2001; u.s. pat. no. 6,643,165, entitled “electromechanical memory having cell selection circuitry constructed with nanotube technology,” filed jul. 25, 2001; u.s. provisional patent apl. no. 60/459,223, entitled “nram bit selectable two-drive nanotube array,” filed mar. 29, 2003; and u.s. provisional patent appl. no. 60/459,222, entitled “nram byte/block released bit selectable one-device nanotube array,” filed mar. 29, 2003. the solution holds potential as a stand alone commercial product to serve the research and development laboratories that work on single walled carbon nanotubes as well other applications. example 5 this example describes the testing of trace metals on the surface of a nanotube article that is deposited on a silicon wafer. a nanotube composition was prepared from nanotubes that had been purified of metallic and particulate impurities as described in example 1 by dispersing the nanotubes in ethyl lactate medium as described in example 2. the nanotube compositions were analyzed for surface metallic impurities by vapor phase decomposition and inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (vpd, icp/ms) by chemtrace, fremont, calif. silicon wafers, with and without a deposited nanotube layer, were placed in a pre-cleaned high purity chamber saturated with hydrofluoric acid (hf) vapor. untreated silicon wafers and ethyl lactate coated wafers were used as controls. the native or thermal oxide on the silicon wafer or deposited layer was dissolved in the presence of the hf vapor. metal impurities incorporated into the layer were released and dissolved in the acid during the scanning process. a drop of an ultrapure acid etchant is added to the surface and the analysis area is scanned in a reproducible manner. the scanning solution was then collected for icp-ms analysis. the analysis area was the entire surface on one side of the wafer with 2 mm edge exclusion. strict cleanroom practices were followed at all times. the vpd process was performed in a near class 1 laminar flow mini-environment located in a class 10 cleanroom. the icp-ms instrument was operated in a class 1000 cleanroom to minimize environmental source contamination. a pre-cleaned silicon wafer was used as the control. in order to evaluate the source of metallic impurities in the solvent, a silicon wafer was treated (spin-coated) with electronics grade ethyl lactate alone (el control). samples 1 through 3 represent three different nanotube compositions purified and prepared according to the methodology set out in examples 1 and 2. the test results demonstrate that comparable levels of purity were achieved over a number of samples tested. most of the metals tested were near the detection limit of the method. notable exceptions to this were boron, calcium, cobalt, nickel potassium and sodium. however, the total and individual metals content were well below the lower limit of 15×10 10 atoms/cm 3 set by the its. care must be taken in post purification processing in order to preserve the purity levels thus attained. for example, it was observed that rinsing the as-deposited nanotubes with di water reintroduced several metal impurities. the results of trace metal analysis recording the elemental content swnts after being coated on silicon substrates are reported in table 4. measurements are recorded as the number of atoms for a given element (x 10 10 atoms per cm 2 ). table 4(number of atoms for a given element × 10 10 atoms per cm 2 ).methoddetectionsample 1sample 2sample 3limitscontrol elcontrolbatch 14batch 15batch 16aluminum(al)0.30.910.570.780.33<0.3antimony(sb)0.003<0.003<0.003<0.003<0.003<0.003arsenic(as)0.030.0650.32<0.03<0.03<0.03barium(ba)0.01<0.01<0.01<0.01<0.01<0.01beryllium(be)0.1<0.1<0.1<0.1<0.1<0.1bismuth(bi)0.002<0.002<0.002<0.002<0.002<0.002boron(b)11402205.75.95.3cadmium(cd)0.005<0.005<0.005<0.005<0.005<0.005calcium(ca)0.20.342.40.831.31.8chromium(cr)0.1<0.10.11<0.1<0.1<0.1cobalt(co)0.02<0.02<0.020.570.450.22copper(cu)0.05<0.050.080<0.050.34<0.05gallium(ga)0.005<0.005<0.005<0.005<0.005<0.005germanium(ge)0.01<0.01<0.01<0.01<0.01<0.01iron(fe)0.1<0.10.540.240.190.14lead(pb)0.003<0.0030.012<0.0030.011<0.003lithium(li)0.08<0.08<0.08<0.08<0.08<0.08magnesium(mg)0.3<0.3<0.3<0.3<0.3<0.3manganese(mn)0.03<0.030.069<0.03<0.03<0.03molybdenum(mo)0.01<0.010.014<0.01<0.01<0.01nickel(ni)0.05<0.05<0.050.790.960.48potassium(k)0.2<0.23.50.301.20.73sodium(na)0.2<0.27.11.22.11.5strontium(sr)0.01<0.01<0.01<0.01<0.01<0.01tin(sn)0.02<0.02<0.02<0.02<0.02<0.02titanium(ti)0.1<0.1<0.1<0.1<0.1<0.1tungsten(w)0.005<0.005<0.005<0.005<0.005<0.005vanadium(v)0.03<0.03<0.03<0.03<0.03<0.03zinc(zn)0.06<0.061.40.0880.0950.078zirconium(zr)0.0030.050<0.003<0.003<0.003<0.003 other embodiments in certain embodiments concentrations of metallic or carbonaceous contamination that are above those required for cmos fabrication may be acceptable. the present invention serves to exemplify creation of nanotube solutions with stringent requirements that meet or exceed those of a cmos process flow but can be modified in applications that have relaxed requirements. in certain embodiments the swnt solutions may be modified or tailored to form thick nanotube coatings up to 100 microns thick or more and as thin as a monolayer of swnts. such nanotube fabrics can be characterized by resistivity or capacitance measurements to meet the requirements of the specific electronics application. as described herein, certain applicator liquids and application techniques are described, which can be used to form nanotube films or fabrics of controlled properties. for example, certain proposals have been made suggesting the benefits of substantially monolayers of nanotubes with substantially uniform porosity. techniques have been provided in which one or more parameters may be controlled or monitored to create such films. moreover, these liquids are intended for industrial environments, which require that the liquids be usable, i.e., that the nanotube suspension is stable, for periods of days, weeks and even months.
032-051-346-417-657	US	[ "US" ]	A61M1/26,A61M1/16,A61M1/34,A61M1/36,A61M25/00	2020-07-17T00:00:00	2020	[ "A61" ]	systems and methods for plasma separation and uv irradiation	the present invention is a uv light box, systems, and methods for irradiating plasma.	1. a system for irradiating plasma, comprising: a blood outlet tube comprising an outlet arm end and a separator end, wherein blood from a patient flows through said blood outlet tube from said outlet arm end toward said separator end; a plasma separator connected to said separator end of said blood outlet tube, wherein said plasma separator separates the blood into plasma and a cellular element; a blood pump disposed between said outlet arm end and said separator end of said blood outlet tube such that said blood pump pumps the blood through said blood outlet tube and into said plasma separator; means for exposing the plasma to ultraviolet (uv) radiation, wherein said exposing means comprise at least a plasma vessel with a plasma inlet and a plasma outlet, and at least one uv light source disposed such that said at least one uv light source exposes said plasma vessel to uv light; a plasma inlet tube extending between said plasma separator and said plasma inlet of said exposing means, wherein the plasma travels through said plasma inlet tube; a blood inlet tube comprising a joint end and an inlet arm end, wherein the cellular element and the irradiated plasma reunite at said joint end of said blood inlet tube and travel through said blood inlet tube as treated blood; a plasma outlet tube extending between said plasma outlet of said exposing means and said joint end of said blood inlet tube; a cellular element tube extending between said plasma separator and said joint end of said blood inlet tube, wherein the cellular element travels through said cellular element tube; a plasma component separator disposed between said plasma separator and said exposing means, wherein said plasma component separator: separates the plasma into small plasma and large plasma; and divides said plasma inlet tube into: a first section extending between said plasma separator and said plasma component separator; and a second section extending between said plasma component separator and said exposing means; a plasma pump disposed between said plasma separator and said plasma component separator such that said plasma pump pumps plasma through said first section of said plasma inlet tube into said plasma component separator; and a small plasma tube extending from said plasma component separator to said cellular element tube, wherein the small plasma travels through said small plasma tube to reunite with the cellular element; wherein: the large plasma travels through said second section of said plasma inlet tube to said exposing means; and the irradiated large plasma travels through said plasma outlet tube to reunite with the small plasma and cellular element at said joint end of said blood inlet tube. 2. the system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a system interface comprising at least: a system power switch; and at least one monitor of a patient condition. 3. the system as claimed in claim 2 , further comprising at least one alarm that indicates a patient condition is outside of a preferred range. 4. the system as claimed in claim 2 , wherein said system interface further comprises at least one user setting. 5. the system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising removing intravenous (iv) equipment attached to said outlet arm end of said blood outlet tube. 6. the system as claimed claim 5 , wherein said removing iv equipment is a double lumen catheter. 7. the system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising replacing iv equipment attached to said inlet arm end of said blood inlet tube. 8. the system as claimed claim 7 , wherein said replacing iv equipment is a double lumen catheter. 9. the system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein: said plasma outlet tube comprises a flow control module and a waste deposit; said flow control module allows only a first percentage of the irradiated plasma to reunite with the cellular element at said joint end; and a remaining percentage of the irradiated plasma is deposited in said waste deposit. 10. the system as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising a waste valve disposed such that said waste valve controls a flow of the remaining percentage of the irradiated plasma into and out of said waste deposit. 11. the system as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising a fluid replacement device. 12. the system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising: a dialyzer disposed such that treated blood flows into said dialyzer; and means for isolating said dialyzer. 13. the system as claimed in claim 12 , wherein: said plasma outlet tube comprises a flow control module and a waste deposit; said flow control module allows only a first percentage of the irradiated large plasma to reunite with the small plasma and the cellular element at said joint end; a remaining percentage of the irradiated large plasma is deposited in said waste deposit; and said dialyzer is connected to said waste deposit such that a portion of the dialyzed irradiated blood is deposited in said waste deposit. 14. the system as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising a waste valve disposed such that said waste valve controls a flow into and out of said waste deposit. 15. the system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein plasma vessel of said exposing means is a plasma diffuser. 16. the system as claimed in claim 15 , wherein said plasma diffuser comprises a maze configuration. 17. the system as claimed in claim 15 , wherein said plasma diffuser comprises a funnel configuration. 18. the system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said at least one uv light source of said exposing means comprises at least a first and second uv light source, wherein: said first uv light source emits a first wavelength; said second uv light source emits a second wavelength; and said first and second wavelengths are not equal. 19. the system as claimed in claim 18 , wherein said first wavelength is 265 nm and said second wavelength is 280 nm. 20. the system as claimed in claim 18 , wherein said at least one uv light source further comprises a third uv light source, wherein: said third uv light source emits a third wavelength; and said third wavelength is not equal to least one of said first and second wavelengths. 21. the system as claimed in claim 15 , wherein said exposing means further comprise a housing capable of being disposed in an open or closed position, said housing comprising: a top comprising a top interior and a top exterior; and a bottom comprising a bottom interior and a bottom exterior, wherein said top and said bottom are sized and configured such that said top interior and said bottom interior face one another when said housing is in said closed position; wherein: said plasma diffuser is disposed within said bottom of said housing; and said at least one uv light source is disposed within said top of said housing. 22. the system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an anticoagulant infusion pump disposed on said blood outlet tube.	field of the invention the present invention relates generally to viral and bacterial infection treatment, and specifically to said treatment by the separation and uv irradiation of infected blood plasma. background ultraviolet (uv) radiation is a potent source of energy, known to be capable of neutralizing or killing any virus or bacteria. it is frequently used to sterilize water and disinfect surfaces in hospitals, clinics, dental offices, restaurants, factories, and many other places where disinfection is of primary importance. in the medical field, uv light is used to sterilize medical equipment in operating rooms and patient consultation areas. it is also used for water sterilization for dialysis and in labs. uv light is used on the skin to treat skin ailments. uv radiation also has a history with blood irradiation for the purpose of killing bacterial and viral infections. this process is commonly referred to as uv blood irradiation (ubi). anecdotal ubi studies have shown that exposing a small amount of blood briefly to uv light successfully treated several different types of infections. a brief history of ubi is provided in the following article: michael r. hamblin, ultraviolet irradiation of blood: “the cure that time forgot ”?, 996 a dv . e xp . m ed b iol . 295 (2018). the discovery of vaccines and the development of antibiotics has slowed or halted further studies into ubi. the treatment may still have use with antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria; novel viruses or viruses with no developed vaccine; and venoms, however. the application to virus treatment is of particular interest, considering that, as of this writing, the world is within the grip of a novel coronavirus pandemic, which currently has no proven vaccine or treatment. blood has several components. plasma represents about 55% of blood and is mainly water, but also includes proteins, ions, nutrients, and wastes. importantly, during viral or bacterial infections, it is the plasma that carries the infective organisms. plasma may be further broken down into two components. the first component, which is referred to herein as “small plasma,” contains valuable proteins, such as albumin, small immunoglobulins, and antibodies. the second component, which is referred to herein as “large plasma,” contains larger proteins, large immunoglobulins, and lipids, such as ldl and microbes, such as bacteria and viruses. the remaining 45% percent of blood includes red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells, referred to herein as the “cellular element.” while ubi has had some success, one disadvantage is that uv light may damage some parts of the cellular element, such as red and white blood cells. uv light will not damage blood plasma alone, however. plasmapheresis is the process of removing and replacing a patient's blood plasma. the process is also referred to as plasma exchange or therapeutic plasma exchange (tpe). tpe is commonly used as a treatment for autoimmune disorders. a related procedure is continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (cvvh). cvvh is a short term treatment used with patients with acute or chronic renal failure who cannot tolerate hemodialysis. with cvvh, blood is taken from the patient and guided into a cvvh machine or dialyzer, where it is filtered and waste fluid is removed. fluids and electrolytes are then replaced before the blood is returned to the patient. to date, tpe and ubi have not been successfully combined. therefore there is a need to combine tpe and ubi so as to irradiate blood plasma alone, thereby destroying viruses and bacteria therein. summary of the invention the present invention is a uv box and systems and methods for irradiating plasma. in its most basic form, the uv box includes a housing; a top with a top interior and a top exterior; a bottom with a bottom interior and a bottom exterior; a plasma diffuser disposed within the bottom interior; and at least one uv light source disposed within the top interior. the housing is capable of being in an open position or a closed position. the top and the bottom of the housing are sized and configured such that the top interior and the bottom interior face one another when the housing is in the closed position. the plasma diffuser has a plasma inlet through which plasma enters the plasma diffuser and a plasma outlet through which the irradiated plasma exits the plasma diffuser. when the housing is in the closed position, the respective dispositions of the at least one uv light source in the top interior and the plasma diffuser in the bottom interior are such that the plasma diffuser and the plasma therein are exposed to uv radiation from the uv light source. the uv box may be advantageously used in conjunction with a dialysis machine, a plasmapheresis machine, a cvvh, or similar machines by being connected to these machines. the uv box may also be integrated with any of these machines. as each of these machines involves filtering, replacing, or otherwise treating blood, they are referred to collectively herein as “blood cleaning machines.” as used herein, when it is said that the uv box is “connected” to the blood cleaning machine, it means that the uv box is not integrated into the blood cleaning machine, but rather has been connected to the blood cleaning machine as an addon. as used herein, when it is said that the uv box is “integrated” into the blood cleaning machine, it means that the blood cleaning machine was originally constructed with the uv box already incorporated into the machine. the housing of the uv box may be any housing appropriately sized to accommodate the uv light source and the plasma diffuser in appropriate positions relative to one another, and that will not be damaged from uv light from the uv light source. the housing is preferably opaque so as to block the uv radiation being emitted from the uv light source when the uv box is in use. in some embodiments the top interior and/or bottom interior of the housing is lined with aluminum or another material that reflects uv light, so as to provide additional focused irradiation from the uv light source disposed therein. it is understood that when the uv box is incorporated into a blood cleaning machine, the top and bottom of the housing may be part of the larger blood cleaning machine. the housing preferably includes means for adjusting the housing between the open and closed positions. the adjusting means are preferably at least one hinge between the top and bottom of the housing, but may be snaps or other closures commonly used in the art. in some embodiments, the top merely rests on the bottom when the housing is in the closed position and is placed aside when the housing is in the open position. in such embodiments, no means for adjusting between the positions is required. in addition, when the uv box is incorporated within a blood cleaning machine, the housing is likely in a set position and may not even be easily accessible from the exterior of the blood cleaning machine. the housing preferably includes means for locking in a specific plasma diffuser, such as a specific configuration of a plasma diffuser, so that that housing may only be used with that plasma diffuser. this may ensure accurate uv exposure to the plasma flowing therethrough. as discussed herein, the uv light source is designated as being disposed in the top of the housing and the plasma diffuser in the bottom of the housing, but it is understood that these top and bottom designations are arbitrary. the designations as written are likely preferably, however. the top of the housing will be slightly raised above the bottom, so gravity may aid in encouraging the plasma through the lower bottom portion. also, in practice, whichever section holds the plasma diffuser will be attached on either side of the plasma inlet and plasma outlet to tubes. as such, it may be easier for the bottom to hold the plasma diffuser and remain relatively stationary, while the untethered top portion is moved to adjust the housing between the open and closed positions. that said, the uv box would still function if the plasma diffuser were disposed in the top interior of the housing and the uv light source were disposed in the bottom interior. as such, it is understood that these designations may be reversed and the reverse designation is also considered to be within the scope of the invention. the purpose of the plasma diffuser is at least twofold—first, to slow the flow of the plasma through the plasma diffuser, so that the plasma has more time exposed to the uv light, and second, to provide a relatively large surface area for the plasma to coat, so that more of the plasma has the opportunity to be exposed to the uv light. in order for the plasma within the plasma diffuser to be exposed to the uv light, the plasma diffuser must be at least translucent and preferably transparent and should not include any material that would act as uv radiation shielding. two preferred plasma diffusers are the “maze configuration” and “funnel configuration” plasma diffusers. as used herein, the “maze configuration” plasma diffuser is a plasma diffuser that requires the plasma to travel back and forth horizontally through a series of hairpin-like turns, as the plasma travels vertically between the plasma inlet at one end of the vertical length to the plasma outlet at the other end of the vertical length. (it is understood that “horizontal” and “vertical” are arbitrary in that description.) as used herein, the “funnel configuration” plasma diffuser is shaped like a funnel with the plasma inlet at the small end of the funnel and the plasma outlet at the wide end of the funnel. as the plasma travels through the funnel configuration plasma diffuser, it will spread out over the widening inner surface of the funnel. the plasma diffuser may be different shapes and sizes to allow for different exposure times at different blood pump speeds. parts of the plasma diffuser that do not directly face the uv light source, such as the bottom of the plasma diffuser, closest to the bottom interior of the housing, may include a coating or surface that reflects uv light, thereby adding intensity to the uv light being exposed to the plasma when the coating or surface can catch the reflection. the plasma diffuser may be any medium that carries the plasma and allows the plasma to be exposed to uv light. as such, the plasma diffuser may be as simple as a tube or a beaker. the preferred embodiments, such as the maze and funnel configurations, may be adjusted to calibrate the dosage of uv exposure, which may not be possible with such simpler configurations of the plasma diffuser. in some embodiments, the aperture of the plasma diffuser through which the plasma flows may be mechanically narrowed or widened to vary flow speed and exposure. such variations to the plasma diffuser operation, such as adjusting to calibrate for uv exposure or changing the aperture width, may be performed based on what is known about the particular pathogen being targeted or the pathogen load, for examples. the at least one uv light source is preferably two or three uv light sources, each emitting uv radiation with a different wavelength. when the at least one uv light source is first and second uv light sources, they emit first and second wavelengths that are preferably 265 and 280 nm, respectively. a third uv light source with a third, different wavelength may also be included. more than three uv light sources may be included. when two uv light sources are included, they may each emit the same wavelength. when two or more uv light sources are included, the wavelengths emitted by each light source need not be distinct. some embodiments may include a uv light source tailored to the pathogen being targeted by the treatment. if evidence shows that a certain pathogen is more readily inactivated by a specific wavelength, for example, then a specific uv light source emitting that wavelength may be used. the pathogen may also dictate whether one uv light source or two or three combined uv light sources are used. there are three main configurations of the system of the present invention. in its most basic form, the first configuration of the system of the present invention includes a blood outlet tube extending between a patient's vein and a plasma separator; the plasma separator that separates blood into plasma and a cellular element; a blood pump that pumps blood through the blood outlet tube and into the plasma separator; means for exposing the plasma to uv radiation (hereinafter “exposing means”) that include at least a plasma vessel with a plasma inlet and a plasma outlet and at least one uv light source; a plasma inlet tube extending between the plasma separator and the exposing means; a blood inlet tube extending back to the patient's vein; a plasma outlet tube extending between the exposing means and the blood inlet tube; and a cellular element tube extending between the plasma separator and the blood inlet tube. while the second and third configurations of the system of the present invention have their advantages, the first configuration may be preferable because of its simplicity. the more components are added to the system, as in the second and third configurations, the more likely that the system may clog. on the other hand, in the first configuration, all of the patient's plasma is exposed to uv radiation, which will kill pathogens, but may also damage useful proteins. the second configuration, while more complex than the first, separates the plasma so that those useful proteins are not exposed to uv radiation. the first configuration of the system of the present invention may a blood cleaning machine that is a cvvh machine or a hemodialysis machine with an integrated or connected uv light box of the present invention. the second configuration of the system of the present invention may be a blood cleaning machine that is a plasmapheresis machine that can handle two dialyzers with an integrated or connected uv light box of the present invention. the third configuration of the system of the present invention may be a blood cleaning machine that is a plasmapheresis machine and a cvvh machine with an integrated or connect uv light box of the present invention. in practice, the system preferably begins and ends at a vein of a patient. the blood outlet tube extends between an outlet arm end at the patient's vein and a separator end at the plasma separator. the vein is preferably either in the arm or the neck. references to the outlet arm end and later to the inlet arm end, as well as to the patient's arm generally, are understood to not necessarily refer to the patient's arm, but to anywhere where the vein is located. it is preferred that the system include removing intravenous (iv) equipment installed at the outlet arm end of the blood outlet tube. as used herein, the “removing iv equipment” includes a needle with catheter and tubing or a surgically inserted catheter, such as a double lumen catheter. a double lumen catheter is preferred when the vein is in the neck. the blood pump pumps blood through the blood outlet tube and encourages the blood toward the plasma separator. the blood pump may be any commonly used in the art. it is preferred that the system also include an anticoagulant infusion pump disposed just before the plasma separator, although it may be disposed anywhere on the blood outlet tube. the anticoagulant infusion pump pumps an anticoagulant, such as a heparin or a citrate dextrose solution (commonly referred to simply as “citrate”). the inclusion of anticoagulant will prevent the blood from clotting. the plasma separator separates the blood into plasma and the cellular element. the cellular element leaves the plasma separator through the cellular element tube, which extends between the plasma separator and a joint end. the plasma leaves the plasma separator through the plasma inlet tube and travels through the plasma inlet into the plasma vessel of the exposing means. it is understood that both the plasma separator and the plasma component separator (discussed below with reference to the second and third configurations of the system of the present invention) are specific types of dialyzers. the exposing means may be any variation of the uv box of present invention, as described above. it is preferred that the plasma vessel of the exposing means be a plasma diffuser, as described above. many specific references to plasma diffusers herein are understood to be generalizable to plasma vessels other than plasma diffusers. as with the more specific plasma diffuser, the plasma vessel has at least a twofold purpose—first, to slow the flow of the plasma through the plasma diffuser, so that the plasma has more time exposed to the uv light, and second, to provide a relatively large surface area for the plasma to coat, so that more of the plasma has the opportunity to be exposed to the uv light. it is understood that these purposes and structures necessary to achieve them are inherent to plasma vessels and plasma diffusers. as such, these purposes and structures should be considered to be part of the terms “plasma vessel” and “plasma diffuser” as used herein. the exposing means may also be only a plasma vessel, such as a plasma diffuser, and a uv light source, without the housing of the uv box, however. the uv box is preferred because it protects system users and patients from the uv radiation and focuses the uv radiation on the plasma diffuser. in very simple setups of the system of the present invention, however, only the key components of the plasma diffuser and the uv light source are necessary. a basic uv lamp could be directed toward the plasma diffuser as the plasma travels through the plasma diffuser, for example. in any embodiment of the exposing means, however, the plasma diffuser and the at least one uv light source may be any of the variations discussed above with respect to the uv box of the present invention, such as maze or funnel configurations for the plasma diffuser and multiple uv light sources with various wavelengths for the uv light source. the plasma therefore enters the exposing means by way of the plasma inlet of the plasma vessel and leaves the exposing means by way of the plasma outlet. plasma that has gone through the exposing means and been irradiated by the uv light source is called “irradiated plasma” herein. the irradiated plasma then travels through the plasma outlet tube, which ends at the joint end of the cellular element tube. the irradiated plasma and cellular element are now reunited as treated blood. the treated blood then travels through the blood inlet tube, which extends between the joint end and an inlet arm end. the inlet arm end ends back at the patient's arm. as with the outlet arm end of the blood outlet tube, it is preferred that the system also include replacing iv equipment installed at the inlet arm end of the blood inlet tube. as used herein, the “replacing iv equipment” includes a needle or the venous end of a double lumen catheter. it is preferred that the system also include a system interface. the system interface includes at least a power switch for the system and at least one monitor of a patient condition. the power switch may be systemwide, and turn on and off all powered system components, such as pumps, valves, and the uv light source. the power switch may also include separate switches to turn on the various components individually. the at least one monitor of a patient condition may display, for examples, the patient's venous pressure, arterial pressure, volume of blood drawn, blood temperature, etc. the at least one monitor may also be an air detector to prevent any injection of air into the patient. basic vital signs, such as blood pressure, pulse, and oxygen may also be monitored and displayed. in preferred embodiments, the system interface may include at least one alarm that indicates if a patient condition is outside of a preferred range. the alarm might indicate if a patient's venous pressure has dropped dangerously low, for example. one of at least ordinary skill in the art will recognize there may be a variety of useful alarms included in the system interface, and each of these alarms is considered to be within the scope of the present invention. in preferred embodiments, the system interface may also include at least one user setting. as used herein, “user setting” means any setting that may be adjusted or receive input from a user regarding how aspects of the system will operate. system operations that may be varied by a user may include the volume of blood drawn from the patient; the pump speed; or the wavelength of the uv light source. a user setting may allow adjustment of alarm ranges, defining ranges of various metrics that are acceptable versus when an alarm will initiate. an alarm may be programmed to warn of pressure changes, blood clotting, or escape of air in the system, for examples. a user setting may also allow for presets of a specific combination of operation parameters or for a specific single operation parameter. through experimentation, it may be discovered that certain system operations parameters may be more effective against specific pathogens, for example. a user setting may be a preset that encompasses this optimal set of parameters to address that pathogen. one of at least ordinary skill in the art will recognize that there may be a variety of useful user settings included in the system interface, and each of these user settings is considered to be within the scope of the present invention. preferred versions of the first configuration also include a flow control module and a waste deposit disposed on the plasma outlet tube. the flow control module only allows a first percentage of the irradiated plasma to reunite with the cellular element. a second portion of the irradiated plasma is deposited in the waste deposit. this helps control the viral load, albeit inactivated, that is returned to the patient. in addition, it can tailor what is returned to the patient based on what pathogen the system is treating. if the pathogen is a virus, for example, it may be preferable to only return the inactivated virus to the patient at a rate that will facilitate smooth antibody production, while removing significant viral load. if the targeted pathogen is a bacterial agent, it may be preferable to return only a small portion of inactivated bacteria to trigger the immune response, while avoiding the risk of developing reactions from endotoxins that may result from the dead bacteria. endotoxins are toxins present inside a bacterial cell and are released when the cell disintegrates. endotoxins can cause severe symptoms depending on the kind of bacteria. it is understood that the blood may contain a one or more viruses and/or one or more bacteria and the system can handle multiple pathogens at the same time. it is preferred that the waste deposit include a waste valve that controls a flow of the second remaining percentage of the irradiated plasma. essentially, the waste valve functions to open the waste deposit when it is time for it to accept the second remaining percentage and closes the waste deposit after the second portion has been deposited so that it cannot remix with the first percentage. the waste valve may be fully opened, fully closed, or may be adjustable to allow for a specific percentage to go to waste. in such embodiments that include the flow control module and waste deposit, some plasma is not returned to the patient so it is preferable to also include an intravenous fluid replacement device. in its most basic form, the second configuration of the system of the present invention includes any form of the first configuration of the system as described above, and a plasma component separator, a plasma pump, and a small plasma tube. the plasma component separator is disposed between the plasma separator and the plasma diffuser of the exposing means. any plasma component separator commonly used in the art may be used. while the terms “plasma separator” and “plasma component separator” are similar and both used herein, it is understood that they are distinct devices with distinct functions. specifically, the plasma separator separates blood into plasma and the cellular component. the plasma component separator separates the plasma into small plasma and large plasma. the small plasma with its valuable proteins is not sent on to irradiation, thus protecting those valuable proteins. the small plasma tube extends from the plasma component separator to intersect with the cellular element tube. the small plasma rejoins the cellular element at the junction of the small plasma tube and the cellular element tube. the plasma component separator divides the plasma inlet tube into a first section extending between the plasma separator and the plasma component separator and a second section extending between the plasma component separator and the plasma vessel of the exposing means. plasma travels through the first section of the plasma inlet tube to arrive at the plasma component separator. a plasma pump pumps the plasma through this first section. only large plasma then travels through the second section of the plasma inlet tube to the exposing means. in this way, only the large plasma, which houses the microbes will be irradiated by the exposing means. the small plasma has been diverted away to rejoin the cellular element. the irradiated large plasma then travels through the plasma outlet tube, which intersects with the cellular element tube at the joint end. at this point, the irradiated large plasma is reunited with the small plasma and the cellular element. the combined treated blood travels back to the patient through the blood inlet tube. preferred versions of the second configuration also include a flow control module and a waste deposit disposed on the plasma outlet tube. the flow control module allows a controlled portion that is a first percentage of the irradiated large plasma to reunite with the cellular element and the small plasma. the discarded remaining percentage of the irradiated plasma is deposited in the waste deposit. it is preferred that the waste deposit include a waste valve. essentially, the waste valve functions to open the waste deposit when it is time for it to accept the discarded remaining percentage, which is measured so as to know the volume of the discarded remaining percentage. in its most basic form, the third configuration of the system of the present invention includes any form of the second configuration of the system as described above and a cvvh dialyzer, likely provided in the form of a cvvh machine. the third configuration of the system adds aspects of cvvh thus providing double filtration plasmapheresis uv therapy with cvvh capability. this configuration may be used for the critical patient who develops kidney failure or fluid overload. this combines two procedures in a single system or machine. the dialyzer is any commonly used in the art of cvvh or as a part of a cvvh machine. as mentioned above, although both the plasma separator and plasma component separator are types of dialyzers, it is understood that as used herein, “dialyzer” is referring specifically to a dialyzer of the type commonly used with cvvh. standard dialyzers include at least a bubble detector and venous and arterial pressure monitors. the third configuration also preferably includes a dialyzer inlet tube, a dialyzer valve, a dialyzer pump, a dialyzer outlet tube, and a bypass valve. after the large plasma has been irradiated and reunited with the cellular element and small plasma, it flows on to the dialyzer for fluid removal and a form of dialysis. an intravenous fluid replacement device is preferably included in the third configuration. the dialyzer valve and bypass valve may act to totally isolate the cvvh components from the components of the second configuration of the system, so that the third configuration acts identically to the second configuration. when necessary, however, they may act to send the reunited blood to the dialyzer for further treatment before being returned to the patient, with some fluid replacement by the fluid replacement device if needed. in its most basic form, the method of the present invention comprises the steps of removing blood from a patient; separating the blood into plasma and a cellular element; exposing at least a portion of the plasma to at least one uv light source; reuniting at least a portion of the irradiated plasma with the cellular element; and replacing the treated blood into the patient. the treated blood will contain inactive or dead pathogens that can facilitate the formation of different kinds of antibodies. this allows the body to fight the infection as though it has a customized or individual vaccine or treatment for that specific patient. as such, the method is performed on a single patient. notably, the systems and method of the present invention may be used for such customized treatment for viral and bacterial agents, as well as for venoms by using the same process to denature and inactivate venom proteins. the step of exposing at least a portion of the plasma to uv radiation allows for embodiments of the method of the present invention using an embodiment of the system of the present invention that includes a plasma component separator, where only the large plasma portion of the plasma is exposed to the uv radiation. it is understood, however, that when the method of the present invention is performed using an embodiment of the system of the present invention that does not include a plasma component separator, all of the plasma may be exposed to the uv radiation. the step of reuniting at least a portion of the irradiated plasma with the cellular element allows for embodiments of the method of the present invention using an embodiment of the system of the present invention that includes the flow control module and the waste deposit, where a percentage of the irradiated large plasma is deposited into the waste deposit, rather than reunited with the cellular element. it is understood, however, that when the method of the present invention is performed using a system of the present invention that does not include the flow control module or waste deposit, all of the irradiated plasma may be reunited with the cellular element. the step of removing the blood from the patient is performed by any means commonly used in the art, preferably iv venipuncture using removing iv equipment or a double lumen catheter. it is preferred that the method of the present invention be performed through a continuous loop at the patient's location, i.e. that blood is drawn from the patient, taken through a series of tubes and components, as described herein, and replaced into the patient, all through a single system of the present invention. in some embodiments, however, the blood may be drawn and treated separately, not necessarily at the exact location of the patient. in such embodiments, the blood is then transfused back into the patient after being treated through the method of the present invention. the step of separating the blood into plasma and a cellular element is performed by running the blood through a plasma separator. the step of exposing the plasma to at least one uv light source is preferably performed by sending the plasma through a plasma vessel, such as a plasma diffuser, that is positioned proximate to at least one uv light source such that the at least one uv light source emits uv radiation onto the plasma vessel. when the plasma vessel is a plasma diffuser, the step of sending the plasma through a plasma diffuser preferably comprises the step of sending the plasma through a maze configuration plasma diffuser or a funnel configuration plasma diffuser. the at least one uv light source may be one, two, or three light sources, each of which may emit different wavelengths of uv radiation. in some embodiments, the step of exposing the plasma to at least one uv light source may include exposing the plasma to uv light for a specified amount of time. it may be determined, for example, that the plasma includes an unusually large pathogen load that will require additional exposure to the uv light. alternatively, experimentation may have shown that a specific pathogen is needs more or less exposure for inactivation. there also may be time variations based on whether it is desirable or necessary to inactivate the pathogen only or to fully kill the pathogen. the step of sending the plasma through a plasma vessel that is positioned proximate to at the at least one uv light source may comprise sending the plasma through a uv light box of the present invention. the steps of sending the plasma through a uv light box are implied by the discussion of the uv light box of the present invention, as discussed above. these steps include disposing at least one uv light source in the top of the housing; disposing the plasma diffuser in the bottom of the housing; mating the top and bottom of the housing so that the uv light source and the plasma diffuser face one another; activating the uv light source; and sending the plasma through the plasma diffuser. as a point of clarification, as used herein, when it is said that blood is being sent through a tube, it is understood that the blood is running through the tube or being diverted through it or traveling through it and that there is directional flow of the blood, sometimes assisted by a pump. these steps are also considered to be a separate uv box method of their own. the step of reuniting the irradiated plasma with the cellular element preferably includes the steps of sending the cellular element from the plasma separator, through a cellular element tube that ends in a joint end; sending the irradiated plasma from the plasma diffuser, through a plasma outlet tube that also ends in the joint end; and sending both the cellular element and the irradiated plasma through a blood inlet tube. the step of replacing the treated blood into the patient is performed by any means commonly used in the art, preferably by iv venipuncture using replacing iv equipment. it is preferred that the blood inlet tube extend between the joint end and terminate in the iv equipment and that the step of replacing the treated blood include sending the treated blood through the blood inlet tube. preferred embodiments of the method of the present invention also include the following step: after the step of removing blood through iv venipuncture and before separating the blood, pumping the blood into the plasma separator. preferred embodiments may also include the step of pumping anticoagulant into the blood with an anticoagulant infusion pump. preferred embodiments may also include the steps of determining a desired uv exposure level and selecting the size and configuration of the plasma vessel so as to achieve the desired uv exposure level. as noted above, the plasma vessel may take many forms so long as the plasma vessel slows down the flow of the plasma and provides surface area on which the plasma will be exposed to the uv light source. different configurations and sizes of the plasma vessel may vary the exposure level to uv. preferred embodiments may also include the step of replacing fluid into the treated blood. preferred embodiments may also include the steps of allowing only a first percentage of the irradiated plasma to reunite with the cellular element; and disposing of the remainder of the irradiated plasma. even though the virus, bacteria, or venom will have been inactivated through the irradiation, controlling how much of the inactivated pathogen returns to the patient will help to decrease the pathogen load. when the method of the present invention is performed using the second or third configuration of the systems of the present invention, discussed above, additional steps are included. after the step of separating the blood, the method also includes the steps of separating the plasma into small plasma and large plasma; sending only the large plasma on to the step of exposing the plasma to uv radiation; and reuniting the small plasma with the cellular element. preferred embodiments also include the steps of allowing only a first percentage of the irradiated large plasma to reunite with the cellular element; and disposing of the remaining percentage of the irradiated large plasma. with the third configuration of the system of the present invention, the method also includes the steps of sending the treated blood through a dialyzer for dialysis and/or fluid removal. these aspects of the present invention are not meant to be exclusive and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art when read in conjunction with the following description and accompanying drawings. brief description of the drawings fig. 1a is a perspective view of the uv box of the present invention in the open position. fig. 1b is a diagram of a blood cleaning machine of the present invention with uv box connected thereto. fig. 2a is a diagram of a plasma diffuser in the maze configuration. fig. 2b is a diagram of a plasma diffuser in the funnel configuration. fig. 3a is a first configuration of the system for irradiating plasma of the present invention. fig. 3b is a second configuration of the system for irradiating plasma of the present invention. fig. 3c is a third configuration of the system for irradiating plasma of the present invention. fig. 4 is a diagram of an exemplary system interface of a system of the present invention. fig. 5a is a flow chart indicating the steps of the method of the present invention when performed with the first configuration of the system of the present invention. fig. 5b is a flow chart indicating the steps of the method of the present invention when performed with the second and third configurations of the system of the present invention. fig. 5c is a flow chart indicating the steps of the uv box method of the present invention. detailed description referring first to fig. 1a , a perspective view of uv box 10 of the present invention in open position 42 is provided. uv box 10 includes housing 12 , top 21 , bottom 24 , and means for adjusting between the open and closed positions 14 . means 14 are preferably at least one hinge. top 21 and bottom 24 are sized so that they align with one another when housing 10 is in the closed position 44 (shown in fig. 1b ). top 21 includes top interior 34 and top exterior 36 . bottom 24 includes bottom interior 38 and bottom exterior 40 . top interior 34 and bottom interior 38 face one another when housing 12 is in the closed position. uv light source 22 is disposed within top interior 34 . plasma diffuser 16 is disposed within bottom interior 38 . when housing 12 is in the closed position and uv light source 22 is activated, uv light source 22 will irradiate plasma diffuser 16 and the plasma therein. as shown, uv light source 22 includes first, second, and third uv light sources 24 , 26 , 28 , each of which emits a different wavelength of uv radiation. plasma diffuser 16 includes plasma inlet 18 through which plasma to be treated is introduced into plasma diffuser 16 , and plasma outlet 20 , through which irradiated plasma leaves plasma diffuser 16 . plasma diffuser 16 is shown in maze configuration 30 . it is understood that funnel configuration 32 , as shown in fig. 2b , or any other plasma diffuser may be substituted. locking means 33 for locking in a specific plasma diffuser 16 may include shaping bottom interior 38 so that only the specific plasma diffuser 16 will fit into uv box 10 . top interior 34 and bottom interior 38 include uv reflective coating 45 , such as aluminum. although not shown, it is understood that the portion of the plasma diffuser 16 that faces toward the bottom interior 38 and away from the uv light source 22 may also include such a uv reflective coating 45 . as used herein, when “a portion of the plasma diffuser” is referenced, it is understood that it is the portion as described above. now referring to fig. 1b , a diagram of blood cleaning machine 400 of the present invention is provided. blood cleaning machine 400 includes a machine 402 that cleans, filters, or replaces blood, such as a cvvh machine, a dialysis machine, or a plasmapheresis machine. this machine 402 is shown connected to uv box 10 . uv box 10 is in closed position 44 , so that only top exterior 36 is visible from this view. the connection between machine 402 includes at least tubing extending between machine 402 and plasma inlet 18 and tubing extending between plasma outlet 20 and machine 402 . it is understood that in some embodiments of blood cleaning machine 400 , uv box 10 is incorporated into the machine 402 and is therefore not necessarily visible from the exterior of machine 402 . now referring to figs. 2a and 2b , diagrams of two preferred plasma diffusers 16 , in the maze configuration 30 and the funnel configuration 32 , respectively, are provided. as shown in fig. 2a , in maze configuration 30 , the plasma travels back and forth horizontally through a series of hairpin-like turns, as the plasma travels vertically between plasma inlet 18 at one end of the vertical length to plasma outlet 20 at the other end of the vertical length. (it is understood that “horizontal” and “vertical” are arbitrary in that description.) the arrows within maze configuration 30 indicate the path that the plasma must take as it travels through. as shown in fig. 2b , funnel configuration 32 is shaped like a funnel with plasma inlet 18 at the narrow end of the funnel and plasma outlet 20 at the wide end of the funnel. as the plasma travels through funnel configuration 32 , it will spread out over the widening inner surface of the funnel. now referring to fig. 3a , a diagram of system 100 of the present invention in its first, simplest configuration is provided. system 100 begins and ends at the patient's arm. removing iv equipment 178 is placed into the patient's arm to draw blood 129 . removing iv equipment 178 is connected to outlet arm end 120 of blood outlet tube 104 through which blood 129 flows. this flow is aided by blood pump 102 , which pumps blood 129 into plasma separator 106 . anticoagulant infusion pump 135 pumps anticoagulant, such as a heparin or a citrate dextrose solution, into blood 129 . this avoids blood clotting. plasma separator 106 separates blood 129 into plasma 110 and cellular element 108 . cellular element 108 flows through cellular element tube 114 , which extends between plasma separator 106 and joint end 126 . plasma 110 flows through plasma inlet tube 112 , which extends between plasma separator 106 and exposing means 136 , specifically to plasma inlet 18 of plasma vessel 182 , which is plasma diffuser 16 . exposing means 136 include plasma vessel 182 and uv light source 22 . in some embodiments, exposing means 136 are uv box 10 of the present invention, as described above with reference to fig. 1 and referenced here in dashed lines. irradiated plasma leaves plasma outlet 20 of plasma diffuser 16 and flows through plasma outlet tube 118 . flow control module 142 is disposed on plasma outlet tube 118 and allows only a first percentage of the irradiated plasma through to reunite with cellular element 108 . the remaining percentage is disposed of in waste deposit 146 . waste deposit 146 includes waste valve 150 to ensure that the remaining percentage of the irradiated plasma does not remix with the first percentage. plasma outlet tube 118 intersects with cellular element tube 114 at joint end 126 , where the first percentage of the irradiated plasma and cellular element 108 are reunited and then flow through blood inlet tube 116 as treated blood. fluid replacement device 198 provides fluid replacement into blood inlet tube 116 to replace the portion of the plasma that was disposed in waste deposit 146 . blood inlet tube 116 extends between joint end 126 and inlet arm end 124 . replacing iv equipment 180 is disposed at inlet arm end 124 and replaces the treated blood into the patient. now referring to fig. 3b , the second configuration of system 100 also includes plasma component separator 128 . plasma component separator 128 is disposed between plasma separator 106 and exposing means 136 . plasma component separator 128 divides plasma inlet tube 112 into first section 138 between plasma separator 106 and plasma component separator 128 and second section 140 between plasma component separator 128 and exposing means 136 . a second pump 130 is disposed on first section 138 to aid the flow of plasma 110 into plasma component separator 128 . plasma component separator 128 separates plasma 110 into small plasma 132 and large plasma 134 . small plasma 132 travels through small plasma tube 144 , which extends between plasma component separator 128 and cellular element tube 114 . small plasma 132 reunites with cellular element 108 at the intersection of small plasma tube 144 and cellular element tube 114 . large plasma 134 flows through second section 140 into exposing means 136 , specifically into plasma inlet 18 of plasma vessel 182 (again shown as plasma diffuser 16 in maze configuration 30 ). flow control module 142 is disposed on plasma outlet tube 118 and allows only a first percentage of the irradiated large plasma through to reunite with cellular element 108 and small plasma 132 . the remaining percentage is disposed of in waste deposit 146 . waste deposit 146 includes waste valve 150 to ensure that the remaining percentage of the irradiated large plasma does not remix with the first percentage. fluid replacement device 198 provides fluid replacement into blood inlet tube 116 to replace the portion of the large plasma that was disposed in waste deposit 146 . now referring to fig. 3c , the third configuration of system 100 also includes dialyzer 148 . dialyzer inlet tube 160 extends between flow control module 142 and dialyzer 148 . dialyzer inlet tube 160 includes dialyzer valve 154 . when dialyzer valve 154 is closed and bypass valve 158 and inlet valve 152 are open, the dialyzer 148 is isolated and this third configuration of system 100 acts exactly like the second configuration, shown in fig. 3b . when inlet valve 152 is closed, and bypass valve 158 and dialyzer valve 154 are open, on the other hand, the reunited cellular element 108 , small plasma 132 , and irradiated large plasma 134 are pumped by dialyzer pump 156 through dialyzer 148 . these series of valves and the tubing 160 , 162 around dialyzer 148 that collectively may isolate the dialyzer 148 from the remainder of system 100 are referred to herein as “means for isolating the dialyzer” 149 . dialyzer 148 is connected to waste deposit 146 and deposits a portion of the dialyzed irradiated blood therein. the fully treated and dialyzed blood then travels through dialyzer outlet tube 162 , which intersects with blood inlet tube 116 . now referring to fig. 4 , a diagram of an exemplary system interface 168 of system 100 of the present invention is provided. power switch 170 turns system 100 on and off. power switch 170 may be a single switch for all powered system components, such as pumps 102 , 130 , 156 ; valves 150 , 154 , 152 , 158 ; uv light source 22 ; and system interface 168 itself. power switch 170 may also include a switch for each such component or sets of such components. system interface 168 includes at least one monitor 172 that displays a patient condition, such as the patient's venous pressure, arterial pressure, volume of blood drawn, blood temperature, etc. system interface 168 includes at least one alarm 174 that indicates when a patient condition is outside of a preferred range. a single alarm 174 may function to indicate several patient conditions or a separate alarm 174 may be included for more than one patient condition. system interface 168 may also include at least one user setting 176 . user settings 176 allow the user to adjust or set parameters that affect the operation of system 100 . user settings 176 may include presets. it is understood that the system interface 168 depicted in fig. 4 is merely exemplary and that the system interface 168 may be arranged in many different configurations and its components, such as power switch 170 , monitors 172 , alarms 174 , and user settings 176 , may vary widely in their display. now referring to fig. 5a , a flow chart indicating the steps of method 200 of the present invention performed with the first configuration of the system of the present invention (as shown in fig. 3a ) is provided. the basic method 200 includes the steps indicated along the top of fig. 5a : removing blood from a patient 201 ; separating the blood into plasma and a cellular element with a plasma separator 202 ; exposing the plasma to uv radiation 204 ; reuniting the irradiated plasma with the cellular element 206 ; and replacing the treated blood into the patient 208 . the step of removing the blood from the first patient 201 is performed by using intravenous (iv) venipuncture to remove blood from the patient 210 or using a double lumen catheter to remove blood from the patient 209 . it is preferred that between the step of removing blood 201 and separating blood 202 , method 200 also include the steps of pumping the blood into the plasma separator 214 and pumping anticoagulant into the blood 213 . the step of replacing the treated blood into the second patient 208 is performed by iv venipuncture 230 or double lumen catheter 211 . method 200 preferably includes the steps of determining a desired level of uv exposure 215 and selecting a plasma vessel with a size and configuration that will effect the desired uv exposure level 217 . the step of exposing the plasma to uv radiation 204 includes the steps of running the plasma through a plasma vessel 221 and positioning at least one uv light source such that the at least one uv light source emits uv radiation onto the plasma vessel 225 . the step of running the plasma through a plasma vessel 221 comprises the step of running the plasma through a plasma diffuser 222 , in either a maze configuration 30 or a funnel configuration 32 , as discussed with reference to figs. 2a and 2b , for examples. the step of positioning at least one uv light source 225 includes the step of using multiple uv light sources 223 , such as first, second, and third uv light sources 24 , 26 , 28 , each of which may emit different wavelengths of uv radiation, as discussed with reference to fig. 1 . the step of exposing the plasma to uv radiation 204 preferably comprises running the plasma through a uv light box 224 of the present invention, as detailed in fig. 5c . the step of exposing the plasma to uv radiation 204 may include the step of exposing the plasma to uv radiation for a specific amount of time 227 , as may be determined by factors such as pathogen load, targeted pathogen, and whether the aim is inactivation of death of the pathogen. the step of reuniting the plasma with the cellular element 206 may include the steps of allowing only a first percentage of the irradiated plasma to reunite with the cellular element 248 ; and disposing of the remaining percentage of the irradiated plasma 250 . method 200 preferably includes the step of replacing fluids 249 between the reuniting step 206 and the replacing step 208 . now referring to fig. 5b , a flow chart indicating the steps of method 200 of the present invention performed with the second and third embodiments of the system of the present invention (as shown in figs. 3b and 3c ) is provided. the basic steps of method 200 and variations thereof, as described with respect to fig. 5a above, remain the same. with the second and third embodiments of the system of the present invention, however, after the step of separating the blood 202 , method 200 also includes the steps of separating the plasma into small plasma and large plasma with a plasma component separator 240 ; reuniting the small plasma with the cellular element 242 ; sending only the large plasma on to the step of exposing the plasma to uv radiation 244 ; and reuniting the large plasma with the small plasma and the cellular element 246 . when method 200 is performed using the third configuration of system 100 , method 100 may include the step of sending the reunited, treated blood through a dialyzer 252 ; allowing only a portion of the dialyzed irradiated blood to be returned to the patient 251 ; and disposing of a remainder of the dialyzed irradiated blood 253 . now referring to fig. 5c , the steps of method 300 for irradiating plasma using a uv box are provided. these steps detail step 224 , shown in fig. 5a , but are also independent method 300 . the steps of method 300 include disposing at least one uv light source in the top of a housing 232 ; disposing a plasma diffuser in the bottom of the housing 234 ; mating the top and bottom of the housing so that the uv light source and the plasma diffuser face one another 236; activating the uv light source 238 ; and sending the plasma through the plasma diffuser 222 . options regarding the plasma diffuser 16 and uv light source 22 are as described with respect to figs. 1 and 5 c. although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions would be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. therefore, the spirit and scope of the description should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.
033-119-104-696-846	US	[ "US" ]	H04N21/442,H04N21/41,H04N21/439,H04N21/44,H04N21/45,H04N21/422,H04N21/488	2013-12-16T00:00:00	2013	[ "H04" ]	methods and systems for location specific operations	systems and methods for performing user accommodations are described. an exemplary system may include an electronic device configured to receive audiovisual content and/or user inputs. the electronic device may further include one or more processors as well as memory, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause them to perform one or more locating functions to locate one or more users of the electronic device, and determine a level of interaction for the one or more users based at least in part on the location. the one or more processors may further be caused to perform at least one accommodation function based at least in part on the determined level of interaction for the one or more users or location of the one or more users.	1 . an electronic device comprising: one or more processors; and memory communicatively coupled with and readable by the one or more processors and having stored therein processor-readable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the electronic device to perform: locating functions to detect a location change of a user of the electronic device, the locating functions comprising: determining a first location corresponding to the user while audiovisual content is being played according to a first set of settings by display equipment and sound equipment communicatively coupled with the electronic device, the first set of settings comprising a display setting and a sound setting; subsequently determining a second location corresponding to the user, the second location being different from the first location; based at least in part on the detected location change, determining a level of interaction of the user, where the level of interaction is selected from a plurality of different levels of interaction; and adjusting one or both of the display setting and the sound setting, based at least in part on the determined level of interaction, so that one or both of the display equipment and the sound equipment operate according to a second set of settings. 2 . the electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting the display setting so that the display equipment displays a video portion of subsequent audiovisual content according to an adjusted display format that is different from a previous display format according to which the audiovisual content was displayed. 3 . the electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting the sound setting so that the sound equipment plays an audio portion of subsequent audiovisual content according to the adjusted sound setting. 4 . the electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the adjusting the sound setting comprises rebalancing a sound profile based at least in part on the detected location change to the second location. 5 . the electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the adjusting comprises pausing play of subsequent audiovisual content based at least in part on the detected location change to the second location. 6 . the electronic device of claim 5 , the electronic device further to perform activating an application to play content that is different from the subsequent audiovisual content. 7 . the electronic device of claim 1 , the electronic device further to perform transferring subsequent audiovisual content to an alternative display device. 8 . a method of accommodating a user of an electronic device, the method comprising: performing locating functions to detect a location change of the user of the electronic device, the locating functions comprising: determining a first location corresponding to the user while audiovisual content is being played according to a first set of settings by display equipment and sound equipment communicatively coupled with the electronic device, the first set of settings comprising a display setting and a sound setting; subsequently determining a second location corresponding to the user, the second location being different from the first location; based at least in part on the detected location change, determining a level of interaction of the user, where the level of interaction is selected from a plurality of different levels of interaction; and adjusting one or both of the display setting and the sound setting, based at least in part on the determined level of interaction, so that one or both of the display equipment and the sound equipment operate according to a second set of settings. 9 . the method of claim 8 , wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting the display setting so that the display equipment displays a video portion of subsequent audiovisual content according to an adjusted display format that is different from a previous display format according to which the audiovisual content was displayed. 10 . the method of claim 8 , wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting the sound setting so that the sound equipment plays an audio portion of subsequent audiovisual content according to the adjusted sound setting. 11 . the method of claim 10 , wherein the adjusting the sound setting comprises rebalancing a sound profile based at least in part on the detected location change to the second location. 12 . the method of claim 8 , wherein the adjusting comprises pausing play of subsequent audiovisual content based at least in part on the detected location change to the second location. 13 . the method of claim 12 , further comprising activating an application to play content that is different from the subsequent audiovisual content. 14 . the method of claim 8 , further comprising transferring subsequent audiovisual content to an alternative display device. 15 . a non-transitory, processor-readable medium comprising processor-readable instructions, which, when executed by one or more processing devices, cause the one or more processing devices to perform actions comprising: performing locating functions to detect a location change of a user of the one or more processing devices, the locating functions comprising: determining a first location corresponding to the user while audiovisual content is being played according to a first set of settings by display equipment and sound equipment communicatively coupled with the one or more processing devices, the first set of settings comprising a display setting and a sound setting; subsequently determining a second location corresponding to the user, the second location being different from the first location; based at least in part on the detected location change, determining a level of interaction of the user, where the level of interaction is selected from a plurality of different levels of interaction; and adjusting one or both of the display setting and the sound setting, based at least in part on the determined level of interaction, so that one or both of the display equipment and the sound equipment operate according to a second set of settings. 16 . the non-transitory, processor-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting the display setting so that the display equipment displays a video portion of subsequent audiovisual content according to an adjusted display format that is different from a previous display format according to which the audiovisual content was di splayed. 17 . the non-transitory, processor-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting the sound setting so that the sound equipment plays an audio portion of subsequent audiovisual content according to the adjusted sound setting. 18 . the non-transitory, processor-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the adjusting the sound setting comprises rebalancing a sound profile based at least in part on the detected location change to the second location. 19 . the non-transitory, processor-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the adjusting comprises pausing play of subsequent audiovisual content based at least in part on the detected location change to the second location. 20 . the non-transitory, processor-readable medium of claim 19 , the actions further comprising activating an application to play content that is different from the subsequent audiovisual content.	cross-reference to related applications the present application is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/672,997, filed aug. 9, 2017, entitled “methods and systems for location specific operations,” which is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 14/107,132, filed dec. 16, 2013, entitled “methods and systems for location specific operations,” the contents of each which are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. technical field the present technology relates to systems and methods for accommodating a user of an electronic device. more specifically, the present technology relates to accommodating a user of an electronic device based on the user's relative location and/or level of interaction. background as technology, such as audiovisual technology, continues to improve, a variety of modifications can be performed based on user preferences. for example, if a viewer is watching a movie, the viewer may have a preference regarding whether a movie is displayed in a widescreen format or has been adjusted to maximize screen space for a display. however, with many potentially available users of the devices in a single household, different preferences may be had by each viewer, and each viewer may have to adjust these preferences whenever he or she decides to utilize the technology. this may result in frustration for viewers wishing for simpler ways by which their preferences may be used. thus, there is a need for improved methods and systems for identifying users of audiovisual technology and performing operations that may accommodate each specific user. these and other needs are addressed by the present technology. summary systems and methods for performing user accommodations are described. an exemplary system may include an electronic device configured to receive audiovisual content and/or user inputs. the electronic device may further include one or more processors as well as memory, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause them to perform one or more locating functions to locate one or more users of the electronic device, and determine a level of interaction for the one or more users based at least in part on the location. the one or more processors may further be caused to perform at least one accommodation function based at least in part on the determined level of interaction for the one or more users or location of the one or more users. the one or more processors may cause the electronic device to perform a scan to locate the one or more users. in disclosed embodiments at least one of the one or more users may be located based on the location of a controlling device. controlling devices may include a variety of devices including remote controls, mobile devices, video game controllers, and computing devices. the controlling device or devices may be communicatively coupled with the electronic device, and may include a wired or wireless connection. exemplary controlling devices may be configured to send signal information to the electronic device on a predetermined basis, and the signal information may include location information. in disclosed embodiments the accommodation function may include an adjustment of at least one audiovisual component. for example, the accommodation function may include automatically adjusting an audio component, and the accommodation function may include automatically adjusting a video component. in exemplary devices, the one or more processors may be further caused to identify at least one user as a controlling user subsequent to locating that user. the accommodation function may include an automatic adjustment of the display property for the audiovisual content based on a predetermined preference of the identified controlling user. in disclosed embodiments the electronic device may determine that the user has a high level of interaction, and the accommodation may include making available at least one interactive component of a broadcast being transmitted from the electronic device to the display device. the electronic device may also determine that the user has a low level of interaction, and the accommodation may include automatically transmitting an interactive message to the display device or a controlling device requesting a response from at least one user. the interactive message may include a request to transfer a broadcast from the display device communicatively coupled with the electronic device to an alternative display device. the interactive message may also include a request for response based on inactivity determined by the electronic device. methods of accommodating a user of an electronic device are also described and may include locating one or more users with the electronic device. the methods may include determining with the electronic device a level of interaction for the one or more users based at least in part on the location of the one or more users. the methods may also include performing at least one accommodation with the electronic device based at least in part on the determined level of interaction for the one or more users or the location of the one or more users. the methods may further include identifying at least one user as a controlling user after locating that particular user. the identifying operation of the methods may include determining an identity of the controlling user and presenting the message to the user requesting confirmation of the identity of the controlling user. such technology may provide numerous benefits over conventional techniques. for example, as soon as a user is positioned in a favorite location or using a specific controlling device, the electronic device may automatically determine who that user is and adjust preferences accordingly. additionally, by monitoring the location of the user or controlling device, the electronic device may adjust audiovisual parameters based on where a user may be or to where a user may have moved. these and other embodiments, along with many of their advantages and features, are described in more detail in conjunction with the below description and attached figures. brief description of the drawings a further understanding of the nature and advantages of the disclosed embodiments may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings. fig. 1 shows a simplified media service system that may be used in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary electronic device that may be used in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. fig. 3 illustrates modular components that may be used in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. fig. 4 shows a simplified flow diagram of a method for performing a user accommodation according to embodiments of the present technology. fig. 5 shows another simplified flow diagram of a method for performing a user accommodation according to embodiments of the present technology. fig. 6 shows a simplified computer system that may be utilized to perform one or more of the operations discussed. in the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have the same numerical reference label. further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a letter that distinguishes among the similar components and/or features. if only the first numerical reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components and/or features having the same first numerical reference label irrespective of the letter suffix. detailed description the present technology is directed to performing accommodations for one or more users of an electronic device based on the user location and/or level of interaction. the technology can allow users to have their preferences enacted automatically, as well as to have the experience based on utilizing the device improved or facilitated. in so doing, users may experience improved sound and viewing, along with reducing frustrations associated with having to manually adjust preferences or components while participating. these and other benefits will be explained in detail below. although embodiments detailed herein are directed toward controlling television based equipment, the principles easily can be extended to other types of content and devices, such as dvd equipment, digital video recorder (dvr) equipment, video game equipment, computer equipment, handheld electronic devices, and the like. in addition, the terms “television” or “television service” can include traditional television programming, such as linear television programs, as well as other types of audio, video and/or audiovideo content, such as on-demand video content, on-demand or streaming audio content, streaming video content and the like delivered via any type of content delivery systems, such as cable, satellite, cellular/wireless, internet/ip, and/or any other content delivery technology or system currently known or hereafter developed. furthermore, embodiments herein describe set-top boxes or receivers and/or other devices being connected with a television or other device having an electronic display. however, the electronic device can also be incorporated into or be a part of the device having the display or display device, such as a television with an integrated cable, satellite or iptv receiver. alternatively, the electronic device may be a dvr or dvd player including the present technology. the technology discussed herein additionally can be extended to any of a variety of other electronic devices, display devices, or combined devices, such as, for example, computers, tablets, hand-held mobile devices, cell phones, e-readers, personal media players, and the like. a person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize various alterations, additions, omissions, and substitutions. fig. 1 is a simplified illustration of an embodiment of a satellite television distribution system 100 . satellite television distribution system 100 may include: television service provider system 110 , satellite transmitter equipment 120 , satellites 130 , satellite dish 140 , set-top box (stb) 150 , and television 160 . the television 160 can be controlled by a user 153 using a remote control device 155 that can send wireless signals 157 to communicate with the stb 150 and/or television 160 . although discussed as being wireless for user convenience, the technology may additionally include a wired coupling between the remote control device 155 and stb 130 or television 160 . alternate embodiments of the satellite television distribution system 100 may include fewer or greater numbers of components. while only one satellite dish 140 , stb 150 and television 160 , collectively referred to as user equipment, are illustrated, it should be understood that multiple (tens, thousands, millions, etc.) instances of user equipment may be connected within the data communication network 190 . television service provider system 110 and satellite transmitter equipment 120 may be operated by a television service provider. a television service provider may distribute television channels, on-demand programing, programming information, and/or other services to users. television service provider system 110 may receive feeds of one or more television channels or audio channels from various sources. such television channels may include multiple television channels that contain the same content, but may be in different formats, such as high-definition and standard-definition. to distribute such television channels to users, feeds of the television channels may be relayed to user equipment via one or more satellites via transponder streams. satellite transmitter equipment 120 may be used to transmit a feed of one or more television channels from television service provider system 110 to one or more satellites 130 . while a single television service provider system 110 and satellite transmitter equipment 120 are illustrated as part of satellite television distribution system 100 , it should be understood that multiple instances of transmitter equipment may be used, possibly scattered geographically to communicate with satellites 130 . such multiple instances of satellite transmitting equipment may communicate with the same or with different satellites. different television channels may be transmitted to satellites 130 from different instances of transmitting equipment. for instance, a different satellite dish of transmitting equipment 120 may be used for communication with satellites in different orbital slots. satellites 130 may be configured to receive signals, such as streams of television channels, from one or more satellite uplinks such as satellite transmitter equipment 120 . satellites 130 may relay received signals from satellite transmitter equipment 120 , and/or other satellite transmitter equipment, to multiple instances of user equipment via transponder streams. different frequencies may be used for uplink signals 170 from transponder stream 180 . satellites 130 may be in geosynchronous orbit. each satellite 130 may be in a different orbital slot, such that the signal path between each satellite, transmitter equipment, and user equipment vary. multiple satellites 130 may be used to relay television channels from television service provider system 110 to satellite dish 140 . different television channels may be carried using different satellites. different television channels may also be carried using different transponders of the same satellite; thus, such television channels may be transmitted at different frequencies and/or different frequency ranges. as an example, a first and second television channel may be carried on a first transponder of satellite 130 a. a third, fourth, and fifth television channel may be carried using a different satellite or a different transponder of the same satellite relaying the transponder stream at a different frequency. a transponder stream transmitted by a particular transponder of a particular satellite may include a finite number of television channels, such as seven. accordingly, if many television channels are to be made available for viewing and recording, multiple transponder streams may be necessary to transmit all of the television channels to the instances of user equipment. satellite dish 140 may be a piece of user equipment that is used to receive transponder streams from one or more satellites, such as satellites 130 . satellite dish 140 may be provided to a user for use on a subscription basis to receive television channels provided by the television service provider system 110 , satellite uplink 120 , and/or satellites 130 . satellite dish 140 may be configured to receive transponder streams from multiple satellites and/or multiple transponders of the same satellite. satellite dish 140 may be configured to receive television channels via transponder streams on multiple frequencies. based on the characteristics of set-top box (stb) 150 and/or satellite dish 140 , it may only be possible to capture transponder streams from a limited number of transponders concurrently. for example, a tuner of stb 150 may only be able to tune to a single transponder stream from a transponder of a single satellite at a time. in communication with satellite dish 140 , may be one or more sets of receiving equipment. receiving equipment may be configured to decode signals received from satellites 130 via satellite dish 140 for display on a display device, such as television 160 . receiving equipment may be incorporated as part of a television or may be part of a separate device, commonly referred to as a set-top box (stb). receiving equipment may include a satellite tuner configured to receive television channels via a satellite. in fig. 1 , receiving equipment is present in the form of set-top box 150 . as such, set-top box 150 may decode signals received via satellite dish 140 and provide an output to television 160 . fig. 2 provides additional details of receiving equipment. television 160 may be used to present video and/or audio decoded by set-top box 150 . set-top box 150 may also output a display of one or more interfaces to television 160 , such as an electronic programming guide (epg). in some embodiments, a display device other than a television may be used. uplink signal 170 a represents a signal between satellite uplink 120 a and satellite 130 a . uplink signal 170 b represents a signal between satellite uplink 120 b and satellite 130 b. each of uplink signals 170 may contain streams of one or more different television channels. for example, uplink signal 170 a may contain a certain group of television channels, while uplink signal 170 b contains a different grouping of television channels. each of these television channels may be scrambled such that unauthorized persons are prevented from accessing the television channels. transponder stream 180 a represents a signal between satellite 130 a and satellite dish 140 . transponder stream 180 b represents a signal path between satellite 130 b and satellite dish 140 . each of transponder streams 180 may contain one or more different television channels in the form of transponder streams, which may be at least partially scrambled. for example, transponder stream 180 a may include a first transponder stream containing a first group of television channels, while transponder stream 180 b may include a second transponder stream containing a different group of television channels. a satellite may transmit multiple transponder streams to user equipment. for example, a typical satellite may relay thirty-two transponder streams via corresponding transponders to user equipment. further, spot beams are possible. for example, a satellite may be able to transmit a transponder stream to a particular geographic region, e.g., to distribute local television channels to the relevant market. different television channels may be transmitted using the same frequency of the transponder stream to a different geographic region. fig. 1 illustrates transponder stream 180 a and transponder stream 180 b being received by satellite dish 140 . for a first group of television channels, satellite dish 140 may receive a transponder stream of transponder stream 180 a; for a second group of channels, a transponder stream of transponder stream 180 b may be received. stb 150 may decode the received transponder stream. as such, depending on which television channel(s) are desired, a transponder stream from a different satellite, or a different transponder of the same satellite, may be accessed and decoded by stb 150 . further, while two satellites are present in satellite television distribution system 100 , in other embodiments greater or fewer numbers of satellites may be present for receiving and transmitting transponder streams to user equipment. network 190 may serve as a secondary communication channel between television service provider system 110 and set-top box 150 . via such a secondary communication channel, bidirectional exchange of data may occur. as such, data may be transmitted to television service provider system 110 via network 190 . data may also be transmitted from television service provider system 110 to stb 150 via network 190 . network 190 may be the internet. while audio and video services may be provided to stb 150 via satellites 130 , feedback from stb 150 to television service provider system 110 may be transmitted via network 190 . fig. 1 illustrates an example of a satellite-based television channel distribution system. it should be understood, however, that at least some of the aspects of such a system may be similar to a cable television distribution system. for example, in a cable television system, rather than using satellite transponders, multiple rf channels on a cable may be used to transmit streams of television channels. as such, aspects detailed herein may be applicable to cable television distribution systems. it is also to be understood that the technology disclosed herein can be practiced on and by cable, satellite, internet-based, over-the-air, or any other system that distributes video for display. fig. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a set-top box 200 , or alternatively a television receiver 200 . stb 200 may be set-top box 150 of fig. 1 , or may be incorporated as part of a television, such as television 160 of fig. 1 . stb 200 may include: processors 210 , tuners 215 , network interface 220 , non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 225 , electronic programming guide (epg) 230 , television interface 235 , networking information table (nit) 240 , digital video recorder (dvr) 245 , user interface 250 , demultiplexer 255 , smart card 260 , and/or descrambling engine 265 . in other embodiments of stb 200 , fewer or greater numbers of components may be present. it should be understood that the various components of stb 200 may be implemented using hardware, firmware, software, and/or some combination thereof. for example, epg 230 may be executed by processors 210 . processors 210 may include one or more general-purpose processors configured to perform processes such as tuning to a particular channel, displaying the epg, and/or receiving and processing input from a user. processors 210 may include one or more special purpose processors. for example, processors 210 may include one or more processors dedicated to decoding video signals from a particular format, such as mpeg, for output and display on a television and for performing decryption. it should be understood that the functions performed by various modules of fig. 2 may be performed using one or more processors. as such, for example, functions of descrambling engine 265 may be performed by processor 210 . tuners 215 may include one or more tuners used to tune to television channels, such as television channels transmitted via satellite or cable. network interface 220 may be used to communicate via an alternate communication channel with a television service provider. storage medium 225 may represent a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. storage medium 225 may include memory and/or a hard drive. storage medium 225 may be used to store information received from one or more satellites and/or information received via network interface 220 . storage medium 225 may store information related to epg 230 , nit 240 , and/or dvr 245 . recorded television programs may be stored using storage medium 225 . epg 230 may store information related to television channels and the timing of programs appearing on such television channels. epg 230 may be stored using non-transitory storage medium 225 , which may be a hard drive. audio/video decoder 233 may serve to convert encoded video and audio into a format suitable for output to a display device. television interface 235 may serve to output a signal to a television, or another form of display device, in a proper format for display of video and playback of audio. the network information table (nit) 240 may store information used by set-top box 200 to access various television channels. digital video recorder (dvr) 245 may permit a television channel to be recorded for a period of time. dvr 245 may store timers that are used by processors 210 to determine when a television channel should be tuned to and recorded to dvr 245 of storage medium 225 . in some embodiments, a limited amount of storage medium 225 may be devoted to dvr 245 . timers may be set by the television service provider and/or one or more users of the stb. dvr 245 may be configured by a user to record particular television programs. whether a user directly tunes to a television channel or dvr 245 tunes to a first television channel, nit 240 may be used to determine the satellite, transponder, ecm pid (packet identifier), audio pid, and video pid. user interface 250 may include a remote control, physically separate from stb 200 , and/or one or more buttons on stb 200 that allows a user to interact with stb 200 . user interface 250 may be used to select a television channel for viewing, view epg 230 , and/or program dvr 245 . demultiplexer 255 may be configured to filter data packets based on pids. for example, if a transponder data stream includes multiple television channels, data packets corresponding to a television channel that is not desired to be stored or displayed by the user, may be ignored by demultiplexer 255 . descrambling engine 265 may use the control words output by smart card 260 in order to descramble video and/or audio corresponding to television channels for storage and/or presentation. for simplicity, stb 200 of fig. 2 has been reduced to a block diagram, and commonly known parts, such as a power supply, have been omitted. further, some routing between the various modules of stb 200 has been illustrated. such illustrations are for exemplary purposes only. two modules not being directly or indirectly connected does not indicate the modules cannot communicate. rather, connections between modules of the stb 200 are intended only to indicate possible common data routing. it should be understood that the modules of sib 200 may be combined into a fewer number of modules or divided into a greater number of modules. further, the components of stb 200 may be part of another device, such as built into a television. also, while stb 200 may be used to receive, store, and present television channels received via a satellite, it should be understood that similar components may be used to receive, store, and present television channels via a cable network. although stb 200 is identified as a suitable device with which to practice the disclosed technology, it is to be understood that any number of devices may be utilized that are capable of transmitting, displaying, and processing video content, including televisions, dvrs, dvd players, hand-held devices, tablets, computers, etc. fig. 3 is an illustration of an embodiment of modular components of an application 300 that may include hardware, software, firmware or any such combination, which may be used to perform the present technological functions. in disclosed embodiments, application 300 may include more or less modules, and the modules may additionally be separated into multiple modules, or the modules may be combined. the modules may additionally be aspects of more than one application run by one or more processors, such as processors 210 of device 200 , or processors 610 described below. the application may be stored in memory such as memory 635 as described in detail below. in this embodiment, the modules may be run concurrently, in differing order, or without one or more of the specified modules in order to perform the technological functions described herein. the modules of application 300 will be discussed in reference to stb 200 as previously described, but it is to be understood that the application 300 may be incorporated with a variety of other electronic devices including a dvr, dvd player, television, computer, tablet, or hand-held device. an electronic device, such as stb 200 as previously discussed with respect to fig. 2 , may include at least one input component configured to receive audiovisual content, such as from television service provider 110 , or from an incorporated or otherwise connected video content player such as a dvr or dvd player. additionally, stb 200 may be configured to receive audio and/or video data from additional sources accessed via network 190 . stb 200 may also include at least one user input component configured to receive one or more user instructions, such as from remote control 155 . stb 200 may include at least one output component communicatively coupled with a display device, such as television 160 . the electronic device may be directly coupled with the display device or otherwise in communication with the device such that video data may be transmitted wirelessly, for example. the stb 200 may also be configured with multiple output components, which may be configured to provide video data to multiple display devices. the stb 200 may send a main video as received from the service provider to the main display device, such as television 160 , and also send an additional video data stream to an additional display device, such as a laptop, smartphone, or other device capable of receiving a video display (not shown). the electronic device may include one or more processors, as well as memory, that coordinate to perform the application 300 . in operation, optionally included content receiver 310 may receive audio and/or video content as received into the electronic device, or another electronic device. the content receiver 310 may be optional, for example, or unnecessary in the case of a dvd player, which may generate or retrieve the content from an inserted disc. user locater 320 may perform one or more locating functions in order to locate one or more users of the electronic device. the electronic device may locate users in one or more ways including the relative location of the user or a controlling device, or based on an input provided by one or more users. for example, the electronic device may perform a scan of an area or space about the electronic device in order to determine the location of users. the scan may be performed when the electronic device is powered on, and may occur automatically at intermittent intervals such as milliseconds, seconds, minutes, hours, etc., in order to update user location periodically. the scan may include ir technology, or any other technology suitable to scan an area for motion, heat, or any other characteristics that might be used to identify the position of one or more users. in one exemplary scan technique, not to be used to limit the technology, the electronic device may utilize a depth map with a projected image, such as structured light, as well as other vision techniques including depth from focus or depth from stereo to determine object locations. the electronic device may then map human features onto the depth map, such as arms, etc., to infer body position of potential users. any movement of users may similarly be used to identify users or body movement at any time during the use of the device. additional input such as sound tracking, including voices, may be used to determine location as well. for example, user voices for alternative users may be saved in profiles, and during a scanning operation, voices may be used to further identify location or identity of users. in embodiments, the electronic device may present a request for a voice instruction in order to provide information useful for such identification. in disclosed embodiments, at least one of the one or more users may additionally or alternatively be located based on the location of a controlling device. the controlling device may be any number of components, and may include a remote control associated with the electronic device, a videogame controller, a mobile device, or a computing device. such a controlling device may be communicatively coupled with the electronic device, which may include a wired or wireless connection in various embodiments. the controlling device may intermittently or continuously update the electronic device on the location of the controlling device, which may be used as an indicator for the location of a user. for example, a user may be holding a remote control or have it placed proximate the user, which can be used to instruct the electronic device of the relative position of the user. as another example, the controlling device may be a tablet, or a mobile device such as, for example, a smart phone. the user may be holding such a controlling device, or may have it adjacent the user, or it may be placed in the user's clothes such as in a pocket. the device may be configured to send signal information to the electronic device on a predetermined basis, and the signal information may include location information. as such, as the user adjusts position or moves to another location the electronic device may be updated with the new location of the user. the signal information may be transmitted at intermittent time intervals, as well as upon any movement of the controlling device. additionally, the electronic device may be preprogrammed with ownership information for each controlling device. optional user identifier 330 may have access to or may store the identities of family members based on their personal devices. for example, in many households each member of the family has his or her own cell phone or tablet. these devices may be used as controlling devices for the electronic device, and user identifier 330 may inform the electronic device of the identity of particular users located by the electronic device. once a specific user who has been located has further been identified, this user may be determined to be a controlling user by the electronic device. when multiple controlling devices are located and identified at any particular time, the electronic device may determine a controlling user as any of the users who may provide input to the electronic device, or based on a predetermined hierarchy of controllers. once the electronic device has located and/or identified one or more users, interaction determining module 340 may be used to determine a level of interaction for the one or more users. such a determination may be based at least in part on the location of one or more of the users, and can be used in one or more accommodation functions performed by the electronic device. the determination for level of interaction may be based on any predetermined scale such as on a numeric range, e.g. 1-100 with one being a very low level of engagement and 100 being a very high level of engagement, or more simply based on a high, medium, or low level of interaction. if a user is in close proximity to the electronic device, such as sitting on a couch watching television, the device may determine a high level of interaction. however, if the user is determined to be further from the electronic device, such as in an adjacent room, e.g. an adjacent kitchen or nearby bathroom, the electronic device may determine a low level of interaction. level of interaction may also be determined based on inputs received from a controlling device as well. for example, if a user has consistently utilized fast-forward or other technology to skip commercials during a broadcast, these received instructions may be utilized to determine a level of interaction as well. once the application 300 has determined one or more user locations or levels of interaction, the electronic device may perform at least one accommodation function via the accommodation performing module 350 . the accommodation function may be based at least in part on either or both of the determined level of interaction for the user or the location of the user. the accommodation may include adjustment to a broadcast being displayed, or an adjustment of at least one audiovisual component associated with the electronic device. for example, the accommodation may include automatically adjusting an audio component such as a speaker system or configuration. when a user has been determined to be in a specific location in relation to the electronic device or the system as a whole, the accommodation may include balancing sound, such as a surround sound system, in order to direct the sound more appropriately towards the viewer. the accommodation may also include automatically adjusting a video component or the display itself. for example, a user may prefer widescreen format, or an original version, of content being displayed on a display device coupled with the electronic device. another user may prefer the format to be adjusted as needed to better occupy display space available. these preferences may be stored on or otherwise be accessible by the electronic device, and then when each particular user is interacting with the electronic device the accommodation may include automatically adjusting the display to the preferred format of that user. these and other accommodations will be discussed in further detail with respect to the methods described below. optional content transmitter 360 may be used to transmit audio and/or visual material to one or more display devices, and may further be used to transmit additional material in conjunction with accommodations being performed as will be described in further detail below. the electronic device may include user inputs as previously identified for receiving user instructions or otherwise allowing the user to interact with application 300 . for example, a user may instruct the device to transmit for display a menu with which the user may interact, or the user may respond to displays or interactive messages presented by the electronic device. additional aspects of such messages are described further below. the systems and devices previously described may be used in performing various methods. fig. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a method 400 for accommodating a user of an electronic device. method 400 may be performed using any of the systems or components previously described. method 400 may allow for an electronic device to locate one or more users and to adjust one or more settings of various components based on user location and/or preferences of particular users. each step of method 400 may be performed at or by a single electronic device, such as an stb, dvr, or mobile device, for example, or by multiple devices communicating with one another. means for performing each step of method 400 include an electronic device and/or the various components of an electronic device or distribution system, such as those detailed in relation to figs. 1-3 . method 400 may be performed using a computerized device, such as a device incorporating some or all of the components of computer system 600 of fig. 6 . at step 410 , an electronic device locates one or more users. the electronic device may perform a scan of surrounding areas in order to determine user location, or the electronic device may receive location information from a user or a controlling device being operated by a user. at optional step 420 , the electronic device may identify at least one user as a controlling user subsequent to locating the user. the identity of the controlling user may be based on specific personal data, such as ownership of the controlling device, or may more generally be based on a location of the user. for example, the electronic device may be preprogrammed with favorite locations for particular users, such as if each member of a family has a particular position from which they interact with the electronic device. accordingly, based on a user being located in a particular position and identified either by the electronic device or controlling device, the electronic device may compare this location with such favorite locations and determine the identity of the user. at optional step 430 , the electronic device may present a message to the located user either via a coupled display device or via a controlling device requesting confirmation of the identity of the user, for example, if the user is located in a position normally associated with or preprogrammed to be the location for a mother within a family, the message presented may include a query similar to, “are you mom?” the message may further include response options including yes/no or also the ability to select the user based on preprogrammed identities. additionally, selecting no may present a subsequent message with each of a set of preprogrammed identities for selection by the user. once the location and/or identity of one or more of the users has been determined, the electronic device may determine a level of interaction for one or more of the users based at least in part on the location of the one or more users. determining the level of interaction for one or more users may occur in numerous ways, and may be used to perform accommodations or enact preferences for a user. in disclosed embodiments, if the user is determined to be relatively near the electronic device, such as a favorite position on a couch or chair, or within a pre-designated distance of the electronic device such as up to 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15, etc., feet from the electronic device, the user may be determined to have a high level of interaction or engagement with the electronic device. in disclosed embodiments, if the user is determined to be past a predefined distance from the electronic device, such as more than 5, 7, 10, 15, etc., feet from the electronic device, the user may be determined to have a low level of interaction or engagement with the electronic device. additionally, by interacting with the electronic device including through a controlling device, a user may select a level of engagement or interaction that is then used by the electronic device. once this determination has been made, the electronic device may perform one or more accommodations at step 450 . at least one accommodation may be performed with the electronic device based at least in part on the determined level of interaction for the one or more users or the location of the one or more users. the accommodations may be performed automatically or after a request has been presented to a user. the accommodations may include adjustments to a broadcast being displayed, audio characteristics or components, or video characteristics or components. as one example, the accommodation performed may include an automatic adjustment of the display property for displayed audiovisual content based on a predetermined preference of a controlling user. for example, 3-d displays utilizing a parallax barrier may be associated with the electronic device such that when a user has been located, the barrier may be adjusted automatically by the electronic device to optimize the display for that user location. such a barrier may also be appropriately tuned for multiple viewers, or may adjust a first view based on the location of a first viewer, a second view based on the location of a second viewer, etc. for the number of viewers located. one such example may involve a split screen presentation, such as with a video game, for multiple viewers. as previously described, if a particular user prefers the display to be adjusted in one or more ways to maximize display space of a coupled display device, this adjustment may be performed automatically when that particular user is located or identified by the electronic device. if the user has been determined to have a high level of interaction or engagement with the electronic device, the accommodation may include making available at least one interactive component of a broadcast being transmitted from the electronic device to the display device. for example, many broadcasts include additional content that can be displayed on an additional screen or as additional content with the broadcast, such as live updates by the show characters via twitter® during a broadcast. if the user is determined to have a high level of interaction, the electronic device may continue to provide such additional content with which the user may interact. additionally, based on an identity of a user, advertisements may be provided that have been selected based on demographics for the particular user. in embodiments the advertisements are chosen based on identity of a household, such as geographic information, and in embodiments the advertisements are selected based on specific user identity, such as by age, gender, race, etc. to provide targeted advertising to the interacting user. a user may be determined to have a low level of interaction as well. for example, the user may move from the general area associated with the electronic device for numerous reasons including to take a phone call, to go to the bathroom, or to go to the kitchen for a snack, etc. although the user may have previously been determined to have a high level of interaction, the electronic device may then change the determination of the user to have a low level of interaction with the device. in response, the electronic device may perform a number of accommodating actions. for example, the accommodation may include automatically transmitting an interactive message to the display device or to a controlling device requesting a response from the user. the request may include a variety of information including whether the user wishes to pause a broadcast, transfer broadcast from the display device communicatively coupled with the electronic device to an alternative display device, or whether the user wishes the electronic device and/or associated devices to be switched off. the electronic device may perform appropriate action if it does not receive a response after a predetermined amount of time. for example if no response is provided after a number of minutes, e.g. up to 5, 10, 15, 20, etc., the electronic device may automatically power down one or more associated devices including the electronic device itself. a user may also respond indicating that he or she wishes to remain engaged with the broadcast, which may include a network broadcast, on-demand content, a movie display such as from a dvd, etc. for example, the user may elect to have the audiovisual content transferred to an alternate display, such as a tablet or an alternative display device located elsewhere. as would be understood, a variety of other accommodations may be performed that are encompassed by this technology. fig. 5 illustrates another embodiment of a method 500 for performing a user accommodation according to the present technology. method 500 may be performed using any of the systems or components previously described. method 500 may allow for a user to be located and/or identified such that accommodations can be enacted by an electronic device. each step of method 500 may be performed by an electronic device, such as an stb, dvr, etc., or may be performed with more than one device in communication with one another. means for performing each step of method 500 include a first electronic device and/or the various components of an electronic device or distribution system, such as those detailed in relation to figs. 1-3 . method 500 may represent a more detailed embodiment of method 400 , or an alternative embodiment to method 400 . method 500 may be performed using a computerized device, such as a device incorporating some or all of the components of computer system 600 of fig. 6 . at step 510 , the electronic device may locate one or more controlling devices. controlling devices may include any device previously described including a remote control, a mobile device, a videogame controller, a computing device, etc. in disclosed embodiments, the controlling device may include a clip, a lanyard, or some other mechanism by which the controller may be coupled with the user. the one or more controlling devices may be located based on information transmitted between the controlling devices and the electronic device. for example, the controlling devices may transmit continuous or intermittent updates to the electronic device that include location information. the location information for the one or more controlling devices may be used to associate one or more of the controlling devices with one or more users at step 520 . for example, a controlling device may be associated with the user based on presumed proximity of the user to the controlling device, and in disclosed embodiments may be based on predetermined identifiers for specific controlling devices. for example, identification information for mobile phones for each member of the family may be stored on the electronic device. these mobile phones may be configured to operate as controlling devices for the electronic device and thus when the electronic device determines a particular mobile phone is being utilized to operate the electronic device, the electronic device may be able to access stored data to determine a particular identity associated with the mobile phone. in disclosed embodiments, the electronic device may be or may not be associated with a videogame system having one or more videogame controllers. these controllers may be connected so as to identify a first player, a second player, etc. and the electronic device may be able to locate and associate particular users based on the location of the particular controllers. method 500 may also optionally include determining a level of interaction for users at step 530 such as previously described. the method 500 may also include performing an accommodation function at step 540 . the accommodations may include one or more adjustments to devices associated with the electronic device as well as to audiovisual content being displayed. the accommodations may include any of the previously discussed accommodations, as well as further accommodations described here. for example, the user may have been determined to be located at a certain position, such as on a chair or couch, based on one or more of the location mechanisms previously discussed, e.g. based on a mobile phone associated with the user and acting as a controlling device for the electronic device. during a commercial break of a broadcast, or some other nondescript time, the user may move to another location bringing the controlling device with him. for example, a user may get up and move into an adjoining room such as a kitchen to prepare a snack. the controlling device may update the electronic device on the changing condition, such as via intermittent signals transmitted while the controlling device is stationary and through continuous updates while the controlling device is moving. the electronic device may then perform accommodation functions such as by adjusting the sound through an associated sound system. the sound profile may be rebalanced by the electronic device as the user moves to maintain a quality sound profile. as one example, the electronic device may reconfigure the speakers such as to move the sounds presented through side speakers to be adjusted and presented through a front speaker, for example if the user has moved to a kitchen located in line with but further from a chair or couch in front of the electronic device. alternatively, if a user has been determined to move to an alternative area, such as the kitchen or bathroom, the electronic device may stop or pause a program being played, for example, and may also change applications being utilized, such as play music including from a predetermined favorite station of the identified user. additionally, if a user moves to a different location taking the controlling device with him, the controlling device may utilize alternative input mechanisms for control, such as voice. in disclosed embodiments, the system may also utilize one or more filters to discriminate against background noise or voices other than the user, for example. as another example, many video games include multiple-player interaction and may utilize a split screen display to provide a perspective for each of the players. in disclosed embodiments, the electronic device may determine the location of each player interacting, and adjust the display accordingly. for example, in a two player scenario, if player one is seated on the left and player two is seated on the right, the electronic device may determine the location of each player and reconfigure a two-person display to have player one's view on the same side as where player one sitting. if the two players happened to switch position, based on the new position of the controllers, the electronic device may also switch the player's views accordingly. in disclosed embodiments the electronic device may utilize both a scan function as well as location information for particular controlling devices in conjunction with one another. in this way, if the user happens to move away from a viewing location, but leave a controlling device at the location, the electronic device may still be able to determine that the user is no longer engaged with the electronic device. accordingly, the electronic device may perform further accommodation functions, such as presenting a message on the display after a predetermined amount of time as described previously, where the message includes a request for response based on a determined inactivity, such as if the user has left the room. if the user does not respond within another predetermined amount of time, the electronic device may shut down itself along with various other associated components of an entertainment system. such a message may also be presented at periodic intervals such as after 1, 2, 3, etc. hours to reduce power consumption if a user has fallen asleep or otherwise disengaged from the broadcast. the electronic device may also coordinate speaker systems within furniture, such as furniture having internal subwoofers or other speakers. based on the location of the user on such a piece of furniture, the electronic device may engage those particular speakers automatically, which may be performed based on a previously enacted communication path between the electronic device and the piece of furniture. in disclosed embodiments the electronic device may perform accommodation functions based on time of day. for example, after a certain time, e.g. 9:00 pm, the electronic device may automatically adjust the sound profile such as to reduce the overall sound levels emitted as well as to perform functions that may include turning off a subwoofer or other speakers. in other embodiments, multiple electronic devices may coordinate with one another based on a user location. for example, a user may be watching the broadcast transmitted by or associated with a first electronic device. the user may then move to a second location in which a second electronic device is located. based on environmental scanning or movement of the controlling device, the two electronic devices may determine that the user has moved from the first location to the second location. the electronic devices may then perform an accommodation that includes shutting down the first electronic device and any other devices associated with the first electronic device, turning on the second electronic device, such as switching on from a standby mode in which scanning may still be performed, turning on additional entertainment devices associated with the second electronic device, and continuing the display of the broadcast with which the user was previously engaged. various other accommodations in line with the numerous examples described herein are also encompassed by the present technology as would be generally understood. fig. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a computer system 600 . a computer system 600 as illustrated in fig. 6 may be incorporated into devices such as an stb, a first electronic device, dvr, television, media system, personal computer, and the like. moreover, some or all of the components of the computer system 600 may also be incorporated into a portable electronic device, mobile phone, or other device as described herein. fig. 6 provides a schematic illustration of one embodiment of a computer system 600 that can perform some or all of the steps of the methods provided by various embodiments. it should be noted that fig. 6 is meant only to provide a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. fig. 6 , therefore, broadly illustrates how individual system elements may be implemented in a relatively separated or relatively more integrated manner. the computer system 600 is shown comprising hardware elements that can be electrically coupled via a bus 605 , or may otherwise be in communication, as appropriate. the hardware elements may include one or more processors 610 , including without limitation one or more general-purpose processors and/or one or more special-purpose processors such as digital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration processors, and/or the like; one or more input devices 615 , which can include without limitation a mouse, a keyboard, a camera, and/or the like; and one or more output devices 620 , which can include without limitation a display device, a printer, and/or the like. the computer system 600 may further include and/or be in communication with one or more non-transitory storage devices 625 , which can comprise, without limitation, local and/or network accessible storage, and/or can include, without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, an optical storage device, a solid-state storage device, such as a random access memory (“ram”), and/or a read-only memory (“rom”), which can be programmable, flash-updateable, and/or the like. such storage devices may be configured to implement any appropriate data stores, including without limitation, various file systems, database structures, and/or the like. the computer system 600 might also include a communications subsystem 630 , which can include without limitation a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and/or a chipset such as a bluetooth™ device, an 802.11 device, a wifi device, a wimax device, cellular communication facilities, etc., and/or the like. the communications subsystem 630 may include one or more input and/or output communication interfaces to permit data to be exchanged with a network such as the network described below to name one example, other computer systems, television, and/or any other devices described herein. depending on the desired functionality and/or other implementation concerns, a portable electronic device or similar device may communicate image and/or other information via the communications subsystem 630 . in other embodiments, a portable electronic device, e.g. the first electronic device, may be incorporated into the computer system 600 , e.g., an electronic device or stb, as an input device 615 . in many embodiments, the computer system 600 will further comprise a working memory 635 , which can include a ram or rom device, as described above. the computer system 600 also can include software elements, shown as being currently located within the working memory 635 , including an operating system 640 , device drivers, executable libraries, and/or other code, such as one or more application programs 645 , which may comprise computer programs provided by various embodiments, and/or may be designed to implement methods, and/or configure systems, provided by other embodiments, as described herein. merely by way of example, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above, such as those described in relation to figs. 4 and 5 , might be implemented as code and/or instructions executable by a computer and/or a processor within a computer; in an aspect, then, such code and/or instructions can be used to configure and/or adapt a general purpose computer or other device to perform one or more operations in accordance with the described methods. a set of these instructions and/or code might be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as the storage device(s) 625 described above. in some cases, the storage medium might be incorporated within a computer system, such as computer system 600 . in other embodiments, the storage medium might be separate from a computer system e.g., a removable medium, such as a compact disc, and/or provided in an installation package, such that the storage medium can be used to program, configure, and/or adapt a general purpose computer with the instructions/code stored thereon. these instructions might take the form of executable code, which is executable by the computer system 600 and/or might take the form of source and/or installable code, which, upon compilation and/or installation on the computer system 600 e.g., using any of a variety of generally available compilers, installation programs, compression/decompression utilities, etc., then takes the form of executable code. it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial variations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. for example, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software including portable software, such as applets, etc., or both. further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed. as mentioned above, in one aspect, some embodiments may employ a computer system such as the computer system 600 to perform methods in accordance with various embodiments of the technology. according to a set of embodiments, some or all of the procedures of such methods are performed by the computer system 600 in response to processor 610 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions, which might be incorporated into the operating system 640 and/or other code, such as an application program 645 , contained in the working memory 635 . such instructions may be read into the working memory 635 from another computer-readable medium, such as one or more of the storage device(s) 625 . merely by way of example, execution of the sequences of instructions contained in the working memory 635 might cause the processor(s) 610 to perform one or more procedures of the methods described herein. additionally or alternatively, portions of the methods described herein may be executed through specialized hardware. the terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. in an embodiment implemented using the computer system 600 , various computer-readable media might be involved in providing instructions/code to processor(s) 610 for execution and/or might be used to store and/or carry such instructions/code. in many implementations, a computer-readable medium is a physical and/or tangible storage medium. such a medium may take the form of a non-volatile media or volatile media. non-volatile media include, for example, optical and/or magnetic disks, such as the storage device(s) 625 . volatile media include, without limitation, dynamic memory, such as the working memory 635 . common forms of physical and/or tangible computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a cd-rom, any other optical medium, punchcards, papertape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a ram, a prom, eprom, a flash-eprom, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and/or code. various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s) 610 for execution. merely by way of example, the instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer. a remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to be received and/or executed by the computer system 600 . the communications subsystem 630 and/or components thereof generally will receive signals, and the bus 605 then might carry the signals and/or the data, instructions, etc. carried by the signals to the working memory 635 , from which the processor(s) 610 retrieves and executes the instructions. the instructions received by the working memory 635 may optionally be stored on a non-transitory storage device 825 either before or after execution by the processor(s) 610 . the methods, systems, and devices discussed above are examples. various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. for instance, in alternative configurations, the methods may be performed in an order different from that described, and/or various stages may be added, omitted, and/or combined. also, features described with respect to certain configurations may he combined in various other configurations. different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. also, technology evolves and, thus, many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or claims. specific details are given in the description to provide a thorough understanding of exemplary configurations including implementations. however, configurations may be practiced without these specific details. for example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the configurations. this description provides example configurations only, and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configurations of the claims. rather, the preceding description of the configurations will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing described techniques. various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. also, configurations may be described as a process which is depicted as a flow diagram or block diagram. although each may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. in addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged. a process may have additional steps not included in the figure. furthermore, examples of the methods may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. when implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a storage medium. processors may perform the described tasks. having described several example configurations, various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. for example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the technology. also, a number of steps may be undertaken before, during, or after the above elements are considered. accordingly, the above description does not bind the scope of the claims. where a range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the smallest fraction of the unit of the lower limit, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limits of that range is also specifically disclosed. each smaller range between any stated value or intervening value in a stated range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed. the upper and lower limits of those smaller ranges may independently be included or excluded in the range, and each range where either, neither, or both limits are included in the smaller ranges is also encompassed within the invention, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either or both of those included limits are also included. as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. thus, for example, reference to “a user” includes a plurality of such users, and reference to “the processor” includes reference to one or more processors and equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art, and so forth. also, the words “comprise”, “comprising”, “contains”, “containing”, “include”, “including”, and “includes”, when used in this specification and in the following claims, are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, components, or steps, but they do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, components, steps, acts, or groups.
034-177-832-311-926	US	[ "WO", "EP", "US", "CA" ]	G06F40/00,G10L17/00,G10L17/16,G10L15/04,G10L15/02,G09B19/04,G10L15/00,G10L15/14,G09B5/04,G10L25/66,A61B5/16	2007-01-23T00:00:00	2007	[ "G06", "G10", "G09", "A61" ]	system and method for detection and analysis of speech	certain aspects and embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods for monitoring and analyzing the language environment and the development of a key child. a key child's language environment and language development can be monitored without placing artificial limitations on the key child's activities or requiring a third party observer. the language environment can be analyzed to identify words, vocalizations, or other noises directed to or spoken by the key child, independent of content. the analysis can include the number of responses between the child and another, such as an adult and the number of words spoken by the child and/or another, independent of content of the speech. one or more metrics can be determined based on the analysis and provided to assist in improving the language environment and/or tracking language development of the key child.	claims 1. a method comprising- capturing an audio recording from a language environment of a key child, segmenting the audio recording into a plurality of segments; identifying a segment id for each of the plurality of segments, the segment id identifying a source for audio in the segment; identifying a plurality of key child segments from the plurality of segments, each of the plurality of key child segments having the key child as the segment id; estimating key child segment characteristics based in part on at least one of the plurality of key child segments, wherein the key child segment characteristics are estimated independent of content of the plurality of key child segments; determining at least one metric associated with the language environment using the key child segment characteristics; and outputtmg the at least one metric. 2. the method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying a plurality of adult segments from the plurality of segments, each of the plurality of adult segments having the adult as the segment id; estimating adult segment characteπstics based in part on at least one of the plurality of adult segments, wherein the adult segment characteristics are estimated independent of content of the plurality of adult segments; and wherein determining at least one metric associated with the language environment comprises using the adult segment characteristics. 3. the method of claim 2, wherein adult segment characteristics comprise at least one of: a word count; a duration of speech; a vocalization count; and a parentese count. 4. the method of claim 2, wherein the at least one metric comprises at least one of: number of key child vocalizations in a pre-set time period. number of conversational turns, wherein the conversational turns comprise a sound from one of the adult or key child and a response to the sound from one of the adult or key child ; and number of adult words directed to the key child in a pre-set time period. 5. the method of claim 1 , wherein segmenting the audio recording into the plurality of segments and identifying the segment id for each of the plurality of segments comprises: using a minimum duration gaussian mixture model (md-gmm). 6. the method of claim 2, wherein using the md-gmm comprises: performing a first segmentation and a first segment id using a first md-gmm, the first md-gmm comprising a plurality of models; generating a second md-gmm by modifying at least one of the plurality of models; and segmenting the audio recording into the plurality of segments and identifying the segment id for each of the plurality of segments using the second md-gmm. 7. the method of claim 6, wherein the plurality of models comprise a key child model, an electronic device model, and an adult model, wherein: the key child model comprises criteria associated with sounds from a child; the electronic device model comprises criteria associated with sounds from an electronic device; and the adult model comprises criteria associated with sounds from adults. 8. the method of claim 7, further comprising at least one of: modifying the key child model using an age-dependent key child model, wherein the age- dependent key child model comprises criteria associated with sounds from children of a plurality of ages; modifying the electronic device model; modifying at least one of the key child model and the adult model using a loudness/clearness detection model, wherein the loudness/clearness detection model comprises a likelihood ratio test; and modifying at least one of the key child model and the adult model using a parentese model, wherein the parentese model comprises complexity levels associated with sounds of adults. 9. the method of claim 1, further comprising: classifying each of the plurality of key child segments into one of: vocalizations; cries; vegetative sounds; fixed signal sounds; and wherein key child segment characteristics are estimated using key child segments classified into at least one of vocalizations and cries. 10. the method of claim 9, wherein classifying each of the plurality of key child segments comprises using at least one of rule-based analysis and statistical processing. 11. the method of claim 1, wherein key child segment characteristics comprises at least one of: duration of cries; number of squeals; number of growls; presence of canonical syllables; number of canonical syllables; presence of repetitive babbles; number of repetitive babbles; presence of protophones; number of protophones; duration of protophones; presence of phoneme-like sounds; number of phoneme-like sounds; duration of phoneme-like sounds; presence of phonemes; number of phonemes; duration of phonemes; word count; and vocalization count. 12. a method comprising: capturing an audio recording from a language environment of a key child, segmenting the audio recording into a plurality of segments and identifying a segment id for at least one of the plurality of segments using a minimum duration gaussian mixture model (md-gmm), the segment id identifying a key child; estimating key child segment characteristics based in part on the at least one of the plurality of segments, wherein the key child segment characteristics are estimated independent of content of the plurality of segments; determining at least one metric associated with the language environment using the key child segment characteristics; and outputting the at least one metric. 13. the method of claim 12, wherein the key child segment characteristics comprises a number of vowels and a number of consonants in the at least one of the plurality of segments. 14. the method of claim 13, wherein determining at least one metric associated with the language environment using the key child segment characteristics comprises: comparing the number of vowels and number of consonants in the at least one of the plurality of segments to attributes associated with a native language of the key child to determine a number of words spoken by the key child. 15. the method of claim 14, wherein the md-gmm comprises a key child model; modifying the key child model using an age-dependent key child model; and wherein segmenting the audio recording into the plurality of segments and identifying the segment id for at least one of the plurality of segments using the md-gmm comprises using the md-gmm comprising the modified key child model. 16. the method of claim 15, wherein the age-dependent key child model comprises: a first model group comprising characteristics of sounds of children of a first age; and a second model group comprising characteristics of sounds of children of a second age. 17. a system comprising: a recorder adapted to capture audio recordings from a language environment of a key child and provide the audio recordings to a processor-based device; and the processor-based device comprising an application having an audio engine adapted to segment the audio recording into a plurality of segments and identify a segment id for each of the plurality of segments, wherein at least one of the plurality of segments is associated with a key child segment id, the audio engine being further adapted to: estimate key child segment characteristics based in part on the at least one of the plurality of segments, wherein the audio engine estimates key child segment characteristics independent of content of the at least one of the plurality of segments; determine at least one metric associated with the language environment using the key child segment characteristics; and output the at least one metric to an output device. 18. the system of claim 17, wherein the audio engine segments the audio recording and identifies a segment id for each of the plurality of segments using a minimum duration gaussian mixture model (md-gmm). 19. the system of claim 18, wherein the audio engine uses the md-gmm by: performing a first segmentation and a first segment id using a first md-gmm, the first md-gmm comprising a plurality of models; generating a second md-gmm by modifying at least one of the plurality of models; and segmenting the audio recording into the plurality of segments and identifying the segment id for each of the plurality of segments using the second md-gmm. 20. the system of claim 19, wherein the plurality of models comprise a key child model, an electronic device model, and an adult model. 21. the system of claim 20, further comprising at least one of: the audio engine adapted to modify the key child model using an age-dependent key child model, the age-dependent key child model comprising: a first model group comprising characteristics of sounds of children of a first age; and a second model group comprising characteristics of sounds of children of a second age; the audio engine adapted to modify the electronic device model, the electronic device model comprising criteria associated with sounds generated by an electronic device; the audio engine adapted to modify at least one of the key child model and the adult model using a loudness/clearness detection model, the loudness/clearness detection model comprising a likelihood ratio test; and the audio engine adapted to modify at least one of the key child model and the adult model using a parentese model, the parentese model comprising a complexity level of speech associated with adult sounds. 22. the system of claim 18, wherein the audio engine uses the md-gmm by: scoring each of the plurality of segments using log-likelihood scoring and a plurality of models; and analyzing the scored plurality of segments to assign the segment id to each of the plurality of segments. 23. the system of claim 18, wherein the md-gmm comprises a plurality of models, each model comprising criteria associated with sounds and sources of sounds, the plurality of models comprising at least one of: a key child model comprising criteria associated with sounds from the key child; an adult model comprising criteria associated with sounds from an adult; a noise model comprising criteria associated with sounds attributable to noise; an electronic device model comprising criteria associated with sounds from an electronic device; an other child model comprising criteria associated with sounds from a child other than the key child; an age-dependent key child model comprising criteria associated with sounds from key children of plurality of ages; and aparentese model comprising a complexity level characteristics of sounds of adults. 24. the system of claim 23, wherein the audio engine is adapted to: use the other child model to identify at least one of the plurality of segments comprising sounds from a child other than the key child; and assign an other child segment id to the identified at least one of the plurality of segments. 25. the system of claim 23, wherein the audio engine is adapted to: use the noise model to identify at least one of the plurality of segments comprising sounds from noise; and assign a noise segment id to the identified at least one of the plurality of segments. 26. the system of claim 23, wherein the audio engine is adapted to: use the key child model to identify at least one of the plurality of segments comprising sounds with characteristics associated with the sounds from the key child; and assign the key child segment id to the identified at least one of the plurality of segments; 27. the system of claim 23, wherein the audio engine is adapted to: use the adult model to identify at least one of the plurality of segments comprising sounds from an adult; and assign an adult segment id to the identified at least one of the plurality of segments. 28. the system of claim 23, wherein the audio engine is adapted to: use the electronic model to identify at least one of the plurality of segments comprising sounds having criteria associated with electronic device sounds, the criteria associated with electronic device sounds comprising at least one of: duration longer than a pre-set period; and a series of segments having a pre-set source pattern; and assign a noise segment id to the identified at least one of the plurality of segments. 29. the system of claim 23, wherein the age-dependent key child model comprises: a first model group comprising criteria of sounds of children of a first age; and a second model group comprising criteria of sounds of children of a second age; and wherein the audio engine is adapted to: select one of the first model group and the second model group based on information associated with the key child; use the selected model group to identify at least one of the plurality of segments comprising sounds having characteristics of the selected model group; and assign the key child segment id to the identified at least one of the plurality of segments 30. the system of claim 23, wherein the audio engine is adapted to: use the parentese model to identify at least one of the plurality of segments comprising sounds having the complexity level characteristics; and assign an adult segment id to the identified at least one of the plurality of segments.	system and method for detection and analysis of speech field of the invention the present invention relates generally to signal processing and automated speech recognition and, specifically, to processing recordings of a key child's language environment and generating metrics associated with the language environment and key child language development. background the language environment surrounding a young child is key to the child's development. a child's language and vocabulary ability at age three, for example, can indicate intelligence and test scores in academic subjects such as reading and math at later ages. improving language ability typically results in a higher intelligent quotient (iq) as well as improved literacy and academic skills. exposure to a rich aural or listening language environment in which many words are spoken with a relatively high number of affirmations versus prohibitions may promote an increase in the child's language ability and iq. the effect of a language environment surrounding a child of a young age on the child's language ability and iq may be particularly pronounced. in the first four years of human life, a child experiences a highly intensive period of speech and language development due in part to the development and maturing of the child's brain. even after children begin attending school or reading, much of the child's language ability and vocabulary, including the words known (receptive vocabulary) and the words the child uses in speech (expressive vocabulary), are developed from conversations the child experiences with other people. in addition to hearing others speak to them and responding (i.e. conversational turns), a child's language development may be promoted by the child's own speech. the child's own speech is a dynamic indicator of cognitive functioning, particularly in the early years of a child's life. research techniques have been developed which involve counting a young child's vocalizations and utterances to estimate a child's cognitive development. current processes of collecting information may include obtaining data via a human observer and/or a transcription of an audio recording of the child's speech. the data is analyzed to provide metrics with which the child's language environment can be analyzed and potentially modified to promote increasing the child's language development and iq. the presence of a human observer, however, may be intrusive, influential on the child's performance, costly, and unable to adequately obtain information on a child's natural environment and development. furthermore, the use of audio recordings and transcriptions is a costly and time-consuming process of obtaining data associated with a child's language environment. the analysis of such data to identify canonical babbling, count the number of words, and other vocalization metrics and determine content spoken is also time intensive. counting the number of words and determining content spoken may be particularly time and resource intensive, even for electronic analysis systems, since each word is identified along with its meaning. accordingly, a need exists for methods and systems for obtaining and analyzing data associated with a child's language environment independent of content and reporting metrics based on the data in a timely manner. summary certain embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for providing metrics associated with a key child's language environment and development in a relatively quick and cost effective manner. the metrics may be used to promote improvement of the language environment, key child's language development, and/or to track development of the child's language skills. in one embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for generating metrics associated with the key child's language environment. an audio recording from the language environment can be captured. the audio recordings may be segmented into a plurality of segments. a segment id can be identified for each of the plurality of segments. the segment id may identify a source for audio in the segment of the recording. key child segments can be identified from the segments. each of the key child segments may have the key child as the segment id. key child segment characteristics can be estimated based in part on at least one of the key child segments. the key child segment characteristics can be estimated independent of content of the key child segments. at least one metric associated with the language environment and/or language development may be determined using the key child segment characteristics. examples of metrics include the number of words or vocalizations spoken by the key child in a pre-set time period and the number of conversational turns. the at least one metric can be outputted. in some embodiments, adult segments can be identified from the segments. each of the adult segments may have the adult as the segment id. adult segment characteristics can be estimated based in part on at least one of the adult segments. the adult segment characteristics can be estimated independent of content of the adult segments. at least one metric associated with the language environment may be determined using the adult segment characteristics. in one embodiment of the present invention, a system for providing metrics associated with a key child's language environment is provided. the system may include a recorder and a processor-based device. the recorder may be adapted to capture audio recordings from the language environment and provide the audio recordings to a processor-based device. the processor-based device may include an application having an audio engine adapted to segment the audio recording into segments and identify a segment id for each of the segments. at least one of the segments may be associated with a key child segment id. the audio engine may be further adapted to estimate key child segment characteristics based in part on the at least one of the segments, determine at least one metric associated with the language environment or language development using the key child segment characteristics, and output the at least one metric to an output device. the audio engine may estimate the key child segment characteristics independent of content of the segments. these embodiments are mentioned not to limit or define the invention, but to provide examples of embodiments of the invention to aid understanding thereof. embodiments are discussed in the detailed description and advantages offered by various embodiments of the present invention may be further understood by examining the detailed description and drawings. brief description of the drawings these and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention are better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: figure 1 illustrates a key child's language environment according to one embodiment of the present invention; figure 2a is a front view of a recorder in a pocket according to one embodiment of the present invention; figure 2b is a side view of the recorder and pocket of figure 2a; figure 3 is a recording processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention; figure 4 is flow chart of a method for processing recordings according to one embodiment of the present invention; figure 5 is a flow chart of a method for performing further recording processing according to one embodiment of the present invention; figure 6 illustrates sound energy in a segment according to one embodiment of the present invention; and figures 7-12 are screen shots illustrating metrics provided to an output device according to one embodiment of the present invention. detailed description certain aspects and embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods for monitoring and analyzing the language environment, vocalizations, and the development of a key child. a key child as used herein may be a child, an adult, such as an adult with developmental disabilities, or any individual whose language development is of interest. a key child's language environment and language development can be monitored without placing artificial limitations on the key child's activities or requiring a third party observer. the language environment can be analyzed to identify words or other noises directed to or vocalized by the key child independent of content. content may include the meaning of vocalizations such as words and utterances. the analysis can include the number of responses between the child and another, such as an adult (referred to herein as "conversational turns"), and the number of words spoken by the child and/or another, independent of content of the speech. a language environment can include a natural language environment or other environments such as a clinical or research environment. a natural language environment can include an area surrounding a key child during his or her normal daily activities and contain sources of sounds that may include the key child, other children, an adult, an electronic device, and background noise. a clinical or research environment can include a controlled environment or location that contains pre-selected or natural sources of sounds. in some embodiments of the present invention, the key child may wear an article of clothing that includes a recording device located in a pocket attached to or integrated with the article of clothing. the recording device may be configured to record and store audio associated with the child's language environment for a predetermined amount of time. the audio recordings can include noise, silence, the key child's spoken words or other sounds, words spoken by others, sounds from electronic devices such as televisions and radios, or any sound or words from any source. the location of the recording device preferably allows it to record the key child's words and noises and conversational turns involving the key child without interfering in the key child's normal activities. during or after the pre-set amount of time, the audio recordings stored on the recording device can be analyzed independent of content to provide characteristics associated with the key child's language environment or language development. for example, the recordings may be analyzed to identify segments and assign a segment id or a source for each audio segment using a minimum duration gaussian mixture model (md-gmm). sources for each audio segment can include the key child, an adult, another child, an electronic device, or any person or object capable of producing sounds. sources may also include general sources that are not associated with a particular person or device. examples of such general sources include noise, silence, and overlapping sounds. in some embodiments, sources are identified by analyzing each audio segment using models of different types of sources. the models may include audio characteristics commonly associated with each source. in some embodiments, certain audio segments may not include enough energy to determine the source and may be discarded or identified as a noise source. audio segments for which the key child or an adult is identified as the source may be further analyzed, such as by determining certain characteristics associated with the key child and/or adult, to provide metrics associated with the key child's language environment or language development. in some embodiments of the present invention, the key child is a child between the ages of zero and four years old. sounds generated by young children differ from adult speech in a number of respects. for example, the child may generate a meaningful sound that does not equate to a word; the transitions between formants for child speech are less pronounced than the transitions for adult speech, and the child's speech changes over the age range of interest due to physical changes in the child's vocal tract. differences between child and adult speech may be recognized and used to analyze child speech and to distinguish child speech from adult speech, such as in identifying the source for certain audio segments. using the independent of content aspects of certain embodiments of the present invention rather than a system that uses speech recognition to determine content may result in greatly reduced processing time of an audio file using a system that is significantly less expensive. in some embodiments, speech recognition processing may be used to generate metrics of the key child's language environment and language development by analyzing vocalizations independent of content. in one embodiment, the recommended recording time is twelve hours with a minimum time of ten hours. in order to process the recorded speech and to provide meaningful feedback on a timely basis, certain embodiments of the present invention are adapted to process a recording at or under half of real time. for example, the twelve-hour recording may be processed in less than six hours. thus, the recordings may be processed overnight so that results are available the next morning. other periods of recording time may be sufficient for generating metrics associated with the key child's language environment and/or language development depending upon the metrics of interest and/or the language environment. a one to two hour recording time may be sufficient in some circumstances such as in a clinical or research environment. processing for such recording times may be less than one hour. audio acquisition as stated above, a recording device may be used to capture, record, and store audio associated with the key child's language environment and language development. the recording device may be any type of device adapted to capture and store audio and to be located in or around a child's language environment. in some embodiments, the recording device includes one or more microphones connected to a storage device and located in one or more rooms that the key child often occupies. in other embodiments, the recording device is located in an article of clothing worn by the child. figure 1 illustrates a key child, such as child 100, in a language environment 102 wearing an article of clothing 104 that includes a pocket 106. the pocket 106 may include a recording device (not shown) that is adapted to record audio from the language environment 102. the language environment 102 may be an area surrounding the child 100 that includes sources for audio (not shown), including one or more adults, other children, and/or electronic devices such as a television, a radio, a toy, background noise, or any other source that produces sounds. examples of language environment 102 include a natural language environment and a clinical or research language environment. the article of clothing 104 may be a vest over the child's 100 normal clothing, the child's 100 normal clothing, or any article of clothing commonly worn by the key child. in some embodiments, the recorder is placed at or near the center of the key child's chest. however, other placements are possible. the recording device in pocket 106 may be any device capable of recording audio associated with the child's language environment. one example of a recording device is a digital recorder of the lena system. the digital recorder may be relatively small and lightweight and can be placed in pocket 106. the pocket 106 can hold the recorder in place in an unobtrusive manner so that the recorder does not distract the key child, other children, and adults that interact with the key child. figures 2a-b illustrate one embodiment of a pocket 106 including a recorder 108. the pocket 106 may be designed to keep the recorder 108 in place and to minimize acoustic interference. the pocket 106 can include an inner area 110 formed by a main body 112 and an overlay 114 connected to the main body 112 via stitches 116 or another connecting mechanism. the main body 112 can be part of the clothing or attached to the article of clothing 104 using stitches or otherwise. a stretch layer 118 may be located in the inner area 110 and attached to the main body 112 and overlay 114 via stitches 116 or other connecting mechanism. the recorder 108 can be located between the main body 112 and the stretch layer 118. the stretch layer 118 may be made of a fabric adapted to stretch but provide a force against the recorder 108 to retain the recorder 108 in its position. for example, the stretch layer may be made from a blend of nylon and spandex, such as 84% nylon, 15% spandex, which helps to keep the recorder in place. the overlay 114 may cover the stretch layer 118 and may include at least one opening where the microphone of recorder 108 is located. the opening can be covered with a material that provides certain desired acoustic properties. in one embodiment, the material is 100% cotton. the pocket 106 may also include snap connectors 120 by which the overlay 114 is opened and closed to install or remove the recorder 108. in some embodiments, at least one of the stitches 116 can be replaced with a zipper to provider access to the recorder 108 in addition or alternative to using snap connectors 120. if the recorder 108 includes multiple microphones, then the pocket 106 may include multiple openings that correspond to the placement of the microphones on the recorder 108. the particular dimensions of the pocket 106 may change as the design of the recorder 108 changes, or as the number or type of microphones change. in some embodiments, the pocket 106 positions the microphone relative to the key child's mouth to provide certain acoustical properties and secure the microphone (and optionally the recorder 108) in a manner that does not result in friction noises. the recorder 108 can be turned on and thereafter record audio, including speech by the key child, other children, and adults, as well as other types of sounds that the child encounters, including television, toys, environmental noises, etc.. the audio may be stored in the recorder 108. in some embodiments, the recorder can be periodically removed from pocket 106 and the stored audio can be analyzed. illustrative audio recording analysis system implementation methods for analyzing audio recordings from a recorder according to various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented on a variety of different systems. an example of one such system is illustrated in figure 3. the system includes the recorder 108 connected to a processor-based device 200 that includes a processor 202 and a computer-readable medium, such as memory 204. the recorder 108 may be connected to the processor-based device 200 via wireline or wirelessly. in some embodiments, the recorder 108 is connected to the device 200 via a usb cable. the device 200 may be any type of processor-based device, examples of which include a computer and a server. memory 204 may be adapted to store computer- executable code and data. computer-executable code may include an application 206, such as a data analysis application that can be used to view, generate, and output data analysis. the application 206 may include an audio engine 208 that, as described in more detail below, may be adapted to perform methods according to various embodiments of the present invention to analyze audio recordings and generate metrics associated therewith. in some embodiments, the audio engine 208 may be a separate application that is executable separate from, and optionally concurrent with, application 206. memory 204 may also include a data storage 210 that is adapted to store data generated by the application 206 or audio engine 208, or input by a user. in some embodiments, data storage 210 may be separate from device 200, but connected to the device 200 via wire line or wireless connection. the device 200 may be in communication with an input device 212 and an output device 214. the input device 212 may be adapted to receive user input and communicate the user input to the device 200. examples of input device 212 include a keyboard, mouse, scanner, and network connection. user inputs can include commands that cause the processor 202 to execute various functions associated with the application 206 or the audio engine 208. the output device 214 may be adapted to provide data or visual output from the application 206 or the audio engine 208. in some embodiments, the output device 214 can display a graphical user interface (gui) that includes one or more selectable buttons that are associated with various functions provided by the application 206 or the audio engine 208. examples of output device 214 include a monitor, network connection, and printer. the input device 212 may be used to setup or otherwise configure audio engine 208. for example, the age of the key child and other information associated with the key child's learning environment may be provided to the audio engine 208 and stored in local storage 210 during a set-up or configuration. the audio file stored on the recorder 108 may be uploaded to the device 200 and stored in local storage 210. in one embodiment, the audio file is uploaded in a proprietary format which prevents the playback of the speech from the device 200 or access to content of the speech, thereby promoting identify protection of the speakers. in other embodiments, the audio file is uploaded without being encoded to allow for the storage in local storage 210 and playback of the file or portions of the file. in some embodiments, the processor-based device 200 is a web server and the input device 212 and output device 214 are combined to form a computer system that sends data to and receives data from the device 200 via a network connection. the input device 212 and output device 214 may be used to access the application 206 and audio engine 208 remotely and cause it to perform various functions according to various embodiments of the present invention. the recorder 108 may be connected to the input device 212 and output device 214 and the audio files stored on the recorder 108 may be uploaded to the device 200 over a network such as an internet or intranet where the audio files are processed and metrics are provided to the output device 214. in some embodiments, the audio files received from a remote input device 212 and output device 214 may be stored in local storage 210 and subsequently accessed for research purposes such on a child's learning environment or otherwise. to reduce the amount of memory needed on the recorder 108, the audio file may be compressed. in one embodiment, a dvi-4 adpcm compression scheme is used. if a compression scheme is used, then the file is decompressed after it is uploaded to the device 200 to a normal linear pcm audio format. illustrative methods for audio recording analysis various methods according to various embodiments of the present invention can be used to analyze audio recordings. figure 4 illustrates one embodiment of a method for analyzing and providing metrics based on the audio recordings from a key child's language environment. for purposes of illustration only, the elements of this method are described with reference to the system depicted in figure 3. other system implementations of the method are possible. in block 302, the audio engine 208 divides the recording in one or more audio segments and identifies a segment id or source for each of the audio segments from the recording received from the recorder 108. this process is referred to herein as segmentation and segment id. an audio segment may be a portion of the recording having a certain duration and including acoustic features associated with the child's language environment during the duration. the recording may include a number of audio segments, each associated with a segment id or source. sources may be an individual or device that produces the sounds within the audio segment. for example, an audio segment may include the sounds produced by the key child, who is identified as the source for that audio segment. sources also can include other children, adults, electronic devices, noise, overlapped sounds and silence. electronic devices may include televisions, radios, telephones, toys, and any device that provides recorded or simulated sounds such as human speech. sources associated with each of the audio segments may be identified to assist in further classifying and analyzing the recording. some metrics provided by some embodiments of the present invention include data regarding certain sources and disregard data from other sources. for example, audio segments associated with live speech - directed to the key child - can be distinguished from audio segments associated with electronic devices, since live speech has been shown to be a better indicator and better promoter of a child's language development than exposure to speech from electronic devices. to perform segmentation to generate the audio segments and identify the sources for each segment, a number of models may be used that correspond to the key child, other children, male adult, female adult, noise, tv noise, silence, and overlap. alternative embodiments may use more, fewer or different models to perform segmentation and identify a corresponding segment id. one such technique performs segmentation and segment id separately. another technique performs segmentation and identifies a segment id for each segment concurrently. traditionally, a hidden markov model (hmm) with minimum duration constraint has been used to perform segmentation and identify segment ids concurrently. a number of hmm models may be provided, each corresponding to one source. the result of the model may be a sequence of sources with a likelihood score associated with each based on all the hmm models. the optimal sequence may be searched using a viterbi algorithm or dynamic programming and the "best" source identified for each segment based on the score. however, this approach may be complex for some segments in part because it uses transition probabilities from one segment to another - i.e. the transition between each segment. transition probabilities are related to duration modeling of each source or segment. a single segment may have discrete geometric distribution or continuous exponential distribution - which may not occur in most segments. most recordings may include segments of varying duration and with various types of sources. although the hmm model may be used in some embodiments of the present invention, alternative techniques may be used to perform segmentation and segment id. an alternative technique used in some embodiments of the present invention to perform segmentation and segment id is a minimum duration gaussian mixture model (md-gmm). each model of the md-gmm may include criteria or characteristics associated with sounds from different sources. examples of models of the md-gmm include a key child model that includes characteristics of sounds from a key child, an adult model that includes characteristics of sounds from an adult, an electronic device model that includes characteristics of sounds from an electronic device, a noise model that includes characteristics of sounds attributable to noise, an other child model that includes characteristics of sounds from a child other than the key child, a parentese model that includes complexity level speech criteria of adult sounds, an age-dependent key child model that includes characteristics of sounds of a key child of different ages, and a loudness/clearness detection model that includes characteristics of sounds directed to a key child. some models include additional models. for example, the adult model may include an adult male model that includes characteristics of sounds of an adult male and an adult female model that includes characteristics of sounds of an adult female. the models may be used to determine the source of sound in each segment by comparing the sound in each segment to criteria of each model and determining if a match of a pre-set accuracy exists for one or more of the models. in some embodiment of the present invention, the md-gmm technique begins when a recording is converted to a sequence of frames or segments. segments having a duration of 2d, where d is a minimum duration constraint, are identified using a maximum log-likelihood algorithm for each type of source. the maximum score for each segment is identified. the source associated with the maximum score is correlated to the segment for each identified segment. the audio engine 208 may process recordings using the maximum likelihood md-gmm to perform segmentation and segment id. the audio engine 208 may search all possible segment sequence under a minimum duration constraint to identify the segment sequence with maximum likelihood. one possible advantage of md-gmm is that any segment longer than twice the minimum duration (2d) could be equivalently broken down into several segments with a duration between the minimum duration (d) and two times the minimum duration (2d), such that the maximum likelihood search process ignores all segments longer than 2d. this can reduce the search space and processing time. the following is an explanation of one implementation of using maximum likelihood md-gmm. other implementations are also possible. 1. acoustic feature extraction. the audio stream is converted to a stream of feature vectors (x 1 , x 2 x 7 [ x 1 gr" } using a feature extraction algorithm, such as the mfcc (mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients). 2. log likelihood calculation for a segment [x 1 ,x 2 x s } : s l cs = ^log(/ f (x ( .)) , where f c {x t ) is the likelihood of frame x 1 being in class c i=i the following describes one procedure of maximum likelihood md-gmm search: 3. initialize searching variables: s(cao) = o, c = l,...,c , where c is the index for all segment classes. generally, the searching variable s(c, b, ή) represents the maximum log-likelihood for the segment sequence up to the frame b-1 plus the log-likelihood of the segment from frame b to frame n being in class c. 4. score frames for n = \,...,t , i.e. all feature frames: s(c, b, ή) - s(c, b,n - \) + log(/ c (x n ), vb, c, n - b < 2 * d c , i.e. the current score at frame n could be derived from the previous score at frame n-1. the searching variable for segments less than twice the minimum duration is retained. 5. retain a record of the optimal result at frame n (similarly, segments under twice the minimum duration will be considered): s * (n) = max s(c,b,n) c,b,2d, >{n-b)>d, b (n) - argmax s(c,b,ή) b,(c,b,2d r >(n-b)>d, ) c (n) = argmax s(c,b,n) c,(c,b,2d, >(n-b)>d, ) 6. initialize new searching variables for segments starting at frame n: s(c,n,n) = s (n),vc 7. iterate step 4 to step 6 until the last frame t. 8. trace back to get the maximum likelihood segment sequence. the very last segment of the maximum likelihood segment sequence is (c * (t), b * (t), t) , i.e. the segment starting from frame b' (t) and ending with frame t with class id of c * (t) . we can obtain the rest segments in the best sequence by using the following back- tracing procedure: 8.1. initialize back-tracing: t = t,m ^ \ 8.2. iterate back-tracing until ^ = o c ^ current = c * (t) if c * (t) = c _current, then do nothing otherwise, m = m + l, s(m) = (c'(t),b * (t),t) additional processing may be performed to further refine identification of segments associated with the key child or an adult as sources. as stated above, the language environment can include a variety of sources that may be identified initially as the key child or an adult when the source is actually a different person or device. for example, sounds from a child other than the key child may be initially identified as sounds from the key child. sounds from an electronic device may be confused with live speech from an adult. furthermore, some adult sounds may be detected that are directed to another person other than the key child. certain embodiments of the present invention may implement methods for further processing and refining the segmentation and segment id to decrease or eliminate inaccurate source identifications and to identify adult speech directed to the key child. further processing may occur concurrently with, or subsequent to, the initial md-gmm model described above. figure 5 illustrates one embodiment of an adaptation method for further processing the recording by modifying models associated with the md-gmm subsequent to an initial md-gmm. in block 402, the audio engine 208 processes the recording using a first md- gmm. for example, the recording is processed in accordance with the md-gmm described above to perform an initial segmentation and segment id. in block 404, the audio engine 208 modifies at least one model of the md-gmm. the audio engine 208 may automatically select one or more models of the md-gmm to modify based on pre-set steps. in some embodiments, if the audio engine 208 detects certain types of segments that may require further scrutiny, it selects the model of the md-gmm that is most related to the types of segments detected to modify (or for modification). any model associated with the md- gmm may be modified. examples of models that may be modified include the key child model with an age-dependent key child model, an electronic device model, a loudness/clearness model that may further modify the key child model and/or the adult model, and a parentese model that may further modify the key child model and/or the adult model. in block 406, the audio engine 208 processes the recordings again using the modified models of the md-gmm. the second process may result in a different segmentation and/or segment id based on the modified models, providing a more accurate identification of the source associated with each segment. in block 408, the audio engine 208 determines if additional model modification is needed. in some embodiments, the audio engine 208 analyzes the new segmentation and/or segment id to determine if any segments or groups of segments require additional scrutiny. in some embodiments, the audio engine 208 accesses data associated with the language environment in data storage 210 and uses it to determine if additional model modification is necessary, such as a modification of the key child model based on the current age of the child. if additional model modification is needed, the process returns to block 404 for additional md-gmm model modification. if no additional model modification is needed, the process proceeds to block 410 to analyze segment sound. the following describes certain embodiments of modifying exemplary models in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. other models than those described below may be modified in certain embodiments of the present invention. age-dependent key child model in some embodiments of the present invention, the audio engine 208 may implement an age-dependent key child model concurrently with, or subsequent to, the initial md-gmm to modify the key child model of the md-gmm to more accurately identify segments in which other children are the source from segments in which the key child is the source. for example, the md-gmm may be modified to implement an age-dependent key child model during the initial or a subsequent segmentation and segment id. the key child model can be age dependent since the audio characteristics of the vocalizations, including utterances and other sounds, of a key child change dramatically over the time that the recorder 106 may be used. although the use of two separate models within the md- gmm, one for the key child and one for other children, may identify the speech of the key child, the use of an age dependent key child model further helps to reduce the confusion between speech of the key child and speech of the other children. in one embodiment, the age-dependent key child models are: 1) less than one-year old, 2) one-year old, 3) two-years old, and 4) three- years old. alternative embodiments may use other age grouping and/or may use groupings of different age groups. for example, other embodiments could use monthly age groups or a combination of monthly and yearly age groups. each of the models includes characteristics associated with sounds commonly identified with children of the age group. in one embodiment of the present invention, the age of the key child is provided to device 200 via input device 212 during a set-up or configuration. the audio engine 208 receives the age of the key child and selects one or more of the key child models based on the age of the key child. for example, if the key child is one year and ten months old, the audio engine 208 may select key child model 2) and key child model 3) or only key child model 2) based on the age of the key child. the audio engine 208 may implement the selected key child model or models by modifying the md-gmm models to perform the initial or a subsequent segmentation and segment id. electronic device model in order to more accurately determine the number of adult words that are directed to the key child, any segments including sounds, such as words or speech, generated electronically by an electronic device can be identified as such, as opposed to an inaccurate identification as live speech produced by an adult. electronic devices can include a television, radio, telephone, audio system, toy, or any electronic device that produces recordings or simulated human speech. in some embodiments of the present invention, the audio engine 208 may modify an electronic device model in the md-gmm to more accurately identify segments from an electronic device source and separate them from segments from a live adult without the need to determine the content of the segments and without the need to limit the environment of the speaker, (e.g. requiring the removal of or inactivation of the electronic devices from the language environment.) the audio engine 208 may be adapted to modify and use the modified electronic device model concurrently with, or subsequent to, the initial md-gmm process. in some embodiments, the electronic device model can be implemented after a first md-gmm process is performed and used to adapt the md-gmm for additional determinations using the md-gmm for the same recording. the audio engine 208 can examine segments segmented using a first md-gmm to further identify reliable electronic segments. reliable electronic segments may be segments that are more likely associated with a source that is an electronic device and include certain criteria. for example, the audio engine 208 can determine if one or more segments includes criteria commonly associated with sounds from electronic devices. in some embodiments, the criteria includes (1) a segment that is longer than a predetermined period or is louder than a predetermined threshold; or (2) a series of segments having a pre-set source pattern. an example of one predetermined period is five seconds. an example of one pre-set source pattern can include the following: segment 1 - electronic device source; segment 2 - a source other than the electronic device source (e.g. adult); segment 3 — electronic device source; segment 4 - a source other than the electronic device source; and segment 5 - electronic device source. the reliable electronic device segments can be used to train or modify the md-gmm to include an adaptive electronic device model for further processing. for example, the audio engine 208 may use a regular k-means algorithm as an initial model and tune it with an expectation-maximization (emv) algorithm. the number of gaussians in the adaptive electronic device model may be proportional to the amount of feedback electronic device data and not exceed an upper limit. in one embodiment, the upper limit is 128. the audio engine 208 may perform the md-gmm again by applying the adaptive electronic device model to each frame of the sequence to determine a new adaptive electronic device log-likelihood score for frames associated with a source that is an electronic device. the new score may be compared with previously stored log-likelihood score for those frames. the audio engine 208 may select the larger log-likelihood score based on the comparison. the larger log-likelihood score may be used to determine the segment id for those frames. in some embodiments, the md-gmm modification using the adaptive electronic device model may be applied using a pre-set number of consecutive equal length adaptation windows moving over all frames. the recording signal may be divided into overlapping frames having a pre-set length. an example of frame length according to one embodiment of the present invention is 25.6 milliseconds with a 10 milliseconds shift resulting in 15.6 milliseconds of frame overlap. the adaptive electronic device model may use local data obtained using the pre-set number of adaptation windows. an adaptation window size of 30 minutes may be used in some embodiments of the present invention. an example of one pre-set number of consecutive equal length adaptation windows is three. in some embodiments, adaptation window movement does not overlap. the frames within each adaptation window may be analyzed to extract a vector of features for later use in statistical analysis, modeling and classification algorithms. the adaptive electronic device model may be repeated to further modify the md-gmm process. for example, the process may be repeated three times. loudness/clearness detection model in order to select the frames that are most useful for identifying the speaker, some embodiments of the present invention use frame level near/far detection or loudness/clearness detection model. loudness/clearness detection models can be performed using a likelihood ratio test (lrt) after an initial md-gmm process is performed. at the frame level, the lrt is used to identify and discard frames that could confuse the identification process. for each frame, the likelihood for each model is calculated. the difference between the most probable model likelihood and the likelihood for silence is calculated and the difference is compared to a predetermined threshold. based on the comparison, the frame is either dropped or used for segment id. for example, if the difference meets or exceeds the predetermined threshold then the frame is used, but if the difference is less than the predetermined threshold then the frame is dropped. in some embodiments, frames are weighted according to the lrt. the audio engine 208 can use the lrt to identify segments directed to the key child. for example, the audio engine 208 can determine whether adult speech is directed to the key child or to someone else by determining the loudness/clearness of the adult speech or sounds associated with the segments. once segmentation and segment id are performed, segment-level near/far detection is performed using the lrt in a manner similar to that used at the frame level. for each segment, the likelihood for each model is calculated. the difference between the most probable model likelihood and the likelihood for silence is calculated and the difference is compared to a predetermined threshold. based on the comparison, the segment is either dropped or processed further. parentese model sometimes adults use baby talk or "parentese" when directing speech to children. the segments including parentese may be inaccurately associated with a child or the key child as the source because certain characteristics of the speech may be similar to that of the key child or other children. the audio engine 208 may modify the key child model and/or adult model to identify segments including parentese and associate the segments with an adult source. for example, the models may be modified to allow the audio engine 208 to examine the complexity of the speech included in the segments to identify parentese. since the complexity of adult speech is typically much higher than child speech, the source for segments including relatively complex speech may be identified as an adult. speech may be complex if the formant structures are well formed, the articulation levels are good and the vocalizations are of sufficient duration - consistent with speech commonly provided by adults. speech from a child may include formant structures that are less clear and developed and vocalizations that are typically of a lesser duration. in addition, the audio engine 208 can analyze formant frequencies to identify segments including parentese. when an adult uses parentese, the formant frequencies of the segment typically do not change. sources for segments including such identified parentese can be determined to be an adult. the md-gmm models may be further modified and the recording further processed for a pre-set number of iterations or until the audio engine 208 determines that the segments ids have been determined with an acceptable level of confidence. upon completion of the segmentation and segment id, the identified segment can be further analyzed to extract characteristics associated with the language environment of the key child. during or after performing segmentation and segment id, the audio engine 208 may classify key child audio segments into one or more categories. the audio engine 208 analyzes each segment for which the key child is identified as the source and determines a category based on the sound in each segment. the categories can include vocalizations, cries, vegetative, and fixed signal sounds. vocalizations can include words, phrases, marginal syllables, including rudimentary consonant-vowel sequences, utterances, phonemes, sequence phonemes, phoneme- like sounds, protophones, lip-trilling sounds commonly called raspberries, canonical syllables, repetitive babbles, pitch variations, or any meaningful sounds which contribute to the language development of the child, indicate at least an attempt by the child to communicate verbally, or explore the capability to create sounds. vegetative sounds include non-vocal sounds related to respiration and digestion, such as coughing, sneezing, and burping. fixed signal sounds are related to voluntary reactions to the environment and include laughing, moaning, sighing, and lip smacking. cries are a type of fixed signal sounds, but are detected separately since cries can be a means of communication. the audio engine 208 may classify key child audio segments using rule-based analysis and/or statistical processing. rule-based analysis can include analyzing each key child segment using one or more rules. for some rules, the audio engine 208 may analyze energy levels or energy level transitions of segments. an example of a rule based on a pre-set duration is segments including a burst of energy at or above the pre-set duration are identified as a cry or scream and not a vocalization, but segments including bursts of energy less than the pre-set duration are classified as a vocalization. an example of one pre-set duration is three seconds based on characteristics commonly associated with vocalizations and cries. figure 6 illustrates energy levels of sound in a segment associated with the key child and showing a series of consonant (/b/) and vowel (/a/) sequences. using a pre-set duration of three seconds, the bursts of energy indicate a vocalization since they are less than three seconds. a second rule may be classifying segments as vocalizations that include formant transitions from consonant to vowel or vice versa. figure 6 illustrates formant transitions from consonant ibi to vowel /a/ and then back to consonant ibi, indicative of canonical syllables and, thus, vocalizations. segments that do not include such transitions may be further processed to determine a classification. a third rule may be classifying segments as vocalizations if the formant bandwidth is narrower than a pre-set bandwidth. in some embodiments, the pre-set bandwidth is 1000 hz based on common bandwidths associated with vocalizations. a fourth rule may be classifying segments that include a burst of energy having a first spectral peak above a pre-set threshold as a cry. in some embodiments, the pre-set threshold is 1500 hz based on characteristics common in cries. a fifth rule may be determining a slope of a spectral tilt and comparing it to pre-set thresholds. often, vocalizations include more energy in lower frequencies, such as 300 to 3000 hz, than higher frequencies, such as 6000 to 8000 hz. a 30 db drop is expected from the first part of the spectrum to the end of the spectrum, indicating a spectral tilt with a negative slope and a vocalization when compared to pre-set slope thresholds. segments having a slope that is relatively flat may be classified as a cry since the spectral tilt may not exist for cries. segments having a positive slope may be classified as vegetative sounds. a sixth rule may be comparing the entropy of the segment to entropy thresholds. segments including relatively low entropy levels may be classified as vocalizations. segments with having high entropy levels may be classified as cries or vegetative sounds due to randomness of the energy. a seventh rule may be comparing segment pitch to thresholds. segments having a pitch between 250 to 600 hz may be classified as a vocalization. segments having a pitch of more than 600 hz may be classified as a cry based on common characteristics of cries. an eighth rule may be determining pitch contours. segments having a rising pitch may be classified as a vocalization. segments having a falling pitch may be classified as a cry. a ninth rule may be determining the presence of consonants and vowels. segments having a mix of consonants and vowels may be classified as vocalizations. segments having all or mostly consonants may be classified as a vegetative or fixed signal sound. a rule according to various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented separately or concurrently with other rules. for example, in some embodiments the audio engine 208 implements one rule only while in other embodiments the audio engine 208 implements two or more rules. statistical processing may be performed in addition to or alternatively to the rule- based analysis. statistical processing may include processing segments with an md-gmm using 2000 or more gaussians in which models are created using mel-scale frequency cepstral coefficients (mfcc) and subband spectral centroids (ssc). mfcc's can be extracted using a number of filter banks with coefficients. in one embodiment, forty filter banks are used with 36 coefficients. sscs may be created using filter banks to capture formant peaks. the number of filter banks used to capture formant peaks may be seven filter banks in the range of 300 to 7500 hz. other statistical processing may include using statistics associated with one or more of the following segment characteristics: formants; formant bandwidth; pitch; voicing percentage; spectrum entropy; maximum spectral energy in db; frequency of maximum spectral energy; and spectral tilt. statistics regarding the segment characteristics may be added to the mfcc-ssc combinations to provide additional classification improvement. as children age, characteristics associated with each key child segment category may change due to growth of the child's vocal tract. in some embodiments of the present invention, an age-dependent model may be used in addition or alternatively to the techniques described above to classify key child segments. for example, vocalization, cry, and fixed signal/vegetative models may be created for each age group. in one embodiment, twelve different models are used with group 1 corresponding to 1-2 months old, group 2 corresponding to 3-4 months old, group 3 corresponding to 5-6 months old, group 4 corresponding to 7-8 months old, group 5 corresponding to 9-10 months old, group 6 corresponding to 11-12 months old, group 7 corresponding to 13-14 months old, group 8 corresponding to 15-18 months old, group 9 corresponding to 19-22 months old, group 10 corresponding to 23-26 months old, group 11 corresponding to 27-30 months old, and group 12 corresponding to 31-48 months old. alternative embodiments may use a different number of groups or associate different age ranges with the groups. the audio engine 208 may also identify segments for which an adult is the source. the segments associated with an adult source can include sounds indicative of conversational turns or can provide data for metrics indicating an estimate of the amount or number of words directed to the key child from the adult. in some embodiments, the audio engine 208 also identifies the occurrence of adult source segments to key child source segments to identify conversational turns. in block 304, the audio engine 208 estimates key child segment characteristics from at least some of the segments for which the key child is the source, independent of content. for example, the characteristics may be determined without determining or analyzing content of the sound in the key child segments. key child segment characteristics can include any type of characteristic associated with one or more of the key child segment categories. examples of characteristics include duration of cries, number of squeals and growls, presence and number of canonical syllables, presence and number of repetitive babbles, presence and number of phonemes, protophones, phoneme-like sounds, word or vocalization count, or any identifiable vocalization or sound element. in some embodiments, the number and type of phonemes may be identified and tracked. typically, children age six months or less generally express the same types of phonemes. as children age, they may decrease their use of certain types phonemes and increase their use of the phonemes commonly used within the language environment. in one embodiment used in an english language environment, approximately thirty-nine different types of phonemes are tracked. the number of phonemes may be tracked for each type of phoneme or for a combination of types of phonemes to provide a metric with which the key child's language environment and development can be analyzed. the length of cry can be estimated by analyzing segments classified in the cry category. the length of cry typically decreases as the child ages or matures and can be an indicator of the relative progression of the child's development. the number of squeals and growls can be estimated based on pitch, spectral intensity, and dysphonation by analyzing segments classified as vocalizations. a child's ability to produce squeals and growls can indicate the progression of the child's language ability as it indicates the key child's ability to control the pitch and intensity of sound. the presence and number of canonical syllables, such as consonant and vowel sequences can be estimated by analyzing segments in the vocalization category for relatively sharp formant transitions based on formant contours. the presence and number of repetitive babbles may be estimated by analyzing segments classified in the vocalization category and applying rules related to formant transitions, durations, and voicing. babbling may include certain consonant/vowel combinations, including three voiced stops and two nasal stops. in some embodiments, the presence and number of canonical babbling may also be determined. canonical babbling may occur when 15% of syllable produced are canonical, regardless of repetition. the presence, duration, and number of phoneme, protophones, or phoneme-like sounds may be determined. as the key child's language develops, the frequency and duration of phonemes increases or decreases or otherwise exhibits patterns associated with adult speech. the number of words or other vocalizations made by the key child may be estimated by analyzing segments classified in the vocalization category. in some embodiments, the number of vowels and number of consonants are estimated using a phone decoder and combined with other segment parameters such as energy level, and md-gmm log likelihood differences. a least- square method may be applied to the combination to estimate the number of words spoken by the child. in one embodiment of the present invention, the audio engine 208 estimates the number of vowels and consonants in each of the segments classified in the vocalization category and compares it to characteristics associated with the native language of the key child to estimate the number of words spoken by the key child. for example, an average number of consonants and vowels per word for the native language can be compared to the number of consonants and vowels to estimate the number of words. other metrics/characteristics can also be used, including phoneme, protophones, and phoneme-like sounds. in block 306, the audio engine 208 estimates characteristics associated with identified segments for which an adult is the source, independent of content. examples of characteristics include a number of words spoken by the adult, duration of adult speech, and a number of parentese. the number of words spoken by the adult can be estimated using similar methods as described above with respect to the number of words spoken by the key child. the duration of adult speech can be estimated by analyzing the amount of energy in the adult source segments. in block 308, the audio engine 208 can determine one or more metrics associated with the language environment using the key child segment characteristics and/or the adult segment characteristics. for example, the audio engine 208 can determine a number of conversational turns or "turn-taking" by analyzing the characteristics and time periods associated with each segment. in some embodiments, the audio engine 208 can be configured to automatically determine the one or more metrics. in other embodiments, the audio engine 208 receives a command from input device 212 to determine a certain metric. metrics can include any quantifiable measurement of the key child's language environment based on the characteristics. the metrics may also be comparisons of the characteristics to statistical averages of the same type of characteristics for other persons having similar attributes, such as age, to the key child. examples of metrics include average vocalizations per day expressed by the key child, average vocalizations for all days measured, the number of vocalizations per month, the number of vocalizations per hour of the day, the number of words directed to the child from an adult during a selected time period, and the number of conversational turns. in some embodiments, metrics may relate to the key child's developmental age. alternative or in addition to identifying delays and idiosyncrasies in the child's development as compared to an expected level, metrics may be development that may estimate causes of such idiosyncratic and developmental delays. examples of causes include developmental medical conditions such as autism or hearing problems. in block 310, the audio engine 208 outputs at least one metric to output device 114. for example, the audio engine 208 may, in response to a command received from input device 212, output a metric associated with a number of words spoken by the child per day to the output device 214, where it is displayed to the user. figures 7-12 are screen shots showing examples of metrics displayed on output device 214. figure 7 illustrates a graphical vocalization report showing the number of vocalizations per day attributable to the key child. figure 8 illustrates a graphical vocalization timeline showing the number of vocalizations in a day per hour. figure 9 illustrates a graphical adult words report showing a number of adult words directed to the key child during selected months. figure 10 illustrates a graphical words timeline showing the number of words per hour in a day attributable to the key child. figure 11 illustrates a graphical representation of a turn-takings report showing the number of conversational turns experienced by the key child on selected days per month. figure 12 illustrates a graphical representation of a key child's language progression over a selected amount of time and for particular characteristics. in one embodiment, a series of questions are presented to the user to elicit information about the key child's language skills. the questions are based on well-known milestones that children achieve as they learn to speak. examples of questions include whether the child currently expresses certain vocalizations such as babbling, words, phrases, and sentences. once the user responds in a predetermined manner to the questions, no new questions are presented and the user is presented with a developmental snapshot of the speaker based on the responses to the questions. in one embodiment, once three "no" answers are entered, indicating that the child does not exhibit certain skills, the system stops and determines the developmental snapshot. the questioning may be repeated periodically and the snap shot developed based on the answers and, in some embodiments, data from recording processing. an example of a snapshot may include the language development chart shown in figure 12. in an alternative environment, the series of questions is answered automatically by analyzing the recorded speech and using the information obtained to automatically answer the questions. in yet another alternative, the recorded speech is analyzed to detect and identify phoneme, protophones, and phoneme-like sounds, which are then further analyzed using statistical processing to determine a key-child's developmental age. the statistical processing includes determining a probability model of the phoneme, protophones, and phoneme-like sounds decoded in the key child segments and applying a linear regression model to estimate the developmental age. certain embodiments of the present invention do not require that the key child or other speakers train the system, as is required by many voice recognition systems. recording systems according to some embodiments of the present invention may be initially benchmarked by comparing certain determinations made by the system with determinations made by reviewing a transcript. to benchmark the performance of the segmenter, the identification of 1) key child v. non-key child and 2) adult v. non-adult were compared, as well as the accuracy of the identification of the speaker/source associated with the segments. although the foregoing describes the processing of the recorded speech to obtain metrics, such as word counts and conversational turns, other types of processing are also possible, including the use of certain aspects of the invention in conventional speech recognition systems. the recorded speech file could be processed to identify a particular word or sequence of words or the speech could be saved or shared. for example, a child's first utterance of "mama" or "dada" could be saved much as a photo of the child is saved or shared via e-mail with a family member. the foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented only for the purpose of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. numerous modifications and adaptations are apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
034-281-756-041-003	US	[ "US" ]	G01N1/40,B01F11/00,B01F13/00,B01F13/08,B01L3/00,B01L7/00,G01N1/00,G01N1/10,G01N1/18,G01N1/22,G01N1/38,G01N33/543,G01N35/00,G01N35/10,C12N13/00,G01N15/06,G01N33/00,G01N33/48,B01F31/65,B01F33/302,B01F33/3031,B01F33/451,B01L3/02	2006-04-18T00:00:00	2006	[ "G01", "B01", "C12" ]	manipulation of beads in droplets and methods for manipulating droplets	provided herein are methods of splitting droplets containing magnetically responsive beads in a droplet actuator. a droplet actuator having a plurality of droplet operations electrodes configured to transport the droplet, and a magnetic field present at the droplet operations electrodes, is provided. the magnetically responsive beads in the droplet are immobilized using the magnetic field and the plurality of droplet operations electrodes are used to split the droplet into first and second droplets while the magnetically responsive beads remain substantially immobilized.	1. a method of splitting a droplet comprising magnetically responsive beads, the method comprising: (a) providing a droplet actuator comprising: (i) a plurality of droplet operations electrodes configured to transport the droplet; and (ii) a magnetic field present at the plurality of droplet operations electrodes; (b) substantially immobilizing the magnetically responsive beads using the magnetic field; and (c) using the plurality of droplet operations electrodes to split the droplet into first and second droplets, wherein the first droplet contains at least substantially all of the magnetically responsive beads and the second droplet is at least substantially lacking in magnetically responsive beads. 2. the method of claim 1 further wherein the splitting involves using a hydrophilic patch. 3. the method of claim 1 further comprising using a magnet to generate the magnetic field. 4. the method of claim 1 further comprising using a magnet embedded within a gasket of the droplet actuator to generate the magnetic field. 5. the method of claim 1 further comprising positioning a magnet proximate a gasket of the droplet actuator to generate the magnetic field. 6. the method of claim 1 further comprising using a physical barrier to facilitate splitting of the droplet. 7. the method of claim 1 further comprising using a magnetized physical barrier to facilitate splitting of the droplet. 8. the method of claim 1 further comprising positioning a magnetic shielding material in the droplet actuator to selectively minimize the magnetic field. 9. the method of claim 1 wherein the magnetic field is sufficiently strong to hold the magnetically responsive beads substantially immobile during a droplet operation. 10. the method of claim 1 wherein the magnetic field is sufficiently weak to enable the magnetically responsive beads to be moved away from the magnetic field during a droplet operation. 11. the method of claim 1 wherein the droplet operations electrodes comprise an electrode path having a droplet splitting region, the droplet splitting region including a segmented electrode comprising a plurality of electrode strips, including inner electrode strips and outer electrode strips, wherein the electrode strips can be independently activated and deactivated to cause the controlled splitting of the droplet in the droplet splitting region. 12. the method of claim 11 wherein the droplet is split into first and second droplets by: (i) activating the droplet operations electrodes to extend a droplet across the electrode strips of the segmented electrode; and (ii) causing the controlled splitting of the droplet in the droplet splitting region by either deactivating the inner electrode strips followed by deactivating the outer electrode strips, or by deactivating the outer electrode strips followed by deactivating the inner electrode strips. 13. the method of claim 1 wherein the droplet operations electrodes comprise an electrode path having a droplet splitting region, the droplet splitting region including a tapered electrode that has a length along the electrode path that is about twice that of an adjacent droplet operations electrode. 14. the method of claim 1 wherein the droplet operations electrodes comprise an electrode path having a droplet splitting region, the droplet splitting region including two adjacent tapered electrodes that have a combined length along the electrode path that is about three times that of an adjacent droplet operations electrode. 15. the method of claim 1 wherein the droplet operations electrodes comprise an electrode path having a droplet splitting region, the droplet splitting region including a segmented electrode comprising multiple rows and columns of electrode strips that can be independently activated and deactivated to cause the controlled splitting of the droplet in the droplet splitting region. 16. the method of claim 1 further comprising: (i) a bottom substrate having a droplet operations surface comprising the droplet operations electrodes; (ii) a top substrate separated from the droplet operations surface to form a gap; and (iii) a physical barrier extending from the top substrate into the gap and constricting the gap in proximity with the one or more droplet operations electrodes. 17. the method of claim 16 wherein the barrier produces a magnetic field. 18. the method of claim 16 further comprising a first electromagnet arranged near the top substrate of the droplet actuator and a second electromagnet arranged near the bottom substrate of the electromagnet. 19. the method of claim 18 further comprising using the first electromagnet and second electromagnet to disperse the magnetically responsive beads within the droplet by switching on and off the magnetic field produced by the first electromagnet and second electromagnet.	related applications this application is a divisional of and claims priority to u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/266,693, entitled “manipulation of beads in droplets and methods for manipulating droplets,” filed sep. 15, 2016, which is a continuation of and claims priority to u.s. patent application ser. no. 14/978,935, entitled “manipulation of beads in droplets and methods for manipulating droplets,” filed dec. 22, 2015, now u.s. pat. no. 9,494,498, issued nov. 15, 2016, the application of which is a continuation of and claims priority to u.s. patent application ser. no. 14/746,276, entitled “manipulation of beads in droplets and methods for manipulating droplets,” filed jun. 22, 2015, now u.s. pat. no. 9,377,455, issued jun. 28, 2016, the application of which is a continuation of and claims priority to u.s. patent application ser. no. 14/308,110, entitled “bead incubation and washing on a droplet actuator” filed jun. 18, 2014, now u.s. pat. no. 9,086,345, issued jul. 21, 2015, the application of which is a divisional of and claims priority to u.s. patent application ser. no. 12/761,066, entitled “manipulation of beads in droplets and methods for manipulating droplets,” filed apr. 15, 2010, now u.s. pat. no. 8,809,068, issued aug. 19, 2014, the application of which is a) a continuation of and claims priority to international patent application no. pct/us2008/080264, entitled “manipulation of beads in droplets,” filed oct. 17, 2008, which claims priority to provisional u.s. patent application ser. no. 60/980,782, entitled “manipulation of beads in droplets,” filed on oct. 17, 2007; and b) a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/639,531, entitled “droplet-based washing,” filed dec. 15, 2006, now u.s. pat. no. 8,613,889, issued dec. 24, 2013, which claims priority to provisional u.s. patent application nos. 60/745,058, entitled “filler fluids for droplet-based microfluidics” filed on apr. 18, 2006; 60/745,039, entitled “apparatus and methods for droplet-based blood chemistry,” filed on apr. 18, 2006; 60/745,043, entitled “apparatus and methods for droplet-based pcr,” filed on apr. 18, 2006; 60/745,059, entitled “apparatus and methods for droplet-based immunoassay,” filed on apr. 18, 2006; 60/745,914, entitled “apparatus and method for manipulating droplets with a predetermined number of cells” filed on apr. 28, 2006; 60/745,950, entitled “apparatus and methods of sample preparation for a droplet microactuator,” filed on apr. 28, 2006; 60/746,797 entitled “portable analyzer using droplet-based microfluidics,” filed on may 9, 2006; 60/746,801, entitled “apparatus and methods for droplet-based immuno-pcr,” filed on may 9, 2006; 60/806,412, entitled “systems and methods for droplet microactuator operations,” filed on jun. 30, 2006; and 60/807,104, entitled “method and apparatus for droplet-based nucleic acid amplification,” filed on jul. 12, 2006; the disclosure of each of the aforementioned patents and patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. government interest this invention was made with government support under dk066956-02 and ca114993-01a2 awarded by the national institutes of health. the government has certain rights in the invention. background droplet actuators are used to conduct a wide variety of droplet operations. a droplet actuator typically includes two substrates separated by a gap. the substrates include electrodes for conducting droplet operations. the space is typically filled with a filler fluid that is immiscible with the fluid that is to be manipulated on the droplet actuator. the formation and movement of droplets is controlled by electrodes for conducting a variety of droplet operations, such as droplet transport and droplet dispensing. there is a need for improvements to droplet actuators that facilitate handling of droplets with beads. summary of the invention the invention provides a method of dispersing or circulating magnetically responsive beads within a droplet in a droplet actuator. the invention, in one embodiment, makes use of a droplet actuator with a plurality of droplet operations electrodes configured to transport the droplet, and a magnet field present at a portion of the plurality of droplet operations electrodes. a bead bead-containing droplet is provided on the droplet actuator in the presence of the uniform magnetic field. beads are circulated in the droplet during incubation by conducting droplet operations on the droplet within a uniform region of the magnetic field. other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing description of the invention. definitions as used herein, the following terms have the meanings indicated. “activate” with reference to one or more electrodes means effecting a change in the electrical state of the one or more electrodes which results in a droplet operation. “bead,” with respect to beads on a droplet actuator, means any bead or particle that is capable of interacting with a droplet on or in proximity with a droplet actuator. beads may be any of a wide variety of shapes, such as spherical, generally spherical, egg shaped, disc shaped, cubical and other three dimensional shapes. the bead may, for example, be capable of being transported in a droplet on a droplet actuator or otherwise configured with respect to a droplet actuator in a manner which permits a droplet on the droplet actuator to be brought into contact with the bead, on the droplet actuator and/or off the droplet actuator. beads may be manufactured using a wide variety of materials, including for example, resins, and polymers. the beads may be any suitable size, including for example, microbeads, microparticles, nanobeads and nanoparticles. in some cases, beads are magnetically responsive; in other cases beads are not significantly magnetically responsive. for magnetically responsive beads, the magnetically responsive material may constitute substantially all of a bead or one component only of a bead. the remainder of the bead may include, among other things, polymeric material, coatings, and moieties which permit attachment of an assay reagent. examples of suitable magnetically responsive beads are described in u.s. patent publication no. 2005-0260686, entitled, “multiplex flow assays preferably with magnetic particles as solid phase,” published on nov. 24, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for its teaching concerning magnetically responsive materials and beads. the fluids may include one or more magnetically responsive and/or non-magnetically responsive beads. examples of droplet actuator techniques for immobilizing magnetically responsive beads and/or non-magnetically responsive beads and/or conducting droplet operations protocols using beads are described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/639,566, entitled “droplet-based particle sorting,” filed on dec. 15, 2006; u.s. patent application no. 61/039,183, entitled “multiplexing bead detection in a single droplet,” filed on mar. 25, 2008; u.s. patent application ser. no. 61/047,789, entitled “droplet actuator devices and droplet operations using beads,” filed on apr. 25, 2008; u.s. patent application ser. no. 61/086,183, entitled “droplet actuator devices and methods for manipulating beads,” filed on aug. 5, 2008; international patent application no. pct/us2008/053545, entitled “droplet actuator devices and methods employing magnetically responsive beads,” filed on feb. 11, 2008; international patent application no. pct/us2008/058018, entitled “bead-based multiplexed analytical methods and instrumentation,” filed on mar. 24, 2008; international patent application no. pct/us2008/058047, “bead sorting on a droplet actuator,” filed on mar. 23, 2008; and international patent application no. pct/us2006/047486, entitled “droplet-based biochemistry,” filed on dec. 11, 2006; the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. “droplet” means a volume of liquid on a droplet actuator that is at least partially bounded by filler fluid. for example, a droplet may be completely surrounded by filler fluid or may be bounded by filler fluid and one or more surfaces of the droplet actuator. droplets may, for example, be aqueous or non-aqueous or may be mixtures or emulsions including aqueous and non-aqueous components. droplets may take a wide variety of shapes; nonlimiting examples include generally disc shaped, slug shaped, truncated sphere, ellipsoid, spherical, partially compressed sphere, hemispherical, ovoid, cylindrical, and various shapes formed during droplet operations, such as merging or splitting or formed as a result of contact of such shapes with one or more surfaces of a droplet actuator. “droplet actuator” means a device for manipulating droplets. for examples of droplets, see u.s. pat. no. 6,911,132, entitled “apparatus for manipulating droplets by electrowetting-based techniques,” issued on jun. 28, 2005 to pamula et al.; u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/343,284, entitled “apparatuses and methods for manipulating droplets on a printed circuit board,” filed on filed on jan. 30, 2006; u.s. pat. no. 6,773,566, entitled “electrostatic actuators for microfluidics and methods for using same,” issued on aug. 10, 2004 and u.s. pat. no. 6,565,727, entitled “actuators for microfluidics without moving parts,” issued on jan. 24, 2000, both to shenderov et al.; pollack et al., international patent application no. pct/us2006/047486, entitled “droplet-based biochemistry,” filed on dec. 11, 2006, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. methods of the invention may be executed using droplet actuator systems, e.g., as described in international patent application no. pct/us2007/009379, entitled “droplet manipulation systems,” filed on may 9, 2007. in various embodiments, the manipulation of droplets by a droplet actuator may be electrode mediated, e.g., electrowetting mediated or dielectrophoresis mediated. “droplet operation” means any manipulation of a droplet on a droplet actuator. a droplet operation may, for example, include: loading a droplet into the droplet actuator; dispensing one or more droplets from a source droplet; splitting, separating or dividing a droplet into two or more droplets; transporting a droplet from one location to another in any direction; merging or combining two or more droplets into a single droplet; diluting a droplet; mixing a droplet; agitating a droplet; deforming a droplet; retaining a droplet in position; incubating a droplet; heating a droplet; vaporizing a droplet; condensing a droplet from a vapor; cooling a droplet; disposing of a droplet; transporting a droplet out of a droplet actuator; other droplet operations described herein; and/or any combination of the foregoing. the terms “merge,” “merging,” “combine,” “combining” and the like are used to describe the creation of one droplet from two or more droplets. it should be understood that when such a term is used in reference to two or more droplets, any combination of droplet operations sufficient to result in the combination of the two or more droplets into one droplet may be used. for example, “merging droplet a with droplet b,” can be achieved by transporting droplet a into contact with a stationary droplet b, transporting droplet b into contact with a stationary droplet a, or transporting droplets a and b into contact with each other. the terms “splitting,” “separating” and “dividing” are not intended to imply any particular outcome with respect to size of the resulting droplets (i.e., the size of the resulting droplets can be the same or different) or number of resulting droplets (the number of resulting droplets may be 2, 3, 4, 5 or more). the term “mixing” refers to droplet operations which result in more homogenous distribution of one or more components within a droplet. examples of “loading” droplet operations include microdialysis loading, pressure assisted loading, robotic loading, passive loading, and pipette loading. in various embodiments, the droplet operations may be electrode mediated, e.g., electrowetting mediated or dielectrophoresis mediated. “filler fluid” means a fluid associated with a droplet operations substrate of a droplet actuator, which fluid is sufficiently immiscible with a droplet phase to render the droplet phase subject to electrode-mediated droplet operations. the filler fluid may, for example, be a low-viscosity oil, such as silicone oil. other examples of filler fluids are provided in international patent application no. pct/us2006/047486, entitled, “droplet-based biochemistry,” filed on dec. 11, 2006; and in international patent application no. pct/us2008/072604, entitled “use of additives for enhancing droplet actuation,” filed on aug. 8, 2008. “immobilize” with respect to magnetically responsive beads, means that the beads are substantially restrained in position in a droplet or in filler fluid on a droplet actuator. for example, in one embodiment, substantially immobilized beads are sufficiently restrained in position to permit execution of a splitting operation on a droplet, yielding one droplet with substantially all of the beads and one droplet substantially lacking in the beads. “magnetically responsive” means responsive to a magnetic field. “magnetically responsive beads” include or are composed of magnetically responsive materials. examples of magnetically responsive materials include paramagnetic materials, ferromagnetic materials, ferrimagnetic materials, and metamagnetic materials. examples of suitable paramagnetic materials include iron, nickel, and cobalt, as well as metal oxides, such as fe.sub.3o.sub.4, bafe.sub.12o.sub.19, coo, nio, mn.sub.2o.sub.3, cr.sub.2o.sub.3, and comnp. “washing” with respect to washing a magnetically responsive bead means reducing the amount and/or concentration of one or more substances in contact with the magnetically responsive bead or exposed to the magnetically responsive bead from a droplet in contact with the magnetically responsive bead. the reduction in the amount and/or concentration of the substance may be partial, substantially complete, or even complete. the substance may be any of a wide variety of substances; examples include target substances for further analysis, and unwanted substances, such as components of a sample, contaminants, and/or excess reagent. in some embodiments, a washing operation begins with a starting droplet in contact with a magnetically responsive bead, where the droplet includes an initial amount and initial concentration of a substance. the washing operation may proceed using a variety of droplet operations. the washing operation may yield a droplet including the magnetically responsive bead, where the droplet has a total amount and/or concentration of the substance which is less than the initial amount and/or concentration of the substance. other embodiments are described elsewhere herein, and still others will be immediately apparent in view of the present disclosure. the terms “top” and “bottom” are used throughout the description with reference to the top and bottom substrates of the droplet actuator for convenience only, since the droplet actuator is functional regardless of its position in space. when a liquid in any form (e.g., a droplet or a continuous body, whether moving or stationary) is described as being “on”, “at”, or “over” an electrode, array, matrix or surface, such liquid could be either in direct contact with the electrode/array/matrix/surface, or could be in contact with one or more layers or films that are interposed between the liquid and the electrode/array/matrix/surface. when a droplet is described as being “on” or “loaded on” a droplet actuator, it should be understood that the droplet is arranged on the droplet actuator in a manner which facilitates using the droplet actuator to conduct one or more droplet operations on the droplet, the droplet is arranged on the droplet actuator in a manner which facilitates sensing of a property of or a signal from the droplet, and/or the droplet has been subjected to a droplet operation on the droplet actuator. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 illustrates a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator useful for incubating a droplet including magnetically responsive beads; fig. 2 illustrates a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator useful for incubation of antibodies, wherein a sample and magnetically responsive beads are provided within the magnet field of a magnet; fig. 3 illustrates a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator useful for incubation of magnetically responsive beads within a droplet, wherein a sample and magnetically responsive beads are subjected to droplet operations within the magnet field of a magnet; fig. 4 illustrates a method of shielding the effect of multiple magnets in a droplet actuator by using a magnetic shielding material; fig. 5 illustrates a magnet array for performing multiple immunoassays; fig. 6 illustrates simulation results that show the surface field of 2 columns of the magnet array of fig. 5 ; fig. 7 illustrates a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator useful for resuspension of beads (e.g., magnetically-responsive beads) within a reservoir configured with multiple electrodes; fig. 8 illustrates a shows a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator useful for resuspending beads (e.g., magnetically-responsive beads) within a reservoir by pushing out a finger of liquid and then merging back; fig. 9 illustrates a top view of a portion of the droplet actuator of fig. 8 including a reservoir in which beads are resuspended by applying high frequency voltage to the reservoir electrode; fig. 10 illustrates a side view of a droplet actuator that includes a top substrate and bottom substrate separated by a gap; fig. 11 illustrates a side view of another embodiment of a droplet actuator including a top substrate and bottom substrate separated by a gap; fig. 12 illustrates a side view of yet another embodiment of a droplet actuator that includes a top substrate and bottom substrate separated by a gap; fig. 13 illustrates a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator useful for a process of asymmetrically splitting a droplet; fig. 14 illustrates a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator useful for a process employing a hydrophilic patch in a droplet splitting operation; fig. 15 illustrates a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator useful for a process of using a magnetic strip that is integrated into the gasket material at the point of bead immobilization; fig. 16 illustrates a side view of a droplet actuator that includes a top substrate and bottom substrate that are separated by a gap useful for facilitating consistent droplet splitting by use of a physical barrier in the droplet actuator; fig. 17 illustrates a side view of the portion of droplet actuator in fig. 16 useful for facilitating consistent droplet splitting by use of a magnetic physical barrier in the droplet actuator; fig. 18 illustrates embodiments of electrode configuration for improved droplet splitting; and fig. 19 illustrates detection strategies for quantifying an analyte. description the invention provides droplet actuators having specialized configurations for manipulation of droplets including beads and/or for manipulation of beads in droplets. in certain embodiments, the droplet actuators of the invention include magnets and/or physical barriers manipulation of droplets including beads and/or for manipulation of beads in droplets. the invention also includes methods of manipulating of droplets including beads and/or for manipulation of beads in droplets, as well as methods of making and using the droplet actuators of the invention. the droplet actuators of the invention are useful for, among other things, conducting assays for qualitatively and/or quantitatively analyzing one or more components of a droplet. examples of such assays include affinity based assays, such as immunoassays; enzymatic assays; and nucleic acid assays. other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing discussion. 7.1 incubation of beads in certain embodiments, the invention provides droplet actuators and methods for incubating beads. for example, a sample including bead-containing antibodies may be incubated on the droplet actuator in order to permit one or more target components to bind to the antibodies. examples of target components include analytes; contaminants; cells, such as bacteria and protozoa; tissues; and organisms, such as multicellular parasites. in the presence of a magnet, magnetic beads in the droplet may be substantially immobilized and may fail to circulate throughout the droplet. the invention provides various droplet manipulations during incubation of droplets on a droplet actuator in order to increase circulation of beads within the droplet and/or circulation of droplet contents surrounding beads. it will be appreciated that in the various embodiments described below employing magnetically responsive beads, beads that are not substantially magnetically responsive may also be included in the droplets. fig. 1 illustrates techniques that are useful process of incubating a droplet including magnetically responsive beads. among other things, the techniques are useful for enhancing circulation of fluids and beads within the droplet during an incubation step. in fig. 1 , each step is illustrated on a path of electrodes 110 . a magnet 112 is associated with a subset of electrodes 110 . magnet 112 is arranged relative to the electrodes 110 such that a subset of electrodes 110 are within a uniform region of the magnetic field produced by magnet 112 . bead clumping is reduced when the droplet is present in this uniform region. in step 1, droplet 116 is located atop magnet 112 . beads 116 are substantially immobilized in a distributed fashion adjacent to the droplet operations surface. the beads are generally less clumped than they would be in the presence of a non-uniform region of the magnetic field. in step 2 droplet 114 is split using droplet operations into two sub-droplets 114 a, 114 b. during the splitting operation beads and liquid are circulated within the droplets 114 , 114 a and 114 b. in step 3 droplets 114 a and 114 b are merged using droplet operations into a single droplet 114 . this merging operation is accomplished within the uniform region of the magnetic field. during the merging operation beads and liquid are further circulated within the droplets 114 , 114 a and 114 b. in step 4, droplet 114 is transported using droplet operations along electrodes 110 away from the magnet 112 . as droplet 116 moves away from magnet 110 , beads 116 are pulled to the edge of droplet 114 that nearest the magnet 112 . movement of beads 116 within droplet 114 provides further beneficial circulation of beads and liquid within the droplet 114 . in step 5, droplet 116 is transported using droplet operations back to the step 1 position. beads 116 within the droplet 116 are again dispersed in the presence of the uniform magnetic field of magnet 112 . this redistribution of beads, as droplet 114 returns to its position within the uniform region of the magnetic field provides further beneficial circulation of beads and liquid within the droplet 114 . these steps may be conducted in any logical order. each step may be conducted any number of times between the other steps. for example, steps 1-3 may be repeated multiple times before moving onto step 4. similarly, steps 3-5 may be repeated multiple times before returning to steps 1-3. moreover, all steps are not required. for example, in one embodiment, an incubation step in an assay is accomplished by repeating steps 1-3. in another embodiment, an incubation step in an assay is accomplished by repeating steps 3-5. the incubation method of the invention is useful for enhancing circulation of magnetically responsive beads with the liquid in a droplet while the droplet remains in the presence of a magnetic field. among other advantages, the approach may reduce bead clumping and permit tighter droplet actuator designs making more efficient use of droplet actuator real estate. in one embodiment, the invention provides a droplet operations incubation scheme, that does not allow magnetically responsive beads to be introduced into a region of the magnetic field which is sufficiently non-uniform to cause bead clumping. in another embodiment, the invention provides a merge-and-split incubation scheme, that does not allow magnetically responsive beads to be introduced into a region of the magnetic field which is sufficiently non-uniform to cause bead clumping. in yet another embodiment, the invention provides a droplet transport incubation scheme, that does not allow magnetically responsive beads to be introduced into a region of the magnetic field which is sufficiently non-uniform to cause bead clumping. any combination of droplet operations which result in effective mixing (e.g., substantially complete mixing) may be chosen. mixing is complete when it is sufficient for conducting the analysis being undertaken. the droplet may be oscillated in the presence of the uniform region of the magnetic field by transporting the droplet back and forth within the uniform region. in some cases, electrode sizes used for the oscillation may be varied to increase circulation within the droplet. in some cases, droplet operations electrodes are used to effect droplet operations to transport a droplet back and forth or in one or more looping patterns. preferably the oscillation pattern does not allow to be introduced into a region of the magnetic field which is sufficiently uniform to cause bead clumping. in some cases, droplet operations are performed at an edge of the magnet to more equally redistribute the magnetically responsive beads. in some cases, droplet operations are performed away from the magnet, followed by transporting the droplet. fig. 2 illustrates another process of incubation of antibodies, wherein a sample and magnetically responsive beads are provided within the magnet field of a magnet, e.g., within a uniform magnetic field region of a magnet. fig. 2 shows a top view of a portion of droplet actuator 100 that is described in fig. 1 . in step 1, beads 116 are substantially immobilized along the surface of the droplet operations electrodes 110 due to the magnetic field of the magnet 112 . i step 2, droplet 114 is split using droplet operations into two droplets 118 , both remaining in the uniform region of the magnetic field. in step 4, the two droplets 118 are transported away from the magnet 112 , thereby attracting the beads 116 to the edge of the two droplets 118 nearest the magnet 112 . this operation causes flow reversal within the droplets 118 , which enhances effective mixing. the two droplets 118 may alternatively be transported away from the magnet in different directions, such as in opposite directions. in step 4 the two droplets 118 are merged into one droplet 116 . in step 5, the droplet 116 is transported back to the step 1 position, causing the beads 116 to disperse within the droplet 116 . fig. 3 illustrates another process of incubation of magnetically responsive beads within a droplet, wherein a sample and magnetically responsive beads are subjected to droplet operations within the magnet field of a magnet. fig. 3 shows a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator 300 that includes a set of droplet operations electrodes 310 (e.g., electrowetting electrodes) that is arranged in sufficient proximity to a magnet, such that a droplet 314 moving along the droplet operations electrodes 310 is within the magnet field of the magnet, e.g., a region of uniform magnetic field. for example, the set of droplet operations electrodes 310 are arranged in a closed loop and in the presence of two magnets, such as a magnet 312 a and magnet 312 b, as shown in fig. 3 . in this embodiment, the droplet 314 may include sample and beads 316 , and some or all of the beads may be magnetically responsive. in step 1, sample with beads 316 in the droplet 314 is provided on droplet actuator. beads 316 are substantially immobilized along the surface of the droplet operations electrodes 310 due to the magnetic field of the first magnet 312 a that is located at “lane a” of the electrode loop. in step 2, the droplet 314 is split using droplet operations into two droplets 318 , distributing the beads 316 in the two droplets 318 at “lane a” of the electrode loop. in step 3, the two droplets 318 are transported using droplet operations in opposite directions away from the first magnet 312 a at “lane a” and toward the second magnet 312 b that is located at “lane b” of the electrode loop. in step 4, in the presence of the second magnet 312 b at “lane b,” droplets 318 are merged into one droplet 320 . in steps 5-6, not shown, the process of steps 1-3 may be essentially repeated in reverse. in step 5, droplet 320 may be split into two droplets 318 , distributing the beads 316 in the two droplets 318 at “lane b.” in step 6, droplets 318 are transported in opposite directions away from the second magnet 312 b at “lane b” and back to the first magnet 312 a at “lane a.” in step 7, in the presence of the first magnet 312 a at “lane a,” droplets 318 are merged into one droplet 320 . the droplet split and merge operation as described above provide efficient dispersion of beads in the presence of a magnet, thereby improving the efficiency of the binding of antibodies and the analyte. the various droplet operations may be conducted in primarily or completely in uniform regions of the magnetic fields generated by magnets 312 a, 312 b. alternatively, the droplet split and merge operation as described above may be performed away from the magnet and/or near the edge of the magnet. 7.2 magnet configurations fig. 4 illustrates a method of shielding the effect of multiple magnets in a droplet actuator 400 by using a magnetic shielding material, preferably one that has high magnetic permeability. one example of such material is mu-metal foil. mu-metal is a nickel-iron alloy (e.g., 75% nickel, 15% iron, plus copper and molybdenum) that has very high magnetic permeability. fig. 4 shows a top view of multiple washing lanes 410 , wherein each washing lane 410 includes a string of droplet operations electrodes 412 in the presence of a magnet 414 . an electrode array 416 (e.g., an array of electrowetting electrodes) for performing droplet operations feed the multiple washing lanes 410 . additionally, the droplets 418 that are transported may include magnetically responsive beads (not shown). furthermore, this embodiment provides a magnetic shield 420 , provided as a layer that is beneath the electrode array 416 . because of the presence of multiple magnets 414 , which are used to immobilize magnetically responsive beads during washing, the magnetically responsive beads in the reservoir tend to become aggregated, sometimes irreversibly. when bead-containing droplets are dispensed using droplet operations, bead aggregation may cause the number of beads that are present in each dispensed droplet to vary. variation in bead dispensing may affect the assay result, which is not desirable. the invention, as shown in fig. 4 , provides magnetic shield 420 in the area under the electrode array 416 of the droplet actuator 400 . the magnetic shield 420 may be formed of alloys, such as mu-metal foil, which shields the magnetically responsive beads within the electrode array 416 from stray magnetic fields 422 . fig. 5 illustrates a magnet array 500 for performing multiple immunoassays that has reduced, preferably substantially no, interference due to adjacent magnets within a droplet actuator (not shown) having a substrate associated with droplet operations electrodes. the electrodes are arranged for conducting one or more droplet operations on a droplet operations surface of the substrate. magnets, such as the magnet array 500 shown in fig. 5 , may be arranged with respect to the droplet actuator such that one or more magnets cancels out some portion of a magnetic field of one or more other magnets. in this manner, an area of the surface may have some portions that are subject to magnetic fields and some portions in which the magnetic fields have been cancelled out. for example, magnets may be arranged to cancel the field in areas of the droplet actuator that includes liquid along with magnetically responsive beads. specifically reservoirs, incubation regions, detection regions are preferably in regions in which the magnetic fields have been cancelled out. in one embodiment, the arrangement involves an array of alternately placed magnets, e.g., as shown in fig. 5 . in general, magnets may be located in any position which supplies a magnetic field to the vicinity of the droplet operations surface where the magnetic field is desired and eliminates or weakens the magnetic field in other areas where the magnetic field is not desired. in one embodiment, a first magnet produces a first magnetic field where it is desirable to immobilize magnetically responsive beads in a droplet, while a second magnet produces a second magnetic field which cancels or weakens a portion of the first magnetic field. this arrangement produces a device in which a portion of the droplet operations surface that would have otherwise been influenced by the first magnetic field is subjected to a weak or absent field because the first magnetic field has been cancelled or weakened by the second magnetic field. in one embodiment, one or more of the magnets is fixed in relation to the droplet operations surface, and the invention comprises conducting one or more droplet operations using droplets that contain magnetically responsive beads, where the droplets are in proximity to one or more magnets and are in the presence or absence of a magnetic field. in another embodiment, the magnetic field exerts sufficient influence over magnetically responsive beads that the droplets may be substantially immobile during one droplet operation, such as a splitting operation, and yet not so stable that the droplets are restrained from being transported away from the magnetic field with the magnet. in this embodiment, the droplet may be surrounded by a filler fluid, and yet the droplet with the magnetically responsive beads may be transported away from the magnetic with substantially no loss of magnetically responsive beads to the filler fluid. fig. 6 illustrates simulation results 600 that show the surface field of 2 columns of magnet array 500 of fig. 5 . 7.3 resuspension of beads within a reservoir fig. 7 illustrates a process of resuspension of beads (e.g., magnetically-responsive beads) within a reservoir configured with multiple electrodes within the. fig. 7 shows a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator 700 that includes a reservoir 710 that is formed of multiple electrodes (e.g., electrodes 1 through 9 in a 3×3 array), whereby the reservoir 710 feeds a line of droplet operations electrodes 712 (e.g., electrowetting electrodes) to which droplets that contain beads may be dispensed. referring to fig. 7 , a process of resuspension of beads within a reservoir by having multiple electrodes within the same reservoir may include, but is not limited to, the following steps. in step 1, beads 714 are aggregated within the solution 716 due to the presence of multiple magnets (not shown). in step 2, electrodes within the reservoir 710 are used to subject the solution 716 to droplet operations, thereby resuspension of the beads 714 . the electrode activation sequence may be randomized to create more chaotic flow fields for more efficient resuspension. the liquid may be split and merged and subjected to other droplet operations. during the above-described process, the electrode activation sequence may be chosen such that the beads are mixed well by means of droplet operations. additionally, when dispensing (e.g., pulling out a finger of fluid) a bead droplet from the electrode array of the reservoir, all the electrodes within the reservoir may be switched on and off at the same time, depending on the requirement. it should be noted that an almost infinite variety of electrode shapes is possible. any shape which is capable of facilitating a droplet operation will suffice. the resuspension process may be repeated between every 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or more droplet dispensing operations. the resuspend-and-dispense pattern may be adjusted as required based on the specific characteristics of bead types and droplet compositions. for example, in one embodiment, the process of the invention results in dispensing bead-containing droplets with greater than 95% consistency in bead count. in another embodiment, the process of the invention results in dispensing bead-containing droplets with greater than 99% consistency in bead count. in another embodiment, the process of the invention results in dispensing bead-containing droplets with greater than 99.9% consistency in bead count. in another embodiment, the process of the invention results in dispensing bead-containing droplets with greater than 99.99% consistency in bead count. fig. 8 illustrates a process of resuspending beads (e.g., magnetically-responsive beads) within a reservoir by pushing out a finger of liquid and then merging back. fig. 8 shows a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator 800 that includes a reservoir 810 that feeds a line of droplet operations electrodes 812 (e.g., electrowetting electrodes) to which droplets that contain beads may be dispensed. additionally, the reservoir includes a solution 814 that includes beads 816 . referring to fig. 8 , a process of resuspension of beads within a reservoir by pushing out a finger of liquid and then merging back may include, but is not limited to, the following steps. in step 1, beads 816 are aggregated within the solution 814 due to the presence of multiple magnets (not shown). in step 2, a finger of solution 814 that includes beads 816 is pulled out of the reservoir 810 using droplet operations. in step 3, a 2x slug 818 is dispensed by splitting the middle of the finger of solution 814 . in step 4, the 2x slug 818 is merged back with the solution 814 that includes magnetically responsive beads 816 within the reservoir 810 . steps 2 through 4 may be repeated until the desired degree of resuspension is achieved, e.g., until substantially completely resuspended beads are obtained within the bead solution of the reservoir 810 . when the desired degree of resuspension is achieved, bead-containing droplets may be dispensed, achieving a target percentage of variation in each droplet. the resuspension process may be repeated, between every 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or more droplet dispensing operations. the resuspend-and-dispense pattern may be adjusted as required based on the specific characteristics of bead types and droplet compositions. for example, in one embodiment, the process of the invention results in dispensing bead-containing droplets with greater than 95% consistency in bead count. in another embodiment, the process of the invention results in dispensing bead-containing droplets with greater than 99% consistency in bead count. in another embodiment, the process of the invention results in dispensing bead-containing droplets with greater than 99.9% consistency in bead count. in another embodiment, the process of the invention results in dispensing bead-containing droplets with greater than 99.99% consistency in bead count. fig. 9 illustrates a reservoir in which beads are resuspended by applying high frequency voltage to the reservoir electrode. the figure shows a top view of a portion of droplet actuator 800 of fig. 8 . reservoir 810 includes a droplet 814 that includes magnetically responsive beads 816 . beads 816 in a reservoir 810 may tend to become aggregated due to, for example, the presence of nearby magnets (not shown). aggregation may adversely affect bead count in dispensed beads, adversely impacting reliability of assay results for assays conducted using the dispensed bead-containing droplets. beads 816 may be resuspended within the magnetically responsive bead solution within the reservoir 810 by applying a high frequency ac voltage to the reservoir electrode 810 , in accordance with the invention. because of the high frequency ac voltage, the magnetically responsive beads 816 tend to oscillate because of the wetting and dewetting of the contact line of the droplet. this oscillation at the periphery disperses the magnetically responsive beads 816 and resuspends them in the supernatant. in one example, the high frequency ac voltage may be in the range from about 100 volts to about 300 volts with a frequency from about 10 hz to about 1000 hz. the resuspension process may be repeated between every 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or more droplet dispensing operations. the resuspend-and-dispense pattern may be adjusted as required based on the specific characteristics of bead types and droplet compositions. for example, in one embodiment, the process of the invention results in dispensing bead-containing droplets with greater that 95% consistency in bead count. in another embodiment, the process of the invention results in dispensing bead-containing droplets with greater than 99% consistency in bead count. in another embodiment, the process of the invention results in dispensing bead-containing droplets with greater than 90.9% consistency in bead count. in another embodiment, the process of the invention results in dispensing bead-containing droplets with greater than 90.99% consistency in bead count. 7.4 improving dispersion of magnetically responsive beads by magnet configurations fig. 10 illustrates a side view of a droplet actuator 1000 that includes a top substrate 1010 and bottom substrate 1012 that are separated by a gap. a set of droplet operations electrodes 1014 (e.g., electrowetting electrodes) is provided on the bottom substrate 1012 . additionally, a first electromagnet 1016 is arranged near the top substrate 1010 and a second electromagnet 1018 is arranged near the bottom substrate 1012 . the proximity of the electromagnets 1016 and 1018 to the droplet actuator 1000 is sufficiently close that the gap is within the magnetic fields thereof. a droplet 1020 that includes magnetically responsive beads 1022 is in the gap and may be manipulated along the droplet operations electrodes 1014 . electromagnets 1016 and 1018 may be used to improve dispersion of magnetically responsive beads 1022 . improved dispersion may, for example, improve binding efficiency of antibodies and analytes to the surface of the beads. by providing an electromagnet on the top and bottom of the droplet 1020 , the magnetically responsive beads 1022 may be effectively dispersed within the droplet 1020 by switching on and off the magnetic fields of electromagnets 1016 and 1018 . in one example, fig. 10a shows the electromagnet 1016 turned on and the electromagnet 1018 turned off, which causes the beads 1022 to be attracted to the electromagnet 1016 and are, therefore, pulled to the electromagnet 1016 side of the droplet 1020 . subsequently, electromagnet 1018 is turned on and electromagnet 1016 is turned off, which causes the beads 1022 to be attracted to electromagnet 1018 and are, therefore, pulled to the electromagnet 1018 side of the droplet 1020 . alternating the activation of electromagnets 1016 and 1018 may be repeated until resuspension of the beads 1022 is substantially achieved. fig. 10b shows both electromagnets 1016 and 1018 turned on at the same time, which causes a pillar of beads 1022 to form through droplet 1020 . various changes in the configuration of magnet activation (on/on, on/off, off/on, and off/off) may be used to circulate magnetically responsive beads 1022 within droplet 1020 . in some embodiments, the pattern of magnet activation may be randomized. examples include on/off, off/on, on/off, off/on, on/off, etc.; on/on, on/off, off/on, on/on, on/off, off/on, on/on, on/off, off/on, etc; on/on, on/off, off/on, off/off, on/on, on/off, off/on, off/off, on/on, on/off, off/on, off/off, etc.; on/off, off/off, off/on, off/off, on/off, off/off, off/on, off/off, on/off, off/off, off/on, off/off, etc. various other magnet activation patterns will be apparent to one of skill in the art in light of the present specification. fig. 11 illustrates a side view of a droplet actuator 1100 including a top substrate 1110 and bottom substrate 1112 that are separated by a gap. a set of droplet operations electrodes 1114 (e.g., electrowetting electrodes) is provided on the bottom substrate 1112 . additionally, multiple magnets 1116 are arranged near the top substrate 1110 and multiple magnets 1116 are arranged near the bottom substrate 1112 . in one example, magnets 1116 - 1 , 1116 - 3 , and 1116 - 5 are arranged near the top substrate 1110 and magnets 1116 - 2 , 1116 - 4 , and 1116 - 6 are arranged near the bottom substrate 1112 . the proximity of the magnets 1116 to the droplet actuator 1100 is sufficiently close that the gap is within the magnetic fields thereof. a slug of liquid 1118 (e.g., antibodies sample mixture) that includes magnetically responsive beads 1120 is in the gap along the droplet operations electrodes 1114 . this aspect of the invention may improve the binding of analytes or other target substances, such as cells, with antibodies that are present on the beads 1120 . referring to fig. 11 , a process of providing improved dispersion of magnetically responsive beads by use of a magnet arrangement, such as shown in fig. 11 , may include, but is not limited to, the following steps. step 1: magnet 1116 - 1 =off, magnet 1116 - 2 =0n, magnet 1116 - 3 =off, magnet 1116 - 4 =off, magnet 1116 - 5 =off, and magnet 1116 - 6 =off, which causes the magnetically responsive beads 1120 to be attracted toward magnet 1116 - 2 . step 2: magnet 1116 - 1 =off, magnet 1116 - 2 =off, magnet 1116 - 3 =0n, magnet 1116 - 4 =off, magnet 1116 - 5 =off, and magnet 1116 - 6 =off, which causes the magnetically responsive beads 1120 to be attracted toward magnet 1116 - 3 . step 3 (not shown): magnet 1116 - 1 =off, magnet 1116 - 2 =off, magnet 1116 - 3 =off, magnet 1116 - 4 =off, magnet 1116 - 5 =off, and magnet 1116 - 6 =on, which causes the magnetically responsive beads 1120 to be attracted toward magnet 1116 - 6 . step 4 (not shown): magnet 1116 - 1 =off, magnet 1116 - 2 =off, magnet 1116 - 3 =off, magnet 1116 - 4 =off, magnet 1116 - 5 =on, and magnet 1116 - 6 =off, which causes the magnetically responsive beads 1120 to be attracted toward magnet 1116 - 5 . step 5 (not shown): magnet 1116 - 1 =off, magnet 1116 - 2 =off, magnet 1116 - 3 =off, magnet 1116 - 4 =0n, magnet 1116 - 5 =off, and magnet 1116 - 6 =off, which causes the magnetically responsive beads 1120 to be attracted toward magnet 1116 - 4 . step 6 (not shown): magnet 1116 - 1 =0n, magnet 2 =off, magnet 3 =off, magnet 4 =off, magnet 5 =off, and magnet 6 =off, which causes the magnetically responsive beads to be attracted toward magnet 1 . steps 1 through 6 may be repeated until a desired degree of dispersion or circulation of magnetically responsive beads 1120 and liquid is achieved. fig. 12 illustrates a side view of a droplet actuator 1200 that includes a top substrate 1210 and bottom substrate 1212 that are separated by a gap. a set of droplet operations electrodes 1214 (e.g., electrowetting electrodes) is provided on the bottom substrate 1212 . a droplet 1216 that includes magnetically responsive beads 1218 is provided in the gap and may be manipulated along the droplet operations electrodes 1214 . additionally, a first magnet 1220 a is arranged near the top substrate 1210 and a second magnet 1220 b is arranged near the bottom substrate 1212 . the proximity of the magnets 1220 a and 1220 b to the droplet actuator 1200 is sufficiently close that the gap is within the magnetic fields thereof. however, the distance of the magnets 1220 a and 1220 b from the droplet actuator 1200 may be adjusted by, for example, a mechanical means, thereby adjusting the influence of the magnetic fields upon the magnetically responsive beads 1218 . mechanical movement of the magnets 1220 a and 1220 b disperses or otherwise circulates magnetically responsive beads and liquids within the droplet. in one example, fig. 12a shows both magnets 1220 a and 1220 b in close proximity to the droplet actuator 1200 , which causes a pillar of beads 1218 to form through the droplet 1216 . in another example, fig. 12b shows the magnet 1220 a only may be moved mechanically by a distance “x” where substantially no magnetic field of magnet 1220 a reaches the magnetically responsive beads 1218 and, thus, the beads 1218 are attracted toward the magnet 1220 b, thereby dispersing the beads 1218 . in like manner, the magnet 1220 b only may be moved mechanically by a distance “x” where substantially no magnetic field of magnet 1220 b reaches the magnetically responsive beads 1218 and, thus, the beads are attracted toward the first magnet 1220 a, thereby dispersing the beads 1218 . by, for example, alternating the mechanical movement of the magnets, effective dispersion of magnetically responsive beads 1218 is substantially ensured. in some embodiments, both magnets are moved. magnets may be oscillated to rapidly circulate beads and liquids within the droplet. 7.5 improved droplet splitting by magnet configurations fig. 13 illustrates a process of asymmetrically splitting a droplet. fig. 13 shows a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator 1300 that includes a set of droplet operations electrodes 1310 (e.g., electrowetting electrodes) that is arranged in sufficient proximity to a magnet 1312 , such that a droplet 1314 moving along the droplet operations electrodes 1310 is within the magnet field of the magnet 1312 , e.g., a region of uniform magnetic field. in this embodiment, the droplet 1314 may be may include sample and beads 1316 , and some or all of the beads 1316 may be magnetically responsive. the process may include, without limitation, the following steps. in step 1, after immobilizing the magnetically responsive beads 1316 to a localized area in the presence of magnet 1312 , droplet operations electrodes 1310 are activated to extend droplet 1314 into a 4x-slug of liquid that extends beyond the boundary of magnet 1312 . in step 2, droplet operations electrode 1310 is deactivated, and the next two droplet operations electrodes 1310 remain on, and a third droplet operations electrode is activated to provide the asymmetric split. the process may, for example, be employed in a merge-and-split bead washing protocol. fig. 14 illustrates a process employing a hydrophilic patch in a droplet splitting operation. fig. 14 shows a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator 1400 that includes a set of droplet operations electrodes 1410 (e.g., electrowetting electrodes) arranged in sufficient proximity to a magnet 1412 , such that a droplet moving along the droplet operations electrodes 1410 is within the magnet field of the magnet 1412 , e.g., a region of uniform magnetic field. in this embodiment, the droplet may be may include sample and beads 1414 , and some or all of the beads may be magnetically responsive. the process may include, without limitation, the following steps. in step 1, a small hydrophilic patch 1416 , which is patterned on the top substrate (not shown) and opposite a certain droplet operations electrode 1410 , immobilizes the aqueous slug 1418 , and the magnet 1412 immobilizes the magnetically responsive beads 1414 . in step 2, a droplet splitting operation is executed (e.g., forming droplets 1420 and 1422 ). the hydrophilic patch 1416 ensures droplet splitting at the same point in relation to the droplet operations electrode 1410 that is downstream of the hydrophilic patch 1416 . in this example, the magnetically responsive beads 1414 remain substantially immobilized in droplet 1422 by the magnet 1412 and droplet 1522 is substantially free of beads 1420 . the process may, for example, be employed in a merge-and-split bead washing protocol. fig. 15 illustrates a process of using a magnetic strip that is integrated into the gasket material at the point of bead immobilization. fig. 15 shows a top view of a portion of a droplet actuator 1500 that includes a set of droplet operations electrodes 1510 (e.g., electrowetting electrodes) that is arranged in sufficient proximity to a magnetic strip 1512 that is integrated into the gasket material 1514 of the droplet actuator 1500 , such that a droplet moving along the droplet operations electrodes 1510 is within the magnet field of the magnetic strip 1512 , e.g., a region of uniform magnetic field. in this embodiment, the droplet may be may include sample and beads 1516 , and some or all of the beads may be magnetically responsive. the process may include, but is not limited to, the following steps. in step 1, magnetic strip 1512 immobilizes the magnetically responsive beads 1516 in an aqueous slug 1518 . in step 2, a droplet splitting operation occurs (e.g., forming droplets 1520 and 1522 ), whereby the magnetically responsive beads 1516 remain substantially immobilized in droplet 1520 by the magnetic strip 1512 and droplet 1522 is substantially free of beads 1516 . the process may, for example, be employed in a merge-and-split bead washing protocol. 7.6 improved droplet splitting by physical barrier fig. 16 illustrates a process of facilitating consistent droplet splitting by use of a physical barrier in the droplet actuator. fig. 16 shows a side view of a droplet actuator 1600 that includes a top substrate 1610 and bottom substrate 1612 that are separated by a gap. a set of droplet operations electrodes 1614 (e.g., electrowetting electrodes) is provided on the bottom substrate 1612 . additionally, a magnet 1616 is arranged in sufficient proximity to the droplet operations electrodes 1614 , such that a droplet moving along the droplet operations electrodes 1610 is within the magnet field of the magnet 1616 , e.g., a region of uniform magnetic field. in this embodiment, the droplet may be may include sample and beads 1618 , and some or all of the beads 1618 may be magnetically responsive. additionally, the droplet actuator 1600 includes a physical barrier 1620 that is arranged as shown in fig. 16 . the physical barrier 1620 is used to reduce the gap at the point of splitting, thereby assisting the droplet splitting operation. additionally, because of the existence of the rigid barrier, consistent splitting may be obtained substantially at the same point. further, the physical barrier 1620 may in some cases substantially nonmagnetic. the process may include, but is not limited to, the following steps. in step 1, magnet 1612 immobilizes the magnetically responsive beads 1618 in, for example, an aqueous slug 1622 . the aqueous slug 1622 is intersected by the physical barrier 1620 , which reduces the gap. in step 2, a droplet splitting operation occurs (e.g., forming droplets 1624 and 1626 ), whereby the magnetically responsive beads 1618 remain substantially immobilized by the magnet 1616 and the physical barrier 1620 is used to reduce the gap at the point of splitting, thereby assisting the droplet splitting operation. in this example, magnetically responsive beads 1618 remain substantially immobilized in droplet 1624 by the magnet 1612 and droplet 1626 is substantially free of beads 1618 . for example, substantially all of the magnetically responsive beads 1618 may remain in droplet 1618 , while droplet 1610 may be substantially free of magnetically responsive beads 1618 . the process may, for example, be employed in a merge-and-split bead washing protocol. fig. 17 illustrates a process of facilitating consistent droplet splitting by use of a magnetic physical barrier in the droplet actuator. fig. 17 shows a side view of the portion of droplet actuator 1600 that is described in fig. 16 . however, fig. 17 shows that the substantially nonmagnetic physical barrier 1620 of fig. 16 is replaced with a magnetic physical barrier 1710 . fig. 17 also shows that magnet 1616 of fig. 16 is removed from proximity to bottom substrate 1612 . the magnetic physical barrier 1710 is used to (1) immobilize the magnetically responsive beads 1618 and (2) to reduce the gap at the point of splitting, thereby assisting the droplet splitting operation. additionally, because of the existence of the rigid magnetic physical barrier 1710 , consistent splitting may be obtained substantially at the same point. the process may include, but is not limited to, the following steps. in step 1, the magnetic physical barrier 1710 immobilizes the magnetically responsive beads 1618 in the aqueous slug 1622 . the aqueous slug 1622 is intersected by the magnetic physical barrier 1710 , which reduces the gap. in step 2, a droplet splitting operation is executed (e.g., forming droplets 1624 and 1626 ), whereby the magnetically responsive beads remain substantially immobilized by the magnetic physical barrier 1710 and the magnetic physical barrier 1710 is used to reduce the gap at the point of splitting, thereby assisting the droplet splitting operation. in this example, magnetically responsive beads 1618 remain substantially immobilized in droplet 1624 by magnetic physical barrier 1710 and droplet 1626 is substantially free of beads 1618 . the process may, for example, be employed in a merge-and-split bead washing protocol. 7.7 electrode configurations for improved droplet splitting fig. 18 illustrates embodiments of electrode configuration for improved droplet splitting. in one example, fig. 18a shows an electrode path 1810 that includes a splitting region 1812 that includes a segmented electrode 1814 , such as multiple electrode strips. in a splitting operation, electrodes may be activated to extend a slug across the region of electrode strips. the electorode strips may be deactivated starting with the outer strips and continuing to the inner strips in order to cause a controlled split of the droplet at the electrode strip region of the electrode path 1810 . in an alternative embodiment, the electrode strips may be rotated 90 degrees. in this embodiment, deactivation may start from the inner electrodes of the electrode strips and continue to the outer electrodes in order to controllably split the droplet at the electrode strips. in another example, fig. 18b shows an electrode path 1820 that includes a splitting region 1822 that includes a tapered electrode 1824 that may span a distance equivalent, for example, to about two standard droplet operations electrodes. in operation, a droplet may be extended along electrodes of the electrode path across tapered electrode 1824 . electrode 1824 or the adjacent electrode 1825 may be deactivated to controllably split the droplet. in yet another example, fig. 18c shows an electrode pattern 1830 that includes a splitting region 1832 that includes a long tapered electrode 1834 and a short tapered electrode 1836 , where the smallest end of the tapered electrodes face one another. the tapered electrode pair may span a distance equivalent, for example, to about three standard droplet operations electrodes. in operation, a droplet may be extended along electrodes of the electrode path across tapered electrodes 1834 and 1836 . electrode 1834 and/or electrode 1836 may be deactivated to controllably split the droplet. in yet another example, fig. 18d shows an electrode pattern 1840 that includes a splitting region 1842 that includes a long tapered electrode 1842 and a short interlocking electrode 1844 , where the smallest end of the tapered electrode 1842 faces the interlocking electrode 1844 . the electrode pair may span a distance equivalent, for example, to about three standard droplet operations electrodes. in operation, a droplet may be extended along electrodes of the electrode path across tapered electrodes 1844 and 1846 . electrode 1844 and/or electrode 1846 may be deactivated to controllably split the droplet. in yet another example, fig. 18e shows an electrode pattern 1850 that includes a splitting region 1852 that includes a segmented electrode 1854 , such as multiple row or columns of electrode strips. n operation, a droplet may be extended along electrodes of the electrode path across splitting region 1852 . each segment may be independently deactivated as desired to controllably split the droplet. 7.8 improved detection a process for the detection of supernatant after adding a substrate to the assayed magnetically responsive beads is disclosed, in accordance with the invention. after the washing protocol to remove the excess unbound antibody is complete, a chemiluminescent substrate is added to the assayed and washed beads, which produces chemiluminescence as a result of the reaction between the enzyme on the beads and the substrate. the substrate may be incubated with the magnetically responsive beads for some fixed time, where the magnetically responsive beads are substantially immobilized and the supernatant is transported away for detection. this approach reduces, preferably entirely eliminates, the need to transport the magnetically responsive bead droplet over long distances to the detector and also reduces, preferably entirely eliminates, the possibility of loss of beads during the transport operation. alternatively the antibody-antigen-enzyme complex can be released from the bead by chemical or other means into the supernatant. the beads may then be substantially immobilized and the supernatant processed further for detection. additionally, the same split, merge, and transport strategies that are explained for incubating beads/antibodies/sample mixture may be employed here also for incubating substrate and assayed beads. bead based sandwich or competitive affinity assays, such as elisas, may be performed using the procedures described in this application in conjunction with various steps described in international patent application no. pct/us06/47486, entitled “droplet-based biochemistry,” filed on dec. 11, 2006. further, after incubation, unbound sample material and excess reporter antibody or reporter ligand may be washed away from the bead-antibody-antigen complex using various droplet operations. a droplet of substrate (e.g., alkaline phosphatase substrate, aps-5) may be delivered to the bead-antibody-antigen complex. during incubation, the substrate is converted to product which begins to chemiluminesce. the decay of the product (which generates light) is sufficiently slow that the substrate-product droplet can be separated from the alkaline phosphatase-antibody complex and still retain a measurable signal. after an incubation period of the substrate with the bead-antibody-antigen complex (seconds to minutes), the magnetically responsive bead-antibody-antigen complex may be retained with a magnetic field (e.g., see u.s. patent application ser. no. 60/900,653, filed on feb. 9, 2007, entitled “immobilization of magnetically-responsive beads during droplet operations,”) or by a physical barrier (e.g., see u.s. patent application ser. no. 60/881,674, filed on jan. 22, 2007, entitled “surface-assisted fluid loading and droplet dispensing,” the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference) and only the substrate-product droplet may be presented (using droplet operations) to the sensor (e.g., pmt) for quantitation of the product. the substrate-product droplet alone is sufficient to generate a signal proportional to the amount of antigen in the sample. incubation of the substrate with the magnetically responsive bead-antibody-antigen complex produces enough product that can be quantitated when separated from the enzyme (e.g., alkaline phosphatase). by measuring the product in this manner, the bead-antibody-antigen complex does not have to be presented to the pmt. there are no beads or proteins to “foul” the detector area as they are never moved to this area. also, the product droplet does not have to oscillate over the detector to keep beads in suspension during quantitation. the droplet volume may also be reduced in the absence of beads. detection of the bead-antibody-antigen complex may employ a slug of liquid (e.g., 4 droplets) to move the complex, whereas with the beadless method the droplet could be smaller (e.g., less than 4 droplets). time to result may also be shorter with this approach when performing multiplex elisas because the product droplet can be moved to the detector more quickly in the absence of beads. bead based sandwich or competitive affinity assays, such as elisas, may be performed using droplet operations for one or more steps, such as combining sample, capture beads and reporter antibody or reporter ligand. after incubation, unbound sample material and excess reporter antibody or reporter ligand may be washed away from the bead-antibody-antigen complex using an on-chip washing protocol. after washing, a droplet of substrate (e.g., alkaline phosphatase substrate, aps-5) may be delivered to the bead-antibody-antigen complex. during the incubation, the substrate is converted to product which begins to chemiluminesce. the decay of the product (which generates light) is sufficiently slow that the substrate-product droplet can be separated from the alkaline phosphatase-antibody complex and still retain a measurable signal. after an incubation period of the substrate with the bead-antibody-antigen complex (seconds to minutes), the magnetically responsive bead-antibody-antigen complex may be retained with a magnet or by a physical barrier and only the substrate-product droplet may be presented (using droplet operations) to the sensor (e.g., pmt) for quantitation of the product. the substrate-product droplet alone is sufficient to generate a signal proportional to the amount of antigen in the sample. incubation of the substrate with the magnetically responsive bead-antibody-antigen complex produces enough product that can be quantitated when separated from the enzyme (e.g., alkaline phosphatase). by measuring the product in this manner, the bead-antibody-antigen complex does not have to be presented to the pmt. there are no beads or proteins to “foul” the detector area as they are never moved to this area. also, the product droplet does not have to oscillate over the detector to keep beads in suspension during quantitation. the droplet volume may also be reduced in the absence of beads. detection of the bead-antibody-antigen complex may employ a slug of liquid (e.g., 4 droplets) to move the complex, whereas with the beadless method the droplet could be smaller (e.g., less than 4 droplets). time to result may also be shorter with this approach when performing multiplex elisas because the product droplet can be moved to the detector more quickly in the absence of beads. fig. 19 illustrates detection strategies for quantifying an analyte. in particular, the immunoassay may be developed without any secondary antibody that is labeled with enzyme, fluorophore, or quantum dots. after binding of the analyte to the antibody that is bound to the magnetically responsive beads, the hydrodynamic diameter of the beads increases due to the immune complex that is bound to the surface of the bead. a superconductive quantum interference device (squid) gradiometer system may be used in order to measure the standard magnetization (ms) of magnetically labeled immune complexes, such as the a 5 -ag complex shown in fig. 19 . 7.9 operation fluids for examples of fluids that may be subjected to droplet operations using the approach of the invention, see the patents listed in section 2, especially international patent application no. pct/us2006/047486, entitled, “droplet-based biochemistry,” filed on dec. 11, 2006. in some embodiments, the fluid includes a biological sample, such as whole blood, lymphatic fluid, serum, plasma, sweat, tear, saliva, sputum, cerebrospinal fluid, amniotic fluid, seminal fluid, vaginal excretion, serous fluid, synovial fluid, pericardial fluid, peritoneal fluid, pleural fluid, transudates, exudates, cystic fluid, bile, urine, gastric fluid, intestinal fluid, fecal samples, fluidized tissues, fluidized organisms, biological swabs, biological washes, liquids with cells, tissues, multicellular organisms, single cellular organisms, protozoa, bacteria, fungal cells, viral particles, organelles. in some embodiment, the fluid includes a reagent, such as water, deionized water, saline solutions, acidic solutions, basic solutions, detergent solutions and/or buffers. in some embodiments, the fluid includes a reagent, such as a reagent for a biochemical protocol, such as a nucleic acid amplification protocol, an affinity-based assay protocol, a sequencing protocol, and/or a protocol for analyses of biological fluids. the fluids may include one or more magnetically responsive and/or non-magnetically responsive beads. examples of droplet actuator techniques for immobilizing magnetically responsive beads and/or non-magnetically responsive beads are described in the foregoing international patent applications and in sista, et al., u.s. patent application ser. no. 60/900,653, entitled “immobilization of magnetically-responsive beads during droplet operations,” filed on feb. 9, 2007; sista et al., u.s. patent application ser. no. 60/969,736, entitled “droplet actuator assay improvements,” filed on sep. 4, 2007; and allen et al., u.s. patent application ser. no. 60/957,717, entitled “bead washing using physical barriers,” filed on aug. 24, 2007, the entire disclosures of which is incorporated herein by reference. concluding remarks the foregoing detailed description of embodiments refers to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate specific embodiments of the invention. other embodiments having different structures and operations do not depart from the scope of the present invention. this specification is divided into sections for the convenience of the reader only. headings should not be construed as limiting of the scope of the invention. the definitions are intended as a part of the description of the invention. it will be understood that various details of the present invention may be changed without departing from the scope of the present invention. furthermore, the foregoing description is for the purpose of illustration only, and not for the purpose of limitation, as the present invention is defined by the claims as set forth hereinafter.
037-814-327-547-16X	US	[ "US" ]	G03B21/32,G03C9/08	1997-03-06T00:00:00	1997	[ "G03" ]	process and apparatus for displaying an animated image	a process for displaying an animated likeness of the face of a character, includes the steps of (a) providing a face screen having a three-dimensional representation of the face of the character; (b) making a projectable image of the face of the character with an image recorder while projecting the image on the face screen with a projector; (c) obtaining a presentation registration of the image and the face screen through a process selected from the group consisting of (i) altering the projectable image, (ii) adjusting at least one component of face screen position, image recording means position, projector position, focal length and lighting while making the projectable image, and (iii) combinations thereof; and (d) subsequently projecting the image on the face screen at the presentation registration whereby an animated likeness of the face of the individual is presented. an apparatus for carrying out the process is also provided.	1. a process for displaying an animated likeness of a face of an individual, comprising the steps of: providing a face screen comprising a three-dimensional representation of the face of the individual, said face screen having a front surface and a vertical axis; providing a projector; positioning said face screen and said projector in an enclosure having a front wall portion with said projector behind said front wall portion and projecting at said face screen so as to define a projector path to said face screen; making a projectable image of said face of said individual while projecting said projectable image on said front surface of said face screen so as to obtain a desired image registration with said face screen; and projecting said projectable image on said front surface of said face screen at said image registration whereby an animated likeness of said face of said individual is presented. 2. a process according to claim 1, wherein said step of providing said face screen comprises providing said face screen based upon an imprint of the face of the individual. 3. a process according to claim 1, wherein said step of making said projectable image comprises making said image with a camera. 4. a process according to claim 1, wherein said enclosure is an opaque enclosure, whereby the face screen is shielded from potentially interfering light. 5. a process according to claim 1, wherein said making step comprises the step of editing the projectable image so as to adapt the projectable image to the face screen. 6. a process according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of providing a main stage, a face screen stage for supporting the face screen adjustably positioned relative to the main stage, and a projector stage for supporting the projector adjustably positioned relative to the main stage, and wherein said making step includes adjusting the position of at least one of the main stage, face screen stage, and projector stage. 7. a process according to claim 1, further comprising positioning the projector projecting away from said face screen, and positioning at least one reflective element between the projector and the face screen so as to define a reflected optic path from the projector to the face screen. 8. a process according to claim 7, further comprising the step of positioning the reflective element within said enclosure. 9. a process according to claim 1, wherein the step of providing the face screen comprises the steps of forming a cast of the face of the individual, and vacuum forming the face screen from the cast. 10. a process according to claim 9, wherein the step of providing the face screen further comprises applying texturing means to the face screen for simulating human flesh when the image is projected on the face screen. 11. a process according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of positioning an additional screen within the enclosure supplemental to the face screen, and projecting an additional image on the additional screen. 12. a process according to claim 11, wherein the image is projected from a position in front of the face screen and the additional image is projected from a position selected from the group consisting of behind the additional screen, within the additional screen, and combinations thereof. 13. a process according to claim 1, wherein said making step further includes the step of viewing the projectable image on the face screen and applying cosmetics to the individual while viewing the image on the face screen so as to enhance realism of the projected image. 14. a process according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of providing means associated with the face screen for moving the face screen to simulate head movements, and providing the means for moving with commands for moving the face screen in synchronization with the projectable image. 15. a process according to claim 14, wherein the means for moving the face screen comprises means for rotating the face screen and projector around a vertical axis passing through a head perimeter defined by the face screen. 16. a process according to claim 14, wherein the means for moving the face screen comprises means for pivoting the face screen and projector around a horizontal axis defined substantially perpendicular to a path from the projector to the face screen and passing through or directly below a head perimeter defined by the face screen. 17. a process according to claim 1, wherein said making step comprises fixedly associating the image recording means with the face of the character whereby the image recording means remains aligned with the face of the character regardless of movements of the character. 18. a process according to claim 1, wherein said enclosure further comprises sidewalls and a top wall. 19. a system for displaying an animated likeness of a face of an individual, comprising: a face screen comprising a three-dimensional representation of the face of the individual, said face screen having a front surface; a projectable image of said face of said individual; a projector for projecting said projectable image; an enclosure having a front wall portion, said face screen and said projector being positioned in said enclosure with said projector behind said front wall portion; said projector being positioned so as to project on said front surface of said face screen along a projector path to said face screen; and means within said enclosure for adjustably mounting said face screen relative to said projector whereby said face screen can be angled relative to said projector. 20. a system according to claim 19, wherein said enclosure further comprises sidewalls and a top wall. 21. an apparatus for displaying an animated likeness of a face of an individual, comprising: a face screen comprising a three-dimensional representation of the face of the individual, said face screen having a front surface; a projectable image of said face of said individual; a projector for projecting said projectable image on said front surface; an enclosure having an opening and a front wall portion, said face screen and said projector being positioned in said enclosure with said front surface viewable through said opening and said projector behind said front wall portion; and means within said enclosure for adjustably mounting said face screen relative to said projector, said means allowing at least pivot of said face screen relative to said projector around a horizontal axis, whereby said apparatus is a self-contained unit for presenting said image. 22. an apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising a main stage, a face screen stage adjustably mounted to the main stage for supporting the face screen, and a projector stage adjustably mounted to the face screen stage for supporting the projector means. 23. an apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the main stage, face screen stage and projector stage are positioned within the enclosure. 24. an apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising means for moving the main stage in at least one of rotation around a vertical axis and pivot around a horizontal axis whereby the face screen and projector means are moveable with the animated image projected on the face screen. 25. an apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the face screen defines a head perimeter, and wherein the means for moving comprise means for rotating the main stage around a substantially vertical axis passing through the head perimeter of the face screen. 26. an apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the face screen defines a head perimeter, and wherein the means for moving comprises means for pivoting the main stage around a substantially horizontal axis passing through or directly beneath the head perimeter. 27. an apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising first means for pivotably mounting the face screen to the face screen stage, second means for pivotably and vertically movably mounting the projector means to the projector stage, and control means for synchronizing the first means and the second means whereby the projector means is maintained in the presentation registration during pivot of the face screen. 28. an apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising texturing means on the face screen for simulating human flesh when the animated image is projected on the face screen. 29. an apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising an additional screen positioned supplemental to the face screen, and means for providing an additional image on the additional screen. 30. an apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the additional screen is a video monitor. 31. an apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising a control member including a command input device for allowing viewer control of an image to be displayed. 32. an apparatus according to claim 31, wherein the command input device includes means for recognizing sound patterns, whereby the image displayed by the apparatus is voice interactive. 33. an apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said enclosure further comprises sidewalls and a top wall.	background of the invention the invention relates to a process and apparatus for displaying an animated image, especially an animated likeness of the face of an individual, so as to provide an animated image which is strikingly realistic and life-like. a number of disclosures have been made with respect to attempts to reproduce life-like images of an animated individual. examples include u.s. pat. no. 5,221,937 to machtig, u.s. pat. no. 3,973,840 to jacobs et al., u.s. pat. no. 3,053,144 to harries et al. and u.s. pat. no. 1,653,180 to jalbert. the above-mentioned patents provide mannequins wherein an image is rear-projected onto contoured screens so as to simulate the likeness of a desired individual. it is also known to project an image onto a contoured screen from the front of the screen, but conventional front placement of a projector blocks the view of on-lookers and is not practical. attempts to solve this problem include placing the projector above or below the contoured screen and angling the projector onto the contoured screen. however, this process leads to misregistration such as the elongation of features upon the projection screen. rear projection methods such as those discussed in the patents mentioned above include the use of screens which are at least partially generic. for example, machtig '937 calls for rear projection facial screens having rounded, sloping chins which are of a generic quality. these and other problems with both front and rear projected images result in animated displays which are not as realistic or life-like, and in the case of a living nonfictional character, as clone-like as is desirable. thus, the need remains for a process and apparatus for displaying an animated likeness of the face of an individual which is realistic, life-like and/or clone-like. it is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a process for displaying an animated likeness of the face of an individual or character wherein a three-dimensional face screen is provided which accurately depicts or clones the face of the individual or character, and wherein a projectable image of the individual or character is front projected on the face screen in an arrangement which reduces image misregistration and other problems while providing a clear view of the face screen. it is a further object of the present invention to provide a process for displaying an animated likeness or image which avoids the need for generic features. it is a still further object of the present invention to provide a process for displaying an animated likeness or image wherein environmental conditions such as light washout and intensity fall-off are reduced or eliminated. it is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for displaying an animated likeness or image of the face of an individual which is simple to produce, and which is effective at reproducing clone-like or life-like animated images of a character or individual. other objects and advantages appear hereinbelow. summary of the invention in accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects and advantages are readily attained. according to the invention, a process for displaying an animated likeness of the face of a character is provided, which process comprises the steps of (a) providing a face screen comprising a three-dimensional representation of the face of the character; (b) making a projectable image of the face of the character with an image recording means while projecting the image on the face screen with a projector; (c) obtaining a presentation registration of the image and the face screen through a process selected from the group consisting of (i) altering the projectable image, (ii) adjusting at least one component of face screen position, image recording means position, projector position, focal length and lighting while making the projectable image, and (iii) combinations thereof; and (d) subsequently projecting the image on the face screen in the presentation registration whereby an animated likeness of the face of the individual is presented. in further accordance with the present invention, an apparatus is provided for displaying an animated likeness of the face of a character, which apparatus comprises a face screen having a front surface and a three dimensional representation of the face of the character on the front surface; a projectable image of the character adapted for viewing on the face screen; and projector means positioned relative to the face screen for projecting the image onto the face screen. in accordance with a further preferred alternative embodiment of the invention, an additional screen is positioned relative to the face screen and an additional image is displayed on the additional screen for providing visual support to the presentation of the animated likeness of the individual. still further in accordance with preferred alternative embodiments of the process and apparatus of the present invention, the face screen and other elements of the present invention are preferably provided within an enclosure so as to conceal elements such as the projector, and to enhance the image displayed upon the face screen, for example by reducing or eliminating light washout. brief description of the drawings a detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention follows, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein: fig. 1 is a partially cut-away perspective view of an apparatus according to the present invention; fig. 2 is a side schematic view of another embodiment of an apparatus according to the present invention; fig. 3 is a front, partially sectioned away and partially schematic view of a further alternative embodiment of the present invention; fig. 4 is a side schematic view of still another alternative embodiment of the present invention; fig. 4a is a side view of another alternative embodiment of the present invention; fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the process for displaying an animated likeness in accordance with the present invention; fig. 6 is a side schematic view illustrating several alternative embodiments of the present invention; fig. 7 is a perspective view of a stage assembly according to the invention; fig. 8 is a schematic view of an alternative filming method according to the invention; and fig. 9 illustrates a further alternative embodiment utilizing a projector and a plurality of different face screens. detailed description the invention relates to a process and apparatus for displaying an image, preferably an animated image, of an individual or character wherein extraordinarily life-like or clone-like animated images are displayed on a three dimensional face screen which is a representation of the face of the individual or character, which process and apparatus are useful for providing displays in numerous fields including entertainment, education, information, communication, security and the like. according to the invention, a three-dimensional face screen is prepared based upon an imprint of the face of a living actor, or is modeled to illustrate a desired character which may be a caricature of a known individual or any other human, animal or otherwise animated character, fictional or non-fictional. a projectable image is then prepared and modified as necessary in accordance with the invention to provide a presentation registration of the image and face screen for extraordinarily life-like display in an environment according to the invention wherein adverse effects such as image misregistration due to keystoning and other factors, as well as light wash out are avoided, all as will be discussed below. fig. 1 illustrates a perspective and partially sectioned away view of an apparatus in accordance with the present invention, which is generally referred to herein by reference numeral 10. according to the invention, apparatus includes a face screen 12 and a projector 14 which are preferably positioned on a stage assembly 16 within an enclosure 18 whereby an animated projectable image of an individual can be projected upon face screen 12 so as to provide a remarkably life-like animated likeness of the individual. in accordance with the invention, face screen 12 is preferably a three dimensional screen such as a vacuum-formed screen formed from a cast taken directly, preferably as an imprint, from the individual whose likeness is to be created. such a process for creating face screen 12, known as life casting, advantageously provides face screen 12 with accurate dimensional features upon which a projectable image can readily be projected. life casting will be further discussed below. alternatively, face screen 12 may be hand or otherwise molded into the form of a desired character such as a caricature, fictional being, living or deceased historical individual, animal or other animate or inanimate item to be displayed. the individual, character, caricature and the like as set forth above are collectively referred to herein as a character. in accordance with the invention, stage assembly 16 preferably includes a main stage 20 and a face screen stage 22 which is movably mounted to main stage 20 and which supports face screen 12, for example through tripod structure 24 shown schematically in fig. 1. stage assembly 16 also preferably further includes a projector stage 26 which itself is movably mounted to main stage 20 and which supports projector 14. the provision of main stage 20, face screen stage 22 and projector stage 26 serves desirably to provide adjustability of face screen 12 relative to projector 14 and vice versa, if desired, as well as combined movement of face screen 12 and projector 14 which is advantageous so as to provide simulation of natural movement of face screen 12 while maintaining projector 14 in a proper alignment with face screen 12 during such movement. it should be noted that although elements of stage assembly 16 are referred to herein as stages and shown as substantially flat supporting members, any structure suitable for supporting the desired elements is suitable as any one or more of stages 20, 22 and 26 in accordance with the invention, and such structures need not have any substantially flat surface whatsoever. enclosure 18 is preferably any suitable structure such as box 28 shown in fig. 1 which defines a substantially enclosed internal area and which has an opening 30, preferably arranged at one sidewall of box 28 as shown. opening 30 may suitably be defined in box 28 by a lip member or front wall portion 32 which preferably extends along at least a portion of opening 30 for reasons which will be discussed below. face screen 12, projector 14 and stage assembly 16 are all preferably positioned within box 28 so as to conceal certain elements from viewing while allowing face screen 12 to be viewed through opening 30, and further to reduce problems such as reduction in image quality due to light wash out of image or projection fall off due to viewing from an extreme angle. it should be noted that box 28 including lip member 32 could be adapted to provide additional props or setting for the intended display. thus, lip member 32 could alternatively be any structure suitable for concealing projector 14 as desired, such as one or more stage props or other fixed or moveable structure suitable for obstructing line of sight to a portion of the interior of box 28. main stage 20 is preferably movably mounted within box 28, preferably for rotation around vertical axis a (see fig. 1) and also for pivot or rotation around substantially horizontal axis b (also see fig. 1). the mounting of main stage 20 for movement with respect to axes a, b as discussed advantageously provides for combined movement of face screen 12 and projector 14 which does not interfere with proper alignment of projector 14 and face screen 12 whereby natural head movement can be simulated while projecting on face screen 12. the mounting of main stage 20 within box 28 is illustrated schematically by connection 34. connection 34 could suitably be a panning tilting tripod head or any other structure. numerous mechanical means for movably positioning main stage 20 relative to box 28 would be readily apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art upon consideration of the present disclosure. mechanical structure such as connection 34 for providing the desired movement of main stage 20 relative to box 28 is desirable for use in accordance with the present invention. thus, movement such as left to right movement of face screen 12 can be provided to simulate eye contact with a viewing audience. it is also preferable that stage assembly 16 be provided such that face screen stage 22 is adjustable relative to main stage 20, and also such that projector stage 26 is adjustable relative to main stage 20. this adjustable mounting of face screen stage 22 and projector stage 26 advantageously allows for adjustments and fine-tuning of the position of projector 14 relative to face screen 12 so as to provide the desired life-like or clone-like image in a properly adjusted presentation registration. a preferred embodiment of suitable structure for stage assembly 16 is discussed below in connection with fig. 7. as with the mounting of main stage 20, however, any suitable structure, numerous variations of which would be readily apparent to the person of ordinary skill in the art, could be used to adjustably mount face screen stage 22 and projector stage 26 to main stage 20. still referring to fig. 1, projector 14 may suitably be angled with respect to one or more mirrors or other reflective elements so as to define a reflected projector path which allows for a relatively small angle of projection without positioning projector 14 at a large distance from face screen 12 and further without obstructing viewing of face screen 12. in the embodiment illustrated, projector 14 is positioned so as to be angled substantially away from face screen 12, and a reflective element such as mirror 36 is positioned, preferably within box 28 behind lip member 32, so as to reflect an image from projector 14 onto face screen 12, thereby providing a relatively short focal length so as to reduce or minimize the space required for apparatus 10, and further providing a decreased angle of projection which significantly minimizes or reduces the effects of image misregistration. as stated above, one or more mirrors 36 could be used according to the invention to shorten the distance between projector 14 and face screen 12 at a particular angle of projector 14 to face screen 12. mirror 36 is preferably adjustably mounted with respect to main stage 20, for example to projector stage 26, so as to further allow for movement of stage assembly 16 including face screen 12 and projector 14 without interfering with the projector path, schematically illustrated at 38, from projector 14 to face screen 12. in further accordance with the present invention, an additional screen 40 may be provided as shown in fig. 1 so that an additional image, preferably an additional animated image, can be projected onto or otherwise displayed relative to face screen 12 in a synchronous manner so as to support, enhance or coincide with the presentation on face screen 12. additional screen 40 may be positioned within box 28 and behind face screen 12 as shown, or may be positioned side-by-side or in front of face screen 12 within box 28 or exterior to box 28, in a supporting position as will be further discussed below. in this way, advantageously, the informational, educational or other value of display from apparatus 10 can be enhanced by providing images which support narration by the animated image displayed on face screen 12 in a position readily visible to viewers of the display on the face screen 12. fig. 1 shows additional screen 40 as a conventional video monitor 42 which is mounted or abutted to a rear portion 44 of box 28. this configuration conveniently allows for connection of video monitor 42, for example through video cable 46, to a source of the desired animated image to be displayed on additional screen 40. in conjunction with position of projection and additional screen 40, projection for video monitor 42 is referred to and described herein as being from within additional screen 40. alternatively, and referring to fig. 2, additional screen 40 may be a rear-projected or back lit substantially flat screen or translite which may be incorporated into backwall 48 of box 28 or which may be positioned within box 28, as desired. in accordance with this embodiment of the invention, an additional projector 50 is preferably provided for rear-projecting the desired additional image upon additional screen 40 as desired. in the embodiment of fig. 2, additional projector 50 is mounted directly behind box 28. alternatively, additional screen 40 and additional projector 50 can both be mounted within box 28 if desired. further, when using a translite as additional screen 40, no additional projectable image is needed, only a light source for illuminating the translite which incorporates the desired additional image. it should also be noted that an additional image could be provided by highlighting a physical object, which could be a feature of the character being displayed or any other supporting exhibit, positioned within or outside of box 28 for supplementing display on face screen 12. this may be accomplished for example using a pinlight or other light source. it should be noted that additional screen 40 as set forth above could advantageously be positioned within box 28 alongside face screen 12, and could also be projected onto a substantially translucent or transparent screen (not shown), for example a glass screen, positioned in front of face screen 12 and using a technique known to those skilled in the art as pepper's ghost so as to provide a transparent image superimposed in front of face screen 12. positioning additional screen 40 relative to face screen 12 as described above advantageously provides support to or background for the image projected on face screen 12 as desired. in accordance with the invention, face screen 12 is preferably angled slightly toward projector 14, and projector 14 is preferably positioned either above or below face screen 12, within box 28. in this way, the angle of planar portions of face screen 12 with respect to projector path 38 is defined at or as close as possible to substantially perpendicular so as to reduce keystoning. as set forth above, image misregistration problems are thus reduced according to the present invention by angling face screen 12 toward projector 14 as shown for example in fig. 1. in accordance with the invention, it is preferred that face screen 12 of the configuration of fig. 1 be positioned slightly above the viewing level or expected viewing level of persons viewing face screen 12. this viewing level is shown schematically in fig. 1 at reference numeral 52. it should of course be noted that projector 14 and mirror 36 could be positioned within the upper portion of box 28, with face screen 12 angled slightly upward toward projector 14, and in this embodiment face screen 12 would preferably be positioned slightly below expected viewing level 52 so as to maintain eye contact with viewers and, thereby, to further enhance the realism and clone-like or life-like quality of the simulated image. as shown in figs. 1 and 2, enclosure 18 may be in the form of box 28 having sidewalls 54 and top wall 56, preferably a portion of a front wall such as lip member 32, and preferably some structure defining a backwall of the enclosure. this backwall, if desired, may be formed by monitor 42 (see fig. 1), by additional screen 40 (see fig. 2) or by a solid structure or backwall 48 in which case additional screen 40 or monitor 42, if desired, could be positioned within the enclosure, and positioned as desired relative to face screen 12. further, although enclosure 18 is shown in the drawings as box 28, a rounded or non-square enclosure would be equally suitable according to the invention, as would other structure or environmental controls for providing a darkened viewing area at least around face screen 12. further, enclosure 18 could be extended around viewers so as to provide an enclosed viewing area such as a pod, booth, tent or kiosk, if desired. as set forth above, it is desirable to provide main stage 20 movably mounted relative to enclosure 18 or box 28 for at least partial rotation around vertical axis a and further for at least partial pivot around horizontal axis b. as shown in fig. 1, axes a, b are preferably positioned so as to provide movement of face screen 12 which approximates the natural movements of an actor. referring to figs. 3, 4 and 4a, schematic embodiments for providing such motion are illustrated. fig. 3 shows a partially sectioned away view of an embodiment wherein main stage 20 comprises an outer bracket portion 58 rotatably mounted within box 28 through structure 60. main stage 20 further includes an inner bracket portion 62 pivotably mounted to outer bracket portion 58, and face screen stage 22 and projector stage 26 are preferably mounted through main stage 20 to inner bracket portion 62. as shown, outer bracket portion 58 and inner bracket portion 62 may each suitably have upstanding portions indicated generally at 64, and pivotable connection structure 66 is provided for pivotably connecting upstanding portions 64 so as to provide pivot around axis b as desired. structure 60 may be a simple axle or turntable structure for rotatably mounting outer bracket portion 58 and defining axis a for at least partial rotation as desired. to further simulate natural and realistic head movements, structure 60 is preferably positioned so as to define axis a passing through the head perimeter defined by face screen 12. fig. 4 is a side schematic view of the embodiment of fig. 3 and shows outer bracket portion 58 and inner bracket portion 62 with face screen 12 in phantom so as to further illustrate the operation thereof. as shown, inner bracket portion 62 in the embodiment of figs. 3 and 4 can pivot around pivot structure 66 as shown by arrow a so as to provide a nodding motion of face screen 12 as indicated by arrow b. pivot structure 66 is preferably positioned so as to define axis b passing through or directly below the head perimeter defined by face screen 12. still referring to fig. 4, movement around axes a, b may be generated by any suitable motive means (not illustrated) such as electric motor(s), pneumatics and the like which may suitably be operated by a control member 68 operatively connected to control movement around axis a and axis b in synchronization with the image projected by projector 14. any suitable control member 68 such as a personal computer, work station, dedicated command processor and the like may suitably be used as control member 68. it should also be noted that control member 68 could also be provided with hardware and/or software such as midi control for running various additional imaging routines and the like. referring now to fig. 4a, an alternative mounting of face screen 12 and projector 14 is provided for simulating natural head movements around axis a and axis b in synchronization with the image projected by projector 14. as shown, main stage 20 may be mounted for rotation at structure 34 so as to provide rotation around a substantially vertical axis of face screen 12 in registry with projector 14. furthermore, face screen 12 may suitably be mounted through a pivot structure 104 to a stand 106 preferably mounted to main stage 20. pivot structure 104 suitably allows for pivot of face screen 12 as illustrated by arrow p in the drawing. furthermore, projector 14 may also advantageously be mounted to main stage 20 through a telescoping support 108 connected to projector 14 through another pivotable connection 110 so that projector 14 can be pivoted around structure 110 as shown by arrow q, and projector 14 can be raised and lowered by telescoping shaft 108 as shown by arrow r. of course, and as set forth above, any other structure known to a person of ordinary skill in the art could suitably be used to provide for pivot or rotation of face screen 12 around vertical and horizontal axes while maintaining the presentation registration between projector 14 and face screen 12 as desired in accordance with the present invention. referring to fig. 5, a method for creating and displaying animated images in accordance with the invention is further discussed below preferably for use when a living individual is to be depicted. in accordance with the invention, the method for display begins with preparation of a suitable face screen 12 from the actor or actress to be depicted in the animated images. an exact impression or mold of an actor's face is made using, preferably, alginate with strips of plaster coated gauze so as to form a mold, from which is made a positive, for example a plaster positive. this process is known as life casting. a vacuum form is then made from the positive, and this vacuum form, which is based upon the face of the individual, serves as face screen 12. some tooling of the positive before vacuum forming may be desirable, and may serve to provide a more suitable face screen 12. since face screen 12 is preferably to be used with front projection, many registration problems experienced with rear projection systems are overcome and/or avoided. according to the invention, a latex coating is preferably applied to the plastic vacuum form face screen. the latex may be tinted so as to accommodate different flesh tones, if desired. latex is advantageous as a coating since the material is light absorbing and, when projected upon, more accurately resembles the fleshy texture of skin. such latex coating cannot be utilized in rear projection systems without experiencing additional difficulty. of course, other flesh simulating coatings may be applied. alternatively, face screen 12 may be sculpted or otherwise provided, for example if a fictional or non-living character is to be displayed. face screen 12, prepared as above, is mounted in apparatus 10, and an image recording device such as a camera (not shown) is used to film the actor. this may suitably be accomplished with the actor in a head brace so as to minimize head movements, and is preferably done with a live feed to projector 14 so as to project images from the camera to projector 14 and onto face screen 12 during filming. while projecting live, adjustments can be made to one or more of position of face screen 12 and/or projector 14, camera or projector focal length, lighting, make-up on actor or face screen 12, and various other parameters. when all desired adjustments have been made so as to provide a desired adjusted presentation orientation of face screen 12, projector 14, actor and camera, lighting, etc., the desired sequence is filmed and stored through any conventional means such as video tape, electronic means and the like. the stored animated sequence may also be adapted through various editing and other procedures as discussed below, so as to provide the desired projection registration of the sequence or image with face screen 12. the stored animated sequence can then be displayed on face screen 12 at the presentation registration upon command, for example entered through control member 68 (fig. 4) by a display operator or potential viewer or the like. the desired presentation registration is of course preferably an accurate registration between the projected image and face screen 12. as set forth above, the filming step can be carried out with the actor in a head brace to minimize head movements. alternatively, and referring to fig. 8, the camera for filming the actor may be supported from the head of the actor during filming so as to follow the natural movements of the actor and thereby obviate the need for head braces and the like which may impair the natural acting ability of the person being filmed. referring to fig. 8, this may be carried out by using a structure such as, for example, a video camera lens 112 mounted to a semi-flexible arm 114 which is connected to head-mounting structure 116 such as a cap or the like. components of this structure are known to a person of ordinary skill in the art for creating a light-weight device which can readily be worn by an actor during filming so as to provide video footage while allowing movement of the actor, yet without adversely affecting registration between the camera and actor, or between the image and face screen. alternatively, computer animation software and/or hardware or other animation techniques could be used to create and record the projectable image for example when a living actor is not available for filming. in either case, the image or video so created is preferably tailored or adapted according to the invention to enhance the clone-like or life-like nature of the image when front projected on three dimensional face screen 12 in accordance with the invention. as set forth above, control member 68 can be used to actuate apparatus 10 so as to display the desired projected image on face screen 12. control member 68 in this regard may be provided with mechanical controls for mechanically actuating apparatus 10, or alternatively may be provided with voice recognition capabilities so as to actuate one or more sequences upon recognizing certain tonal or voice patterns. a touch screen control or other command input device may be used to provide interactive use of apparatus 10, and a number of images may be provided for projection under the control of control member 68, for example stored on cd-rom or any other suitable storage media. it should be noted that although the present disclosure is made in terms of a projectable image projected on face screen 12 by projector 14, sound is also a component of the desired animation to be provided. thus, apparatus 10 may also preferably be provided with any conventional sound mechanism, either within or outside of box 28, so as to provide sound along with the animated image from projector 14. it is important to note that the projectable image may be projected onto face screen 12 either as a front or rear projection within the broad teachings of the invention. it is currently preferred, however, to front project as thoroughly discussed above. with respect to the embodiment of the invention wherein the character being created is a caricature of an individual or a fictitious character, face screen 12 is preferably provided from any known technique such as sculpting and the like, and the projectable image to be projected thereon is created using any desired animation technique, after which the image is preferably projected for image editing and/or adjustment of stage, projector, environment and camera parameters as set forth above to provide the desired presentation registration. various imaging techniques can be used to incorporate special effects into the projectable image as desired, and the image can be altered in size and dimension from the original, for example using scanning and 3d modeling tools, to make the image match a face screen 12 of larger or smaller scale, all in accordance with the present invention. referring to fig. 6, several preferred embodiments are illustrated. according to the invention, it is preferred that face screen 12 not be visible when no image is being projected upon it. fig. 6 illustrates an embodiment wherein face screen 12 is mounted on a lift 70 (shown schematically) in this case acting upon stage assembly 16, for positioning face screen 12 into a hidden position relative to opening 30. motive means 72 of any suitable type may be provided for operating lift 70, such as a hydraulic or pneumatic drive, electric motor, or any other suitable drive. thus, advantageously, face screen 12 can be lowered to a position out of view through opening 30 so as to prevent face screen 12 from being seen when no image is projected. motive means 72 may suitably be linked to control member 68, (not shown in fig. 6), so as to automatically lower face screen 12 upon deactivating projector 14. alternatively, a curtain or other member could be provided and positioned relative to face screen 12 so as to obscure or shield face screen 12 from sight through opening 30. this curtain (not shown) could be provided with a closure mechanism associated with control member 68 for closing the curtain when no image is projected on face screen 12. still further, the area around face screen 12 could be darkened so as to render face screen 12 substantially invisible when not in use. fig. 6 illustrates another distinct alternative embodiment of the present invention wherein a supplemental projector 14a is provided and positioned so as to project additional images upon face screen 12. in this way, additional features can be simulated with apparatus 10 according to the invention such as hair or other features of the upper portion of the head, or clothing and other characteristics of the bust and neck area, or other design features. these additional images could preferably be prepared or recorded similarly to the main image to be projected directly onto face screen 12. in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 6, additional projector 14a is positioned for projecting an image of hair and upper head features onto face screen 12 using mirror 36a to project along projector path 38a. referring now to fig. 7, a preferred embodiment of stage assembly 16 is illustrated. as shown, stage assembly 16 may suitably include main stage 20 as a substantially flat platform having a cutout area 74 positioned therein. face screen stage 22 may also be provided as a substantially flat platform member, and is preferably pivotably mounted to main stage 20, for example though pivot assembly 76 including supports 78 fixed to main stage 20 and pivotably connected to face screen stage 22 at posts 80 as shown. of course, many other structures for pivotably connecting face screen stage 22 and main stage 20 would be readily apparent. face screen stage 22 may preferably be provided with a cutout area 82 preferably substantially aligned with cutout area 74 of main stage 20, and may also be provided with receptacle structure 84 for receiving face screen 12. as shown, receptacle structure 84 preferably includes two opposed arm brackets 86 which may be arranged downwardly extending from stage 22, preferably substantially adjacent to edges of cutout area 82, and slidably extending through cutout area 74. as shown, arm brackets 86 may be provided with a plurality of substantially parallel grooves 88 arranged on inner surfaces 90 of arm brackets 86 such that grooves 88 are arranged in opposed pairs on arm bracket 88. in this way, each opposed pair of grooves 88 defines a receptacle for receiving a substantially flat base 91 supporting face screen 12, one of which is shown in phantom in fig. 7, there pairs of opposed grooves 88 are provided, and base 91 is positioned in the middle pair. it should readily be appreciated that the provision of a plurality of opposed pairs as shown allows for vertical adjustment of the position of face screen 12 by mounting base 91 in an appropriate pair of grooves 88. alternatively, different structures such as a lift or vertically adjustable tripod may be provided for vertical adjustment of face screen 12. still referring to fig. 7, structure 92 is also preferably provided for fixedly positioning stage 22 relative to stage 20, and may for example comprise a threaded member 94 threadably engaged relative to one of stage 20 and stage 22, and mounted for free rotation in a longitudinally fixed location relative to the other of stage 20 and stage 22 whereby rotation of threaded member 94 causes stage 22 to pivot relative to stage 20 as shown by arrow d in fig. 7. of course, any other suitable structure may be provided for fixing stage 20 and stage 22 in a desired pivoted position. fig. 7 also shows stage 20 having a projector stage 26 in the form of a bracket 98 mounted to stage 22, and having projector 14 adjustably connected to bracket 98 for example through a universal joint 100. bracket 98 may suitably be mounted to stage 22 at an edge 96 of a cutout so as to advantageously conserve space in stage assembly 16. in this regard, fig. 7 also shows mirror 36 mounted in bracket 102 for pivot as shown by arrow e for adjusting projector path 38 as desired. referring now to fig. 9, a further alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown wherein box 118 is provided enclosing a plurality of face screens 12, and wherein projector 14 is mounted on a track 120 for movement between a plurality of positions for projecting upon any one of the plurality of face screens 12. projector 14 is shown in fig. 9 at the left-most position, and is shown in dashed lines in position for each of the other face screens 12 enclosed within box 118. thus, in accordance with this embodiment of the invention, a single projector is provided for use with a number of different face screens 12 which can be used advantageously to simulate a number of different characters each forming a portion of a particular display. it should be noted that any suitable structure according to the invention for enclosing face screens 12 may be provided. thus, although box 118 is shown schematically as a continuous enclosure, a number of smaller boxes could be provided, if desired, or any other alternative means could be used for darkening the surrounding environment of face screens 12. any suitable structure can be provided as track 120, and motive means (not shown) may be provided and controlled so as to position projector 14 at a desired station corresponding to a particular face screen 12 to fit within a particular assembled projectable image or video sequence. it should also be noted that although box 118 is shown with face screens 12 positioned in a horizontal array, the plurality of face screens could be arranged in any different pattern such as a vertical array, or in several rows and columns as desired, with track 120 being positioned accordingly. in accordance with the foregoing, it should be readily apparent that a process and apparatus for creating extremely life-like animated images has been provided which advantageously overcomes numerous problems experienced in the prior art. it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the illustrations described and shown herein, which are deemed to be merely illustrative of the best modes of carrying out the invention, and which are susceptible to modification of form, size, arrangement of parts and details of operation. the invention rather is intended to encompass all such modifications which are within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims.
038-806-831-590-972	JP	[ "US", "JP" ]	G11B5/127,B32B37/00,G11B5/62,G11B5/667,G11B5/64,G11B5/65,G11B5/72,G11B5/738,G11B5/84,G11B5/855	2008-05-15T00:00:00	2008	[ "G11", "B32" ]	magnetic recording medium, magnetic storage apparatus and magnetic recording medium manufacturing method	a magnetic recording medium includes a first upper layer, a first lower layer below the first upper layer, an intermediate layer, provided between the first upper layer and the first lower layer, which magnetically couples the first upper layer and the first lower layer. the first lower layer includes a second upper layer, a second intermediate layer below the second upper layer, and a second lower layer below the second intermediate layer. coercive force of the first upper layer is higher than coercive force of each of the second upper layer and the second lower layer. the second upper layer and the second lower layer are antiferromagnetically coupled via the second intermediate layer.	1 . a magnetic recording medium comprising: a first upper layer; a first lower layer below the first upper layer; an intermediate layer, provided between the first upper layer and the first lower layer, which magnetically couples the first upper layer and the first lower layer, wherein: the first lower layer comprises: a second upper layer; a second intermediate layer below the second upper layer; and a second lower layer below the second intermediate layer, coercive force of the first upper layer is higher than coercive force of each of the second upper layer and the second lower layer, and the second upper layer and the second lower layer are antiferromagnetically coupled via the second intermediate layer. 2 . the magnetic recording medium as claimed in claim 1 , wherein: the first upper layer is removed at an area between a first track area in which information is recorded and a second track area adjacent to the first track area. 3 . the magnetic recording medium as claimed in claim 1 , wherein: non-magnetic material is provided in place of the first upper layer at an area between a first track area in which information is recorded and a second track area adjacent to the first track area. 4 . the magnetic recording medium as claimed in claim 1 , wherein: a protective layer is provided in place of the first upper layer at an area between a first track area in which information is recorded and a second track area adjacent to the first track area, and the protective layer is further provided above the first upper layer at the first track area and the second track area. 5 . the magnetic recording medium as claimed in claim 1 , wherein: coercive force of the second upper layer and the second lower layer is equal to or less than a third of coercive force of the first upper layer. 6 . the magnetic recording medium as claimed in claim 2 , wherein: coercive force of the second upper layer and the second lower layer is equal to or less than a third of coercive force of the first upper layer. 7 . the magnetic recording medium as claimed in claim 3 , wherein: coercive force of the second upper layer and the second lower layer is equal to or less than a third of coercive force of the first upper layer. 8 . the magnetic recording medium as claimed in claim 4 , wherein: coercive force of the second upper layer and the second lower layer is equal to or less than a third of coercive force of the first upper layer. 9 . a magnetic storage apparatus comprising: the magnetic recording medium claimed in claim 1 ; and a magnetic head which magnetically records information to the magnetic recording medium or magnetically reproduces information from the magnetic recording medium. 10 . a magnetic storage apparatus comprising: the magnetic recording medium claimed in claim 2 ; and a magnetic head which magnetically records information to the magnetic recording medium or magnetically reproduces information from the magnetic recording medium. 11 . a magnetic storage apparatus comprising: the magnetic recording medium claimed in claim 3 ; and a magnetic head which magnetically records information to the magnetic recording medium or magnetically reproduces information from the magnetic recording medium. 12 . a magnetic storage apparatus comprising: the magnetic recording medium claimed in claim 4 ; and a magnetic head which magnetically records information to the magnetic recording medium or magnetically reproduces information from the magnetic recording medium. 13 . a magnetic storage apparatus comprising: the magnetic recording medium claimed in claim 5 ; and a magnetic head which magnetically records information to the magnetic recording medium or magnetically reproduces information from the magnetic recording medium. 14 . a magnetic storage apparatus comprising: the magnetic recording medium claimed in claim 6 ; and a magnetic head which magnetically records information to the magnetic recording medium or magnetically reproduces information from the magnetic recording medium. 15 . a magnetic storage apparatus comprising: the magnetic recording medium claimed in claim 7 ; and a magnetic head which magnetically records information to the magnetic recording medium or magnetically reproduces information from the magnetic recording medium. 16 . a magnetic storage apparatus comprising: the magnetic recording medium claimed in claim 8 ; and a magnetic head which magnetically records information to the magnetic recording medium or magnetically reproduces information from the magnetic recording medium. 17 . a magnetic recording medium manufacturing method comprising: forming a first lower layer by laminating, in sequence, a second lower layer, a second intermediate layer above the second lower layer, a second upper layer above the second intermediate layer; and laminating, in sequence, the first lower layer, a first intermediate layer above the first lower layer and a first upper layer above the first intermediate layer, wherein: the first intermediate layer magnetically couples the first lower layer and the first upper layer, and coercive force of each of the second upper layer and the second lower layer is lower than coercive force of the first upper layer, and the second upper layer and the second lower layer are antiferromagnetically coupled via the second intermediate layer. 18 . the magnetic recording medium manufacturing method as claimed in claim 17 , comprising: removing the first upper layer at an area between a first track area in which information is recorded and a second track area adjacent to the first track area. 19 . the magnetic recording medium manufacturing method as claimed in claim 17 , comprising: providing non-magnetic material in place of the first upper layer at an area between a first track area in which information is recorded and a second track area adjacent to the first track area. 20 . the magnetic recording medium manufacturing method as claimed in claim 17 , comprising: providing a protective layer in place of the first upper layer at an area between a first track area in which information is recorded and a second track area adjacent to the first track area, and further providing the protective layer above the first upper layer at the first track area and the second track area.	cross-reference to related applications this application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior japanese patent application no. 2008-128227, filed on may 15, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. field the example discussed herein relates to a magnetic recording medium, a magnetic storage apparatus and a magnetic recording medium manufacturing method. background for example, a discrete track magnetic recording medium has been proposed as a magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive which is wide used as an external information recording unit for a computer or such. in the discrete track magnetic recording medium, a noise generated from the magnetic recording medium can be reduced. japanese laid-open patent publications nos. 2003-16621, 62-239314 and 2002-203306, japanese patent no. 3421632, a homepage of takahashi laboratory of tohoku university (http://www. takahashi.ecei.tohoku.ac.jp/docs/research/perp.htm, may 2, 2008) and “ultra high-density perpendicular magnetic recording medium technologies for hard disk drives”, pages 53-60 of fujitsu.58, 1, january, 2007, discuss related arts. summary in each embodiment, a magnetic recording medium includes a first upper layer, a first lower layer below the first upper layer, an intermediate layer, provided between the first upper layer and the first lower layer, which magnetically couples the first upper layer and the first lower layer. the first lower layer includes a second upper layer, a second intermediate layer below the second upper layer, and a second lower layer below the second intermediate layer. coercive force of the first upper layer is higher than coercive force of each of the second upper layer and the second lower layer. the second upper layer and the second lower layer are antiferromagnetically coupled via the second intermediate layer. it is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. brief description of drawings fig. 1 depicts a sectional view of a magnetic recording medium in an embodiment 1; figs. 2a , 2 b, 2 c, 2 d, 2 e, 2 f and 2 g illustrate a method for manufacturing the magnetic recording medium according to the embodiment 1; figs. 3 and 4 illustrate generation of a magnetic domain at a guard track; fig. 5 depicts a sectional view for illustrating a configuration of a recording layer in the magnetic recording medium according to the embodiment 1; fig. 6 illustrates a function of avoiding generation of a magnetic domain at a guard track according to the embodiment 1; figs. 7a , 7 b, 7 c, 7 d and 7 e illustrate a method for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium according to an embodiment 2; fig. 8 depicts an internal partial side elevation of a magnetic storage apparatus according to an embodiment 3; and fig. 9 depicts an internal partial plan view of the magnetic storage apparatus according to the embodiment 3. description of embodiments in a hard disk drive, information is written in a concentrically configured data track which is formed in a magnetic recording medium, with the use of a recording and reproducing magnetic head (simply referred to as a magnetic head, hereinafter) a case may be assumed in which, in a case where a width of the data track is very small, a magnetic field leaking from the magnetic head erases information recorded in an adjacent data track, or signal degradation occurs when information is reproduced from the adjacent data track. further, in a process of reading a signal from the magnetic recording medium, a magnetic field leaking from the adjacent data track may cause a noise, whereby a reading error may occur. in the hard disk drive, it is necessary to reduce the width of the data track to increase a recording density, which may result in track crosstalk. in order to solve the problem mentioned above, the above-mentioned discrete track magnetic recording medium may be proposed. in the discrete track magnetic recording medium, a guard track is provided between adjacent data tracks, for reducing track crosstalk. in the embodiments which will be described below, it is an object to provide a magnetic recording medium, a magnetic storage apparatus using the magnetic recording medium and a magnetic recording medium manufacturing method for manufacturing the magnetic recording medium, wherein a noise being generated from the magnetic recording medium can be effectively reduced. in the embodiments, a magnetic recording medium includes a first upper layer, a first lower layer below the first upper layer, an intermediate layer, provided between the first upper layer and the first lower layer, which magnetically couples the first upper layer and the first lower layer. the first lower layer includes a second upper layer, a second intermediate layer below the second upper layer, and a second lower layer below the second intermediate layer. coercive force of the first upper layer is higher than coercive force of each of the second upper layer and the second lower layer. the second upper layer and the second lower layer are antiferromagnetically coupled via the second intermediate layer. thus, in the embodiments, in the first lower layer, the second upper layer and the second lower layer are antiferromagnetically coupled via the second intermediate layer. as a result, generation of a magnetic domain in the first lower layer is effectively reduced, and it is possible to obtain a sufficient s/n from a magnetic storage apparatus which uses the magnetic recording medium. even when the above-mentioned magnetic recording medium is such that, a discrete track configuration is used in a magnetic recording medium having a so-called ecc (i.e., exchange coupled composite) configuration, it is possible to provide a magnetic recording medium from which a sufficient s/n can be obtained. the embodiments will now be described in detail. fig. 1 depicts a sectional view of a configuration of a part of a magnetic recording medium according to an embodiment 1. as depicted in fig. 1 , the magnetic recording medium according to the embodiment 1 has a laminated structure which includes a lower soft magnetic layer 1 , a recording layer 5 provided above the lower soft magnetic layer 1 and an overcoat layer (which may also be referred to as a protective layer) 6 provided above the recording layer 5 . this magnetic recording medium is a perpendicular magnetic recording medium, and, as depicted in fig. 1 , has a discrete track configuration. in the discrete track configuration, a guard track gt is provided between each adjacent recording tracks dt as depicted in fig. 1 . a perpendicular magnetic recording medium having the above-mentioned ecc configuration is described now. a perpendicular magnetic recording medium having the above-mentioned ecc configuration is referred to as a ecc perpendicular magnetic recording medium, which has a recording layer including two magnetic layers (i.e., a hard layer and a soft layer). the two magnetic layers are different in their respective ones of coercive force. further, an exchange coupling control layer is provided which couples the two magnetic layers. in the above-mentioned soft layer which has smaller coercive force, a magnetization direction may be easily reversed or rotated when a magnetic field is applied by a magnetic head. such a rotation of the magnetization direction is transmitted to the above-mentioned hard layer which has higher coercive force, via the exchange coupling control layer. in this state, corresponding magnetization rotation may relatively easily occur also in the hard layer. in this configuration, thermal stability is ensured, and also, side erase can be controlled. further, the above-mentioned discrete track magnetic recording medium is again described now. in the discrete track magnetic recording medium, in order to realize the above-mentioned configuration in which the guard track gt is provided between each adjacent data tracks dt, it is necessary to remove at least a part of the recording layer 5 at the position for each guard track gt. it is noted that, the magnetic recording medium depicted in fig. 1 is one which is used in a hard disk drive. in a magnetic storage apparatus such as the hard disk drive, so-called a floating magnetic head is used. when at least a part of the recording layer 5 is removed as mentioned above for the purpose of providing the guard track gt, a problem may occur. that is, it is noted that at the position for each guard track gt, the surface of the magnetic recording medium may dent to form a groove, as a result of the at least a part of the recording layer 5 being removed as mentioned above. when such a groove is thus produced on the surface of the magnetic recording medium, floating characteristics of the above-mentioned floating magnetic head may degrade. further, in the groove at the guard track gt, microscopic dust/dirt may be trapped, which may collide with the magnetic head. in order to solve such a problem, the surface of the magnetic recording medium including the guard track gt may be planarized. specifically, the groove of the guard track gt may be filled with non-magnetic material such as alumina to planarize the surface of the magnetic recording medium. however, in this method, a manufacturing process may become complicate. that is, a floating height of the floating magnetic head is, for example, 10 nm or such, and planarization in the order of nanometers may require very difficult and complicate processes. in the embodiment 1, the above-mentioned problem is solved. that is, as depicted in fig. 1 , the above-mentioned recording layer 5 includes an upper hard layer 4 at an upper level, an exchange coupling control layer 3 at an intermediate level and a lower soft layer 2 at a lower level. then, at a position for each guard track gt, only the upper hard layer 4 is removed by means of an ion mill or such. as a result of only the upper hard layer 4 being thus removed at the position for each guard track gt, the lower soft layer 2 is left. thereby, the position for each guard track gt may be magnetically unstable. as a result, a magnetic domain may be generated in the lower soft layer 2 , and thereby, when reading is carried out from the magnetic recording medium, a noise may be included in a read signal. if a noise is thus included in the read signal, the noise may cause an error in information obtained from the read signal. in the embodiment 1, as will be described later, such a problem is solved. thus, in the embodiment 1, as mentioned above, the recording layer 5 includes the upper hard layer 4 , the exchange coupling control layer 3 and the lower soft layer 2 . the recording layer 5 having such a configuration is referred to as a combined recording layer. further, as will be described with reference to fig. 5 , the lower soft layer 2 includes an exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 and two soft layers 2 - 1 and 2 - 3 , between which the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 is inserted. the two soft layers 2 - 1 and 2 - 3 , referred to as the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 , respectively, are soft magnetic layers, respectively. in this configuration, a film thickness of the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 is adjusted so that the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 are coupled antiferromagnetically. in the embodiment 1, as depicted in fig. 1 , the position for each guard track gt does not have the upper hard layer 4 , but has the exchange coupling control layer 3 and the lower soft layer 2 . that is, in the configuration of fig. 1 , the position for each recording track dt has a laminated structure including, from the top through the bottom, the overcoat layer 6 , the upper hard layer 4 , the exchange coupling control layer 3 , the lower soft layer 2 and the lower soft magnetic layer 1 . in contrast thereto, at the position for each guard track gt, the upper hard layer 4 is removed during a manufacturing process of the magnetic recording medium. as a result, the position for each guard track gt has a laminated structure including, from the top through the bottom, the overcoat layer 6 , the exchange coupling control layer 3 , the lower soft layer 2 and the lower soft magnetic layer 1 . it is noted that, in the embodiment 1, at the position for each guard track gt at which the upper hard layer 4 has been removed as mentioned above, a layer 9 of non-magnetic material such as sio 2 or al 2 o 3 is provided, as will be described later with reference to figs. 2a through 2g . alternatively, in an embodiment 2 which will be described later with reference to figs. 7a through 7e , at the position for each guard track gt at which the upper hard layer 4 has been removed, the overcoat layer 6 is directly provided. in the embodiment 1, when the upper hard layer 4 is removed at the position for each guard track gt which is inserted between each adjacent data tracks dt as mentioned above, a vacuum process according to an ion milling process or such may be used to remove the upper hard layer 4 . then, to each part from which the upper hard layer 4 has been thus removed, non-magnetic material is filled with as mentioned above, and then, the surface of the magnetic recording medium is planarized. in the above-mentioned embodiment 2, when the upper hard layer 4 is removed at the position for each guard track gt with the use of a vacuum process according to an ion milling process or such, planarization after the removal of the upper hard layer 4 at the position for each guard track gt is not carried out, but the overcoat layer 6 is directly formed. thus, in each of the embodiments 1 and 2, the overcoat layer 6 may be formed at the highest position. further, in each of the embodiments 1 and 2, coercive force of each of the upper and lower soft layers 2 - 1 and 2 - 3 may be a third (or, equal to or less than the third) of coercive force of the upper hard layer 4 . further, as will be described later with reference to figs. 8 and 9 , as an embodiment 3, a magnetic storage apparatus (for example, a hard disk drive) with the use of the magnetic recording medium having any one of the above-mentioned configurations may be realized. the configurations of the above-mentioned embodiments 1 and 2, each of which may be used as a magnetic disk in a hard disk drive, will be described in detail. it is noted that, generally speaking, commonly perpendicular magnetic recording is carried out in hard disk drives. further, a magnetic recording medium having the above-mentioned ecc configuration has been developed recently. in each of the embodiments 1 and 2, based on a basic concept of the ecc configuration, the upper recording layer (i.e., the upper hard layer 4 ) which has higher coercive force is provided, while the lower recording layer (i.e., the lower soft layer 2 ) which has relatively lower coercive force is provided. then, the upper hard layer 4 and the lower soft layer 2 are coupled via the exchange coupling control layer 3 which has a configuration of an electrically conductive thin film made of ru or such. by adjusting a film thickness of the electrically conductive thin film of the exchange coupling control layer 3 , the upper hard layer 4 and the lower soft layer 2 are magnetically coupled appropriately. as a result, it is possible to provide a superior magnetic recording medium in which information can be recorded with a reduced recording magnetic field. according to each of the embodiments 1 and 2, a discrete track magnetic recording medium can be manufactured by a simple process, has improved manufacturability, and also, requires less manufacturing cost. the magnetic recording medium in each of the embodiments 1 and 2 is a discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive. the above-described discrete track configuration is also referred to as a data track separating configuration. the magnetic recording medium in each of the embodiments 1 and 2 has the recording layer 5 which includes the upper hard layer 4 , the lower soft layer 2 , and the exchange coupling control layer 3 . the exchange coupling control layer 3 is inserted between the upper hard layer 4 and the lower soft layer 2 , and is an electrically conductive thin film made of ru or such. further, as depicted in fig. 5 , the lower soft layer 2 includes the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 , and includes the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 , between which the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 is inserted. in the lower soft layer 2 , the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 are antiferromagnetically coupled together as a result of a film thickness of the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 being optimized. thus, the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 are coupled in such a manner that respective magnetization directions are reverse to one another. thereby, generation of a magnetic domain from the lower soft layer 2 of the recording layer 5 can be inhibited. as a result, it is possible to reduce generation of a noise from the lower soft layer 2 of the recording layer 5 , and it is possible to provide a magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive from which a signal having an improved s/n can be obtained. further, in each of the embodiments 1 and 2, as will be described later with reference to figs. 2a through 2g and figs. 7a through 7e , in the combined recording layer 5 , as depicted in fig. 2g and fig. 7e , the upper hard layer 4 is not provided at the position for each guard track gt between the recording tracks dt, but, at this position, the lower soft layer 2 and the exchange coupling control layer 3 are provided. as mentioned above, the lower soft layer 2 includes the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 and includes the lower and upper soft layers 2 - 1 and 2 - 3 , between which the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 is inserted. the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 are antiferromagnetically coupled together as a result of the film thickness of the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 being optimized. in this configuration of the magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive, as mentioned above, in the combined recording layer 5 which includes the upper hard layer 4 , the exchange coupling control layer 3 and the lower soft layer 2 , the upper hard layer 4 is not provided at the position for each guard track gt, as depicted in fig. 2g or fig. 7e . since the position for each guard track gt does not have the upper hard layer 4 to which a signal is recorded, crosstalk between each adjacent data tracks dt can be effectively reduced. as depicted in fig. 2g or fig. 7e , as mentioned above, the position for each guard track gt does not have the upper hard layer 4 but has the lower soft layer 2 and the exchange coupling control layer 3 . therefore, as mentioned above and as will be described with reference to figs. 3 and 4 , a magnetic domain may be easily generated, and a noise may be generated. in order to solve this problem, in each embodiment, as depicted in fig. 5 , the lower soft layer 2 includes the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 and includes the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 , between which the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 is inserted. as mentioned above, as a result of the film thickness of the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 being optimized, the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 are antiferromagnetically coupled together. such a configuration of the lower soft layer 2 will be referred to as an exchange coupled soft layer configuration, hereinafter. by using the exchange coupled soft layer configuration in each embodiment, it is possible to remarkably reduce generation of a noise from the lower soft layer 2 at the position for each guard track gt. as a result, it is possible to provide a discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive from which a signal having an improved s/n can be obtained. in the combined recording layer 5 of this configuration, the upper hard layer 4 is removed at the position for each guard track gt between the recording tracks dt, by a process such as ion milling, then, as depicted in fig. 2e , non-magnetic material 9 is filled with, and, as depicted in fig. 2f , planarization is carried out in the embodiment 1. in each embodiment, as the exchange coupling control layer 3 between the upper hard layer 4 and the lower soft layer 2 , an electrically conductive thin film made of ru or such may be used as mentioned above. in order to remove the upper hard layer 4 at the position for each guard track gt as mentioned above, etching may be carried out at the position for each guard track gt. by the etching, not only the upper hard layer 4 but also a part of the ru layer of the exchange coupling control layer 3 may be removed so that some part of the ru layer may be left unremoved. further, as depicted in fig. 2e and fig. 2f , a part, from which material is thus removed by etching, is filled with the layer 9 of non-magnetic material such as sio 2 or al 2 o 3 , and then, planarization is carried on the surface in the embodiment 1. the discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive in this configuration has the recording layer 5 including the two layers of lower and upper recording layers 2 and 4 , and the exchange coupling control layer 3 which is a electrically conductive member and is inserted between the two recording layers 2 and 4 , as depicted in fig. 2g or fig. 7e . further, as depicted in fig. 2c or fig. 7c , only the upper hard layer 4 (having a film thickness in a range between 5 and 10 [nm]) is removed by etching at the position for each guard track gt. thus, the upper hard layer 4 which is the upper one of the two recording layers 2 and 4 is removed at the position for each guard track gt, for the purpose of forming a groove to separate each adjacent recording tracks dt to realize the above-mentioned discrete track configuration. in this process of removing the upper hard layer 4 at the position for each guard track gt, the ru layer acting as the exchange coupling control layer 3 may be used as an etch stop. thereby, it is possible to simplify a manufacturing process. as a result of the upper hard layer 4 being thus removed at the position for each guard track gt, a difference in height or a step occurs between the guard track gt and the adjacent data track dt. in the configuration of the embodiment 1 depicted in figs. 2a through 2g , as mentioned above, the layer 9 of non-magnetic material such as sio 2 or al 2 o 3 is filled with, and then, as depicted in fig. 2f , planarization is carried out on the surface. as a result, it is possible to provide a magnetic recording medium having improved planarity on the surface, whereby floating characteristics of a floating magnetic head on the surface of the magnetic recording medium improves. thus, it is possible to provide a highly reliable hard disk drive with the use of the magnetic recording medium in the embodiment 1. further, in the configuration depicted in figs. 2a through 2g , a required amount of etching for removing the upper hard layer 4 at the guard track gt is very small. further, a required amount of the non-magnetic material for the layer 9 to fill with after that is also very small. further, in the embodiment 2 depicted in figs. 7a through 7e , in the combined recording layer 5 , after the upper hard layer 4 is removed by means of a vacuum process such as ion milling at the position for each guard track gt between the recording tracks dt as depicted in fig. 7c , the overcoat layer 6 is formed directly without a process of planarization, as depicted in fig. 7e . it is noted that, the upper hard layer 4 may be made into a thin film for the purpose of increasing a recording density of the magnetic recording medium. specifically, the upper hard layer 4 may have a film thickness on the order of in a range between 5 and 10 [nm]. in the configuration of fig. 7e , a difference in height or a step occurs between the data track dt and the adjacent guard track dt as mentioned above because the upper hard layer 4 is removed at the guard track gt. however, when the upper hard layer 4 is made into a thin film as mentioned above, the above-mentioned difference in height or step is reduced accordingly. in the magnetic recording medium in the embodiment 2, the above-mentioned difference in height or step may fall within a permissible range in terms of a floating amount of a floating magnetic head when the magnetic recording medium is used in a magnetic storage apparatus which uses the floating magnetic head which floats on the surface of the magnetic recording medium (i.e., a magnetic disk, for example). in the embodiment 2 depicted in figs. 7a through 7e , it is possible to provide a highly practical magnetic recording medium by directly forming the overcoat layer 6 after removing the upper hard layer 4 at the position for each gt track, without filling with the layer of non-magnetic material, as mentioned above. that is, since it is possible to omit the process of filing with the layer of non-magnetic material to eliminate the difference in height or step between the guard track gt and the adjacent recording track dt, and also, it is possible to omit a process of planarization of the surface after that, it is possible to provide a discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive having highly improved manufacturability. in the magnetic recording medium in each embodiment described above, coercive force of the lower soft layer 2 is made lower than coercive force of the upper hard layer 4 . specifically, the coercive force of the lower soft layer 2 may be equal to or less than a third of the coercive force of the upper hard layer 4 . with reference to fig. 1 and figs. 2a through 2g , a method for manufacturing a discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive in the embodiment 1 will be described. as depicted in fig. 1 which depicts a sectional view taken along a section perpendicular to a track of a magnetic recording medium, in the discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive, the recording layer 5 is separated by the guard tracks gt for the respective discrete data tracks dt. in order to industrially manufacture the discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive, technology called nanoimprint technique may be used. specifically, first a medium is manufactured, the medium includes the lower soft magnetic layer 1 and the recording layer 5 which are laminated together. the recording layer 5 includes the lower soft layer 2 , the exchange coupling control layer 3 and the upper hard layer 4 , which are laminated together. this medium may be manufactured by a well-known method, except manufacturing of the recording layer 5 , for which a manufacturing method will be described later. next, a resin layer 7 is coated onto the thus-obtained medium. then, onto the medium onto which the resin layer 7 has been thus coated, as depicted in fig. 2a , a mold 8 , which has shapes like the guard tracks gt, is pressed. thereby, grooves are formed on the surface of the resin layer 7 corresponding to the guard tracks gt, as depicted in fig. 2a . next, as depicted in fig. 2b and fig. 2c , the resin layer 7 is used as a mask, and the upper hard layer 4 is removed at the position for each guard track gt, by a vacuum process such as an ion milling process. further, as depicted in fig. 2d , by means of a reactive ion milling process or such, a remaining part of the resin layer 7 is removed. further, after that, the layer 9 of non-magnetic material, such as sio 2 or al 2 o 3 , is provided by means of a sputtering process or such (see fig. 2e ). further, by means of a vacuum process such as an ion milling process, the surface is planarized (see fig. 2f ). further, on top, the overcoat layer 6 , which is a hard and thin layer, made of dlc (diamond-like carbon) or such, is provided (see fig. 2g ). in the recording layer 5 of the embodiment 1, the upper recording layer (i.e., the upper hard layer) 4 having high coercive force and the lower recording layer (i.e., the lower soft layer) 2 having relatively low coercive force are coupled together via the electrically conductive film (i.e., the exchange coupling control layer) 3 made of ru or such. further, as mentioned above, as depicted in fig. 5 , the lower soft layer 2 includes the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 , and includes the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 , between which the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 is inserted. the film thickness of the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 is adjusted so that the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 are antiferromagnetically coupled together. thus, the lower soft layer 2 of the recording layer 5 has the above-mentioned exchange coupled soft layer configuration. if the lower soft layer 2 of the recording layer 5 were a simple soft magnetic layer, as depicted in fig. 3 , a magnetic domain would be generated at the position for each guard track gt at which the upper hard layer has been removed as mentioned above (see fig. 4 , which depicts a sectional view). in fig. 4 , a reference numeral 6 represents an overcoat layer, a reference numeral 53 represents a non-magnetic layer and a reference 52 represents a lower soft layer. the magnetic domain might act as a source of a noise. according to the embodiment 1, as mentioned above, the lower soft layer 2 of the recording layer 5 has the exchange coupled soft layer configuration. as a result, as depicted in fig. 6 , by the function of the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 , the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 are magnetized in mutually reverse directions, and thus, are antiferromagnetically coupled. in fig. 6 , a reference numeral 6 represents an overcoat layer and a reference numeral 53 represents a non-magnetic layer. as a result, generation of a magnetic domain in the lower soft layer 2 is inhibited. that is, as mentioned above, in the discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive according to the embodiment 1, in order to obtain a configuration of the guard track gt, the upper hard layer 4 is removed at the position or each guard track gt (see fig. 2c ). in this process, only the upper hard layer 4 is removed by means of etching, and a remaining part of the above-mentioned resin layer 7 is removed by means of a reactive ion milling process or such (see fig. 2d ). after that, the layer 9 of the non-magnetic material such as sio 2 or al 2 o 3 , is provided by means of sputtering (see fig. 2e ). thereby, grooves formed as a result of the upper hard layer 4 being removed at the position for each the guard track gt is filled with. further, the surface is planarized by means of a vacuum process such as an ion milling process (see fig. 2f ). further, the overcoat layer 6 , which is a hard and thin film, made of dlc or such, is provided on top. next, a method for manufacturing the discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive in the embodiment 2 will be described with reference to figs. 7a through 7e . respective processes depicted in fig. 7a , fig. 7b , fig. 7c and fig. 7d are the same as those of the embodiment 1 depicted in fig. 2a , fig. 2b , fig. 2c and fig. 2d , respectively. therefore, duplicate description for the embodiment 2 will be omitted appropriately. in the method for manufacturing the discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive according to the embodiment 2, in order to obtain the guard tracks gt, the upper hard layer 4 of the recording layer 5 is removed at the position for each guard track gt. in this process, the same as in the case of the embodiment 1, only the upper hard layer 4 is removed by means of etching at the position for each guard track gt, and further, a remaining part of the resin layer 7 is removed by means of a reactive ion milling process or such (see fig. 7c , fig. 7d ). in the method for manufacturing the discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive according to the embodiment 2, after that, a series of processes including a process of producing the layer 9 of non-magnetic material such as sio 2 or al 2 o 3 to fill the grooves with by means of sputtering and a process of planarization after that, included in the method for the embodiment 1, are not included. that is, in the method for manufacturing the discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive according to the embodiment 2, after the above-mentioned process of removing the upper hard layer 4 at the position for guard track gt and then removing the remaining part of the resin layer 7 , the overcoat layer 6 which is a hard and thin film made of dlc or such is directly provided on top (see fig. 7e ). as mentioned above, in the method for manufacturing the discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive according to the embodiment 2, the process of planarizing the surface by means of a vacuum process according to an ion milling process or such can be omitted. as a result, it is possible to provide a practical method for manufacturing a discrete track magnetic recording medium for a hard disk drive. next, a method for manufacturing the recording layer 5 of the magnetic recording medium according to each of the embodiments 1 and 2 will be described. as the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 included in the lower soft layer 2 , which are soft layers included in the recording layer 5 , films made of permalloy (i.e., ni—fe) or such may be used. alternatively, in order to improve an s/n of a signal obtained from the recording layer 5 , the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 may be formed by simultaneously sputtering a low coercive alloy of a family of cobalt-chrome (i.e., co—cr) and non-magnetic material such as sio 2 or tio 2 . that is, it is preferable to use so-called granular thin films as the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 which are included in the lower soft layer 2 . further, the exchange coupling control layer 3 of the recording layer 5 or the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 of the lower soft layer 2 of the recording layer 5 may be produced as a result of an electrically conductive film of ru or such being produced with a film thickness of on the order of 1 nm. by controlling the film thickness of the exchange coupling control layer 3 , strength of exchange coupling between the lower soft layer 2 and the upper hard layer 4 , between which the exchange coupling control layer 3 is inserted, is optimized. similarly, by controlling the film thickness of the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 , strength of exchange coupling between the lower soft layer 2 - 1 and the upper soft layer 2 - 3 , between which the exchange coupling control layer 2 - 2 is inserted, is optimized. as the film thickness, an optimum value may be determined as being different depending on specific material of the exchange coupling control layer 3 or 2 - 2 . the upper hard layer 4 may be made of material in a family of cobalt-chrome (i.e., co—cr), the same as the materials of the above-mentioned lower soft layer 2 - 1 and upper soft layer 2 - 3 . especially, the upper hard layer 4 may be made of a so-called granular thin film, obtained as a result of material having such an alloy composition, from which high coercive force is obtained, and non-magnetic material such as sio 2 or tio 2 , being simultaneously sputtered. next, a method for manufacturing the overcoat layer 6 in each of the embodiments 1 and 2 will be described. the overcoat layer 6 is used to protect the magnetic recording medium from being scratched, corrosion, or such. the overcoat layer 6 may be made of carbon having a diamond coupling. a film having such a configuration is called a dlc film. the overcoat layer 6 may be produced by means of sputtering or such. alternatively, the overcoat layer 6 may be produced by means of a rf biased ecr plasma cvd process with the use of ethylene as a source gas. by using the rf biased ecr plasma cvd process, it is possible to produce the overcoat layer 6 superior in hardness, wearing characteristics, corrosion resistance, electrical strength, dielectric strength, chemical stability and so forth. next, an embodiment 3 will be described with reference to figs. 8 and 9 . the embodiment 3 is a magnetic storage apparatus (i.e., a hard disk drive, for example) using the magnetic recording medium according to each of the embodiments 1 and 2. fig. 8 depicts an internal partial side elevation of the magnetic storage apparatus in the embodiment 3, and fig. 9 depicts an internal partial plan view of the magnetic storage apparatus in the embodiment 3. as depicted in figs. 8 and 9 , in the magnetic storage apparatus in the embodiment 3, a motor 14 , a hub 15 , a plurality of magnetic recording media 16 , a plurality of magnetic heads 17 , a plurality of suspensions 18 , a plurality of arms 19 and an actuator unit 20 are provided in a housing 13 . the magnetic recording media 16 are mounted on the hub 15 which is rotated by the motor 14 . the magnetic heads 17 include reproduction heads such as mr heads or gmr heads, and recording heads such as inductive heads. each of the magnetic heads 17 is mounted on an extending end of a corresponding one of the arms 19 via a corresponding one of the suspensions 18 . the arms 19 are driven by the actuator unit 20 . a basic arrangement of the magnetic storage apparatus, except the magnetic recording media 16 which will be described below, is well-known, and further description will be omitted. as each of the magnetic recording media 16 of the magnetic storage apparatus according to the embodiment 3, the magnetic recording medium according to any one of the embodiments 1 and 2, described above with reference to figs. 1 through 7g , may be used. the specific number of the magnetic recording media 16 is not limited to 3 as depicted in fig. 8 . instead, the specific number of the magnetic recording media 16 included in the magnetic storage apparatus may be one, or may be more than three. further, the basic arrangement of the magnetic storage apparatus is not limited to that depicted in figs. 8 and 9 . further, the magnetic recording media according to the embodiments are not limited to magnetic disks. all examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority and inferiority of the invention. although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
039-668-200-000-239	US	[ "EP", "TW", "EA", "AR", "MY", "AU", "JP", "CA", "MX", "PL", "BR", "CN", "WO", "SG", "US" ]	F02C3/34,C01B32/50,F02C7/18,F02C1/00,F02C6/18,B01D53/14,B01D53/34,F01K23/10,F02C6/00,F02C6/08,F02C7/143,B01D53/62,F02B47/10	2010-07-02T00:00:00	2010	[ "F02", "C01", "B01", "F01" ]	stoichiometric combustion with exhaust gas recirculation and direct contact cooler	methods and systems for low emission power generation in hydrocarbon recovery processes are provided. one system includes a gas turbine system configured to stoichiometrically combust a compressed oxidant and a fuel in the presence of a compressed recycle exhaust gas and expand the discharge in an expander to generate a gaseous exhaust stream and drive a main compressor. a boost compressor can receive and increase the pressure of the gaseous exhaust stream and inject it into an evaporative cooling tower configured to use an exhaust nitrogen gas having a low relative humidity as an evaporative cooling media. the cooled gaseous exhaust stream is then compressed and recirculated through the system as a diluent to moderate the temperature of the stoichiometric combustion.	claims what is claimed is: 1. an integrated system, comprising: a gas turbine system having a combustion chamber configured to stoichiometrically combust a compressed oxidant and a fuel in the presence of a compressed recycle exhaust gas, wherein the compressed recycle exhaust gas serves to moderate a temperature of combustion in the combustion chamber, and the combustion chamber directs a discharge to an expander configured to generate a gaseous exhaust stream and at least partially drive a main compressor; an exhaust gas recirculation system having at least one integrated cooling unit, wherein the at least one integrated cooling unit cools the gaseous exhaust before injection into the main compressor to generate the compressed recycle exhaust gas; and a c0 2 separator fluidly coupled to the compressed recycle exhaust gas via a purge stream and configured to discharge a residual stream consisting primarily of nitrogen-rich gas to be expanded in a gas expander and generate a nitrogen exhaust gas, wherein the nitrogen exhaust gas is injected into the at least one integrated cooling unit to cool the gaseous exhaust. 2. the system of claim 1, further comprising at least one additional cooling unit, wherein the additional cooling unit is fluidly coupled to the at least one integrated cooling unit, and wherein the additional cooling unit cools the gaseous exhaust to a temperature of about 105 °f. 3. the system of claim 1, further comprising a residual cooling unit fluidly coupled to the residual stream and configured to reduce the temperature of the residual stream and extract condensed water therefrom. 4. the system of claim 3, wherein the at least one integrated cooling unit is an evaporative cooling unit comprising: a first column configured to receive the nitrogen exhaust gas and a cool water supply, wherein the nitrogen exhaust gas evaporates a portion of the cool water supply to cool the cool water supply and generate a cooled water discharge; and a second column configured to receive the cooled water discharge and the gaseous exhaust, wherein interaction between the cooled water discharge and the gaseous exhaust cools the gaseous exhaust. 5. the system of claim 4, wherein the at least one integrated cooling unit reduces the temperature of the pressurized recycle stream to below about 100 °f. 6. the system of claim 4, wherein cooled water is pressurized with a pump before being introduced into the second column. 7. the system of claim 4, wherein the second column is further configured to condense and extract an amount of water from the pressurized recycle stream. 8. the system of claim 1, further comprising a heat exchanger fluidly coupled to the purge stream and configured to reduce the temperature of the purge stream prior to being introduced into the c0 2 separator. 9. the system of claim 1, further comprising a boost compressor adapted to increase the pressure of the gaseous exhaust stream to a pressure between about 17 psia and about 21 psia before injection into the main compressor. 10. a method of generating power, comprising: stoichiometrically combusting a compressed oxidant and a fuel in a combustion chamber and in the presence of a compressed recycle exhaust gas, thereby generating a discharge stream, wherein the compressed recycle exhaust gas acts as a diluent configured to moderate the temperature of the discharge stream; expanding the discharge stream in an expander to at least partially drive a main compressor and generate a gaseous exhaust stream; directing the gaseous exhaust stream into at least one integrated cooling unit; cooling the gaseous exhaust stream in the at least one integrated cooling unit before injecting the gaseous exhaust stream into the main compressor to generate the compressed recycle exhaust gas; directing a portion of the compressed recycle exhaust gas to a c0 2 separator via a purge stream, the c0 2 separator being configured to discharge a residual stream consisting primarily of nitrogen-rich gas to be expanded in a gas expander and generate a nitrogen exhaust gas; and injecting the nitrogen exhaust gas into the at least one integrated cooling unit to cool the gaseous exhaust stream. 11. the method of claim 10, further comprising cooling the pressurized recycle gas in at least one pre-cooling unit disposed before a final integrated cooling unit to a temperature of about 105 °f, wherein the at least one pre-cooling unit is fluidly coupled to the final integrated cooling unit. 12. the method of claim 10, further comprising: cooling the residual stream with a residual cooling unit fluidly coupled to the c0 2 separator; and extracting condensed water from the residual stream. 13. the method of claim 12, further comprising: receiving the nitrogen exhaust gas and a cool water supply in a first column of the at least one integrated cooling unit; evaporating a portion of the cool water supply to cool the cool water supply and generate a cooled water discharge; receiving the cooled water discharge and the gaseous exhaust stream in a second column of the at least one integrated cooling unit; cooling the gaseous exhaust stream to a temperature below about 100°f with the cooled water discharge. 14. the method of claim 13, further comprising pressurizing the cooled water discharge with a pump before being introduced into the second column. 15. the method of claim 13, further comprising condensing and extracting an amount of water from the pressurized recycle stream in the second column. 16. the method of claim 10, further comprising reducing the temperature of the purge stream in a heat exchanger fluidly coupled to the purge stream and configured to reduce the temperature of the purge stream prior to being introduced into the c0 2 separator. 17. a combined-cycle power generation system, comprising: a combustion chamber configured to stoichiometrically combust a compressed oxidant and a fuel in the presence of a compressed recycle exhaust gas, wherein the combustion chamber directs a discharge to an expander configured to generate a gaseous exhaust stream and drive a main compressor; an evaporative cooling tower having a first column and a second column, wherein the second column is configured to receive and cool the gaseous exhaust stream before being compressed in the main compressor to generate the compressed recycle exhaust gas; and a c0 2 separator fluidly coupled to the compressed recycle exhaust gas via a purge stream and configured to discharge a residual stream consisting primarily of nitrogen-rich gas to be expanded in a gas expander and generate a nitrogen exhaust gas, wherein the nitrogen exhaust gas is injected into the first column to evaporate and cool a cooling water supply to discharge a cooled water, and wherein the cooled water is injected into the second column to cool the gaseous exhaust stream. 18. the system of claim 17, further comprising a condenser fluidly coupled to the residual stream and configured to reduce the temperature of the residual stream and extract condensed water therefrom. 19. the system of claim 17, wherein evaporative cooling tower further comprises a pump configured pressurize the cooled water and inject the cooled water into the second column in order to cool the pressurized recycle gas. 20. the system of claim 19, wherein the second column is a direct contact cooler. 21. the system of claim 20, wherein the second column is a multi-stage direct contact cooler.	stoichiometric combustion with exhaust gas recirculation and direct contact cooler cross-reference to related applications [0001] this application claims the benefit of u. s. provisional patent application number 61/361,176, filed july 2, 2010 entitled stoichiometric combustion with exhaust gas recirculation and direct contact cooler, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein. [0002] this application contains subject matter related to u.s. patent application number 61/361,169, filed july 2, 2010 entitled "systems and methods for controlling combustion of a fuel"; u. s. patent application number 61/361,170, filed july 2, 2010 entitled "low emission triple-cycle power generation systems and methods"; u.s. patent application number 61/361,173, filed july 2, 2010, entitled "low emission triple-cycle power generation systems and methods"; u.s. patent application number 61/361,178, filed july 2, 2010, entitled "stoichiometric combustion of enriched air with exhaust gas recirculation" and u.s. patent application number 61/361,180 filed july 2, 2010, entitled "low emission power generation systems and methods". field [0003] embodiments of the disclosure relate to low emission power generation in combined-cycle power systems. background [0004] this section is intended to introduce various aspects of the art, which may be associated with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. this discussion is believed to assist in providing a framework to facilitate a better understanding of particular aspects of the present disclosure. accordingly, it should be understood that this section should be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art. [0005] with the growing concern on global climate change and the impact of c0 2 emissions, emphasis has been placed on c0 2 capture from power plants. this concern combined with the implementation of cap-and-trade policies in many countries make reducing c0 2 emissions a priority for these and other countries, as well as for the companies that operate hydrocarbon production systems therein. [0006] gas turbine combined-cycle power plants are rather efficient and can be operated at relatively low cost when compared to other technologies, such as coal and nuclear. capturing c0 2 from the exhaust of gas turbine combined-cycle plants, however, can be difficult for several reasons. for instance, there is typically a low concentration of c0 2 in the exhaust compared to the large volume of gas that must be treated. also, additional cooling is often required before introducing the exhaust to a c0 2 capture system and the exhaust can become saturated with water after cooling, thereby increasing the reboiler duty in the c0 2 capture system. other common factors can include the low pressure and large quantities of oxygen frequently contained in the exhaust. all of these factors result in a high cost of c0 2 capture from gas turbine combined-cycle power plants. [0007] some approaches to lower c0 2 emissions include fuel de-carbonization or post- combustion capture using solvents, such as amines. however, both of these solutions are expensive and reduce power generation efficiency, resulting in lower power production, increased fuel demand and increased cost of electricity to meet domestic power demand. in particular, the presence of oxygen, sox, and νοχ components makes the use of amine solvent absorption very problematic. another approach is an oxyfuel gas turbine in a combined cycle (e.g. where exhaust heat from the gas turbine brayton cycle is captured to make steam and produce additional power in a rankin cycle). however, there are no commercially available gas turbines that can operate in such a cycle and the power required to produce high purity oxygen significantly reduces the overall efficiency of the process. several studies have compared these processes and show some of the advantages of each approach. see, e.g. bolland, olav, and und um, henriette, removal of c0 2 from gas turbine power plants: evaluation of pre- and post-combustion methods, sintef group, found at http://www.energy.sintef.no/publ/xergi/98/3/3art-8-engelsk.htm (1998). [0008] other approaches to lower c0 2 emissions include stoichiometric exhaust gas recirculation, such as in natural gas combined cycles (ngcc). in a conventional ngcc system, only about 40% of the air intake volume is required to provide adequate stoichiometric combustion of the fuel, while the remaining 60% of the air volume serves to moderate the temperature and cool the exhaust gas so as to be suitable for introduction into the succeeding expander, but also disadvantageously generate an excess oxygen byproduct which is difficult to remove. the typical ngcc produces low pressure exhaust gas which requires a fraction of the power produced to extract the c0 2 for sequestration or eor, thereby reducing the thermal efficiency of the ngcc. further, the equipment for the c0 2 extraction is large and expensive, and several stages of compression are required to take the ambient pressure gas to the pressure required for eor or sequestration. such limitations are typical of post-combustion carbon capture from low pressure exhaust gas associated with the combustion of other fossil fuels, such as coal. [0009] the capacity and efficiency of the exhaust gas compressor in a combined-cycle power generating plant is directly affected by the inlet temperature and composition of the recycled exhaust gas. conventionally, the exhaust gas is cooled by direct contact with recycled water in a direct contact cooler. the recycled water may be cooled by several methods, including using a heat exchanger to reject heat to the recirculated cooling water, using an air-fin heat exchanger, or by evaporative cooling with a conventional cooling tower. cooling by these methods, however, is limited by the ambient air conditions, especially in warmer climates. [0010] the foregoing discussion of need in the art is intended to be representative rather than exhaustive. a technology addressing one or more such needs, or some other related shortcoming in the field, would benefit power generation in combined-cycle power systems. summary [0011] the present disclosure is directed to integrated systems and methods for improving power generation systems. in some implementations, the present disclosure provides an integrated system comprising a gas turbine system, an exhaust gas recirculation system, and a c0 2 separator advantageously integrated. the gas turbine system may have a combustion chamber configured to stoichiometrically combust a compressed oxidant and a fuel in the presence of a compressed recycle exhaust gas. the compressed recycle exhaust gas serves to moderate a temperature of combustion in the combustion chamber. the combustion chamber directs a discharge to an expander configured to generate a gaseous exhaust stream and at least partially drive a main compressor. the gaseous exhaust stream from the expander is directed to an exhaust gas recirculation system having at least one integrated cooling unit. the at least one integrated cooling unit cools the gaseous exhaust before injection into the main compressor to generate the compressed recycle exhaust gas. the c0 2 separator is fluidly coupled to the compressed recycle exhaust gas via a purge stream and is configured to discharge a residual stream consisting primarily of nitrogen-rich gas. the nitrogen-rich gas may be expanded in a gas expander to generate a nitrogen exhaust gas. the nitrogen exhaust gas is injected into the at least one integrated cooling unit to cool the gaseous exhaust. the at least one integrated cooling unit is integrated in that at least some of the cooling effect is enhanced by the integrated use of the nitrogen exhaust gas. [0012] additionally or alternatively, the present disclosure provides methods of generating power. exemplary methods include: a) stoichiometrically combusting a compressed oxidant and a fuel in a combustion chamber and in the presence of a compressed recycle exhaust gas, thereby generating a discharge stream, wherein the compressed recycle exhaust gas acts as a diluent configured to moderate the temperature of the discharge stream; b) expanding the discharge stream in an expander to at least partially drive a main compressor and generate a gaseous exhaust stream; c) directing the gaseous exhaust stream into at least one integrated cooling unit; d) cooling the gaseous exhaust stream in the at least one integrated cooling unit before injecting the gaseous exhaust stream into the main compressor to generate the compressed recycle exhaust gas; e) directing a portion of the compressed recycle exhaust gas to a c0 2 separator via a purge stream, the c0 2 separator being configured to discharge a residual stream consisting primarily of nitrogen-rich gas to be expanded in a gas expander and generate a nitrogen exhaust gas; and f) injecting the nitrogen exhaust gas into the at least one integrated cooling unit to cool the gaseous exhaust stream. [0013] still additionally or alternatively, the present systems may include a combustion chamber, an evaporative cooling tower, and a c0 2 separator. the combustion chamber may be configured to stoichiometrically combust a compressed oxidant and a fuel in the presence of a compressed recycle exhaust gas. the combustion chamber directs a discharge to an expander configured to generate a gaseous exhaust stream and drive a main compressor. the evaporative cooling tower may have a first column and a second column. the second column may be configured to receive and cool the gaseous exhaust stream before being compressed in the main compressor to generate the compressed recycle exhaust gas. the c0 2 separator may be fluidly coupled to the compressed recycle exhaust gas via a purge stream and configured to discharge a residual stream consisting primarily of nitrogen-rich gas to be expanded in a gas expander and generate a nitrogen exhaust gas, wherein the nitrogen exhaust gas is injected into the first column to evaporate and cool a cooling water supply to discharge a cooled water, and wherein the cooled water is injected into the second column to cool the gaseous exhaust stream. brief description of the drawings [0014] the foregoing and other advantages of the present disclosure may become apparent upon reviewing the following detailed description and drawings of non-limiting examples of embodiments in which: [0015] fig. 1 depicts an illustrative integrated system for low emission power generation and enhanced c0 2 recovery, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. [0016] fig. 2 depicts an illustrative cooling unit for cooling exhaust gas prior to being compressed, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. detailed description [0017] in the following detailed description section, the specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described in connection with preferred embodiments. however, to the extent that the following description is specific to a particular embodiment or a particular use of the present disclosure, this is intended to be for exemplary purposes only and simply provides a description of the exemplary embodiments. accordingly, the disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments described below, but rather, it includes all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents falling within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims. [0018] various terms as used herein are defined below. to the extent a term used in a claim is not defined below, it should be given the broadest definition persons in the pertinent art have given that term as reflected in at least one printed publication or issued patent. [0019] as used herein, the term "stoichiometric combustion" refers to a combustion reaction having a volume of reactants comprising a fuel and an oxidizer and a volume of products formed by combusting the reactants where the entire volume of the reactants is used to form the products. as used herein, the term "substantially stoichiometric combustion" refers to a combustion reaction having a molar ratio of combustion fuel to oxygen ranging from about plus or minus 10% of the oxygen required for a stoichiometric ratio or more preferably from about plus or minus 5% of the oxygen required for the stoichiometric ratio. for example, the stoichiometric ratio of fuel to oxygen for methane is 1 :2 (ch4 + 20 2 > c0 2 + 2h 2 0) . propane will have a stoichiometric ratio of fuel to oxygen of 1 :5. another way of measuring substantially stoichiometric combustion is as a ratio of oxygen supplied to oxygen required for stoichiometric combustion, such as from about 0.9: 1 to about 1.1 : 1 , or more preferably from about 0.95 : 1 to about 1.05 : 1. [0020] as used herein, the term "stream" refers to a volume of fluids, although use of the term stream typically means a moving volume of fluids (e.g., having a velocity or mass flow rate). the term "stream," however, does not require a velocity, mass flow rate, or a particular type of conduit for enclosing the stream. [0021] embodiments of the presently disclosed systems and processes can be used to produce ultra low emission electric power and c0 2 for enhanced oil recovery (eor) and/or sequestration applications. in one or more embodiments, a mixture of air and fuel can be stoichiometrically or substantially stoichiometrically combusted and mixed with a stream of recycled exhaust gas. the stream of recycled exhaust gas, generally including products of combustion such as c0 2 , can be used as a diluent to control, adjust, or otherwise moderate the temperature of combustion and the exhaust that enters the succeeding expander. as a result of using enriched air, the recycled exhaust gas can have an increased c0 2 content, thereby allowing the expander to operate at even higher expansion ratios for the same inlet and discharge temperatures, thereby producing significantly increased power. [0022] combustion in commercial gas turbines at stoichiometric conditions or substantially stoichiometric conditions (e.g., "slightly rich" combustion) can prove advantageous in order to eliminate the cost of excess oxygen removal. still further, slightly lean combustion may further reduce the oxygen content in the exhaust stream. by cooling the exhaust and condensing the water out of the cooled exhaust stream, a relatively high content c0 2 exhaust stream can be produced. while a portion of the recycled exhaust gas can be utilized for temperature moderation in the closed brayton cycle, a remaining purge stream can be used for eor applications and/or electric power can be produced with little or no sulfur oxides (so x ), nitrogen oxides (no x ), and/or c0 2 being emitted to the atmosphere. when the purge stream, or a portion thereof, is routed for electric power production, the result is the production of power in three separate cycles and the manufacturing of additional c0 2 . [0023] because the capacity and efficiency of an exhaust gas compressor is directly affected by the inlet temperature of the recycled exhaust gas, it can prove advantageous to lower the temperature of the recycled exhaust gas prior to compression. accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure use a nitrogen vent stream having a low relative humidity as an evaporative cooling media in a cooling unit preceding the exhaust gas compressor. the dry nitrogen gas can be configured to evaporate and cool a stream of water adapted to cool the recirculating exhaust gas, thereby injecting a colder exhaust gas into the compressor and increasing its efficiency by allowing added capacity thereto. as can be appreciated, this may prove advantageous for several reasons. for instance, a lower suction temperature can equate to a lower discharge temperature, which can reduce the cooling required for low-energy c0 2 separation processes. moreover, the additional cooling unit can remove an additional amount of water from the recycled exhaust gas, thereby reducing reboiler duties in any the c0 2 separation system. [0024] referring now to the figures, fig. 1 depicts a schematic of an illustrative integrated system 100 for power generation and c0 2 recovery using a combined-cycle arrangement, according to one or more embodiments. in at least one embodiment, the power generation system 100 can include a gas turbine system 102 characterized as a power- producing closed brayton cycle. the gas turbine system 102 can have a first or main compressor 104 coupled to an expander 106 through a common shaft 108 or other mechanical, electrical, or other power coupling, thereby allowing a portion of the mechanical energy generated by the expander 106 to drive the main compressor 104. the gas turbine system 102 can be a standard gas turbine, where the main compressor 104 and expander 106 form the compressor and expander ends, respectively. in other embodiments, however, the main compressor 104 and expander 106 can be individualized components in the system 102. [0025] the gas turbine system 102 can also include a combustion chamber 110 configured to combust a fuel introduced via line 112 mixed with a compressed oxidant in line 114. in one or more embodiments, the fuel in line 112 can include any suitable hydrocarbon gas or liquid, such as natural gas, methane, ethane, naphtha, butane, propane, syngas, diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel, coal derived fuel, bio-fuel, oxygenated hydrocarbon feedstock, or any combination thereof. the compressed oxidant in line 114 can be derived from a second or inlet compressor 118 fluidly coupled to the combustion chamber 110 and adapted to compress a feed oxidant introduced via line 120. in one or more embodiments, the feed oxidant in line 120 can include any suitable gas containing oxygen, such as air, oxygen-rich air, oxygen-depleted air, pure oxygen, or combinations thereof. [0026] as will be described in more detail below, the combustion chamber 110 can also receive a compressed recycle exhaust gas in line 144, including an exhaust gas recirculation primarily having c0 2 and nitrogen components. the compressed recycle exhaust gas in line 144 can be derived from the main compressor 104 and adapted to help facilitate a stoichiometric or substantially stoichiometric combustion of the compressed oxidant in line 114 and fuel in line 112 by moderating the temperature of the combustion products. as can be appreciated, recirculating the exhaust gas can serve to increase the c0 2 concentration in the exhaust gas. [0027] an exhaust gas in line 116 directed to the inlet of the expander 106 can be generated as a product of combustion of the fuel in line 112 and the compressed oxidant in line 114, in the presence of the compressed recycle exhaust gas in line 144. in at least one embodiment, the fuel in line 112 can be primarily natural gas, thereby generating a discharge or exhaust gas via line 116 that can include volumetric portions of vaporized water, c0 2 , nitrogen, nitrogen oxides (nox), and sulfur oxides (sox). in some embodiments, a small portion of unburned fuel in line 112 or other compounds can also be present in the exhaust gas in line 116 due to combustion equilibrium limitations. as the exhaust gas in line 116 expands through the expander 106 it generates mechanical power to drive the main compressor 104, an electrical generator, or other facilities, and also produces a gaseous exhaust stream 122 having a heightened c0 2 content resulting from the influx of the compressed recycle exhaust gas in line 144. the expander 106 may generate power for uses in addition to or as alternatives to the main compressor 104. for example, the expander 106 may produce electricity. [0028] the power generation system 100 can also include an exhaust gas recirculation (egr) system 124. in one or more embodiments, the egr system 124 can include a heat recovery steam generator (hrsg) 126, or similar device, fluidly coupled to a steam gas turbine 128. in at least one embodiment, the combination of the hrsg 126 and the steam gas turbine 128 can be characterized as a power-producing closed rankine cycle. in combination with the gas turbine system 102, the hrsg 126 and the steam gas turbine 128 can form part of a combined-cycle power generating plant, such as a natural gas combined- cycle (ngcc) plant. the gaseous exhaust stream 122 can be introduced to the hrsg 126 in order to generate steam via line 130 and a cooled exhaust gas in line 132. in one embodiment, the steam in line 130 can be sent to the steam gas turbine 128 to generate additional electrical power. [0029] the cooled exhaust gas in line 132 can be sent to any variety of apparatus and/or facilities in a recycle loop back to the main compressor 104. in some implementations, and as shown in fig. 1, the recycle loop may comprise a first cooling unit 134 adapted to cool the cooled exhaust gas in line 132 and to generate a cooled recycle gas stream 140. the first cooling unit 134 can include, for example, one or more contact coolers, trim coolers, evaporative cooling unit, or any combination thereof. the first cooling unit 134 can also be adapted to remove a portion of any condensed water from the cooled exhaust gas in line 132 via a water dropout stream 138. in at least one embodiment, the water dropout stream 138 may be routed to the hrsg 126 via line 141 to provide a water source for the generation of additional steam in line 130 therein. in other embodiments, the water recovered via the water dropout stream 138 can be used for other downstream applications, such as supplementary heat exchanging processes. [0030] in one or more embodiments, the cooled recycle gas stream 140 can be directed to a boost compressor 142. cooling the cooled exhaust gas in line 132 in the first cooling unit 134 can reduce the power required to compress the cooled recycle gas stream 140 in the boost compressor 142. as opposed to a conventional fan or blower system, the boost compressor 142 can be configured to compress and increase the overall density of the cooled recycle gas stream 140, thereby directing a pressurized recycle gas in line 145 downstream, where the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 has an increased mass flow rate for the same volumetric flow. this can prove advantageous since the main compressor 104 can be volume-flow limited, and directing more mass flow through the main compressor 104 can result in higher discharge pressures, thereby translating into higher pressure ratios across the expander 106. higher pressure ratios generated across the expander 106 can allow for higher inlet temperatures and, therefore, an increase in expander 106 power and efficiency. as can be appreciated, this may prove advantageous since the c0 2 -rich exhaust gas in line 116 generally maintains a higher specific heat capacity. [0031] since the suction pressure of the main compressor 104 is a function of its suction temperature, a cooler suction temperature will demand less power to operate the main compressor 104 for the same mass flow. consequently, the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 can optionally be directed to a second cooling unit 136. the second cooling unit 136 can include, for example, one or more direct contact coolers, trim coolers, evaporative cooling units, or any combination thereof. in at least one embodiment, the second cooling unit 136 can serve as an after-cooler adapted to remove at least a portion of the heat of compression generated by the boost compressor 142 on the pressurized recycle gas in line 145. the second cooling unit 136 can also extract additional condensed water via a water dropout stream 143. in one or more embodiments, the water dropout streams 138, 143 can converge into stream 141 and may or may not be routed to the hrsg 126 to generate additional steam via line 130 therein. after undergoing cooling in the second cooling unit 136, the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 can be directed to a third cooling unit 200. while only first, second, and third cooling units 134, 136, 200 are depicted herein, it will be appreciated that any number of cooling units can be employed to suit a variety of applications, without departing from the scope of the disclosure. for example, a single cooling unit may be implemented in some embodiments. [0032] as will be described in more detail below, the third cooling unit 200, like the first and second cooling units, can be an evaporative cooling unit configured to further reduce the temperature of the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 before being injected into the main compressor 104 via stream 214. in other embodiments, however, one or more of the cooling units 134, 236, 200 can be a mechanical refrigeration system without departing from the scope of the disclosure. the main compressor 104 can be configured to compress the pressurized recycle gas in line 214 received from the third cooling unit 200 to a pressure nominally at or above the combustion chamber pressure, thereby generating the compressed recycle gas in line 144. as can be appreciated, cooling the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 in both the second and third cooling units 136, 200 after compression in the boost compressor 142 can allow for an increased volumetric mass flow of exhaust gas into the main compressor 104. consequently, this can reduce the amount of power required to compress the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 to a predetermined pressure. [0033] while fig. 1 illustrates three cooling units and a boost compressor in the exhaust gas recirculation loop, it should be understood that each of these units is adapted to reduce the mass flow rate in the cooled exhaust gas in line 132. as described above, a reduction in mass flow rate, such as by the boost compressor, together with a reduction in temperature is advantageous. the present disclosure is directed to an integration within the power generation system 100 to enhance the cooling of the exhaust gas in the exhaust gas recirculation loop, which in some implementations may simplify the exhaust gas recirculation loop to a single cooling unit between the hsrg system 126 and the main compressor 104, as will be described further herein. [0034] in at least one embodiment, a purge stream 146 can be recovered from the compressed recycle gas in line 144 and subsequently treated in a c0 2 separator 148 to capture c0 2 at an elevated pressure via line 150. the separated c0 2 in line 150 can be used for sales, used in another processes requiring c0 2 , and/or further compressed and injected into a terrestrial reservoir for enhanced oil recovery (eor), sequestration, or another purpose. because of the stoichiometric or substantially stoichiometric combustion of the fuel in line 112 combined with the apparati on the exhaust gas recirculation system 124, the c0 2 partial pressure in the purge stream 146 can be much higher than in conventional gas turbine exhausts. as a result, carbon capture in the c0 2 separator 148 can be undertaken using low- energy separation processes, such as less energy-intensive solvents. at least one suitable solvent is potassium carbonate (k 2 co 3 ) which absorbs sox and/or νοχ, and converts them to useful compounds, such as potassium sulfite (k 2 so 3 ), potassium nitrate (k o 3 ), and other simple fertilizers. exemplary systems and methods of using potassium carbonate for c0 2 capture can be found in the concurrently filed u.s. patent application entitled "low emission triple-cycle power generation systems and methods," the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference to the extent not inconsistent with the present disclosure. [0035] a residual stream 151, essentially depleted of c0 2 and consisting primarily of nitrogen, can also be derived from the c0 2 separator 148. in one or more embodiments, the residual stream 151 can be introduced to a gas expander 152 to provide power and an expanded depressurized gas via line 156. the expander 152 can be, for example, a power- producing nitrogen expander. as depicted, the gas expander 152 can be optionally coupled to the inlet compressor 118 through a common shaft 154 or other mechanical, electrical, or other power coupling, thereby allowing a portion of the power generated by the gas expander 152 to drive the inlet compressor 118. in other embodiments, however, the gas expander 152 can be used to provide power to other applications, and not directly coupled to the stoichiometric compressor 118. for example, there may be a substantial mismatch between the power generated by the expander 152 and the requirements of the compressor 118. in such cases, the expander 152 could be adapted to drive a smaller compressor (not shown) that demands less power. alternatively, the expander could be adapted to drive a larger compressor demanding more power. [0036] an expanded depressurized gas in line 156, primarily consisting of dry nitrogen gas, can be discharged from the gas expander 152. as will be described in more detail below, the resultant dry nitrogen can help facilitate the evaporation and cooling of a stream of water in the third cooling unit 200 to thereby cool the pressurized recycle gas in line 145. in at least one embodiment, the combination of the gas expander 152, inlet compressor 118, and c0 2 separator can be characterized as an open brayton cycle, or a third power-producing component of the system 100. [0037] the power generation system 100 as described herein, particularly with the added exhaust gas exhaust pressurization from the boost compressor 142, can be implemented to achieve a higher concentration of c0 2 in the exhaust gas, thereby allowing for more effective c0 2 separation and capture. for instance, embodiments disclosed herein can effectively increase the concentration of c0 2 in the exhaust gas exhaust stream to about 10vol% with a pure methane fuel or even higher with a richer gas. to accomplish this, the combustion chamber 110 can be adapted to stoichiometrically combust the incoming mixture of fuel in line 112 and compressed oxidant in line 114. in order to moderate the temperature of the stoichiometric combustion to meet expander 106 inlet temperature and component cooling requirements, a portion of the exhaust gas derived from the compressed recycle gas in line 144 can be injected into the combustion chamber 110 as a diluent. as compared to the conventional practice of introducing excess air or oxidant in the combustion chamber to moderate temperature, the use of the recycled exhaust gas significantly reduces the amount of oxygen exiting the combustion chamber 110. thus, embodiments of the disclosure can essentially eliminate any excess oxygen from the exhaust gas while simultaneously increasing its c0 2 composition. as such, the gaseous exhaust stream 122 can have less than about 3.0 vol% oxygen, or less than about 1.0 vol% oxygen, or less than about 0.1 vol% oxygen, or even less than about 0.001 vol% oxygen. [0038] the specifics of exemplary operation of the system 100 will now be discussed. as will be appreciated, specific temperatures and pressures achieved or experienced in the various components of any of the embodiments disclosed herein can change depending on, among other factors, the purity of the oxidant used and/or the specific makes and/or models of expanders, compressors, coolers, etc. accordingly, it will be appreciated that the particular data described herein is for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as the only interpretation thereof. for example, in one embodiment described herein, the inlet compressor 118 can be configured to provide compressed oxidant in line 114 at pressures ranging between about 280 psia and about 300 psia. also contemplated herein, however, is aeroderivative gas turbine technology, which can produce and consume pressures of up to about 750 psia and more. [0039] the main compressor 104 can be configured to recycle and compress recycled exhaust gas into the compressed recycle gas in line 144 at a pressure nominally above or at the combustion chamber 110 pressure, and use a portion of that recycled exhaust gas as a diluent in the combustion chamber 110. because amounts of diluent needed in the combustion chamber 110 can depend on the purity of the oxidant used for stoichiometric combustion or the particular model or design of expander 106, a ring of thermocouples and/or oxygen sensors (not shown) can be disposed associated with the combustion chamber and/or the expander. for example, thermocouples and/or oxygen sensors may be disposed on the outlet of the combustion chamber 110, on the inlet to the expander 106 and/or on the outlet of the expander 106. in operation, the thermocouples and sensors can be adapted to determine the compositions and/or temperatures of one or more streams for use in determining the volume of exhaust gas required as diluent to cool the products of combustion to the required expander inlet temperature. additionally or alternatively, the thermocouples and sensors may be adapted to determine the amount of oxidant to be injected into the combustion chamber 110. thus, in response to the heat requirements detected by the thermocouples and the oxygen levels detected by the oxygen sensors, the volumetric mass flow of compressed recycle gas in line 144 and/or compressed oxidant in line 114 can be manipulated or controlled to match the demand. the volumetric mass flow rates may be controlled through any suitable flow control systems, which may be in electrical communication with the thermocouples and/or oxygen sensors. [0040] in at least one embodiment, a pressure drop of about 12-13 psia can be experienced across the combustion chamber 110 during stoichiometric or substantially stoichiometric combustion. combustion of the fuel in line 112 and the compressed oxidant in line 114 can generate temperatures between about 2000 °f and about 3000 °f and pressures ranging from 250 psia to about 300 psia. because of the increased mass flow and higher specific heat capacity of the c0 2 -rich exhaust gas derived from the compressed recycle gas in line 144, a higher pressure ratio can be achieved across the expander 106, thereby allowing for higher inlet temperatures and increased expander 106 power. [0041] the gaseous exhaust stream 122 exiting the expander 106 can exhibit pressures at or near ambient. in at least one embodiment, the gaseous exhaust stream 122 can have a pressure of about 13-17 psia. the temperature of the gaseous exhaust stream 122 can be about 1225 °f to about 1275 °f before passing through the hrsg 126 to generate steam in line 130 and a cooled exhaust gas in line 132. [0042] the next several paragraphs describe the exemplary implementation shown in fig. 1. as described above, fig. 1 illustrates multiple apparati in association with the exhaust gas recycle loop in the interest of illustrating the various possible combinations. however, it should be understood that the invention described herein does not require a combination of all such elements and is defined by the following claims and/or the claims of any subsequent applications claiming priority to this application. for example, while multiple cooling units are illustrated in fig. 1, it should be understood that a direct contact cooling unit utilizing coolant associated with the nitrogen vent stream (described as cooling unit 200 below) may provide sufficient cooling by virtue of the single cooling unit. in some implementations, the cooling unit 200 may provide sufficient cooling to provide the advantages of the booster compressor as well. [0043] continuing with the discussion of the exemplary implementation of fig.1, in one or more embodiments, the cooling unit 134 can reduce the temperature of the cooled exhaust gas in line 132 thereby generating the cooled recycle gas stream 140 having a temperature between about 32 °f and about 120 °f. as can be appreciated, such temperatures can fluctuate depending primarily on wet bulb temperatures during specific seasons in specific locations around the globe. [0044] according to one or more embodiments, the boost compressor 142 can be configured to elevate the pressure of the cooled recycle gas stream 140 to a pressure ranging from about 17 psia to about 21 psia. the added compression of the boost compressor is an additional method, in addition to the use of cooling units, to provide a recycled exhaust gas to the main compressor 104 having a higher density and increased mass flow, thereby allowing for a substantially higher discharge pressure while maintaining the same or similar pressure ratio. in order to further increase the density and mass flow of the exhaust gas, the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 discharged from the boost compressor 142 can then be further cooled in the second and third cooling units 136, 200. in one or more embodiments, the second cooling unit 136 can be configured to reduce the temperature of the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 to about 105 °f before being directed to the third cooling unit 200. as will be discussed in more detail below, the third cooling unit 200 can be configured to reduce the temperature of the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 to temperatures below about 100 °f. [0045] in at least one embodiment, the temperature of the compressed recycle gas in line 144 discharged from the main compressor 104 and the purge stream 146 can be about 800 °f, with a pressure of around 280 psia. as can be appreciated, the addition of the boost compressor 142 and/or the one or more cooling units can increase the c0 2 purge pressure in the purge stream line 146, which can lead to improved solvent treating performance in the c0 2 separator 148 due to the higher c0 2 partial pressure. in one embodiment, the gas treating processes in the c0 2 separator 148 can require the temperature of the purge stream 146 to be cooled to about 250 °f - 300 °f. to achieve this, the purge stream 146 can be channeled through a heat exchanger 158, such as a cross-exchange heat exchanger. extracting c0 2 from the purge stream 146 in the c0 2 separator 148 can leave a saturated, nitrogen-rich residual stream 151 at or near the elevated pressure of the purge stream 146 and at a temperature of about 150 °f. the heat exchanger 158 may be coupled with the residual stream 151 as illustrated or with other streams or facilities in the integrated system. when coupled with the residual stream 151, the residual stream may be heated to increase the power obtainable from the gas expander 152. [0046] as stated above, the nitrogen in the residual stream 151 as subsequently expanded into expanded depressurized gas in line 156 can be subsequently used to evaporate and cool water configured to cool the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 injected into the third cooling unit 200, which may be the only cooling unit in the exhaust gas recycle loop. as an evaporative cooling catalyst, the nitrogen should be as dry as possible. accordingly, the residual stream 151 can be directed through a fourth cooling unit 160 or condenser configured to cool the residual stream 151, thereby condensing and extracting an additional portion of water via line 162. in one or more embodiments, the fourth cooling unit 160 can be a direct contact cooler cooled with standard cooling water in order to reduce the temperature of the residual stream 151 to about 105 °f. in other embodiments, the fourth cooling unit 160 can be a trim cooler or straight heat exchanger. the resultant water content of the residual stream 151 can be at about 0.1 wt% to about 0.5wt%. in one embodiment, the water removed via stream 162 can be routed to the hrsg 126 to create additional steam. in other embodiments, the water in stream 162 can be treated and used as agricultural water or demineralized water. [0047] a dry nitrogen gas can be discharged from the fourth cooling unit 160 via stream 164. in one embodiment, the heat energy associated with cooling the purge stream 146 is extracted via the heat exchanger 158, which can be fluidly coupled to the dry nitrogen gas stream 164 and configured to re -heat the nitrogen gas prior to expansion. reheating the nitrogen gas can generate a dry heated nitrogen stream 166 having a temperature raging from about 750 °f to about 790 °f, and a pressure of around 270-280 psia. in embodiments where the heat exchanger 158 is a gas/gas heat exchanger, there will be a "pinch point" temperature difference realized between the purge stream 146 and the dry nitrogen gas stream 164, wherein the dry nitrogen gas stream 164 is generally around 25 °f less than the temperature of the purge stream 146. [0048] in one or more embodiments, the dry heated nitrogen stream 166 can then be expanded through the gas expander 152 and optionally power the stoichiometric inlet compressor 118, as described above. accordingly, cross-exchanging the heat in the heat exchanger 158 can be configured to capture a substantial amount of compression energy derived from the main compressor 104 and use it to maximize the power extracted from the gas expander 152. in at least one embodiment, the gas expander 152 discharges a nitrogen expanded depressurized gas in line 156 at or near atmospheric pressure and having a temperature ranging from about 100 °f to about 105 °f. as can be appreciated, the resulting temperature of the nitrogen expanded depressurized gas in line 156 can generally be a function of the composition of the exhaust gas, the temperature purge gas 146, and the pressure of the dry nitrogen gas stream 164 before being expanded in the gas expander 152. [0049] since a measurable amount of water can be removed from the residual stream 151 in the fourth cooling unit 160, a decreased amount of mass flow will be subsequently expanded in the gas expander 152, thereby resulting in reduced power production. consequently, during start-up of the system 100 and during normal operation when the gas expander 152 is unable to supply all the required power to operate the inlet compressor 118, at least one motor 168, such as an electric motor, can be used synergistically with the gas expander 152. for instance, the motor 168 can be sensibly sized such that during normal operation of the system 400, the motor 168 can be configured to supply the power short-fall from the gas expander 152. additionally or alternatively, the motor 168 may be configured as a motor/generator to be convertible to a generator when the gas turbine 152 produces more power than needed by the inlet compressor 118. [0050] illustrative systems and methods of expanding the nitrogen gas in the residual stream 151, and variations thereof, can be found in the concurrently filed u.s. patent application entitled "low emission triple-cycle power generation systems and methods," the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference to the extent not inconsistent with the present disclosure. [0051] referring now to fig. 2, depicted is a schematic view of the third cooling unit 200, as illustrated in fig. 1. as discussed above, the illustrated third cooling unit 200 may be the only unit provided in the exhaust gas recycle loop. additionally or alternatively, the third cooling unit 200 and other pieces of equipment, such as one or more of those illustrated in fig. 1, may be configured in any suitable arrangement such that the third cooling unit 200 is actually first (or second, etc.) in the order rather than third. accordingly, it should be understood that the ordinal designation of "third" is with reference to specific implementation of fig. 1 and it is not required that the features of cooling unit 200 of fig. 2 be implemented as the third cooling unit in a system, but may be disposed in any suitable position in the exhaust gas recycle loop. [0052] in one or more embodiments, the cooling unit 200 can include a first column 202 fluidly coupled to a second column 204. in one or more embodiments, the first column 202 can be an evaporative cooling tower and the second column 204 can be a direct contact cooling tower. the first column 202 can be configured to receive the nitrogen expanded depressurized gas in line 156 from the gas expander 152 (figure 1). in one embodiment, the nitrogen expanded depressurized gas in line 156 is injected at or near the bottom of the first column 202 and rises through the tower until it is discharged at or near the top via nitrogen outlet stream 206. in at least one embodiment, the nitrogen outlet stream 206 can discharge its contents to the atmosphere or be sold as an inert gas. in other embodiments, the nitrogen in the stream 206 can be pressurized for pressure maintenance or eor applications. [0053] because the nitrogen expanded depressurized gas in line 156 can be at or near atmospheric pressure, the first column 202 can be adapted to operate at or near atmospheric pressure. as the nitrogen ascends the first column 202, a stream of water or cooling water supply in line 208 can be injected at or near the top of the first column 202. in one or more embodiments, the cooling water supply in line 208 can be obtained from a local body of water, such as a lake, river, or the ocean. accordingly, depending on the time of year and the ambient temperature of the specific geographic location where the system 100 is located, the cooling water supply in line 208 can be injected at varying temperatures, but most likely between about 50 °f and about 100 °f. as the water descends the first column 202 a portion evaporates by absorbing heat energy from the dry nitrogen, thereby cooling the water and discharging cooled water via stream 210. evaporated water can be collected with the nitrogen gas, thereby resulting in a saturated nitrogen being discharged via line 206. depending on the intended use of the nitrogen stream in line 206, the water vapor therein may be removed through any suitable methods. [0054] the second column 204 can be configured to receive the cooled water stream 210 at or near its top. as depicted, the second column 204 can also receive the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 discharged from the second cooling unit 136 (fig. 1) at or near its bottom. the illustration of the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 is representative of any exhaust gas stream in the exhaust gas recycle loop. because the pressurized recycle stream 145 can be injected at pressures ranging from about 17 psia to about 21 psia, as discussed above, the cooled water stream 210 may be correspondingly pressurized using at least one pump 212, or similar mechanism, when appropriate. as the cooled water stream 210 and the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 course through the second column 204, the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 is cooled and eventually exits via stream 214 to be subsequently directed to the suction of the main compressor 104 (fig. 1). in some implementations, the column 204 may include multiple stages or contacting surfaces to enhance the interaction between the recycle stream 145 and the cooled water stream 210. additionally or alternatively, multiple towers may be used in series or in parallel, either in the place of the first column 202, the second column 204, or both, as may be desired. [0055] a cooling water return, at a temperature generally warmer than the water in line 210, exits the second column 204 via line 216. as can be appreciated, cooling the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 can result in the condensation of more water derived from the pressurized recycle gas in line 145. this condensed water can be collected and discharged with the cooling water return in line 216, thereby generating an even drier pressurized recycle gas in line 145 exiting via stream 214. in at least one embodiment, the cooling water return can be re-routed and re -introduced into the first column via line 208. in other embodiments, however, the cooling water return can be harmlessly discharged to a local body of water or used as irrigation water. [0056] as discussed above in connection with fig. 1, before being introduced into the third cooling unit 200, the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 can be previously cooled in the second cooling unit 136 (fig. 1) to a temperature of about 105 °f. the amount of overall cooling experienced by the pressurized recycle gas in line 145 in the third cooling unit 200 can depend on the flow rate of the cooled water from stream 210 coursing through the second column 204. [0057] embodiments of the present disclosure can be further described with the following simulated examples. although the simulated examples are directed to specific embodiments, they are not to be viewed as limiting the disclosure in any specific respect. table 1 below provides illustrative flow rates of the water in stream 210 and its effect on the cooling process in the third cooling unit 200. table 1 [0058] from table 1, it should be apparent that as the flow rate of the water in line 210 increases, the outlet temperature of the nitrogen stream via line 206 also increases as a direct result of heat transfer heat with an increased amount of water. likewise, an increase in flow rate of water in line 210 results in an increase in the temperature of the water outlet in line 210. as a result, the pressurized recycle gas exiting via line 214 decreases in temperature relative to the increasing flow rate of the water in line 210. as can be appreciated, several variables can affect the temperature of the pressurized recycle gas exiting via line 214 including, but not limited to, the temperature of the incoming nitrogen exhaust gas in line 156, the temperature of the cooling water supply in line 208, the configuration and number of stages in the towers, etc. in at least one embodiment, the cooling water supply in line 208 can be injected into the first column 202 at a temperature of about 80 °f to about 85 °f. [0059] table 2 below provides a performance comparison between a system where a cooling unit 200 is employed, such as the evaporative cooling unit as described herein, and a system without such a cooling unit 200. table 2 [0060] as should be apparent from table 2, embodiments including cycle inlet cooling, such as employing the third cooling unit 200, can increase the combined-cycle power output. although a decrease in power output from the nitrogen expander may be experienced, its decrease is more than offset by an increase in net gas turbine power {i.e., the expander 106) which translates into an increase in c0 2 purge pressure {i.e., the main compressor 104 discharge pressure). furthermore, the overall combined cycle power output can be increased by about 0.6% lhv (lower heated value) by implementing inlet cooling as described herein. [0061] the present disclosure also contemplates using a mechanical refrigeration system (not shown) as the third cooling unit 200, in place of the evaporative cooling unit described herein. while the total required compression power of the main compressor 104 may be adequately reduced using a mechanical refrigeration system, there can be a corresponding reduction in the mass flow through the main compressor 104 which would adversely affect the power produced. a trade-off between main compressor 104 power reduction and expander 106 power production must be considered for an optimum process cycle performance. moreover, the cost of the additional cooling equipment should be considered for a cost-premium solution. [0062] while the present disclosure may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, the exemplary embodiments discussed above have been shown only by way of example. however, it should again be understood that the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed herein. indeed, the present disclosure includes all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents falling within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.
040-272-053-218-282	US	[ "CN", "JP", "US", "EP" ]	A61B5/00,A41D13/00,A41D1/00,A41D13/12,A61B5/0205,A63B24/00,A41D27/00,A41D27/20,H04B1/38,A61B5/01,A61B5/0402,A61B5/0408,A61B5/053,A61B5/08,A61B5/11,A61B5/0537,A61B5/318,A41D13/002	2011-03-31T00:00:00	2011	[ "A61", "A41", "A63", "H04" ]	sensor garment	the present invention provides a sensor garment including a harness. in one exemplary embodiment, the sensor garment includes a textile portion, a device-retention element coupled to the textile portion, and a stretchable harness coupled to the textile portion. the harness includes a conductive element disposed between layers of film. the conductive element includes a first termination point at the device retention element, configured to connect to a monitor device. the conductive element includes a second termination point configured to connect to a sensor or transceiver.	1 . an electrically conductive element for a garment, the electrically conductive element comprising: a first termination point configured to connect to a monitor device; a second termination point configured to connect to a sensor of the garment; and a wire or yarn extending from the first termination point to the second termination point and comprising a first portion adjacent the first termination point, a second portion adjacent the second termination point, and an intermediate portion between the first portion and the second portion, wherein the wire or yarn is arranged in a pattern, and wherein the pattern has a greater frequency and a lesser magnitude at the first and second portions than at the intermediate portion. 2 . the electrically conductive element of claim 1 , wherein the pattern comprises a zigzag pattern, a loop pattern, or a sinusoidal pattern. 3 . the electrically conductive element of claim 1 , wherein the wire or yarn comprises multi-strand, individually insulated micro-wire. 4 . the electrically conductive element of claim 1 , wherein the wire or yarn comprises conductive silver yarn. 5 . the electrically conductive element of claim 1 , wherein the wire or yarn comprises an elastic core encircled with conductive material. 6 . the electrically conductive element of claim 1 , further comprising a third termination point configured to connect to a second sensor of the garment, wherein the wire or yarn extends from the first termination point to the third termination point. 7 . the electrically conductive element of claim 6 , wherein the wire or yarn comprises two wires or yarns. 8 . the electrically conductive element of claim 7 , wherein portions of the two wires or yarns are arranged parallel to each other. 9 . the electrically conductive element of claim 7 , wherein portions of the two wires or yarns are twisted around each other. 10 . an electrically conductive element for a garment, the electrically conductive element comprising: a stretchable wire extending from a first termination point configured to connect to a monitor device of the garment to a second termination point configured to connect to a sensor of the garment; and a stretchable insulating material disposed around the stretchable wire, wherein the stretchable wire is configured to transmit data from the sensor to the monitor device. 11 . the electrically conductive element of claim 10 , wherein the electrically conductive element is configured to be sewn into seams of the garment. 12 . the electrically conductive element of claim 10 , wherein the electrically conductive element is configured to be coupled to the garment at discrete points. 13 . the electrically conductive element of claim 12 , wherein the electrically conductive element is configured to be coupled to the garment at the discrete points by stitching or adhesive. 14 . the electrically conductive element of claim 10 , wherein the first termination point of the electrically conductive element is configured to releasably connect to the monitor device. 15 . the electrically conductive element of claim 10 , wherein the second termination point of the electrically conductive element is configured to releasably connect to the sensor. 16 . an electrically conductive element for a garment, the electrically conductive element comprising: a stretchable conductive element configured to be disposed in a portion of the garment; and a resistance sensor located adjacent and directly attached to the stretchable conductive element, wherein the resistance sensor is configured to sense variations in a resistance of the stretchable conductive element. 17 . the electrically conductive element of claim 16 , wherein the stretchable conductive element comprises a non-stretchable wire disposed on a stretch panel in a zigzag, sinusoidal, or loop pattern. 18 . the electrically conductive element of claim 16 , wherein the stretchable conductive element comprises a stretchable wire. 19 . the electrically conductive element of claim 16 , wherein the stretchable conductive element comprises a conductive fabric. 20 . the electrically conductive element of claim 16 , wherein the stretchable conductive element comprises a conductive polymer.	cross-reference to related application this application is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 14/444,613, filed jul. 28, 2014, titled “sensor garment,” the disclosure of which in incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto. u.s. patent application ser. no. 14/444,613 is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/077,520, filed mar. 31, 2011, titled “sensor garment,” which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto. background of the invention field of the invention the present invention generally relates to a harness and a garment, and in particular to a garment for use with sensors. background art exercise is important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and individual well-being. a common way for individuals to exercise is to participate in athletic activities, such as, for example, sports and training programs. a session of athletic activity may include, for example, a training session or a competitive session such as, for example, a soccer match or basketball game. when participating in athletic activities in a competitive or collaborative environment, one's performance may be dependent on the performance of other individuals. for example, in a team sport context, the performance of various athletic movements and endeavors may be influenced by the athletic movements and endeavors of teammates or adversaries. often, a trainer (e.g., a coach) is monitoring such athletic activity. to effectively monitor an individual or group of individuals participating in the athletic activity, the trainer, or other individual, typically gathers information about the participants in the athletic activity by viewing the athletic activity from, for example, the sidelines of a sports field. thus, the information used to make decisions that influence the athletic activity is typically limited by what is observed by the trainer from the sidelines. a trainer may have assistants to help with this observation, or multiple trainers may work together, however there remains difficulty in monitoring a plurality of individuals so as to effectively track and manage performance of individuals during an athletic activity. brief summary of the invention the present invention provides a harness and a sensor garment including a harness. in one exemplary embodiment, the sensor garment includes a textile portion, a device-retention element coupled to the textile portion, and a stretchable harness coupled to the textile portion, the stretchable harness comprising an electrically conductive element having a first termination point at the device retention element and a second termination point. in another exemplary embodiment, the harness includes a stretchable first layer, a stretchable second layer coupled to the first layer, and a stretchable electrically conductive element disposed between the first layer and the second layer having a first termination point, configured to connect to a monitor device, and a second termination point configured to connect to a first sensor for sensing a physiological parameter of a wearer of the garment. in another exemplary embodiment, the sensor garment includes a textile portion, a device retention element coupled to a first area of the textile portion configured to be proximate to the back of a wearer of the garment, a first sensor coupled to a second area of the textile portion configured to be proximate to a right side of the torso of the wearer, a second sensor coupled to a third area of the textile portion configured to be proximate to a left side of the torso of the wearer, and a harness bonded to the textile portion. the harness includes a first harness portion extending between the first area and the second area, and configured to couple to the first sensor, and a second harness portion extending between the first harness portion and the third area, and configured to couple to the second sensor. brief description of the drawings/figures the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate the present invention and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the invention. in the drawings, like reference characters indicate identical or functionally similar elements. fig. 1 is a perspective front view of a garment, shown inside-out, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 2 is a perspective rear view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 3 is a perspective front view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 4 is a perspective rear view of the garment of fig. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 5 is a perspective front view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 6 is a perspective rear view of the garment of fig. 5 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 7 is a perspective front view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 8 is a perspective rear view of the garment of fig. 7 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 9 is a perspective front view of a jersey according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 10 is a perspective rear view of the jersey of fig. 9 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 11 is a perspective front view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 12 is a perspective rear view of the garment of fig. 11 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 13 is a sectional side view of a device retention element according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 14 is an enlarged side view of a support element according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 15 is a perspective view of a device retention element according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 16 is a perspective view of a sensor according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 17 is a perspective view of a harness manufacturing technique according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 18 is a side view of a harness manufacturing technique according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 19 is a perspective view of the harness manufacturing technique of fig. 18 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 20 is a perspective view of a device retention element according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 21 is a perspective view of a device retention element according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 22 is a perspective view of a device retention element according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 23 is a perspective view of a device retention element according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 24 is a perspective front view of a garment, shown inside-out, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 25 is a perspective rear view of the garment of fig. 24 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 26 is a perspective front view of a monitor device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 27 is a perspective side view of the monitor device of fig. 26 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 28 is a perspective rear view of the monitor device of fig. 26 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 29 is a perspective front view of a garment, shown inside-out, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 30 is a perspective front view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 31 is a perspective rear view of the garment of fig. 30 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 32 is a perspective front view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 33 is a perspective rear view of the garment of fig. 32 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 34 is an enlarged view of a sensor according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 35 is a perspective front view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 36 is a perspective rear view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 37 is a perspective front view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 38 is a perspective front view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 39 is a perspective rear view of the garment of fig. 38 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 40 is a perspective front view of a garment, shown inside-out, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 41 is a perspective front view of a garment, shown inside-out, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 42 is a perspective front view of a garment, shown inside-out, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 43 is a perspective rear view of the garment of fig. 42 , shown inside-out, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 44 is a perspective front view of a garment, shown inside-out, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 45 is a perspective front view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 46 is a perspective rear view of the garment of fig. 45 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. fig. 47 is a perspective rear view of a garment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. detailed description of the invention the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an exemplary embodiment”, “some exemplary embodiments”, etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described. the term “invention” or “present invention” as used herein is a non-limiting term and is not intended to refer to any single embodiment of the particular invention but encompasses all possible embodiments as described in the application. in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a sensor garment 10 is provided. sensor garment 10 may include a textile portion 100 , a harness 200 , and a device retention element 300 . in some exemplary embodiments, sensor garment 10 includes at least one sensor 400 . figs. 1-8, 11, 12, 24, 25, 29-33 and 35-46 depict sensor garments 10 according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. sensor garment 10 may be adapted to be worn by a wearer. sensors 400 , which may be positioned at ends of harness 200 , may sense physiological or performance characteristics of the wearer. physiological characteristics may be indicative of conditions of the wearer's body (e.g., heart rate, body temperature, respiration rate, hydration status). performance characteristics may be indicative of performance of the wearer's body with respect to a parameter of interest (e.g., speed, orientation, direction, acceleration, position, fatigue, impact, efficiency), and may take into account physiological characteristics. further, sensors 400 may transmit data indicative of these characteristics, via harness 200 , to a monitor device 500 positioned at an end of harness 200 . monitor device 500 may be any device capable of receiving data. monitor device 500 may perform a variety of operations. for example, monitor device 500 may store the received data, may process it, or may transmit it to a reception device. in some exemplary embodiments, monitor device 500 and the reception device are such as the individual monitor and base station, respectively, disclosed in commonly owned u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/077,494, filed mar. 31, 2011, entitled group performance monitoring system and method, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference thereto. in some exemplary embodiments, monitor device 500 is small enough to be easily carried by the wearer, via device retention element 300 of sensor garment 10 , without causing substantial discomfort or restriction of motion of the wearer. in some exemplary embodiments, monitor device 500 may be a pod-like device, as shown in the exemplary embodiment of figs. 26-28 , and may include a universal serial bus (usb) port 510 , at least one data port 520 , and a display and/or control 530 . monitor device may further include at least one of a battery, a position module, a heart rate monitor module, a controller, a user interface, a transceiver, an antenna, an acceleration sensor module, a memory, a gyroscope module, a magnetometer module, a respiration module, a light sensor module, and a temperature sensor module. monitor device 500 may itself include sensors to correspond to these modules, or may be connected to distinct sensors 400 via harness 200 . the sensors and corresponding modules discussed herein are exemplary only; other sensors and modules can be used in conjunction with embodiments of the present invention. the battery may provide power to monitor device 500 . data port 520 may facilitate information transfer to and from monitor device 500 and may connect to a termination point of conductive elements 210 of harness 200 , described below. data port 520 may include any suitable connection to connect to conductive element 210 . in some exemplary embodiments, data port 520 includes one or more terminals configured to individually connect to conductive elements 210 . in some exemplary embodiments, data port 520 may be a universal serial bus (usb) port. in some exemplary embodiments, the transceiver of monitor device 500 may include data transmitting and receiving capability and may include a single component or separate components. in the exemplary embodiment of figs. 26-28 , monitor device 500 is depicted as a pod-like device. monitor device 500 may be, however, any other suitable device, such as, for example, a smartphone, a mobile phone, an e-reader, a pda (personal digital assistant), or other similar device capable receiving and transmitting data. in use, the wearer, who may be an athlete engaged in an athletic activity, may wear sensor garment 10 in order to monitor (or facilitate another's monitoring of) his performance. physiological and performance characteristic data indicative of such performance may be received at sensors 400 , transmitted (via harness 200 ) to monitor device 500 retained by device retention element 300 , and transmitted by monitor device 500 to a remote reception device. in one embodiment, sensor garment 10 may comprise a shirt (as depicted in the figures). in some exemplary embodiments, sensor garment 10 may comprise a garment, such as, for example, a vest, a compression shirt, suspenders, a band, a strap, a shoulder harness, a shirt with a compression base layer, a jersey, a tank top, a bra, a sleeve, an arm band, a head band, a hat, a tube top, shorts, briefs, pants, socks, jackets, outerwear, swimsuits, wetsuits, and other suitable garments or apparel and portions thereof. in one embodiment, one or more features of sensor garment 10 may be incorporated into footwear. in some exemplary embodiments, sensor garment 10 is designed to be worn without another garment worn over sensor garment 10 . in some exemplary embodiments, sensor garment 10 is designed to be worn with another garment worn over garment 10 , such as, for example, jersey 20 , as shown, for example, in figs. 9 and 10 . textile portion 100 may form the shape and fit of sensor garment 10 , and may be designed to fit any portion of a wearer's body. in some exemplary embodiments the wearer is a human; however, embodiments of the present invention can apply to nonhuman animate beings as well. in some exemplary embodiments, textile portion 100 is designed to fit snugly to the wearer's body (i.e., designed so that an interior surface of textile portion 100 is in contact with the wearer's body throughout expected motion of the body). in order to support optimum or desired fit, textile portion 100 may include elastic portions, as well as inelastic portions. with reference to fig. 2 , textile portion 100 may include a device retention element 300 configured to retain a device, such as monitor device 500 , that can receive data (via harness 200 ) and transmit data to a reception device. in some exemplary embodiments, device retention element 300 is sized and shaped to correspond to the size and shape of monitor device 500 , to be capable of nesting monitor device 500 therein and holding monitor device 500 in place so as to minimize the effect of movement of a wearer of sensor garment 10 on monitor device 500 . additional elements may be used to help minimize this effect, such as, for example, bands 312 and spacer element 340 , discussed further herein. as shown in fig. 2 , device retention element 300 may be coupled to textile layer 100 . fig. 2 depicts an exemplary embodiment of sensor garment 10 , including device retention element 300 coupled to textile layer 100 . device retention element 300 may be coupled to textile layer 100 by, for example, being integral therewith, being adhered, stitched, welded, tied, clipped, snapped, or mounted thereto, or any combination of these and other techniques. in some exemplary embodiments, device retention element is formed integrally with textile layer 100 (e.g., textile layer 100 may be stitched or knitted to form a pocket therein). in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 2 , device retention element 300 is a pocket formed by a fabric layer having opening 320 , positioned on an exterior of textile layer 100 . in some exemplary embodiments, device retention element 300 is a pocket formed by a fabric layer having opening 320 , positioned on an interior of textile layer 100 . in some exemplary embodiments, device retention element 300 is a pocket formed by a fabric layer not having opening 320 , positioned on an interior of textile layer 100 . in such an embodiment, textile layer 100 may include opening 320 providing access to the pocket from the exterior of textile layer 100 . in some exemplary embodiments, device retention element 300 is a complete pocket, attached to the exterior or interior of, or integrated within, textile layer 100 . in some exemplary embodiments, rather than being formed of fabric, device retention element 300 is formed at least partially of other materials, for example, plastic, rubber, thermoplastic polyurethane, or neoprene. in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 2 , device retention element 300 is positioned to correspond to the upper back of a wearer of sensor garment 10 . positioning device retention element 300 to correspond to a high position on the wearer, such as the upper back, may help minimize interference and maximize range and signal strength of monitor device 500 within device retention element 300 when monitor device 500 sends or receives data. additionally, positioning device retention element 300 to correspond to the upper back minimizes interference with athlete movements by device retention element 300 (and monitor device 500 retained thereby). in some exemplary embodiments, device retention element 300 is positioned to correspond to other than the upper back of a wearer. device retention element 300 can be positioned anywhere on textile layer 100 . for example, device retention element 300 may be positioned to correspond to the lower back, chest, side, shoulder, arm, leg, posterior, foot, neck, or head of a wearer. in some exemplary embodiments, device retention element 300 is other than a pocket. for example, device retention element may include, for example, a mount, a snap, a tie, a button, a lattice, or a clip. device retention element 300 may retain monitor device 500 in a variety of ways, for example, monitor device 500 may be disposed within, coupled to, hanging from, or mounted in device retention element 300 . device retention element 300 may be positioned on the exterior of textile layer 100 , as shown in fig. 2 . in some exemplary embodiments, device retention element 300 is positioned other than on the exterior of textile layer 100 . for example, device retention element 300 may be positioned on an interior of textile layer 100 , or integrated within textile layer 100 . in some exemplary embodiments, textile layer 100 includes multiple layers. in such an embodiment, device retention element 300 may be positioned between layers of textile layer 100 , on a top surface of an outer layer or an inner layer, or on a bottom surface of an outer layer or an inner layer. figs. 13, 15, and 20-23 depict further exemplary embodiments of device retention element 300 as discussed below. as shown in fig. 2 , for example, device retention element 300 may include an opening 320 for insertion and removal of monitoring device 500 . in some embodiments opening 320 is sealable, for example, by a zipper, hook-and-loop fastener, ties, snaps, buttons, or other suitable closing elements. device retention element may include holes 330 , which may provide windows to view portions of monitor device 500 while it is retained by device retention element 300 . for example, if monitor device 500 includes a display and/or control 530 (e.g., an lcd (liquid crystal display) display, led (light emitting diode) display, individual leds, e-ink, a switch, or a button), holes 330 may provide access to display and/or control 530 . device retention element 300 may include a support element 310 , as in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 2 , which may provide support to device retention element 300 by, for example, increasing resistance to movement, increasing stability, and increasing wear-resistance. support element 310 may also help maintain the position of monitor device 500 within or in relation to device retention element 300 . in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 2 , support element 310 is a tpu (thermoplastic polyurethane) layer patterned on the exterior surface of device retention element 300 . such a support element 310 may be laminated on or within device retention element 300 . in some exemplary embodiments, support element 310 may be printed onto device retention element 300 , or may be an elastic (e.g., rubber) band integrated into device retention 300 . in fig. 2 , support element 310 particularly supports the area around opening 320 . this may help to minimize wear around opening 320 that may result from repeated insertion and removal of monitor device 500 . support element 310 may include, as in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 2 , vertical bands 312 that particularly support vertical segments of device retention element 300 . this may help to minimize movement of monitor device 500 in the vertical direction, which may be desirable during athletic activity of a wearer, when substantial vertical forces, due to, for example, running, are incident on monitor device 500 . support element 310 may further include an opening support element 314 disposed about opening 320 , which may provide support and/or facilitate access to the area. in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 2 , support element 310 only partially covers an exterior surface of device retention element 300 . in some exemplary embodiments, support element 310 completely covers the exterior and/or interior surface of device retention element 300 . device retention element 300 can be provided according to a variety of embodiments. in one exemplary embodiment, as shown in fig. 13 , device retention element 300 may comprise a pocket including spacer element 340 , which will be discussed in more detail below. in one exemplary embodiment, as shown in fig. 15 , device retention element 300 may comprise a pocket including opening 320 as an elongated opening for receiving monitor device 500 therethrough, and one or more holes 330 configured to correspond to features of monitor device 500 , for example, display and/or control 530 , shown in fig. 26 , for example. in one exemplary embodiment, as shown in fig. 20 , device retention element 300 may comprise a pocket including opening 320 sized and arranged to display features of monitor device. in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 20 device retention element 300 includes no holes 330 . in one exemplary embodiment, as shown in fig. 21 , device retention element 300 may comprise elastic bands 350 configured to hold monitor device 500 in place. in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 21 , spaces between elastic bands 350 may act as holes 330 . in one exemplary embodiment, as shown in fig. 22 , device retention element 300 may comprise ties or laces 360 . in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 22 , monitor device 500 can be inserted via opening 320 between laces 360 , and laces can be tightened or loosened in order to achieve a desired fit of monitor device 500 within device retention element 300 . in one exemplary embodiment, as shown in fig. 23 , device retention element 300 may comprise a web covering 370 , which provides access through opening 320 in the side of device retention element 300 . sensor garment 10 may be worn by an athlete during a session of athletic activity. during such activity, monitor device 500 retained by device retention element 300 may be subject to a wide variety of incident forces, due to the motion of the athlete. in some exemplary embodiments, device retention element 300 includes a spacer element 340 , which can provide padding between monitor device 500 and the wearer, can help dampen and control movement of monitor device 500 , can reduce shock and/or shear forces on monitor device 500 , and can minimize injury to the wearer in the event of impact at or proximate to monitor device 500 . as shown in figs. 13 and 14 , in some exemplary embodiments, where device retention element 300 is a pocket, spacer element 340 may be positioned inside or on the pocket, for example, configured to be positioned between an interior area of the pocket a wearer of sensor garment 10 . spacer element 340 may be coupled to textile layer 100 on at least one surface. spacer element 340 may be a three-dimensional mesh or foam that dampens shear forces, thereby minimizing incident forces on monitor device 500 , and minimizing discomfort to the wearer of garment 10 . in some exemplary embodiments, monitor device 500 is configured to receive data from sensors 400 , which may be included in monitor device 500 , or may be separate and distinct from monitor device 500 (e.g., coupled to textile layer 100 or the wearer of sensor garment 10 ). in some exemplary embodiments, such as those depicted in figs. 3 and 4 , for example, sensor garment 10 may include a device retention element 300 located at an upper back of a wearer of sensor garment 10 , configured to retain monitor device 500 , and may include a sensor 400 configured to be positioned proximate a side of a torso of the wearer. sensor garment 10 may include any suitable number or type of sensors 400 , as desired or required. for example, sensor garment 10 may include performance, physiological, or other sensors 400 configured to detect heart rate (e.g., an ecg (electrocardiography) signal), respiration rate, body temperature, location, acceleration, distance, orientation, speed, direction, heading, oxygen levels, or hydration of a wearer. such sensors 400 may include, for example, an electrode, a heart rate monitor (e.g., ecg sensor), a magnetometer, a respiratory sensor, a light sensor (e.g., to provide information about or interact with the environment of the wearer), a pressure sensor (e.g., to measure an impact or hit), a thermocouple, a gps (global positioning system) sensor, an echolocation sensor, an rfid (radio-frequency identification) sensor, a beacon sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a compass, a biomechanic sensor, any other suitable sensor, or any combination thereof. a biomechanic sensor may, for example, include a stretch sensor 405 with a stretchable conductive element 415 (e.g., separate from or included in sensor garment 10 at an area configured to correspond to a portion of the body of a wearer that can have a large reflex range, for example, the elbow, knee, shoulder, or foot), as depicted in, for example, fig. 47 . stretchable conductive element 415 may be, for example, stretchable wire (e.g., wire coiled around an elastic core), non-stretchable wire included in a stretch panel in, for example, a zigzag, sinusoidal, or loop pattern, or a conductive polymer or conductive fabric, as described further herein. deformation of stretchable conductive element 415 may be sensed based on variations in the resistance of stretchable conductive element 415 , and used to determine motion of the body of the wearer (e.g., occurrence, magnitude, speed, or direction of motion). in some exemplary embodiments, such variations in resistance are sensed at a resistance sensor/filter 425 located adjacent and directly attached to stretchable conductive element 415 , and are communicated to monitor device 500 via harness 200 . further examples of exemplary sensors 400 and their potential uses can be found in commonly owned u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/077,494, filed mar. 31, 2011, entitled “group performance monitoring system and method,” the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference thereto. in some exemplary embodiments, sensors 400 may form a part of sensor garment 10 , and may be integrated within or attached to textile layer 100 . in some exemplary embodiments, sensors 400 may be separate from and adapted to be coupled to sensor garment 10 . in some exemplary embodiments, sensor 400 may be a receiver, which can act as an antenna 450 to receive a signal from a remote sensor or transmitter. for example, in such an embodiment, the receiver may be configured to receive a signal from a core temperature sensor swallowed by a wearer, and may be positioned to correspond to the center of the back of the wearer, off of the spine, as shown, for example, in fig. 43 . in some exemplary embodiments, sensor 400 may include or be coupled to a speaker and/or microphone 460 , as depicted in, for example, fig. 38 . speaker and/or microphone 460 may transmit or receive audio information to or from a remote device and monitor device 500 . speaker and/or microphone 460 may enable communication between a wearer of sensor garment 10 and a person remote from the wearer. antenna 450 may be separate from or integrated within monitor device 500 . in embodiments where antenna 450 is separate from monitor device 500 , antenna 450 may be coupled to textile layer 100 . antenna 450 may be configured to facilitate communication between monitor device 200 and a remote sensor or transmitter, by, for example, wirelessly sending and receiving signals between these elements. antenna 450 may be formed of, for example, coiled or wrapped conductive wires, conductive fabric, conductive adhesive, conductive thread, conductive polymer, or silver ink printed on plastic. in some exemplary embodiments, antenna 450 is coupled to textile layer 100 (or any portion of sensor garment 10 ) by a retention element, which may be, for example, a retention element similar device retention element 300 , described herein. in some exemplary embodiments, antenna 450 is coupled to textile layer 100 (or any portion of sensor garment 10 ) by being sewn thereto, or laminated, glued, ultrasonically bonded, or printed thereon. in some exemplary embodiments, padding is included proximate to antenna 450 , which may protect antenna 450 and reduce discomfort of a wearer of sensor garment 10 . the padding may be any suitable padding, such as, for example, the material of spacer element 340 (described herein), or a polymer (e.g., soft silicone). depending on the type of sensor 400 , sensor 400 may be positioned within sensor garment 10 to be configured to be in contact with the skin of a wearer of sensor garment 10 . in some exemplary embodiments, at least a portion of sensor 400 is uncoupled from the motion of the remaining portion of sensor garment 10 relative to the body of the wearer. as a wearer's body moves during activity, this in turn causes all or a portion of the sensor garment 10 to move. in order to minimize undesirable motion of a portion of sensor 400 relative to the body of the wearer, the portion of sensor 400 may be fixed to the body of the wearer, and coupled to harness 200 using a technique that allows relative motion between harness 200 and the portion of sensor 400 , as described below. because at least a portion of sensor 400 is fixed to the body of the wearer, as opposed to textile layer 100 , the portion of sensor 400 may not be subjected to the motion of the garment. this can help maintain reliable and consistent skin contact and positioning relative to the wearer. for example, in some exemplary embodiments, sensors 400 are coupled to the remaining portion of sensor garment 10 (e.g., harness 200 ) by dangling therefrom. a dangling sensor 400 may have some slack in its connection to harness 200 (e.g., an extended wire connection), thereby allowing for relative motion between sensor 400 and harness 200 . a dangling sensor 400 may connect to the skin of a wearer via, for example, suction, tape, or an adhesive substance. in this manner, in some embodiments a portion of sensor 400 may be fixed relative to the motion of sensor garment 10 (and move relative to the body of the wearer), and a portion of sensor 400 may move relative to the sensor garment 10 (and be substantially fixed relative to the body of the wearer). in some exemplary embodiments, sensors 400 are incorporated into a band 420 , as depicted, for example, in figs. 24, 25, 40, and 41 , which may be elastic and may be configured to surround the chest or other anatomical feature of a wearer. in the exemplary embodiments of figs. 24, 25, 40, and 41 , sensor garment 10 is shown inside-out, for ease of depiction. in some exemplary embodiments, such a band 420 may be attached to textile layer 100 (e.g., sensors 400 may be attached to an inner support layer (e.g., band 420 ) of sensor garment 10 , which may be integrated with textile layer 100 , as depicted, for example, in fig. 40 , or which may be attached to textile layer 100 at discrete points, as depicted, for example, in fig. 41 ). in some exemplary embodiments, such a band 420 may be independent from textile layer 100 (e.g., sensors 400 may be integrated into a bra-like garment that can be worn underneath textile layer 100 , and the sensors thereof may be configured to couple to harness 400 ). depending on a variety of factors, including type of sensor, type of garment, aesthetics, and manufacturing considerations, sensors 400 may be positioned at a variety of locations relative to device retention element 300 , and may be positioned at any suitable location on or in textile layer 100 (e.g., on areas of textile layer configured to correspond to the torso, back, sides, arms, or neck of the wearer), or separate therefrom. in some exemplary embodiments, sensor garment 10 includes harness 200 to connect sensors 400 to device retention element 300 and to monitor device 500 , when monitor device 500 is retained by device retention element 300 . harness 200 may include, as shown in fig. 1 , for example, electrically conductive elements 210 , capable of communicating data electronically, and a harness guide portion 220 . conductive elements 210 may include one or a plurality of termination points, as shown in, for example, figs. 3 and 4 . for example, conductive elements 210 may include a first termination point 212 , a second termination point 214 , and a third termination point 216 . the configuration of these termination points can be varied, as will be described below. harness guide portion 220 may include a plurality of layers, as shown in, for example, fig. 17 . for example, harness guide portion may include a first layer 222 , a second layer 224 , and a fabric layer 226 , which will be discussed below. in some exemplary embodiments, conductive elements 210 are disposed between layers of harness guide portion 220 . in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 may be disposed integrally with or on a surface of textile layer 100 of garment 10 . in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 1 , sensor garment 10 is shown inside-out, for ease of depiction. thus, in normal use, harness 200 of the exemplary embodiment of fig. 1 would be positioned on an interior surface of textile layer 100 of sensor garment 10 . in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 may be positioned on or adjacent an interior surface of textile layer 100 , positioned on or adjacent an exterior surface of textile layer 100 , or integrated within textile layer 100 . harness 200 may couple to textile layer 100 by any suitable technique, including, for example, adhesive, stitching, welding, or lamination. throughout the figures, sensor garment 10 can be interpreted as being depicted inside-out or inside-in. conductive elements 210 may be configured to connect to sensors 400 , as depicted in, for example, fig. 29 , and to monitor device 500 , and may be configured to transmit data from sensors 400 to monitor device 500 . to accomplish this, conductive elements 210 may include termination points corresponding to sensors 400 and monitor device 500 . as shown in, for example, figs. 3, 4, and 34 , conductive elements 210 may include a first termination point 212 , configured to connect to monitor device 500 (see, e.g., figs. 4, 6, 8, and 12 ), a second termination point 214 to connect to a sensor 400 , and a third termination point 216 to connect to another sensor 400 . each termination point may include a single or multiple terminal connections, depending on the configuration of conductive elements 210 at the termination point. in the case where a termination point has multiple terminal connections, these connections may be labeled to facilitate proper connection with additional components. for example, a termination point configured to connect to monitor device 500 may include two terminal connections, labeled “left” and “right”, indicating that they correspond to sensors positioned in the left and right of sensor garment 10 , respectively. conductive elements 210 of harness 200 may include any suitable number and arrangement of termination points to suit an arrangement of sensors 400 and monitor device 500 . guide portion 220 of harness 200 may guide conductive elements 210 between termination points, as depicted in the exemplary embodiments of figs. 1, 3, and 4 , for example. in some exemplary embodiments, guide portion 220 is formed of a first layer 222 and a second layer 224 , wherein the first layer 222 and second layer 224 are configured to be coupled together with conductive elements 210 therebetween, as depicted in the exemplary embodiment of fig. 17 , for example. in some exemplary embodiments, one or both of first layer 222 and second layer 224 is an adhesive layer. in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 includes a fabric layer 226 coupled to guide portion 220 . fabric layer 226 may be elastic and may be positioned to correspond to an interior of sensor garment 10 , thereby reducing discomfort of a wearer due to harness 200 . in some exemplary embodiments, as depicted in, for example, figs. 3 and 4 , harness 200 includes a first harness portion 230 , which is fixed directly to textile layer 100 , and a second harness portion 240 , which is at least partially free from fixation to textile layer 100 . second harness portion 240 may be referred to as a “bridge”. in some exemplary embodiments the motion of second harness portion 240 relative to textile layer 100 may be constrained by a loop 242 attached to textile layer 100 and looping around second harness portion 240 . second harness portion 240 may be particularly useful to enable communication between sensors 400 and monitor device 500 across areas of sensor garment 10 that are not conducive to direct fixation of harness 200 . for example, in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 may be best suited for direct fixation to textile layer 100 in areas where textile layer 100 is elastic. in order to maintain connection between elements of sensor garment 10 that are positioned on different sides of an inflexible portion of sensor garment 10 harness 200 may include, for example, second harness portion 240 to bridge the inflexible portion of sensor garment 10 , thereby connecting the elements of sensor garment 10 without requiring direct fixation to inflexible areas of sensor garment 10 . textile layer 100 of sensor garment 10 may include panels of flexible and inflexible material in order to achieve a desired fit or aesthetic, or to provide for undistorted graphics, such as, for example, team or sponsor logos or player numbers, in the case of a team jersey. the routing of harness 200 may be configured to suit a variety of requirements or desires. for example, in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 may be routed to only cover areas of sensor garment 10 that do not or will not include graphics or print, so as not to interfere with the aesthetics or production of such graphics or print. in some exemplary embodiments, second harness portion 240 may “bridge” over such graphics or print. in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 may be routed so as not to cross or interfere with seams of sensor garment 10 , in order to, for example, simplify manufacturing and to maintain durability of sensor garment 10 . in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 may be incorporated with or otherwise extend along seams of sensor garment 10 . in some exemplary embodiments, as depicted in, for example, figs. 3, 4, 11 , and 12 , harness 200 extends from first termination point 212 , configured to be positioned at the upper back of a wearer, down the back and around one side of sensor garment 10 to second termination point 214 , configured to be positioned at one side of the wearer, across the front of sensor garment 10 to third termination point 216 , configured to be positioned at the other side of the wearer. in some exemplary embodiments, as depicted in, for example, figs. 5-8 , harness 200 extends from first termination point 212 , configured to be positioned at the upper back of a wearer, along the back shoulder, and around one side of sensor garment 10 to second termination point 214 , configured to be positioned at one side of the wearer, across the front of sensor garment 10 to third termination point 216 , configured to be positioned at the other side of the wearer. in some exemplary embodiments, as depicted in, for example, figs. 1, 24, and 25 harness 200 extends from first termination point 212 , configured to be positioned at the upper back of a wearer, over a shoulder area of sensor garment 10 to the front of sensor garment 10 , and splits into prongs, leading to each of termination points 214 and 216 , configured to be positioned at the sides of the wearer. in some exemplary embodiments, as depicted in, for example, figs. 45 and 46 , harness 200 extends from first termination point 212 , configured to be positioned at the upper back of a wearer, down the back, where it splits into two portions that extend around opposing sides of sensor garment 10 , one portion extending to second termination point 214 , configured to be positioned at one side of the wearer, and the other portion extending to a third termination point 216 , configured to be positioned at the opposite side of the wearer. in some exemplary embodiments, as depicted in, for example, figs. 30 and 31 , harness 200 extends, in two portions, from each of two first termination points 212 , located at left and right sides of device retention element 300 . device retention element 300 may be positioned at an upper back area of sensor garment 10 . one portion of harness 200 may extend along the back left shoulder, under the left arm, to second termination point 214 , and the other portion may extend along the back right shoulder, under the right arm, to third termination point 216 . in some exemplary embodiments, as depicted in, for example, fig. 47 , harness 200 extends, in two portions, from each of two first termination points 212 , located at left and right sides of device retention element 300 . device retention element 300 may be positioned at an upper back area of sensor garment 10 . one portion of harness 200 may extend along the back left shoulder, along the left arm, to second termination point 214 located at a left elbow area of sensor garment 10 , and the other portion may extend along the back right shoulder, along the right arm, to third termination point 216 located at a right elbow area of sensor garment 10 . in some exemplary embodiments, as depicted in, for example, fig. 35 , harness 200 extends, in two portions, from each of two first termination points 212 , located at left and right sides of device retention element 300 . device retention element 300 may be positioned at a central front area of sensor garment 10 , between sensors 400 . one portion of harness 200 may extend left to second termination point 214 , and the other portion may extend right to third termination point 216 . in some exemplary embodiments, as depicted in, for example, fig. 36 , harness 200 extends, in two portions, from each of two first termination points 212 , located at left and right sides of device retention element 300 . device retention element 300 may be positioned at a central back area of sensor garment 10 , between sensors 400 . one portion of harness 200 may extend right to second termination point 214 , and the other portion may extend left to third termination point 216 . in some exemplary embodiments, as depicted in, for example, fig. 37 , harness 200 extends from first termination point 212 , located at device retention element 300 . device retention element may be positioned at a side area of sensor garment 10 . harness 200 may extend to second termination point 214 at one side of the front of sensor garment 10 , and from second termination point 214 across the front of sensor garment 10 to third termination point 216 at the other side of the front of sensor garment 10 . the shape and routing of harness 200 may be varied to suit a wide variety of particular requirements or desires, including various positions of monitor device 500 or sensors 400 . for example, rather than being routed to sensors 400 at a wearer's front or sides, harness 200 may be routed to a chest or back area of the wearer, to correspond to sensors 400 positioned at the chest or back of the wearer (e.g., a heart rate sensor configured to be positioned at the middle of the chest of a wearer). in some exemplary embodiments, for example, those depicted in figs. 1, 5, and 30 , sensors 400 are positioned to correspond to side areas of a wearer located at the front of the wearer. in some exemplary embodiments, for example, those depicted in figs. 32 and 33 , sensors 400 are positioned at extreme side areas of sensor garment 10 . in some exemplary embodiments, for example, that depicted in fig. 36 , sensors 400 are positioned at side areas at a rear of sensor garment 10 . sensors 400 may have various shapes and sizes, to suit a variety of requirements or desires. in some exemplary embodiments, operation of some or all sensors 400 may benefit from contact with the skin of a wearer. in such an exemplary embodiment, a sensor 400 may be shaped and sized to correspond to the anatomical shape and size of a particular area of a wearer's skin that it is intended to be in contact with. in some exemplary embodiments, to optimize skin contact, sensors 400 may be brush-like sensors (e.g., a sensor having a plurality of contact elements extending therefrom, to provide a plurality of potential contact points for sensor 400 ), pillowed (e.g., a sensor supported by a backing material between the sensor and textile layer 100 , where the backing material causes the sensor to tend to extend out from the textile layer against the wearer's skin, and may be, for example, the material of spacer element 340 or the lofty polyester fiberfill commonly used in sleeping pillows,), or may include sticky areas (e.g., adhesive around a periphery of sensor 400 ). in some exemplary embodiments, to optimize skin contact of sensors 400 , an inner surface of textile layer 100 may include sticky areas around sensors 400 attached thereto, or may include areas around sensors 400 configured to naturally adhere to the skin of a wearer (e.g., silicone panels). in some exemplary embodiments, sensor garment 10 is configured to maintain contact between sensors 400 and the skin of a wearer through a tight fit of sensor garment 10 (e.g., a compression shirt). in some exemplary embodiments, some or all sensors 400 may have no need for contact with the skin of a wearer, and may be positioned so as not to contact the skin. harness 200 may be subject to forces, during use, that cause it to deform or otherwise tend to stretch. harness 200 may be made of elastic materials, so as to be stretchable and able to elastically accommodate such forces. for example, first layer 222 , second layer 224 , and fabric layer 226 may each be composed of elastic materials. further, in some exemplary embodiments, conductive elements 210 may be elastic. harness 200 , according to exemplary embodiments, exhibits stretchability, durability, and stress release properties. as will be apparent to one of skill in the art, these characteristics can be adjusted and optimized for a variety of requirements or applications. in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 has elasticity substantially equivalent to that of textile layer 100 . in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 has elasticity greater than that of textile layer 100 . in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 has elasticity less than that of textile layer 100 . in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 has sufficient elasticity to conform to the body of a wearer, thereby promoting contact of sensors 400 with the body of the wearer. in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 has sufficient elasticity to withstand stretching incident to a wearer's donning and doffing of sensor garment 10 . in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 is configured to stretch to 20-100% of its non-stretched length without being permanently deformed in any direction. in some exemplary embodiments, different portions of harness 200 are configured to stretch to different proportions of their non-stretched lengths without being permanently deformed. for example, portions of harness 200 positioned around a neckline of sensor garment 10 may be configured to stretch 20-30% of their non-stretched lengths, while portions such as the neck of a y-shape of a harness 200 , or portions of harness 200 positioned at the chest or mid-torso areas of sensor garment 10 may be configured to stretch 80-100%. in some exemplary embodiments, portions of harness 200 may be configured to stretch more in a cross-body direction than in a vertical direction, and vice versa. in some exemplary embodiments, textile layer 100 has sufficient elasticity to conform to the body of a wearer, thereby promoting contact of sensors 400 with the body of the wearer. in some exemplary embodiments, textile layer 100 includes portions with greater elasticity than other portions of textile layer 100 , where the portions with greater elasticity may correspond to areas where harness 200 is coupled to textile layer 100 . in some exemplary embodiments, stretch and elasticity characteristics of sensor garment 10 (in particular conductive elements 210 , adhesive first layer 222 , second layer 224 , fabric layer 226 , and/or textile layer 100 ) are configured to facilitate durability, freedom of movement, and donning and doffing of sensor garment 10 . conductive elements 210 may include conductive wire or yarn, for example, multi-strand, individually insulated, high flexibility micro-wire (e.g., silver coated nylon or composite material with an elastic core encircled with conductive material), conductive silver yarn, or insulated conductive wire, arranged in a zigzag, loop, meander, or sinusoidal pattern, as shown in, for example, figs. 1, 17, and 34 . to increase flexibility, the pattern may adopt a lesser magnitude or greater frequency (of, for example, peaks or loops per unit of distance) as conductive elements 210 approach termination points, or anywhere else greater stretchability in harness 200 may be required or desired, and may maintain a greater magnitude or frequency in other areas of harness 200 , to maintain durability. in one embodiment, as shown in, for example, figs. 17 and 34 , the sinusoidal pattern of conductive elements 210 may exhibit greater frequency and lesser magnitude near the ends of conductive elements 210 , and lesser frequency and greater magnitude along an intermediate portion of conductive elements 210 . portions of greater frequency and lesser magnitude may correspond to portions of harness 200 configured to be coupled to monitor device 500 or sensors 400 , or in areas of harness routing that receive greatest stress in donning, doffing, or wearing. such portions may benefit from increased stretchability and strain relief provided thereby. sensor garment 10 may move and stretch during activity of a wearer, and the connection between conductive element 210 and sensors 400 or monitor device 500 may be stressed. increased flexibility and elasticity in these areas may help minimize such stress. portions of lesser frequency and greater magnitude may correspond to portions of harness 200 configured to be positioned under or over an arm of the wearer, where flexibility and maintaining connection to additional elements is less important. in one exemplary embodiment, shown in fig. 1 , the sinusoidal pattern of conductive elements 210 may transition to a straight line as conductive elements 210 approach second termination point 214 and third termination point 216 . the nature of the pattern of conductive elements 210 can be varied to suit a variety of requirements or desires. some level of flexibility throughout harness 200 may be beneficial, however, in order to reduce stress and fatigue on conductive elements 210 , thereby increasing the useful life of harness 200 . conductive elements 210 may be patterned between connected first layer 222 and second layer 224 . harness 200 may include two or more conductive elements 210 that are arranged parallel to each other or are twisted around each other in areas where they have similar routing, before they split to separate termination points. for example, figs. 1 and 29 depict parallel conductive elements 210 , and fig. 40 depicts conductive elements 210 twisted around each other. the proximity of conductive elements 210 to each other, particularly if twisted around each other, may improve the quality of signals transmitted thereby. in some exemplary embodiments layers 222 and 224 may be textile or plastic material having adhesive applied to one or both sides, or may be any material or materials, such as, for example, tpu films, bonded or capable of being bonded together. in some exemplary embodiments harness 200 includes a single adhesive layer, for example, first layer 222 , adhered to textile layer 100 . in such an embodiment, conductive elements 210 may be positioned between first layer 222 and textile layer 100 . in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 may be screen printed on textile layer 100 . for example, an insulation layer (e.g., tpu) may be screen printed on fabric layer 100 to form first layer 222 , a conductive material (e.g., conductive tpu) may be screen printed on the insulation layer to form conductive elements 210 , and another insulation layer may be screen printed over first layer 222 and conductive elements 210 to form second layer 224 . to produce harness 200 , in some exemplary embodiments first layer 222 is laminated together with second layer 224 , with conductive elements 210 positioned therebetween. in some exemplary embodiments, fabric layer 226 is laminated along with first layer 222 , second layer 224 , and conductive elements 210 . lamination may be accomplished by applying heat and pressure, for example by using a heat press 600 , as shown in fig. 17 . pins 610 may be inserted into a bottom plate 620 of heat press 600 at various positions, and may line up with corresponding holes in first layer 222 , second layer 224 , and fabric layer 226 . pins 610 may be retractable within bottom plate 620 . in some exemplary embodiments, second layer 224 may be positioned on bottom plate 620 aligned with pins 610 , and conductive element 210 may be laid around pins 610 , using pins 610 as a guide for patterning conductive element 210 on second layer 224 . first layer 222 , and fabric layer 226 , if provided, may then be positioned on bottom plate 620 , similarly aligned with pins 610 . second layer 224 , conductive element 210 , first layer 222 , and fabric layer 226 , if provided, may then be pressed together between top plate 630 and bottom plate 620 , with heat applied via either or both of top plate 630 and bottom plate 620 , thereby bonding first layer 222 , conductive element 210 , second layer 224 , and fabric layer 226 , if provided, into harness 200 . in some exemplary embodiments, either or both of first layer 222 and second layer 224 may include adhesive to assist bonding. in some exemplary embodiments, conductive element 210 may be patterned between first layer 222 and second layer 224 via an automated process. for example, conductive element 210 may be layered on a substrate, which may be one of first layer 222 and second layer 224 , and then pressed between first layer 222 and second layer 224 by rollers. in the exemplary embodiment of figs. 18 and 19 , for example, sheets of first layer 222 and second layer 224 are shown feeding into a space between two rollers 710 , which press first layer 222 and second layer 224 together to bond. in some exemplary embodiments, one or more of heat, pressure, and adhesive may be applied to assist bonding. while the layers are being fed through rollers 710 , conductive element depositing heads 720 may deposit conductive element 210 in a pattern on, for example, first layer 222 . conductive element depositing heads 720 may be configured to move transversely while first layer 222 and second layer 224 are fed through rollers 710 , thereby being capable of depositing conductive element 210 between first layer 222 and second layer 224 in a variety of patterns. rollers 710 may be positioned and configured to apply appropriate heat or pressure to properly adhere first layer 222 , conductive element 210 , and second layer 224 together. in some exemplary embodiments conductive element 210 may be a stretchable wire. in some exemplary embodiments, conductive element 210 may be a non-stretchable wire or conductive yarn, such as, for example, a non-stretchable conductive micro wire or conductive textile yarn, and may be twisted or wrapped around spandex or other stretchable yarn, in order to mimic elasticity. in some exemplary embodiments, conductive element 210 may be a wire (e.g., a stretchable wire) as described above, coated with an insulating material (e.g., a stretchable insulating material). in such an embodiment, the insulating material can act as harness 200 . for example, the exemplary embodiment of figs. 38 and 39 depicts conductive element 210 as a stretchable wire coated with a stretchable insulating material (harness 200 ), where the stretchable insulating material is anchored to textile layer 100 at anchor points 110 . such a configuration routes conductive elements 210 from first termination point 212 , at device retention element 300 located at the back of sensor garment 10 , to second termination point 214 , at sensor 400 located at the chest area of sensor garment 10 . conductive element 210 , coated in the stretchable insulative material, is guided to these points by being anchored to textile layer 100 at anchor points 110 . in some exemplary embodiments, such as that depicted in fig. 40 , anchor points can be eliminated. in such an embodiment, conductive elements 210 may not require any particular routing, or may maintain acceptable routing by, for example, being interposed between textile layer 100 and a wearer of sensor garment 10 . in some exemplary embodiments, conductive element 210 may be a wire sewn into the seams of sensor garment 10 . in some exemplary embodiments conductive element 210 may be a wire coupled to textile layer 10 at discrete points (e.g., via stitching, or adhesive), and may be otherwise free from direct connection to sensor garment. in such embodiments, harness 200 may be absent, or may simply include an insulative jacket covering conductive elements 210 . in some exemplary embodiments, harness 200 defines channels 250 coupled to or integrated within textile layer 100 , through which conductive element 210 may extend, as depicted in, for example, fig. 44 , which depicts sensor garment 10 worn inside-out, for ease of description. channels 250 may be, for example, bonded to, glued to, sewn within, connected at points to, stitched at discrete points to, ultrasonic welded to, or connected via zigzag stitch to textile layer 100 . channels 250 may be formed of fabric or other textile material, for example. in some exemplary embodiments, conductive element 210 includes multiple termination points, corresponding with termination points of harness 200 , for connection with other elements. as shown in, for example, figs. 3 and 4 , conductive element 210 may include first termination point 212 , configured to connect to monitor device 500 , second termination point 214 configured to connect to a sensor 400 , and third termination point 216 configured to connect to another sensor 400 . in some exemplary embodiments, conductive element 210 may be configured to releasably couple with elements such as monitor device 500 or sensors 400 at a termination point. such a connection may be established via a releasable connection element, for example, a plug, clip, snap, or latch between conductive element 210 and the element to which it is configured to releasably couple. in some exemplary embodiments, conductive element 210 may be directly connected to a component of the releasable connection element. in some exemplary embodiments, conductive element 210 may be indirectly connected to a component of the releasable connection element. for example, connection element 210 may connect directly to a conductive fabric, as described below, which may include a component of the releasable connection element. in some exemplary embodiments, conductive element 210 may be configured to non-releasably couple with additional elements such as monitor device 500 or sensors 400 . in some exemplary embodiments such a connection may be established by adhering conductive element 210 to the additional element between first layer 222 and second layer 224 via, for example, a heated or ultrasonic weld. in some exemplary embodiments such a connection may be established by a conductive gel (e.g., conductive epoxy, silicone with conductive particles (e.g., silver, carbon, or stainless steel)) applied between conductive element 210 and the additional element. in some exemplary embodiments such a connection may be established by a conductive fabric. in some exemplary embodiments, a conductive fabric connection 410 between conductive element 210 and a sensor 400 includes conductive adhesive 412 and conductive fabric 414 (see fig. 16 ). in such a connection, conductive fabric 414 acts as a bridge between conductive element 210 and sensor 400 . conductive fabric 414 connects to conductive element 210 via, for example, stitching, adhesive film, conductive epoxy, or conductive adhesive 412 , and to sensor 400 via, for example, adhesive, stitching, or conductive epoxy. conductive fabric 414 may be, for example, a metal woven mesh, a stretchable conductive fiber, a rigid conductive mesh, a conductive foil, or a conductive polymer. conductive fabric 414 can be any suitable size and shape, including, for example, sized and/or shaped to correspond to the head of a snap used to establish connection to monitor device 500 , or sized and/or shaped to correspond to the amount of conductive adhesive 412 used to establish connection to conductive element 210 . in some exemplary embodiments, where conductive elements 210 are conductive yarn, the conductive yarn can be used as sewing thread to connect to conductive fabric 414 . the present invention has been described above by way of exemplary embodiments. accordingly, the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalences.
042-174-279-294-476	US	[ "US" ]	B81B7/00,H01L21/48,H01L23/488,H01L23/498,H05K1/09,H05K3/24,H05K3/40,H01L21/00	1999-12-15T00:00:00	1999	[ "B81", "H01", "H05" ]	high density electronic interconnection	this is an interconnection between electronic devices and other assemblies (e.g. printed circuits). the electronic devices are mounted on high temperature insulating bases, such as ceramic substrates. the insulating base has a conductive pattern to connect the electronic device to another assembly. the conductive pattern terminates in metal bumps capable of being connected to another assembly (e.g. a printed circuit) by a conductive adhesive or metallurgically by soldering, thermocompression, thermosonic or ultrasonic bonding. the bumps are formed by applying a metal with a melting point over 350 c. to contact pads of the conductive pattern of the insulating base, and raising the temperature of the base above the melting point of the metal causing the molten metal to draw back on to the contact pads forming a convex bump.	1 . a method for manufacturing bumped conductors for electrically connecting one or more conductors on a first surface to one or more conductors on a second surface, the method comprising melting a metal on the first surface to form metal bumps fused to the conductors on the first surface, the bumps being capable of being bonded to the conductors on the second surface, and the bumps being comprised of a metal having a melting point over 350 c. 2 . a method according to claim 1 wherein the metal being melted to form bumps is capable of being metallurgically bonded to the conductors on the second surface. 3 . a method according to claim 1 wherein the metal being melted to form bumps is capable of being adhesively bonded to the conductors on the second surface with an organic adhesive. 4 . a method according to claim 1 , wherein the metal to be melted to form the bumps is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, nickel, silver, gold, and alloys and combinations of those metals. 5 . a method according to claim 1 , wherein the metal to be melted to form the bumps is strong enough to support the first surface spaced away from the second surface during and after the bonding of the bumps to the conductors on the second surface. 6 . a method according to claim 2 , wherein the metal forming the bumps is capable of being metallurgically bonded to the conductors on the second surface by soldering. 7 . a method according to claim 2 , wherein the bumps are capable of being metallurgically bonded to the conductors on the second surface by welding. 8 . a method for manufacturing bumped conductors for electrically connecting one or more conductors on a first surface to one or more conductors on a second surface, the method comprising: providing contact areas in the conductive pattern on the first surface that are wettable by a molten metal; depositing the metal over the contact areas; melting the metal, the molten metal forming bumps on the contact areas, the bumps being capable of being bonded to the conductors on the second surface, and the bumps being comprised of a metal having a melting point over 350 c. 9 . the method of claim 8 , wherein the metal being deposited over the wettable contact areas includes some metal being deposited on non-wettable areas contiguous to the wettable area, and upon melting the metal, the molten metal draws back from the non-wettable areas to the wettable contact areas to form the bumps. 10 . a method according to claim 8 , wherein the metal being melted to form bumps is capable of being metallurgically bonded to the conductors on the second surface. 11 . a method according to claim 8 , wherein the metal being melted to form bumps is capable of being adhesively bonded to the conductors on the second surface with an organic adhesive. 12 . in a method according to claim 8 , wherein the bumps are formed of a metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, nickel, silver, gold, and alloys comprising these metals. 13 . a method according to claim 8 , wherein the metal to be melted to form the bumps is strong enough to support the first surface spaced away from the second surface during and after the bonding of the bumps to the conductors on the second surface. 14 . a method according to claim 10 , wherein the metal forming the bumps is capable of being metallurgically bonded to the conductors on the second surface by soldering. 15 . a method according to claim 10 , wherein the bumps are capable of being metallurgically bonded to the conductors on the second surface by welding. 16 . in a method for manufacturing an electronic package having solderable metal bumps as a connecting means, the improvement comprising: providing an insulating substrate having metallic pads as a base for the package; depositing a metal on the substrate over the metallic pads, the metal having a melting point over 350 c., and below the melting point of the metal forming the metallic pads; melting the metal so that it draws back onto the metallic pads, forming metal bumps on the metallic pads. 17 . in a method for manufacturing an electronic package having metal bumps according to claim 16 , wherein the metal is deposited over the metallic pads in a powdered form. 18 . in a method for manufacturing an electronic package having metal bumps according to claim 17 , wherein the powdered metal is deposited by screen printing. 19 . in a method for manufacturing an electronic package having metal bumps according to claim 16 , the improvement comprising: providing the insulating substrate with metallic pads of metals selected from the group consisting of refractory metals and the metals of groups 8 and 1b of the periodic table of elements and alloys and combinations of those metals; depositing a lower melting metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum and aluminum alloys, copper and copper alloys, silver and silver alloys, gold and gold alloys, nickel and nickel alloys and combinations of those metals, over the metallic pads; and melting the lower melting metal so that it draws back onto the metallic pads, forming metal bumps on the metallic pads. 20 . in the method of manufacturing an electronic package according to claim 19 , wherein the metal of the metallic pads on the insulating substrate are selected from the group consisting of chromium, molybdenum, nickel, tungsten, molybdenum/manganese and titanium/tungsten. 21 . in the method of manufacturing an electronic package according to claim 20 wherein the metal forming the bumps comprises copper. 22 . in the method of manufacturing an electronic package according to claim 20 , wherein the metal forming the bumps is selected from the group consisting of silver, gold, silver alloys and gold alloys. 23 . in the method of manufacturing an electronic package according to claim 22 , wherein the bumps are coated with a barrier metal capable of preventing the bumps from dissolving in molten solder. 24 . in the method of manufacturing an electronic package according to claim 23 , wherein the barrier metal is coated with a solder aid to enhance solderability	this application claims the benefit of provisional application no. 60/170,975 filed dec. 15, 1999, and also of provisional application no. 60/170,976 filed dec. 15, 1999. field of the invention the invention is related to electronic interconnections and methods of forming bumped patterns for these interconnections. background of the invention ball grid arrays are made by coating a pad grid on the chip package with high temperature solder, (95% pb/5% sn). a glass template is provided with a hole grid corresponding to the pad grid. the holes are filled with copper balls coated with high temperature solder, and the high temperature solder is reflowed to join the balls to the pad. subsequently, the ball grid package is attached to the next level assembly by a lower temperature solder, e.g. 60% sn/40% pb. ball grid arrays require carefull and precise control of soldering temperatures. replacement or repair of packages having ball grid arrays also requires temperature control for package removal. many hermetic packages have covers that are bonded to the package by sealing glass. the covers are sealed with sealing glasses at 360-450 c. ball grid arrays for such packages cannot be made in advance, but must be added as the last step in making the package. micro-connection systems have been proposed for testing to produce known-gooddie one proposed micro-connection system has microbumps on a copper clad polyimide substrate which are to be temporarily pressed against the die for testing purposes. a silicone rubber sheet backing the micro bumped polyimide surface transmits the contact pressure to the microbumps. these proposed microbumps are not suitable for permanent connections, or for hermetically sealed packages. the controlled collapse chip connection (c 4 ) is a method of flip chip mounting of semiconductor chips. in the c 4 process solder bumps are formed on a semiconductor chip. the solder bumps are used to connect the chip to its package, such as a single chip module (scm) or multichip module (mcm). in the c 4 process, first a glass passivation layer is formed on the chip with vias in the layer for the input/output contacts, i/os. after dc sputter cleaning of the via holes, a thin circular pad of chromium is evaporated through a mask. the chromium pad covers the via and forms a ring around the via over the passivation layer sealing the via. the dc sputter cleaning assures low contact resistance to the aluminum i/o pad of the chip and good adhesion to the passivation layer. next a phased chromium and copper layer is evaporated to provide resistance to multiple reflows in the subsequent processing. this is followed by a pure copper layer to form a solderable metal. a thin layer of gold is added as an oxidation protection layer for the copper. a thick deposit (100-125 m) of high melting solder (97-95% pb/3-5% sn) is evaporated through a mask onto the chip and then heated to about 365 c. in a hydrogen atmosphere to fuse the solder into truncated spheres adhering to the pads. these solder bumps are fused to gold plated or solder coated pads on the interior surface of the chip package. the solder joints in the c 4 design must be high enough to compensate for substrate non-planarity. also because solder surface tension holds up the chip, a sufficient number of pads is required to support the weight of the chip. this is a concern with bulky, low 1 /o devices such as memory chips or chip carriers, where multiple dummy pads must be added to support the chip. for this reason, among others, the c 4 process has been used for connecting semiconductor chips to a first level package, but has not been successful or widely used for connecting a package, which is substantially heavier than a chip to a higher level assembly. summary of the invention the invention comprises a novel method of forming bumped substrates by forming the bumps and fusing them to the substrate simultaneously in one operation. the present invention comprises a method of manufacturing an electronic interconnection means for interconnecting one or more conductors on one surface to one or more conductors on another surface. the interconnection means comprises convex metal bumps melted onto the conductors on the first surface, and capable of being bonded to the conductors on the second surface. the bumps being comprised of a metal that does not melt below 350 c., and is strong enough to hold the two surfaces a fixed distance apart. in one embodiment the present invention comprises an improved method for manufacturing an electronic package having solderable metal bumps as a connecting means to another electronic package or a higher level assembly. the improvement comprises providing an insulating substrate having metallic pads on the base of the package; depositing a metal on the substrate over the metallic pads, the metal having a melting point over 350 c. and below the melting point of the metal forming the metallic pads; melting the metal so that it draws back onto the metallic pads, and forms metal bumps on the metallic pads. in another embodiment, the invention comprises a method for manufacturing bumped conductors for electrically connecting one or more conductors on a first surface to one or more conductors on a second surface by providing contact areas in the conductive pattern on the first surface that are wettable by a molten metal. then depositing the metal over the contact areas, and raising the temperature of the first surface above the melting point of the deposited metal. the metal melts, and the molten metal forms bumps on the contact areas. the bumps being comprised of a metal having a melting point over 350 c., and the bumps formed being capable of being bonded to the conductors on the second surface a further embodiment of the invention is a method of making electrical connections to electro mechanical devices by means of metal bumps on the conductive pattern of a ceramic substrate. the bumps both support the device and electrically connect it. an additional embodiment of the invention is an connector to interconnect two or more electronic packages or assemblies. the connector comprises a planar, high temperature, insulating substrate with an interconnecting conductive pattern. the conductive pattern terminates in metal bumps capable of metallurgically bonding to contact pads of another assembly. description of the drawings fig. 1 is a cross section view of a chip-scale package according to the invention. fig. 2 is a cross section view of a flip chip package according to the invention. fig. 3 is a cross section view of a multichip module with melted metal bumps as interconnection means fig. 4 is a plan view of a ceramic substrate having 256 grid arrays of the metal bumps of the invention. fig. 5 is a plan view of a single grid array from fig. 4 . fig. 6 is a side view of a connector interconnecting two adjacent packages. fig. 7 is a side view of a second grid array metal bumped connector. description of the invention the interconnections of the present invention are by means of metal bumps on a high temperature insulating substrate. the bumps are formed by melting metals onto the contact pads on the substrate. in the methods of this invention the conductive pattern of a substrate or base is provided with contact pads where the metal forming the bumps can be adhered when the metal is molten, and a background surface of the substrate where the molten metal is non-adherent. the contact pads can be metal pads or metallic sites capable of being wetted by the molten metal on a non-wettable background. the backgrounds include non-wettable metallic surfaces such as chrome or chrome alloys having a thin, non-wettable oxide layer, and non-wettable insulating surfaces and combinations of non-wettable surface background materials. wettable areas are areas on the substrate surface where the molten metal adsorbs. the bumps are formed by applying metal to areas of the substrate and melting the metal to form the bumps. the metal can be applied or deposited on the substrate by any suitable means such as plating, vacuum deposition, sputtering and the like, or as metal particles or powders, wires, films or foils. the metal is applied to the contact pads and may also be applied to contiguous background areas. the substrate is then heated to a temperature above the melting point of the metal and the surface tension of the molten metal draws it back from the contiguous background area forming a bump on the contact pad. the height of the bump depends on the volume of metal applied on the contact pad and also on the contiguous background area. preferably the metal that is applied on each pad and the contiguous background area associated with it, is separated from neighboring areas and their contiguous metal deposits. if the background surface is smooth, firm and non-wettable, the surface tension of the molten metal will draw back any metal applied to the contiguous area onto the contact pad. the surface tension of the molten metal may not be sufficient to draw all the metal from the contiguous areas if the contiguous background is rough, textured, or if the surface of the background softens at the temperature of the molten metal. in such cases it is advisable to apply all of the metal required to form the protuberance directly on the contact area with little or no overlap of the contiguous background area. in one embodiment, the invention is a method of forming metal bumps on an electronic interconnecting substrate, the bumps being suitable for connecting to another electronic assembly. the bumps are formed by applying metal particles, films or foils to metallic pads on the substrate and melting the metal particles, film or foils to form the bumps on the metallic pads. the invention also provides packages with bumped arrays for forming metallurgical bonds to another assembly. the packages are capable of being hermetically sealed. a characteristic of the metal forming the bumps is a melting point above the temperature at which the package will be joined to another package or to another assembly. the conductors on the surface having the melted metal bumps are joined to the conductors on the second surface by metallurgically or adhesively bonding the bumps to the contact pads on the second surface. the metallurgical bonds can be formed by brazing, soldering, welding or the like. welding techniques commonly used in the electronics industry include thermocompression bonding, ultrasonic bonding and thermal ultrasonic bonding. soldering is the standard procedure by which electronic component packages are joined to other assemblies, such as ceramic circuits or laminated glass reinforced epoxy printed wiring boards. the soldering takes place at temperatures between 220 c. (425 f.) and 290 c. (550 f.), so the melting point of the metals forming the bumps should be over 350 c. (650 f.). the melting point of the metal forming the bumps must be below the melting point of the metal forming the metallic pads. the bumps must be formed of a metal that has sufficient strength and rigidity to support the surface and prevent collapse when joining it to another surface or another assembly. the bumps should be high enough to compensate for non-planarity of the surfaces being joined, and strong enough to keep the surfaces apart to prevent short circuits, and to permit cleaning between the two surfaces. preferably the bumps should support the package without addition of dummy bumps. the metal that is melted and melted to a substrate to form the bumps must adhere well to the metallic pads of the substrate. techniques for joining the bumped substrate to contact pads on another surface include adhesive and metallurgical bonding techniques. adhesive bonding uses conductive organic materials and includes metal filled resins such as conductive epoxies, acrylics and polyimides. metallurgical bonding techniques include welding, brazing, soldering, and the like. welding techniques commonly used in the electronics industry include thermocompression bonding, ultrasonic bonding and thermal ultrasonic bonding. when the bumped substrate is to be joined to contact pads on another surface by thermocompression, ultrasonic or thermal ultrasonic techniques, the metal of the bumps may be gold or aluminum. when the bumped substrate is to be joined to the contact pads on another surface by soldering, an important characteristic of the bumps is limited solubility in solder. if the metal dissolves in solder, the bumps may collapse. also at soldering temperatures the bumps should not dissolve significantly in solder so as to weaken and/or embrittle the solder joints. if the bumps are formed of a metal that may be dissolved in solder, the bumps should be coated with a barrier layer such as nickel. the bumps are formed of metals and alloys with melting points above 350 c. preferred metals are copper and copper alloys such as copper/nickel, beryllium/copper, brasses and bronzes. nickel and nickel alloys such as nickel/phosphorus alloys also may be used. silver and silver alloys such as copper/silver, palladium/silver and gold and gold alloys such as gold/germanium and gold/silver platinum/gold alloys may be used. a barrier metal such as nickel or palladium may be used to reduce the solubility of the bumps in solder or prevent migration of the bump metal into the solder. to enhance the solderability of bumps coated with nickel or other barrier metal, a solder aid such as a thin layer of gold, tin or a flux may be applied to the barrier metal. the substrate is preferably formed from a high temperature insulating material. any insulating material may be used that will withstand the process of fusing the metal and forming the bumps on the substrate. especially suitable high temperature insulating materials are ceramic and glass/ceramic compositions and silicon. preferred materials comprise aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, diamond, beryllium oxide, boron nitride, cordierite, mullite, silicon carbide silicon nitride and glass/ceramics. the metallic pads are formed on the high temperature insulating material by any suitable means. on ceramic materials, thick film, thin film, cofired ceramic circuit or copper direct bond metallization techniques may be used. the metallic pads are composed of metals with melting points above the melting point of the bumps, and that will not melt, dissolve or lose adhesion to the insulating substrate when the metals forming the bumps are melted and fused to the pads. the metals for the metallic pads are selected from the group consisting of the metals of groups 8 and 1 b of the periodic table of elements and the refractory metals such as chromium, molybdenum, tungsten and titanium. preferred metals for the metallic pads are formed from thick film copper pastes, gold pastes, palladium/silver pastes and platinum/silver pastes. more preferred metals include tungsten, titanium-tungsten, chromium, molybdenum and nickel, and most preferred are combinations of molybdenum and manganese. a barrier material on the metallic pad, such as nickel or palladium may be used to limit the solubility of the metal of the bump into the metal comprising the metallic pad. if the high temperature insulating material is used for an electronic package that will contain a semiconductor die, it may have electrical connections from the die to either metallic pads on its bottom or metallic pads on the same side as the die. the die may be connected to the package by wire bonds, or by a flip chip bonding. the connections to the bottom of the package may be through the substrate of the package as metallic vias when the package is a cofired multilayer ceramic, or by metal plugged vias in the substrate of the package. the connections also may be accomplished by edge metallization. the metal or metal alloy that is melted onto the metallic pads may be applied to the substrate as a metal powder, by printing metal pastes, by evaporating metal onto the substrate, by applying a metal foil to the substrate, or other means. after the metal is applied to the substrate, it is heated to a temperature above its melting point. when the metal melts the surface tension of the molten metal causes the metal to draw back and ball up on the metallic pads. metal pastes applied using thick film screen printing techniques are one method of applying metal powder onto the metallic pads of the substrate. the pastes are formulated with metal powders dispersed in organic vehicles. e.g., a metal paste is prepared by dispersing 50-90% by weight metal powder in an organic resin/solvent vehicle. the metal paste is printed over each of the metallic pads on the substrate. the paste is dried and then the temperature ramped up to destroy the organic vehicle, leaving only the powder. the temperature is then raised above the melting point of the powdered metal, and the part is fired in a vacuum or an inert or reducing atmosphere the metal melts and draws back to the metallic pads forming rounded metal bumps. in one embodiment, the metallic pads on the high temperature insulating substrate are covered by an organic adhesive and metal particles are applied to the adhesive. the adhesive is formulated so that it will decompose completely in the firing process. after the metal particles are applied, the substrate is heated above the melting point of the metal, so that the surface tension of the molten metal causes the metal to draw back and form bumps on the metallic pads. the metals used to form the bumps may be applied to an insulating substrate by electroplating. the metallic pads may be electroplated by connecting them to the cathode of an electroplating cell. in another electroplating method, a layer of electroless metal is formed on a ceramic substrate including the metallic pads, and built up to a required thickness by electroplating, e.g., copper. an etch resist is applied over the electroplated metal, and the metal is etched to create an area of metal in contact with each metallic pads on the substrate. after the etch resist is removed the metal is heated to a temperature above the its melting point. when the metal melts the surface tension of the molten metal causes the metal to draw back, ball up on and fuse to the metallic pads. in an alternative procedure, a plating resist is applied to the electroless metal layer described above, leaving exposed metal over each of the metallic pads. copper is electroplated on the exposed areas. after the plating resist is removed, the underlying layer of electroless metal separating the electroplated areas optionally may be removed by a quick etch prior to melting the copper to form the bumps metal foils, such as copper foils may be used to form the bumps over the metallic pads on the substrate. the foils may be laminated to the bottom of the substrate with an adhesive that decomposes during the firing. the foils may be perforated or porous to better vent the decomposing adhesive. areas of metal overlapping the metallic pads may be formed by etching. upon melting, these areas draw back and ball up forming bumps on the metallic pads. alternatively the foil could be punched forming a pattern of islands joined by very narrow bands. the punched foil is positioned on the substrate with each punched island overlapping a metallic pad. when it is heated above the melting point of the foil, the narrow bands melt and act as cleavage points as the islands draw back to form bumps over and fuse to the metallic pads. the height of the bumps is determined by the quantity of metal or alloy that is melted on each metallic pad. it would be obvious for one skilled in the art to select the volume of material over the metallic pad in order to obtain the desired bump height. a package according to the invention is illustrated in fig. 1 . the package, shown in cross-section, has a base 110 , a semiconductor device 120 connected by wire bonds 130 to the conductive pattern of the base, a frame 140 , surrounding the device, which is closed by a cover 150 . the conductive pattern includes vias connecting the top and bottom of the base. melted metal bumps 160 formed on the bottom of the base are suitable for connecting the package to another assembly. the metal bumps of the interconnection package may be soldered to a printed wiring board, thus connecting the semiconductor device to the next level assembly. a flip-connection package having melted metal bumps for connection to another assembly, is shown in fig. 2 . the metal bumps 260 are formed on the bottom of the ceramic base 210 . the metal bumps are connected by the conductive pattern of the ceramic base and the flip-connections 230 to a semiconductor die 220 . the semiconductor device is enclosed by a frame 240 and cover 250 . some methods for providing packages with flip connections are more fully described in u.s. pat. nos. 5,627,406, 5,904,499 and the copending application entitled interconnection methods, filed simultaneously with the current application, and which is incorporated herein by reference. fig. 3 illustrates a multichip module package with three electronic devices 320 , 322 and 324 connected to the conductive pattern of a ceramic base 310 . the ceramic base has melted metal bumps 360 on the bottom to serve as input/output interconnections for the module. a frame 340 mounted on the ceramic base, and a cover 350 is attached to the frame to enclose and protect the devices. fig. 6 illustrates a connector interconnecting two side-by-side surfaces 614 and 615 . the connector is an insulating substrate 610 with a grid array pattern 670 . metal bumps have been formed on the grid array by melting metal and fusing it to the grid array. the grid array pattern is interconnected by the conductive pattern (not shown) of the insulating substrate. the metal bumps are metallurgically bonded to the pads 690 on the conductive patterns (not shown) of the two side-by-side surfaces 614 and 615 . fig. 7 shows another connector having an insulating substrate 710 , with metal bumps 770 on both top and bottom surfaces. the metal bumps are connected by the conductive pattern of the insulating substrate. two surfaces 714 and 715 are interconnected by being metallurgically bonded to the metal bumps of the connector. it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that the conductive pattern of the connector could be a simple through via pattern for direct interconnection of 714 and 715 , or a more complex conductive pattern to interconnect any contact pad to any other desired contact pad. example 1 referring to fig. 4, a 2 in.2 in.0.01 in. thick (50 mm50 mm0.25 mm) alumina substrate 400 was printed with a pattern simulating the connections of 256 chip scale packages. the chip scale package size was 0.125 in.0.125 in. (3.175 mm3.175 mm), and each simulated package had 20 pad connections 470 . fig. 5 shows an individual package with 20 pads 570 . a tungsten paste, tungsten mix no. 3 from ceronics inc., of new jersey, was printed in 0.006 in. diameter (150 m) pads on 0.020 (0.5 mm) centers. the paste pattern was fired in a hydrogen atmosphere at about 3150 c. forming metallic pads 0.006 (150 m) in diameter. a copper paste was prepared by dispersing 80% by weight copper powder in 20% by weight ethyl cellulose/terpineol vehicle. the copper paste was printed in oversize pads, 0.018 (0.46 mm) on 0.020 centers, where each pad overlapped a tungsten pad. the copper paste was dried, fired in a hydrogen atmosphere at a low temperature to decompose the organic vehicle, and then fired at a temperature above the melting point of copper. in the firing, the temperature was ramped up over 40 minutes to 1100 c.; held at 1100 c. for 30 minutes, and ramped down over a period of 30 minutes. in the firing process the copper pads pulled back onto and balled up on the tungsten pads forming uniformly high copper bumps suitable for joining the alumina substrate to another electronic package or higher level electronic assembly by soldering or other means. example 2 a 2 by 2 (50 mm50 mm) alumina plate was printed with a molybdenum/manganese (mo/mn) paste in a pattern of 5120 pads, 0.006 (150 m) in diameter. the pads were in 256 groups of 20 pads each on 0.020 (0.5 mm) centers as in example 1. the mo/mn paste on the alumina was fired forming metallic pads 0.006 in diameter. a copper paste was screen printed over the metallic pads in a pattern of circles 0.018 (0.46 mm) on the same 0.020 (0.5 mm) centers as the metallic pads. the copper paste on the alumina was dried and then temperature was ramped up over 30 minutes to 1100 c. and held at 1100 c. for 35 minutes before slowly cooling down. the copper melted and the surface tension of the molten copper drew the copper back to form bumps 0.006 in diameter on the metallic pads. the procedure was repeated with square, copper paste prints and long, narrow, rectangular, copper paste prints over the 0.006 diameter metallic pads. in all cases, after firing the copper drew back and formed smooth convex bumps over the metallic pads. since the copper pattern overlapping one metallic pad is preferably spaced apart from the pattern overlapping a neighboring metallic pad, long, narrow prints are well suited for applications where the metallic pads are so tightly spaced that one couldn't supply a sufficient volume of material using a circular or square pattern. it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the melted metal bumps may be used to interconnect packages having a single layer or multilayer conductive patterns. likewise the invention is applicable to packages containing more than one semiconductor chip, or a package containing multiple semiconductor circuits on a single die, wafer or section of a wafer.
042-295-604-830-924	JP	[ "US", "EP", "WO" ]	G03G15/08,G03G21/00,G03G15/00,G03G21/16,G03G21/18	2019-03-15T00:00:00	2019	[ "G03" ]	image forming apparatus	an image forming apparatus includes a developer container to and from which a replenishment container is attachable and detachable and which includes an accommodating portion that accommodates developer and a replenishment port, an agitation member, an opening/closing member configured to be movable between a closed position and an open position, a drive source for driving the agitation member, and a control portion configured to control the drive source. the apparatus is configured such that image formation is not possible when the opening/closing member is at the open position, and the agitation member is capable of driving in a case where the opening/closing member is at the open position.	1. an image forming apparatus to and from which a replenishment container accommodating developer is attachable and detachable and which is configured to execute an image formation in which a developer image is formed on a recording material, the image forming apparatus comprising: an image bearing member configured to rotate while bearing the developer image; a developer bearing member configured to bear the developer and supply the developer to the image bearing member; a developer container including: an accommodating portion configured to accommodate the developer to be borne on the developer bearing member; and a replenishment port to and from which the replenishment container is attachable and detachable and through which the accommodating portion is replenished with the developer from the replenishment container; an agitation member configured to agitate the developer accommodated in the accommodating portion; an opening/closing member configured to be movable between a closed position where the opening/closing member closes the replenishment port and an open position where the opening/closing member opens the replenishment port; an opening/closing sensor configured to detect whether the opening/closing member is at the open position or at the closed position; and a control portion configured to control driving of the agitation member, wherein execution of the image formation is possible when the opening/closing sensor detects that the opening/closing member is at the closed position, and wherein execution of the image formation is not possible and the driving of the agitation member is possible when the opening/closing member detects that the opening/closing member is at the open position. 2. the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein when the opening/closing sensor detects the opening/closing member is at the open position, execution of the image formation is not possible in a state that the replenishment container is detached from the replenishment port. 3. the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the opening/closing member and the replenishment port are configured such that the replenishment container attached to the replenishment port prevents the opening/closing member from being moved from the open position to the closed position. 4. the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the agitation member is rotatable about a rotational axis, and wherein the replenishment port is provided in an end portion of the developer container in a direction of the rotational axis. 5. the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an operation portion, wherein the driving of the agitation member is started on a basis of operation of the operation portion. 6. the image forming apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the operation portion is provided with a touch panel display, and wherein the driving of the agitation member is started on a basis of the touch panel display being touched. 7. the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an operation portion provided with a button, and wherein the driving of the agitation member is started on a basis of the button being pushed. 8. the image forming apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the operation portion is provided with a display configured to display information prompting a user to push the button. 9. the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an attachment sensor configured to detect an attachment of the replenishment container to the replenishment port, and wherein the driving of the agitation member is started on a basis of a detection result of the attachment sensor. 10. the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the agitation member includes a shaft and a flexible sheet fixed to the shaft. 11. the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a high voltage power source configured to apply high-voltage to the developer bearing member, wherein when the opening/closing member is at the open position, applying the high-voltage to the developer bearing member is interrupted. 12. the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a developer sensor configured to detect a developer amount remaining in the accommodating portion, wherein while the agitation member is being driven when the opening/closing member is at the open position, the developer sensor detects the developer amount remaining in the accommodating portion. 13. the image forming apparatus according to claim 12 , further comprising an indicator configured to indicate the developer amount remaining in the accommodating portion, wherein after the developer sensor detects the developer amount, the developer amount indicated with the indicator is updated.	this application is a continuation of application ser. no. 17/473,131, filed sep. 13, 2021, which is a continuation of international patent application no. pct/jp2020/011084, filed mar. 13, 2020. cross-reference to related applications this application is a continuation of international patent application no. pct/jp2020/011084, filed mar. 13, 2020, which claims the benefit of japanese patent application no. 2019-049215, filed mar. 15, 2019, and japanese patent application no. 2020-042022, filed mar. 11, 2020, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. background of the invention field of the invention the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material. description of the related art typically, an image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic system forms an image by transferring a toner image formed on the surface of a photosensitive drum onto a transfer material serving as a transfer medium. in addition, as a replenishment system of developer, for example, a process cartridge system and a toner replenishment system are known. the process cartridge system is a system in which a photosensitive drum and a developer container are integrated as a process cartridge and the process cartridge is replaced by a new one when the developer is runs out. in contrast, the toner replenishment system is a system in which the developer container is replenished with new toner when the toner runs out. according to japanese patent application laid-open no. h08-30084, a one-component developing apparatus of a toner replenishment system in which a toner supply box capable of replenishing toner is connected to a toner conveyance path in which toner is conveyed is proposed. toner reserved in the toner supply box is conveyed to the toner conveyance path by a conveyance screw. summary of the invention according to one aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus to and from which a replenishment container accommodating developer is attachable and detachable and which is configured to form a developer image on a recording material includes an image bearing member configured to rotate while bearing the developer image, a developer bearing member configured to bear the developer and supply the developer to the image bearing member, a developer container to and from which the replenishment container is attachable and detachable, the developer container including an accommodating portion configured to accommodate the developer to be borne on the developer bearing member, and a replenishment port through which the accommodating portion is replenished with the developer from the replenishment container, an agitation member configured to agitate the developer accommodated in the accommodating portion, an opening/closing member configured to be movable between a closed position where the opening/closing member covers the replenishment port such that the replenishment container is not attachable to the developer container, and an open position where the opening/closing member exposes the replenishment port such that the replenishment container is attachable to the developer container, a drive source for driving the agitation member, and a control portion configured to control the drive source. the image forming apparatus is configured such that image formation is possible when the opening/closing member is at the closed position and image formation is not possible when the opening/closing member is at the open position. the image forming apparatus is configured such that the agitation member is capable of driving in a case where the opening/closing member is at the open position. further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. brief description of the drawings fig. 1a is a section view of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. fig. 1b is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus. fig. 2a is a section view of the image forming apparatus. fig. 2b is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus in a state in which a top cover is open. fig. 3 is a section view of the image forming apparatus in a state in which a process cartridge is detached. fig. 4a is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus in a state in which a pressure plate of a reading apparatus is closed. fig. 4b is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus in a state in which the pressure plate is open. fig. 4c is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus in a state in which the reading apparatus is open. fig. 5a is a perspective view of a developer container and a toner pack. fig. 5b is a front view of the developer container and the toner pack. fig. 6a is a section view taken along 6 a- 6 a of fig. 5b . fig. 6b is a section view taken along 6 b- 6 b of fig. 5b . fig. 7 is a perspective view of the toner pack. fig. 8a is a front view of the toner pack. fig. 8b is a front view of a first modification example of the toner pack. fig. 8c is a front view of a second modification example of the toner pack. fig. 9 is a section view of a first and second toner remainder amount sensors. fig. 10 is a circuit diagram of the first and second toner remainder amount sensors. fig. 11a is a section view of the developer container in a state in which the toner remainder amount is small. fig. 11b is a section view of the developer container in a state in which the toner remainder amount is large. fig. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a control system of the image forming apparatus. fig. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a toner replenishment process. fig. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a toner remainder amount detection process. fig. 15 is a perspective view of an operation portion. fig. 16a is a section view illustrating a state in which the toner pack is attached to a replenishment port. fig. 16b is a section view illustrating a state in which toner has started dropping from the toner pack. fig. 16c is a section view illustrating a state in which the developer container has been replenished with all toner in the toner pack. fig. 17a is a perspective view of a toner remainder amount panel in a state in which the toner remainder amount is at a low level. fig. 17b is a perspective view of the toner remainder amount panel in a state in which the toner remainder amount is at a mid level. fig. 17c is a perspective view of the toner remainder amount panel in a state in which the toner remainder amount is at a full level. fig. 18a is a graph illustrating a relationship between the capacity of the developer container and the toner remainder amount level. fig. 18b is a graph illustrating a toner remainder amount when toner is replenished from a toner pack of a small capacity. fig. 18c is a graph illustrating a toner remainder amount when toner is replenished from a toner pack of a large capacity. fig. 19a is a perspective view of a first modification example of the image forming apparatus. fig. 19b is a perspective view of a second modification example of the image forming apparatus. fig. 19c is a perspective view of a third modification example of the image forming apparatus. fig. 20a is a perspective view of a fourth modification example of the image forming apparatus. fig. 20b is a perspective view of a fifth modification example of the image forming apparatus. fig. 21a is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment. fig. 21b is a section view of the image forming apparatus. fig. 22a is a perspective view of a modification example of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment. fig. 22b is a section view of the modification example of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment. fig. 23a is a section view of an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment. fig. 23b is a section view of the image forming apparatus in a state in which a process cartridge is drawn out. fig. 24 is a section view illustrating a state in which a toner pack is attached to a process cartridge that has been drawn out. fig. 25a is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus in a state in which the process cartridge is drawn out. fig. 25b is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a toner pack is attached to a process cartridge that has been drawn out. fig. 26 is a perspective view of a developer container according to a modification example of the first embodiment. fig. 27 is a perspective view of an agitation member according to the first embodiment. description of the embodiments exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to drawings. first embodiment fig. 1a is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment. the image forming apparatus 1 is a monochromatic printer that forms an image on a recording material on the basis of image information input from an external device. examples of the recording material include various sheet materials of different materials like paper sheets such as plain paper sheets and cardboards, plastic films such as sheets for overhead projectors, sheets of irregular shapes such as envelops and index paper sheets, and cloths. overall configuration as illustrated in figs. 1a and 1b , the image forming apparatus 1 includes a printer body 100 serving as an apparatus body, a reading apparatus 200 openably and closably supported by the printer body 100 , and an operation portion 300 attached to an exterior surface of the printer body 100 . the printer body 100 includes an image forming portion 10 that forms a toner image on a recording material, a feeding portion 60 that feeds the recording material to the image forming portion 10 , a fixing portion 70 that fixes the toner image formed by the image forming portion 10 to the recording material, and a discharge roller pair 80 . the image forming portion 10 includes a scanner unit 11 , a process cartridge 20 of an electrophotographic system, and a transfer roller 12 that transfers a toner image serving as a developer image formed on a photosensitive drum 21 of the process cartridge 20 onto the recording material. as illustrated in figs. 6a and 6b , the process cartridge 20 includes the photosensitive drum 21 , a charging roller 22 disposed in the vicinity of the photosensitive drum 21 , and a developing apparatus 30 including a pre-exposing apparatus 23 and a developing roller 31 . the photosensitive drum 21 is a photoconductor formed in a cylindrical shape. the photosensitive drum 21 of the present embodiment includes a drum-shaped base body formed from aluminum, and a photosensitive layer formed from a negatively-chargeable organic photoconductor thereon. in addition, the photosensitive drum 21 serving as an image bearing member is rotationally driven by a motor in a predetermined direction (clockwise direction in the figure) at a predetermined process speed. the charging roller 22 comes into contact with the photosensitive drum 21 at a predetermined pressure contact force to form a charging portion. in addition, a desired charging voltage is applied thereto by a charging high-voltage power source, and thus the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 is uniformly charged to a predetermined potential. in the present embodiment, the photosensitive drum 21 is charged to a negative polarity by the charging roller 22 . the pre-exposing apparatus 23 de-electrifies the surface potential of the photosensitive drum 21 before entering the charging portion so as to cause stable electrical discharge in the charging portion. the scanner unit 11 serving as an exposing portion exposes the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 in a scanning manner by radiating laser light corresponding to the image information input from the external device or the reading apparatus 200 onto the photosensitive drum 21 by using a polygon mirror. as a result of this exposure, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image information is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 . to be noted, the scanner unit 11 is not limited to a laser scanner apparatus, and for example, an led exposing apparatus including an led array in which a plurality of leds are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drum 21 may be employed. the developing apparatus 30 includes a developing roller 31 serving as a developer bearing member that bears developer, a developer container 32 serving as a frame member of the developing apparatus 30 , and a supply roller 33 that supplies developer to the developing roller 31 . the developing roller 31 and the supply roller 33 are rotatably supported by the developer container 32 . in addition, the developing roller 31 is disposed at an opening portion of the developer container 32 so as to oppose the photosensitive drum 21 . the supply roller 33 is rotatably in contact with the developing roller 31 , and toner serving as developer accommodated in the developer container 32 is applied on the surface of the developing roller 31 by the supply roller 33 . to be noted, the supply roller 33 is not necessary if a configuration in which enough toner can be supplied to the developing roller 31 is employed. for the developing apparatus 30 of the present embodiment, a contact developing system is used as the development system. that is, a toner layer borne on the developing roller 31 comes into contact with the photosensitive drum 21 in a developing portion (developing region) where the photosensitive drum 21 and the developing roller 31 oppose each other. a developing voltage is applied to the developing roller 31 by a developing high-voltage power source. under the developing voltage, toner borne on the developing roller 31 transfers from the developing roller 31 onto the drum surface in accordance with the potential distribution of the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 , and thus the electrostatic latent image is developed as a toner image. to be noted, in the present embodiment, a reverse development system is employed. that is, toner attaches to a surface region of the photosensitive drum 21 . which is charged in a charging step, exposed in an exposing step, and thus has a reduced charge amount, and thus a toner image is formed. in addition, in the present embodiment, toner having a particle diameter of 6 μm and a normal charging polarity of a negative polarity is used. for example, as the toner of the present embodiment, polymer toner produced by a polymerization method is employed. in addition, the toner of the present embodiment is so-called nonmagnetic one-component developer that does not contain a magnetic component, and is borne on the developing roller 31 mainly by intermolecular force or electrostatic force (image force). however, one-component developer containing a magnetic component may be used. in addition, in some cases, the one-component developer contains additives (for example, wax and silica fine particles) for adjusting the fluidity and charging performance of toner in addition to toner particles. in addition, two-component developer constituted by nonmagnetic toner and magnetic carrier may be used as the developer. in the case of using magnetic developer, for example, a cylindrical developing sleeve on the inner circumferential surface of which a magnet is disposed is used as the developer bearing member. an agitation member 34 serving as an agitation portion is provided inside the developer container 32 . the agitation member 34 is driven to pivot by a motor m 1 (see fig. 12 ), thus agitates the toner in the developer container 32 , and delivers (conveys) the toner to the developing roller 31 and the supply roller 33 . in addition, the agitation member 34 has a function of circulating toner not used for development and peeled off from the developing roller 31 in the developer container to uniformize toner in the developer container. to be noted, the agitation member 34 is not limited to a pivoting type. for example, an agitation member of a swinging type may be employed. in addition, another agitation member may be further provided in addition to the agitation member 34 . in addition, a developing blade 35 that regulates the amount of toner borne on the developing roller 31 is disposed at the opening portion of the developer container 32 where the developing roller 31 is disposed. the toner supplied to the surface of the developing roller 31 passes through the opposing portion between the developing roller 31 and the developing blade 35 in accordance with the rotation of the developing roller 31 , thus forms a uniform thin layer, and is negatively charged by frictional electrification. as illustrated in figs. 1a and 1b , the feeding portion 60 includes a front door 61 openably and closably supported by the printer body 100 , a tray portion 62 , an inner plate 63 , a tray spring 64 , and a pickup roller 65 . the tray portion 62 constitutes a bottom surface of a recording material accommodation space that is exposed by opening the front door 61 , and the inner plate 63 is supported by the tray portion 62 so as to be capable of ascending and descending. the tray spring 64 urges the inner plate 63 upward, and presses a recording material p supported by the inner plate 63 against the pickup roller 65 . to be noted, the front door 61 closes the recording material accommodation space in the state of being closed with respect to the printer body 100 , and supports the recording material p together with the tray portion 62 and the inner plate 63 in the state of being open with respect to the printer body 100 . the fixing portion 70 is of a thermal fixation system that performs an image fixing process by heating and melting toner on a recording material. the fixing portion 70 includes a fixing film 71 , a fixing heater such as a ceramic heater that heats the fixing film 71 , a thermistor that measures the temperature of the fixing heater, and a pressurizing roller 72 that is in pressure contact with the fixing film 71 . next, an image forming operation of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. when a command of image formation is input to the image forming apparatus 1 , an image forming process by the image forming portion 10 is started on the basis of image information input from an external computer connected to the image forming apparatus 1 or from the reading apparatus 200 . the scanner unit 11 radiates laser light toward the photosensitive drum 21 on the basis of the input image information. at this time, the photosensitive drum 21 has been already charged by the charging roller 22 , and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 21 as a result of the laser light irradiation. then, this electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing roller 31 , and thus a toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 21 . in parallel with the image forming process described above, the pickup roller 65 of the feeding portion 60 delivers out the recording material p supported by the front door 61 , the tray portion 62 , and the inner plate 63 . the recording material p is fed to a registration roller pair 15 by the pickup roller 65 , and the skew thereof is corrected by abutting a nip of the registration roller pair 15 . then, the registration roller pair 15 is driven to match a transfer timing of the toner image, and conveys the recording material p to a transfer nip formed by the transfer roller 12 and the photosensitive drum 21 . a transfer voltage is applied to the transfer roller 12 serving as a transfer portion from a transfer high-voltage power source, and the toner image borne on the photosensitive drum 21 is transferred onto the recording material p conveyed by the registration roller pair 15 . the recording material p onto which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing portion 70 , and the toner image is heated and pressurized when passing through a nip portion between the fixing film 71 and the pressurizing roller 72 of the fixing portion 70 . as a result of this, toner particles melt and then adhere, and thus the toner image is fixed to the recording material p. the recording material p having passed through the fixing portion 70 is discharged to the outside of the image forming apparatus 1 (outside of the apparatus) by the discharge roller pair 80 serving as a discharge portion, and is supported on a discharge tray 81 serving as a supporting portion formed in an upper portion of the printer body 100 . the discharge tray 81 is inclined upward toward the downstream side in a discharge direction of the recording material, the recording material discharged onto the discharge tray 81 slides down the discharge tray 81 , and thus the trailing end thereof is aligned by a regulating surface 84 . as illustrated in figs. 4a and 4b , the reading apparatus 200 includes a reading unit 201 including an unillustrated reading portion therein, and a pressure plate 202 openably and closably supported by the reading unit 201 . a platen glass 203 which transmits light emitted from the reading portion and on which a document is to be placed is provided on the upper surface of the reading unit 201 . in the case where an image of a document is to be read by the reading apparatus 200 , a user places the document on the platen glass 203 in a state in which the pressure plate 202 is open. then, the pressure plate 202 is closed to prevent displacement of the document on the platen glass 203 , and for example, the operation portion 300 is operated to output a reading command to the image forming apparatus 1 . when a reading operation is started, the reading portion in the reading unit 201 reciprocates in a sub-scanning direction, that is, a left-right direction as viewed from the front of the operation portion 300 of the image forming apparatus 1 . the reading portion receives light reflected on the document by a light receiving portion while emitting light to the document from a light emitting portion, and performs photoelectric conversion to read the image of the document. to be noted, a front-rear direction, a left-right direction, and an up-down direction are defined on the basis of a state as viewed from the front of the operation portion 300 . as illustrated in figs. 2b and 3 , a first opening portion 101 opening upward is defined in an upper portion of the printer body 100 , and the first opening portion 101 is covered by a top cover 82 . the top cover 82 serving as a supporting tray is supported so as to be openable and closable about a pivot shaft 82 c extending in the left-right direction with respect to the printer body 100 , and the discharge tray 81 serving as a supporting surface is formed on the upper surface thereof. the top cover 82 is opened from the front side to the rear side in a state in which the reading apparatus 200 is open with respect to the printer body 100 . to be noted, the reading apparatus 200 and the top cover 82 may be configured to be held in an open state and a closed state by a holding mechanism such as a hinge mechanism. for example, in the case where a jam of the recording material occurs due to paper jam or the like in a conveyance path cp which the recording material fed by the pickup roller 65 passes through, the user opens the top cover 82 together with the reading apparatus 200 . then, the user accesses the process cartridge 20 through the first opening portion 101 exposed by opening the top cover 82 , and draws out the process cartridge 20 along cartridge guides 102 . the cartridge guides 102 slide on and guide projection portions 21 a (see fig. 5a ) provided at end portions of the photosensitive drum 21 of the process cartridge 20 in the axial direction. then, as a result of drawing out the process cartridge 20 to the outside through the first opening portion 101 , a space through which a hand can access the conveyance path cp is generated. the user can put their hand in the printer body 100 through the first opening portion 101 , and thus can access the recording material jamming the conveyance path cp to remove the jammed recording material. in addition, in the present embodiment, as illustrated in figs. 1b and 4c , an opening/closing member 83 is openably and closably provided on the top cover 82 . a second opening portion 82 a serving as an opening portion opening upward is defined in the discharge tray 81 of the top cover 82 . the opening/closing member 83 is configured to be movable between a closed position where the opening/closing member 83 covers the replenishment port 32 a such that the toner pack 40 cannot be attached to the developer container 32 , and an open position where the opening/closing member 83 exposes the replenishment port 32 a such that the toner pack 40 can be attached to the developer container 32 . the opening/closing member 83 functions as a part of the discharge tray 81 in the closed position. the opening/closing member 83 and the second opening portion 82 a are formed on the left side of the discharge tray 81 . in addition, the opening/closing member 83 is supported by the top cover 82 so as to be openable and closable about a pivot shaft 83 a extending in the front-rear direction, and is opened to the left by hooking a finger thereon through a groove portion 82 b provided on the top cover 82 . the opening/closing member 83 is formed in an approximate l shape in accordance with the shape of the top cover 82 . the second opening portion 82 a of the discharge tray 81 is open such that the replenishment port 32 a for toner replenishment defined in an upper portion of the developer container 32 is exposed, and the user can access the replenishment port 32 a by opening the opening/closing member 83 without opening the top cover 82 . to be noted, in the present embodiment, a system (direct replenishment system) in which the user replenishes the developing apparatus 30 with toner from the toner pack 40 (see figs. 1a and 1b ) filled with toner for replenishment in a state in which the developing apparatus 30 is still attached to the image forming apparatus 1 is employed. therefore, in the case where the toner remainder amount of the process cartridge 20 is small, an operation of taking out the process cartridge 20 from the printer body 100 and replacing the process cartridge 20 with a brand-new process cartridge is no longer necessary, and thus the usability can be improved. in addition, the developer container 32 can be replenished with toner at lower cost than replacing the whole process cartridge 20 . to be noted, the direct replenishment system can reduce the cost also as compared with the case where only the developing apparatus 30 of the process cartridge 20 is replaced because there is no need to replace various rollers and gears. to be noted, the image forming apparatus 1 and the toner pack 40 constitute an image forming system. collection of transfer residual toner in the present embodiment, a cleanerless configuration in which transfer residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 21 without being transferred onto the recording material p is collected into the developing apparatus 30 and reused is employed. the transfer residual toner is removed by the following process. the transfer residual toner includes, in mixture, toner charged to a positive polarity and toner that is charged to a negative polarity but does not have enough charges. the photosensitive drum 21 after transfer is de-electrified by the pre-exposing apparatus 23 , the charging roller 22 is caused to generate uniform electrical discharge, and thus the transfer residual toner is charged to a negative polarity again. the transfer residual toner charged to a negative polarity again in the charging portion reaches the developing portion in accordance with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 21 . then, the surface region of the photosensitive drum 21 having passed the charging portion is exposed by the scanner unit 11 in a state in which the transfer residual toner is still attached to the surface thereof, and thus an electrostatic latent image is drawn thereon. here, the behavior of the transfer residual toner having reached the developing portion will be described separately for an exposed portion and a non-exposed portion of the photosensitive drum 21 . in the developing portion, the transfer residual toner attached to the non-exposed portion of the photosensitive drum 21 is transferred onto the developing roller 31 due to a potential difference between the potential (dark potential) of the non-exposed portion of the photosensitive drum 21 and the developing voltage, and is collected into the developer container 32 . this is because the developing voltage applied to the developing roller 31 is relatively positively polarized with respect to the potential of the non-exposed portion on the premise that the normal charging polarity of the toner is a negative polarity. to be noted, the toner collected into the developer container 32 is dispersed by being agitated by the agitation member 34 with toner in the developer container, and is borne on the developing roller 31 to be used in a developing process again. in contrast, transfer residual toner attached to the exposed portion of the photosensitive drum 21 remains on the drum surface without being transferred from the photosensitive drum 21 to the developing roller 31 in the developing portion. this is because the potential of the developing voltage applied to the developing roller 31 is further on the negative polarity side than the potential (light potential) of the exposed portion on the premise that the normal charging polarity of toner is a negative polarity. the transfer residual toner remaining on the drum surface moves to the transfer portion while being borne on the photosensitive drum 21 together with other toner to be transferred from the developing roller 31 to the exposed portion, and is transferred onto the recording material p in the transfer portion. although a cleanerless configuration in which transfer residual toner is collected into the developing apparatus 30 and reused is employed in the present embodiment as described above, a conventionally known configuration in which transfer residual toner is collected by a cleaning blade that abuts the photosensitive drum 21 may be employed. in this case, the transfer residual toner collected by the cleaning blade is collected into a collection container provided separately from the developing apparatus 30 . however, employing the cleanerless configuration eliminates the necessity to install a collection container for collecting transfer residual toner and the like and thus enables further miniaturization of the image forming apparatus 1 , and reuse of transfer residual toner can reduce the printing cost. configuration of developer container and toner pack next, the configuration of the developer container 32 and the toner pack 40 will be described. fig. 5a is a perspective view of the developer container 32 and the toner pack 40 , and fig. 5b is a front view of the developer container 32 and the toner pack 40 . fig. 6a is a section view taken along 6 a- 6 a of fig. 5b , and fig. 6b is a section view taken along 6 b- 6 b of fig. 5b . as illustrated in figs. 5a to 6b , the developer container 32 includes a conveyance chamber 36 that accommodates the agitation member 34 , and the conveyance chamber 36 serving as an accommodation chamber that accommodates toner extends over the entirety of the developer container 32 in the longitudinal direction (left-right direction). in addition, the conveyance chamber 36 is integrally formed with a frame member rotatably supporting the developing roller 31 and the supply roller 33 , and accommodates developer to be borne on the developing roller 31 . in addition, the developer container 32 includes a first projection portion 37 serving as a projection portion that projects upward from one end portion of the conveyance chamber 36 in the longitudinal direction and communicates with the conveyance chamber 36 , and a second projection portion 38 that projects upward from the other end portion of the conveyance chamber 36 in the longitudinal direction. that is, the first projection portion 37 is provided at one end portion of the developer container 32 in the rotation axis direction of the developing roller 31 , and projects toward the discharge tray 81 in a crossing direction crossing the rotation axis direction described above more than the center portion of the developer container 32 . the second projection portion 38 is provided at the other end portion of the developer container 32 in the rotation axis direction of the developing roller 31 , and projects toward the discharge tray 81 in the crossing direction more than the center portion of the developer container 32 . in the present embodiment, the first projection portion 37 is formed on the left side of the developer container 32 , and the second projection portion 38 is formed on the right side of the developer container 32 . an attachment portion 57 to which the toner pack 40 can be attached is provided at an upper end portion (distal end portion) of the first projection portion 37 , and a replenishment port 32 a for replenishing the conveyance chamber 36 with toner from the toner pack 40 is defined in the attachment portion 57 . the toner pack 40 can be attached to the attachment portion 57 in the state of being exposed to the outside of the apparatus. the developer container 32 is configured such that toner supplied through the replenishment port 32 a reaches the agitation member 34 by only its own weight. here, “its own weight” means that it is configured that the toner reaches the agitation member 34 by its own weight even though an agitation member (conveyance member) that rotates or swings for conveying toner is not provided between the replenishment port 32 a of the developer container 32 and the agitation member 34 . in addition, in the developer container 32 , the agitation member 34 is disposed such that the agitation member 34 is the rotary member closest to the replenishment port 32 a and the rotation thereof causes the toner in the conveyance chamber 36 to reach the developing roller 31 or the supply roller 33 . the first projection portion 37 and the second projection portion 38 extend obliquely upward from the conveyance chamber 36 from the front side of the apparatus. that is, the first projection portion 37 and the second projection portion 38 project downstream and upward in the discharge direction of the discharge roller pair 80 . therefore, the replenishment port 32 a formed in the first projection portion 37 is disposed on the front side of the image forming apparatus 1 , and thus toner replenishment operation for the developer container 32 can be performed easily. particularly, in the present embodiment, since the reading apparatus 200 openable and closable about the rear side of the apparatus is disposed above the opening/closing member 83 , the space between the replenishment port 32 a and the reading apparatus 200 can be used more efficiently by disposing the replenishment port 32 a on the front side of the apparatus. therefore, the operability for replenishing toner from the replenishment port 32 a can be improved. the upper portion of the first projection portion 37 and the upper portion of the second projection portion 38 are connected to each other by a grip portion 39 serving as a connection portion. a laser passage space sp through which laser light l (see fig. 1a ) emitted from the scanner unit 11 (see fig. 1a ) toward the photosensitive drum 21 passes is defined between the grip portion 39 and the conveyance chamber 36 . the grip portion 39 includes a pinching portion 39 a that the user can grip by hooking a finger thereon, and the pinching portion 39 a is formed to project upward from the top plate of the grip portion 39 . the first projection portion 37 is formed to have a hollow shape, and the replenishment port 32 a is defined in the upper surface thereof. the replenishment port 32 a is configured to be connectable to the toner pack 40 . by providing the first projection portion 37 , on a distal end portion of which the replenishment port 32 a is defined, on one side of the developer container 32 in the longitudinal direction, the laser passage space sp that the laser light l emitted from the scanner unit 11 can pass through can be secured, and the image forming apparatus 1 can be miniaturized. in addition, since the second projection portion 38 is provided on the other side of the developer container 32 in the longitudinal direction, and the grip portion 39 that connects the first projection portion 37 and the second projection portion 38 to each other is formed, the usability for taking out the process cartridge 20 from the printer body 100 can be improved. to be noted, the second projection portion 38 may be formed in a hollow shape similarly to the first projection portion 37 , or may be formed in a solid shape. fig. 26 is a perspective view of a developer container 320 according to a modification example of the first embodiment. the developer container 320 includes a projection portion 370 disposed at an end portion in the longitudinal direction, and the projection portion 370 projects higher than a center portion of the developer container 320 in the longitudinal direction. an attachment portion 570 for attaching the toner pack 40 is provided on the projection portion 370 , and a replenishment port 320 a is provided in the attachment portion 570 . the projection portion 370 is different from the first projection portion 37 illustrated in fig. 5b in that a recess portion 370 a is provided thereon. the recess portion 370 a is provided on a side surface of the projection portion 370 , and is recessed in a direction from the center portion to an end portion of the developer container 320 in the longitudinal direction. further, the recess amount of the recess portion 370 a is larger at a position closer to the photosensitive drum 21 . here, it can be considered that in the case where the distance between the scanner unit 11 and the developer container 320 is increased, the irradiation region of the laser light l overlaps with the attachment portion 570 (replenishment port 320 a ) as viewed in the attachment direction of the toner pack 40 . by providing the attachment portion 570 above the laser light l in the vertical direction such that the laser light l passes through the recess portion 370 a , interference between the laser light l and the developer container 320 can be avoided. as a result of this, it is not necessary to move the projection portion 370 further toward the end portion in the longitudinal direction to avoid the interference with the laser light l, and thus the miniaturization of the apparatus can be realized. as illustrated in figs. 5a to 6b , the toner pack 40 is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the attachment portion 57 of the first projection portion 37 . in addition, the toner pack 40 includes a shutter member 41 provided at an opening portion and openable and closable, and a plurality of (in the present embodiment, three) protrusions 42 formed in correspondence with a plurality of (in the present embodiment, three) groove portions 32 b defined in the attachment portion 57 . in the case where the user replenishes the developer container 32 with toner, the user positions the toner pack 40 such that the protrusions 42 pass through the groove portions 32 b of the attachment portion 57 , and thus connects the toner pack 40 to the attachment portion 57 . further, when the toner pack 40 is rotated by 180° in this state, the shutter member 41 of the toner pack 40 abuts an unillustrated abutting portion of the attachment portion 57 to rotate with respect to the body of the toner pack 40 , and thus the shutter member 41 is opened. as a result of this, toner accommodated in the toner pack 40 drops from the toner pack 40 , and the dropped toner enters the first projection portion 37 having a hollow shape through the replenishment port 32 a . to be noted, the shutter member 41 may be provided on the replenishment port 32 a. the first projection portion 37 includes an inclined surface 37 a at a position opposing to the opening of the replenishment port 32 a , and the inclined surface 37 a is inclined downward toward the conveyance chamber 36 . therefore, the toner supplied through the replenishment port 32 a is guided to the conveyance chamber 36 by the inclined surface 37 a . fig. 27 is a perspective view of the agitation member 34 . as illustrated in figs. 6 and 27 , the agitation member 34 includes an agitation shaft 34 a extending in the longitudinal direction, and a blade portion 34 b fixed to the agitation shaft 34 a and extends radially outward from the agitation shaft 34 a . the blade portion 34 b is a sheet having flexibility. the agitation member 34 rotates about a shaft portion 34 c of the agitation shaft 34 a. the toner replenished through the replenishment port 32 a disposed upstream of the agitation member 34 in the conveyance direction is delivered to the developing roller 31 and the supply roller 33 in accordance with the rotation of the agitation member 34 . the conveyance direction of the agitation member 34 is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the developer container 32 . although the replenishment port 32 a and the first projection portion 37 are disposed at one end portion of the developer container 32 in the longitudinal direction, the toner spreads to the whole developer container 32 by repetitive rotation of the agitation member 34 . to be noted, although the agitation member 34 is constituted by the agitation shaft 34 a and the blade portion 34 b in the present embodiment, an agitation shaft of a spiral shape may be used as an element for spreading the toner to the whole developer container 32 . although the toner pack 40 is constituted by an easily deformable plastic bag as illustrated in figs. 7 and 8a in the present embodiment, this is not limiting. for example, the toner pack may be constituted by a bottle container 40 b having an approximately cone shape as illustrated in fig. 8b , or may be formed from a paper container 40 c formed from paper as illustrated in fig. 8c . in either case, the material and shape of the toner pack may be of any kind. in addition, as a method for discharging toner from the toner pack, it is preferable that the user squeeze the toner pack in the case of the toner pack 40 or the paper container 40 c, and it is preferable that the user causes the toner to drop while vibrating the container by hitting the container or the like in the case of the bottle container 40 b. in addition, a discharge mechanism may be provided in the bottle container 40 b to discharge toner from the bottle container 40 b. further, the discharge mechanism may be configured to engage with the printer body 100 and receive a driving force from the printer body 100 . in addition, the shutter member 41 may be omitted from any of the toner packs, and a shutter member of a sliding type may be used instead of the shutter member 41 of a rotary type. in addition, the shutter member 41 may be configured to be broken when attaching the toner pack to the replenishment port 32 a or rotating the toner pack in the attached state, or may be a detachable lid structure such as a sticker. detection method for toner remainder amount next, a method for detecting the toner remainder amount of the developer container 32 will be described with reference to figs. 9 to 11b . a first toner remainder amount sensor 51 and a second toner remainder amount sensor 52 that detect a state corresponding to the toner remainder amount in the developer container 32 are provided in the developing apparatus 30 of the present embodiment. the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 includes a light emitting portion 51 a and a light receiving portion 51 b , and the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 includes a light emitting portion 52 a and a light receiving portion 52 b . fig. 10 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a circuit configuration of the toner remainder amount sensors 51 and 52 . to be noted, the circuit configuration of the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 will be described below, and description of the circuit configuration of the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 will be omitted. although an led is used as the light emitting portion 51 a , and a phototransistor that is switched to an on state by light from the led is used as the light receiving portion 51 b in fig. 10 , this is not limiting. for example, a halogen lamp or fluorescent light may be used as the light emitting portion 51 a , and a photodiode or an avalanche photodiode may be used as the light receiving portion 51 b . to be noted, an unillustrated switch is provided between the light emitting portion 51 a and a power source voltage vcc, and by switching the switch on, the voltage from the power source voltage vcc is applied to the light emitting portion 51 a , and the light emitting portion 51 a takes a power-supplied state. meanwhile, an unillustrated switch is also provided between the light receiving portion 51 b and the power source voltage vcc, and by switching the switch on, the light receiving portion 51 b takes a power-supplied state in accordance with a current corresponding to the amount of detected light. the light emitting portion 51 a is connected to the power source voltage vcc and a current-limiting resistor r 1 , and the light emitting portion 51 a emits light in accordance with a current determined by the current-limiting resistor r 1 . as illustrated in fig. 9 , the light emitted from the light emitting portion 51 a passes through an optical path q 1 , and is received by the light receiving portion 51 b . a collector terminal of the light receiving portion 51 b is connected to the power source voltage vcc, and an emitter terminal thereof is connected to a detection resistor r 2 . the light receiving portion 51 b that is a phototransistor receives light emitted from the light emitting portion 51 a , and outputs a signal (current) corresponding to the amount of received light. this signal is converted into a voltage v 1 by the detection resistor r 2 , and is input to an a/d conversion portion 95 of a control portion 90 (see fig. 12 ). to be noted, the light receiving portion 52 b of the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 receives light emitted from the light emitting portion 52 a and having passed through an optical path q 2 , and a voltage v 2 corresponding to the amount of received light is output and input to the a/d conversion portion 95 of the control portion 90 . the control portion 90 (cpu 91 ) determines, on the basis of the input voltage level, whether or not the light receiving portions 51 b and 52 b have received light from the light emitting portions 51 a and 51 b . the control portion 90 (cpu 91 ) calculates the toner amount in the developer container 32 on the basis of the length of time in which each light is detected by the light receiving portion 51 b and 52 b and the light intensity of the received light when the toner in the developer container 32 is agitated for a certain time by the agitation member 34 . that is, the rom 93 stores in advance a table that can output a toner remainder amount in accordance with the light reception time and the light intensity of the time when the toner is conveyed by the agitation member 34 , and the control portion 90 estimates/calculates the toner remainder amount on the basis of the input to the a/d conversion portion 95 and the table. more specifically, the optical path q 1 of the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 is set to cross a rotation trajectory t of the agitation member 34 . in addition, time in which light in the optical path q 1 is blocked by toner hit up by the agitation member 34 , that is, time in which the light receiving portion 51 b does not detect the light from the light emitting portion 51 a in each rotation of the agitation member 34 changes depending on the toner remainder amount. in addition, the received light intensity of the light receiving portion 51 b also changes depending on the toner remainder amount. that is, when the toner remainder amount is large, the optical path q 1 is more likely to be blocked by toner, thus the time in which the light receiving portion 51 b receives light becomes shorter, and the received light intensity of the light received by the light receiving portion 51 b becomes lower. in contrast, conversely in the case where the toner remainder amount is small, the time in which the light receiving portion 51 b receives light becomes longer, and the received light intensity of the light received by the light receiving portion 51 b becomes higher. therefore, the control portion 90 can determine whether the toner remainder amount is at the low level or the mid level on the basis of the light receiving time and the received light intensity of the light receiving portion 51 b as will be described later. for example, as illustrated in fig. 11a , in the case where the amount of toner in the conveyance chamber 36 of the developer container 32 is small, it is determined that the toner remainder amount is at the low level. to be noted, although the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 is disposed not to cross the rotation trajectory t of the agitation member 34 in the description above, the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 may be disposed to cross the rotation trajectory t of the agitation member 34 similarly to the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 described above. in addition, the optical path q 2 of the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 is set to be above the rotation trajectory t so as not to cross the rotation trajectory t of the agitation member 34 . further, the light receiving portion 52 b of the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 does not detect the light from the light emitting portion 52 a in the case where light in the optical path q 2 is blocked by toner, and detects the light from the light emitting portion 52 a in the case where light in the optical path q 2 is not blocked by toner. therefore, regardless of the rotation operation of the agitation member 34 , the control portion 90 determines whether or not the toner remainder amount is at a full level on the basis of whether or not the light receiving portion 52 b has received light as will be described later. for example, as illustrated in fig. 11b , in the case where the amount of toner in the conveyance chamber 36 of the developer container 32 is large, it is determined that the toner remainder amount is at the full level. to be noted, although the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 is disposed not to cross the rotation trajectory t of the agitation member 34 in the description above, the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 may be disposed to cross the rotation trajectory t of the agitation member 34 similarly to the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 described above. to be noted, the detection/estimation method for the toner remainder amount is not limited to the method of optical toner remainder amount detection described with reference to fig. 9 , and various known types of detection/estimation methods for toner remainder amount can be employed. for example, the toner remainder amount may be detected/estimated by disposing two or more metal plates or conductive resin sheets extending in the longitudinal direction of the developing roller on the inner wall of the developer container 32 serving as a frame member and measuring the electrostatic capacity between two metal plates or conductive resin sheets. alternatively, a load cell supporting the developing apparatus 30 from below may be provided and the cpu 91 may calculate the toner remainder amount by subtracting the weight of the developing apparatus 30 in the case where there is no toner therein from the weight measured by the load cell. in addition, the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 may be omitted, and the control portion 90 (cpu 91 ) may calculate the toner remainder amount from the detection result of the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 and the emission status of the laser light. control system of image forming apparatus fig. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a control system of the image forming apparatus 1 . the control portion 90 of the image forming apparatus 1 includes a cpu 91 serving as a calculation device, a ram 92 used as a work area of the cpu 91 , and a rom 93 storing various programs. in addition, the control portion 90 includes an i/o interface 94 serving as an input/output port connected to an external device, and the a/d conversion portion 95 that converts an analog signal into a digital signal. the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 , the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 , an attachment sensor 53 , and an opening/closing sensor 54 are connected to the input side of the control portion 90 , and the attachment sensor 53 detects attachment of the toner pack 40 to the replenishment port 32 a of the developer container 32 . for example, the attachment sensor 53 is constituted by a pressure sensor that is provided at the replenishment port 32 a and outputs a detection signal by being pressed by the protrusions 42 of the toner pack 40 . in addition, the opening/closing sensor 54 detects whether or not the opening/closing member 83 has been opened with respect to the top cover 82 . the opening/closing sensor 54 is constituted by, for example, a pressure sensor or a magnetic sensor. in addition, the control portion 90 is connected to the operation portion 300 , the image forming portion 10 , and a toner remainder amount panel 400 serving as a notification portion capable of notifying information about the toner remainder amount. the operation portion 300 includes a display portion 301 capable of displaying various setting screens, physical keys, and so forth. the display portion 301 is constituted by, for example, a liquid crystal panel. the image forming portion 10 includes a motor m 1 serving as a drive source that drives the photosensitive drum 21 , the developing roller 31 , the supply roller 33 , the agitation member 34 , and so forth. to be noted, the photosensitive drum 21 , the developing roller 31 , the supply roller 33 , and the agitation member 34 may be configured to be each driven by a different motor. the toner remainder amount panel 400 is provided on the right side of the front surface of the casing of the printer body 100 , that is, on the opposite side to the operation portion 300 disposed on the left side as illustrated in figs. 1b and 17 , and displays information about the toner remainder amount in the developer container 32 . in the present embodiment, the toner remainder amount panel 400 is a panel member constituted by a plurality of (in the present embodiment, three) indicators arranged in the up-down direction, and the indicators respectively correspond to the low level, the mid level, and the full level. that is, as illustrated in fig. 17a , in the case where only the bottom indicator is on, it is indicated that the toner remainder amount of the developer container 32 is at the low level serving as a third state. as illustrated in fig. 17b , in the case where the bottom and middle indicators are on and the top indicator is off, it is indicated that the toner remainder amount of the developer container 32 is at the mid level serving as a second state. in the case where all the three indicators are on as illustrated in fig. 17c , it is indicated that the toner remainder amount of the developer container 32 is at the full level serving as a first state. to be noted, the toner remainder amount panel 400 is not limited to a liquid crystal panel and may be constituted by a light source such as an led or an incandescent lamp and a diffusing lens. to be noted, although description has been given as a notification portion indicating the toner remainder amount in the example illustrated in fig. 17 , this is not limiting. for example, the indication of fig. 17a may indicate that toner replenishment is needed, the indication of fig. 17b may indicate that toner replenishment is not needed, and the indication of fig. 17c may indicate that toner has been sufficiently replenished. toner replenishment process next, a toner replenishment process of replenishing the developer container 32 with toner in the toner pack 40 will be described. as illustrated in fig. 13 , when the toner replenishment process is started, the control portion 90 determines whether or not a replenishment operation starting command has been issued (step s 1 ). in the present embodiment, the replenishment operation starting command is a user operation through the operation portion 300 as illustrated in fig. 15 . specifically, the replenishment operation starting command is output by the user operating the operation portion 300 and thus pushing a button 1 in a state in which the display portion 301 is displaying a message prompting operation of the button 1 . to be noted, at this time, since the toner pack 40 is attached to the replenishment port 32 a of the developer container 32 , the opening/closing member 83 is open. since the operation portion 300 and the replenishment port 32 a are both disposed on the left side of the apparatus, the toner replenishment operation using the toner pack 40 can be easily performed while operating the operation portion 300 . in addition, when the opening/closing sensor 54 detects that the opening/closing member 83 has been opened, the control portion 90 prohibits and stops the image forming operation by the image forming apparatus 1 . therefore, in the state in which the opening/closing member 83 is open, the conveyance rollers, the photosensitive drum 21 , the scanner unit 11 , and so forth of the image forming apparatus 1 are stopped. to be noted, the replenishment operation starting command is not limited to the pushing operation on the button 1 , and the replenishment operation starting command may be a touch operation on the display portion 301 , or the operation starting command may be output in response to detection of the attachment of the toner pack 40 to the replenishment port 32 a by the attachment sensor 53 . in addition, a sensor that detects that the shutter member 41 of the toner pack 40 has been opened may be provided, and the replenishment operation starting command may be output on the basis of the detection result of this sensor. in addition, the replenishment operation starting command may be output on the basis of detection of an opening operation on the opening/closing member 83 by the opening/closing sensor 54 . in addition, a configuration in which when the opening/closing member 83 is opened, the high-voltage power source applied to the process cartridge 20 is switched off such that only the motor m 1 that drives the agitation member 34 can be driven may be employed. in the case where it has been determined that the replenishment operation starting command has been issued (step s 1 : yes), the control portion 90 initializes parameters of timers t 1 and t 2 that will be described later to initial values (for example, zero), and starts the timers t 1 and t 2 (step s 2 ). then, the control portion 90 drives the motor m 1 (step s 3 ), and the agitation member 34 rotates. next, the control portion 90 performs the toner remainder amount detection process (step s 4 ). when the toner remainder amount detection process is performed, as illustrated in fig. 14 , the control portion 90 causes the light emitting portions 51 a and 52 a of the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 and the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 to emit light (step s 41 ). then, the control portion 90 converts voltages v 1 and v 2 respectively output from the light receiving portions 51 b and 52 b of the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 and the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 into digital signals (hereinafter referred to as a/d converted values) by the a/d conversion portion 95 (step s 42 ). next, the control portion 90 determines whether or not the a/d converted value of the voltage v 2 indicates that light in the optical path q 2 is blocked (step s 43 ). in the case where it is indicated that light in the optical path q 2 is blocked (step s 43 : yes), the control portion 90 causes the toner remainder amount panel 400 to indicate that the toner remainder amount is at the full level (step s 44 ). that is, as illustrated in fig. 17c , all three indicators of the toner remainder amount panel 400 become on. in the case where the a/d converted value of the voltage v 2 does not indicate that light in the optical path q 2 is blocked (step s 43 : no), the control portion 90 calculates the toner remainder amount information in the developer container 32 on the basis of the a/d converted value of the voltage v 1 (step s 45 ). then, the control portion 90 causes the toner remainder amount panel 400 to indicate that the toner remainder amount is at the low level or the mid level on the basis of the calculated toner remainder amount information (step s 46 ). when step s 44 or step s 46 is completed, the toner remainder amount detection process is finished. that is, the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 and the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 serving as a detection portion output remainder amount information corresponding to the amount of developer accommodated in the developer container 32 while the agitation member 34 is operating. next, the control portion 90 determines whether or not the timer t 2 is at a threshold value β or more as illustrated in fig. 13 (step s 5 ). the threshold value β is a value that is set in advance, and corresponds to an interval at which the toner remainder amount detection process is repeatedly performed. to be noted, α>β holds. in the case where the timer t 2 is at the threshold value β or more, (step s 5 : yes), the control portion 90 initializes and restarts the timer t 2 (step s 6 ), and returns to step s 4 . that is, each time the timer t 2 reaches the threshold value β, the toner remainder amount detection process (step s 4 ) is repeatedly performed. for example, in the case where the threshold value β is set to 1 second, the toner remainder amount detection process is repeatedly performed every 1 second in steps s 4 , s 5 , and s 6 . in addition, in the case where the timer t 2 is less than the threshold value β (step s 5 : no), the control portion 90 determines whether or not the timer t 1 is at a threshold value α or more (step s 7 ). the threshold value α is a value that is set in advance, and corresponds to the driving time of the motor m 1 and the agitation member 34 in the toner replenishment process. in the case where the timer t 1 is less than the threshold value α (step s 7 : no), the process returns to step s 5 . in the case where the timer t 1 is at the threshold value α or more (step s 7 : yes), the control portion 90 stops the driving of the motor m 1 (step s 8 ), and finishes the toner replenishment process. for example, in the case where the threshold value α is set to 10 seconds, the time from when the motor m 1 starts driving in step s 3 to when the motor m 1 is stopped in step s 8 is 10 seconds. in the case where toner drops from the toner pack 40 into the developer container 32 in the toner replenishment process described above as illustrated in fig. 16a , the toner enters the conveyance chamber 36 through the first projection portion 37 . since the replenishment port 32 a and the first projection portion 37 are disposed at one end portion of the developer container 32 in the longitudinal direction, toner is collectively supplied to the one end portion side of the conveyance chamber 36 . here, a case where the agitation member 34 is not rotating when toner is supplied to the conveyance chamber 36 will be considered. in the case where toner is caused to drop from the toner pack 40 into the developer container 32 , if the agitation member 34 is not rotated in the conveyance chamber 36 accommodating toner, it takes time for the dropped toner to spread to the entirety of the photosensitive drum 21 in the longitudinal direction. if this time is long, it takes time for the user performing the toner replenishment operation to confirm that the conveyance chamber 36 has been replenished with toner, which degrades the usability. therefore, in the present embodiment, the agitation member 34 is driven for a predetermined time (threshold value α) since the start of replenishment in the toner replenishment process. as a result of this, as illustrated in figs. 16b and 16c , toner supplied from the toner pack 40 to one end portion of the developer container 32 is quickly flattened by the agitation member 34 in the entirety of the conveyance chamber 36 of the developer container 32 in the longitudinal direction. therefore, the time the user takes to confirm that toner replenishment has been performed can be shortened, and the usability can be improved. in addition, since toner accommodated in the developer container 32 is flattened, the precision of the toner remainder amount information from the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 and the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 can be improved. then, during the toner replenishment process, the toner remainder amount information in the developer container 32 is detected by the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 and the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 every predetermined time (threshold value (3). for example, as illustrated in fig. 17a , the user replenishes the developer container 32 with toner from the toner pack 40 in a state in which the toner remainder amount panel 400 indicates that the toner remainder amount is at the low level. then, after the toner remainder amount panel 400 indicates that the toner remainder amount is at the mid level as illustrated in fig. 17b , the toner remainder amount panel 400 indicates that the toner remainder amount is at the full level as illustrated in fig. 17c . as a result of this, the user can reliably recognize that the developer container 32 has been replenished with toner from the toner pack 40 , and the usability can be improved. here, section views of figs. 16a to 16c indicates 16 a- 16 a section of fig. 6 . figs. 16a and 16b illustrate that the light emitting portion 52 a is disposed at the right end of the photosensitive drum 21 in the longitudinal direction. in addition, the light emitting portion 51 a and the light receiving portions 51 b and 52 b are disposed at the same/approximately the same position in the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drum 21 . due to sensor arrangement restriction in the apparatus body, the sensors might be arranged as illustrated in figs. 16a and 16b in some cases. also in such cases, the usability can be improved as described above by the rotation of the agitation member 34 in the toner replenishment. in addition, in some cases, a sensor might be disposed approximately right under the replenishment port 32 a . in such a case, as illustrated in fig. 16b , more of the replenished toner might be distributed on the left side and it might take more time to flatten the toner surface in the entirety of the photosensitive drum 21 in the longitudinal direction. to detect the toner replenishment state accurately, the toner surface needs to be flattened in the entire region in the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drum 21 . however, even in such a case, in the present embodiment, the rotation of the agitation member 34 in toner replenishment flattens the toner surface in the entire region in the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drum 21 , and the usability can be improved. relationship between amount of toner charged into toner pack and capacity of developer container next, the relationship between the amount of toner charged into the toner pack 40 and the capacity of the developer container 32 will be described. the developer container 32 is capable of accommodating toner of z [g] as illustrated in fig. 18a . to be noted, although illustration is given in terms of grams (g) in figs. 18a to 18c , the unit may be converted into a unit indicating capacity such as milliliters (ml). in the case where the developer container 32 accommodates toner of 0 [g] to x [g], the toner remainder amount panel 400 indicates the low level on the basis of the detection results of the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 and the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 . x [g] corresponds to a second amount, and the toner amount of 0 [g] to x [g] corresponds to a toner amount smaller than the second amount. in the case where the developer container 32 accommodates toner of x [g] to y [g], the toner remainder amount panel 400 indicates the mid level on the basis of the detection result of the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 and the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 . y [g] corresponds to a first amount, and a toner amount of x [g] to y [g] corresponds to a toner amount smaller than the first amount. in the case where the developer container 32 accommodates toner of y [g] or more, the toner remainder amount panel 400 indicates the full level on the basis of the detection result of the first toner remainder amount sensor 51 and the second toner remainder amount sensor 52 . the toner amount of y [g] or more corresponds to a toner amount of first amount or more. fig. 18b is a graph indicating the toner amount in the case where the developer container 32 is replenished with toner by using the toner pack 40 filled with toner of a [g]. fig. 18c is a graph indicating the toner amount in the case where the developer container 32 is replenished with toner by using the toner pack 40 filled with toner of b [g] (>a). to be noted, the product lineup of the toner pack 40 may include either one or both of a toner pack of a small capacity filled with toner of only a [g] and a toner pack of a large capacity filled with toner of b [g]. in addition, the product lineup of the toner pack 40 is not limited to 2, and 3 or more kinds may be prepared. in the present embodiment, the amount of toner (a, b) charged into the toner pack 40 serving as a replenishment container satisfies the following formulae (1) and (2). y≤a<z−y (1) y≤b<z−y (2) as illustrated in fig. 18b , if the developer container 32 is replenished with toner of just a [g] by the toner pack 40 in the case where toner remaining in the developer container 32 is r [g] in the range of 0 [g] to x [g], the developer container 32 accommodates toner of (r+a) [g]. since y<(r+a) is satisfied according to the formula (1) described above, the toner remainder amount panel 400 after the toner replenishment indicates the full level. that is, the threshold value y [g] of the full level is smaller than the replenishment amount a [g] supplied from the toner pack 40 . in addition, as illustrated in fig. 18c , if the developer container 32 is replenished with toner of b [g] by the toner pack 40 in the case where toner remaining in the developer container 32 is r [g], the developer container 32 accommodates toner of (r+b) [g]. since y<(r+b) is satisfied according to the formula (2) described above, the toner remainder amount panel 400 after the toner replenishment indicates the full level. as described above, the capacity of the developer container 32 is set such that the toner remainder amount panel 400 always indicates the full level in the case where toner replenishment is performed when the toner remainder amount panel 400 indicates the mid level or the low level. to be noted, the capacity of the developer container 32 does not have to be set such that the single toner pack 40 achieves the full level, and for example, the full level may be achieved by replenishment using a plurality of toner packs 40 each accommodating a small amount of toner. in addition, the capacity of the developer container 32 is, according to the formulae (1) and (2) described above, set such that all toner charged into the toner pack 40 can move to the developer container 32 when the toner remainder amount panel 400 indicates the mid level or the low level. that is, the maximum amount z [g] of the developer that can be accommodated in the developer container 32 is larger than a value obtained by adding the amount (a [g] or b [g]) of developer accommodated in the toner pack 40 to y [g], which is the boundary between the full level and the mid level. in other words, the amount of toner charged into the toner pack 40 is smaller than the difference between the maximum amount of toner (z [g]) that can be accommodated in the developer container 32 and the toner remainder amount (y [g]) that is the boundary between the mid level and the full level. as a result of this, the developer container 32 does not become full of toner while replenishing the developer container 32 with toner by using the toner pack 40 , and leakage of toner from the replenishment port 32 a during toner replenishment can be suppressed. as described above, in the present embodiment, the second opening portion 82 a is defined in the discharge tray 81 of the top cover 82 , and the opening/closing member 83 openably and closably provided on the top cover 82 . the opening/closing member 83 covers the second opening portion 82 a in a closed state, and exposes the replenishment port 32 a of the developer container 32 in an open state. therefore, the user can access the replenishment port 32 a by just opening the opening/closing member 83 . in the present embodiment, since the system (direct replenishment system) in which the developer container 32 is replenished with toner directly from the toner pack 40 through the replenishment port 32 a is employed, the process cartridge 20 does not have to be taken out when replenishing the developer container 32 with toner. in addition, the replenishment port 32 a of the developer container 32 is defined in the upper surface of the first projection portion 37 projecting upward from one end portion of the conveyance chamber 36 in the longitudinal direction, and is thus disposed in the vicinity of the second opening portion 82 a . therefore, the user can easily perform the toner replenishment operation on the developer container 32 through the replenishment port 32 a . in addition, parts such as the developing roller 31 and the supply roller 33 are not replaced when replenishing the developer container 32 with toner, and thus the cost can be reduced. in addition, since the laser passage space sp is formed to be surrounded by the first projection portion 37 , the second projection portion 38 , the grip portion 39 , and the conveyance chamber 36 , the developer container 32 and the scanner unit 11 can be disposed in the vicinity of each other, and thus the image forming apparatus 1 can be miniaturized. further, when attaching the toner pack 40 to the replenishment port 32 a and performing the toner replenishment operation, since the agitation member 34 is driven, the packing phenomenon can be suppressed even if the replenishment port 32 a is disposed on the one end side of the developer container 32 in the longitudinal direction. as a result of this, image defects can be reduced, and the detection precision of the toner remainder amount information can be improved. in addition, the maximum amount z [g] of the developer that can be accommodated by the developer container 32 is set to be larger than a value obtained by adding the amount (a [g] or b [g]) of developer accommodated by the toner pack 40 to y [g], which is the boundary between the full level and the mid level. therefore, the developer container 32 does not become full of toner while replenishing the developer container 32 with toner by using the toner pack 40 , and leakage of toner from the replenishment port 32 a during toner replenishment can be suppressed. by configuring the image forming apparatus 1 in this manner, a mode of an image forming apparatus that can satisfy the needs of the user can be provided. to be noted, although the agitation member 34 is driven for a predetermined time (threshold value α) on the basis of operation of the button 1 of the operation portion 300 by the user in the toner replenishment process in the present embodiment, this is not limiting. for example, the driving of the agitation member 34 may be started by pushing the button 1 once, and the driving of the agitation member 34 may be stopped by pushing the button 1 again. alternatively, the agitation member 34 may be driven only while the button 1 is pushed. in addition, the display portion 301 may display a replenishment notification for prompting toner replenishment when the toner remainder amount of the developer container 32 reaches the low level. in addition, a replenishment notification for prompting toner replenishment may be displayed on the display portion 301 when the toner runs out. in addition, although the toner remainder amount of the developer container 32 is notified to the user by the toner remainder amount panel 400 , the three-indicator configuration like the present embodiment does not have to be employed. for example, the toner remainder amount panel 400 may be constituted by one indicator, two indicators, four indicators, or more indicators. in addition, a configuration in which the toner remainder amount is continuously indicated by percentage presentation or gauge presentation. in addition, the notification of the toner remainder amount to the user may be performed by sound by using a loudspeaker. first modification example fig. 19a illustrates a first modification example of the first embodiment. as illustrated in fig. 19a , in an image forming apparatus 1 b, a replenishment port 132 a of a developer container is disposed on the right side of the apparatus, and an opening/closing member 83 b is disposed on the right side of the apparatus. the opening/closing member 83 b exposes the replenishment port 132 a in an open state, and covers the replenishment port 132 a in a closed state. by disposing the replenishment port 132 a on the right side of the apparatus as described above, the replenishment port 132 a is positioned in the vicinity of the toner remainder amount panel 400 . therefore, the toner remainder amount panel 400 can be easily checked when replenishing the developer container with toner using the toner pack 40 . second modification example in addition, the configuration is not limited to the embodiment illustrated in fig. 19a , and as illustrated in fig. 19b , the present invention may be applied to an image forming apparatus 1 c configured such that an opening/closing member 83 c is opened to the front. third modification example in addition, as illustrated in fig. 19c , the present invention may be applied to an image forming apparatus 1 d configured such that an opening/closing member 83 d is opened to the rear side. fourth modification example in addition, as illustrated in fig. 20a , an operation portion 300 e may be disposed in the reading apparatus 200 instead of in the printer body 100 , or may be disposed on the right side of the apparatus together with the toner remainder amount panel 400 . to be noted, as a matter of course, the operation portion 300 e and the toner remainder amount panel 400 may be both disposed on the right side of the apparatus. fifth modification example in addition, as illustrated in fig. 20b , a toner remainder amount panel 400 f may be disposed on the left side of the apparatus, and an operation portion 300 f may be disposed on the right side of the apparatus. second embodiment next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. in the second embodiment, the configuration of the replenishment port 32 a is changed from the first embodiment. therefore, elements substantially the same as in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference signs in the drawings, or the illustration thereof will be omitted. as illustrated in fig. 21a , in an image forming apparatus 1 g, an opening/closing member 83 g is openably and closably supported by the top cover 82 , and the opening/closing member 83 g is configured to be opened to the rear side of the apparatus. by opening the opening/closing member 83 g, a replenishment port 232 a of a developer container 32 g is exposed. further, the replenishment port 232 a opens downstream and upward in the discharge direction of the discharge roller pair 80 so as to be inclined with respect to the vertical direction. in other words, the replenishment port 232 a opens obliquely toward the upper front side. by configuring the replenishment port 232 a in this manner, the toner pack 40 becomes inclined toward the front side in the state of being attached to the replenishment port 232 a . therefore, the space between the replenishment port 232 a and the reading apparatus 200 can be utilized efficiently, and also a toner pack of a large capacity can be attached to the replenishment port 232 a. to be noted, as illustrated in figs. 22a and 22b , an opening/closing member 83 h and the reading apparatus 200 may be configured to be held at a less steep angle than in figs. 21a and 21b . by employing such a configuration, the installation space for the image forming apparatus 1 can be reduced. third embodiment next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. in the third embodiment, the configuration of the cartridge guides 102 is changed from the first embodiment. therefore, elements substantially the same as in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference signs in the drawings, or the illustration thereof will be omitted. as illustrated in figs. 23a and 23b , an image forming apparatus 1 j includes a printer body 100 j and a reading apparatus 200 , and the printer body 100 j includes cartridge guides 102 j. the cartridge guides 102 j slide on projection portions 21 a (see fig. 5a ) provided at end portions of the photosensitive drum 21 in the axial direction, and thus guide the process cartridge 20 when drawing out the process cartridge 20 . draw-out stoppers 102 ja are formed at the downstream ends of the cartridge guides 102 j in the draw-out direction. therefore, when the user draws out the process cartridge 20 as illustrated in fig. 23b , the projection portions 21 a of the process cartridge 20 abut the draw-out stoppers 102 ja, and thus the process cartridge 20 is not detached from the printer body 100 j. to be noted, unillustrated rotation stoppers are provided in the vicinity of the draw-out stoppers 102 ja, and the process cartridge 20 is held by the rotation stoppers so as not to rotate in the state of abutting the draw-out stoppers 102 ja. as described above, in a state in which the process cartridge 20 is drawn out along the cartridge guides 102 j, the replenishment port 32 a is positioned on the front side of the image forming apparatus 1 j as illustrated in figs. 24, 25a, and 25b . therefore, the toner replenishment operation of replenishing the developer container 32 with toner through the replenishment port 32 a by using the toner pack 40 can be easily performed. in addition, since a large space is provided right above the replenishment port 32 a , a toner pack of a large capacity can be attached to the replenishment port 32 a . to be noted, all the embodiments and modification examples described above may be combined appropriately. to be noted, although the reading apparatus 200 is provided above the printer body in all the embodiments described above, this is not limiting. that is, the image forming apparatus may be a printer that does not include a reading apparatus. in addition, the reading apparatus may be a reading apparatus that includes an auto document feeder (adf) that feeds a document. other embodiment embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (asic)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). the computer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (cpu), micro processing unit (mpu)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions. the computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium. the storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (ram), a read only memory (rom), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (cd), digital versatile disc (dvd), or blu-ray disc (bd)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like. while the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. the scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
045-812-324-331-073	US	[ "US" ]	A43C13/14,A43B23/08	2014-11-11T00:00:00	2014	[ "A43" ]	shoe toe cap	a shoe toe cap for protecting a toe end of a shoe is disclosed. the shoe toe cap has various layers adhered together to form a single piece for use on the shoe toe cap. adhesive film layers and polyurethane film layers are combined to form the inventive shoe toe cap. a lowermost adhesive film layer is temporarily or permanently adhered to the toe end of the shoe. a series of polyurethane film layers are adhered on top of the lowermost adhesive film layer. the shoe toe cap is abrasion and creep resistant and increases the life of the shoe.	1 . a shoe toe cap comprising: a first layer adhering on top of a toe end of a shoe, wherein the first layer is an adhesive film; and a second layer adhering on the top of the first layer, wherein the second layer is a polyurethane film. 2 . the shoe toe cap of claim 1 , wherein the first layer is temporarily adhered on the top of the toe end of the shoe. 3 . the shoe toe cap of claim 1 wherein the first layer is permanently adhered on the top of the toe end of the shoe. 4 . the shoe toe cap of claim 1 , wherein the polyurethane film is made of aliphatic polyurethane. 5 . the shoe toe cap of claim 1 , wherein the shoe toe cap is used on shoes made of a fabric from at least one of nylon, polyester, leather, linen, cotton, rayon and vinyl. 6 . the shoe toe cap of claim 1 , wherein the shoe toe cap is shaped to adhere to the toe end and heel end of the shoe. 7 . the shoe toe cap of claim 1 , wherein the shoe toe cap has tensile strength in the range of 1.08 lbf to 5.13 lbf. 8 . the shoe toe cap of claim 1 , wherein the shoe toe cap is resistant to creep and abrasion. 9 . a shoe toe cap comprising: a first layer adhering on top of a toe end of a shoe, wherein the first layer is an adhesive film; a second layer adhering on top of the first layer, further comprising a first polyurethane film having an imprint thereon, and a second polyurethane film on top of the first imprinted polyurethane film. 10 . the shoe toe cap of claim 9 , wherein the first layer is temporarily adhered on the top layer of the toe end of the shoe. 11 . the shoe toe cap of claim 9 , wherein the first layer is permanently adhered on the top layer of the toe end of the shoe. 12 . the shoe toe cap of claim 9 , wherein the first polyurethane film and the second polyurethane film are made of aliphatic polyurethane. 13 . the shoe toe cap of claim 9 , wherein the shoe toe cap is used on shoes made of a fabric from at least one of nylon, polyester, leather, linen, cotton, rayon and vinyl. 14 . the shoe toe cap of claim 9 , wherein the second polyurethane film layer is imprinted with a design for decorative purpose. 15 . the shoe toe cap of claim 9 , wherein the shoe toe cap is shaped to adhere to the toe end and heel end of the shoe. 16 . the shoe toe cap of claim 9 , wherein the shoe toe cap has tensile strength in the range of 1.08 lbf to 5.13 lbf. 17 . the shoe toe cap of claim 9 , wherein the shoe toe cap is resistant to creep. 18 . the shoe toe cap of claim 9 , wherein the shoe toe cap is resistant to abrasion. 19 . the shoe toe cap of claim 1 , wherein the shoe toe cap is placed on a shoe before the shoe is finally constructed. 20 . the shoe toe cap of claim 1 , wherein the shoe toe cap is placed on one of a carry bag, luggage, transport boxes, briefcase and purse.	cross reference to related application(s) this is a non-provisional patent application based on co-pending u.s. provisional patent application ser. no. 62/077,991 (attorney docket no. ld-14-1) previously titled “shoe toe cap”, filed on nov. 11, 2014, the priority of which is hereby claimed and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. background 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to a protector used for the protection of a shoe. more particularly, the present invention relates to a shoe toe cap which increases the durability of the shoe. 2. description of the related art various methods have been used in the past to prolong life of the shoes and to protect them from getting damaged. one of the techniques includes the use of a shoe toe cap for footwear. this method is very well documented in the art. the shoe toe cap includes a piece of cloth or polymer or any other suitable material which covers the toe end of the shoe. different types of shoe toe caps used on footwear's serve different purposes. for e.g. working boots for factory workers are designs to have steel toe cap to ensure safety from heavy tools and machine parts. shoes designed for athletes have shoe toe caps made of material which protect and extend the life of the cleats. children while playing, rub their shoes on a street sidewalk, or on a dirt road, especially the toe end of the shoe. hence toe caps for shoes worn by children are generally abrasion resistant which prevent scuffing and keep the shoes dirt free. an example of children's shoes with built in toe cap protection method include converse brand chuck taylor shoes with thick latex rubber on the toe end. generally shoes with toe protection are those which are provided by the manufacturer and are essentially built-in or stitched onto the shoe, such as the converse brand shoes described. shoe toe cap are made of different fabrics and material like leather, rubber, textiles, etc. leather is more prone to cracking and wearing while vulcanised rubber is heavy and hard, resistant to wear and tear. therefore, sports or hiking shoes will have toe caps made of vulcanised rubber while shoes made for day to day use will have toe caps made of leather. various types of shoe toe caps have already been described in the art. u.s. pat. no 2,380,050 by karp jack provides an attachable toe cap for shoes, which is made of plastic material. the toe cap is stitched and then cemented to the shoe welt. there remains a risk of fracturing of the plastic material when the toe end is subjected to pressure. also as the toe cap is cemented and stitched to the welt, any damage to the toe cap can cause considerable damage to the shoe which can be beyond repair. us publication no 2006/042,125 by eddie chen and phoenix hsu discloses a light weight, abrasion resistant shoe toe cap. the toe cap is made of composite material having a fabric layer and an abrasion resistant coating layer adhered to the fabric layer. wipo publication no 2,013,112,022 by tae won sohn and jung soo yoon discloses a toe cap produced from high tenacity fibre sheet. the toe cap has sufficient load carrying capacity and impact resistance. however, the toe cap gets permanently adhered to the shoes, so if the toe cap is damaged or disfigured, it destroys the physical appeal of the shoes. in light of the foregoing discussion, there exists a need for an innovative, robust and a durable after-market shoe toe cap which can protect the shoe from scuffing and also gives an attractive appeal to the shoes. preferably something which does not impact the physical appearance of the shoe as purchased and vet protects the toe end, or the heel end, from damage such as scuffing, tearing, or scratches from abrasions. summary an object of the present invention is to provide a shoe toe cap protector, as an after-market item, which is placed on a toe end of a shoe to extend the life and appearance of the shoe. the inventive shoe toe cap protector can also be used on shoe heels or other items subject to abrasion. the shoe toe cap is made of composite materials comprising two or more layers. a layer of an adhesive film which has a backing forms a bottom most layer of the shoe toe cap which is in contact with the toe end of the shoe. a first polyurethane film is adhered on top of the adhesive layer. according to another embodiment, the shoe toe cap can also be provided with an additional layer for decorative purpose. the first polyurethane film can optionally be imprinted with a design for decorative purposes. the shoe toe cap is made of a first layer of the adhesive film which is placed on the toe end of the shoe, a second layer of a white or a coloured first polyurethane film with the desired imprint placed on top of the first layer, and followed by a third layer of a second polyurethane film placed over the imprinted layer. all layers adhere to each other forming the shoe toe cap. brief description of drawings the features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings provided to illustrate and not to limit the scope of the claims, wherein like designations denote like elements, and in which: fig. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a shoe with a shoe toe cap; fig. 2a shows a section of the shoe toe cap according to an embodiment of the invention; and fig. 2b shows a section of the shoe toe cap with the imprinted layer of the polyurethane film according to another embodiment of the invention. detailed description of embodiments as used in the specification and claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. for example, the term “an article” may include a plurality of articles unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. those with ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and are not necessarily drawn to scale. for example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated, relative to other elements, in order to improve the understanding of the present invention. there may be additional components described in the foregoing application that are not depicted on one of the described drawings. in the event such a component is described, but not depicted in a drawing, the absence of such a drawing should not be considered as an omission of such design from the specification. before describing the present invention in detail, it should be observed that the present invention utilizes a combination of system components which constitutes a shoe toe cap for prolonging the life of a shoe. accordingly, the components and the method steps have been represented, showing only specific details that are pertinent for an understanding of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those with ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. as required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting but rather to provide an understandable description of the invention. a schematic perspective view of a shoe 100 with a shoe toe cap 102 is shown in fig. 1 according to an embodiment of the invention. the shoe toe cap 102 adheres to a toe end 104 of the shoe 100 . the shoe toe cap 102 prolongs the life of the shoe 100 . the shoe toe cap 102 provides high abrasion resistance, high tear strength and prevents scuffing of the material of the shoe 100 . it should be appreciated that the shoe toe cap 102 can also be used to protect any other portion of the shoe 100 such as a heel end of the shoe 100 or other vulnerable areas of the shoe. the shoe toe cap 102 can also be designed to enhance the attractive appeal of the shoe 100 by imprinting it with various designs and colours. according to an embodiment the shoe toe cap 102 is specifically designed as an after-market product. however, it should be appreciated that the application of the shoe toe cap 102 is not limited so as to be used only as an after-market item. it can also be placed on a shoe before it is finally constructed and hence can be a “before market” application item. it should also be appreciated that the use of the shoe toe cap 102 is not restricted to shoes and footwear. the shoe toe cap 102 can also be used to protect other items such as carry bags, luggage, transport boxes, briefcases, and purses which are prone to abrasion and scuffing. a sectional view of the shoe toe cap 102 is shown in fig. 2a and fig. 2 b. the shoe toe cap 102 includes a first layer 106 and a second layer 108 as shown in fig. 2a according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention. the first layer 106 is an adhesive film 106 which has a backing for ease in transport and handling. the second layer 108 is a first polyurethane film 108 . the first layer 106 is adhered on top of the toe end 104 of the shoe 100 . the second layer 108 is adhered on the top of the first layer 106 . according to another embodiment of the invention, the shoe toe cap 102 is provided with an imprinted layer as shown in fig. 2 b. the shoe toe cap 102 with imprint comprises at least three layers. the imprinting is optional and is done primarily to enhance the attractive and aesthetic appeal of the shoe 100 . the three layers include the first layer 106 of the adhesive film 106 , the second layer 108 of the first polyurethane film 108 having a design thereon, and a third layer 110 the third layer is preferably clear to not alter the imprint, or it can also be imprinted to accompany the first layer imprint on the shoe. generally, the second layer 108 is imprinted with a design for decorative purposes. the second layer 108 has a white or a coloured backing onto which a design is imprinted. the backing can be made of polyurethane or a number of other thin films which are suitable for imprinting. the third layer 110 is adhered on the top of the second layer 108 as shown in fig. 2 b. the third layer 110 is a second polyurethane film 110 . the third layer 110 is adhered on top of the imprinted second layer 108 so as to ensure that the design is not impaired or scrubbed away in event of scuffing of the shoe 100 . it should be appreciated that the term first layer 106 and the term adhesive film 106 can be interchangeably used throughout the course of this disclosure. it should also be appreciated that the term second layer 108 and the term first polyurethane film 108 can be interchangeably used throughout the course of this disclosure. it should also be appreciated that the term third layer 110 and the term second polyurethane film 110 can be interchangeably used throughout the course of this disclosure. in another embodiment, the shoe toe cap 102 can be made of more than three layers. optionally for example, an adhesive layer can be placed between the two polyurethane films to allow for greater adhesion and scuff protection. according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first polyurethane film 108 and the second polyurethane film 110 are preferably made of aliphatic polyurethane as they tend to be more durable, less yellowing, and longer lasting than the aromatic or other polyurethanes. the use of any other suitable materials for preparing the first polyurethane film 108 and the second polyurethane film 110 is well within the scope of this invention. the adhesive film 106 , the first polyurethane film 108 and the second polyurethane film 110 are transparent so that the shoe design is not impacted, and the aesthetic feature of the invention remains. also if a user desires an imprinted design for the shoe toe cap 102 , the user can see the design on the first polyurethane film 108 . however, as mentioned above, the second polyurethane film can also be imprinted. the shoe toe cap 102 can either be temporarily adhered or permanently adhered to the toe end 104 of the shoe 100 . the shoe toe cap 102 is placed on the top layer of the toe end 104 of the shoe 100 and an outline of the toe end 104 of the shoe 100 is traced on the shoe toe cap 102 . the shoe toe cap 102 is cut as per the outline traced. a backing paper covering the adhesive film 106 is removed and the shoe toe cap 102 is adhered to the toe end 104 of the shoe 100 . it is preferable but not mandatory to apply heat, with a blow dryer or iron, while applying pressure to the toe cap. in an alternate description, when the shoe toe cap 102 is used without an imprinted design, there are at least two layers present to form the shoe toe cap 102 : the first layer 106 being an adhesive which sticks to the toe end 104 of the shoe 100 , and the second layer 108 which is a polyurethane and sticks to the first layer 106 . when the shoe toe cap 102 is used with an imprint, there are at least three layers present: the first (adhesive) layer 106 which sticks to the toe end 104 of the shoe 100 , the second (polyurethane) layer 108 having an imprint thereon which sticks to the first layer 106 and the third (clear polyurethane) layer 110 which sticks to the second layer 108 . again, multiple layers can be used and imprinted as desired. in yet another embodiment of the present invention the shoe toe cap include a second adhesive layer (not shown) placed between the second layer 108 and the third layer 110 . the shoe toe cap 102 of the present invention can be used on shoes made of a variety of different fabrics. examples include nylon (89% nylon, 17% metallic), polyester (100%), leather, linen (100%), cotton (100%), rayon and vinyl (100%). it should be appreciated the shoe toe cap 102 can also be used on fabrics or textiles suitable for shoes or shoe construction, other than the above mentioned examples. the shoe fabric can be anything which the polyurethane and adhesive will stick and remain on the shoe for protection of the toe cap. laboratory testing for tensile strength, creep and taber abrasion has been conducted on the seven fabrics mentioned above after they were adhered to the shoe toe cap 102 . each fabric adhered to the shoe toe cap 102 was treated as a separate specimen and was individually tested. results indicated that the inventive toe cap protected the fabric from scrapes, scuffs, and abrasion while remaining adhered throughout. tables 1-4 attached herein show the samples as submitted and as tested. portions of the data are reproduced within the body of the specification for ease of review. the tensile strength test (tables 2 and 3) for each of the specimen was conducted under conditions before and after applying heat at 60 degree celsius. each specimen was subjected to 180° peel at a constant rate of 50 mm/minute under both the conditions. the results of the tensile strength test before heating and after heating are as follows: tensile strength testing, before heating sample peel strengthbefore heatingpeak load (lbf)(lbf/in)89% nylon 17%1.460.992metallic100% polyester1.861.229leather2.5732.159100% linen1.080.664100% cotton5.133.068rayon2.4152.156100% vinyl2.4261.965 tensile strength testing, after heating sample peel strengthafter heating (60° c.)peak load (lbf)(lbf/in)89% nylon 17%2.2361.691metallic100% polyester2.7771.879leather1.8820.931100% linen1.4941.128100% cotton5.0142.809rayon3.9953.065100% vinyl1.7911.449 for tensile strength, it was found the strength increased after heating for nylon, polyester, linen, and rayon. the tensile strength decreased after heating for leather, cotton and vinyl. the creep test for each of the specimen was conducted under conditions subjected to oven aging at 40° c. and by increasing the temperature by 10° c. every hour until it reaches 60° c. it was observed that for all specimens there was no creepage of the shoe toe cap 102 which was adhered to the fabric or material. creep data is shown in table 1. the taber abrasion test for each of the specimen was conducted under conditions subjected to abrasion testing using a 500 g load and cs-10 wheels for 250 cycles. it was observed that no specimen exhibited wear through the shoe toe cap 102 to the material. taber abrasion data is shown in table 4. for the present examples and data collected, fabrics as discussed above were employed. the adhesive used was a 3m company supplied adhesive number 9472le which is employed on the adhesive transfer tape and has a low surface energy acrylic adhesive providing high bond strength to most surfaces. it was found to be suitable for fabrics having light contamination with machine oil parts such as found on after-market shoes of cloth or leather or synthetic fabrics. it was found to have excellent to good adhesion onto the surfaces employed. the technical data for adhesive 300lse and in particular number 9472le can be found on the 3m website, herein incorporated by reference. film 9472le has a 5.2 mil (132 micron) thickness, 58# polycoated kraft liner, the adhesive is solvent free and acrylic based. this adhesive has: good bond strength, humidity resistance after exposure for 7 days at 90 f (32 c) and 90% humidity, water has no appreciable effect on the bond strength after 100 hours at room temperature, the bond is maintained, chemical resistance to oil, mild acids and alkalis, and has a lower service temperature to about −40 f (−40 c). the polyurethane used was as supplied by api (american polyfilm, inc.) of branford, conn., usa. it was supplied as pn 1001, aliphatic polycaprolactone-base polyurethane, having the following values: polyurethane pn 1001 specification test valuesastm methoddurometer92ad2240specific gravity1.12d792elongation at break380%d412tensile strength at6000 psid412break100 o/o modulus1000 psid412300 o/o modulus4500 psid412tear strength460 psid624melt range195-250° f. the polyurethane film was reported to have exceptional clarity, good uv stability and high hydrolysis resistance per api. the present invention has been described herein with reference to a particular embodiment for a particular application. although selected embodiments have been illustrated and described in detail, it may be understood that various substitutions and alterations are possible. those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the present teachings may recognize additional various substitutions and alterations are also possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and as defined by the following claim.
046-988-405-411-230	US	[ "CA", "AU", "WO", "US" ]	G01J5/02,A62C3/02,G08B17/12,G08B25/10	2004-07-23T00:00:00	2004	[ "G01", "A62", "G08" ]	infrared fire detection sensor and method	a system and method for detecting radiation indicative of fire, such as forest fire. in one embodiment, a threshold energy level determined based on ambient sensor conditions. a sensor unit may be setup to scan a predetermined area for electromagnetic radiation (805). any detected electromagnetic radiation may then be band pass filtered to a wavelength range centered about a predetermined frequency associated with the presence of fire (810). the resulting energy level signal may then be further filter to pass only those signals which exhibit a 'flicker' frequency (815). if the resulting filtered signal exceeds the threshold signal (820), fire notification signal may then be generated (825).	claims 1. a method comprising: receiving electromagnetic radiation from an energy source; filtering said electromagnetic radiation to a wavelength range centered about a predetermined frequency associated with the presence of fire. generating an energy level signal based on said received electromagnetic radiation; filtering said energy level signal to a flicker frequency range indicative of fire; comparing a magnitude of said energy level signal to a threshold value, and if said energy level signal is greater than said threshold value; generating a fire notification signal. 2. the method of claim 1, wherein said predetermined frequency is approximately 4.3 microns in the infrared spectrum. 3. the method of claim 1, wherein said filtering said energy level signal comprises filtering said energy level signal to a flicker frequency range indicative of fire, said frequency range to be between 1 and 10 hertz. 4. the method of claim 1, wherein said receiving electromagnetic radiation comprises receiving radiation emission from heated carbon dioxide. 5. the method of claim 1, wherein said generating the fire notification signal comprises generating the fire notification signal where said fire notification signal include fire location information. 6. the method of claim 1, further comprising (a) rotating a mirror of an infrared sensor in a circular path; (b) pausing said mirror on each of a plurality of bearings along said circular path, wherein each of said plurality of bearings spans a predetermined number of degrees; (c) taking a plurality of energy samples for each of said plurality of bearings using said infrared sensor during said pausing; (d) computing an energy value for each of said plurality of bearings based on said plurality of energy samples; (e) comparing said energy values for each of said plurality of bearings to said threshold value; and (f) repeating (a) and (e) until said energy value for one of said plurality of bearings exceeds the threshold value a predetermined number of times. 7. the method of claim 6, when said energy value for one of said plurality of bearings has exceeded the threshold value the predetermined number of times, the method further comprising: taking additional energy samples for said one of said plurality of bearings that exceeded the threshold value the predetermined number of times; normalizing said additional energy samples; comparing said normalized additional energy samples to the said threshold value; and generating said fire notification signal when said normalized additional energy samples exceeds said threshold value. 8. the method of claim 6, wherein said threshold value is determined using the formula, threshold = ev m ean + (γ • evsd), where, eviviean = the mean of the plurality of energy samples, evs d = the standard deviation of the plurality of energy samples, and, q -1 (desire false alarm rate), where q" 1 is the inverse q function. 9. the method of claim 6, wherein said threshold value is dynamically adjusted based on said plurality of energy samples. 10. a system comprising: a sensor for receiving electromagnetic radiation from an energy source; a first filter coupled to the sensor for filtering said electromagnetic radiation to a wavelength range centered about a predetermined frequency associated with the presence of fire; a second filter for filtering said energy level signal to a flicker frequency range indicative of fire; and a processor coupled to the sensor to compare a magnitude of said energy level signal to a threshold value, and if said energy level signal is greater than said threshold value, said processor is to generate a fire notification signal. 11. the system of claim 10, wherein said predetermined frequency is approximately 4.3 microns in the infrared spectrum. 12. the system of claim 10, wherein said flicker frequency range is between 1 and 10 hertz. 13. the system of claim 10, wherein said electromagnetic radiation comprises radiation emission from heated carbon dioxide. 14. the system of claim 10, wherein said fire notification signal includes fire location information. 15. the system of claim 10, further comprising processing circuitry coupled to the sensor, said processing circuitry to, (a) rotate a mirror of the sensor in a circular path; (b) pause said mirror on each of a plurality of bearings along said circular path, wherein each of said plurality of bearings spans a predetermined number of degrees; (c) take a plurality of energy samples for each of said plurality of bearings using said sensor during said pausing; (d) compute an energy value for each of said plurality of bearings based on said plurality of energy samples; (e) compare said energy values for each of said plurality of bearings to said threshold value; and (f) repeat (a) and (e) until said energy value for one of said plurality of bearings exceeds the threshold value a predetermined number of times. 16. the system of claim 15, when said energy value for one of said plurality of bearings has exceeded the threshold value the predetermined number of times, the processing circuitry is further to, take additional energy samples for said one of said plurality of bearings that exceeded the threshold value the predetermined number of times; normalize said additional energy samples; compare said normalized additional energy samples to the said threshold value; and generate said fire notification signal when said normalized additional energy samples exceeds said threshold value. 17. the system of claim 15, wherein said threshold value is determined using the formula, threshold = ev m ean + (γ • evsd), where, evmean = the mean of the plurality of energy samples, evsd = the standard deviation of the plurality of energy samples, and, q -1 (desire false alarm rate), where q 1 is the inverse q function. 18. the system of claim 15, wherein said processing circuitry includes at least one of a microprocessor, a root mean square conditioning circuit and a digital frequency converting circuit. 19. the system of claim 15, wherein said threshold value is dynamically adjusted based on said plurality of energy samples. 20. a computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, wherein said computer readable program code causes processing circuitry to: receive electromagnetic radiation from an energy source; filter said electromagnetic radiation to a wavelength range centered about a predetermined frequency associated with the presence of fire. generate an energy level signal based on said received electromagnetic radiation; filter said energy level signal to a flicker frequency range indicative of fire; compare a magnitude of said energy level signal to a threshold value, and if said energy level signal is greater than said threshold value; generate a fire notification signal. 21. the computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein said predetermined frequency is approximately 4.3 microns in the infrared spectrum. 22. the computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein said frequency range is between 1 and 10 hertz. 23. the computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein said electromagnetic radiation comprises radiation emission from heated carbon dioxide. 24. the computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein said fire notification signal includes fire location information. 25. the computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein said computer readable program code is further to cause the processing circuitry to: (a) rotate a mirror of an infrared sensor in a circular path; (b) pause said mirror on each of a plurality of bearings along said circular path, wherein each of said plurality of bearings spans a predetermined number of degrees; (c) take a plurality of energy samples for each of said plurality of bearings using said infrared sensor during said pausing; (d) compute an energy value for each of said plurality of bearings based on said plurality of energy samples; (e) compare said energy values for each of said plurality of bearings to said threshold value; and (f) repeat (a) and (e) until said energy value for one of said plurality of bearings exceeds the threshold value a predetermined number of times. 26. the computer readable medium of claim 25, when said energy value for one of said plurality of bearings has exceeded the threshold value the predetermined number of times, the computer readable program code further to cause the processing circuitry to: take additional energy samples for said one of said plurality of bearings that exceeded the threshold value the predetermined number of times; normalize said additional energy samples; compare said normalized additional energy samples to the said threshold value; and generate said fire notification signal when said normalized additional energy samples exceeds said threshold value. 27. the computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein said threshold value is determined using the formula, threshold = ev me an + (γ • evsd), where, evmean = the mean of the plurality of energy samples, evsd = the standard deviation of the plurality of energy samples, and, q-^desire false alarm rate), where q- 1 is the inverse q function. 28. the computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein said processing circuitry includes at least one of a microprocessor, a root mean square conditioning circuit and a digital frequency converting circuit. 29. the computer readable medium of 25, wherein said threshold value is dynamically adjusted based on said plurality of energy samples.	system and method for fire detection cross reference to related application [0001] this application is a continuation-in-part of u.s. application serial no. 10/492,155, filed april 09, 2004, which based upon pct international application no. pct/us02/32242, filed october 10, 2002, which claims the benefit of u.s. provisional application serial no. 60/328,436, filed october 10, 2001. background of the invention 1. field of the invention [0002] the invention relates generally to the detection of radiation energy, and more particularly to the use of radiation sensitive sensors to detect physical phenomenon such as emergent forest fires. 2. description of related art [0003] with cities around the world becoming more severely congested and polluted, compounded by the high cost of living in urban areas, increasing numbers of the population are moving into the wildland urban interface (wui) - those areas where forest and grasslands border residential development. the appeal' of a rural setting and the privacy of a larger parcel of land provide an idyllic environment for many families. [0004] however, as more families move into the wui, there are an increased number of shared boundaries between population and wildland areas. this has resulted in an increased risk of wildfire that endangers structures and lives. this is due in part to more human activity near wildland areas which increases the chance of fire from human; carelessness or unavoidable accidents; fires started by natural causes, such as lightning; and aesthetic landscape preferences often place decorative, fuel rich trees and bushes in close proximity to structures. [0005] wildland firefighters were originally trained in conventional methods and practices of dealing with wildfires in which there were minimal structures and human habitation. however, much of the development in the wui has been oriented toward the aesthetics of living in a forested area, and has not incorporated fire safety features in the design of the roads, water systems, structures or landscaping. for example, in order to preserve the natural environment, road systems leading to the homes are often narrow and present difficult access challenges for multiple large, public safety vehicles in the event of an emergency. in view of these circumstances, there is increased reliance on homeowners to take more responsibility for their personal safety and for the protection of their homes. [0006] the changing role and level of risk of the firefighter in the growing wui necessitates a rethinking of responsibilities for safety. the current trend is for the homeowner to take more responsibility for their safety by incorporating a defensible space around their dwellings. this includes using landscaping that reduces fire risk by virtue of its location as well its level of fire resistance. [0007] increasing homeowner responsibility also necessitates incorporating means for detecting and suppressing fires quickly when they occur. there are a number of gels and foam products that retard fires and can prevent them from burning down structures when applied properly. there are many substantiated instances in which a properly foamed or gelled home escaped being burned by a voracious wildfire as it moved through the wxji. however, successful protection of a structure in a wildfire, regardless of the suppression technique employed, requires proper advanced notice and preparation. in the case of unoccupied homes, such vacation homes, there are presently no effective means for providing the necessary advanced notification of a proximate wildfire. thus, there is a need for a system and method of providing the detection of a wildfires which avoids the aforementioned problems. summary of the invention disclosed and claimed herein are systems and methods for fire detection. in one embodiment, a method includes receiving electromagnetic radiation from an energy source, filtering the electromagnetic radiation to a wavelength range centered about a predetermined frequency associated with the presence of fire, and generating an energy level signal based on the received electromagnetic radiation. the method further includes filtering the energy level signal to a flicker frequency range indicative of fire and comparing a magnitude of the energy level signal to a threshold value. in one embodiment, if the energy level signal is greater than the threshold value, a fire notification signal is generated. [0008] other aspects, features, and techniques of the invention will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art in view of the following detailed description of the invention. brief description of the drawings [0009] figure 1 is a function diagram of one embodiment of a sensor unit which implements one or more aspects of the invention; [0010] figure 2 depicts one embodiment of the exterior of a unit constructed in accordance with figure 1; [0011] figure 3 is a block diagram functionally describing one embodiment of the sensor unit of figure 1; [0012] figure 4 schematically illustrates one embodiment of directional calibration of the sensor unit of figure 1; [0013] figure 5 is a sketch of a top view of figure 1 illustrating one embodiment of rotation in the horizontal plane; [0014] figures 6a-6b illustrate a flow diagram of an exemplary process for initializing a detection system, consistent with the principles of the invention; [0015] figure 7 is one embodiment of flow diagram for carrying out radiation detection operations, consistent with the principles of the invention; and [0016] figure 8 is another embodiment of flow diagram for carrying out radiation detection operations, consistent with the principles of the invention. detailed description of exemplary embodiments [0017] one aspect of the present invention is to provide a system and method for detecting radiation indicative of fire, such as forest fire. in one embodiment, a threshold energy level is determined based on ambient sensor conditions. in one embodiment, the threshold level may be dynamically adjusted, or alternatively may be static. [0018] in one embodiment, a sensor unit is setup to scan a predetermined area for electromagnetic radiation. any detected electromagnetic radiation may then be band pass filtered to a wavelength range centered about a predetermined frequency associated with the presence of fire, which in one embodiment is 4.3 microns in the infrared spectrum. the resulting energy level signal may then be further filter to pass only those signals which exhibit a "flicker" frequency. in one embodiment, this flicker frequency is indicative of fire and ranges between 1 and 10 hertz. [0019] in another embodiment, or in addition to any of the previous embodiments, the magnitude of any detected energy level signal may be compared to the predetermined threshold value. if the energy level signal exceeds the threshold value, a notification signal indicating the presence of fire may be generated. in one embodiment, the notification signal may also include location information since the infrared sensor may report its bearing at the time the threshold value was exceeded. [0020] another aspect of the invention is to provide a reliable technique for the detection of fire which minimizes the occurrence of false positive readings. in one embodiment, this may be done by causing the infrared sensor to sweep in a circular 360 degrees path, while pausing on each of a series of bearings to take energy measurements. while each bearing can be any size, in one embodiment each bearing spans approximately 6 degrees. while paused at each bearing, a number of energy samples may be taken by the sensor. using these energy samples, an energy value for each bearings can then be computed, which in one embodiment is done using root mean square analysis. these energy values can then be compared to the threshold value. if the energy value for a given bearing exceeds the threshold value a predetermined number of times, the sensor unit may then enter a detect mode in which the bearing in question can be further analyzed. [0021] in one embodiment, while in the detect mode, the sensor unit takes additional energy samples for the bearing in question over a longer period of time. after these additional energy samples have been normalized, they may be compared against threshold value. if the threshold value is again exceeded, a fire notification signal may be generated. [0022] as mentioned above, the detection of a large co2 signal at 4.3 micrometers is suggestive of a fire. however, in order to distinguish spurious signals from 4.3 micrometer radiation of the type which may be due to sun reflection or radiation emissions from heated co2 not arising from an incipient forest fire, in one embodiment it may be helpful to detect whether the 4.3 micrometer signal has a "flicker" frequency indicative of fire. in one embodiment, this "flicker" frequency is between 1 and 10 hertz. additionally, a signal strength analysis (e.g., a root mean square analysis) of the output of the detector 12 may be used to provide for an initial determination of whether a fire has been detected. [0023] still further discrimination may be necessary to determine whether the fire is a forest fire, a campfire or a hiker mischievously holding a lit cigarette lighter in front of the radiation sensor. in one embodiment, this additional discrimination is based on a digital frequency analysis of the output of the ir detector. both of these methods of discrimination may be taken into consideration during the scanning by the stepper motor 22 under the control of the microprocessor 35, as will be further described below. [0024] via the scanning mechanism, the sensor signals from detector 12 for each bearing may be smoothed by averaging, creating a background baseline reference. in one embodiment, each bearing is comprised of a six-degree increment. as shown in figure 5, each step of the mirror covers an angle α in the horizontal direction. with each subsequent step, an additional bearing (e.g., six degrees) is covered, until a full 360° circle is accomplished. during each step the output of detector 12 may be amplified and analyzed by microprocessor 35 after being processed by the rms circuit 37. in another embodiment, before the scanning process can begin, the sensor unit 1 is initialized. one embodiment of this initialization process will now be described with reference to figure 6. 1. system overview [0025] the sensor system 1 of figure 1 illustrate one embodiment of a microprocessor-based sensor system which may be used to implement one or more aspects of the invention. the sensor system 1 of figure 1 is depicted as having a single infrared radiation (ir) detector 12 receiving radiation from source 50 passing through sapphire window 17 and reflected by rotatable mirror 19. in one embodiment, the mirror 19 provides 360° rotation in increments of 6 degrees, for example, by control of the stepping motor 22. the vertical angle 2θ may have a magnitude determined by the sapphire window 17 and the vertical distance covered by the length of mirror 19. in one embodiment, 2θ covers approximately 90 degrees which, when sensor system 1 is positioned in the forest environment, may be ±45 degrees from the horizontal. [0026] for determining fire, radiation may be detected in a narrow frequency band with a band pass centered at approximately 4.3 micrometers in the infrared spectrum (ir). in one embodiment, the sensor system 1 provides this narrow band sensitivity by using a detector 12 having a silicon window covered with two separate optical coatings. each coating may have a separate but overlapping pass band. additionally, there may be a separate sapphire window which itself has a radiation pass band. as will be described in more detail below, the basis for detection of a fire is the emission of the co2 at 4.3 micrometers while normal atmospheric co2 is absorptive at this particular wavelength. that is, solar radiation at 4.3 micrometers is almost completely absorbed by the earth's atmosphere. therefore, detection of a large signal at 4.3 micrometers is suggestive of a fire. [0027] figure 2 depicts one embodiment of the exterior of a unit constructed in accordance with figure 1. conversely, figure 3 illustrates one embodiment of the various internal structural components of a system within the sensor system 1 of figure 1. in addition to the scanning mechanism 22, the infrared detector 12, the analog amplifier 41, the root mean square (rms) conditioning circuit 37 and the digital frequency converting circuit 32, a solar energy management system 57 functions, for example, in accordance with the energy management system of the above-described u.s. patent no. 5,229,649. output signals from the sensor system 1 are sent out through the radio/ satellite modem output subsystem 55 to the fire control base station 75 terrestrially through a radio repeater 77 or by way of a satellite to a satellite gateway 87. [0028] the location of the sensor system 1 is determined based upon the gps location information programmed into the system. in another variation, the sensor system 1 can include an external call button 47 which can be depressed by a human to cause a radio signal to be sent. the system would then serve as a "call box" for injured or last hikers, woodsmen, and or others such as fireman in trouble who may have occasion to require aid or make other approved or prearranged signals to a central location. additionally, the fire system sensor can be set up so that it is normally put into an alarm mode based on vandalism or tilt event. the tilt and shock sensors 45 provide the mechanisms for such an alarm system. [0029] in addition to providing notification of forest fires, the system is equally adaptable at providing indications of fires within confined or specific areas by an alarm actuation as well as actuation of a suppression system such as water sprinkler system, a gel system or a foam system. because of the above described scanning function accomplished by the signal fixed element which continues to scan after an initial detection of fire, the system is able to not only indicate the beginning of a fire, but also when a fire ceases to exist. this can be particularly useful with respect to a water sprinkler system which, in the prior art, continues to operate until a shut-off is manually performed, sometimes many hours after the fire has occurred. in most environments, when a fire occurs and a sprinkler system is set off, the major damage is due to water caused by the continuous sprinkler operation. using this detector, with its ability to continue scanning after the beginning of a fire, allows for not only the output of the signal to initiate the water sprinkler system, a foam system or a gel system but also to shut off the suppression system when the fire is extinguished. [0030] this system allows for the control of a two-way valve to facilitate control of a sprinkler/foam/gel system. the control of the two way valve is affected through an electromechanically actuated latching solenoid that is controlled by signals from sensor system 1. the system may be wired directly to the sprinkler actuator or it may be set up for remote operation. it is also an advantage of this system that the sensor continues to scan even after a fire is extinguished so that, a sprinkler system, foam system or gel system can be reactivated if the fire reoccurs. additionally, the ability to shut off the foam/gel system allows for saving foam/gel because such systems have a limited storage capacity. [0031] orientation calibration of the sensor can be accomplished, for example, using the opto device 96 shown in figure 4 in association with the mirror 19. the opto device 96 include an optical sensor which directs light toward the spot 94 and receives the reflected light. this spot 94 may be made of gold or some other material providing precise reflection to the opto device. the opto device 96 is used to calibrate the mirrors rotational position and provides such information to the microprocessor 35. alignment to magnet north can now occur by rotating the mirror an additional number of steps until the mirror is pointing at magnetic north. this additional number of steps past the calibration point is stored by the microprocessor such that true fire bearing can be sent in an alarm situation. other forms of self calibration with respect to north may be substituted. 2. radiation detection [0032] as mentioned above, the detection of a large co2 signal at 4.3 micrometers is suggestive of a fire. however, in order to distinguish spurious signals from 4.3 micrometer radiation of the type which may be due to sun reflection or radiation emissions from heated co2 not arising from an incipient forest fire, in one embodiment it may be helpful to detect whether the 4.3 micrometer signal has a "flicker" frequency indicative of fire. in one embodiment, this "flicker" frequency is between 1 and 10 hertz. additionally, a signal strength analysis (e.g., a root mean square analysis) of the output of the detector 12 may be used to provide for an initial determination of whether a fire has been detected. [0033] still further discrimination may be necessary to determine whether the fire is a forest fire, a campfire or a hiker mischievously holding a lit cigarette lighter in front of the radiation sensor. in one embodiment, this additional discrimination is based on a digital frequency analysis of the output of the ir detector. both of these methods of discrimination may be taken into consideration during the scanning by the stepper motor 22 under the control of the microprocessor 35, as will be further described below. [0034] via the scanning mechanism, the sensor signals from detector 12 for each bearing may be smoothed by averaging, creating a background baseline reference. in one embodiment, each bearing is comprised of a six-degree increment. as shown in figure 5, each step of the mirror covers an angle α in the horizontal direction. with each subsequent step, an additional bearing (e.g., six degrees) is covered, until a full 360° circle is accomplished. during each step the output of detector 12 may be amplified and analyzed by microprocessor 35 after being processed by the rms circuit 37. in another embodiment, before the scanning process can begin, the sensor unit 1 is initialized. one embodiment of this initialization process will now be described with reference to figure 6. [0035] figure 6a is one embodiment of the initialization process 600 for sensor unit 1. process 600 begins at block 605 with the rotation of mirror 19 to a starting position or bearing, which in one embodiment can be denoted as bearing ® , where i = 1. as previously mentioned, in one embodiment stepping motor 22, under the control of microprocessor 35, can be used to rotate the mirror 19. once the mirror is positioned at the starting bearing, microprocessor 35 may wait for a predetermined delay period to allow the mirror 19 to stabilize (block 610). while in one embodiment, this delay may be 1 second, it should equally be appreciated that the delay may be more or less, and may be dependent on the final system design. [0036] after the mirror has stabilized, at block 615 the microprocessor 35 may then take a series of signal samples over the course of sample period, which in one embodiment is 1 second. these output samples may then be fed through amplifier 41 to the rms conditioner 37 under the control of the microprocessor 35. in one embodiment, the amplifier 41 is a low-frequency amplifier having a passband between approximately 1 and 10 hertz — the frequencies indicative of fire. the amplifier 41 is a low frequency amplifier having a passband between approximately 1 and 10 hertz. while the sample rate is a design consideration impacted by many factors, including the speed of microprocessor 35, in one embodiment 192 samples may be taken during the sample period. [0037] while the microprocessor 35 may fix the sample period to be 1 second as mentioned above, actual detection may only take place after a "settling in" period. that is, sample period may be divided up into a "settling in" period and a "detection" period. to that end, in one embodiment every sample period may contain an approximately 0.3 second segment during which the new position is "settled in" in order for the received infrared signal through the sapphire window to the detector to adjust to the particular level. the requisite rms analysis may then be performed over the remaining approximately 0.7 seconds before moving to the next bearing. it should equally be appreciated that numerous other analytical approaches (other than rms) may similarly be used to assign a value to the received energy. [0038] process 600 continues to block 620 where the samples are processed by the microprocessor 35 to compute the number of times the signal transitions from above the mean value of the sample set to below the mean value. this number, referred to as the "zero-crossing" number, is a measure of whether the signal is "flickering," as it would in case of a fire. a determination may then be made at decision block 630 as to whether a sufficient number of zero-crossings were recorded. if an insufficient number of zero-crossings are found, then process 600 moves to block 635 where the sample set is discarded and a new set is computed. if, on the other hand, there are a sufficient number of zero- crossings, then process 600 continues to block 640 where an energy value may be computed for the bearing in question. in one embodiment, this energy value, or "chip" value, is a measure of the magnitude of the received energy. the received energy level can be computed from the sample sets in a number of different ways depending on a myriad of factors, including the complexity of the microprocessor 35. in one embodiment, the sum of the absolute values of the samples may be used. alternatively, computing the true rms value may be used when the microprocessor 35 is able to provide sufficient computing power. [0039] at this point, a determination is made as to whether the stepping motor 22 has caused the mirror 19 to complete a full revolution. if not, then at block 650, the mirror 19 is incremented to the next bearing from which a new set of samples may then be taken, if, on the other hand, the mirror 19 has completed a full revolution, then the initialization process 600 continues to figure 6b. [0040] process 600 continues with block 655 of figure 6b. after completing a revolution, the collected set of energy values for that revolution may then be processed to determine the mean and standard deviation values (block 655). if the mean and standard deviation are determined to be stable, process 600 continues to block 670 where a threshold value may then be computed. if, on the other hand, the mean and standard deviation vales are not stable, then the energy values may be discarded and the initialization process 600 restarted. [0041] the initialization process 600 culminates with the computation of a threshold value at block 670. in one embodiment, the threshold value is computed according to the formula: threshold = ev m ean + (γ • evsd), (1) where, evmean = the mean of the sampled energy values for a complete revolution; evsd = the standard deviation of the sampled energy values for a complete revolution; and, γ = (^(desire false alarm rate), where q -1 is the inverse q function. [0042] it should of course be understood that other formulations may be used to determine the threshold value. for example, in one embodiment the microprocessor 35 may have an associated memory (not shown) with stored characteristics of forest fires, which may serve as the predefined criteria of flicker frequency analysis. [0043] once process 600 is complete and the threshold value has been computed, the sensor unit 1 may begin to operate in a normal scan mode. process 700 of figure 7 illustrates one embodiment of how sensor unit 1 may operate in scan mode. in particular, process 700 begins with the microprocessor 35 rotating the mirror 19 through each bearing and computing the received (chip) energy level beginning at bearing ® , where i=l. as previously mentioned, the detection of a co2 signal at 4.3 micrometers is suggestive of a fire. thus, energy level samples of a 4.3 micrometers having "flicker" frequencies of between 1 and 10 hertz can be effectively used to detect fire. [0044] each bearing energy value may be compared to a threshold value at block 715. in one embodiment, the threshold value is the value calculated according to formula 1. if the current bearing provides an rms indication of co2 which exceeds the predetermined threshold value, process 700 moves to block 725, where a determination is made as to whether the detected energy value for bearing(i) has exceeded the threshold value a predetermined number of time (n). while in one embodiment n=2, it should similarly be appreciated that n greater or less than 2. if the threshold value has been exceeded more than n times for a given bearing, process 700 will move to block 730 at which point the sensor unit 1 may enter a detect mode. in one embodiment, exceeding the threshold value n times is a possible indication of fire which requires additional analysis. the sensor unit's detect mode will be discussed in detail below with reference to figure 8. [0045] if, at block 720, it is determined that the energy value for bearing © did not exceed the threshold value, then process 700 will continue to decision block 735. similarly, if it is determined at block 725 that the energy value for bearing(i) has not exceeded the threshold value n times, then process 700 will also move to block 735. [0046] at decision block 735, a determination is made as to whether the mirror 19 has completed one complete revolution. if not, process 700 will increment the mirror to the next bearing at block 740 and repeat the energy value detection operation of block 710 for the current bearing. if, on the other hand, a full revolution has been completed, then process 700 moves to block 745 where the previously calculated threshold value may be updated. in one embodiment, energy values for all of the bearings in a revolution may be retained, except for those bearings which exceeded the threshold value. at the end of the revolution, the mean and standard deviation of those energy values may then be computed (see block 655 of figure 6b). in one embodiment, this information may be combined with the previously calculated mean and standard deviation values to . generate revised evmean and evsd values. in one embodiment, this combination operation may be performed in an infinite impulse response (hr) filter. regardless of how they are computed, once the revised eviviean and evsd values have been generated, a revised threshold value may then be computed (block 745), which in one embodiment may be done using formula 1. the sensor unit 1 may then repeat the scan process 700 using this revised threshold value. [0047] figure 8 depicts one embodiment of the sensor unit's detect mode. as mentioned above, in one embodiment the sensor unit 1 may enter detect mode after a given bearing (referred to hereafter as "bearing x") exceeds the threshold value n times. in the embodiment of figure 8, detect process 800 begins with the sensor unit 1 taking additional samples at block 805 for bearing x. to do this, the mirror 19 may remain fixed on the bearing to be analyzed for a period of time beyond the regular sample period (e.g., 1 second). in one embodiment, the mirror 19 may remain fixed on the bearing in question for up to three minutes in order to provide a detailed examination of the radiation entering bearing x. [0048] once the additional sample data has been collected at block 805, process 800 continues to block 810 where the data is normalized. in one embodiment, this may be done by dividing the total energy received over the detect period by the number of sample periods in a detect period. for example, in the embodiment where the sample period is 1 second and the detect period is 5 second, the energy received over the additional 5-second detect period would be divided by 5 to scale it back to the same range as the 1-second samples collected during the scan mode. [0049] once the additional data has been normalized, the additional samples may then be compared to the previously-computed threshold value at block 815. if it is determined at block 820 that additional sample data exceeds the threshold level, a fire notification signal may be generated (block 825). in one embodiment, the fire notification signal may include a fire detection signal and a bearing signal, where the bearing signal can be used by firefighting personnel to determine the location of the fire relative to the sensor unit 1. after the fire notification has been sent, the sensor unit 1 may exit the detect mode and return to the scan mode at block 830. in one embodiment, scanning continues in scan mode when a fire is indicated to allow for analysis of the spread of the fire to different bearings and to enable detection of the direction in which the fire is spreading. similarly, if at block 820 the additional sample data did not exceed the threshold level, then process 800 would skip the notification operation and move to block 830 where the detect mode may be exited. [0050] while the preceding description has been directed to particular embodiments, it is understood that those skilled in the art may conceive modifications and/or variations to the specific embodiments described herein. it is understood that the description herein is intended to be illustrative only and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
048-664-760-075-296	US	[ "US" ]	H01F21/00,H03H7/38	1976-11-09T00:00:00	1976	[ "H01", "H03" ]	impedance ratio varying device	a compact arrangement having concentric loading element and coupling element with the latter forming a bearing support for a revolvable member mounting the former.	1. in a device for impedance matching a line and load a means to integrate the package of needed elements, said means comprising: end support means; a first shaft revolvably supported by at least a portion of said end support means; a second shaft; means to support said second shaft by the end support means; an insulating hollow block mounted to said first shaft to rotate therewith; a first coil electrically connected to said first shaft and wound about said block to be supported thereby; a commutating wheel rotatably supported on for axial movement along said second shaft, said wheel bridging said second shaft and said first coil to define a path length of said first coil; and a second coil mounted by said end support means to project within and rotatably support said block and underly said first coil. 2. the structure of claim 1 where in said means to support said second shaft is a spring means to maintain bias for the contact between said wheel and said first coil. 3. the structure of claim 2 wherein said second shaft has an electrical connector for the connection of a line therewith. 4. the structure of claim 3 wherein the second coil has its ends terminating in electrical connections for a load. 5. an impedance matching device for an antenna and a signal means, said device comprising: a plurality of end support means; a coupling coil connected to terminals for the signal means extending from one end support means towards the other end support means; a hollow insulating ring rotatably supported on said coupling coil; a load coil supported by said ring over said coupling coil; a shaft connected to said ring and rotatably supported by the other end support means, said shaft being connected to said load coil such that rotation of said shaft will rotate said load coil means; and commutator means connected with an antenna terminal, said commutator means being biased to contact said load coil and move along same to infinitely vary the number of impedance resolution ratios to get the one desired for the antenna and signal means. 6. the device of claim 5 wherein the commutator means connected with an antenna terminal is a wheel resiliently biased in electrical contact with said load coil whereby rotation of said load coil will rotate said wheel to cause it to be axially movable from end to end of said load coil for infinite path length adjustment of an electrical circuit of said antenna terminal load coil and said shaft. 7. an antenna tuning and coupling unit for coupling energy over a wide band of frequencies from a signal source to an antenna terminal comprising: a load coil in series with the antenna terminal, said load coil being revolvably supported by an insulator mounted by a revolvable shaft forming a ground connection for the load coil; a commutating wheel biased onto said load coil so as to be in electrical contact therewith and upon a revolution of same provide adjustment of the electrical length of the coil; a coupling coil located within the confines of the loading coil, said coupling coil being of a diameter to be an internal bearing support for said insulator, said coupling coil being in the path of the signal source.	background it has long been an object of the prior art to obtain a match for impedance of an rf source to that of a line or antenna. see u.s. pat. no. 2,855,599 as a teaching of a way to arrive at this object and for the reasons such is desirable. however, while this has been a long standing object, no one is known prior to this invention to have found a practical, inexpensive and compact means of packaging such elements to permit universal economical utilization. it is therefore the principal object of this invention to obtain a compact concentric operative relationship of loading coil and coupling coil for impedance matching of an rf source to a line or antenna. drawing description fig. 1 is a simple schematic design of an impedance matching circuit according to this invention; fig. 2 is a plan view with some elements partially shown in cross-section for clarity of element relationships of a package concept for the circuit of fig. 1 in accordance with this invention; and fig. 3 is an end view along lines 3--3 of fig. 2. detailed description with more particular reference to fig. 1 there is shown a loading coil 10 operatively related to a coupling coil 12 such that varying the resolution ratio of coils 10 and 12 may be scheduled by a commutator 14 between the line and ground terminals 16 and line 18 respectively. with such circuits a pair of terminals 20, 22 connect a signal source or receiver to the coupling coil. such structure makes it possible to find a specific match for the transmission line and load. specific utility is found for this invention in impedance matching an antenna and/or a transmission line to an rf source. turning now to fig. 2 there the structure is shown by which this invention may be realized. specifically, the loading coil 10 is mounted about an insulator 24. a shaft 26 is connected to the insulator 24 to rotate same. as seen, the shaft is supported by a bearing block 28 in an end piece and held thereto by a retaining ring 30. shaft 26 is connected to a ground source as by a sliding contact (not shown) or any other well known means available to one skilled in the art. this could even be by an end frame where one does not, as here, use an end frame 32 to also support commutating wheel shaft 34. shaft 34 as shown has an antenna terminal 16 on one end and supports a commutating wheel 38 such that it may move axially in providing a variable length circuit connection of terminal 16 to loading coil 10. loading coil 10 has one end 40 connected to shaft 26 to ground. actually shaft 34, as may be best seen by fig. 3 is supported by spring plates 36 so that wheel 38 has a forced contact with coils of loading coil 10. this will then present side loads on insulator 24, which if no other support is used, would have to be accepted and absorbed by the bearing block 28 supporting shaft 26. however, by appropriate sizing of coupling coil 12 diameter the hollow insulator will have a spaced support between bearing block 28 and the individual coils a, b, c, d and e of coupling coil 12. this allows one to use a spring bias for wheel 38 that will insure a scrubbing contact of wheel 38 and coils f, g, h, j, k, l, m and n of load coil 10. therefore any tendency to lessen the electrical continuity is prevented. the transmission line or rf source terminals are brought through end-frame 46 as at 48 and 50. operation using the familiar expression for the resolution ratio: ##equ1## where n.sub.1 equals the turns of coil 10, n.sub.2 equals the turns of coil 12, and rl equals the load across 16 and 18. it may thus be realized with the structure of this invention and with the couple of coils 10 and 12 being an air coil, that it is possible in high frequency devices to obtain continuous variance and an infinite number of impedance resolution ratios from less than one to, with the use of an 8 to 4 ratio shown, two, and any fractional ratio between 0 and 2. it may also be realized that the air core could be replaced with a ferrite or like material core for similar operation with low frequency devices.
049-128-142-154-795	US	[ "EP", "WO", "US" ]	G10H3/18	1998-01-28T00:00:00	1998	[ "G10" ]	pickup for electric guitars	a pickup for a guitar is disclosed herein comprising an upper co il (14) wound longitudinally around an upper bobbin (10), a lower coil (15) wound longitudinally around a lower bobbin (11), and a ferromagnetic plate (17) longitudinally interposed between the lower and upper bobbins. the pickup further includes a plurality of magnetic pole pieces (12a-f) situated within respective vertical holes in the upper and lower bobbins and the ferromagnetic plate that extends from above the upper bobbin to the bottom of the lower bobbin. the ferromagnetic plate isolates the respective magnetic fields in the upper and lower bobbins to prevent phase cancellation at desired frequencies.	what is claimed is: claims: 1. (amended) a pickup comprising: (a) an upper bobbin being elongated along a longitudinal axis, (b) a lower bobbin being elongated along said longitudinal axis, (c) permanent magnet pole pieces situated within holes in the upper and lower bobbins, (d) screws holding said bobbins together, (e) an upper winding, (f) a lower winding , and (g) a non-magnetized ferromagnetic [steel] plate having opposing ends parallel to said longitudinal axis that terminate approximately below said upper winding, said plate being disposed between said bobbins and parallel thereto. 2. the pickup of claim 1, wherein the opposing ends of said ferromagnetic plate terminate approximately above said lower winding. 3. the pickup of claim 1 , wherein the ferromagnetic plate includes steel. 4. the pickup of claim 1, further including ferromagnetic screws secured in internally threaded holes in one of said bobbins for holding the upper and lower bobbins together and altering the inductance of the pickup. 5. the pickup of claim 1, wherein said ferromagnetic screws include steel. 6. the pickup of claim 1 , wherein said upper bobbin includes at least one hole for receiving a ferromagnetic cylinder for altering the inductance of the pickup. 7. a pickup comprising: an upper bobbin elongated in a longitudinal axis; an upper winding wounded longitudinally around the upper bobbin; a lower bobbin elongated in the longitudinal axis; a lower winding wounded longitudinally around the lower bobbin; a non-magnetized ferromagnetic plate elongated in the longitudinal axis and interposed between .and parallel to the upper and lower bobbins, said ferromagnetic plate including at least one end parallel to said longitudinal axis that terminates approximately below the upper winding; and a magnetic pole piece extending orthogonal to the longitudinal axis from the upper bobbin to the lower bobbin and through respective openings in the upper bobbin, the ferromagnetic plate, and the lower bobbin. 8. the pickup of claim 1, further including a plurality of magnetic pole pieces extending orthogonal to the longitudinal axis from the upper bobbin to the lower bobbin and through respective openings in the upper bobbin, the ferromagnetic plate, and the lower bobbin. 9. the pickup of claim 8, further including a pair of ferromagnetic screws coupled to said bobbins for holding the bobbins together, said screws extending orthogonal to the longitudinal axis from the upper bobbin to the lower bobbin and through respective openings in the upper bobbin, the ferromagnetic plate, and the lower bobbin. 10. the pickup of claim 9, wherein the upper bobbin includes at least one opening extending from the top of the upper bobbin towards the lower bobbin for receiving therein a ferromagnetic cylinder for altering the inductance of the pickup. 11. the pickup of claim 10, wherein the upper bobbin includes upper and lower plates that are elongated in the longitudinal axis, and wherein said lower plate abuts an upper surface of said ferromagnetic plate. 12. the pickup of claim 11, wherein the lower bobbin includes upper and lower plates that are elongated in the longitudinal axis, and wherein said upper plate of said lower bobbin abuts a lower surface of said ferromagnetic plate. 13. the pickup of claim 12, wherein the length of the second upper plate of the lower bobbin in the longitudinal direction is greater than the lower plate for forming a skirt plate. 14. a pickup comprising: an upper coil; a lower coil; a flat non-magnetized ferromagnetic plate interposed between said upper and lower coils, said plate having ends terminating below said upper coil; and a magnetic pole piece extending from the upper coil to the lower coil through respective openings therein. 15. the pickup of claim 14, wherein said upper coil is wounded around an upper bobbin. 16. the pickup of claim 14, wherein said lower coil is wounded .around a lower bobbin. 17. the pickup of claim 14, wherein the ends of said ferromagnetic plate terminates above the lower coil. 18. the pickup of claim 14, wherein the ferromagnetic plate includes steel. 19. the pickup of claim 14, further including a plurality of magnetic pole pieces extending from the upper coil to the lower coil. 20. the pickup of claim 14, wherein the magnetic pole piece extends above the upper coil.	pickup for electric guitars background of the invention it is well known that a pickup consisting of a single monolithic coil will pick up stray electromagnetic radiation and transmit this radiation (when coupled to a musical instrument amplifier) in the form of noise, which is audible as low frequency 60hz hum. there is also electrostatic noise, in the form of high frequency buzzing, at the pickup's resonant peak frequency. by combining a pair of coils as employed in the humbucking pickup principle, the audible noise factor is considerably reduced but not completely eliminated. as shown in u.s. patent 4,442,749, the humbucking principle can be applied in a pickup with the coils arranged in a concentric configuration, with a metal plate formed into a u shaped channel common only to the upper coil section of the pickup. this configuration is inductively unbalanced, which compromises the noise reduction capability of the pickup. summary of the invention the present invention in one of its aspects has symmetrically balanced coils arranged in a concentric configuration, with a ferromagnetic steel plate centrally common to both coils; it incorporates the humbucking pickup principle for maximum noise immunity. there is an improved means for increasing the volume of magnetic flux through the coils of the pickup, which correspondingly increases the output voltage and signal amplitude of the pickup. there is an improved means for adding or subtracting inductive components to enhance the sound and tonal characteristics of the pickup, without compromising noise immunity. there is an improved means for incorporating magnetic pole pieces of varying length in the pickup to control the output, balance, and sensitivity for varying diameter musical strings. there is an improved means for increasing isolation between the pickup coils to reduce phase cancellation of common frequencies, which allows the pickup to exhibit an improved harmonic content for richer sound and tonal quality. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a top plan view of an electromagnetic pickup embodying the present invention; fig. 2 is a view, the right half of which is in side elevation and the left half of which is in vertical central section, of the pickup; and fig. 3 is an end elevation as viewed from the right in fig. 1, the coils being unshown. detailed description of the preferred embodiment the illustrated embodiment is symmetrical about a vertical plane that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the pickup and that is midway between the ends of the pickup. the illustrated pickup is for a six-string electric guitar. the core assembly of the pickup comprises an upper bobbin section, a centrally located ferromagnetic steel plate, and a lower bobbin section. fastening screws, of ferromagnetic material, are inserted through the bobbin core at the base of the lower bobbin section. the fastening screws extend upward from the lower bobbin section. a central steel plate is provided with corresponding apertures to engage the fastening screws. the fastening screws may pass through the apertures in the plate, the apertures in the plate being of a greater diameter than the major diameter of the screw. the plate engages the upper planar surface of the lower bobbin section. the fastening screws extend upward through the plate to receive the upper bobbin section. the upper bobbin section engages the plate at the lower planar surface of the upper bobbin section. the screws are then fastened into the upper bobbin section, coupling the upper and lower bobbin sections together with the plate interposing the upper face section of the lower bobbin and the lower face section of the upper bobbin. each bobbin section has a plurality of circular apertures which extend and align through the central core of the upper and lower bobbin sections to receive a plurality of corresponding rod type magnetic pole pieces. the plate has a plurality of corresponding circular apertures which align with the circular apertures in the upper and lower bobbin sections. the circular apertures in the plate have a plurality of smaller apertures adjacent to the circular apertures for the purpose of receiving the fastening screws and additional ferromagnetic steel pole pieces. the magnetic pole pieces are of sufficient length to extend fully through the upper and lower bobbin sections. the magnetic pole pieces are flush at the base of the lower bobbin section and extend upwardly through the upper bobbin, projecting a short distance above the upper bobbin section surface, being positioned above the upper bobbin surface in an echelon arrangement. the pickup shown in the drawings comprises an upper bobbin 10, a lower bobbin 11, six permanent magnet pole pieces 12, screws 13, upper and lower windings 14 and 15, and a ferromagnetic steel plate 17. upper bobbin 10 and lower bobbin 11 are formed of nonmagnetic material and nonmagnetizable material, preferably a synthetic resin. upper bobbin 10 has upper and lower plates between which the upper winding is wound in a particular direction, for example clockwise as viewed from above. these plates are identical to each other in the illustrated embodiment, although this is not necessary. lower bobbin 11 has upper and lower plates also parallel to each other, the upper plate in the preferred form being much larger than the lower and forming a skirt which is used for mounting purposes. the upper and lower plates of upper bobbin 10 are numbered 18 and 19, respectively. the skirt plate and lower plate of lower bobbin 11 are numbered 20 .and 21, respectively. the six perm-inent magnet pole pieces 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e, 12f are mounted parallel to each other in registered holes in upper and lower bobbins 10 and 11, as shown. the magnetic poles of the pole pieces correspond to each other. thus, for example, all of the north poles are uppermost and all of the south poles are lowermost. the steel screws 13 are secured in internally threaded holes in the upper and lower bobbins 10,11, .and not only hold the bobbins together with each other and with the ferromagnetic steel plate, but also alter the inductance of the pickup. thus, they serve two purposes. there .are holes 23 in the bobbins, between pole pieces 12b .and 12c, and 12d and 12e. there are connections (fig. 1) 27,28,29 .and 30. two of these serve the upper coil or winding 14, and the other two serve the lower winding 15. the lower winding is wound in the opposite direction from the upper, for example counterclockwise in the illustration. thus, there is the humbucking effect. the ferromagnetic steel plate 17 is sandwiched between plates 19 and 20 and parallel thereto, being formed of magnetizable material. stated more definitely, element 17 is a ferromagnetic steel plate. the steel plate has clearance holes therethrough to receive the pole pieces and the screws. it is to be understood that ferromagnetic cylinders may be inserted in the holes 23,24 in order to change the inductance of the pickup. these may be changed in accordance with the desires of the musician. stated otherwise, there may be cylinders in some holes or openings 23,24 and not in others. the foregoing detailed description is to be clearly understood as given by way of illustration and example only, the spirit and scope of this invention being limited solely by the appended claims.
049-618-662-434-901	EP	[ "US", "WO", "CN", "EP" ]	A23L27/30,A23L29/00,A23G1/32,A23K1/16,A23L2/52,A23L2/60,A61Q1/00,A61Q11/00,C07C259/06	2011-02-08T00:00:00	2011	[ "A23", "A61", "C07" ]	sweetness enhancers, sweetener compositions, methods of making the same and consumables containing the same	the present invention relates to novel sweetness enhancer compounds of the formula (i), or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, to the use of a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof as a sweetness enhancer, to sweetener compositions comprising at least one sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, to a method for the manufacture of a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, to methods of making the sweetener compositions and to tabletop sweetener compositions comprising a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. further, the invention relates to consumables comprising a consumable product and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof.	1 . a compound of formula (i), wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, or heteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, with the exception of 4-[5-(acetylhydroxyamino)pentylamino]-2-[2-[5-(acetylhydroxyamino)pentylamino]-2-oxoethyl]-2-hydroxy-4-oxobutyric acid (terregens factor, arthrobactin) and 3-[3-(acetylhydroxyamino)propylcarbamoyl]-2-[3-(acetylhydroxyamino)propylcarbamoylmethyl]-2-hydroxypropionic acid (schizokinen). 2 . the compound according to claim 1 , wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 4 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 4 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the phenyl or naphthyl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, or heteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5. 3 . the compound according to claim 1 , wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, or phenyl, wherein the phenyl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or methyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 3 to 5. 4 . the compound according to claim 1 , wherein n and m are different. 5 . the compound according to claim 1 , wherein n is 5 and m is 3. 6 . the compound according to claim 1 , wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical and are are c 1 -c 4 -alkyl. 7 . the compound according to claim 1 , wherein r 2 and r 3 are identical and are hydrogen. 8 . the compound according to claim 1 , wherein the compound of formula (i) is the compound of formula (ia) 9 . a method for making a composition, the method comprising: providing the compound of formula (i) according to claim 1 ; and adding at least one sweetener to the compound of formula (i). 10 . a sweetener composition comprising (a) at least one sweetener; and (b) a compound of formula (i) wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, or heteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. 11 . (canceled) 12 . the sweetener composition according to claim 10 , wherein the at least one sweetener is selected from the group consisting of abiziasaponin, abrusosides, in particular abrusoside a, abrusoside b, abrusoside c, abrusoside d, acesulfame potassium, advantame, albiziasaponin, alitame, aspartame, superaspartame, bayunosides, in particular bayunoside 1, bayunoside 2, brazzein, bryoside, bryonoside, bryonodulcoside, carnosifloside, carrelame, curculin, cyanin, chlorogenic acid, cyclamates and its salts, cyclocaryoside i, dihydroquercetin-3-acetate, dihydroflavenol, dulcoside, gaudichaudioside, glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetin acid, gypenoside, hematoxylin, isomogrosides, in particular iso-mogroside v, lugduname, magap, mabinlins, micraculin, mogrosides (lo han guo), in particular mogroside iv and mogroside v, monatin and its derivatives, monellin, mukurozioside, naringin dihydrochalcone (nardhc), neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (ndhc), neotame, osladin, pentadin, periandrin i-v, perillartine, d-phenylalanine, phlomisosides, in particular phlomisoside 1, phlomisoside 2, phlomisoside 3, phlomisoside 4, phloridzin, phyllodulcin, polpodiosides, polypodoside a, pterocaryosides, rebaudiosides, in particular rebaudioside a, rebaudioside b, rebaudioside c, rebaudioside d, rebaudioside f, rebaudioside g, rebaudioside h), rubusosides, saccharin and its salts and derivatives, scandenoside, selligueanin a, siamenosides, in particular siamenoside i, stevia, steviolbioside, stevioside and other steviol glycosides, strogines, in particular strogin 1, strogin 2, strogin 4, suavioside a, suavioside b, suavioside g, suavioside h, suavioside i, suavioside j, sucralose, sucronate, sucrooctate, talin, telosmoside a 15 , thaumatin, in particular thaumatin i and ii, trans-anethol, trans-cinnamaldehyde, trilobtain, d-tryptophane, erythritol, galactitol, hydrogenated starch syrups including maltitol and sorbitol syrups, inositols, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, arabinose, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, fructooligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharide syrups, galactose, galactooligosaccharides, glucose, glucose and (hydrogenated) starch syrups/hydrolysates, isomaltulose, lactose, hydrolysed lactose, maltose, mannose, rhamnose, ribose, sucrose, tagatose, trehalose and xylose. 13 . the sweetener composition according to claim 10 , wherein the at least one sweetener is acesulfame potassium or sucrose. 14 . the sweetener composition according to claim 10 , wherein the sweetener composition further comprises (c) a pregelatinized starch; and/or (d) at least one additional ingredient selected from bubble forming agents, bulking agents, carriers, fibers, sugar alcohols, flavorings, flavor enhancers, flavor stabilizers, acidulants, anti-caking and free-flow agents. 15 . (canceled) 16 . a tabletop sweetener composition comprising (a) at least one sugar sweetener, which is selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, and combinations thereof; (b) at least one sugar alcohol (or polyol), which is selected from the group consisting of erythritol, galactitol, hydrogenated starch syrups including maltitol and sorbitol syrups, inositols, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, and combinations thereof; (c) a compound of formula (i) wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, or heteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, and (d) a taste-improving amount of cellulose. 17 . the tabletop sweetener composition according to claim 16 comprising (a) a disaccharide carbohydrate and/or fructose; (b) erythritol; (c) the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof; and (d) a taste-improving amount of cellulose. 18 . the tabletop sweetener composition according to claim 16 , wherein the at least one sugar sweetener is a disaccharide carbohydrate selected from the group consisting of isomaltulose, lactose, maltose, sucrose, and trehalose. 19 . the tabletop sweetener composition according to claim 16 , further comprising a sweetness modifier and/or a mouthfeel enhancer and/or a flavoring. 20 . the tabletop sweetener composition according to claim 16 , wherein the tabletop sweetener composition substantially comprises sweetener particles. 21 . a consumable comprising (a) a consumable product; and (b) the sweetener composition as defined in claim 10 . 22 . a consumable comprising (a) a consumable product; and (b) the tabletop sweetener composition as defined in claim 16 . 23 - 31 . (canceled)	field of the invention the present invention relates to novel sweetness enhancer compounds of the formula (i), wherein r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , n and m have the designations cited below or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, to the use of a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof as a sweetness enhancer, to sweetener compositions comprising at least one sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, and optionally a pregelatinized starch, to a method for the manufacture of a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, to methods of making the sweetener compositions and to tabletop sweetener compositions comprising a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. further, the invention relates to consumables comprising a consumable product and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. preferred consumable products are water-based consumables, solid dry consumables, dairy products, dairy-derived products and dairy-alternative products. background of the invention the use of non-caloric high-intensity sweeteners is increasing due to health concerns raised over childhood obesity, type ii diabetes, and related illnesses. thus, a demand exists for sweeteners having sweetnesses significantly higher than those of conventional sweeteners, such as granulated sugar (sucrose) or high-fructose corn syrup (hfcs). many non-caloric or low-caloric sweeteners, however, are prohibitively expensive and/or contain unpleasant off-flavors and/or have unexpected and less-than-desirable sweetness profiles. furthermore, it is of interest to enhance desired flavor sensations, e.g., sweet taste, of non-caloric or low-caloric or standard (caloric) sweeteners, conventional or otherwise. compounds that can enhance certain flavor sensations are of great interest and may allow not only improvement and/or intensification of the perceived flavor but also the ability to reach a certain flavor intensity using reduced concentrations of flavor ingredients. as one example, by employing an enhancer, less sweetener may be necessary to achieve a desired sweetness level, which may result in less calories and/or associated undesirable flavor notes/off-notes. thus, a need exists for sweetness enhancers. non-caloric, high intensity sweeteners are known to have sweetness levels or “sweetnesses” that are significantly higher than those of conventional sweeteners. these non-caloric sweeteners often are added to the consumable products to replace at least a portion of the conventional caloric sweeteners, which results in a consumable product having a sweet flavor and a reduced amount of caloric sweetener. acesulfame potassium is an exemplary non-caloric, high intensity sweetener. typically, the caloric sweeteners and/or the non-caloric sweeteners are combined with other components, e.g., surfactants, emulsifiers, gums, or other sweeteners, to form sweetener compositions. these other components often improve the physical or chemical properties of the caloric or non-caloric sweetener. the sweetener compositions then may be incorporated into the respective consumable product. in most cases, the sweetener or the sweetness associated therewith is released from the consumable product quickly upon consumption of the consumable product. this release accounts for the sweetness realized by the consumer. for some consumable products, e.g., chewing gum and other confections, once the consumable product begins to be consumed, it is desirable to have a prolonged release rate of sweetener from the consumable product. as a result, the sensation of sweetness is enjoyed by the consumer over a prolonged period of time. conventional sweeteners, however, have been known to have more rapid release rates from the respective consumable product. as such, a majority of the sweetener is quickly released from the consumable product immediately upon consumption and very little sweetener then is left to be released during the remainder of the lifetime of the consumable product. as one example, a chewing gum comprising a conventional sweetener composition is often considered to be very sweet as the gum is initially chewed, but after some minutes of chewing, the gum is considered to be significantly less sweet. thus, a need exists for sweetener compositions that employ sweeteners, e.g., non-caloric, high intensity sweeteners, and that provide for prolonged release rates of these sweeteners from a consumable product to the palate of the consumer. as such, the sweetness associated with the sweetener composition may be recognized by the consumer over a longer period of time and result a prolonged sweetening sensation is realized by the consumer. brief description of the figures fig. 1 is a chart showing the results of the recombinant human taste receptor t1r2/t1r3 dependent cell based assay with the compound of formula (ia). fig. 2 is a chart showing the selective stimulation of receptor carrying cells by compound of formula (ia) is verified by measuring the time response in the cell assay over a period of 78 seconds. fig. 3 is a table summarizing the results of the taste and spit assay with the compound of formula (ia). fig. 4 is a chart showing the results of the stability test with the compound of formula (ia) at ph=3.0. fig. 5 is a chart showing the results of the stability test with the compound of formula (ia) at ph=4.5. fig. 6 is a chart showing the results of the stability test with the compound of formula (ia) at ph=6.5. summary of the invention the present invention, in one aspect, relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, or heteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, with the exception of 4-[5-(acetylhydroxyamino)pentylamino]-2-[2-[5-(acetylhydroxyamino)pentylamino]-2-oxoethyl]-2-hydroxy-4-oxobutyric acid (terregens factor, arthrobactin) and 3-[3-(acetylhydroxyamino)propylcarbamoyl]-2-[3-(acetylhydroxyamino)propylcarbamoylmethyl]-2-hydroxypropionic acid (schizokinen). in one embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 4 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 4 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the phenyl or naphthyl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, or heteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, orphenyl, wherein the phenyl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or methyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 3 to 5. in a preferred embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein n and m are different. in a particularly preferred embodiment n is 5 and m is 3. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 1 and r 4 are c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, preferably methyl. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 2 and r 3 are identical. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 2 and r 3 are hydrogen. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein the compound of formula (i) is the compound of formula (ia) the present invention, in another aspect, relates to the use of a compound of formula (i), wherein r′ and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, or heteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 3 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, as a sweetness enhancer. the preferred embodiments of the compound of the compound of formula (i) as mentioned above apply accordingly to the use as a sweetness enhancer according to the present invention. in another aspect, the present invention relates to a sweetener composition comprising: (a) at least one sweetener; and(b) a compound of formula (i) whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5,or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. the preferred embodiments of the compound of the compound of formula (i) as mentioned above apply accordingly to the sweetener compositions according to the present invention. preferably, in the sweetener composition the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt thereof is a sweetness enhancer. in one embodiment, the sweetener composition comprises a at least one sweetener which is selected from the group consisting of abiziasaponin, abrusosides, in particular abrusoside a, abrusoside b, abrusoside c, abrusoside d, acesulfame potassium, advantame, albiziasaponin, alitame, aspartame, superaspartame, bayunosides, in particular bayunoside 1, bayunoside 2, brazzein, bryoside, bryonoside, bryonodulcoside, carnosifloside, carrelame, curculin, cyanin, chlorogenic acid, cyclamates and its salts, cyclocaryoside i, dihydroquercetin-3-acetate, dihydroflavenol, dulcoside, gaudichaudioside, glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetin acid, gypenoside, hematoxylin, isomogrosides, in particular iso-mogroside v, lugduname, magap, mabinlins, micraculin, mogrosides (lo han guo), in particular mogroside iv and mogroside v, monatin and its derivatives, monellin, mukurozioside, naringin dihydrochalcone (nardhc), neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (ndhc), neotame, osladin, pentadin, periandrin i-v, perillartine, d-phenylalanine, phlomisosides, in particular phlomisoside 1, phlomisoside 2, phlomisoside 3, phlomisoside 4, phloridzin, phyllodulcin, polpodiosides, polypodoside a, pterocaryosides, rebaudiosides, in particular rebaudioside a, rebaudioside b, rebaudioside c, rebaudioside d, rebaudioside f, rebaudioside g, rebaudioside h), rubusosides, saccharin and its salts and derivatives, scandenoside, selligueanin a, siamenosides, in particular siamenoside i, stevia, steviolbioside, stevioside and other steviol glycosides, strogines, in particular strogin 1, strogin 2, strogin 4, suavioside a, suavioside b, suavioside g, suavioside h, suavioside i, suavioside j, sucralose, sucronate, sucrooctate, talin, telosmoside a 15 , thaumatin, in particular thaumatin i and ii, trans-anethol, trans-cinnamaldehyde, trilobtain, d-tryptophane, erythritol, galactitol, hydrogenated starch syrups including maltitol and sorbitol syrups, inositols, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, arabinose, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, fructooligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharide syrups, galactose, galactooligosaccharides, glucose, glucose and (hydrogenated) starch syrups/hydrolysates, isomaltulose, lactose, hydrolysed lactose, maltose, mannose, rhamnose, ribose, sucrose, tagatose, trehalose and xylose. preferably, the at least one sweetener is acesulfame potassium, sucrose or fructose. preferably, the sweetener composition comprises a first sweetener and a second sweetener. preferably, the at least one sweetener is a natural sweetener. in other embodiments, the at least one sweetener is an artificial sweetener. in some embodiments, the sweetener composition comprises (c) a pregelatinized starch. in these embodiments (and also in other embodiments), the at least one sweetener is preferably acesulfame potassium or sucrose. in one embodiment, the sweetener composition comprises from 80 wt % to 95 wt % of pregelatinized starch based on the total weight of the sweetener composition. the pregelatinized starch, when combined with the sweetener, provides for prolonged release of the sweetener from a consumable product and for a prolonged sweetening sensation realized by the consumer. in one embodiment, the sweetener is absorbed or adsorbed onto the pregelatinized starch. in one embodiment, the sweetener composition comprises homogeneous particles comprising the sweetener and the pregelatinized starch. in one embodiment, the pregelatinized starch has a specific surface less than or equal to 0.5 m 2 /g. in one embodiment, the pregelatinized starch has a specific surface ranging from 0.05 m 2 /g to 0.5 m 2 /g. in one embodiment, the pregelatinized starch is non-granular. in one embodiment, the pregelatinized starch is granular. in one embodiment, the pregelatinized starch comprises particles and at least 50% of the pregelatinized starch particles have a particle size between 50 to 500 micrometers. in one embodiment, the sweetener composition comprises a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof in a purity of greater than about 60% by weight, e.g., greater than about 70% by weight, greater than about 80% by weight, greater than about 90% by weight, greater than about 98% by weight, or greater than about 99% by weight. in one embodiment, a 1 gram portion of the sweetener composition provides sweetness comparable to from one to three teaspoons of granulated sugar, preferably comparable to two teaspoons of granulated sugar. in one embodiment, 1 gram of the sweetener composition contains less calories and carbohydrates than about 5 grams of granulated sugar, e.g., less than about 3 grams, less than about 2 grams, or less than about 1 gram of granulated sugar. in one embodiment, the sweetener composition further comprises at least one additional ingredient selected from bubble forming agents, bulking agents, carriers, fibers, sugar alcohols, flavorings, flavor enhancers, flavor stabilizers, acidulants, anti-caking and free-flow agents. in one aspect, the present invention relates to a method of controlling the release rate of taste sensations, e.g., sweetness, associated with a sweetener from a sweetener composition comprising at least one sweetener, the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof as defined above, comprising the step of admixing at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof as defined above with a pregelatinized starch to form a release controlled sweetener composition. in one aspect, the present invention relates to a method of controlling the release rate of taste sensations associated with at least one sweetener from a consumable comprising the step of combining at least one sweetener, the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof as defined above, a pregelatinized starch, and a consumable product to form a released controlled consumable product. preferably, at least one sweetener, the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof as defined above and the pregelatinized starch are combined to form a sweetener composition, which may then be combined with the consumable product. in one aspect, the present invention relates to a method for decreasing a release rate of the at least one sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof as defined above from a consumable comprising at least one sweetener, a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof as defined above and a consumable product, and having an initial release rate of the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof as defined above comprising the step of adding to the consumable a pregelatinized starch in an amount effective to decrease the release rate of at least one sweetener and/or a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof as defined above from the consumable product to final release rate. the invention, in one aspect, relates to a tabletop sweetener composition comprising (a) at least one sugar sweetener, which is selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides, preferably the at least one sugar sweetener is selected from the group consisting of arabinose, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, fructooligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharide syrups, galactose, galactooligosaccharides, glucose, glucose and (hydrogenated) starch syrups/hydrolysates, isomaltulose, lactose, hydrolysed lactose, maltose, mannose, rhamnose, ribose, sucrose, stachyose, tagatose, trehalose, xylose, and combinations thereof, most preferably the at least one sugar sweetener is a disaccharide and/or fructose;(b) at least one sugar alcohol (or polyol), which is selected from the group consisting of erythritol, galactitol, hydrogenated starch syrups including maltitol and sorbitol syrups, inositols, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, and combinations thereof, preferably the at least one sugar alcohol is erythritol;(c) a compound of formula (i) whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -cgalkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, and(d) a taste-improving amount of cellulose. the preferred embodiments of the compound of the compound of formula (i) as mentioned above apply accordingly to the tabletop sweetener compositions according to the present invention. in one embodiment, the invention relates to a tabletop sweetener composition comprising (a) a disaccharide carbohydrate and/or fructose;(b) erythritol;(c) a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof; and(d) a taste-improving amount of cellulose. in preferred embodiments, in the tabletop sweetener composition the disaccharide is selected from the group consisting of isomaltulose lactose, maltose, sucrose, and trehalose. preferably, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises between about 40% by weight and about 70% by weight sugar alcohol, in particular erythritol, in particular between about 50% by weight and about 60% by weight sugar alcohol, in particular erythritol, in particular about 55% by weight sugar alcohol, in particular erythritol. preferably, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises between about 27% by weight and about 50% by weight sugar sweetener, in particular disaccharide, in particular between about 35% by weight and about 45% by weight sugar sweetener, in particular disaccharide, in particular between about 30% by weight and about 40% by weight sugar sweetener, in particular disaccharide. preferably, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises between about 0.5% by weight and about 7.0% by weight of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, in particular between about 0.7% by weight and 5.0% by weight of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, in particular between about 1.0% by weight and about 2.5% by weight of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. preferably, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises between about 0.4% by weight and about 3.0% by weight cellulose, in particular between about 0.7% by weight and about 2.0% by weight cellulose, in particular 1.0% by weight cellulose. in one embodiment, the tabletop sweetener composition further comprises a sweetness modifier, in particular less than about 2% by weight of a sweetness modifier. in terms of ranges, the tabletop sweetener composition may, for example, comprise between about 0.01% by weight and about 2% by weight sweetness modifier, in particular between about 0.1% by weight and about 1.5% by weight sweetness modifier. in other embodiments, the tabletop sweetener composition further comprises a mouthfeel enhancer, in particular less than about 1% by weight of a mouthfeel enhancer. in terms of ranges, the tabletop sweetener composition may, for example, comprise between about 0.01% by weight and about 1% by weight mouthfeel enhancer, in particular between about 0.1% by weight and about 0.5% by weight mouthfeel enhancer. in other embodiments, the tabletop sweetener composition further comprises a flavoring, in particular less than about 1% by weight of a flavoring. in terms of ranges, the tabletop sweetener composition may, for example, comprise between about 0.01% by weight and about 1% by weight flavoring, in particular between about 0.1% by weight and about 0.5% by weight flavoring. in one embodiment, the tabletop sweetener composition substantially comprises sweetener particles. preferably, the sweetener particles have an average particle size of between about 50 microns and about 1250 microns, in particular the sweetener particles have an average particle size of between about 100 microns and about 1000 microns. in one embodiment, the tabletop sweetener composition has less than about 5 calories per gram, in particular the tabletop sweetener composition has less than about 3 calories per gram, in particular the sweetener composition has less than about 1 calorie per gram. the present invention, in another aspect, further relates to a tabletop sweetener composition comprising (a) a plurality of first sweetener particles, wherein the first sweetener particles have (i) a sugar alcohol core, in particular an erythritol core, (ii) a first sugar alcohol core-coating layer, in particular a first erythritol core-coating layer comprising a compound of formula (i) whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5,or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, and cellulose, and (iii) a second sugar alcohol core-coating layer, in particular a second erythritol core-coating layer comprising a sugar sweetener, in particular a disaccharide, wherein the second sugar alcohol core-coating layer, in particular the second erythritol core-coating layer lies outside of the first sugar alcohol core-coating layer, in particular outside of the first erythritol core-coating layer; and(b) a plurality of second sweetener particles, wherein the second sweetener particle has (i) a sugar sweetener core, in particular a disaccharide core, (ii) a first sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular a first disaccharide core-coating layer comprising a compound of formula (i) whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5,or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, and cellulose, and (iii) a second sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular a second disaccharide core-coating layer comprising a sugar sweetener, in particular a disaccharide, wherein the second sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular the second disaccharide core-coating layer lies outside of the first sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular outside of the first disaccharide core-coating layer. the preferred embodiments of the compound of the compound of formula (i) as mentioned above apply accordingly to the tabletop sweetener compositions according to the present invention. in one embodiment, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises a mixture of the plurality of first sweetener particles and the plurality of second sweetener particles. preferably, the disaccharide core comprises isomaltulose. in one embodiment, the second erythritol core-coating layer comprises isomaltulose. in one embodiment, the second disaccharide core-coating layer comprises isomaltulose. in one embodiment, at least one of the first sugar alcohol core-coating layers, in particular the first erythritol core-coating layer and the first sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular the first disaccharide core-coating layer, further comprise a flavoring. in one embodiment, at least one of the first sugar alcohol core-coating layers, in particular the first erythritol core-coating layer, and the first sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular the first disaccharide core-coating layer, further comprise a mouthfeel enhancer. in one embodiment, at least one of the first sugar alcohol core-coating layers, in particular the first erythritol core-coating layer, and the first sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular the first disaccharide core-coating layer, further comprise a sweetness modifier. preferably, the plurality of first sweetener particles and the plurality of second sweetener particles have an average particle size between about 50 microns and about 1250 microns, in particular, the plurality of first sweetener particles and the plurality of second sweetener particles have an average particle size between about 100 microns and about 1000 microns. in another aspect, the present invention further relates to a consumable comprising (a) a consumable product; and(b) a sweetener composition of the invention as defined above. in one aspect, the present invention further relates to a consumable comprising (a) a consumable product; and(b) a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention as defined above. the preferred embodiments of the compound according to formula (i) as mentioned above apply accordingly to the consumable according to the present invention. preferably, the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, the sweetener composition of the invention and the tabletop sweetener composition of the invention are present in the consumable in an amount effective to increase a sweetness level of the consumable. preferably, in the consumable of the invention the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof is present in a concentration from 0.1 wppm to 100 wppm, in particular 0.2 wppm to 50 wppm, particularly preferred from 0.5 wppm to 10 wppm. in one embodiment, the consumable product is selected from water-based consumables, solid dry consumables, dairy products, dairy-derived products and dairy-alternative products. preferably, the consumable product is a water-based consumable product selected from the group consisting of beverage, water, aqueous beverage, enhanced/slightly sweetened water drink, flavored carbonated and still mineral and table water, carbonated beverage, non-carbonated beverage, carbonated water, still water, soft drink, non-alcoholic drink, alcoholic drink, beer, wine, liquor, fruit drink, juice, fruit juice, vegetable juice, broth drink, coffee, tea, black tea, green tea, oolong tea, herbal infusion, cacoa (water-based), tea-based drink, coffee-based drinks, cacao-based drink, infusion, syrup, frozen fruit, frozen fruit juice, water-based ice, fruit ice, sorbet, dressing, salad dressing, jams, marmalades, canned fruit, savoury, delicatessen products like delicatessen salads, sauces, ketchup, mustard, pickles and marinated fish, sauce, soup, and beverage botanical materials (e.g. whole or ground), or instant powder for reconstitution (e.g. coffee beans, ground coffee, instant coffee, cacao beans, cacao powder, instant cacao, tea leaves, instant tea powder). preferably, the consumable product is a solid dry consumable product selected from the group consisting of cereals, baked food products, biscuits, bread, breakfast cereal, cereal bar, energy bars/nutritional bars, granola, cakes, rice cakes, cookies, crackers, donuts, muffins, pastries, confectionaries, chewing gum, chocolate products, chocolate, fondant, hard candy, marshmallow, pressed tablets, snack foods, botanical materials (whole or ground), and instant powders for reconstitution. preferably, the consumable product is a dairy product, dairy-derived product and/or dairy-alternative product selected from the group consisting of milk, fluid milk, cultured milk product, cultured and noncultured dairy-based drink, cultured milk product cultured with lactobacillus, yoghurt, yoghurt-based beverage, smoothie, lassi, milk shake, acidified milk, acidified milk beverage, butter milk, kefir, milk-based beverages, milk/juice blend, fermented milk beverage, ice cream, dessert, sour cream, dip, salad dressing, cottage cheese, frozen yoghurt, soy milk, rice milk, soy drink, and rice milk drink. in one embodiment, the consumable product is a carbonated drink. in one embodiment, the consumable product is a non-carbonated drink. in one embodiment, the consumable product is a cereal. in one embodiment, the consumable product is a yoghurt. in one embodiment, the consumable product is a chewing-gum. preferably, the consumable product is a dental product selected from the group consisting of toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash, denture adhesive, enamel whitener, fluoride treatments and oral care gels, toothpaste being particularly preferred. preferably, the consumable product is a cosmetic product selected from the group consisting of lipstick, lip balm, lip gloss and petroleum jelly. preferably, the consumable product is a pharmaceutical product selected from the group consisting of over-the-counter and prescription drugs, non-tobacco snuff, tobacco substitutes, chewable medications, cough syrups, throat sprays, throat lozenges, cough drops, antibacterial products, pill coatings, gel caplets, soluble fiber preparations, antacids, tablet cores, rapidly absorbed liquid compositions, stable foam compositions, rapidly disintegrating pharmaceutical dosage forms, beverage concentrates for medicinal purposes, aqueous pharmaceutical suspensions, liquid concentrate compositions, and stabilized sorbic acid solutions, phosphate buffers, saline solutions, emulsion, non-aqueous pharmaceutical solvents, aqueous pharmaceutical carriers, solid pharmaceutical carrier, and pharmaceutical preservatives/additives (antimicrobials, antioxidants, chelating agents, inert gases, flavoring agents, coloring agents). in one embodiment, the consumable product is an animal feed or animal food. in one embodiment, the consumable product is a chewing gum. as one example, the sweetener composition may comprise pregelatinized starch and the sweetener may comprise acesulfame potassium. in one embodiment, the consumable product is a chewing gum. as one example, the sweetener composition may comprise pregelatinized starch and the sweetener may comprise sucrose. preferably, in embodiments wherein the consumable product is a chewing gum, the consumable product further comprises menthol. the invention, in another aspect, further relates to a method of providing a consumable of the invention as defined above by admixing a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, a sweetener composition of the invention as defined above or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention as defined above to a consumable product. the invention, in another aspect, further relates to a method of enhancing the taste sensations associated with flavor ingredients by admixing a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, a sweetener composition of the invention as defined above or a tabletop sweetener composition as defined above with one or more flavor ingredients to provide a flavor-enhanced composition or consumable. the invention, in another aspect, further relates to a method of increasing a sweetness level of a consumable having an initial sweetness level comprising the step of adding to the consumable a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof in an amount effective to increase the sweetness level of the consumable to a final sweetness level. the invention, in another aspect, relates to a process for the preparation of a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, wherein r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , n and m are defined as above comprising at least the following steps: (a) reaction of a compound of the formula (ii), with a compound of the general formula (iii), wherein r 3 , r 4 and m are defined as above and bn is benzyl,if appropriate in the presence of a solvent to obtain a compound of the general formula (iv), wherein r 3 , r 4 , m and bn are defined as above;(b) reaction of a compound of the general formula (iv) with a protecting agent, preferably with dibenzyl carbonate, if appropriate in the presence of a solvent and a base, preferably dmap, to obtain a compound of the general formula (v), wherein r 3 , r 4 , m and bn are defined as above;(c) reaction of a compound of the general formula (v) with an acid if appropriate in the presence of a solvent to obtain a compound of the general formula (vi), wherein r 3 , r 4 , m and bn are defined as above;(d) reaction of a compound of the general formula (vi) with a compound of the general formula (vii), wherein r 1 , r 2 , n and bn are as defined above,in the presence of a coupling agent, preferably in the presence of t3p®, and if appropriate in the presence of a solvent to yield a compound of the general formula (viii), wherein r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , n, m and bn are as defined above; and(e) reaction of a compound of the general formula (viii) with a deprotecting agent if appropriate in the presence of a solvent in order to obtain a compound of the general formula (i) as defined above. the preferred embodiments of the compound of the compound of formula (i) as mentioned above apply accordingly to the process of preparation of a compound of formula (i) according to the present invention. in one aspect, the invention relates to a compound of the formulae (iv), (v), (vi), (vii) and (viii) as defined above. in another aspect, the invention relates to a method of obtaining the compound of formula (i) as defined above, comprising isolating the compound of formula (i) as defined above from a natural organism, in particular isolating the compound of formula (ia) as defined above from an actinomycetes strain. detailed description of the invention novel sweetness enhancers as indicated above, there is a need for alternative sweetness enhancers which are healthy, i.e. non-caloric, non-cariogenic and ideal for diabetics as they would also allow reducing levels of conventional caloric sweeteners and therefore calorie reduction at the same sweetness level. also, the need exists for sweetness enhancers having an excellent temperature and ph stability, excellent storage and solubility properties as well as a taste-enhancing effects and synergies when combined with other sweetening compounds or food-related ingredients, e.g., pregelatinized starch. in particular, novel sweetness enhancers that are derived from natural products are of great interest. in addition, the need exists for sweetness enhancers that are free from off tastes, e.g. bitter or metallic tastes. it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an alternative sweetness enhancer having the above mentioned desired characteristics. in one aspect, the present invention provides the novel compounds of the general formula (i) wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, or heteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, with the exception of 4-[5-(acetylhydroxyamino)pentylamino]-2-[2-[5-(acetylhydroxyamino)pentylamino]-2-oxoethyl]-2-hydroxy-4-oxobutyric acid (terregens factor, arthrobactin) and 3-[3-(acetylhydroxyamino)propylcarbamoyl]-2-[3-(acetylhydroxyamino)propylcarbamoylmethyl]-2-hydroxypropionic acid (schizokinen). the excepted compounds are excluded from the scope of the invention as it relates to novel compounds, but are not excluded from the scope of the invention as it relates to uses of the compounds. as used herein, including the accompanying claims, the substituents have the following meanings. as used herein, the term “halogen” means a fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine atom, preferably a fluorine or chlorine atom. as used herein, the term “c 1 -c 8 -alkyl” alone or in combination means a straight-chain or branched alkyl group with 1 to 8 carbon atoms, preferably a straight or branched-chain alkyl group with 1 to 6 carbon atoms and particularly preferred a straight or branched-chain alkyl group with 1 to 4 carbon atoms. examples of straight-chain and branched c 1 -c 8 -alkyl groups are methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, tert.-butyl, the isomeric pentyls, the isomeric hexyls, the isomeric heptyls, the isomeric octyls, preferably methyl and ethyl and most preferred methyl. as used herein, the term “c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy” means the group r′o—, wherein r′ is c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and has the meanings defined above. examples of c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy groups are methoxy, ethoxy, n-propoxy, isopropoxy, n-butoxy, isobutoxy, sec.-butoxy and tert.-butoxy, preferably methoxy and ethoxy. as used herein, the term “c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl” alone or in combination means a straight-chain or branched-chain hydrocarbon residue comprising an olefinic bond and 1 to 8, preferably 1 to 6, particularly preferred 1 to 4 carbon atoms. examples of alkenyl groups are ethenyl, 1-propenyl, 2-propenyl, isopropenyl, 1-butenyl, 2-butenyl, 3-butenyl and isobutenyl. a preferred example is 2-propenyl. as used herein, the term “c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl” alone or in combination means a straight-chain or branched chain hydrocarbon residue comprising an alkyne bond and 1 to 8, preferably 1 to 6, particularly preferred 1 to 4 carbon atoms. examples of alkyne groups are propargyl, 1-methyl-2-propynyl, 2-butynyl or 3-butynyl. as used herein, the term “c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl” means a carbocyclic saturated ring system having 3 to 8 carbon atoms, preferably 1 to 6, particularly preferred 1 to 4 carbon atoms, for example cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cycloheptyl or cyclooctyl, preferably cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl. as used herein, the term “aryl” means a mono-, bi- or polycyclic aromatic system, for example phenyl, naphthyl, tetrahydronaphthyl, indenyl, indanyl, pentalenyl, fluorenyl and the like, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, particularly preferred phenyl. as used herein, the term “heteroaryl” means an aromatic or partly unsaturated 5- or 6-membered ring which comprises one, two or three atoms selected from nitrogen, oxygen and/or sulphur, such as pyridyl, pyrazinyl, pyrimidinyl, pyridazinyl, 2-oxo-1,2-dihydropyridinyl, oxazolyl, oxydiazolyl, isoxazolyl, thiadiazolyl, tetrazolyl, pyrazolyl, imidazolyl, thiazolyl and thienyl. the term “heteroaryl” further refers to bicyclic aromatic or partly unsaturated groups comprising two 5- or 6-membered rings, in which one or both rings can contain one, two or three atoms selected from nitrogen, oxygen or sulphur, such as quinolinyl, isoquinolinyl, cinnolinyl, pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridyl, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridyl, quinoxalinyl, benzothiazolyl, benzotriazolyl, indolyl, indazolyl. preferred heteroaryl groups are pyridyl or pyrazinyl. as used herein, the term “stereoisomer(s)” as it relates to a compound of formula (i) encompasses any possible enantiomers, diastereomers, cis-trans-isomers and/or e-/z-isomers of a compound of formula (i) and its salts or hydrates. in particular, the term “stereoisomer” means a single compound or a mixture of two or more compounds, wherein at least one chiral center is predominantly present in one definite isomeric form, in particular the s-enantiomer, the r-enantiomer and the racemate of a compound of formula (i). it is also possible that two or more stereogenic centers are predominantly present in one definite isomeric form of a derivative of a compound of formula (i) as defined above. in the sense of the present invention, “predominantly” has the meaning of at least 60%, preferably at least 70%, particularly preferably at least 80%, most preferably at least 90%. according to the present invention, also stereoisomers of a compound of formula (i) may be present as a salt or a hydrate. as used herein, the term “salt(s)” as it relates to a compound of formula (i) as defined above means the physiologically acceptable acid addition salts and base salts of the compound of formula (i) or its derivatives or its stereoisomers. suitable acid addition salts are formed from acids which form non-toxic salts. examples include but are not limited to the acetate, aspartate, benzoate, besylate, bicarbonate, carbonate, bisulphate, sulphate, borate, camsylate, citrate, edisylate, esylate, formate, fumarate, gluceptate, gluconate, glucuronate, hexafluorophosphate, hibenzate, hydrochloride/chloride, hydrobromide, bromide, hydroiodide, iodide, isethionate, lactate, malate, maleate, malonate, mesylate, methylsulphate, naphthylate, nicotinate, nitrate, orotate, oxalate, palmitate, pamoate, phosphate, hydrogen phosphate, dihydrogen phosphate, sacharate, stearate, succinate, tartrate, tosylate and trifluoroacetate salts. suitable base salts are formed from bases which form non-toxic salts. examples include but are not limited to the aluminium, arginine, benzathine, calcium, choline, diethylamine, diolamine, glycine, lysine, magnesium, meglumine, olamine, potassium, sodium, tromethamine and zinc salts. as used herein, the term “hydrate(s)” as it relates to a compound of formula (i) means a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt thereof that includes water. “hydrate(s)” are formed by the addition of water or its elements. in one embodiment, a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt thereof may form crystals that incorporate water into the crystalline structure without chemical alteration. the terms stereoisomer, salt, and hydrate may also be used in conjunction with one another. for example, a stereoisomer of a compound of formula (i) may have a salt and/or a derivative. combinations of these terms are considered to be within the scope of the invention. the compounds of formula (i) of the invention as defined above, including stereoisomers and salts and hydrates thereof may also be designated as “the compound(s) of the invention.” in one embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 4 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 4 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the phenyl or naphthyl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, or heteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, orphenyl, wherein the phenyl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or methyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 3 to 5. in a preferred embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein n and m are different. in a particularly preferred embodiment, n is preferably 5 and m is preferably 3. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 1 and r 4 are c 1 -c 4 -alkyl. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 2 and r 3 are identical. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 2 and r 3 are hydrogen. in a particularly preferred embodiment, the compound of formula (i) is the compound of formula (ia) it has now been found that the compounds of formula (i) wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, or heteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof are useful as sweetness enhancers. thus, in another aspect, the invention relates to the use of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer of a salt or a hydrate thereof as a sweetness enhancer. as used herein, the term “enhance” means to have an effect on a particular flavor sensation in consumables or other products placed in the oral cavity which is found more pronounced (stronger, enhanced) in its taste intensity and/or which is found to have an earlier onset of the flavor sensation. as used herein, the term “sweetness enhancer(s)” means any compound, which is capable of enhancing or intensifying the perception of sweet taste of sweetener compositions or sweetened compositions, e.g. a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. the phrase “sweetness enhancer” is synonymous to the terms “sweet taste potentiator”, “sweetness potentiator”, and “sweetness intensifier”. as used herein, the phrase “high intensity sweetener (s)” means any sweetener, which may in raw, extracted, purified, or any other from, singularly or in combination thereof have a sweetness potency greater than sucrose (common table sugar) yet have comparatively less calories. as used herein, the term “sweetener(s)” includes all artificial and natural sweeteners, sugar alcohols (or polyols) and sugar sweeteners (or carbohydrates). artificial and natural sweeteners include but are not limited to abiziasaponin, abrusosides, in particular abrusoside a, abrusoside b, abrusoside c, abrusoside d, acesulfame potassium, advantame, albiziasaponin, alitame, aspartame, superaspartame, bayunosides, in particular bayunoside i, bayunoside 2, brazzein, bryoside, bryonoside, bryonodulcoside, carnosifloside, carrelame, curculin, cyanin, chlorogenic acid, cyclamates and its salts, cyclocaryoside i, dihydroquercetin-3-acetate, dihydroflavenol, dulcoside, gaudichaudioside, glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetin acid, gypenoside, hematoxylin, isomogrosides, in particular iso-mogroside v, lugduname, magap, mabinlins, micraculin, mogrosides (lo han guo), in particular mogroside iv and mogroside v, monatin and its derivatives, monellin, mukurozioside, naringin dihydrochalcone (nardhc), neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (ndhc), neotame, osladin, pentadin, periandrin i-v, perillartine, d-phenylalanine, phlomisosides, in particular phlomisoside i, phlomisoside 2, phlomisoside 3, phlomisoside 4, phloridzin, phyllodulcin, polpodiosides, polypodoside a, pterocaryosides, rebaudiosides, in particular rebaudioside a, rebaudioside b, rebaudioside c, rebaudioside d, rebaudioside f, rebaudioside g, rebaudioside rubusosides, saccharin and its salts and derivatives, scandenoside, selligueanin a, siamenosides, in particular siamenoside i, stevia, steviolbioside, stevioside and other steviol glycosides, strogines, in particular strogin i, strogin 2, strogin 4, suavioside a, suavioside b, suavioside g, suavioside h, suavioside i, suavioside j, sucralose, sucronate, sucrooctate, talin, telosmoside a 15 , thaumatin, in particular thaumatin i and ii, trans-anethol, trans-cinnamaldehyde, trilobtain, d-tryptophane, and combinations thereof. sugar alcohols (or polyols) include but are not limited to erythritol, galactitol, hydrogenated starch syrups including maltitol and sorbitol syrups, inositols, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, and combinations thereof. sugar sweeteners (or carbohydrates) include monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides such as but not limited to arabinose, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, fructooligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharide syrups, galactose, galactooligosaccharides, glucose, glucose and (hydrogenated) starch syrups/hydrolysates, isomaltulose, lactose, hydrolysed lactose, maltose, mannose, rhamnose, ribose, sucrose, stachyose, tagatose, trehalose, xylose, and combinations thereof. the sweeteners are known substances and are for example described by h. mitchell (h. mitchell, “sweeteners and sugar alternatives in food technology”, backwell publishing ltd, 2006) and in wo 2009/023975 a2, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. suitable hydrogenated starch hydrolysates include, but are not limited to, those disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 4,279,931 and various hydrogenated glucose syrups and/or powders which contain sorbitol, maltitol, hydrogenated disaccharides, hydrogenated higher polysaccharides, or combination thereof. hydrogenated starch hydrosylates are primarily prepared by the controlled catalytic hydrogenation of con syrups. the resulting hydrogenated starch hydrosylates are mixtures of monomeric, dimeric, and polymeric saccharides. as shown in the examples, the inventors have now surprisingly and unexpectedly found that the compounds of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof are useful as a sweetness enhancer and have no characteristic intrinsic taste at the indicated concentration. the compounds of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof do not have the bitter aftertaste associated with saccharin, (for example, the bitter aftertaste associated with saccharin), or a metallic, acidic, astringent or throat-burning aftertaste (for example, those aftertastes often found in high-intensity sweeteners) at the indicated concentration. in addition, the compounds of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof do not exhibit a liquorice aftertaste. further, as shown in the examples, it has been found that the compounds of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof have an excellent temperature and ph stability as well as very good solubility properties. this excellent taste profile and the excellent temperature and ph stability as well as the very good solubility properties make the compounds of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof desirable for use in consumables or other products placed in the oral cavity. process for the preparation of a compound of formula (i) in another aspect, the present invention relates to a process for the preparation of a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, wherein r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , n and m are defined as above comprising at least the following steps: (a) reaction of a compound of the formula (ii), with a compound of the general formula (iii), wherein r 3 , r 4 and m are defined as above and bn is benzyl,if appropriate in the presence of a solvent to obtain a compound of the general formula (iv), wherein r 3 , r 4 , m and bn are defined as above;(b) reaction of a compound of the general formula (iv) with a protecting agent, preferably with dibenzyl carbonate, if appropriate in the presence of a solvent and a base, preferably dmap, to obtain a compound of the general formula (v), wherein r 3 , r 4 , m and bn are defined as above;(c) reaction of a compound of the general formula (v) with an acid if appropriate in the presence of a solvent to obtain a compound of the general formula (vi), wherein r 3 , r 4 , m and bn are defined as above;(d) reaction of a compound of the general formula (vi) with a compound of the general formula (vii), wherein r 1 , r 2 , n and bn are as defined above,in the presence of a coupling agent, preferably in the presence of t3p®, and if appropriate in the presence of a solvent to yield a compound of the general formula (viii), wherein r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , n, m and bn are as defined above; and(e) reaction of a compound of the general formula (viii) with a deprotecting agent if appropriate in the presence of a solvent in order to obtain a compound of the general formula (i) as defined above. the preparation of the compound of the formula (ii) used as a starting material in process step (a) is described in j. prakt. chem. 1987, 329, 447. alternatively, the compound of the formula (ii) may be obtained in a two-step synthesis starting from citric acid. process step (a) is carried out preferably in the present of a solvent, preferably in the presence of methylene chloride. process step (b) may be carried out as described in synthesis 1994, 1063. process step (c) is preferably carried out in the presence of gaseous hydrogen chloride in the present of a solvent, preferably in the presence of ethyl acetate, at an appropriate temperature, preferably at about 0° c. process step (d) is carried out under standard coupling conditions. process step (e) is carried out under standard reductive deprotection conditions preferably in the presence of pd/c in the presence of a solvent, preferably in ethanol. the compounds of the general formula (iii) can be prepared from commercially available amines. the preparation of the compound of the general formula (iii), wherein r 3 is hydrogen, r 4 is methyl and m is 3, is described in j. org. chem. 1983, 48, 24. other compounds of the general formula (iii) can be easily obtained in analogy to this synthesis. the compounds of the general formula (vii) (cf. cpd. 6 of the scheme below), wherein r 1 is methyl, r 2 is hydrogen and n is 5 can be obtained as shown in the scheme below. in a particular preferred embodiment of the process of the invention, r 1 and r 4 are methyl, r 2 and r 3 are hydrogen, n is 5 and m is 3. in one aspect, the invention relates to a compound of the formula (iv) as defined above. in one aspect, the invention relates to a compound of the formula (v) as defined above. in one aspect, the invention relates to a compound of the formula (vi) as defined above. in one aspect, the invention relates to a compound of the formula (vii) as defined above. in one aspect, the invention relates to a compound of the formula (viii) as defined above. method of obtaining the compound of formula (i) by isolation from a natural organism in another aspect, the invention relates to a method of obtaining a compound of formula (i) as defined above comprising isolating the compound of formula (i) as defined above from a natural organism, in particular isolating the compound of formula (ia) as defined above from an actinomycetes strain. as shown in the examples, the compound of formula (ia) can be isolated from the actinomycetes strain with the identification reference 01496axxx000004 and the accession number dsm 25420, which has been deposited in accordance with the terms as those laid down in the budapest treaty on the international recognition of the deposit of microorganisms for the purposes of patent procedure of apr. 28, 1977 on nov. 30, 2011, at the dsmz—deutsche sammlung von mikroorganismen and zellkulturen gmbh, inhoffenstr. 7 b, 38124 braunschweig, germany, by the analyticon discovery gmbh, hermannswerder haus 17, 14473 potsdam, germany. in one embodiment, the method comprises the following steps: a) preparing a fermentation broth of an actinomycetes strain, preferably of the actinomycetes strain with the accession number dsm 25420; b) extracting the compound of formula (ia) from the so obtained fermentation broth, c) isolating the compound of formula (ia) of the invention, and d) if appropriate purifying the so obtained fractions in order to obtain the compound of formula (ia). sweetener compositions and properties thereof in another aspect, the invention relates to a sweetener composition comprising (a) at least one sweetener; and(b) a compound of formula (i) whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5,or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. the preferred embodiments of the compound of the compound of formula (i) as mentioned above apply accordingly to the sweetener compositions according to the present invention. preferably, the compounds of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof are a sweetness enhancer. in one embodiment, the sweetener composition comprises at least one sweetener which is selected from the group consisting of abiziasaponin, abrusosides, in particular abrusoside a, abrusoside b, abrusoside c, abrusoside d, acesulfame potassium, advantame, albiziasaponin, alitame, aspartame, superaspartame, bayunosides, in particular bayunoside 1, bayunoside 2, brazzein, bryoside, bryonoside, bryonodulcoside, carnosifloside, carrelame, curculin, cyanin, chlorogenic acid, cyclamates and its salts, cyclocaryoside i, dihydroquercetin-3-acetate, dihydroflavenol, dulcoside, gaudichaudioside, glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetin acid, gypenoside, hematoxylin, isomogrosides, in particular iso-mogroside v, lugduname, magap, mabinlins, micraculin, mogrosides (lo han guo), in particular mogroside iv and mogroside v, monatin and its derivatives, monellin, mukurozioside, naringin dihydrochalcone (nardhc), neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (ndhc), neotame, osladin, pentadin, periandrin i-v, perillartine, d-phenylalanine, phlomisosides, in particular phlomisoside 1, phlomisoside 2, phlomisoside 3, phlomisoside 4, phloridzin, phyllodulcin, polpodiosides, polypodoside a, pterocaryosides, rebaudiosides, in particular rebaudioside a, rebaudioside b, rebaudioside c, rebaudioside d, rebaudioside f, rebaudioside g, rebaudioside h), rubusosides, saccharin and its salts and derivatives, scandenoside, selligueanin a, siamenosides, in particular siamenoside i, stevia, steviolbioside, stevioside and other steviol glycosides, strogines, in particular strogin 1, strogin 2, strogin 4, suavioside a, suavioside b, suavioside g, suavioside h, suavioside i, suavioside j, sucralose, sucronate, sucrooctate, talin, telosmoside a 15 , thaumatin, in particular thaumatin i and ii, trans-anethol, trans-cinnamaldehyde, trilobtain, d-tryptophane, erythritol, galactitol, hydrogenated starch syrups including maltitol and sorbitol syrups, inositols, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, arabinose, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, fructooligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharide syrups, galactose, galactooligosaccharides, glucose, glucose and (hydrogenated) starch syrups/hydrolysates, isomaltulose, lactose, hydrolysed lactose, maltose, mannose, rhamnose, ribose, sucrose, tagatose, trehalose and xylose. preferably, the at least one sweetener is acesulfame potassium, sucrose or fructose. in another embodiment, the sweetener composition comprises a first sweetener and a second sweetener. preferably, the first sweetener is fructose. preferably, the at least one sweetener is a natural sweetener. in another embodiment, the at least one sweetener is an artificial sweetener. in another embodiment, the sweetener composition comprises a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof in a purity of greater than about 60% by weight, e.g., greater than about 70% by weight, greater than about 80% by weight, greater than about 90% by weight, greater than about 98% by weight, or greater than about 99% by weight. preferably, a 1 gram portion of the sweetener composition provides sweetness comparable to one to three teaspoons of granulated sugar, preferably comparable to two teaspoons of granulated sugar. for example, the compositions may contain sweetness comparable to that of granulated sugar (sucrose), and therefore can be used “spoon-for-spoon” or “cup-for-cup” in place of sugar. as used herein, the phrase “sweetness comparable” means that an experienced sensory evaluator, on average, will determine that the sweetness presented in a first composition is within a range of 80% to 120% of the sweetness presented in a second composition. the phrase “a sweetness comparable” relates to a determination ascertained by four or more experienced sensor evaluators in a sweetness matching test (designated hereinafter as “taste and spit assay”), as discussed below. thus, for instance, 100 mg/ml of a sweetener composition comprising the compound of formula (i) provides “sweetness comparable” to 100 mg/ml of sucrose if the sweetener composition of the invention has a sweetness falling within the range of sweetness presented in 80-120 mg/ml of sucrose. the sweetness and/or sweetness enhancing properties of a compound, in some embodiments, can be identified by an in vitro in cell based assay as described in the examples, in ep 1 865 316 b1, which is incorporated herein by reference or by field effector transistor technology of e.g. alpha mos. the taste of a sample of a compound, e.g. of the compound of formula (i), with regard to sweetness and/or sweetness enhancing properties, in other embodiments, may be assessed in vivo by using a panel of trained sensory evaluators experienced in the sweet taste estimation procedure, e.g. in the taste and spit assay as described e.g. in example 2. in these cases, panelists are asked to take a sample of the liquid to be assessed (test substance, e.g. a compound of formula (i) as defined above) into the mouth and after some time allowed for taste perception to spit the sample out completely. subsequently, the panelists are asked to rinse their mouth well with water or black tea to reduce any potential carry over effects. the tasting of a sample can be repeated if required. in a first descriptive test (qualitative assessment for sweetness) the panelists are asked to taste the quality of single samples (maximum 3 subsequent samples). the individuals of the taste panel are asked to answer the following questions with regard to the quality of taste: 1) does the sample taste sweet?, 2) is there another taste detectable (bitter, sour, salty, umami)?, 3) is there an off- or aftertaste?, 4) is there anything else remarkable about the perception of the sample? in the next step (assessment of sweetness enhancing, e.g. fructose enhancing, features) the panelists are asked to answer questions in a pairwise comparison test to determine the enhancement of sweet taste of the test substance with fructose relative to fructose only. again the panelists are given samples. two samples are prepared for direct comparison regarding sweetness. one sample contains fructose in a solvent and the other sample additionally contains the test substance. designation of the samples with a and b is randomized and is decoded after the taste procedure. the questions to be answered are: 1) does one sample taste sweeter than the other?, 2) if so, which one?, 3) are there any other differences in the taste between the two samples? the result of the taste and spit assay is a qualitative evaluation of the differences between the two samples. in another embodiment, the sweetness and/or sweetness enhancing properties of the inventive sweetener composition, when dissolved in water, correspond to a particular degrees brix, a well-known measurement of sugar content in an aqueous solution. in some embodiments, for example, when 5 grams of sweetener composition are dissolved in 95 grams of water, the resultant solution has a sweetness that corresponds to a degrees brix value ranging from 1 to 1000, e.g., from 5 to 500 or from 5 to 100. preferably, one gram of the sweetener composition contains less calories and carbohydrates than about 1 gram of granulated sugar, e.g., less than about 0.5 grams of granulated sugar. in another embodiment of the invention, the sweetener composition of the invention is substantially free of off-taste. in one embodiment of the invention, the sweetener composition of the invention is liquid at ambient conditions. in another embodiment of the invention, the sweetener composition of the invention is solid at ambient conditions. in one embodiment of the invention, the sweetener composition of the invention comprises homogeneous particles comprising the sweetener and a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. preferably, the homogeneous sweetener particles have an average particle size of between about 50 microns and about 1250 microns, e.g., between about 100 microns and about 1000 microns. in another embodiment of the invention, the sweetener composition comprises a mixture of first particles comprising the sweetener and second particles comprising a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. preferably, the sweetener composition of the invention comprises from 0.0005 to 1.0 wt % of the sweetness enhancer compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, based on the total weight of the sweetener composition, preferably from 0.0001 to 0.1 wt %, particularly preferred from 0.001 to 0.05 wt %. in one embodiment, the sweetener compositions further comprise at least one additional sweetness enhancer, e.g., at least two or at least three. suitable additional sweetness enhancers are well known in the art. in one embodiment, the at least one additional sweetness enhancer may be selected from the group consisting of terpenes (such as sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, and triterpenes), flavonoids, amino acids, proteins, polyols, other known natural sweeteners (such as cinnamaldehydes, selligueains and hematoxylins), secodammarane glycosides, and analogues thereof. exemplary sweetness enhancers include stevioside, steviolbioside, rebaudioside a, rebaudioside b, rebaudioside c, rebaudioside d, rebaudioside f, dulcoside a, rubusoside; hernandulcin; pine rosin diperpenoid; mukurozioside; baiyunosdie; phlomisoside, such as phlomisoside i and phlomisodie ii; glycyrrhizic acid; periandrins, such as periandrin i, periandrin ii, periandrin iii, and periandrin iv; osladin; polypodosides, such as polypodoside a and polypodoside b; mogrosides, such as mogroside iv and mogroside v; abrusoside a and abrusosdie b; cyclocariosdies, such as cyclocarioside a and cyclocarioside b; pterocaryoside a and pterocaryoside b; flavonoids, such as phyllodulcin, phloridzin, neoastilbin, and dihydroquercetin acetate; amino acids, such as glycine and monatin; proteins, such as thaumatins (thaumatin i, thaumatin ii, thaumatin iii, and thaumatin iv), monellin, mabinlins (mabinlin i and mabinlin ii), brazzein, miraculin, and curculin; polyols such as erythritol; cinnamaldehyde; selligueains, such as selligueain a and selligueain b; hematoxylin; and mixtures thereof. additional exemplary sweetness enhancers include pine rosin diterpenoids; phloridizin; neoastilbin; dihydroquercetin acetate; glycine; erythritol; cinnamaldehyde; selligueain a; selligueain b; hematoxylin; rebaudioside a; rebaudioside b; rebaudioside c; rebaudioside d; rebaudioside e; dulcoside a; steviolbioside; rubusoside; stevia; stevioside; steviol 13 o-β-d-glycoside; mogroside v; luo han guo; siamenoside; siamenoside i; monatin and salts thereof (monatin ss, rr, rs, sr); curculin; glycyrrhizic acid and its salts; thaumatin i; thaumatin ii; thaumatin iii; thaumatin iv; monellin; mabinlin i; mabinlin ii; brazzein; hernandulcin; phyllodulcin; glycyphyllin; phloridzin; trilobtain; baiyunoside; osladin; polypodoside a; polypodoside b; pterocaryoside a; pterocaryoside b; mukurozioside; mukurozioside lib; phlomisoside i; phlomisoside ii; periandrin i; periandrin ii; periandrin iii; periandrin vi; periandrin v; cyclocarioside a; cyclocarioside b; suavioside a; suavioside b; suavioside g; suavioside h; suavioside i; suavioside j; labdane glycosides; baiyunoside; gaudichaudioside a; mogroside iv; iso-mogroside; bryodulcoside; bryobioside; bryoside; bryonoside; carnosifloside v; carnosifloside vi; scandenoside r6; 11-oxomogroside v; abrusoside a; abrusoside b; abrusoside c; abrusoside d; abrusoside e; gypenoside xx; glycyrrhizin; apioglycyrrhizin; araboglycyrrhizin; pentadin; perillaldehyde; rebaudioside f; steviol; 13-[(2-o-(3-o-α-d-glucopyranosyl)-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-(4-o-α-d-glucopyranosyl)-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-hydroxy-kaur-16-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-methyl-16-oxo-17-norkauran-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(2-0-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-15-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-15-en-18-oic acid; 13-[(2-0-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl]-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-17-hydroxy-kaur-15-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-16-hydroxy kauran-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-16-hydroxy kauran-18-oic acid; isosteviol; mogroside ia; mogroside ie; mogroside ii-a; mogroside ii-e; mogroside iii; mogroside v; isomogroside v; 11-oxomogroside; mogrol; 11-oxomogrol; 11-oxomogroside ia; 1-[13-hydroxykaur-16-en-18-oate]β-d-glucopyranuronic acid; 13-[(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-17-hydroxy-kaur-15-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(2-0-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid-(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)ester (rebaudioside e); 13-[(2-o-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid-(2-0-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl) ester; 13-[(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-kaur-16-en-18-oic acid-(2-o-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl) ester; 13-[(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-17-oxo-kaur-15-en-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosl ester; 13-[(2-o-(6-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl)-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-fructofuranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(2o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid-(6-o-β-d-xylopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl) ester; 13-[(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid-(4-o-(2-o-α-d-glucopyranosyl)-α-d-glucopyranosyl-d-glucopyranosyl) ester; 13-[(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3oβ-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid-(2-o-6-deoxy-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl) ester; 13-[(2-0-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-15-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-xylopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(2-o-β-d-xylopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(2-o-6-deoxy-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; 13-[(2-o-6-deoxy β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester; and mixtures thereof. additional exemplary sweetness enhancers include rebaudioside c, rebaudioside f, rebaudioside d, 13-[(2-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl]-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-17-hydroxy-kaur-15-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester, 13-[(2-o-(3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl)-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3-o-β-d-glucopyranosyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]kaur-16-en-18-oic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester, and rubusoside. further for example, the at least one sweetness enhancer is chosen from rebaudioside a, stevioside, rebaudioside d, rebaudioside e, mogroside v, mogroside iv, brazzein, and monatin. in one embodiment, the at least one sweetness enhancer is present in an amount at or below the sweetness detection threshold level of the at least one sweetness enhancer. in some embodiments, the at least one sweetness enhancer is present in an amount below the sweetness detection threshold level of the at least one sweetness enhancer. the sweetness detection threshold level can be specific for a particular compound. however, generally, in some embodiments, the at least one sweetness enhancer is present in an amount ranging from 0.5 ppm to 1000 ppm. for example, the at least one sweetness enhancer may be present in an amount ranging from 1 ppm to 300 ppm; and at least one sweetness enhancer may be present in an amount ranging from 0.1 ppm to 75 ppm; and at least one sweetness enhancer may be present in an amount ranging from 500 ppm to 3000 ppm. as used herein, the terms “sweetness threshold,” “sweetness recognition threshold,” and “sweetness detection threshold” are understood to mean the level at which the lowest known concentration of a certain sweet compound that is perceivable by the human sense of taste and it can vary from person to person. for example, a typical sweetness threshold level for sucrose in water can be 0.5%. further for example, the at least one sweetness enhancer to be used can be assayed in water at least 25% lower and at least 25% higher than the sucrose detection level of 0.5% in water to determine the sweetness threshold level. a person of skill in the art will be able to select the concentration of the at least one sweetness enhancer so that it may impart an enhanced sweetness to a composition comprising at least one sweetener. for example, a skilled artisan may select a concentration for the at least one sweetness enhancer so that the at least one sweetness enhancer does not impart any perceptible sweetness to a composition that does not comprise at least one sweetener. in some embodiments, the compounds listed above as sweeteners may also function as sweetness enhancers. generally speaking, some sweeteners may also function as sweetness enhancers and vice versa. in one embodiment, the sweetener composition as defined above comprises (c) a pregelatinized starch. it has now been found that the inventive combination of a sweetener, a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, and pregelatinized starch provides for a sweetener composition that, when utilized in combination with a consumable product, demonstrates a prolonged release rate of the sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof from the consumable product. preferably, the sweetener is acesulfame potassium. acesulfame potassium is a commercially available high intensity sweetener. one suitable commercial acesulfame potassium product is sunett® from nutrinova nutrition specialties & food ingredients. in one preferred embodiment, the at least one additional sweetener comprises sucrose, which is commercially available. without being bound by theory, it is believed that a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof possess characteristics that provide for prolonged release rates when a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof are employed in combination with the pregelatinized starch. as one particular example, acesulfame potassium has a particular solubility that, unexpectedly, allows the acesulfame potassium to effectively load onto the pregelatinized starch. in one embodiment, paraffin may be employed to introduce other types of sweeteners/flavors onto the pregelatinized starch. paraffin, surprisingly, may provide for improvements in loading and, subsequently, prolonged release rates. pregelatinized starches are known commodities. as one example, wo 89/04842 discloses amylase treated granular starches that provide a microporous matrix material adapted for absorption and releasable containment of functional compositions. the microporous starch granules are chemically derivatized to enhance absorption and structural properties. absorbed functional substances are released from the microporous starch matrix under the influence of mechanical compression, by diffusion into a surrounding fluid or as a result of degradation of the granular starch matrix. also, wo 2009/103514 discloses a liquid loaded starch material comprising a solid carrier material consisting of pregelatinized, non-granular starch material, which consists of flake-shaped starch particles, wherein the size distribution of the starch particles is such that at least 50% by weight of the starch particles have a particle size of between 100 and 375 μm, and wherein the bet specific surface area is less than or equal to 0.5 m 2 /g and one or more liquid components. this reference also provides for the use of same in food and animal feed products, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, agrochemicals, and cosmetic or personal care products. the reference also provides a process for preparing said powdered liquid-loaded starch material. in addition, u.s. pat. no. 5,919,486 discloses a “liquid oil and fat ingredient or others” that are carried by pores of a porous carrier composed of porous starch grain obtained by reacting an enzyme having raw starch digestive activity “onto the starch.” these references, however, do not disclose the combination of pregelatinized starches with sweeteners, e.g., non-caloric, high intensity sweeteners, such as acesulfame potassium. the references mentioned above are hereby incorporated by reference. in one embodiment, the sweetener composition demonstrates a prolonged release rate from the consumable. in one embodiment, the consumable comprises the sweetener composition and the sweetener composition provides for an initial sweetness level. sweetness levels, e.g., “sweetnesses,” may be determined by tasting panels, as discussed above. over time, as the consumable product continues to be consumed, the initial sweetness level decreases to a reduced sweetness level. in preferred embodiments, the initial sweetness level is essentially maintained over time. in one embodiment, the inventive sweetener composition releases from the consumable product over a prolonged time period. preferably, the inventive sweetener releases from the consumer product over a time period that is at least 5% longer than the time period for a conventional sweetener composition (employed in similar amounts and in a similar consumable product) that does not comprise pregelatinized starch, e.g., at least 10% longer, at least 20% longer, at least 30% longer, or at least 50% longer. in one embodiment, a level of mouthfeel of the sweetener composition is prolonged by the addition the pregelatinized starch. in one embodiment, when employed in a chewing gum, the inventive sweetener composition will provide a bulkier and/or a heavier final chewing gum. in preferred embodiments, the sweetener composition comprises from 80 wt % to 95 wt % pregelatinized starch based on the total weight of the sweetener composition, e.g., from 82 wt % to 93 wt % or from 85 wt % to 90 wt %. in terms of limits, the sweetener composition may comprise at least 80 wt % pregelatinized starch, e.g., at least 82 wt % or at least 85 wt %. in terms of upper limits, the sweetener composition may comprise less than 95 wt % pregelatinized starch, e.g., less than 93 wt % or less than 90 wt %. in one embodiment, a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof are absorbed into the pregelatinized starch. in another embodiment, a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof are adsorbed onto the pregelatinized starch. the pregelatinized starch comprises a plurality of pores and capillaries. in a preferred embodiment, the sweetener is disposed in these pores and/or capillaries. exemplary disposition methods are discussed below. in another aspect, the present invention relates to a method of controlling the release rate of taste sensations associated with a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. the taste sensations may be for example the sweetness provided by a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. in these embodiments, a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof are a component of a sweetener composition. the method comprises the step of contacting, e.g., admixing, a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, with a pregelatinized starch to form a release controlled sweetener composition. the release controlled sweetener composition has a prolonged release rate, as compared to a similar sweetener composition that does not include the pregelatinized starch. pregelatinized starch the pregelatinized starch may vary widely and many pregelatinized starches are known in the art. examples include the pregelatinized starches disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 5,919,486, wo 89/04842, wo 2007/110645, and wo 2009/103514. the shape of the pregelatinized starch particles may vary widely. for example, the pregelatinized starch may be granular. in some cases, small particles sizes and/or irregular particle shapes may correlate with a high specific surface area, which in turn correlates with a high loading capacity. thus, in some embodiments, small particles with a high specific surface area may be used for the purpose of supporting a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. in another embodiment, the starch may be non-granular. preferably, the starch may be in the form of flakes. in one of these embodiments, the flake-shaped starch particles have a particle size ranging from 50 μm to 500 μm, e.g., from 100 μm to 375 μm, as determined by sieve analysis. in one embodiment, the flake-shaped starch particles are relatively large particles, and the bet specific surface area is as low as 0.5 m 2 /g or less, e.g., 0.4 m 2 /g or less, less than 0.3 m 2 /g. in terms of ranges the flake-shaped particles may have a specific surface area ranging from 0.05 m 2 /g to 0.5 m 2 /g, e.g., from 0.05 m 2 /g to 0.4 m 2 /g. in one embodiment, the inventive sweetener compositions comprise both granular pregelatinized starch and flake pregelatinized starch. in one embodiment, the pregelatinized starch, whether it is in granular or flake form, may have a high porosity. in one embodiment, the pregelatinized starch, whether it is in granular or flake form, has a loading capacity greater than 10%, e.g., greater than 20%. in terms of upper limits, the pregelatinized starch, whether it is in granular or flake form, has a loading capacity less than 90%, e.g., less than 60%. the loading capacity may range from 10% to 90%, e.g., from 10% to 60%. without being bound by theory, the pregelatinized starches utilized in the present invention possess features and properties that are distinct from typical starches and/or bulking agents. because conventional bulking agents lack the features and properties of the pregelatinized starches, these conventional bulking agents, when combined with sweeteners, would not be expected to provide the surprising and unexpected release rates demonstrated by the sweetener compositions of the present invention. the term “pregelatinized starch”, as used herein, relates to a starch that has been chemically and/or mechanically and/or thermally treated in the presence of water to decrease the number and size of crystalline regions and increase the randomness in the general structure, and has been subsequently dried. typically, the structural changes induced by gelatinization are manifested in the loss of birefringence and/or maltese crosses in polarized light. the pregelatinized starches may or may not have lost their granular structure and are substantially soluble in cold water without cooking. in accordance with the present invention, “pregelatinized starches” may also be chemically modified to impart desirable properties, such as flowability, hydrophobicity and the like. preferably, the pregelatinized starch used in the present invention is not chemically modified. furthermore, the term “pregelatinized starch” may also include partially pregelatinized starch (pps), which contains soluble (gelatinized) and insoluble fractions. preferably, the pregelatinized starch used in the present invention is completely or predominantly pregelatinized, i.e. with less than 10%, preferably less than 5%, in particular less than 2% or 1% by weight, of crystalline regions. in accordance with the present invention, the term “chemically modified starches” or “chemical modification” of starches includes, but is not limited to, crosslinked starches, starches modified with blocking groups to inhibit retrogradation, starches modified by the addition of lipophilic groups, acetylated starches, hydroxyethylated and hydroxypropylated starches, inorganically esterified starches, cationic, anionic and oxidized starches, zwitterionic starches, starches modified by enzymes, and combinations thereof. suitable pregelatinized starches for use herein can be derived from any native source, wherein native relates to the fact that said starch is found in nature. typical sources for the starches are cereals, tubers, roots, legumes, fruit starches and hybrid starches. suitable sources include, but are not limited to, corn, pea, potato, sweet potato, sorghum, banana, barley, wheat, rice, sago, amaranth, tapioca, arrowroot, canna, and low amylose (containing no more than about 10% by weight amylose, preferably no more than 5%) or high amylose (containing at least about 40% by weight amylose) varieties thereof. also suitable are starches derived from a genetically modified starch crop. a preferred starch for use herein has an amylose content below 40%, including waxy corn starch with less than 1% amylose content. particularly preferred starches include rice, wheat, tapioca, corn, and potato starches, in particular corn (maize) starch. a “granular shape” is intended to mean a roughly spheroid or ellipsoid shape and includes spherical particles that have indentations in one or more portions thereof, such as the spherical starch particles produced by a conventional spray-drying process. a “non-granular starch material”, as used herein, refers to a starch material consisting of particles that do not have a granular shape. a “flake-shaped” or a “flaked” starch particle, when used herein, is a particle that does not have a granular structure and has a heterogeneous shape in the form of irregular flat or thick plates or sheets. typically, roll-drying or drum-drying processes generate such flake-shaped starch particles. other processes, however, may be employed to provide the flake-shaped particles. in preferred embodiments, at least 80 wt %, e.g., at least 90 wt %, at least 95 wt %, or 100 wt % by weight of the starch particles have a particle size of between 50 μm and 500 μm, e.g., from 125 μm and 350 μm, between 125 μm and 325 μm, or between 125 μm and 300 μm. a particularly preferred pregelatinized, non-granular starch material has a particle size of 100 μm to 375 μm for at least 50% by weight, preferably 80% by weight, of the starch particles, and a bet specific surface area of less than or equal to 0.5 m 2 /g, preferably less than or equal to 0.4 m 2 /g. in one embodiment, the pregelatinized starch has a calorie content similar to that of sucrose. a preferred commercial pregelatinized starch is starrier r™ and similar products from cargill. in one embodiment, the pregelatinized, starch, whether in granular or flake form, may include minor amounts of one or more additives, preferably in a total amount of no more than 10% by weight, more preferably no more than 5% by weight, most preferably 0% to 1% by weight, based on the total weight of the pregelatinized starch. these optionally present additives may be added to the starch slurry or paste used for preparing the pregelatinized starch material of the present invention. examples of additive include, but are not limited to, processing aids, such as agents for enhancing the formation of bubbles, surfactants and emulsifiers, and other ingredient, such as salts, sugars, fat, gums and hydrocolloids. in some embodiments, the additives included in the pregelatinized starch material may also be substances that have been added to the formed pregelatinized starch material to provide it with desirable properties. an example thereof is a surface modifying agent, which changes the absorption properties of the starch to improve, for example, the absorption of hydrophobic ingredients like oils and fats. preferably, the pregelatinized starch material is produced by a roll-drying or drum-drying process. roll-drying as well as drum-drying involve the heating of an aqueous starch slurry or paste to gelatinize the starch and to instantaneously remove the moisture. the aqueous starch slurry or paste may be first heated and subsequently dried or, more preferably, the starch may be simultaneously gelatinized by heating and dried using a commercially available drum-dryer or roll-dryer apparatus. as used herein, the term “roll-drying” refers to a process where an aqueous starch slurry or paste is cooked or partially cooked and passed on heated rolls (sometimes also referred to as “drums”) for drying or, preferably, a process where the aqueous starch slurry or paste is simultaneously cooked and dried on heated rolls. the term “drum-drying”, when used herein, refers to a process very similar to the roll-drying process, except that a thicker coating of the starch slurry or paste is applied to heated drums. in one embodiment, a process for preparing the pregelatinized starch material described hereinabove starts with mixing starch (generally in the form of a starch powder) and water to prepare an aqueous starch slurry or paste having a certain solids content. a starch “slurry or paste” may also include high-viscosity starch preparations, such as a moist filter cake. suitable starches are as defined above. the starch content typically ranges from 20 wt % to 45 wt % by weight, e.g., from 25 wt % to 40 wt %% by weight, or from 32 wt % to 40 wt %. the prepared aqueous starch slurry or cake may then be applied onto heated, rotating rolls or drums of a roll-dryer or drum-dryer, conveniently by means of application drums or feed rolls, to simultaneously gelatinize and dry the aqueous starch slurry or paste. after one rotation, the obtained dried starch film is removed from the rolls or drums by a scrapping mechanism, such as a knife blade, to obtain a starch material, which is then subjected to grinding or milling, for example in a rotor beater mill or cutting mill. finally, the ground (milled) starch material is sieved using one or several sieves of different mesh sizes, as known in the art, to obtain the desired sieve fraction of the pregelatinized, non-granular starch material. suitable roll-dryers and drum-driers for preparing the pregelatinized, non-granular starch material of the present invention are commercially available, for example from gmf-gouda (the netherlands). typically, they are designed as indirect dryers, where heat is transferred by pressurized stream to the inside (metal) drum wall, which in turn transfers the heat to the aqueous starch slurry or paste on the other side of the wall. while the basic construction is relatively simple, there are numerous configurations commercially available, which differ in the arrangement and number of drums and feed rolls, the type of scrapping mechanism, etc. factors, such as the composition of the aqueous slurry or paste, the roll or drum temperature, and the drum or roll speed (which determines the residence time), will have an effect on the physical and chemical properties of the final pregelatinized, non-granular starch material. it is within the scope of the invention to or adjust process parameters to obtain a pregelatinized starch material having desirable properties. for example, different types of starches are known to have varying gelatinization temperatures and thus one or more of the above parameters may be adjusted and optimized to achieve a satisfactory result. such optimizations are well within the normal capabilities of a person skilled in the art of drum-dried or roll-dried pregelatinized starches. the rolls or drums are typically heated to have a surface temperature in the range from 120° c. to 200° c., e.g., from 140° c. to 190° c., or from 150° c. to 180° c. the rolls or drums are normally operated at a speed or rotation rate of 5 to 18 rpm, e.g., 5 to 15 rpm, or 8 to 13 rpm. one or more additional constituents (additives) may be admixed to the aqueous starch slurry or paste including, but not limited to, processing aids, such as bubble-forming agents, surfactants and emulsifiers, and other substances, such as salts, sugars, fat, gums, and hydrocolloids to improve certain properties. for example, the starch slurry or paste applied to the heated rolls or drums gets transformed into a continuous phase of melted starch that includes variable amounts of air bubbles. in order to obtain a pregelatinized starch material with an increased absorption capacity, conditions might be chosen to result in a relatively low bulk density, for example, by adding specific processing aids to the aqueous starch slurry or paste to increase formation of bubbles. furthermore, it is also within the scope of the present invention, that the obtained roll-dried or drum-dried, pregelatinized, non-granular starch material is additionally treated with a surface modifying agent to change the absorption properties of the starch. a hydrophobic agent, for example, will further improve the absorption capacity for hydrophobic liquid components, like oils and fats. exemplary methods to assess the physical characteristics of the pregelatinized starch provided in the examples follow. (1) particle size distribution the particle size distribution of starch samples was determined by a sieve analysis using sieves with different openings. the respective sieve fractions on the sieves were weighted and divided by the total weight of the starch sample to give a percentage retained on each sieve. (2) particle shape the particle shape of starch samples was observed by scanning electronic microscopy at magnifications of 100 to 750×, as known in the art. (3) bet specific surface area the specific surface area of starch samples was measured by nitrogen absorption in a gemini ii 2370 surface area analyzer (micromeritrics nv/sa, brussels, belgium). the multi-point (11 points by convention) bet-method (bruauner, emmett and teller, j. am. chem. soc. 60:309-319 (1938)) was used to determine the total available surface area. methods of making a sweetener composition of the invention and enhancing the sweetness of a sweetener composition in another aspect, the present invention relates to a method of making a sweetener composition comprising the step of admixing a sweetener with a compound of formula (i) wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, or heteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. the preferred embodiments of the compound of the compound of formula (i) as mentioned above apply accordingly to the method of making a sweetener composition according to the present invention. in one embodiment, the method yields a sweetener composition comprising a compound of formula (i) as defined above in the form of an extract or in isolated or purified form. in one embodiment, the sweetener composition comprises a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof in a purity of greater than about 60% by weight, e.g., greater than about 70% by weight, greater than about 80% by weight, greater than about 90% by weight, greater than about 98% by weight, or greater than about 99% by weight. in one embodiment, the inventive method further comprises the step of combining a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof with at least one other additional ingredient chosen from bubble forming agents, bulking agents, carriers, fibers, sugar alcohols, oligosaccharides, sugars, high intensity sweeteners, nutritive sweeteners, flavoring, flavor enhancers, flavor stabilizers, acidulants, anti-caking, free-flow agents, and any combination thereof. preferably the resultant composition comprises about 3 to about 200 mg of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof per 1 gram of the composition, e.g., about 3 to about 100 mg of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof per 1 gram of the composition, or about 5 to about 10 mg of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof per 1 gram of the composition. in one embodiment, the invention relates to a method for enhancing the sweetness of a sweetener composition comprising a sweetener, comprising the step of adding to the sweetener a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof to form an enhanced sweetener composition. preferably, a compound of formula (i) as defined above is added in amount effective to increase the sweetness of the sweetener composition to an increased sweetness level. in preferred embodiments, the increase sweetness level is greater than an initial sweetness level of a comparative sweetener compositionally the same as the aforementioned sweetener composition of the invention but without the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. in one aspect, the present invention relates to a method for preparing a sweetener composition comprising pregelatinized starch. the inventive method comprises the step of applying a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof to the pregelatinized starch. in one embodiment, the inventive method comprises the step of combining, e.g., admixing, a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof with a pregelatinized starch to form a release controlled sweetener composition. for loading the pregelatinized starch material with a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof the starch material may be placed in a vessel supporting mechanical mixing and preferable capable of being sealed. suitable mixing devices are, for example, a paddle mixer, a ribbon blender, a v-blender, or a plough blade mixer. the sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may then be supplied, for example poured, pumped or, preferably, sprayed via a nozzle, into the vessel and applied onto the agitated pregelatinized starch material. in some embodiments, the sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof are supplied in the form of a sweetener mixture comprising a sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and a carrier. spraying via a nozzle is advantageously used because the nozzle leads to the formation of small droplets that are more easily absorbed by the pregelatinized starch. loading from the gas phase or under supercritical conditions is also possible. the mixing may be continued until an even distribution of the sweetener into and/or onto the pregelatinized starch is obtained. the time required for spraying or pumping is dependent upon the addition level of the sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof onto the pregelatinized starch and the time required to ensure complete absorption to form a free flowing powder. in one embodiment, the sweetener compositions of the present invention are formed by contacting the pregelatinized starch with a sweetener mixture comprising the sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and a carrier. preferably, the carrier is glycerol, however ever other suitable carriers may be employed. without being bound by theory, the pregelatinized starch has a plurality of pores and capillaries. upon contacting the sweetener mixture with these pores and/or capillaries, the sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof are distributed therein. the sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof that are disposed in the pores and/or capillaries may then be released, e.g., released at a prolonged rate, as pressure is applied to the sweetener composition or to the consumable product that comprises the composition, e.g., via chewing. another suitable method for loading the sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof onto the pregelatinized starch material may be a fluidized-bed loading process. in such a process, the pregelatinized starch material is fluidized by forcing air or another gas upward through a bed of starch particles. the sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof are then sprayed via a nozzle onto the fluidized starch particles to yield a sweetener-loaded starch material of evenly loaded starch particles. again, the sweetener and a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may be supplied in the form of a sweetener mixture comprising the sweetener and a carrier. a further suitable loading method for use herein comprises the steps of suspending the pregelatinized starch carrier material in the sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof followed by separating the powdered sweetener-loaded starch material from the liquid components by conventional separation methods, such as filtration or centrifugation. depending on the type of sweetener(s) to be loaded, the sweetener(s) may be heated or cooled. in case of high viscous liquid components, for example, it might be favourable to heat the sweetener(s) to decrease the viscosity and facilitate the loading process. in case of temperature-sensitive sweetener(s), cooling might be desired or required. means for cooling or heating, such as a cooled or heated blender, are well-known to a person skilled in the art. in accordance with the present invention, the pregelatinized starch may be pre-treated before loading with an inert gas to remove, for instance, oxygen. the pregelatinized starch may also be vacuum-treated before loading to increase the absorption capacity. further, when sensitive liquids are to be loaded, the loading operation might be carried out under an inert gas atmosphere, for example under a nitrogen atmosphere to protect against loss of quality by oxidation. after having loaded the pregelatinized starch material with one or more sweetener(s), further processing steps may optionally follow. for example, flowing or anti-caking agents may be added to the sweetener-loaded starch material, such as tricalcium phosphate, silica, silicates and/or stearates, to increase flowability. the powdered sweetener-loaded starch material of the present invention may also be provided with a coat and/or further encapsulated by any suitable encapsulating or coating materials, such as maltodextrins, starches, modified starches, dextrins, oils, fats, waxes, hydrocolloids, proteins, as known in the art. the inventive sweetener compositions may further comprise celluloses. as used herein, the term “cellulose” refers to any cellulosic material (other than the pregelatinized starches described herein) known to the skilled person. as indicated above, the pregelatinized starches of utilized in the present invention are different from conventional starches or celluloses and possess particular characteristics that provide for some of the features of the inventive sweetener composition. these characteristics are not present in all starches or cellulosic materials. thus, it is not expected that conventional starches and/or celluloses would provide for the inventive features demonstrated by the present invention. in typical embodiments, the cellulose includes polysaccharides having linear chains of at least several hundred beta-linked d-glucose units. when obtained from commercial sources, for example, the cellulose may exist as a powder. further, in some embodiments, the cellulose is insoluble or substantially insoluble in water. in other embodiments, when incorporated into a consumable product, the cellulose preferably will not detract substantially from the overall product dissolution. chemically modified celluloses can be employed in the compositions of the invention provided the modifications do not result in water soluble material. the cellulose may have any particle size (or particle size distribution) that is suitable for use in a sweetener composition. for example, in some embodiments, the size of the cellulose particles may range from about 1 micron to about 400 microns, e.g., from about 3 microns to about 300 microns, from about 5 microns to about 200 microns, or from about 6 microns to about 100 microns. in some embodiments, the insoluble cellulose is a cellulose that if used in amounts exceeding 1% in an aqueous medium can lead to significant viscosity change. formulations in another aspect, the present invention relates to formulations of the sweetener composition. in these formulations, the sweetener composition of the invention may take any suitable form including, but not limited to, an amorphous solid, a crystal, a powder, a tablet, a liquid, a cube, a glace or coating, a granulated product, an encapsulated form abound to or coated on to carriers/particles, wet or dried, or combinations thereof. for example, in one embodiment, the sweetener composition formulations can be provided in pre-portioned packets or ready-to-use formulations, which include a compound of formula (i) as defined above. for example, in one embodiment, a single serving packet formulation (usually about a 1 gram portion) can provide sweetness comparable to that contained in two teaspoons of granulated sugar (sucrose). it is known in the art that a “teaspoon” of sucrose contains approximately 4 grams of sucrose. in another embodiment, a volume of a ready-to-use formulation can provide sweetness comparable to the same volume of granulated sugar. preferably, a single serving packet of the composition comprising a compound of formula (i) as defined above (e.g. 1 gram) can provide sweetness comparable to about 0.9 to about 9.0 grams of granulated sugar (sucrose). in another embodiment, 1 gram of the sweetener composition contains less calories and carbohydrates than about 1 gram of granulated sugar. as used herein, the term “about” encompasses the range of experimental error that occurs in any measurement. unless otherwise stated, all measurement numbers are presumed to have the word “about” in front of them if the word “about” is not expressly used. the formulation of the invention may contain further additives known to those skilled in the art. these additives include but are not limited to bubble forming agents, bulking agents, carriers, fibers, sugar alcohols, oligosaccharides, sugars, high intensity sweeteners, nutritive sweeteners, flavorings, flavor enhancers, flavor stabilizers, acidulants, anti-caking and free-flow agents. such additives are for example described by h. mitchell (h. mitchell, “sweeteners and sugar alternatives in food technology”, backwell publishing ltd, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). as used herein, the term “flavorings” may include those flavors known to the skilled person, such as natural and artificial flavors. these flavorings may be chosen from synthetic flavor oils and flavoring aromatics and/or oils, oleoresins and extracts derived from plants, leaves, flowers, fruits, and so forth, and combinations thereof. nonlimiting representative flavor oils include spearmint oil, cinnamon oil, oil of wintergreen (methyl salicylate), peppermint oil, japanese mint oil, clove oil, bay oil, anise oil, eucalyptus oil, thyme oil, cedar leaf oil, oil of nutmeg, allspice, oil of sage, mace, oil of bitter almonds, and cassia oil. also useful flavorings are artificial, natural and synthetic fruit flavors such as vanilla, and citrus oils including lemon, orange, lime, grapefruit, yazu, sudachi, and fruit essences including apple, pear, peach, grape, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, cherry, plum, pineapple, watermelon, apricot, banana, melon, apricot, ume, cherry, raspberry, blackberry, tropical fruit, mango, mangosteen, pomegranate, papaya and so forth. other potential flavors include a milk flavor, a butter flavor, a cheese flavor, a cream flavor, and a yogurt flavor; a vanilla flavor; tea or coffee flavors, such as a green tea flavor, a oolong tea flavor, a tea flavor, a cocoa flavor, a chocolate flavor, and a coffee flavor; mint flavors, such as a peppermint flavor, a spearmint flavor, and a japanese mint flavor; spicy flavors, such as an asafetida flavor, an ajowan flavor, an anise flavor, an angelica flavor, a fennel flavor, an allspice flavor, a cinnamon flavor, a camomile flavor, a mustard flavor, a cardamom flavor, a caraway flavor, a cumin flavor, a clove flavor, a pepper flavor, a coriander flavor, a sassafras flavor, a savory flavor, a zanthoxyli fructus flavor, a perilla flavor, a juniper berry flavor, a ginger flavor, a star anise flavor, a horseradish flavor, a thyme flavor, a tarragon flavor, a dill flavor, a capsicum flavor, a nutmeg flavor, a basil flavor, a marjoram flavor, a rosemary flavor, a bayleaf flavor, and a wasabi (japanese horseradish) flavor; alcoholic flavors, such as a wine flavor, a whisky flavor, a brandy flavor, a rum flavor, a gin flavor, and a liqueur flavor; floral flavors; and vegetable flavors, such as an onion flavor, a garlic flavor, a cabbage flavor, a carrot flavor, a celery flavor, mushroom flavor, and a tomato flavor. these flavoring agents may be used in liquid or solid form and may be used individually or in admixture. commonly used flavors include mints such as peppermint, menthol, spearmint, artificial vanilla, cinnamon derivatives, and various fruit flavors, whether employed individually or in admixture. flavors may also provide breath freshening properties, particularly the mint flavors when used in combination with cooling agents. a preferred flavoring is menthol and, in one embodiment, the inventive sweetener composition comprises acesulfame potassium, menthol, and pregelatinized starch. flavors may also provide breath freshening properties, particularly the mint flavors when used in combination with cooling agents. these flavorings may be used in liquid or solid form and may be used individually or in admixture. other useful flavorings include aldehydes and esters such as cinnamyl acetate, cinnamaldehyde, citral diethylacetal, dihydrocarvyl acetate, eugenyl formate, p-methylamisol, and so forth may be used. generally any flavoring or food additive such as those described in chemicals used in food processing, publication 1274, pages 63-258, by the national academy of sciences, may be used. this publication is incorporated herein by reference. further examples of aldehyde flavorings include but are not limited to acetaldehyde (apple), benzaldehyde (cherry, almond), anisic aldehyde (licorice, anise), cinnamic aldehyde (cinnamon), citral, i.e., alpha-citral (lemon, lime), neral, i.e., beta-citral (lemon, lime), decanal (orange, lemon), ethyl vanillin (vanilla, cream), heliotrope, i.e., piperonal (vanilla, cream), vanillin (vanilla, cream), alpha-amyl cinnamaldehyde (spicy fruity flavors), butyraldehyde (butter, cheese), valeraldehyde (butter, cheese), citronellal (modifies, many types), decanal (citrus fruits), aldehyde c-8 (citrus fruits), aldehyde c-9 (citrus fruits), aldehyde c-12 (citrus fruits), 2-ethyl butyraldehyde (berry fruits), hexenal, i.e., trans-2 (berry fruits), tolyl aldehyde (cherry, almond), veratraldehyde (vanilla), 2,6-dimethyl-5-heptenal, i.e., melonal (melon), 2,6-dimethyloctanal (green fruit), and 2-dodecenal (citrus, mandarin), cherry, grape, strawberry shortcake, and mixtures thereof. these listings of flavorings are merely exemplary and are not meant to limit either the term “flavoring” or the scope of the invention generally. in some embodiments, the flavoring may be employed in either liquid form and/or dried form. when employed in the latter form, suitable drying means such as spray drying the oil may be used. alternatively, the flavoring may be absorbed onto water soluble materials, such as cellulose, starch, sugar, maltodextrin, gum arabic and so forth or may be encapsulated. the actual techniques for preparing such dried forms are well-known. in some embodiments, the flavorings may be used in many distinct physical forms well-known in the art to provide an initial burst of flavor and/or a prolonged sensation of flavor. without being limited thereto, such physical forms include free forms, such as spray dried, powdered, beaded forms, encapsulated forms, and mixtures thereof. tabletop sweetener compositions in another aspect, the present invention relates to tabletop sweetener compositions comprising a compound of formula (i) wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, or heteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals to selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and, n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, and to methods of manufacturing such tabletop sweetener compositions. the preferred embodiments of the compound of the compound of formula (i) as mentioned above apply accordingly to the tabletop sweetener compositions according to the present invention. “tabletop sweetener,” as used herein, refers to sweetener compositions that comprise at least one sweetener, and optionally, at least one sweetness enhancer, which can be used in the preparation of various food items and/or as an additive to food items. as one example, the tabletop sweetener may be used in the preparation of baked goods or other sweetened foods. as another example, the tabletop sweetener may be used to season, sweeten, or otherwise customize a prepared food item, e.g., beverages, fruit, or yoghurt. in a preferred aspect, the tabletop sweetener is in a crystalline, granulated, or powder form. in various aspects, the tabletop sweetener will comprise one or more sweeteners and/or one or more sweetness enhancers. in one embodiment, the tabletop sweetener may comprise the sweetness enhancer in combination with either or both a caloric sweetener and/or substantially non-caloric sweeteners. typical examples of caloric sweeteners that may be used in tabletop sweeteners include sucrose, fructose, and glucose. common tabletop forms of these caloric sweeteners include cane sugar, bee sugar, and the like. in recent decades, substantially non-caloric sweeteners have gained popularity. in many instances, these sweeteners can be used as substitutes for caloric sweeteners and are often referred to as “sugar substitutes.” in many instances, sugar substitutes provide a greater sweetening effect than comparable amounts of caloric sweeteners, such as sucrose or fructose. therefore, smaller amounts of sugar substitutes are required to achieve sweetness comparable to that of an amount of sugar. sugar substitutes, however, typically have a taste profile that differs from sucrose or fructose. such differences include, but are not limited to, increased astringency, bitterness, various aftertastes, delayed onset of sweetness, and different mouthfeel. therefore, sugar substitutes are often formulated with other materials that can provide bulk and can enhance the taste profile to be more similar to that of sucrose or fructose. thus, sugar substitutes have been formulated to create a tabletop sweetener formulation that has a bulk and a taste profile that is comparable to sucrose or fructose. nevertheless, consumers can still distinguish the low-calorie sweetener formulations from caloric tabletop sweeteners. therefore, if low-calorie tabletop sweeteners are to replace caloric tabletop sweeteners, formulations of low-calorie sweeteners must be continuously improved to meet consumer demand. there is an increasing interest in such sweeteners containing natural ingredients. this interest stems partially from increasing consumer interest in such products, but also from the rise of retail and internet stores selling natural products, and requiring suppliers of such products to certify that natural ingredients are used in any products being supplied. therefore, there is a need for new tabletop sweetener formulations which are low in calories (or have no calories) and that can reasonably approximate the taste profile, mouthfeel, and texture of caloric sweeteners. the invention, in another aspect, relates to a tabletop sweetener composition comprising (a) at least one sugar sweetener, which is selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides, preferably the at least one sugar sweetener is selected from the group consisting of arabinose, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, fructooligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharide syrups, galactose, galactooligosaccharides, glucose, glucose and (hydrogenated) starch syrups/hydrolysates, isomaltulose, lactose, hydrolysed lactose, maltose, mannose, rhamnose, ribose, sucrose, stachyose, tagatose, trehalose, xylose, and combinations thereof, most preferably the at least one sugar sweetener is a disaccharide and/or fructose;(b) at least one sugar alcohol (or polyol), which is selected from the group consisting of erythritol, galactitol, hydrogenated starch syrups including maltitol and sorbitol syrups, inositols, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, and combinations thereof, preferably the at least one sugar alcohol is erythritol;(c) a compound of formula (i) wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and(d) a taste-improving amount of cellulose. in one embodiment, the invention relates to a tabletop sweetener composition comprising (a) a disaccharide carbohydrate and/or fructose;(b) erythritol;(c) a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof; and(d) a taste-improving amount of cellulose. in some embodiments of the invention, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises a disaccharide and contains no fructose. in other embodiments, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises fructose and does not contain disaccharide. in other embodiments, the tabletop sweetener compositions comprise both a disaccharide and fructose. as used herein, the term “disaccharide” refers to any sugar having two monosaccharide units. the monosaccharide units may exist as either ketones or aldehydes, and may have either a cyclic or acyclic structure. when a monosaccharide exists as a cyclic structure, the monosaccharide may exist as a hemiacetal or hemiketal, among other forms. moreover, when a monosaccharide exists as a cyclic structure, either anomer is included within this definition. illustrative monosaccharides include trioses, tetroses, pentoses, hexoses, heptoses, octoses, and nonoses. in forming a disaccharide, the monosaccharide units may bond to form either reducing disaccharides or non-reducing disaccharides. as used herein, the terms “sugar alcohol(s)” or “polyol(s)” refer to sugar alcohols such as but not limited to erythritol, galactitol, hydrogenated starch syrups including maltitol and sorbitol syrups, inositols, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, and combinations thereof. as used herein, the term “erythritol” refers to a sugar alcohol well known to the skilled person. erythritol, in either food grade or reagent grade is readily available through commercial sources. as used herein, the term “cellulose” refers to any cellulosic material known to the skilled person. in typical embodiments, the cellulose includes polysaccharides having linear chains of at least several hundred beta-linked d-glucose units. when obtained from commercial sources, for example, the cellulose may exist as a powder. further, in typical embodiments, the cellulose is insoluble or substantially insoluble in water; yet, in an application like tabletop sweeteners, when incorporated in such an application, it preferably will not detract substantially from the overall product dissolution. chemically modified celluloses can be employed in the compositions of the invention provided the modifications do not result in water soluble material. the cellulose may have any particle size (or particle size distribution) that is suitable for use in a sweetener composition. for example, in some embodiments, the size of the cellulose particles may range from about 1 micron to about 400 microns, e.g., from about 3 microns to about 300 microns, from about 5 microns to about 200 microns, or from about 6 microns to about 100 microns. in some embodiments, the insoluble cellulose is a cellulose that if used in amounts exceeding 1% in an aqueous medium can lead to significant viscosity change. in some embodiments of the invention, a “taste-improving amount” of cellulose is used. this “taste-improving amount” refers to an amount of cellulose that imparts an unexpected improvement in the taste profile of sweetener compositions of the invention. in some instances, for example, the taste improvement may be perceived as an enhancement in the sweetness of the sweetener composition or of the beverage or foodstuff containing the sweetener composition. in other instances, for example, the taste improvement may be perceived as a reduction or masking of the bitterness of the sweetener composition or of the beverage or foodstuff containing the sweetener composition. the taste improvement may also be a combination of both sweetness enhancement and bitterness reduction. in some embodiments of the sweetener compositions, the taste-improving amount of cellulose ranges from about 0.4% by weight to about 3.0% by weight, e.g. from about 0.7% by weight to about 2.0% by weight, of cellulose, based on the total weight of the sweetener composition. in some embodiments, the sweetener composition contains about 1% by weight cellulose, based on the total weight of the sweetener composition. in one embodiment, the disaccharide includes, but is not limited to, disaccharides containing glucose, fructose, and galactose. in another embodiment, the disaccharide carbohydrate includes, but is not limited isomaltulose, lactose, maltose, sucrose, and trehalose. in another embodiment, the disaccharide is isomaltulose. in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the disaccharide is selected from the group consisting of isomaltulose, lactose, maltose, sucrose, and trehalose. sweetener compositions of the invention may contain varying amounts of at least one sugar sweetener, in particular of disaccharide and/or fructose, of at least one sugar alcohol, in particular of erythritol, of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, and of cellulose. the desired amount of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may vary depending on, among other factors, the desired use of the tabletop sweetener composition, the presence or absence of other components in the tabletop sweetener composition, the identity of any sugar sweetener, in particular of any disaccharide, if present, and the presence or absence of fructose. in some embodiments, the tabletop sweetener composition contains from about 40% by weight to about 70% by weight sugar alcohol, in particular erythritol, based on the total weight of the sweetener composition, e.g., from about 50% by weight to about 60% by weight, from about 55% by weight to about 65% by weight, from about 57% by weight to about 63% by weight, or from about 60% by weight to about 62% by weight. in some embodiments, the sweetener composition contains about 55% by weight sugar alcohol, in particular erythritol, based on the total weight of the sweetener composition. in still other embodiments, the sweetener composition contains about 61-62% by weight sugar alcohol, in particular erythritol, based on the total weight of the sweetener composition. in some embodiments, the tabletop sweetener composition contains from about 27% by weight to about 50% by weight sugar sweetener, in particular disaccharide, based on the total weight of the tabletop sweetener composition, e.g., from about 35% by weight to about 45% by weight from about 30% by weight to about 40% by weight, from about 30% by weight to about 38% by weight, from about 32% by weight to about 36% by weight, or from about 33% by weight to about 35% by weight. in some such embodiments, the tabletop sweetener composition contains about 41% by weight sugar sweetener, in particular disaccharide, based on the total weight of the sweetener composition. in still other embodiments, the tabletop sweetener composition contains about 33-34% by weight sugar sweetener, in particular disaccharide, based on the total weight of the sweetener composition. in a preferred embodiment, the sugar sweetener is isomaltulose. in some embodiments, the sweetener composition contains from about 0.5% by weight to about 7.0% by weight a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, based on the total weight of the sweetener composition, e.g., from about 0.7% by weight to about 5.0% by weight, or from about 1.0% by weight to about 2.5% by weight. the amount of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof used may in certain situations depend on the purity of the material. in another embodiment, tabletop sweetener compositions of the invention contain (a) from about 38% by weight to about 43% by weight of isomaltulose; (b) from about 50% by weight to about 60% by weight erythritol; (c) from about 0.75% by weight to about 1.75% by weight compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof; and (d) from about 0.5% by weight to about 1.5% by weight cellulose; based on the total weight of the tabletop sweetener composition. in another embodiment, tabletop sweetener compositions of the invention contain (a) from about 30% by weight to about 38% by weight of isomaltulose; (b) from about 55% by weight to about 65% by weight erythritol; (c) from about 0.75% by weight to about 1.75% by weight compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof; and (d) from about 0.5% by weight to about 1.5% by weight cellulose; based on the total weight of the tabletop sweetener composition. tabletop sweetener compositions of the invention may also contain amounts of other ingredients in addition to sugar sweetener, in particular in addition to disaccharide and/or fructose, the sugar alcohol such as erythritol, a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof with the sugar alcohol, in particular in place of or in combination and cellulose. such additional ingredients include, but are not limited to, sweetness modifiers, mouthfeel enhancers, flavorings (e.g., vanilla flavoring), and the like. honey and/or evaporated cane juice may be used in place of or in combination with erythritol. natural flavors and other ingredients are preferred when the product is to be labeled as “all-natural.” in another embodiment, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises less than about 2% by weight of a sweetness modifier, e.g., less than about 0.5% by weight. in terms of ranges, the tabletop sweetener composition may, for example, comprise between about 0.01% by weight and about 2% by weight sweetness modifier, in particular between about 0.1% by weight and about 1.5% by weight sweetness modifier. in another embodiment, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises less than about 1% by weight of a mouthfeel enhancer, e.g., less than about 0.5% by weight. in terms of ranges, the tabletop sweetener composition may, for example, comprise between about 0.01% by weight and about 1% by weight mouthfeel enhancer, in particular between about 0.1% by weight and about 0.5% by weight mouthfeel enhancer. in another embodiment, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises less than about 1% by weight of a flavoring, e.g., less than about 0.5% by weight. in terms of ranges, the tabletop sweetener composition may, for example, comprise between about 0.01% by weight and about 1% by weight flavoring, in particular between about 0.1% by weight and about 0.5% by weight flavoring. in some embodiments, sweetener compositions of the invention provide at least one, if not more than one, of the following desirable characteristics: (a) fewer calories per gram than standard table sugar; (b) fewer calories than an amount of standard table sugar perceived as providing comparable sweetness; and (c) lower glycemic index than that of standard table sugar. in some embodiments, the sweetener composition has less than about 5 calories/gram, or less than about 3 calories/gram, or less than about 1 calorie/gram. as used herein, the term “calorie” refers to the unit of energy commonly appearing on the packaging of food and/or beverage items sold in the united states. the term, as such, does not refer to 1 cal. of energy, but rather corresponds to approximately 1 kcal. of energy. in a typical tabletop sweetener application, for example, the sweetener composition can be packaged in a form where it provides a similar sweetness to about 7 grams of sucrose, preferably 5 g of sucrose, while providing less than about 5 calories. in another embodiment, tabletop sweetener compositions of the invention contain a plurality of sweetener particles, wherein such particles contain one or more of the ingredients present in the tabletop sweetener composition. in some embodiments, the tabletop sweetener composition substantially comprises sweetener particles. in such embodiments, the tabletop sweetener composition contains at least about 80% by weight sweetener particles, or at least about 85% by weight sweetener particles, or at least about 90% by weight sweetener particles, based on the total weight of the tabletop sweetener composition. sweetener particles, when present in the tabletop sweetener composition, can have any size suitable for use of the composition as a sweetener. in some embodiments, the average size of the sweetener particles is between about 50 microns and about 1250 microns, e.g., between about 100 microns and about 1000 microns. screening to eliminate particles of undesired sizes can be carried out during the manufacturing process. thus, in some embodiments, the particle sizes, after screening to eliminate undesired large particles which may be as large as 1500 μm, may vary up to about 16 mesh, e.g. up to about 14 mesh, or up to about 12 mesh, based on the standard united states sieve scale. further, smaller particle sizes, e.g., about 50 mesh, 100 mesh, or 150 mesh, or particles having sizes less than about 1 μm, e.g., less than about 0.5 μm, may be present with the larger particles. screening to eliminate particles having sizes less than, for example, about 100 mesh or 150 mesh can be carried out if desired. sweetener particles in the tabletop sweetener composition may or may not have uniform composition. preferably, the tabletop sweetener compositions of the invention comprise a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and an effective amount of cellulose where the composition is a mixture of particles. more specifically, the mixture comprises (a) particles having an erythritol core and (b) particles having a disaccharide core and a compound of formula (i) as defined above and the cellulose, as well as other components, are predominantly coated on the particles. these coatings on the cores can be either a continuous phase or a discontinuous phase, i.e., where the different coating components form discrete regions in the core coatings. thus, in another aspect, the invention relates to a tabletop sweetener composition comprising: (a) a plurality of first sweetener particles, wherein the first sweetener particles have (i) a sugar alcohol core, in particular an erythritol core, (ii) a first sugar alcohol core-coating layer, in particular a first erythritol core-coating layer comprising a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a salt or a hydrate thereof and cellulose, and (iii) a second sugar alcohol core-coating layer, in particular a second erythritol core-coating layer comprising a sugar sweetener, in particular a disaccharide, wherein the second sugar alcohol core-coating layer, in particular the second erythritol core-coating layer lies outside of the first sugar alcohol core-coating layer, in particular outside of the first erythritol core-coating layer; and(b) a plurality of second sweetener particles, wherein the second sweetener particle has (i) a sugar sweetener core, in particular a disaccharide core, (ii) a first sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular a first disaccharide core-coating layer comprising a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and cellulose, and (iii) a second sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular a second disaccharide core-coating layer comprising a sugar sweetener, in particular a disaccharide, wherein the second sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular the second disaccharide core-coating layer lies outside of the first sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular outside of the first disaccharide core-coating layer. in such embodiments, the core-coating layers may or may not have uniform compositions, and may or may not substantially coat the underlying core or layer. in some embodiments, the first sugar alcohol core-coating layer, in particular the first erythritol core-coating layer and/or the first sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular the first disaccharide core-coating layer have discrete regions of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and cellulose. in another embodiment, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises a mixture of the plurality of first sweetener particles and the plurality of second sweetener particles. in another embodiment of the tabletop sweetener composition, the sugar sweetener core, in particular the disaccharide core contains isomaltulose. further, in some embodiments, the second sugar alcohol core-coating layer, in particular the second erythritol core-coating layer and/or the second sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular the second disaccharide core-coating layer contain isomaltulose. these tabletop sweetener compositions may also contain flavorings (e.g., vanilla flavor), mouthfeel enhancers, and/or sweetness modifiers. when one or more of these are present, the first sugar alcohol core-coating layer, in particular the first erythritol core-coating layer and/or the sugar sweetener core-coating layer, in particular the disaccharide core-coating layer may contain one or more of flavorings (e.g., vanilla flavor), mouthfeel enhancers, and/or sweetness modifiers. moreover, as used herein, the term “layer” may or may not refer to a material that entirely surrounds the underlying material. thus, a “layer” may be non-uniform in composition and may provide only discontinuous coverage of the underlying material. moreover, when one layer covers another, the boundary between the layers may or may not be discrete; thus, the boundary between layers may be continuous or semi-continuous. in the sweetener compositions described herein, the tabletop sweetener compositions may or may not contain other particles in addition to the plurality of first sweetener particles and the plurality of second sweetener particles. the first sweetener particles and the second sweetener particles may have any particle size that is suitable for use of the composition as a sweetener. in some embodiments, the average size of the first sweetener particles and second sweetener particles is between about 50 microns and about 1250 microns, e.g., between about 100 microns and about 1000 microns. in some embodiments, the particle sizes of the first sweetener particles and the second sweetener particles, after screening to eliminate undesired large particles which may be as large as 1500 μm, will vary up to about 16 mesh, e.g., up to about 14 mesh, or up to about 12 mesh, based on the standard united states sieve scale. further, smaller particle sizes, e.g., about 50 mesh, 100 mesh, or 150 mesh, or particles having sizes less than about 1 μm, e.g., less than about 0.5 μm, will be present with the larger particles. in some embodiments, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises a mixture of the plurality of first sweetener particles and the second sweetener particles. such a mixture may or may not contain other types of particles. the layers in the sweetener composition particles are generally not distinct, i.e., there is no clear demarcation between the first layer and the second layer. for example, in one embodiment, the first layer contains a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, optional flavoring components, etc., all encased in sugar sweetener, in particular encased in disaccharide; and the second layer will be predominantly sugar sweetener, in particular disaccharide with some of the other components. the relative quantities of the various components in the layers, and whether there are layers in the particles, can be modified as necessary by adjusting when during the manufacturing process the components are added. in some embodiments of the invention, the tabletop sweetener composition comprises a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and a taste-improving amount of cellulose as a mixture, where the mixture comprises (a) particles a sugar alcohol core, in particular having an erythritol core and (b) particles a sugar sweetener core, in particular having a disaccharide core. in some such embodiments, the disaccharide core comprises isomaltulose. further, in some such embodiments, the sugar alcohol core, in particular the erythritol core and/or the sugar sweetener core, in particular the disaccharide core further comprise coating layers having discrete regions of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and cellulose. when such coating layers are present, the coating layers may or may not substantially coat the underlying core material. these particles may have any particle size that is suitable for use of the composition as a sweetener. in some embodiments, the average size of the particles is between about 50 microns and about 1250 microns, e.g., between about 100 microns and about 1000 microns. in some embodiments, the particle sizes of the particles range from about 16 mesh, or from about 14 mesh, or from about 12 mesh to about 100 mesh, based on the standard united states sieve scale. sweetener compositions of the invention may have any dissolution rate in water that is suitable for their use as sweeteners. in some embodiments, the sweetener composition can have a dissolution rate in water at 10° c. of between about 100 seconds and about 200 seconds, e.g., between about 125 seconds and about 175 seconds, or between about 140 seconds and 160 seconds, based on the dissolution of about 2 grams of the sweetener composition in 240 ml of water. in some embodiments, the sweetener composition can have a dissolution rate in water at 45° c. of between about 50 seconds and about 150 seconds, e.g., between about 75 seconds and about 125 seconds, or between about 85 seconds and 110 seconds, based on the dissolution of about 2 grams of the sweetener composition in 240 ml of water. in some embodiments, the dissolution rate of the sweetener composition is about 150 seconds at 10° c. and about 96 seconds at 45° c., based on the dissolution of about 2 grams of the sweetener composition in 240 ml of stirred water. in another embodiment, the invention relates to single-serving packets. in another embodiment, the invention relates to tabletop sweeteners comprising a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. preferably, the tabletop sweetener is a tabletop tablet sweetener, a tabletop “spoon to spoon” sweetener, a tabletop “sachet” sweetener, a tabletop liquid sweetener. the tabletop sweeteners, in addition to the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof component, may contain further substances including but not limited to aspartame, acesulfame potassium, binding agents, citric acid, cyclamate, lactose, carboxymethylcellulose, leucin, maltodextrin, isomalt, nhdc, potassium hydroxide (in aqueous solution), dextrose, other bulking agents, sucralose, sodium cyclamate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, sodium saccharin and tartric acid. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a package containing a predetermined amount, e.g., from about 0.8 grams to about 3.5 grams, of a solid tabletop sweetener composition, where the predetermined amount of the solid tabletop sweetener composition has a sweetness equivalent to about four times (by weight) the predetermined amount of sucrose, and where the solid sweetener composition comprises: (a) from about 38% by weight to about 43% by weight of isomaltulose;(b) from about 50% by weight to about 60% by weight erythritol;(c) from about 0.75% by weight to about 1.75% by weight of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof; and(d) from about 0.5% by weight to about 1.5% by weight cellulose. in another embodiment, the invention relates to a package containing a predetermined amount, e.g., from about 0.8 grams to about 3.5 grams, of a solid sweetener composition, where the predetermined amount of the solid sweetener composition has a sweetness equivalent to about four times (by weight) the predetermined amount of sucrose, and where the solid sweetener composition comprises: (a) from about 30% by weight to about 38% by weight of isomaltulose;(b) from about 55% by weight to about 65% by weight erythritol;(c) from about 0.75% by weight to about 1.75% by weight of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof; and(d) from about 0.5% by weight to about 1.5% by weight cellulose. in the tabletop sweetener packages containing a predetermined amount of the solid tabletop sweetener composition, the predetermined amount may be about 1 gram and may have a sweetness equivalent to about 4 grams of sucrose, or the predetermined amount may be about 2 grams and may have a sweetness equivalent to about 8 grams of sucrose. the tabletop sweetener packages may contain a formulation for a ready-to-use sweetener or tabletop sweetener compositions in the form of cubes for use, for example, in restaurants. the cubes weigh approximately 8 grams and are of equivalent size to a standard cube of granulate sugar, which is 2.2 cm×2.2 cm×1 cm. tabletop sweetener compositions of the invention may have any bulk density that is suitable for their use as sweeteners. in some embodiments, the bulk density of the sweetener composition ranges from about 0.5 g/cm 3 to about 1.0 g/cm 3 , or from about 0.7 g/cm 3 to about 0.8 g/cm 3 . in some embodiments, the bulk density of the sweetener composition is about 0.76 g/cm 3 . in another aspect, the invention relates to a method of making a tabletop sweetener composition, comprising the steps of: a) providing a fluid-bed coating apparatus;b) introducingdry sugar sweetener, in particular dry disaccharide carbohydrate and/or fructose, dry sugar alcohol, in particular dry erythritol, dry compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and dry cellulose powder to the fluid-bed coating apparatus;c) charging a substantially all of the dry ingredients in the fluid-bed coating apparatus;d) spraying a coating solution into the fluid-bed coating apparatus to form coated sweetener particles; ande) drying the coated sweetener particles. in another aspect, the invention relates to a method of making a tabletop sweetener composition, comprising the steps of: a) providing a fluid-bed coating apparatus;b) introducing dry sugar sweetener, in particular dry disaccharide and/or fructose, dry sugar alcohol, in particular dry erythritol and dry compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof to the fluid-bed coating apparatus;c) charging a substantially all of the dry ingredients in the fluid-bed coating apparatus;d) spraying a coating solution into the fluid-bed coating apparatus to form coated sweetener particles;e) during the spraying step, introducing dry cellulose powder to the fluid-bed coating apparatus; andf) drying the coated sweetener particles. the methods of the invention described above may be carried out as described in wo 2010/025158 a1, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. consumables containing a sweetener composition or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention the inventive sweetener compositions comprising the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof described above can be added to any consumable products including but not limited to beverages, dental products, cosmetic products, pharmaceutical products and animal feed or animal food. the inventive tabletop sweetener compositions as described above can be added to any consumable products, which are produced in a household or on a small scale. thus, in one aspect, the invention relates to a consumable comprising (a) a consumable product; and(b) a sweetener composition of the invention as defined above. thus, in one aspect, the invention relates to a consumable comprising (a) a consumable product; and(b) a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention as defined above. in one embodiment, the consumable comprises at least one, e.g., at least two sweeteners, in addition to the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. in these embodiments, the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may function as an enhancer to enhance the sweetness of the at least one sweetener. preferably, the sweetener composition of the invention and the tabletop sweetener composition of the invention are present in the consumable in an amount effective to increase a sweetness level of the consumable. as used herein, the unit “wppm” refers to weight parts per million and means 1 milligram per kilogram. preferably, in the consumable of the invention the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof is present in a concentration from 0.1 wppm to 100 wppm, in particular 0.2 wppm to 50 wppm, particularly preferred from 0.5 wppm to 10 wppm. in embodiments wherein pregelatinized starch is used, the concentration of the at least one sweetener and the pregelatinized starch in the consumable product may vary widely. in one embodiment of the invention, the consumable product composition comprises the at least one sweetener in a concentration from 0.1 wt % to 5 wt %, e.g., from 0.5 wt % to 2 wt %, or from 0.5 wt % to 1.5 wt %. in one embodiment of the invention, the consumable comprises the pregelatinized starch in an amount ranging from 0.1 wt % to 9.5 wt %, e.g., from 5 wt % to 9.5 wt %, e.g., from 8 wt % to 9.5 wt % the following consumable products and their ingredients are suitable for use in embodiments of the present invention. consumable products include all food products, including but not limited to cereal products, rice products, tapioca products, sago products, baker's products, biscuit products, pastry products, bread products, confectionary products, desert products, gums, chewing gums, chocolates, ices, honey products, treacle products, yeast products, baking-powder, salt and spice products, savory products, mustard products, vinegar products, sauces (condiments), tobacco products, cigars, cigarettes, processed foods, cooked fruits and vegetable products, meat and meat products, jellies, jams, fruit sauces, egg products, milk and dairy products, yoghurts, cheese products, butter and butter substitute products, milk substitute products, soy products, edible oils and fat products, medicaments, beverages, carbonated beverages, alcoholic drinks, beers, soft drinks, mineral and aerated waters and other non-alcoholic drinks, fruit drinks, fruit juices, coffee, artificial coffee, tea, cacoa, including forms requiring reconstitution, food extracts, plant extracts, meat extracts, condiments, sweeteners, nutraceuticals, gelatins, pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical gums, tablets, lozenges, drops, emulsions, elixirs, syrups and other preparations for making beverages, and combinations thereof. as used herein, the term “non-alcoholic drinks” includes, but is not limited to all non-alcoholic drinks mentioned in the directive 2003/115/ec of 22 dec. 2003 and in the directive 94/35/ec of 30 jun. 2004, which are incorporated herein by reference, on sweeteners for use in foodstuffs. examples include, but are not limited to water-based, flavored drinks, energy-reduced or with no added sugar, milk- and milk-derivative-based or fruit-juice-based drinks, energy-reduced or with no added sugar, “gaseosa”: non-alcoholic water-based drink with added carbon dioxide, sweeteners and flavorings. consumable products include without limitation, water-based consumables, solid dry consumables, dairy products, dairy-derived products and dairy-alternative products. in one embodiment, the consumable product is a water-based consumable product including but not limited to beverage, water, aqueous beverage, enhanced/slightly sweetened water drink, flavored carbonated and still mineral and table water, carbonated beverage, non-carbonated beverage, carbonated water, still water, soft drink, non-alcoholic drink, alcoholic drink, beer, wine, liquor, fruit drink, juice, fruit juice, vegetable juice, broth drink, coffee, tea, black tea, green tea, oolong tea, herbal infusion, cacoa (e.g. water-based), tea-based drink, coffee-based drinks, cacao-based drink, infusion, syrup, frozen fruit, frozen fruit juice, water-based ice, fruit ice, sorbet, dressing, salad dressing, jams, marmalades, canned fruit, savoury, delicatessen products like delicatessen salads, sauces, ketchup, mustard, pickles and marinated fish, sauce, soup, and beverage botanical materials (e.g. whole or ground), or instant powder for reconstitution (e.g. coffee beans, ground coffee, instant coffee, cacao beans, cacao powder, instant cacao, tea leaves, instant tea powder). in another embodiment, the consumable product is a solid dry consumable product including but not limited to cereals, baked food products, biscuits, bread, breakfast cereal, cereal bar, energy bars/nutritional bars, granola, cakes, rice cakes, cookies, crackers, donuts, muffins, pastries, confectionaries, chewing gum, chocolate products, chocolate, fondant, hard candy, marshmallow, pressed tablets, snack foods, botanical materials (whole or ground), and instant powders for reconstitution. in another embodiment, the consumable product is selected from the group of a dairy product, dairy-derived product and dairy-alternative product, including but not limited to milk, fluid milk, cultured milk product, cultured and noncultured dairy-based drink, cultured milk product cultured with lactobacillus, yoghurt, yoghurt-based beverage, smoothie, lassi, milk shake, acidified milk, acidified milk beverage, butter milk, kefir, milk-based beverages, milk/juice blend, fermented milk beverage, ice cream, dessert, sour cream, dip, salad dressing, cottage cheese, frozen yoghurt, soy milk, rice milk, soy drink, and rice milk drink. preferably, the consumable product is a carbonated drink and the invention relates to a carbonated drink comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. preferably, the consumable product is a non-carbonated drink and the invention relates to a non-carbonated drink comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. in another embodiment, the consumable products are alcoholic beverages and the invention relates to alcoholic beverages comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention, preferably to shandy beer, wine cooler, wildberry cooler (e.g. 5% alcohol), strawberry daiquiri cooler (e.g. 5% alcohol), margarita cooler (e.g. 5% alcohol) and raspberry cooler. in addition, the alcoholic beverages may contain further substances including but not limited to acesulfame potassium, aspartame, beer, color, citric acid monohydrate, cyclamate, fruit juice (e.g. peach, pineapple), lemon flavor, margarita flavor, rum flavor, sucrose, vodka, wildberry flavor, wine and water. in another embodiment, the consumable products are fruit juices and the invention relates to fruit juices comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention, preferably to functional fruit drinks (e.g. 30% fruit juice content), fruit nectar, fruit juice drinks, no sugar added fruit beverages (e.g. 5% juice, kiwi-strawberry flavored) and ruby red grapefruit and tangerine juice drinks (e.g. from concentrate). in addition, the fruit juices may contain further substances including but not limited to aspartame, anthocyane, ascorbic acid, carotinoids, citric acid (e.g. anhydrous), cyclamate, luteine, fruit concentrate, fruit juice concentrate, flavor, fruit, grapefruit pulp cells, grapefruit flavor, kiwi juice concentrate, kiwi-strawberry flavor, malic acid, pectin, ruby red grapefruit concentrate, strawberry juice concentrate, tangerine juice concentrate, tangerine flavor, vegetable extract (e.g. grape, pumpkin, carrot, aronia, blackcurrant, hibiscus etc.) and water. in another embodiment, the consumable product is ice tea and the invention relates to ice tea comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention, preferably to ice tea and sugar free ice tea mix. in addition, the ice tea may contain further substances including but not limited to base with lemon flavor, base with tea component, citric acid, cyclamate, flavor, instant tea, lemon juice, maltodextrin, malic acid (e.g. powdered), saccharin, sucralose, sucrose, tea and tea extract. in another embodiment, the consumable products are soft drinks without sugar and the invention relates to soft drinks without sugar comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention, preferably to soft drinks cola flavored, fruit nectars, fruit juice drinks, soft drinks, soft drinks lemon lime flavored, diet sparkling waters (e.g. peach flavored) and sugar free liquid beverages. in addition, the soft drinks without sugar may contain further substances including but not limited to acesulfame potassium, alitame, aspartame, bilberry flavor, citric acid monohydrate, caffeine, cola flavor, cyclamate, peach flavor, potassium citrate, sodium-cyclamate, grape color, grape flavor, sodium benzoate, sodium citrate, sodium-saccharin, ethylmaltol, flavor, lemon-lime flavor, maltol, neotame, nhdc, passion fruit flavor, pectin, phosphoric acid (e.g. 85%), saccharin, sucralose and water. in another embodiment, the consumable products are soft drinks with sugar and the invention relates to soft drinks with sugar comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. in addition, the soft drinks with sugar may contain further substances including but not limited to aspartame, citric acid monohydrate, concentrate, caffeine, flavor, fructose, glucose, glucose syrup, high fructose con syrup (hfcs, e.g. hfcs having total solids: approx. 77%, fructose: 55% and glucose: 41%), neotame, orangeade base, phosphoric acid (e.g. 85%), sodium-cyclamate, sucrose and water. in another embodiment, the consumable products are sports drinks and the invention relates to sports drinks comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention, preferably to isotonic energy drinks and whey drinks. in addition, the sports drinks may contain further substances including but not limited to acesulfame potassium, aspartame, ascorbic acid, concentrate, caffeine, citric acid, flavor, glucose (anhydrous), herbs, minerals, neohesperidine-dc, natural extracts, sucralose, taurine, vitamins, water and whey powder. in another embodiment, the consumable products are dry powder beverages and the invention relates to dry powder beverages comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. in addition, the dry powder beverages may contain further substances including but not limited to acesulfame potassium, aspartame, apple flavor, ascorbic acid, citric acid, cherry flavor, malic acid, orange flavor, raspberry flavor, sodium chloride, trisodium citrate, tricalcium phosphate, titanium dioxide and xantham gum. in another embodiment, the consumable product is ice coffee and the invention relates to ice coffee comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. in addition, the ice coffee may contain further substances including but not limited to acesulfame potassium, aspartame, coffee extract, ethylmaltol, flavor and neohesperidine-dc. in another embodiment, the consumable products are instant cake fillings and the invention relates to instant cake fillings comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. in addition, the cake fillings may contain further substances including but not limited to milk, isomalt, oligofructose, modified starch, flavors and colors. in another embodiment, the cake fillings may contain further substances including but not limited to raspberries, strawberry puree, polydextrose, isomalt, sorbitol, glycerin, fructose, pectin, locust bean gum, calcium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, citric acid and water. in another embodiment, the consumable products are biscuits and the invention relates to biscuits comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. in addition, the biscuits may contain further substances including but not limited to isomalt, powdered isomalt, granulated isomalt, polydextrose, shortening, water, sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, skimmed milk powder, salt, flour, cake flour, flavor, inulin, wheat fiber, shortening, ground raisins, raisin paste, salt, oatrim gel, liquid whole eggs, liquid egg whites, powdered egg whites, egg yolk, vanilla, butter flavor, vanilla flavor, chocolate flavor, cocoa, high fructose corn syrup (hfcs), methocel, baking soda, cinnamon, sodium acid pyrophosphate, margarine spread, margarine, emulsifier, molasses, mono- and diglycerides, powdered cellulose, ground hazelnuts, hazelnuts, sorbitol, oat fiber, vital wheat gluten, chocolate chips, maltitol and fat replacer. in another embodiment, the consumable products are cakes and the invention relates to cakes comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. in addition, the cakes may contain further substances including but not limited to baking powder, baking soda, blueberry flavor, all purpose flour, cake flour, diacetyl 4×, dextrose, dried butter flavor, flour, cellulose, crystalline fructose, emulsifier, egg whites solid, eggs, dried egg white, fat replacers such as inulin, isomalt, lecithin, milk, non fat dry milk, modified starch, maltodextrin, oligofructose, potato fiber, polydextrose, salt, shortening, crystalline sorbitol, sodium aluminium phosphate, sucrose, butter flavor, chocolate flavor, (dried) vanilla flavor, water, wheat fiber, xanthan gum and vegetable oil. in another embodiment, the consumable products are bakery products other than cakes and the invention relates to bakery products other than cakes comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention, preferably to light hot fudge toppings, torteletts with strawberry fillings, sugar free maple flavored syrups, sugar free dark chocolate coatings, sugar free chocolate syrups, reduced-calorie chocolate syrups, no sugar added caramel corn, light chocolate frostings, light caramel toppings and light apple tart. in addition, the bakery products may contain further substances including but not limited to acesulfame potassium, aspartame, baking powder, baking soda, disodium phosphate, maple flavor, caramel flavor, caramel color, flour, carrageenan, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, (microcrystalline) cellulose, citric acid, calcium chloride, crystalline fructose, fructose, chocolate liquor, eggs, dried egg white, fudge flavor, isomalt, lecithin, non fat dry milk, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, margarine, modified starch, maltisorb, maltodextrin, nonfat dry milk, oligofructose, potassium sorbate, pectin, potato fiber, hydrogenated potato starch, polydextrose, skimmed milk powder, shortening, (crystalline) sorbitol, sodium benzoate, salt, sorbitol, (powdered) sucrose, butter flavor, chocolate flavor, vanillin, (dried) vanilla flavor, water, wheat fiber and xanthan gum. in another embodiment, the consumable products are confectionary products and the invention relates to confectionary products comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention, preferably to all confectionary products mentioned in the directive 2003/115/ec of 22 dec. 2003 and in the directive 94/35/ec of 30 jun. 2004 on sweeteners for use in foodstuffs, each of which are incorporated herein by reference. examples include, but are not limited to, confectionaries (with or without added sugar), cocoa- or dried-fruit-based confectionaries, energy-reduced or with not added sugar, starch-based confectionaries, energy-reduced or with not added sugar, comets and wafers for ice-cream, with not added sugar, essoblaten, cocoa-, milk-, dried-fruit- or fat-based sandwich spreads, energy-reduced or with not added sugar, breakfast cereals, e.g., with a fiber content of more than 15%, and containing at least 20% bran, energy-reduced or sugar-reduced, breath-freshening micro-sweets with or without added sugar, strongly flavored freshening throat pastilles with or without added sugar, chewing gum with or without added sugar, energy-reduced tablet form confectionaries, cider and perry, drinks consisting of a mixture of a non-alcoholic drink and beer, cider, perry, spirits or wine, spirit drinks containing less than 15% alcohol by volume, alcohol-free beer or beer with an alcohol content not exceeding 1,2% vol., “bière de table/tafelbier/table beer” (original wort content less than 6%), except for “obergariges einfachbier”, beers with a minimum acidity of 30 milli-equivalents expressed as naoh, brown beers of the “oud bruin” type, energy-reduced beer, edible ices, energy-reduced or sugar-reduced canned or bottled fruit, energy-reduced or with or without added sugar, energy-reduced jams, jellies and marmalades, energy-reduced fruit and vegetable preparations, sweet-sour preserves of fruit and vegetables, feinkostsalat, sweet-sour preserves and semi-preserves of fish and marinades of fish, crustaceans and mollusks, energy-reduced soups, sauces, mustard, fine bakery products for special nutritional uses, foods intended for use in energy-restricted diets for weight reduction as referred to in directive 1996/8/ec, dietary foods for special medical purposes as defined in directive 1999/21/ec, food supplements as defined in directive 2002/46/ec supplied in a liquid form, food supplements as defined in directive 2002/46/ec supplied in a solid form, food supplements as defined in directive 2002/46/ec, based on vitamins and/or mineral elements and supplied in a syrup-type or chewable form. these directives are incorporated herein by reference. particularly preferred confectionary products are sugar free hard candy, reduced calorie no sugar added hard candy, hard candies, sugar free milk chocolate, milk chocolate, sugar free gummy bear, reduced calorie no sugar added gummy bear, sugar free dark chocolate, reduced calorie no sugar added hard candy, reduced calorie no sugar added caramel, reduced calorie caramel, raspberry jellies, jellies, plain bitter chocolate, toffees, sugar-free rice cake, sugar free peppermint breathmint, sugar free orange chewy candy and sugar free jelly beans. in addition, the confectionary products may contain further substances including but not limited to butter fat, (caramel) flavor, citric acid (monohydrate), cherry flavor, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, color, corn syrup, (microcrystalline) cellulose, disodium phosphate, egg albumen-dried, evaporated milk, gelatin, glycerol monostearate, gum arabic, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, hydrogenated fat, isomalt, lecithin, lemon oil, maltitol (syrup, powdered and/or granular), medium-grain brown rice, korean black rice, maltol, mocha paste, neohesperidine-dc, orange flavor, pectin, peppermint flavor, polydextrose, raspberry puree, raspberry puree, salt, sodium caseinate, sorbitol (powder), starch, sucrose, vanillin, vegetable fat, whole milk powder, skimmed milk powder, water and xylitol. in another embodiment, the consumable products are delicacies sauces and the invention relates to delicacies sauces comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention, preferably to sugar reduced ketchup with sugar, no added sugar ketchup and tomato ketchup. in addition, the delicacies sauces may contain further substances including but not limited to citric acid, modified starch, mustard, onions, pectin, polydextrose, saccharine sodium, salt, spices, sucralose, sugar, thickener, tomato concentrate and vinegar. in another embodiment, the consumable products are cereals and the invention relates to cereals comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. in another embodiment, the consumable products are dairy products and the invention relates to dairy products comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention, preferably to fruit quarks, whipped creams, (vanilla flavored skim) milk drinks and yoghurt drinks. in addition, the dairy products may contain further substances including but not limited to acesulfame potassium, aspartame, blackcurrant, blackberry, blueberry, cyclamate, flavor, fruit preparation, fruit juice concentrate, fructose, gelatin, inulin, oat, orange juice, pectin, raspberry, redcurrant, stabilizer, wheat fiber, water, quark, yoghurt, whipped cream and whey. in another embodiment, the consumable products are desserts and the invention relates to desserts comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention, preferably to jellied red fruit cocktails, strawberry sorbet, (fat-free/sugar-free) instant pudding chocolate flavors, instant desserts, vanilla puddings, vanilla pudding—powder mixtures and litchee gelees. in addition, the desserts may contain further substances including but not limited to acesulfame potassium, aspartame, blackberries, brandy, citric acid, caramel color, color, cyclamate, chocolate flavor, cocoa powder, corn starch, disodium phosphate, emulsifier, fructose, granulated sugar, white soft sugar, agar powder, ingestible dextrin, mannan, maltodextrin, mono- and diglycerides, inulin, polydextrose, lemon juice, maltodextrin, milk modified food starch, polydextrose, raspberries, redcurrant juice, salt, soy lecithin, strawberries, strawberry puree, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, litchee flavor, vanilla flavor, wheat starch, water and xanthan gum. as used herein, the term “desserts” includes, but is not limited to all desserts mentioned in the directive 2003/115/ec of 22 dec. 2003 and in the directive 94/35/ec of 30 jun. 2004 on sweeteners for use in foodstuffs. these directives are incorporated herein by reference. examples include, but are not limited to water-based flavored desserts, energy-reduced or with not added sugar, milk- and milk-derivative-paste preparations, energy-reduced or with no added sugar, fruit-and-vegetable-based desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar, egg-based desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar, cereal-based desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar, breakfast cereals or cereal-based products, energy-reduced or with no added sugar, fat-based desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar, edible ices, energy-reduced or with no added sugar, jams, jellies, marmalades and crystallized fruit, energy-reduced or with no added sugar, fruit preparations, energy-reduced or with no added sugar, and “snacks”, certain flavors of ready-to-eat, prepacked, dry, savoury starch products and coated nuts. in another embodiment, the consumable product is water-based ice and the invention relates to water-based ice comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention, preferably to “ice-pops” and no sugar added strawberry sorbet. in addition, the water-based ice may contain further substances including but not limited to acesulfame potassium, aspartame, citric acid, color, fruit concentrate, flavor, isomalt, lemon juice, polydextrose, strawberry puree, sorbitol, thickener and water. in another embodiment, the consumable product is ice cream and the invention relates to ice cream comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. in addition, the ice-cream may contain further substances including but not limited to color, emulsifier, flavor, isomalt, milk fat, fat replacer, skim milk powder, palatinit, polydextrose and lactitol. in another embodiment, the consumable product is yoghurt and the invention relates to yoghurt comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. in addition, the yoghurt may contain further substances including but not limited to acesulfame potassium, alitame, aspartame, citric aid monohydrate, tri-calcium-dicitrate, cyclamate, na-cyclamate, fruit preparation, high fructose corn syrup (hfcs), inulin, fructose, fructose syrup, oligofructose syrup, neohesperidine-dc, pectin-solution, saccharin, starch, strawberries, strawberry-flavor, sucralose, water and (low fat, preferably between 0.1% to 1.5% fat) yoghurt. in another embodiment, the consumable products are jams and the invention relates to jams comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. in addition, the jams may contain further substances including but not limited to gelling agent, isomalt, maltitol, pectin, sorbitol and strawberries. in another embodiment, the consumable product is chewing-gum and the invention relates to chewing-gum comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. in one embodiment, the consumable product is an emulsion product. in such embodiments, the emulsion product comprises the sweetener, the pregelatinized starch, and a carrier. suitable carriers are available commercially. one preferred carrier is menthol. in a preferred embodiment, the consumable product is a menthol-containing emulsion product comprising the sweetener, the pregelatinized starch, and menthol. in one embodiment, the emulsion product is formed by preparing a finely ground sweetener, e.g., a sweetener having a low mean particle size, e.g., less than 50 microns, less than 25 microns, less than 10 microns, or less than 5 microns. the finely ground sweetener may be contacted with the carrier to form a suspension. in one embodiment, the carrier is heated, e.g., melted, prior to contact with the finely ground sweetener. in one embodiment, the suspension is then contacted with the pregelatinized starch to form the emulsion product. preferably, the finely ground sweetener comprises finely ground acesulfame potassium and the carrier comprises menthol. the finely ground sweetener may be contacted with heated, e.g., melted, menthol to form a suspension and the suspension may be contacted with the pregelatinized starch to form the menthol-containing emulsion product. in one embodiment, the finely ground sweetener comprises finely ground sucrose. the amount of a compound of formula (i) as defined above in the consumable of the invention is dependent on the concentration of the natural and or artificial sweeteners contained therein as well as on the presence of further auxiliary substances such as carbon dioxide, flavors (e.g. spices, natural extract or oils), colors, acidulants (e.g. phosphoric acid and citric acid), preservatives, potassium, sodium. the amount of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may generally be between 0.01 mg and 10 g of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof per kg of the entire finished consumable, e.g., between 0.01 mg and 1 g of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof per kg, between 0.1 mg and 500 mg of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof per kg, or between 0.1 mg and 50 mg of a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof per kg. in another embodiment, the consumable product is a dental product and the invention relates to a dental product comprising a sweetener composition of the invention. dental products include, but are not limited to toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash, denture adhesive, enamel whitener, fluoride treatments and oral care gels. these products are also known in the art. in a preferred embodiment the consumable product is toothpaste and the invention relates to toothpaste comprising a sweetener composition of the invention. in addition, the toothpaste may contain further substances including but not limited to abrasive silica, dicalcium phosphate dehydrate, hydrated silica (thickener), ethyl alcohol, peppermint flavor, mint flavor, potassium sorbate, sodium lauryl sulphate, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, sodium monofluorophosphate, sodium monofluorophosphate, sorbitol solution, tetrasodium phosphate and titanium dioxide. in another embodiment, the consumable product is a cosmetic product and the invention relates to a cosmetic product comprising a sweetener composition of the invention. cosmetic products include but are not limited to lipstick, lip balm, lip gloss, and petroleum jelly. these products are also known in the art. in another embodiment, the consumable product is a pharmaceutical product and the invention relates to a pharmaceutical product comprising a sweetener composition of the invention or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention. pharmaceutical products include but are not limited to over-the-counter and prescription drugs including but not limited to non-tobacco snuff, tobacco substitutes, chewable medications, cough syrups, throat sprays, throat lozenges, cough drops, antibacterial products, pill coatings, gel caplets, soluble fiber preparations, antacids, tablet cores, rapidly absorbed liquid compositions, stable foam compositions, rapidly disintegrating pharmaceutical dosage forms, beverage concentrates for medicinal purposes, aqueous pharmaceutical suspensions, liquid concentrate compositions, and stabilized sorbic acid solutions, phosphate buffers, saline solutions, emulsion, non-aqueous pharmaceutical solvents, aqueous pharmaceutical carriers, solid pharmaceutical carrier, and pharmaceutical preservatives/additives (antimicrobials, antioxidants, chelating agents, inert gases, flavoring agents, coloring agents). in another embodiment, the consumable product is animal feed or animal food and the invention relates to animal feed or animal food comprising a sweetener composition of the invention. in one embodiment, the consumable product is a chewing gum. as one example, the sweetener composition may comprise pregelatinized starch and the sweetener may comprise acesulfame potassium. in one embodiment, the consumable product is a chewing gum. as one example, the sweetener composition may comprise pregelatinized starch and the sweetener may comprise sucrose. preferably, in embodiments wherein the consumable product is a chewing gum, the consumable product further comprises menthol. in another aspect, the invention relates to a method of providing a sweetened consumable of the invention as defined above by admixing a sweetener composition of the invention as defined above or a tabletop sweetener composition of the invention as defined above to a consumable product. in another aspect, the invention relates to a method of enhancing the taste sensations associated with flavor ingredients by admixing a sweetener composition of the invention as defined above or a tabletop sweetener composition as defined above with one or more flavor ingredients to provide a flavor-enhanced composition or consumable. the invention, in another embodiment, relates to a method of increasing a sweetness level of a consumable having an initial sweetness level comprising the step of adding to the consumable a compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof in an amount effective to increase the sweetness level of the consumable to a final sweetness level. preferably, the compound of formula (i) may be used in a comestible composition in a concentration range of from 0.001 wppm to 1 wt. %, more in particular in a range of from 0.01 wppm to 0.1 wt. %, even more in particular in a range of from 0.01 wppm to 0.01 wt. %, even more in particular in a range of from 0.1 wppm to 0.001 wt. %, even more in particular in a range of from 0.01 wppm to 0.001 wt. %, and most particular in a range of from 0.1 wppm to 0.001 wt. %. in another aspect, the present invention relates to a method of controlling the release rate of the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and/or the taste sensations associated with the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof from a consumable. the consumable may comprise the at least one sweetener, a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and a consumable product. the method comprises the step of combining the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, a pregelatinized starch, and the consumable product to form a released controlled consumable. in some embodiments, the release rate of the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof is controlled such that the above-discussed release rates are achieved. in preferred embodiments, the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and the pregelatinized starch are combined to form a sweetener composition. this sweetener composition may then be combined with the consumable product to form the consumable product composition. in another embodiment, the present invention relates to a method for decreasing the release rate of the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof from a consumable. the consumable comprises the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and a consumable product and has an initial release rate of the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof from the consumable. the method comprises the step of adding to the consumable product composition a pregelatinized starch in an amount effective to decrease the release rate of the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof from the consumable to final release rate. in these embodiments, the addition of the pregelatinized starch to the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof surprisingly and unexpectedly decreases the release rate of the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. in preferred embodiments, the addition of the pregelatinized starch to the at least one sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof provides for a final release rate similar to the release rates discussed above. preferred combinations of sweeteners and sweetness enhancers the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may also be combined with one or more, e.g., two or more or three or more, sweeteners (e.g. one or more sugar(s)) and/or sweetness enhancers in addition to the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof. in one embodiment, these combinations may be utilized in comestible goods, e.g., to sweeten the respective comestible good. as used herein, the abbreviation “hsh” refers to hydrogenated starch hydrolyzates. the abbreviation “nhdc” refers to neohesperidine dihydrochalcone”. a preferred acesulfame k commercial product is sunett®, from nutrinova. in some exemplary embodiments, the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may be combined with one or more sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s) and/or sweetness enhancer(s), as shown in table 1 below. the combinations in this listing are merely exemplary and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. table 1preferred combinations of sweeteners - general overviewadditive 2additive 3additive 4additive 5additive 1(opt.)(opt.)(opt.)(opt.)acesulfam kalitameaspartamecyclamatesaccharineneotamesucrosesucralosefructoseisomaltpolydextroseoligofructosesorbitolhshmaltitolalitamefructoseaspartamefructoseaspartamesucroseaspartamesucroseaspartamecyclamateaspartamenhdcaspartamesaccharineaspartamealitameaspartameinulinaspartameisomaltaspartamesucraloseaspartamemaltolaspartamemaltodextrincyclamatesucralosecyclamatesucrosecyclamatefructosecyclamateneotamecyclamatemaltolcyclamateethylmaltolsaccharinecyclamateisomaltoligofructoseisomaltsorbitolisomaltinulinisomaltnhdcisomalthshsorbitolhshmaltitolhshsorbitolpolydextroselactitolpolydextrosesorbitolxylitolsorbitolxylitolmaltitolpolydextrosemaltitolsorbitolsucrosefructosesucrosepolydextrinaspartamesorbitolpolydextroseaspartamesaccharinfructoseaspartamesaccharinsucroseaspartamesaccharincyclamateaspartamecyclamatefructoseaspartamefructoseinulinaspartamesucralosesucrosecyclamatesucralosesucrosecyclamatesaccharinesucralosecyclamateneotamesucrosesucrosemaltodextrininulinisomaltsorbitolpolydextroseisomaltlactitolpolydextroseisomaltsorbitolfructosemaltitolsorbitolpolydextroseisomaltmaltitolxylitolisomaltmaltitolsorbitolaspartamesucrosefructosepolydextrosesucrosemaltodextrinpolydextrosesorbitolmaltodextrindextrosepolydextrosefructoseaspartamecyclamatesaccharinesucraloseaspartamesorbitolpolydextrosesucroseisomaltsorbitolpolydextrosesucroseisomaltsorbitolpolydextrosefructoseacesulfame kalitameacesulfame kaspartameacesulfame kcyclamateacesulfame ksaccharineacesulfame kneotameacesulfame ksucroseacesulfame ksucraloseacesulfame kfructoseacesulfame kisomaltacesulfame kpolydextroseacesulfame koligofructoseacesulfame ksorbitolacesulfame khshacesulfame kmaltitolacesulfame kalitamefructoseacesulfame kaspartamefructoseacesulfame kaspartamesucroseacesulfame kaspartamesucroseacesulfame kaspartamecyclamateacesulfame kaspartamenhdcacesulfame kaspartamesaccharineacesulfame kaspartamealitameacesulfame kaspartameinulinacesulfame kaspartameisomaltacesulfame kaspartamesucraloseacesulfame kaspartamemaltolacesulfame kaspartamemaltodextrinacesulfame kcyclamatesucraloseacesulfame kcyclamatesucroseacesulfame kcyclamatefructoseacesulfame kcyclamateneotameacesulfame kcyclamatemaltolacesulfame kcyclamateethylmaltolacesulfame ksaccharinecyclamateacesulfame kisomaltoligofructoseacesulfame kisomaltsorbitolacesulfame kisomaltinulinacesulfame kisomaltnhdcacesulfame kisomalthshacesulfame ksorbitolhshacesulfame kmaltitolhshacesulfame ksorbitolpolydextroseacesulfame klactitolpolydextroseacesulfame ksorbitolxylitolacesulfame kmaltitolpolydextroseacesulfame kmaltitolsorbitolacesulfame ksucrosefructoseacesulfame ksucrosepolydextrinacesulfame kaspartamesorbitolpolydextroseacesulfame kaspartamesaccharinfructoseacesulfame kaspartamesaccharinsucroseacesulfame kaspartamesaccharincyclamateacesulfame kaspartamecyclamatefructoseacesulfame kaspartamefructoseinulinacesulfame kaspartamesucralosesucroseacesulfame kcyclamatesucralosesucroseacesulfame kcyclamatesaccharinesucraloseacesulfame kcyclamateneotamesucroseacesulfame ksucrosemaltodextrininulinacesulfame kisomaltsorbitolpolydextroseacesulfame kisomaltlactitolpolydextroseacesulfame kisomaltsorbitolfructoseacesulfame kmaltitolsorbitolpolydextroseacesulfame kisomaltmaltitolxylitolacesulfame kisomaltmaltitolsorbitolacesulfame kaspartamesucrosefructoseacesulfame kpolydextrosesucrosemaltodextrinacesulfame kpolydextrosesorbitolmaltodextrinacesulfame kdextrosepolydextrosefructoseacesulfame kaspartamecyclamatesaccharinesucraloseacesulfame kaspartamesorbitolpolydextrosesucroseacesulfame kisomaltsorbitolpolydextrosesucroseacesulfame kisomaltsorbitolpolydextrosefructose in other embodiments, the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may be combined with one or more, e.g., two or more or three or more, sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) that are known in the art but are not listed in table 1. it should be understood that the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may, in some embodiments, be combined with at least one of any of the sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) that are listed in table 1 and/or with any other sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) that are known in the art but are not listed in table 1. in some embodiments, when the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof is used with comestible goods such as, e.g., bakery goods, biscuits, cake, other bakery goods, spread, confectionary, delicacies, ice cream, water-based ice, jams, oral hygiene, desserts, or yoghurt, the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may be combined with one or more sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) as follows: a.) acesulfame k in a concentration range of from 0.01 to 50 g/kg, more preferably from 0.05 to 20 g/kg, even more preferably from 0.1 to 10 g/kg, most preferably of from 0.1 to 8.3 g/kg;b.) aspartame in a concentration range of from 0.005 to 10 g/kg, more preferably from 0.01 to 7 g/kg, even more preferably from 0.01 to 1 g/kg, most preferably of from 0.06 to 1 g/kg;c.) cyclamate in a concentration range of from 0.01 to 10.0 g/kg, more preferably from 0.05 to 5 g/kg, even more preferably from 0.1 to 2 g/kg, most preferably of from 0.1 to 1.5 g/kg;d.) sucralose in a concentration range of from 0.05 to 10 g/kg, more preferably from 0.05 to 5 g/kg, even more preferably from 0.1 to 1 g/kg, most preferably of from 0.1 to 0.36 g/kg;e.) saccharine in a concentration range of from 0.001 to 20 g/kg, more preferably from 0.001 to 1 g/kg, even more preferably from 0.005 to 0.5 g/kg, most preferably of from 0.03 to 0.15 g/kg;f.) alitame in a concentration range of from 0.001 to 1 g/kg, more preferably from 0.001 to 0.5 g/kg, even more preferably from 0.005 to 0.1 g/kg, most preferably of from 0.01 to 0.03 g/kg;g.) nhdc in a concentration range of from 0.0001 to 0.1 g/kg, more preferably from 0.0005 to 0.01 g/kg, even more preferably from 0.001 to 0.01 g/kg, most preferably of from 0.002 to 0.005 g/kg;h.) sucrose in a concentration range of from 0.1 to 900 g/kg, more preferably from 1 to 500 g/kg, even more preferably from 10 to 500 g/kg, most preferably of from 10 to 300 g/kg;i.) fructose in a concentration range of from 0.1 to 900 g/kg, more preferably from 1 to 500 g/kg, even more preferably from 5 to 500 g/kg, most preferably of from 5 to 100 g/kg;j.) isomalt in a concentration range of from 10 to 950 g/kg, more preferably from 20 to 950 g/kg, even more preferably from 40 to 950 g/kg, most preferably of from 50 to 900 g/kg;k.) maltitol in a concentration range of from 10 to 950 g/kg, more preferably from 15 to 950 g/kg, even more preferably from 25 to 950 g/kg, most preferably of from 50 to 900 g/kg;l.) sorbitol in a concentration range of from 5 to 750 g/kg, more preferably from 10 to 500 g/kg, even more preferably from 20 to 500 g/kg, most preferably of from 30 to 300 g/kg;m.) polydextrose in a concentration range of from 5 to 750 g/kg, more preferably from 10 to 750 g/kg, even more preferably from 20 to 500 g/kg, most preferably of from 30 to 300 g/kg;n.) hsh in a concentration range of from 5 to 950 g/kg, more preferably from 25 to 800 g/kg, even more preferably from 50 to 750 g/kg, most preferably of from 100 to 650 g/kg;o.) oligofructose in a concentration range of from 5 to 800 g/kg, more preferably from 25 to 750 g/kg, even more preferably from 50 to 500 g/kg, most preferably of from 70 to 200 g/kg;p.) inulin in a concentration range of from 5 to 500 g/kg, more preferably from 25 to 250 g/kg, even more preferably from 50 to 100 g/kg, most preferably of from 20 to 70 g/kg;q.) lactitol in a concentration range of from 5 to 500 g/kg, more preferably from 25 to 250 g/kg, even more preferably from 50 to 100 g/kg, most preferably of from 40 to 60 g/kg;r.) xylitol in a concentration range of from 5 to 500 g/kg, more preferably from 10 to 250 g/kg, even more preferably from 25 to 100 g/kg, most preferably of from 40 to 300 g/kg; and/ors.) maltodextrin in a concentration range of from 10 to 500 g/kg, more preferably from 25 to 250 g/kg, even more preferably from 50 to 100 g/kg, most preferably of from 75 to 100 g/kg. the proposed combinations and concentration ranges listed above are merely exemplary and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. in other embodiments, in a liquid comestible good such as, e.g., a drink or a beverage, the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may be combined with one or more sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) as follows: a.) acesulfame k in a concentration range of from 0.005 to 5 g/l, more preferably from 0.005 to 1 g/l, even more preferably from 0.01 to 0.5 g/l, most preferably of from 0.04 to 0.45 g/l;b.) aspartame in a concentration range of from 0.005 to 5.0 g/l, more preferably from 0.005 to 1 g/l, even more preferably from 0.01 to 0.5 g/l, most preferably of from 0.03 to 0.26 g/l;c.) cyclamate in a concentration range of from 0.005 to 10 g/l, more preferably from 0.01 to 2 g/l, even more preferably from 0.05 to 1 g/l, most preferably of from 0.2 to 0.7 g/l;d.) sucralose in a concentration range of from 0.005 to 20 g/l, more preferably from 0.005 to 5 g/l, even more preferably from 0.01 to 2 g/l, most preferably of from 0.01 to 0.77 g/l;e.) neotame in a concentration range of from 0.0001 to 2 g/l, more preferably from 0.0005 to 0.5 g/l, even more preferably from 0.001 to 0.02 g/l, most preferably of from 0.002 to 0.007 g/l;f.) alitame in a concentration range of from 0.001 to 20 g/l, more preferably from 0.005 to 0.5 g/l, even more preferably from 0.01 to 0.1 g/l, most preferably of from 0.025 to 0.030 g/l;g.) sucralose in a concentration range of from 0.001 to 20 g/l, more preferably from 0.001 to 1 g/l, even more preferably from 0.005 to 0.1 g/l, most preferably of from 0.01 to 0.1 g/l;h.) saccharine in a concentration range of from 0.001 to 20 g/l, more preferably from 0.001 to 1 g/l, even more preferably from 0.005 to 0.2 g/l, most preferably of from 0.03 to 0.09 g/l;i.) nhcd in a concentration range of from 0.0001 to 0.1 g/l, more preferably from 0.0005 to 0.1 g/l, even more preferably from 0.001 to 0.01 g/l, most preferably of approximately 0.005 g/l;j.) maltol in a concentration range of from 0.001 to 20 g/l, more preferably from 0.001 to 1.0 g/l, even more preferably from 0.005 to 0.2 g/l, most preferably of approximately 0.02 g/l;k.) ethylmaltol in a concentration range of from 0.0001 to 2 g/l, more preferably from 0.0001 to 0.1 g/l, even more preferably from 0.0005 to 0.002 g/l, most preferably of from 0.007 to 0.020 g/l;l) sucrose in a concentration range of from 0.1 to 500 g/l, more preferably from 1 to 100 g/l, even more preferably from 10 to 100 g/l, most preferably of from 15 to 70 g/l; and/orm.) fructose in a concentration range of from 0.1 to 500 g/l, more preferably from 1 to 100 g/l, even more preferably from 5 to 100 g/l, most preferably of from 10 to 20 g/l. the proposed combinations and concentration ranges listed above are merely exemplary and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. in other embodiments, in a liquid or solid table top sweetener, the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may preferably be combined with one or more sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) as follows: a.) acesulfame k in a concentration range of from 0.5 to 500 g/kg, more preferably from 1 to 250 g/kg, even more preferably from 5 to 150 g/kg, most preferably of from 5 to 135 g/kg;b.) aspartame in a concentration range of from 0.5 to 200 g/kg, more preferably from 1 to 100 g/kg, even more preferably from 2 to 50 g/kg, most preferably of from 5 to 30 g/kg;c.) cyclamate in a concentration range of from 1 to 500 g/kg, more preferably from 5 to 250 g/kg, even more preferably from 10 to 150 g/kg, most preferably of from 30 to 130 g/kg;d.) sucralose in a concentration range of from 0.1 to 200 g/kg, more preferably from 0.5 to 100 g/kg, even more preferably from 1 to 50 g/kg, most preferably of from 1.5 to 20 g/kg;e.) saccharin in a concentration range of from 0.1 to 200 g/kg, more preferably from 0.5 to 100 g/kg, even more preferably from 1 to 50 g/kg, most preferably of from 3 to 10 g/kg;f.) nhcd in a concentration range of from 0.1 to 200 g/kg, more preferably from 0.5 to 100 g/kg, even more preferably from 1 to 50 g/kg, most preferably of from 1 to 5 g/kg;g.) dextrose in a concentration range above 100 g/kg, more preferably above 250 g/kg, even more preferably above 500 g/kg, most preferably above 900 g/kg;h.) maltodextrin in a concentration range above 100 g/kg, more preferably above 250 g/kg, even more preferably above 500 g/kg, most preferably above 900 g/kg;i.) lactose in a concentration range above 50 g/kg, more preferably above 100 g/kg, even more preferably above 500 g/kg, most preferably above 800 g/kg. the proposed combinations and concentration ranges listed above are merely exemplary and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. in other embodiments, when the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof is used with comestible goods, the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may be combined with one or more, e.g., two or more or three or more, sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) that are known in the art but are not listed above. it should be understood that the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may, in some embodiments, be combined with at least one of any of the sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) that are listed above and/or with any other sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) that are known in the art. in other embodiments, the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, when used as an additive in a comestible good such as, e.g., bakery goods, biscuits, cake, other bakery goods, spread, confectionary, delicacies, ice cream, water-based ice, jams, oral hygiene, desserts, or yoghurt, may be combined with sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) as shown in table 2 below. the combinations in table 2 are merely exemplary and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. table 2mass ranges - solid and semi-solid compositionsadditive 2additive 3additive 4additive 5additive 1(opt.)(opt.)(opt.)(opt.)acesulfame k:0.8-2 g/kgalitame:0.01-1.0 g/kgaspartame:0.16-6.2 g/kgcyclamate:0.1-10 g/kgsaccharine:0.1-10 g/kgsucrose:1-100 g/kgsucralose:0.10-0.36 g/kgfructose:1-100 g/kgisomalt:144.92-881.3 g/kgisomalt:144.92-881.3 g/kgpolydextrose:10-500 g/kgoligofructose:10-500 g/kgsucralose:0.1-10 g/kgsorbitol280.7-979.0 g/kghsh:796.8-981.0 g/kgmaltitol:851.0-851.1 g/kgalitame:fructose:0.01-1 g/kg1-100 g/kgaspartame:fructose:0.10-0.16 g/kg8.0-10.0 g/kgaspartame:sucrose:0.10-0.3 g/kg20.0-225.0 g/kgaspartame:cyclamate0.14-0.28 g/kg0.12-1.2 g/kgaspartame:nhdc:0.15-0.18 g/kg0.002-0.005 g/kgaspartame:saccharine:0.06-0.14 g/kg0.03-0.08 g/kgaspartame:alitame:0.01-1 g/kg0.001-1 g/kgaspartame:inulin:0.01-1 g/kg1-100 g/kgaspartame:isomalt:0.01-10 g/kg10-1000 g/kgaspartame:sucralose:0.01-10 g/kg0.01-1 g/kgcyclamate:fructose:0.01-10 g/kg10-20.0 g/kgcyclamate:sucralose:0.1-10 g/kg0.01-1 g/kgisomalt:oligofructose:72.46-93.5 g/kg72.46-93.5 g/kgsorbitol:polydextrose:1-500 g/kg10-1000 g/kglactitol:polydextrose:1-500 g/kg10-1000 g/kgmaltitol:polydextrose:34.0-135.2 g/kg33.0-134.4 g/kgmaltitol:sorbitol:199.8-266.7 g/kg176.0-281.3 g/kgisomalt:polydextrose:33.8-476.0 g/kg33.6-315.7 g/kgisomalt:inulin:1-500 g/kg10-1000 g/kgisomalt:sorbitol:1-500 g/kg10-1000 g/kgisomalt:hsh:10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgsorbitol:hsh:56.3-75.6 g/kg482.1-639.5 g/kgmaltitol:hsh:100-5000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgsorbitol:xylitol:10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgisomalt:xylitol:345.0-400.7 g/kg40.0-41.0 g/kgisomalt:nhdc:10-1000 g/kg0.001-1 g/kgsucrose:fructose:10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgsucrose:maltodextrin:10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgsucrose:polydextrose:10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgaspartam:sorbitol:polydextrose:0.25-0.55 g/kg10-1000 g/kg159.0-160.0 g/kgaspartame:saccharine:fructose:0.01-1 g/kg0.1-10 g/kg1-1000 g/kgaspartame:saccharine:sucrose:0.06-0.09 g/kg0.03-0.08 g/kg1-1000 g/kgaspartame:cyclamate:fructose:0.01-1 g/kg0.1-10 g/kg1-1000 g/kgaspartame:isomalt:polydextrose:0.01-1 g/kg1-100 g/kg1-1000 g/kgaspartame:sucrose:fructose:0.01-1 g/kg10-1000 g/kg1-1000 g/kgisomalt:sorbitol:fructose:1-500 g/kg10-1000 g/kg1-1000 g/kgisomalt:sorbitol:polydextrose:63.8-344.6 g/kg31.9-51.7 g/kg53.9-170.2 g/kgisomalt:lactitol:polydextrose:1-500 g/kg10-1000. g/kg1-1000 g/kgisomalt:polydextrose:inulin:10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg1-1000 g/kgisomalt:maltitol:xylitol:10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg1-1000 g/kgdextrose:polydextrose:fructose:1-500 g/kg10-1000 g/kg1-1000 g/kgpolydextrose:sucrose:maltodextrin:1-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg1-1000 g/kgpolydextrose:sorbitol:maltodextrin:10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg1-1000 g/kgpolydextrose:maltitol:hsh:203.6-296.8 g/kg10-1000 g/kg226.0-340.0 g/kgaspartame:sorbitol:polydextrose:sucrose:0.01-1 g/kg10-1000 g/kg1-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgisomalt:sorbitol:polydextrose:sucrose:1-500 g/kg1-1000 g/kg1-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgisomalt:sorbitol:polydextrose:fructose:1-500 g/kg1-100 g/kg1-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:alitame:0.01-1 g/kg0.01-1 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:0.16-6.2 g/kg0.16-6.2 g/kgacesulfame k:cyclamate:0.25-0.5 g/kg0.01-10 g/kgacesulfame k:saccharine:0.01-1 g/kg0.1-1 g/kgacesulfame k:sucrose:0.01-1 g/kg1-100 g/kgacesulfame k:sucralose:0.32-0.92 g/kg0.10-0.36 g/kgacesulfame k:fructose:0.01-1 g/kg1-100 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:0.1-2 g/kg144.92-881.3 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:0.1-2 g/kg144.92-881.3 g/kgacesulfame k:polydextrose:0.01-1 g/kg1-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:oligofructose:1-10 g/kg1-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:sucralose:0.27 g/kg0.01-10 g/kgacesulfame k:sorbitol0.01-1 g/kg280.7-979.0 g/kgacesulfame k:hsh:1.5-1.6 g/kg796.8-981.0 g/kgacesulfame k:maltitol:0.3-0.4 g/kg851.0-851.1 g/kgacesulfame k:alitame:fructose:0.01-1 g/kg0.001-1 g/kg0.1-100 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:fructose:0.13-0.20 g/kg0.10-0.16 g/kg8.0-10.0 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:sucrose:0.12-0.3 g/kg0.10-0.3 g/kg20.0-225.0 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:cyclamate0.14-0.67 g/kg0.14-0.28 g/kg0.12-1.2 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:nhdc:0.15-0.18 g/kg0.15-0.18 g/kg0.002-0.005 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:saccharine:0.06-0.14 g/kg0.06-0.14 g/kg0.03-0.08 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:alitame:0.01-1 g/kg0.01-1 g/kg0.001-1 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:inulin:0.01-1 g/kg0.01-10 g/kg1-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:isomalt:0.01-1 g/kg0.01-1 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:sucralose:1-10 g/kg0.01-1 g/kg0.01-1 g/kgacesulfame k:cyclamate:fructose:0.20-0.35 g/kg0.01-1 g/kg10-20.0 g/kgacesulfame k:cyclamate:sucralose:0.1-10 g/kg0.1-10 g/kg0.01-1 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:oligofructose:0.1-1 g/kg72.46-93.5 g/kg72.46-93.5 g/kgacesulfame k:sorbitol:polydextrose:0.1-1 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:lactitol:polydextrose:0.1-1 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:maltitol:polydextrose:0.1-10 g/kg34.0-135.2 g/kg33.0-134.4 g/kgacesulfame k:maltitol:sorbitol:0.1-10 g/kg199.8-266.7 g/kg176.0-281.3 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:polydextrose:0.65-3.2 g/kg33.8-476.0 g/kg33.6-315.7 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:inulin:0.1-10 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:sorbitol:0.1-10 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:hsh:1-10 g/kg10-2000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:sorbitol:hsh:0.4-1.4 g/kg56.3-75.6 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:maltitol:hsh:0.1-1 g/kg100-10000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:sorbitol:xylitol:0.1-1 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:xylitol:0.1-1 g/kg345.0-400.7 g/kg40.0-41.0 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:nhdc:0.1-1 g/kg100-10000 g/kg0.001-1 g/kgacesulfame k:sucrose:fructose:1-10 g/kg10-1000 g/kg1-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:sucrose:maltodextrin:1-10 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:sucrose:polydextrose:1-10 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartam:sorbitol:polydextrose:0.25-0.55 g/kg0.25-0.55 g/kg10-1000 g/kg159.0-160.0 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:saccharine:fructose:0.01-1 g/kg0.01-1 g/kg0.001-10 g/kg1-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:saccharine:sucrose:0.06-0.09 g/kg0.06-0.09 g/kg0.001-10 g/kg1-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:cyclamate:fructose:0.01-1 g/kg0.01-1 g/kg0.01-1 g/kg1-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:isomalt:polydextrose:0.01-1 g/kg0.01-1 g/kg0.01-1 g/kg1-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:sucrose:fructose:0.01-1 g/kg0.01-1 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:sorbitol:fructose:0.01-1 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:sorbitol:polydextrose:0.7-1.2 g/kg63.8-344.6 g/kg31.9-51.7 g/kg53.9-170.2 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:lactitol:polydextrose:0.1-1 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000. g/kg1-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:polydextrose:inulin:1-10 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg1-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:maltitol:xylitol:0.01-1 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-100010-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:dextrose:polydextrose:fructose:1-10 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:polydextrose:sucrose:maltodextrin:1-10 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:polydextrose:sorbitol:maltodextrin:1-10 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:polydextrose:maltitol:hsh:1.8-8.3 g/kg203.6-296.8 g/kg10-1000 g/kg226.0-340.0 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:sorbitol:polydextrose:sucrose:0.01-1 g/kg0.01-1 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:sorbitol:polydextrose:sucrose:0.1-10 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:isomalt:sorbitol:polydextrose:fructose:0.1-10 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-1000 g/kg in other embodiments, the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, when used as an additive in a beverage or a drink, may be combined with sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) as shown in table 3 below. the combinations in table 3 are merely exemplary and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. table 3mass ranges - beverages and drinksaddi-additive 2additive 3additive 4tive 5additive 1(opt.)(opt.)(opt.)(opt.)aspartame:0.04-0.26 g/lcyclamate:0.28-0.72 g/lsucrose:40.0-70.0 g/lsucralose:0.073-0.77 g/lneotame:0.006-0.007 g/lalitame:0.025-0.030 g/laspartame:sucralose:0.09-0.13 g/l0.01-0.06 g/laspartame:cyclamate:0.04-0.10 g/l0.22-0.40 g/laspartame:saccharine:0.09-0.18 g/l0.03-0.08 g/laspartame:fructose:0.04-0.13 g/l10.0-20.0 g/laspartame:sucrose:0.06-0.16 g/l20.0-65.0 g/laspartame:nhdc:0.06-0.13 g/l0.0001-1 g/laspartame:maltol:0.13-0.16 g/l0.001-1 g/lcyclamate:sucralose:0.2-0.4 g/l0.03-0.10 g/lcyclamate:sucrose:0.09-0.17 g/l10.0-35.0 g/lcyclamate:saccharine:0.28-0.40 g/l0.04-0.09 g/lcyclamate:neotame:0.43-0.44 g/l0.003-0.005 g/lcyclamate:maltol:0.01-1 g/l0.001-1 g/lcyclamate:ethylmaltol:0.08-0.40 g/l0.007-0.020 g/lsucralose:sucrose:0.01-1 g/l10-1000 g/laspartame:saccharine:cyclamate:0.01-0.07 g/l0.02-0.09 g/l0.15-0.41 g/laspartame:saccharine:sucrose:0.08-0.13 g/l0.03-0.05 g/l15.0-30.0 g/laspartame:sucralose:sucrose:0.01-1 g/l0.001-1 g/l10-1000 g/lcyclamate:sucralose:sucrose:0.01-1 g/l0.001-1 g/l10-1000 g/lcyclamate:saccharine:sucralose:0.01-1 g/l0.03-0.09 g/l0.04-0.08 g/lcyclamate:neotame:sucrose:0.01-1 g/l0.0001-1 g/l10-1000 g/laspartame:cyclamate:saccharine:sucralose:0.01-1 g/l0.01-1 g/l0.001-1 g/l0.001-1 g/lacesulfame k:0.20-0.45 g/lacesulfame k:aspartame:0.07-0.28 g/l0.04-0.26 g/lacesulfame k:cyclamate:0.07-0.20 g/l0.28-0.72 g/lacesulfame k:sucrose:0.15-0.32 g/l40.0-70.0 g/lacesulfame k:sucralose:0.10-0.25 g/l0.073-0.77 g/lacesulfame k:neotame:0.15-0.24 g/l0.006-0.007 g/lacesulfame k:alitame:0.15-0.20 g/l0.025-0.030 g/lacesulfame k:aspartame:sucralose:0.09-0.19 g/l0.09-0.13 g/l0.01-0.06 g/lacesulfame k:aspartame:cyclamate:0.04-0.10 g/l0.04-0.10 g/l0.22-0.40 g/lacesulfame k:aspartame:saccharine:0.06-0.14 g/l0.09-0.18 g/l0.03-0.08 g/lacesulfame k:aspartame:fructose:0.12-0.13 g/l0.04-0.13 g/l10.0-20.0 g/lacesulfame k:aspartame:sucrose:0.06-0.13 g/l0.06-0.16 g/l20.0-65.0 g/lacesulfame k:aspartame:nhdc:0.08-0.15 g/l0.06-0.13 g/l0.0001-1 g/lacesulfame k:aspartame:maltol:0.13-0.16 g/l0.13-0.16 g/l0.0001-1 g/lacesulfame k:cyclamate:sucralose:0.09-0.13 g/l0.2-0.4 g/l0.03-0.10 g/lacesulfame k:cyclamate:sucrose:0.07-0.09 g/l0.09-0.17 g/l10.0-35.0 g/lacesulfame k:cyclamate:saccharine:0.05-0.26 g/l0.28-0.40 g/l0.04-0.09 g/lacesulfame k:cyclamate:neotame:0.21-0.29 g/l0.43-0.44 g/l0.003-0.005 g/lacesulfame k:cyclamate:maltol:0.01-1 g/l0.01-10 g/l0.001-1 g/lacesulfame k:cyclamate:ethylmaltol:0.08-0.20 g/l0.08-0.40 g/l0.007-0.020 g/lacesulfame k:sucralose:sucrose:0.01-1 g/l0.01-1 g/l10-1000 g/lacesulfame k:aspartame:saccharine:cyclamate:0.01-0.07 g/l0.01-0.07 g/l0.02-0.09 g/l0.15-0.41 g/lacesulfame k:aspartame:saccharine:sucrose:0.08-0.13 g/l0.08-0.13 g/l0.03-0.05 g/l15.0-30.0 g/lacesulfame k:aspartame:sucralose:sucrose:0.01-1 g/l0.01-1 g/l0.001-1 g/l10-1000 g/lacesulfame k:cyclamate:sucralose:sucrose:0.01-1 g/l0.01-1 g/l0.001-1 g/l10-1000 g/lacesulfame k:cyclamate:saccharine:sucralose:0.015-0.1 g/l0.01-1 g/l0.03-0.09 g/l0.04-0.08 g/lacesulfame k:cyclamate:neotame:sucrose:0.01-1 g/l0.01-1 g/l0.00001-1 g/l10-1000 g/lacesulfame k:aspartame:cyclamate:saccharine:sucra-0.01-1 g/l0.01-1 g/l0.01-10 g/l.0001-1 g/llose:0.001-1g/l in other embodiments, the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof when used as table top sweetener, may be combined with sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s) and/or sweetness enhancer(s) as shown in table 4 below. the combinations in table 4 are merely exemplary and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. table 4mass ranges - table top sweetenersadditive 2additive 3additive 4additive 1(opt.)(opt.)(opt.)acesulfame k:6.7-134.0 g/kgaspartame:5.0-22.0 g/kgcyclamate:28.0-120.0 g/kglactose:100-900.0 g/kgsucralose:9.6-20.0 g/kgsaccharin:cyclamate:1-100 g/kg10-1000 g/kgsaccharin:maltodextrin:13.0-20.0 g/kg100-10000 g/kgaspartame:dextrose1-100 g/kg100-10000 g/kgsucralose:dextrose3.4-5.0 g/kg984.1-982.5 g/kgaspartame:nhdc:lactose:1-100 g/kg1-100 g/kg10-10000 g/kgaspartame:cyclamate:lactose:1-100 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-10000 g/kgaspartame:sucralose:dextrose:1-100 g/kg1.7-2.5 g/kg979.6-978.8 g/kgaspartame:cyclamate:maltodextrin:1-100 g/kg1-1000 g/kg10-10000 g/kgsaccharin:cyclamate:maltodextrin:3.3-5.0 g/kg28.0-57.0 g/kg932.2-974.0 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:24.0-110.0 g/kg5.0-22.0 g/kgacesulfame k:cyclamate:1-100 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:lactose:10-1000 g/kg100-10000 g/kgacesulfame k:sucralose:12.0-24.0 g/kg9.6-20.0 g/kgacesulfame k:saccharin:cyclamate:1-100 g/kg1-100 g/kg10-1000 g/kgacesulfame k:saccharin:maltodextrin:10.0-13.0 g/kg13.0-20.0 g/kg970-974 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:dextrose1-100 g/kg1-100 g/kg10-10000 g/kgacesulfame k:sucralose:dextrose1-100 g/kg3.4-5.0 g/kg984.1-982.5 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:nhdc:lactose:1-100 g/kg1-100 g/kg0.1-100 g/kg10-10000 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:cyclamate:lactose:1-100 g/kg1-100 g/kg10-1000 g/kg10-10000 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:sucralose:dextrose:1-100 g/kg1-100 g/kg1.7-2.5 g/kg100-10000 g/kgacesulfame k:aspartame:10-1000 g/kgmaltodextrin:1-100 g/kg1-100 g/kg10-10000 g/kgacesulfame k:saccharin:cyclamate:maltodextrin:7.2-10.0 g/kg3.3-5.0 g/kg28.0-57.0 g/kg10-10000 g/kg in other embodiments, when the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof is used with comestible goods, the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may be combined with one or more, e.g., two or more or three or more, sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) that are known in the art but are not listed above in tables 2-4. it should be understood that the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof may, in some embodiments, be combined with at least one of any of the sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) that are listed above in tables 2-4 and/or with any other sweetener(s), e.g. sugar(s), and/or sweetness enhancer(s) that are known in the art but are not listed in tables 2-4. examples the following examples as well as the accompanying figures provide illustrative embodiments of the inventions described and claimed herein. these examples are not intended to provide any limitation on the scope of the invented subject-matter. example 1 in vitro identification of the compound of formula (i) as a sweet taste modulating substance—detection of sweetness enhancer activity of the compound of formula (ia) in a recombinant human taste receptor t1r2/t1r3 dependent cell based assay the compound of formula (ia) has been identified in the screening phase as a sweet taste modulating substance by cell based assay analysis, acting as a fructose enhancer in vitro. 1.1 description of the general method in wild type taste cells, e.g. in human taste buds, signal transduction is accomplished by the g-proteins gustducin and/or by g-proteins of the g alpha-i type. encountering sweet ligands, the heterodimeric human taste receptor t1r2/t1r3 reacts with induction of second messenger molecules, namely either the increase of the camp level in response to most sugars or the increase of the calcium level in response to most artificial sweeteners (margolskee, 2002; j. biol. chem. 277, 1-4, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety). to analyze the function and activity of a test compound, e.g. of compound of formula (ia), the heterodimeric ht1r2/ht1r3 sweet taste receptor is utilized in a calcium dependent cell based assay. t1r type taste receptors are transfected with the multicistronic plasmid vector ptrix-eb-r2r3 in a hek293 cell line stably expressing the promiscuous mouse g-alpha-15 g-protein. for the generation of stable cell lines a multicistronic expression unit using human taste receptor sequences is used. in a tricistronic expression unit of the expression vector ptrix-eb-r2r3 is under the control of the human elongation factor 1 alpha promoter. using standard cloning techniques the cdna for the receptors ht1r2 and ht1r3 and the cdna for the blasticidin s deaminase gene is cloned. to enable the translation initiation of each gene of this tricistronic unit two emc-virus derived internal ribosomal entry sites (ires—also termed cap-independent translation enhancer (cite)) are inserted (jackson et al., trends biochem sci (1990) 15, 477-83; jang et al., j virol (1988) 62, 2636-43, which are incorporated by reference in their entirety). the tricistronic expression unit is terminated by a simian virus 40 polyadenylation signal sequence. this composition permits the simultaneous expression of all three genes under the control of only one promoter. in contrast to monocistronic transcription units, which integrate independently from each other into different chromosomal locations during the process of stable cell line development, the tricistronic transcription unit integrates all containing genes in one and the same chromosomal locus. due to the alignment of the genes, the blasticidin s deaminase gene is only transcribed in case a full length transcription takes place. moreover the polarity of multicistronic transcription units (moser, s. et al., biotechnol prog (2000) 16, 724-35, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety) leads probably to a balanced stoichiometry of the receptor genes and their expression rates in the range of 1:0.7 up to 1:1 for the first two positions whereas the blasticidin s deaminase gene compared to the receptor genes in the third position is expressed to a lesser extend. assuming that for the functional heterodimeric receptor ht1r2/ht1r3 a 1:1 stoichiometry is needed the lesser polarity effects for the receptor genes promote the desired stoichiometry whereas the reduced expression of the deaminase promotes an integration locus with enhanced transcriptional activity. generation of stable ht1r2/ht1r3 expressing cells are performed by culturing the transfected cells in the presence of blasticidine. for measurement of human t1r2/t1r3 taste receptor dependent activity a control cell line without sweet receptor based on hek 293 and a cell line expressing the sweet receptor ht1r2/ht1r3 based on hek 293, respectively, are seeded into assay plates and labelled with the calcium sensitive fluorescence dye fluo4-am in a culture medium. the potential modulators, e.g. the test compound, are added to the control cell line and to the cell line expressing the sweet receptor ht1r2/ht1r3, respectively. response to different concentrations of the modulator in the presence of fructose is recorded as fluo4-am fluorescence increase initiated through the ht1r2/ht1r3 dependent increase of the second messenger calcium. the applied fructose concentration is chosen from the results of preexaminations showing that fructose, in these concentrations, is barely activating the sweet taste receptors within this cell based assay. thus a sweetness enhancing property of a test compound is detectable in the presence of the sweetener fructose. 1.2 preparation of the cell lines and cell culture a stable cell line based on hek293 was termed hekα15#17 served as control for functional ga-protein and a stable cell line hekgα15#17r2r3b#8 c6 served as cell line expressing the sweet receptor ht1r2/ht1r3 based on hekgα15#17. the cells were cultured in dmem/hg and 10% fcs gold, 4 mm l-glutamin, 1,3 mg/ml geneticin (hekgα15#17) or the same medium additionally containing 6 μg/ml blasticidin (hekgα15#17r2r3b#8 c6). the medium for the assay was dmem/hg (high glucose, 4.5 g/l glucose, life technologies) and 10% fcs gold, 4 mm l-glutamin (hekgα15#17) or dmem/lg (low glucose, 1 g/l glucose; life technologies) and 10% fcs gold (hekgα15#17r2r3b#8c6), respectively. 1.3 evaluation of the sweet receptor modulating activity of the compound of formula (ia) in order to evaluate the sweet receptor modulating activity of the compound of formula (ia), compound of formula (ia) was added to the cultures in a concentration of 25 μm in a volume of 50 μl. controls were kh-buffer (krebs hepes-buffer: 118 mm nacl, 4.7 mm kcl, 1.2 mm mgso 4 , 1.2 mm kh 2 po 4 , 4.2 mm nahco 3 , 1.3 mm cacl 2 , 10 mm hepes, ph 7.4) either without or with sweetness enhancer. as natural and artificial sweeteners either fructose (20 mm), acesulfame k (30 mm) or sodium cyclamate (30 mm) were used. further controls for function of g-protein and receptor were isoproterenol (1 μm, sigma aldrich), ionomycin (1 μm, calbiochem) and atp (1 μm, applichem). dmso was diluted in kh-buffer/fructose (100 mm stock solution=50 μm final test concentration=1:400 dilution). 1.4 in vitro cell based assay procedure for measurement of human t1r2/t1r3 taste receptor dependent activity, on day 1 of the test procedure the hekα15#17 cells (control cell line without sweet receptor) and the hekgα15#17r2r3b#8 c6 cells (cell line expressing the sweet receptor ht1r2/ht1r3), respectively, were transferred to low-glucose medium. on day 2 the cells were seeded into assay plates at a density of 25,000 cells/well. assay plates for fluorescence measurement (black clear bottom 96-cavity plates, greiner bio-one) were coated with poly-d-lysine. for direct comparison both cell lines (control cell line without sweet receptor and cell line expressing the sweet receptor ht1r2/ht1r3) were seeded into different cavities of the same assay plate. the plate was placed into the incubator for 48 hours at 37° c., 5% co 2 , 100% relative humidity. on day 4 the calcium assay was performed. for this assay, the cells were marked with fluo4-am in medium and kh-buffer. to each cavity 100 μl kh-buffer/250 μm sulfinpyrazone/4 μm fluo4-am were added gently to 100 μl medium (final concentration of fluo4-am=2 μm, stock solution of fluo4-am 1 mm in dmso, excitation at 485 nm, emission at 520 nm, fisher scientific, 58239 schwerte, germany). the plate was placed into the incubator for 1 hour. in the mean time the test substances (“ligands”) were prepared in a separate plate (5 times concentrated, 150 μl/cavity, and then automatically 50 μl/cavity were transferred into the screening cell plate by pipetting robot (flex-station, molecular devices, sunnyvale, calif.). the culture medium was carefully removed and 200 μl kh-buffer/250 μm sulfinpyrazone per cavity was added slowly. cells were left in the flex-station for 20 minutes for adaptation, followed by measurement at 37° c. 1.5 results of the in vitro cell based assay the results of this assay are shown in the bar diagram of fig. 1 . in the bar diagram the grey bars (control—without ht1r2/ht1r3) indicate the measured fluo4-am fluorescence increase of the respective test compound added to the control cell line, the black bars (assay—with ht1r2/ht1r3) indicate the measured fluo4-am fluorescence increase of the respective test compound added to the cell line expressing the sweet receptor ht1r2/ht1r3. the first bar (sodium cyclamate) shows that the control sweetener sodium cyclamate does not activate the control cell line, but activates the cell line expressing the sweet receptor ht1r2/ht1r3. consequently, this bar shows that sodium cyclamate is a sweetener. the second, third and fourth bars (isoproterenol, atp and ionomycin) show that the respective control compounds activate both the control and the cell line expressing the sweet receptor ht1r2/ht1r3 and confirm the function of the g-protein and receptor. the fifth bar (kh buffer/fructose) represents the result of a screening, in which fructose was added in a concentration in that it does neither activate the control cell line, nor the cell line expressing the sweet receptor ht1r2/ht1r3. the sixth bar represents the result of the primary screening which was carried out with receptor carrying cells only and shows a strong cellular activation. the seventh bar (secondary screening) shows that the compound of formula (ia) in the presence of fructose does not activate the control cell line but activates the cell line expressing the sweet receptor ht1r2/ht1r3. consequently, the compound of formula (ia) is a sweetener and/or a fructose enhancer. the eighth bar (compound of formula (ia) without fructose) shows that the compound of formula (ia) does neither activate the control cell line, nor the cell line expressing the sweet receptor ht1r2/ht1r3. consequently, the compound of formula (ai) does not serve as a sweetener at the indicated concentration. the ninth bar (compound of formula (ia) in the presence of fructose) shows that the compound of formula (ia) does not activate the control cell line, but activates the cell line expressing the sweet receptor ht1r2/ht1r3 and enhances the activity of fructose (cf. also the fifth bar). the inserted graph shows that the selective stimulation of receptor carrying cells by compound of formula (ia) is verified by measuring the time response in the cell assay over a period of 78 seconds. consequently, the assay shows that the compound of formula (ia) is, at the indicated concentration, a fructose enhancer. example 2 taste and spit assay with compound of formula (ia) the taste of a sample of compound of formula (ia) with regard to sweetness and fructose enhancing features was assessed by using a panel of trained sensory evaluators experienced in the sweet taste estimation procedure. 5 individuals were asked to taste the quality of single samples of 10 ml volume. 2.1 general procedure panelists were asked to take a sample of the liquid to be assessed (20 μm test substance compound of formula (ia) in 0.5% ethanol) into the mouth and after some time allowed for taste perception to spit the sample out completely. subsequently, the panelists were asked to rinse their mouth well with water or black tea to reduce any potential carry over effects. the tasting of a sample could be repeated if required. 2.2 taste and spit phase i—qualitative assessment in a first descriptive test 5 individuals were asked to taste the quality of single samples of 10 ml volume (maximum 3 subsequent samples). the samples were served at ambient temperature. the individuals of the taste panel were asked to answer the following questions with regard to the quality of taste: 1) does the sample taste sweet?, 2) is there another taste detectable (bitter, sour, salty, umami)?, 3) is there an off- or aftertaste?, 4) is there anything else remarkable about the perception of the sample? results: no characteristic taste was identified in the sample containing the compound of formula (ia) at the indicated concentration. importantly, no off-taste was detected by the taste panel. these results show that the compound of formula (ia), beneficially, may be utilized as a sweetness enhancer without contributing off-tastes to the resultant product. 2.3 taste and spit phase ii—assessment of fructose enhancing features in the next step the panelists were asked to answer questions in a pairwise comparison test to determine the enhancement of sweet taste of the test substance with fructose relative to fructose only. again, 5 individuals were given samples of 10 ml volume. this time two samples were prepared for direct comparison regarding sweetness. one sample contained fructose (4%) in solvent (0.5% ethanol) and the other sample additionally contained 20 μm of the test substance compound of formula (ia). designation of the samples with a and b was randomized and decoded after the taste procedure. the questions to be answered were: 1) does one sample taste sweeter than the other?, 2) if so, which one?, 3) are there any other differences in the taste between the two samples? results: the results of the taste and spit assay are based on a qualitative evaluation of the differences between the two samples (cf. fig. 3 ). all 5 panelists identified the sample containing 4% fructose with the compound of formula (ia) as sweeter than the sample containing 4% fructose only. consequently, the compound of formula (ia) is perceived as a fructose enhancer. example 3 fermentation, extraction and isolation of the compound of formula (ia) the compound of formula (ia) can be isolated from the actinomycetes strain with the identification reference 01496axxx000004 and the accession number dsm 25420, which has been deposited on nov. 30, 2011, at the dsmz-deutsche sammlung von mikroorganismen and zellkulturen gmbh, inhoffenstr. 7 b, 38124 braunschweig, germany, by the analyticon discovery gmbh, hermannswerder haus 17, 14473 potsdam, germany according to the procedure described below. the taxonomy of strain was determined at the dsmz by 16s rdna analysis. the result showed the closest match with streptomyces roseolilacinus (98.9%, binary 98.8%). 3.1 fermentation 3.1.1 pre-culture the culture is transferred from an agar plate with isp3 medium into a static medium containing the ingredients 1 to 4, 5 and 6 mentioned below at 30° c. for at least 7 days. the volume of the pre-culture is 125 ml in a 1000 ml laboratory glass. ingredientsupplier[g/l]1glucosefluka 491503.02starchroth 470110.03soy flour, defattedhensel4.04yeast-extractdifco 2127201.05ph - valueph 7.36calciumcarbonatemerck 210601.07agar agarroth 52102.75 3.1.2 main culture 125 ml of the pre-culture are transferred into 10 l of a liquid medium containing the ingredients 1 to 5 and 7 mentioned below. ingredientsupplier[g/l][g/10 l]1mannitolfluka16.0160.0635652glycerine 87%fluka8.080.0497813cotton seed floursigma3.030.0c-48984soy peptonesigma7.575.0p05215sodium chloriden.n.1.010.06ph-valueph 7.0ph 7.07calcium chloridefluka1.010.021060 3.2 extraction 400 ml of hp20 are added to the fermentation broth and stirred for 45 min. the harvested culture broth with hp20 is centrifuged at 6000×g for 15 min to remove solid components (biomass+hp20). the supernatant is removed, decontaminated and discarded. the obtained biomass-/xad mixture is transferred with acetone into an extraction vessel (glass or polypropylene). the first extraction is performed with acetone. the biomass-/hp20-pellets are covered with approx. 2 cm acetone and completely soaked. the vessel is well shaken. the mixture is left standing overnight. subsequently, the mixture is placed for 10 min in an ultra sonic bath and afterwards placed for 30 min at 110-120 rpm on a shaker. finally, the solution is filtrated (paper). the second extraction is performed according to the procedure described before. afterwards both extracts are combined. 3.3 isolation of the compound of formula (ia) the compound of formula (i) is isolated from the combined extracts using mplc (medium pressure liquid chromatography). mplc systemkronlab gmbhdata systemprepcon 4.47stationarypolygoprep 60-50 rp-18 (macherey & nagel)phasemobile phasea: dest. waterb: methanol (p.a.)c: isopropanolflow ratetime [min][ml/min.]% a% b% cgradient0.0100100005.0100100005.11301000010.01301000010.110080200individual18.010032680gradient51.01001080061.01001090061.11500100066.01500100066.1300010070.0300010070.1750010074.07500100 the second fraction (collected from 12 to 16 min) contains the novel compound of formula (ia) with a purity of 79% (elsd, evaporative light scattering detection) confirmed by nmr. 3.4 spectral and physical data of the compound of formula (ia) the compound of formula (ia) has been characterized by the following data: molecular formula: c 18 h 32 n 4 o 9 molecular weight [g/mol]: 448.47 purity (lc/ms-elsd): 79% structure: lc/ms assignment: (+)-esi(−)-esim/zinterpretationm/zinterpretation[m + na] +447[m − h] −449[m + h] +[m + hcoo] − assignment of the 1 h- and 13 c-nmr-signals (based on hh—cosy, hsqc, and hmbc experiments) 1 : positionδ c [ppm]δ h [ppm]j [hz]/(int)hmbc (h -> c)1177.1 s———243.6 t2.64 d15.61, 3, 4, 62.43 d15.61, 3, 4, 6374.5 s———444.5 t2.65 d14.22, 3, 5, 62.49 d14.22, 3, 5, 65171.5 s———6175.9 s———1′————2′36.7 t3.17 m(2h)53′26.7 t1.77 m(2h)2′, 4′4′45.6 t3.64 m(2h)6′5′————6′172.5 s———7′19.2 q2.10 s(3h)6′1″————2″38.9 t3.22 m(2h)63.15 m3″29.0 t1.53 m(2h)2″, 4″, 5″4″23.8 t1.43 m(2h)—5″26.4 t1.62 m(2h)6″6″47.5 t3.62 m(2h)8″3.56 m7″————8″172.5 s———9″19.2 q2.10 s(3h)8″ 1 500 mhz bruker-nmr in d 4 -methanol (δ c =48.5 ppm; δ h =3.3 ppm) example 4 assessment of the stability of the compound of formula (ia) the stability of the compound of formula (ia) was tested at 30° c. at three different ph-values. the test ran over 8 weeks with the compound of formula (ia) placed in temperature controlled ovens. samples were taken according to the following scheme: days 0, 3, 6, 10, 14, 21, and 28 followed by weeks 6 and 8. all samples were analyzed by hplc. reference samples for days 3, 6, 10, 14, 21, and 28 plus weeks 6 and 8 were kept at −20° c. and analyzed together with the samples at 30° c. 4.1 methods each individual sample of the compound of formula (ia) contained 18 μg in 200 μl buffer (0.2 mm). all samples were prepared in 1.5 ml hplc vials at the same day. the buffer composition is summarized in the table below. samples for day 0 were immediately analyzed and all other samples placed in ovens. reference samples were immediately frozen at −20° c. tablecomposition of buffersph = 3.0ph = 4.5ph = 6.5saltna-citratena-citratenah 2 po 4 +na 2 hpo 4 (1:1)concentration of1 g/l1 g/l1 g/lsaltph adjusted withhcl/naohhcl/naohh 3 po 4 /naoh one reference sample per ph-value was used. samples from the oven were taken and reference samples were added after thawing. the set of samples at 30° with reference sample was grouped into the hplc autosampler to minimize the time gap between hplc-analysis within each set of samples. all samples were analyzed by double injections. samples were analyzed by the method shown below. the target peak was manually integrated and mean values of double injections were used to prepare graphs for assessment of the stability (see figs. 4 to 6 ). analytical lc/ms/elsd/uv method (chemodiversity-profiling, standard method) hplc systemmerck hitachidata systemhplc-manager d-7000 hsmcolumnmerck superspher 60 rp-select b 125 × 4 mm, 4 μmcolumn oven t23° c.flow rate1 ml/mindetectionuv(220 nm)injection volume50 μlmobile phase:a: 5 mm ammoniumformiate and 0.1% formic acidb: acetonitrile/methanol = 1:1, 5 mmammoniumformiate and 0.1% formic acid (ph 3)time [min]% a% bgradient0901015.0406018.0010018.1901021.59010 4.2 results and discussion fig. 4 shows that the compound of formula (ia) was stable during 8 weeks at 30° c. at ph=3.0. fig. 5 shows that the compound of formula (ia) was stable during 8 weeks at 30° c. at ph=4.5. fig. 6 shows that the compound of formula (ia) was stable during 8 weeks at 30° c. at ph=6.5. consequently, the results show that the compound of formula (ia) has an excellent temperature and ph stability. example 5 assessment of the solubility of the compound of formula (ia) the solubility properties of the compound of formula (ia) has been assessed at six selected basic conditions: 100 mm 100% water with buffer at ph 3.0 and 6.55 mm 100% water with buffer at ph 3.0 and 6.51 mm 100% water with buffer at ph 3.0 and 6.5 5.1 experimental set-up 5.1.1 sample preparation 20 μmol (8.96 mg) of the compound of formula (ia) were used for samples preparation. the samples were partitioned into two portions for each buffer system and placed into 1.6 ml glass vials. to each of the vials 100 μl of the respective buffer solution was added to prepare the 100 mm samples. all samples were thoroughly sonicated and vortexed to yield homogenous solutions or suspensions. the resulting set of samples consisted of compound of formula (ia) — 100 mm, buffer 3.0compound of formula (ia) — 100 mm, buffer 6.5 in a second step from each of the prior listed samples 7.5 μl were pipetted into 1.6 ml glass vials followed by addition of 142.5 μl of the respective buffer solution. the resulting set of samples consisted of: compound of formula (ia) — 5 mm, buffer 3.0compound of formula (ia) — 5 mm, buffer 6.5 in a third step, after sonication and vortexing to yield homogenous solutions or suspensions, 25 μl from each of the samples listed above were pipetted into 1.6 ml glass vials followed by addition of 100 μl of the respective buffer solution. the resulting set of samples consisted of: compound of formula (ia) — 1 mm, buffer 3.0compound of formula (ia) — 1 mm, buffer 6.5 5.1.2 determination of solubility after the preparation of all 6 samples, the entire set was sonicated and vortexed again. the resulting solubility was checked by two persons independently and summarized in table 1. afterwards the set of 6 samples was placed into a deep freezer and stored at −22° c. for 72 h. after that period, the samples were thawed, sonicated, and vortexed. the resulting solubility was checked by two persons independently and summarized in table 2. in a final step the set of 6 samples was placed into a dark box at 23° c. for 72 h. after that period, the samples were sonicated, and vortexed. the resulting solubility was checked by two persons independently and summarized in table 3. 5.2 results the results of the solubility study are shown in tables 1 to 3 below. table 1solubility directly after sample preparationsample of compound ofimmediatelyformula (ia)dissolved100 mm, buffer 6.5yes100 mm, buffer 3.0yes5 mm, buffer 6.5yes5 mm, buffer 3.0yes1 mm, buffer 6.5yes1 mm, buffer 3.0yes table 2solubility of samples after freezing for three days and thawingsample of compound ofdissolved afterformula (ia)freezing/thawing100 mm, buffer 6.5yes100 mm, buffer 3.0yes5 mm, buffer 6.5yes5 mm, buffer 3.0yes1 mm, buffer 6.5yes1 mm, buffer 3.0yes table 3solubility of samples after standing at room temperature for three daysdissolved aftersample of compound ofthree days at roomformula (ia)temperature100 mm, buffer 6.5yes100 mm, buffer 3.0yes5 mm, buffer 6.5yes5 mm, buffer 3.0yes1 mm, buffer 6.5yes1 mm, buffer 3.0yes the results of the solubility study are documented in three tables. three categories for the state of solution are in generally used: “yes”, “incomplete” and “no”. the category “yes” is only used in case of a clear flawless solution. the category “incomplete” is used in case of a visible strong reduction of undissolved matter. the category “no” was used for all other cases. the study showed a convincing solubility for the compound of formula (ia), which was immediately dissolved at all conditions. the following items are also subject-matter of the present invention: 1. a compound of formula (i), whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5,or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof,with the exception of 4-[5-(acetylhydroxyamino)pentylamino]-2-[2-[5-(acetylhydroxyamino)pentylamino]-2-oxoethyl]-2-hydroxy-4-oxobutyric acid (terregens factor, arthrobactin) and 3-[3-(acetylhydroxyamino)propylcarbamoyl]-2-[3-(acetylhydroxyamino)propylcarbamoylmethyl]-2-hydroxypropionic acid (schizokinen).2. the compound of item 1, wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 4 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 4 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the phenyl or naphthyl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5.3. the compound of item 1 or 2, wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl, orphenyl, wherein the phenyl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 4 -alkyl and c 1 -c 4 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or methyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 3 to 5.4. the compound of any one of items 1 to 3, wherein n and m are different.5. the compound of any one of items 1 to 4, wherein n is 5 and m is 3.6. the compound of any one of items 1 to 5, wherein r 1 and r 4 are identical.7. the compound of any one of items 1 to 6, wherein r 1 and r 4 are c 1 -c 4 -alkyl.8. the compound of any one of items 1 to 7, wherein r 2 and r 3 are identical.9. the compound of any one of items 1 to 8, wherein r 2 and r 3 are hydrogen.10. the compound of any one of items 1 to 9, wherein the compound of formula (i) is the compound of formula (ia) 11. a sweetener composition, comprising at least one sweetener; anda compound of formula (i), whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5,or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof.12. the sweetener composition of item 11, wherein 1 gram of the sweetener composition has a sweetness comparable to from one to three teaspoons of granulated sugar.13. the sweetener composition of item 11 or 12, wherein 1 gram of the sweetener composition contains less calories and carbohydrates than about 1 gram of granulated sugar.14. the sweetener composition of any one of items 11 to 13, wherein the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof has no off-taste, as determined by a tasting panel, wherein the off-taste is selected from the group consisting of metallic off-taste, acidic off-taste, astringent off taste, throat-burning off taste or liquorice off-taste.15. the sweetener composition of item 14, wherein the sweetener composition is substantially free of off-taste, as determined by a tasting panel, wherein the off-taste is selected from the group consisting of metallic off-taste, acidic off-taste, astringent off taste, throat-burning off taste or liquorice off-taste.16. the sweetener composition of any one of items 11 to 15, wherein the sweetener composition is a liquid at ambient conditions.17. the sweetener composition of any one of items 11 to 15, wherein the sweetener composition is a solid at ambient conditions.18. the sweetener composition of any one of items 11 to 17, wherein the sweetener composition comprises homogeneous particles comprising the sweetener and the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof.19. the sweetener composition of item 18, wherein the sweetener particles have an average particle size of between about 50 microns and about 1250 microns.20. the sweetener composition of any one of items 11 to 19, wherein the sweetener composition comprises a mixture of first particles comprising the sweetener and second particles comprising the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof.21. the sweetener composition of any one of items 11 to 201, comprising from 0.0005 wt % to 1.0 wt % of the compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or hydrate thereof, based on the total weight of the sweetener composition.22. the sweetener composition of any one of items 11 to 21, wherein the at least one sweetener is selected from the group consisting ofabiziasaponin, abrusosides, in particular abrusoside a, abrusoside b, abrusoside c, abrusoside d, acesulfame potassium, advantame, albiziasaponin, alitame, aspartame, superaspartame, bayunosides, in particular bayunoside 1, bayunoside 2, brazzein, bryoside, bryonoside, bryonodulcoside, carnosifloside, carrelame, curculin, cyanin, chlorogenic acid, cyclamates and its salts, cyclocaryoside i, dihydroquercetin-3-acetate, dihydroflavenol, dulcoside, gaudichaudioside, glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetin acid, gypenoside, hematoxylin, isomogrosides, in particular iso-mogroside v, lugduname, magap, mabinlins, micraculin, mogrosides (lo han guo), in particular mogroside iv and mogroside v, monatin and its derivatives, monellin, mukurozioside, naringin dihydrochalcone (nardhc), neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (ndhc), neotame, osladin, pentadin, periandrin i-v, perillartine, d-phenylalanine, phlomisosides, in particular phlomisoside 1, phlomisoside 2, phlomisoside 3, phlomisoside 4, phloridzin, phyllodulcin, polpodiosides, polypodoside a, pterocaryosides, rebaudiosides, in particular rebaudioside a, rebaudioside b, rebaudioside c, rebaudioside d, rebaudioside f, rebaudioside g, rebaudioside h), rubusosides, saccharin and its salts and derivatives, scandenoside, selligueanin a, siamenosides, in particular siamenoside i, stevia, steviolbioside, stevioside and other steviol glycosides, strogines, in particular strogin 1, strogin 2, strogin 4, suavioside a, suavioside b, suavioside g, suavioside h, suavioside i, suavioside j, sucralose, sucronate, sucrooctate, talin, telosmoside a 15 , thaumatin, in particular thaumatin i and ii, trans-anethol, trans-cinnamaldehyde, trilobtain, d-tryptophane, erythritol, galactitol, hydrogenated starch syrups including maltitol and sorbitol syrups, inositols, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, arabinose, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, fructooligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharide syrups, galactose, galactooligosaccharides, glucose, glucose and (hydrogenated) starch syrups/hydrolysates, isomaltulose, lactose, hydrolysed lactose, maltose, mannose, rhamnose, ribose, sucrose, tagatose, trehalose and xylose.23. the sweetener composition of item 22, wherein the sweetener is acesulfame potassium, sucrose or fructose.24. the sweetener composition of any one of items 11 to 23, wherein the sweetener composition comprises a first sweetener and a second sweetener.25. the sweetener composition of item 24, wherein the first sweetener is fructose.26. the sweetener composition of any one of items 11 to 25, wherein the at least one sweetener is an artificial sweetener.27. the sweetener composition of any one of items 11 to 25, wherein the sweetener is a natural sweetener.28. the sweetener composition according to any one of items 11 to 26, wherein the sweetener is acesulfame potassium or sucrose.29. the sweetener composition according to any one of items 1 to 28, wherein the sweetener composition comprises a pregelatinized starch.30. the sweetener composition of item 29, comprising from 80 wt % to 95 wt % of pregelatinized starch based on the total weight of the sweetener composition.31. the sweetener composition of item 29 or 30, wherein the sweetener is absorbed or adsorbed onto the pregelatinized starch.32. the sweetener composition of any one of items 29 to 31, wherein the sweetener composition comprises homogeneous particles comprising the sweetener and the pregelatinized starch.33. the sweetener composition of any one of items 29 to 32, wherein the pregelatinized starch has a specific surface less than or equal to 0.5 m 2 /g.34. the sweetener composition of any one of items 29 to 32, wherein the pregelatinized starch has a specific surface ranging from 0.05 m 2 /g to 0.5 m 2 /g35. the sweetener composition of any one of items 29 to 32, wherein the pregelatinized starch is non-granular.36. the sweetener composition of any one of items 29 to 32, wherein the pregelatinized starch is granular.37. the sweetener composition of any one of items 29 to 32, wherein the pregelatinized starch comprises particles and at least 50% of the pregelatinized starch particles have a particle size between 50 to 500 micrometers.38. a tabletop sweetener composition, comprising: (a) at least one sugar sweetener;(b) at least one sugar alcohol;(c) a compound of formula (i) whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5,or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof; and(d) cellulose.39. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 38, comprising: (a) a disaccharide carbohydrate and/or fructose;(b) erythritol;(c) the compound of the formula (i) as defined in item 38,(d) cellulose.40. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 38 or 39, wherein the disaccharide carbohydrate is selected from the group consisting of isomaltulose, lactose, maltose, sucrose, and trehalose41. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 38 or 39, wherein the tabletop sweetener composition comprises from about 40% by weight to about 70% by weight erythritol.42. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 38 or 39, wherein the tabletop sweetener composition comprises from about 27% by weight to about 50% by weight disaccharide.43. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 38 or 39, wherein the tabletop sweetener composition comprises from about 0.5% by weight to about 7.0% by weight of a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof.44. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 38 or 39, wherein the tabletop sweetener composition comprises from about 0.4% by weight to about 3.0% by weight cellulose.45. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 38 or 39 further comprising a sweetness modifier.46. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 38 or 39 further comprising a mouthfeel enhancer.47. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 38 or 39 further comprising a flavoring.48. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 38 or 39, in the form of tabletop sweetener particles.49. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 48, wherein the tabletop sweetener particles have an average particle size of between about 50 microns and about 1250 microns.50. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 28, wherein the tabletop sweetener composition has less than about 5 calories per gram.51. a tabletop sweetener composition, comprising: (a) a plurality of first sweetener particles, wherein the first sweetener particles have (i) a sugar alcohol core, (ii) a first sugar alcohol core-coating layer comprising a compound of the general formula (i), whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5,or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, and (iii) a second sugar alcohol core-coating layer comprising a sugar sweetener where the second sugar alcohol core-coating layer is disposed over the first sugar alcohol core-coating layer; and(b) a plurality of second sweetener particles, where the second sweetener particle has (i) a sugar sweetener core, (ii) a first sugar sweetener core-coating layer comprising the compound of formula (i) as defined above or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and cellulose, and (iii) a second sugar sweetener core-coating layer comprising a disaccharide, where the second sugar sweetener core-coating layer is to disposed over the first disaccharide core-coating layer.52. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 51, comprising: (a) a plurality of first sweetener particles, wherein the first sweetener particles have (i) an erythritol core, (ii) a first erythritol core-coating layer comprising the compound of formula (i) as defined in item 51, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, and (iii) a second erythritol core-coating layer comprising a disaccharide carbohydrate, where the second erythritol core-coating layer lies outside of the first erythritol core-coating layer; and(b) a plurality of second sweetener particles, where the second sweetener particle has (i) a disaccharide core, (ii) a first disaccharide core-coating layer comprising a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof and cellulose, and (iii) a second disaccharide core-coating layer comprising a disaccharide carbohydrate, where the second disaccharide core-coating layer lies outside of the first disaccharide core-coating layer.53. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 51 or 52, wherein the disaccharide core comprises isomaltulose.54. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 51 or 52, wherein the second erythritol core-coating layer comprises isomaltulose.55. a tabletop sweetener composition of item 51 or 52, wherein the second disaccharide core-coating layer comprises isomaltulose.56. a tabletop sweetener composition of item 51 or 52, wherein the first erythritol core-coating layer and the first disaccharide core-coating layer further comprise a flavoring.57. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 51 or 52, wherein the first erythritol core-coating layer and the first disaccharide core-coating layer further comprise a mouthfeel enhancer.58. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 51 or 52, wherein the first erythritol core-coating layer and the first disaccharide core-coating layer further comprise a sweetness modifier.59. the tabletop sweetener composition of item 51 or 52, wherein the plurality of first sweetener particles and the plurality of second sweetener particles have an average particle size between about 50 microns and about 1250 microns.60. a method of providing a sweetened consumable comprising the step of admixing with a consumable product a tabletop sweetener composition comprising: (i) at least one sugar sweetener;(ii) at least one sugar alcohol or polyol;(iii) a compound of the general formula (i), whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5,or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof; and(iv) cellulose.61. the method of providing a sweetened consumable of item 60 comprising the step of admixing with a consumable product a tabletop sweetener composition comprising: (i) a disaccharide carbohydrate and/or fructose;(ii) erythritol;(iii) the compound of formula (i) as defined in item 60, or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof; and(iv) cellulose.62. a method of enhancing the taste sensations associated with flavor ingredients, comprising the step of admixing a compound of formula (i) whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5,or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof with one or more flavor ingredients to provide a flavor-enhanced composition or consumable product63. the method of item 62, wherein the flavor ingredient is a sweetener.64. the method of item 63, wherein the sweetener is selected from the group consisting of abiziasaponin, abrusosides, in particular abrusoside a, abrusoside b, abrusoside c, abrusoside d, acesulfame potassium, advantame, albiziasaponin, alitame, aspartame, superaspartame, bayunosides, in particular bayunoside 1, bayunoside 2, brazzein, bryoside, bryonoside, bryonodulcoside, carnosifloside, carrelame, curculin, cyanin, chlorogenic acid, cyclamates and its salts, cyclocaryoside i, dihydroquercetin-3-acetate, dihydroflavenol, dulcoside, gaudichaudioside, glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetin acid, gypenoside, hematoxylin, isomogrosides, in particular iso-mogroside v, lugduname, magap, mabinlins, micraculin, mogrosides (lo han guo), in particular mogroside iv and mogroside v, monatin and its derivatives, monellin, mukurozioside, naringin dihydrochalcone (nardhc), neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (ndhc), neotame, osladin, pentadin, periandrin i-v, perillartine, d-phenylalanine, phlomisosides, in particular phlomisoside 1, phlomisoside 2, phlomisoside 3, phlomisoside 4, phloridzin, phyllodulcin, polpodiosides, polypodoside a, pterocaryosides, rebaudiosides, in particular rebaudioside a, rebaudioside b, rebaudioside c, rebaudioside d, rebaudioside f, rebaudioside g, rebaudioside h), rubusosides, saccharin and its salts and derivatives, scandenoside, selligueanin a, siamenosides, in particular siamenoside i, stevia, steviolbioside, stevioside and other steviol glycosides, strogines, in particular strogin 1, strogin 2, strogin 4, suavioside a, suavioside b, suavioside g, suavioside h, suavioside i, suavioside j, sucralose, sucronate, sucrooctate, talin, telosmoside a 15 , thaumatin, in particular thaumatin i and ii, trans-anethol, trans-cinnamaldehyde, trilobtain, d-tryptophane, erythritol, galactitol, hydrogenated starch syrups including maltitol and sorbitol syrups, inositols, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, arabinose, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, fructooligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharide syrups, galactose, galactooligosaccharides, glucose, glucose and (hydrogenated) starch syrups/hydrolysates, isomaltulose, lactose, hydrolysed lactose, maltose, mannose, rhamnose, ribose, sucrose, tagatose, trehalose and xylose.65. a process for enhancing the sweetness of a sweetener composition comprising a sweetener, comprising the step of: (a) adding to the sweetener a compound of the general formula (i), whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5,or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof to form an enhanced sweetener composition.66. the process of item 65, wherein the adding comprises adding to the sweetener a compound of formula (i) in an amount effective to increase the sweetness of the sweetener composition to an increased sweetness level.67. a consumable product composition, comprising: a consumable product;a sweetener; anda compound of formula (i), whereinr 1 and r 4 are identical or different and are c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 8 -alkenyl, c 2 -c 8 -alkynyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkyl, c 3 -c 8 -cycloalkenyl, wherein each of the above mentioned radicals is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of halogen or hydroxyl,aryl, preferably phenyl or naphthyl, wherein the aryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, orheteroaryl, wherein the heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, nitro, halogen, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkyl, halogen-c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and c 1 -c 8 -alkoxy,r 2 and r 3 are identical or different and are hydrogen or c 1 -c 8 -alkyl and,n and m are identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5,or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, present in an amount effective to increase a sweetness level of the composition.68. the consumable product composition of item 67, wherein a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof is present in the consumable product composition in a concentration from 0.1 wppm to 100 wppm.69. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is a water-based consumable product selected from the group consisting of beverages, water, aqueous beverages, enhanced/slightly sweetened water drinks, flavored carbonated and still mineral and table waters, carbonated beverages, non-carbonated beverages, carbonated waters, still waters, soft drinks, non-alcoholic drinks, alcoholic drinks, beer, wine, liquor, fruit drinks, juices, fruit juices, vegetable juices, broth drinks, coffees, teas, black teas, green teas, oolong teas, herbal infusions, cacoa, tea-based drinks, coffee-based drinks, cacao-based drinks, infusions, syrups, frozen fruits, frozen fruit juices, water-based ices, fruit ices, sorbets, dressings, salad dressings, jams, marmalades, canned fruit, savoury, delicatessen products like delicatessen salads, sauces, ketchup, mustard, pickles and marinated fish, sauces, soups, beverage botanical materials, sauces, soups, beverage botanical materials, and instant powders for reconstitution.70. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is a solid dry consumable product selected from the group consisting of cereals, baked food products, biscuits, breads, breakfast cereals, cereal bars, energy bars/nutritional bars, granolas, cakes, rice cakes, cookies, crackers, donuts, muffins, pastries, confection, chewing gums, chocolate products, chocolates, fondants, hard candies, marshmallows, pressed tablets, snack foods, botanical materials, and instant powders for reconstitution.71. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is a dairy product, dairy-derived product and/or dairy-alternative product selected from the group consisting of milk, fluid milk, cultured milk product, cultured and noncultured dairy-based drink, cultured milk product cultured with lactobacillus, yoghurt, yoghurt-based beverage, smoothie, lassi, milk shake, acidified milk, acidified milk beverage, butter milk, kefir, milk-based beverages, milk/juice blend, fermented milk beverage, icecream, dessert, sour cream, dip, salad dressing, cottage cheese, frozen yoghurt, soy milk, rice milk, soy drink, and rice milk drink.72. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is a carbonated drink.73. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is a non-carbonated drink.74. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is a cereal.75. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is a yoghurt.76. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is a chewing-gum.77. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is a dental product selected from the group consisting of toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash, denture adhesive, enamel whitener, fluoride treatments and oral care gels.78. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is a toothpaste.79. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is a cosmetic product selected from the group consisting of lipstick, lip balm, lip gloss, and petroleum jelly.80. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is a pharmaceutical product selected from the group consisting of over-the-counter and prescription drugs, non-tobacco snuff, tobacco substitutes, chewable medications, cough syrups, throat sprays, throat lozenges, cough drops, antibacterial products, pill coatings, gel caplets, soluble fiber preparations, antacids, tablet cores, rapidly absorbed liquid compositions, stable foam compositions, rapidly disintegrating pharmaceutical dosage forms, beverage concentrates for medicinal purposes, aqueous pharmaceutical suspensions, liquid concentrate compositions, and stabilized sorbic acid solutions, phosphate buffers, saline solutions, emulsion, non-aqueous pharmaceutical solvents, aqueous pharmaceutical carriers, solid pharmaceutical carrier, and pharmaceutical preservatives/additives (antimicrobials, antioxidants, chelating agents, inert gases, flavoring agents, coloring agents).81. the consumable product composition of item 67 or 68, wherein the consumable product is an animal feed or animal food.82. the consumable product composition of any one of items 67 to 81, wherein the consumable product is an emulsion product comprising a sweetener, a compound of formula (i) or a stereoisomer or a salt or a hydrate thereof, a pregelatinized starch, and a carrier.83. the consumable product composition of item 82, wherein the carrier comprises menthol.
050-080-027-807-91X	JP	[ "US" ]	F27B17/00,H01L21/67,F27D9/00,F27B5/16	2017-09-12T00:00:00	2017	[ "F27", "H01" ]	cooling unit, heat insulating structure, and substrate processing apparatus	there is provided a cooling unit, comprising: an intake pipe provided for each of a plurality of zones and configured to supply a gas for cooling a reaction tube; a control valve provided in the intake pipe and configured to adjust a flow rate of the gas; a buffer part configured to temporarily store the gas supplied from the intake pipe; and openings provided so as to blow the gas stored in the buffer part toward the reaction tube, wherein the flow rate of the gas introduced into the intake pipe is set according to vertical length ratios of the zones such that the flow rate and a flow velocity of the gas injected from the openings toward the reaction tube are adjusted by opening and closing the control valve.	1 . a cooling unit, comprising: an intake pipe provided for each of a plurality of zones and configured to supply a gas for cooling a reaction tube; a control valve provided in the intake pipe and configured to adjust a flow rate of the gas; a buffer part configured to temporarily store the gas supplied from the intake pipe; and openings provided so as to blow the gas stored in the buffer part toward the reaction tube, wherein the flow rate of the gas introduced into the intake pipe is set according to vertical length ratios of the zones such that the flow rate and a flow velocity of the gas injected from the openings toward the reaction tube are adjusted by opening and closing the control valve. 2 . the cooling unit of claim 1 , wherein a diffusion prevention part configured to prevent reverse diffusion of an atmosphere from an inside of a furnace is provided in the intake pipe. 3 . the cooling unit of claim 1 , wherein a throttle part configured to suppress a flow rate of a cooling gas injected from the openings is provided in the intake pipe. 4 . the cooling unit of claim 1 , wherein a flow path cross-sectional area of the intake pipe provided for each zone and a flow path cross-sectional area of the buffer part provided for each zone are set to be larger than a sum of cross-sectional areas of the openings provided for each zone. 5 . the cooling unit of claim 1 , wherein the buffer part is provided with a partition part for each zone, and wherein the partition part is configured to determine a direction of the gas supplied from the intake pipe to the buffer part. 6 . a heat insulating structure, comprising: a side wall part formed in a cylindrical shape and having a multilayer structure; s configured to partition the side wall part into a plurality of regions in a vertical direction; buffer parts provided between first partition parts adjacent to each other in the side wall part; gas introduction paths provided in an outer layer disposed on an outer side among a plurality of layers of the side wall part for each of the regions and communicating with the buffer parts; gas supply flow paths provided in a inner layer disposed on an inner side among the plurality of layers of the side wall part for each of the regions and communicating with the buffer parts; a space provided inside the inner layer; and openings provided so as to blow a cooling gas from the gas supply flow paths to the space for each of the regions. 7 . the heat insulating structure of claim 6 , wherein a flow path cross-sectional area of the buffer part is set to be larger than a sum of flow path cross-sectional areas of the openings provided for each of the regions. 8 . the heat insulating structure of claim 6 , wherein the openings are provided so as to avoid positions opposed to introduction ports configured to bring the gas introduction paths and the buffer parts into communication with each other. 9 . the heat insulating structure of claim 6 , wherein the buffer parts are provided with second partition parts provided for each of the regions, and the second partition parts are configured to determine a direction of a gas flowing through the buffer parts. 10 . a substrate processing apparatus, comprising: an intake pipe provided for each of a plurality of zones and configured to supply a gas for cooling a reaction tube; a control valve provided in the intake pipe and configured to adjust a flow rate of the gas; openings provided in each of the zones and configured to inject the gas toward the reaction tube; a buffer part communicating with the intake pipe in each of the zones and configured to temporarily store the gas supplied from the intake pipe; and a cooling unit configured to set the flow rate of the gas introduced into the intake pipe according to vertical length ratios of the zones such that the flow rate and a flow velocity of the gas injected from the openings toward the reaction tube are adjusted by opening and closing the control valve. 11 . the apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising: a heating device having a plurality of control zones in a vertical direction, wherein first partition parts are arranged so that the number of control zones and the number of the plurality of zones coincide with each other. 12 . the apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of zones are formed between the first partition parts arranged on upper and lower sides, and the first partition part on the upper side is shifted downward so that height of the plurality of zones is lower than height of the control zones in an upper one of the plurality of zones facing an upper one of the control zones. 13 . the apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the buffer part is provided with second partition parts provided for each of the zones, and wherein the second partition parts are configured to determine a direction of the gas flowing through the buffer part.	cross-reference to related application this application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from japanese patent application no. 2017-174738, filed on sep. 12, 2017, and japanese patent application no. 2018-138160, filed on jul. 24, 2018, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. technical field the present disclosure relates to a cooling unit, a heat insulating structure and a substrate processing apparatus. background a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is known as an example of a substrate processing apparatus, and a vertical type apparatus is known as an example of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. in the vertical type apparatus, a boat as a substrate holding part for holding a plurality of substrates (hereinafter also referred to as “wafers”) in multiple stages is loaded into a process chamber in a reaction tube while holding the substrates, and the substrates are processed at a predetermined temperature while the temperature of the substrates is controlled in a plurality of zones. in the conventional heater temperature control, a heater is turned off at the time of lowering the temperature. however, in recent years, a cooling gas is supplied from a cooling mechanism to actively improve the temperature lowering characteristic after substrate processing. in the related art, there is known a technique of changing a flow of a cooling gas at the time of film formation, temperature lowering, and temperature recovery by opening and closing an opening/closing valve. further, in the related art, there is known a technique of setting the temperature lowering speed of each portion of a heater by changing the number and arrangement of blowing holes. however, in the control of the flow rate of the cooling gas using the cooling unit configuration described above, the reaction tube cannot be uniformly cooled during the rapid cooling. therefore, there is a problem that a change in a speed of lowering the temperature is different for each zone, and a difference occurs in the temperature history between zones. summary the present disclosure provides some embodiments of a configuration capable of improving a responsiveness of heating control and cooling control between zones. according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a configuration, including: an intake pipe provided for each of a plurality of zones and configured to supply a gas for cooling a reaction tube; a control valve provided in the intake pipe and configured to adjust a flow rate of the gas; a buffer part configured to temporarily store the gas supplied from the intake pipe; and an opening provided so as to blow the gas stored in the buffer part toward the reaction tube, wherein the flow rate of the gas introduced into the intake pipe is set according to vertical length ratios of the zones such that the flow rate and a flow velocity of the gas injected from the opening toward the reaction tube are adjusted by opening and closing the control valve. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing a substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 2 is a front sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a temperature-related process in a film-forming process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 4 is a view showing a temperature change in a furnace in the flowchart shown in fig. 3 . fig. 5 is a view showing main components of the substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 6 is an enlarged view of some of the main components shown in fig. 5 . fig. 7 is a developed view of a heat insulating structure in the substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 8 is a view showing a flow velocity of a cooling unit in the substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 9 is a view showing flow rates in zones of a cooling unit in the substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 10 is a view showing a cooling zone division and a heating influence range in the substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 11 is a view showing a soaking length distribution in the substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 12 is a view showing a hardware configuration of a control computer in the substrate processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. detailed description one embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. in the present embodiment, as shown in figs. 1 and 2 , the substrate processing apparatus 10 according to the present disclosure is configured as a processing apparatus 10 that performs a film-forming process in a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. the substrate processing apparatus 10 shown in fig. 1 includes a process tube 11 as a supported vertical reaction tube, and the process tube 11 includes an outer tube 12 and an inner tube 13 arranged concentrically with each other. the outer tube 12 is made of quartz (sio 2 ) and is integrally molded into a cylindrical shape with its upper end closed and its lower end opened. the inner tube 13 is formed into a cylindrical shape with its upper and lower ends opened. a cylindrical hollow portion of the inner tube 13 forms a process chamber 14 into which a boat to be described later is loaded, and the lower end opening of the inner tube 13 forms a furnace opening 15 through which a boat is loaded and unloaded. as will be described later, a boat 31 is configured to hold a plurality of wafers aligned vertically. therefore, an inner diameter of the inner tube 13 is set to be larger than a maximum outer diameter (e.g., 300 mm) of a wafer 1 to be handled. the lower end portion between the outer tube 12 and the inner tube 13 is air-tightly sealed by a manifold 16 constructed in a substantially cylindrical shape. for replacement or the like of the outer tube 12 and the inner tube 13 , the manifold 16 is detachably attached to the outer tube 12 and the inner tube 13 , respectively. by supporting the manifold 16 on a housing 2 of a cvd apparatus, the process tube 11 is vertically installed. hereinafter, only the outer tube 12 may be shown as the process tube 11 in the drawings. an exhaust path 17 is formed by a gap between the outer tube 12 and the inner tube 13 so that a cross section thereof has a circular ring with a constant width. as shown in fig. 1 , one end of an exhaust pipe 18 is connected to the upper portion of the side wall of the manifold 16 , and the exhaust pipe 18 is in communication with the lowermost end portion of the exhaust path 17 . an exhaust device 19 controlled by a pressure controller 21 is connected to the other end of the exhaust pipe 18 , and a pressure sensor 20 is connected to an intermediate portion of the exhaust pipe 18 . the pressure controller 21 is configured to feedback-control the exhaust device 19 based on a measurement result from the pressure sensor 20 . a gas introduction pipe 22 is disposed below the manifold 16 so as to communicate with a furnace port 15 of the inner tube 13 , and a gas supply device 23 for supplying a precursor gas and an inert gas is connected to the gas introduction pipe 22 . the gas supply device 23 is configured to be controlled by a gas flow rate controller 24 . the gas introduced into the furnace port 15 from the gas introduction pipe 22 flows through the process chamber 14 of the inner tube 13 and passes through the exhaust path 17 . the gas is exhausted by the exhaust pipe 18 . a seal cap 25 which closes the lower end opening of the manifold 16 is configured to make contact with the manifold 16 from the lower side in the vertical direction. the seal cap 25 is formed in a disk shape so as to have a diameter substantially equal to an outer diameter of the manifold 16 and is configured to be raised and lowered in the vertical direction by a boat elevator 26 installed in a standby chamber 3 of the housing 2 . the boat elevator 26 includes a motor-driven feed screw shaft device, a bellows and the like. a motor 27 of the boat elevator 26 is configured to be controlled by a drive controller 28 . a rotary shaft 30 is arranged on a center line of the seal cap 25 and is supported in a rotatable manner. the rotary shaft 30 is configured to be rotationally driven by a rotation mechanism 29 as a motor controlled by the drive controller 28 . a boat 31 is vertically supported at an upper end of the rotary shaft 30 . the boat 31 includes a pair of end plates 32 and 33 at the top and bottom thereof and three holding members 34 vertically provided between the end plates 32 and 33 . a larger number of holding grooves 35 are formed in the three holding members 34 at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction. the holding grooves 35 , 35 and 35 formed at the same stage in the three holding members 34 are opened so as to face each other. as the wafer 1 is inserted between the holding grooves 35 of the same stage of the three holding members 34 , the boat 31 is configured to horizontally hold a plurality of wafers 1 with their centers aligned with each other. a heat insulating cap part 36 is disposed between the boat 31 and the rotary shaft 30 . the rotary shaft 30 is configured to support the boat 31 in a lifted state from the upper surface of the seal cap 25 so that the lower end of the boat 31 is spaced apart from the position of the furnace port 15 by an appropriate distance. the heat insulating cap part 36 is configured to insulate the vicinity of the furnace port 15 . at the outside of the process tube 11 , a heater unit 40 as a heating device is arranged concentrically and is installed in a state in which the heater unit 40 is supported by the housing 2 . the heating device 40 is provided with a case 41 . the case 41 is made of stainless steel (sus) and is formed in a tubular shape, or a cylindrical shape in some embodiments, with its lower end opened and its upper end closed. an inner diameter and an overall length of the case 41 are set larger than an outer diameter and an overall length of the outer tube 12 . in the present embodiment, the heating device 40 is divided into seven control zones u 1 , u 2 , cu, c, cl, l 1 and l 2 as a plurality of heating zones (heating control zones) from the upper end side to the lower end side. inside the case 41 , there is installed a heat insulating structure 42 which is an embodiment of the present disclosure. the heat insulating structure 42 according to the present embodiment is formed in a tubular shape, or a cylindrical shape in some embodiments, and a side wall part 43 of the cylindrical body is formed in a multilayer structure. that is, the heat insulating structure 42 includes a side wall outer layer 45 disposed on the outer side of the side wall part 43 and a side wall inner layer 44 disposed on the inner side of the side wall part 43 . between the side wall outer layer 45 and the side wall inner layer 44 , there are provided partition parts 105 for separating the side wall part 43 into a plurality of zones (regions) in the vertical direction, and circular buffers 106 as buffer parts installed between the partition parts 105 . furthermore, the buffer parts 106 are configured to be divided into a plurality of portions by partition parts 106 a as slits depending on the length thereof. that is, there are provided the partition parts 106 a for dividing the buffer parts 106 into a plurality of portions depending on the length of a zone. in the present specification, the partition parts 105 are also referred to as first partition parts 105 , and the partition parts 106 a are also referred to as second partition parts 106 a. furthermore, the partition parts 105 may also be referred to as isolation parts for separating a plurality of cooling zones. the control zones cu, c, cl, l 1 and l 2 and the buffer parts 106 are provided so as to face each other. the height of the respective control zones and the height of the buffer parts 106 are substantially the same. on the other hand, the height of the control zones u 1 and u 2 disposed on the upper side and the height of the buffer parts 106 opposed to these control zones are different from each other. specifically, the height of the buffer parts 106 opposed to the control zones u 1 and u 2 is set to be lower than the height of the respective zones. therefore, it is possible to efficiently supply a cooling air 90 to the respective control zones. as a result, the cooling air 90 supplied to the control zones u 1 and u 2 can be made equal to the cooling air 90 supplied to other control zones. temperature control as in the control zones cu, c, cl, l 1 and l 2 can also be performed in the control zones u 1 and u 2 . in particular, since the height of the buffer part 106 facing the control zone u 1 for heating an internal space 75 on the side of an exhaust duct 82 is set smaller than ½ of the height of each zone, it is possible to efficiently supply the cooling air 90 to the control zone u 1 . thus, even in the control zone u 1 nearest to the exhaust side, it is possible to perform the same temperature control as in other control zones. further, the partition part 105 arranged in the highest portion is located at a position higher than the substrate processing region of the boat 31 and lower than the height of the process tube 11 (at a position substantially the same as the height of the inner tube 13 ). the partition part 105 arranged in the second highest portion is located at substantially the same height position as the wafer 1 mounted on the upper end portion of the boat 31 . therefore, it is possible to efficiently supply the cooling air 90 to the exhaust side of the process tube 11 (the portion where the wafer 1 is not mounted) and to cool the exhaust side of the process tube 11 just like the process tube 11 corresponding to the substrate processing region of the boat 31 . as a result, it is possible to uniformly cool the entire process tube 11 . in each zone, there is provided a check damper 104 as a reverse diffusion prevention part. the cooling air 90 is supplied to the buffer parts 106 via the gas introduction path 107 by opening and closing a reverse diffusion prevention body 104 a. then, the cooling air 90 supplied to the buffer parts 106 flows through a gas supply flow path 108 (not shown in fig. 2 ) provided in the side wall inner layer 44 . the cooling air 90 is supplied to the internal space 75 from opening holes 110 as openings which are parts of a supply path including the gas supply flow path 108 . when the cooling air 90 is not supplied from a gas source (not shown), the reverse diffusion prevention body 104 a serves as a lid so that the atmosphere in the internal space 75 does not flow backward. the opening pressure of the reverse diffusion preventing body 104 a may be changed depending on the zone. a heat insulating cloth 111 as a blanket is provided between the outer peripheral surface of the side wall outer layer 45 and the inner peripheral surface of the case 41 so as to absorb the thermal expansion of a metal. then, the cooling air 90 supplied to the buffer parts 106 flows through the gas supply flow path 108 (not shown in fig. 2 ) provided in the side wall inner layer 44 so that the cooling air 90 is supplied from the opening holes 110 to the internal space 75 . as shown in figs. 1 and 2 , a ceiling wall part 80 as a ceiling portion is covered on the upper end side of the side wall part 43 of the heat insulating structure 42 so as to close the internal space 75 . an exhaust port 81 as a part of an exhaust path for exhausting the atmosphere in the internal space 75 is annularly formed in the ceiling wall part 80 . the lower end, which is an upstream side end of the exhaust port 81 , communicates with the internal space 75 . the downstream end of the exhaust port 81 is connected to the exhaust duct 82 . next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 10 will be described. as shown in fig. 1 , when a predetermined number of wafers 1 are charged to the boat 31 , the boat 31 holding the group of wafers 1 is loaded into the process chamber 14 of the inner tube 13 (boat loading) as the seal cap 25 is raised by the boat elevator 26 . the seal cap 25 having reached the upper limit is pressed against the manifold 16 and is, therefore, brought into a state in which the seal cap 25 seals the inside of the process tube 11 . the boat 31 is retained in the process chamber 14 while being supported by the seal cap 25 . subsequently, the interior of the process tube 11 is evacuated by the exhaust pipe 18 . in addition, as a temperature controller 64 performs sequence control, the interior of the process tube 11 is heated to a target temperature by a side wall heating element 56 . an error between the actual raised temperature inside the process tube 11 and the target temperature for sequence control of the temperature controller 64 is corrected by feedback control based on the measurement result of a thermocouple 65 . further, the boat 31 is rotated by the motor 29 . when the internal pressure and the temperature of the process tube 11 and the rotation of the boat 31 come into a constant stable state as a whole, a precursor gas is introduced into the process chamber 14 of the process tube 11 from the gas introduction pipe 22 by the gas supply device 23 . the precursor gas introduced by the gas introduction pipe 22 flows through the process chamber 14 of the inner tube 13 and passes through the exhaust path 17 . the precursor gas is exhausted by the exhaust pipe 18 . when the precursor gas flows through the process chamber 14 , a predetermined film is formed on the wafer 1 by a thermal cvd reaction caused by the contact of the precursor gas with the wafer 1 heated to a predetermined processing temperature. when a predetermined processing time elapses, the introduction of the processing gas is stopped. thereafter, a purge gas such as a nitrogen gas or the like is introduced into the process tube 11 from the gas introduction pipe 22 . at the same time, the cooling air 90 as a cooling gas is supplied from an intake pipe 101 to the gas introduction path 107 via the reverse diffusion prevention body 104 a. the supplied cooling air 90 is temporarily stored in the buffer parts 106 and is blown out from the opening holes 110 to the internal space 75 via the gas supply flow path 108 . the cooling air 90 blown out from the opening holes 110 into the inner space 75 is exhausted by the exhaust port 81 and the exhaust duct 82 . since the entire heater unit 40 is forcibly cooled by the flow of the cooling air 90 , the heat insulating structure 42 is quickly cooled together with the process tube 11 . inasmuch as the internal space 75 is isolated from the process chamber 14 , the cooling air 90 can be used as a cooling gas. however, an inert gas such as nitrogen gas or the like may be used as a cooling gas in order to further enhance the cooling effect and to prevent corrosion of the side wall heating element 56 under a high temperature due to impurities present in the air. when the temperature of the process chamber 14 drops to a predetermined temperature, the boat 31 supported by the seal cap 25 is lowered by the boat elevator 26 and is unloaded from the process chamber 14 (boat unloading). thereafter, as the above actions are repeated, the film-forming process on the wafer 1 is performed by the substrate processing apparatus 10 . as shown in fig. 12 , the control computer 200 serving as a controller includes a computer main body 203 including a cpu (central processing unit) 201 , a memory 202 and the like, a communication if (interface) 204 as a communication part, a memory device 205 as a memory part, and a display/input device 206 as an operation part. that is, the control computer 200 includes components of a typical computer. the cpu 201 constitutes the center of the operation part, executes a control program stored in the memory device 205 , and executes a recipe (e.g., a process recipe) recorded in the memory device 205 in response to an instruction from the operation part 206 . incidentally, it goes without saying that the process recipe includes the temperature control from step s 1 to step s 6 shown in fig. 3 and described later. in addition, a rom (read only memory), an eeprom (electrically erasable programmable read only memory), a flash memory, a hard disk or the like is used as a recording medium 207 that stores the operation program of the cpu 201 and the like. a ram (random access memory) functions as a work area of the cpu or the like. the communication if 204 is electrically connected to the pressure controller 21 , the gas flow rate controller 24 , the drive controller 28 and the temperature controller 64 (which may be collectively referred to as sub-controllers). the communication if 204 can exchange data on the operation of the respective components. in addition, the communication if 204 is also electrically connected to a valve control unit 300 to be described later, so that the communication if 204 can exchange data for controlling a multi-cooling unit. in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the control computer 200 has been described as an example. however, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. but may be realized using an ordinary computer system. for example, the above-described processing may be executed by installing a program in a general-purpose computer from a recording medium 207 such as a cd-rom or a usb storing a program for executing the above-described processing. furthermore, a communication if 204 including a communication line, a communication network, a communication system and the like may be used. in this case, for example, the program may be posted on a bulletin board of a communication network and may be provided via a network by superimposing the program on a carrier wave. by starting the program thus provided and executing the program just like other application programs under the control of an os (operating system), it is possible to perform the above-described processing. next, an example of the film-forming process performed by the substrate processing apparatus 10 will be described with reference to figs. 3 and 4 . symbols s 1 to s 6 shown in fig. 4 indicate that steps s 1 to s 6 of fig. 3 are performed. step s 1 is a process in which the temperature inside the furnace is stabilized at a relatively low temperature t 0 . in step s 1 , the substrates 1 are not yet inserted into the furnace. step s 2 is a process in which the substrates 1 held in the boat 31 are inserted into the furnace. since the temperature of the substrates 1 is lower than the temperature t 0 inside the furnace at this time, the temperature inside the furnace temporarily becomes lower than t 0 as a result of inserting the substrates 1 into the furnace. however, by the temperature control device 74 to be described later, the temperature inside the furnace is stabilized at the temperature t 0 again after a certain period of time. for example, when the temperature t 0 is a room temperature, this step may be omitted. this step is not an essential step. step s 3 is a process in which the temperature inside the furnace is raised by the heater unit 40 from the temperature t 0 to a target temperature t 1 for performing a film-forming process on the substrates 1 . step s 4 is a process in which the temperature inside the furnace is maintained and stabilized at the target temperature t 1 in order to perform a film-forming process on the substrates 1 . step s 5 is a process in which, after the film-forming process is completed, the temperature inside the furnace is gradually lowered from the temperature t 1 to a relatively low temperature t 0 again by the cooling unit 280 and the heater unit 40 which will be described later. furthermore, while turning off the heater unit 40 , the temperature inside the furnace may also be rapidly lowered from the processing temperature t 1 to the temperature t 0 by the cooling unit 280 . step s 6 is a process in which the substrates 1 subjected to the film-forming process are taken out from the inside of the furnace together with the boat 31 . when unprocessed substrates 1 to be subjected to a film-forming process are left, the processed substrates 1 on the boat 31 are replaced with the unprocessed substrates 1 , and the series of processes of steps s 1 to s 6 are repeated. in each of the processes of steps s 1 to s 6 , after obtaining a stable state in which the temperature inside the furnace is kept in a predetermined minute temperature range with respect to the target temperature and this state is continued for a predetermined time, the process flow proceeds to the next step. alternatively, in recent years, in order to increase the number of substrates 1 subjected to a film-forming process within a certain period of time, the process flow proceeds to the next step without obtaining the stable state in steps s 1 , s 2 , s 5 and s 6 . fig. 5 is an illustrative example for explaining a cooling unit (cooling device) 100 as a multi-cooling unit according to the present embodiment. the outer tube 12 and the inner tube 13 are omitted and are shown as one configuration with the process tube 11 . the configuration relating to the heating device 40 is omitted. as shown in fig. 5 , the cooling device 100 includes a heat insulating structure 42 having a plurality of cooling zones in the vertical direction, an intake pipe 101 configured to supply a cooling air 90 as a cooling gas for cooling the inside of the process tube 11 to each of the cooling zones, a control valve 102 as a conductance valve provided in the intake pipe 101 and configured to adjust the flow rate of the gas, and a check damper 104 provided in the intake pipe 101 and configured to prevent reverse diffusion of an atmosphere from the heat insulating structure 42 . in addition, the ceiling wall part 80 including the exhaust port 81 and the exhaust duct 82 for exhausting an atmosphere from the space 75 may be regarded as the component of the cooling device 100 . the cooling device 100 includes at least an intake pipe 101 configured to supply a cooling air 90 for cooling the process tube 11 to each of a plurality of cooling zones, a control valve 102 provided in the intake pipe 101 , a buffer part 106 communicating with the intake pipe 101 installed in each of the cooling zones and configured to temporarily store the gas supplied from the intake pipe 101 , and a plurality of opening holes 110 configured to inject the cooling air 90 stored in the buffer part 106 toward the process tube 11 via a gas supply flow path 108 provided in the side wall inner layer 44 . the cooling device 100 is configured to uniformly maintain the flow rate and the flow velocity of the cooling air 90 injected from each opening hole 110 in each cooling zone. the cross-sectional area (or the pipe diameter) of the intake pipe 101 in each of the cooling zones is determined according to the ratio of the lengths in the height direction of the respective cooling zones. as a result, the amount of injected air is made uniform between the respective cooling zones. in addition, the cross-sectional area of the intake pipe 101 is set larger than the total cross-sectional area of the opening holes 110 . similarly, the flow path cross-sectional area of the buffer part 106 is set larger than the total cross-sectional area of the opening holes 110 . in fig. 5 , the lengths of the cooling zones in the height direction are substantially the same. therefore, the intake pipe 101 , the control valve 102 and the check damper 104 having the same size are provided for each of the cooling zones. further, the opening holes 110 are provided at the same intervals in the circumferential direction and the vertical direction within each of the cooling zones. therefore, the cooling device 100 can uniformly blow the cooling air 90 stored in the buffer part 106 to the space 75 via the gas supply flow path 108 . in addition, by adjusting the flow rate of the cooling air 90 introduced into the intake pipe 101 according to the ratio of the lengths in the height direction of the respective cooling zones and by opening and closing the control valve 102 , it is possible to make uniform the flow rate and the flow velocity of the gas injected from the opening holes 110 to the process tube 11 . the process tube 11 facing the respective cooling zones from the substantially same height as the uppermost stage of a region where the product substrates mounted on the boat 31 are located to the lowermost stage of a region where the product substrates are located is uniformly cooled by the cooling air 90 . that is, the cooling device 100 can uniformly cool the cooling zones and the gaps between the cooling zones. since the atmosphere in the space 75 is exhausted from the upper exhaust port 81 , the check damper 104 is configured to communicate with the center of the buffer part 106 provided in each of the cooling zones so that the cooling air 90 can be efficiently stored in the buffer part 106 . the check damper 104 may be configured to communicate with the lower side of the buffer part 106 . the intake pipe 101 is also provided with a throttle part 103 as an orifice for suppressing the flow rate of the cooling air 90 injected from the opening holes 110 . however, the throttle part 103 may be provided for each of the cooling zones as necessary. for example, when the lengths in the height direction of the respective cooling zones are different and the flow rates of the cooling air 90 introduced into the respective cooling zones are different, the cooling air 90 introduced into the respective cooling zones is the same. however, the throttle part 103 is provided to suppress the cooling capacity of a predetermined cooling zone and is provided to adjust the flow rate and the flow velocity of the cooling air 90 . in addition, the valve control unit 300 is configured to adjust the opening degree of the control valve 102 based on the setting value from the controller 200 and based on the data from the temperature controller 64 and the thermocouple 65 . as a result, the cooling capacity of each of the cooling zones can be adjusted by the opening degree of the control valve 102 . it is therefore possible to reduce the difference between the apparatuses caused by the fluctuation of a customer's facility exhaust capability at the time of rapid cooling, the variation of individual parts, and the installation condition in the apparatus. the heat insulating structure 42 used for the heating device 40 having a plurality of control zones (u 1 , u 2 , cu, c, cl, l 1 and l 2 in the present embodiment) as heating regions includes: a side wall part 43 formed in a cylindrical shape and having a multilayer structure; partition parts 105 configured to partition the side wall part 43 into a plurality of cooling zones (u 1 , u 2 , cu, c, cl, l 1 and l 2 ) in a vertical direction; buffer parts 106 as annular buffers constituted by cylindrical spaces between a side wall inner layer 44 and a side wall outer layer 45 and spaces between the partition parts 105 adjacent to each other in the vertical direction; gas introduction paths 107 provided in a side wall outer layer 45 disposed on the outer side among a plurality of layers of the side wall part 43 for each cooling zone and communicating with the buffer parts 106 ; gas supply flow paths 108 provided in a side wall inner layer 44 disposed on the inner side among the plurality of layers of the side wall part 43 for each cooling zone and communicating with the buffer parts 106 ; a space 75 provided inside the side wall inner layer 44 ; and opening holes 110 provided at equal intervals in a circumferential direction and a vertical direction of the side wall inner layer 44 so as to blow a cooling air 90 from the gas supply flow paths 108 to the space 75 for each cooling zone. fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a connection state between the heat insulating structure 42 shown in fig. 5 and the check damper 104 . fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the cl zone shown in fig. 5 . the gas supply flow paths 108 and the opening holes 110 provided in the side wall inner layer 44 are omitted. the partition parts 105 are provided between the side wall outer layer 45 and the side wall inner layer 44 , and each of the buffer parts 106 is provided in the space between the partition parts 105 . the buffer part 106 is configured to be divided into an upper region and a lower region by the partition part 106 a. since there is provided the partition part 106 a, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of convection which may occur in the buffer part 106 . convection occurs in the heat insulating structure 42 , i.e., in the buffer part 106 due to the temperature difference between the side wall heating element 56 and the water cooling jacket (not shown). especially, when a rapid cooling function is not used, the temperature difference is about 1 degrees c. above and below the cooling zone. the partition part 106 b as a third partition part shown in fig. 6 divides an intake part 113 as an introduction port for allowing the gas introduction path 107 and the buffer part 106 to communicate with each other into two portions. details of the partition part 106 b and the intake part 113 will be described later. the check damper 104 is provided via the gas introduction path 107 . the material of the check damper 104 and the reverse diffusion prevention body 104 a is stainless steel. since the check damper 104 is connected to a heat insulating material used for the heater unit 40 , the check damper 104 is configured by taking thermal resistance into consideration. between the case 41 and the side wall outer layer 45 , there is provided a heat insulating cloth 111 for absorbing thermal expansion. as shown in fig. 6 , while keeping the reverse diffusion prevention body 104 a opened, the cooling air 90 is once stored in the buffer part 106 and is supplied to the space 75 via the gas supply flow path 108 (not shown). on the other hand, when the cooling air 90 is not used, the reverse diffusion prevention body 104 a is closed to prevent convection between the intake pipe 101 and the heat insulating structure 42 (not shown). furthermore, the opening holes 110 are provided so as to avoid the position facing the gas introduction path 107 . the cooling air 90 supplied from the gas introduction path 107 is not directly introduced from the opening holes 110 into the space via the buffer part 106 . the cooling air 90 supplied from the gas introduction path 107 is temporarily stored in the buffer part 106 . as a result, the cooling air 90 introduced into the gas introduction path 107 is temporarily stored in the buffer part 106 , and the gas supply pressures relating to the respective opening holes 110 are equal to each other. therefore, the cooling air 90 having the same flow rate and the same flow velocity is blown out from the respective opening holes 110 provided in the buffer part 106 . furthermore, the cross-sectional areas of the two intake parts 113 and the cross-sectional area of the buffer part 106 in each zone are set larger than the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the opening holes 110 . as a result, the cooling air 90 introduced by opening the reverse diffusion prevention body 104 a is supplied via the intake part 113 and is, therefore, easily stored in the buffer part 106 . thus, the cooling air 90 is supplied from the opening holes 110 at the same flow rate and the same flow velocity. fig. 7 is a developed view of the side wall inner layer 44 . as shown in fig. 7 , the side wall inner layer 44 is divided into a plurality of cooling zones (u 1 , u 2 , cu, c, cl, l 1 and l 2 ) by the partition parts 105 . the opening holes 110 are disposed at appropriate positions in the vertical direction (in the height direction) and the horizontal direction (circumferential direction). in each zone, the opening holes 110 are arranged at multiple stages in the vertical direction and are arranged in a plural number in the horizontal direction. specifically, the number of rows of the opening holes 110 provided in the buffer part 106 is determined depending on the vertical length of each zone. the opening holes 110 are provided substantially evenly in the circumferential direction in each row. each zone includes a plurality of areas (a, b, c, w, x) disposed in the circumferential direction. the opening holes 110 are arranged in a zigzag in the height direction within each area of a certain one zone. the opening holes 110 are substantially evenly arranged at equal intervals in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction within all zones. twelve opening holes 110 are arranged in the circumferential direction of each cooling zone (u 1 , u 2 , cu, c, cl, l 1 or l 2 ). two rows of opening holes 110 are provided in each of the u 1 zone, the u 2 zone and the l 2 zone in the height direction, and four rows of opening holes 110 are provided in each of the cu zone, the c zone, the cl zone and the l 1 zone in the height direction. therefore, 24 opening holes 110 are provided in each of the u 1 zone, the u 2 zone and the l 2 zone, and 48 opening holes 110 are provided in each of the cu zone, the c zone, the cl zone and the l 1 zone. thus, the flow rate ratio of the air introduced into the intake pipes 101 and supplied to the u 1 zone (u 2 or l 2 zone), the c zone and the remaining zones is determined into u 1 zone (u 2 or l 2 zone): c zone (cu, cl or l 1 zone)=1:2=24 opening holes 110 : 48 opening holes 110 . in addition, the opening holes 110 are provided so as to avoid the position where the intake part 113 provided at the boundary between the gas introduction path 107 and the buffer part 106 is provided. in other words, the opening holes 110 may be provided at any position not facing the intake part 113 . in addition, the opening holes 110 are disposed so that the cooling air 90 blown out from the opening holes 110 is blown out while avoiding the side wall heating element 56 . the thermocouple 65 is covered with a wind blocking block 112 so as to prevent the cooling air 90 blown out from the opening holes 110 from directly hitting the thermocouple 65 and so as not to be affected by the cooling air 90 . in fig. 7 , the opening holes 110 are different in size. however, fig. 7 is nothing more than a schematic diagram. the opening cross-sectional areas of the respective opening holes 110 are set to have substantially the same size. the control zones (u 1 , u 2 , cu, c, cl, l 1 and l 2 in the present embodiment) shown on the left side in fig. 7 and the cooling zones (u 1 , u 2 , cu, c, cl, l 1 and l 2 ) shown on the right side in fig. 7 are the same number and have the same flow path cross-sectional area up to the cu zone, the c zone, the cl zone, the l 1 zone, the l 2 zone. in other words, the cu zone, the c zone, the cl zone, the l 1 zone and l 2 zone are coincident with the regions surrounded by the upper and lower partition parts 105 . however, the flow path cross-sectional areas of the u 1 zone and the u 2 zone are larger in the control zones than in the cooling zones. as a result, the upper cooling zones (u 1 and u 2 zones) among the plurality of cooling zones are shorter in vertical length than the upper control zones (u 1 and u 2 zones) among the plurality of control zones. in other words, the cooling zones (u 1 zone and u 2 zone) coinciding with the regions surrounded by the upper and lower partition parts 105 are shifted downward from the control zones (u 1 zone and u 2 zone). details of the arrangement positions of the upper region (u 1 zone and u 2 zone) of the control zones and the upper region (u 1 zone and u 2 zone) of the cooling zones will be described later. in addition, the u 1 zone and the u 2 zone of the cooling zones have the same flow path cross-sectional area as the l 2 zone. as shown in fig. 7 , the flow path cross-sectional area of the u 1 zone, the u 2 zone and the l 2 zone is small, and the flow path cross-sectional area of the cooling zones (for example, the c zone) other than the u 1 zone, the u 2 zone and the l 2 zone is large. in the c zone, there is provided the partition part 106 a for dividing the buffer part 106 into an upper region and a lower region. the upper and lower regions thus divided are configured to have the same flow path cross-sectional area as that of, for example, the u 1 zone (u 2 zone and l 2 zone). similar to the c zone, each of the cu zone, the cl zone and the l 1 zone having a large flow path cross-sectional area is similarly divided into upper and lower regions by the partition part 106 a. as described above, the regions provided in all the cooling zones have substantially the same flow path cross-sectional area due to the partition part 106 a. therefore, by supplying the cooling air 90 to the intake pipe 101 in proportion to the length in the height direction of the cooling zones, it is possible to supply the cooling air 90 passed through the gas introduction path 107 from the intake part 113 to each buffer part 106 . further, as shown in fig. 7 , the intake part 113 , which is the introduction port of the cooling air 90 to the heat insulating structure 42 , has a rectangular shape. the intake part 113 is divided into two regions by the partition part 106 b, and the height of the two regions divided by the partition part 106 b is 114 mm. further, this height is substantially the same as the height of the buffer part 106 of the u 1 zone, the u 2 zone and the l 2 zone. therefore, by supplying the cooling air 90 to the intake pipe 101 in the u 1 zone, the u 2 zone and the l 2 zone, the direction of the gas supplied from the intake pipe 101 to the buffer part 106 is uniformly determined by the partition part 106 b provided in the buffer part 106 . therefore, it is possible to supply the cooling air 90 introduced from the intake part 113 into each buffer part 106 . in order to divide the intake section 113 into two portions, the partition part 106 b is provided in each cooling zone. particularly, in the u 1 zone, the u 2 zone and the l 2 zone, the flow direction of the cooling air 90 is determined in the circumferential direction by the partition part 106 b. as a result, by the partition part 106 b provided in the buffer part 106 , the gas passing through the gas introduction path 107 can be distributed efficiently in the circumferential direction inside the buffer part 106 . in order to enhance this effect, the intake pipe 101 may be connected by inclining it with respect to the intake part 113 . in this way, the opening holes 110 are arranged according to each cooling zone and the partition part 106 a and/or the partition part 106 b is provided in the buffer part 106 . therefore, by supplying the cooling air 90 to the intake pipe 101 in proportion to the length in the height direction of the cooling zone, it is possible to supply the cooling air 90 having the same flow rate and the same flow velocity from the opening holes 110 toward the process tube 11 in each cooling zone. furthermore, in between the respective cooling zones, it is possible to make adjustment so as to supply the cooling air 90 having the same flow rate and flow velocity from the opening holes 110 . thus, it is possible to efficiently cool the process tube 11 provided at the position facing the respective cooling zones. for example, the temperature deviation within the zones and between the zones can be reduced at the time of rapid cooling (for example, at the temperature lowering step s 5 described above). therefore, when the cooling air 90 having the determined flow rate is introduced into the intake pipe 101 of each cooling zone, the reverse diffusion prevention body 104 a is opened so that the introduced cooling air 90 is stored in the buffer part 106 via the intake part 113 . in particular, according to the present embodiment, by appropriately providing the partition parts 106 a and 106 b in the buffer part 106 according to the cooling zone and efficiently distributing the cooling air 90 into the buffer part 106 , it is possible to make uniform the supply pressures relating to the respective opening holes 110 . therefore, the cooling air 90 having the same flow rate and the same flow velocity in all the zones and between all the zones can be supplied from the opening holes 110 via the gas supply flow path 108 . this makes it possible to evenly cool the process tube 11 . the flow rate of the cooling air 90 may be a flow rate falling within a range that can be adjusted by the control valve 102 in some embodiments. this makes it possible to finely control the flow rate of the cooling air 90 introduced into each zone. therefore, in the present embodiment, the cooling air 90 having the same flow rate and flow velocity in all the zones and between all the zones can be supplied from the opening holes 110 via the gas supply flow path 108 . therefore, it is possible to evenly cool the process tube 11 . the flow rate of the cooling air 90 may be a flow rate falling within a range that can be adjusted by the control valve 102 in some embodiments. this makes it possible to finely control the flow rate of the cooling air 90 introduced into each zone. it goes without saying that the opening holes 110 are provided so as to avoid the position facing the gas introduction path 107 and are arranged so that the cooling air 90 blown out from the opening holes 110 can avoid the side wall heating element 56 . further, in the present embodiment, the partition part 105 is arranged so that the number of control zones and the number of cooling zones coincide with each other. thus, it is possible to perform continuous control of heating and cooling by making the number of control zones equal to the number of cooling zones. in particular, by devising the arrangement positions of the cooling zones u 1 and u 2 relative to the control zones u 1 and u 2 , it is possible to shorten the temperature recovery time at the time of temperature rise and fall. however, the present disclosure is not limited to this embodiment. the number of control zones and the number of cooling zones may be arbitrarily set. in the present embodiment, the height of the cooling zones u 1 and u 2 facing the control zones u 1 and u 2 is set to be smaller than the respective zone heights. this makes it possible to efficiently supply the cooling air 90 to each control zone. as a result, the cooling air 90 supplied to the control zones u 1 and u 2 can be made equal to the cooling air 90 supplied to other control zones. temperature control equivalent to that of the control zones cu, c, cl, l 1 and l 2 can also be performed even in the control zones u 1 and u 2 . as described above, in the present embodiment, by shifting downward the cooling zones u 1 and u 2 opposed to the control zones u 1 and u 2 which are close to the exhaust side and which are difficult to be efficiently supplied with the cooling air 90 , it is possible to maintain the same temperature control characteristics as in the internal space 75 (not shown) opposed to the control zones u 1 and u 2 and the internal space 75 (not shown) opposed to other control zones. it is also possible to improve responsiveness of heating and cooling control between the zones. example next, an example in which the cooling unit 100 according to the present embodiment is verified will be described with reference to figs. 8 to 12 . fig. 8 shows a table comparing the injected wind velocities (flow velocities) of the cooling air 90 injected from the respective opening holes 110 in the c zone shown in fig. 7 . the temperature is a room temperature. the table is the result of measuring the flow velocity in the opening holes 110 when the cooling air 90 is supplied to the intake pipe 101 of the c zone at a flow rate of 2.0 m 3 /min. as described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to make substantially uniform the injection velocities of the cooling air 90 injected from the respective opening holes 110 . as shown in fig. 7 , a indicates an uppermost region of the c zone, b indicates a second region from the top of the c zone, c indicates a third region from the top of the c zone, and d indicates a fourth (lowermost) region from the top of the c zone. fig. 9 shows the result of measuring the air volume in the gas introduction path 107 of the cooling unit according to the present embodiment. the air volume of each zone is proportional to the zone height. at this time, the air volume (average air volume) per one opening hole 110 is 0.04 to 0.05 m 3 /min. it is possible to make substantially uniform the injection velocities of the cooling air 90 injected from the respective opening holes 110 in all the zones. fig. 10 shows the result of checking the heating influence (temperature interference matrix data). more specifically, the set temperature (600 degrees c. in the example) is increased by about 5 degrees c. for each zone, and the results of checking the temperature influence range at that time are overlappingly indicated. for example, the waveform in the u 1 zone is denoted by u 1 +5 in fig. 10 . as shown in fig. 10 , the heating influence ranges of the u 1 zone and the u 2 zone are shifted downward from the respective heating zone dividing positions. in the present embodiment, the cooling zones u 1 and u 2 are arranged in conformity with the shift of the heating influence ranges of the u 1 zone and the u 2 zone. therefore, it is possible to supply the cooling air 90 to the process tube 11 facing the heating zones of the u 1 zone and the u 2 zone. further, the exhaust system of the cooling device 100 is installed on the upper side. therefore, particularly in the u 1 zone and the u 2 zone, the cooling influence range by the cooling device 100 tends to be shifted upward from the heating zone dividing position. thus, the cooling zones u 1 and u 2 are arranged at the positions shifted downward from the heating zones u 1 and u 2 . for example, in the plurality of cooling zones shown in fig. 7 , the cooling zone division is performed in consideration of the shift of the heating influence range and the cooling influence range described above, thereby improving the cooling effect by the cooling air 90 . further, as shown in fig. 2 , the cooling zones of the cooling device 100 are configured so that the opening holes 110 are provided at the position facing the region (the substrate processing region of the boat 31 ) in which various substrates including product substrates are present, and the opening holes 110 are provided at the position facing the upper side of the process tube 11 (the upper side of the substrate processing region of the boat 31 ). thus, it is possible to make uniform the flow rate and the flow velocity of the cooling air 90 supplied to the entire process tube 11 . as a result, it is possible to reduce the temperature deviation in the zones and between the zones. fig. 11 compares the temperature distributions in the respective zones when the temperature is stabilized at 600 degrees c. in the case of not using the cooling unit 100 . thus, according to the cooling unit 100 of the present embodiment, it is possible to improve the inter-wafer temperature uniformity. according to the present embodiment described above, the following effects may be achieved. (a) according to the present embodiment, the cooling unit includes: an intake pipe provided for each of a plurality of zones and configured to supply a gas for cooling a reaction tube; a control valve provided in the intake pipe and configured to adjust a flow rate of the gas; a buffer part configured to temporarily store the gas supplied from the intake pipe; and an opening provided so as to blow the gas stored in the buffer part toward the reaction tube, wherein the flow rate of the gas introduced into the intake pipe is set according to vertical length ratios of the zones so that the flow rate and the flow velocity of the gas injected from the opening toward the reaction tube are adjusted by opening and closing the control valve. therefore, it is possible to uniformly cool the reaction tube. (b) according to the present embodiment, a reverse diffusion prevention part for preventing reverse diffusion of an atmosphere from the inside of a furnace is provided in the intake pipe. therefore, reverse diffusion is prevented in case of not using a cooling gas. this makes it possible to suppress influence of heat of the heating device 40 . (c) according to the present embodiment, a flow path cross-sectional area of the intake pipe provided for each cooling zone and a flow path cross-sectional area of the buffer part provided for each cooling zone are set to be larger than the sum of cross-sectional areas of opening holes provided for each cooling zone. therefore, by adjusting the flow rate of the cooling gas supplied to the intake pipe provided in each cooling zone, the flow rate and the flow velocity of the cooling gas injected from each of the opening holes can be made uniform in the cooling zone. moreover, by making the gas supply pressure substantially uniform in the respective opening holes, it is possible to make uniform the gas supply pressure not only in the cooling zones but also between the cooling zones. this makes it possible to evenly cool the reaction tube. (d) according to the present embodiment, if a throttle part for throttling a flow rate is provided in the intake pipe, when it is necessary to reduce the flow rate due to the large diameter of the intake pipe, it is possible to throttle the flow rate of the cooling air supplied from the intake pipe. (e) according to the present embodiment, the heat insulating structure includes: a side wall part formed in a cylindrical shape and having a multilayer structure; partition parts configured to partition the side wall part into a plurality of regions in a vertical direction; buffer parts provided between the partition parts adjacent to each other in the side wall part; gas introduction paths provided in a side wall outer layer disposed on an outer side among a plurality of layers of the side wall part and communicating with the buffer parts; gas supply flow paths provided in a side wall inner layer disposed on an inner side among the plurality of layers of the side wall part and communicating with the buffer parts; and openings provided so as to blow a cooling gas from the gas supply flow paths to a space inside the side wall inner layer. therefore, by adjusting the flow rate of the cooling gas supplied to the intake pipe provided in each region, it is possible to make uniform the flow rate and the flow velocity of the cooling gas injected from the respective opening provided in the circumferential direction and the height direction in each region. (f) according to the present embodiment, the height of the cooling zones u 1 and u 2 is shifted to the lower side than the heating zones u 1 and u 2 . it is possible to uniformly supply the cooling gas not only to the reaction tube opposed to the substrate processing region of the boat 31 but also to the reaction tube of the upper region of the substrate processing region of the boat 31 . this makes it possible to equally apply the cooling gas not only in the cooling zones but also between the cooling zones and to evenly cool the entire reaction tube. thus, it is possible to improve the temperature controllability of the heating zones u 1 and u 2 . (g) according to the present embodiment, by shifting the height of the cooling zones u 1 and u 2 to the lower side than the heating zones u 1 and u 2 , it is possible to make uniform the flow rate and the flow velocity of the cooling gas supplied to the entire process tube 11 and to evenly cool the entire reaction tube. therefore, it is possible to improve the responsiveness of the heating and cooling control between the control zones. (h) further, according to the present embodiment, in order to make uniform the supply pressure relating to the respective opening holes in each cooling zone, the cooling gas is supplied from the opening holes at the same flow rate and the same flow velocity. the temperature control characteristics of each control zone are maintained. therefore, it is possible to improve the responsiveness of the heating and cooling control between the zones. as a result, the temperature recovery time of the substrate and the in-plane temperature uniformity of the substrate are improved, and the rapid heating capability is improved. in addition, the temperature deviation at the time of rapid cooling can be made substantially uniform in each zone. thus, the inter-substrate temperature uniformity is improved. the present disclosure may be applied not only to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus but also to an apparatus for processing a glass substrate such as an lcd device or the like. in addition, the present disclosure relates to a semiconductor manufacturing technique and, particularly, to a heat treatment technique for processing a substrate accommodated in a processing chamber and heated by a heating device. for example, the present disclosure may be applied to a substrate processing apparatus used for performing oxidation processing, diffusion processing, reflowing or annealing for carrier activation and flattening after ion implantation, film formation processing by thermal cvd reaction, and the like on a semiconductor wafer incorporating a semiconductor integrated circuit device (semiconductor device). according to the present disclosure in some embodiments, it is possible to improve a responsiveness of heating control and cooling control between zones. while certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosures. indeed, the novel methods and apparatuses described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosures. the accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosures.
050-248-568-200-228	US	[ "EP", "US", "WO" ]	C12Q1/6832,C12Q1/6837,C12Q1/6841	2020-06-10T00:00:00	2020	[ "C12" ]	methods for determining a location of an analyte in a biological sample	provided herein are methods of determining a location of a target analyte in a non-permeabilized biological sample that include the use of a blocking probe.	1 . a method for determining a location of a target nucleic acid in a biological sample, the method comprising: (a) disposing a non-permeabilized biological sample onto an array at a first area, wherein the array comprises a plurality of capture probes, wherein: the first area comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising (i) a spatial barcode and (ii) a capture domain; and a second area of the array comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising (i) a spatial barcode and (ii) a capture domain, and the second area is adjacent to the biological sample disposed on the array; (b) contacting the second area of the array with a solution comprising a blocking probe, wherein the blocking probe comprises a sequence that binds specifically to the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area of the array; (c) removing residual solution comprising the blocking probe from the second area of the array; (d) permeabilizing the biological sample, such that the capture domain of the capture probe of the first area of the array binds specifically to the target nucleic acid; and (e) determining (i) a sequence corresponding to the spatial barcode of the capture probe of the first area of the array, or a complement thereof, and (ii) all or a portion of a sequence corresponding to the target nucleic acid, or a complement thereof, and using the sequences of (i) and (ii) to determine the location of the target nucleic acid in the biological sample.	cross-reference to related applications pursuant to 35 u.s.c. § 119(e), this application is a continuation of international application pct/us2021/036557, with an international filing date of jun. 9, 2021, which claims priority to u.s. provisional patent application no. 63/037,458, filed on jun. 10, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. background cells within a tissue have differences in cell morphology and/or function due to varied analyte levels (e.g., gene and/or protein expression) within the different cells. the specific position of a cell within a tissue (e.g., the cell's position relative to neighboring cells or the cell's position relative to the tissue microenvironment) can affect, e.g., the cell's morphology, differentiation, fate, viability, proliferation, behavior, signaling, and cross-talk with other cells in the tissue. spatial heterogeneity has been previously studied using techniques that typically provide data for a handful of analytes in the context of intact tissue or a portion of a tissue (e.g., tissue section), or provide significant analyte data from individual, single cells, but fails to provide information regarding the position of the single cells from the originating biological sample (e.g., tissue). some techniques for studying spatial heterogeneity of a biological sample can cause analytes (e.g., nucleic acid) from the biological sample to diffuse to areas adjacent to the biological sample and be captured in such areas adjacent to the biological sample on the array. the result of capturing analytes on areas adjacent to the biological sample on the array (e.g., areas that do not correlate with the biological sample) can lead to wasted resources, such as unnecessary costs attributed to sequencing (e.g., next generation sequencing). thus, methods to improve the incidence of captured analytes on areas of the array adjacent to the biological sample, such as blocking probes (e.g., a blocking probe to the capture domain of a capture probe), can improve efficiency, resource conservation, and resolution of the results. summary this application provides for a method to block capture probes on a spatial array that are not directly under the biological sample. the methods described herein can provide an improvement in resource conservation and a reduction and/or elimination of non-specific binding of analytes to unintended portions of the spatial array during performance of any of the methods described herein for determining a location of a target analyte in a biological sample. provided herein are methods for determining a location of a target nucleic acid in a biological sample that include: (a) disposing a non-permeabilized biological sample onto an array at a first area, where the array comprises a plurality of capture probes, where: the first area comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain; and a second area of the array comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain, and the second area is adjacent to the biological sample disposed on the array; (b) contacting the second area of the array with a solution comprising a blocking probe, where the blocking probe comprises a sequence that binds specifically to the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area of the array; (c) removing residual solution comprising the blocking probe from the second area of the array; (d) permeabilizing the biological sample, such that the capture domain of the capture probe of the first area of the array binds specifically to the target nucleic acid ; and (e) determining (i) all or a portion of a sequence corresponding to the spatial barcode of the capture probe of the first area of the array, or a complement thereof, and (ii) all or a portion of a sequence corresponding to the target nucleic acid, or a complement thereof, and using the sequences of (i) and (ii) to determine the location of the target nucleic acid in the biological sample. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, a 3′ end of the blocking probe is substantially complementary to about 5 to 100 nucleotides of the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the blocking probe is single-stranded. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the blocking probe is at least partially double-stranded. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, a 5′ end of the blocking probe is phosphorylated. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, step (b) further comprises ligating the 5′ end of the blocking probe to a 3′ end of the capture probe in the second area. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, a 3′ end of the blocking probe is chemically blocked. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the 3′ end of the blocking probe is chemically blocked by an azidomethyl group. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the blocking probe comprises a hairpin structure. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the blocking probe comprises a locked nucleic acid. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the method further comprises, between steps (a) and (b), fixing and/or staining the biological sample. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the non-permeabilized biological sample is fixed and/or stained prior to step (a). in some embodiments, the step of fixing the biological sample comprises the use of a fixative selected from the group of ethanol, methanol, acetone, formaldehyde, paraformaldehyde-triton, glutaraldehyde, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments, the step of staining the biological sample comprises the use of a biological stain selected from the group of: acridine orange, bismarck brown, carmine, coomassie blue, cresyl violet, dapi, eosin, ethidium bromide, acid fuchsine, hematoxylin, hoechst stains, iodine, methyl green, methylene blue, neutral red, nile blue, nile red, osmium tetroxide, propidium iodide, rhodamine, safranin, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments, the step of staining the biological sample comprises the use of eosin and hematoxylin. in some embodiments, the step of staining the biological sample comprises the use of a detectable label selected from the group consisting of a radioisotope, a fluorophore, a chemiluminescent compound, a bioluminescent compound, or a combination thereof. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the biological sample is a tissue sample. in some embodiments, the tissue sample is a tissue section. in some embodiments, the tissue section is a fresh, frozen tissue section. in some embodiments, the biological sample is a clinical sample. in some embodiments, the clinical sample is selected from the group of whole blood, blood-derived products, blood cells, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments, the clinical sample is a cultured tissue. in some embodiments, the clinical sample is cultured cells. in some embodiments, the clinical sample is a cell suspension. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the biological sample is an organoid, embryonic stem cells, pluripotent stem cells, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments, the organoid is selected from the group of a cerebral organoid, an intestinal organoid, a stomach organoid, a lingual organoid, a thyroid organoid, a thymic organoid, a testicular organoid, a hepatic organoid, a pancreatic organoid, an epithelial organoid, a lung organoid, a kidney organoid, a gastruloid, a cardiac organoid, a retinal organoid, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the biological sample includes diseased cells, fetal cells, immune cells, cellular macromolecules, organelles, extracellular polynucleotides, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the removing in step (c) comprises washing. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the array comprises a slide. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the array is a bead array. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the determining in step (e) comprises sequencing (i) all or a portion of the sequence corresponding to the spatial barcode of the capture probe of the first area of the array, or a complement thereof, and (ii) all or a portion of the sequence corresponding to the target nucleic acid, or a complement thereof. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the sequencing is high throughput sequencing. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the determining in step (e) comprises extending a 3′ end of the capture probe of the first area of the array using the target nucleic acid as a template. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, wherein the target analyte is dna. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the dna is genomic dna. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the target analyte is rna. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the rna is mrna. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the method further comprises imaging the biological sample after step (a). also provided herein are methods for determining a location of a target analyte in a biological sample, the method comprising: (a) disposing a non-permeabilized biological sample onto an array at a first area, where the array comprises a plurality of capture probes, where: the first area comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain that binds specifically to the analyte capture sequence; and a second area comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain, the second area of which is adjacent to the biological sample disposed on the array; (b) contacting a plurality of analyte capture agents with the non-permeabilized biological sample, where an analyte capture agent of the plurality of analyte capture agents comprises an analyte binding moiety barcode, an analyte capture sequence, and an analyte binding moiety that binds specifically to the target analyte; (c) contacting the second area of the array with a solution comprising a blocking probe, where the blocking probe comprises a sequence that binds specifically to the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area of the array; (d) removing residual solution comprising the blocking probe from the second area of the array; (e) permeabilizing the biological sample, such that the capture domain of the capture probe of the first area of the array binds specifically to the analyte capture sequence; and (f) determining (i) all or a portion of the sequence of the spatial barcode of the capture probe in the first area of the array, or a complement thereof, and (ii) all or a portion of the sequence of the analyte binding moiety barcode, or a complement thereof, and using the sequences of (i) and (ii) to determine the location of the target analyte in the biological sample. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, a 3′ end of the blocking probe is substantially complementary to about 5 to 100 nucleotides of the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the blocking probe is single-stranded. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the blocking probe is partially double-stranded. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, a 5′ end of the blocking probe is phosphorylated. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, step (c) further comprises ligating the 5′ end of the blocking probe to a 3′ end of the capture probe in the second area. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, a 3′ end of the blocking probe is chemically blocked. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the chemical block is an azidomethyl group. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the blocking probe comprises a hairpin structure. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the blocking probe comprises a locked nucleic acid. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the method further comprises, between steps (b) and (c), fixing the biological sample. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the non-permeabilized biological sample is fixed and/or stained prior to step (a). in some embodiments, the step of fixing the biological sample comprises the use of a fixative selected from the group of ethanol, methanol, acetone, formaldehyde, paraformaldehyde-triton, glutaraldehyde, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, staining the biological sample comprises the use of a biological stain selected from the group of: acridine orange, bismarck brown, carmine, coomassie blue, cresyl violet, dapi, eosin, ethidium bromide, acid fuchsine, hematoxylin, hoechst stains, iodine, methyl green, methylene blue, neutral red, nile blue, nile red, osmium tetroxide, propidium iodide, rhodamine, safranin, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments, the step of staining the biological sample comprises the use of eosin and hematoxylin. in some embodiments, the step of staining the biological sample comprises the use of a detectable label selected from the group of a radioisotope, a fluorophore, a chemiluminescent compound, a bioluminescent compound, or a combination thereof. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the biological sample is a tissue sample. in some embodiments, the tissue sample is a tissue section. in some embodiments, the tissue section is a fresh, frozen tissue section. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the biological sample is a clinical sample. in some embodiments, the clinical sample is selected from the group of whole blood, blood-derived products, blood cells, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments, the clinical sample is a cultured tissue. in some embodiments, the clinical sample is cultured cells. in some embodiments, the clinical sample is a cell suspension. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the biological sample is an organoid, embryonic stem cells, pluripotent stem cells, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments, the organoid is selected from the group of a cerebral organoid, an intestinal organoid, a stomach organoid, a lingual organoid, a thyroid organoid, a thymic organoid, a testicular organoid, a hepatic organoid, a pancreatic organoid, an epithelial organoid, a lung organoid, a kidney organoid, a gastruloid, a cardiac organoid, a retinal organoid, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the biological sample includes diseased cells, fetal cells, immune cells, cellular macromolecules, organelles, extracellular polynucleotides, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the removing in step (d) comprises washing. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the array comprises a slide. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the array is a bead array. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the determining in step (f) comprises sequencing (i) all or a portion of the sequence corresponding to the spatial barcode of the capture probe in the first area of the array, or a complement thereof, and (ii) all or a portion of the sequence corresponding to the analyte binding moiety barcode, or a complement thereof. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the sequencing is high throughput sequencing. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the determining in step (f) comprises extending a 3′ end of the capture probe of the first area of the array using the analyte binding moiety barcode as a template. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the target analyte is a protein. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the protein is an intracellular protein. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the protein is an extracellular protein. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the analyte binding moiety is an antibody or an antigen-binding moiety thereof. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, steps (a) and (b) are performed at substantially the same time. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, step (a) is performed before step (b). in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, step (b) is performed before step (a). in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the method further comprises imaging the biological sample after step (b). also provided herein are kits comprising an array comprises a plurality of capture probes, where a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain; and a solution comprising a blocking probe, where the blocking probe comprises a sequence that binds specifically to the capture domain of the capture probe. in some embodiments of any of the kits described herein, the kit(s) further comprise one or more fixative(s). in some embodiments of any of the kits described herein, the kit(s) further comprise one or more biological stains. in some embodiments, the one or more biological stains is eosin and hematoxylin. in some embodiments of any of the kits described herein, the kit(s) further comprise one or more permeabilization reagent(s). in some embodiments of any of the kits described herein, the one or more permeabilization reagent(s) is selected from the group of an organic solvent, a cross-linking agent, a detergent, an enzyme, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments of any of the kits described herein, the kit further comprises a reverse transcriptase. in some embodiments of any of the kits described herein, the kit further comprises a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase. in some embodiments of any of the kits described herein, the kit further comprises a template switching oligonucleotide. in some embodiments of any of the kits described herein, the kit further comprises a dna polymerase. in some embodiments of any of the kits described herein, the kit further comprises a second strand primer. in some embodiments of any of the kits described herein, the kit further comprises a fragmentation buffer and a fragmentation enzyme. in some embodiments of any of the kits described herein, the kit further comprises a dna ligase. in some embodiments, the dna ligase is a t4 dna ligase. in some embodiments of any of the kits described herein, the kit further comprises one or more adaptor(s). in some embodiments, the one or more adaptor(s) is/are selected from the group of an i5 sample index sequence, an i7 sample index sequence, a p5 sample index sequence, a p7 sample index sequence, and combinations thereof. also provided herein are composition(s), comprising an array, where the array comprises a plurality of capture probes, where: the first area comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain specifically bound to a target analyte from the biological sample; and a second area of the array comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain specifically bound to a blocking probe, and the second area is adjacent to the biological sample disposed on the array. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, a 3′ end of the blocking probe is substantially complementary to about 5 to 100 nucleotides of the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the blocking probe is single-stranded. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the blocking probe is partially double-stranded. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, a 5′ end of the blocking probe is phosphorylated. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the blocking probe is ligated to a 3′ end of the capture probe in the second area. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, a 3′ end of the blocking probe is chemically blocked. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the chemical block is an azidomethyl group. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the blocking probe comprises a hairpin structure. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the blocking probe comprises a locked nucleic acid. in some embodiments, a biological sample is disposed on the first area of the array. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the biological sample is a tissue sample. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the tissue sample is a tissue section. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the biological sample is a clinical sample. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the clinical sample is selected from the group of whole blood, blood-derived products, blood cells, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the clinical sample is a cultured tissue. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the clinical sample is cultured cells. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the clinical sample is a cell suspension. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the biological sample is an organoid, embryonic stem cells, pluripotent stem cells, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the organoid is selected from the group of a cerebral organoid, an intestinal organoid, a stomach organoid, a lingual organoid, a thyroid organoid, a thymic organoid, a testicular organoid, a hepatic organoid, a pancreatic organoid, an epithelial organoid, a lung organoid, a kidney organoid, a gastruloid, a cardiac organoid, a retinal organoid, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the biological sample includes diseased cells, fetal cells, immune cells, cellular macromolecules, organelles, extracellular polynucleotides, and combinations thereof. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the array comprises a slide. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the array is a bead array. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the target analyte is dna. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the dna is genomic dna. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the target analyte is rna. in some embodiments of any of the composition(s) described herein, the rna is mrna. all publications, patents, and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent, patent application, or item of information was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. to the extent publications, patents, patent applications, and items of information incorporated by reference contradict the disclosure contained in the specification, the specification is intended to supersede and/or take precedence over any such contradictory material. where values are described in terms of ranges, it should be understood that the description includes the disclosure of all possible sub-ranges within such ranges, as well as specific numerical values that fall within such ranges irrespective of whether a specific numerical value or specific sub-range is expressly stated. the term “each,” when used in reference to a collection of items, is intended to identify an individual item in the collection but does not necessarily refer to every item in the collection, unless expressly stated otherwise, or unless the context of the usage clearly indicates otherwise. various embodiments of the features of this disclosure are described herein. however, it should be understood that such embodiments are provided merely by way of example, and numerous variations, changes, and substitutions can occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of this disclosure. it should also be understood that various alternatives to the specific embodiments described herein are also within the scope of this disclosure. description of drawings the following drawings illustrate certain embodiments of the features and advantages of this disclosure. these embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims in any manner. like reference symbols in the drawings indicate like elements. fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a barcoded capture probe, as described herein. fig. 2 shows an example of diffusion of target nucleic acids away from a biological sample towards an unintended area of an array. fig. 3a shows an exemplary blocking probe comprising a hairpin structure bound to a capture domain of a capture probe. fig. 3b shows an exemplary partially-double stranded blocking probe bound to a capture domain of a capture probe. fig. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of blocked capture probes in the area of a spatial array that is not under a biological sample, where the block is the hairpin structure of fig. 3a . fig. 5 shows a schematic of an exemplary workflow utilizing an exemplary embodiment of the methods described herein. detailed description blocking one or more capture domains of capture probes on spatial arrays (or portions thereof) can increase efficiency and/or decrease non-specific binding of analytes on arrays (or portions thereof). in some cases, one or more capture probes (e.g., capture domain of capture probes) can be blocked with one or more blocking probes. a 3′ end of a blocking probe can be substantially complementary to about 5 to about 100 nucleotides of the capture domain. provided herein are methods, compositions, and kits, e.g., for carrying out these methods. in some cases, a portion of an array can be selectively blocked and/or selectively unblocked. methods for reducing non-specific spatial interactions on a spatial array are described herein. methods herein can improve the resolution of spatial array results by reducing non-specific binding of targeted analytes. for example, methods herein can reduce non-specific binding of target analytes by capture probes (e.g., by blocking the capture domain of capture probes) not proximal to the targeted analyte. in some cases, analytes from a biological sample can diffuse to areas of the array that are adjacent to the biological sample. this can cause analytes to bind to the capture domain(s) of one or more capture probes adjacent to the biological sample. non-specific binding increases background results (e.g., non-specific results), thereby decreasing resolution. blocking the capture domain of capture probes that adjacent to the biological sample can decrease the non-specific binding and increase the resolution of results. methods described herein can also conserve resources. for example, in some cases, the analysis of spatial arrays can include sequencing. non-specific binding of analytes to the capture domain of one or more capture probes can result in sequencing of undesired targets. non-specific analyte capture can cause downstream sequencing inefficiencies, for example, a decrease in the amount of target analyte sequencing due to sequencing of non-specific captured analytes is inefficient and reagent costly and can result in a decrease is spatial resolution. the present disclosure provides solutions for improving and/or preventing non-specific analyte capture on an array slide. spatial analysis methodologies and compositions described herein can provide a vast amount of analyte and/or expression data for a variety of analytes within a biological sample at high spatial resolution, while retaining native spatial context. spatial analysis methods and compositions can include, e.g., the use of a capture probe including a spatial barcode (e.g., a nucleic acid sequence that provides information as to the location or position of an analyte within a cell or a tissue sample (e.g., mammalian cell or a mammalian tissue sample) and a capture domain that is capable of binding to an analyte (e.g., a protein and/or a nucleic acid) produced by and/or present in a cell. spatial analysis methods and compositions can also include the use of a capture probe having a capture domain that captures an intermediate agent for indirect detection of an analyte. for example, the intermediate agent can include a nucleic acid sequence (e.g., a barcode) associated with the intermediate agent. detection of the intermediate agent is therefore indicative of the analyte in the cell or tissue sample. non-limiting aspects of spatial analysis methodologies and compositions are described in u.s. pat. nos. 10,774,374, 10,724,078, 10,480,022, 10,059,990, 10,041,949, 10,002,316, 9,879,313, 9,783,841, 9,727,810, 9,593,365, 8,951,726, 8,604,182, 7,709,198, u.s. patent application publication nos. 2020/239946, 2020/080136, 2020/0277663, 2020/024641, 2019/330617, 2019/264268, 2020/256867, 2020/224244, 2019/194709, 2019/161796, 2019/085383, 2019/055594, 2018/216161, 2018/051322, 2018/0245142, 2017/241911, 2017/089811, 2017/067096, 2017/029875, 2017/0016053, 2016/108458, 2015/000854, 2013/171621, wo 2018/091676, wo 2020/176788, rodrigues et al., science 363(6434):1463-1467, 2019; lee et al., nat. protoc. 10(3):442-458, 2015; trejo et al., plos one 14(2):e0212031, 2019; chen et al., science 348(6233):aaa6090, 2015; gao et al., bmc biol. 15:50, 2017; and gupta et al., nature biotechnol. 36:1197-1202, 2018; the visium spatial gene expression reagent kits user guide (e.g., rev c, dated june 2020), and/or the visium spatial tissue optimization reagent kits user guide (e.g., rev c, dated july 2020), both of which are available at the 10× genomics support documentation website, and can be used herein in any combination. further non-limiting aspects of spatial analysis methodologies and compositions are described herein. some general terminology that may be used in this disclosure can be found in section (i)(b) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. typically, a “barcode” is a label, or identifier, that conveys or is capable of conveying information (e.g., information about an analyte in a sample, a bead, and/or a capture probe). a barcode can be part of an analyte, or independent of an analyte. a barcode can be attached to an analyte. a particular barcode can be unique relative to other barcodes. for the purpose of this disclosure, an “analyte” can include any biological substance, structure, moiety, or component to be analyzed. the term “target” can similarly refer to an analyte of interest. analytes can be broadly classified into one of two groups: nucleic acid analytes, and non-nucleic acid analytes. examples of non-nucleic acid analytes include, but are not limited to, lipids, carbohydrates, peptides, proteins, glycoproteins (n-linked or o-linked), lipoproteins, phosphoproteins, specific phosphorylated or acetylated variants of proteins, amidation variants of proteins, hydroxylation variants of proteins, methylation variants of proteins, ubiquitylation variants of proteins, sulfation variants of proteins, viral proteins (e.g., viral capsid, viral envelope, viral coat, viral accessory, viral glycoproteins, viral spike, etc.), extracellular and intracellular proteins, antibodies, and antigen binding fragments. in some embodiments, the analyte(s) can be localized to subcellular location(s), including, for example, organelles, e.g., mitochondria, golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum, chloroplasts, endocytic vesicles, exocytic vesicles, vacuoles, lysosomes, etc. in some embodiments, analyte(s) can be peptides or proteins, including without limitation antibodies and enzymes. additional examples of analytes can be found in section (i)(c) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. in some embodiments, an analyte can be detected indirectly, such as through detection of an intermediate agent, for example, a ligation product or an analyte capture agent (e.g., an oligonucleotide-conjugated antibody), such as those described herein. a “biological sample” is typically obtained from the subject for analysis using any of a variety of techniques including, but not limited to, biopsy, surgery, and laser capture microscopy (lcm), and generally includes cells and/or other biological material from the subject. in some embodiments, a biological sample can be a tissue section. in some embodiments, a biological sample can be a fixed and/or stained biological sample (e.g., a fixed and/or stained tissue section). non-limiting examples of stains include histological stains (e.g., hematoxylin and/or eosin) and immunological stains (e.g., fluorescent stains). in some embodiments, a biological sample (e.g., a fixed and/or stained biological sample) can be imaged. biological samples are also described in section (i)(d) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. in some embodiments, a biological sample is permeabilized with one or more permeabilization reagents. for example, permeabilization of a biological sample can facilitate analyte capture. exemplary permeabilization agents and conditions are described in section (i)(d)(ii)( 13 ) or the exemplary embodiments section of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. array-based spatial analysis methods involve the transfer of one or more analytes from a biological sample to an array of features on a substrate, where each feature is associated with a unique spatial location on the array. subsequent analysis of the transferred analytes includes determining the identity of the analytes and the spatial location of the analytes within the biological sample. the spatial location of an analyte within the biological sample is determined based on the feature to which the analyte is bound (e.g., directly or indirectly) on the array, and the feature's relative spatial location within the array. a “capture probe” refers to any molecule capable of capturing (directly or indirectly) and/or labelling an analyte (e.g., an analyte of interest) in a biological sample. in some embodiments, the capture probe is a nucleic acid or a polypeptide. in some embodiments, the capture probe includes a barcode (e.g., a spatial barcode and/or a unique molecular identifier (umi)) and a capture domain). in some embodiments, a capture probe can include a cleavage domain and/or a functional domain (e.g., a primer-binding site, such as for next-generation sequencing (ngs)). see, e.g., section (ii)(b) (e.g., subsections (i)-(vi)) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. generation of capture probes can be achieved by any appropriate method, including those described in section (ii)(d)(ii) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. in some embodiments, more than one analyte type (e.g., nucleic acids and proteins) from a biological sample can be detected (e.g., simultaneously or sequentially) using any appropriate multiplexing technique, such as those described in section (iv) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. in some embodiments, detection of one or more analytes (e.g., protein analytes) can be performed using one or more analyte capture agents. as used herein, an “analyte capture agent” refers to an agent that interacts with an analyte (e.g., an analyte in a biological sample) and with a capture probe (e.g., a capture probe attached to a substrate or a feature) to identify the analyte. in some embodiments, the analyte capture agent includes: (i) an analyte binding moiety (e.g., that binds to an analyte), for example, an antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof; (ii) analyte binding moiety barcode; and (iii) an analyte capture sequence. as used herein, the term “analyte binding moiety barcode” refers to a barcode that is associated with or otherwise identifies the analyte binding moiety. as used herein, the term “analyte capture sequence” refers to a region or moiety configured to hybridize to, bind to, couple to, or otherwise interact with a capture domain of a capture probe. in some cases, an analyte binding moiety barcode (or portion thereof) may be able to be removed (e.g., cleaved) from the analyte capture agent. additional description of analyte capture agents can be found in section (ii)(b)(ix) of wo 2020/176788 and/or section (ii)(b)(viii) u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. there are at least two methods to associate a spatial barcode with one or more neighboring cells, such that the spatial barcode identifies the one or more cells, and/or contents of the one or more cells, as associated with a particular spatial location. one method is to promote analytes or analyte proxies (e.g., intermediate agents) out of a cell and towards a spatially-barcoded array (e.g., including spatially-barcoded capture probes). another method is to cleave spatially-barcoded capture probes from an array and promote the spatially-barcoded capture probes towards and/or into or onto the biological sample. in some cases, capture probes may be configured to prime, replicate, and consequently yield optionally barcoded extension products from a template (e.g., a dna or rna template, such as an analyte or an intermediate agent (e.g., a ligation product or an analyte capture agent), or a portion thereof), or derivatives thereof (see, e.g., section (ii)(b)(vii) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663 regarding extended capture probes). in some cases, capture probes may be configured to form ligation products with a template (e.g., a dna or rna template, such as an analyte or an intermediate agent, or portion thereof), thereby creating ligations products that serve as proxies for a template. as used herein, an “extended capture probe” refers to a capture probe having additional nucleotides added to the terminus (e.g., 3′ or 5′ end) of the capture probe thereby extending the overall length of the capture probe. for example, an “extended 3′ end” indicates additional nucleotides were added to the most 3′ nucleotide of the capture probe to extend the length of the capture probe, for example, by polymerization reactions used to extend nucleic acid molecules including templated polymerization catalyzed by a polymerase (e.g., a dna polymerase or a reverse transcriptase). in some embodiments, extending the capture probe includes adding to a 3′ end of a capture probe a nucleic acid sequence that is complementary to a nucleic acid sequence of an analyte or intermediate agent specifically bound to the capture domain of the capture probe. in some embodiments, the capture probe is extended using reverse transcription. in some embodiments, the capture probe is extended using one or more dna polymerases. the extended capture probes include the sequence of the capture probe and the sequence of the spatial barcode of the capture probe. in some embodiments, extended capture probes are amplified (e.g., in bulk solution or on the array) to yield quantities that are sufficient for downstream analysis, e.g., via dna sequencing. in some embodiments, extended capture probes (e.g., dna molecules) act as templates for an amplification reaction (e.g., a polymerase chain reaction). additional variants of spatial analysis methods, including in some embodiments, an imaging step, are described in section (ii)(a) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. analysis of captured analytes (and/or intermediate agents or portions thereof), for example, including sample removal, extension of capture probes, sequencing (e.g., of a cleaved extended capture probe and/or a cdna molecule complementary to an extended capture probe), sequencing on the array (e.g., using, for example, in situ hybridization or in situ ligation approaches), temporal analysis, and/or proximity capture, is described in section (ii)(g) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. some quality control measures are described in section (ii)(h) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. spatial information can provide information of biological and/or medical importance. for example, the methods and compositions described herein can allow for: identification of one or more biomarkers (e.g., diagnostic, prognostic, and/or for determination of efficacy of a treatment) of a disease or disorder; identification of a candidate drug target for treatment of a disease or disorder; identification (e.g., diagnosis) of a subject as having a disease or disorder; identification of stage and/or prognosis of a disease or disorder in a subject; identification of a subject as having an increased likelihood of developing a disease or disorder; monitoring of progression of a disease or disorder in a subject; determination of efficacy of a treatment of a disease or disorder in a subject; identification of a patient subpopulation for which a treatment is effective for a disease or disorder; modification of a treatment of a subject with a disease or disorder; selection of a subject for participation in a clinical trial; and/or selection of a treatment for a subject with a disease or disorder. spatial information can provide information of biological importance. for example, the methods and compositions described herein can allow for: identification of transcriptome and/or proteome expression profiles (e.g., in healthy and/or diseased tissue); identification of multiple analyte types in close proximity (e.g., nearest neighbor analysis); determination of up- and/or down-regulated genes and/or proteins in diseased tissue; characterization of tumor microenvironments; characterization of tumor immune responses; characterization of cells types and their co-localization in tissue; and identification of genetic variants within tissues (e.g., based on gene and/or protein expression profiles associated with specific disease or disorder biomarkers). typically, for spatial array-based methods, a substrate functions as a support for direct or indirect attachment of capture probes to features of the array. a “feature” is an entity that acts as a support or repository for various molecular entities used in spatial analysis. in some embodiments, some or all of the features in an array are functionalized for analyte capture. exemplary substrates are described in section (ii)(c) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. exemplary features and geometric attributes of an array can be found in sections (ii)(d)(i), (ii)(d)(iii), and (ii)(d)(iv) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. generally, analytes and/or intermediate agents (or portions thereof) can be captured when contacting a biological sample with a substrate including capture probes (e.g., a substrate with capture probes embedded, spotted, printed, fabricated on the substrate, or a substrate with features (e.g., beads, wells) comprising capture probes). as used herein, “contact,” “contacted,” and/or “contacting,” a biological sample with a substrate refers to any contact (e.g., direct or indirect) such that capture probes can interact (e.g., bind covalently or non-covalently (e.g., hybridize)) with analytes from the biological sample. capture can be achieved actively (e.g., using electrophoresis) or passively (e.g., using diffusion). analyte capture is further described in section (ii)(e) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. in some cases, spatial analysis can be performed by attaching and/or introducing a molecule (e.g., a peptide, a lipid, or a nucleic acid molecule) having a barcode (e.g., a spatial barcode) to a biological sample (e.g., to a cell in a biological sample). in some embodiments, a plurality of molecules (e.g., a plurality of nucleic acid molecules) having a plurality of barcodes (e.g., a plurality of spatial barcodes) are introduced to a biological sample (e.g., to a plurality of cells in a biological sample) for use in spatial analysis. in some embodiments, after attaching and/or introducing a molecule having a barcode to a biological sample, the biological sample can be physically separated (e.g., dissociated) into single cells or cell groups for analysis. some such methods of spatial analysis are described in section (iii) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. in some cases, spatial analysis can be performed by detecting multiple oligonucleotides that hybridize to an analyte. in some instances, for example, spatial analysis can be performed using rna-templated ligation (rtl). methods of rtl have been described previously. see, e.g., credle et al., nucleic acids res. 2017 aug 21;45(14):e128. typically, rtl includes hybridization of two oligonucleotides to adjacent sequences on an analyte (e.g., an rna molecule, such as an mrna molecule). in some instances, the oligonucleotides are dna molecules. in some instances, one of the oligonucleotides includes at least two ribonucleic acid bases at the 3′ end and/or the other oligonucleotide includes a phosphorylated nucleotide at the 5′ end. in some instances, one of the two oligonucleotides includes a capture domain (e.g., a poly(a) sequence, a non-homopolymeric sequence). after hybridization to the analyte, a ligase (e.g., splintr ligase) ligates the two oligonucleotides together, creating a ligation product. in some instances, the two oligonucleotides hybridize to sequences that are not adjacent to one another. for example, hybridization of the two oligonucleotides creates a gap between the hybridized oligonucleotides. in some instances, a polymerase (e.g., a dna polymerase) can extend one of the oligonucleotides prior to ligation. after ligation, the ligation product is released from the analyte. in some instances, the ligation product is released using an endonuclease (e.g., rnase h). the released ligation product can then be captured by capture probes (e.g., instead of direct capture of an analyte) on an array, optionally amplified, and sequenced, thus determining the location and optionally the abundance of the analyte in the biological sample. during analysis of spatial information, sequence information for a spatial barcode associated with an analyte is obtained, and the sequence information can be used to provide information about the spatial distribution of the analyte in the biological sample. various methods can be used to obtain the spatial information. in some embodiments, specific capture probes and the analytes they capture are associated with specific locations in an array of features on a substrate. for example, specific spatial barcodes can be associated with specific array locations prior to array fabrication, and the sequences of the spatial barcodes can be stored (e.g., in a database) along with specific array location information, so that each spatial barcode uniquely maps to a particular array location. alternatively, specific spatial barcodes can be deposited at predetermined locations in an array of features during fabrication such that at each location, only one type of spatial barcode is present so that spatial barcodes are uniquely associated with a single feature of the array. where necessary, the arrays can be decoded using any of the methods described herein so that spatial barcodes are uniquely associated with array feature locations, and this mapping can be stored as described above. when sequence information is obtained for capture probes and/or analytes during analysis of spatial information, the locations of the capture probes and/or analytes can be determined by referring to the stored information that uniquely associates each spatial barcode with an array feature location. in this manner, specific capture probes and captured analytes are associated with specific locations in the array of features. each array feature location represents a position relative to a coordinate reference point (e.g., an array location, a fiducial marker) for the array. accordingly, each feature location has an “address” or location in the coordinate space of the array. some exemplary spatial analysis workflows are described in the exemplary embodiments section of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. see, for example, the exemplary embodiment starting with “in some non-limiting examples of the workflows described herein, the sample can be immersed...” of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663. see also, e.g., the visium spatial gene expression reagent kits user guide (e.g., rev c, dated june 2020), and/or the visium spatial tissue optimization reagent kits user guide (e.g., rev c, dated july 2020). in some embodiments, spatial analysis can be performed using dedicated hardware and/or software, such as any of the systems described in sections (ii)(e)(ii) and/or (v) of wo 2020/176788 and/or u.s. patent application publication no. 2020/0277663, or any of one or more of the devices or methods described in sections control slide for imaging, methods of using control slides and substrates for, systems of using control slides and substrates for imaging, and/or sample and array alignment devices and methods, informational labels of wo 2020/123320. suitable systems for performing spatial analysis can include components such as a chamber (e.g., a flow cell or sealable, fluid-tight chamber) for containing a biological sample. the biological sample can be mounted for example, in a biological sample holder. one or more fluid chambers can be connected to the chamber and/or the sample holder via fluid conduits, and fluids can be delivered into the chamber and/or sample holder via fluidic pumps, vacuum sources, or other devices coupled to the fluid conduits that create a pressure gradient to drive fluid flow. one or more valves can also be connected to fluid conduits to regulate the flow of reagents from reservoirs to the chamber and/or sample holder. the systems can optionally include a control unit that includes one or more electronic processors, an input interface, an output interface (such as a display), and a storage unit (e.g., a solid state storage medium such as, but not limited to, a magnetic, optical, or other solid state, persistent, writeable and/or re-writeable storage medium). the control unit can optionally be connected to one or more remote devices via a network. the control unit (and components thereof) can generally perform any of the steps and functions described herein. where the system is connected to a remote device, the remote device (or devices) can perform any of the steps or features described herein. the systems can optionally include one or more detectors (e.g., ccd, cmos) used to capture images. the systems can also optionally include one or more light sources (e.g., led-based, diode-based, lasers) for illuminating a sample, a substrate with features, analytes from a biological sample captured on a substrate, and various control and calibration media. the systems can optionally include software instructions encoded and/or implemented in one or more of tangible storage media and hardware components such as application specific integrated circuits. the software instructions, when executed by a control unit (and in particular, an electronic processor) or an integrated circuit, can cause the control unit, integrated circuit, or other component executing the software instructions to perform any of the method steps or functions described herein. in some cases, the systems described herein can detect (e.g., register an image) the biological sample on the array. exemplary methods to detect the biological sample on an array are described in pct application no. 2020/061064 and/or u.s. patent application ser. no. 16/951,854. prior to transferring analytes from the biological sample to the array of features on the substrate, the biological sample can be aligned with the array. alignment of a biological sample and an array of features including capture probes can facilitate spatial analysis, which can be used to detect differences in analyte presence and/or level within different positions in the biological sample, for example, to generate a three-dimensional map of the analyte presence and/or level. exemplary methods to generate a two- and/or three-dimensional map of the analyte presence and/or level are described in pct application no. 2020/053655 and spatial analysis methods are generally described in wo 2020/061108 and/or u.s. patent application ser. no. 16/951,864. in some cases, a map of analyte presence and/or level can be aligned to an image of a biological sample using one or more fiducial markers, e.g., objects placed in the field of view of an imaging system which appear in the image produced, as described in the substrate attributes section, control slide for imaging section of wo 2020/123320, pct application no. 2020/061066, and/or u.s. patent application ser. no. 16/951,843. fiducial markers can be used as a point of reference or measurement scale for alignment (e.g., to align a sample and an array, to align two substrates, to determine a location of a sample or array on a substrate relative to a fiducial marker) and/or for quantitative measurements of sizes and/or distances. methods for reducing non-specific spatial interactions on a spatial array spatial tissue arrays allow a researcher to identify gene expression, protein locations, and other cellular activity tracking in a spatial manner. the benefits of correlating spatial biological relationships with diseases and disorders does, and will, continue to advance many fields of scientific study. however, improvements in the resolution of spatial relationships between the cellular activates and diseases and disorders would enhance those data. for example, when a biological sample (e.g., a tissue section) affixed to a spatial array slide is permeabilized to release analytes of interest some of the analytes from the tissue can, via diffusion, move to areas of the array where there is no biological sample (e.g., tissue section), for example adjacent to a biological sample, where non-specific spatial analyte capture can occur. this type of non-specific spatial analyte capture can decrease the resolution of the desired spatial analyte data. further, non-specific analyte capture can cause downstream sequencing inefficiencies; a decrease in the amount of target analyte sequencing due to sequencing of non-specific captured analytes is inefficient and reagent costly. the present disclosure provides solutions for improving and/or preventing non-specific analyte capture on an array slide. provided herein are methods for reducing non-specific analyte capture in a non-permeabilized biological sample (e.g., any of the exemplary biological samples described herein) that include: (a) disposing a non-permeabilized biological sample onto an array (e.g., any of the arrays described herein) at a first area (e.g., any of the first areas described herein), where the array comprises a plurality of capture probes (e.g., any of the exemplary capture probes described herein), where: the first area comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode (e.g., any of the exemplary spatial barcodes described herein) and a capture domain (e.g., any of the exemplary capture domains described herein); and a second area (e.g., any of the second areas described herein) of the array comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes (e.g., any of the capture probes described herein) comprising a spatial barcode (e.g., any of the spatial barcodes described herein) and a capture domain (e.g., any of the capture domains described herein), and the second area is adjacent to the biological sample disposed on the array; (b) contacting the array with a solution comprising at least one blocking probe (e.g., any of the exemplary blocking probes described herein), where the at least one blocking probe comprises a sequence that binds specifically to the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area of the array; (c) removing residual solution from the array (e.g., washing the array using any of the methods for removing solutions and/or blocking probes described herein); (d) permeabilizing the biological sample (e.g., using any of the methods for permeabilizing a biological sample described herein), such that the capture domain of the capture probe of the first area of the array binds specifically to the target nucleic acid and the target nucleic acid capture in the second area is reduced. the biological sample can be any of the biological samples described herein. for example, in some embodiments, the biological sample is a tissue sample (e.g., a tissue section). in other embodiments, the biological sample is a clinical sample (e.g., whole blood, blood-derived products, blood cells, cultured tissue, cultured cells, or a cell suspension). in some embodiments, the biological sample is an organoid, embryonic stem cells, pluripotent stem cells, or any combination thereof. non-limiting examples of an organoid include a cerebral organoid, an intestinal organoid, a stomach organoid, a lingual organoid, a thyroid organoid, a thymic organoid, a testicular organoid, a hepatic organoid, a pancreatic organoid, an epithelial organoid, a lung organoid, a kidney organoid, a gastruloid, a cardiac organoid, a retinal organoid, or any combination thereof. in other example embodiments, the biological sample can include diseased cells, fetal cells, immune cells, cellular macromolecules, organelles, extracellular polynucleotides, or any combination thereof. non-limiting examples of a target nucleic acid include dna analytes such as genomic dna, methylated dna, specific methylated dna sequences, fragmented dna, mitochondrial dna, in situ synthesized pcr products, and viral dna. non-limiting examples of a target nucleic acid also include rna analytes such as various types of coding and non-coding rna. examples of the different types of rna analytes include messenger rna (mrna), ribosomal rna (rrna), transfer rna (trna), microrna (mirna), and viral rna. the rna can be a transcript (e.g., present in a tissue section). the rna can be small (e.g., less than 200 nucleic acid bases in length) or large (e.g., rna greater than 200 nucleic acid bases in length). small rnas mainly include 5.8s ribosomal rna (rrna), 5s rrna, transfer rna (trna), microrna (mirna), small interfering rna (sirna), small nucleolar rna (snornas), piwi-interacting rna (pirna), trna-derived small rna (tsrna), and small rdna-derived rna (srrna). the rna can be double-stranded rna or single-stranded rna. the rna can be circular rna. the rna can be a bacterial rrna (e.g., 16s rrna or 23s rrna). the rna can be from an rna virus, for example rna viruses from group iii, iv or v of the baltimore classification system. the rna can be from a retrovirus, such as a virus from group vi of the baltimore classification system. in some embodiments, the target nucleic acid can include at least 1, at least 2, at least 3, at least 4, at least 5, at least 6, at least 7, at least 8, at least 9, or at least 10 disease-causing mutations (e.g., cancer-causing mutations). in some embodiments, the target nucleic acid includes a single nucleotide polymorphism, gene amplification, or chromosomal translocation, deletion or insertion. in some embodiments, the biological sample can be fixed (e.g., between steps (a) and (b) the biological sample can be fixed using any of the techniques described herein or known in the art). in some embodiments, fixing the biological sample comprises the use of a fixative selected from the group of ethanol, methanol, acetone, formaldehyde, formalin, paraformaldehyde-triton, glutaraldehyde, or any combination thereof. in some embodiments, a fixed biological sample is a formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue sample. in some embodiments, the biological sample can be stained and/or imaged using any of the techniques described herein or known in the art (e.g., the biological sample can be stained and/or imaged between steps(a) and (b)). in some embodiments, the staining includes optical labels as described herein, including, but not limited to, fluorescent (e.g., fluorophore), radioactive (e.g., radioisotope), chemiluminescent (e.g., a chemiluminescent compound), a bioluminescent compound, calorimetric, or colorimetric detectable labels. in some embodiments, the staining includes a fluorescent antibody directed to a target analyte (e.g., cell surface or intracellular proteins) in the biological sample. in some embodiments, the staining includes an immunohistochemistry stain directed to a target analyte (e.g., cell surface or intracellular proteins) in the biological sample. in some embodiments, the staining includes a chemical stain, such as hematoxylin and eosin (h&e) or periodic acid-schiff (pas). in some embodiments, staining the biological sample comprises the use of a biological stain including, but not limited to, acridine orange, bismarck brown, carmine, coomassie blue, cresyl violet, dapi, eosin, ethidium bromide, acid fuchsine, hematoxylin, hoechst stains, iodine, methyl green, methylene blue, neutral red, nile blue, nile red, osmium tetroxide, propidium iodide, rhodamine, safranin, or any combination thereof. in some embodiments, significant time (e.g., days, months, or years) can elapse between staining and/or imaging the biological sample. methods for determining a location of a target analyte also provided herein are methods for determining a location of a target analyte in a non-permeabilized biological sample that include: (a) disposing a non-permeabilized biological sample onto an array (e.g., any of the example arrays described herein) at a first area (e.g., any of the first areas described herein), where the array comprises a plurality of capture probes (e.g., any of the exemplary capture probes described herein), where: the first area comprises a capture probe (e.g., any of the capture probes described herein) of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode (e.g., any of the spatial barcodes described herein) and a capture domain (e.g., any of the capture domains described herein) that binds specifically to the analyte capture sequence; and a second area (e.g., any of the second areas described herein) comprises a capture probe (e.g., any of the capture probes described herein) of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode (e.g., any of the spatial barcodes described herein) and a capture domain (e.g., any of the capture domains described herein), the second area of which is adjacent to the biological sample disposed on the array; (b) contacting a plurality of analyte capture agents (e.g., any of the analyte capture agents described herein) with the non-permeabilized biological sample (e.g., any of the biological samples described herein), where an analyte capture agent of the plurality of analyte capture agents comprises an analyte binding moiety barcode (e.g., any of the analyte binding moiety barcodes described herein), an analyte capture sequence (e.g., any of the analyte capture sequences described herein), and an analyte binding moiety (e.g., any of the analyte binding moieties described herein) that binds specifically to the target analyte; (c) contacting the array with a solution comprising a blocking probe (e.g., any of the blocking probes described herein), where the blocking probe comprises a sequence that binds specifically to the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area of the array; (d) removing residual solution (e.g., washing the array using any of the methods for removing solutions and/or blocking probes described herein) comprising the blocking probe from the second area of the array; (e) permeabilizing the biological sample (e.g., using any of the methods for permeabilizing the biological sample described herein), such that the capture domain of the capture probe of the first area of the array binds specifically to the analyte capture sequence; and (f) determining (i) all or a portion of a sequence corresponding to the spatial barcode of the capture probe in the first area of the array, or a complement thereof, and (ii) all or a portion of a sequence corresponding to the analyte binding moiety barcode, or a complement thereof, and using the sequences of (i) and (ii) to determine the location of the target analyte in the biological sample. first and second areas in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, an array can have a first area upon which is disposed a biological sample and a second area that is adjacent to the biological sample. for instance, some embodiments of any of the methods described herein include disposing a biological sample (e.g., a non-permeabilized biological sample) onto an array (e.g., any of the exemplary arrays described herein), where the array then has a first area covered by the non-permeabilized biological sample and a second area not covered by the non-permeabilized biological sample. in some examples, the first area can represent a portion of the array that is covered by the biological sample, e.g., about 10% to about 99%, about 10% to about 95%, about 10% to about 90%, about 10% to about 85%, about 10% to about 80%, about 10% to about 75%, about 10% to about 70%, about a 10% to about 65%, about 10% to about 60%, about 10% to about 55%, about 10% to about 50%, about 10% to about 45%, about 10% to about 40%, about 10% to about 35%, about 10% to about 30%, about 10% to about 25%, about 10% to about 20%, about 10% to about 15%, about 15% to about 99%, about 15% to about 95%, about 15% to about 90%, about 15% to about 85%, about 15% to about 80%, about 15% to about 75%, about 15% to about 70%, about a 15% to about 65%, about 15% to about 60%, about 15% to about 55%, about 15% to about 50%, about 15% to about 45%, about 15% to about 40%, about 15% to about 35%, about 15% to about 30%, about 15% to about 25%, about 15% to about 20%, about 20% to about 99%, about 20% to about 95%, about 20% to about 90%, about 20% to about 85%, about 20% to about 80%, about 20% to about 75%, about 20% to about 70%, about a 20% to about 65%, about 20% to about 60%, about 20% to about 55%, about 20% to about 50%, about 20% to about 45%, about 20% to about 40%, about 20% to about 35%, about 20% to about 30%, about 20% to about 25%, about 25% to about 99%, about 25% to about 95%, about 25% to about 90%, about 25% to about 85%, about 25% to about 80%, about 25% to about 75%, about 25% to about 70%, about a 25% to about 65%, about 25% to about 60%, about 25% to about 55%, about 25% to about 50%, about 25% to about 45%, about 25% to about 40%, about 25% to about 35%, about 25% to about 30%, about 30% to about 99%, about 30% to about 95%, about 30% to about 90%, about 30% to about 85%, about 30% to about 80%, about 30% to about 75%, about 30% to about 70%, about a 30% to about 65%, about 30% to about 60%, about 30% to about 55%, about 30% to about 50%, about 30% to about 45%, about 30% to about 40%, about 30% to about 35%, about 35% to about 99%, about 35% to about 95%, about 35% to about 90%, about 35% to about 85%, about 35% to about 80%, about 35% to about 75%, about 35% to about 70%, about a 35% to about 65%, about 35% to about 60%, about 35% to about 55%, about 35% to about 50%, about 35% to about 45%, about 35% to about 40%, about 40% to about 99%, about 40% to about 95%, about 40% to about 90%, about 40% to about 85%, about 40% to about 80%, about 40% to about 75%, about 40% to about 70%, about a 40% to about 65%, about 40% to about 60%, about 40% to about 55%, about 40% to about 50%, about 40% to about 45%, about 45% to about 99%, about 45% to about 95%, about 45% to about 90%, about 45% to about 85%, about 45% to about 80%, about 45% to about 75%, about 45% to about 70%, about a 45% to about 65%, about 45% to about 60%, about 45% to about 55%, about 45% to about 50%, about 50% to about 99%, about 50% to about 95%, about 50% to about 90%, about 50% to about 85%, about 50% to about 80%, about 50% to about 75%, about 50% to about 70%, about a 50% to about 65%, about 50% to about 60%, about 50% to about 55%, about 55% to about 99%, about 55% to about 95%, about 55% to about 90%, about 55% to about 85%, about 55% to about 80%, about 55% to about 75%, about 55% to about 70%, about a 55% to about 65%, about 55% to about 60%, about 60% to about 99%, about 60% to about 95%, about 60% to about 90%, about 60% to about 85%, about 60% to about 80%, about 60% to about 75%, about 60% to about 70%, about a 60% to about 65%, about 65% to about 99%, about 65% to about 95%, about 65% to about 90%, about 65% to about 85%, about 65% to about 80%, about 65% to about 75%, about 65% to about 70%, about 70% to about 99%, about 70% to about 95%, about 70% to about 90%, about 70% to about 85%, about 70% to about 80%, about 70% to about 75%, about 75% to about 99%, about 75% to about 95%, about 75% to about 90%, about 75% to about 85%, about 75% to about 80%, about 80% to about 99%, about 80% to about 95%, about 80% to about 90%, about 80% to about 85%, about 85% to about 99%, about 85% to about 95%, about 85% to about 90%, about 90% to about 99%, about 90% to about 95%, or about 95% to about 99%, of the total area of the array covered by the biological sample. the second area represents a portion of the array that is not covered by the biological sample. fig. 2 shows an example of diffusion of target nucleic acids away from the first area of the array towards the second area of the array, the areas adjacent to a biological sample on an array. fig. 2 shows a substrate 260 including a first area 262 covered by a non-permeabilized biological sample 266 and one or more second areas 264 -a and 264 -b, where there is no biological sample (e.g., the areas adjacent to the biological sample). the capture probes 268 are inferior to the biological sample 266 and adjacent thereto ( 264 -a and 264 -b). the biological sample 266 includes an analyte, for example one or more target nucleic acids 270 . while two second areas 264 -a and 264 -b are shown in fig. 2 , the second areas described herein are not so limited. for example, a second area of an array is any area that is not covered by a biological sample, so areas around the biological sample and areas distal to the biological sample in all directions are considered second areas. likewise, although fig. 2 shows a single first area 262 , the first areas described herein are not so limited. for example, a first area is any area that has a biological sample on it, so an area wherein the capture probes on the array are covered by a biological sample (e.g., the biological sample is superior to the capture probes). the first or second areas described herein can have a regular or irregular shape. the first and second areas can comprise a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes 268 comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain. during permeabilization and/or selective permeabilization using any of the methods discussed herein (e.g., acetone, electrophoresis, selective permeabilization, etc.), the target nucleic acids 270 can, in some examples, (indicated by the arrows of fig. 2 ) diffuse into the second area(s) 264 -a and 264 -b. the capture of the target nucleic acids 270 on one or more second areas 264 -a and 264 -b result in non-specific spatial target analyte capture which can result in a waste of resources e.g., sequencing reads of the non-specific regions of the second area(s) 264 -a and 264 -b and possible decrease in spatial resolution. in some embodiments, contacting one or more of the second area(s) 264 -a and 264 -b with a solution including one or more blocking probes, where the blocking probe comprises a sequence that binds to the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area 264 -a and 264 -b, before the biological sample 266 is permeabilized, can prevent the capture of the target nucleic acids 270 to the second areas 264 -a and 264 -b. in some embodiments, a solution including one or more blocking probes can be applied to the first area 262 and one or more of the second area(s) 264 -a and 264 -b. blocking probes non-limiting examples of blocking probes can include standard dna probes that are modified to not prime amplification, peptide nucleic acid (pna) probes, modified rna nucleotides such as locked nucleic acids (lnas), among others. in some embodiments, the blocking probe is used to block or modify the free 3′ end of the capture domain of the capture probes in the second area of the array. in some embodiments, the blocking probe can include a hairpin structure. in some examples, the blocking probe can include a hairpin structure. in some embodiments, blocking probes can be hybridized to the capture domain of the capture probes in the second area of the array thereby blocking or masking the free 3′ end of the capture domain, e.g., pnas, lnas, standard dna probes, hairpin probes, partially double-stranded probes, or complementary sequences. in some embodiments, a free 3′ end of a capture domain of the capture probes included in the second area can be blocked by chemical modification, e.g., addition of an azidomethyl group as a chemically reversible capping moiety such that the capture probes do not include a free 3′ end. blocking or modifying the capture probes in the second area of the array, particularly the free 3′ end of a capture domain of the capture probes prevents the capture of a target analyte, such as a poly(a) tail of a mrna, to the free 3′ end of the capture probes thereby decreasing or eliminating non-specific analyte capture in those areas. fig. 3a shows an exemplary blocking probe 380 bound to a capture domain of a capture probe and fig. 3b shows an exemplary blocking probe bound to a capture domain of a capture probe. the exemplary blocking probe 380 shown in fig. 3a comprises a hairpin structure and a phosphorylated 5′ end 369 that can be ligated to the capture domain of the capture probe 368 in the second area of an array. the blocking probe 380 shown in fig. 3a can optionally include modifications 372 to enhance hybridization. a non-limiting example of an optional modification to enhance hybridization includes the utilization of locked nucleic acids. the 3′ end 374 of the exemplary blocking probe 380 shown in fig. 3a can be chemically blocked to prevent extension by polymerases. a non-limiting example of chemical blocking group is an azidomethyl group, which when added to a 3′ end of the blocking probe prevents extension of the 3′ end of the blocking probe. fig. 3b shows another example of a blocking probe including a partially double-stranded structure. the example blocking probe shown in fig. 3b can have a phosphorylated 5′ end 369 that can be ligated to the 3′ end of the capture domain of the capture probe 368 in the second area of an array. a 3′ end 374 a and/or 374 b of the exemplary blocking probe shown in fig. 3b can be chemically blocked to prevent extension by polymerases. a non-limiting example of a chemical blocking group is an azidomethyl group. in some embodiments, the blocking probe can be substantially complementary to about 5 to about 150 nucleotides (e.g., about 5 nucleotides to about 140 nucleotides, about 5 nucleotides to about 120 nucleotides, about 5 nucleotides to about 100 nucleotides, about 5 nucleotides to about 80 nucleotides, about 5 nucleotides to about 60 nucleotides, about 5 nucleotides to about 40 nucleotides, about 5 nucleotides to about 20 nucleotides, about 5 nucleotides to about 15 nucleotides, about 10 nucleotides to about 150 nucleotides, about 10 nucleotides to about 120 nucleotides, about 10 nucleotides to about 100 nucleotides, about 10 nucleotides to about 80 nucleotides, about 10 nucleotides to about 60 nucleotides, about 10 nucleotides to about 40 nucleotides, about 10 nucleotides to about 20 nucleotides, about 20 nucleotides to about 150 nucleotides, about 20 nucleotides to about 120 nucleotides, about 20 nucleotides to about 100 nucleotides, about 20 nucleotides to about 80 nucleotides, about 20 nucleotides to about 60 nucleotides, about 20 nucleotides to about 40 nucleotides, about 20 nucleotides to about 30 nucleotides, about 40 nucleotides to about 150 nucleotides, about 40 nucleotides to about 120 nucleotides, about 40 nucleotides to about 100 nucleotides, about 40 nucleotides to about 80 nucleotides, about 40 nucleotides to about 60 nucleotides, about 60 nucleotides to about 150 nucleotides, about 60 nucleotides to about 120 nucleotides, about 60 nucleotides to about 100 nucleotides, about 60 nucleotides to about 80 nucleotides, about 80 nucleotides to about 150 nucleotides, about 80 nucleotides to about 120 nucleotides, about 80 nucleotides to about 100 nucleotides, about 100 nucleotides to about 150 nucleotides, or about 100 nucleotides to about 130 nucleotides), of the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area and/or the capture domain of the capture probe in the first area. fig. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of blocked capture probes in the area of a spatial array that is not under a biological sample, where the block is the hairpin structure of fig. 3a . fig. 4 shows a substrate 460 of an array including a first area 462 covered by a non-permeabilized biological sample 466 and second areas 464 -a and 464 -b. the array comprises a plurality of capture probes 468 . the biological sample 466 includes a target nucleic acid 470 . while two second areas 464 -a and 464 -b are shown in fig. 4 , the methods described herein are not so limited. the first area 462 can include a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes 468 comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain. the one or more second areas 464 -a and 464 -b can comprise a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes 468 comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain. during permeabilization and/or selective permeabilization using any methods discussed herein (e.g., acetone, electrophoresis, selective lysing, etc.) the target nucleic acid 470 can, in some examples, diffuse (indicated by the arrows of fig. 4 ) to the second area(s) 464 -a and 464 -b of the array. the binding of the target nucleic acid 470 to capture domains of capture probes in one or more second areas 464 -a and 464 -b can cause non-specific analyte capture which can result in a waste of resources. to avoid the non-specific analyte capture of the target nucleic acid 470 to the second area(s) 464 -a and 464 -b of the array, blocking probes as described in fig. 3a can be contacted to the second area (optionally in combination with a ligase). contacting the second area(s) 464 -a and 464 -b of the array, and not the first area 462 of the array (because it is protected by the biological sample 466 ), with a solution including a blocking probe, where the blocking probe comprises a sequence that binds specifically to the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area(s) 464 -a and 464 -b of the array prevent(s) analyte capture of the target nucleic acid to the second area(s) 464 -a and 464 -b of the array. a blocking probe of fig. 3b could also be used in fig. 4 , however this is not shown. contacting the second area of the array with a solution comprising a blocking probe. in some embodiments, the solution comprising one or more blocking probes is added automatically (e.g., by a device e.g., a robot) or manually (e.g., by pipetting) to the second area of the array. in some embodiments, the solution comprising a blocking probe is added dropwise by a pipette. in some embodiments, the solution comprising a blocking probe is added to contact all or a portion of the second area of the array. in some embodiments, the solution comprising a blocking probe is added to all or a portion of a surface of the non-permeabilized biological sample that is not facing or contacting the array. in some embodiments, the solution comprising the blocking probe is added to the whole array. in some embodiments, the solution is added vertically above the second area of the array. in some embodiments, the solution is present in liquid form, such that the second area is covered by the solution. in alternative embodiments, the blocking probe is contacted to the second area in a gel form. in some embodiments, the solution including the blocking probe can include a ligase. non-limiting examples of suitable ligases include tth dna ligase, taq dna ligase, thermococcus sp. (strain 9on) dna ligase (9ontm dna ligase, new england biolabs), ampligasetni (available from lucigen®, middleton, wis.), and splintr (available from new england biolabs®, ipswich, mass.). in some embodiments, the concentration of the blocking probe in the solution is at least about 0.01 μm to about 50 μm, (e.g., about 0.01 μm to about 45 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 40 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 35 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 30 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 25 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 20 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 15 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 10 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 5 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 2 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 1 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 0.5 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 0.2 μm, about 0.01 μm to about 0.1 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 50 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 45 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 40 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 35 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 30 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 25 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 20 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 15 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 10 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 5 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 2 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 1 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 0.5 μm, about 0.1 μm to about 0.2 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 50 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 45 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 40 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 35 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 30 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 25 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 20 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 15 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 10 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 5 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 2 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 1 μm, about 0.2 μm to about 0.5 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 50 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 45 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 40 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 35 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 30 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 25 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 20 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 15 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 10 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 5 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 2 μm, about 0.5 μm to about 1 μm, about 1 μm to about 50 μm, about 1 μm to about 45 μm, about 1 μm to about 40 μm, about 1 μm to about 35 μm, about 1 μm to about 30 μm, about 1 μm to about 25 μm, about 1 μm to about 20 μm, about 1 μm to about 15 μm, about 1 μm to about 10 μm, about 1 μm to about 5 μm, about 1 μm to about 2 μm, about 2 μm to about 50 μm, about 2 μm to about 45 μm, about 2 μm to about 40 μm, about 2 μm to about 35 μm, about 2 μm to about 30 μm, about 2 μm to about 25 μm, about 2 μm to about 20 μm, about 2 μm to about 15 μm, about 2 μm to about 10 μm, about 2 μm to about 5 μm, about 5 μm to about 50 μm, about 5 μm to about 45 μm, about 5 μm to about 40 μm, about 5 μm to about 35 μm, about 5 μm to about 30 μm, about 5 μm to about 25 μm, about 5 μm to about 20 μm, about 5 μm to about 15 μm, about 5 μm to about 10 μm, about 10 μm to about 50 μm, about 10 μm to about 45 μm, about 10 μm to about 40 μm, about 10 μm to about 35 μm, about 10 μm to about 30 μm, about 10 μm to about 25 μm, about 10 μm to about 20 μm, about 10 μm to about 15 μm, about 15 μm to about 50 μm, about 15 μm to about 45 μm, about 15 μm to about 40 μm, about 15 μm to about 35 μm, about 15 μm to about 30 μm, about 15 μm to about 25 μm, about 15 μm to about 20 μm, about 20 μm to about 50 μm, about 20 μm to about 45 μm, about 20 μm to about 40 μm, about 20 μm to about 35 μm, about 20 μm to about 30 μm, about 20 μm to about 25 μm, about 25 μm to about 50 μm, about 25 μm to about 45 μm, about 25 μm to about 40 μm, about 25 μm to about 35 μm, about 25 μm to about 30 μm, about 30 μm to about 50 μm, about 30 μm to about 45 μm, about 30 μm to about 40 μm, about 30 μm to about 35 μm, about 35 μm to about 50 μm, about 35 μm to about 45 μm, about 35 μm to about 40 μm, about 40 μm to about 50 μm, about 40 μm to about 45 μm, or about 45 μm to about 50 μm). in some embodiments, the second area of the array can be contacted by the solution for, e.g., about 5 minutes to about 1 hour, about 5 minutes to about 50 minutes, about 5 minutes to about 40 minutes, about 5 minutes to about 30 minutes, about 5 minutes to about 20 minutes, about 5 minutes to about 10 minutes, about 10 minutes to about 1 hour, about 10 minutes to about 50 minutes, about 10 minutes to about 40 minutes, about 10 minutes to about 30 minutes, about 10 minutes to about 20 minutes, about 20 minutes to about 1 hour, about 20 minutes to about 50 minutes, about 20 minutes to about 40 minutes, about 20 minutes to about 30 minutes, about 30 minutes to about 1 hour, about 30 minutes to about 50 minutes, about 30 minutes to about 40 minutes, about 40 minutes to about 1 hour, about 40 minutes to about 50 minutes, or about 50 minutes to about 1 hour, at a temperature of about 4° c. to about 35° c., about 4° c. to about 30° c., about 4° c. to about 25° c., about 4° c. to about 20° c., about 4° c. to about 15° c., about 4° c. to about 10° c., about 10° c. to about 35° c., about 10° c. to about 30° c., about 10° c. to about 25° c., about 10° c. to about 20° c., about 10° c. to about 15° c., about 15° c. to about 35° c., about 15° c. to about 30° c., about 15° c. to about 25° c., about 15° c. to about 20° c., about 20° c. to about 35° c., about 20° c. to about 30° c., about 20° c. to about 25° c., about 25° c. to about 35° c., about 25° c. to about 30° c., or about 30° c. to about 35° c. removing the blocking probe from the second area of the array in some embodiments, the solution comprising one or more blocking probes is removed by pipetting. in some embodiments, the blocking probe is removed by wicking (e.g., by an absorption paper). in some embodiments, the blocking probe is removed by washing (e.g., using a wash buffer). in some embodiments, a wash buffer can be added to contact the first and/or second area of the array then removed by pipetting, wicking, or other methods known in the art. in some embodiments, a combination of removing methods can be used. in some embodiments, contacting and removing steps can be repeated (e.g., at least 2 times, 3 times, 4 times, or greater). in some embodiments, a drying step can be performed after washing (e.g., air dry). in some embodiments, the wash buffer is added automatically (e.g., by a robot) or manually (e.g., by pipetting). in some embodiments, the wash buffer is added vertically above the array. in some embodiments, the wash buffer is added vertically above the second area of the array. in some embodiments, the wash buffer is added dropwise by a pipette. in some embodiments, the wash buffer is added to contact all or a portion of the second area of the array. in some embodiments, the wash buffer is added to all or a portion of a surface of the non-permeabilized biological sample that is not facing or contacting the array. in some embodiments, a wash buffer is added to the whole array including the first and second areas. in some embodiments, the washing buffer is 1x te buffer, 1x tae buffer, 1x tbe buffer, or pbs. in some embodiments, the wash buffer contains a buffer (e.g., tris, mops, hepes, mes, or any other buffer known in the art), chelating agents (e.g., ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (edta)), and/or metal ions (e.g., mg 2 +). in some embodiments, the wash buffer can have a ph that is about 5.0, about 5.5, about 6.0, about 6.5, about 7.0, about 7.5, about 8.0, about 8.5, about 9.0, about 9.5, or about 10.0, or about 5.0 to 5.5, about 5.5 to 6.0, about 6.0 to 6.5, about 6.5 to 7.0, about 7.0 to 7.5, about 7.5 to 8.0, about 8.0 to 8.5, about 8.5 to 9.0, about 9.0 to 9.5, or about 9.5 to 10.0. in some embodiments, the second area of the array is contacted by the wash buffer for about 5 seconds to about 1 hour, about 5 seconds to about 50 minutes, about 5 seconds to about 40 minutes, about 5 seconds to about 30 minutes, about 5 seconds to about 20 minutes, about 5 seconds to about 10 minutes, about 5 seconds to about 5 minutes, about 5 seconds to about 1 minute, about 5 seconds to about 30 seconds, about 5 seconds to about 10 seconds, about 10 seconds to about 1 hour, about 10 seconds to about 50 minutes, about 10 seconds to about 40 minutes, about 10 seconds to about 30 minutes, about 10 seconds to about 20 minutes, about 10 seconds to about 10 minutes, about 10 seconds to about 5 minutes, about 10 seconds to about 1 minute, about 10 seconds to about 30 seconds, about 30 seconds to about 1 hour, about 30 seconds to about 50 minutes, about 30 seconds to about 40 minutes, about 30 seconds to about 30 minutes, about 30 seconds to about 20 minutes, about 30 seconds to about 10 minutes, about 30 seconds to about 5 minutes, about 30 seconds to about 1 minute, about 1 minute to about 1 hour, about 1 minute to about 50 minutes, about 1 minute to about 40 minutes, about 1 minute to about 30 minutes, about 1 minute to about 20 minutes, about 1 minute to about 10 minutes, about 1 minute to about 5 minutes, about 5 minutes to about 1 hour, about 5 minutes to about 50 minutes, about 5 minutes to about 40 minutes, about 5 minutes to about 30 minutes, about 5 minutes to about 20 minutes, about 5 minutes to about 10 minutes, about 10 minutes to about 1 hour, about 10 minutes to about 50 minutes, about 10 minutes to about 40 minutes, about 10 minutes to about 30 minutes, about 10 minutes to about 20 minutes, about 20 minutes to about 1 hour, about 20 minutes to about 50 minutes, about 20 minutes to about 40 minutes, about 20 minutes to about 30 minutes, about 30 minutes to about 1 hour, about 30 minutes to about 50 minutes, about 30 minutes to about 40 minutes, about 40 minutes to about 1 hour, about 40 minutes to about 50 minutes, or about 50 minutes to about 1 hour, at a temperature of about 4° c. to about 35° c., about 4° c. to about 30° c., about 4° c. to about 25° c., about 4° c. to about 20° c., about 4° c. to about 15° c., about 4° c. to about 10° c., about 10° c. to about 35° c. to about 10° c. to about 30° c., about 10° c. to about 25° c., about 10° c. to about 20° c., about 10° c. to about 15° c., about 15° c. to about 35° c., about 15° c. to about 30° c., about 15° c. to about 25° c., about 15° c. to about 20° c., about 20° c. to about 35° c., about 20° c. to about 30° c., about 20° to about 25° c., about 25° c. to about 35° c., about 25° c. to about 30° c., or about 30° c. to about 35° c. in some embodiments, the solution comprising the blocking probe contains a gel precursor material (e.g., polyacrylamide) and the blocking probe is removed by first adding a solution comprising a cross-linking agent (e.g., aps/temed) to polymerize or gel the precursor material, followed by separating the formed gel from the second area of the array. in some embodiments, the solution comprising the blocking probe is present as a gel, and the gel can be removed by separating the gel from the second area of the array. in some embodiments, the blocking probe is linked to a magnetic bead (or a magnetic particle, or other magnetic substance thereof) and the blocking probe can be removed by applying a magnetic field. fig. 5 shows a schematic of an exemplary workflow utilizing blocking probes. in step 590 , the example workflow places the non-permeabilized biological sample on a first area of the array containing capture probes. in step 592 , the non-permeabilized biological sample is fixed and/or stained. for example, a sample can be fixed via immersion in ethanol, methanol, acetone, formaldehyde, formalin, paraformaldehyde-triton, glutaraldehyde, glutaraldehyde, or any combination thereof in some embodiments, the non-permeabilized biological sample can be stained. in some embodiments, the staining includes optical labels as described herein, including, but not limited to, fluorescent (e.g., fluorophore), radioactive (e.g., radioisotope), chemiluminescent (e.g., a chemiluminescent compound), a bioluminescent compound, calorimetric, or colorimetric detectable labels. in some embodiments, the staining includes a fluorescent antibody directed to a target analyte (e.g., cell surface or intracellular proteins) in the biological sample. in some embodiments, the staining includes an immunohistochemistry stain directed to a target analyte (e.g., cell surface or intracellular proteins) in the biological sample. in some embodiments, the staining includes a chemical stain, such as hematoxylin and eosin (h&e) or periodic acid-schiff (pas). in some embodiments, staining the biological sample comprises the use of a biological stain including, but not limited to, acridine orange, bismarck brown, carmine, coomassie blue, cresyl violet, dapi, eosin, ethidium bromide, acid fuchsine, hematoxylin, hoechst stains, iodine, methyl green, methylene blue, neutral red, nile blue, nile red, osmium tetroxide, propidium iodide, rhodamine, safranin, or any combination thereof. in some embodiments, significant time (e.g., days, months, or years) can elapse between staining and/or imaging the biological sample. in step 594 , the example workflow blocks capture probes in the second area (e.g., not directly under the non-permeabilized biological sample) using a solution comprising a blocking probe. in some embodiments, the blocking probes can be ligated to the capture probes in the second area of the array (e.g., the area not directly under the biological sample). in step 596 , the workflow washes excess solution comprising blocking probes from the array. as mentioned herein, the solution comprising the blocking probes can be removed from the array using any of the exemplary methods described herein. for example, in some embodiments, the solution comprising a blocking probe is removed by pipetting. in some embodiments, the blocking probe is removed by wicking (e.g., by an absorption paper). in some embodiments, the blocking probe is removed by washing (e.g., using a wash buffer). in some embodiments, the wash buffer can be added to contact the second area of the array then removed by pipetting, wicking, or other methods known in the art. in step 597 , the example workflow permeabilized the biological sample. in general, a biological sample can be permeabilized by exposing the sample to one or more permeabilizing agents described herein. in step 598 , the example workflow describes analyte analysis which happens after the target nucleic acid is captured by the capture probes inferior to the biological sample on the array. for example, spatial analysis of the captured target nucleotides can be performed by determining (i) a sequence corresponding to the spatial barcode sequences of the capture probes in the first area, or a complement thereof, and (ii) a sequence corresponding to a nucleic acid analyte, or a complement thereof, in the first area. the determination of the sequences of (i) and (ii) allows for the determination of the spatial location of the nucleic acid analyte in the biological sample. kits also provided herein are kits that include an array (e.g., any of the arrays described herein) comprising a plurality of capture probes (e.g., any of the capture probes described herein), where a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode (e.g., any of the spatial barcodes described herein) and a capture domain (e.g., any of the capture domains described herein); and a solution comprising a blocking probe (e.g., any of the blocking probes described herein), where the blocking probe comprises a sequence that binds specifically to the capture domain of the capture probe. in some embodiments, the kit can further comprise one or more fixative(s) (e.g., any of the fixatives described herein) to fix the biological sample and/or preserve the structure of the biological sample. non-limiting examples of a fixative include ethanol, methanol, acetone, formaldehyde (e.g., 2 % formaldehyde), formalin, paraformaldehyde-triton, glutaraldehyde, or any combination thereof. in some embodiments, the kit can further include one or more biological stain(s) (e.g., any of the biological stains as described herein). for example, the kit can further comprise eosin and hematoxylin. in other examples, the kit can include a biological stain selected from the group consisting of acridine orange, bismarck brown, carmine, coomassie blue, cresyl violet, dapi, eosin, ethidium bromide, acid fuchsine, hematoxylin, hoechst stains, iodine, methyl green, methylene blue, neutral red, nile blue, nile red, osmium tetroxide, propidium iodide, rhodamine, safranin, or any combination thereof. in some embodiments, the kit can further comprise one or more permeabilization reagent(s) (e.g., any of the permeabilization reagents described herein). for example, the kit can include one or more permeabilization reagent(s) selected from the group consisting of an organic solvent, a cross-linking agent, a detergent, an enzyme, or any combination thereof. in some embodiments, the kit can further include an enzyme. for example, in some embodiments, the kit can further include a reverse transcriptase. in other embodiments, the kit can further include a dna polymerase. for example, in some embodiments, the kit can further include a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase. in some embodiments, the kit can further include an oligonucleotide. for example, in some embodiments, the kit can include a template switching oligonucleotide. in some embodiments, the kit can further include a second strand primer. in some embodiments, the kit can further include a fragmentation buffer and a fragmentation enzyme. in some embodiments, the kit can further include a dna ligase. in some examples, the dna ligase is a t4 dna ligase or any of the other exemplary dna ligases described herein. in some embodiments, the kit can further include one or more adaptors. in some examples, the one or more adaptor(s) is/are selected from the group of an i5 sample index sequence, an i7 sample index sequence, a p5 sequence platform sequence, a p7 sequence platform sequence, or any combinations thereof. compositions also provided herein are compositions comprising an array (e.g., any of the arrays described herein e.g., a bead array or a slide) having a first area (e.g., any of the first areas described herein), where the array comprises a plurality of capture probes (e.g., any of the capture probes described herein), where: the first area comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode (e.g., any of the spatial barcodes described herein) and a capture domain (e.g., any of the capture domains described herein) specifically bound to a target analyte (e.g., any of the target analytes described herein) from the biological sample; and a second area (e.g., any of the second areas described herein) of the array comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain specifically bound to a blocking probe, and the second area is adjacent to the biological sample disposed on the array. in some embodiments, the 3′ end of the blocking probe is substantially complementary to about 5 to about 100 nucleotides (or any of the subranges of this range described herein) of the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area. non-limiting examples of blocking probes include single-stranded blocking probes, and partially double-stranded blocking probes. in some examples, a 5′ end of the blocking probe is phosphorylated. in some examples, the blocking probe is ligated to a 3′ end of the capture probe in the second area. in some embodiments, a 3′ end of the blocking probe is chemically blocked. for example, in some embodiments, the chemical block is an azidomethyl group. in some embodiments, the blocking probe includes a hairpin structure. in some examples, the blocking probe includes a hairpin structure. in some examples, the blocking probe includes a locked nucleic acid. in some embodiments, the biological sample is a tissue sample (e.g., a tissue section). in some embodiments, the biological sample is a clinical sample (e.g., whole blood, blood-derived products, blood cells, cultured tissue, cultured cells, a cell suspension, or any combination thereof). in some embodiments, the biological sample is an organoid, embryonic stem cells, pluripotent stem cells, or any combination thereof. non-limiting examples of organoids include a cerebral organoid, an intestinal organoid, a stomach organoid, a lingual organoid, a thyroid organoid, a thymic organoid, a testicular organoid, a hepatic organoid, a pancreatic organoid, an epithelial organoid, a lung organoid, a kidney organoid, a gastruloid, a cardiac organoid, a retinal organoid, or any combination thereof. in some embodiments, the biological sample includes diseased cells, fetal cells, immune cells, cellular macromolecules, organelles, extracellular polynucleotides, or any combination thereof in some embodiments of any of the compositions described herein, the target analyte is dna (e.g., genomic dna). in some embodiments of any of the compositions described herein, the target analyte is rna (e.g., mrna). embodiments embodiment 1 is a method for determining a location of a target nucleic acid in a biological sample, the method comprising: (a) disposing a non-permeabilized biological sample onto an array at a first area, wherein the array comprises a plurality of capture probes, wherein: the first area comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain; and a second area of the array comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain, and the second area is adjacent to the biological sample disposed on the array; (b) contacting the second area of the array with a solution comprising a blocking probe, wherein the blocking probe comprises a sequence that binds specifically to the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area of the array; (c) removing residual solution comprising the blocking probe from the second area of the array; (d) permeabilizing the biological sample, such that the capture domain of the capture probe of the first area of the array binds specifically to the target nucleic acid; and (e) determining (i) all or a portion of a sequence corresponding to the spatial barcode of the capture probe of the first area of the array, or a complement thereof, and (ii) all or a portion of a sequence corresponding to the target nucleic acid, or a complement thereof, and using the sequences of (i) and (ii) to determine the location of the target nucleic acid in the biological sample. embodiment 2 is the method of embodiment 1, wherein a 3′ end of the blocking probe is substantially complementary to about 5 to 100 nucleotides of the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area. embodiment 3 is the method of embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the blocking probe is single-stranded. embodiment 4 is the method of embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the blocking probe is partially double-stranded. embodiment 5 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-4, wherein a 5′ end of the blocking probe is phosphorylated. embodiment 6 is the method of embodiment 5, wherein step (b) further comprises ligating the 5′ end of the blocking probe to a 3′ end of the capture probe in the second area. embodiment 7 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-6, wherein a 3′ end of the blocking probe is chemically blocked. embodiment 8 is the method of embodiment 7, wherein the chemical block is an azidomethyl group. embodiment 9 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-8, wherein the blocking probe comprises a hairpin structure. embodiment 10 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-9, wherein the blocking probe comprises a locked nucleic acid. embodiment 11 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-10, wherein the non-permeabilized biological sample is fixed and/or stained prior to step (a). embodiment 12 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-10, wherein the method further comprises, between steps (a) and (b), fixing and/or staining the biological sample. embodiment 13 is the method of embodiment 11 or 12, wherein the step of fixing the biological sample comprises the use of a fixative selected from the group consisting of ethanol, methanol, acetone, formaldehyde, paraformaldehyde-triton, glutaraldehyde, and combinations thereof. embodiment 14 is the method of any one of embodiments 11-13, wherein the step of staining the biological sample comprises the use of a biological stain selected from the group consisting of: acridine orange, bismarck brown, carmine, coomassie blue, cresyl violet, dapi, eosin, ethidium bromide, acid fuchsine, hematoxylin, hoechst stains, iodine, methyl green, methylene blue, neutral red, nile blue, nile red, osmium tetroxide, propidium iodide, rhodamine, safranin, and combinations thereof. embodiment 15 is the method of embodiment 14, wherein the step of staining the biological sample comprises the use of eosin and hematoxylin. embodiment 16 is the method of any one of embodiments 11-13, wherein the step of staining the biological sample comprises the use of a detectable label selected from the group consisting of a radioisotope, a fluorophore, a chemiluminescent compound, a bioluminescent compound, or a combination thereof. embodiment 17 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-16, wherein the biological sample is a tissue sample. embodiment 18 is the method of embodiment 17, wherein the tissue sample is a tissue section. embodiment 19 is the method of embodiment 18, wherein the tissue section is a fresh, frozen tissue section. embodiment 20 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-19, wherein the biological sample is a clinical sample. embodiment 21 is the method of embodiment 20, wherein the clinical sample is selected from the group consisting of whole blood, blood-derived products, blood cells, and combinations thereof. embodiment 22 is the method of embodiment 20, wherein the clinical sample is a cultured tissue. embodiment 23 is the method of embodiment 20, wherein the clinical sample is cultured cells. embodiment 24 is the method of embodiment 20, wherein the clinical sample is a cell suspension. embodiment 25 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-16, wherein the biological sample is an organoid, embryonic stem cells, pluripotent stem cells, and combinations thereof. embodiment 26 is the method of embodiment 25, wherein the organoid is selected from the group consisting of a cerebral organoid, an intestinal organoid, a stomach organoid, a lingual organoid, a thyroid organoid, a thymic organoid, a testicular organoid, a hepatic organoid, a pancreatic organoid, an epithelial organoid, a lung organoid, a kidney organoid, a gastruloid, a cardiac organoid, a retinal organoid, and combinations thereof. embodiment 27 is the method any one of embodiments 1-16, wherein the biological sample includes diseased cells, fetal cells, immune cells, cellular macromolecules, organelles, extracellular polynucleotides, and combinations thereof. embodiment 28 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-27, wherein the removing in step (c) comprises washing. embodiment 29 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-28, wherein the array comprises a slide. embodiment 30 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-28, wherein the array is a bead array. embodiment 31 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-30, wherein the determining in step (e) comprises sequencing (i) all or a portion of the sequence corresponding to the spatial barcode of the capture probe of the first area of the array, or a complement thereof, and (ii) all or a portion of the sequence corresponding to the target nucleic acid, or a complement thereof. embodiment 32 is the method of embodiment 31, wherein the sequencing is high throughput sequencing. embodiment 33 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-32, wherein the determining in step (e) comprises extending a 3′ end of the capture probe of the first area of the array using the target nucleic acid as a template. embodiment 34 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-33, wherein the target analyte is dna. embodiment 35 is the method of embodiment 34, wherein the dna is genomic dna. embodiment 36 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-33, wherein the target analyte is rna. embodiment 37 is the method of embodiment 36, wherein the rna is mrna. embodiment 38 is the method of any one of embodiments 1-37, wherein the method further comprises imaging the biological sample after step (a). embodiment 39 is a method for determining a location of a target analyte in a biological sample, the method comprising: (a) disposing a non-permeabilized biological sample onto an array at a first area, wherein the array comprises a plurality of capture probes, wherein: the first area comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain that binds specifically to the analyte capture sequence; and a second area comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain, the second area of which is adjacent to the biological sample disposed on the array; (b) contacting a plurality of analyte capture agents with the non-permeabilized biological sample, wherein an analyte capture agent of the plurality of analyte capture agents comprises an analyte binding moiety barcode, an analyte capture sequence, and an analyte binding moiety that binds specifically to the target analyte; (c) contacting the second area of the array with a solution comprising a blocking probe, wherein the blocking probe comprises a sequence that binds specifically to the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area of the array; (d) removing residual solution comprising the blocking probe from the second area of the array; (e) permeabilizing the biological sample, such that the capture domain of the capture probe of the first area of the array binds specifically to the analyte capture sequence; and (f) determining (i) all or a portion of a sequence corresponding to the spatial barcode of the capture probe in the first area of the array, or a complement thereof, and (ii) all or a portion of a sequence corresponding to the analyte binding moiety barcode, or a complement thereof, and using the sequences of (i) and (ii) to determine the location of the target analyte in the biological sample. embodiment 40 is the method of embodiment 39, wherein a 3′ end of the blocking probe is substantially complementary to about 5 to 100 nucleotides of the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area. embodiment 41 is the method of embodiment 39 or 40, wherein the blocking probe is single-stranded. embodiment 42 is the method of embodiment 39 or 40, wherein the blocking probe is partially double-stranded. embodiment 43 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-42, wherein a 5′ end of the blocking probe is phosphorylated. embodiment 44 is the method of embodiment 43, wherein step (c) further comprises ligating the 5′ end of the blocking probe to a 3′ end of the capture probe in the second area. embodiment 45 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-44, wherein a 3′ end of the blocking probe is chemically blocked. embodiment 46 is the method of embodiment 45, wherein the chemical block is an azidomethyl group. embodiment 47 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-46, wherein the blocking probe comprises a hairpin structure. embodiment 48 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-47, wherein the blocking probe comprises a locked nucleic acid. embodiment 49 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-48, wherein the biological sample is fixed and/or stained prior to step (a). embodiment 50 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-48, wherein the method further comprises, between steps (b) and (c), fixing and/or staining the biological sample. embodiment 51 is the method of embodiment 49 or 50, wherein the step of fixing the biological sample comprises the use of a fixative selected from the group consisting of ethanol, methanol, acetone, formaldehyde, paraformaldehyde-triton, glutaraldehyde, and combinations thereof. embodiment 52 is the method of any one of embodiments 49-51, wherein the step of staining the biological sample comprises the use of a biological stain selected from the group consisting of: acridine orange, bismarck brown, carmine, coomassie blue, cresyl violet, dapi, eosin, ethidium bromide, acid fuchsine, hematoxylin, hoechst stains, iodine, methyl green, methylene blue, neutral red, nile blue, nile red, osmium tetroxide, propidium iodide, rhodamine, safranin, and combinations thereof. embodiment 53 is the method of embodiment 52, wherein the step of staining the biological sample comprises the use of eosin and hematoxylin. embodiment 54 is the method of any one of embodiments 49-53, wherein the step of staining the biological sample comprises the use of a detectable label selected from the group consisting of a radioisotope, a fluorophore, a chemiluminescent compound, a bioluminescent compound, or a combination thereof. embodiment 55 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-54, wherein the biological sample is a tissue sample. embodiment 56 is the method of embodiment 55, wherein the tissue sample is a tissue section. embodiment 57 is the method of embodiment 56, wherein the tissue section is a fresh, frozen tissue section. embodiment 58 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-54, wherein the biological sample is a clinical sample. embodiment 59 is the method of embodiment 58, wherein the clinical sample is selected from the group consisting of whole blood, blood-derived products, blood cells, and combinations thereof. embodiment 60 is the method of embodiment 58, wherein the clinical sample is a cultured tissue. embodiment 61 is the method of embodiment 58, wherein the clinical sample is cultured cells. embodiment 62 is the method of embodiment 58, wherein the clinical sample is a cell suspension. embodiment 63 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-54, wherein the biological sample is an organoid, embryonic stem cells, pluripotent stem cells, and combinations thereof. embodiment 64 is the method of embodiment 63, wherein the organoid is selected from the group consisting of a cerebral organoid, an intestinal organoid, a stomach organoid, a lingual organoid, a thyroid organoid, a thymic organoid, a testicular organoid, a hepatic organoid, a pancreatic organoid, an epithelial organoid, a lung organoid, a kidney organoid, a gastruloid, a cardiac organoid, a retinal organoid, and combinations thereof. embodiment 65 is the method any one of embodiments 39-54, wherein the biological sample includes diseased cells, fetal cells, immune cells, cellular macromolecules, organelles, extracellular polynucleotides, and combinations thereof. embodiment 66 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-65, wherein the removing in step (d) comprises washing. embodiment 67 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-66, wherein the array comprises a slide. embodiment 68 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-66, wherein the array is a bead array. embodiment 69 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-68, wherein the determining in step (f) comprises sequencing (i) all or a portion of the sequence corresponding to the spatial barcode of the capture probe in the first area of the array, or a complement thereof, and (ii) all or a portion of the sequence corresponding to the analyte binding moiety barcode, or a complement thereof. embodiment 70 is the method of embodiment 69, wherein the sequencing is high throughput sequencing. embodiment 71 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-70, wherein the determining in step (f) comprises extending a 3′ end of the capture probe of the first area of the array using the analyte binding moiety barcode as a template. embodiment 72 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-71, wherein the target analyte is a protein. embodiment 73 is the method of embodiment 72, wherein the protein is an intracellular protein. embodiment 74 is the method of embodiment 72, wherein the protein is an extracellular protein. embodiment 75 is the method of any one of embodiments 72-74, wherein the analyte binding moiety is an antibody or an antigen-binding moiety thereof. embodiment 76 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-75, wherein steps (a) and (b) are performed at substantially the same time. embodiment 77 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-75, wherein step (a) is performed before step (b). embodiment 78 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-75, wherein step (b) is performed before step (a). embodiment 79 is the method of any one of embodiments 39-78, wherein the method further comprises imaging the biological sample after step (b). embodiment 80 is a kit comprising: an array comprising a plurality of capture probes, wherein a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprises a spatial barcode and a capture domain; and a solution comprising a blocking probe, wherein the blocking probe comprises a sequence that binds specifically to the capture domain of the capture probe. embodiment 81 is the kit of embodiment 80, further comprising one or more fixative(s). embodiment 82 is the kit of embodiment 80 or 81, further comprising one or more biological stains. embodiment 83 is the kit of embodiment 82, wherein the one or more biological stains comprises hematoxylin and eosin. embodiment 84. the kit of any one of embodiments 80-83, further comprising one or more permeabilization reagent(s). embodiment 85. the kit of embodiment 84, wherein the one or more permeabilization reagent(s) is selected from the group consisting of an organic solvent, a cross-linking agent, a detergent, an enzyme, and combinations thereof. embodiment 86 is the kit of any one of embodiments 80-85, further comprising a reverse transcriptase. embodiment 87 is the kit of any one of embodiments 80-86, further comprising a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase. embodiment 88 is the kit of any one of embodiments 80-87, further comprising a template switching oligonucleotide. embodiment 89 is the kit of any one of embodiments 80-88, further comprising a dna polymerase. embodiment 90 is the kit of any one of embodiments 80-89, further comprising a second strand primer. embodiment 91 is the kit of any one of embodiments 80-90, further comprising a fragmentation buffer and a fragmentation enzyme. embodiment 92 is the kit of any one of embodiments 80-91, further comprising a dna ligase. embodiment 93 is the kit of embodiment 92, wherein the dna ligase is a t4 dna ligase. embodiment 94 is the kit of any one of embodiments 80-93, further comprising one or more adaptor(s). embodiment 95 is the kit of embodiment 94, wherein the one or more adaptor(s) is/are selected from the group consisting of an i5 sample index sequence, an i7 sample index sequence, a p5 sample index sequence, a p7 sample index sequence, and combinations thereof. embodiment 96 is a composition comprising an array having a first area, wherein the array comprises a plurality of capture probes, wherein: the first area comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain specifically bound to a target analyte from the biological sample; and a second area of the array comprises a capture probe of the plurality of capture probes comprising a spatial barcode and a capture domain specifically bound to a blocking probe, and the second area is adjacent to the biological sample disposed on the array. embodiment 97 is the composition of embodiment 96, wherein a 3′ end of the blocking probe is substantially complementary to about 5 to 100 nucleotides of the capture domain of the capture probe in the second area. embodiment 98 is the composition of embodiment 96 or 97, wherein the blocking probe is single-stranded. embodiment 99 is the composition of embodiment 96 or 97, wherein the blocking probe is partially double-stranded. embodiment 100 is the composition of any one of embodiments 96-99, wherein the blocking probe is ligated to a 3′ end of the capture probe in the second area. embodiment 101 is the composition of any one of embodiments 96-100, wherein a 3′ end of the blocking probe is chemically blocked. embodiment 102 is the composition of embodiment 101, wherein the chemical block is an azidomethyl group. embodiment 103 is the composition of any one of embodiments 96-102, wherein the blocking probe comprises a hairpin structure. embodiment 104 is the composition of any one of embodiments 96-103, wherein the blocking probe comprises a locked nucleic acid. embodiment 105 is the composition of any one of embodiments 96-104, wherein a biological sample is disposed on the first area of the array. embodiment 106 is the method of embodiment 105, wherein the biological sample is a tissue sample. embodiment 107 is the composition of embodiment 106, wherein the tissue sample is a tissue section. embodiment 108 is the composition of any one of embodiments 105-107, wherein the biological sample is a clinical sample. embodiment 109 is the composition of embodiment 108, wherein the clinical sample is selected from the group consisting of whole blood, blood-derived products, blood cells, and combinations thereof. embodiment 110 is the composition of embodiment 108, wherein the clinical sample is a cultured tissue. embodiment 111 is the composition of embodiment 108, wherein the clinical sample is cultured cells. embodiment 112 is the composition of embodiment 108, wherein the clinical sample is a cell suspension. embodiment 113 is the composition of any one of embodiments 105-107, wherein the biological sample is an organoid, embryonic stem cells, pluripotent stem cells, and combinations thereof. embodiment 114 is the composition of embodiment 113, wherein the organoid is selected from the group consisting of a cerebral organoid, an intestinal organoid, a stomach organoid, a lingual organoid, a thyroid organoid, a thymic organoid, a testicular organoid, a hepatic organoid, a pancreatic organoid, an epithelial organoid, a lung organoid, a kidney organoid, a gastruloid, a cardiac organoid, a retinal organoid, and combinations thereof. embodiment 115 is the composition any one of embodiments 105-107, wherein the biological sample includes diseased cells, fetal cells, immune cells, cellular macromolecules, organelles, extracellular polynucleotides, and combinations thereof embodiment 116 is the composition of any one of embodiments 96-115, wherein the array comprises a slide. embodiment 117 is the composition of any one of embodiments 96-115, wherein the array is a bead array. embodiment 118 is the composition of any one of embodiments 96-117, wherein the target analyte is dna. embodiment 119 is the composition of embodiment 118, wherein the dna is genomic dna. embodiment 120 is the composition of any one of embodiments 96-117, wherein the target analyte is rna. embodiment 121 is the composition of embodiment 120, wherein the rna is mrna. other embodiments it is to be understood that while the invention has been described in conjunction with the detailed description thereof, the foregoing description is intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the scope of the appended claims. other aspects, advantages, and modifications are within the scope of the following claims.
050-684-934-922-919	US	[ "US" ]	H01L21/44,H01L21/48,H01L21/50,H05K7/20,H01L21/00,H01L23/10,H01L21/302,H01L21/461,H01L23/367	2007-08-06T00:00:00	2007	[ "H01", "H05" ]	heat sink with thermally compliant beams	a heat dissipating structure includes: a heat spreader; and a plurality of compliant beams attached to the heat spreader. the beams are formed of a high-conductive material such that a maximum stress of each beam is less than a fatigue stress of the high-conductive material; said beams are placed at an angle relative to a chip surface such that the beams are able to exert bending compliance in response to x, y, and z forces exerted upon them. the structure also includes a thermal material interface for bonding said structure to the chip surface. both the heat spreader and the compliant beams can be machined from a copper block. an alternative heat dissipating structure includes compliant beams soldered to the chip surface.	1. a method of producing a heat dissipating structure, the method comprising: shaping a plurality of compliant beams; attaching the plurality of compliant beams to a surface of a heat spreader, wherein the compliant beams are formed of a high-conductive material such that a maximum stress of each compliant beam is less than a fatigue stress of the high-conductive material; and placing the compliant beams in a position such that at least a part of each beam is in a non-perpendicular angle relative to a chip surface such that the compliant beams are able to exert bending compliance in response to x, y, and z forces exerted upon them. 2. the method of claim 1 further comprising: placing the heat spreader under a bearing weight to exert z forces on the compliant beams to bring them into physical contact with the chip surface. 3. the method of claim 1 wherein the placing element comprises: placing the compliant beams at an angle lying between forty-five degrees and eighty-five degrees relative to the chip surface; and wherein a bottom surface of each compliant beam is parallel to the chip surface. 4. the method of claim 1 further comprising: placing solder balls between the heat dissipating structure and the chip surface for bonding said heat dissipating structure to the chip surface.	cross-reference to related applications not applicable. statement regarding federally sponsored-research or development not applicable. incorporation by reference of material submitted on a compact disc not applicable. field of the invention the invention disclosed broadly relates to the field of cooling devices for microelectronic devices, and more particularly relates to the field of compliant thermal heat sinks. background of the invention a heat sink is a device that is attached to a microprocessor chip to keep it from overheating by conducting the heat generated from the chip to the ambient environment which may be air or a liquid coolant. basic heat sink structures include a heat spreader which makes thermal contact with the silicon chip via an interface of a thermally conductive adhesive and a set of fins which provide for conduction of the heat from the chip to the ambient environment. the purpose of the heat spreader is to provide good thermal conduction of heat emanating from the chip area to a larger area of the heat sink. for air cooled heat sinks, the larger area would comprise a plurality of fins which may be made of copper or aluminum to transfer the heat to the ambient air. the thickness and reliability of the thermal interface is determined by a number of factors, including mechanical deformation of the package stack. there are many types of thermal interface materials used, including thermal pastes, liquids, epoxies, and metals. in the case of paste thermal interfaces, changes in the thermal interface gap due to bowing of the chip or spreader can lead to paste pumping and thermal interface failure. in the case of epoxy or metal interfaces the coefficient of thermal expansion (cte) mismatch between the heat spreader and the chip results in stress on the interface which may lead to adhesion failures. the stiffness of the spreader itself can also contribute to internal stresses. most computers or microprocessors sold today will have a heat sink already attached to the chip. this combination of the chip carrier, chip and heat sink is often referred to as the “chip package.” the basic design of a chip package is shown in fig. 1 in which a non-compliant heat spreader 108 makes thermal contact with the chip 104 through a thermal interface material 106 . the chip 104 makes contact with the carrier substrate 102 via solder balls 110 which produce electrical and mechanical connections between the chip 104 and the substrate 102 . in addition, epoxy underfill is used to create a mechanical bond between the chip and the substrate to reduce the mechanical forces on the solder balls 110 . there are a number of stresses induced on the thermal interface 106 as a result of the cte mismatch between the heat spreader 106 , the chip 104 and the chip carrier 102 . in some cases the heat spreader may be mechanically attached to the carrier, which can result in bowing of the chip package and generates forces and dimensional changes of the thermal interface gap. currently produced heat sinks fail to provide for the structural stresses and strains generated during the operation of the electronic device. there is a need for a heat spreader which provides high thermal conductivity and compliance in all directions and provides a means to enable thermal conduction while maintaining a very small or zero gap between the chip and heat spreader. summary of the invention briefly, according to embodiments of the present invention, a heat sink structure provides high thermal conductivity and compliance in all directions and enables thermal conduction while maintaining a very small or zero gap between the chip and heat spreader. the low-cost, heat dissipating structure includes: a heat spreader and a plurality of compliant beams attached to the heat spreader. the beams are formed of a high-conductive material such that a maximum stress of each beam is less than a fatigue stress of the high-conductive material. the beams are placed at an angle relative to a chip surface such that the beams are able to exert bending compliance in response to x, y, and z forces exerted upon them. additionally, the structure includes a thermal interface material for bonding the structure to the chip surface. both the heat spreader and the compliant beams can be machined from a copper block. an alternative heat dissipating structure includes the compliant beams soldered to the chip surface. according to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for creating a heat dissipating structure includes: shaping a plurality of compliant beams; attaching the plurality of compliant beams to a surface of a heat spreader, the compliant beams formed of a high-conductive material such that a maximum stress of each compliant beam is less than a fatigue stress of the high-conductive material; and placing the compliant beams at an angle relative to a chip surface such that the compliant beams are able to exert bending compliance in response to any x, y, and z forces exerted upon them. the method also includes placing the heat spreader under a bearing weight to exert z forces on the compliant beams to bring them into physical contact with the chip surface. the compliant beams are placed at an angle lying between forty-five degrees and eighty-five degrees relative to the chip surface. the bottom surface of each compliant beam is parallel to the chip surface. brief description of the drawings to describe the exemplary purposes, aspects, and advantages of the present invention, we use the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which: fig. 1 is an illustration of a basic design of a chip package, according to the known art. fig. 2 a is an illustration of a chip package side view with compliant fingers according to an embodiment of the present invention. fig. 2 b is an illustrative bottom view of the chip package, according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 c is an illustrative view of the chip package including beams with two angles, according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 d is an illustrative view of the chip package including beams with an “s” shape, according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 e is an illustration showing a chip package design from a neutral point; fig. 3 is an illustration of the chip package of fig. 2 showing the bending of the compliant figures under force, according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 4 is an illustration of a chip package with the fingers soldered to the chip, according to another embodiment of the present invention; and fig. 5 is a flow chart of a method for creating a heat dissipating structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. description of the preferred embodiment we describe a novel, low-cost heat sink structure which provides compliance in all directions while maintaining a gap of substantially zero between the chip and heat spreader. compliance is achieved through the use of angled beams. referring now in specific detail to the drawings, and particularly fig. 2 , there is illustrated a block diagram of a chip package with compliant “fingers” 212 according to an embodiment of the invention. to create the fingers a copper alloy or other high conductivity material block is machined to produce compliant “fingers” which contact the chip. the fingers 212 are machined such that they make contact with the chip at an angle relative to the chip surface, providing compliant beams which are able to bend in response to changes in the relative position of the chip 204 to the heat spreader 208 in the x, y, and z directions. the fingers 212 may be fabricated by cutting a solid copper alloy block at an angle in an x-y pattern to a predetermined depth to create fingers or beams which are at an angle in a vertical direction. each beam can move independently to accommodate the difference in cte between the heat sink and chip 204 . in this example, the heat spreader 208 is mechanically attached to the chip carrier 202 by attachments 214 . fins 209 are also shown. the bottoms of the fingers are parallel to the chip surface. fig. 2 b shows a view of the bottom surface of the chip 204 . an angle of sixty degrees could be used, but any angle between forty-five degrees and eighty-five degrees is preferable. beams 212 can be made at a 90 degree angle (perpendicular) to the surface and would provide compliance in the x and y directions; however the beams 212 would need to “buckle” to provide compliance in the z direction. beams 212 may be made of multiple angles and shapes to optimize compliance. for example in fig. 2 c , the beam 212 is made with two angles to provide compliance in the x, y, and z directions. also shown in fig. 2 d , an “s” shape would also provide compliance in the x, y, and z directions. the spacing and angle of the beams 212 may also depend upon the distance from a neutral point of the chip (center of chip) as shown in fig. 2c , in which the springs are symmetric with respect to the neutral point. the springs may be designed to anticipate that changes in the relative displacement will be larger from the neutral point 240 . as shown in fig. 2c , the outermost springs have a longer vertical beam structure to allow for increased compliance in the x and y directions as expected from the relative displacement of the heat spreader 208 and the chip 204 due to the cte mismatch and distance from the neutral point 240 . as shown in fig. 2e , the beams 212 would be designed based upon the distance from the neutral point 240 , to allow for increased compliance as the beams 212 would form a radial pattern. the compliance of the fingers 212 can be used to maintain a thin bondline between the chip surface 204 and the copper spreader 208 . a bondline is best described as an interface between an adhesive and the surface to which it adheres. the material selected for the fingers 212 must also have adequate tensile strength to be able to spring back into its original shape after deformation, when any applied pressure is removed. although the fingers 212 can be produced from any high conductive material with good fatigue properties, for simplicity and clarity the fingers 212 shown in the illustrations are described as beryllium copper beams. beryllium is preferable because it has both qualities of high conductivity and fatigue resistance. there are a variety of thermal interface materials in use today. in the cases where pastes are used as thermal interfaces, the pastes provide compliance in the x, y and z directions between the heat sink and chip surface. however, paste pumping occurs when significant pressure is applied in the z direction to change the gap spacing of the thermal interface, causing the paste to spread out of the area where it was applied. in cases where epoxy or a metal interface is used, compliance may be required in the x, y and z directions (horizontal, diagonal, and vertical, respectively) to reduce the stress on the interface 206 . because they are generally more stiff and inflexible than paste, the epoxy or metal interfaces show significant stress when radial pressure exerts force on the heat sink 216 in the x, y, and z directions or when movement occurs in a radial direction. in an embodiment of the present invention the heat sink 216 may be placed under a load 230 to bear down on the fingers 212 and bring them into physical contact with the surface of the chip 204 . the fingers 212 will support the load bearing weight 230 , with the compliance of each finger 212 providing bending to bring the finger 212 in good contact with the chip surface 204 . to ensure that the fingers 212 do not experience inelastic deformation it is important to design the fingers 212 such that the maximum stress of each beam 212 is below the fatigue stress of beryllium copper (or whatever material is used). referring now to fig. 3 there is illustrated the chip package 200 of fig. 2 a with the compliant fingers 212 in bending compliance due to x, y, and z forces acted upon the heat spreader 208 , according to an embodiment of the present invention. fig. 3 shows how the angled fingers 212 bend yet still maintain good thermal contact with the chip 204 . as is readily apparent, there is virtually no gap between the fingers 212 and the thermal interface 206 , producing an optimal thermally conductive seal. the fingers 212 of fig. 3 show the bending in one direction, depending on the type of force acted upon the heat spreader 208 . referring to fig. 4 there is shown another embodiment of the present invention wherein the fingers 212 are attached directly to the chip surface 204 by soldering. this is an alternative thermal interface. together with the compliant fingers 212 , compliance in multiple directions is achieved to reduce the stress on the thermal interface. in this embodiment additional compliance is achieved with the solder balls 210 . solder pads 211 can also be used. referring to fig. 5 there is shown a flow chart of a method by which the thermally compliant beams 212 are used in a heat sink 216 . the first step 510 is to shape the compliant beams 212 . beryllium copper is the preferred material, but any high conductive, high fatigue resistant material could be substituted for beryllium copper. the beams 212 may be shaped from a solid block of copper or a high conductivity fatigue resistant material. in addition, the heat spreader 208 and the beams 212 may both be shaped from a single of copper or a high conductivity fatigue resistant material to produce a single structure. in step 520 the compliant beams 212 are angled to produce bending compliance in the x, y, and z directions. the beams 212 may have multiple angles. in an alternative embodiment, the beams 212 may be shaped in a serpentine, or “s,” shape. it is important that the beams 212 are shaped so that the bottom surfaces of the beams will lie parallel to the chip surface. next, in step 530 the heat spreader 208 with the compliant beams 212 attached, is placed under a bearing weight to bring the beams 212 into physical contact with the chip surface 204 . the next step 540 is optional. a thermal interface material 210 may be placed between the heat sink 216 and the chip surface 204 so that there is no gap between the two. the thermal interface material 210 may be a thermal paste, solder balls, a sheet of thermally conductive material, or other material suitable for use with a heat sink. from the foregoing, it is readily apparent that by means of the compliant fingers which are formed in the heat sink attachment, there is achieved a reduction in stress, thus contributing to a reduction in deformation during operation of the chip package. therefore, while there have been described what are presently considered to be the preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other modifications can be made within the spirit of the invention.
051-242-620-600-050	US	[ "US", "EP", "CN", "WO" ]	B25B23/145,B21D39/04,B23D17/06,B25B27/10,H01R43/042,B21C51/00,B21J9/18,B21D55/00,G01M99/00	2015-06-15T00:00:00	2015	[ "B25", "B21", "B23", "H01", "G01" ]	hydraulic crimper tool	a power tool system includes a hydraulic power tool. the hydraulic power tool includes a hydraulic drive, a sensor, and a first electronic processor. the sensor is configured to detect an operational parameter of the hydraulic drive during an operation by the hydraulic drive. the first electronic processor is configured to store a plurality of data points based on the operational parameter detected during the operation and send the plurality of data points to an external device. the external device includes a display screen and a second electronic processor configured to receive the plurality of data points from the hydraulic power tool, control the display screen to display an expected data point for the operational parameter for the operation, and control the display screen to display an actual data curve based on the plurality of data points, the actual data curve overlaid on the expected data point.	1. a power tool system comprising: a hydraulic power tool including: a hydraulic drive including a pump and a motor configured to drive the pump, a sensor configured to detect an operational parameter of the hydraulic drive during an operation by the hydraulic drive, and a first electronic processor configured to store a plurality of data points based on the operational parameter detected during the operation, and send, via a transceiver on the hydraulic power tool, the plurality of data points to an external device; and the external device including a display screen; a second electronic processor coupled to the display screen and configured to: receive the plurality of data points from the hydraulic power tool, and control the display screen to display an expected data point for the operational parameter for the operation, control the display screen to display an actual data curve based on the plurality of data points, the actual data curve overlaid on the expected data point, compare the actual data curve with an expected data curve stored in the memory, determine whether the operation of the hydraulic drive was successful in processing a workpiece based on the actual data curve and the expected data curve, and provide an indication of whether the operation of the hydraulic drive was successful in processing the workpiece; wherein the second electronic processor is configured to compare the actual data curve with the expected data curve by calculating a difference value between each of a plurality of selected points of the expected data curve and corresponding points of the actual data curve, and summing absolute values of each of the difference values to generate a cumulative difference value; and wherein the second electronic processor is configured to determine whether the operation of the hydraulic drive was successful in processing the workpiece by determining that the operation of the hydraulic drive in processing the workpiece was unsuccessful when the cumulative difference value exceeds a deviation threshold, and determining that the operation of the hydraulic drive in processing the workpiece was successful when the cumulative difference value does not exceed the deviation threshold. 2. the power tool system of claim 1 , wherein the operational parameter includes one selected from the group consisting of an output pressure, a motor current, and a motor speed. 3. the power tool system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of data points corresponds to the operational parameter detected over a crimp cycle of the hydraulic power tool. 4. the power tool system of claim 1 , wherein the second electronic processor is configured to identify an expected curve feature in the expected data curve, the expected curve feature including one selected from a group consisting of a peak and a valley of the expected data curve; identify an expected time period during which the expected curve feature is identified, the expected time period being shorter than a duration of the operation of the hydraulic drive; identify an actual curve feature in the actual data curve, the actual curve feature including one selected from a group consisting of a peak and a valley of the actual data curve; determine whether the actual curve feature occurs within the expected time period; and wherein the electronic processor determines that the operation of the hydraulic drive was unsuccessful in processing the workpiece when the actual curve feature occurs outside the expected time period. 5. the power tool system of claim 1 , wherein the expected data curve is a first expected data curve, the second electronic processor being further configured to: generate a first difference value representative of a first difference between the actual data curve and the first expected data curve; generate a second difference value representative of a second difference between the actual data curve and a second expected data curve; determine whether the first difference value exceeds the second difference value; and identify a type of operation performed by the hydraulic drive based on the second expected data curve when the first difference value exceeds the second difference value. 6. the power tool system of claim 5 , wherein the second electronic processor is configured to determine whether the operation of the hydraulic drive was successful in processing the workpiece based on the actual data curve and the second expected data curve when the first difference value exceeds the second difference value; and determine whether the operation of the hydraulic drive was unsuccessful in processing the workpiece based on the actual data curve and the first expected data curve when the first difference value does not exceed the second difference value. 7. the power tool system of claim 6 , wherein the second electronic processor is configured to generate an alert on the hydraulic power tool when the operational parameter does not exceed the threshold. 8. the power tool system of claim 5 , wherein the second electronic processor is configured to determine that the operation of the hydraulic drive is unsuccessful in processing the workpiece when the first difference value and the second difference value exceed a predetermined threshold. 9. the power tool system of claim 1 , wherein the operational parameter includes an output pressure, and wherein the electronic processor is configured to compare a maximum output pressure during the operation of the hydraulic drive to a maximum pressure threshold associated with an operation of the hydraulic power tool in successfully processing the workpiece; and generate, via an indicator on the hydraulic power tool, an indication that the operation of the hydraulic drive was successful in processing the workpiece when the maximum output pressure exceeds the maximum pressure threshold. 10. a power tool system comprising: a hydraulic power tool including: a hydraulic drive including a pump and a motor configured to drive the pump, a sensor configured to detect an operational parameter of the hydraulic drive during an operation by the hydraulic drive, and a first electronic processor configured to store a plurality of data points based on the operational parameter detected during the operation, send, via a transceiver on the hydraulic power tool, the plurality of data points to an external device; and the external device including a display screen; a second electronic processor coupled to the display screen and configured to: receive the plurality of data points from the hydraulic power tool, and control the display screen to display an expected data point for the operational parameter for the operation, control the display screen to display an actual data curve based on the plurality of data points, the actual data curve overlaid on the expected data point, compare the actual data curve with an expected data curve stored in the memory, determine whether the operation of the hydraulic drive was successful in processing a workpiece based on the actual data curve and the expected data curve, and provide an indication of whether the operation of the hydraulic drive was successful in processing the workpiece, wherein the second electronic processor is configured to compare the actual data curve with the expected data curve by identifying an expected curve feature in the expected data curve, the expected curve feature including one selected from a group consisting of a peak and a valley of the expected data curve, identifying an expected time period during which the expected curve feature is identified, the expected time period being shorter than a duration of the operation of the hydraulic drive, identifying an actual curve feature in the actual data curve, the actual curve feature including one selected from a group consisting of a peak and a valley of the actual data curve, and determining whether the actual curve feature occurs within the expected time period, wherein the second electronic processor determines that the operation of the hydraulic drive was unsuccessful in processing the workpiece when the actual curve feature occurs outside the expected time period. 11. the power tool system of claim 10 , wherein the first electronic processor is configured to provide the indication by lighting an indicator on the hydraulic power tool. 12. the power tool system of claim 10 , wherein the first electronic processor is configured to generate an alert on the hydraulic power tool when the second electronic processor determines that the hydraulic drive was not successful in processing the workpiece. 13. the power tool system of claim 10 , wherein the operational parameter includes one selected from the group consisting of an output pressure, a motor current, and a motor speed. 14. the power tool system of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of data points corresponds to the operational parameter detected over a crimp cycle of the hydraulic power tool. 15. a power tool system comprising: a hydraulic power tool including: a hydraulic drive including a pump and a motor configured to drive the pump, a sensor configured to detect an operational parameter of the hydraulic drive during an operation by the hydraulic drive, and a first electronic processor configured to store a plurality of data points based on the operational parameter detected during the operation, and send, via a transceiver on the hydraulic power tool, the plurality of data points to an external device; and the external device including a display screen; a second electronic processor coupled to the display screen and configured to: receive the plurality of data points from the hydraulic power tool, and control the display screen to display an expected data point for the operational parameter for the operation, control the display screen to display an actual data curve based on the plurality of data points, the actual data curve overlaid on the expected data point, determine that the operation of the hydraulic drive was unsuccessful in processing the workpiece based on the actual data curve and the expected data point, provide an indication of whether the operation of the hydraulic drive was unsuccessful in processing the workpiece. 16. the power tool system of claim 15 , wherein the operational parameter includes one selected from a group consisting of an output pressure, a motor current, and a motor speed. 17. the power tool system of claim 15 , wherein the operational parameter includes an output pressure, and wherein the electronic processor is configured to compare a maximum output pressure during the operation of the hydraulic drive to a maximum pressure threshold associated with an operation of the hydraulic power tool in successfully processing a workpiece; and generate, via an indicator on the hydraulic power tool, an indication that the operation of the hydraulic drive was successful in processing the workpiece when the maximum output pressure exceeds the maximum pressure threshold. 18. the power tool system of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of data points corresponds to the operational parameter detected over a crimp cycle of the hydraulic power tool.	cross-reference to related applications this application is a division of u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/183,603, filed on jun. 15, 2016, now u.s. pat. no. 10,618,151, which claims priority to u.s. provisional application no. 62/175,958 filed on jun. 15, 2015, the entire contents of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference. field of the invention the present invention relates to power tools, such as hand-held hydraulic power tools, that communicate with an external device. background of the invention hydraulic crimpers and cutters are different types of hydraulic power tools for performing work (e.g., crimping or cutting) on a workpiece. in such tools, a hydraulic pump is utilized for pressurizing hydraulic fluid and transferring it to a cylinder in the tool, causing an extensible piston to be displaced. the piston exerts a force on the head of the power tool, which may include opposed jaws with crimping or cutting features, depending upon the particular configuration of the power tool. in this case, the force exerted by the piston may be used for closing the jaws to perform work on a workpiece. summary of the invention embodiments of the invention relate to a power tool (e.g., a hydraulic crimper or cutter) that captures tool operational data and exports the captured data to an external device, such as a smart phone, and to a remote server. in some instances, the tool operational data includes one or more data curves of pressure versus time, current versus time, motor speed versus time, and force versus time, which are captured over the course of the tool action (e.g., a cutting or a crimping action). the captured tool operational data may be monitored and analyzed by the tool, external device, and/or server to confirm that the tool is operating correctly before performing a tool action (e.g., a crimp or a cut), to provide early notification of tool performance degradation, to assess whether the tool action reached full pressure, and/or to assess whether the action was acceptable based on curve data. one embodiment of the invention provides a method of operating a hydraulic power tool. the method includes performing an operation by a hydraulic drive of the hydraulic power tool, detecting, with a sensor, an operational parameter of the hydraulic drive during the operation, and storing a plurality of data points based on the operational parameter detected during the operation. the method also includes sending, via a transceiver on the hydraulic power tool, the plurality of data points to an external device, displaying, on a display screen of the external device, an expected data point for the operational parameter, and displaying, on the display screen of the external device, an actual data curve based on the plurality of data points. the actual data curve is displayed overlaid on the expected data point. another embodiment of the invention provides a power tool system including a hydraulic power tool and an external device. the hydraulic power tool includes a hydraulic drive, a sensor, and a first electronic processor. the hydraulic drive includes a pump and a motor configured to drive the pump. the sensor is configured to detect an operational parameter of the hydraulic drive during an operation by the hydraulic drive. the first electronic processor is configured to store a plurality of data points based on the operational parameter detected during the operation, and send, via a transceiver on the hydraulic power tool, the plurality of data points to the external device. the external device includes a display screen and a second electronic processor. the second electronic processor is coupled to the display screen and is configured to receive the plurality of data points from the hydraulic power tool, control the display screen to display an expected data point for the operational parameter, and control the display screen to display an actual data curve based on the plurality of data points. the actual data curve is displayed overlaid on the expected data point. in another embodiment of the invention, a method of operating a hydraulic power tool is provided. the method includes performing an operation by a hydraulic drive of the hydraulic power tool and detecting, with a sensor, an operational parameter of the hydraulic drive during the operation. the method further includes comparing, with an electronic processor, the operational parameter to a threshold to determine that the operation of the hydraulic power tool was successful when the operational parameter exceeds the threshold. the method also includes providing an indication that the operation of the hydraulic power tool was successful based on the determination. other features and aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a hydraulic power tool in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, illustrating a crimping head coupled to a body of the tool. fig. 2 is a perspective view of a rotary return valve of the power tool of fig. 1 . fig. 3 is a portion of the power tool of fig. 1 , illustrating the rotary return valve in an open position. fig. 4a is a perspective view of the rotary return valve immediately prior to being opened. fig. 4b is a perspective view of the rotary return valve just after being opened. fig. 5 is a portion of the power tool of fig. 1 , illustrating the rotary return valve in the closed position. fig. 6a is a perspective view of the rotary return immediately prior to being closed. fig. 6b is a perspective view of the rotary return valve just after being closed. figs. 7a-b are block circuit diagrams of the power tool of fig. 1 . figs. 8a-f provide additional views of the power tool of fig. 1 . fig. 9a is a cross-sectional view of a hydraulic power tool in accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention, illustrating a cutter head coupled to a body of the tool. fig. 9b is a perspective view of the cutter head of the hydraulic power tool of fig. 1 , illustrating a quick-release assembly of the cutter head. fig. 10 illustrates a communication system with a power tool (e.g., hydraulic crimper tool) and an external device (e.g., smart phone). fig. 11 illustrates a block diagram of the communication system including the power tool. figs. 12-14 illustrate exemplary screenshots of a user interface of an external device of the communication system. fig. 15 illustrates a method of obtaining and analyzing tool data. figs. 16a-16g illustrate pressure and motor speed profiles for various dies of a hydraulic crimper tool. fig. 17 illustrates current profiles for various dies of a hydraulic crimper tool. fig. 18 illustrates a method of operating a hydraulic power tool. fig. 19 illustrates a first method of comparing an actual data curve with an expected data curve. fig. 20 illustrates a second method of comparing an actual data curve with an expected data curve. fig. 21 illustrates an exemplary expected data curve. fig. 22 illustrates a method of performing a curve matching function. fig. 23 illustrates a distributive method of operating the hydraulic power tool. fig. 24 illustrates a method of operating a hydraulic power tool. fig. 25 is an exemplary screenshot of a display screen of the external device. fig. 26 is another exemplary screenshot of the display screen of the external device. detailed description before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limited. the use of “including,” “comprising” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. the terms “mounted,” “connected” and “coupled” are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mounting, connecting and coupling. further, “connected” and “coupled” are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings, and can include electrical connections or couplings, whether direct or indirect. it should be noted that a plurality of hardware and software based devices, as well as a plurality of different structural components may be utilized to implement the invention. furthermore, and as described in subsequent paragraphs, the specific configurations illustrated in the drawings are intended to exemplify embodiments of the invention and that other alternative configurations are possible. the terms “processor” “central processing unit” and “cpu” are interchangeable unless otherwise stated. where the terms “processor” or “central processing unit” or “cpu” are used as identifying a unit performing specific functions, it should be understood that, unless otherwise stated, those functions can be carried out by a single processor, or multiple processors arranged in any form, including parallel processors, serial processors, tandem processors or cloud processing/cloud computing configurations. fig. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a hydraulic power tool, shown as a crimper 10 , including a hydraulic drive 11 . the hydraulic drive 11 includes an electric motor 12 , and a pump 14 driven by the motor 12 . in some embodiments, the hydraulic drive 11 also includes a cylinder housing 22 defining a cylinder 26 therein, and an extensible piston 30 disposed within the cylinder 26 . the crimper 10 also includes electronic control and monitoring circuitry (not shown) for controlling and/or monitoring various functions of the hydraulic power tool. as is described in more detail below, the pump 14 provides pressurized hydraulic fluid to the piston cylinder 26 , causing the piston 30 to extend from the cylinder housing 22 and thereby actuate a pair of jaws 32 for crimping a workpiece. the jaws 32 are a part of a crimper head 72 , which also includes a clevis 74 for attaching the head 72 to a body 1 of the crimper 10 , which otherwise includes the motor 12 , pump 14 , cylinder housing 22 , and piston 30 . the crimper head 72 can include different types of dies depending on the size, shape, and material of the workpiece. for example, the dies can be used for electrical applications (e.g., wire and couplings) or plumbing applications (e.g., pipe and couplings). the size of the die can depend on the size of the wire, pipe, or coupling. the shape formed by the die can be circular or another shape. the dies can be configured to crimp various malleable materials and metals, such as copper (cu) and aluminum (al). although fig. 1 illustrates a hydraulic crimper 10 , the inventions described herein are applicable to a wide range of hydraulic power tools (e.g., cutters, knockout punches, etc.). referring to figs. 1-3 , the crimper 10 includes an auto return valve assembly 18 . the assembly 18 includes a rotary return valve 34 having a return port 38 ( fig. 3 ) offset from a rotational axis 40 of the valve 34 . the return port 38 is in selective alignment with a return passageway 42 in the cylinder housing 22 which, in turn, is in fluid communication with the cylinder 26 . with reference to fig. 2 , the assembly 18 also includes a valve actuator 46 driven by an input shaft 50 of the pump 14 for selectively closing the return valve 34 (i.e., when the return port 38 is misaligned with the return passageway 42 ) and opening the return valve 34 (i.e., when the return port 38 is aligned with the return passageway 42 ). the valve actuator 46 includes a generally cylindrical body 48 that accommodates a first set of pawls 52 and a second set of pawls 56 . in the illustrated embodiment, the first set of pawls 52 includes four pawls 52 offset from one another by about 90 degrees ( figs. 4a-4b ), and the second set of pawls 56 includes two pawls 56 offset from one another by about 180 degrees ( figs. 6a-6b ). in other embodiments, the sets of pawls 52 , 56 may include any other number of pawls. the pawls 52 , 56 are pivotally coupled to the body 48 and extend and retract from the body 48 in response to rotation of the input shaft 50 . the pawls 52 extend when the input shaft 50 is driven in a clockwise direction from the frame of reference of figs. 4a and 4b , and the pawls 52 retract when the input shaft 50 is driven in a counter-clockwise direction. conversely, the pawls 56 extend when the input shaft 50 is driven in the counter-clockwise direction from the frame of reference of figs. 6a and 6b , and retract when the input shaft 50 is driven in the clockwise direction. the pawls 52 , 56 are selectively engageable with corresponding first and second radial projections 60 , 64 on the return valve 34 to open and close the valve 34 . prior to initiating a crimping operation, the return valve 34 is in an open position shown in fig. 3 , in which the return port 38 is aligned with the return passageway 42 to fluidly communicate the piston cylinder 26 and the reservoir. in the open position, the pressure in the piston cylinder 26 is at approximately zero pounds per square inch (psi), the speed of the motor 12 is at zero revolutions per minute (rpm), and the current supplied to the motor is zero amperes (a or amps). the pressure in the piston cylinder 26 is sensed by a pressure sensor 68 ( fig. 1 ) and the signals from the pressure sensor 68 are sent to the electronic control and monitoring circuitry (see, e.g. electronic processor 100 of fig. 7a ). the pressure sensor 68 can be referred to as a pressure transducer, a pressure transmitter, a pressure sender, a pressure indicator, a piezometer and a manometer. the pressure sensor 68 can be an analog or digital pressure sensor. the pressure sensor 68 can be a force collector type of pressure sensor, such as piezoresistive strain gauge, capacitive, electromagnetic, piezoelectric, optical, and potentiometric. the pressure sensor can be manufactured out of piezoelectric materials, such as quartz. alternatively, the pressure sensor 68 can be a resonant, thermal, or ionization type of pressure sensor. the speed of the motor 12 is sensed by a speed sensor (see, e.g. hall sensors 114 of fig. 7a ) that detects the position and movement of a rotor relative to stator and generates signals indicative of motor position, speed, and/or acceleration to the electronic control and monitoring circuitry. in an example, the speed sensor includes a hall effect sensor to detect the position and movement of the rotor magnets. the electric current flow through the motor 12 is sensed by an ammeter (see, e.g., current sensor 112 of fig. 7a ) and the signals from the ammeter are sent to the electronic control and monitoring circuitry. alternatively, the current flow through the motor 12 can be derived from voltage, using a voltmeter (not shown), taken across the resistance of the windings in the motor. other methods can also be used to calculate the electric current flow through the motor 12 with other types of sensors. the hydraulic power tool can include other sensors to control and monitor other characteristics of the other movable components of the hydraulic power tool, such as the motor 12 , pump 14 , or piston 30 . at this time when the return valve 34 is in an open position, the piston 30 is biased toward the retracted position, shown in fig. 1 , by a compression spring 70 . when a crimping operation is initiated (e.g., by pressing a motor activation trigger of the crimper 10 ), the input shaft 50 is driven by the motor in a counter-clockwise direction from the frame of reference of figs. 6a and 6b , thereby rotating the valve actuator 46 counter-clockwise. the electric current flow through the motor 12 initially increases with in rush current and then drops to a steady state current flow. as the valve actuator 46 rotates counter-clockwise, rotational or centrifugal forces cause the second set of pawls 56 to extend from the body 48 and the first set of pawls 52 to retract into the body 48 . as the input shaft 50 continues to rotate, one of the pawls 56 engages the second radial projection 64 , rotating the return valve 34 clockwise from the open position shown in fig. 6a to a closed position shown in figs. 5 and 6b in which the return port 38 is misaligned with the return passageway 42 . the valve actuator 46 will continue to co-rotate with the input shaft 50 after the return valve 34 reaches the closed position; however, a sufficient gap is created between the pawls 56 and the projection 64 such that they will not come into contact during subsequent rotations of the input shaft 50 . the pump 14 draws hydraulic fluid from the reservoir and discharges it under pressure to the piston cylinder 26 , causing the piston 30 to extend against the bias of the spring 70 . the extension or contraction motion of the piston 30 in a cycle of reciprocation is a stroke. the time the piston takes to extend or contract is the stroke time. the closed return valve 34 prevents the pressurized fluid in the piston cylinder 26 and the return passageway 42 from returning to the reservoir. in the illustrated embodiment of the crimper 10 , the piston 30 acts on the jaws 32 as it extends, thereby pivoting the jaws 32 to a closed position. the pressure in the piston cylinder 26 , the speed of the motor 12 , and the electric current flow through the motor varies based on different positions of the jaws, the position of the jaws in relation to the workpiece, the die used by the crimper head 72 , and/or the material of the workpiece. the workpiece provides a resistance against the jaws that increases the force against the jaws. for example, as a crimp is made on the workpiece, the pressure in the piston cylinder 26 increases. alternatively, in different hydraulic tools in which the auto return valve assembly 18 and valve actuator 46 are incorporated, the piston 30 may act on different portions of the tool for performing work on a workpiece. figs. 1-6b provide one example of a rotary auto return valve assembly in a hydraulic power tool. other rotary auto return valve assemblies may also be used to provide similar functionality. when a pressure in excess of a predetermined pressure threshold is detected in the piston cylinder 26 (e.g., by a pressure sensor 68 ; fig. 1 ), the counter-clockwise rotation of the input shaft 50 is stopped, and the input shaft 50 is then rotated in a clockwise direction (from the frame of reference of figs. 4a and 4b ) for at least one full revolution of the input shaft 50 during which time the rotational or centrifugal forces cause the first set of pawls 52 to extend from the body 48 and the second set of pawls 56 to retract into the body 48 . one of the pawls 52 engages the first radial projection 60 , rotating the return valve 34 counter-clockwise from the closed position shown in fig. 4a to the open position shown in figs. 3 and 4b . when the return valve 34 is opened, the return port 38 is aligned with the return passageway 42 , permitting pressurized fluid in the piston cylinder 26 to be returned to the reservoir via the return passageway 42 and the return port 38 , and permitting the piston 30 to retract into the cylinder 26 by action of the rebounding spring 70 . so after the crimp is made on the workpiece the pressure in the piston cylinder 26 again drops down to zero psi, the motor stops turning (i.e., returns to zero rpms), and the current stops flowing (i.e., returns to zero amps). the return valve 34 remains in the open position after the piston 30 reaches the fully retracted position shown in fig. 1 , ready for the next crimping operation. the extension and retraction of the piston 30 in the cylinder 26 is referred to as a pressure cycle (or a cycle). completion of a full pressure cycle occurs when the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 68 exceeds the predetermined pressure threshold. detection of a full pressure cycle can provide one indication that a satisfactory crimp was performed. full pressure results in a full output force that causes the piston to push forward (or extend), which in turn causes the jaws 32 to close around a workpiece. if a proper jaw is installed in the hydraulic power tool and proper dies have been used on the proper connector, the dies within jaws 32 close the appropriate distance around the workpiece and a normal crimp is made. each type of die (e.g., size and shape) for a particular hydraulic power tool along with the type of workpiece material (e.g., malleable metal) can have different piston cylinder pressure, motor speed, motor current, and other characteristics over the time the crimp is being performed (i.e., the crimper head 72 is closing and opening). these characteristics (e.g., piston cylinder pressure, motor speed, or motor current) are used to monitor and analyze the activity of the hydraulic power tool. for instance, monitored characteristics are compared with the expected characteristics of good crimps for a particular die and material to determine if the crimp is acceptable and if hydraulic power tool is operating properly, which is explained below in greater detail. fig. 7a illustrates a block circuit diagram of the crimper 10 . as shown in fig. 10 , the crimper 10 includes an electronic processor 100 that controls a switching network 102 including, e.g., field effect transistors (fets), to drive the motor 12 . a primary power source (e.g., a battery pack) 104 couples to the crimper 10 and provides electrical power to energize the motor 12 . the electronic processor 100 drives the motor 12 to perform a crimp in response to a user's actuation of the activation trigger 106 . depression of the activation trigger 106 actuates a trigger switch 108 (e.g., a pushbutton), which outputs a signal to the electronic processor 100 to actuate the crimp. when the activation trigger 106 is released, the trigger switch 108 no longer outputs the actuation signal (or outputs a released signal) to the electronic processor 100 . the electronic processor 100 may cease a crimp action when the trigger 106 is released and the pressurized fluid may be returned to the reservoir. the electronic processor 100 is further coupled to sensors 110 , including a pressure sensor 68 , a current sensor 112 , and hall sensors 114 , for receiving pressure, current, and motor position and speed information, respectively, as noted above. sensors 110 may include further sensing components, such as temperature sensors and voltage sensors, providing further sensed data to the electronic processor 100 . as also shown in fig. 7a , the crimper 10 further includes indicators 116 , a battery pack interface 118 , a power input unit 120 , a wireless communication controller 122 , and a back-up power source 124 . the battery pack interface 118 is coupled to the electronic processor 100 and couples to the battery pack 104 . the battery pack interface 118 includes a combination of mechanical (e.g., a battery pack receiving portion) and electrical components configured to and operable for interfacing (e.g., mechanically, electrically, and communicatively connecting) the crimper 10 with the battery pack 104 . the battery pack interface 118 is coupled to the power input unit 120 . the battery pack interface 118 transmits the power received from the battery pack 104 to the power input unit 120 . the power input unit 120 includes active and/or passive components (e.g., voltage step-down controllers, voltage converters, rectifiers, filters, etc.) to regulate or control the power received through the battery pack interface 118 and to the wireless communication controller 122 and electronic processor 100 . the indicators 116 are also coupled to the electronic processor 100 and receive control signals from the electronic processor 100 to turn on and off or otherwise convey information based on different states of the crimper 10 . the indicators 116 include, for example, one or more light-emitting diodes (leds), or a display screen. the indicators 116 can be configured to display conditions of, or information associated with, the crimper 10 . in addition or in place of visual indicators, the indicators 116 may also include speaker or vibratory elements to convey information to a user through audible or tactile outputs. as described above, the electronic processor 100 is electrically and/or communicatively connected to a variety of modules or components of the crimper 10 . in some embodiments, the electronic processor 100 includes a plurality of electrical and electronic components that provide power, operational control, and protection to the components and modules within the electronic processor 100 and/or crimper 10 . for example, the electronic processor 100 includes, among other things, a controller 130 (e.g., a microprocessor, a microcontroller, or another suitable programmable device), a memory 132 , input units 134 , and output units 136 . the controller 130 (herein, controller 130 ) includes, among other things, a control unit 140 , an arithmetic logic unit (“alu”) 142 , and a plurality of registers 144 (shown as a group of registers in fig. 7a ). in some embodiments, the electronic processor 100 is implemented partially or entirely on a semiconductor (e.g., a field-programmable gate array [“fpga”] semiconductor) chip, such as a chip developed through a register transfer level (“rtl”) design process. the memory 132 includes, for example, a program storage area and a data storage area. the program storage area and the data storage area can include combinations of different types of memory, such as read-only memory (“rom”), random access memory (“ram”) (e.g., dynamic ram [“dram”], synchronous dram [“sdram”], etc.), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (“eeprom”), flash memory, a hard disk, an sd card, or other suitable magnetic, optical, physical, or electronic memory devices. the controller 130 is connected to the memory 132 and executes software instructions that are capable of being stored in a ram of the memory 132 (e.g., during execution), a rom of the memory 132 (e.g., on a generally permanent basis), or another non-transitory computer readable medium such as another memory or a disc. software included in the implementation of the crimper 10 can be stored in the memory 132 of the electronic processor 100 . the software includes, for example, firmware, one or more applications, program data, filters, rules, one or more program modules, and other executable instructions. the electronic processor 100 is configured to retrieve from memory and execute, among other things, instructions related to the control processes and methods described herein. the electronic processor 100 is also configured to store crimper information on the memory 132 including operational data, information identifying the type of tool, a unique identifier for the particular tool, and other information relevant to operating or maintaining the crimper 10 . the tool usage information may be captured or inferred from data output by the sensors 110 . as shown in fig. 7b , the wireless communication controller 122 includes a radio antenna and transceiver 154 , a memory 156 , a processor 158 , a real-time clock 160 , and a voltage sensor 162 . the wireless communication controller 122 enables the crimper 10 to communicate with an external device 164 (see, e.g., fig. 10 ). the radio antenna and transceiver 154 operate together to send and receive wireless messages to and from the external device 164 and the processor 158 . the memory 156 can store instructions to be implemented by the processor 158 and/or may store data related to communications between the crimper 10 and the external device 164 or the like. the processor 158 for the wireless communication controller 122 controls wireless communications between the crimper 10 and the external device 164 . for example, the processor 158 associated with the wireless communication controller 122 buffers incoming and/or outgoing data, communicates with the electronic processor 100 , and determines the communication protocol and/or settings to use in wireless communications. in the illustrated embodiment, the wireless communication controller 122 is a bluetooth® controller. the bluetooth® controller communicates with the external device 164 employing the bluetooth® protocol. therefore, in the illustrated embodiment, the external device 164 and the crimper 10 are within a communication range (i.e., in proximity) of each other while they exchange data. in other embodiments, the wireless communication controller 122 communicates using other protocols (e.g., wi-fi, cellular protocols, a proprietary protocol, etc.) over different type of wireless networks. for example, the wireless communication controller 122 may be configured to communicate via wi-fi through a wide area network such as the internet or a local area network, or to communicate through a piconet (e.g., using infrared or nfc communications). the communication via the communication controller 122 may be encrypted to protect the data exchanged between the crimper 10 and the external device/network 164 from third parties. the wireless communication controller 122 is configured to receive data from the electronic processor 100 and relay the information to the external device 164 via the antenna and transceiver 154 . in a similar manner, the wireless communication controller 122 is configured to receive information (e.g., configuration and programming information) from the external device 164 via the antenna and transceiver 154 and relay the information to the electronic processor 100 . the rtc 160 increments and keeps time independently of the other power tool components. the rtc 160 receives power from the battery pack 104 when the battery pack 104 is connected to the crimper 10 and receives power from the back-up power source 124 when the battery pack 104 is not connected to the crimper 10 . having the rtc 160 as an independently powered clock enables time stamping of operational data (stored in memory 132 for later export) and a security feature whereby a lockout time is set by a user (e.g., via the external device 164 ) and the tool is locked-out when the time of the rtc 160 exceeds the set lockout time. the processor 158 for the wireless communication controller 122 switches between operating in a connected (e.g., full power) state and operating in an advertisement state. in the illustrated embodiment, the wireless communication controller 122 switches between operating in the connected state and the advertisement state based on whether the battery pack 104 is connected to the crimper 10 and whether the battery pack 104 holds sufficient power to operate the wireless communication controller 122 in connected state. when the battery pack 104 is connected to the crimper 10 and holds sufficient charge, the wireless communication controller 122 is powered by the battery pack 104 and operates in the connected state. when the battery pack 104 is not connected to the crimper 10 , the wireless communication controller 122 receives power from the back-up power source 124 and the crimper 10 operates in the advertisement state. when the wireless communication controller 122 operates in the advertisement state, the crimper 10 identifies itself to the external device 164 , but data exchange between the crimper 10 and the external device 164 is limited to select information. in other words, in the advertisement state, the wireless communication controller 122 outputs an advertisement message to the external device 164 . the advertisement message includes identification information regarding the tool identity, remaining capacity of the back-up power source 124 , and other limited amount of crimper information. the advertisement message also identifies the product as being from a particular manufacturer or brand via a unique binary identification ubid identifying the type of power tool and uniquely identifying the particular power tool. thus, even when operating in the advertisement state, the external device 164 can identify the crimper 10 and determine that the crimper 10 is within a communication range of the external device 164 (e.g., locate the crimper), but further data between the external device 164 and the crimper 10 is not exchanged. when the wireless communication controller 122 operates in the connected state, full wireless communication between the crimper 10 and the external device 164 is enabled. in the connected state, the wireless communication controller 122 obtains and exports crimper usage data to the external device 164 and receives configuration data from the external device 164 . figs. 8a-8f illustrate additional views of the crimper 10 having a crimper head 170 . fig. 8a is a perspective view of the crimper 10 having a housing 172 . fig. 8b is a side view of the crimper 10 . fig. 8c illustrates the crimper 10 with a portion of the housing 172 removed to expose circuitry and other components of the crimper 10 . more particularly, fig. 8c illustrates the motor 12 , the trigger 106 and trigger switch 108 , the indicators 116 including cycle feedback indicators 174 and wireless indicator 176 , the battery pack interface 118 , a communication control board 178 having the wireless communication controller 122 and back-up power source 124 , a motor board 180 having the hall sensors 114 , and a potting boat 182 having therein a control board 184 . the control board 184 includes the electronic processor 100 , switching network 102 , and power input unit 120 . in the illustrated embodiment, from the frame of reference of fig. 8c , the communication control board 178 is located below and frontward of the motor 12 , below the pump 14 and between the battery pack interface 118 and the trigger 106 (and also the cylinder 26 , looking to fig. 1 ). further, the communication control board 178 is positioned on an incline such that the mounting surfaces thereof are at an oblique angle with respect to the mounting surfaces of the control board 184 , which face the motor 12 and battery pack interface 118 , respectively. the mounting surfaces of the communication control board 178 are also at an oblique angle with respect to the mounting surfaces of the motor board 180 , which are generally perpendicular (within about 15 degrees of being perpendicular) to the mounting surfaces of the control board 184 . the inclined communication control board 178 is located in a projection 186 of the housing 172 below the pump 14 and frontward of the battery pack interface 118 . the projection 186 includes a rear portion against which an inserted battery pack 104 abuts and a front portion having an incline generally parallel (within about 15 degrees of parallel) to the communication control board 178 . the location of the communication control board 178 is spaced from the motor 12 and current-carrying power lines to the motor 12 to avoid electromagnetic interference that can be disruptive of wireless communication between the wireless communication controller 122 and the external device 164 . however, the communication control board 178 is spaced near the control board 184 (e.g., as opposed to being located near the trigger switch 108 or a top-side of the crimper) to reduce wiring quantity and complexity. in other embodiments, the components of the communication control board 178 are located on the control board 184 , and the communication control board 178 is not included as a separate board in the crimper 10 . in further embodiments, the communication control board 178 is located in other positions within the crimper 10 , such as near the trigger switch 108 , above the motor 12 , or behind the motor 12 on a side having the cooling fan 188 . in such further embodiments, a further projection of the housing 172 may be provided to accommodate the communication control board 178 . fig. 8d illustrates a side view of a rear portion of the body 1 having the housing 172 removed. fig. 8e illustrates a rear perspective view of the rear portion of the body 1 . fig. 8f illustrates a bottom perspective view of the rear portion of the body 1 . in fig. 8f , the wireless communication controller 122 and back-up power source 124 are visible on the communication control board 178 . communication interference can be further reduced by positioning the wireless communication controller 122 , including the antenna and transceiver 154 , on the outward facing mounting surface of the communication control board 178 . the back-up power source 124 , as illustrated, is a primary coin cell battery. as the communication by the wireless communication controller 122 is limited when the battery pack 104 is not present, the primary coin cell battery has sufficient power to meet the communication demands of the crimper 10 for several years before replacement is needed. in other embodiments, the back-up power source 124 includes a secondary (rechargeable) battery cell or a capacitor. in such embodiments, the battery pack 104 provides charging power to recharge the secondary battery cell or the capacitor. the rechargeable cell and capacitor may be sized to provide power for several days or weeks before needing to recharge. figs. 9a-b illustrate a hydraulic power tool in accordance with another embodiment of the invention, configured as a hydraulic cutter 210 . the cutter 210 includes a body 201 that is substantially similar or identical to the body 1 described above in connection with the crimper 10 and illustrated in fig. 1 , and a cutter head 272 that is removably coupled to the body 201 . accordingly, like features with the body 1 of the crimper 10 are shown with like reference numerals plus “200.” the structure and manner of attaching the cutter head 272 to the body 201 is identical to that for attaching the crimper head 72 to the body 1 ; therefore, the heads 72 , 272 are interchangeable on the identical bodies 1 , 201 shown in figs. 1 and 9a , respectively. specifically, the clevis 74 , 274 is threadably engageable with the cylinder housing 22 , 222 . in the embodiments shown, the clevis 74 , 274 has an internally threaded portion to accept an outer threaded portion of the cylinder housing 22 , 222 . to attach and remove the heads 72 , 272 from the body 1 , 201 , a user rotates the heads 72 , 272 relative to the body 1 , 201 to engage or disengage the threaded portions of the clevis 74 , 274 and the cylinder housing 22 , 222 . alternatively, the clevis 74 , 274 may be detachably coupled to the cylinder housing 22 , 222 in any of a number of different ways (e.g., by a detent system, etc.). the head 170 of fig. 8a attaches to the body 1 in a similar manner as heads 72 and 272 attaching to bodies 1 and 201 , respectively. with reference to fig. 9a , the cutter 210 includes an electric motor 212 , a pump 214 driven by the motor 212 , the cylinder housing 222 defining a cylinder 226 therein, and an extensible piston 230 disposed within the cylinder 226 . the pump 214 provides pressurized hydraulic fluid to the piston cylinder 226 , causing the piston 230 to extend from the cylinder housing 222 and thereby actuate a pair of jaws 234 for cutting a workpiece. the cutter 210 also includes electronic control and monitoring circuitry similar to that of the crimper 10 (see, e.g., figs. 7a-b ), such as processors and sensors, for controlling and/or monitoring various functions of the hydraulic power tool. with reference to fig. 9b , the cutter 210 includes jaws 234 , each having a blade mount 238 supporting a blade 242 , a pivot arm 246 extending from the blade mount 238 , and a bearing eye 250 . when the jaws 234 are assembled together, the bearing eyes 250 are coaxial and define a common pivot axis 254 of the jaws 234 . the cutter 210 further includes head 272 , which includes the jaws 234 and a clevis 274 having first and second, longitudinally-extending legs 278 , 282 between which the head 272 is supported. a quick-release mechanism 286 removably couples the head 272 to the clevis 274 . the quick-release mechanism 286 permits the head 272 to be removed from and inserted into the clevis 274 without requiring the use of external tools (e.g., wrenches, pliers, etc.). as discussed in greater detail below, the hydraulic power tool (e.g., crimper 10 and cutter 210 ) also includes communication interface and/or circuitry (e.g., wireless communication controller 122 ) that communicates with external devices (e.g., external device 164 ) and interfaces with the electronic control and monitoring circuitry (e.g., electronic processor 100 ). the electronic control and monitoring circuitry can monitor and log various parameters (e.g., piston cylinder pressure, motor speed, or motor current) of the hydraulic power tool sensed by sensor to verify and confirm that the tool is operating correctly before performing a crimp or a cut. the various parameters also provide early notification if tool performance is degrading. the various parameters of the hydraulic power tool can be provided to external devices via the communication interface. fig. 10 illustrates a communication system 300 . the communication system 300 includes at least one power tool device 302 (illustrated as the crimper 10 ) and an external device 164 . each power tool device 302 (e.g., crimper 10 , cutter 210 , battery powered impact driver, power tool battery pack, and mains-powered hammer drill) and the external device 164 can communicate wirelessly while they are within a communication range of each other. each power tool device 302 may communicate power tool status, power tool operation statistics, power tool identification, power tool sensor data, stored power tool usage information, power tool maintenance data, and the like. more specifically, the power tool 302 can monitor, log, and/or communicate various tool parameters that can be used for confirmation of correct tool performance, detection of a malfunctioning tool, and determination of a need or desire for service. taking, for example, the crimper 10 or cutter 210 as the power tool 302 , the various tool parameters detected, determined, and/or captured by the electronic processor 100 and output to the external device 164 can include a no load stroke time (i.e., stroke time of the tool 302 when the tool does not act on a workpiece), loaded stroke time (i.e., stroke time of the tool 302 when the tool does act on a workpiece, a time (e.g., a number of seconds) that the power tool 202 is on, a number of overloads (i.e., a number of times the tool 202 exceeded the pressure rating for the die, the jaws 32 , and/or the tool 202 ), a total number of cycles performed by the tool, a number of cycles performed by the tool since a reset and/or since a last data export, a number of full pressure cycles (e.g., number of acceptable crimps performed by the tool 202 ), a number of remaining service cycles (i.e., a number of cycles before the tool 202 should be serviced, recalibrated, repaired, or replaced), a number of transmissions sent to the external device 208 , a number of transmissions received from the external device 208 , a number of errors generated in the transmissions sent to the external device 208 , a number of errors generated in the transmissions received from the external device 208 , a code violation resulting in a master control unit (mcu) reset, a short in the power circuitry (e.g., a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (mosfet) short), a hot thermal overload condition (i.e., a prolonged electric current exceeding a full-loaded threshold that can lead to excessive heating and deterioration of the winding insulation until an electrical fault occurs), a cold thermal overload (i.e., a cyclic or in-rush electric current exceeding a zero load threshold that can also lead to excessive heating and deterioration of the winding insulation until an electrical fault occurs), a motor stall condition (i.e., a locked or non-moving rotor with an electrical current flowing through the windings), a bad hall sensor, a non-maskable interrupt (nmi) hardware mcu reset (e.g., of the electronic processor 100 ), an over-discharge condition of the battery pack 104 , an overcurrent condition of the battery pack 104 , a battery dead condition at trigger pull, a tool feting condition, gate drive refresh enabled indication, thermal and stall overload condition, a malfunctioning pressure sensor condition for the pressure sensor 68 , trigger pulled at tool sleep condition, hall sensor error occurrence condition for one of the hall sensors 114 , heat sink temperature histogram data, mosfet junction temperature histogram data, peak current histogram data (from current sensor 112 ), average current histogram data (from current sensor 112 ), and the number of hall errors indication. using the external device 164 , a user can access the tool parameters obtained by the power tool 302 . with the tool parameters (i.e., tool operational data), a user can determine how the power tool device 302 has been used (e.g., crimps performed), whether maintenance is recommended or has been performed in the past, and identify malfunctioning components or other reasons for certain performance issues. the external device 164 can also transmit data to the power tool device 302 for power tool configuration, firmware updates, or to send commands. the external device 164 also allows a user to set operational parameters, safety parameters, select dies used, select tool modes, and the like for the power tool 302 . the external device 164 may be, for example, a smart phone (as illustrated), a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (pda), or another electronic device capable of communicating wirelessly with the power tool device 302 and providing a user interface. the external device 164 provides the user interface and allows a user to access and interact with the power tool device 302 . the external device 164 can receive user inputs to determine operational parameters, enable or disable features, and the like. the user interface of the external device 164 provides an easy-to-use interface for the user to control and customize operation of the power tool device 302 . the external device 164 , therefore, grants the user access to the tool operational data of the power tool device 302 , and provides a user interface such that the user can interact with the controller of the power tool device 302 . in addition, as shown in fig. 10 , the external device 164 can also share the tool operational data obtained from the power tool device 302 with a remote server 312 connected by a network 314 . the remote server 312 may be used to store the tool operational data obtained from the external device 164 , provide additional functionality and services to the user, or a combination thereof. in one embodiment, storing the information on the remote server 312 allows a user to access the information from a plurality of different locations. in another embodiment, the remote server 312 may collect information from various users regarding their power tool devices and provide statistics or statistical measures to the user based on information obtained from the different power tools. for example, the remote server 312 may provide statistics regarding the experienced efficiency of the power tool device 302 , typical usage of the power tool device 302 , and other relevant characteristics and/or measures of the power tool device 302 . the network 314 may include various networking elements (routers 316 , hubs, switches, cellular towers 318 , wired connections, wireless connections, etc.) for connecting to, for example, the internet, a cellular data network, a local network, or a combination thereof. in some embodiments, the power tool device 302 may be configured to communicate directly with the server 312 through an additional wireless interface or with the same wireless interface that the power tool device 302 uses to communicate with the external device 164 . fig. 11 illustrates a block diagram of the components of the communication system 300 . the crimper 10 is illustrated as an exemplary power tool device 302 that is in communication with the external device 164 . a similar arrangement, however, is applicable to the cutter 210 and other hydraulic power tools. the memory 232 of the crimper 10 includes a profile 320 , which includes configuration data that defines the operation of the crimper 10 when activated by the user (e.g., upon depressing the trigger 106 ). the controller 130 controls the switching network 102 to drive the motor 12 (see fig. 7a ) in accordance with the profile 320 . for instance, the profile 320 may specify the motor speed and direction at various stages of operation, the predetermined pressure threshold indicative that a full pressure cycle has been reached, among other operational characteristics. also stored in the memory 232 is tool operational data 322 , which includes the tool operational data noted above such as information regarding the usage of the crimper 10 (e.g., obtained via the sensors 110 ), information regarding the maintenance of the crimper 10 (e.g., last service date), and power tool trigger event information (e.g., whether and when the trigger is depressed and the amount of depression). the memory 232 further includes die and application data 324 , which specifies one or more of the type of die attached to the body 1 , the workpiece size, the workpiece shape, the workpiece material, and the application type (e.g., electrical or plumbing). the memory 232 also includes expected curve data 326 , which is described in more detail below. the die and application data 324 may be communicated to and stored in the memory 232 by a user via the external device 164 . the external device 164 includes a memory 330 storing core application software 332 , tool interfaces 334 , tool data 336 including received tool identifiers 338 and received tool operational data 340 , and the expected curve data 326 . the external device further includes an electronic processor 342 , a touch screen display 344 , and an external wireless communication controller 346 . the electronic processor 342 and memory 330 may be part of a controller having similar components as electronic processor 100 . the touch screen display 344 allows the external device 164 to output visual data to a user and receive user inputs. although not illustrated, the external device 164 may include further user input devices (e.g., buttons, dials, toggle switches, and a microphone for voice control) and further user outputs (e.g., speakers and tactile feedback elements). additionally, in some instances, the external device 164 has a display without touch screen input capability and receives user input via other input devices, such as buttons, dials, and toggle switches. the external device 164 communicates wirelessly with the wireless communication controller 122 via the external wireless communication controller 346 , e.g., using a bluetooth® or wi-fi® protocol. the external wireless communication controller 346 further communicates with the network 314 . in some instances, the external wireless communication controller 346 includes two separate wireless communication controllers, one for communicating with the wireless communication controller 122 (e.g., using bluetooth® or wi-fi® communications) and one for communicating with the network 314 (e.g., using wi-fi or cellular communications). the server 312 includes a processor 350 that communicates with the external device 164 over the network 314 using a network interface 352 . the communication link between the network interface 352 , the network 314 , and the external wireless communication controller 346 may include various wired and wireless communication pathways, various network components, and various communication protocols. the server 312 further includes a memory 354 including the expected curve data 326 and tool data 358 . returning to the external device 164 , the core application software 332 is executed by the electronic processor 342 to generate a graphical user interface (gui) on the touch screen display 344 enabling the user to interact with the crimper 10 and server 312 . in some embodiments, a user may access a repository of software applications (e.g., an “app store” or “app marketplace”) using the external device 164 to locate and download the core application software 332 , which may be referred to as an “app.” the tool interfaces 334 may be bundled for downloading with the core application software 332 . in some embodiments, the app is obtained using other techniques, such as downloading from a website using a web browser on the external device 164 . fig. 12 illustrates a nearby devices screen 360 of the gui on the touch screen display 344 , which is used to identify and communicatively pair with power tools 302 within wireless range of the external device 164 . for instance, in response to a user selecting the “scan” input 362 , the external wireless communication controller 346 scans a radio wave communication spectrum used by the power tools 302 and identifies any power tools 302 within range that are advertising (e.g., broadcasting their ubid and other limited information). the identified power tools 302 that are advertising are then listed on the nearby devices screen 360 . as shown in fig. 12 , in response to a scan, three power tools 302 that are advertising (advertising tools 364 - c ) are listed in the identified tool list 366 . the advertising tools 364 may be in either an advertising state or a connectable state, depending on whether a charged power tool battery pack 104 is coupled to the respective tool. more particularly, when a charged power tool battery pack 104 is coupled to a power tool 302 , the power tool 302 is in the connectable state and has essentially full communication capabilities. in contrast, when no battery pack or a discharged battery pack 104 is coupled to the power tool 302 , the power tool 302 is in the advertising state and is generally limited to broadcasting an advertisement message that includes its ubid, an indication that a charged power tool battery pack 104 is not present, and the state of charge of the back-up power source 124 . in some embodiments, further information is provided by the power tool 302 to the external device 164 in the advertising state, although this additional data transmission may increase power usage and reduce the life of the back-up power source 124 . the external device 164 provides a visual state indication 368 in the identified tool list 366 of whether an advertising tool 364 is in the connectable state or the advertising state. for instance, the advertising tools 364 that are in a connectable state are shown normally with full color and boldness, while the advertising tools 364 in the advertising state are shown grayed-out. the external device 164 is operable to pair with advertising tools 364 that are in the connectable state, but not those advertising tools 364 that are in the advertising state. when one of the advertising tools 364 in the connectable state is paired with the external device 164 , the tool is in the connected state. the ubid received from the advertising tools 364 is used by the external device 164 to identify the tool type of each advertising tool 364 . the external device 164 displays the tool type for example, by catalog number (e.g., “2757-20” and “7206-20”) or in another form or language (e.g., “impact driver” or “circular saw”). additionally, ubids received from advertising tools 364 in response to a scan are used to obtain further information about the tools, if available. for instance, the ubid is sent to the server 312 and used as an index or search term for a database of tool information that is part of the tool data 358 . for instance, the database may store and respond to the external device 164 with the ascii nickname (e.g., “steve's crimper”), other tool identifiers, and an icon. in some instances, this further information is available as part of the tool data 336 of the external device 164 . from the nearby devices screen 360 , a user can select one of the advertising tools 364 from the identified tool list 366 to communicatively pair with the selected advertising tool 364 . each type of power tool 302 with which the external device 164 can communicate includes an associated tool graphical user interface (tool interface) stored in the tool interfaces 334 . once a communicative pairing occurs, the core application software 332 accesses the tool interfaces 334 (e.g., using the ubid) to obtain the applicable tool interface for the type of tool that is paired. the touch screen display 344 then shows the applicable tool interface. a tool interface includes a series of screens enabling a user to obtain and display tool operational data, configure the tool, or both. while some screens and options of a tool interface are common to multiple tool interfaces of different tool types, generally, each tool interface includes screens and options particular to the associated type of tool. fig. 13 illustrates a home screen 370 of the tool interface when the power tool 302 is the crimper 10 . the home screen 370 includes an icon 371 for the crimper 10 , which may be the same as the icon shown in the list 366 . the home screen 370 also includes a disconnect input 372 enabling the user to break the communicative pairing between the external device 164 and the paired power tool 302 . the home screen 370 further includes four selectable options: sync tool data 374 , view tool details 376 , identify tool 378 , and factory reset 379 . selecting identify tool 378 sends a command to the crimper 10 requesting that the paired crimper 10 provide a user-perceptible indication, such as flashing the cycle feedback indicators 174 , making an audible beep using a speaker (not shown), and/or using the motor 12 to vibrate the tool. selecting factory reset 379 resets various configurable data on the crimper 10 to the manufacturer-set default values. generally, the factory reset does not reset the cycle counts displayed on the home screen 370 (described below). the home screen 370 also provides some overview information regarding the crimper 10 . in particular, the home screen 370 includes a crimper data overview window 380 . as shown in fig. 13 , the window 380 includes sub-windows 380 a and 380 b respectively indicating the total number of cycles that the crimper 10 has performed and the total number of full pressure cycles that the crimper 10 has performed. in response to receipt of a user swipe gesture across the window 380 , the sub-windows 380 c and 380 d are shown, as illustrated in fig. 14 , which respectively indicate the number of cycles since the last service on the crimper 10 and the battery voltage/energy remaining on the back-up power source 124 . the sub-window 380 c may further indicate whether a time for service is nearing depending on the number of cycles since the last service. for instance, the background of sub-window 380 c may turn yellow when the number of cycles exceeds a first warning threshold and red when the number of cycles exceeds a second, time-for-service threshold. when initially paired with the crimper 10 , the data displayed in the window 380 may be obtained from the tool data 358 of the server 312 or from the tool operational data 340 of the external device 164 . upon the external device 164 receiving a user selection of the sync tool data input 374 , the external device 164 requests the crimper 10 to transmit the tool operational data 322 to the external device 164 . upon receipt of the tool operational data 322 , the window 380 is updated with the received data. in some embodiments, the crimper 10 sends the tool operational data 322 to the external device 164 automatically upon pairing (i.e., independent of the user selecting the sync tool data input 374 ). the window 380 also lists the last sync date, which is updated when new tool operational data is received from the crimper 10 . as a particular example, in response to selecting the sync tool data 374 , the crimper 10 sends pressure, current, motor speed, and other sensor data captured during each crimping operation that the crimper 10 performed (e.g., since the last data synchronization). additionally, the external device 164 receives the sensor data from the crimper 10 and forwards the data to the server 312 for storage in the tool data 358 . in response to receiving a user selection of the view tool details input 376 , the external device 164 provides a gui screen allowing the user to change tool information, such as a tool nickname displayed in the list 366 . in some embodiments, the view tool details input 376 also enables the user to reach a gui screen to configure the profile 320 and change the die and application data 324 of the crimper 10 . fig. 15 illustrates a method of capturing and analyzing crimper data 400 . in step 402 , the crimper 10 is actuated by a user depressing the trigger 106 . in step 404 , the crimper 10 performs a crimp cycle and the electronic processor 100 captures data during the cycle. in some embodiments, the crimper 10 captures and stores, as part of the tool operational data 322 , a limited data set, such as the maximum pressure or current value observed by the pressure sensor 68 during the cycle along with a time stamp. in other embodiments, additional data is captured during each cycle in step 404 . for instance, in these embodiments, data obtained by the sensors 110 are captured to produce the tool operational data described above. to capture some tool operational data, in step 404 , the electronic processor 100 increments or decrements values after a cycle (e.g., total number of cycles, cycles remaining before recommended service), while for other tool operational data, data (e.g., raw, conditioned, or averaged) from sensors 110 is captured and stored, and for still other tool operational data, values are inferred from sensor data generated and stored (e.g., temperature during the cycle based on detected current). in some embodiments, curve data over a crimp cycle is captured for certain tool parameters, rather than a single maximum, minimum, or average value for the tool parameter. for example, in step 404 , the electronic processor 100 captures (e.g., store) a data curve for one or more of motor speed, motor revolutions (and, thus, pump 14 activations), pressure, and motor current over time during a crimp cycle. a data curve includes a plurality of sensor data sample points over time, such as a sample per millisecond (ms), per 8 ms, per 10 ms, per 16 ms, per 32 ms, per 50 ms, per 64 ms, per 100 ms, per 128 ms, or another sample rate (e.g., between a sample/ms and a sample/128 ms). figs. 16a-g illustrate various data curves, each obtained over a different crimp cycle of the crimper 10 . the data curves vary depending on the head type, die type, and the workpiece of the crimp. fig. 16a illustrates pressure and motor speed profiles for the hydraulic crimper tool using a die to crimp 350mcm or kcmil (thousands of circular mils) aluminum (al) wire. fig. 16b illustrates pressure and motor speed profiles for the hydraulic crimper tool using a die to crimp 600mcm copper (cu) wire. fig. 16c illustrates pressure and motor speed profiles for the hydraulic crimper tool using a die to crimp i/o “one aught” copper wire. fig. 16d illustrates pressure and motor speed profiles for the hydraulic crimper tool using a die to crimp an insulink™ compression splicers for 6 american wire gauge (awg) wire (#6 insulink). fig. 16e illustrates pressure and motor speed profiles for the hydraulic crimper tool using a die to crimp 3/0 aluminum wire. fig. 16f illustrates pressure and motor speed profiles for the hydraulic crimper tool using a die to crimp an h-tap for 2/0 wire. an h-tap is an “h” shaped conductive (e.g., copper or aluminum) coupling for joining two wires together. one opening of the h-tap receives a first wire and the other opening of the h-tap receives the second wire. fig. 16g illustrates pressure and motor speed profiles for the hydraulic crimper tool using a die to crimp an h-tap for 4/0 wire. fig. 17 illustrate four current versus time data curves, each obtained over a different crimp cycle of the crimper 10 and each depending on the die and workpiece of the crimp. more particularly, each of the current versus time data curves of fig. 17 is associated with one pair of the pressure and motor data curves of figs. 16d, 16e, 16f, and 16g . that is, fig. 17 includes current versus time data curves for a crimp of an insulink™ compression splicer for 6 awg wire, a crimp of an h-tap for 2/0 wire, a crimp of 3/0 aluminum wire, and a crimp of an h-tap for 4/0 wire. figs. 16a-g and 17 illustrate exemplary data curves and not necessarily the only or preferred data curves for the particular crimp types described. for instance, a crimp of 350mcm as shown in fig. 16a may change with a different head and/or die type. the electronic processor 100 then analyzes the data curves obtained for various different operational parameters (step 406 ). for example, the electronic processor 100 compares the maximum pressure or current value to a predetermined threshold to determine whether full pressure was achieved in the cycle. after the analysis technique of step 406 , in step 408 , the electronic processor 100 provides an indication via the feedback indicators 174 whether the obtained curve data was within acceptable parameters. for instance, a green led is illuminated if full pressure was achieved, and a red led is illuminated if full pressure was not achieved in step 410 , the electronic processor 100 determines whether a request for data has been received from the external device 164 . if no request has been received, in step 412 , the electronic processor 100 determines whether a further trigger actuation has been received. if so, the method returns to step 402 to capture further data on the next crimp cycle. if not, the method returns to step 410 to determine whether a request for data has been received. accordingly, the crimper 10 cycles between steps 410 and 412 until either a data request is received or the user actuates the trigger 106 . in some embodiments, the method 400 begins at step 410 , rather than step 402 . upon receipt of a data request, the electronic processor 100 exports the tool operational data 322 , including the data obtained in each instance of step 404 since a previous export, to the external device 164 in step 414 . while the external device 164 is operable to obtain the data after each crimp cycle, commonly, the external device 164 will obtain tool operational data covering a plurality of crimp cycles (e.g., at the end of a shift or project). the external device 164 stores the received data in the tool operational data 340 portion of the memory 330 . in step 416 , the external device 164 compares the received tool operational data to thresholds to analyze the operation of the crimper 10 . in step 418 , the various cycle counts being tracked by the external device 164 are updated in the tool data 336 , including those counts displayed in the crimper data overview window 380 of the home screen 370 (total cycles, total full pressure cycles, cycles since last service). additionally, the state of charge of the back-up power source 124 displayed in the sub-window 380 d is updated based on data obtained in step 404 and provided to the external device 164 in step 414 . in step 420 , the data obtained by the external device 164 is forwarded to the server 312 . the server 312 , in turn, stores the received data in the memory 354 as part of the tool data 358 . in step 422 , the server 312 analyzes the data. for instance, instead of or in addition to one or both of the comparison steps 406 and 416 , the server 312 may perform similar comparisons in step 422 to analyze the data from the crimper 10 . in some instances, the controller 130 uses one data curve to generate a data curve of another parameter type. for instance, the controller 130 is operable to take pressure versus time data curve from a cycle and generate a characteristic output force versus time data curve deduced from a relationship between pressure and force. with the additional data points from the pressure, current, motor speed, and force data curves, a more thorough analysis of a crimp cycle is achieved. for example, the expected curve data 326 stores a plurality of expected data curves that the electronic processor 100 is expected to capture during a successful crimp. the expected data curves may include a plurality (e.g., at least one) expected data points over time at a granularity similar to an obtained data curve. each expected data curve is associated with a particular die and workpiece characteristics because, as illustrated in figs. 16a-g , the data curves may vary significantly based on these factors. fig. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method 500 of operating the crimper 10 (or another hydraulic power tool such as the cutter 210 ), and in particular, of analyzing the data curves with respect to the expected data curves. as shown in fig. 18 , the hydraulic power tool (e.g., the crimper 10 , the cutter 210 , or a different hydraulic power tool) performs an operation (step 505 ). for example, the crimper 10 may complete a crimp cycle, the cutter 210 may complete a cutter cycle, and the like. the operation performed by the hydraulic power tool changes based on the specific hydraulic power tool used to complete the operation. during operation of the hydraulic power tool (e.g., during the completion of a crimp cycle), a sensor detects an operational parameter (step 510 ), as is described, for example, with respect to step 404 of fig. 15 . the sensor may be, for example, the pressure sensor 68 to detect an output pressure of the piston 30 , the hall sensors 114 to detect a motor speed, the current sensor 112 to detect a motor current, or a similar sensor to detect another operational parameter of the hydraulic power tool. based on the operational parameter, the electronic processor 100 generates an actual data curve (step 515 ), as described above with respect to figs. 16a-17 . each actual data curve includes a plurality of data points over time as described above. the electronic processor 100 then compares the actual data curve with an expected data curve that is stored in memory 132 , 330 , and/or 354 as expected curve data 326 (step 520 ). the electronic processor 100 then determines whether the operation of the hydraulic power tool (e.g., the crimper 10 , cutter 210 , or another hydraulic power tool) was successful based on the actual data curve and the expected data curve (step 525 ). in other words, the electronic processor 100 determines whether the operation of the hydraulic drive 11 was successful. in particular, the electronic processor 100 generates an indication of whether the crimp cycle was successful dependent on the amount of deviation between the expected data curve and the obtained data curve. determining the amount of deviation and/or determining whether the crimp cycle was successful is described in more detail in figs. 19-21 . in response to determining whether the operation of the hydraulic power tool was successful, an indication is generated of whether the operation of the hydraulic power tool (e.g., the hydraulic drive 11 ) was successful (step 530 ). in some embodiments, the indication includes an alert that is generated when the operation of the hydraulic power tool was unsuccessful. in other embodiments, the indication includes a confirmation indication that the operation of the hydraulic power tool was successful. in some embodiments, the indication is generated on the hydraulic power tool itself (e.g., the crimper 10 , the cutter 210 , or another hydraulic power tool). in other embodiments, the indication is generated on the external device 164 via, for example, the touch display 344 and/or speakers (not shown) included on the external device 164 . in yet other embodiments, the indication is generated on both the hydraulic power tool (e.g., the crimper 10 , the cutter 210 , and the like) and on the external device 164 . fig. 19 illustrates a first method 600 of comparing the actual data curve with the expected data curve as described with respect to step 520 of fig. 18 . generally, the method 600 describes how the electronic processor 100 generates an indication of whether the crimp cycle was successful dependent on the amount of deviation between the expected data curve and the obtained data curve. the amount of deviation may be a sum of the absolute value of the difference between each (or select) data point(s) of the two curves. if the sum exceeds a deviation threshold value, the crimp cycle is considered unsuccessful. if the sum is less than the deviation threshold value, the crimp cycle is considered successful. in the first method 600 , the electronic processor 100 calculates a difference value between each of a plurality of selected point of the expected data curve and corresponding points of the actual data curve (step 605 ). in other words, certain data points are selected from the expected data curve. these selected data points are then compared to the data points of the actual data curve that correspond to the selected data points from the expected data curve. in some embodiments, the selected data points may include all the data points of the expected data curve. in other embodiments, the selected data points only include a portion of the data points that define the expected data curve. generally, the more data points that are selected the more complex the calculations become and the more processing power that is required. after calculating the plurality of difference values, the electronic processor 100 sums absolute values of each of the difference values to generate a cumulative difference value (step 610 ). by summing the absolute values of each of the difference values, the electronic processor 100 considers both deviations from the expected data curve (i.e., when the actual data curve exceeds the expected data curve and when the actual data curve is lower than the expected data curve). as shown in fig. 19 , the electronic processor 100 then determines whether the cumulative difference value exceeds a deviation threshold (step 615 ). when the cumulative difference value exceeds the deviation threshold, the electronic processor 100 determines that the operation was completed unsuccessfully, for example, the crimp cycle is considered unsuccessful (step 620 ). in some embodiments, an alert is generated when the operation is considered unsuccessful. as discussed above, the alert or indication may be generated by the crimper 10 , the external device 164 , or both. on the other hand, when the cumulative difference does not exceed the deviation threshold, the electronic processor 100 determines that the operation (e.g., the crimp cycle) was completed successfully (step 625 ). in some embodiments, other curve comparison techniques are used in step 406 to determine whether a crimp cycle was successful. for instance, the expected data curve may include select data points, such as expected maximums and minimum values, and expected instances in time for those data points given the die and workpiece characteristics. fig. 20 illustrates a second method 700 of comparing the actual data curve with the expected data curve as described with respect to step 520 of fig. 18 . as shown in fig. 20 , the electronic processor 100 identifies an expected curve feature in the expected data curve (step 705 ). the curve feature includes, for example, valleys and peaks formed by the expected data curve. for example, fig. 21 illustrates an exemplary expected data curve. the expected data curve of fig. 21 has a peak value of about 5000 psi at about 1 second, a valley value of about 2500 psi at about 1.75 seconds, and a peak of about 7500 psi just before 3 seconds. each of these peaks and valleys are considered curve features. other expected data curves may include different expected curve features and may include more or less curve features than the exemplary expected data curve shown in fig. 21 . the electronic processor 100 also identifies an expected time period during which the expected curve feature is identified (step 710 ). the expected time period is shorter than the duration of the operation of the crimper 10 (e.g., shorter than a crimp cycle). again, with respect to fig. 21 , the expected time period may include, for example, between 0.5 seconds and 1.5 seconds for the peak of about 5000 psi. since the expected data curve of fig. 21 includes other expected curve features, the electronic processor 100 may also identify one expected time period for each expected curve feature (e.g., a second expected time period for a second expected curve feature, a third expected time period for a third expected curve feature, and the like). the electronic processor 100 then identifies an actual curve feature in the actual data curve (step 715 ). the actual curve feature again refers to peaks and/or valleys that are formed in the actual data curve. fig. 16a illustrates an exemplary actual data curve that includes a first actual curve feature of about 5000 psi at about 1 second, a second actual curve feature of about 2500 psi at about 1.75 seconds, and a third actual curve feature of about 7500 psi at about 3 seconds. as shown in fig. 16a , the first actual curve feature and third actual curve feature correspond to peaks of the actual data curve, while the second actual curve feature corresponds to a valley. the electronic processor 100 then determines whether the identified actual curve feature occurs within the expected time period (step 720 ). for example, the electronic processor 100 may determine whether the first actual curve feature of fig. 16a occurs within the expected time period of about 0.5 seconds to 1.5 seconds. when the electronic processor 100 determines that the actual curve feature occurs within the expected time period, the electronic processor 100 determines that the operation was completed successfully (i.e., the crimp cycle was completed successfully) in step 725 . in the example of fig. 16a and fig. 21 , the first actual curve feature (e.g., the peak of about 5000 psi) does occur within the expected time period between 0.5 seconds and 1.5 seconds. therefore, in this example, the electronic processor 100 determines that the crimp cycle was completed successfully. on the other hand, when the electronic processor 100 determines that the actual curve feature occurs outside the expected time period (or does not occur at all), the electronic processor 100 determines that the operation was completed unsuccessfully (step 730 ). in some embodiments, an indication or alert is generated when the operation was completed unsuccessfully. for example, if the actual data curve of fig. 16a did not include the first actual curve feature, or the first actual curve feature occurred at 0.25 seconds instead, the electronic processor 100 would determine that the crimp cycle was completed unsuccessfully. in some embodiments, the method 700 may be repeated for each expected curve feature in an expected data curve to determine whether an actual data curve is similar to the expected data curve (e.g., to analyze the actual data curve based on an appropriate expected data curve). by performing the method of fig. 20 , the electronic processor 100 may ensure (1) that the obtained pressure data curve (or another actual data curve) has maximum and minimum (peak and valley) values within a certain range of the expected maximum and minimum values and (2) that those maximum and minimum values occur within a certain time period of the expected instances in time of those expected maximum and minimum values. in the embodiments described above, the actual data curve is compared to a specific expected data curve. this expected data curve may be selected by the electronic processor 100 based on specified head type, die type, and workpiece characteristics. for example, a user may input the head type, die type, and workpiece characteristics using the touch display 344 on the external device 164 . the external device 164 (e.g., the electronic processor 342 ) may then determine an appropriate expected data curve from a plurality of expected data curves stored in the expected curve data 326 . the external device 164 may then send the expected data curve to the crimper 10 , and/or may send an indication to the crimper 10 of which expected data curve to use. additionally or alternatively, the external device 164 may send the data specified by the user to the crimper 10 for the electronic processor 100 to determine an appropriate expected data curve. in other embodiments, however, the electronic processor 100 compares the actual curve data to a plurality of expected data curves stored in the expected curve data 326 and performs a curve matching function to identify the type of crimp. the curve matching function may include, for instance, comparing the actual curve data to the expected data curves stored in the expected curve data 326 and determining the closest match based on a sum of absolute differences of each or of select data points on the curve or using another curve matching technique. if the actual data curve does not match any of the expected data curves (e.g., the sum of the absolute differences exceeds a threshold for each expected data curve), the controller 130 determines that the crimp was not successful. in the case of no match, the controller 130 may also determine whether the trigger 106 was released early (e.g., the trigger 106 was depressed for less than a predetermined threshold) and, in turn, indicate a crimp error and no match based on the early release of the trigger 106 . additionally, the controller 130 may determine that the actual curve data matches an expected data curve generally, but is still too different from the curve and indicates that the crimp was not successful. the controller 130 may also output a type of crimp and an indication of whether the crimp was successful based on the matched expected data curve to the external device 164 for display on the touch display 344 . as an example, the external device 164 may identify the crimp type as using crimper head 72 , using die type x for 3/0 wire, and crimping 3/0 aluminum wire. fig. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a method 800 of the curve matching function described briefly above. in the example shown in fig. 22 , the expected curve data 326 only includes a first expected data curve and a second expected data curve. in other embodiments, the expected curve data 326 may include more expected data curves, and the actual data curve may be compared to each of these expected data curves. as shown in fig. 22 , the electronic processor 100 generates a first difference value representative of a first difference between the actual data curve and the first expected data curve (step 805 ). the first difference value may, in some embodiments, correspond to a sum of the absolute values of difference values between the actual data curve and the expected data curve. in other embodiments, the first difference value may be calculated based on the number of curve features that correspond to each other between the actual data curve and the expected data curve. the electronic processor 100 also generates a second difference value representative of a second difference between the actual data curve and the second expected data curve (step 810 ). as described above, the difference value may be generated or calculated in different ways. in one example, the first difference value and the second difference value are calculated in the same way to obtain comparable difference values. the electronic processor 100 then determines whether the first difference value exceeds the second difference value (step 815 ). when the electronic processor 100 determines that the first difference value does not exceed the second difference value (e.g., the actual data curve more closely resembles the first expected data curve), the electronic processor 100 proceeds to identify a type of operation based on the first expected data curve (step 820 ). for example, the electronic processor 100 may identify the crimp type as using crimper head 72 , using die type x for 3/0 wire, and crimping 3/0 aluminum wire. the electronic processor 100 can also determine whether the particular operation (e.g., crimp cycle) was completed successfully. as shown in fig. 22 , the electronic processor 100 determines whether the first difference value exceeds a first deviation threshold (step 825 ). the first deviation threshold may be a general deviation threshold used by the electronic processor 100 to determine whether an operation was completed successfully regardless of which type of operation was performed. in other embodiments, the first deviation threshold is a specific deviation threshold based on, for example, the type of operation that was performed. in other words, the deviation threshold may change when the expected data curve changes. when the first difference value does not exceed the first deviation threshold, the electronic processor 100 determines that the operation (e.g., the crimp cycle) was completed successfully (step 830 ). in some embodiments, the electronic processor 100 may generate an indication that the operation was successful via, for example, the indicators 116 . when the first difference value, however, exceeds the first deviation threshold, the electronic processor 100 determines that the operation (e.g., the crimp cycle) was completed unsuccessfully (step 835 ). for example, the trigger may have been released early, the hydraulic power tool (e.g., the crimper 10 and/or the cutter 210 ) may be malfunctioning, or the like. in some embodiments, the electronic processor 100 generates an alert to indicate that the operation was unsuccessful. referring back to step 815 , when the electronic processor 100 determines that the first difference value exceeds the second difference value, the electronic processor 100 proceeds to identify a type of operation based on the second expected data curve. for example, and as mentioned above, the electronic processor 100 may identify a type of crimp performed by the hydraulic power tool (e.g., the crimper 10 ) at step 840 . the electronic processor 100 may identify the crimp type as using a crimper head 50 , using die type x for 3/0 wire, and crimping 3/0 aluminum wire. the electronic processor 100 can also then determine whether the crimp cycle was completed successfully. the electronic processor 100 determines whether the second difference value exceeds a second deviation threshold (step 845 ). as mentioned above, the second deviation threshold may be different than the first deviation threshold, since the second deviation threshold is based on a different expected data curve. in some embodiments, however, the second deviation threshold and the first deviation threshold are the same. when the electronic processor 100 determines that the second difference value exceeds the second deviation threshold, the electronic processor 100 determines that the operation (e.g., the crimp cycle) was completed unsuccessfully (step 835 ). as described above, the electronic processor 100 may generate an alert indicating that the operation was unsuccessful. on the other hand, when the electronic processor 100 determines that the second difference value does not exceed the second deviation threshold, the electronic processor 100 determines that the operation (e.g., the crimp cycle) was completed successfully (step 850 ). again, the electronic processor 100 may generate an indication using, for example, the indicators 116 to show that the operation was completed successfully. although figs. 18-22 were described as being performed by the electronic processor 100 , in some embodiments, the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 may perform the methods described with respect to figs. 18-22 . for instance, in some embodiments, a limited data set is obtained and stored in the memory 132 of the hydraulic power tool (e.g., the crimper 10 ). in such embodiments, the electronic processor 342 compares the maximum pressure or current value of each cycle covered by the tool operational data to the predetermined threshold to determine whether full pressure was achieved in each cycle, as described, for example, with respect to fig. 19 . in embodiments where additional data or data curves are captured during each cycle, as described above, more thorough comparison techniques as described with respect the data curve analysis of, for example, figs. 18, 19, 20, and 22 are carried out by the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 . as noted above, the particular expected data curve of the expected curve data 326 used may be selected by the electronic processor 342 based on user input of head type, die type, and workpiece characteristics, or the curve may be selected by the electronic processor 342 automatically based on curve matching function as described above with respect to fig. 22 . the external device 164 may display one or more of the obtained data curves on the touch screen display 344 , e.g., in response to a user request entered via the touch screen display 344 of the external device 164 . additionally, in some instances, the expected curve may be overlaid on the touch screen display 344 so that a user can compare the expected versus actual data curves of the crimper 10 . in some instances, a user inputs crimp information (e.g., head type, die type, and workpiece characteristics) and the external device 164 uses the crimp information to obtain the expected data curve from the expected curve data 326 stored in memory, and overlays the obtained expected data curve on the display with the actual data curve. in other embodiments, the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 compares the actual curve data to the expected data curves stored in the expected curve data 326 and performs a curve matching function as described above (e.g., with respect to fig. 22 ) to identify the type of crimp or operation performed. the external device 164 then displays on the touch display screen 344 the identified type of crimp, defined in terms of the head type, die type, and workpiece characteristics, for instance. as an example, the external device 164 may identify the crimp type as using crimper head 72 , using die type x for 3/0 wire, and crimping 3/0 aluminum wire. in some embodiments, the crimper 10 performs a more rapid, less complex analysis involving fewer data comparisons than the external device 164 . for instance, after each cycle performed by the crimper 10 , the electronic processor 100 of the crimper 10 compares the maximum pressure value of each cycle to the predetermined threshold and determines whether full pressure was obtained. however, the external device 164 performs the more thorough comparison techniques as described above with respect to the data curve analysis. in these embodiments, the expected curve data 326 may reside in the memory 330 of the external device 164 , but not in the crimper 10 . fig. 23 illustrates a method 900 in which the electronic processor 100 performs a more simple analysis of the operational parameters and data, and the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 performs analysis based on the actual data curve (e.g., a more complex analysis). as shown in fig. 23 , the crimper 10 (e.g., the pressure sensor 68 ) measures output pressure during the operation of the crimper 10 (step 905 ). the electronic processor 100 then determines whether a maximum output pressure measured during the operation of the crimper 10 (e.g., during the crimp cycle) exceeds a pressure threshold (step 910 ). when the electronic processor 100 determines that the maximum output pressure exceeds the pressure threshold, the electronic processor 100 determines that the operation (e.g., crimp cycle) was completed successfully (step 915 ) and generates an indication via the indicators 116 that the operation was successful (step 920 ). for example, the electronic processor 100 provides an indication (e.g., a signal) that causes the indicators 116 to generate an indication, such as lighting up green when the operation was completed successfully. on the other hand, when the electronic processor 100 determines that the maximum output pressure does not exceed the pressure threshold, the electronic processor 100 determines that the operation (e.g., the crimp cycle) was unsuccessful (step 925 ) and the electronic processor 100 generates an indication via, for example, the indicators 116 that the operation was unsuccessful (step 930 ). for example, the electronic processor 100 provides an indication (e.g., signal) that causes the indicators 116 to generate an indication, such as lighting up red when the operation was completed unsuccessfully. the electronic processor 100 also sends the operational data to the external device 164 through the antenna and transceiver 154 (step 935 ). the external device 164 receives the operational data from the crimper 10 and analyzes the operational data to determine whether the crimper 10 completed the operation successfully. as shown in fig. 23 , the external device 164 (e.g., the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 ) compares the actual data curve with an expected data curve (step 940 ). in some embodiments, the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 generates the actual data curve based on the operational data received from the crimper 10 . in other embodiments, the crimper 10 sends the actual data curve to the external device 164 . as described above, the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 may select an expected data curve based on specific characteristics of the completed operation, or may perform a curve matching function as described with reference to fig. 22 to determine an expected data curve to use. the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 then determines whether the operation was completed successfully based on the comparison of the actual data curve and the expected data curve (step 945 ). the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 may implement the methods 600 and/or 700 described in figs. 19 and 20 to determine whether the operation was completed successfully. in one embodiment, the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 displays the actual data curve overlaid on the expected data curve on the touch display 344 (step 950 ). in other words, the actual data curve and the expected data curve are displayed simultaneously on the display 344 (e.g., within the section of the display 344 ) such that the differences between the actual data curve and the expected data curve are illustrated. in some embodiments, the actual data curve is displayed on top of the expected data curve, while in other embodiments, the expected data curve is displayed on top of the actual data curve. such a display allows the user to visualize how the actual data curve differs from the expected data curve and may help a user determine how to complete the operation successfully (e.g., switching crimping heads). additionally, as shown in fig. 23 , when the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 determines that the operation was completed unsuccessfully (step 955 ), and may, in some embodiments, generate an alert through the external device 164 (e.g., using speakers, the touch display 344 , a vibrate motor, and the like). varying complexity levels of analysis between devices uses less memory space in the memory 232 of the crimper 10 and less computational effort of the controller 130 in the crimper. with respect to fig. 23 , in some embodiments, the electronic processor 100 of the crimper 10 performs steps 905 - 935 , but the external device 164 does not perform additional analysis on the operational parameters and/or data detected by the crimper 10 . in such embodiments, the operational data is sent to the external device 164 for display and/or storage purposes. in other embodiments, after the electronic processor 100 determines whether the operation of the hydraulic drive 11 was performed successfully (e.g., steps 915 and 925 ), the crimper 10 sends an output to the external device 164 (e.g., via the transceiver 154 ) indicating whether the operation of the hydraulic drive 11 was successful. in such embodiments, the external device 164 may generate an indication to the user of whether the operation of the hydraulic drive 11 was successful instead of the indication being provided on the crimper 10 . for example, the external device 164 may generate an indication via the display screen 344 , a speaker, and/or a vibrate motor. in yet other embodiments, after the sensors 110 measure an operational parameter of the hydraulic drive 11 (e.g., an output pressure) as discussed with respect to step 905 , the crimper 10 sends (e.g., via the transceiver 154 ) the measured operational parameter(s) to the external device 164 . in such embodiments, the external device 164 , and in particular, the electronic processor 342 , compares the operational parameter (e.g., output pressure) to a maximum threshold, determines whether the operation of the hydraulic drive 11 was successful based on whether the operational parameter exceeds the maximum threshold, and generates an indication to the user of whether the operation of the hydraulic drive 11 was successful, as discussed with respect to steps 910 - 930 . in such embodiments, the crimper 10 measures the operational parameters, but the analysis of the operational parameters is performed by the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 . additionally, although figs. 18-23 have been discussed as being performed by the electronic processor 100 of the crimper or the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 , in some embodiments, the methods discussed with respect to figs. 18-23 may be performed by the electronic processor 350 of the server 312 . for example, as discussed with respect to fig. 23 , the crimper 10 may perform a more coarse analysis of the operational data while the electronic processor 350 of the server 312 performs a more thorough analysis of the actual data curve. in other embodiments, all the analysis of the operational data of the crimper 10 (or another hydraulic power tool) is performed by the electronic processor 350 of the server 312 . for the electronic processor 350 of the server 312 to perform the analysis, the operational data is first sent to the server 312 through, for example, the external device 164 and over the network 314 . the server 312 may then provide indications and/or messages back to the external device 164 when the operations are determined to have been completed unsuccessfully. additionally, although the steps in figs. 18-23 are described as being performed serially, some steps may be performed concurrently (e.g., in parallel). further, the steps shown in figs. 18-23 may be performed in another order by each of the electronic processors 100 , 342 , 350 than the order shown. the electronic processor 100 , electronic processor 342 and/or electronic processor 350 , respectively, are also operable to detect a malfunctioning crimper 10 . for instance, these devices may generate an alert if the maximum pressure received over a certain number of or percentage of crimp cycles is below a predetermined threshold. additionally, these devices may generate an alert if current, pressure, or motor speed is substantially below or above an expected value at any, select, or one point along the obtained data curves. for instance, the analysis methods may have high and low alert threshold levels that, when crossed during a crimp cycle, cause an alert. the generated alerts are perceptible to a human and may be generated via, for instance, the feedback indicators 174 or the touch screen display 344 . fig. 24 illustrates a method 1000 of operating a hydraulic power tool such as, the crimper 10 . as shown in fig. 24 , the crimper 10 performs an operation by the hydraulic drive 11 of the crimper 10 (step 1005 ). during the operation of the hydraulic drive 11 , a sensor such as, for example, one of sensors 110 detects an operational parameter of the hydraulic drive 11 (step 1010 ). in some embodiments, the operational parameter corresponds to output pressure, voltage measurements indicative of the output pressure, motor speed, and/or motor current. the electronic processor 100 of the crimper 10 then proceeds to store a plurality of data points based on the operational parameter and detected during the operation of the hydraulic drive 11 (step 1015 ). in some embodiments, the electronic processor 100 stores each of the plurality of data points with a corresponding sampling time (e.g., a time at which the specific data point was sampled). in other embodiments, the electronic processor 100 stores the plurality of data points and a sampling rate such that a corresponding sampling time can be computed for each data point. in yet other embodiments, the electronic processor 100 stores only the plurality of data points and a sampling rate and/or sampling times are provided by a different device, and/or are already stored in the memory 135 . the crimper 10 then proceeds to send the plurality of data points to the external device 164 via the transceiver 154 on the crimper 10 (step 1020 ). the external device 164 , and in particular, the electronic processor 342 , proceeds to control the display screen 344 to display an expected data point for the operational parameter (step 1025 ). in some embodiments, the expected data point is display along with, and as part of, an expected data curve. the electronic processor 342 also controls the display screen 344 to display an actual data curve overlaid on the expected data point ( 1030 ). the actual data curve is based on the plurality of data points over time. in other words, the actual data curve is a plot of the plurality of data points over time based on the sampling rate and/or the specific sampling times for each data point. as discussed above, when the actual data curve is overlaid on the expected data point, the actual data curve and the expected data point are displayed simultaneously on the same section of the display screen 344 . in some embodiments when the actual data curve is overlaid on the expected data point, the expected data point is displayed on top of the actual data curve. in other embodiments, the actual data curve is displayed on top of the expected data point. fig. 25 illustrates an exemplary screenshot of the display screen of the external device 164 . as shown in fig. 25 , the display screen 344 displays a graph including an actual data curve 1500 displayed overlaid on a first expected data curve 1505 and on a second expected data curve 1510 . in the example of fig. 25 , the first expected data curve 1505 may correspond to, for example, a minimum threshold to which certain data points (e.g., the peaks) of the actual data curve 1500 are compared. the second expected data curve 1510 may correspond to, for example, a maximum threshold to which the same or different data points (e.g., the peaks) of the actual data curve 1500 are compared. in some embodiments, the electronic processor 100 of the crimper 10 and/or the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 compares at least some of the data points of the actual data curve 1500 to the minimum threshold and/or the maximum threshold to determine whether the operation of the crimper (e.g., the crimp cycle) is completed successfully. when the actual data point exceeds the minimum threshold and/or is below the maximum threshold, the electronic processor 100 of the crimper 10 determines that the crimp cycle was completed successfully. in some embodiments, the external device 164 receives the data points and/or the minimum and maximum thresholds from the crimper 10 and displays them as shown in fig. 25 . in other embodiments, the external device 164 receives the data points and/or the minimum and maximum thresholds from the server 312 . additionally, as shown in fig. 25 , the display screen 344 includes a first actuator 1520 , a second actuator 1525 , and a third actuator 1530 . these actuators 1520 , 1525 , 1530 are selectable to indicate how many crimp cycles are displayed on the display screen 344 . based on which of the three actuators 1520 , 1525 , 1530 is selected, the electronic processor 342 of the external device 164 determines how many crimp cycles are to be displayed. in one embodiment, the electronic processor 342 identifies each crimp cycle based on when the operational parameter (e.g., output pressure) returns to a baseline after reaching a peak. in another embodiment, the electronic processor 342 identifies each crimp cycle based on when the operational parameter (e.g., the output pressure) reaches a peak and/or exceeds a threshold (e.g., the minimum threshold 1505 ). therefore, the external device 164 may display different number of crimp cycles based on a user input through the display screen 344 or other control device of the external device 164 . fig. 26 illustrates another exemplary screenshot of the display screen 344 of the external device 164 . as shown in fig. 26 , the display screen 344 displays a graph 2000 having a plurality of points representative of each crimp cycle. in one embodiment, each point may represent the maximum pressure reached during the particular crimp cycle. the graph 2000 also includes a shaded portion 2005 that indicates a desirable range for the maximum pressure of each crimp cycle. in some embodiments, the shaded portion 2005 corresponds to the area between the minimum threshold 1505 and the maximum threshold 1510 discussed with respect to fig. 25 . in the illustrated embodiment, the display screen 344 also displays a first indicator 2010 displaying a total number of cycles completed by the crimper 10 , a second indicator 2015 displaying a total number of cycles for which full pressure was reached by the crimper 10 , and a third indicator 2020 displaying a percentage (e.g., rate) of the number of cycles that reached full pressure compared to the number of total cycles performed by the crimper 10 . the number of cycles for which full pressure was reached corresponds to the number of cycles for which the maximum pressure during the crimp cycle was within the shaded portion 2005 (e.g., between the minimum and the maximum thresholds). as shown in fig. 26 , the graph 2000 also illustrates the crimp cycles for which full pressure was not reached. in the illustrated embodiment, two crimp cycles were completed unsuccessfully and their corresponding maximum pressure was measured as approximately zero (0) pounds per square inch (psi). furthermore, the electronic processor 100 , electronic processor 342 and/or processor 350 , respectively, are also operable to provide early notification if the crimper performance is degrading over time. for instance, rather than comparing a parameter obtained from the tool operational data 322 to a particular threshold for a single data point, the parameter over several or many data points across multiple crimp cycles may be analyzed. if the data points are trending away from a desired value, even if not yet in excess of an alert threshold for an individual data point, the electronic processor 100 , electronic processor 342 , and/or processor 350 is operable to generate an alert providing an early notification of performance degradation. for instance, if the maximum achieved pressure over a set of 50 cycles is still above the predetermined threshold used to determine whether a fully pressure cycle occurred, but the detected pressure values are trending closer to the predetermined threshold at a predetermined rate, an early notification alert indicating performance degradation may be generated. in turn, a user may take the crimper 10 in for service before the crimper 10 is actually malfunctioning such that it cannot consistently achieve full pressure cycles. additionally, a series of overcurrent or other error conditions over a certain number of cycles will cause the electronic processor 100 , electronic processor 342 and/or processor 350 , to generate an early notification alert indicating performance degradation. furthermore, service technicians performing maintenance or diagnostic analysis of the crimper 10 may obtain tool operational data 322 from the crimper 10 via the external device 164 associated with the service personnel or via another device (e.g., via a web browser on a laptop computer) accessing the information previously stored on the memory 354 of the server 312 . the service technicians may manually compare current, pressure, and/or motor speed data curves to expected data curves for the respective parameters. particular deviations of the actual data curves from the expected data curves can indicate to the service technicians a particular issue with the crimper 10 , such as a malfunctioning motor 12 or pump 14 . although figs. 11-23 were generally described with respect to the crimper 10 , including methods 400 of fig. 5, 500 of fig. 18, 600 of fig. 19, 700 of fig. 20, 800 of fig. 22, and 900 of fig. 23 , the concepts described similarly apply to the cutter 210 . for instance, data is captured by the cutter 210 using similar techniques, output by the cutter 210 to the external device 164 and server 312 using similar techniques, and analyzed by the cutter 210 , external device 164 , and/or server 312 using similar techniques as described above. the method 400 is further applicable to other hydraulic tools (e.g., knock-out punches) and to other power tools (e.g., standard drill/drivers, impact drivers, hammer drills/drivers, circular saws, reciprocating saws, table saws, orbital sanders, belt sanders, routers, etc.). furthermore, the method 400 is operable to analyze each of the parameters making up the tool operational data noted above. for instance, the electronic processor 100 in step 406 , the external device 164 in step 416 , and/or the server 312 in step 422 are each operable to analyze tool operational data (e.g., compare the data values to particular thresholds) to determine whether a threshold is exceeded. the analysis may be used to provide general statistical and tool usage information to a user, and/or to generate alerts in the instance of malfunctions, maintenance requirements, or performance degradation.
052-744-545-916-106	US	[ "CA", "BR", "KR", "US", "DE", "ES", "EP", "AU", "MX", "ZA", "TW", "JP" ]	A47L13/16,D04H1/46,D21H25/00,D21H25/04	1990-11-01T00:00:00	1990	[ "A47", "D04", "D21" ]	hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber web	a hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber web is disclosed. this nonwoven pulp fiber web has a mean flow pore size ranging from about 18 to about 100 microns, and a frazier porosity of at least about 100 cfm/ft2. the web may also be characterized by a specific volume ranging from about 8 to about 15 cm3/g. the nonwoven pulp fiber web may contain a significant proportion of low-average fiber length pulp and still have a total absorptive capacity greater than about 500 percent and a wicking rate greater than about 2 centimeters per 15 seconds. the hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber web may be used as a hand towel, wipe, or as a fluid distribution material in an absorbent personal care product. also disclosed is a method of making the hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber web.	1. a hydraulically needled nonwoven wet laid fibrous web wherein the fibrous material of the web consists essentially of pulp, said nonwoven web having a mean flow pore size ranging from about 18 to about 100 microns and a frazier porosity of at least about 100 cfm/ft.sup.2. 2. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 1 wherein the web has a specific volume ranging from about 8 to about 15 cm .sup.3 g. 3. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 1 wherein the web has a total absorptive capacity greater than about 500 percent and a wicking rate greater than about 2 cm per 15 seconds. 4. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 1 wherein the pulp is a high-average fiber length pulp. 5. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 4 wherein the pulp has an average fiber length from about 2 to about 5 mm. 6. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 1 wherein the pulp comprises more than about 50% by weight, low-average fiber length pulp and less than about 50% by weight, high-average fiber length pulp. 7. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 6 wherein the low-average fiber length pulp has an average length from about 0.8 mm to about 1.1 mm. 8. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 4 wherein the high-average fiber length pulp is a wood pulp selected from bleached virgin softwood fiber pulp and unbleached virgin softwood fiber pulp. 9. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 1 wherein the mean flow pore size is from about 20 to about 40 microns. 10. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 3 wherein the nonwoven web has a total absorptive capacity between about 500 and about 750 percent. 11. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 3 wherein the nonwoven web has a wicking rate from about 2 to about 3 cm per 15 seconds. 12. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 1 wherein the nonwoven web has a frazier porosity from about 150 to about 200 cfm/ft.sup.2. 13. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 1 wherein the nonwoven web further comprises particulates selected from the group consisting of activated charcoal, clay, starch, and hydrocolloid materials commonly referred to as superabsorbent materials. 14. an absorbent paper towel comprising the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 1 having a basis weight ranging from about 18 to about 120 grams pr square meter. 15. an absorbent paper towel according to claim 14 wherein the nonwoven fibrous web has a basis weight ranging from about 30 to about 75 grams per square meter. 16. a fluid distribution component of an absorbent personal care product, said component comprising the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 1 having a basis weight ranging from about 7 to about 70 grams per square meter. 17. the fluid distribution component of an absorbent personal care product according to claim 16, wherein said component has a basis weight ranging from about 25 to about 50 grams per square meter. 18. a hydraulically needled nonwoven wet laid fibrous web wherein the fibrous material of the web consists essentially of pulp, said web having a mean flow pore size ranging from about 18 to about 100 microns and a frazier porosity of at least about 100 cfm/ft.sup.2, said pulp comprising: at least about 50%, by weight, pulp having an average fiber length from about 0.7 to 1.2 mm; and less than about 50%, by weight, pulp having an average fiber length from about 1.5 to about 6 mm. 19. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 18 wherein the web has a specific volume ranging from about 8 to about 15 cm.sup.3 /g. 20. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 18 wherein the web has a total absorptive capacity greater than about 500 percent and a wicking rate greater than about 2 cm per 15 second. 21. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 18 wherein the mean flow pore size ranges from about 20 to about 40 microns. 22. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 20 wherein the nonwoven web has a total absorptive capacity between about 500 and about 750 percent. 23. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 20 wherein the nonwoven web has a wicking rate between about 2 to about 3 cm per 15 seconds. 24. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 18 wherein the nonwoven web has a frazier porosity between about 150 and 250 cfm/ft.sup.2. 25. the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 18 wherein the nonwoven web further comprises particulates selected from the group consisting of activate charcoal, clays, starches, and hydrocolloid materials commonly referred to as superabsorbent materials. 26. an absorbent paper towel comprising the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 18 having a basis weight ranging from about 18 to about 120 grams per square meter. 27. a fluid distribution component of an absorbent personal care product, said component comprising the nonwoven fibrous web of claim 18 having a basis weight ranging from about 7 to about 70 grams per square meter. 28. a method of making a hydraulically needled nonwoven fibrous web herein the fibrous material of the web consists essentially of pulp, said web having a mean flow pore size ranging from about 18 to about 100 microns and a frazier porosity of at least about 100 cfm/ft.sup.2, said method comprising the steps of: forming a wet-laid nonwoven web from an aqueous dispersion of pulp fibers; hydraulically needling the wet-laid nonwoven web on a foraminous surface at an energy level of about 0.03 to about 0.002 horsepower-hours/pound of dry web; and drying the wet-laid, hydraulically needled nonwoven web. 29. the method of claim 28 wherein the foraminous surface is a single plane mesh having a mesh size of from about 40.times.40 to about 100.times.100. 30. the method of claim 28 wherein the foraminous surface is selected from multi-ply meshes having an effective mesh size of from about 50.times.50 to about 200.times.200. 31. the method of claim 28 wherein the drying step utilized a process selected from the group consisting of through-air-drying, infra red radiation, yankee dryers, steam cans, microwaves, and ultrasonic energy. 32. the method of claim 28 wherein the wet-laid nonwoven web is hydraulically needled while at a consistency of about 25 to about 35 percent, by weight, solids. 33. the method of claim 28 wherein the aqueous dispersion of pulp fibers comprises more than about 50%, by weight, low-average fiber length pulp and less than about 50%, by weight, high-average fiber length pulp.	field of the invention the present invention relates to a nonwoven pulp fiber web which may be used as an absorbent hand towel or wiper or as a fluid distribution material in absorbent personal care products. this invention also relates to a method for making a nonwoven pulp fiber web. background of the invention absorbent nonwoven pulp fiber webs have long been used as practical and convenient disposable hand towels or wipes. these nonwoven webs are typically manufactured in conventional high speed papermaking processes having additional post-treatment steps designed to increase the absorbency of the paper sheet. exemplary post-treatment steps include creping, aperturing, and embossing. these post-treatment steps as well as certain additives (e.g., debonding agents) generally appear to enhance absorbency by loosening the compact fiber network found in most types of nonwoven pulp fiber webs, especially those webs made from low-average fiber length pulp such as, for example, secondary (i.e., recycled) fiber pulp. some highly absorbent single ply and multiple-ply absorbent hand towels or wipes are made using the conventional methods described above. those materials, which may be capable of absorbing up to about 5 times their weight of water or aqueous liquid, are typically made from high-average fiber length virgin softwood pulp. low-average fiber length pulps typically do not yield highly absorbent hand towels or wipes while a loosened network of pulp fibers is generally associated with good absorbency in nonwoven pulp fiber webs, such a loose fiber network may reduce the rate which the nonwoven pulp fiber web absorbs and/or wicks liquids. water jet entanglement has been disclosed as having a positive effect on the absorbency of a nonwoven wood pulp fiber web. for example, canadian patent no. 841,398 to shambelan discloses that high pressure jet streams of water may be used to produce a paper sheet having a highly entangled fiber structure with greater toughness, flexibility, and extensibility, abrasion resistance, and absorbency than the untreated starting paper. the fabrics are prepared by treating a paper sheet with jet streams of water until a stream energy of 0.05 to 2.0 horsepower-hours per pound of product has been applied in order to create a highly entangled fiber structure characterized by a considerable proportion of fiber segments aligned transversely to the plane of the fabric. according to shambelan, these fabrics are characterized by a density of less than 0.3 grams/cm.sup.3, a strip tensile strength of at least 0.7 pounds/inch per yd.sup.2, and an elongation-at-break of at least 10% in all directions. it is disclosed that the entangled fiber structure may be formed from any fibers previously used in papermaking as well as blends of staple length fibers and wood pulp fibers. a paper entitled "aspects of jetlace technology as applied to wet-laid non-wovens" by audre vuillaume and presented at the nonwovens in medical & healthcare applications conference (november 1987) teaches that in order to successfully entangle short fibers like wood pulp fibers it is necessary to add long fibers (e.g., staple length fibers) to create a coherent web structure. the addition of 25 to 30% long fiber is recommended. the paper also recommends utilizing jets of water at less than conventional pressures to entangle the fibers because high-pressure jets of water would destroy or damage the web and/or cause unacceptable fiber loss. an exemplary wet-laid nonwoven fibrous web which is hydraulically entangled at reduced entangling energies is disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 4,755,421 to manning, et al. that patent describes a wet-wipe formed from a wet-laid web containing wood pulp fibers and at least 5 percent, by weight, staple length regenerated cellulose fibers. the web is treated with jet streams of water until a stream energy of 0.07 to 0.09 horsepower-hours per pound of product is applied. the treated web is disclosed as having high wet tensile strength when packed in a preservative liquid yet is able to break up under mild agitation in a wet environment. according to manning, et al., the breakup time and wet tensile strength is proportional to the entangling energy. that is, as entangling energy is reduced, the wet tensile strength and the break-up time are reduced. while these references are of interest to those practicing water-jet entanglement of fibrous materials, they do not address the need for a water jet treatment which opens up or loosens a compact network of pulp fibers to produce a highly absorbent nonwoven web which may be used as a disposable hand towel or wipe or as a fluid distribution material in a personal care product. there is still a need for an inexpensive nonwoven pulp fiber web which is able to quickly absorb several times its weight in water or aqueous liquid. there is also a need for a nonwoven pulp fiber web which contains a substantial proportion of low-average fiber length pulp and which is able to quickly absorb several times its weight in water or aqueous liquid. there is also a need for a practical method of making a highly absorbent pulp fiber web. this need also extends to a method of making such a web which contains a substantial proportion of low-average fiber length pulp. meeting this need is important since it is both economically and environmentally desirable to substitute low-average fiber length secondary (i.e., recycled) fiber pulp for high-quality virgin wood fiber pulp still provide a highly absorbent nonwoven pulp fiber web. definitions the term "machine direction" as used herein refers to the direction of travel of the forming surface onto which fibers are deposited during formation of an absorbent nonwoven web. the term "cross-machine direction" as used herein refers to the direction which is perpendicular to the machine direction defined above. the term "pulp" as used herein refers to pulp containing fibers from natural sources such as woody and non-woody plants. woody plants include, for example, deciduous and coniferous trees. non-woody plants include, for example, cotton, flax, esparto grass, milkweed, straw, jute hemp, and bagasse. the term "average fiber length" as used herein refers to a weighted average length of pulp fibers determined utilizing a kajaani fiber analyzer model no. fs-100 available from kajaani oy electronics, kajaani, finland. according to the test procedure, a pulp sample is treated with a macerating liquid to ensure that no fiber bundles or shives are present. each pulp sample is disintegrated into hot water and diluted to an approximately 0.001% solution. individual test samples are drawn in approximately 50 to 100 ml portions from the dilute solution when tested using the standard kajaani fiber analysis test procedure. the weighted average fiber length may be expressed by the following equation: ##equ1## where k=maximum fiber length x.sub.i =fiber length n.sub.i =number of fibers having length x.sub.i n=total number of fibers measured. the term "low-average fiber length pulp" as used herein refers to pulp that contains a significant amount of short fibers and non-fiber particles which may yield relatively tight, impermeable paper sheets or nonwoven webs that are less desirable in applications where absorbency and rapid fluid intake are important. many secondary wood fiber pulps may be considered low average fiber length pulps; however, the quality of the secondary wood fiber pulp will depend on the quality of the recycled fibers and the type and amount of previous processing. low-average fiber length pulps may have an average fiber length of less than about 1.2 mm as determined by an optical fiber analyzer such as, for example, a kajaani fiber analyzer model no. fs-100 (kajaani oy electronics, kajaani, finland). for example, low average fiber length pulps may have an average fiber length ranging from about 0.7 to 1.2 mm. exemplary low average fiber length pulps include virgin hardwood pulp, and secondary fiber pulp from sources such as, for example, office waste, newsprint, and paperboard scrap. the term "high-average fiber length pulp" as used herein refers to pulp that contains a relatively small amount of short fibers and non-fiber particles which may yield relatively open, permeable paper sheets or nonwoven webs that are desirable in applications where absorbency and rapid fluid intake are important. high-average fiber length pulp is typically formed from non-secondary (i.e., virgin) fibers. secondary fiber pulp which has been screened may also have a high-average fiber length. high-average fiber length pulps typically have an average fiber length of greater than about 1.5 mm as determined by an optical fiber analyzer such as, for example, a kajaani fiber analyzer model no. fs-100 (kajaani oy electronics, kajaani, finland). for example, a high-average fiber length pulp may have an average fiber length from about 1.5 mm to about 6 mm. exemplary high-average fiber length pulps which are wood fiber pulps include, for example, bleached and unbleached virgin softwood fiber pulps. the term "total absorptive capacity" as used herein refers to the capacity of a material to absorb liquid (i.e., water or aqueous solution) over a period of time and is related to the total amount of liquid held by a material at its point of saturation. total absorptive capacity is determined by measuring the increase in the weight of a material sample resulting from the absorption of a liquid. the general procedure used to measure the absorptive capacity conforms to federal specification no. uu-t-595c and may be expressed, in percent, as the weight of liquid absorbed divided by the weight of the sample by the following equation: total absorptive capacity=[(saturated sample weight--sample weight)/sample weight].times.100. the terms "water rate" as used herein refers to the rate at which a drop of water is absorbed by a flat, level sample of material. the water rate was determined in accordance with tappi standard method t432-su-72 with the following changes: 1) three separate drops are timed on each sample; and 2) five samples are tested instead of ten. the term "wicking rate" as used herein refers to the rate which water is drawn in the vertical direction by a strip of an absorbent material. the wicking rate was determined in accordance with american converters test ep-sap-41.01. the term "porosity" as used herein refers to the ability of a fluid, such as, for example, a gas to pass through a material. porosity may be expressed in units of volume per unit time per unit area, for example, (cubic feet per minute) per square foot of material (e.g., (ft.sup.3 /minute/ft.sup.2) or (cfm/ft.sup.2)). the porosity was determined utilizing a frazier air permeability tester available from the frazier precision instrument company and measured in accordance with federal test method 5450, standard no. 191a, except that the sample size was 8".times.8"instead of 7".times.7". the term "bulk density" as used herein refers to the weight of a material per unit of volume. bulk density is generally expressed in units of weight/volume (e.g., grams per cubic centimeter). the bulk density of flat, generally planar materials such as, for example, fibrous nonwoven webs, may be derived from measurements of thickness and basis weight of a sample. the thickness of the samples is determined utilizing a model 49-70 thickness tester available from tmi (testing machines incorporated) of amityville, new york. the thickness was measured using a 2-inch diameter circular foot at an applied pressure of about 0.2 pounds per square inch (psi). the basis weight of the sample was determined essentially in accordance with astm d-3776-9 with the following changes: 1) sample size was 4 inches .times.4 inches square; and 2) a total of 9 samples were weighed. the term "specific volume" as used herein refers to the inverse bulk density volume of material per a unit weight of and may be expressed in units of cubic centimeters per gram. the term "mean flow pore size" as used herein refers to a measure of average pore diameter as determined by a liquid displacement techniques utilizing a coulter porometer and coulter porofil.tm. test liquid available from coulter electronics limited, luton, england. the mean flow pore size is determined by wetting a test sample with a liquid having a very low surface tension (i.e., coulter porofil.tm.). air pressure is applied to one side of the sample. eventually, as the air pressure is increased, the capillary attraction of the fluid in the largest pores is overcome, forcing the liquid out and allowing air to pass through the sample. with further increases in the air pressure, progressively smaller and smaller holes will clear. a flow versus pressure relationship for the wet sample can be established and compared to the results for the dry sample. the mean flow pore size is measured at the point where the curve representing 50% of the dry sample flow versus pressure intersects the curve representing wet sample flow versus pressure. the diameter of the pore which opens at that particular pressure (i.e., the mean flow pore size) can be determined from the following expression: pore diameter (.mu.m)=(40.tau.)/pressure where .tau.=surface tension of the fluid expressed in units of mn/m; the pressure is the applied pressure expressed in millibars (mbar); and the very low surface tension of the liquid used to wet the sample allows one to assume that the contact angle of the liquid on the sample is about zero. summary of the invention the present invention addresses the needs discussed above by providing a nonwoven pulp fiber web in which the pulp fibers define pores having a mean flow pore size ranging from about 15 to about 100 microns and in which the nonwoven web has a porosity of at least about 100 ft.sup.3 /minute/ft.sup.2. the nonwoven pulp fiber web also has a specific volume of at least about 7 cm.sup.3 /g, a total absorptive capacity greater than about 500 percent and a wicking rate greater than about 2 cm per 15 seconds. in one embodiment, the pulp fibers may define pores having a mean flow pore size ranging from about 20 to about 40 microns. the porosity of that nonwoven pulp fiber web may range from about 100 to about 200 ft.sup.3 /minute/ft.sup.2 and the specific volume may range from about 10 to about 15 cm.sup.3 /g. the nonwoven web may also have a total absorptive capacity between about 500 and about 750 percent and a wicking rate between about 2 to about 3 cm per 15 seconds. the nonwoven web is made of pulp fibers. the pulp may be a mixture of different types and/or qualities of pulp fibers. for example, one embodiment of the invention is a nonwoven web containing more than about 50% by weight, low-average fiber length pulp and less than about 50% by weight, high-average fiber length pulp (e.g., virgin softwood pulp). the low-average fiber length pulp may be characterized as having an average fiber length of less than about 1.2 mm. for example, the low-average fiber length pulp may have a fiber length from about 0.7 mm to about 1.2 mm. the high-average fiber length pulp may be characterized as having an average fiber length of greater than about 1.5 mm. for example, the high-average fiber length pulp may have an average fiber length from about 1.5 mm to about 6 mm. one exemplary fiber mixture contains about 75 percent, by weight, low-average fiber length pulp and about 25 percent, by weight, high-average fiber length pulp. according to the invention, the low-average fiber length pulp may be certain grades of virgin hardwood pulp and low-quality secondary (i.e., recycled) fiber pulp from sources such as, for example, newsprint, reclaimed paperboard, and office waste. the high-average fiber length pulp may be bleached and unbleached virgin softwood pulps. the present invention also contemplates treating the nonwoven pulp fiber web with additives such as, for example, binders, surfactants, cross-linking agents, hydrating agents and/or pigments to impart desirable properties such as, for example, abrasion resistance, toughness, color, or improved wetting ability. alternatively and/or additionally, the present invention contemplates adding particulates such as, for example, activated charcoal, clays, starches, and hydrocolloid particles commonly referred to as superabsorbents to the absorbent nonwoven web. the nonwoven pulp fiber web may be used as a paper towel or wipe or as a fluid distribution material in an absorbent personal care product. in one embodiment, the nonwoven web may be a hand towel or wiper having a basis weight from about 18 to about 120 grams per square meter (gsm). for example, the paper towel may have a basis weight between about 20 to about 70 gsm or more particularly, from about 30 to about 60 gsm. the hand towel or wiper desirably has a mean flow pore size ranging from about 15 to about 100 microns, a specific volume of about 12 cm.sup.3 /g, a total absorptive capacity greater than about 500 percent, a wicking rate greater than about 2.0 cm per 15 seconds, and a frazier porosity greater than about 100 ft.sup.3 /minute/ft.sup.2. the hand towel or wiper may be a single ply or multi-ply material. when used as a fluid management material in a personal care product, the absorbent nonwoven web may have about the same properties as the hand towel or wiper embodiment except for a basis weight which may range from about 7 to about 70 gsm. one or more layers of the nonwoven pulp fiber web may also be used as an absorbent component of a personal care product. the multiple layers may have a combined basis weight of 100 gsm or more. the present invention also contemplates a method of making an absorbent, nonwoven web by forming a wet-laid nonwoven web of pulp fibers; hydraulically needling the wet-laid nonwoven web of fibers on a foraminous surface at an energy level less than about 0.03 horsepower-hours/pound of dry web; and drying the hydraulically needled nonwoven structure of wet-laid pulp fibers utilizing one or more non-compressive drying processes. in one aspect of the invention, a pulp sheet may be rehydrated and subjected to hydraulic needling. the wet-laid nonwoven web is formed utilizing conventional wet-laying techniques. the nonwoven web may be formed and hydraulically needled on the same foraminous surface. the foraminous surface may be, for example, a single plane mesh having a mesh size of from about 40.times.40 to about 100.times.100. the foraminous surface may also be a multi-ply mesh having a mesh size from about 50.times.50 to about 200.times.200. in one embodiment of the present invention the foraminous surface may have a series of ridges and channels and protruding knuckles which impart certain characteristics to the nonwoven web. low pressure jets of a liquid (e.g., water or similar working fluid) are used to produce a desired loosening of the pulp fiber network. it has been found that the nonwoven web of pulp fibers has desired levels of absorbency when jets of water are used to impart a total energy of less than about 0.03 horsepower-hours/pound of web. for example, the energy imparted by the working fluid may be between about 0.002 to about 0.03 horsepower-hours/pound of web. in another aspect of the method of the present invention, the wet-laid, hydraulically needled nonwoven structure may be dried utilizing a non-compressive drying process. through-air drying processes have been found to work particularly well. other drying processes which incorporate infra-red radiation, yankee dryers, steam cans, microwaves, and ultrasonic energy may also be used. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary process for making a wet-laid, hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber web. fig. 2 is a plan view of an exemplary multi-ply mesh fabric suitable as a supporting surface for hydraulic needling of a nonwoven pulp fiber web. fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along 3--3' of fig. 2 showing one ply of an exemplary multi-ply mesh fabric. fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on 3--3' of fig. 2 showing two plies of an exemplary multi-ply mesh fabric. fig. 5 is a bottom view of one ply of an exemplary multi-ply mesh fabric. fig. 6 is a bottom view of an exemplary multi-ply mesh fabric showing two plies of the fabric. fig. 7 is a photomicrograph of the surface of an exemplary wet-laid, hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber web. fig. 8 is a photomicrograph of a cross-section of an exemplary two-ply paper towel. fig. 9 is a photomicrograph of a cross-section of an exemplary un-embossed single-ply paper towel. fig. 10 is a photomicrograph of a cross-section of a flat portion of an exemplary single-ply embossed paper towel. fig. 11 is a photomicrograph of a cross-section of an embossed area of an exemplary single-ply embossed paper towel. fig. 12 is a photomicrograph of a cross section of an exemplary wet-laid hydraulically needled absorbent nonwoven pulp fiber web. fig. 13 is a photomicrograph of a cross section of an exemplary wet-laid hydraulically needled absorbent nonwoven pulp fiber web after a post-treatment step. fig. 14 is a representation of an exemplary absorbent structure that contains a wet-laid, hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber web. fig. 15 is a top view of a test apparatus for measuring the rate which an absorbent structure absorbs a liquid. fig. 16 is a cross-sectional view of a test apparatus for measuring the rate at which an absorbent structure absorbs a liquid. detailed description of the invention referring to fig. 1 of the drawings there is schematically illustrated at 10 a process for forming a hydraulically needled, wet-laid nonwoven pulp fiber web. according to the present invention, a dilute suspension of pulp fibers is supplied by a headbox 20 and deposited via a sluice 22 in uniform dispersion onto a foraminous screen 24 of a conventional papermaking machine 26. the suspension of pulp fibers may be diluted to any consistency which is typically used in conventional papermaking processes. for example, the suspension may contain from about 0.1 to about 1.5 percent by weight pulp fibers suspended in water. the pulp fibers may be any high-average fiber length pulp, low-average fiber length pulp, or mixtures of the same. the high-average fiber length pulp typically have an average fiber length from about 1.5 mm to about 6mm. exemplary high-average fiber length wood pulps include those available from the kimberly-clark corporation under the trade designations longlac 19, longlac 16, coosa river 56, and coosa river 57. the low-average fiber length pulp may be, for example, certain virgin hardwood pulps and secondary (i.e. recycled) fiber pulp from sources such as, for example, newsprint, reclaimed paperboard, and office waste. the low- average fiber length pulps typically have an average fiber length of less than about 1.2 mm, for example, from 0.7 mm to 1.2 mm. mixtures of high-average fiber length and low-average fiber length pulps may contain a significant proportion of low-average fiber length pulps. for example, mixtures may contain more than about 50 percent by weight low-average fiber length pulp and less than about 50 percent by weight high-average fiber length pulp. one exemplary mixture contains 75 percent by weight low-average fiber length pulp and about 25 percent high-average fiber length pulp. the pulp fibers used in the present invention may be unrefined or may be beaten to various degrees of refinement. small amounts of wet-strength resins and/or resin binders may be added to improve strength and abrasion resistance. useful binders and wet-strength resins include, for example, kymene 557 h available from the hercules chemical company and parez 631 available from american cyanamid, inc. cross-linking agents and/or hydrating agents may also be added to the pulp mixture. debonding agents may be added to the pulp mixture to reduce the degree of hydrogen bonding if a very open or loose nonwoven pulp fiber web is desired. one exemplary debonding agent is available from the quaker chemical company, conshohocken, pennsylvania, under the trade designation quaker 2008. the suspension of pulp fibers is deposited on the foraminous surface 24 and water is removed to form a uniform nonwoven web of pulp fibers 28. hydraulic needling may take place on the foraminous surface (i.e., mesh fabric) 24 on which the wet-laid web is formed. alternatively, the web may be transferred to a different foraminous surface for hydraulic needling. the present invention also contemplates rehydrating a dried pulp sheet to a specified consistency and subjecting the rehydrated pulp sheet to hydraulic needling. the nonwoven web 28 passes under one or more hydraulic needling manifolds 30 and is treated with jets of fluid to open up or loosen and rearrange the tight network of pulp fibers. the hydraulic needling may take place while the nonwoven web is at a consistency between about 15 to about 45 percent solids. for example, the nonwoven web may be at a consistency from about 25 to about 30 percent solids. although the inventors should not be held to a particular theory of operation, it is believed that hydraulic needling at the specified consistencies allows the pulp fibers to be rearranged without interfering with hydrogen bonding since the pulp fibers are maintained in a hydrated state. the specified consistencies also appear to provide optimum pulp fiber mobility. if the consistency is too low, the nonwoven pulp fiber web may be disintegrated by the fluid jets. if the consistency of the web is too high, the fiber mobility decreases and the energy required to move the fibers increases resulting in higher energy fluid jet treatments. according to the invention, the nonwoven pulp fiber web 28 is hydraulically needled. that is, conventional hydraulic entangling equipment may be operated at low pressures to impart low energies (i.e., 0.002 to 0.03 hp-hr/lb) to the web. water jet treatment equipment which may be adapted to the low pressure-low energy process of the present invention may be found, for example, in u.s. pat. no. 3,485,706 to evans, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. the hydraulic needling process of the present invention may be carried out with any appropriate working fluid such as, for example, water. the working fluid flows through a manifold which evenly distributes the fluid to a series of individual holes or orifices. these holes or orifices may be from about 0.003 to about 0.015 inch in diameter. for example, the invention may be practiced utilizing a manifold produced by honeycomb systems incorporated of biddeford, maine, containing a strip having 0.007 inch diameter orifices, 30 holes per inch, and 1 row of holes. many other manifold configurations and combinations may be used. for example, a single manifold may be used or several manifolds may be arranged in succession. in the hydraulic needling process, the working fluid passes through the orifices at a pressure ranging from about 50 to about 400 pounds per square inch gage (psig) to form fluid streams which impact the wet-laid web 28 with much less energy than typically found in conventional hydraulic entangling processes. for example, when 4 manifolds are used, the fluid pressure may be from about 60 to about 200 psig. because the streams are at such low pressures, the jet orifices installed in the manifolds 30 are located a very short distance above the nonwoven pulp fiber web 28. for example, the jet orifices may be located about 1 to about 5 cm above the nonwoven web of pulp fibers. as is typical in many water jet treatment processes, vacuum slots 32 may be located directly beneath the hydro-needling manifolds or beneath the foraminous surface 24 downstream of the entangling manifold so that excess water is withdrawn from the hydraulically-needled wet-laid web 28. although the inventors should not be held to a particular theory of operation, it is believed that the columnar jets of working fluid which directly impact pulp fibers laying in the x-y plane of nonwoven web work to rearrange some of those fibers into the z-direction. this is believed to increase the specific volume of the wet-laid nonwoven pulp fiber web. the jets of working fluid also wash the pulp fibers off knuckles, ridges or raised portions of the foraminous surface. this washing action appears to create pores and/or apertures on the raised portions or knuckles of the foraminous surface as well as low density deposits of fibers in channel-like portions of the foraminous surface. the jets of working fluid are also believed to bounce or rebound from the foraminous surface. although this phenomena appears to be less predominant than the direct impact and/or washing actions of the jets of fluid it is believed to increase the interstitial spaces between the fibers of the nonwoven web. the direct impact, washing action, and rebound effect of the jets, in combination, appear to increase the porosity and mean flow pore size of the wet-laid nonwoven pulp fiber web which is believed to be reflected in greater bulk and increased absorbency characteristics (e.g., total absorptive capacity, wicking rate, water rate). after fluid jet treatment, the web 28 may then be transferred to a non-compressive drying operation. a differential speed pickup roll 34 may be used to transfer the web from the hydraulic needling belt to a non-compressive drying operation. alternatively, conventional vacuum-type pickups and transfer fabrics may be used. non-compressive drying of the web may be accomplished utilizing a conventional rotary drum through-air drying apparatus shown in fig. 1 at 36. the through-dryer 36 may be an outer rotatable cylinder 38 with perforations 40 in combination with an outer hood 42 for receiving hot air blown through the perforations 40. a through-dryer belt 44 carries the web 28 over the upper portion of the through-dryer outer cylinder 28. the heated air forced through the perforations 40 in the outer cylinder 38 of the through-dryer 36 removes water from the web 28. the temperature of the air forced through the web 28 by the through-dryer 36 may range from about 300.degree. to about 500.degree. f. other useful through-drying methods and apparatus may be found in, for example, u.s. pat. nos. 2,666,369 and 3,821,068, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. it may be desirable to use finishing steps and/or post treatment processes to impart selected properties to the webs 28. for example, the web may be lightly pressed by calender rolls or brushed to provide a uniform exterior appearance and/or certain tactile properties. alternatively and/or additionally, chemical post-treatments such as, adhesives or dyes may be added to the web. in one aspect of the invention, the web may contain various materials such as, for example, activated charcoal, clays, starches, and absorbents such as, for example, certain hydrocolloid materials commonly referred to as superabsorbents. for example, these materials may be added to the suspension of pulp fibers used to form the wet-laid nonwoven web. these materials may also be deposited on the web prior to the fluid jet treatments so that they become incorporated into the web by the action of the fluid jets. alternatively and/or additionally, these materials may be added to the nonwoven web after the fluid jet treatments. if superabsorbent materials are added to the suspension of pulp fibers or to the wet-laid web before water-jet treatments, it is preferred that the superabsorbents are those which can remain inactive during the wet-laying and/or water-jet treatment steps and can be activated later. conventional superabsorbents may be added to the nonwoven web after the water-jet treatments. useful superabsorbents include, for example, a sodium polyacrylate superabsorbent available from the hoechst celanese corporation under the trade name sanwet im-5000 p. superabsorbents may be present at a proportion of up to about 50 grams of superabsorbent per 100 grams of pulp fiber web. for example, the nonwoven web may contain from about 15 to about 30 grams of superabsorbent per 100 grams of pulp fibers web. more particularly, the nonwoven web may contain about 25 grams of superabsorbent per 100 grams of pulp fiber web. as previously noted, the total energy imparted by the jets of working fluid (i.e., water jet streams) which hydraulically needle the wet-laid web is generally much less than normally used in conventional hydraulic entanglement processes. the desired loosening of the fiber network occurs when the total energy imparted by the working fluid at the surface of the nonwoven web is from about 0.002 to about 0.03 horsepower-hours/pound of dry web. because no fibrous substrates or staple length fibers are present in the wet-laid web during hydraulic needling, the fluid streams appear to provide little or no entanglement and actually tend to decrease the strength of the treated web when compared to the strength of its untreated counterpart as shown in table 1. fig. 2 is a top view of an exemplary multi-ply mesh fabric used in making the absorbent nonwoven hydraulically needled wet-laid web of the present invention. in fig. 2, line a--a' runs across the multi-ply mesh fabric in the cross-machine direction. the multi-ply (i.e., compound) fabric may include a coarse layer joined to fine layer. fig. 3 illustrates a sectional view taken along line a--a' of a coarse layer 62 (a simple single layer weave) of the exemplary mesh fabric. fig. 4 illustrates a sectional view taken along a--a' of a coarse layer 62 joined to a fine layer 64 (another simple single layer weave). preferably the coarse layer 62 has a mesh (i.e., warp yarns of fabric per inch of width) of about 50 or less and a count (shute yarns of fabric per inch of length) of about 50 or less. for example, the coarse layer 62 may have a mesh of about 35 to 40 and a count of about 35 to 40. more particularly, the coarse layer 62 may have a mesh of about 38 and a count of about 38. the fine layer 64 preferably has a mesh and count about twice as great as the coarse layer 62. for example, the fine layer 64 may have a mesh of about 70 to about 100 and a count of about 70 to about 100. in particular, the fine layer 64 may have a mesh of about 70 to 80 and a count of about 70 to 80. more particularly, the fine layer may have a mesh of about 75 and a count of about 75. fig. 5 is a bottom view of the coarse layer without the fine layer. fig. 6 is a bottom view of the multi-ply mesh fabric showing the coarse layer interwoven with the fine layer illustrating a preferred weave construction. the particular weave provides cross-machine direction channels defining high drainage zones 66 which are separated by low drainage zones 68. the warp strands 70 of the coarse layer are arranged in rows 72 which define channels that run along the top of the fabric in the cross-machine direction. these warp strands 70 are woven to gather groups of filaments 74 (also running in cross-machine direction) of the fine layer. the rows 72 of warp strands 70 are matched with the groups of filament 74 to provide the low drainage zones 68 which separate the high drainage zones 68. during the fluid-jet treatments, the pulp fibers generally conform to the topography of the coarse layer to provide a textile-like appearance. flow of fluid through the fabric is controlled by the high drainage zones and the fine layer on the bottom of the fabric to provide the proper conditions for loosening/opening the pulp fiber network during hydraulic needling while avoiding web break-up, washout of short fibers and intertwining of fibers into the mesh fabric. in some embodiments, the weave patterns may have certain filaments (e.g., warp strands) which protrude to form knuckles. pulp fibers may be washed off portions of these knuckles to form small pores or apertures. for example, fig. 7 is a 20.times. photomicrograph of the surface of a wet-laid nonwoven web which was hydraulically needled on the fabric of figs. 2-6. as can be seen, the material has small pores or apertures. these small pores or apertures may range, for example, from about 200 to about 400 microns in diameter. the areas between the apertures or pores appears to contain low density deposits of fibers which correspond to channel-like portions of the foraminous surface. the present invention may be practiced with other forming fabrics. in general, the forming fabric must be fine enough to avoid fiber washout and yet allow adequate drainage. for example, the nonwoven web may be wet laid and hydraulically needled on a conventional single plane mesh having a mesh size ranging from about 40.times.40 to about 100.times.100. the forming fabric may also be a multi-ply mesh having a mesh size from about 50.times.50 to about 200.times.200. such a multi-ply mesh may be particularly useful when secondary fibers are incorporated into the nonwoven web. useful forming fabrics include, for example, asten-856, asten 892, and asten synweve design 274, forming fabrics available from asten forming fabrics, inc. of appleton, wisconsin. fig. 8 is a 100.times. photomicrograph of a cross-section of an exemplary two-ply paper towel. as is evident from the photomicrograph, the apparent thickness of the two-ply paper towel is much greater than the combined thickness of each ply. although multiple plies typically increase the absorbent capacity of a paper towel, multiple plies may increase the expense and difficulty of manufacture. fig. 9 is a 100.times. photomicrograph of a cross-section of an exemplary unembossed single-ply paper towel. although untreated or lightly treated paper towels are inexpensive to produce, they typically have a low total absorptive capacity. in some situations, the total absorptive capacity may be increased by increasing the basis weight of the paper towel, but this is undesirable since it also increases the cost. fig. 10 is a 100.times. photomicrograph of a cross-section of a flat portion of an exemplary single-ply embossed paper towel. fig. 11 is a 100.times. photomicrograph of a cross-section of an embossed area of the same single-ply embossed paper towel. embossing increases the apparent thickness of the paper towel and appears to loosen up the fiber structure to improve absorbency. although an embossed paper towel may have a greater apparent bulk than an unembossed paper towel, the actual thickness of most portions of an embossed paper towel is generally about the same as can be seen from figs. 10 and 11. while some embossed paper towels may have a total absorptive capacity greater than about 500 percent, it is believed that a more complete opening up of the pulp fiber structure would further increase the total absorptive capacity. additionally, the embossed paper sheets generally have relatively low wicking rates (e.g., less than about 1.75 cm/15 seconds). fig. 12 is a 100.times. photomicrograph of a cross section of an exemplary wet-laid hydraulically needled absorbent nonwoven web. fig. 13 is a 100.times. photomicrograph of a cross-section of an exemplary wet-laid hydraulically needled absorbent nonwoven web after a post treatment with calender rollers to create a uniform surface appearance. as can be seen from figs. 12 and 13, the hydraulically needled nonwoven webs have a relatively loose fiber structure, uniform thickness and density gradient when compared to embossed paper towels. the hydraulically needled webs also appear to have more fibers with a z-direction orientation than embossed and unembossed materials. such an open and uniformly thick structure appears to improve the total absorptive capacity, water rate and wicking rate. fig. 14 is an exploded perspective view of an exemplary absorbent structure 100 which incorporates a hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber web as a fluid distribution material. fig. 14 merely shows the relationship between the layers of the exemplary absorbent structure and is not intended to limit in any way the various ways those layers (or other layers) may be configured in particular products. the exemplary absorbent structure 100, shown here as a multi-layer composite suitable for use in a disposable diaper, feminine pad or other personal care product contains four layers, a top layer 102, a fluid distribution layer 104, an absorbent layer 106, and a bottom layer 108. the top layer 102 may be a nonwoven web of melt-spun fibers or filaments, an apertured film or an embossed netting. the top layer 102 functions as a liner for a disposable diaper, or a cover layer for a feminine care pad or personal care product. the upper surface 110 of the top layer 102 is the portion of the absorbent structure 100 intended to contact the skin of a wearer. the lower surface 112 of the top layer 102 is superposed on the fluid distribution layer 104 which is a hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber web. the fluid distribution layer 104 serves to rapidly desorb fluid from the top layer 102, distribute fluid throughout the fluid distribution layer 104, and release fluid to the absorbent layer 106. the fluid distribution layer has an upper surface 114 in contact with the lower surface 112 of the top layer 102. the fluid distribution layer 114 also has a lower surface 116 superposed on the upper surface 118 of an absorbent layer 106. the fluid distribution layer 114 may have a different size or shape than the absorbent layer 106. the absorbent layer 106 may be a layer of pulp fluff, superabsorbent material, or mixtures of the same. the absorbent layer 106 is superposed over a fluid-impervious bottom layer 108. the absorbent layer 106 has a lower surface 120 which is in contact with an upper surface 122 of the fluid impervious layer 108. the bottom surface 124 of the fluid-impervious layer 108 provides the outer surface for the absorbent structure 100. in more conventional terms, the liner layer 102 is a topsheet, the fluid-impervious bottom layer 108 is a backsheet, the fluid distribution layer 104 is a distribution layer, and the absorbent layer 106 is an absorbent core. each layer may be separately formed and joined to the other layers in any conventional manner. the layers may be cut or shaped before or after assembly to provide a particular absorbent personal care product configuration. when the layers are assembled to form a product such as, for example, a feminine pad, the fluid distribution layer 104 of the hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber web provides the advantages of reducing fluid retention in the top layer, improving fluid transport away from the skin to the absorbent layer 106, increased separation between the moisture in the absorbent core 106 and the skin of a wearer, and more efficient use of the absorbent layer 106 by distributing fluid to a greater portion of the absorbent. these advantages are provided by the improved vertical wicking and water absorption properties. examples the tensile strength and elongation measurements were made utilizing an instron model 1122 universal test instrument in accordance with method 5100 of federal test method standard no. 191a. tensile strength refers to the maximum load or force encountered while elongating the sample to break. measurements of peak load were made in the machine and cross-machine directions for both wet and dry samples. the results are expressed in units of force (grams.sub.f) for samples that measured 3 inches wide by 6 inches long. "elongation" or "percent elongation" refers to a ratio determined by measuring the difference between a nonwoven web's initial unextended length and its extended length in a particular dimension and dividing that difference by the nonwoven webs initial unextended length in that same dimension. this value is multiplied by 100 percent when elongation is expressed as a percent. the elongation was measured when the material was stretched to about its breaking point. the energy imparted to the nonwoven web by the hydraulic needling process may be expressed in units of horsepower-hours per pound of dry web (hp-hr/lb) and may be calculated utilizing the following equation: energy=0.125((ypq/(sb))n where: y=number of orifices per linear inch of manifold; p=pressure of the water in the manifold expressed in pounds per square inch gauge (psig); q=volumetric flow rate of water expressed in cubic feet per minute per orifice; s=speed of conveyor passing the web under the water jet streams expressed in feet per minute; l=weight of pulp fibers treated expressed in ounces per square yard; n=number of manifold passes. this energy equation may be found in u.s. pat. no. 3,485,706, previously incorporated herein by reference, which discusses the transfer of energy from fluid jet streams to a nonwoven fibrous web. examples 1-6 illustrate exemplary hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber webs. a portion of the wet-laid nonwoven pulp fiber webs prepared for examples 1-6 was not hydraulically needled. instead, that material was through-air dried and kept as a control material. the basis weight, tensile properties, total absorptive capacity, wicking rates, water rate, thickness, porosity specific volumes, and mean flow pore size for the hydraulically needled and control materials of examples 1-8 were measured and are reported in table 1. the measurements of the control materials are reported in table 1 in the rows entitled "control". the hydraulic needling energy of each sample was calculated and is reported in table 1 under the column heading "energy". example 1 a mixture of 50% by weight northern softwood unrefined virgin wood fiber pulp (longlac 19 available from the kimberly-clark corporation) and 50% by weight secondary fiber pulp (bj de-inked secondary fiber pulp available from the ponderosa pulp products--a division of ponderosa fibers of america, atlanta, georgia) was wet-laid utilizing conventional papermaking techniques onto the multi-ply mesh fabric. this fabric is generally described in figs. 2-6 and contains a coarse layer having a mesh of 37 (number of filaments per inch running in the machine direction) and a count of 35 (number of filaments per inch running in the cross-machine direction) and a fine layer having a mesh of 74 and a count of 70. the wet-laid web was de-watered to a consistency of approximately 25 percent solids and was hydraulically needled with jets of water at about 110 psig from 3 manifolds each equipped with a jet strip having 0.007 inch diameter holes (1 row of holes at a density of 30 holes per inch). the discharge of the jet orifices was between about 2 cm to about 3 cm above the wet-laid web which travelled at a rate of about 50 feet per minute. vacuum boxes removed excess water and the treated web was dried utilizing a rotary through-air dryer manufactured by honeycomb systems incorporated of biddeford, maine. example 2 a wet-laid hydraulically entangled nonwoven web was formed essentially as described in example 1 except that the wood fiber pulp was all northern softwood unrefined virgin wood fiber pulp (longlac 19), 4 manifolds were used, and the web travelled at a rate of about 750 feet per minute. the nonwoven web was hydraulically entangled on a multi-ply mesh fabric generally described in figs. 2-6 and contains a mesh of 136 (filaments per inch--machine direction) and coarse layer of filaments having count of 30 (filaments per inch--cross-machine direction) and a fine layer having a count of 60. example 3 a wet-laid hydraulically needled nonwoven web was formed essentially as described in example 2 except that the pulp was a mixture of 75% by weight secondary fiber pulp (bj de-inked secondary fiber pulp) and 25% by weight northern softwood unrefined virgin wood pulp (longlac 19). the nonwoven pulp fiber web was hydraulically entangled on the same multi-ply mesh described in example 2. example 4 a wet-laid hydraulically needled nonwoven web was formed essentially as described in example 2 except that the wood fiber pulp was all lightly refined northern softwood virgin wood fiber pulp (longlac 19) instead of unrefined virgin wood fiber pulp. example 5 a wet-laid hydraulically needled nonwoven web was formed from a mixture of 50% by weight northern softwood unrefined virgin wood fiber pulp (longlac 19) and 50% by weight secondary fiber pulp (bj de-inked secondary fiber pulp) utilizing conventional papermaking techniques onto an asten-856 forming fabric (asten forming fabrics, inc. of appleton, wisconsin). the wet-laid web was de-watered to a consistency of approximately 25 percent solids. hydraulic needling was accomplished with jets of water at about 170 psig from 3 manifolds each equipped with a jet strip having 0.005 inch diameter holes (1 row of holes at a density of 40 holes per inch). the jet orifices were approximately 2 cm above the wet-laid web which travelled at a rate of about 750 feet per minute. vacuum boxes removed excess water and the treated web was dried utilizing a through-air dryer. example 6 a wet-laid hydraulically needled nonwoven web was formed essentially as described in example 5 with certain changes. the wood fiber pulp was all unrefined virgin southern softwood fiber pulp. the pulp fibers were wet-laid and hydraulically needled on an asten-274 forming fabric (asten forming fabrics, inc. of appleton, wisconsin). hydraulic needling took place at the same conditions as example 5 except that the water pressure was 140 psig, the jet strip had 0.007 inch diameter holes (1 row of holes at a density of 30 holes per inch); the jet orifices were about 4 cm about the wet-laid nonwoven web and the web travelled at a rate of 50 feet per minute. table 1 __________________________________________________________________________ (tensile properties) total vertical specific basis peak load md % peak load cd % absorptive wicking thickness volume sample weight (gsm) md (dry) (g) elong cd (dry) (g) elong cap. (%) md cd (inch) (cm.sup.3 __________________________________________________________________________ /g) example 1 needled 55.0 4094 2.1 1964 9.3 577 3.4 2.9 0.0218 10.07 control 54.0 10250 1.7 6757 2.3 365 2 1.6 0.0125 5.88 example 2 needled 44.4 3271 7.0 1085 7.7 634 3.4 3.0 0.026 14.87 control 47.0 5792 5.0 3400 3.8 472 3.5 3.0 0.0813 9.89 example 3 needled 48.4 4192 8.4 2050 9.4 540 3.0 2.8 0.029 15.22 control 51.8 8949 6.8 5310 3.4 429 2.6 2.6 0.020 9.81 example 4 needled 50.7 5084 8.0 1585 6.6 562 3.7 3.0 0.027 13.33 control 40.3 8977 5.9 4730 3.07 460 3.2 2.9 0.018 9.77 example 5 needled 47.0 6155 5.1 2844 3.4 473 2.62 2.3 0.019 10.05 control 48.0 11910 3.3 6793 2.6 354 1.8 1.9 0.016 8.5 example 6 needled 97.5 6898 1.9 4696 5.6 529 5.0 4.1 0.027 7.09 control 94.3 18480 1.7 13990 2.3 353 4.2 4.1 0.024 6.38 __________________________________________________________________________ frazier porosity mean flow water rate sample (cfm/ft.sup.2) pore size (.mu.m) (sec) energy __________________________________________________________________________ hp-hr/lb example 1 needled 227.5 69.5 0.8 0.0184 control 23.7 20.0 4.1 example 2 needled 199.6 47.0 0.7 0.0020 control 47.3 24.0 1.1 example 3 needled 195.2 51.3 0.9 0.0019 control 36.96 21.7 3.2 example 4 needled 142.2 46.0 0.9 0.0017 control 45.97 24.0 1.5 example 5 needled 70.8 28.0 2.5 0.0020 control 25.9 18.4 4.3 example 6 needled 79.5 29.2 0.8 0.0154 control 20.1 18.8 1.2 __________________________________________________________________________ .sup.1 cm/15 seconds example 7 the hydraulically needled nonwoven web of example 2 was measured for mean flow pore size, total absorptive capacity, frazier porosity, thickness and basis weight. the same measurements were taken for a single-ply embossed hand towel available from georgia pacific corporation under the trade designation georgia-pacific 551; a single ply embossed hand towel available from the scott paper company under the trade designation scott 180; and a single ply embossed surpass.rtm. hand towel available from the kimberly-clark corporation. the results of the measurements are given in table 2. table 2 __________________________________________________________________________ example g-p 551 scott 180 surpass .rtm. 2 __________________________________________________________________________ mean flow pore size (.mu.m) 11.9 15.4 18.8 47.0 total absorptive capacity (%) 330 374 463 634 frazier porosity (cfm/ft.sup.2) 14 24 38 200 thickness (inch) 0.014 0.0071 0.0198 0.026 basis weight (gsm) 44 45 45 44 __________________________________________________________________________ as can be seen in table 2, it appears that the open or loose fiber structure of the material from example 2 provides a large mean flow pore size, good porosity and bulk, and also provides greater total absorptive capacity. example 8 the tensile properties and absorbency characteristics of the hydraulically needled nonwoven web of example 2 were measured. the same measurements were taken for a single-ply embossed hand towel available from georgia pacific corporation under the trade name georgia-pacific 553; a two-ply embossed hand towel available from the james river corporation under the trade designation james river-825; single-ply embossed hand towels available from the scott paper company under the trade designations scott 150 and scott 159; and a 100% de-inked secondary (recycled) fiber single-ply embossed hand towel available from the fort howard company under the trade designation fort howard 244. the results of the measurements are shown in table 3. table 3 __________________________________________________________________________ fort james georgia howard example scott scott river pacific 244 2 159 150 825 533 __________________________________________________________________________ basis wt. (gsm) 51 44 58 51 49 46 tensile strength peak load md-dry (g) 7554 3271 3830 4820 7950 5030 md-wet (g) 1008 -- 1150 1020 1365 845 cd-dry (g) 3043 1085 1745 1860 3590 1240 cd-wet (g) 450 -- 605 490 795 280 elongation md (%) 6.2 7.0 7.4 5.5 5.9 5.3 cd (%) 4.8 7.7 11.3 9.0 2.9 9.6 thickness, inch 0.0113 0.026 0.022 0.019 0.014 0.015 absorptive 284 634 550 540 455 390 capacity (%) water rate (sec.) 48.6 0.7 5.0 4.1 14.1 25 wicking rate (cm/15 sec.) md 0.88 3.0 1.5 1.6 1.2 1.2 cd 0.98 3.0 1.6 1.6 1.3 1.1 frazier 4.0 200 37.1 41.2 15.8 19.1 porosity (cfm) __________________________________________________________________________ example 9 an absorbent structure having a wettable fibrous cover was made utilizing a top layer of approximately 24 gsm thermally bonded carded web of 2.2 decitex 50 mm polypropylene staple fibers finished with a 0.4% silastol gf 602 wettable lubricant available from schill & seibacher, boblingen, federal republic of germany; an intermediate layer of an absorbent, wet-laid, hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber web having a basis weight of about 45 gsm; and an absorbent core of an approximately 60 gsm batt of southern softwood wood pulp fluff (pulp fluff #54 available from kimberly-clark corporation's coosa river plant). each layer measured about 1.25 inches by 4.5 inches. the layers were assembled into an absorbent structure that was held together in the test apparatus described below. another structure was made from the same cover material and absorbent core but contained an intermediate layer of a 60 gsm nonwoven web of meltblown polypropylene fibers. the structures were tested to determine how quickly the structures absorbed an artificial menstrual fluid obtained from the kimberly-clark corporation's analytical laboratory, neenah, wisconsin. this fluid had a viscosity of about 17 centipoise at room temperature (about 73.degree. f.) and a surface tension of about 53 dynes/centimeter. the test apparatus consisted of 1) a lucite.rtm.block and 2) a flat, horizontal test surface. figs. 15 is a plan view of the lucite.rtm. block. fig. 16 is a sectional view of the lucite.rtm. block. the block 200 has a base 202 which protrudes from the bottom of the block. the base 202 has a flat surface 204 which is approximately 2.875 inches long by 1.5 inches wide that forms the bottom of the block 200. an oblong opening 206 (about 1.5 inches long by about 0.25 inch wide) is located in the center of the block and extends from the top of the block to the base 202 of the block. when the bottom of the opening 206 is obstructed, the opening 206 can hold more than about 10 cmhu 3 of fluid. a mark on the opening 206 indicates a liquid level of about 2 cm.sup.3. a funnel 208 on the top of the block feeds into a passage 210 which is connected to the oblong opening 206. fluid poured down the funnel 208 passes through the passage 210 into the oblong opening 206 and out onto a test sample underneath the block. each sample was tested by placing it on a flat, horizontal test surface and then putting the flat, projecting base of the block on top of the sample so that the long dimension of the oblong opening was parallel to the long dimension of the sample and centered between the ends and sides of the sample. the weight of the block was adjusted to about 162 grams so that the block rested on the structure with a pressure of about 7 grams/cm.sub.2 (about 1 psi). a stopwatch was started as approximately ten (10) cm.sup.3 of the fluid was dispensed into the funnel from a repipet (catalog no. 13-687-20; fischer scientific company). the fluid filled the oblong opening of the block and the watch was stopped when the meniscus of the fluid reached the 2 cm.sup.3 level indicating that 8 cm.sup.3 of fluid was absorbed. the results of this test are reported in table 4. table 4 ______________________________________ intermediate 8 cm.sup.3 time layer (sec) ______________________________________ 45 gsm 13.77 absorbent nonwoven web 60 gsm 27.63 meltblown polypropylene ______________________________________ example 10 an absorbent structure having an embossed net cover was made utilizing top layer of an embossed netting having a basis weight of about 45 gsm and an open area of about 35 to about 40%; an intermediate layer of an absorbent, wet-laid, hydraulically needled nonwoven pulp fiber web having a basis weight of about 45 gsm; and an absorbent core of an approximately 760 gsm batt of southern softwood wood pulp fluff (pulp fluff #54 from kimberly-clark corporation's coosa river plant). each layer each about 1.25 inches by 4.5 inches as in example 11. two other absorbent structures were made from the same cover material and absorbent core but with a different intermediate layer. one structure had an intermediate layer of a 64 gsm nonwoven web of meltblown polypropylene fibers having an average fiber diameter of about 5-7 microns. the other had an intermediate layer of a 60 gsm nonwoven web of meltblown polypropylene fibers having an average fiber diameter of about 7-9 microns the absorbent structures were tested as previously described to determine how quickly each absorbed 8 cm.sup.3 of an artificial menstrual fluid. the results are reported in table 5. table 5 ______________________________________ intermediate 8 cm.sup.3 time layer (sec) ______________________________________ 45 gsm 5.0 absorbent nonwoven web 60 gsm 7.0 meltblown polypropylene (7-9 micron) 60 gsm 11.0 meltblown polypropylene (5-7 micron) ______________________________________ as can be seen from tables 4 and 5, the absorbent structures containing the 45 gsm absorbent nonwoven web of the present invention were able to absorb the test fluid faster than the absorbent structures containing the meltblown polypropylene fluid distribution layer. while the present invention has been described in connection with certain preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the subject matter encompassed by way of the present invention is not to be limited to those specific embodiments. on the contrary, it is intended for the subject matter of the invention to include all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as can be included within the spirit and scope of the following claims.
053-403-865-983-659	JP	[ "US", "JP", "CN" ]	H04N5/232,G06T13/80,G06T11/60,G06T7/11,G06T7/194,H04N5/225,G06T3/00,H04N5/262,G06T3/40,H04N5/272,H04N5/265	2012-11-12T00:00:00	2012	[ "H04", "G06" ]	image processing device, image processing method and program	according to an illustrative embodiment, an image processing device is provided. the image processing device includes a foreground selection processing circuit to select at least one foreground image that has been separated from a source image; a background selection circuit to select at least two display background images from at least one background image that has been separated from the source image; and a combination circuit to combine the at least one selected foreground image with the at least two display background images to generate a plurality of combined images, wherein at least one of the plurality of combined images does not appear in the source image.	1 . an image processing device, comprising: a foreground selection processing circuit to select at least one foreground image that has been separated from a source image; a background selection circuit to select at least two display background images from at least one background image that has been separated from the source image; and a combination circuit to combine the at least one selected foreground image with the at least two display background images to generate a plurality of combined images, wherein at least one of the plurality of combined images does not appear in the source image. 2 . the device as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a separation circuit to separate the source image into the at least one foreground image and the at least one background image. 3 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the source image is a still image. 4 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the source image is a moving image. 5 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the source image is a still image formed by a plurality of images. 6 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of combined images make up a moving image. 7 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the at least two display background images are each a portion of a still background image. 8 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the at least two display background images are images included in a series of images that make up a moving image. 9 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the foreground selection circuit selects a most recently selected foreground image as a currently selected foreground image. 10 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the foreground selection circuit selects a best foreground image as a currently selected foreground image. 11 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the foreground selection circuit selects a foreground image based on user input. 12 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the foreground selection circuit selects a foreground image automatically. 13 . the device as recited in claim 12 , wherein the foreground selection circuit selects at least one foreground image based on at least one criteria selected from the group consisting of whether or not the foreground image is blurred, whether or not a subject of the foreground image is smiling, whether or not a subject of the foreground image has closed eyes, and the brightness of the foreground image. 14 . the device as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a determination processing circuit for determining at least one of a size and a position of a display region for use in selecting a display background image from the at least one background image. 15 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the source image is a moving image and the plurality of combined images make up a moving image. 16 . the device as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a memory for storing the plurality of combined images. 17 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the total number of the plurality of combined images is a predetermined number. 18 . the device as recited in claim 17 , further comprising a determination processing circuit for determining, based on the predetermined number, at least one of a size and a position of a display region for use in selecting a display background image from the at least one background image. 19 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the device is incorporated in a camera, the camera comprising an imaging circuit and a display. 20 . the device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the source image is a moving image, at least two foreground images are selected, and the plurality of combined images make up a moving image in which the at least two selected foreground images make up a foreground moving image and the at least two display background images make up a background moving image, and in which, at least one of the foreground moving image and the background moving image is reproduced at a speed that is different from a reproduction speed of the source image. 21 . the device as recited in claim 20 , wherein a reproduction frame rate of the foreground moving image is different from a reproduction frame rate of the background moving image. 22 . an image processing method, comprising: selecting at least one foreground image that has been separated from a source image; selecting at least two display background images from at least one background image that has been separated from the source image; and combining the at least one selected foreground image with the at least two display background images to generate a plurality of combined images, wherein at least one of the plurality of combined images does not appear in the source image. 23 . a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer-readable program for implementing an image processing method, the method comprising: selecting at least one foreground image that has been separated from a source image; selecting at least two display background images from at least one background image that has been separated from the source image; and combining the at least one selected foreground image with the at least two display background images to generate a plurality of combined images, wherein at least one of the plurality of combined images does not appear in the source image.	background the present disclosure relates to an image processing device, an image processing method and a program, and in particular, to an image processing device, an image processing method and a program that are capable of realizing a novel reproduction effect. a reproduction method in the related art is such that when reproducing a still image, one part of an imaging target object that is imaged into the still image is reproduced as if it were in motion. for example, in japanese unexamined patent application publication no. 2011-66717 is disclosed a reproduction method in which a region, one part of a sequence of images according to the passage of time, is stopped as a static display region at a predetermined time, and other regions are reproduced as dynamic display regions. however, in the technology disclosed in japanese unexamined patent application publication no. 2011-66717, any one of an image in a region that is superimposed and an image in a region onto which the region is superimposed is stationary in terms of a position in which drawing is provided with respect to a display surface. furthermore, in japanese unexamined patent application publication no. 2010-124115 is disclosed a reproduction method in which a moving image that is configured from consecutive images is used as a raw material, or relevant consecutive still images and a still image unrelated to the relevant consecutive still images are used as the raw materials, and thus one part of the raw material is reproduced as if it were in motion. however, in the technology disclosed in japanese unexamined patent application publication no. 2010-124115, only the image that is superimposed is dynamic in terms of a position in which rendering is provided with respect to a display surface. furthermore, an unrelated image is used in an image onto which an image is superimposed and in the image that is superimposed. summary incidentally, the reproduction method is demanded by which a novel reproduction effect that is not possible with the technologies disclosed in japanese unexamined patent application publication nos. 2011-66717 and 2010-124115 is realized. it is desirable to realize a novel reproduction effect. in view of the above, the embodiments of the present technology are provided. according to an illustrative embodiment, an image processing device includes a foreground selection processing circuit to select at least one foreground image that has been separated from a source image; a background selection circuit to select at least two display background images from at least one background image that has been separated from the source image; and a combination circuit to combine the at least one selected foreground image with the at least two display background images to generate a plurality of combined images, wherein at least one of the plurality of combined images does not appear in the source image. accordingly, a novel reproduction effect can be realized. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a view for describing first image processing. fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image processing device according to one embodiment, to which the present technology is applied. fig. 3 is a flowchart describing the first image processing. fig. 4 is a view for describing second image processing. fig. 5 is an image, sufficiently large in view angle, which is made from multiple sheets of image that makes up a moving image. fig. 6 is a flowchart describing second image processing. fig. 7 is a flowchart describing a modification example of the second image processing. fig. 8 is a view for describing third image processing. fig. 9 is a flowchart describing the third image processing. fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a digital video camera. fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a computer to which the present technology is applied, according to one embodiment. detailed description of embodiments specific embodiments to which the present technology is applied are described in detail below referring to the drawings. first, image processing to which the present technology is applied is described referring to fig. 1 . a source material image 11 (or “raw-material image 11 ”), a raw material on which the image processing is performed is illustrated on the uppermost portion in fig. 1 , and a horizontally-long panoramic image having an aspect ratio is used as the raw-material image 11 in an example in fig. 1 . then, the foreground and the background are defined with respect to an imaging target object that is imaged into the raw-material image 11 , and the raw-material image 11 is separated into a foreground image and a background image, any of which is a target for scroll reproduction. for example, as illustrated in the second portion of fig. 1 from above, a balloon that is imaged into the raw-material image 11 is defined as a foreground image 12 and a scene that is imaged into the raw-material image 11 is defined as a background image 13 , thereby separating the raw-material image 11 into the foreground image 12 and the background image 13 . then, in the example in fig. 1 , only the background image 13 is the target for scroll reproduction. next, as illustrated on the third portion of fig. 1 from above, a display region 14 , which specifies a region that is defined as a display target when performing the scroll reproduction, is set with respect to the background image 13 that is the target for scroll reproduction. for example, when the scroll reproduction is assumed to be performed from the left side to the right side of the background image 13 , the display region 14 , as illustrated, is set at the left end of the background image 13 . then, a region that is prescribed by the display region 14 is separated (or “extracted” or “cropped”) as a display background image 15 from the background image 13 , and a combination image 16 is generated by combining the display background image 15 and the foreground image 12 that is not defined as the target for scroll reproduction. then, according to the number of frames at the time of the scroll reproduction, the display region 14 is set with respect to the background image 13 in such a manner that a position of the display region 14 is gradually moved to the right and the foreground image 12 is combined with respect to each frame. as illustrated on the fourth portion of fig. 1 from above, the combination image 16 is generated in which the foreground image 12 is arranged all the time within the display region 14 while scrolling the background image 13 . for example, in a combination image 16 t( 0 ) at a point in time t 0 when reproduction of the combination image 16 is started, the left end of the background image 13 is extracted. then, in a combination image 16 t(i) at a point in time t 1 , the background image 13 at a position corresponding to the point in time ti is extracted, and in a combination image 16 t(n) at a point in time tn when the reproduction of the combination image 16 is ended, the right end of the background image 13 is extracted. furthermore, in the combination image 16 , when combining the foreground image 12 , coordinates (x, y) at which the foreground image 12 is arranged are stationary between the combination images 16 t( 0 ) to 16 t(n). by generating the total number n of frames, the combination images 16 t( 0 ) to 16 t(n) in this manner, a moving image is generated that has an effect in which the reproduction occurs as if the balloon, the foreground image 12 , were displayed all the time, and the scene, the background image 13 were displayed while scrolled according to a movement of the display region 14 . in other words, an effect can be obtained in which the reproduction occurs if the static imaging target object were imaged into the dynamic background. next, fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image processing device according to one embodiment, to which the present technology is applied. an image processing device 21 performs the image processing on the raw-material image 11 that is input as the raw material, generates the combination image 16 , and retains the result in a memory 22 . the image processing device 21 , as illustrated in fig. 2 , is configured to include a count processing circuit 31 (or “count processing unit” 31 ), a separation circuit 32 (or “separation unit” 32 ), a determination processing circuit 33 (or “determination processing unit” 33 ), a foreground selection processing circuit 34 (or “foreground selection processing unit” 34 ), a background extraction circuit 35 (or “background extraction unit” 35 ) and a combination circuit 36 (or “combination unit” 36 ). the count processing circuit 31 counts a count value t(i) to count the number of frames of the combination image 16 that is generated in the image processing device 21 , and performs count processing to make a comparison with the total number n of frames of the combination image 16 that are generated in the image processing device 21 . for example, an image that is recorded in a record circuit (or “record unit”) not illustrated is input as the raw-material image 11 into the separation circuit 32 . then, the separation circuit 32 separates the raw-material image 11 into the foreground image 12 and the background sight image 13 , supplies the foreground image 12 to the foreground selection processing section 34 and supplies the background image 13 to the background extraction circuit 35 . for example, the separation circuit 32 detects an edge of a photograph target object that is imaged into the raw-material image 11 , defines a region into which the photograph target object is imaged, as the foreground image 12 and defines the other regions as the background image 13 . furthermore, for example, a user may appoint a region of the raw-material image 11 that is defined as the foreground image 12 , by operating an operation circuit (or “operation unit”) not illustrated. the separating circuit 32 defines the region appointed by the user as the foreground image 12 and defines the other regions as the background image 13 . furthermore, the separation circuit 32 can supplement the region into which the foreground image 12 is imaged in the background image 13 , with an image adjacent to that region. the determination processing circuit 33 performs determination processing, such as determining a size and a position of the display region 14 that is set with respect to the background image 13 , or determining the total number n of frames of the combination image 16 that the count processing circuit 31 refers to in the counter processing. for example, when performing the scroll reproduction that is described referring to fig. 1 , the determination processing circuit 33 determines the size of the display region 14 in accordance with a height of the raw-material image 11 . then, the determination processing circuit 33 determines the left end of the raw-material image 11 as the first position of the display region 14 and determines the right end of the raw-material image 11 as the last position of the display region 14 . the foreground selection processing circuit 34 selects (determines) the foreground image 12 that is used as the foreground in the combination image 16 . for example, when using the panoramic image as the raw-material image 11 as illustrated referring fig. 1 , because the foreground image 12 is the only one, the foreground selection processing circuit 34 selects the foreground image 12 . furthermore, for example, as described below referring to fig. 4 , when using the moving image as the raw-material image 11 , the foreground selection processing circuit 34 selects the foreground image 12 that is combined into the combination image 16 , from the multiple foreground images 12 that are imaged into the raw-material image 11 . the background extraction circuit 35 sets the display region 14 with respect to the background image 13 supplied from the separation circuit 32 , according to the determination by the determination processing circuit 33 , extracts the display background image 15 from the background image 13 based on the display region 14 , and supplies the result to the combination circuit 36 . at this time, the background extraction circuit 35 sets the display region 14 to a position that is according to the count value t obtained by the count processing circuit 31 . in other words, the background extraction circuit 35 sets the display region 14 to the first position that is determined by the determination processing circuit 33 , according to the count value t( 0 ), and sets the display region 14 to the last position that is determined by the determination processing circuit 33 , according to the count value t(n). then, for example, the background extraction circuit 35 sets the display region 14 that is according to the count value t(i), to an i-th position that results from equally dividing spacing between the first position and the last position of the display region 14 by the total number n of frames. in other words, the background extraction circuit extracts the display background image 15 t(i) from the background image 13 , based on the display region 14 that is set according to the count value t(i), and supplies the display background image 15 t(i) to the combination circuit 36 . the combination circuit 36 combines the foreground image 12 that is supplied from the foreground selection processing circuit 34 , in such a manner that the foreground image 12 is superimposed onto the background image 13 t(i) that is supplied from the background extraction circuit 35 , thereby generating the combination image 16 t(i). then, the combination circuit 36 supplies the generated combination image 16 t(i) to the memory 22 and the generated combination image 16 t(i) is retained in the memory 22 . the image processing device 21 is configured in this manner. the background extraction circuit 35 supplies the display background images 15 t( 0 ) to 15 t(n) to the combination circuit 36 , according to the count values t( 0 ) to t(n). the combination circuit 36 generates (combines) the moving image that is made from the combination images 16 t( 0 ) to 16 t(n). therefore, by sequentially reading the combination images 16 t( 0 ) to 16 t(n) out of the memory 22 and reproducing the read-out combination images, an effect can be obtained in which the reproduction occurs as if only the scene of the background image 13 were moved with the balloon, the background image 12 , remaining stationary. next, the image processing by the image processing device 21 is described referring to a flowchart of fig. 3 . for example, when the raw-material image 11 is supplied to the image processing device 21 , the processing is started. in step s 11 , the separation circuit 32 separates the raw-material image 11 into the foreground image 12 and background image 13 , supplies the foreground image 12 to the foreground selection processing circuit 34 , and supplies the background image 13 to the background extraction circuit 35 . in step s 12 , the count processing section 31 initializes the count value t(i) to count the number of frames of the combination image 16 and sets the count value t(i) to 0. in step s 13 , the determination processing circuit 33 determines the size and the position of the display region 14 that is set with respect to the background image 13 . for example, if a still image is defined as the raw material, the determination processing circuit 33 determines the size of the display region 14 in such a manner that the size of the display region 14 is smaller than the size of the background image 13 . in step s 14 , the count processing circuit 31 determines whether or not the current count value t(i) is less than the total number n of frames, and if it is determined that the current count value t(i) is less than the total number n of frames (i<n), the processing proceeds to step s 15 . in other words, the count processing section 31 compares the total number n of frames with the current count value t(i), and as long as the combination image 16 t(i) generated at the current count value t(i) does not reach the combination image 16 t(n) that is generated corresponding to the total number n of frames, the processing continues. in step s 15 , the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines the foreground image 12 that is used as the foreground in the combination image 16 . in step s 16 , the background extraction circuit 35 sets the display region 14 of which the size is determined by the determination processing circuit 33 in step s 13 , to a position corresponding to the current count value t(i), with respect to the background image 13 . then, the background extraction circuit 35 extracts the display background image 15 t(i) from the background image 13 according to the display region 14 and supplies the result to the combination circuit 36 . in step s 17 , the combination circuit 36 combines the foreground image 12 selected by the foreground selection processing circuit 34 in step s 15 with the display background image 15 t(i) extracted by the background extraction circuit 35 from the background image 13 in step s 16 , thereby generating the combination image 16 t(i). in step s 18 , the combination circuit 36 supplies the combination image 16 t(i) generated in step s 17 to the memory 22 and the combination image 16 t(i) is retained in the memory 22 . in step s 19 , the count processing section 31 increments the count value t(i) only by one, and the processing returns to step s 14 . subsequently, the same processing is repeatedly performed. thereafter, in step s 14 , if the count processing circuit 31 determines that the current count value t(i) is not less than the total number n of frames, that is, that the current count value t(i) is the total number n of frames or more (i≧n), the processing is ended. as described above, when the still image (for example, the panoramic image) is supplied as the raw-material image 11 , the image processing device 21 can generate the combination image 16 that is reproducible in such a manner that the imaging target object is imaged all the time while the scene of the still image moves. in other words, by sequentially reading the combination images 16 t( 0 ) to 16 t(n) out of the memory 22 and reproducing the read-out combination images, a novel effect can be obtained in which the reproduction occurs as if only the scene of the background image 13 were moved with the balloon, the background image 12 , remaining stationary. in other words, by using the foreground image 12 and the background image 13 that are separated from the raw-material image 11 , a relationship is present between the superimposed foreground image 12 and the background image 13 onto which the foreground image 12 is superimposed, and furthermore the position on which the background image 13 is displayed moves in the combination image 16 . thus, the image processing device 21 can accomplish the new reproduction effect that is different from the reproduction effect in the related art. moreover, in addition to performing the image processing that uses the still image as the raw-material image 11 , which is described referring to fig. 1 , the image processing device 21 can perform the image processing that uses the moving image as the raw-material image 11 . the imaging process that uses the still image as the raw-material image 11 , which is described above is hereinafter referred to as first image processing for the sake of convenience. next, second image processing that uses the moving image as the raw-material image 11 in the image processing device 21 is described referring to fig. 4 . on the uppermost portion in fig. 4 , raw-materials 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(h) are illustrated that make up the moving image, raw materials on which the image processing is performed. then, the foreground and the background are defined with respect to the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(h), and the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(h) are separated into the foreground images and the background images. for example, as illustrated on the second portion of fig. 4 from above, a balloon that is imaged into the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) and 11 t(b) are defined as foreground images 12 t( 0 ) to 12 t(b). furthermore, a scene that is imaged into the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(h) are defined as background images 13 t( 0 ) to 13 t(h). then, the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(b) into which the balloon is imaged are separated into the foreground images 12 t( 0 ) to 12 t(b) and the background images 13 t( 0 ) to 13 t(b). moreover, raw-material images 11 t(c) to 11 t(h) into which the balloon is not imaged, as they are, are used as background images 13 t(c) to 13 t(h). furthermore, the display region 14 is determined as having the same size as the background images 13 t( 0 ) and 13 t(h), and all regions of each of the background images 13 t( 0 ) to 13 t(h) are displayed. then, the foreground images 12 t( 0 ) to 12 t(b) are combined with the background images 13 t( 0 ) to 13 t(h) in such a manner that the foreground images 12 t( 0 ) to 12 t(b) are superimposed onto the background images 13 t( 0 ) to 13 t(h). here, the last foreground image 12 t(b) of the foreground images 12 t( 0 ) to 12 t(b) is combined with respect to the background images 13 t(c) to 13 t(h). in other words, the foreground image 12 t(b) is used as being of a still image. moreover, a position of the foreground image 12 t(b) may is properly moved that is superimposed onto the background images 13 t(c) to 13 t(h). as illustrated on the third portion of fig. 4 from above, this makes it possible to generate combination images 16 t( 0 ) to 16 t(h) in which the foreground image 12 is arranged all the time with respect to the background images 13 t(c) to 13 t(h). furthermore, as a modification example of the second image processing, the foreground image into which the imaging target object is imaged most excellently among the foreground images 12 t( 0 ) to 12 t(b) may be combined with respect to the background images 13 t(c) to 13 t(h). for example, no blurring, no shaking, big smile, no closed eyes, brightness and the like are used as criteria for determining the best imaging of the imaging target object into the foreground image. furthermore, the best imaging of the imaging target object may be automatically selected or may be selected by a user through the use of information on the foreground image 12 itself and information applied to the foreground image 12 . regarding selection of the foreground image based on brightness, it should be noted that the foreground image may be selected according to a level of brightness that provides the best foreground image, so as to avoid selection of an image with a brightness that is too high or too low. moreover, since the background images 13 t(c) to 13 t(h) are not stationary, that is, since the background moves in the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(b), the effect in which the reproduction occurs as if the static imaging target object were imaged into the dynamic background can be obtained in the second image processing. at this point, in fig. 5 , an image is illustrated in which the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(h) are arranged two-dimensionally and are displayed. the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(h) are matched to the image, and the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(h) are combined with regions of the image with which the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(h) agree, respectively, in an overlapping manner. moreover, a technology, as illustrated in fig. 5 , which generates the image 17 , sufficiently large in view angle, from the multiple sheets of image that make up the moving image is disclosed in detail, for example, in japanese unexamined patent application publication no. 2009-077363 and us patent application publication no. 2010/0066860, both filed by the applicant of the present application, and both hereby incorporated by reference herein. the background images 13 t( 0 ) to 13 t(h) are the moving images of which an image capture position is not stationary, but the image that is sufficiently as large in view angle as the image 17 can be generated by using the background images 13 t( 0 ) to 13 t(h). moreover, the image 17 is not only generated from the multiple sheets of image that make up the moving image, but the image 17 may also be created by using the still images, obtained by consecutive shooting, as the raw materials. next, the second image processing by the image processing device 21 is described referring to a flowchart of fig. 6 . for example, when the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(h) that make up the moving image are provided to the image processing device 21 , the processing is started. in step s 21 , the separation circuit 32 separates the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(b), into which the balloon is imaged, into the foreground images 12 t( 0 ) to 12 t(b) and the background images 13 ( 0 ) to 13 t(b). then, the separation circuit 32 supplies the foreground image 12 t( 0 ) to 12 t(b) to the foreground selection processing circuit 34 and supplies the background image 13 t( 0 ) to 13 t(b) to the background extraction circuit 35 . furthermore, the separation circuit 32 supplies the raw-material images 11 t(c) to 11 t(h), as they are, into which the balloon is not imaged, as the background image 13 t(c) to 13 t(h) to the background extraction circuit 35 . in step s 22 , the count processing section 31 initializes the count value t(i) to count the number of the frames of the combination image 16 and sets the count value t(i) to 0. in step s 23 , the determination processing circuit 33 determines the size and the position of the display region 14 that is set with respect to the background images 13 t( 0 ) to 13 t(h). for example, if the moving image is defined as the raw material, the determination processing circuit 33 determines the size and the position of the display region 14 in such a manner that the display region 14 agrees with each of the background images 13 t( 0 ) to 13 t(h) in terms of size and position, that is, in such a manner that all regions of each of the background images 13 t( 0 ) to 13 t(h) are displayed. it should be noted that step 23 can be bypassed in the event that the source image is a moving image. for example, when the source image is a moving image, one or more frames of the source image can be used as background images directly, without any need for extraction. therefore, in such a case, there is no need to set a display region for use in extraction. in step s 24 , the count processing circuit 31 determines whether or not the current count value t(i) is less than the total number n of frames, and if it is determined that the current count value t(i) is less than the total number h of frames (i<h), the processing proceeds to step s 25 . in step s 25 , the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines whether or not the imaging target object that is defined as the foreground image 12 t(i) is imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), a processing target object that is according to the current count value t(i). for example, in step s 21 , if the raw-material image 11 t(i) is separated into the foreground image 12 t(i) and the background image 13 t(i), the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines that the imaging target object defined as the foreground image 12 t(i) is imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object. in step s 25 , the processing proceeds to step 26 if the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines that the imaging target object defined as the foreground image 12 t(i) is imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object. in step s 26 , the foreground selection processing circuit 34 selects the imaging target object that is imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object, that is, the foreground image 12 t(i) separated from the raw-material image 11 t(i), and determines the selected foreground image 12 t(i) as being combined into the combination image 16 t(i). in step 27 , the background extraction circuit 35 extracts the display background image 15 t(i) from the background image 13 t(i) according to the display region 14 and supplies the result to the combination circuit 36 . moreover, in the second image processing, the display region 14 is determined in step s 23 in such a manner as to agree with the background image 13 t(i). because of this, the background extraction circuit 35 supplies all regions of the background image 13 t(i) as the display background image 15 t(i) to the combination circuit 36 and supplies the background image 13 t(i), as it is, as the background 15 t(i) to the combination circuit 36 . in step s 28 , the combination circuit 36 combines the foreground image 12 t(i) selected by the foreground selection processing circuit 34 in step s 26 with the display background image 15 t(i) supplied from the background extraction circuit 35 in step s 27 , thereby generating the combination image 16 t(i). in step s 29 , the combination circuit 36 supplies the combination image 16 t(i) generated in step s 28 to the memory 22 , for retention in there. in step s 30 , the count processing section 31 increments the count value t(i) only by one, and the processing returns to step s 24 . from step s 24 onwards, the same processing is repeatedly performed. on the other hand, in step s 25 , the processing proceeds to step 31 if the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines that the imaging target object defined as the foreground image 12 t(i) is not imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object. in step s 31 , the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines whether or not the foreground image 12 is separated in the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(i−1) before the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object. in step s 31 , if the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines that the foreground image 12 is separated in the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(i−1) before the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object, the processing proceeds to s 32 . in step s 32 , the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines that the foreground image 12 that is separated from the immediately preceding raw-material image 11 , among the foreground images 12 that are separated from the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(i−1), is combined into the combination image 16 t(i). after performing the processing in step s 32 , the processing proceeds to step s 27 . from step s 27 onwards, the processing described above is performed. on the other hand, in step s 31 , if the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines that the foreground image 12 is not separated in the raw-material images 11 t( 0 ) to 11 t(i−1) before the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object, the processing proceeds to step s 27 without selecting the foreground image 12 that is combined into the combination image 16 t(i). from step s 27 onwards, the processing described above is performed. that is, in this case, because the imaging target object defined as the foreground image 12 is not imaged, exception processing is performed that does not combine the foreground image 12 . thereafter, in step s 24 , if the count processing circuit 31 determines that the current count value t(i) is not less than the total number h of frames, that is, that the current count value t(i) is the total number h of frames or more (i≧h), the processing is ended. as described above, when the moving image is supplied as the raw-material image 11 , the image processing device 21 can generate the combination image 16 that is reproducible in such a manner that the imaging target object is imaged all the time against the background of the moving image. in other words, by sequentially reading the combination images 16 t( 0 ) to 16 t(h) out of the memory 22 and reproducing the read-out combination images, the novel effect can be obtained in which the reproduction occurs as if the balloon, the foreground image 12 were displayed all the time, and only the scene, the background image 13 were moved. moreover, the image processing device 21 , as described above, may combine the foreground image into which the imaging target object is imaged most excellently among the foreground images 12 t( 0 ) to 12 t(b), with respect to the background images 13 t(c) to 13 t(h). that is, a modification example of the second image processing by the image processing device 21 is described referring to a flowchart of fig. 7 . moreover, the flowchart of fig. 7 illustrates processing performed from step s 24 to before step s 27 in fig. 6 . that is, if the count processing section 31 determines in step s 24 in fig. 6 that the current count value t(i) is less than the total number h of frames (i<h), the processing proceeds to step s 41 . in step s 41 , the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines whether or not the imaging target object that is defined as the foreground image 12 t(i) is imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), a processing target object that is according to the current count value t(i), in the same manner as in step s 25 in fig. 6 . in step s 41 , if the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines that the imaging target object defined as the foreground image 12 t(i) is imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object, the processing proceeds to step 42 . in step s 42 , the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines whether or not the foreground image 12 is present, that is a candidate that is combined into the combination image 16 t(i). in step s 42 , the processing proceeds to step s 43 if the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines that the foreground image 12 is present that is the candidate that is combined into the combination image 16 t(i). in step s 43 , the foreground selection processing circuit 34 determines whether or not the imaging target object, the foreground image 12 t(i) that is imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object, is more excellent, that is, is better in imaging, than the imaging target object, the foreground image 12 that is the candidate. in step s 43 , the processing proceeds to step s 44 if it is determined that the imaging target object, the foreground image 12 t(i) that is imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object, is not more excellent than the imaging target object, the foreground image that is the candidate. in step s 44 , the foreground selection processing circuit 34 selects the foreground image 12 , which is the candidate, as being combined into the combination image 16 t(i). on the other hand, the processing proceeds to step s 45 if it is determined in step s 43 that the imaging target object, the foreground image 12 t(i) that is imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object, is more excellent than the imaging target object, the foreground image 12 that is the candidate, or if it is determined in step s 42 that the foreground image 12 , the candidate that is combined into the combination image 16 t(i), is not present. in step s 45 , the foreground selection processing circuit 34 selects the foreground image 12 t(i) that is imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object, as being combined into the combination image 16 t(i). then, after performing the processing in steps s 44 or s 45 , or in step s 41 , if it is determined that the imaging target object defined as the foreground image 12 t(i) is not imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object, the processing proceeds to step 27 in fig. 6 . as described above, the image processing device 21 compares the imaging target object, the foreground image 12 t(i), which is imaged into the raw-material image 11 t(i), the processing target object, and the imaging target object, the foreground image 12 that is the candidate. thus, the image processing device 21 can generate the combination image 16 by using the foreground image 12 that turns out to be a more excellent imaging target object. next, third image processing that is performed in the image processing device 21 is described referring to a flowchart of fig. 8 . on the uppermost portion in fig. 8 , a leading frame that makes up the moving image is illustrated as the raw-material image 11 . furthermore, as illustrated by a region indicated by hatching in the second portion of fig. 8 from above, a person and a bicycle that are imaged into the raw-material image 11 are defined as the foreground image 12 and are separated from the raw-material image 11 . furthermore, as illustrated by a region indicated by the hatching in the third portion of fig. 8 from above, a scene that is imaged into the raw-material image 11 is defined as the background image 13 and is separated from the raw-material image 11 . furthermore, in the same manner as in the second image processing, the display region 14 is determined as having the same size as the background image 13 , and all regions of the background image 13 are displayed. then, in the third image processing, the combination image is generated in such a manner that both of the foreground image 12 and the background image 13 move and the foreground image 12 and the background image 13 are displayed at fixed coordinates. at this time, for example, an effect in which the reproduction occurs as if flow of the background image 13 over time were different from flow of the foreground image 12 over time can be obtained by changing a reproduction speed of the background image 13 relative to a reproduction speed of the foreground image 12 . for example, when the foreground image 12 is reproduced at the same reproduction speed as the raw-material image 11 , and the background image 13 is reproduced at double the reproduction speed at which the raw-material image 11 is reproduced, the combination image in which the background image 13 moves is generated as if the foreground image 12 moved at the double speed. that is, when a multiplication factor of the reproduction speed of the background image is doubled, the foreground image appears to move at double speed. one way to control the reproduction speed of the foreground image is by controlling the rate of reproduction of the image frames making up the foreground image. similarly, one way to control the reproduction speed of the background image is by controlling the rate of reproduction of the image frames making up the background image. thus, for example, to reproduce the foreground image at a different speed from the background image, the reproduction frame rate of the foreground image may be set different from the reproduction frame rate of the background image. next, the third image processing by the image processing device 21 is described referring to a flow chart of fig. 9 . for example, processing is started that supplies the first frame, which makes up the moving image, as the raw-material image 11 to the image processing device 21 . in step s 51 , the separation circuit 32 starts the processing that separates the raw-material image 11 into the foreground image 12 and the background sight image 13 , supplies the foreground image 12 to the foreground selection processing section 34 and supplies the background image 13 to the background extraction circuit 35 . furthermore, frames making up the moving image are sequentially supplied to the separation circuit 32 , and the separation circuit 32 sequentially separates the frames as the raw-material image 11 . in step s 52 , the count processing section 31 initializes the count value t(i) to count the number of the frames of the combination image 16 and sets the count value t(i) to 0. the determination processing circuit 33 determines the total number n of frames of the moving image that is output, in step s 53 and determines a reproduction multiplication factor a of the display background image 15 (all regions of the background image 13 if the display region 14 is determined as having the same size as the background image 13 ) in step s 54 . moreover, the total number n of frames and the reproduction multiplication factor a, for example, may be input based on the reproduction effect that a user wants and may be determined according to the input of the reproduction effect. in step s 55 , the count processing circuit 31 determines whether or not the current count value t(i) is less than the total number n of frames, and if it is determined that the current count value t(i) is less than the total number n of frames (i<n), the processing proceeds to step s 56 . in step s 56 , the foreground selection processing circuit 34 selects the foreground image 12 t(i) that is separated from the raw-material 11 t(i) that is according to the current count value t(i), and determines the selected foreground image 12 t(i) as being combined into the combination image 16 t(i). in step s 57 , the foreground selection processing circuit 35 selects the background image 13 t(i×a) that is separated from the raw-material 11 t(i×a) that is according to a value that results from multiplying the current count value t(i) by the reproduction multiplication factor a, and determines the selected background image 13 t(i×a) as being combined into the combination image 16 t(i). in step s 58 , the combination circuit 36 combines the foreground image 12 t(i) determined by the foreground selection processing circuit 34 in step s 56 with the display background image 13 t(i×a) determined by the background extraction circuit 35 in step s 57 , thereby generating the combination image 16 t(i). at this time, the combination circuit 36 fixes a position, in which the foreground image 12 t(i) is superimposed on the background image 13 t(i×a), to the same position each time. in step s 59 , the combination circuit 36 supplies the combination image 16 t(i) generated in step s 58 to the memory 22 , for retention in there, and generates the moving image as a result of the combination. in step s 60 , the count processing section 31 increments the count value t(i) only by one, and the processing returns to step s 55 . from step s 55 onwards, the same processing is repeatedly performed. thereafter, the processing is ended in step s 55 if the count processing circuit 31 determines that the current count value t(i) is not less than the total number n of frames, that is, that the current count value t(i) is the total number n of frames or more (i≧n). as described above, when the moving image is supplied as the raw-material image 11 , the image processing device 21 can generate the combination image 16 that is reproducible in such a manner that the imaging target object that is reproduced at the same reproduction speed is imaged all the time against the background that is reproduced at the reproduction multiplication factor a. in other words, an effect in which the reproduction occurs as if only the background were fast forwarded can be obtained by sequentially reading the frames making up the combination image 16 out of the memory 22 and reproducing the read-out frames. the reproduction multiplication factor a of the background image 13 here is a multiplication factor for the reproduction speed of the moving image that is used as the raw-material, and the multiplication factor is not limited to integer multiplication. furthermore, if the reproduction multiplication factor a of the background image 13 is determined as a value of less than 1, the background image 13 is reproduced at the speed equal to or less than that of the foreground image 12 , and a reproduction effect, like so-called slow reproduction, can be obtained. for example, interpolation can be performed on the foreground image or source image, and the interpolated images can be combined with the images which correspond to the reduced speed background image. furthermore, the background image 13 may be reproduced at the same reproduction speed, and the foreground image 12 may be reproduced at the reproduction speed corresponding to the reproduction multiplication fact a. in other words, the reproduction speed is set with respect to each of the foreground image 12 and the background image 13 , and the combination image is generated in such a manner that the reproduction is performed at each of the reproduction speeds. moreover, each of the first to third image processing is one of the examples. the combination image 16 may be generated in such a manner that only the foreground moves with the background remaining stationary. the combination image 16 may be generated in such a manner that only the background moves with the foreground remaining stationary. furthermore, the combination image 16 may be generated in such a manner that the foreground and the background move individually. next, fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a digital video camera equipped with the image processing device 21 . as illustrated in fig. 10 , in addition to the image processing device 21 and the memory 22 in fig. 2 , a digital video camera 41 is configured to include an imaging circuit 42 (or “imaging unit” 42 ), a baseband processing circuit 43 (or “baseband processing unit” 43 ), a switch 44 , a signal output interface (i/f) 45 , a display system i/f 46 , an encoder 47 , a record processing circuit 48 (or “record processing unit” 48 ), a switch 49 , a record circuit 50 (or “record unit” 50 ), a readout processing circuit 51 (or “readout processing unit” 51 ), a decoder 52 , an operation system i/f 53 and a system control circuit 54 (or “system control unit” 54 ). baseband processing is performed on an image captured by the imaging circuit 42 in the baseband processing circuit 43 , and the resulting image is supplied to the image processing circuit 21 through the switch 44 and is output through the signal output i/f 45 and the display system i/f 46 . if the image processing as described above is performed, the image is supplied to the image processing device 21 , and the image processing device 21 performs the image processing on the image as the raw-material image 11 . the image processing device 21 outputs the combination image 16 , obtained as a result of the image processing, to an external apparatus through the signal output i/f 45 or display a display apparatus (not illustrated) through the display system i/f 46 . furthermore, the image processing device 21 supplies the combination image 16 to the encoder 47 to encode the combination image 16 , and the combination image 16 encoded by the encoder 47 is recorded by the record processing circuit 48 in the record circuit 50 through the switch 49 . furthermore, the readout processing circuit 51 reads out the image recorded in the record circuit 50 through the switch 49 , the read-out image is supplied to the decoder 52 to decode the read-out image, and the decoded image is supplied to the baseband processing circuit 43 . then, when the resulting image is supplied to the image processing device 21 through the switch 44 , the processing device 21 performs the image processing on the supplied image as the raw-material image 11 . furthermore, operation of an operation circuit (or “operation unit”) (not illustrated) by the user is provided to the system control circuit 54 through the operation system i/f 53 , and the system control circuit 54 performs control on each block that makes up the digital video camera 41 according to the operation by the user. in the digital video camera 41 that is configured in this manner, the image processing device 21 can perform the image processing, described above, on the image captured by the imaging circuit 42 or the image already recorded in the record circuit 50 as the raw-material image 11 . furthermore, in addition to the digital video camera 41 , the present technology can be applied to a mobile terminal equipped with a camera, and the image processing performed by the image processing device 21 may be provided to the mobile terminal as an application to perform the image processing in the mobile terminal. furthermore, the image recorded by the mobile terminal may be transmitted to an application server (a computer), not illustrated, over a network, and the mobile terminal may receive and reproduce the result of the image processing performed in the application server. moreover, each processing that is described referring to the flowcharts described above is not necessarily performed in chronological order of the description in the flowchart, and includes the processing that is performed in parallel or individually (for example, parallel processing or processing by an object). furthermore, a program may be one that is executed by a single cpu and may be one that is executed by the multiple cpus using distributed processing. furthermore, a sequence of processing described above (an information processing method) can be executed in hardware and can be executed in software. if the sequence of processing is executed through the use of software, the program making up that software is installed, from a program recording medium on which the program is recorded, into a computer that is built into dedicated hardware or, for example, into a general purpose personal computer that, when various programs are installed, can execute various functions. fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the hardware of the computer that executes the sequence of processing described above using the program. in the computer, a central processing unit (cpu) 101 , a read only memory (rom) 102 , a random access memory (ram) 103 are connected to one another through a bus 104 . an input and output interface 105 is connected to the bus 104 . to the input and output interface 105 , are connected an input device 106 that is made from a keyboard, a mouse, or a microphone, an output circuit 107 (or “output unit” 107 ) that is made from a display or a speaker, a storage circuit 108 (or “storage unit” 108 ) that is made from a hard disk or a nonvolatile memory, a communication circuit 109 (or “communication unit” 109 ) that is made from a network interface, and a drive 110 that drives a removable medium 111 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, an optical magnetic disk, or a semiconductor memory. in the computer that is configured as described above, the cput 101 loads the program that is stored, for example, in the storage circuit 108 , onto the ram 103 through the input and output interface 105 and the bus 104 in order to execute the program. thus, the sequence of processing described above is performed. the program executed by the computer (the cpu 101 ) is recorded in the removable medium 111 that is a package medium that is made from, for example, the magnetic disk (including a flexible disk), the optical disk (compact disk-read only memory (cd-rom), a digital versatile disk (dvd), and the like), the optical magnetic disk, or the semiconductor memory, or is provided via wireless or cable transmission medium such as a local area network, the internet, and digital satellite broadcasting. then, the program can be installed into the storage circuit 108 through the input and output interface 105 by inserting the removable medium 111 into the drive 110 . furthermore, the program can be received with the communication circuit 109 through the cable or wireless transmission medium and be installed on the storage circuit 108 . in addition, the program can be installed in advance in the rom 102 or the storage circuit 108 . moreover, the present technology can have the following configurations. (1) an image processing device, including a foreground selection processing circuit to select at least one foreground image that has been separated from a source image; a background selection circuit to select at least two display background images from at least one background image that has been separated from the source image; and a combination circuit to combine the at least one selected foreground image with the at least two display background images to generate a plurality of combined images, wherein at least one of the plurality of combined images does not appear in the source image. (2) the device as recited in (1), further including a separation circuit to separate the source image into the at least one foreground image and the at least one background image. (3) the device as recited in (1), wherein the source image is a still image. (4) the device as recited in (1), wherein the source image is a moving image. (5) the device as recited in (1), wherein the source image is a still image formed by a plurality of images. (6) the device as recited in (1), wherein the plurality of combined images make up a moving image. (7) the device as recited in (1), wherein the at least two display background images are each a portion of a still background image. (8) the device as recited in (1), wherein the at least two display background images are images included in a series of images that make up a moving image. (9) the device as recited in (1), wherein the foreground selection circuit selects a most recently selected foreground image as a currently selected foreground image. (10) the device as recited in (1), wherein the foreground selection circuit selects a best foreground image as a currently selected foreground image. (11) the device as recited in (1), wherein the foreground selection circuit selects a foreground image based on user input. (12) the device as recited in (1), wherein the foreground selection circuit selects a foreground image automatically. (13) the device as recited in (12), wherein the foreground selection circuit selects at least one foreground image based on at least one criteria selected from the group consisting of whether or not the foreground image is blurred, whether or not a subject of the foreground image is smiling, whether or not a subject of the foreground image has closed eyes, and the brightness of the foreground image. (14) the device as recited in (1), further including a determination processing circuit for determining at least one of a size and a position of a display region for use in selecting a display background image from the at least one background image. (15) the device as recited in (1), wherein the source image is a moving image and the plurality of combined images make up a moving image. (16) the device as recited in (1), further including a memory for storing the plurality of combined images. (17) the device as recited in (1), wherein the total number of the plurality of combined images is a predetermined number. (18) the device as recited in (17), further including a determination processing circuit for determining, based on the predetermined number, at least one of a size and a position of a display region for use in selecting a display background image from the at least one background image. (19) the device as recited in (1), wherein the device is incorporated in a camera, the camera including an imaging circuit and a display. (20) the device as recited in (1), wherein the source image is a moving image, at least two foreground images are selected, and the plurality of combined images make up a moving image in which the at least two selected foreground images make up a foreground moving image and the at least two display background images make up a background moving image, and in which, at least one of the foreground moving image and the background moving image is reproduced at a speed that is different from a reproduction speed of the source image. (21) the device as recited in (20), wherein a reproduction frame rate of the foreground moving image is different from a reproduction frame rate of the background moving image. (22) an image processing method, including selecting at least one foreground image that has been separated from a source image; selecting at least two display background images from at least one background image that has been separated from the source image; and combining the at least one selected foreground image with the at least two display background images to generate a plurality of combined images, wherein at least one of the plurality of combined images does not appear in the source image. (23) a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer-readable program for implementing an image processing method, the method including selecting at least one foreground image that has been separated from a source image; selecting at least two display background images from at least one background image that has been separated from the source image; and combining the at least one selected foreground image with the at least two display background images to generate a plurality of combined images, wherein at least one of the plurality of combined images does not appear in the source image. moreover, the present technology can have the following configurations. (1) an image processing device including a separation unit that, according to an imaging target object being imaged into a raw-material image, separates the raw-material image into a foreground image and a background image, an extraction unit that sets a display region which specifies a region which is defined as a display target with respect to the background image, and that extracts one part of the foreground image along the display region, and a combination unit that combines the foreground image with respect to the background image extracted by the extraction unit. (2) the image processing device according to (1) in which, when the raw-material image is a still image, the extraction unit extracts one part of the background image as the display background image while moving the display region with respect to the background image, and in which the combination unit combines the extracted display background image with the foreground image. (3) the image processing device according to (1) or (2), further including a determination unit that determines the foreground image that is combined with the display background image, based on the multiple foreground images that are separated from multiple sheets of still images that make up the moving image, wherein the raw-material image is a moving image. (4) the image processing device according to any one of (1) to (3) wherein when the imaging target object that is defined as the foreground image is not imaged in the moving image as the raw-material image, the determination unit determines the foreground image into which the imaging target object is imaged for the last time, as the foreground image that is to be combined with the display background image. (5) the image processing device according to any one of (1) to (4) in which the determination unit selects the foreground image into which the imaging target object is excellently imaged, as the foreground image that is to be combined with the display background image. (6) the image processing device according to any one of (1) to (5), further including a determination unit that determines the foreground image and the background image that are combined with respect to the multiple foreground images that are separated from multiple sheets of still images that make up the moving image and the multiple display background images, respectively, according to reproduction speeds to which the foreground image and the background image are set, respectively, when the raw-material image is a moving image. it should be noted that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be variously modified within a scope not departing from the gist of the present disclosure. the present disclosure contains subject matter related to that disclosed in japanese priority patent application jp 2012-248391 filed in the japan patent office on nov. 12, 2012, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
054-279-809-958-409	US	[ "US" ]	C23C16/24	1991-08-09T00:00:00	1991	[ "C23" ]	method of enhancing step coverage of polysilicon deposits	a thermal decomposition cvd method is provided for forming a polysilicon layer over a stepped surface on a semiconductor wafer. the method includes introducing a continuous flow of silicon precursor gases into a vacuum chamber, and adjusting the flow rates and concentrations of the precursor gases, adjusting the temperature and adjusting the pressure within the vacuum chamber so as to control the growth rate of the polysilicon layer on the substrate to between about 500 angstroms/minute and about 2000 angstroms/minute. in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the growth rate of the polysilicon layer is controlled by adjusting the precursor gas flow rates, the temperature and the pressure to between about 1000 angstroms/minute and about 1500 angstroms/minute with the result that the average step coverage of the polysilicon layer is greater than about 95 percent.	1. a thermal chemical vapor deposition method for forming a polysilicon layer over a stepped surface of a substrate whose aspect ratio is at least 1.0 consisting essentially of introducing a continuous flow of silicon precursor gases into a vacuum chamber containing said substrate, while adjusting the flow rates and concentrations of the precursor gases and adjusting the temperature and the pressure within the vacuum chamber so as to control the growth rate of the polysilicon layer on the substrate to between about 500 angstroms/minute and about 2000 angstroms/minute, such that step coverage of said patterned surface of over 80% is obtained. 2. the method of claim 1 wherein the growth rate of the polysilicon layer on the substrate is controlled to between about 1000 angstroms/minute and about 1500 angstroms/minute. 3. the method of claim 1 wherein the aspect ratio of the step is greater than about 2.5. 4. the method of claim 1 wherein the aspect ratio of the step is greater than about 5.0. 5. the method of claim 1, wherein the temperature within the vacuum chamber is maintained between about 635.degree. c. and about 645.degree. c. and wherein the pressure within the vacuum chamber is maintained between about 140 torr and about 160 torr. 6. the method of claim 1, wherein the temperature within the vacuum chamber is maintained between about 660.degree. c. and about 680.degree. c. and wherein the pressure within the vacuum chamber is maintained between about 20 torr and about 30 torr. 7. the method of claim 1, wherein the precursor gases are selected from the group consisting of silane and disilane. 8. the method of claim 1, wherein the precursor gas is silane. 9. the method of claim 1 wherein said substrate is a silicon wafer having a trench formed therein. 10. a thermal chemical vapor deposition method for forming a polysilicon layer over a stepped surface of a substrate, having at least one step whose aspect ratio is at least 1.0, consisting essentially of introducing a continuous flow of silicon precursor gases into a vacuum chamber containing the substrate while adjusting the flow rate and concentrations of the precursor gases, the temperature and the pressure within the vacuum chamber so as to control the growth rate of the polysilicon layer on the substrate to between about 1000 angstroms/minute and about 1500 angstroms per minute; such that polysilicon is deposited on the substrate to an average step coverage of over 80%. 11. the method of claim 10, wherein the average step coverage on the substrate is greater than about 95%. 12. the method of claim 10 wherein said substrate is a silicon wafer having a trench formed therein.	field of the invention this invention relates generally to a method for depositing silicon onto a substrate and particularly to a method of depositing polysilicon onto a substrate having a stepped surface. background of the invention the deposition of polysilicon onto a substrate is a step often required in the fabrication of semiconductor devices used as components in integrated circuits. there is a wide variety of methods employed in the industry to accomplish the deposition of polysilicon onto a substrate. the most common method is by chemical vapor deposition ("cvd"). in one type of cvd process, silicon precursor gases are thermally decomposed in a vacuum chamber and polysilicon is deposited onto wafers disposed within the chamber. this thermal decomposition cvd process is relatively simple and inexpensive to operate. it is, however, relatively slow and inflexible. in another prior art cvd process, silicon precursor gases are first converted into a plasma to form highly active excited molecules, atoms, ions and radicals. in such "plasma assisted" cvd methods, the deposition of polysilicon can be faster and more flexible than the thermal decomposition cvd processes. however, plasma assisted cvd methods for depositing silicon are generally not appropriate for fabricating semiconductor wafers used in integrated circuits because the silicon films are highly hydrogenated. such hydrogenated silicon films tend to be inferior to nonhydrogenated films with respect to conductivity properties and chemical stability. in parent u.s. patent application ser. no. 07/742,954 filed aug. 9, 1991, now abandoned, one of us (beinglass) disclosed a novel thermal decomposition cvd process capable of depositing polysilicon at markedly higher growth rates than prior art cvd methods. the high growth rates of this new thermal decomposition cvd process make it commercially practical to deposit polysilicon on one semiconductor substrate at a time, rather than in batches of 150 or more. preparing polysilicon-covered substrates one at a time greatly increases the precision and flexibility achieved over conventional thermal decomposition cvd processes of the prior art. this is very important in today's more complex chip market. no matter what method is used to deposit polysilicon on the substrate surface, a problem frequently arises as to how to uniformly deposit the polysilicon on substrates having a "stepped" surface. a "stepped" surface as used in this application means a surface having two or more parallel components which are not disposed in the same horizontal plane. for example, stepped surfaces are found on a semiconductor wafer either when one or more trenches are etched into a flat wafer surface, or when conductive lines are deposited and patterned onto the surface. the deposition of polysilicon onto a stepped surface presents the problem of how to deposit the polysilicon on the vertical aspect of the surface with the same thickness as the polysilicon deposited on the horizontal aspect of the surface. with most methods used in the prior art, the tendency is for the silicon to deposit on the vertical aspect of the surface to a lesser extent than on the horizontal aspect. thus, the polysilicon layer on the vertical surface is thinner than the polysilicon layer on the horizontal surface. this problem is especially acute in the deposition of silicon onto stepped surfaces having an aspect ratio greater than 1.0. (as used in this application, the term "aspect ratio" refers to the ratio of the vertical height of the step to its width.) several methods have been proposed in the prior art for uniformly depositing polysilicon onto stepped surfaces, but none of them have been found to be satisfactory. they are generally too slow, difficult to implement, complex and/or expensive. in addition, there is a need to utilize the high growth rates for single wafer thermal decomposition cvd methods disclosed in parent application ser. no. 07/742,954 referred to above in order to obtain uniform deposits of polysilicon over a stepped surface. thus a method for depositing silicon at the high deposition rates useful in the processing of single semiconductor substrates in a vacuum chamber but with improved step coverage (ratio of the polysilicon thickness on the vertical surface to the polysilicon thickness on the horizontal surface) would be highly desirable. summary of the invention we have found that improved step coverage can be achieved by controlling the silicon deposition rate. the invention is a thermal decomposition cvd method for forming a silicon layer over a stepped surface of a semiconductor substrate. the method comprises introducing a continuous flow of silicon precursor gases into a vacuum chamber, and adjusting the flow rates, the concentrations of the precursor gases, the temperature and the pressure within the vacuum chamber so as to control the growth rate of the polysilicon layer on the substrate to between about 500 angstroms/minute and about 2000 angstroms/minute. in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the growth rate of the polysilicon layer is controlled between about 1000 angstroms/minute and about 1500 angstroms/minute. in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the growth rate of the polysilicon layer is controlled so that the average step coverage of the polysilicon layer is greater than about 80 percent and most preferably 95 percent or higher. in one embodiment of the invention, the growth rate of the polysilicon layer is controlled by maintaining the chamber temperature between about 635.degree. c. and 645.degree. c. and by maintaining the chamber pressure at about 140 torr. in another embodiment, the growth rate is controlled by maintaining the temperature between about 660.degree. c. and 680.degree. c. and by maintaining the chamber pressure at about 80 torr. in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the abovedescribed steps of the invention are applied to a single wafer disposed within the vacuum chamber . brief description of the drawings these and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become understood with reference to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings, wherein: fig. 1 is an illustration of a single wafer reactor useful in the press of the invention; and fig. 2 is a graph of data comparing the results of the method of the present invention with the results of comparative methods. detailed description of the invention the invention is a thermal decomposition cvd method for forming a polysilicon layer over a stepped surface on a semiconductor substrate. the method of the invention comprises introducing a continuous flow of silicon precursor gases into a vacuum chamber while adjusting the flow rates and concentrations of the precursor gases and the temperature and the pressure within the vacuum chamber so as to control the growth rate of the polysilicon layer on the substrate to between about 500 angstroms/minute and about 2000 angstroms/minute. in a typical embodiment, the stepped surface of the semiconductor wafer has an aspect ratio greater than about 1.0. however, the method is effective for more extreme stepped surfaces, such as those having an aspect ratio greater than about 2.5 or even greater than about 5.0. fig. 1 illustrates a vacuum chamber 31 useful herein wherein polysilicon is deposited on only one substrate at a time. the reactor 31 has a top wall 32, side walls 33 and a bottom wall 34 that define a reaction chamber 30 into which a single substrate such as a semiconductor wafer 35 can be loaded. the wafer 35 is mounted on a pedestal 36 that is rotated by a motor 37 to provide a time-averaged environment for the wafer 35 that is cylindrically symmetrical. the wafer 35 is heated by light from high intensity lamps 38 and 39. it is desirable that the top wall 32 and the bottom wall 34 be substantially transparent to light to enable the light from the lamps 38 and 39 to enter the chamber 30. quartz is a particularly useful choice for the top and bottom walls 32 and 34 because it is transparent to light at visible and uv frequencies; it is a relatively high strength material that can support a large pressure differential between the low pressures of the interior of the reaction chamber and ambient pressure; and it has a low rate of outgassing. polysilicon precursor gases flow from a gas input port 310 and across the wafer 35 to an exhaust port 311. the gas input port 310 is in communication with a gas manifold (not shown) that provides a precursor gas or a mixture of precursor gases to enter the chamber 30 via a plurality of pipes into the input gas port 310. the spacial dispositions of these pipes, concentrations of the precursor gases and/or the flow rates of the precursor gases through the pipes are selected in known manner to produce precursor gas flow and concentration profiles that optimize processing uniformity. although the rotation of the wafer 35 and thermal gradients caused by the heat from the lamps 38 and 39 can significantly affect the flow profile of gases within the vacuum chamber 30, the dominant shape of the flow profile is laminar from the gas input port 310 and across the wafer 35 to the exhaust port 311. the above-described reactor can be a stand-alone reactor or can be a reactor connected to a central load lock chamber of a multi-unit system. for example, the silicon deposition chamber can be one chamber of an endura 5500.tm. system of applied materials, inc. of santa clara, calif. the precursor gases can include silane or disilane. the silicon deposited in accordance with the invention can be amorphous or polysilicon, or a mixture of the two, depending, as is known, on the temperature of deposition. the silicon can be deposited on various patterned or stepped substrate layers, including patterned layers (trenches) in silicon oxide, silicon nitride, crystalline silicon and the like. the silicon can also be deposited over conductive lines on the surface, either metal lines or metal silicide lines, providing only that the conductive material be able to withstand the temperature of deposition without flowing or otherwise changing its physical or chemical properties or close tolerances. the key to the invention is carefully controlling the growth rate of the polysilicon layer to between about 500 angstroms/minute and about 2000 angstroms/minute, preferably between about 1000 angstroms/minute and about 1500 angstroms/minute. lower growth rates tend to be unnecessarily slow and, therefore, commercially undesirable. higher growth rates tend to result in lower step coverages. while it is possible to control the growth rate of the polysilicon layer by adjusting the flow rates of the precursor gases alone, it is generally simpler and easier to control the growth rate of the polysilicon layer by adjusting the temperature and pressure within the vacuum chamber. in general, the temperature and pressure are interrelated with respect to silicon growth rates; the lower the temperature, the higher the pressure needs to be to achieve a preselected silicon deposition rate. the silicon deposition rate is selected depending on the aspect ratio of the step sought to be covered, with lower deposition rates preferred for higher aspect ratio steps. desirably, the growth rate of the polysilicon layer can be controlled to achieve a "step coverage" greater than 80%, preferably greater than 90%, and most preferably greater than 95%. the deposition rate is chosen so as to maximize the step coverage. the invention will be further illustrated by the following examples, but the invention is not means to be limited to the details described therein. examples comparative example a a silicon semiconductor wafer having a patterned silicon oxide layer thereon with an aspect ratio of about 2.5 was charged to a vacuum chamber as in fig. 1. a gas flow of 520 sccm of sih.sub.4 mixed with 4 slm of h.sub.2 was started. the pressure within the vacuum chamber was maintained at about 80 torr and the temperature was maintained at about 670.degree. c. the silicon growth rate was measured and found to be about 2700 angstroms/minute but the average step coverage was found to be only about 70%. point 1 on the graph of fig. 2 illustrates these deposition results. comparative example b the procedure of example a was followed except that the gas flow was 520 sccm of sih.sub.4 mixed with 7.5 slm of h.sub.2. the pressure within the vacuum chamber was again maintained at about 80 torr, and the temperature was maintained at about 670.degree. c. the silicon growth rate was measured and found to be about 2000 angstroms/minute. the average step coverage was found to be only about 75%. point 2 on the graph of fig. 2 illustrates these results. example 1 the procedure of example b was followed except that the pressure within the vacuum chamber was maintained at about 25 tort and the temperature was maintained at about 670.degree. c. the silicon growth rate was measured and found to be about 1400 angstroms/minute and the average step coverage was found to be about 100%. point 3 on the graph of fig. 2 illustrates these results. thus when the reactor conditions were changed to reduce the deposition rate, improved step coverage was obtained. example 2 the procedure of example 1 was followed except that the pressure within the vacuum chamber was maintained at about 150 torr and the temperature was maintained at about 640.degree. c. the silicon growth rate was measured and again found to be about 1400 angstroms/minute and the average step coverage was again found to be about 100%. thus comparable step coverage was obtained at higher pressures and lower temperature conditions than those of example 1. the foregoing describes in detail several preferred embodiments of the invention. the foregoing should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to the particular embodiments described. those skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as equivalents thereof. for example, a mixture of amorphous and polysilicon, or even amorphous silicon, can be deposited under various conditions of temperature and pressure onto various substrates. the nature of the substrate is limited only by the deposition temperatures. the invention is meant only to be limited by the appended claims.
054-746-635-120-939	CN	[ "CN", "US", "EP", "WO" ]	G06F3/0481,G06F3/04842,G06F3/0487,G06F40/166,G06F3/16,G06F40/106,G06F17/00,G06F3/048	2021-03-01T00:00:00	2021	[ "G06" ]	electronic document processing method and device, terminal and storage medium	the invention provides an electronic document processing method and device, a terminal and a storage medium. the electronic document processing method comprises the steps that in a current display interface, in response to a document content determination operation, target content is determined from document content of a first document; in the current display interface, in response to the document creation operation, creating a second document having an association relationship with the first document; wherein the second document is associated with the first document based on the target content. according to the method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the second document having the association relationship with the content in the first document can be quickly generated, and a user does not need to repeatedly perform copying, pasting and association operations, so that the use experience of the user is greatly improved.	1 . an electronic document processing method, comprising: determining, in a current display interface, target content from document content of a first document in response to a document content determination operation; and creating, in response to a document creation operation in the current display interface, a second document associated with the first document, wherein the second document is associated with the first document based on the target content. 2 . the method according to claim 1 , wherein the creating, in response to a document creation operation in the current display interface, a second document associated with the first document, comprises: displaying a document creation control in response to the document content determination operation, and creating the second document associated with the first document in response to an operation on the document creation control; or determining, in response to the document content determination operation, whether a document creation gesture or voice command is received, and creating the second document associated with the first document in response to receiving the document creation gesture or voice command. 3 . the method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining, in a current display interface, target content from document content of a first document in response to a document content determination operation comprises: in response to a selection operation on some content in the first document, determining the target content based on the some content; or, in response to an input operation on a preset symbol and content information, determining the target content based on the content information. 4 . the method according to claim 3 , wherein the determining the target content based on the some content comprises: determining the target content to be the some content, content obtained by analyzing the some content, a combination of the some content and other content, a combination of other content and the content obtained by analyzing the some content, a paragraph(s) where the some content is located, a paragraph(s) identified by the some content, or content converted from the some content. 5 . the method according to claim 4 , wherein the other content comprises relevant information of the first document. 6 . the method according to claim 3 , wherein the some content comprises at least one content block, and each content block is a unit used for carrying the content of the first document. 7 . the method according to claim 2 , wherein the displaying a document creation control in response to the document content determination operation comprises: displaying the document creation control in response to a trigger operation on a first control associated with some content in the first document; or displaying a second control comprising the document creation control in response to a selection operation on some content in the first document. 8 . the method according to claim 1 , comprising: displaying a document identifier of the second document in the first document. 9 . the method according to claim 8 , comprising: displaying a sharing identifier at an associated position of the document identifier of the second document, and sharing the second document to a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation. 10 . the method according to claim 9 , wherein the sharing the second document to a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation comprises: displaying a sharing information edit control in response to a trigger operation on the sharing identifier, the sharing information edit control being used for determining sharing information; and sharing the second document to the target sharing object based on the determined sharing information. 11 . the method according to claim 1 , wherein the creating a second document associated with the first document in response to a document creation operation comprises: displaying a sharing information edit control in response to an operation of creating and sharing a document, the sharing information edit control being used for determining sharing information; and creating the second document associated with the first document in response to a sharing information confirmation operation, and sharing the second document to a target sharing object based on the determined sharing information. 12 . the method according to claim 10 , wherein the determining sharing information comprises one or more of the following content: determining title information of the second document, determining the target sharing object of the second document, and determining a permission of the target sharing object. 13 . the method according to claim 12 , wherein the determining title information of the second document comprises: determining a title of the second document according to content input in a title edit area in response to an input operation in the title edit area of the sharing information edit control; or, displaying, in the title edit area of the sharing information edit control, default title information determined based on the target content, and determining the default title information as the title of the second document in response to the sharing information confirmation operation. 14 . the method according to claim 13 , wherein the determining a title of the second document according to content input in a title edit area in response to an input operation in the title edit area of the sharing information edit control comprises: displaying, in the title edit area, the default title information determined based on the target content, and determining the title of the second document in response to an amendment operation on the default title information; and/or, the default title information comprises corresponding title information of the target content in the first document, or the default title information comprises the target content, or the default title information comprises content obtained by analyzing the target content. 15 . the method according to claim 14 , wherein the corresponding title information of the target content in the first document comprises: title information of the content block where the target content is located in the first document, or combined information of the title information of the content block where the target content is located and the title information of the first document. 16 . the method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises: adjusting a display style of the target content in the first document to a target display style after generating the second document. 17 . the method according to claim 16 , wherein the adjusting to the target display style comprises one or more of the following content: adding a box or icon for an area where the target content is located, or changing a text style or layout style of the target content. 18 . the method according to claim 8 , further comprising: changing a display style of the document identifier of the second document to a second style in response to a delete event about the second document, the second style being different from a first style of the document identifier of the second document in the first document before the second document is deleted. 19 . the method according to claim 1 , wherein the association between the second document and the first document based on the target content comprises: both the first document and the second document display the target content, or the second document references the target content. 20 . an electronic document processing method, comprising: determining, in response to receiving a first document, permission information of a current user about a second document embedded in the first document; and displaying relevant information of the second document and a permission application identifier in a preset style if the current user has no preset permission for the second document. 21 . the method according to claim 20 , wherein the permission application identifier comprises owner information of the second document and/or a permission application entry, the permission application entry being used for outputting a permission application interface after being triggered. 22 . an electronic document processing method, comprising: selecting, in a current display interface, target document content from document content of a first document in response to a selection operation, the target document content being some document content of the first document; and determining a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and sharing the target document content to the target sharing object. 23 . the method according to claim 22 , wherein the determining a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and sharing the target document content to the target sharing object comprises: creating a second document in response to the sharing operation, and sharing the second document to the target sharing object, wherein document content of the second document comprises the target document content; and/or, the determining a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and sharing the target document content to the target sharing object comprises: obtaining a first link to the first document in response to the sharing operation, generating a second link according to the first link and a scope of the target document content in the first document, and sharing the second link to the target sharing object, the second link being used for indicating that a receiving end of the second link displays the target document content and hides some other content or all other content in the first document except the target document content. 24 . a terminal, comprising: at least one memory and at least one processor, wherein the at least one memory is configured to store program code, and the at least one processor is configured to call the program code stored in the at least one memory to perform an electronic document processing method; the electronic document processing method comprising: determining, in a current display interface, target content from document content of a first document in response to a document content determination operation; and creating, in the current display interface, a second document associated with the first document in response to a document creation operation, wherein the second document is associated with the first document based on the target content.	cross reference the disclosure is a continuation of pct application ser. no. pct/cn2022/078667, titled “electronic document processing method and apparatus, terminal, and storage medium”, filed on mar. 1, 2022, claims priority to chinese patent application no. 202110226953.x, field on mar. 1, 2021, titled “electronic document processing method and apparatus, terminal, and storage medium”, the entire contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. technical field the present disclosure relates to the field of computer technology, in particular to an electronic document processing method and apparatus, a terminal, and a storage medium. background with the development of computer technology, electronic documents are widely used. electronic documents are usually stored in servers or local clients, and authorized users can access and edit the electronic documents. summary embodiments of the disclosure provide an electronic document processing method and apparatus, a terminal, and a storage medium. the following technical solutions are used in this disclosure. in some embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, comprising: determining, in a current display interface, target content from document content of a first document in response to a document content determination operation; and creating, in response to a document creation operation in the current display interface, a second document associated with the first document, wherein the second document is associated with the first document based on the target content. in some embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, comprising: determining, in response to receiving a first document, permission information of a current user about a second document embedded in the first document; and displaying relevant information of the second document and a permission application identifier in a preset style if the current user has no preset permission for the second document. in some embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, comprising: selecting, in a current display interface, target document content from document content of a first document in response to a selection operation, the target document content being some document content of the first document; and determining a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and sharing the target document content to the target sharing object. in some embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing apparatus, comprising: a determination unit, configured to determine, in a current display interface, target content from document content of a first document in response to a document content determination operation; and a creation unit, configured to create, in response to a document creation operation in the current display interface, a second document associated with the first document; wherein the second document is associated with the first document based on the target content. in some embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing apparatus, comprising: a determination module, configured to determine, in response to receiving a first document, permission information of a current user about a second document embedded in the first document; and a display module, configured to display relevant information of the second document and a permission application identifier in a preset style if the current user has no preset permission for the second document. in some embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing apparatus, comprising: a selection module, configured to select, in a current display interface, target document content from document content of a first document in response to a selection operation, the target document content being some document content of the first document; and a sharing module, configured to determine a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and share the target document content to the target sharing object. in some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a terminal, comprising: at least one memory and at least one processor, wherein the at least one memory is configured to store program code, and the at least one processor is configured to call the program code stored in the at least one memory to perform the method above. in some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a storage medium, the storage medium storing program code, and the program code being used for performing the method above. according to the electronic document processing method provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, target content is determined, in a current display interface, from document content of a first document in response to a document content determination operation; and in response to a document creation operation in the current display interface, a second document associated with the first document is created, where the second document is associated with the first document based on the target content. the method provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure can quickly generate the second document associated with the content in the first document, and does not require user's repeated copy, paste, and association operations, thereby greatly improving user experience. brief description of the drawings these and other features, advantages and aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and with reference to the following specific embodiments. throughout the accompanying drawings, identical or similar appended marks indicate identical or similar elements. it should be understood that the accompanying drawings are schematic and that the elements and components are not necessarily drawn to scale. fig. 1 is a flowchart of an electronic document processing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. figs. 2(a), 2(b), and 2(c) are schematic diagrams of a first document processing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 3 is a flowchart of another electronic document processing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 4 is a flowchart of another electronic document processing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. figs. 5(a), 5(b), and 5(c) are schematic diagrams of another electronic document processing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of another electronic document processing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of another electronic document processing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 8 is a composition diagram of an electronic document processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 9 is a composition diagram of an electronic document processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. detailed description of preferred embodiments embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. while certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be implemented in various forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but instead are provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. it should be understood that the accompanying drawings and embodiments of the present disclosure are for exemplary purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure. it should be understood that the individual steps documented in the method embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in sequence and/or in parallel. in addition, the method embodiments may include additional steps and/or omit to perform the steps illustrated. the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard. the term “includes” and variations thereof as used herein are open-ended, i.e., “includes but is not limited to”. the term “based on” is “based, at least in part, on”. the term “an embodiment” means “at least one embodiment”; the term “another embodiment” means “at least one additional embodiment”; the term “some embodiments” means “at least some embodiments”. definitions of other terms will be given in the description below. note that the concepts “first” and “second” mentioned in this disclosure are used only to distinguish between different devices, modules or units, and are not intended to define the order or interdependence of the functions performed by these devices, modules or units. it should be noted that the reference to “one” in this disclosure is intended to be schematic and not limiting, and it should be understood by those skilled in the art to mean “one or more” unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. the names of the messages or information interacting between the multiple devices in this disclosure are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of those messages or information. the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. with reference to fig. 1 , an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method. fig. 1 is a flowchart of an electronic document processing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. the electronic document processing method includes the following steps. s 11 : determine, in a current display interface, target content from document content of a first document in response to a document content determination operation. in some embodiments, the first document is an electronic document, and the current display interface may be a display interface for the document content of the first document. for example, the first document has a display area, and the current display interface may refer to the display area of the first document or may not the interface for the first document. the document content of the first document may include a variety forms, such as text or images. in some embodiments, the document content determination operation may be an operation on the document content of the first document. the document content determination operation may be a content input operation or a selection operation on existing content in the first document. in some embodiments, the document content determination operation may be performed on a control or by inputting a specific instruction. in some embodiments, the document content determination operation has associated target content, and the target content may be some content in the first document or generated based on the content in the first document. in some embodiments, because the target content is determined after the document content determination operation is performed, the target content may alternatively be content input to the first document in the document content determination operation. s 12 : create, in response to a document creation operation in the current display interface, a second document associated with the first document. in some embodiments, the document content determination operation and a sharing operation are performed in a same display interface, for example, in the display interface of the first document. the second document is associated with the first document based on the target content. because the association relationship between the second document and the first document is built when the second document is created, an additional operation of associating the second document and the first document is not required, and the efficiency is higher. the document creation operation may be in various forms such as a voice operation, a gesture operation, or an instruction input operation, or a combination thereof, and is not limited. the second document has an association relationship with the first document, and the content in the second document and the content in the first document are associated based on the target content, where the association may be in various manners. in some embodiments, both the first document and the second document display the target content, or the second document has an association identifier for viewing the target content. the target content in the first document may be used as a main body or title of the second document, or the second document references the target document. when the second document references the target content, a display style of the referenced target content in the second document may differ from that of other unreferenced content. in some embodiments, when the target content in the associated first document changes, the changed portion will be displayed on the second document, or that the target content in the first document has changed will be prompted. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the target content is determined through the document content determination operation, the second document associated with the first document is created, and the first document and the second document are associated based on the target content, thereby achieving rapid creation of the second document associated with the first document without copy, paste, and association operations, and greatly improving user experience. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the creating, in response to a document creation operation in the current display interface, a second document associated with the first document, includes: displaying a document creation control in response to the document content determination operation, and creating the second document associated with the first document in response to an operation on the document creation control. in some embodiments, the document creation control may be a control in the first document that is displayed in response to the document creation operation. after the document creation control is operated, the second document is created, and the association relationship between the second document and the first document is built. the operation on the document creation control may include one or more operations. the second document is created by displaying the document creation control to avoid incorrect operations. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the creating, in response to a document creation operation in the current display interface, a second document associated with the first document, includes: determining, in response to the document content determination operation, whether a document creation gesture or voice command is received, and creating the second document associated with the first document in response to receiving the document creation gesture or voice command. in some embodiments, the document creation operation may be a gesture operation or voice operation. in this case, a control is not required, so a software size may be reduced. this case is suitable for quickly creating the second document in scenarios where it is not convenient to connect a mouse, such as a mobile terminal or the like, and where the functions of left and right mouse buttons are occupied. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the determining, in a current display interface, target content from document content of a first document in response to a document content determination operation includes: in response to a selection operation on some content in the first document, determining the target content based on the some content. in some embodiments, the first document displays document content, the some content is some document content. the document content determination operation is a selection operation to select some content in the first document, and the target content is determined based on the selected content. for example, the selected content may be directly set as the target content. alternatively, the target content may be a paragraph(s) where the some content is located, for example, selecting some content in a paragraph is considered as selecting the entire paragraph, or selecting a title of a paragraph is considered as selecting the paragraph. the selection operation may be done either through a mouse or through a selection box. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the determining, in a current display interface, target content from document content of a first document in response to a document content determination operation includes: in response to an input operation on a preset symbol and content information, determining the target content based on the content information. in some embodiments, the preset symbol may be a symbol used less frequently, such as “@” and “r”. the preset symbol is input to indicate that the second document is to be created, and cooperates with the content information input by a user to determine the target content, thereby accurately indicating the content that the user desires to associate. the content information may be one or a combination of text or image information. in some embodiments, a paragraph(s) where the content information is located may be searched in the first document as the target content. this method can achieve customized quick association of multiple paragraphs of content. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, determining the target content based on the some content includes: determining the target content to be the some content, content obtained by analyzing the some content, a combination of the some content and other content, a combination of other content and the content obtained by analyzing the some content, a paragraph(s) where the some content is located, a paragraph(s) identified by the some content, or content converted from the some content. in some embodiments, the selected content may be directly used as the target content, so that the second document may be directly associated with the selected content. in other embodiments, the selected content is used for analysis to determine the target content, for example, a paragraph(s) where the some content is located is determined, and the target content is set to be the paragraph paragraph(s) where the some content is located. the some content may identify a paragraph(s), for example, the some content is a title of a paragraph, and the target content is the paragraph identified by the title of the paragraph. in this case, the title of the paragraph is selected to select the entire paragraph, thereby reducing operations. the target content may alternatively be the content converted from the some content, for example, the some content is converted in language to obtain the target content. in other embodiments, the some content is combined with other content after analysis or without analysis. in some embodiments, the other content includes relevant information about the first document, such as name, author, and creation time. in other embodiments, the other content may alternatively be user-defined content. the combination with the other content makes the target content clearer and more detailed. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the some content is at least one content block, and each content block is a unit used for carrying the content of the first document. in some embodiments, the content of the first document includes at least one content block, and the target content may be a content block(s) corresponding to some content. in some embodiments, the first document is a structured document including a plurality of content blocks, and the content blocks may be in various forms such as text or images. a content block may be a line of content, a paragraph of content, or multiple paragraphs of content. by setting a content block, an entire content block may not be selected when some content is selected, but a portion of the content block is selected, which is considered as selecting the entire content block, thereby improving operational efficiency. moreover, in practical work, electronic documents often have certain structural compositions. an electronic document is composed of one or more preset portions, and each portion has respective logic and content. therefore, the blocks of a document are more suitable for people's usage habits. in other embodiments, a new content block may alternatively be generated based on some content selected from one content block of the first document, and the new content block is associated to the created second document. this improves the flexibility of associating the first document and the second document. in some embodiments, the displaying a document creation control in response to the document content determination operation includes: displaying the document creation control in response to a trigger operation on a first control associated with some content in the first document; or displaying a second control including the document creation control in response to a selection operation on some content in the first document. in some embodiments, the document content determination operation may include, for example, a click operation on the first control or a cursor focus operation, and the document content corresponding to the first control or the cursor focus operation is denoted as the selected target content. similarly, the document content determination operation may alternatively be a selection operation on an option in the first control, and the first control may be a resident control, that is, a continuously displayed control, or a control displayed after satisfying some conditions, such as a control only displayed after some content of the first document is selected. the document creation control may be displayed only after the first control is triggered. in other embodiments, the document creation control is directly displayed in a second control. for example, after some content of the first document is selected, a menu bar is displayed, and a new menu in the menu bar is triggered to display the document creation control. in other embodiments, the document creation control may alternatively be directly displayed in the menu bar. in some embodiments, the method includes: displaying the document creation control and determining the target content in response to the input operation on the preset symbol and the content information; and creating the second document in response to the operation on the document creation control and using the target content as a title of the second document. in some embodiments, the preset symbol, or the preset symbol and the content information after the symbol, is/are input to evoke the document creation control. the input content information is used for determining the target content. the target content may be the input content information (the input content information may be text or another type of content) or associated information determined according to the input content information, for example, the associated information may be information used for indicating features of the first document. for example, in some embodiments, the input content information is “current document title+author”, the title and author of the first document may be directly obtained as the target content, and the target content may be used as the title of the second document when the second document is created. for example, the preset symbol is “@”, “@ aaa” is input in the first document, the document creation control is displayed, “aaa” is obtained as the target content, and “aaa” is used as the title and/or main body of the second document after the second document is determined to be created. in this case, the title and/or some main body content of the document may be specified before the second document is created, thereby reducing operation steps, making content creation more continuous, and avoiding interruption of ideas. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the association between the content in the second document and the content in the first document based on the target content includes one or more of the following: both the first document and the second document have the target content, where the target content is determined as the main body content, title content, content with a reference relationship, or content with a connection relationship in the second document. in some embodiments, the target content is the content in the first document, and the second document has the target content of the first document, which may serve as the main body or title of the second document. the target content in the second document has a reference relationship or connection relationship with the target content in the first document, where the reference relationship includes: when a first content block of the first document is referenced by the second document, both the first document and the second document display the first content block and may achieve one-way or two-way synchronization, for example, amendment to the first content block in the first document may be synchronized to the second document, and/or amendment to the first content block in the second document may be synchronized to the first document. the connection relationship includes: when a second content block of the first document is connected to the second document, a connection identifier of the second content block may be displayed in the second document, and in response to triggering the connection identifier, content of the second content block may be obtained and displayed in the second document. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, a document identifier of the second document is displayed in the first document. in some embodiments, the content in the first document is associated with the second document. for example, the second document is created based on selected content of the first document, so the document identifier of the second document is displayed to represent the association relationship. in this case, when the first document is amended, the associated second document can be noticed. especially when the content in the second document and the content in the first document have a reference relationship and can be synchronized, incorrect amendment to the second document due to negligence on the second document is avoided. in some embodiments, some embodiments of the present disclosure further include: displaying a sharing identifier at an associated position of the document identifier of the second document, and sharing the second document to a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation. in some embodiments, the target sharing object is a receiver, for example, the second document may be shared by clicking any user's avatar. of course, the receiver is not limited to one user and may share the second document to a group. in this case, the target sharing object may be a group. a target object may be notified by sending a notification message. if the target sharing object is a single user, a notification message is sent. if the target sharing object is a group, a group message is sent. after the target object receives the second document, a notification message may be displayed to indicate that the second document has been received by the target sharing object. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the sharing the second document to a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation includes: displaying a sharing information edit control in response to a trigger operation on the sharing identifier, the sharing information edit control being used for determining sharing information; and sharing the second document to the target sharing object based on the determined sharing information. in some embodiments, the second document may be first created, then the sharing identifier of the second document is displayed, and the second document is shared through the sharing identifier. the first creation and then sharing of the second document facilitate direct sharing of the second document to other objects, and reduce repeated creation of the second document. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the creating a second document associated with the first document in response to a document creation operation includes: displaying a sharing information edit control in response to an operation of creating and sharing a document, the sharing information edit control being used for determining sharing information; and creating the second document associated with the first document in response to a sharing information confirmation operation, and sharing the second document to the target sharing object based on the determined sharing information. in some embodiments, two actions of creating the second document and sharing the second document may be performed through one operation, for example, a “create and share a document” control may be displayed, and the control is triggered to directly create and share the second document, thereby reducing user operation and simplifying processes. in some embodiments, the process of determining sharing information may be the process of confirming sharing information in any embodiment of the present disclosure. in some embodiments, the determining sharing information includes one or more of the following content: determining title information of the second document, determining the target sharing object of the second document and determining a permission of the target sharing object. in some embodiments, the sharing information may be input by selecting or inputting in the sharing information edit control, and the sharing information may include the target sharing object. for example, a contact list is displayed in the sharing information edit control, and the user clicks one or more contacts in the contact list to share the second document to the clicked contact(s). the shared second document may specify the permission of the shared person, for example, whether the shared person can read or can both read and edit. in some embodiments, the determining title information of the second document includes: determining a title of the second document according to content input in a title edit area in response to an input operation in the title edit area of the sharing information edit control; or displaying, in the title edit area of the sharing information edit control, default title information determined based on the target content, and determining the default title information as the title of the second document in response to the sharing information confirmation operation. in some embodiments, the determining a title of the second document according to content input in a title edit area in response to an input operation in the title edit area of the sharing information edit control includes: displaying, in the title edit area, the default title information determined based on the target content, and determining the title of the second document in response to an amendment operation on the default title information. in some embodiments, when the second document is shared, the title of the shared second document may be amended. the title of the shared second document displayed on a receiver (such as the target sharing object) is the same or different from the title of the second document displayed on a sender. the user may manually input the title in the title edit area, or use the default title information, or edit the default title information, for example, display the title of the second document before being shared as the default title information in the title edit area, and then the user may edit or use the default title information. therefore, the title of the second document displayed on the receiver after sharing may be different from the title displayed on the sender when the second document is not shared, thereby hiding some information according to user's needs. in some embodiments, the default title information includes corresponding title information of the target content in the first document, or the default title information includes the target content, or the default title information includes content obtained by analyzing the target content. in some embodiments, the target content may be directly used as the default title information or the default title information may be determined based on the target content. a preset word count may be set, and the target content is used as a default title when the word count of the target content is less than the preset word count, or the default title information is generated according to the target content when the word count of the target content is greater than the preset word count, for example, the target content may be summarized, and the summary information is used as the default title information. because the default title information reflects the target content, the user of the target sharing object can roughly determine the content. in some embodiments, the corresponding title information of the target content in the first document includes: title information of the content block where the target content is located in the first document, or combined information of the title information of the content block where the target content is located and the title information of the first document. in some embodiments, the content block has a corresponding title. for example, when a user writes a document, subtitles are usually set for different parts. the subtitle set by the user of the first document can reflect the content of the target content, and can reflect the information of the target content more comprehensively after being combined with the title information of the first document. in some embodiments, the method further includes: adjusting a display style of the target content in the first document to a target display style after generating the second document. in some embodiments, the target content may be selected content in the first document, or may be content information input together with a preset symbol. by adjusting the display style of the target content in the first document to the target display style, the target content is distinguished from other content in the first document, and the user may be reminded to generate a document based on the target content. in some embodiments, the adjusting to the target display style includes one or more of the following content: adding a box or icon for an area where the target content is located, or changing a text style or layout style of the target content. in some embodiments, the area of the target style may be surrounded by a box, or the font of the target content may be changed to a different font from other parts. for example, the first document is originally in song typeface, and the font of the target content may be in regular script. alternatively, the layout of the target content may also be changed, for example, changed to italic layout. by adjusting to the target display style, repetition with the existing style in the first document is avoided, the user is prompted, or misunderstanding of the user is avoided. for example, by distinguishing the target display style from the style when the content is selected, the user may be prevented from mistakenly thinking that some content is selected. in some embodiments, a display style of the document identifier of the second document is changed to a second style in response to a delete event about the second document, the second style being different from a first style of the identifier of the second document in the first document before the second document is deleted. in some embodiments, the display style of the identifier of the second document will be changed after the second document is deleted, so that the status of the second document may be directly determined from the display style without opening the second document. in some embodiments, the second style includes a prompt message that the second document is deleted, so that the user can intuitively determine that the second document has been deleted. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the sharing the second document to a target object includes: sending a link to the second document to the target sharing object; or sending the second document to the target sharing object. in some embodiments, the second document may be directly sent to the target sharing object, so that networking is not required when the second document is viewed and edited, and the difference between the second document and the target content may be compared during networking and adjusted accordingly. in other embodiments, the link to the second document is sent to the target sharing object, so that the second document may be stored in a server or directly stored in the first document, that is, only one document is stored to reduce requirements for a storage space. in order to better illustrate the method provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, a specific embodiment is schematically illustrated below, but the scope of protection of the present disclosure should not be limited thereto. the following description refers to figs. 2 and 3 . as shown in fig. 2(a) , “aaabbbccc” in a first document is first document content, the first document is a structured document including a plurality of content blocks, a user with edit permission selects one or more content blocks in the first document, and the selected content block is target content. assuming that the user selects “aaa”, the selected “aaa” is the target content. after the target content is selected, as shown in fig. 2(b) , its display style is changed and a tool bar is displayed, the tool bar including a document creation option “convert to document sharing”. in some embodiments, after the document creation option is triggered, a pop-up box pops up, as shown in fig. 2(c) . a title box in the pop-up box displays default title information, and a sharing object is selected in a sharing object box, where the default title information is a title of a paragraph where the target content is located, which is “aaa” in this embodiment. the user confirms a title of a second document, and then content of the second document is generated according to the target content, where the second document further includes “aaa”, and the “aaa” in the second document has a reference relationship with the “aaa” in the first document to achieve one-way or two-way synchronization. in other embodiments, after a document creation option is triggered, a pop-up box pops up, the target content is used as the title of the second document, and the user may choose to confirm or edit the title of the second document. after the second document is created, a sharing object is selected, for example, a person or group name is selected from a contact list for sharing, and read or edit rights may alternatively be granted. after the second document is created, a document identifier of the second document will be displayed in the first document, and when the second document is deleted, the document identifier will display a prompt message and display an icon and title of the deleted second document. the sharing object will receive the prompt message. if the sharing object is a person, a notification will be received. if the sharing object is a group, a group message will be received. a sharing identifier is displayed at an associated position of the second document in the first document, such as the periphery of the second document, and then the user may share the second document to other sharing objects through a sharing operation. during sharing, the title of the second document defaults to “aaa”, and users may independently edit or directly use the title. when an electronic document is cooperated, the electronic document will be shared. however, in some cases, some users who have restricted permissions may only be desired to edit or read some content in the electronic document. if the some content in the first document is copied and pasted to form a new electronic document, the new electronic document is shared to the users with restricted permissions, and then amended content is pasted to the first document after the new electronic document is amended, the work efficiency is low, the change in the content of the first document or new electronic document cannot be known in a timely manner, and the user experience is poor due to user's repeated operations of copying, pasting, and creating a new electronic document. therefore, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, only the second document is shared to the target object, so the sharing object can only view or edit the content in the second document, which achieves differentiated management of permissions. moreover, because the content of the second document is associated with the content of the first document, the first document can be cooperated, and repeated operations of copying, pasting, and creating a new document are not required, thereby greatly improving the user experience. in other embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in figs. 4 and 5 , another electronic document processing method is provided. as shown in fig. 5(a) , a user with edit permission inputs a guidance symbol such as “@” or “r” in a first document and then inputs content information such as text, and then a pop-up window prompts to create a second document. the content information “aaa” input in fig. 5(a) will be used as a default title of the second document. the user confirms the title of the second document to complete the creation of the second document, as shown in fig. 5(b) . a document identifier of the second document is displayed in the first document after the creation is completed, and an associated area of the document identifier has a sharing identifier, as shown in fig. 5(c) . a pop-up window is displayed by triggering the sharing identifier, the pop-up window displays the title of the shared second document, the user may choose to receive the title or amend the title before receiving, then a contact list pops up, and the user selects a sharing object in the contact list and sends the second document to the sharing object. if the sharing object is a single user, the sharing user will receive a notification. if the sharing object is a group user, there will be a message prompt in the group. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, another electronic document processing method is further provided, as shown in fig. 6 , including: s 21 : determine, in response to receiving a first document, permission information of a current user about a second document embedded in the first document. in some embodiments, the first document may be an electronic document, and first document content of the first document may include at least one content block. in this embodiment, the first document may be any first document in the foregoing embodiments, where the first document is embedded with the second document, and the second document may be any second document mentioned above. different users have different permissions for the second document, including whether the current user may read or edit the second document. s 22 : display relevant information of the second document and a permission application identifier in a preset style if the current user has no preset permission for the second document. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the permission application identifier includes owner information of the second document and/or a permission application entry, the permission application entry being used for outputting a permission application interface after being triggered. in some embodiments, the owner information of the second document is displayed for the user to get in touch with an owner of the second document for permission application, and the permission application entry is displayed for direct permission application. in some embodiments, if the current user has no preset permission for the second document, the relevant information of the second document and the permission application identifier will be displayed, where the preset permission may be a read or edit permission, and the permission application identifier may be displayed in the first document. in this case, the user may know through the display style whether he has permission without opening the second document. on the other hand, the permission application identifier is provided in the absence of the preset permission, so that the user can quickly apply for permission, a path of permission application is shortened, and operational efficiency is improved, where the permission application identifier may be a link, for example. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the first document is opened, relevant information of the first document and the permission application identifier are displayed in a preset style. in some embodiments, when the user opens the first document to view content, the relevant information of the first document and the permission application identifier are displayed in the preset style. in some embodiments, another electronic document processing method is provided, as shown in fig. 7 , including: s 31 : select, in a current display interface, target document content from document content of a first document in response to a selection operation. in some embodiments, the first document is an electronic document, and the target document content is some content in the first document. for example, when the first document includes a plurality of content blocks, the target document content may be one or more content blocks. the selection operation may be a selection operation on the document content of the first document, and selected document content is directly used as the target document content. alternatively, the selection operation may be a selection operation on a control associated with the document content, and corresponding document content is determined as the target document content according to the control. s 32 : determine a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and share the target document content to the target sharing object. in some embodiments, the sharing may be performed through a sharing identifier displayed in the target document content. the target sharing object may be a single user or a group, a notification message is sent when the target sharing object is a single user, and a group notification message is sent when the target sharing object is a group. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, some document content of the first document, not the entire document, may be shared, which facilitates permission management. only the portion required to be shared is shared when other users are not desired to view the full text of the first document, that is, a view permission for the target document content is opened only for the target sharing object, the target sharing object can view only the shared target document content, and other content of the first document is not displayed. in some embodiments, determining a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and sharing the target document content to the target sharing object includes: creating a second document in response to the sharing operation, and sharing the second document to the target sharing object, where document content of the second document includes the target document content. in some embodiments, the second document including the target document content may be generated and shared to the target sharing object. in this case, the second document is sent to the target sharing object, or a link to the second document is shared to the target sharing object. the shared second document and the first document may have an association relationship through the target document content. for example, after the target document content in the first document is amended, the target document content in the second document is correspondingly amended. after the target document content in the second document is amended, the target document content in the first document is correspondingly amended. therefore, user's cooperation is facilitated. in some embodiments, the determining a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and sharing the target document content to the target sharing object includes: obtaining a first link to the first document in response to the sharing operation, generating a second link according to the first link and a scope of the target document content in the first document, and sharing the second link to the target sharing object, the second link being used for indicating that a receiving end of the second link displays the target document content and hides some other content or all other content in the first document except the target document content. in some embodiments, the second link is created based on the link to the first document. the first link is a link that displays the first document after being triggered. information indicating the scope of the target document content in the first document is added to the first link to the first document to generate the second link. the first document is found from the server based on the second link after the second link is triggered, then the position of the target document content is found based on the scope information, and only the target document content is displayed. in this case, a receiver is prevented from viewing undesired content. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, an electronic document processing apparatus is further provided, as shown in fig. 8 , including: a determination unit 10 , configured to determine target content associated with a document content determination operation in a display interface of a first document in response to the document content determination operation; and a creation unit 20 , configured to create a second document associated with the first document based on document content determination operation in response to a document creation operation. the content in the second document and the content in the first document are associated based on the target content. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the creation unit 20 creating, in response to a document creation operation in the current display interface, a second document associated with the first document, includes: displaying a document creation control in response to the document content determination operation, and creating the second document associated with the first document in response to an operation on the document creation control; or determining, in response to the document content determination operation, whether a document creation gesture or voice command is received, and creating the second document associated with the first document in response to receiving the document creation gesture or voice command. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the determination unit 10 determining, in a current display interface, target content associated with document content of the first document in response to a document content determination operation includes: in response to a selection operation on some content in the first document, determining the target content based on the some content; or in response to an input operation on a preset symbol and content information, determining the target content based on the content information. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the determining the target content based on the some content includes: determining the target content to be the some content, content obtained by analyzing the some content, a combination of the some content and other content, a combination of other content and the content obtained by analyzing the some content, a paragraph(s) where the some content is located, a paragraph(s) identified by the some content, or content converted from the some content. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the other content includes relevant information of the first document. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the some content is at least one content block, and each content block is a unit used to carry the content of the first document. in some embodiments, the displaying a document creation control in response to the document content determination operation includes: displaying the document creation control in response to a trigger operation on a first control associated with some content in the first document; or displaying a second control including the document creation control in response to a selection operation on some content in the first document. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus further includes: a display unit, configured to display a document identifier of the second document in the first document. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the display unit is further configured to display a sharing identifier at an associated position of the document identifier of the second document, and the electronic document processing apparatus further includes a control unit configured to share the second document to a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the sharing the second document to a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation includes: displaying a sharing information edit control in response to a trigger operation on the sharing identifier, the sharing information edit control being used for determining sharing information; and sharing the second document to the target sharing object based on the determined sharing information. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the creation unit creating a second document associated with the first document in response to a document creation operation includes: displaying a sharing information edit control in response to an operation of creating and sharing a document, the sharing information edit control being used for determining sharing information; and creating the second document associated with the first document in response to a sharing information confirmation operation, and sharing the second document to the target sharing object based on the determined sharing information. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the determining sharing information includes one or more of the following content: determining title information of the second document, determining the target sharing object of the second document, and determining a permission of the target sharing object. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the determining title information of the second document includes: determining a title of the second document according to content input in a title edit area in response to an input operation in the title edit area of the sharing information edit control; or displaying, in the title edit area of the sharing information edit control, default title information determined based on the target content, and determining the default title information as the title of the second document in response to the sharing information confirmation operation. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the determining a title of the second document according to content input in a title edit area in response to an input operation in the title edit area of the sharing information edit control includes: displaying, in the title edit area, the default title information determined based on the target content, and determining the title of the second document in response to an amendment operation on the default title information. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the default title information includes corresponding title information of the target content in the first document, or the default title information includes the target content, or the default title information includes content obtained by analyzing the target content. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the corresponding title information of the target content in the first document includes: title information of the content block where the target content is located in the first document, or combined information of the title information of the content block where the target content is located and the title information of the first document. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus further includes a control unit configured to adjust a display style of the target content in the first document to a target display style after the second document is generated. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the adjusting to the target display style includes one or more of the following content: adding a box or icon for an area where the target content is located, or changing a text style or layout style of the target content. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus further includes: a control unit, configured to change a display style of the document identifier of the second document to a second style in response to a delete event about the second document, the second style being different from a first style of the document identifier of the second document in the first document before the second document is deleted. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the association between the second document and the first document based on the target content includes: both the first document and the second document display the target content, or the second document references the target content. some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an electronic document processing apparatus, as shown in fig. 9 , including: a determination module 30 , configured to determine, in response to receiving a first document, permission information of a current user about a second document embedded in the first document; and a display module 40 , configured to display relevant information of the second document and a permission application identifier in a preset style if the current user has no preset permission for the second document. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the permission application identifier includes owner information of the second document and/or a permission application entry, the permission application entry being used for outputting a permission application interface after being triggered. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the first document is opened, relevant information of the first document and the permission application identifier are displayed in a preset style. in some embodiments, when the user opens the first document for viewing, the relevant information of the first document and the permission application identifier are displayed in the preset style. some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an electronic document processing apparatus, including: a selection module, configured to select, in a current display interface, target document content from document content of a first document in response to a selection operation, the target document content being some document content of the first document; and a sharing module, configured to determine a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and share the target document content to the target sharing object. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the sharing module determining a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and sharing the target document content to the target sharing object includes: creating a second document in response to the sharing operation, and sharing the second document to the target sharing object, where document content of the second document includes the target document content. in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the sharing module determining a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and sharing the target document content to the target sharing object includes: obtaining a first link to the first document in response to the sharing operation, generating a second link according to the first link and a scope of the target document content in the first document, and sharing the second link to the target sharing object, the second link being used for indicating that a receiving end of the second link displays the target document content and hides some other content or all other content in the first document except the target document content. the embodiment of the apparatus substantially corresponds to the embodiment of the method, so relevant parts may refer to the parts of the embodiment of the method. the embodiments of the apparatuses described above are merely illustrative, where the modules illustrated as separate modules may or may not be separate. some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the objectives of the solutions of the embodiments. those of ordinary skill in the art may understand and implement without any creative effort. the methods and apparatuses of the present disclosure are described above based on the embodiments and application examples. in addition, the present disclosure further provides a terminal and a storage medium, which are described below. reference is made below to fig. 10 , which illustrates a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device (e.g., a terminal device or a server) 800 suitable for use in implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. terminal devices in embodiments of the present disclosure may include, but are not limited to, mobile terminals such as a cell phone, a laptop computer, a digital radio receiver, a pda (personal digital assistant), a pad (tablet computer), a pmp (portable multimedia player), an in-vehicle terminal (e.g., an in-vehicle navigation terminal), and the like, and a fixed terminal such as a digital tv, a desktop computer, and the like. the electronic device illustrated in the figures is only an example and should not impose any limitation on the functionality and scope of use of embodiments of the present disclosure. the electronic device 800 may include a processing apparatus (e.g., central processor, graphics processor, etc.) 801 that may perform various appropriate actions and processes based on programs stored in a read-only memory (rom) 802 or loaded from a storage apparatus 808 into a random access memory (ram) 803 . also stored in ram 803 are various programs and data required for the operation of electronic device 800 . the processing apparatus 801 , rom 802 , and ram 803 are connected to each other via bus 804 . the input/output (i/o) interface 805 is also connected to the bus 804 . typically, the following devices can be connected to i/o interface 805 : input apparatus 806 including, for example, touch screens, touch pads, keyboards, mice, cameras, microphones, accelerometers, gyroscopes, etc.; output apparatus 807 including, for example, liquid crystal displays (lcds), speakers, vibrators, etc.; storage apparatus 808 including, for example, magnetic tapes, hard drives, etc.; and communication apparatus 809 . communication apparatus 809 may allow the electronic device 800 to communicate wirelessly or wired with other devices to exchange data. although the drawings illustrate the electronic device 800 with various devices, it should be understood that it is not required to implement or have all of the devices illustrated. more or fewer devices may alternatively be implemented or available. in particular, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the process described above with reference to the flowchart may be implemented as a computer software program. for example, embodiments of the present disclosure include a computer program product comprising a computer program carried on a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising program code for performing the method shown in the flowchart. in such an embodiment, the computer program may be downloaded and installed from a network via a communication device 809 , or from a storage apparatus 808 , or from a rom 802 . when this computer program is executed by the processing apparatus 801 , the above-described functions as defined in the method of this disclosed embodiment are performed. it is to be noted that the computer-readable medium described above in this disclosure may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium or any combination of the above. the computer readable storage medium may be, for example—but not limited to—an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device, or device, or any combination of the above. more specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include, but are not limited to: electrically connected with one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (ram), read-only memory (rom), erasable programmable read-only memory (eprom or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (cd-rom), optical storage devices, or any of the above, magnetic memory devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. in the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that contains or stores a program that may be used by or in combination with an instruction execution system, device, or device. and in the present disclosure, a computer-readable signal medium may include a data signal propagated in the baseband or as part of a carrier wave that carries computer-readable program code. such propagated data signals may take a variety of forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. computer-readable signal medium can also be any computer-readable medium other than computer-readable storage media, the computer-readable signal medium can send, propagate or transmit the program for use by or in combination with the instruction execution system, device or device. the program code contained on the computer-readable medium may be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to: wire, fiber optic cable, rf (radio frequency), etc., or any suitable combination of the above. in some implementations, the client, server may communicate using any currently known or future developed network protocol such as http (hypertext transfer protocol), and may interconnect with any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). examples of communication networks include local area networks (“lans”), wide area networks (“wans”), inter-networks (e.g., the internet), and end-to-end networks (e.g., ad hoc end-to-end networks), as well as any currently known or future developed networks. the above computer readable medium may be contained in the above electronic device; or it may be present separately and not assembled into the electronic device. the above computer readable medium carries one or more programs which, when executed by the electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform the methods of the present disclosure as described above. computer program code for performing the operations of the present disclosure may be written in one or more programming languages or combinations thereof, said programming languages including object-oriented programming languages—such as java, smalltalk, c++, including conventional procedural programming languages—such as “c” language or similar programming languages. the program code may be executed entirely on the user's computer, partially on the user's computer, as a stand-alone package, partially on the user's computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. in the case of a remote computer, the remote computer may be connected to the user computer over any kind of network—including a local area network (lan) or a wide area network (wan)—or, alternatively, may be connected to an external computer (e.g., using an internet service provider to connect over the internet). the flowcharts and block diagrams in the accompanying drawings illustrate the possible implementations of the architecture, functionality, and operation of systems, methods, and computer program products in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. at this point, each box in a flowchart or block diagram may represent a module, program segment, or portion of code that contains one or more executable instructions for implementing a specified logical function. it should also be noted that in some implementations as replacements, the functions indicated in the boxes may also occur in a different order than that indicated in the accompanying drawings. for example, two boxes represented one after the other can actually be executed in substantially parallel, and they can sometimes be executed in the opposite order, depending on the function involved. note also that each box in the block diagram and/or flowchart, and the combination of boxes in the block diagram and/or flowchart, may be implemented with a dedicated hardware-based system that performs the specified function or operation, or may be implemented with a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions. the units described in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of software, or by means of hardware. wherein, the name of the unit does not in some cases constitute a limitation on the unit itself. the functions described above herein may be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. for example, non-limitingly, exemplary types of hardware logic components that may be used include: field-programmable gate arrays (fpgas), application-specific integrated circuits (asics), application-specific standard products (assps), systems-on-chip (socs), complex programmable logic devices (cplds), and the like. in the context of this disclosure, a machine-readable medium may be a tangible medium that may contain or store a program for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, device, or apparatus. the machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. machine readable media may include, but are not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices, or equipment, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. more specific examples of machine-readable storage media would include one or more wire-based electrical connections, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (ram), read-only memory (rom), erasable programmable read-only memory (eprom or flash memory), optical fiber, convenient compact disk read-only memory (cd-rom), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the above any suitable combination of the above. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, comprising: determining, in a current display interface, target content from document content of a first document in response to a document content determination operation; and creating, in response to a document creation operation in a current display interface, a second document associated with the first document, wherein the second document is associated with the first document based on the target content. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the creating, in response to a document creation operation in a current display interface, a second document associated with the first document, comprises: displaying a document creation control in response to the document content determination operation, and creating the second document associated with the first document in response to an operation on the document creation control; or determining, in response to the document content determination operation, whether a document creation gesture or voice command is received, and creating the second document associated with the first document in response to receiving the document creation gesture or voice command. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the determining, in a current display interface, target content from document content of a first document in response to a document content determination operation comprises: in response to a selection operation on some content in the first document, determining the target content based on the some content; or in response to an input operation on a preset symbol and content information, determining the target content based on the content information. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the determining the target content based on the some content comprises: determining the target content to be the some content, content obtained by analyzing the some content, a combination of the some content and other content, a combination of other content and the content obtained by analyzing the some content, a paragraph(s) where the some content is located, a paragraph(s) identified by the some content, or content converted from the some content. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the other content comprises relevant information of the first document. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the some content comprises at least one content block, and each content block is a unit used for carrying the content of the first document. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the displaying a document creation control in response to the document content determination operation comprises: displaying the document creation control in response to a trigger operation on a first control associated with some content in the first document; or displaying a second control comprising the document creation control in response to a selection operation on some content in the first document. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, comprising: displaying a document identifier of the second document in the first document. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, comprising: displaying a sharing identifier at an associated position of the document identifier of the second document, and sharing the second document to a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the sharing the second document to a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation comprises: displaying a sharing information edit control in response to a trigger operation on the sharing identifier, the sharing information edit control being used for determining sharing information; and sharing the second document to the target sharing object based on the determined sharing information. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the creating a second document associated with the first document in response to a document creation operation comprises: displaying a sharing information edit control in response to an operation of creating and sharing a document, the sharing information edit control being used for determining sharing information; and creating the second document associated with the first document in response to a sharing information confirmation operation, and sharing the second document to a target sharing object based on the determined sharing information. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the determining sharing information comprises one or more of the following content: determining title information of the second document, determining the target sharing object of the second document, and determining a permission of the target sharing object. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the determining title information of the second document comprises: determining a title of the second document according to content input in a title edit area in response to an input operation in the title edit area of the sharing information edit control; or displaying, in the title edit area of the sharing information edit control, default title information determined based on the target content, and determining the default title information as the title of the second document in response to the sharing information confirmation operation. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the determining a title of the second document according to content input in a title edit area in response to an input operation in the title edit area of the sharing information edit control comprises: displaying, in the title edit area, the default title information determined based on the target content, and determining the title of the second document in response to an amendment operation on the default title information. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the default title information comprises corresponding title information of the target content in the first document, or the default title information comprises the target content, or the default title information comprises content obtained by analyzing the target content. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the corresponding title information of the target content in the first document comprises: title information of the content block where the target content is located in the first document, or combined information of the title information of the content block where the target content is located and the title information of the first document. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the method further comprises: adjusting a display style of the target content in the first document to a target display style after generating the second document. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the adjusting to the target display style comprises one or more of the following content: adding a box or icon for an area where the target content is located, or changing a text style or layout style of the target content. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, further comprising: changing a display style of the document identifier of the second document to a second style in response to a delete event about the second document, the second style being different from a first style of the document identifier of the second document in the first document before the second document is deleted. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the association between the second document and the first document based on the target content comprises: both the first document and the second document display the target content, or the second document references the target content. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, comprising: determining, in response to receiving a first document, permission information of a current user about a second document embedded in the first document; and displaying relevant information of the second document and a permission application identifier in a preset style if the current user has no preset permission for the second document. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the permission application identifier comprises owner information of the second document and/or a permission application entry, the permission application entry being used for outputting a permission application interface after being triggered. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, comprising: selecting, in a current display interface, target document content from document content of a first document in response to a selection operation, the target document content being some document content of the first document; and determining a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and sharing the target document content to the target sharing object. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the determining a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and sharing the target document content to the target sharing object comprises: creating a second document in response to the sharing operation, and sharing the second document to the target sharing object, wherein document content of the second document comprises the target document content. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing method, the determining a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and sharing the target document content to the target sharing object comprises: obtaining a first link to the first document in response to the sharing operation, generating a second link according to the first link and a scope of the target document content in the first document, and sharing the second link to the target sharing object, the second link being used for indicating that a receiving end of the second link displays the target document content and hides some other content or all other content in the first document except the target document content. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing apparatus, comprising: a determination unit, configured to determine, in a current display interface, target content from document content of a first document in response to a document content determination operation; and a creation unit, configured to create, in response to a document creation operation in the current display interface, a second document associated with the first document, wherein the second document is associated with the first document based on the target content. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing apparatus, comprising: a determination module, configured to determine, in response to receiving a first document, permission information of a current user about a second document embedded in the first document; and a display module, configured to display relevant information of the second document and a permission application identifier in a preset style if the current user has no preset permission for the second document. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides an electronic document processing apparatus, comprising: a selection module, configured to select, in a current display interface, target document content from document content of a first document in response to a selection operation, the target document content being some document content of the first document; and a sharing module, configured to determine a target sharing object in response to a sharing operation and share the target document content to the target sharing object. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides a terminal, comprising: at least one memory and at least one processor, wherein the at least one memory is configured to store program code, and the at least one processor is configured to call the program code stored in the at least one memory to perform the method according to any one of above. according to one or more embodiments, the present disclosure provides a storage medium, the storage medium storing program code, and the program code being used for performing the method according to any one of above. the above description is only a better embodiment of the present disclosure and a description of the technical principles applied. it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of the disclosure covered by the present disclosure is not limited to technical solutions formed by specific combinations of the above technical features, but should also cover other technical solutions formed by any combination of the above technical features or their equivalent features without departing from the above disclosed idea. for example, the above features are interchangeable with (but not limited to) technical features with similar functions disclosed in the present disclosure. further, while the operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be construed as requiring that the operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order. multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous in certain environments. again, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. certain features described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. conversely, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable sub-combination. although the present subject matter has been described using language specific to structural features and/or method logical actions, it should be understood that the subject matter as defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the particular features or actions described above. rather, the particular features and actions described above are merely exemplary forms of claim fulfillment.
055-952-729-490-029	GB	[ "AU", "RU", "CN", "WO", "KR", "JP", "ZA", "EP", "US", "CA", "GB" ]	H04L5/00,H04L27/26,H04B7/26,H04J11/00,H04J1/00,H04L/,H04W72/04	2008-04-22T00:00:00	2008	[ "H04" ]	apparatus and method for allocation of subcarriers in clustered dft-spread-ofdm	field: information technology.substance: apparatus is configured to receive a first signal comprising at least one frequency domain value; map the first signal to a second signal comprising at least two clusters, each cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of subcarrier values, wherein each first signal value is mapped to one of the at least two clusters and each of the at least one first signal values in the frequency domain is mapped to a subcarrier value of one of the at least two clusters depending on the cluster selection.effect: flexibility when organising and scheduling carriers.24 cl, 11 dwg	claims: 1. apparatus configured to: receive a. first signal comprising at least one frequency domain value; map the first signal to a second signal comprising at least two clusters, each cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub- carrier values, wherein each first signal value is mapped to one of the at least two clusters and each of the at least one first signal values is mapped to a sub-carrier value of the one of the at least two clusters dependent on a cluster selection. 2. the apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first number is 12. 3. the apparatus as claimed in claims 1 to 2, wherein each cluster represents at group of contiguous subcarrier values. 4. the apparatus as claimed in claims 1 to 3, wherein the first number of sub-carrier values occupy a 180 khz bandwidth. 5. the apparatus as claimed in claims 1 to 4 wherein the second signal comprises at least 3 clusters, wherein each first signal value is mapped to at least two non-adjacent of the at least 3 clusters. 6. the apparatus as claimed in claims 1 to 5, wherein the second signal comprises 180 clusters, wherein each first signal value is mapped to at least- two non-adjacent of the 180 clusters, wherein the at least two non-adjacent clusters are clusters near the periphery of the spectrum spanned by the whole of the cluster spectrum, 7. the apparatus as claimed in claims 1 to 6, wherein the apparatus is further configured to receive a cluster allocation signal, and wherein the duster selection is dependent on the duster allocation signal. 8. the apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein the cluster allocation signal comprises at least one of: a total number of dusters, a cluster size; a cluster placement; at least one cluster allocated to the apparatus. 9. the apparatus as claimed in claims 7 and 8, wherein the cluster allocation is dependent on at least one of: a channel type; a channel mix; a radio conditions; the number of apparatus, 10. the apparatus as claimed in claims 1 to 9, wherein the first signal comprises a plurality of processed symbol values, wherein the process comprises at least one of: a seria! to parallel conversion; a time to frequency domain conversion. 11. the apparatus as claimed in claims 1 to 10, further configured to transform the second signal to a third signal, wherein the third signal is a time domain signal and ail of the at least two clusters are transformed to form the third signal. 12. the apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , further configured to transmit the third signal. 13. apparatus configured to: map a first signal to a second signal comprising at least one frequency domain value, wherein the first signal comprises at least two clusters, at least one cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub- carrier values, wherein the at least one cluster sub-carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain values dependent on a cluster selection. 14. the apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the first number is 12. 15. the apparatus as claimed in claims 13 to 14, wherein each cluster represents at group of contiguous subcarrier values. 16. the apparatus as claimed in claims 13 to 15, wherein the first signal comprises at least 3 clusters, wherein at least two non-adjacent cluster sub- carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain values. 17. the apparatus as claimed in claims 13 to 16, wherein the first signal comprises 180 clusters, wherein at least two non-adjacent cluster sub-carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain values, wherein the at least two non-adjacent clusters are clusters near the periphery of the spectrum spanned by the whole of the cluster spectrum. 18. the apparatus as claimed in claims 13 to 17, wherein the apparatus is further configured to determine a cluster allocation signal, and wherein the duster selection is dependent on the cluster allocation signal. 19, the apparatus as claimed in claim 18 wherein the cluster allocation signal comprises at least one of: a total number of clusters, a cluster size; a cluster placement; at least one cluster allocated to the first signal. 20. the apparatus as claimed in claims 18 and 19, wherein the cluster allocation signal is dependent on at least one of: a channel type; a channel mix; a radio condition, 21. the apparatus as claimed in claims 13 to 20, further configured to process the second signal, wherein the process is configured to be at least one of: a serial to parallel conversion; a time to frequency domain conversion; a parallel to serial conversion; and a frequency to time domain conversion. 22. the apparatus as claimed in claims 13 to 21 , further configured to receive a third signal, wherein the apparatus is configured to transform the third signal to generate the first signal, wherein the third signal is a time domain signal. 23. an apparatus configured to: determine a cluster allocation signal, and transmit the cluster allocation signal to a further apparatus. 24. the apparatus as claimed in claim 23 wherein the cluster allocation signal comprises at least one of: a total number of clusters, a cluster size; a cluster placement; at least one cluster allocated to the first signal. 25. the apparatus as claimed in claims 23 and 24, wherein the cluster allocation signal is dependent on at least one of: a type of communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus; a determination of the mixture of the data to be transmitted on a communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus; a radio condition of a communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus. 26. a method comprising: receiving a first signal comprising at least one frequency domain value; mapping the first signal to a second signal comprising at least two clusters, each cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein each first signal value is mapped to one of the at least two clusters and each of the at least one first signal values is mapped to a sub-carrier value of the one of the at least two clusters dependent on a cluster selection. 27. the method as claimed in claim 26, wherein the first number is 12, 28. the method as claimed in claims 26 and 27, wherein each cluster represents at group of contiguous subcarrier values. 29. the method as claimed in claims 26 to 28, wherein the first number of sub-carrier values occupy a 180 khz bandwidth. 30. the method as claimed in claims 26 to 29 wherein the second signal comprises at least 3 clusters, wherein each first signal value is mapped to at least two non-adjacent of the at least 3 clusters. 31. the method as claimed in claims 26 to 30, wherein the second signal comprises 180 clusters, wherein each first signal value is mapped to at least- two non-adjacent of the 180 clusters, and the at least two non-adjacent clusters are clusters near the periphery of the spectrum spanned by the whole of the cluster spectrum. 32. the method as claimed in claims 26 to 31, further comprising receiving a cluster allocation signal, and wherein the cluster selection is dependent on the cluster allocation signal. 33. the method as claimed in claim 32 wherein the duster allocation signal comprises at least one of: a total number of clusters, a cluster size; a cluster placement; at least one cluster allocated to the apparatus. 34. the method as claimed in claims 32 and 33, wherein the cluster allocation is dependent on at least one of: a channel type; a channel mix; a radio conditions; the number of apparatus. 35. the method as claimed in claims 26 to 34, wherein the first signal comprises a plurality of processed symbol values, wherein the process comprises at least one of: a serial to parallel conversion; a time to frequency domain conversion. 36. the method as claimed in claims 26 to 35, further comprising transforming the second signal to a third signal, wherein the third signal is a time domain signal and all of the at least two clusters are transformed to form the third signal. 37. the method as claimed in claim 36, further comprising transmitting the third signal, 38. a method comprising: mapping a first signal to a second signal comprising at least one frequency domain value, wherein the first signal comprises at least two clusters, at least one cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein the at least one cluster sub-carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain values dependent on a cluster selection. 39. the method as claimed in claim 38,.wherein the first number is 12. 40. the method as claimed in claims 38 and 39, wherein each cluster represents at group of contiguous subcarrier values. 41. the method as claimed in claims 38 to 40, wherein the first signal comprises at least 3 clusters, wherein at least two non-adjacent ciuster sub- carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain values. 42. the method as claimed in claims 38 to 41 , wherein the first signal comprises 180 clusters, wherein at least two non-adjacent cluster sub-carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain vaϊues, and wherein the at least two non-adjacent clusters are clusters near the periphery of the spectrum spanned by the whole of the cluster spectrum. 43. the method as claimed in claims 38 to 42, further comprising determining a cluster allocation signal, and wherein the cluster selection is dependent on the cluster allocation signal. 44. the method as claimed in claim 43 wherein the cluster allocation signal comprises at least one of: a total number of clusters, a cluster size; a cluster placement; at least one cluster allocated to the first signal. 45. the method as claimed in claims 43 and 44, wherein the cluster allocation signal is dependent on at least one of: a channel type; a channel mix; a radio condition. 46. the method as claimed in claims 38 to 45, further comprising processing the second signal, wherein the processing comprises at least one of; a serial to parallel conversion; a time to frequency domain conversion; a parallel to serial conversion; and a frequency to time domain conversion. 47. the method as claimed in claims 38 to 4θ, further comprising receiving a third signal, wherein the method comprises transforming the third signal to generate the first signal, and wherein the third signal is a time domain signal. 48. a method comprising: determining a cluster allocation signal, and transmitting the cluster ailocation signal to an apparatus. 49. the method as claimed in claim 48 wherein the cluster allocation signal comprises at least one of: a total number of clusters, a cluster size; a cluster placement; at least one cluster allocated to the first signal. 50. the apparatus as claimed in claims 48 and 49, wherein the cluster allocation signal is dependent on at least one of: a type of communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus; a determination of the mixture of the data to be transmitted on a communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus; a radio condition of a communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus. 51. a computer program product configured to perform a method comprising; receiving a first signal comprising at least one frequency domain value; mapping the first signal to a second signal comprising at least two clusters, each cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein each first signal value is mapped to one of the at least two dusters and each of the at least one first signal values rs mapped to a sub-carrier value of the one of the at least two clusters dependent on a cluster selection * 52. a computer program product configured to perform a method comprising: mapping a first signal to a second signal comprising at least one frequency domain value, wherein the first signal comprises at least two clusters, at least one cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein the at least one cluster sub-carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain values dependent on a duster selection. 53. a computer program product configured to perform a method comprising: determining a cluster allocation signal, and transmitting the duster allocation signal to an apparatus. 54. an apparatus comprising: means for receiving a first signal comprising at least one frequency domain value; and means for mapping the first signal to a second signal comprising at least two clusters, each duster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein each first signal value is mapped to one of the at least two clusters and each of the at least one first signal values is mapped to a sub-carrier value of the one of the at least two clusters dependent on a cluster selection. 55, apparatus comprising: means for mapping a first signal to a second signal comprising at least one frequency domain value, wherein the first signal comprises at least two clusters, at least one cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein the at least one cluster sub-carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain values dependent on a cluster selection. 56. apparatus comprising: means for determining a cluster allocation signal, and means for transmitting the cluster allocation signal to an apparatus. 57. the apparatus of claims 1 to 12, comprising a user equipment. 58. the apparatus as claimed in claims 13 to 25, comprising at least one of: a base transceiver station (bts) for providing access in a gsm network; a node b (node b) for providing access in a utra network; and an evolved node b (node) for providing access in an eutra network.	title of the invention an apparatus background of the invention field of the invention: the present invention relates to an apparatus, and in particular to apparatus for providing a service in a communication system. description of related art: a communication device can be understood as a device provided with appropriate communication and control capabilities for enabling use thereof for communication with others parties. the communication may comprise, for example, communication of voice, electronic mail (email), text messages, data, multimedia and so on. a communication device typically enables a user of the device to receive and transmit communication via a communication system and can thus be used for accessing various service applications. a communication system is a facility which facilitates the communication between two or more entities such as the communication devices, network entities and other nodes. a communication system may be provided by one or more interconnect networks. one or more gateway nodes may be provided for interconnecting various networks of the system. for example, a gateway node is typically provided between an access network and other communication networks, for example a core network and/or a data network. an appropriate access system allows the communication device to access to the wider communication system. an access to the wider communications system may be provided by means of a fixed line or wireless communication interface, or a combination of these. communication systems providing wireless access typically enable at least some mobility for the users thereof. examples of these include wireless communications systems where the access is provided by means of an arrangement of cellular access networks. other examples of wireless access technologies include different wireless local area networks (wlans) and satellite based communication systems. a wireless access system typically operates in accordance with a wireless standard and/or with a set of specifications which set out what the various elements of the system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved. for example, the standard or specification may define if the user, or more precisely user equipment, is provided with a circuit switched bearer or a packet switched bearer, or both. communication protocols and/or parameters which should be used for the connection are also typically defined. for example, the manner in which communication should be implemented between the user equipment and the elements of the networks and their functions and responsibilities are typically defined by a predefined communication protocol. in the cellular systems a network entity in the form of a base station provides a node for communication with mobile devices in one or more cells or sectors. it is noted that in certain systems a base station is called 'node b'. typically the operation of a base station apparatus and other apparatus of an access system required for the communication is controlled by a particular control entity. the control entity is typically interconnected with other control entities of the particular communication network. examples of cellular access systems include universal terrestrial radio access networks (utran) and gsm (global system for mobile) edge (enhanced data for gsm evolution) radio access networks (geran). a non-limiting example of another type of access architectures is a concept known as the evolved universal terrestrial radio access (e-utra). this is also known as long term evolution utra or lte. an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (e-utran) consists of e-utran node bs (enbs) which are configured to provide base station and control functionalities of the radio access network, the enbs may provide e-utra features such as user plane radio link control/medium access control/physical layer protocol (rlc/mac/phy) and control plane radio resource control (rrc) protocol terminations towards the mobile devices. in systems providing packet switched connections the access networks are connected to a packet switched core network via appropriate gateways. for example, the enbs are connected to a packet data core network via an e- utran access gateway (agw) - these gateways are also known as service gateways (sgw) or mobility management entities (mme). in current implementations of the long term evolution (lte) of 3gpp the downlink access technique (from the base station to the user equipment) is provided by orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (ofdm), whereas the uplink access technique (from the user equipment to the base station) is based on single carrier frequency division multiple access (sc-fdma). there is currently much research on extending and optimising the 3gpp radio access technologies for local area (la) access solutions in order to provide new services with high data rates and at very low cost. these research activities attempt to provide a local area optimised radio system which also fulfils the international telecommunication union -radio communication sector (itu-r) requirements for international mobile telecommunications - advanced standards (imt). the current standard (release 8 3gpp) differs from the competing radio access techniques such as wimax 1 ieee 802,11, ieee 802.20 in that the basic uplink transmissions scheme of the long term evolution (lte) release 8 uses a low peak to average power ratio (papr) single carrier transmission such as single carrier frequency division multiple access (sc-fdma) with cyclic prefix to achieve uplink inter-user orthogonality and to provide efficient frequency domain equalisation at the receiver side. in the other systems described previously, such as wimax, ieee 802.11, and ieee 802.20, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (ofdma) is used. typically sc-fdma has an advantage over ofdma in the low papr and low output back-off (obo) of the user equipment transmitter. this advantage translates into an improved uplink coverage and/or a lower power consumption for the user equipment transmitter. however the single carrier transmission techniques such as sc-fdma have a series of disadvantages. firstly, the single carrier approaches known have constraints with regard to the flexibility of the adaptivity and scheduling of the frequency domain components. secondly, for both multiple input multiple output (mimo) and single input multiple output. (simo) transmissions the optimization of the reference signal structure in single carrier approaches is limited (compared to ofdma). in other words the reference signals sent in different cells and within a celi have non-optimal cross-correlation properties and hence cause mutual interference. thirdly, the sc-fdma techniques currently used do not provide any support for potential frequency division multiplexing between data and control for a single user equipment. furthermore ofdma techniques, although providing a partial solution to the problems above, have as indicated above a high cubic metric value. furthermore the generalised multi-carrier approaches proposed have the disadvantage in that they lack flexible carrier organisation and scheduling. summary embodiments of the present invention aim to address one or at least partially mitigate the above problems. there is provided according to a first aspect of the invention an apparatus configured to: receive a first signal comprising at least one frequency domain value; and map the first signal to a second signal comprising at least two dusters, each cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein each first signal value is mapped to one of the at least two clusters and each of the at least one first signal values is mapped to a sub-carrier value of the one of the at least two clusters dependent on a cluster selection. the first number may be 12. each cluster may represent at group of contiguous subcarrier values. the first number of sub-carrier values may occupy a 180 khz bandwidth. the second signal may comprise at least 3 clusters, wherein each first signal value is preferably mapped to at least two non-adjacent of the at least 3 clusters. the second signal may comprise 180 clusters, wherein each first signal value is preferably mapped to at least-two non-adjacent of the at least 180 clusters, wherein the at least two non-adjacent clusters are preferably clusters near the periphery of the spectrum spanned by the whole of the cluster spectrum. the apparatus is preferably further configured to receive a cluster allocation signal, and wherein the cluster selection is preferably dependent on the cluster allocation signal. the cluster allocation signal preferably comprises at least one of: a total number of clusters, a cluster size; a duster placement; at least one cluster allocated to the apparatus. the cluster allocation is preferably dependent on at least one of: a channel type; a channel mix; a radio conditions; the number of apparatus. the first signal preferably comprises a plurality of processed symbol values, wherein the process preferably comprises at least one of: a serial to parallel conversion; a time to frequency domain conversion. the apparatus may be further configured to transform the second signal to a third signal, wherein the third signal is a time domain signal and all of the at least two clusters are transformed to form the third signal. the apparatus may further be configured to transmit the third signal. according to a second aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus configured to: map a first signal to a second signal comprising at least one frequency domain value, wherein the first signal comprises at least two clusters, at least one cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein the at least one cluster sub-carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain values dependent on a cluster selection. the first number is preferably 12. each cluster preferably represents at group of contiguous subcarrier values. the first signal preferably comprises at least 3 clusters, wherein at least-two non-adjacent cluster sub-carrier values are preferably mapped to the at least one frequency domain values. the first signal may comprise 180 clusters, wherein at least two non-adjacent duster sub-carrier values are preferably mapped to the at ieast one frequency domain values, and wherein the at least two non-adjacent clusters are preferably clusters near the periphery of the spectrum spanned by the whole of the cluster spectrum. the apparatus is further preferably configured to determine a cluster allocation signal, and wherein the cluster selection is dependent on the cluster allocation signal. the cluster allocation signal preferably comprises at least one of: a total number of clusters, a cluster size; a cluster placement; at least one cluster allocated to the first signal. the duster allocation signal is preferably dependent on at least one of: a channel type; a channel mix; and a radio condition. the apparatus may be further configured to process the second signal, wherein the process is preferably configured to be at least one of: a serial to parallel conversion; a time to frequency domain conversion; a parallel to serial conversion; and a frequency to time domain conversion. the apparatus may be further configured to receive a third signal, wherein the apparatus is preferably configured to transform the third signal to generate the first signal, wherein the third signal may be a time domain signal. according to a third aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus configured to: determine a cluster allocation signal, and transmit the cluster allocation signal to a further apparatus. the cluster allocation signal may comprise at least one of: a total number of dusters; a cluster size; a cluster placement; and at least one cluster allocated to the first signal. the cluster allocation signal is preferably dependent on at least one of: a type of communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus; a determination of the mixture of the data to be transmitted on a communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus; and a radio condition of a communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus. according to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a method comprising: receiving a first signal comprising at least one frequency domain value; mapping the first signal to a second signal comprising at least two clusters, each cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein each first signal value is mapped to one of the at least two clusters and each of the at least one first signal values is mapped to a sub-carrier value of the one of the at least two dusters dependent on a cluster selection. the first number is preferably 12. each cluster may represent at group of contiguous subcarrier values. the first number of sub-carrier values may occupy a 180 khz bandwidth. the second signal may comprise at least 3 clusters, wherein each first signal value is preferably mapped to at least two non-adjacent of the at least 3 clusters. the second signal may comprise 180 clusters, wherein each first signal value is preferably mapped to at least-two non-adjacent of the 180 clusters, and the at least two non-adjacent clusters are preferably clusters near the periphery of the spectrum spanned by the whole of the cluster spectrum. the method may further comprise receiving a cluster allocation signal, and wherein the cluster selection is dependent on the cluster allocation signal. the cluster allocation signal may comprise at least one of: a total number of clusters; a cluster size; a cluster placement; and at least one cluster allocated to the apparatus. the cluster allocation is preferably dependent on at least one of: a channel type; a channel mix; a radio conditions; and the number of apparatus. the first signal may comprise a plurality of processed symbol values, wherein the process preferably comprises at least one of: a serial to parallel conversion; and a time to frequency domain conversion. the method may further comprise transforming the second signal to a third signal, wherein the third signal is preferably a time domain signal and all of the at least two clusters are preferably transformed to form the third signal. the method may further comprise transmitting the third signal. according to a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided a method comprising: mapping a first signal to a second signal comprising at least one frequency domain value, wherein the first signal comprises at least two clusters, at least one cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein the at least one cluster sub-carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain values dependent on a cl uster selection . the first number is preferably 12. each duster preferably represents at group of contiguous subcarrier values. the first signal may comprise at least 3 clusters, wherein at least two non- adjacent cluster sub-carrier values are preferably mapped to the at least one frequency domain values. the first signal may comprise 180 clusters, wherein at least two non-adjacent cluster sub-carrier values are preferably mapped to the at least one frequency domain values, and wherein the at least two non-adjacent clusters are preferably clusters near the periphery of the spectrum spanned by the whole of the cluster spectrum. the method may further comprise determining a cluster allocation signal, and wherein the cluster selection is dependent on the cluster allocation signal. the cluster allocation signal may comprise at least one of: a total number of clusters; a cluster size; a cluster placement; at least one cluster allocated to the first signal. the cluster allocation signal is preferably dependent on at least one of: a channel type; a channel mix; and a radio condition. the method may further comprise processing the second signal, wherein the processing preferably comprises at least one of: a serial to parallel conversion; a time to frequency domain conversion; a parallel to serial conversion; and a frequency to time domain conversion. the method may further comprise receiving a third signal, wherein the method may comprise transforming the third signal to generate the first signal, and wherein the third signal is preferably a time domain signal. according to a sixth aspect of the invention there is provided a method comprising: determining a cluster allocation signal; and transmitting the cluster allocation signal to an apparatus. the cluster allocation signal may comprise at least one of: a total number of clusters, a cluster size; a cluster placement; at least one cluster allocated to the first signal. the cluster allocation signal is preferably dependent on at least one of: a type of communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus; a determination of the mixture of the data to be transmitted on a communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus; a radio condition of a communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus. according to a seventh aspect of the invention there is provided a computer program product configured to perform a method comprising: receiving a first signal comprising at least one frequency domain value; mapping the first signal to a second signal comprising at least two clusters, each cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein each first signal value is mapped to one of the at least two clusters and each of the at least one first signal values is mapped to a sub-carrier value of the one of the at least two clusters dependent on a cluster selection. according to a eighth aspect of the invention there is provided a computer program product configured to perform a method comprising: mapping a first signal to a second signal comprising at least one frequency domain value, wherein the first signal comprises at least two clusters, at least one cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein the at least one cluster sub-carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain values dependent on a cluster selection. according to a ninth aspect of the invention there is provided a computer program product configured to perform a method comprising: determining a cluster allocation signal, and transmitting the cluster allocation signal to an apparatus. . according to a tenth aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for receiving a first signal comprising at least one frequency domain value; and means for mapping the first signal to a second signal comprising at least two clusters, each cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein each first signal value is mapped to one of the. at least two clusters and each of the at least one first signal values is mapped to a sub-carrier value of the one of the at least two clusters dependent on a cluster selection. according to an eleventh aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus comprising: means for mapping a first signal to a second signal comprising at least one frequency domain value, wherein the first signal comprises at least two clusters, at least one cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein the at least one cluster sub-carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain values dependent on a cluster selection. according to . a twelfth aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus comprising: means for determining a cluster allocation signal, and means for transmitting the cluster allocation signal to an apparatus. the apparatus indicated above may comprise a user equipment. the apparatus indicated above may comprise at least one of: a base transceiver station (bts) for providing access in a gsm network; a node b (node b) for providing access in a utra network; and an evolved node b (node) for providing access in an eutra network. brief descriptions of the drawings for a better understanding of the present invention and how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example only to the , accompanying drawings in which: figure 1 shows a schematic presentation of a communication architecture wherein the invention may be embodied; figure 2 shows a schematic presentation of an user equipment which may be operated in the communication architecture as shown in figure 1; figure 3 shows a schematic presentation of an evolved node b which may be operated in the communication architecture as shown in figure 1; figure 4a shows a schematic presentation of a division of clusters/carriers according to an embodiment of the invention; figure 4b shows a schematic presentation of a division of the spectrum according to an embodiment of the invention; figure 5a shows a schematic presentation of a transmitter as implemented in embodiments of the invention shown in figure 1 ; figure 5b shows a schematic presentation of a receiver as implemented in embodiments of the invention shown in figure 1; figure 6 shows a graph of a typical cubic metric score for embodiments of the invention shown in comparison with a orthogonal frequency division multiplexed system; figure 7 shows a graph of a throughput comparison for an embodiment of the invention against a single channel frequency division multiplexed system; figure 8a shows a flow chart showing the operation of an embodiment of the invention as shown in figure 5a; and figure 8b shows a flow chart showing the operation of an embodiment of the invention as shown in figure 5b. description of exemplifying embodiments in the following certain specific embodiments are explained with reference to standards such as global system for mobile (gsm) phase 2, code division multiple access (cdma) universal mobile telecommunication system (umts) and long-term evolution (lte). the standards may or not belong to a concept known as the system architecture evolution (sae) architecture, the overall architecture thereof being shown in figure 1 . more particularly, figure 1 shows an example of how second generation (2g) access networks, third generation (3g) access networks and future access networks, referred to herein as long-term evolution (lte) access networks are attached to a single data anchor (3gpp anchor). the anchor is used to anchor user data from 3gpp and non~3gpp networks. this enables adaptation of the herein described mechanism not only for all 3gpp network access but as well for non-3gpp networks. in figure 1 two different types of radio access networks 11 and 12 are connected to a general packet radio service (gprs) core network 10. the access network 11 is provided by a geran system and the access network 12 is provided by a umts terrestrial radio access (utran) system. the utran access network 11 is provided by a series of utran node bs of which one node b nb 155 is shown. the core network 10 is further connected to a packet data system 20. an evolved radio access system 13 is also shown to be connected to the packet data system 20. access system 13 may be provided, for example, based on architecture that is known from the e-utra and based on use of the e-utran node bs (enodebs or enbs) of which two enbs 151 and 153 are shown in figure 1. the first enb 151 is shown to be capable of communicating to the second enb 153 via a x2 communication channel, access system 11 , 12 and 13 may be connected to a mobile management entity 21 of the packet data system 20. these systems may also be connected to a 3gpp anchor node 22 which connects them further to a sae: anchoπ 23. . figure 1 shows further two access systems, that is a trusted non-3gpp ip {internet protocol) access system 14 and a wlan access system 15. these are connected directly to the sae anchor 23. in figure 1 the service providers are connected to a service provider network system 25 connected to the anchor node system. the services may be provided in various manners, for example based on ip multimedia subsystem ■ and so forth. the various access networks may provide an overlapping coverage for suitable user equipment 1. for example the user equipment 1 as shown in figure 1 is shown being capable of communicating via the first enb 151 in the eutra network 13 and also the nb 155 of the utran 12. figure 2 shows a schematic partially sectioned view of a possible user equipment, also known as a mobile device 1 that can be used for accessing a communication system via a wireless interface provided via at least one of the access systems of figure 1. the user equipment (ue) of figure 2 can be used for various tasks such as making and receiving phone calls, for receiving and sending data from and to a data network and for experiencing, for example, multimedia or other content. an appropriate user equipment may be provided by any device capable of at least sending or receiving radio signals. non-limiting examples include a mobile station (ms), a portable computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility, personal data assistant (pda) provided with wireless communication capabilities, or any combinations of these or the like. the mobile device may communicate via an appropriate radio interface arrangement of the mobile device. the interface arrangement may be provided for example by means of a radio part 7 and associated antenna arrangement. the antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the mobile device. a user equipment is typically provided with at least one data processing entity 3 and at least one memory 4 for use in tasks it is designed to perform. the data processing and storage entities can be provided on an appropriate circuit board and/or in chipsets. this feature is denoted by reference 6. the user may control the operation of the user equipment by means of a suitable user interface such as key pad 2, voice commands, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof or the like. a display 5, a speaker and a microphone are also typically provided. furthermore, the user equipment may comprise appropriate connectors (either wired or wireless) to other devices and/or for connecting external accessories, for example hands-free equipment, thereto. the user equipment 1 may be enabled to communicate with a number of access nodes, for example when it is located in the coverage areas of either of the access system stations 12 and 13 of figure 1. figure 3 shows an example of an evolved node b (enb) according to an embodiment of the present invention. the enb 151 comprises a radio access transceiver 163, a gateway transceiver 165, a processor 167 and a memory 169. although the following describes the embodiment of the invention using evolved node b (enb) apparatus operating within an eutran, further embodiments of the invention may be performed in any base station, node b and evolved node b suitable for communicating with a user equipment capable of communication in that access network, and further comprising data processing and storage capacity suitable for carrying the operations as described below. the radio access transceiver 163 receives from and transmits to a suitable user equipment data across the radio access network covered by the evolved node b 151. the gateway transceiver 165 communicates to and from the gateway in the packet core which may be a mobility management entity (mme) or user plane entity (upe) as shown in figure 1. the processor 167 controls the radio access transceiver 163 and gateway transceiver 165 and furthermore carries out any additional processing tasks required by the enb 151. the memory 169 stores data required by the enb 151. the data may comprise both parameter variables, and programs required by the processor, radio access transceiver 163, and gateway transceiver 165. figure 4a shows a frequency spectrum of an enhanced single carrier frequency division multiple access (e-sc-fdma) transmission according to an embodiment of the invention. the transmission as shown in figure 4 shows two separate clusters a cluster refers to a cluster of sub-carriers and also to a cluster of virtual sub-carriers. for example in ofdma the term sub-carrier refers to the separate sub-carriers used for each orthogonal channel, whereas the term virtual sub-carrier is used in single carrier frequency division multiple access sc-fdma systems as the signal is spread over multiple frequency pins. a pin is usually defined as a single idft input frequency value (that is, in case of ofdma, sub-carrier) generated by the use of the discrete fourier transform (dft) block. a first cluster 301 and a second cluster 303. the first cluster 301 comprises l resource blocks and therefore has a cluster size of lxnr b where n rb is the resource block size in terms of the sub-carriers. the second resource block 303 has m number of resource blocks and therefore has a cluster size equal to mxn rb sub-carriers. furthermore figure 4 shows the individual resource blocks 307. figure 4b shows the differences between the prior art frequency spectrum and the frequency spectrum as employed in embodiments of the invention, tn the prior user equipment are each allocated onto a 20mhz 'chunk' of the available ■ spectrum. in figure 4b 5 of the 20mhz 'chunks' are shown arranged side by side 311, 313, 315, 317, 319. in the present invention each user equipment is configured to transmit on. the uplink to the base station using several or ati of the 'chunks' at the same time. thus a single user equipment according to embodiments of the invention may be assigned all five chunks, in other words a 'wideband chunk' 309 with a bandwidth of 100mhz. .for example, in the prior art example of 3gpp lte release 8, the frequency spectrum is divided into resource blocks and the size of a resource block defined as 12 virtual sub-carriers, one or more adjacent resource blocks may be allocated to one user equipment according to the standard of lte release 8. the user equipment according to embodiments of the invention may thus be assigned to the same 20 mhz chunk as user equipment specified according to lte release 8. this is because the duster size of user equipment according to embodiments of the invention equals to a whole number of multiples of a resource block size defined in lte release 8. with respect to figure 5a and figure 8a, an embodiment of the invention is described in further detail with respect to a transmitter on the uplink of a wireless communications channel. in other words figures 5a and 8a describe the operation and apparatus of an user equipment for an embodiment of the invention. with respect to figures 5b and 8b an embodiment of the invention is described in further detail with respect to a receiver on the uplink of a wireless communications channel, in other words figures 5b and 8b describe the operation and apparatus of a base station such as an enhanced node b for an embodiment of the invention. figure 5a in particular shows a schematic view of a series of functional blocks used in embodiments of the invention. the functional blocks described below may be implemented for example within a data processor 3 of user equipment 1 such as the user equipment as shown in figure 2. it would be understood that the functional blocks may be implemented as discrete functional units within the user equipment or enhanced node b in further embodiments of the invention. the symbol encoder 501, which may also be known as a modulation mapper, receives a data input, which may be a sequence of scrambled bit values, to be transmitted and encodes the data sequence into a plurality of symbols, which. may be a complex values symbol, dependent on the modulation scheme to be employed. for example, the modulation scheme may be a phase shift keying (psk) based modulation scheme such as a quadrature phase shift keying (qpsk) operation. in other embodiments of the invention, the modulation may be an amplitude modulation scheme such as 16-qam or 64-qam. the symbol encoding process is shown in step 701 of figure 8a. the symbol encoder 501 outputs the encoded symbols to the discrete fourier transformer 503. the discrete fourier transformer (dft) 503 receives the encoded symbols from the symbol encoder and converts the time domain symbol representation to a frequency domain representation. in other words the discrete fourier transformer 503 outputs a series of values representing the energy of the symbols for a series of frequency ranges. the discrete fourier transform may be implemented with any suitable transform operation, such as fast fourier transformer for example. the time to frequency domain transformation of the encoded symbols is shown in figure θ by step 703, in further embodiments of the invention, any suitable time to frequency domain transformation process may be employed in place of the discrete fourier transformer shown in figure 5a and figure 8a. although with respect to figured 5a and 8a we describe the implementation of the invention with respect to the uplink communication channel employing single carrier frequency domain multiple access (sc-fdma) embodiments of the invention may also employ ofdma. in these further embodiments of the invention the time to frequency domain transformer such as the discrete fourier transformer 503 may be replaced by a serial to parallel converter. in further embodiments of the invention the single time to frequency domain converter may be replaced by a serial to parallel converter followed by at least two separate time to frequency transformers, in these embodiments of the invention the output of each dfts is mapped to separate clusters or chunks. the frequency domain output values from the dft 503 are then passed to the subcarrier mapper 505. the subcarrier mapper 505 furthermore is configured to receive from the enb or determine a resource allocation for the ue which defines the sub-carrier mapping described below. the resource allocation comprises information on the number of clusters as well as on the starting points and widths of the clusters in terms of granularity of the resource blocks. the information may in some embodiments of the invention be signalled on scheduling grants contained on physical dl control channel, or it can be signalled with higher layer signalling. a cluster allocation may be related in some embodiments of the invention to ul control signalling and/or the signalling of related cluster allocation. the receiving or determination of the resource information and/or the mapping allocation for the user equipment is shown in figure 8a by step 704. the sub-carrier mapper 505 receives the frequency domain values and maps these values to the output sub-carriers according a sub-carrier allocation process. the allocated sub-carriers may be in one or multiple clusters, where a cluster covers one or multiple resource blocks. sub-carrier clusters are separated by one or multiple resource blocks that are not allocated for the particular ue. according to embodiments of the invention mapping is predetermined or chosen by an enb scheduler, based on input parameters received from the user equipment previously. these input parameters may comprise the uplink channel quality, and the user equipment buffer size, the mapping allocation is passed to the user equipment via the downlink connection in the form of scheduling grants or persistent resource allocations. in some embodiments of the invention the some of the mapping allocation may be implicitly defined and not explicitly signalled to the user equipment. for example the downlink related uplink control signalling may create its own cluster allocation. the apparatus is therefore in some embodiments of the invention configured to receive the cluster allocation signal, and wherein the cluster selection carried out as described below is dependent on the cluster allocation signal. the cluster allocation signal comprises in embodiments of the invention at least one of a total number of clusters available, a cluster's size, a cluster's placement in terms of a start, end or point within the cluster which defines the frequency of the cluster, and at ieast one cluster allocated to the apparatus, in other words which cluster can the subcarrier mapper map to. the cluster allocation is dependent in embodiments of the invention on at least one of a channel type, a channel mix, radio conditions, and the number of apparatus. the granularity of the mapping allocation is defined by the resource blocks available for communication. thus a conceptual difference between the invention and the prior art in the form of the 3gpp release 8 apparatus is that there may be multiple sub-carrier clusters allocated to one ue within one transmission time interval (ttl) (which in lte is equal to a subframe). in the embodiments of the invention the dft frequency values are 1-to-1 mapped to the output sub-carriers (or ifft frequency values). the dft frequency values may be mapped into multiple sub-carrier clusters in the ifft input. in the embodiments of the invention the allocation of the sub-carriers is such that there may be multiple (separate) clusters allocated to one ue within one tti. . ■ for example if a resource block size is defined as 12 sub-carriers, the ifft size is 2048 sub-carriers (in other words there are a possible 2048 inputs to the ifft as described below), and the dft size is 240 (in other words the dft produces 240 output values). if the sub-carrier allocation is such that the output of the sub-carrier mapper outputs the " d ft values in two clusters, then the dft frequency values 0...95 may be mapped to ifft frequency values 425...520 and the dft frequency values 96...239 may be mapped to values 1001 . ,.1144. thus the subcarrier mapper 505 requires knowledge of the number of available clusters, the starting position of clusters (in terms of the resource blocks) and width of the clusters (in terms of resource blocks). thus the apparatus can be considered to be configured to receive a first signal, comprising at least one frequency domain value; and map the first signal to a second signal comprising at least two clusters, each cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein each first signal value is mapped to one of the at least two clusters and each of the at least one first signal values is mapped to a sub-carrier value of the one of the at least two clusters dependent on a cluster selection. furthermore first number is 12. in other words 12 sub-carriers equal a cluster. each cluster represents at group of contiguous subcarrier values. in other words the sub-division of the cluster is arranged by grouping blocks of sub- carriers so that the sub-carriers define a region of the spectral frequency. the first nυmber of sub-carrier values can occupy a 180 khz bandwidth. in other words the cluster mapping is such that it may be used to produce a backwards compatible system to that currently used in release 8 3gpp standards where each resource block is defined as the sub-carriers with a bandwidth of 180 khz. the second signal can be considered to comprise at least 3 clusters in some embodiments of the invention and wherein each first signal value is mapped to at least two non-adjacent of the at least 3 clusters. thus the mapping is carried out so that non-adjacent clusters of sub-carrier values are mapped to. this enables the possible mapping of different clusters for a single user which are more optimally mapped in terms of avoiding clusters with high noise or interference for a specific user. the second signal in some embodiments comprises 180 clusters, wherein each first signal value is mapped to at least-two non-adjacent of the at least 3 clusters, wherein the at least two non-adjacent clusters are clusters near the periphery of the spectrum spanned by the whole of the cluster spectrum. as disclosed above this enables more optimal mapping of sub-carriers and also enables some backwards compatibility with 3gpp release 8 which defines 180 resource blocks over the available spectrum designated. the mapping of the dft frequency domain symbols to the sub-carriers taking into account the number, size and position of allocated sub-carrier clusters is shown in figure 8a by step 705. the mapped subcarriers are then passed to the inverse fast fourier transformer (ifft) 507. the inverse fast fourier transformer (ifft) 507 receives the mapped sub- carrier elements and also receives at least one padding values and converts the input frequency component values (both from the subcarrier mapper 505 and the padding or nuli values) back to a timed domain value. dft in these embodiments of the invention the operation of the dft subcarrier mapper and ifft performs an fdma operation for the uplink communication from the ue to the enb. thus for the specific allocation of the sub-carrier mapper the ue transmission is thus mapped to the correct frequency (sub-carriers) and the null values allow other ues to use corresponding frequencies which have been allocated to the other ues for their transmission the inverse fast fourier transformation of the mapped sub-carriers is shown in figure 8a by step 707. in some embodiments of the invention the inverse fast fourier transformer (ifft) may be replaced by any suitable frequency domain to time domain conversion performing inverse discrete fourier transform operation. the time domain output from the inverse fast fourier transformer 507 is them passed to the cyclic prefix inserter 509. the cyclic prefix inserter on receiving the time domain signal adds a cyclic prefix to the time domain signal. the cyclic prefix insertion process used may be any suitable cyclic prefix insertion process. the cyclic prefix insertion is shown in figure 8a by step 709. the user equipment may then, using the radio frequency circuitry 7, perform a digital to analogue conversion on the output of the cyclic inserter 509. furthermore prior to transmission the user equipment radio frequency circuitry may perform a baseband to radio frequency conversion prior to transmitting the signal. the digital to analogue conversion and the baseband to radio frequency conversion operations are shown in figure 8a by step 711 , figure 5b shows a schematic view of a series of functional blocks used in embodiments of the invention with respect to an embodiment of the invention implemented in an uplink receiver. the functional blocks described below may be implemented within the processing entity 167 of an enhanced node b 151 such as that shown in figure 3. it would be understood that the functional blocks described hereafter may be implemented as discrete functional units within the enhanced node b 151 in further embodiments of the invention. the operation of the enhanced node b is described with respect to an operation of an embodiment of the invention in figure 8b. the enhanced node b 151 radio access transceiver 163 may comprises a radio frequency to baseband converter and analogue to digital converter 163. the radio frequency to baseband converter and analogue to digital converter performs the opposite operations to the user equipment radio frequency circuitry 7, converting the received analogue radio frequency signals to produce a baseband and digital output signal. the baseband and digital output signal may then be passed to the enb processor 167 and a cyclic prefix remover 551. the reception of the analogue radio frequency signal is shown in figure 8b by step 751. the analogue to digital conversion and the radio frequency to baseband frequency conversion is shown in figure 8b by step 753. the cyclic prefix remover performs the inverse operation as applied by the user equipment cyclic prefix inserter 509. the output of the cyclic prefix remover is passed to the discrete fourier transformer 553. the cyclic prefix removal is shown in figure 8b by step 755. the discrete fourier transformer converts the time domain output from cyclic prefix remover into a frequency domain signal. the converter used is the reciprocal conversion to that applied in the inverse fast fourier transformer 507. the output of the discrete fourier transformer 553 is passed to the sub-carrier demapper 555. the discrete fourier transformation of the output of the cyclic prefix remover 551 is shown in figure 8b by step 757, the sub-carrier demapper 555 is configured to determine or retrieve from memory 169 the allocated resource allocation for the ue from which the signal has been received. the resource allocation may comprise explicit sub-carrier mapping values or the demapper may further determine the sub-carrier mapping values using predetermined algorithms or from the memory 169. thus in embodiments of the invention there are apparatus configured to determine a cluster allocation signal, and transmit the cluster allocation signal to a further apparatus. the cluster allocation signal comprises in embodiments of the invention at least one of, a total number of clusters, a cluster size, a cluster placement and at least one cluster allocated to the first signal. the cluster allocation signal may be considered to further be dependent on at least one of a type of communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus; a determination of the mixture of the data to be transmitted on a communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus; and a radio condition of a communications channel from the further apparatus to the apparatus. the resource allocation may comprise information on the number of dusters as well as on the starting points and widths of the clusters in terms of granularity of the resource blocks allocated to the user equipment from which the signal has been received. the information may in some embodiments of the invention be stored in memory 169 in the form of scheduling grants. the sub-carrier demapper 555 receives the frequency domain sub-carrier values and maps these sub-carrier values to the output frequency domain values according to reciprocal mapping process as carried out by the sub- carrier mapper 505 of the user equipment 1. thus in this situation the apparatus is configured to map a first signal to a second signal comprising at least one frequency domain value, wherein the first signal comprises at least two clusters, at least one cluster comprising a whole number multiple of a first number of sub-carrier values, wherein the at ieast one cluster sub-carrier values are mapped to the at least one frequency domain values dependent on a cluster selection. using the example presented previously where a resource biock size is defined as 12 sub-carriers, the dft size is 2048 sub-carriers (in other words there are a possible 2048 outputs from the dft) 1 and the ifft size is 240 (in other words the ifft input from the output of the demapper 555 produces 240 output values). if the sub-carrier allocation was that the output of the sub- carrier mapper outputs the dft values in two clusters, then the dft frequency values 425...520 may be demapped to ifft frequency values 0...95 and the dft frequency values 1001 ...1144 may be demapped to values 96...239. thus the subcarrier de-mapper 555 also requires the knowledge of the number of available clusters, the starting position of clusters (in terms of the resource blocks) and width of the clusters (in terms of resource blocks). the mapping of the dft sub-carrier frequency domain values to the frequency domain received symbol values taking into account the number, size and position of allocated sub-carrier dusters is shown in figure 8b by step 759. the sub-carrier de-mapper 555 outputs the de-mapped frequency domain received symbol values to the inverse fast fourier transformer (ifft) 557. the ifft 557 performs a frequency to time domain transformation which is the reciprocal action to that performed by the discrete fourier transformer 503 in the user equipment 1 . the time domain received symbol values are then passed to the detector 559. the inverse fast fourier transformation is shown in figure 8b by step 761. the detector 559 then performs a symbol detection wherein the time domain symbol value is used to determine an estimate of the originally encoded symbol and furthermore output a sequence of bit values dependent on the estimated symbol value. the detection of the received symbol is shown in figure 8b by step 763. in the equivalent further embodiments of the invention, the dft and ifft converters may replace the dft by a serial to parallel converter and the ifft by the reciprocal parallel to serial converter. with respect to figures 6 and 7 the advantages introduced by embodiments of the invention can be shown. with respect to figure 6, the cubic metric comparison between the single carrier (sc-fdma), enhanced single carrier (e-sc-fdma) and conventional . multicarrier - frequency division (ofdma) methods are shown. the single carrier method is represented by limiting the e-sc-fdma to a single cluster. ' furthermore the comparison of cubic metric for the access technologies is shown for simulations using the modulation schemes of qpsk, 16-qam and 64-qam. in figure 6, it can be clearly shown that the lowest cubic metric value for each of the three modulation schemes occurs using the sc-fdma process (in other words the e-sc-fdma using only one cluster) and the highest cubic metric value for each modulation scheme occurs using the ofdma process. the enhanced single carrier e-sc-fdma process for 2, 4, 8 and 16 clusters shows an increase in cubic metric as the number of clusters is increased, thus it can be shown that with two clusters it is possible to have a lower output back off (obo) at the power amplifier of about 1.0 to 1.7 db than the equivalent ofdm approach. with four dusters it is possible to produce about 0.8 to 1.0 db lower obo than ofdm. with eight clusters it is possible to produce between 0.4 and 0.8 db lower obo than ofdm. furthermore with sixteen clusters, it is possible to produce about 0.3 to 0.4 db lower obos than ofdm. with respect to figure 7, the estimated throughput gain of ofdma and e-sc- fdma is shown when compared against sc-fdma. throughput gains are shown on the graph for various numbers of user equipment at three signal to noise ratio points in an indoor office non line of sight (nlos) channel. the results according to figure 7 show that the e-sc-fdma process is able to produce a significant proportion of the ofdma gain but use only two clusters. with the relative difference decreasing between the enhanced single carrier frequency division multiple access (e-sc-fdma) technique and the orthogonal frequency division multiple access (ofdma) technique as the number of user equipment used is increased. thus the above show that the e-sc-fdma techniques are capable of producing close to the throughput of the conventional ofdma techniques but have much lower cubic metric values. furthermore by having the flexibiiity to operate for a range of clusters it is possible to operate flexibly according to the environmental conditions - number of clusters available, channel noise and interference and according to the data requirements. it is noted that whilst embodiments have been described in relation to mobile devices such as mobile terminals, embodiments of the present invention are applicable to any other suitable type of apparatus suitable for communication via access systems. a mobile device may be configured to enable use of different access technologies, for example, based on an appropriate multi- radio implementation. it is also noted that although certain embodiments were described above by way of example with reference to the exemplifying architectures of certain mobile networks and a wireless local area network, embodiments may be applied to any other suitable forms of communication systems than those illustrated and described herein. it is also noted that the term access system is understood to refer to any access system configured for enabling wireless communication for user accessing applications. the above described operations may require data processing in the various entities. the data processing may be provided by means of one or more data processors. similarly various entities described in the above embodiments may be implemented within a single or a plurality of data processing entities and/or data processors. appropriately adapted computer program code product may be used for implementing the embodiments, when loaded to a computer. the program code product for providing the operation may be stored on and provided by means of a carrier medium such as a carrier disc, card or tape.. a possibility is to download the program code product via a data network. implementation may be provided with appropriate software in a server. for example the embodiments of the invention may be implemented as . a chipset, in other words a series of integrated circuits communicating among each other. the chipset may comprise microprocessors arranged to run code, application specific integrated circuits (asics), or programmable digital signal processors for performing the operations described above. embodiments of the inventions may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. the design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate. programs, such as those provided by synopsys, inc. of mountain view, california and cadence design, of san jose, california automatically route conductors and locate components on a semiconductor chip using well established rules of design as well as libraries of pre-stored design modules. once the design for a semiconductor circuit has been completed, the resultant design, in a standardized electronic format (e.g., opus, gdsii, or the like) may be transmitted to a semiconductor fabrication facility or "fab" for fabrication. it is also noted herein that while the above describes exemplifying embodiments of the invention, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.
057-617-755-390-616	JP	[ "US", "JP" ]	H05K1/02,H01R12/70,H01R9/03,H01R13/24,H01R12/71,H05K1/18,H01R33/76	2015-08-14T00:00:00	2015	[ "H05", "H01" ]	contactor with cable and wiring board	a contactor coupled to an electrode of a semiconductor package mounted on a mounting surface of a wiring board, the contactor includes: a cable including a core line; a connector attached to a front end of the cable, and to be inserted into a through hole that penetrates the wiring board in a thickness direction thereof; and a signal land formed on a front end surface of the connector, and electrically coupled with the core line.	1. a contactor coupled to an electrode of a semiconductor package mounted on a mounting surface of a wiring board, the contactor comprising: a cable including a core line; a connector attached to a front end of the cable, and to be inserted into a through hole that penetrates the wiring board in a thickness direction thereof; and a signal land formed on a front end surface of the connector, and electrically coupled with the core line, wherein the signal land is electrically coupled with a signal electrode formed over the semiconductor package through a signal contact of an lga socket disposed between the mounting surface and the semiconductor package, and wherein the cable includes two differential signal transmission core lines covered by an insulator, and the signal land electrically coupled with each of the differential signal transmission core lines is independently formed on the front end surface of the connector. 2. the contactor according to claim 1 , wherein the connector includes a guide wall to be in slide contact with an inner wall surface of the through hole and guide the signal land to the signal contact. 3. the contactor according to claim 1 , wherein the connector includes a guide wall to be inserted into a recess formed in the lga socket and be in slide contact with an inner wall surface of the recess so as to guide the signal land at a connector side contact to the signal contact. 4. the contactor according to claim 1 , further comprising: a connector part stored in a connector housing, coupled to a front end of the core line in the cable, and having an extension core line that extends to the front end surface, wherein the signal land is formed on a front end of the extension core line, in the front end surface. 5. a wiring board comprising: a semiconductor package mounted on a mounting surface; and a contactor coupled to an electrode of the semiconductor package, wherein the contactor includes: a cable including a core line; a connector attached to a front end of the cable, and to be inserted into a through hole that is formed through the wiring board in a thickness direction thereof; and a signal land formed on a front end surface of the connector, and electrically coupled with the core line, wherein the signal land is electrically coupled with a signal electrode formed over the semiconductor package through a signal contact of an lga socket disposed between the mounting surface and the semiconductor package, and wherein the cable includes two differential signal transmission core lines covered by an insulator, and the signal land electrically coupled with each of the differential signal transmission core lines is independently formed on the front end surface of the connector. 6. a contactor coupled to an electrode of a semiconductor package mounted on a mounting surface of a wiring board, the contactor comprising: a cable including a core line; a connector attached to a front end of the cable, and to be inserted into a through hole that penetrates the wiring board in a thickness direction thereof; and a signal land formed on a front end surface of the connector, and electrically coupled with the core line, wherein the signal land is electrically coupled with a signal electrode formed over the semiconductor package through a signal contact of an lga socket disposed between the mounting surface and the semiconductor package, and wherein the cable comprises: an insulator covering an outer circumference of the core line; and a conductive shield layer covering a perimeter of the insulator, wherein a gnd land electrically coupled with the conductive shield layer is formed on the front end surface of the connector, independently from the signal land, and the gnd land is electrically coupled with an gnd electrode formed over the semiconductor package, through a gnd contact formed over the lga socket.	cross-reference to related application this application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior japanese patent application no. 2015-160119, filed on aug. 14, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. field the embodiments discussed herein are related to a contactor and a wiring board. background conventionally, in electronic devices such as, for example, a server, a router, or a storage product, an electrical signal is transmitted using a backplane or a cable, between respective wiring boards between or in respective electronic devices. recently, there is a case in which a differential signal transmission is performed using a differential signal transmission cable in order to transmit a high-speed electrical signal between respective wiring boards. the differential signal transmission cable has a pair of core lines (signal line conductors). a plus side signal and a minus side signal obtained by reversing a phase at 180° are transmitted in the core lines, respectively. further, a potential difference between the two signals becomes a signal level, and is recognized in the reception side in such a way that, when the potential difference is plus, the signal level is recognized as “high,” and when the potential difference is minus, the signal level is recognized as “low.” however, conventionally, when an electrical signal is transmitted to a semiconductor package mounted on the wiring board via a cable, a connector placed on a front end side of the cable is connected to a connector on the wiring board, and the electrical signal is transmitted through a wiring pattern of the wiring board. consequently, the mismatching of impedance may be caused, for example, at a contact point of the connector to increase a transmission loss. further, since the electrical signal is transmitted through the wiring pattern of the wiring board, the transmission loss may be increased. the followings are reference documents. [document 1] international publication pamphlet no. wo 2009/031394,[document 2] japanese laid-open patent publication no. 10-312863, and[document 3] japanese laid-open patent publication no. 04-233179. summary according to an aspect of the invention, a contactor coupled to an electrode of a semiconductor package mounted on a mounting surface of a wiring board, the contactor includes: a cable including a core line; a connector attached to a front end of the cable, and to be inserted into a through hole that penetrates the wiring board in a thickness direction thereof; and a signal land formed on a front end surface of the connector, and electrically coupled with the core line. the object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims. it is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. brief description of drawings fig. 1 is a plan view illustrating a board unit having a wiring board according to exemplary embodiment 1; fig. 2 is a side view illustrating the board unit according to exemplary embodiment 1; fig. 3 is a schematic structural view illustrating a semiconductor package according to exemplary embodiment 1; fig. 4 is a view illustrating a sectional structure of an lga socket according to exemplary embodiment 1; fig. 5 is a schematic view illustrating a sectional structure of the wiring board according to exemplary embodiment 1; fig. 6 is a view illustrating a portion of fig. 5 in an enlarged scale; fig. 7 is a view illustrating a longitudinal sectional structure of a contactor according to exemplary embodiment 1; fig. 8 is a view illustrating a cross-sectional structure of a cable part of the contactor according to exemplary embodiment 1; fig. 9 is a view illustrating a front end surface of the contactor according to exemplary embodiment 1; fig. 10 is a view illustrating a state where the contactor is inserted into a through hole of the wiring board according to exemplary embodiment 1 to be connected to the lga socket; fig. 11 is a view illustrating a portion of a mounting surface of the wiring board in a state where the contactor is connected to the lga socket of the wiring board according to exemplary embodiment 1; fig. 12 is a view illustrating a contactor according to a variant; fig. 13 is a partially enlarged view illustrating a sectional structure of a wiring board according to exemplary embodiment 2; fig. 14 is a view illustrating a longitudinal sectional structure of a contactor according to exemplary embodiment 2; fig. 15a is a view illustrating a state where the contactor is being inserted into a through hole of the wiring board according to exemplary embodiment 2; fig. 15b is a view illustrating a state where the contactor is being inserted into a recess of an lga socket according to exemplary embodiment 2; and fig. 15c is a view illustrating a state after a connector of the contactor according to exemplary embodiment 2 is connected to a contact pin of the lga socket. description of embodiments hereinafter, exemplary embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. exemplary embodiment 1 fig. 1 is a plan view illustrating a board unit 100 having a wiring board 1 according to an exemplary embodiment 1. fig. 2 is a side view illustrating the board unit 100 according to exemplary embodiment 1. the wiring board 1 has, on the top side thereof, a mounting surface 1 a on which a semiconductor package 2 is mounted. further, the wiring board 1 has, on the bottom side thereof, a non-mounting surface 1 b on which a semiconductor package 2 is not mounted. in an example illustrated in fig. 1 , four semiconductor packages 2 are mounted on the mounting surface 1 a of the wiring board 1 , but the number of mounting the semiconductor packages 2 is not limited particularly. a memory 3 is mounted on the mounting surface 1 a of the wiring board 1 . fig. 3 is a schematic structural view illustrating a semiconductor package 2 according to exemplary embodiment 1. the semiconductor package 2 includes, for example, a package board 21 , a semiconductor chip 22 , a heat spreader 23 , and a thermal sheet 24 . a connecting structure between the semiconductor package 2 and the wiring board 1 employs a land grid array (lga) mounting type, and an lga socket 4 is interposed between the semiconductor package 2 and the wiring board 1 . the package board 21 is formed by, for example, a glass epoxy multi-layered board. a plurality of electrodes 25 (hereinafter, referred to as “lands”) is placed on the bottom surface 21 a of the package board 21 . a semiconductor chip 22 is mounted on the top surface of a package board 21 by, for example, flip-chip connection. the heat spreader 23 is a member that serves as a lid (cap) for closing the semiconductor chip 22 and serves to transfer heat from the semiconductor chip 22 , which is a heating element, to a cooling section 6 of a cooling unit 5 . the heat spreader 23 is attached to the top surface of the package board 21 by, for instance, a thermosetting resin. the heat spreader 23 may be made of a metal material that is excellent in heat conductivity (thermal conductivity) (e.g., copper or aluminum). the cooling section 6 of the cooling unit 5 is mounted on the top surface of the heat spreader 23 with the thermal sheet 24 being interposed therebetween, and heat is transferred from the semiconductor chip 22 to the cooling section 6 through the heat spreader 23 and the thermal sheet 24 . as illustrated in figs. 1 and 3 , the cooling unit 5 includes the cooling section 6 and a water-cooling pipe 7 connected to the cooling section 6 . the interior of the cooling section 6 is formed in a water-jacket structure, and has an internal path 6 a to pass coolant therethrough. the water-cooling pipe 7 has a supply pipe 7 a and a discharge pipe 7 b , and forms a coolant circulation path as well as the internal path 6 a of the cooling section 6 . the coolant fed from the supply pipe 7 a to the cooling section 6 absorbs heat of the semiconductor chip 22 transferred from the heat spreader 23 or the thermal sheet 24 , and then is discharged to the discharge pipe 7 b . in this way, the semiconductor chip 22 is cooled by the cooling unit 5 . as illustrated in fig. 2 , a bolster plate 8 is placed on the non-mounting surface 1 b of the wiring board 1 . the bolster plate 8 is secured to the wiring board 1 by a fastener (not illustrated). for example, flange parts (not illustrated) arranged on the bolster plate 8 and the cooling section 6 are fastened by a plurality of spring-loaded bolts (not illustrated) that is inserted through bolt passing holes of the wiring board 1 . thus, the semiconductor package 2 and the lga socket 4 , which are fitted to the mounting surface 1 a of the wiring board 1 and the cooling section 6 , are pushed and pressed against the mounting surface 1 a so that the semiconductor package 2 and the lgp socket 4 are secured to the mounting surface 1 a . further, reference numeral 9 indicated in fig. 3 denotes a cable holding plate placed on the back surface of the bolster plate 8 . the cable holding plate 9 will be described later. in addition, reference numeral 110 indicated in figs. 1 and 2 denotes a backplane, and reference numeral 120 denotes a power connector. a plurality of wiring boards 1 is mounted on the backplane 110 via connectors (not illustrated). in an example illustrated in fig. 2 , two wiring boards 1 are attached to the backplane 110 , but the number of the wiring boards is not limited particularly. the power connector 120 supplies power from a power supply unit (not illustrated) to the wiring board 1 . further, reference numeral 50 indicated in fig. 2 denotes a “contactor”. the details of the contactor 50 will be described below. fig. 4 is a view illustrating a sectional structure of the lga socket 4 according to exemplary embodiment 1. the lga socket 4 has a plurality of contact pins 41 and a support base 42 that supports each of the contact pins 41 . as an example of a material for the support base 42 , a ceramic material such as, for example, alumina may be exemplified. the contact pins 41 are, for example, c-shaped metal springs and pass through the support base 42 . in a state before the lga socket 4 is interposed between the wiring board 1 and the semiconductor package 2 , one end of each of the contact pins 41 protrudes upwards from the top surface 4 a of the lga socket 4 , and the other end protrudes downwards from the bottom surface 4 b of the lga socket 4 . further, the lga socket 4 includes partition walls 43 that partition the internal space, and storage chambers 44 are formed by the partition walls 43 to store the contact pins 41 , respectively. however, the storage chambers 44 for the contact pin 41 may not be individually formed by the partition walls 43 . in fig. 4 , reference numeral 41 a denotes a “power contact pin,” reference numeral 41 b denotes a “ground (gnd) contact pin,” and reference numeral 41 c denotes a “signal contact pin.” they will be collectively referred to as contact pins 41 . fig. 5 is a schematic view illustrating a sectional structure of the wiring board 1 according to exemplary embodiment 1. fig. 6 is a view illustrating a portion of fig. 5 in an enlarged scale. the wiring board 1 is, for example, a multi-layered board and includes a wiring pattern 10 formed therein. the wiring pattern 10 is, for example, a power wiring layer. two through holes 11 are provided in the wiring board 1 to penetrate the wiring board 1 in the thickness direction thereof. further, a plurality of lands 12 is placed on the mounting surface 1 a of the wiring board 1 (hereinafter, the plurality of lands 12 will be referred to as “board side lands”). the wiring pattern 10 is connected to the board side lands 12 through vias 13 . in the package side lands 25 placed on the bottom surface 21 a of the package board 21 , reference numeral 25 a denotes a “package side power land,” reference numeral 25 b denotes a “package side ground (gnd) land,” and reference numeral 25 c denotes a “package side signal land.” the lga socket 4 is disposed between the mounting surface 1 a of the wiring board 1 and the semiconductor package 2 . during the assembly of the wiring board 1 , when a spring-loaded bolt (not illustrated) is fastened so as to fasten the bolster plate 8 and the cooling section 6 to each other, the lga socket 4 sandwiched between the mounting surface 1 a of the wiring board 1 and the semiconductor package 2 is compressed. at this time, the power contact pin 41 a of the lga socket 4 is aligned with the package side power land 25 a and the board side land 12 . thus, the package side power land and the board side land 12 are pushed against the end of the power contact pin 41 a of the lga socket 4 , so that they are pressure-welded to each other. consequently, the package side power land 25 a and the board side land 12 are electrically connected to each other through the power contact pin 41 a of the lga socket 4 (see fig. 6 ). as illustrated in fig. 6 , in the state where the lga socket 4 is disposed between the wiring board 1 and the semiconductor package 2 , the package side gnd land 25 b is pushed against the gnd contact pin 41 b of the lga socket 4 , so that they are elastically pressure-welded to each other. further, the package side signal land 25 c is pushed against the signal contact pin 41 c of the lga socket 4 , so that they are elastically pressure-welded to each other. thus, the gnd contact pin 41 b and the package side gnd land 25 b , and the signal contact pin 41 c and the package side signal land 25 c are electrically connected to each other. next, a high-speed cable transmission between a contactor 50 and a semiconductor package 2 will be described. fig. 7 is a view illustrating a longitudinal sectional structure of the contactor 50 according to exemplary embodiment 1. the contactor 50 includes a cable part 60 and a connector 70 provided on the front end side of the cable part 60 . in the present exemplary embodiment, the cable part 60 of the contactor 50 is a differential signal transmission cable having two differential signal core lines 61 . fig. 8 is a view illustrating a transverse sectional structure of the cable part 60 of the contactor 50 according to exemplary embodiment 1. the cable part 60 is a so-called differential signal transmission cable. the cable part 60 includes a pair of differential signal core lines 61 for differential signals, which are conductors for transmitting high-speed differential signals. hereinafter, the “core lines for differential signals” will be referred to as “differential signal transmission core lines” for the convenience of description. a plus side signal as the differential signal is transmitted in any one of the differential signal core lines 61 . further, a minus side signal as a differential signal is transmitted in the remaining one of the differential signal core lines 61 . a potential difference between the two signals becomes a signal level, and is recognized in the reception side in such a way that, when the potential difference is plus, the signal level is recognized as “high”, and when the potential difference is minus, the signal level is recognized as “low.” each differential signal core line 61 may be formed, for example, by a soft copper wire whose surface is plated with tin. further, the perimeter of the pair of the differential signal core lines 61 is integrally covered by an insulator 62 . although the cross-section of the insulator 62 approximately has an elliptical shape in the example illustrated in fig. 8 , but is not limited thereto. the insulator 62 may be formed of, for example, a fluorine resin having a low dielectric constant. moreover, a conductive shield layer 63 is placed around the insulator 62 to cover the insulator 62 in order to suppress the influence of outside noise. the conductive shield layer 63 may be, for example, a metal tape that is wound around the insulator 62 , or a seamless metal layer. further, a sheath 64 serving as a protective covering for protecting the cable part 60 is arranged around the conductive shield layer 63 to cover the conductive shield layer 63 . the sheath 64 may be formed of, for example, heat-resistant polyvinyl chloride (pvc). as illustrated in fig. 7 , the connector 70 is attached to the front end side of the contactor 50 . fig. 9 is a view illustrating the front end surface 70 a of the connector 70 in the contactor 50 according to exemplary embodiment 1. the connector 70 is attached to the front end side of the contactor 50 , and has a connector housing 71 that is insertable into the through hole 11 that penetrates the wiring board 1 in a thickness direction thereof, and a connector side contact 72 formed on the front end surface 70 a of the connector 70 . the connector housing 71 is formed of, for example, resin. the sheath 64 is peeled off from the front end of the cable part 60 to which the connector housing 71 is attached, and thus the connector housing 71 is directly attached to an outer circumference of the conductive shield layer 63 that is exposed by peeling. the connector housing 71 refers to a housing that has an inner wall surface 71 a corresponding to the shape of the outer surface of the conductive shield layer 63 . in fig. 7 , reference numeral 71 b denotes the front end surface of the connector housing 71 , and reference numeral 71 c denotes the rear end surface of the connector housing 71 . the front end surface 71 b and the rear end surface 71 c of the connector housing 71 have a substantially rectangular shape, the rear end surface 71 c being larger than the front end surface 71 b . further, reference numeral 60 a denotes the front end surface of the cable part 60 . as illustrated in fig. 7 , the connector housing 71 is attached to the outer circumference of the cable part 60 such that the front end surface 60 a of the cable part 60 and the front end surface 71 b of the connector housing 71 are on the same plane. consequently, the front end surface 70 a of the connector 70 (hereinafter, referred to as a “connector front end surface”) is formed by the front end surface 71 b of the connector housing 71 and the front end surface 60 a of the cable part 60 (see, e.g., figs. 7 and 9 ). further, as illustrated in fig. 7 , the conductive shield layer 63 of the cable part 60 extends along the inner wall surface 71 a of the connector housing 71 to the connector front end surface 70 a. next, the connector front end surface 70 a will be described. a connector side contact 72 is formed on the connector front end surface 70 a to come into contact with the contact pin 41 of the lga socket 4 . the connector side contact 72 includes a pair of signal lands 73 and gnd lands 74 , which are formed on the connector front end surface 70 a . the signal lands 73 are plane electrodes that are electrically connected with the front ends of the differential signal core lines 61 of the cable part 60 that is stretched to the connector front end surface 70 a . one of the pair of signal lands 73 is connected to one of the pair of the differential signal core lines 61 . further, the other of the pair of signal lands 73 is connected to the other of the pair of differential signal core lines 61 for the differential signal. each signal land 73 has a circular plane along the connector front end surface 70 a , and is placed independently from the other signal land 73 . further, each gnd land 74 is a plane electrode that is electrically connected with the conductive shield layer 63 of the cable part 60 that is stretched to the connector front end surface 70 a . the gnd land 74 is connected with the conductive shield layer 63 at a boundary between the front end surface 60 a of the cable part 60 and the front end surface 71 b of the connector housing 71 , and extends along the front end surface 71 b of the connector housing 71 . in the example illustrated in fig. 9 , the gnd land 74 has a shape equivalent to a portion remaining by cutting a smaller elliptical portion out from an elliptical portion. further, the gnd land 74 is formed on the connector front end surface 70 a independently from each of the pair of signal lands 73 . moreover, as illustrated in fig. 7 , the connector housing 71 has a guide wall 71 d that is a tapered side wall configured to connect the front end surface 71 b with the rear end surface 71 c . the guide wall 71 d is formed as a surface inclined such that a sectional area of the connector housing 71 is gradually increased from the front end surface 71 b towards the rear end surface 71 c . the connector 70 having the above-described structure may be inserted into or fitted to the through hole 11 of the wiring board 1 illustrated in fig. 6 . fig. 10 is a view illustrating a state where a contactor 50 is inserted into a through hole 11 of the wiring board 1 according to exemplary embodiment 1 to be connected (mounted) to an lga socket 4 . fig. 11 is a view illustrating a portion of the mounting surface 1 a of the wiring board 1 in a state where connectors 70 are connected to lga sockets 4 of the wiring board 1 according to exemplary embodiment 1. each through hole 11 of the wiring board 1 has a rectangular cross-section, and a connector housing 71 may be inserted into the through hole 11 . in this exemplary embodiment, a cross-section of the guide wall 71 d of the connector housing 71 is smaller than that of the through hole 11 at the location of the front end surface 71 b . in detail, at the front end side of the connector housing 71 , respective dimensions of long and short sides of the guide wall 71 d are smaller than respective dimensions of long and short sides of the through hole 11 . the connector 70 is inserted from the non-mounting surface 1 b on the wiring board 1 into the through hole 11 . here, since the cross-section of the connector 70 (connector housing 71 ) at the front end side is smaller than the through hole 11 , the connector 70 may be easily inserted into the through hole 11 . further, the guide wall 71 d of the connector housing 71 is slightly larger in cross-section than the through hole 11 at the location of the rear end surface 71 c . in detail, at the rear end side of the connector housing 71 , at least one of the long and short sides of the guide wall 71 d is slightly larger in dimension than the respective long and short sides of the through hole 11 . thus, in the process of inserting the connector 70 (connector housing 71 ) into the through hole 11 , the rear end side of the guide wall 71 d is in slide contact with the inner wall surface of the through hole 11 . as such, while the guide wall 71 d is in slide contact with the inner wall surface of the through hole 11 , the connector 70 is inserted into the through hole. the guide wall 71 d guides a pair of signal lands 73 on the connector 70 to the signal contact pins 41 c of the lga socket 4 , respectively. further, the guide wall 71 d guides the gnd land 74 on the connector 70 to the gnd contact pin 41 b of the lga socket 4 . that is, the pair of signal lands 7 on the connector 70 may be aligned with the signal contact pins 41 c of the lga socket 4 , respectively, and the gnd land 74 may be aligned with the gnd contact pin 41 b. further, the connector 70 is inserted to a defined position in the through hole 11 , and the signal land 73 on the connector 70 is pushed against the signal contact pin 41 c of the lga socket 4 to be pressure-welded thereto. further, the gnd land 74 on the connector 70 is pushed against the gnd contact pin 41 b of the lga socket 4 to be pressure-welded thereto. thus, as illustrated in fig. 10 , the signal land 73 on the connector 70 may be electrically connected with the package side signal land 25 c through the signal contact pin 41 c of the lga socket 4 . further, the gnd land 74 on the connector 70 may be electrically connected with the package side gnd land 25 b through the gnd contact pin 41 b of the lga socket 4 . further, since the cross-section of the rear end side on the connector 70 is slightly larger than the through hole 11 , the guide wall 71 d engages with the inner wall surface of the through hole 11 in the state where the connector 70 is inserted into a defined position. therefore, the connector 70 may be fitted to the through hole 11 against a weight of the contactor 50 , thus allowing a contact of the connector side contact 72 with the contact pin 41 of the lga socket 4 to be maintained. as illustrated in fig. 10 , the cable holding plate 9 is fixed to a back surface of the bolster plate 8 by a fixture 90 (see fig. 2 ). further, insert holes 8 a and 9 a are formed, respectively, on the bolster plate 8 and the cable holding plate 9 to correspond to the through hole 11 of the wiring board 1 . the contactor 50 is inserted into the insert hole 9 b ( 9 a ) of the cable holding plate 9 and the insert hole 8 a of the bolster plate 8 . the cable holding plate 9 may hold the contactor 50 by a frictional force between the sheath 64 on the cable part 60 of the contactor 50 and an edge of the insert hole 9 a , thus suppressing the removal of the contactor 50 . in the connector 70 according to the present exemplary embodiment, the differential signal core lines 61 on the contactor 50 may be transmitted to the semiconductor chip 22 of the semiconductor package 2 without passing through the wiring pattern 10 of the wiring board 1 . that is, since it is possible to transmit the high-speed electrical signal to the wiring board 1 without passing through the wiring pattern 10 of the wiring board 1 , it is possible to reduce a transmission loss. <modification> next, a connector 70 a ( 70 a) according to the variant will be described. fig. 12 is a view illustrating the connector 70 a according to the variant. the connector 70 a stores a connector part 75 in the connector housing 71 , and is mounted to the front end side of the cable part 60 . the connector part 75 has an extension core line 76 that is connected to the front end of the differential signal core line 61 for the differential signal on the cable part 60 . moreover, the connector part 75 includes an extension insulator 77 that covers the perimeter of the extension core line 76 and is connected to the front end of the insulator 62 , and an extension conductive shield layer 78 that covers the perimeter of the extension insulator 77 and is connected to the front end of the conductive shield layer 63 . in this variant, joints of the extension core line 76 of the connector part 75 with the differential signal core lines 61 of the cable part 60 are formed such that one of the joints is a male-type pin insert and the other is a female-type socket insert. the joints may be removably attached to each other. in this case, the connector 70 a including the connector part 75 may be removably mounted to the cable part 60 of the contactor 50 . further, at the joints of the extension core line 76 of the connector part 75 with the differential signal core lines 61 of the cable part 60 , the extension core line 76 and the differential signal core lines 61 may be joined by solder. further, the connector part 75 of the connector 70 a is formed such that front ends of the extension core line 76 , the extension insulator 77 and the extension conductive shield layer 78 extend to the connector front end surface 70 a that is the front end surface of the connector 70 a . as illustrated in fig. 12 , the connector housing 71 at the connector 70 a is attached to the outer circumference of the connector part 75 such that the front end surface 75 a of the connector part 75 and the front end surface 71 b of the connector housing 71 are in the same plane. consequently, the connector front end surface 70 a of the connector 70 a is formed by the front end surface 71 b of the connector housing 71 and the front end surface 75 a of the connector part 75 . the connector side contact 72 is formed on the connector front end surface 70 a to come into contact with the contact pin 41 of the lga socket 4 , and the connector side contact 72 includes a pair of signal lands 73 a and a pair of gnd lands 74 a. the pair of signal lands 73 a is connected to the front end of each extension core line 76 , and simultaneously is independently formed on the front end surface 75 a of the connector part 75 . further, the gnd lands 74 a are connected to the front end of the extension conductive shield layer 78 , and are formed on the front end surface 71 b of the connector housing 71 independently from the pair of signal lands 73 a, respectively. the connector 70 a stores, in the connector housing 71 , the connector part 75 including the extension core line 76 , the extension insulator 77 , and the extension conductive shield layer 78 extending the differential signal core lines 61 , the insulator 62 , and the conductive shield layer 63 in the cable part 60 . even the connector 70 a according to the present variant may achieve the high-speed cable transmission between the contactor 50 and the semiconductor package 2 , similarly to the connector 70 illustrated in figs. 7, 9 and 10 . the connector 70 a may electrically connect the differential signal core lines 61 and the conductive shield layer 63 on the contactor 50 with the package signal land 25 c and the package side gnd land 25 b without passing through the wiring pattern 10 of the wiring board 1 . thus, in the high-speed cable transmission between the contactor 50 and the semiconductor package 2 , it is possible to reduce a transmission loss of the signal. exemplary embodiment 2 next, exemplary embodiment 2 will be described. fig. 13 is a partially enlarged view illustrating a sectional structure of a wiring board 1 according to exemplary embodiment 2. fig. 14 is a view illustrating a longitudinal sectional structure of a connector 70 b according to exemplary embodiment 2. the connector 70 b according to exemplary embodiment 2 is attached to a front end of a cable part 60 on a contactor 50 . a general structure of the connector 70 b of exemplary embodiment 2 remains the same as the connector 70 of fig. 7 except that an axial length of the connector is shorter than the connector 70 of exemplary embodiment 1. hereinafter, a difference from the wiring board 1 according to exemplary embodiment 1 will be mainly described. in this exemplary embodiment, a recess 45 is formed in a lower surface of an lga socket 4 to allow a front end side of the connector 70 ( 70 b) to be inserted and fitted therein. the lower surface of the lga socket 4 is a surface that faces a mounting surface 1 a of the wiring board 1 . the recess 45 is formed at a position of the lga socket 4 corresponding to a signal contact pin 41 c and a gnd contact pin 41 b , that is, at a position where a connector side contact 72 of the connector 70 is mounted, and has a rectangular cross-section. as illustrated in fig. 13 , the lga socket 4 of the present exemplary embodiment is configured such that a partition wall 43 a partitioning a storage chamber 44 that stores the signal contact pin 41 c from a storage chamber 44 that stores the gnd contact pin 41 b is shorter than other partition walls 43 . thereby, the recess 45 for accommodating a connector housing 71 is formed in the lower surface of the lga socket 4 . meanwhile, a guide wall 71 d of the connector housing 71 in the connector 70 b has a smaller cross-section than the recess 45 at a position of a front end surface 71 b . in detail, at the front end side of the connector housing 71 , respective dimensions of long and short sides of the guide wall 71 d are smaller than respective dimensions of long and short sides of the recess 45 . further, at a position of a rear end surface 71 c , the guide wall 71 d of the connector housing 71 is slightly larger in cross-section than the recess 45 . in detail, at a rear end side of the connector housing 71 , at least one of the long and short sides of the guide wall 71 d is slightly larger than the respective dimensions of the long and short sides of the recess 45 . moreover, even at the position of the rear end surface 71 c , the guide wall 71 d of the connector housing 71 is much smaller in cross-section than the through hole 11 of the wiring board 1 . fig. 15a is a view illustrating a state where the connector 70 b is being inserted into a through hole 11 of the wiring board 1 according to exemplary embodiment 2. fig. 15b is a view illustrating a state where the connector 70 b is being inserted into the recess 45 of the lga socket 4 according to exemplary embodiment 2. fig. 15c is a view illustrating a state after the connector side contact 72 of the connector 70 b according to exemplary embodiment 2 is connected to a contact pin 41 of the lga socket 4 . as illustrated in fig. 15a , the connector 70 b is inserted from a non-mounting surface 1 b of the wiring board 1 into the through hole 11 . when the connector 70 b is inserted into the through hole 11 of the wiring board 1 , a clearance (gap) is created between the through hole 11 of the wiring board 1 and the connector housing 71 . therefore, the connector 70 b may be smoothly guided into the lga socket 4 without interference between an inner wall surface of the through hole 11 and the connector 70 b. as illustrated in fig. 15b , the connector 70 b is inserted from the connector side contact 72 into the recess 45 of the lga socket 4 . since the front end side of the connector housing 71 is smaller in cross-section than the recess 45 , it is easy to insert the connector housing 71 into the recess 45 . as the connector housing 71 is progressively inserted into the recess 45 , the guide wall 71 d is in slide contact with the inner wall surface of the recess 45 . thus, a pair of signal lands 73 on the connector 70 b is automatically aligned with signal contact pins 41 c of the lga socket 4 , respectively, so that the gnd land 74 may be aligned with the gnd contact pin 41 b. if the connector 70 b is inserted to a defined position in the recess 45 of the lga socket 4 , as illustrated in fig. 15c , the pair of signal lands 73 is pushed against the signal contact pin 41 c to be pressure-welded thereto. further, the gnd land 74 is pushed against the gnd contact pin 41 b to be pressure-welded thereto. consequently, the signal land 73 on the connector 70 b may be electrically connected with the package side signal land 25 c , through the signal contact pin 41 c of the lga socket 4 . further, the gnd land 74 on the connector 70 b may be electrically connected with the package side gnd land 25 b , through the gnd contact pin 41 b of the lga socket 4 . here, the cross-section of the rear end side on the connector 70 b is slightly larger than the recess 45 of the lga socket 4 . thus, the guide wall 71 d engages with the inner wall surface of the recess 45 of the lga socket 4 in the state where the connector 70 b is inserted to a defined position. therefore, the connector 70 b may be fitted into the recess 45 of the lga socket 4 against a weight of the contactor 50 , thus allowing a contact of the connector side contact 72 with the contact pin 41 of the lga socket 4 to be maintained. since the through hole 11 of the wiring board 1 may be formed to have a larger dimension than the cross-section of the connector 70 b, high machining accuracy is not required when the through hole 11 is bored into the wiring board 1 . although the connectors and the wiring boards having the same according to exemplary embodiments have been described, changes, improvement, combination or the like may be made in various ways on the exemplary embodiments. for example, in the above-described exemplary embodiments, a case wherein the connector 70 is applied to the differential transmission cable has been described by way of example, but the connector may be applied to other electric cables. in the present exemplary embodiments, the signal land 73 of the connector 70 is electrically connected to the package side signal land 25 c of the semiconductor package 2 through the lga socket 4 , but the invention is not limited thereto. all examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority and inferiority of the invention. although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
058-335-977-164-543	US	[ "US" ]	A61B5/04	1983-07-22T00:00:00	1983	[ "A61" ]	method and device for subtracting a pacer signal from an ecg signal	disclosed herein is a pacer signal reject circuit wherein an entire ecg waveform signal is applied to one input of an operational amplifier, while only the initial portion of the pacer signal including the main pulse and a portion of the tail, is applied to the second input of such operational amplifier, to cause cancellation of that initial portion from the ecg signal. also, a synthesized version of the remainder of such pacer tail is generated and applied to the second input. thus, by isolating the ecg signal from the second input except for a timed period of the pacer signal, and by applying the synthesized tail signal to such second input, the entire pacer signal may be cancelled.	1. a pacer signal reject device for subtracting a pacer signal from an ecg signal, comprising: subtraction circuit means having first and second inputs and an output wherein a signal applied to said second input is subtracted from a signal applied to said first input, and wherein a remainder signal is provided at said output; first signal applying means for applying a patient's ecg signal, including actual heartbeat pulses and pacer signals, to said first input of said subtraction circuit means; and second signal applying means for applying a signal corresponding to said pacer signal to said second input of said subtraction circuit means, wherein the pacer signal is subtracted from said ecg signal, by said subtraction circuit means, and wherein said output of said subtraction circuit means provides an output corresponding only to the patients actual heartbeat pulses; said second signal applying means comprises switch means coupled between said first and second inputs of said subtraction circuit means, means for detecting the initial rise-time of the pacer signal and for generating a detection signal corresponding thereto, and means for applying said detection signal to close said switch means for a timed period, wherein said timed period is in excess of the period of the main pulse of said pacer signal. 2. a pacer signal reject device, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said detecting means comprises a slew rate circuit means having an input coupled to receive said ecg signal, and having an output for generating said detection signal when said main pulse of said pacer signal is detected. 3. a pacer signal reject device for subtracting a pacer signal from an ecg signal, comprising: subtraction circuit means having first and second inputs and an output wherein a signal applied to said second input is subtracted from a signal applied to said first input, and wherein a remainder signal is provided at said output; first signal applying means for applying a patient's ecg signal, including actual heartbeat pulses and pacer signals, to said first input of said subtraction circuit means; and second signal applying means for applying a signal corresponding to said pacer signal to said second input of said subtraction circuit means, wherein the pacer signal is subtracted from said ecg signal, by said subtraction circuit means; and further comprising rc circuit means connected between said switch means and said second input of said subtraction circuit for storing a voltage corresponding to the voltage of the pacer signal at the end of said timed period, wherein said stored voltage will correspond to the voltage of any pacer tail of the pacer signal at the end of said timed period, and wherein said rc circuit provides a decay time-constant for said voltage which corresponds to the decay time constant of the pacer tail, said rc circuit thereby providing a pseudo pacer tail signal, after said switch means is opened, corresponding to the remainder of any pacer tail conducted through said switch during said timed period that said switch means is closed, wherein said output of said subtraction circuit means provides an output corresponding only to the patient's actual heartbeat pulses. 4. a pacer signal reject device as set forth in claim 3 wherein said detecting means comprises a slew rate circuit means having an input coupled to receive said ecg signal, and having an output for generating said detection signal when said main pulse of said pacer signal is detected. 5. a pacer signal reject device, as set forth in claim 4, wherein said slew rate circuit means is set to generate said detection signal when a slew rate exceeding a rate of the order of 1,500 volts/second is detected.	background of the disclosure a necessary procedure during medical surgery is to monitor the heart rate of the patient by means of a heart rate meter. a problem exists, however, if the patient has a pacemaker, since the pacer signal may continue to trigger the heart rate meter even if the patient has gone into cardiac arrest. under these circumstances the heart rate meter would provide an erroneous reading and would falsely indicate the presence of a heartbeat. this problem and its associated risks have been recognized in the past, and attempts to overcome such risks have involved the filtering of the pacer signal from the patient's ecg signal, prior to applying the remainder of the ecg to the heart rate meter. such filtration is possible when the pacer signal does not have any overshoot, since the pulse width of the pacer signal is extremely narrow as compared to the pulse width of a normal heartbeat. however, some pacemakers provide a pacer signal having an overshoot, also referred to as a "pacer tail", and the bandwidth of such a tail may be of the same order of magnitude as the entire bandwidth of the ecg complex, thus precluding the use of electronic filtering as a means of removing the pacer signal. accordingly, an object of the present invention is to inhibit the application of the pacer signal so that the ecg signal applied to the heart rate meter will encompass solely the heartbeat of the patient. summary of the invention the present invention provides an improvement over the prior art "pacer reject circuits" by processing an ecg signal to remove the entire pacer signal, including both the pacer pulse itself, as well as the pacer tail. to accomplish this function the rapid rise time or "slew rate" of the main pacer pulse is sensed and utilized to activate a one-shot circuit having an operating time of about 20 milliseconds. the pulse length of this main portion of the pacer signal is on the order of 0.1 to 2 milliseconds so that the duration of the one-shot encompasses the entire period of the main portion of the pacer pulse, together with at least about 18 milliseconds of the tail portion thereof, if such a tail portion exists. the output of the one-shot circuit is utilized to close a switch which feeds the pacer signal of the ecg waveform through a resistor to the positive input terminal of an operational amplifier, while the entire ecg signal is fed on a steady state basis to the negative input terminal of the operational amplifier. an rc circuit is connected between the switch and the operational amplifier so that during the 20 millisecond period that such switch is closed, the capacitor will be charged by the voltage of any tail portion of the pacer signal. the circuit is so designed that the capacitor in the rc circuit will be charged to the same value as the voltage of the tail portion of the pacer signal at the time the one-shot circuit opens the switch. furthermore, the circuit is so designed that the decay period of the rc circuit will approximate the decay period of the pacer tail, so that both inputs to the operational amplifier will include signals corresponding to the entire wave form of the pacer signal. in this regard, the negative input of the operational amplifier will receive the actual ecg signal, whereas the positive terminal thereof will receive the actual initial pacer pulse, but only a pseudo pacer tail portion, after 20 milliseconds, generated by the rc circuit. these two inputs will be cancelled by the operational amplifier. it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, however, that the actual heartbeat of the patient will occur at some time after the 20 millisecond closure of the switch, and therefore, the actual heartbeat will appear at the output of the operational amplifier, even though such heartbeat may occur during the tail portion of the pacer signal period. that is, the actual heartbeat signal will be applied only to the negative input of the operational amplifier, and will therefore appear at the output thereof, because there is no corresponding cancelling heartbeat signal at the positive input. such output of the operational amplifier may then be applied to the heart rate meter, thereby yielding an accurate indication of the patient's heartbeat during surgery. brief description of the drawings a preferred embodiment of the invention will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: fig. 1a of the drawings depicts an ecg waveform corresponding to the heartbeat of a patient having a pacemaker; fig. 1b depicts a possible alternative wave form comparable to that shown in fig. 1a. fig. 2 is a schematic depiction of a preferred embodiment of the invention; and fig. 3 is a more detailed schematic, similar to fig. 2, wherein the circuit components and interconnectons are shown with greater specificity. detailed description of the preferred embodiment various portions of a heartbeat waveform, viewable by means of an ecg, are illustrated in fig. 1a of the drawings, and are identified by the conventional reference symbols p, q, r, s, and t, which are utilized in the industry. in addition, however, fig. 1a depicts a typical pacemaker pulse wherein such pulse has an overshoot or "pacer tail", such pacer signal being located, in time, between the p and q portions of the heartbeat waveform. typically the q, r, s portion of the heartbeat waveform would have a duration from q to s on the order from 70 to 120 milliseconds, and the magnitude of such pulse would be on the order of 0.1 volt to 2.5 volts. the pacer signal carried on the ecg waveform, on the other hand, will have an amplitude for its positive main pulse or 1 volt or greater, while the overshoot may have a maximum magnitude of about 1 volt, and may have a decaying time constant of from 20 to 100 milliseconds. further in this regard it is noted that certain pacemakers provide reversed polarity signals as compared to the signal indicated in fig. 1a, but the invention will perform its desired function regardless of such polarity. as shown in fig. 1b of the drawings, it would be possible in view of the various parameters of the pacer signal and of a normal heartbeat signal, for the portion q, r, s of the heartbeat signal to be superimposed on the decaying portion of the pacer tail. with this in mind, it will be appreciated that if the entire portion of the ecg signal which includes the pacer signal is somehow filtered out of the ecg signal, the heartbeat signal may also disappear since it may occur on the decaying portion of the pacer tail. the present invention, as depicted in figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, effectively subtracts the pacer signal from the ecg complex, but such invention permits the heartbeat portion of the signal to be passed through the circuitry for monitoring purposes. in the preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in general form in fig. 2 of the drawings, the ecg complex signal (as shown at a), which includes the patient's heartbeat signal together with a pacer signal, is applied to the "pacer reject circuit". in effect, the circuit operates so that the ecg signal, including the entire pacer signal, is applied to the negative input of the operational amplifier 10, while, during a timed closure of a switch 12, only the initial portion of such pacer signal is applied to the positive input of that operational amplifier. also, a synthesized tail portion of the pacer signal is applied as a signal to the positive input to the operational amplifier, after the input switch 12 is opened, so that the portions of the heartbeat waveform q, r, s and t are applied only to the negative input of the operational amplifier 10. therefore, these latter portions of the heartbeat signal, as well as the initial portion p thereof, are carried through to the output d of the circuit, while the actual and the synthesized pacer signals effectively cancel each other. such operation of the pacer reject circuit results from the interconnection of components as illustrated in fig. 2 of the drawings, wherein the entire ecg signal is applied at all times through the resistor 14 to the negative input of the operational amplifier 10. the entire ecg signal is also applied to a slew rate limiter circuit 16, and particularly to the positive input of an operational amplifier 18 therein. the slew rate limiter circuit 16 operates as a voltage follower, so long as the change rate of the input signal does not exceed a predetermined rate. thus, for example, when the portion p of a heartbeat signal, as depicted in fig. 1a of the drawings, is applied to the slew rate limiter, the change at the output b of the operational amplifier 18 will follow the input since the change rate is relatively gradual. this function of the circuit results from the fact that the slight increase in voltage at the ouput of the operational amplifier 18 at the time of application of the wave form p thereto will cause an increase in voltage across the resistor 20 of a bridge 22, wherefore a balancing current i will flow through the resistor/capacitor circuit 24, 26, thereby causing a voltage to be applied to the negative input of the operational amplifier 18 so as to cause the output at b to follow the input at a. on the other hand, when that p-portion of the ecg signal reaches the negative input to the operational amplifier 10 (i.e., prior to the generation of the pacer signal) that signal portion is coupled through the operational amplifier 10 to the output d thereof, as shown in fig. 2. this results due to the open state of the switch 12, wherein there is no comparable input corresponding to that p-portion of the wave at the positive input to the operational amplifier 10. if, however, the voltage pulse applied to the operational amplifier 18 exceeds a particular slew rate value, wherein the time constant of the rc circuit 24, 26 cannot follow such a slew rate, then the operational amplifier will become saturated. in such case a large voltage, i.e., the supply voltage, will be seen at the output of the operational amplifier 18 and that voltage increase will be applied to a window comparator 28. in particular, the slew rate for causing saturation may preferably be set at about 1,500 volts/second which is some five times the maximum slew rate of the q, r, s pulse of a normal heartbeat. if the voltage applied to the window comparator exceeds a predetermined level, positive or negative depending on the polarity of the pacer signal, then the comparator 28 will apply a trigger signal to a one-shot circuit 30. the one-shot circuit, having an operational period of about 20 milliseconds is coupled to close the switch 12, whereby such switch 12 is closed for the 20 millisecond period. in this regard, it will be seen that the overall effect of the slew rate limiter, the window comparator, and the one-shot device, is to close the switch 12 as soon as the main pacer pulse is detected in the ecg waveform. as a result, the short-lived initial positive pulse of the pacer signal is coupled through the resistor 14, and through the switch 12 and a resistor 32 to the respective negative and positive inputs of the operational amplifier 10. since the same signal is applied to both the positive and negative inputs to the operational amplifier 10, the output thereof will be zero. since the pulse width of the entire positive portion of the pacer signal is only on the order of about 2 milliseconds, and since the switch 12 is closed for 20 milliseconds, a sizable portion of the pacer tail is coupled through the switch 12 to the operational amplifier 10. in this regard, the capacitor 34 is charged by the pacer tail, so that at the time of termination of the 20 millisecond period of the one-shot 30, when the switch 12 opens, the voltages applied to the positive and negative inputs of the operational amplifier 10 are substantially identical. furthermore, the rc circuit connected to the positive input of the operational amplifier 10 has a time constant which is the same as the decay period of the pacer tail so that the discharge of the capacitor c is approximately identical to the decay curve of the pacer tail. consequently, the output of the operational amplifier 10 shows no effect of the pacer signal input thereto. in contrast, however, the q, r, s, t portions of the ecg signal, which occur more than 20 milliseconds after the initiation of the pacer signal, are applied only to the negative input of the operational amplifier 10, and are isolated from the positive input thereof by the open switch 12. accordingly, the heartbeat portions p, q, r, s, t which constitute the actual heartbeat signal of the patient, are coupled through to the output d of the operational amplifier 10 for use in activating the heartbeat meter (not shown). the actual components utilized in the preferred embodiment of the invention are depicted schematically in fig. 3 of the drawings, wherein it is seen that one-half of a tl082 operational amplifier is utilized as the operational amplifier 18 of the slew rate limiter, while the other half of that operational amplifier is utilized in the window comparator 28. furthermore, in the preferred embodiment of the invention the bridge diodes of the slew rate limiter are connected through resistors of 115k ohms to positive and negative 7.5 volt sources, while the resistor 24 has a value of about 1k ohm and the capacitor 26 has a value of about 0.1 microfarads. the slew rate limiter circuit output is coupled from the output of the operational amplifier 18 to a pair of input diodes 38 and 40 through a 1k resistor 42. the input resistor 44 to the operational amplifier of the window comparator has a value of 47k, as do each of the bias resistors connected to the inputs to the operational amplifier of the window comparator. the 20 millisecond one-shot device constitutes an integrated circuit, type number 4538, connected as shown in fig. 3 of the drawings, and having a resistor and a capacitor of values 200k ohms and 0.1 microfarads connected to its positive supply source, at terminals 1 and 2 thereof. the output of the one-shot is taken from terminal 6 thereof and applied to the control terminal 6 of a switch device constituting a 4066 integrated circuit, connected as shown in fig. 3. the two input resistors for the operational amplifier 10 have values of 200k ohms, while the capacitor 34 has a value of 0.033 microfarads. furthermore, an rc circuit comprising a resistor having a value of 392k and a capacitor having a value of 0.01 microfarads is connected in parallel between the positive input to the operational amplifier 10 and ground. the feedback circuit for the operational amplifier 10 constitutes a parallel circuit comprising a resistor having a value of 392k and a capacitor having a value of 0.01 microfarads. while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described herein, in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other modifications of such circuitry can be assembled to perform the required functions of the invention, but that such modifications fall within the scope of applicant's invention.
059-678-007-328-720	JP	[ "WO", "CN", "EP", "JP", "US" ]	E02F9/20,E02F9/22,G05D1/00,G06F3/14	2018-03-29T00:00:00	2018	[ "E02", "G05", "G06" ]	working machine control device	a master-side device (60) is provided outside this working machine (1) and transmits, to a slave-side device (50), an instruction for controlling an activation of an actuator (23). the master-side device (60) is provided with a master-side lever (63) and an operation pattern switching unit (83). the operation pattern switching unit (83) switches a master-side operation pattern in which a first instruction according to an operation of the master-side lever (63) is combined with a second instruction for an operation of a machine-side lever (17). the slave-side device (50) transmits, to the master-side device (60), information on a machine-side operation pattern that has been selected by an operation pattern switching valve (30).	1 . a working machine control device capable of remotely controlling a working machine provided with an actuator, a control valve which controls activation of the actuator, a machine-side operation device which outputs a pilot pressure according to operation to the control valve, and an operation pattern switching valve which is provided in a pilot line between the machine-side operation device and the control valve and switches a machine-side operation pattern as a combination of operation of the machine-side operation device and activation of the actuator, the working machine control device comprising: a slave-side device which is disposed in the working machine and controls activation of the actuator by controlling a pilot pressure of the pilot line; and a master-side device which is provided outside the working machine and is radio-communicable with the slave-side device, and transmits a command for controlling activation of the actuator to the slave-side device, wherein the slave-side device transmits information of a machine-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern switching valve to the master-side device, and the master-side device includes: a master-side operation device which outputs a first command according to operation of an operator; an operation pattern switching unit which switches a master-side operation pattern as a combination of the first command and a second command to be transmitted to the slave-side device for operating the machine-side operation device based on an instruction from an operator who refers to the information of the machine-side operation pattern, and converts the first command to the second command according to the switched master-side operation pattern; and a communication unit which transmits the second command converted by the operation pattern switching unit to the slave-side device. 2 . the working machine control device according to claim 1 , wherein the master-side device further includes a first display unit which displays the information of the machine-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern switching valve. 3 . the working machine control device according to claim 1 , wherein the master-side device further includes: a first operator identification device which identifies the operator who operates the master-side operation device; and an operation pattern selection unit which stores the operator who operates the master-side operation device and the master-side operation pattern switched by the operation pattern switching unit based on an instruction from the operator in combination and selects the master-side operation pattern corresponding to the operator identified by the first operator identification device, and the operation pattern switching unit switches a master-side operation pattern to the master-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern selection unit. 4 . the working machine control device according to any one of claim 1 , wherein the slave-side device transmits stroke amount information as information on an amount of stroke of the machine-side operation device to the master-side device. 5 . the working machine control device according to claim 4 , wherein, the master-side device further includes a second display unit which displays the stroke amount information. 6 . the working machine control device according to claim 4 , wherein the master-side device further includes an operation characteristic setting unit which sets a master-side operation characteristic as a relationship between an amount of operation as an amount of operation to be applied to the master-side operation device and a command value according to the amount of operation, and the operation characteristic setting unit sets the master-side operation characteristic according to the master-side operation pattern switched by the operation pattern switching unit. 7 . the working machine control device according to claim 6 , wherein the operation characteristic setting unit conducts operation characteristic identical control for setting the master-side operation characteristic of a first operation of the master-side operation device to be on a side closer to a machine-side operation characteristic of a second operation of the machine-side operation device, the second operation being operation corresponding to the first operation, the second operation is operation to be applied to the machine-side operation device for causing the actuator to conduct target activation for the first operation, and the machine-side operation characteristic represents a relationship between an amount of operation as an amount of operation to be applied to the machine-side operation device according to the second operation and the pilot pressure output from the machine-side operation device. 8 . the working machine control device according to claim 7 , wherein the master-side device further includes an acquisition unit which acquires an instruction from the operator on whether to conduct the operation characteristic identical control or not, and when the acquisition unit acquires an instruction not to conduct the operation characteristic identical control, the operation characteristic setting unit refrains from conducting the operation characteristic identical control. 9 . the working machine control device according to claim 6 , wherein the master-side device includes: a second operator identification device which identifies the operator who operates the master-side operation device; and an operation characteristic selection unit which stores the operator who operates the master-side operation device and the master-side operation characteristic set by the operation characteristic setting unit in combination and selects the master-side operation characteristic corresponding to an operator identified by the second operator identification device, and the operation characteristic setting unit sets the master-side operation characteristic selected by the operation characteristic selection unit.	technical field the present invention relates to a working machine control device capable of remotely controlling a working machine. background art patent literature 1 discloses a remote control type construction machine provided with an operation lever which operates activation of an actuator, an operation pattern switching valve which switches an operation pattern of the operation lever, detecting means which detects a switching position of the operation pattern switching valve, and an indicator which is provided at a position which can be visually checked from the outside of the construction machine and which displays the switching position detected by the detecting means. this enables an operator who conducts remote control to easily recognize a switching state of the operation pattern switching valve, thereby eliminating the risk of malfunction caused by the misunderstanding of the switching state. however, it is a common practice that the operation pattern switching valve is mechanically fixed by a member which switches an operation pattern so as to prevent the operation pattern from being freely switched due to machine vibration or the like. therefore, for switching the operation pattern of the operation pattern switching valve, a person needs to access a site of a working machine to release the fixing, which costs labor and time. in a case, for example, of switching an operation pattern by a remote control device for a working machine, information of an operation pattern being currently selected by the operation pattern switching valve is required. however, for acquiring this information, a person needs to access a site of the working machine, which costs labor and time. citation list patent literature patent literature 1: japanese unexamined patent publication no. h9-217383 summary of invention an object of the present invention is to provide a working machine control device capable of easily switching an operation pattern without switching an operation pattern switching valve. one aspect to the present invention is a working machine control device capable of remotely controlling a working machine provided with an actuator, a control valve which controls activation of the actuator, a machine-side operation unit which outputs a pilot pressure according to operation to the control valve, and an operation pattern switching valve which is provided in a pilot line between the machine-side operation unit and the control valve and switches a machine-side operation pattern as a combination of operation of the machine-side operation unit and activation of the actuator, the working machine control device including a slave-side device which is disposed in the working machine and controls activation of the actuator by controlling a pilot pressure of the pilot line; and a master-side device which is provided outside the working machine and is radio-communicable with the slave-side device, and transmits a command for controlling activation of the actuator to the slave-side device, in which the slave-side device transmits information of a machine-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern switching valve to the master-side device, and the master-side device includes a master-side operation device which outputs a first command according to operation of an operator; an operation pattern switching unit which switches a master-side operation pattern as a combination of the first command and a second command to be transmitted to the slave-side device for operating the machine-side operation unit based on an instruction from an operator who refers to the information of the machine-side operation pattern, and converts the first command to the second command according to the switched master-side operation pattern; and a communication unit which transmits the second command converted by the operation pattern switching unit to the slave-side device. brief description of drawings fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a working machine control device according to a first embodiment. fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a master-side controller shown in fig. 1 . fig. 3 is a diagram showing amounts of strokes of a machine-side lever and a master-side lever shown in fig. 1 . fig. 4 is a graph showing a relationship between an amount of operation and a command value of each of the machine-side lever and the master-side lever shown in fig. 1 . fig. 5 is a diagram showing a master-side controller and the like of a working machine control device according to a second embodiment. description of embodiments first embodiment with reference to fig. 1 to fig. 4 , description will be made of a working machine control device 40 and a working machine i for which the working machine control device 40 is used according to a first embodiment. the working machine 1 is, for example, a construction machine which conducts construction work, such as an excavator, a crane, and the like as shown in fig. 1 . the working machine 1 is provided with a lower travelling body 11 , an upper slewing body 13 , an attachment 15 , a machine-side lever 17 , and a hydraulic apparatus 20 . the lower travelling body 11 causes the working machine 1 to travel. the upper stewing body 13 is arranged above the lower travelling body 11 and is turnable relative to the lower travelling body 11 . the upper slewing body 13 is provided with a driver's room 13 c. a driver's room inside seat 13 s is provided inside the driver's room 13 e. the attachment 15 is a device attached to the upper slewing body 13 to conduct work. the attachment 15 is provided with, for example, a boom 15 a, an arm 15 b, and a bucket 15 c. the boom 15 a is attached to the upper slewing body 13 so as to be rotatable (to go up and down). the arm 15 b is rotatably attached to the boom 15 a. the bucket 15 c is rotatably attached to the arm 15 b. the machine-side lever 17 (one example of a machine-side operation device) is an operation lever for operating the working machine 1 . since the working machine 1 is remotely controlled, the machine-side lever 17 need not be operated by an operator. the machine-side lever 17 is a lever for operating an actuator 23 to be described later. the machine-side lever 17 is a lever for operating the attachment 15 . the machine-side lever 17 is also a lever for turning (right turn, left turn) the upper slewing body 13 relative to the lower travelling body 11 . the machine-side lever 17 is arranged in the driver's room 13 c. the machine-side lever 17 is provided on a right side and a left side of the driver's room inside seat 13 s. the machine-side lever 17 on the right side is assumed to be a machine-side lever 17 r and the machine-side lever 17 on the left side is assumed to be a machine-side lever 17 l. parameters related to the machine-side lever 17 include an operation direction, an amount of operation, and an amount of stroke. operations of the machine-side lever 17 are forward operation of leaning forward, backward operation of leaning backward, leftward operation of leaning leftward, and rightward operation of leaning rightward as shown in fig. 3 . the above-described forward, backward, leftward, and rightward directions represent the forward, backward, leftward, and rightward directions seen from an operator sitting on the driver's room inside seat 13 s. “an amount of operation” of the machine-side lever 17 represents an amount of operation from a neutral position of the machine-side lever 17 , which is, for example, an angle or a distance from the neutral position of the machine-side lever 17 . “an amount of stroke” of the machine-side lever 17 represents an amount of operation from the neutral position of the machine-side lever 17 up to a maximum amount of operation that the machine-side lever 17 can assume. for example, an amount of stroke (e.g., a 4 ) in the forward operation is equal to an amount of stroke (e.g., a 4 ) in the backward operation as shown in fig. 3 . for example, an amount of stroke (e.g., a 2 ) in the leftward operation is equal to an amount of stroke (e.g., a 2 ) in the rightward operation. for example, the amount of stroke (a 4 ) in each of the forward operation and backward operation is larger than the amount of stroke (a 2 ) in each of the leftward operation and rightward operation. the amount of stroke (a 2 ) in each of the forward operation and backward operation may be smaller than or the same as the amount of stroke (a 2 ) in each of the leftward operation and rightward operation. the machine-side lever 17 outputs a pilot pressure (a hydraulic pressure, a command value) according to an operation direction and an amount of operation to a control valve 25 via a pilot line 27 shown in fig. 1 . as shown in fig. 4 , the larger an amount of operation becomes, the larger a command value outputs the machine-side lever 17 . a “command value” is a value not less than 0% and not more than 100% in a case, for example, where a minimum command value c 0 is 0% and a maximum command value c 1 is 100%. this is also the case with a command value of a master-side lever 63 . a relationship between an amount of operation of the machine-side lever 17 and a command value of the machine-side lever 17 is assumed to be a machine-side operation characteristic g 17 . “operation characteristic” represents a relationship between an amount of operation and a command value. a specific example of the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 is as follows. the lower part of fig. 4 illustrates a graph showing the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 , in which the vertical axis shows a command value indicative of a pilot pressure and the horizontal axis shows an amount of operation of the machine-side lever 17 . in a section in which the amount of operation of the machine-side lever 17 is from 0 to an amount of play a 0 a that is slightly larger than 0, the command value is constant to be the minimum command value c 0 . in a section in which the amount of operation of the machine-side lever 17 is from the amount of play a 0 a to a command-value-maximum amount of operation a 1 a that is slightly smaller than a maximum amount of operation a 2 , the larger the amount of operation becomes, the larger becomes the command value, i.e., for example, the command value is proportional to the amount of operation. in a section in which the amount of operation of the machine-side lever 17 is from the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 1 a to the maximum amount of operation a 2 , the command value is constant to the the maximum command value c 1 . the hydraulic apparatus 20 activates the working machine 1 shown in fig. 1 by hydraulic pressure. the hydraulic apparatus 20 is provided with a pump 21 , the actuator 23 , the control valve 25 , the pilot line 27 , and an operation pattern switching valve 30 . the pump 21 is a hydraulic pump which discharges an activation oil. the actuator 23 activates the working machine 1 . the actuator 23 is a hydraulic actuator to be driven by supply of an activation oil. the actuator 23 is composed of a plurality of actuators provided. examples of the actuator 23 include a boom cylinder which causes the boom 15 a to rotate (go up and down) relative to the upper slewing body 13 , an arm cylinder which causes the arm 15 b to rotate relative to the boom 15 a, and a bucket cylinder which causes the bucket 15 c to rotate relative to the arm 15 b. the examples of the actuator 23 also include a turning motor which causes the upper stewing body 13 to turn relative to the lower travelling body 11 . the control valve 25 controls activation of the actuator 23 . the control valve 25 controls a direction and a flow rate of an activation oil to be supplied from the pump 21 to the actuator 23 . the control valve 25 is provided with a plurality of valves. specifically, the control valve 25 is provided with a valve for the boom cylinder, a valve for the arm cylinder, a valve for the bucket cylinder, and a valve for the turning motor. the control valve 25 is controlled according to a pilot pressure input to the control valve 25 . the pilot line 27 is provided between the machine-side lever 17 and the control valve 25 . the pilot line 27 is connected to the machine-side lever 17 and the control valve 25 . the pilot line 27 transmits the pilot pressure output by the machine-side lever 17 to the control valve 25 . the pilot line 27 is composed of a plurality of pilot lines provided. specifically, the pilot line 27 includes eight types of the pilot lines 27 , pilot lines for raising the boom 15 a, for lowering the boom 15 a, for bending the arm 15 b, for stretching the arm 15 b, for scooping with the bucket 15 c, for releasing the bucket 15 c, for turning right the upper slewing body 13 , and for turning left the upper slewing body 13 . the operation pattern switching valve 30 , which is called also a multi-control valve, is a valve capable of switching a machine-side operation pattern. the operation pattern is composed of a machine-side operation pattern and a master-side operation pattern to be described later. the machine-side operation pattern is a combination of operation of the machine-side lever 17 and activation of the actuator 23 . specifically, the machine-side operation pattern is a pattern of combination of a total of eight operation directions including operations of the machine-side lever 17 r in four directions and operations of the machine-side lever 17 l in four directions, and eight kinds of activation of the actuator 23 . the eight kinds of activation of the actuator 23 are specifically for raising the boom 15 a, for lowering the boom 15 a, for bending the arm 15 b, for stretching the arm 15 b, for scooping with the bucket 15 c, for releasing the bucket 15 c, for turning right the upper slewing body 13 , and for turning left the upper slewing body 13 . the operation pattern switching valve 30 is provided in the pilot line 27 . the operation pattern switching valve 30 is provided with, for example, a main body unit 31 , a switching lever 33 , and a machine-side operation pattern detection unit 35 . when the switching lever 33 rotates relative to the main body unit 31 , a valve provided in the main body unit 31 is switched. then, oil passages of the plurality of pilot lines 27 are switched. as a result, the machine-side operation pattern is switched. the switching lever 33 is fixed to the main body unit 31 by fixing means such as a bolt. this arrangement intends to prevent the switching lever 33 from being freely switched due to vibration or the like. by contrast, when the switching lever 33 is intentionally switched, work of attaching or detaching the fixing means is generated to cost labor. the machine-side operation pattern detection unit 35 detects which machine-side operation pattern being selected by the operation pattern switching valve 30 . the machine-side operation pattern detection unit 35 is, for example, a limit switch or the like. the machine-side operation pattern detection unit 35 , for example, detects a position of the switching lever 33 relative to the main body unit 31 . the working machine control device 40 is a device which remotely controls the working machine 1 from the outside of the working machine 1 . the working machine control device 40 is provided with a slave-side device 50 and a master-side device 60 . the slave-side device 50 is disposed in the working machine 1 . the slave-side device 50 controls activation of the actuator 23 by controlling a pilot pressure of the pilot line 27 . the slave-side device 50 controls activation of the actuator 23 by, for example, controlling the machine-side lever 17 . the slave-side device 50 is provided with a lever operation device 51 , a slave-side controller 53 , and a slave-side antenna 55 . the lever operation device 51 operates the machine-side lever 17 by moving the machine-side lever 17 . the lever operation device 51 operates the machine-side lever 17 r and the machine-side lever 17 l in each of the forward, backward, leftward, and rightward directions. the lever operation device 51 is attached to the machine-side lever 17 . the lever operation device 51 is, for example, a cylinder, a motor, or the like. the slave-side controller 53 conducts signal (information) input/output, computation, storage of information, and the like. the slave-side controller 53 is configured to be radio-communicable with the master-side device 60 by using the slave-side antenna 55 . the slave-side device 50 can control activation of the actuator 23 by controlling a pilot pressure of the pilot line 27 without moving the machine-side lever 17 by using the lever operation device 51 . in this case, the slave-side controller 53 can control the pilot pressure of the pilot line 27 , for example, by controlling a valve provided in the pilot line 27 according to a second command and a command value transmitted from the master-side device 60 . the master-side device 60 is a device provided outside the working machine 1 for remotely controlling the working machine 1 . the master-side device 60 is provided with a master-side seat 61 , the master-side lever 63 , a display unit 65 (one example of each of a first display unit and a second display unit), and an operation unit 71 . the master-side device 60 is further provided with a master-side controller 80 and a master-side antenna 90 (one example of a communication unit). the master-side seat 61 is a seat on which an operator who conducts remote control of the working machine 1 sits. the master-side lever 63 (one example of a master-side operation device) is an operation lever for remotely controlling the working machine 1 . the master-side lever 63 is a lever for operating the actuator 23 similarly to the machine-side lever 17 . the master-side lever 63 is substantially the same lever as the machine-side lever 17 . the master-side lever 63 is provided on a right side and a left side of the master-side seat 61 . the master-side lever 63 on the right side is denoted as a master-side lever 63 r and the master-side lever 63 on the left side is denoted as a master-side lever 63 l. parameters related to the master-side lever 63 include an operation direction, an amount of operation, and an amount of stroke similarly to the machine-side lever 17 . operation directions of the master-side lever 63 include forward operation of leaning forward, backward operation of leaning backward, leftward operation of leaning leftward, and rightward operation of leaning rightward as shown in fig. 3 . the above-described forward, backward, leftward, and rightward directions represent the forward, backward, leftward, and rightward directions seen from an operator sitting on the master-side seat 61 . for example, an amount of stroke of the master-side lever 63 is the same as an amount of stroke of the machine-side lever 17 as shown in fig. 3 . in more detail, an amount of stroke (a 4 ) in each of the forward operation and the backward operation of the master-side lever 63 is the same as the amount of stroke (a 4 ) in each of the forward operation and the backward operation of the machine-side lever 17 . an amount of stroke (a 2 ) in each of the leftward operation and the rightward operation of the master-side lever 63 is the same as the amount of stroke (a 2 ) in each of the leftward operation and the rightward operation of the machine-side lever 17 . the amount of stroke of the master-side lever 63 and the amount of stroke of the machine-side lever 17 may be different in all the directions or in a part of the operation directions. the master-side lever 63 outputs a first command indicative of classification information and an operation direction of the master-side lever 63 and an amount of operation to the master-side controller 80 . the classification information of the master-side lever 63 is information indicating whether the operated master-side lever 63 is the master-side lever 63 l or the master-side lever 63 r. the master-side lever 63 increases an amount of operation to be output as an inclination angle of the lever is increased substantially in the same manner as the machine-side lever 17 . the upper part of fig. 4 illustrates a graph showing a master-side operation characteristic g 63 , which shows a relationship between an amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 and a command value to be transmitted to the slave-side device 50 shown in fig. 1 . the vertical axis shows a command value and the horizontal axis shows an amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 . examples of the master-side operation characteristic g 63 shown in fig. 4 include a first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a which is used in a case of non-execution of operation characteristic identical control to be described later and a second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b which is used in a case of execution of the operation characteristic identical control to be described later. a specific example of the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a is as follows. in a section in which the amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 is from 0 to an amount of play a 0 b that is slightly larger than 0, the command value is constant to be a minimum command value d 0 . in a section in which the amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 is from the amount of play a 0 b to a command-value-maximum amount of operation a 3 that is slightly smaller than a maximum amount of operation a 4 , the larger the amount of operation becomes, the larger becomes the command value, i.e., for example, the command value is proportional to the amount of operation. in a section in which the amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 is from the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 3 to the maximum amount of operation a 4 , the command value is constant to be a maximum command value d 2 . in a case of non-execution of the operation characteristic identical control, the amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 is converted to a command value by an operation characteristic setting unit 87 according to the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a. on the other hand, in a case of execution of the operation characteristic identical control, the amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 is converted to a command value by the operation characteristic setting unit 87 according to the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b. reference will be returned to fig. 1 . the display unit 65 displays information. as shown in fig. 1 , the display unit 65 is arranged in front of the master-side seat 61 so as to be opposed to the master-side seat 61 . contents displayed on the display unit 65 include, for example, video captured by a camera not shown and provided in the upper slewing body 13 and video captured by a camera provided in the driver's room 13 c. display contents of the display unit 65 other than these videos will be described later. the operation unit 71 is a device which accepts operation such as selection etc. from an operator. the operation unit 71 may be configured with the display unit 65 , for example. the operation unit 71 may be configured with a switch and a button displayed on the display unit 65 and a touch sensor provided on the display unit 65 , for example. the operation unit 71 may be configured with a touch panel or the like provided separately from the display unit 65 , or with a physical switch, a physical button or the like provided separately from the display unit 65 . the operation unit 71 is a device for an operator to select the master-side operation pattern to he described later and is one example of an operation pattern operating unit. the operation unit 71 is a device for an operator to select setting of the master-side operation characteristic g 63 shown in the upper part of fig. 4 and is one example of the operation characteristic setting unit 87 . the operation unit 71 is also a device for an operator to select whether to conduct the operation characteristic identical control to be described later or not and is one example of an acquisition unit. the operation unit 71 may be also a device for an operator to arbitrarily set the master-side operation characteristic g 63 shown in the upper part of fig. 4 , and may be one example of an operation characteristic arbitrary operating unit in this case. the operation pattern operating unit, the operation characteristic setting unit, and the operation characteristic arbitrary operating unit may be implemented by the common operation unit 71 or may not. the master-side controller 80 conducts signal (information) input/output, computation, storage of information, and the like. the master-side controller 80 is connected to the components (the master-side lever 63 , the display unit 65 , etc.) of the master-side device 60 . the master-side controller 80 is configured to be radio-communicable with the slave-side device 50 by using the master-side antenna 90 . the master-side controller 80 converts the first command output from the master-side lever 63 to the second command to be described later and converts an amount of operation output from the master-side lever 63 to a command value to transmit the conversion results to the slave-side device 50 . as shown in fig. 2 , the master-side controller 80 is provided with an operation pattern switching unit 83 and the operation characteristic setting unit 87 . the operation pattern switching unit 83 switches a master-side operation pattern. the master-side operation pattern is a combination of the first command output from the master-side lever 63 and the second command transmitted to the slave-side device 50 for operating the machine-side lever 17 . the operation pattern switching unit 83 converts the first command to the second command according to a switched master-side operation pattern and outputs the converted second command in combination with an amount of operation output from the master-side lever 63 to the operation characteristic setting unit 87 . the second command includes identification information of the machine-side lever 17 and an operation direction. the operation pattern switching unit 83 is provided with, for example, a memory not shown which stores one or a plurality of master-side operation patterns in advance. although the number of master-side operation patterns stored by the operation pattern switching unit 83 is three (patterns p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 ) in the example shown in fig. 2 , the number may be two or less, or four or more. in the present embodiment, the operation pattern switching unit 83 determines, as a target master-side operation pattern to be switched, one master-side operation pattern selected by an operator using the operation unit 71 from among the plurality of master-side operation patterns stored in advance in the memory. this is one example only, and the operation pattern switching unit 83 may determine, as a target master-side operation pattern to be switched, an arbitrary master-side operation pattern manually set by an operator using the operation unit 71 and stored in the memory. the operation characteristic setting unit 87 sets the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b (see fig. 4 ) according to a master-side operation pattern switched by the operation pattern switching unit 83 . in this case, the operation characteristic setting unit 87 need only set the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b by conducting the operation characteristic identical control to be described later. when conducting the operation characteristic identical control, the operation characteristic setting unit 87 need only determine a command value corresponding to an amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 according to the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b and transmit the determined command value together with the second command to the slave-side device 50 via the master-side antenna 90 . on the other hand, in a case of non-execution of the operation characteristic identical control, the operation characteristic setting unit 87 need only determine a command value corresponding to an amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 according to the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a and transmit the determined command value together with the second command to the slave-side device 50 via the master-side antenna 90 . (machine-side operation pattern information) the slave-side device 50 shown in fig. 1 acquires machine-side operation pattern information. the machine-side operation pattern information is information of a machine-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern switching valve 30 . the machine-side operation pattern information may be automatically detected or manually input. for example, the machine-side operation pattern information may be automatically detected by the machine-side operation pattern detection unit 35 . for example, an operator near the working machine 1 or the like may watch a position of the switching lever 33 of the operation pattern switching valve 30 and input the machine-side operation pattern information to the slave-side device 50 . for example, an operator may operate the machine-side lever 17 or the master-side lever 63 to check how the actuator 23 is activated, and then input the machine-side operation pattern information to the slave-side device 50 . the slave-side device 50 transmits the acquired machine-side operation pattern information to the master-side device 60 via the slave-side antenna 55 . the master-side controller 80 causes the display unit 65 to display the received machine-side operation pattern information. specifically, the display unit 65 displays the machine-side operation pattern information selected by the operation pattern switching valve 30 . the machine-side operation pattern information is information indicative of a correspondence between each operation direction of the forward, backward, leftward, and rightward directions of the machine-side levers 17 l and 17 r and activation of the actuator 23 corresponding to each operation direction, for example, right turn for the rightward operation of the machine-side lever 17 l and left turn for the leftward operation of the machine-side lever 17 l. since the machine-side operation pattern information is displayed on the display unit 65 , an operator who remotely controls the working machine 1 can grasp a current machine-side operation pattern. accordingly, the operator can grasp, for example, whether switching of a master-side operation pattern is necessary or not. the operator can further refer to the machine-side operation pattern information to input an instruction for determining a switching target master-side operation pattern from among master-side operation patterns determined in advance. (stroke amount information) the slave-side device 50 acquires stroke amount information. the stroke amount information is information about an amount of stroke of the machine-side lever 17 . the stroke amount information may be automatically detected or manually input. the stroke amount information may be acquired by, for example, detecting, by a sensor provided in the lever operation device 51 , an amount of stroke when the lever operation device 51 moves the machine-side lever 17 . for example, when the slave-side device 50 is mounted on the working machine i, calibration of the working machine control device 40 is conducted. the slave-side device 50 may acquire stroke amount information acquired at this time of calibration. the slave-side device 50 may acquire the stroke amount information by, for example, inputting known stroke amount information of the machine-side lever 17 . for example, an operator need only operate the machine-side lever 17 to check an amount of stroke and input the amount of stroke to the slave-side device 50 . the slave-side device 50 transmits the acquired stroke amount information to the master-side device 60 by radio communication. the master-side controller 80 causes the display unit 65 to display the received stroke amount information. specifically, the display unit 65 displays an amount of stroke of each of the machine-side lever 17 r and the machine-side lever 17 l in each operation direction. since the stroke amount information is displayed on the display unit 65 , an operator can grasp an amount of stroke of the machine-side lever 17 . accordingly, the operator can grasp, for example, whether change of the master-side operation characteristic g 63 is required or not. (processing of operation pattern switching unit 83 ) an operator can operate a machine with a desired operation pattern by switching a master-side operation pattern by the master-side device 60 even without switching a machine-side operation pattern by the operation pattern switching valve 30 . a specific example of switching an operation pattern by the operation pattern switching unit 83 is as follows. in the example shown in fig. 2 , master-side operation patterns set by the operation pattern switching unit 83 include the patterns p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 . the pattern p 1 is a pattern in which no operation pattern is switched. in fig. 2 , “input” represents the first command and “output” represents the second command for each of the patterns p 1 to p 3 . in the first command, for example, “left lever: forward” denotes forward operation of the master-side lever 63 . also in the second command, for example, “left lever: rightward” indicated in the pattern p 2 denotes rightward operation of the machine-side lever 17 l. specifically, in the pattern p 1 , “left lever: forward” as the first command is associated with “left lever: forward” as the second command. therefore, when the first command “left lever: forward” is output from the master-side lever 63 l, the operation pattern switching unit 83 outputs the second command “left lever: forward” without converting the first command “left lever: forward”. in this case, the master-side device 60 shown in fig. 1 transmits the second command “left lever: forward” to the slave-side device 50 . the second command “left lever: forward” is transmitted in combination with a command value according to an amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 l. in this case, the machine-side lever 17 l is operated forward by an amount of operation according to the transmitted command value, thereby controlling a pilot pressure of the pilot line 27 corresponding to the forward operation of the machine-side lever 17 l. this is also the case with other operation directions and other patterns. in the following, the machine-side lever 17 and the slave-side device 50 will be described with reference to fig. 1 . as shown in fig. 2 , the pattern p 2 is a pattern in which an operation pattern is switched. specifically, in the pattern p 2 , “left lever: forward” as the first command is associated with “left lever: rightward” as the second command. therefore, when the first command “left lever: forward” is output from the master-side lever 63 l, the operation pattern switching unit 83 converts the first command “left lever: forward” to the second command “left lever: rightward” and outputs “left lever: rightward”. in this case, the second command “left lever: rightward” is transmitted in combination with a command value according to an amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 l. as a result, the machine-side lever 17 l is operated rightward by an amount of operation according to the command value, thereby controlling a pilot pressure of the pilot line 27 corresponding to the rightward operation of the machine-side lever 17 l. a specific example of a case where the pattern p 2 is selected is as follows. a machine-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern switching valve 30 is assumed to be an operation pattern (hereinafter, referred to as a “lateral turn pattern”) in which the leftward-rightward operation of the machine-side lever 17 l causes the upper stewing body 13 to turn. on the other hand, an operation pattern desired by an operator is assumed to be an operation pattern (hereinafter, referred to as a “vertical turn pattern”) in which forward-backward operation of the master-side lever 63 l causes the upper stewing body 13 to turn. in this case, selection of the pattern p 2 shown in fig. 2 enables the operator to operate with the “vertical turn pattern” while the machine-side operation pattern remains the “lateral turn pattern”. as shown in the pattern p 3 , the operation pattern switching unit 83 may convert the first command “left lever: forward” indicative of the forward operation of the master-side lever 63 l on the left side to a second command “right lever: forward” indicative of the forward operation of the machine-side lever 17 r on the right side. additionally, although not shown in fig. 2 , the operation pattern switching unit 83 may convert operation of the master-side lever 63 r on the right side to operation of the machine-side lever 17 l on the left side. (operation characteristic identical control) the operation characteristic setting unit 87 conducts the operation characteristic identical control. as shown in fig. 4 , the operation characteristic identical control is control for setting the master-side operation characteristic g 63 to be on a side closer to the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 . details of the operation characteristic identical control are as follows. there is a case where converting the first command to the second command by the operation pattern switching unit 83 shown in fig. 2 associate a first operation of the master-side lever 63 with a second operation of the machine-side lever 17 having a different amount of stroke. for example, in the pattern p 2 , although the first command “left lever: forward” is converted to a second command “right lever: rightward”, since an amount of stroke of the master-side lever 63 in the forward operation is a 4 and an amount of stroke of the machine-side lever 17 in the rightward operation is a 2 , the two amounts of stroke are different from each other. in this case, unless the operation characteristic identical control is conducted, the amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 in the forward operation will have a command value determined according to the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a as shown in fig. 4 . here, the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a is the master-side operation characteristic g 63 in a case of non-execution of the operation characteristic identical control. the “second operation” is operation corresponding to the first operation, which is specifically operation (e.g., rightward operation) that should be applied to the machine-side lever 17 for causing the actuator 23 to conduct activation as a target for the first operation (e.g., forward operation) to be applied to the master-side lever 63 . in the following, the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a of the first operation of the master-side lever 63 will be also referred to simply as “the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a”. this is also the case with the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b to be described later. additionally, the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 of the second operation of the machine-side lever 17 will be also referred to simply as “the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 ”. specifically, in the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 , when the amount of operation is the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 1 a, the command value becomes the maximum command value c 1 . by contrast, in the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a, the master-side lever 63 is calibrated so that when the amount of operation is the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 3 , the command value becomes the maximum command value d 2 . also in the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a, a command value d 1 for a command-value-maximum amount of operation alb equal to the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 1 a becomes smaller than the maximum command value d 2 . thus, the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a and the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 are different from each other. therefore, when a command value according to the amount of operation of the master-side lever 63 is determined based on the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a, the operator cannot operate the master-side lever 63 by the same operation characteristic as the machine-side lever 17 . the operation characteristic setting unit 87 accordingly conducts the operation characteristic identical control for setting the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a to be on a side closer to the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 . the master-side operation characteristic g 63 set by the operation characteristic identical control will be referred to as the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b. a specific example of the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b set by the operation characteristic identical control is as follows. example 1 in example 1, in the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b, the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 1 b is set on a side (smaller side) closer to the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 1 a of the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 than to the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 3 of the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a. example 2 in example 2, in the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b, the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 1 b is set to be coincident or generally coincident with the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 1 a of the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 . example 3 in example 3, the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b is set to have an amount of change closer to an amount of change of the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 than to an amount of change of the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a (i.e., set to have a larger inclination). here, the amount of change of the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a corresponds to an amount of change (an inclination of the graph) of the command value relative to an amount of operation in the section from the amount of play a 0 b to the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 3 . an amount of change of the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b corresponds to an amount of change of the command value relative to an amount of operation in a section from the amount of play a 0 b to the command-value-maximum amount of operation a b. an amount of change of the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 corresponds to an amount of change of the command value relative to an amount of operation in the section from the amount of play a 0 a to the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 1 a. example 4 in example 4, the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b is set to have an amount of change coincident or generally coincident with an amount of change of the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 . example 5 in example 5, the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b may be set to have the amount of play a 0 b coincident or generally coincident with the amount of play a 0 a of the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 . example 6 in example 6, the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b may have the command value set to be the maximum command value d 2 in a section from the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 1 b to the maximum amount of operation a 4 . [example 1] to [example 6] can be combined, in which one of [example 1] and [example 2] is adopted and one of [example 3] and [example 4] is adopted. whether the operation characteristic identical control is to be conducted or not is switched by operation of the operation unit 71 by an operator. non-execution of the operation characteristic identical control is preferable in, for example, the following case. in the pattern p 2 shown in fig. 2 , the first command “left lever: forward” indicative of the forward operation of the master-side lever 63 l is converted to the second command “left lever rightward” indicative of the rightward operation of the machine-side lever 17 l. as a result, the forward operation of the master-side lever 63 l causes the upper slewing body 13 to turn right. at this time, when the operation characteristic identical control combining [example 2], [example 4], [example 5], and [example 6] is conducted, an operation characteristic of the forward operation of the master-side lever 63 l becomes the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b as shown in fig. 4 . however, in the forward operation of the master-side lever 63 l, an operator accustomed to an operation characteristic of outputting the maximum command value d 2 at the command-value-maximum amount of operation a 3 might desire the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a. in this case, it is better not to conduct the operation characteristic identical control. under these circumstances, the operation unit 71 is configured to be capable of accepting an instruction from an operator who switches execution/non-execution of the operation characteristic identical control in the present embodiment. specifically, the operation unit 71 is configured to be capable of accepting an instruction from an operator who switches the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a and the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b. this configuration improves convenience to the operator. the operation characteristic identical control is preferably conducted in a case where predetermined operation (e.g., forward operation) of the master-side lever 63 is converted to predetermined operation (e.g., rightward operation) of the machine-side lever 17 , when an amount of stroke (e.g., a 2 ) in the rightward operation of the machine-side lever 17 is smaller than an amount of stroke (e.g., a 4 ) in the forward operation of the master-side lever 63 . on the other hand, in a case where predetermined operation (e.g., leftward operation) of the master-side lever 63 is converted to predetermined operation (e.g., forward operation) of the machine-side lever 17 , when an amount of stroke (e.g., a 4 ) in the forward operation of the machine-side lever 17 is larger than an amount of stroke (e.g., a 2 ) in the leftward operation of the master-side lever 63 , the operation characteristic identical control need not be conducted. (adjustment of operation characteristic) the operation characteristic setting unit 87 may arbitrarily set the master-side operation characteristic g 63 . in this case, an operator can arbitrarily set the master-side operation characteristic g 63 so as to improve operability. in a case, for example, where a manufacturer of the working machine control device 40 is different from a manufacturer of the working machine 1 , it is assumed that an amount of stroke of the master-side lever 63 and an amount of stroke of the machine-side lever 17 might be different from each other. in such a case, an operator, for example, can arbitrarily set the master-side operation characteristic g 63 shown in fig. 4 so as to operate with an accustomed operation characteristic. additionally, for example, the smaller an amount of change (an inclination of the graph) of the master-side operation characteristic g 63 becomes, the easier the fine adjustment of a command value is. also, as the amount of change of the master-side operation characteristic g 63 increases, the less amount of operation is required to largely change the command value. also, by checking the stroke amount information displayed on the display unit 65 , the operator can be easily set the master-side operation characteristic g 63 . (effects) effects obtained by the working machine control device 40 shown in fig. 1 are as follows. (effect of first invention) the working machine control device 40 is capable of remotely controlling the working machine 1 . the working machine 1 is provided with the actuator 23 , the control valve 25 , the machine-side lever 17 , and the operation pattern switching valve 30 . the control valve 25 controls activation of the actuator 23 . the machine-side lever 17 outputs a pilot pressure according to operation to the control valve 25 . the operation pattern switching valve 30 , which is provided in the pilot line 27 between the machine-side lever 17 and the control valve 25 , is a valve capable of switching a machine-side operation pattern as a combination pattern of operation of the machine-side lever 17 and activation of the actuator 23 . the working machine control device 40 is provided with the slave-side device 50 and the master-side device 60 . the slave-side device 50 is disposed in the working machine 1 and controls activation of the actuator 23 by controlling a pilot pressure of the pilot line 27 . the master-side device 60 , which is provided outside the working machine 1 and is radio-communicable with the slave-side device 50 , transmits a command for controlling activation of the actuator 23 to the slave-side device 50 . the master-side device 60 is provided with the master-side lever 63 and the operation pattern switching unit 83 (see fig. 2 ). the master-side lever 63 outputs the first command according to operation. [configuration 1-1] the operation pattern switching unit 83 (see fig. 2 ) switches a master-side operation pattern as a combination of the first command and the second command which is to be transmitted to the slave-side device 50 for operating the machine-side lever 17 based on an instruction from an operator who refers to information of machine-side operation patterns, and converts the first command to the second command according to the switched master-side operation pattern. the master-side antenna 90 transmits the second command converted by the operation pattern switching unit 83 to the slave-side device 50 . [configuration 1-2] the slave-side device 50 transmits information of a machine-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern switching valve 30 to the master-side device 60 . the above-described [configuration 1-1] enables a master-side operation pattern to be switched by the operation pattern switching unit 83 , the master-side operation pattern being a combination pattern of the first command from the master-side lever 63 and the second command to the machine-side lever 17 . it is accordingly unnecessary to switch the operation pattern switching valve 30 at the time of switching an operation pattern. as a result, switching work of the operation pattern switching valve 30 can be eliminated to save labor and time for this work, so that the operation pattern can be easily switched. additionally, since no switching of the operation pattern switching valve 30 is required, no person needs to access the working machine 1 when switching a master-side operation pattern. accordingly, as compared with a case where a person needs to access the working machine 1 , an operation pattern can be more easily switched. on the other hand, it is assumed that without information of a machine-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern switching valve 30 , an operator might have difficulty in determining how a master-side operation pattern should be switched. under these circumstances, the working machine control device 40 is provided with the above-described [configuration 1-2]. accordingly, the master-side device 60 can set a master-side operation pattern by using information of a machine-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern-switching valve 30 . as a result, the operator can easily set a master-side operation pattern so that the actuator conducts desired activation for certain operation of the master-side lever 63 . also because of the above-described [configuration 1-2], no person needs to access the working machine 1 for obtaining information of a machine-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern switching valve 30 . accordingly, as compared with a case where a person needs to access the working machine 1 , an operation pattern can be more easily switched. for allowing the slave-side device 50 to acquire information of a machine-side operation pattern at a time point before the slave-side device 50 transmits the information of the machine-side operation pattern to the master-side device 60 , a person may access the working machine 1 . as a result of unnecessity of person's access to the working machine 1 , the following effect can be obtained. in a case, for example, where the working machine 1 is used at a scene of disaster which is inaccessible or which is hard to be accessed by a person, a master-side operation pattern can be switched without person's access to the working machine 1 . (effect of second invention) [configuration 2] the master-side device 60 is provided with the display unit 65 (the first display unit) which displays information of a machine-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern switching valve 30 . the above-described [configuration 2] enables an operator to know information of a machine-side operation pattern displayed on the display unit 65 . as a result, for example, an operator can easily set a master-side operation pattern. (effect of fourth invention) [configuration 4] the slave-side device 50 transmits stroke amount information as information on an amount of stroke of the machine-side lever 17 to the master-side device 60 . the above-described [configuration 4] enables the master-side device 60 to acquire the stroke amount information of the machine-side lever 17 without person's access to the working machine 1 . for allowing the slave-side device 50 to acquire stroke amount information at a time point before the slave-side device 50 transmits the stroke amount information to the master-side device 60 , a person may access the working machine 1 . (effect of fifth invention) [configuration 5] the master-side device 60 is provided with the display unit 65 (the second display unit) which displays stroke amount information. the above-described [configuration 5] enables an operator to know stroke amount information displayed on the display unit 65 . as a result, for example, an operator can easily determine how the master-side operation characteristic g 63 should be set. (effect of sixth invention) [configuration 6] the master-side device 60 is further provided with the operation characteristic setting unit 87 shown in fig. 2 . the operation characteristic setting unit 87 sets the master-side operation characteristic g 63 . the master-side operation characteristic g 63 represents a relationship between an amount of operation as an amount of operation to be applied to the master-side lever 63 and a command value according to the amount of operation. the operation characteristic setting unit 87 can set the master-side operation characteristic g 63 (see fig. 4 ) according to a master-side operation pattern switched by the operation pattern switching unit 83 . with the above-described [configuration 6], the master-side operation characteristic g 63 (see fig. 4 ) can be automatically changed according to a master-side operation pattern switched by the operation pattern switching unit 83 . accordingly, when a master-side operation pattern is switched, an operator does not need to manually set the master-side operation characteristic g 63 (see fig. 4 ). (effect of seventh invention) [configuration 7] the operation characteristic setting unit 87 conducts the operation characteristic identical control. the operation characteristic identical control sets the master-side operation characteristic g 63 of the first operation (e.g., forward operation) of the master-side lever 63 to be on a side closer to the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 of the second operation (e.g., rightward operation) of the machine-side lever 17 corresponding to the first operation as shown in fig. 4 . the second operation is operation of the machine-side lever 17 to be applied to the machine-side operation device for causing the actuator to conduct target activation for the first operation. the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 represents a relationship between an amount of operation of the machine-side lever 17 according to the second operation and a pilot pressure output from the machine-side lever 17 . the above-described [configuration 7] enables the master-side operation characteristic g 63 of the first operation (e.g., forward operation) of the master-side lever 63 to be closer to the machine-side operation characteristic g 17 of the second operation (e.g., rightward operation) of the machine-side lever 17 corresponding to the first operation. as a result, an operator is allowed to operate the master-side lever 63 more easily. (effect of eighth invention) [configuration 8] as shown in. fig. 1 , the master-side device 60 is provided with the operation unit 71 (the acquisition unit). when an instruction to refrain from conducting the operation characteristic identical control is acquired by the operation unit 71 , the operation characteristic setting unit 87 does not conduct the operation characteristic identical control. the above-described [configuration 8] enables an operator to switch whether to conduct the operation characteristic identical control or not. accordingly, the operator can select an operation characteristic of the master-side lever 63 . operator's convenience can be accordingly improved. second embodiment with reference to fig. 5 , description will be made of a difference of a working machine control device 240 of a second embodiment from the first embodiment. in the working machine control device 240 of the second embodiment, common components to those of the first embodiment are given the same reference codes as those of the first embodiment to omit description of the components. the difference resides in that the master-side device 60 is provided with an operator identification device 263 (one example of each of a first operator identification device and a second operator identification device). the difference also resides in that the master-side controller 80 is further provided with an operation pattern selection unit 281 and an operation characteristic selection unit 285 . the operator identification device 263 identifies an operator who operates the master-side lever 63 . “an operator who operates the master-side lever 63 ” includes an operator who will operate the master-side lever 63 . the operator identification device 263 identifies an operator, for example, from an image of the operator captured by a camera 263 a. the camera 263 a may be, for example, an infrared camera, or, for example, a visible light camera. the camera 263 a is arranged, for example, at a position that enables the master-side seat 61 to be photographed, the camera 263 a may be arranged, for example, at a position that enables photographing of a position through which an operator pass without fail when the operator is going to sit on the master-side seat 61 . the operator identification device 263 may identify an operator by reading information of a recording medium such as a tag or a card in which information that can identify an operator stored. the first operator identification device and the second operator identification device may be commonly implemented by one operator identification device 263 or may not. the operation pattern selection unit 281 selects a master-side operation pattern according to an operator. in more detail, the operation pattern selection unit 281 stores, in a memory (not shown), a combination of an operator who operates the master-side lever 63 and a master-side operation pattern switched by the operation pattern switching unit 83 based on an instruction from the operator. then, the operation pattern selection unit 281 selects a master-side operation pattern corresponding to an operator identified by the operator identification device 263 . then, the operation pattern switching unit 83 switches a master-side operation pattern to the master-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern selection unit 281 . the operation characteristic selection unit 285 selects the master-side operation characteristic g 63 (see fig. 4 ) according to the operator. in more detail, the operation characteristic selection unit 285 stores, in a memory (not shown), a combination of an operator who operates the master-side lever 63 and setting of the master-side operation characteristic g 63 set by the operation characteristic setting unit 87 . then, the operation characteristic selection unit 285 selects setting of the master-side operation characteristic g 63 corresponding to the operator identified by the operator identification device 263 . then, the operation characteristic setting unit 87 sets the master-side operation characteristic g 63 selected by the operation characteristic selection unit 285 . examples of the master-side operation characteristic g 63 selected by the operation characteristic selection unit 285 include the first master-side operation characteristic g 63 a (see fig. 4 ) and the second master-side operation characteristic g 63 b (see fig. 4 ). additionally, the setting of the master-side operation characteristic g 63 selected by the operation characteristic selection unit 285 shown in fig. 5 may include the master-side operation characteristic 063 arbitrarily set by an operator. (activation) the operation pattern selection unit 281 and the operation characteristic selection unit 285 are used, for example, in the following manner. a certain operator o 1 tries to operate the working machine 1 (see fig. 1 ) by the master-side device 60 for the first time. at this time, the operator o 1 selects a certain master-side operation pattern by using the operation unit 71 (see fig. 1 ) to select or arbitrarily set the master-side operation characteristic g 63 . at this time, the operation pattern selection unit 281 combines the operator o 1 and the selected master-side operation pattern (e.g., the pattern p 2 ) and stores the combination in the memory. additionally, the operation characteristic selection unit 285 combines the operator o 1 and the set master-side operation characteristic g 63 and stores the combination in the memory. then, when the operator o 1 operates hereafter, the operation pattern selection unit 281 automatically selects the master-side operation pattern (e.g., the pattern p 2 ) selected by the operator o 1 in an initial operation. the operation characteristic selection unit 285 automatically selects setting of the master-side operation characteristic g 63 set by the operator o 1 in the initial operation. a combination of an operator who operates the master-side lever 63 and a master-side operation pattern may be set by the operation pattern selection unit 281 before the initial operation by the operator (this is also the case with the master-side operation characteristic g 63 ). also, the combination may be contained in a recording medium such as a tag or a card for identifying an operator. in a case where the operation pattern selection unit 281 automatically selects a master-side operation pattern, the display unit 65 (see fig. 1 ) need not display a machine-side operation pattern. in a case where the operation characteristic selection unit 285 automatically selects setting of the master-side operation characteristic g 63 , the display unit 65 (see fig. 1 ) need not display stroke information. (effects) effects obtained by the working machine control device 240 shown in fig. 5 are as follows. (effect of third invention) [configuration 3] the master-side device 60 is provided with the operator identification device 263 (the first operator identification device) and the operation pattern selection unit 281 . the operator identification device 263 identifies an operator who operates the master-side lever 63 . the operation pattern selection unit 281 stores an operator who operates the master-side lever 63 and a master-side operation pattern switched by the operation pattern switching unit 83 based on an instruction from the operator in combination and selects a master-side operation pattern corresponding to the operator identified by the operator identification device 263 . the operation pattern switching unit 83 switches a master-side operation pattern to the master-side operation pattern selected by the operation pattern selection unit 281 . with the above-described [configuration 3], when an operator who operates the master-side lever 63 is changed, a master-side operation pattern according to the changed operator is automatically selected. accordingly, operator's labor for manually setting a master-side operation pattern can be saved. (effect of ninth invention) [configuration 9] the master-side device 60 is provided with the operator identification device 263 (the second operator identification device) and the operation characteristic selection unit 285 . the operator identification device 263 identifies an operator who operates the master-side lever 63 . the operation characteristic selection unit 285 stores an operator who operates the master-side lever 63 and the master-side operation characteristic g 63 (see fig. 4 ) in combination and selects the master-side operation characteristic g 63 corresponding to an operator identified by the operator identification device 263 . the operation characteristic setting unit 87 sets the master-side operation characteristic g 63 selected by the operation characteristic selection unit 285 . with the above-described [configuration 9], when an operator who operates the master-side lever 63 is changed, setting of the master-side operation characteristic g 63 according to the changed operator is automatically selected. accordingly, operator's labor for manually setting the master-side operation characteristic g 63 can be saved. (modification) the above-described embodiments can be variously modified. for example, the components of the first embodiment and the second embodiment can be combined. for example, connection of the respective components illustrated in the block diagrams shown in fig. 2 and fig. 5 may be changed. for example, the number of the components may be changed or a part of the components may not be provided.
062-365-685-689-876	TW	[ "TW", "US", "CN" ]	A61B3/14,A61B3/00,A61B3/12,A61B3/125	2014-10-24T00:00:00	2014	[ "A61" ]	contact type ophthalmoscope	a contact-type ophthalmoscope includes a contact lens, an annular illumination module, an imaging lens group and an image capture module. the contact lens having a concave surface is configured for contacting an eyeball. the annular illumination module arranged close to the contact lens is configured for providing a direct illumination light source to illuminate a fundus of the eyeball. the imaging lens group is disposed in the central hollow portion of the annular illumination module and configured for converging the reflected light from the fundus of the eyeball. the image capture module is configured for capturing the reflected light converged by the imaging lens group to form an image. the above-mentioned contact-type ophthalmoscope has advantages of better illumination efficiency, compactness and less scattered light reflected from the imaging lens.	1. a contact-type ophthalmoscope, comprising: a contact lens having a first surface and a second surface, wherein said first surface is a concave surface configured for contacting an eyeball; an annular illumination module arranged close to said second surface of said contact lens and configured for providing a direct illumination source passing through a pupil of said eyeball and illuminate a fundus of the eyeball, wherein all or most of light generated by said direct illumination light source is directly incident onto said fundus of said eyeball without reflection by any artificial manipulation surface; an imaging lens group disposed in a central hollow portion of said annular illumination module and configured for converging reflected light from said fundus of said eyeball, wherein said central hollow portion of said annular illumination module has an inner diameter of 6-10 mm; and an image capture module configured for capturing said reflected light converged by said imaging lens group to form an image. 2. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 , wherein said annular illumination module includes a plurality of light emitting elements arranged annularly and symmetrically or an annular light emitting element. 3. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 , wherein said annular illumination module includes a plurality of first light emitting diodes and a plurality of second light emitting diodes, and wherein said first light emitting diodes are arranged annularly and symmetrically, and wherein said second light emitting diodes are also arranged annularly and symmetrically, and a central wavelength generated by said direct illumination source of said first light emitting diodes is different from a central wavelength generated by said direct illumination source of said second light emitting diodes. 4. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 , wherein said annular illumination module includes a plurality of light emitting diodes arranged annularly and symmetrically, and said light emitting diodes have a simple package structure. 5. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 , wherein said annular illumination module includes a plurality of light emitting diodes arranged annularly and symmetrically, and wherein said light emitting diodes have a package structure with a secondary optical structure. 6. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 , wherein said second surface of said contact lens corresponding to said annular illumination module is provided with a light-converging structure configured for converging said direct illumination source to pass through said pupil of said eyeball. 7. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 , wherein said second surface of said contact lens has a convex surface corresponding to said imaging lens group. 8. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 , wherein said contact lens is made of a polymeric material. 9. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 , wherein said contact lens is made of a soft biocompatible polymeric material. 10. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 , wherein said imaging lens group includes a first lens group, a second lens group and a third lens group, which are arranged in sequence from said eyeball to said image capture module, and said first lens group converges said reflected light to form an intermediate image between said first lens group and said second lens group. 11. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 10 , wherein at least one of said second lens group and said third lens group is arranged for being movable with respect to said first lens group. 12. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 10 , wherein said second lens group includes at least two aspherical lenses. 13. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 10 , wherein said third lens group includes at least two cemented doublet lenses, or a combination of a cemented doublet lens and a cemented triplet lens. 14. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 further comprising a display module configured for displaying said image captured by said image capture module. 15. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 further comprising a focus adjusting module configured for driving said image capture module or at least one lens group of said imaging module to move linearly along an optical axis of said imaging lens group. 16. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 further comprising a connection port configured for physically connecting to an external electronic device through said connection port to transmit said image captured by said image capture module to said external electronic device. 17. the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to claim 1 further comprising a housing having a shape designed for handheld, wherein said contact lens, said annular illumination module, said imaging lens group and said image capture module are arranged inside said housing to make said contact-type ophthalmoscope a handheld device.	background of the invention 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to an ophthalmoscope, particularly to a contact-type ophthalmoscope. 2. description of the prior art the ophthalmoscope is an instrument for inspecting the fundus of an eyeball, including the retina, the optic disc, and the vasculature. however, the conventional non-contact-type ophthalmoscope is limited by the pupil and has a smaller observation area, normally only having a half-viewing angle of about 20 degrees. if the non-contact-type ophthalmoscope requires a larger observation area, the imaging system and illumination system thereof need special designs, such as enlarged lenses or an independent illumination system. however, the special design makes it difficult to reduce the volume of the non-contact-type ophthalmoscope. since observation of the contact-type ophthalmoscope is performed close to the pupil, a larger observation area is thus obtained. a conventional contact-type ophthalmoscope adopts an illumination system coaxial with the imaging system. however, it is difficult for the system to avoid the central reflected light from the lenses resulted in influenced observation. further, the illumination range of the system is proportional to the size of lenses. therefore, the system has to adopt larger lenses to achieve a larger illumination field. another conventional contact-type ophthalmoscope adopts optical fibers for conducting light for illumination. it is understood that, due to a smaller light output angle of the optical fiber, it requires a plurality of optical fibers at different directions to provide a larger illumination field but results in complicated structure and increased fabrication cost. further, the coupling of the light sources and the optical fibers also affects the utilization efficiency of the light source. accordingly, it is now a current goal to provide a larger illumination field for the contact-type ophthalmoscope with a simple structure. summary of the invention the present invention provides a contact-type ophthalmoscope, which makes the light source offset from the optical axis of the imaging system close to the pupil as much as possible such that the illumination field may be enlarged by using the direct illumination light sources. a contact-type ophthalmoscope according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a contact lens, an annular illumination module, an imaging lens group, and an image capture module. the contact lens has a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. the first surface is a concave surface configured for contacting an eyeball. the annular illumination module is arranged close to the second surface of the contact lens and configured for projecting a direct illumination light source passing through the pupil to illuminate the fundus of the eyeball, wherein all or most of light generated by the direct illumination light source is directly incident onto the fundus of the eyeball without reflection by any artificial manipulation surface. the imaging lens group is disposed in the central hollow portion of the annular illumination module to converge the reflected light from the fundus of the eyeball, wherein the central hollow portion of the annular illumination module has an inner diameter of 6-10 mm. the image capture module is configured for capturing the reflected light converged by the imaging lens group to form an image. below, the embodiments are described in detail in cooperation with the attached drawings to make easily understood the objectives, technical contents, characteristics and accomplishments of the present invention. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 schematically shows a contact-type ophthalmoscope according to one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 schematically shows a contact lens, an annular illumination module and a first lens group of a contact-type ophthalmoscope according to one embodiment of the present invention; and fig. 3 schematically shows an annular illumination module of a contact-type ophthalmoscope according to one embodiment of the present invention. description of the preferred embodiment refer to figs. 1-3 , the contact-type ophthalmoscope according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a contact lens 11 , an annular illumination module 12 , an imaging lens group 13 , and an image capture module 14 . the contact lens 11 has a first surface 111 and a second surface 112 opposite to the first surface 111 . the first surface 111 faces an eyeball 20 and contacts the eyeball 20 . it is easily appreciated that the first surface 111 is preferably a concave surface to contact the cornea of the eyeball 20 . for example, the concave surface has a curvature about identical to the curvature of the cornea. in one embodiment, the contact lens 11 is made of a polymeric material. for example, the contact lens 11 is made of a soft biocompatible polymeric material. preferably, the contact lens 11 is made of a hydrous polymeric material, such as a silicone hydrogel, an artificial polymer, or a natural resin. the annular illumination module 12 is arranged close to the second surface 112 of the contact lens 11 and configured for projecting a direct illumination light source passing through the pupil to illuminate the fundus of the eyeball 20 . it should be noted that the direct illumination light source refers to all or most of the light generated by the light source is directly incident onto the fundus of the eyeball 20 without reflection by any artificial manipulation surface. in one embodiment, the annular illumination module 12 is a group of light emitting elements 121 , such as light emitting diodes (led), arranged symmetrically to form an annular shape, or an annular light emitting element, such as an organic light emitting diode (oled). in one embodiment, the annular illumination module 12 has a plurality of first leds 121 a and a plurality of second leds 121 b . the first leds 121 a are symmetrically and annularly arranged, and the second leds 121 b are also symmetrically and annularly arranged. the central wavelength of the light emitted by the first leds 121 a is different from the central wavelength of the light emitted by of the second leds 121 b . for example, the first leds 121 a emit visible light, such as white light, and the second leds 121 b emit infrared light for various observations, respectively. the imaging lens group 13 is disposed in a central hollow portion 122 of the annular illumination module 12 and configured to converge reflected light (rl) from the fundus of the eyeball 20 and form an image on the image capture module 14 . in one embodiment, the imaging lens group 13 has a first lens group 131 , a second lens group 132 and a third lens group 133 , which are arranged in sequence from the eyeball 20 to the image capture module 14 . the first lens group 131 is arranged in the central hollow portion 122 of the annular illumination module 12 and configured for converge the reflected light from the fundus of the eyeball 20 and form an intermediate image between the first lens group 131 and the second lens group 132 . in one embodiment, the second surface 112 of the contact lens 11 has a convex surface 112 a corresponding to the first lens group 131 of the imaging lens group 13 . thereby, the contact lens 11 also contributes a portion of the imaging function. the second lens group 132 is used for overcoming large-viewing-angle distortion. in one embodiment, the second lens group 132 has at least two aspherical lenses. the third lens group 133 is used for eliminating chromatic aberration. in one embodiment, the third lens group 133 has at least two cemented doublet lenses, or a combination of a cemented doublet lens and a cemented triplet lens. in one embodiment, at least one of the second lens group 132 and the third lens group lens 133 is designed to be movable with respect to the first lens group 131 . for example, at least one of the second lens group 132 and the third lens group lens 133 are movable along or about with respect to the optical axis oa of the imaging lens group 13 . the image capture module 14 captures the reflected light converged by the imaging lens group 13 to form an image. the image capture module 14 includes ccd (charge coupled device), a cmos (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) sensor, or a photographic film. according to the above-mentioned structure, the annular illumination module 12 may approach the eyeball 20 as much as possible to provide an illumination field having an enlarged angle, i.e. the rear half of the eyeball 20 (the left portion of the dotted line shown in fig. 1 ). it is easily appreciated that light emitting elements 121 move toward the optical axis oa of the imaging lens group 13 can result in better illumination efficiency but will constraint the space for arranging the first lens group 131 and thus affect the image quality. on the contrary, the light emitting elements 121 move away from the optical axis oa of the imaging lens group 13 can result in increased space for accommodate a larger-size first lens group 131 but will impair providing uniform illumination. in a preferred embodiment, the inner diameter d of the central hollow portion 122 of the annular illumination module 12 ranges from 6 mm to 10 mm. in other words, the maximum diameter of the first lens group 131 ranges from 6 mm to 10 mm. in one embodiment, the leds of the light emitting elements 121 may adopt a simple package structure for the light emitting elements 121 to approach the optical axis oa. in other words, the packaged led is provided with no secondary optical element that is capable of deflecting light. the simple-package led has smaller height and width so as to be close to the pupil and the optical axis oa as much as possible and have a relatively larger light output angle. in one embodiment, the second surface 112 of the contact lens 12 has a light converging structure 112 b corresponding to the light emitting elements 121 of the annular illumination module 12 . the light converging structure 112 b can converge a larger-angle direct illumination light source and allow it to pass through the pupil of the eyeball 20 , resulted in increased illumination efficiency. in one embodiment, the light converging structure 112 b is a convex surface. in one embodiment, the light converging structure is integrated with the light emitting element 121 . in other words, the light emitting element 121 is a packaged led containing a secondary optical structure. according to the above-mentioned structural design, the contact-type ophthalmoscope of the present invention has a very compact structure. in one embodiment, the contact-type ophthalmoscope of the present invention further comprises a housing having a shape for handheld, such as a pistol shape. the contact-type ophthalmoscope of the present invention will be fabricated as a handheld device by arranging the contact lens 11 , the annular illumination module 12 , the imaging lens group 13 and the image capture module 14 inside the housing. in one embodiment, the contact-type ophthalmoscope of the present invention further comprises a display module 15 , which displays the image captured by the image capture module 14 . it should be easily appreciated by the persons skilled in the art that the contact-type ophthalmoscope of the present invention may comprise a processing unit for computation, which may be integrated with or separated from the image capture module 14 . the image captured by the image capture module 14 may be processed by the processing unit and then displayed on the display module 15 . for example, the image captured by the image capture module 14 may be processed by the processing unit such as filtering noise, modifying contrast, and adjusting brightness to obtain better image quality. since the technology of the processing unit has been well known by the persons skilled in the art, it will not be described in detail herein. in one embodiment, the contact-type ophthalmoscope of the present invention further comprises a focus adjusting module 16 . the focus adjusting module 16 drives mechanically or electronically the image capture module 14 to move linearly along the optical axis oa of the imaging lens group 13 to attain an appropriate focal length, as indicated by the arrow a in fig. 1 . as the focus adjusting module 16 moves the image capture module 14 linearly, the user can arbitrarily vary the back focus of the imaging lens group 13 without using other focus adjusting mechanisms, especially the nonlinear-compensation cam ring. therefore, the imaging lens group 13 is simplified and allowed to have a greater tolerance. thus is reduced the difficulty and cost of fabricating the imaging lens group 13 . in one embodiment, the focus adjusting module 16 also drives at least one of the second lens group 132 and the third lens group 133 to move linearly along the optical axis oa of the imaging lens group 13 to attain an appropriate focal length. in one embodiment, the contact-type ophthalmoscope of the present invention further comprises a connection port 17 , whereby the contact-type ophthalmoscope can be physically connected with an external electronic device (not shown in the drawings) to transmit the images captured by the image capture module 14 to the external electronic device. in one embodiment, the connection port 17 is a universal serial bus (usb). in conclusion, the contact-type ophthalmoscope of the present invention makes the light source offset from the optical axis of the imaging system close to the pupil as much as possible such that the illumination field may be enlarged by using the direct illumination light sources with achieve a compact structure. besides, the off-axis annular light source and the imaging system do not use common lenses and thus is exempted from the scattered light reflected from the lenses. the embodiments described above are to demonstrate the technical thought and characteristics of the present invention to enable the persons skilled in the art to understand, make, and use the present invention. however, these embodiments are only to exemplify the present invention but not to limit the scope of the present invention. any equivalent modification or variation according to the spirit of the present invention is to be also included within the scope of the present invention.
063-199-053-762-356	GB	[ "EP", "JP", "US" ]	H01L25/10,H01L23/40,H01L25/07,H01L25/18	1982-07-29T00:00:00	1982	[ "H01" ]	semi-conductor assembly	a semi-conductor assembly having first, second and . third electrically conductive members (11, 12, 13), and a semi-conductor diode (14) positioned between said first and second conductive members (11, 12). the diode (14) has its anode region electrically connected to said first conductive member and its cathode region electrically connected to the second conductive member (12). a semi-conductor thyristor (15) positioned between said second and third conductive members, said semi-conductor thyristor having its anode terminal region connected to the second conductive member (12) and its cathode terminal region connected to the third conductive member (13). the third and first electrically conductive members (13, 11) are electrically interconnected, and at least one of said first, second and third electrically conductive members constituting a heat sink for the assembly. the assembly includes a connector (34, 35) for making an electrical connection to the gate terminal region of the thyristor (15).	1. a semi-conductor assembly characterized by comprising first, second and third electrically conductive members (11,12,13), a semi-conductor diode (14) positioned between said first and second conductive members (11,12), and having its anode region electrically connected to one (11) of said first and second conductive members and its cathode region electrically connected to the other (12) of said first and second conductive members, a semi-conductor thyristor (15) positioned between said second and third conductive members (12,13), said semi-conductor thyristor having one of its anode and cathode terminal regions connected to the second conductive member and the other of its anode and cathode terminal region connected to the third conductive member, said third and first electrically conductive members (11,13) being electrically interconnected, and the terminal region of the semi-conductor diode (14) which is electrically connected to the- second conductive member (12) being of opposite polarity to the thyristor terminal region which is also electrically connected to the second conductive member (12), at least one of said first, second and third electrically conductive members constituting a heat sink for the assembly, and the assembly including means (34,35) for making an electrical connection to the gate terminal region of the thyristor. 2. an assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said thyristor (15) and said diode (14) are mounted on said second member (12) so as to be substantially in axial alignment. 3. an assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that said second conductive member (12) is the heat sink of the assembly. 4. an assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that said first and third conductive members (11,13) constitute the heat sink of the assembly. 5. an assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that all three of said first, second and third conductive members (11,12,13) form parts of the heat sink of the assembly. 6. an assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, characteised in that the cathode of said diode (14) and the anode of said thyristor (15) are each electrically connected to said second conductive member (12).. 7. an assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 characterised in that the first and third conductive members (11,13) are urged towards one another to trap the thyristor (15), the second conductive member (12), and the diode (14) therebetween. 8. an assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that said first and third conductive members (11,13) are joined to one another by electrically conductive fastening devices (29) which extend through the second conductive member (12) but are electrically insulated therefrom. 9. an assembly as claimed in claim 8 characterised in that said devices are screw threaded. 10. an assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, characterised in that resilient means (26) is provided urging said first and third conductive members (11,13) towards one another.	this invention relates to a semi-conductor assembly of the kind including, as active components, a thyristor and a diode, the diode having its anode connected to the cathode of the thyristor and its cathode connected to the anode of the thyristor. one practical application of a semi-conductor assembly of the kind specified is in a forced commutation circuit, for example, a thyristor chopper circuit for controlling operation of an electric motor driving an electrically propelled vehicle. in such an application the active components of the semi-conductor assembly must be capable of dealing with very high currents (for example in excess of 150 amps) and a problem exists in producing a suitable assembly at reasonable cost. for example, in one suitable known form of semi-conductor assembly of the kind specified the thyristor and diode are integrated in a single semi-conductor chip, the diode being in annular form encircling the thyristor. it is found however that the manufacture of such an integrated device results in a high percentage of faulty components and thus manufacturing costs are high. an alternative approach is to use discrete thyristor and diode packages, but in view of the relatively massive nature of the package, which is necessary in order to provide the required high current rating, it is found that the electrical connections between the discrete diode and thyristor packages have an undesirably large inductance. it is an object of the present invention to minimize or mitigate the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art arrangements. a semi-conductor assembly according to the present invention comprises first, second and third electrically conductive members, a semi-conductor diode positioned between said first and second conductive members, and having its anode region electrically connected to one of said first and second conductive members and its cathode region electrically connected to the other of said first and second conductive members a semi-conductor thyristor positioned between said second and third conductive members, said semi-conductor thyristor having one of its anode and cathode terminal regions connected to the second conductive member and the other of its anode and cathode terminal region connected to the third conductive member, said third and first electrically conductive members being electrically interconnected, and the terminal region of the semi-conductor diode which is electrically connected to the second conductive member being of opposite polarity to the thyristor terminal region which is also electrically connected to the second conductive member, at least one of said first, second and third electrically conductive members constituting a heat sink for the assembly, and the assembly including means for making an electrical connection to the gate terminal region of the thyristor. preferably said thyristor and said diode are mounted on said second member so as to be substantially in axial alignment. preferably said second conductive member is the heat sink of the assembly. alternatively said first and third conductive members constitute the heat sink of the assembly. alternatively all three of said first, second and third conductive members form parts of the heat sink of the assembly. desirably the cathode of said diode and the anode of said thyristor are each electrically connected to said second conductive member. preferably the first and third conductive members are urged towards one another to trap the thyristor, the second conductive member, and the diode therebetween. conveniently said first and third conductive members are joined to one another by electrically conductive fastening devices which extend through the second conductive member but are electrically insulated therefrom. conveniently said devices are screw threaded. preferably resilient means is provided urging said first and third conductive members towards one another. one example of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein: figure 1 is a plan view of a semi-conductor assembly; figure 2 is a sectional view on the line a b c d of figure 1; and figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of figure 1. referring to the drawings, the semi-conductor assembly includes first, second and third electrically conductive members 11, 12, 13 arranged one above the other, a semi-conductor device in the form of a diode 14 positioned between the members 11 and 12, and a further semi-conductor device in the form of a thyristor 15 positioned between the members 12 and 13. the second electrically conductive member 12 is defined by a rectangular aluminium block 21 having a cylindrical recess 22 extending inwardly from one face. the base of the recess 22 is formed with a centrally disposed upstanding circular plateau 23 upon the upper surface of which is positioned a molybdenum disc 24. the semi-conductor diode device 14 is seated on the disc 24 with its cathode in engagement with, and therefore in electrical connection with, the disc 24. the upwardly presented anode face of the diode 14 is engaged by a silver disc 25 and overlying the silver disc 25 is the first conductive member 11 in the form of a diaphragm plate formed from annealed copper. the diaphragm plate 11 has a circular recess 16 in its face remote from the washer 25, and within the recess 16 is a disc spring 26. overlying the face of the plate 11 remote from the diode 14 is a top pressure plate 27 formed from brass. the central region of the disc spring 26 engages the base of the recess in the plate 11, and the periphery of the spring 26 engages the undersurface of the pressure plate 27. an electrically conductive bolt 28 extends upwardly through the pressure plate 27, the head of the bolt 28 being received in the recess 16. it will be recognised that the plate 27 and the plate 11 are in contact, and so are electrically interconnected, and similarly by virtue of their engagement with the bolt 28 the bolt 28 is electrically connected to the plates 11 and 27. since the plate 11 is in contact with the silver washer 25 which in turn is in contact with th anode of the diode 14 then the bolt 28 constitutes an anode terminal for the diode 14. as best seen in figure 3 four fixing bolts 29 are equi-angularly spaced around the plate 27, and extend downwardly through corresponding apertures in the plates 27, and 11, and the base region of the block 21 to make screw-threaded engagement with corresponding screw-threaded bores in a bottom pressure plate positioned beneath the block 21 and constituting the third conductive member 13. the bottom pressure plate 13 is formed from brass, and since the bolts 29 are electrically conductive then the bottom pressure plate 13 and the top pressure plate 27 are electrically interconnected. the bores in the base region of the block 21 through which the bolts 29 pass are provided with electrically insulating lining sleeves 31 whereby the bolts 29.are electrically insulated from the second conductive member 12 and thus the block 21. axially aligned with the discs 24, 25 and the diode 14, but lying between the conductive member 12 and the bottom pressure plate 13 is a silver washer 32 one face of which engages the second conductive member 12. between the lower face of the washer 32 and the upper face of the pressure plate 13 and in axial alignment with the diode 14 is the semi-conductor thyristor device 15 the anode of which is in contact with the silver washer 32. the opposite face of the thyristor 15 is the cathode face of the thyristor, but within the cathode face is a surface area of the gate of the thyristor. the gate area is a circular area centrally disposed on the cathode face and the bottom pressure plate 13 has therein a centrally disposed circular recess 17 which ensures that the surface area of the pressure plate 13 which engages the cathode face of the thyristor 15 is an annular area engaging only the cathode of the thyristor. thus the gate contact area of the thyristor corresponds to the recess 17. in order to provide an electrical connection to the gate area of the thyristor the upstanding area of the pressure plate 13 which engages the thyristor is provided with a diametrically extending slot 18 which is lined with an electrically insulating member 33 of.u-shaped cross- section. received by the member 33 so as to be insulated from the pressure plate 13 is a beryllium/copper beam connector 34 of known form. the beam connector 34 has a centrally disposed upward extension 35 (figure 2) which engages and makes electrical connection to the gate region of the thyristor 15. an electrically conductive lead 36 is connected at one end to the beam connector 34. thus the beam connector 34 is supported by the pressure plate 13 and makes electrical connection to the gate region of the thyristor, but is electrically insulated by the member 33 from the plate 13. it will be recognised that the bolts 29 secure the assembly together in that they exert an axial clamping force pulling the pressure plate 13 towards the pressure plate 11 and thus trapping the intervening components on both sides of the second conductive member 12. the cathode of the diode 14 and the anode of the thyristor 15 are electrically interconnected by means of the second conductive member 12, and the anode of the diode 14 which is connected to the plate 11 is electrically connected by means of the bolts 29 to the cathode of the thyristor 15 by virtue of the engagement of the bolts 29 with the plate 13. thus the block 21 constitutes one terminal of the semi-conductor assembly, being electrically connected to the cathode of the diode and the anode of the thyristor, while the bolt 28 constitutes a second terminal of the assembly being electrically connected to the anode of the diode and the cathode of the thyristor. the thyristor gate connection of the assembly is made by way of the lead 36. desirably a lead 37 is electrically connected to the pressure plate 13 to provide an additional electrical connection to the cathode of the thyristor 15. the assembly is completed by a further rectangular aluminium block 38 which lies beneath the block 21 and has therein a recess 39 receiving the thyristor and pressure plate 13 part of the assembly. the block 38 is electrically insulated from the block 21, and assembly mounting bolts 41 pass downwardly through the blocks 21 and 38 to make screw-threaded connection with a component upon which the assembly is mounted in use. the bolts 41 are electrically insulated from the blocks 21 and 38 by means of electrically insulating liners 42. thus the securing bolts 41 do not electrically connect any part of the assembly to the component upon which the assembly is mounted. in order to provide protection for the devices 14 and 15 the recesses 22 and 39 are filled with an electrically insulating but thermally conductive encapsulant 43, conveniently an epoxy resin material loaded with aluminium particles. a suitable loaded resin material is available from emerson & cuming (uk) limited, as"eccobond 28481-6". in order to ensure that the epoxy resin does not actually contact the semi-conductor devices 14, 15 when it is introduced into the recesses 22, 39 rubber sealing elements 44, 45 are incorporated during construction of the assembly to encircle respectively the diode 14 and the thyristor 15. the sealing ring 44 is thus pinched between the top pressure plate 11 and the base of the recess in the block 21 while the sealing ring 45 is pinched between the base of the block 21 and the bottom pressure plate 13. the sealing ring 44, 45 constitute a physical barrier preventing the encapsulant 43 flowing onto the exposed regions of the semi-conductor devices. desirably either or both of the mutually presented faces of the blocks 21 and 38 are provided with an anodized surface layer which serves to insulate the blocks from one another. as an alternative however the encapsulant 43 extends between the blocks 21 and 38 to provide an electrical insulation between the blocks. it will be recognised that during construction of the assembly the tightening of the bolts 29 is controlled so that a desired axial loading is applied to the assembly by way of the spring 26 to ensure good electrical connection between the various components at the appropriate places. the semi-conductor devices 14, 15 are effectively unpackaged semi-conductor chips although their contact regions will have been provided with appropriate metallizing layers to ensure good electrical connection to the adjacent components. it will be recognised that since both semi-conductor devices are in intimate contact with the base region 12 of the block 21 then the block 21 constitutes the primary heat sink of the assembly. however, the block 38 is of course in intimate thermal (but not electrical) contact with the block 21 and thus effectively constitutes an increase in the mass of the block 21 for heat sink purposes. desirably the exposed surface of the block 21 will be provided with an electrically insulating coating either by anodizing, or by covering with an insulating material. while it is desirable to utilize the intermediate metallic member 12 as the primary heat conductive path to the heat sink of-the assembly it is to be understood that the alumina loading in the encapsulant 43 ensures that the encapsulant has high thermal conductivity, and thus heat is conducted from the devices 14, 15 to the blocks 21 and 38 through the plates 11, 13 and 27 and through the encapsulant 43. moreover, it is to be recognised that if desired the blocks 21 and 38 could be integral parts of the diaphragm plate 11 and pressure plate 13 respectively and having no connection to the intermediate conductive member 12. with such an arrangement a separate electrical connection must be brought out from the member 12. thus the heat sink can be provided primarily by the second conductive member 12 as is the case with the example illustrated, or alternatively could be provided by the first and third conductive members 11, 13, or as a further alternative could be provided by any one of the first, second and third conductive members alone or in combination with any one of the others. in situations where the bulkiness of the heat sink arrangements described above is unattractive from, for example, the point of view of accommodation and mounting of the construction then it is to be understood that fluid cooling may be provided to reduce the heat sink bulk. thus the members constituting the heat sink may be drilled to receive a flow of cooling fluid or may be mounted in thermal contact with conduits carrying cooling fluid (for example one or more heat pipes).
064-412-609-827-60X	US	[ "CN", "WO", "EP", "US", "JP", "BR" ]	A61B17/072,A61B17/00,A61B34/00,A61B90/00,A61B17/29,F04D15/00,A61B17/068,A61B17/11,A61B17/16	2017-06-20T00:00:00	2017	[ "A61", "F04" ]	systems and methods for controlling displaying motor velocity for a surgical instrument	a motorized surgical instrument is disclosed. the surgical instrument includes a displacement member, a motor coupled to the displacement member, a control circuit coupled to the motor, and a position sensor coupled to the control circuit. the control circuit is configured to determine a velocity of the displacement member via the position sensor, and cause the display to present an indicia that is indicative of the velocity of the displacement member, wherein a portion of the display occupied by the indicia corresponds to the velocity of the displacement member.	claims 1. a surgical instrument comprising: a displacement member configured to translate within the surgical instrument; a motor coupled to the displacement member to translate the displacement member; a control circuit coupled to the motor; a position sensor coupled to the control circuit, the position sensor configured to monitor a position of the displacement member; and wherein the control circuit is configured to: determine a velocity of the displacement member via the position sensor; cause the display to present a mode indicia that is indicative of a mode of the surgical instrument, wherein the mode comprises an automatic mode and a manual mode; and cause the display to present an indicia that is indicative of the velocity of the displacement member, wherein a portion of the display occupied by the indicia corresponds to the velocity of the displacement member. 2. the surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the indicia is a first indicia, the control circuit is further configured to: provide a set point velocity to the motor, the motor set point configured to cause the motor to drive the displacement member at a motor velocity; and cause the display to present a second indicia indicative of the motor set point velocity. 3. the surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the indicia comprises a plurality of zones, each of the plurality of zones indicative of a velocity level. 4. the surgical instrument of claim 3, wherein the plurality of zones comprise a first zone indicative of a low velocity, a second zone indicative of a medium velocity, and a third zone indicative of a fast velocity. 5. a surgical instrument comprising: a displacement member configured to translate within the surgical instrument; a motor coupled to the displacement member to translate the displacement member; a control circuit coupled to the motor; a position sensor coupled to the control circuit, the position sensor configured to monitor a position of the displacement member; and wherein the control circuit is configured to: provide a motor set point to the motor, the motor set point configured to cause the motor to drive the displacement member at a velocity; display an indicia on the display that is indicative of the velocity of the displacement member, wherein a portion of the display occupied by the indicia corresponds to the velocity of the displacement member; and display a second indicia on the display that is indicative of the motor set point velocity. 6. the surgical instrument of claim 5, wherein the control circuit is further configured to cause the display to present a mode indicia that is indicative of a mode of the surgical instrument. 7. the surgical instrument of claim 6, wherein the mode comprises an automatic mode and a manual mode. 8. the surgical instrument of claim 5, wherein the control circuit is further configured to: display an image representative of the displacement member; and display progress of the image representative of the displacement member as the displacement member advances distally. 9. the surgical instrument of claim 5, wherein the second indicia represents a range of motor set point velocities. 10. the surgical instrument of claim 5, wherein the control circuit is further configured to display a status bar that represents operation status of the surgical instrument. 1 1 . the surgical instrument of claim 10, wherein the status bar represents normal operation when the velocity of the displacement member is within a range of motor set point velocities. 12. the surgical instrument of claim 10, wherein the status bar represents cautionary operation when the velocity of the displacement member is outside a range of motor set point velocities. 13. the surgical instrument of claim 5, wherein the control circuit is further configured to: monitor a condition of a battery; and cause the display to present an image of a battery indicative of the condition of the battery. 14. a method of operating a surgical instrument, the surgical instrument comprising a displacement member configured to translate within the surgical instrument, a motor coupled to the displacement member to translate the displacement member, a control circuit coupled to the motor, a position sensor coupled to the control circuit, the position sensor configured to monitor a position of the displacement member, the method comprising: determining, by the control circuit, a velocity of the displacement member via the position sensor; and presenting, by the control circuit, an indicia on the display that is indicative of the velocity of the displacement member, wherein a portion of the display occupied by the indicia corresponds to the velocity of the displacement member, and wherein the indicia representative of a higher velocity is larger than the indicia representative of a lower velocity. 15. the method of claim 14, wherein the indicia is a first indicia, the method further comprising: providing, by the control circuit, a set point velocity to the motor, the motor set point configured to cause the motor to drive the displacement member at a motor velocity; and presenting, by the control circuit, a second indicia on the display that is indicative of the motor set point velocity. 16. the method of claim 14, further comprising presenting, by the control circuit, on the display a mode indicia that is indicative of a mode of the surgical instrument. 17. the method of claim 16, further comprising presenting, by the control circuit, on the display a mode comprising an automatic mode and a manual mode. 18. the method of claim 14, further comprising presenting, by the control circuit, on the display an indicia comprising a plurality of zones, each of the plurality of zones indicative of a velocity level. 19. the method of claim 18, further comprising presenting, by the control circuit, on the display a plurality of zones comprising a first zone indicative of a low velocity, a second zone indicative of a medium velocity, and a third zone indicative of a fast velocity. 20. the method of claim 14, further comprising: monitoring, by the control circuit, a condition of a battery; and presenting, by the control circuit, on the display an image of a battery indicative of the condition of the battery.	systems and methods for controlling displaying motor velocity for a surgical instrument technical field [0001] the present disclosure relates to surgical instruments and, in various circumstances, to surgical stapling and cutting instruments and staple cartridges therefor that are designed to staple and cut tissue. background [0002] in a motorized surgical stapling and cutting instrument it may be useful to control the velocity of a cutting member or to control the articulation velocity of an end effector. velocity of a displacement member may be determined by measuring elapsed time at predetermined position intervals of the displacement member or measuring the position of the displacement member at predetermined time intervals. the control may be open loop or closed loop. such measurements may be useful to evaluate tissue conditions such as tissue thickness and adjust the velocity of the cutting member during a firing stroke to account for the tissue conditions. tissue thickness may be determined by comparing expected velocity of the cutting member to the actual velocity of the cutting member. in some situations, it may be useful to articulate the end effector at a constant articulation velocity. in other situations, it may be useful to drive the end effector at a different articulation velocity than a default articulation velocity at one or more regions within a sweep range of the end effector. [0003] during use of a motorized surgical stapling and cutting instrument it is possible that the user may not know the command velocity or the actual velocity of the cutting member or firing member. therefore, it may be desirable to communicate information to the user through a display screen to provide information about the firing velocity of the cutting member or firing member where the velocity is related to the size of the zone that is indicated on the display screen. it may be desirable to communicate velocity control to show the command velocity as well as the firing mode in a closed loop feedback automatic mode or manually selected mode. summary [0004] in one aspect, the present disclosure provides a surgical instrument. the surgical instrument comprises a displacement member configured to translate within the surgical instrument; a motor coupled to the displacement member to translate the displacement member; a control circuit coupled to the motor; a position sensor coupled to the control circuit, the position sensor configured to monitor a position of the displacement member; and wherein the control circuit is configured to: determine a velocity of the displacement member via the position sensor; cause the display to present a mode indicia that is indicative of a mode of the surgical instrument, wherein the mode comprises an automatic mode and a manual mode; and cause the display to present an indicia that is indicative of the velocity of the displacement member, wherein a portion of the display occupied by the indicia corresponds to the velocity of the displacement member. [0005] in another aspect, the surgical instrument comprises a displacement member configured to translate within the surgical instrument; a motor coupled to the displacement member to translate the displacement member; a control circuit coupled to the motor; a position sensor coupled to the control circuit, the position sensor configured to monitor a position of the displacement member; and wherein the control circuit is configured to: provide a motor set point to the motor, the motor set point configured to cause the motor to drive the displacement member at a velocity; display an indicia on the display that is indicative of the velocity of the displacement member, wherein a portion of the display occupied by the indicia corresponds to the velocity of the displacement member; and display a second indicia on the display that is indicative of the motor set point velocity. [0006] in another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of operating a surgical instrument. the surgical instrument comprises a displacement member configured to translate within the surgical instrument, a motor coupled to the displacement member to translate the displacement member, a control circuit coupled to the motor, a position sensor coupled to the control circuit, the position sensor configured to monitor a position of the displacement member, the method comprising: determining, by the control circuit, a velocity of the displacement member via the position sensor; and presenting, by the control circuit, an indicia on the display that is indicative of the velocity of the displacement member, wherein a portion of the display occupied by the indicia corresponds to the velocity of the displacement member, and wherein the indicia representative of a higher velocity is larger than the indicia representative of a lower velocity. figures [0007] the novel features of the aspects described herein are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. these aspects, however, both as to organization and methods of operation may be better understood by reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. [0008] fig. 1 is a perspective view of a surgical instrument that has an interchangeable shaft assembly operably coupled thereto according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0009] fig. 2 is an exploded assembly view of a portion of the surgical instrument of fig. 1 according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0010] fig. 3 is an exploded assembly view of portions of the interchangeable shaft assembly according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0011] fig. 4 is an exploded view of an end effector of the surgical instrument of fig. 1 according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0012] figs. 5a-5b is a block diagram of a control circuit of the surgical instrument of fig. 1 spanning two drawing sheets according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0013] fig. 6 is a block diagram of the control circuit of the surgical instrument of fig. 1 illustrating interfaces between the handle assembly, the power assembly, and the handle assembly and the interchangeable shaft assembly according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0014] fig. 7 illustrates a control circuit configured to control aspects of the surgical instrument of fig. 1 according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0015] fig. 8 illustrates a combinational logic circuit configured to control aspects of the surgical instrument of fig. 1 according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0016] fig. 9 illustrates a sequential logic circuit configured to control aspects of the surgical instrument of fig. 1 according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0017] fig. 10 is a diagram of an absolute positioning system of the surgical instrument of fig. 1 where the absolute positioning system comprises a controlled motor drive circuit arrangement comprising a sensor arrangement according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0018] fig. 1 1 is an exploded perspective view of the sensor arrangement for an absolute positioning system showing a control circuit board assembly and the relative alignment of the elements of the sensor arrangement according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0019] fig. 12 is a diagram of a position sensor comprising a magnetic rotary absolute positioning system according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0020] fig. 13 is a section view of an end effector of the surgical instrument of fig. 1 showing a firing member stroke relative to tissue grasped within the end effector according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0021] fig. 14 illustrates a block diagram of a surgical instrument programmed to control distal translation of a displacement member according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0022] fig. 15 illustrates a diagram plotting two example displacement member strokes executed according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0023] fig. 16 is a perspective view of a surgical instrument according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0024] fig. 17 is a detail view of a display portion of the surgical instrument shown in fig. 16 according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0025] fig. 18 is a logic flow diagram of a process depicting a control program or logic configuration for controlling a display according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0026] fig. 19 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0027] fig. 20 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0028] fig. 21 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen indicative of an automatic mode according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0029] fig. 22 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen indicative of an automatic mode according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0030] fig. 23 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen indicative of an automatic mode according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0031] fig. 24 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen indicative of an automatic mode according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0032] fig. 25 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen indicative of a manual mode according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0033] fig. 26 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen indicative of a manual mode according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0034] fig. 27 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen indicative of an automatic mode according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0035] fig. 28 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0036] fig. 29 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0037] fig. 30 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0038] fig. 31 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0039] fig. 32 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0040] fig. 33 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0041] fig. 34 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0042] fig. 35 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0043] fig. 36 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0044] fig. 37 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0045] fig. 38 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0046] fig. 39 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0047] fig. 40 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0048] fig. 41 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0049] fig. 42 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0050] fig. 43 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0051] fig. 44 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0052] fig. 45 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect o- this disclosure. [0053] fig. 46 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen indicative of a command velocity and an actual velocity according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0054] fig. 47 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen indicative of a command velocity and an actual velocity according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0055] fig. 48 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen indicative of a command velocity and an actual velocity according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0056] fig. 49 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0057] fig. 50 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0058] fig. 51 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0059] fig. 52 is a display depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. [0060] fig. 53 is a display depicting a temperature feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. description [0061] applicant of the present application owns the following patent applications filed concurrently herewith and which are each herein incorporated by reference in their respective entireties: [0062] attorney docket no. end8191 usnp/170054, titled control of motor velocity of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument based on angle of articulation, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0063] attorney docket no. end8192usnp/170055, titled surgical instrument with variable duration trigger arrangement, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0064] attorney docket no. end8193usnp/170056, titled systems and methods for controlling displacement member motion of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0065] attorney docket no. end8194usnp/170057, titled systems and methods for controlling motor velocity of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument according to articulation angle of end effector, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0066] attorney docket no. end8195usnp/170058, titled systems and methods for controlling motor velocity of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0067] attorney docket no. end8196usnp/170059, titled surgical instrument having controllable articulation velocity, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0068] attorney docket no. end8197usnp/170060, titled systems and methods for controlling velocity of a displacement member of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0069] attorney docket no. end8198usnp/170061 , titled systems and methods for controlling displacement member velocity for a surgical instrument, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0070] attorney docket no. end8222usnp/170125, titled control of motor velocity of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument based on angle of articulation, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0071] attorney docket no. end8199usnp/170062m, titled techniques for adaptive control of motor velocity of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0072] attorney docket no. end8275usnp/170185m, titled techniques for closed loop control of motor velocity of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument, by inventors raymond e. parfett et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0073] attorney docket no. end8268usnp/170186, titled closed loop feedback control of motor velocity of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument based on magnitude of velocity error measurements, by inventors raymond e. parfett et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0074] attorney docket no. end8276usnp/170187, titled closed loop feedback control of motor velocity of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument based on measured time over a specified displacement distance, by inventors jason l. harris et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0075] attorney docket no. end8266usnp/170188, titled closed loop feedback control of motor velocity of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument based on measured displacement distance traveled over a specified time interval, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0076] attorney docket no. end8267usnp/170189, titled closed loop feedback control of motor velocity of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument based on measured time over a specified number of shaft rotations, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0077] attorney docket no. end8270usnp/170191 , titled systems and methods for controlling motor speed according to user input for a surgical instrument, by inventors jason l. harris et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0078] attorney docket no. end8271 usnp/170192, titled closed loop feedback control of motor velocity of a surgical stapling and cutting instrument based on system conditions, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0079] applicant of the present application owns the following u.s. design patent applications filed concurrently herewith and which are each herein incorporated by reference in their respective entireties: [0080] attorney docket no. end8274usdp/170193d, titled graphical user interface for a display or portion thereof, by inventors jason l. harris et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0081] attorney docket no. end8273usdp/170194d, titled graphical user interface for a display or portion thereof, by inventors jason l. harris et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0082] attorney docket no. end8272usdp/170195d, titled graphical user interface for a display or portion thereof, by inventors frederick e. shelton, iv et al., filed june 20, 2017. [0083] certain aspects are shown and described to provide an understanding of the structure, function, manufacture, and use of the disclosed devices and methods. features shown or described in one example may be combined with features of other examples and modifications and variations are within the scope of this disclosure. [0084] the terms "proximal" and "distal" are relative to a clinician manipulating the handle of the surgical instrument where "proximal" refers to the portion closer to the clinician and "distal" refers to the portion located further from the clinician. for expediency, spatial terms "vertical," "horizontal," "up," and "down" used with respect to the drawings are not intended to be limiting and/or absolute, because surgical instruments can used in many orientations and positions. [0085] example devices and methods are provided for performing laparoscopic and minimally invasive surgical procedures. such devices and methods, however, can be used in other surgical procedures and applications including open surgical procedures, for example. the surgical instruments can be inserted into a through a natural orifice or through an incision or puncture hole formed in tissue. the working portions or end effector portions of the instruments can be inserted directly into the body or through an access device that has a working channel through which the end effector and elongated shaft of the surgical instrument can be advanced. [0086] figs. 1 -4 depict a motor-driven surgical instrument 10 for cutting and fastening that may or may not be reused. in the illustrated examples, the surgical instrument 10 includes a housing 12 that comprises a handle assembly 14 that is configured to be grasped, manipulated, and actuated by the clinician. the housing 12 is configured for operable attachment to an interchangeable shaft assembly 200 that has an end effector 300 operably coupled thereto that is configured to perform one or more surgical tasks or procedures. in accordance with the present disclosure, various forms of interchangeable shaft assemblies may be effectively employed in connection with robotically controlled surgical systems. the term "housing" may encompass a housing or similar portion of a robotic system that houses or otherwise operably supports at least one drive system configured to generate and apply at least one control motion that could be used to actuate interchangeable shaft assemblies. the term "frame" may refer to a portion of a handheld surgical instrument. the term "frame" also may represent a portion of a robotically controlled surgical instrument and/or a portion of the robotic system that may be used to operably control a surgical instrument. interchangeable shaft assemblies may be employed with various robotic systems, instruments, components, and methods disclosed in u.s. patent no. 9,072,535, entitled surgical stapling instruments with rotatable staple deployment arrangements, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. [0087] fig. 1 is a perspective view of a surgical instrument 10 that has an interchangeable shaft assembly 200 operably coupled thereto according to one aspect of this disclosure. the housing 12 includes an end effector 300 that comprises a surgical cutting and fastening device configured to operably support a surgical staple cartridge 304 therein. the housing 12 may be configured for use in connection with interchangeable shaft assemblies that include end effectors that are adapted to support different sizes and types of staple cartridges, have different shaft lengths, sizes, and types. the housing 12 may be employed with a variety of interchangeable shaft assemblies, including assemblies configured to apply other motions and forms of energy such as, radio frequency (rf) energy, ultrasonic energy, and/or motion to end effector arrangements adapted for use in connection with various surgical applications and procedures. the end effectors, shaft assemblies, handles, surgical instruments, and/or surgical instrument systems can utilize any suitable fastener, or fasteners, to fasten tissue. for instance, a fastener cartridge comprising a plurality of fasteners removably stored therein can be removably inserted into and/or attached to the end effector of a shaft assembly. [0088] the handle assembly 14 may comprise a pair of interconnectable handle housing segments 16, 18 interconnected by screws, snap features, adhesive, etc. the handle housing segments 16, 18 cooperate to form a pistol grip portion 19 that can be gripped and manipulated by the clinician. the handle assembly 14 operably supports a plurality of drive systems configured to generate and apply control motions to corresponding portions of the interchangeable shaft assembly that is operably attached thereto. a display may be provided below a cover 45. [0089] fig. 2 is an exploded assembly view of a portion of the surgical instrument 10 of fig. 1 according to one aspect of this disclosure. the handle assembly 14 may include a frame 20 that operably supports a plurality of drive systems. the frame 20 can operably support a "first" or closure drive system 30, which can apply closing and opening motions to the interchangeable shaft assembly 200. the closure drive system 30 may include an actuator such as a closure trigger 32 pivotally supported by the frame 20. the closure trigger 32 is pivotally coupled to the handle assembly 14 by a pivot pin 33 to enable the closure trigger 32 to be manipulated by a clinician. when the clinician grips the pistol grip portion 19 of the handle assembly 14, the closure trigger 32 can pivot from a starting or "unactuated" position to an "actuated" position and more particularly to a fully compressed or fully actuated position. [0090] the handle assembly 14 and the frame 20 may operably support a firing drive system 80 configured to apply firing motions to corresponding portions of the interchangeable shaft assembly attached thereto. the firing drive system 80 may employ an electric motor 82 located in the pistol grip portion 19 of the handle assembly 14. the electric motor 82 may be a dc brushed motor having a maximum rotational speed of approximately 25,000 rpm, for example. in other arrangements, the motor may include a brushless motor, a cordless motor, a synchronous motor, a stepper motor, or any other suitable electric motor. the electric motor 82 may be powered by a power source 90 that may comprise a removable power pack 92. the removable power pack 92 may comprise a proximal housing portion 94 configured to attach to a distal housing portion 96. the proximal housing portion 94 and the distal housing portion 96 are configured to operably support a plurality of batteries 98 therein. batteries 98 may each comprise, for example, a lithium ion (li) or other suitable battery. the distal housing portion 96 is configured for removable operable attachment to a control circuit board 100, which is operably coupled to the electric motor 82. several batteries 98 connected in series may power the surgical instrument 10. the power source 90 may be replaceable and/or rechargeable. a display 43, which is located below the cover 45, is electrically coupled to the control circuit board 100. the cover 45 may be removed to expose the display 43. [0091] the electric motor 82 can include a rotatable shaft (not shown) that operably interfaces with a gear reducer assembly 84 mounted in meshing engagement with a with a set, or rack, of drive teeth 122 on a longitudinally movable drive member 120. the longitudinally movable drive member 120 has a rack of drive teeth 122 formed thereon for meshing engagement with a corresponding drive gear 86 of the gear reducer assembly 84. [0092] in use, a voltage polarity provided by the power source 90 can operate the electric motor 82 in a clockwise direction wherein the voltage polarity applied to the electric motor by the battery can be reversed in order to operate the electric motor 82 in a counter-clockwise direction. when the electric motor 82 is rotated in one direction, the longitudinally movable drive member 120 will be axially driven in the distal direction "dd." when the electric motor 82 is driven in the opposite rotary direction, the longitudinally movable drive member 120 will be axially driven in a proximal direction "pd." the handle assembly 14 can include a switch that can be configured to reverse the polarity applied to the electric motor 82 by the power source 90. the handle assembly 14 may include a sensor configured to detect the position of the longitudinally movable drive member 120 and/or the direction in which the longitudinally movable drive member 120 is being moved. [0093] actuation of the electric motor 82 can be controlled by a firing trigger 130 that is pivotally supported on the handle assembly 14. the firing trigger 130 may be pivoted between an unactuated position and an actuated position. [0094] turning back to fig. 1 , the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 includes an end effector 300 comprising an elongated channel 302 configured to operably support a surgical staple cartridge 304 therein. the end effector 300 may include an anvil 306 that is pivotally supported relative to the elongated channel 302. the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 may include an articulation joint 270. construction and operation of the end effector 300 and the articulation joint 270 are set forth in u.s. patent application publication no. 2014/0263541 , entitled articulatable surgical instrument comprising an articulation lock, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 may include a proximal housing or nozzle 201 comprised of nozzle portions 202, 203. the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 may include a closure tube 260 extending along a shaft axis sa that can be utilized to close and/or open the anvil 306 of the end effector 300. [0095] turning back to fig. 1 , the closure tube 260 is translated distally (direction "dd") to close the anvil 306, for example, in response to the actuation of the closure trigger 32 in the manner described in the aforementioned reference u.s. patent application publication no. 2014/0263541 . the anvil 306 is opened by proximally translating the closure tube 260. in the anvil-open position, the closure tube 260 is moved to its proximal position. [0096] fig. 3 is another exploded assembly view of portions of the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 according to one aspect of this disclosure. the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 may include a firing member 220 supported for axial travel within the spine 210. the firing member 220 includes an intermediate firing shaft 222 configured to attach to a distal cutting portion or knife bar 280. the firing member 220 may be referred to as a "second shaft" or a "second shaft assembly". the intermediate firing shaft 222 may include a longitudinal slot 223 in a distal end configured to receive a tab 284 on the proximal end 282 of the knife bar 280. the longitudinal slot 223 and the proximal end 282 may be configured to permit relative movement there between and can comprise a slip joint 286. the slip joint 286 can permit the intermediate firing shaft 222 of the firing member 220 to articulate the end effector 300 about the articulation joint 270 without moving, or at least substantially moving, the knife bar 280. once the end effector 300 has been suitably oriented, the intermediate firing shaft 222 can be advanced distally until a proximal sidewall of the longitudinal slot 223 contacts the tab 284 to advance the knife bar 280 and fire the staple cartridge positioned within the channel 302. the spine 210 has an elongated opening or window 213 therein to facilitate assembly and insertion of the intermediate firing shaft 222 into the spine 210. once the intermediate firing shaft 222 has been inserted therein, a top frame segment 215 may be engaged with the shaft frame 212 to enclose the intermediate firing shaft 222 and knife bar 280 therein. operation of the firing member 220 may be found in u.s. patent application publication no. 2014/0263541 . a spine 210 can be configured to slidably support a firing member 220 and the closure tube 260 that extends around the spine 210. the spine 210 may slidably support an articulation driver 230. [0097] the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 can include a clutch assembly 400 configured to selectively and releasably couple the articulation driver 230 to the firing member 220. the clutch assembly 400 includes a lock collar, or lock sleeve 402, positioned around the firing member 220 wherein the lock sleeve 402 can be rotated between an engaged position in which the lock sleeve 402 couples the articulation driver 230 to the firing member 220 and a disengaged position in which the articulation driver 230 is not operably coupled to the firing member 220. when the lock sleeve 402 is in the engaged position, distal movement of the firing member 220 can move the articulation driver 230 distally and, correspondingly, proximal movement of the firing member 220 can move the articulation driver 230 proximally. when the lock sleeve 402 is in the disengaged position, movement of the firing member 220 is not transmitted to the articulation driver 230 and, as a result, the firing member 220 can move independently of the articulation driver 230. the nozzle 201 may be employed to operably engage and disengage the articulation drive system with the firing drive system in the various manners described in u.s. patent application publication no. 2014/0263541 . [0098] the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 can comprise a slip ring assembly 600 which can be configured to conduct electrical power to and/or from the end effector 300 and/or communicate signals to and/or from the end effector 300, for example. the slip ring assembly 600 can comprise a proximal connector flange 604 and a distal connector flange 601 positioned within a slot defined in the nozzle portions 202, 203. the proximal connector flange 604 can comprise a first face and the distal connector flange 601 can comprise a second face positioned adjacent to and movable relative to the first face. the distal connector flange 601 can rotate relative to the proximal connector flange 604 about the shaft axis sa-sa (fig. 1 ). the proximal connector flange 604 can comprise a plurality of concentric, or at least substantially concentric, conductors 602 defined in the first face thereof. a connector 607 can be mounted on the proximal side of the distal connector flange 601 and may have a plurality of contacts wherein each contact corresponds to and is in electrical contact with one of the conductors 602. such an arrangement permits relative rotation between the proximal connector flange 604 and the distal connector flange 601 while maintaining electrical contact there between. the proximal connector flange 604 can include an electrical connector 606 that can place the conductors 602 in signal communication with a shaft circuit board, for example. in at least one instance, a wiring harness comprising a plurality of conductors can extend between the electrical connector 606 and the shaft circuit board. the electrical connector 606 may extend proximally through a connector opening defined in the chassis mounting flange. u.s. patent application publication no. 2014/0263551 , entitled staple cartridge tissue thickness sensor system, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. u.s. patent application publication no. 2014/0263552, entitled staple cartridge tissue thickness sensor system, is incorporated by reference in its entirety. further details regarding slip ring assembly 600 may be found in u.s. patent application publication no. 2014/0263541 . [0099] the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 can include a proximal portion fixably mounted to the handle assembly 14 and a distal portion that is rotatable about a longitudinal axis. the rotatable distal shaft portion can be rotated relative to the proximal portion about the slip ring assembly 600. the distal connector flange 601 of the slip ring assembly 600 can be positioned within the rotatable distal shaft portion. [0100] fig. 4 is an exploded view of one aspect of an end effector 300 of the surgical instrument 10 of fig. 1 according to one aspect of this disclosure. the end effector 300 may include the anvil 306 and the surgical staple cartridge 304. the anvil 306 may be coupled to an elongated channel 302. apertures 199 can be defined in the elongated channel 302 to receive pins 152 extending from the anvil 306 to allow the anvil 306 to pivot from an open position to a closed position relative to the elongated channel 302 and surgical staple cartridge 304. a firing bar 172 is configured to longitudinally translate into the end effector 300. the firing bar 172 may be constructed from one solid section, or may include a laminate material comprising a stack of steel plates. the firing bar 172 comprises an i-beam 178 and a cutting edge 182 at a distal end thereof. a distally projecting end of the firing bar 172 can be attached to the i-beam 178 to assist in spacing the anvil 306 from a surgical staple cartridge 304 positioned in the elongated channel 302 when the anvil 306 is in a closed position. the i-beam 178 may include a sharpened cutting edge 182 to sever tissue as the i-beam 178 is advanced distally by the firing bar 172. in operation, the i-beam 178 may, or fire, the surgical staple cartridge 304. the surgical staple cartridge 304 can include a molded cartridge body 194 that holds a plurality of staples 191 resting upon staple drivers 192 within respective upwardly open staple cavities 195. a wedge sled 190 is driven distally by the i-beam 178, sliding upon a cartridge tray 196 of the surgical staple cartridge 304. the wedge sled 190 upwardly cams the staple drivers 192 to force out the staples 191 into deforming contact with the anvil 306 while the cutting edge 182 of the i- beam 178 severs clamped tissue. [0101] the i-beam 178 can include upper pins 180 that engage the anvil 306 during firing. the i-beam 178 may include middle pins 184 and a bottom foot 186 to engage portions of the cartridge body 194, cartridge tray 196, and elongated channel 302. when a surgical staple cartridge 304 is positioned within the elongated channel 302, a slot 193 defined in the cartridge body 194 can be aligned with a longitudinal slot 197 defined in the cartridge tray 196 and a slot 189 defined in the elongated channel 302. in use, the i-beam 178 can slide through the aligned longitudinal slots 193, 197, and 189 wherein, as indicated in fig. 4, the bottom foot 186 of the i- beam 178 can engage a groove running along the bottom surface of elongated channel 302 along the length of slot 189, the middle pins 184 can engage the top surfaces of cartridge tray 196 along the length of longitudinal slot 197, and the upper pins 180 can engage the anvil 306. the i-beam 178 can space, or limit the relative movement between, the anvil 306 and the surgical staple cartridge 304 as the firing bar 172 is advanced distally to fire the staples from the surgical staple cartridge 304 and/or incise the tissue captured between the anvil 306 and the surgical staple cartridge 304. the firing bar 172 and the i-beam 178 can be retracted proximally allowing the anvil 306 to be opened to release the two stapled and severed tissue portions. [0102] figs. 5a-5b is a block diagram of a control circuit 700 of the surgical instrument 10 of fig. 1 spanning two drawing sheets according to one aspect of this disclosure. referring primarily to figs. 5a-5b, a handle assembly 702 may include a motor 714 which can be controlled by a motor driver 715 and can be employed by the firing system of the surgical instrument 10. in various forms, the motor 714 may be a dc brushed driving motor having a maximum rotational speed of approximately 25,000 rpm. in other arrangements, the motor 714 may include a brushless motor, a cordless motor, a synchronous motor, a stepper motor, or any other suitable electric motor. the motor driver 715 may comprise an h-bridge driver comprising field-effect transistors (fets) 719, for example. the motor 714 can be powered by the power assembly 706 releasably mounted to the handle assembly 200 for supplying control power to the surgical instrument 10. the power assembly 706 may comprise a battery which may include a number of battery cells connected in series that can be used as the power source to power the surgical instrument 10. in certain circumstances, the battery cells of the power assembly 706 may be replaceable and/or rechargeable. in at least one example, the battery cells can be lithium-ion batteries which can be separably couplable to the power assembly 706. [0103] the shaft assembly 704 may include a shaft assembly controller 722 which can communicate with a safety controller and power management controller 716 through an interface while the shaft assembly 704 and the power assembly 706 are coupled to the handle assembly 702. for example, the interface may comprise a first interface portion 725 which may include one or more electric connectors for coupling engagement with corresponding shaft assembly electric connectors and a second interface portion 727 which may include one or more electric connectors for coupling engagement with corresponding power assembly electric connectors to permit electrical communication between the shaft assembly controller 722 and the power management controller 716 while the shaft assembly 704 and the power assembly 706 are coupled to the handle assembly 702. one or more communication signals can be transmitted through the interface to communicate one or more of the power requirements of the attached interchangeable shaft assembly 704 to the power management controller 716. in response, the power management controller may modulate the power output of the battery of the power assembly 706, as described below in greater detail, in accordance with the power requirements of the attached shaft assembly 704. the connectors may comprise switches which can be activated after mechanical coupling engagement of the handle assembly 702 to the shaft assembly 704 and/or to the power assembly 706 to allow electrical communication between the shaft assembly controller 722 and the power management controller 716. [0104] the interface can facilitate transmission of the one or more communication signals between the power management controller 716 and the shaft assembly controller 722 by routing such communication signals through a main controller 717 residing in the handle assembly 702, for example. in other circumstances, the interface can facilitate a direct line of communication between the power management controller 716 and the shaft assembly controller 722 through the handle assembly 702 while the shaft assembly 704 and the power assembly 706 are coupled to the handle assembly 702. [0105] the main controller 717 may be any single core or multicore processor such as those known under the trade name arm cortex by texas instruments. in one aspect, the main controller 717 may be an lm4f230h5qr arm cortex-m4f processor core, available from texas instruments, for example, comprising on-chip memory of 256 kb single-cycle flash memory, or other non-volatile memory, up to 40 mhz, a prefetch buffer to improve performance above 40 mhz, a 32 kb single-cycle serial random access memory (sram), internal read-only memory (rom) loaded with stellarisware® software, 2 kb electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (eeprom), one or more pulse width modulation (pwm) modules, one or more quadrature encoder inputs (qei) analog, one or more 12-bit analog-to-digital converters (adc) with 12 analog input channels, details of which are available for the product datasheet. [0106] the safety controller may be a safety controller platform comprising two controller- based families such as tms570 and rm4x known under the trade name hercules arm cortex r4, also by texas instruments. the safety controller may be configured specifically for iec 61508 and iso 26262 safety critical applications, among others, to provide advanced integrated safety features while delivering scalable performance, connectivity, and memory options. [0107] the power assembly 706 may include a power management circuit which may comprise the power management controller 716, a power modulator 738, and a current sense circuit 736. the power management circuit can be configured to modulate power output of the battery based on the power requirements of the shaft assembly 704 while the shaft assembly 704 and the power assembly 706 are coupled to the handle assembly 702. the power management controller 716 can be programmed to control the power modulator 738 of the power output of the power assembly 706 and the current sense circuit 736 can be employed to monitor power output of the power assembly 706 to provide feedback to the power management controller 716 about the power output of the battery so that the power management controller 716 may adjust the power output of the power assembly 706 to maintain a desired output. the power management controller 716 and/or the shaft assembly controller 722 each may comprise one or more processors and/or memory units which may store a number of software modules. [0108] the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1-4) may comprise an output device 742 which may include devices for providing a sensory feedback to a user. such devices may comprise, for example, visual feedback devices (e.g., an lcd display screen, led indicators), audio feedback devices (e.g., a speaker, a buzzer) or tactile feedback devices (e.g., haptic actuators). in certain circumstances, the output device 742 may comprise a display 743 which may be included in the handle assembly 702. the shaft assembly controller 722 and/or the power management controller 716 can provide feedback to a user of the surgical instrument 10 through the output device 742. the interface can be configured to connect the shaft assembly controller 722 and/or the power management controller 716 to the output device 742. the output device 742 can instead be integrated with the power assembly 706. in such circumstances, communication between the output device 742 and the shaft assembly controller 722 may be accomplished through the interface while the shaft assembly 704 is coupled to the handle assembly 702. [0109] the control circuit 700 comprises circuit segments configured to control operations of the powered surgical instrument 10. a safety controller segment (segment 1) comprises a safety controller and the main controller 717 segment (segment 2). the safety controller and/or the main controller 717 are configured to interact with one or more additional circuit segments such as an acceleration segment, a display segment, a shaft segment, an encoder segment, a motor segment, and a power segment. each of the circuit segments may be coupled to the safety controller and/or the main controller 717. the main controller 717 is also coupled to a flash memory. the main controller 717 also comprises a serial communication interface. the main controller 717 comprises a plurality of inputs coupled to, for example, one or more circuit segments, a battery, and/or a plurality of switches. the segmented circuit may be implemented by any suitable circuit, such as, for example, a printed circuit board assembly (pcba) within the powered surgical instrument 10. it should be understood that the term processor as used herein includes any microprocessor, processors, controller, controllers, or other basic computing device that incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit (cpu) on an integrated circuit or at most a few integrated circuits. the main controller 717 is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. it is an example of sequential digital logic, as it has internal memory. the control circuit 700 can be configured to implement one or more of the processes described herein. [0110] the acceleration segment (segment 3) comprises an accelerometer. the accelerometer is configured to detect movement or acceleration of the powered surgical instrument 10. input from the accelerometer may be used to transition to and from a sleep mode, identify an orientation of the powered surgical instrument, and/or identify when the surgical instrument has been dropped. in some examples, the acceleration segment is coupled to the safety controller and/or the main controller 717. [0111] the display segment (segment 4) comprises a display connector coupled to the main controller 717. the display connector couples the main controller 717 to a display through one or more integrated circuit drivers of the display. the integrated circuit drivers of the display may be integrated with the display and/or may be located separately from the display. the display may comprise any suitable display, such as, for example, an organic light-emitting diode (oled) display, a liquid-crystal display (lcd), and/or any other suitable display. in some examples, the display segment is coupled to the safety controller. [0112] the shaft segment (segment 5) comprises controls for an interchangeable shaft assembly 200 (figs. 1 and 3) coupled to the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1 -4) and/or one or more controls for an end effector 300 coupled to the interchangeable shaft assembly 200. the shaft segment comprises a shaft connector configured to couple the main controller 717 to a shaft pcba. the shaft pcba comprises a low-power microcontroller with a ferroelectric random access memory (fram), an articulation switch, a shaft release hall effect switch, and a shaft pcba eeprom. the shaft pcba eeprom comprises one or more parameters, routines, and/or programs specific to the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 and/or the shaft pcba. the shaft pcba may be coupled to the interchangeable shaft assembly 200 and/or integral with the surgical instrument 10. in some examples, the shaft segment comprises a second shaft eeprom. the second shaft eeprom comprises a plurality of algorithms, routines, parameters, and/or other data corresponding to one or more shaft assemblies 200 and/or end effectors 300 that may be interfaced with the powered surgical instrument 10. [0113] the position encoder segment (segment 6) comprises one or more magnetic angle rotary position encoders. the one or more magnetic angle rotary position encoders are configured to identify the rotational position of the motor 714, an interchangeable shaft assembly 200 (figs. 1 and 3), and/or an end effector 300 of the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1-4). in some examples, the magnetic angle rotary position encoders may be coupled to the safety controller and/or the main controller 717. [0114] the motor circuit segment (segment 7) comprises a motor 714 configured to control movements of the powered surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1 -4). the motor 714 is coupled to the main microcontroller processor 717 by an h-bridge driver comprising one or more h-bridge field-effect transistors (fets) and a motor controller. the h-bridge driver is also coupled to the safety controller. a motor current sensor is coupled in series with the motor to measure the current draw of the motor. the motor current sensor is in signal communication with the main controller 717 and/or the safety controller. in some examples, the motor 714 is coupled to a motor electromagnetic interference (emi) filter. [0115] the motor controller controls a first motor flag and a second motor flag to indicate the status and position of the motor 714 to the main controller 717. the main controller 717 provides a pulse-width modulation (pwm) high signal, a pwm low signal, a direction signal, a synchronize signal, and a motor reset signal to the motor controller through a buffer. the power segment is configured to provide a segment voltage to each of the circuit segments. [0116] the power segment (segment 8) comprises a battery coupled to the safety controller, the main controller 717, and additional circuit segments. the battery is coupled to the segmented circuit by a battery connector and a current sensor. the current sensor is configured to measure the total current draw of the segmented circuit. in some examples, one or more voltage converters are configured to provide predetermined voltage values to one or more circuit segments. for example, in some examples, the segmented circuit may comprise 3.3v voltage converters and/or 5v voltage converters. a boost converter is configured to provide a boost voltage up to a predetermined amount, such as, for example, up to 13v. the boost converter is configured to provide additional voltage and/or current during power intensive operations and prevent brownout or low-power conditions. [0117] a plurality of switches are coupled to the safety controller and/or the main controller 717. the switches may be configured to control operations of the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1-4), of the segmented circuit, and/or indicate a status of the surgical instrument 10. a bail-out door switch and hall effect switch for bailout are configured to indicate the status of a bail-out door. a plurality of articulation switches, such as, for example, a left side articulation left switch, a left side articulation right switch, a left side articulation center switch, a right side articulation left switch, a right side articulation right switch, and a right side articulation center switch are configured to control articulation of an interchangeable shaft assembly 200 (figs. 1 and 3) and/or the end effector 300 (figs. 1 and 4). a left side reverse switch and a right side reverse switch are coupled to the main controller 717. the left side switches comprising the left side articulation left switch, the left side articulation right switch, the left side articulation center switch, and the left side reverse switch are coupled to the main controller 717 by a left flex connector. the right side switches comprising the right side articulation left switch, the right side articulation right switch, the right side articulation center switch, and the right side reverse switch are coupled to the main controller 717 by a right flex connector. a firing switch, a clamp release switch, and a shaft engaged switch are coupled to the main controller 717. [0118] any suitable mechanical, electromechanical, or solid state switches may be employed to implement the plurality of switches, in any combination. for example, the switches may be limit switches operated by the motion of components associated with the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1 -4) or the presence of an object. such switches may be employed to control various functions associated with the surgical instrument 10. a limit switch is an electromechanical device that consists of an actuator mechanically linked to a set of contacts. when an object comes into contact with the actuator, the device operates the contacts to make or break an electrical connection. limit switches are used in a variety of applications and environments because of their ruggedness, ease of installation, and reliability of operation. they can determine the presence or absence, passing, positioning, and end of travel of an object. in other implementations, the switches may be solid state switches that operate under the influence of a magnetic field such as hall-effect devices, magneto-resistive (mr) devices, giant magneto- resistive (gmr) devices, magnetometers, among others. in other implementations, the switches may be solid state switches that operate under the influence of light, such as optical sensors, infrared sensors, ultraviolet sensors, among others. still, the switches may be solid state devices such as transistors (e.g., fet, junction-fet, metal-oxide semiconductor-fet (mosfet), bipolar, and the like). other switches may include wireless switches, ultrasonic switches, accelerometers, inertial sensors, among others. [0119] fig. 6 is another block diagram of the control circuit 700 of the surgical instrument of fig. 1 illustrating interfaces between the handle assembly 702 and the power assembly 706 and between the handle assembly 702 and the interchangeable shaft assembly 704 according to one aspect of this disclosure. the handle assembly 702 may comprise a main controller 717, a shaft assembly connector 726 and a power assembly connector 730. the power assembly 706 may include a power assembly connector 732, a power management circuit 734 that may comprise the power management controller 716, a power modulator 738, and a current sense circuit 736. the shaft assembly connectors 730, 732 form an interface 727. the power management circuit 734 can be configured to modulate power output of the battery 707 based on the power requirements of the interchangeable shaft assembly 704 while the interchangeable shaft assembly 704 and the power assembly 706 are coupled to the handle assembly 702. the power management controller 716 can be programmed to control the power modulator 738 of the power output of the power assembly 706 and the current sense circuit 736 can be employed to monitor power output of the power assembly 706 to provide feedback to the power management controller 716 about the power output of the battery 707 so that the power management controller 716 may adjust the power output of the power assembly 706 to maintain a desired output. the shaft assembly 704 comprises a shaft processor 719 coupled to a nonvolatile memory 721 and shaft assembly connector 728 to electrically couple the shaft assembly 704 to the handle assembly 702. the shaft assembly connectors 726, 728 form interface 725. the main controller 717, the shaft processor 719, and/or the power management controller 716 can be configured to implement one or more of the processes described herein. [0120] the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1-4) may comprise an output device 742 to a sensory feedback to a user. such devices may comprise visual feedback devices (e.g., an lcd display screen, led indicators), audio feedback devices (e.g., a speaker, a buzzer), or tactile feedback devices (e.g., haptic actuators). in certain circumstances, the output device 742 may comprise a display 743 that may be included in the handle assembly 702. the shaft assembly controller 722 and/or the power management controller 716 can provide feedback to a user of the surgical instrument 10 through the output device 742. the interface 727 can be configured to connect the shaft assembly controller 722 and/or the power management controller 716 to the output device 742. the output device 742 can be integrated with the power assembly 706. communication between the output device 742 and the shaft assembly controller 722 may be accomplished through the interface 725 while the interchangeable shaft assembly 704 is coupled to the handle assembly 702. having described a control circuit 700 (figs. 5a-5b and 6) for controlling the operation of the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1 -4), the disclosure now turns to various configurations of the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1 -4) and control circuit 700. [0121] fig. 7 illustrates a control circuit 800 configured to control aspects of the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1-4) according to one aspect of this disclosure. the control circuit 800 can be configured to implement various processes described herein. the control circuit 800 may comprise a controller comprising one or more processors 802 (e.g., microprocessor, microcontroller) coupled to at least one memory circuit 804. the memory circuit 804 stores machine executable instructions that when executed by the processor 802, cause the processor 802 to execute machine instructions to implement various processes described herein. the processor 802 may be any one of a number of single or multi-core processors known in the art. the memory circuit 804 may comprise volatile and non-volatile storage media. the processor 802 may include an instruction processing unit 806 and an arithmetic unit 808. the instruction processing unit may be configured to receive instructions from the memory circuit 804. [0122] fig. 8 illustrates a combinational logic circuit 810 configured to control aspects of the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1 -4) according to one aspect of this disclosure. the combinational logic circuit 810 can be configured to implement various processes described herein. the circuit 810 may comprise a finite state machine comprising a combinational logic circuit 812 configured to receive data associated with the surgical instrument 10 at an input 814, process the data by the combinational logic 812, and provide an output 816. [0123] fig. 9 illustrates a sequential logic circuit 820 configured to control aspects of the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1 -4) according to one aspect of this disclosure. the sequential logic circuit 820 or the combinational logic circuit 822 can be configured to implement various processes described herein. the circuit 820 may comprise a finite state machine. the sequential logic circuit 820 may comprise a combinational logic circuit 822, at least one memory circuit 824, and a clock 829, for example. the at least one memory circuit 820 can store a current state of the finite state machine. in certain instances, the sequential logic circuit 820 may be synchronous or asynchronous. the combinational logic circuit 822 is configured to receive data associated with the surgical instrument 10 an input 826, process the data by the combinational logic circuit 822, and provide an output 828. in other aspects, the circuit may comprise a combination of the processor 802 and the finite state machine to implement various processes herein. in other aspects, the finite state machine may comprise a combination of the combinational logic circuit 810 and the sequential logic circuit 820. [0124] aspects may be implemented as an article of manufacture. the article of manufacture may include a computer readable storage medium arranged to store logic, instructions, and/or data for performing various operations of one or more aspects. for example, the article of manufacture may comprise a magnetic disk, optical disk, flash memory, or firmware containing computer program instructions suitable for execution by a general purpose processor or application specific processor. [0125] fig. 10 is a diagram of an absolute positioning system 1 100 of the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1 -4) where the absolute positioning system 1 100 comprises a controlled motor drive circuit arrangement comprising a sensor arrangement 1 102 according to one aspect of this disclosure. the sensor arrangement 1 102 for an absolute positioning system 1 100 provides a unique position signal corresponding to the location of a displacement member 1 1 1 1. turning briefly to figs. 2-4, in one aspect the displacement member 1 1 1 1 represents the longitudinally movable drive member 120 (fig. 2) comprising a rack of drive teeth 122 for meshing engagement with a corresponding drive gear 86 of the gear reducer assembly 84. in other aspects, the displacement member 1 1 1 1 represents the firing member 220 (fig. 3), which could be adapted and configured to include a rack of drive teeth. in yet another aspect, the displacement member 1 1 1 1 represents the firing bar 172 (fig. 4) or the i-beam 178 (fig. 4), each of which can be adapted and configured to include a rack of drive teeth. accordingly, as used herein, the term displacement member is used generically to refer to any movable member of the surgical instrument 10 such as the drive member 120, the firing member 220, the firing bar 172, the i-beam 178, or any element that can be displaced. in one aspect, the longitudinally movable drive member 120 is coupled to the firing member 220, the firing bar 172, and the i- beam 178. accordingly, the absolute positioning system 1 100 can, in effect, track the linear displacement of the i-beam 178 by tracking the linear displacement of the longitudinally movable drive member 120. in various other aspects, the displacement member 1 1 1 1 may be coupled to any sensor suitable for measuring linear displacement. thus, the longitudinally movable drive member 120, the firing member 220, the firing bar 172, or the i-beam 178, or combinations, may be coupled to any suitable linear displacement sensor. linear displacement sensors may include contact or non-contact displacement sensors. linear displacement sensors may comprise linear variable differential transformers (lvdt), differential variable reluctance transducers (dvrt), a slide potentiometer, a magnetic sensing system comprising a movable magnet and a series of linearly arranged hall effect sensors, a magnetic sensing system comprising a fixed magnet and a series of movable linearly arranged hall effect sensors, an optical sensing system comprising a movable light source and a series of linearly arranged photo diodes or photo detectors, or an optical sensing system comprising a fixed light source and a series of movable linearly arranged photo diodes or photo detectors, or any combination thereof. [0126] an electric motor 1 120 can include a rotatable shaft 1 1 16 that operably interfaces with a gear assembly 1 1 14 that is mounted in meshing engagement with a set, or rack, of drive teeth on the displacement member 1 1 1 1 . a sensor element 1 126 may be operably coupled to a gear assembly 1 1 14 such that a single revolution of the sensor element 1 126 corresponds to some linear longitudinal translation of the displacement member 1 1 1 1 . an arrangement of gearing and sensors 1 1 18 can be connected to the linear actuator via a rack and pinion arrangement or a rotary actuator via a spur gear or other connection. a power source 1 129 supplies power to the absolute positioning system 1 100 and an output indicator 1 128 may display the output of the absolute positioning system 1 100. in fig. 2, the displacement member 1 1 1 1 represents the longitudinally movable drive member 120 comprising a rack of drive teeth 122 formed thereon for meshing engagement with a corresponding drive gear 86 of the gear reducer assembly 84. the displacement member 1 1 1 1 represents the longitudinally movable firing member 220, firing bar 172, i-beam 178, or combinations thereof. [0127] a single revolution of the sensor element 1 126 associated with the position sensor 1 1 12 is equivalent to a longitudinal linear displacement d1 of the of the displacement member 1 1 1 1 , where d1 is the longitudinal linear distance that the displacement member 1 1 1 1 moves from point "a" to point "b" after a single revolution of the sensor element 1 126 coupled to the displacement member 1 1 1 1 . the sensor arrangement 1 102 may be connected via a gear reduction that results in the position sensor 1 1 12 completing one or more revolutions for the full stroke of the displacement member 1 1 1 1 . the position sensor 1 1 12 may complete multiple revolutions for the full stroke of the displacement member 1 1 1 1. [0128] a series of switches 1 122a-1 122n, where n is an integer greater than one, may be employed alone or in combination with gear reduction to provide a unique position signal for more than one revolution of the position sensor 1 1 12. the state of the switches 1 122a-1 122n are fed back to a controller 1 104 that applies logic to determine a unique position signal corresponding to the longitudinal linear displacement d1 + d2 + ... dn of the displacement member 1 1 1 1 . the output 1 124 of the position sensor 1 1 12 is provided to the controller 1 104. the position sensor 1 1 12 of the sensor arrangement 1 102 may comprise a magnetic sensor, an analog rotary sensor like a potentiometer, an array of analog hall-effect elements, which output a unique combination of position signals or values. [0129] the absolute positioning system 1 100 provides an absolute position of the displacement member 1 1 1 1 upon power up of the instrument without retracting or advancing the displacement member 1 1 1 1 to a reset (zero or home) position as may be required with conventional rotary encoders that merely count the number of steps forwards or backwards that the motor 1 120 has taken to infer the position of a device actuator, drive bar, knife, and the like. [0130] the controller 1 104 may be programmed to perform various functions such as precise control over the speed and position of the knife and articulation systems. in one aspect, the controller 1 104 includes a processor 1 108 and a memory 1 106. the electric motor 1 120 may be a brushed dc motor with a gearbox and mechanical links to an articulation or knife system. in one aspect, a motor driver 1 1 10 may be an a3941 available from allegro microsystems, inc. other motor drivers may be readily substituted for use in the absolute positioning system 1 100. a more detailed description of the absolute positioning system 1 100 is described in u.s. patent application no. 15/130,590, entitled systems and methods for controlling a surgical stapling and cutting instrument, filed on april 15, 2016, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. [0131] the controller 1 104 may be programmed to provide precise control over the speed and position of the displacement member 1 1 1 1 and articulation systems. the controller 1 104 may be configured to compute a response in the software of the controller 1 104. the computed response is compared to a measured response of the actual system to obtain an "observed" response, which is used for actual feedback decisions. the observed response is a favorable, tuned, value that balances the smooth, continuous nature of the simulated response with the measured response, which can detect outside influences on the system. [0132] the absolute positioning system 1 100 may comprise and/or be programmed to implement a feedback controller, such as a pid, state feedback, and adaptive controller. a power source 1 129 converts the signal from the feedback controller into a physical input to the system, in this case voltage. other examples include pulse width modulation (pwm) of the voltage, current, and force. other sensor(s) 1 1 18 may be provided to measure physical parameters of the physical system in addition to position measured by the position sensor 1 1 12. in a digital signal processing system, absolute positioning system 1 100 is coupled to a digital data acquisition system where the output of the absolute positioning system 1 100 will have finite resolution and sampling frequency. the absolute positioning system 1 100 may comprise a compare and combine circuit to combine a computed response with a measured response using algorithms such as weighted average and theoretical control loop that drives the computed response towards the measured response. the computed response of the physical system takes into account properties like mass, inertial, viscous friction, inductance resistance, etc., to predict what the states and outputs of the physical system will be by knowing the input. the controller 1 104 may be a control circuit 700 (figs. 5a-5b). [0133] the motor driver 1 1 10 may be an a3941 available from allegro microsystems, inc. the a3941 driver 1 1 10 is a full-bridge controller for use with external n-channel power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (mosfets) specifically designed for inductive loads, such as brush dc motors. the driver 1 1 10 comprises a unique charge pump regulator provides full (>10 v) gate drive for battery voltages down to 7 v and allows the a3941 to operate with a reduced gate drive, down to 5.5 v. a bootstrap capacitor may be employed to provide the above-battery supply voltage required for n-channel mosfets. an internal charge pump for the high-side drive allows dc (100% duty cycle) operation. the full bridge can be driven in fast or slow decay modes using diode or synchronous rectification. in the slow decay mode, current recirculation can be through the high-side or the lowside fets. the power fets are protected from shoot-through by resistor adjustable dead time. integrated diagnostics provide indication of undervoltage, overtemperature, and power bridge faults, and can be configured to protect the power mosfets under most short circuit conditions. other motor drivers may be readily substituted for use in the absolute positioning system 1 100. [0134] having described a general architecture for implementing aspects of an absolute positioning system 1 100 for a sensor arrangement 1 102, the disclosure now turns to figs. 1 1 and 12 for a description of one aspect of a sensor arrangement 1 102 for the absolute positioning system 1 100. fig. 1 1 is an exploded perspective view of the sensor arrangement 1 102 for the absolute positioning system 1 100 showing a circuit 1205 and the relative alignment of the elements of the sensor arrangement 1 102, according to one aspect. the sensor arrangement 1 102 for an absolute positioning system 1 100 comprises a position sensor 1200, a magnet 1202 sensor element, a magnet holder 1204 that turns once every full stroke of the displacement member 1 1 1 1 , and a gear assembly 1206 to provide a gear reduction. with reference briefly to fig. 2, the displacement member 1 1 1 1 may represent the longitudinally movable drive member 120 comprising a rack of drive teeth 122 for meshing engagement with a corresponding drive gear 86 of the gear reducer assembly 84. returning to fig. 1 1 , a structural element such as bracket 1216 is provided to support the gear assembly 1206, the magnet holder 1204, and the magnet 1202. the position sensor 1200 comprises magnetic sensing elements such as hall elements and is placed in proximity to the magnet 1202. as the magnet 1202 rotates, the magnetic sensing elements of the position sensor 1200 determine the absolute angular position of the magnet 1202 over one revolution. [0135] the sensor arrangement 1 102 may comprises any number of magnetic sensing elements, such as, for example, magnetic sensors classified according to whether they measure the total magnetic field or the vector components of the magnetic field. the techniques used to produce both types of magnetic sensors encompass many aspects of physics and electronics. the technologies used for magnetic field sensing include search coil, fluxgate, optically pumped, nuclear precession, squid, hall-effect, anisotropic magnetoresistance, giant magnetoresistance, magnetic tunnel junctions, giant magnetoimpedance, magnetostrictive/piezoelectric composites, magnetodiode, magnetotransistor, fiber optic, magnetooptic, and microelectromechanical systems-based magnetic sensors, among others. [0136] a gear assembly comprises a first gear 1208 and a second gear 1210 in meshing engagement to provide a 3:1 gear ratio connection. a third gear 1212 rotates about a shaft 1214. the third gear 1212 is in meshing engagement with the displacement member 1 1 1 1 (or 120 as shown in fig. 2) and rotates in a first direction as the displacement member 1 1 1 1 advances in a distal direction d and rotates in a second direction as the displacement member 1 1 1 1 retracts in a proximal direction p. the second gear 1210 also rotates about the shaft 1214 and, therefore, rotation of the second gear 1210 about the shaft 1214 corresponds to the longitudinal translation of the displacement member 1 1 1 1 . thus, one full stroke of the displacement member 1 1 1 1 in either the distal or proximal directions d, p corresponds to three rotations of the second gear 1210 and a single rotation of the first gear 1208. since the magnet holder 1204 is coupled to the first gear 1208, the magnet holder 1204 makes one full rotation with each full stroke of the displacement member 1 1 1 1 . [0137] the position sensor 1200 is supported by a position sensor holder 1218 defining an aperture 1220 suitable to contain the position sensor 1200 in precise alignment with a magnet 1202 rotating below within the magnet holder 1204. the fixture is coupled to the bracket 1216 and to the circuit 1205 and remains stationary while the magnet 1202 rotates with the magnet holder 1204. a hub 1222 is provided to mate with the first gear 1208 and the magnet holder 1204. the second gear 1210 and third gear 1212 coupled to shaft 1214 also are shown. [0138] fig. 12 is a diagram of a position sensor 1200 for an absolute positioning system 1 100 comprising a magnetic rotary absolute positioning system according to one aspect of this disclosure. the position sensor 1200 may be implemented as an as5055eqft single-chip magnetic rotary position sensor available from austria microsystems, ag. the position sensor 1200 is interfaced with the controller 1 104 to provide an absolute positioning system 1 100. the position sensor 1200 is a low-voltage and low-power component and includes four hall-effect elements 1228a, 1228b, 1228c, 1228d in an area 1230 of the position sensor 1200 that is located above the magnet 1202 (figs. 15 and 16). a high-resolution adc 1232 and a smart power management controller 1238 are also provided on the chip. a cordic processor 1236 (for coordinate rotation digital computer), also known as the digit-by-digit method and volder's algorithm, is provided to implement a simple and efficient algorithm to calculate hyperbolic and trigonometric functions that require only addition, subtraction, bitshift, and table lookup operations. the angle position, alarm bits, and magnetic field information are transmitted over a standard serial communication interface such as an spi interface 1234 to the controller 1 104. the position sensor 1200 provides 12 or 14 bits of resolution. the position sensor 1200 may be an as5055 chip provided in a small qfn 16-pin 4x4x0.85mm package. [0139] the hall-effect elements 1228a, 1228b, 1228c, 1228d are located directly above the rotating magnet 1202 (fig. 1 1 ). the hall-effect is a well-known effect and for expediency will not be described in detail herein, however, generally, the hall-effect produces a voltage difference (the hall voltage) across an electrical conductor transverse to an electric current in the conductor and a magnetic field perpendicular to the current. a hall coefficient is defined as the ratio of the induced electric field to the product of the current density and the applied magnetic field. it is a characteristic of the material from which the conductor is made, since its value depends on the type, number, and properties of the charge carriers that constitute the current. in the as5055 position sensor 1200, the hall-effect elements 1228a, 1228b, 1228c, 1228d are capable producing a voltage signal that is indicative of the absolute position of the magnet 1202 in terms of the angle over a single revolution of the magnet 1202. this value of the angle, which is unique position signal, is calculated by the cordic processor 1236 is stored onboard the as5055 position sensor 1200 in a register or memory. the value of the angle that is indicative of the position of the magnet 1202 over one revolution is provided to the controller 1 104 in a variety of techniques, e.g., upon power up or upon request by the controller 1 104. [0140] the as5055 position sensor 1200 requires only a few external components to operate when connected to the controller 1 104. six wires are needed for a simple application using a single power supply: two wires for power and four wires 1240 for the spi interface 1234 with the controller 1 104. a seventh connection can be added in order to send an interrupt to the controller 1 104 to inform that a new valid angle can be read. upon power-up, the as5055 position sensor 1200 performs a full power-up sequence including one angle measurement. the completion of this cycle is indicated as an int output 1242, and the angle value is stored in an internal register. once this output is set, the as5055 position sensor 1200 suspends to sleep mode. the controller 1 104 can respond to the int request at the int output 1242 by reading the angle value from the as5055 position sensor 1200 over the spi interface 1234. once the angle value is read by the controller 1 104, the int output 1242 is cleared again. sending a "read angle" command by the spi interface 1234 by the controller 1 104 to the position sensor 1200 also automatically powers up the chip and starts another angle measurement. as soon as the controller 1 104 has completed reading of the angle value, the int output 1242 is cleared and a new result is stored in the angle register. the completion of the angle measurement is again indicated by setting the int output 1242 and a corresponding flag in the status register. [0141] due to the measurement principle of the as5055 position sensor 1200, only a single angle measurement is performed in very short time (~600μ5) after each power-up sequence. as soon as the measurement of one angle is completed, the as5055 position sensor 1200 suspends to power-down state. an on-chip filtering of the angle value by digital averaging is not implemented, as this would require more than one angle measurement and, consequently, a longer power-up time that is not desired in low-power applications. the angle jitter can be reduced by averaging of several angle samples in the controller 1 104. for example, an averaging of four samples reduces the jitter by 6db (50%). [0142] fig. 13 is a section view of an end effector 2502 of the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1-4) showing an i-beam 2514 firing stroke relative to tissue 2526 grasped within the end effector 2502 according to one aspect of this disclosure. the end effector 2502 is configured to operate with the surgical instrument 10 shown in figs. 1 -4. the end effector 2502 comprises an anvil 2516 and an elongated channel 2503 with a staple cartridge 2518 positioned in the elongated channel 2503. a firing bar 2520 is translatable distally and proximally along a longitudinal axis 2515 of the end effector 2502. when the end effector 2502 is not articulated, the end effector 2502 is in line with the shaft of the instrument. an i-beam 2514 comprising a cutting edge 2509 is illustrated at a distal portion of the firing bar 2520. a wedge sled 2513 is positioned in the staple cartridge 2518. as the i-beam 2514 translates distally, the cutting edge 2509 contacts and may cut tissue 2526 positioned between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518. also, the i-beam 2514 contacts the wedge sled 2513 and pushes it distally, causing the wedge sled 2513 to contact staple drivers 251 1 . the staple drivers 251 1 may be driven up into staples 2505, causing the staples 2505 to advance through tissue and into pockets 2507 defined in the anvil 2516, which shape the staples 2505. [0143] an example i-beam 2514 firing stroke is illustrated by a chart 2529 aligned with the end effector 2502. example tissue 2526 is also shown aligned with the end effector 2502. the firing member stroke may comprise a stroke begin position 2527 and a stroke end position 2528. during an i-beam 2514 firing stroke, the i-beam 2514 may be advanced distally from the stroke begin position 2527 to the stroke end position 2528. the i-beam 2514 is shown at one example location of a stroke begin position 2527. the i-beam 2514 firing member stroke chart 2529 illustrates five firing member stroke regions 2517, 2519, 2521 , 2523, 2525. in a first firing stroke region 2517, the i-beam 2514 may begin to advance distally. in the first firing stroke region 2517, the i-beam 2514 may contact the wedge sled 2513 and begin to move it distally. while in the first region, however, the cutting edge 2509 may not contact tissue and the wedge sled 2513 may not contact a staple driver 251 1 . after static friction is overcome, the force to drive the i- beam 2514 in the first region 2517 may be substantially constant. [0144] in the second firing member stroke region 2519, the cutting edge 2509 may begin to contact and cut tissue 2526. also, the wedge sled 2513 may begin to contact staple drivers 251 1 to drive staples 2505. force to drive the i-beam 2514 may begin to ramp up. as shown, tissue encountered initially may be compressed and/or thinner because of the way that the anvil 2516 pivots relative to the staple cartridge 2518. in the third firing member stroke region 2521 , the cutting edge 2509 may continuously contact and cut tissue 2526 and the wedge sled 2513 may repeatedly contact staple drivers 251 1 . force to drive the i-beam 2514 may plateau in the third region 2521 . by the fourth firing stroke region 2523, force to drive the i-beam 2514 may begin to decline. for example, tissue in the portion of the end effector 2502 corresponding to the fourth firing region 2523 may be less compressed than tissue closer to the pivot point of the anvil 2516, requiring less force to cut. also, the cutting edge 2509 and wedge sled 2513 may reach the end of the tissue 2526 while in the fourth region 2523. when the i-beam 2514 reaches the fifth region 2525, the tissue 2526 may be completely severed. the wedge sled 2513 may contact one or more staple drivers 251 1 at or near the end of the tissue. force to advance the i- beam 2514 through the fifth region 2525 may be reduced and, in some examples, may be similar to the force to drive the i-beam 2514 in the first region 2517. at the conclusion of the firing member stroke, the i-beam 2514 may reach the stroke end position 2528. the positioning of firing member stroke regions 2517, 2519, 2521 , 2523, 2525 in fig. 13 is just one example. in some examples, different regions may begin at different positions along the end effector longitudinal axis 2515, for example, based on the positioning of tissue between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518. [0145] as discussed above and with reference now to figs. 10-13, the electric motor 1 122 positioned within the handle assembly of the surgical instrument 10 (figs. 1 -4) can be utilized to advance and/or retract the firing system of the shaft assembly, including the i-beam 2514, relative to the end effector 2502 of the shaft assembly in order to staple and/or incise tissue captured within the end effector 2502. the i-beam 2514 may be advanced or retracted at a desired speed, or within a range of desired speeds. the controller 1 104 may be configured to control the speed of the i-beam 2514. the controller 1 104 may be configured to predict the speed of the i-beam 2514 based on various parameters of the power supplied to the electric motor 1 122, such as voltage and/or current, for example, and/or other operating parameters of the electric motor 1 122 or external influences. the controller 1 104 may be configured to predict the current speed of the i-beam 2514 based on the previous values of the current and/or voltage supplied to the electric motor 1 122, and/or previous states of the system like velocity, acceleration, and/or position. the controller 1 104 may be configured to sense the speed of the i-beam 2514 utilizing the absolute positioning sensor system described herein. the controller can be configured to compare the predicted speed of the i-beam 2514 and the sensed speed of the i-beam 2514 to determine whether the power to the electric motor 1 122 should be increased in order to increase the speed of the i-beam 2514 and/or decreased in order to decrease the speed of the i-beam 2514. u.s. patent no. 8,210,41 1 , entitled motor-driven surgical cutting instrument, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. u.s. patent no. 7,845,537, entitled surgical instrument having recording capabilities, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. [0146] force acting on the i-beam 2514 may be determined using various techniques. the i- beam 2514 force may be determined by measuring the motor 2504 current, where the motor 2504 current is based on the load experienced by the i-beam 2514 as it advances distally. the i-beam 2514 force may be determined by positioning a strain gauge on the drive member 120 (fig. 2), the firing member 220 (fig. 2), i-beam 2514 (i-beam 178, fig. 20), the firing bar 172 (fig. 2), and/or on a proximal end of the cutting edge 2509. the i-beam 2514 force may be determined by monitoring the actual position of the i-beam 2514 moving at an expected velocity based on the current set velocity of the motor 2504 after a predetermined elapsed period and comparing the actual position of the i-beam 2514 relative to the expected position of the i-beam 2514 based on the current set velocity of the motor 2504 at the end of the period t thus, if the actual position of the i-beam 2514 is less than the expected position of the i-beam 2514, the force on the i-beam 2514 is greater than a nominal force. conversely, if the actual position of the i-beam 2514 is greater than the expected position of the i-beam 2514, the force on the i- beam 2514 is less than the nominal force. the difference between the actual and expected positions of the i-beam 2514 is proportional to the deviation of the force on the i-beam 2514 from the nominal force. such techniques are described in attorney docket number end8195usnp, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. [0147] fig. 14 illustrates a block diagram of a surgical instrument 2500 programmed to control distal translation of a displacement member according to one aspect of this disclosure. in one aspect, the surgical instrument 2500 is programmed to control distal translation of a displacement member 1 1 1 1 such as the i-beam 2514. the surgical instrument 2500 comprises an end effector 2502 that may comprise an anvil 2516, an i-beam 2514 (including a sharp cutting edge 2509), and a removable staple cartridge 2518. the end effector 2502, anvil 2516, i- beam 2514, and staple cartridge 2518 may be configured as described herein, for example, with respect to figs. 1 -13. [0148] the position, movement, displacement, and/or translation of a liner displacement member 1 1 1 1 , such as the i-beam 2514, can be measured by the absolute positioning system 1 100, sensor arrangement 1 102, and position sensor 1200 as shown in figs. 10-12 and represented as position sensor 2534 in fig. 14. because the i-beam 2514 is coupled to the longitudinally movable drive member 120, the position of the i-beam 2514 can be determined by measuring the position of the longitudinally movable drive member 120 employing the position sensor 2534. accordingly, in the following description, the position, displacement, and/or translation of the i-beam 2514 can be achieved by the position sensor 2534 as described herein. a control circuit 2510, such as the control circuit 700 described in figs. 5a and 5b, may be programmed to control the translation of the displacement member 1 1 1 1 , such as the i-beam 2514, as described in connection with figs. 10-12. the control circuit 2510, in some examples, may comprise one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other suitable processors for executing instructions that cause the processor or processors to control the displacement member, e.g., the i-beam 2514, in the manner described. in one aspect, a timer/counter circuit 2531 provides an output signal, such as elapsed time or a digital count, to the control circuit 2510 to correlate the position of the i-beam 2514 as determined by the position sensor 2534 with the output of the timer/counter circuit 2531 such that the control circuit 2510 can determine the position of the i-beam 2514 at a specific time (t) relative to a starting position. the timer/counter circuit 2531 may be configured to measure elapsed time, count external evens, or time external events. [0149] the control circuit 2510 may generate a motor set point signal 2522. the motor set point signal 2522 may be provided to a motor controller 2508. the motor controller 2508 may comprise one or more circuits configured to provide a motor drive signal 2524 to the motor 2504 to drive the motor 2504 as described herein. in some examples, the motor 2504 may be a brushed dc electric motor, such as the motor 82, 714, 1 120 shown in figs. 1 , 5b, 10. for example, the velocity of the motor 2504 may be proportional to the motor drive signal 2524. in some examples, the motor 2504 may be a brushless direct current (dc) electric motor and the motor drive signal 2524 may comprise a pulse-width-modulated (pwm) signal provided to one or more stator windings of the motor 2504. also, in some examples, the motor controller 2508 may be omitted and the control circuit 2510 may generate the motor drive signal 2524 directly. [0150] the motor 2504 may receive power from an energy source 2512. the energy source 2512 may be or include a battery, a super capacitor, or any other suitable energy source 2512. the motor 2504 may be mechanically coupled to the i-beam 2514 via a transmission 2506. the transmission 2506 may include one or more gears or other linkage components to couple the motor 2504 to the i-beam 2514. a position sensor 2534 may sense a position of the i-beam 2514. the position sensor 2534 may be or include any type of sensor that is capable of generating position data that indicates a position of the i-beam 2514. in some examples, the position sensor 2534 may include an encoder configured to provide a series of pulses to the control circuit 2510 as the i-beam 2514 translates distally and proximally. the control circuit 2510 may track the pulses to determine the position of the i-beam 2514. other suitable position sensor may be used, including, for example, a proximity sensor. other types of position sensors may provide other signals indicating motion of the i-beam 2514. also, in some examples, the position sensor 2534 may be omitted. where the motor 2504 is a stepper motor, the control circuit 2510 may track the position of the i-beam 2514 by aggregating the number and direction of steps that the motor 2504 has been instructed to execute. the position sensor 2534 may be located in the end effector 2502 or at any other portion of the instrument. [0151] the control circuit 2510 may be in communication with one or more sensors 2538. the sensors 2538 may be positioned on the end effector 2502 and adapted to operate with the surgical instrument 2500 to measure the various derived parameters such as gap distance versus time, tissue compression versus time, and anvil strain versus time. the sensors 2538 may comprise a magnetic sensor, a magnetic field sensor, a strain gauge, a pressure sensor, a force sensor, an inductive sensor such as an eddy current sensor, a resistive sensor, a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor, and/or any other suitable sensor for measuring one or more parameters of the end effector 2502. the sensors 2538 may include one or more sensors. [0152] the one or more sensors 2538 may comprise a strain gauge, such as a micro-strain gauge, configured to measure the magnitude of the strain in the anvil 2516 during a clamped condition. the strain gauge provides an electrical signal whose amplitude varies with the magnitude of the strain. the sensors 2538 may comprise a pressure sensor configured to detect a pressure generated by the presence of compressed tissue between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518. the sensors 2538 may be configured to detect impedance of a tissue section located between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518 that is indicative of the thickness and/or fullness of tissue located therebetween. [0153] the sensors 2538 may be is configured to measure forces exerted on the anvil 2516 by the closure drive system 30. for example, one or more sensors 2538 can be at an interaction point between the closure tube 260 (fig. 3) and the anvil 2516 to detect the closure forces applied by the closure tube 260 to the anvil 2516. the forces exerted on the anvil 2516 can be representative of the tissue compression experienced by the tissue section captured between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518. the one or more sensors 2538 can be positioned at various interaction points along the closure drive system 30 (fig. 2) to detect the closure forces applied to the anvil 2516 by the closure drive system 30. the one or more sensors 2538 may be sampled in real time during a clamping operation by a processor as described in figs. 5a-5b. the control circuit 2510 receives real-time sample measurements to provide analyze time based information and assess, in real time, closure forces applied to the anvil 2516. [0154] a current sensor 2536 can be employed to measure the current drawn by the motor 2504. the force required to advance the i-beam 2514 corresponds to the current drawn by the motor 2504. the force is converted to a digital signal and provided to the control circuit 2510. [0155] using the physical properties of the instruments disclosed herein in connection with figs. 1 -14, and with reference to fig. 14, the control circuit 2510 can be configured to simulate the response of the actual system of the instrument in the software of the controller. a displacement member can be actuated to move an i-beam 2514 in the end effector 2502 at or near a target velocity. the surgical instrument 2500 can include a feedback controller, which can be one of any feedback controllers, including, but not limited to a pid, a state feedback, lqr, and/or an adaptive controller, for example. the surgical instrument 2500 can include a power source to convert the signal from the feedback controller into a physical input such as case voltage, pulse width modulated (pwm) voltage, frequency modulated voltage, current, torque, and/or force, for example. [0156] the actual drive system of the surgical instrument 2500 is configured to drive the displacement member, cutting member, or i-beam 2514, by a brushed dc motor with gearbox and mechanical links to an articulation and/or knife system. another example is the electric motor 2504 that operates the displacement member and the articulation driver, for example, of an interchangeable shaft assembly. an outside influence is an unmeasured, unpredictable influence of things like tissue, surrounding bodies and friction on the physical system. such outside influence can be referred to as drag which acts in opposition to the electric motor 2504. the outside influence, such as drag, may cause the operation of the physical system to deviate from a desired operation of the physical system. [0157] before explaining aspects of the surgical instrument 2500 in detail, it should be noted that the example aspects are not limited in application or use to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings and description. the example aspects may be implemented or incorporated in other aspects, variations and modifications, and may be practiced or carried out in various ways. further, unless otherwise indicated, the terms and expressions employed herein have been chosen for the purpose of describing the example aspects for the convenience of the reader and are not for the purpose of limitation thereof. also, it will be appreciated that one or more of the following-described aspects, expressions of aspects and/or examples, can be combined with any one or more of the other following- described aspects, expressions of aspects and/or examples. [0158] various example aspects are directed to a surgical instrument 2500 comprising an end effector 2502 with motor-driven surgical stapling and cutting implements. for example, a motor 2504 may drive a displacement member distally and proximally along a longitudinal axis of the end effector 2502. the end effector 2502 may comprise a pivotable anvil 2516 and, when configured for use, a staple cartridge 2518 positioned opposite the anvil 2516. a clinician may grasp tissue between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518, as described herein. when ready to use the instrument 2500, the clinician may provide a firing signal, for example by depressing a trigger of the instrument 2500. in response to the firing signal, the motor 2504 may drive the displacement member distally along the longitudinal axis of the end effector 2502 from a proximal stroke begin position to a stroke end position distal of the stroke begin position. as the displacement member translates distally, an i-beam 2514 with a cutting element positioned at a distal end, may cut the tissue between the staple cartridge 2518 and the anvil 2516. [0159] in various examples, the surgical instrument 2500 may comprise a control circuit 2510 programmed to control the distal translation of the displacement member, such as the i-beam 2514, for example, based on one or more tissue conditions. the control circuit 2510 may be programmed to sense tissue conditions, such as thickness, either directly or indirectly, as described herein. the control circuit 2510 may be programmed to select a firing control program based on tissue conditions. a firing control program may describe the distal motion of the displacement member. different firing control programs may be selected to better treat different tissue conditions. for example, when thicker tissue is present, the control circuit 2510 may be programmed to translate the displacement member at a lower velocity and/or with lower power. when thinner tissue is present, the control circuit 2510 may be programmed to translate the displacement member at a higher velocity and/or with higher power. [0160] in some examples, the control circuit 2510 may initially operate the motor 2504 in an open-loop configuration for a first open-loop portion of a stroke of the displacement member. based on a response of the instrument 2500 during the open-loop portion of the stroke, the control circuit 2510 may select a firing control program. the response of the instrument may include, a translation distance of the displacement member during the open-loop portion, a time elapsed during the open-loop portion, energy provided to the motor 2504 during the open-loop portion, a sum of pulse widths of a motor drive signal, etc. after the open-loop portion, the control circuit 2510 may implement the selected firing control program for a second portion of the displacement member stroke. for example, during the closed loop portion of the stroke, the control circuit 2510 may modulate the motor 2504 based on translation data describing a position of the displacement member in a closed-loop manner to translate the displacement member at a constant velocity. [0161] fig. 15 illustrates a diagram 2580 plotting two example displacement member strokes executed according to one aspect of this disclosure. the diagram 2580 comprises two axes. a horizontal axis 2584 indicates elapsed time. a vertical axis 2582 indicates the position of the i- beam 2514 between a stroke begin position 2586 and a stroke end position 2588. on the horizontal axis 2584, the control circuit 2510 may receive the firing signal and begin providing the initial motor setting at t 0 . the open-loop portion of the displacement member stroke is an initial time period that may elapse between t 0 and [0162] a first example 2592 shows a response of the surgical instrument 2500 when thick tissue is positioned between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518. during the open-loop portion of the displacement member stroke, e.g., the initial time period between t 0 and the i- beam 2514 may traverse from the stroke begin position 2586 to position 2594. the control circuit 2510 may determine that position 2594 corresponds to a firing control program that advances the i-beam 2514 at a selected constant velocity (vslow), indicated by the slope of the example 2592 after (e.g., in the closed loop portion). the control circuit 2510 may drive i- beam 2514 to the velocity vslow by monitoring the position of i-beam 2514 and modulating the motor set point 2522 and/or motor drive signal 2524 to maintain vslow. a second example 2590 shows a response of the surgical instrument 2500 when thin tissue is positioned between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518. [0163] during the initial time period (e.g., the open-loop period) between t 0 and the i-beam 2514 may traverse from the stroke begin position 2586 to position 2596. the control circuit may determine that position 2596 corresponds to a firing control program that advances the displacement member at a selected constant velocity (vfast). because the tissue in example 2590 is thinner than the tissue in example 2592, it may provide less resistance to the motion of the i-beam 2514. as a result, the i-beam 2514 may traverse a larger portion of the stroke during the initial time period. also, in some examples, thinner tissue (e.g., a larger portion of the displacement member stroke traversed during the initial time period) may correspond to higher displacement member velocities after the initial time period. [0164] the disclosure now turns to a closed loop feedback system for controlling motor velocity based on a variety of conditions. the closed loop feedback system as executed by the control circuit 2510 can be configured to implement either a default, e.g., pre-programmed, firing condition or a user-selected firing condition. the user selected firing condition can be selected during the open loop portion or otherwise prior to the closed loop portion of the displacement stroke. in one aspect, the user-selected firing condition is configured to override the execution of the default or pre-programmed firing condition. [0165] turning now to fig. 16, there is shown a perspective view of a surgical instrument 10500 according to one aspect of this disclosure. in one aspect, a surgical instrument 10500 comprising an end effector 10504 connected via a shaft 10503 to a handle assembly 10502 further comprises a display 10506. the surgical instrument 10500 comprises a home button 10508, an articulation toggle 10510, a firing trigger and safety release 10512, and a closure trigger 10514. [0166] in the following discussion, reference should also be made to fig. 14. the display 10506 is operably coupled to the control circuit 2510 such that the control circuit 2510 can cause the display 10506 to show various information associated with the operation of the instrument 10500, such as information determined by or from the position sensor 2534, the current sensor 2536, and/or the other sensors 2538. in one aspect, the display 10506 can be configured to display the velocity at which the i-beam 2514 is set to be translated by the motor 2504, i.e., a command velocity, and/or the actual velocity at which the i-beam 2514 is being translated. the command velocity is the set, target, or desired velocity. the command velocity at which the i-beam 2514 is to be translated can be determined by either receiving the motor set point, which dictates the velocity at which the motor 2504 drives the i-beam 2514, dictated by the motor drive signal 2524 from the motor control 2508 or storing the motor drive signal 2524 that is provided to the motor control 2508 in a memory for subsequent retrieval. the actual velocity at which the i-beam 2514, or other component of the firing drive system, is being translated can be determined by monitoring the position of the i-beam 2514 over a time period, which can be tracked by the control circuit 2510 via input from the timer/counter 2531 . [0167] in various aspects, the display 10506 of the surgical instrument 10500 can be positioned directly on the exterior housing or casing of the handle assembly 10502 or otherwise integrally associated with the surgical instrument 10500. in other aspects, the display 10506 can be removably connectable or attachable to the surgical instrument 10500. in still other aspects, the display 10506 can be separate or otherwise distinct from the surgical instrument 10500. the display 10506 can be communicably coupled to the control circuit 2510 via either a wired connection or a wireless connection. [0168] fig. 17 is a detail view of a display 10506 portion of the surgical instrument 10500 shown in fig. 16 according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10506 includes an lcd display 10516 to communicate velocity control including showing the command velocity as well as if the firing mode is in a closed loop feedback (automatic) mode or manually selected mode. the display 10506 provides transection feedback by displaying a graphic image of an end effector staple cartridge 10518 with a knife 10520 and rows of staples 10522. a left graphic label 10524 indicates the distance 10528 the knife 10520 has traveled (e.g., 10mm) distally and a right graphic label 10526 indicates the velocity of the knife 10520 as it travels distally where the current velocity is circled (e.g., 3), where 1 is fast, 2 is medium, and 3 is slow velocity. the velocity may be selected manually or automatically based on the conditions of the tissue. [0169] fig. 18 is a logic flow diagram of a process 10550 depicting a control program or logic configuration for controlling a display according to one aspect of this disclosure. reference should also be made to figs. 14 and 16. accordingly, the control circuit 2510 first receives 10552 command velocity from the instrument input and sets 10554 the motor 2504 velocity to the command velocity. the control circuit 2510 receives 10556 position information of the displacement member (e.g., i-beam 2514) from the position sensor 2534 and receives 10558 timing information from the timer/counter circuit 2531 and determines 10560 the velocity of the displacement member. the velocity of the i-beam 2514 can include the actual velocity at which the i-beam 2514 is translated or the command velocity at which the i-beam 2514 was set to be translated. the control circuit 2510 then causes the display 10506 to display 10562 an indicia indicative of the actual velocity of the displacement member and/or the command velocity depending on the configuration of the instrument 10500. in one aspect, the control circuit 2510 determines 10560 both the actual and command velocities of the i-beam 2514 and then causes the display 10506 to display 10562 an indicia for each of the actual and command velocities. the control circuit 2510 then compares 10564 the velocity of the displacement member to the command velocity and causes the display 10506 to display 10566 an indicia regarding the comparison. for example, the control circuit 2510 can cause the display 10506 to display indicia that show whether the actual velocity of the displacement member is equal to, greater than, or less than the command velocity. in some aspects, the control circuit 2510 causes the display 10506 to display the actual velocity of the displacement member relative to a range of command velocities such as, for example, low or slow (e.g., 0-7mm/sec), medium (e.g., 7-12mm/sec), or high or fast (e.g., 12-30mm/sec). furthermore, the control circuit 2510 receives 10568 the operation status of the battery from the energy source 2512 such as voltage, current, impedance, capacity, temperature, and the like, and causes the display 10506 to display 10570 the status of the battery. [0170] the indicia for the velocity or velocities can include a numeral indicating a velocity presented in, e.g., mm/sec, a numeral indicating a value of the velocity relative to a maximum or minimum value, a shape that is altered according to the velocity, a shape that is filled or shaded with a color according to the velocity, a shape or alphanumeric character that flashes according to the velocity, a shape or alphanumeric character that changes in color according to the velocity, a dial indicative of the absolute or relative velocity, a shape or alphanumeric character indicative of a zone in which the velocity falls, an icon or series of icons representing an animal indicative of a velocity, various other indicia configured to represent a velocity, and combinations thereof. these indicia are illustrated and described below in the form of depictions of display feedback screens in reference to figs. 19-53, for example. [0171] figs. 19-21 illustrate various displays 10600 depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10600 depicts a graphic image of an end effector staple cartridge 10618. the display 10600 comprises velocity indicia 10602 to indicate the command or actual velocity of the displacement member (e.g., i-beam 2514). in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10602 comprises a shape or series of shapes that are filled or shaded proportionally to the velocity, such as is depicted in figs. 19-21 . the shape or shapes of the velocity indicia 10602 can include, e.g., a triangular frustum or any other suitable geometric shape. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10602 can comprise a plurality of zones that are indicative of the relative value of the velocity. in one such aspect, the velocity indicia 10602 comprises a first zone 10604, a second zone 10606, and a third zone 10608 that correspond respectively to slow, medium, and fast velocity. the control circuit 2510 causes the display 10600 to indicate the zone in which the velocity falls, as determined by the control circuit 2510 as discussed above. each of the zones 10604, 10606, 10608 may comprise graduations 10610 or marks to provide additional resolution of the command velocity of the i-beam 2514 element. in addition, the velocity indicia 10602 may comprise a graphic that represents slow velocity such as a silhouette of a tortoise 10612 below the first zone 10604 and a graphic that represents fast velocity such as a silhouette of a hare 10614 above the third zone 10608. as illustrated in fig. 19, the command velocity is set to medium as indicated by the first and second zones 10604, 10606 being filled or shaded while the third zone 16008 is unfilled or unshaded. as illustrated in fig. 20, the command velocity is set to low as indicated by only the first zone 10604 being filled or shaded while the second and third zones 10606, 16008 are unfilled or unshaded. as illustrated in fig. 21 , the command velocity is set to high as indicated by all three zones 10604, 10606, 10608 being completely filled or shaded. a status bar 10620 at the bottom of the display 10600 indicates operation status as normal (e.g., green) or cautionary (e.g., yellow). in the examples shown in figs. 19-21 the status bar 10620 indicates normal operation. [0172] in some aspects, the display 10600 further comprises a mode indicia indicative of the mode to which the surgical instrument 10500 is set. such modes can include, e.g., an automatic mode 10616 or a manual mode 10622. such modes and processes for the control circuit 2510 to control the velocity at which the i-beam 2514 is driven and correspondingly cause the display 10600 to indicate the mode of the surgical instrument 10500 are described in u.s. patent application attorney docket. no. end8270usnp/170191 , which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. in some aspects, the automatic mode 10616 or manual mode 10622 may be flash 10624. [0173] the velocity indicia 10602 can additionally comprise various alphanumeric characters configured to indicate the velocity. the alphanumeric characters can be presented singularly or in combination with other indicia, such as the zones. [0174] in one aspect, the size or relative portion of the display 10600 occupied by the velocity indicia 10602 corresponds to the velocity. for example, the velocity indicia 10602 can be filled or shaded according to the velocity relative to a maximum velocity, as is depicted in figs. 19- 27. in another aspect wherein the velocity indicia 10602 comprise alphanumeric characters, the size of the alphanumeric character can increase in size according to the velocity determined by the control circuit 2510. [0175] figs. 22-24 illustrate various displays 10630 depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10630 depicts a graphic image of an end effector staple cartridge 10642. the display 10630 comprises velocity indicia 10632 to indicate the command or actual velocity of the displacement member (e.g., i-beam 2514). in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10632 comprises a shape or series of shapes that are filled or shaded proportionally to the velocity, such as is depicted in figs. 22-24. the shape or shapes of the velocity indicia 10632 can include, e.g., a triangular frustum or any other suitable geometric shape. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10632 can comprise a plurality of zones that are indicative of the relative value of the velocity. in one such aspect, the velocity indicia 10632 comprises a first zone 10634, a second zone 10636, and a third zone 10638 that correspond respectively to slow, medium, and fast velocity. the control circuit 2510 causes the display 10630 to indicate the zone in which the velocity falls, as determined by the control circuit 2510 as discussed above. each of the zones 10634, 10636, 10638 may comprise graduations 10640 or marks to provide additional resolution of the command velocity of the i-beam 2514 element. in addition, the velocity indicia 10632 may comprise an alphanumeric character 10644 to indicate either automatic or manual modes of operation. in the illustrated examples, the mode is set to auto for automatic. a status bar 10646 at the bottom of the display 10630 indicates operation status as normal (e.g., green) or cautionary (e.g., yellow). in the examples shown in figs. 22-24 the status bar 10646 indicates normal operation. [0176] as illustrated in fig. 22, the command velocity is set to medium as indicated by filled or shaded first and second zones 10634, 10636 and unfilled or unshaded third zone 16038. as illustrated in fig. 23, the command velocity is set to low as indicated by a filled or shaded first zone 10634 and unfilled or unshaded second and third zones 10636, 16038 are unfilled or unshaded. as illustrated in fig. 24, the command velocity is set to high as indicated by all three zones 10634, 10636, 10638 filled or shaded. [0177] figs. 25-27 illustrate various displays 10650 depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10650 depicts a graphic image of an end effector staple cartridge 10662. the display 10650 comprises velocity indicia 10652 to indicate the command velocity as well as the actual velocity of the displacement member (e.g., i-beam 2514). in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10652 comprises a shape or series of shapes that are filled or shaded proportionally to the velocity, such as is depicted in figs. 25-27. the shape or shapes of the velocity indicia 10652 can include, e.g., a triangular frustum or any other suitable geometric shape. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10652 can comprise a plurality of zones that are indicative of the relative value of the velocity. in one such aspect, the velocity indicia 10652 comprises a first zone 10654, a second zone 10656, and a third zone 10658 that correspond respectively to slow, medium, and fast actual velocity. the control circuit 2510 causes the display 10650 to indicate the zone in which the velocity falls, as determined by the control circuit 2510 as discussed above. each of the zones 10654, 10656, 10658 may comprise graduations 10660 or marks to provide additional resolution of the command velocity of the i-beam 2514 element. in addition the velocity indicia 10652 may include an icon comprising an alphanumeric character located within a geometric element to represent low, medium, and high velocity. in the example illustrated in figs. 25-27, the velocity indicia 10652 may include an additional alphanumeric character such as a circled ή" icon 10653, a circled "m" icon 10655, and a circled "l" icon 10657 indicate the command velocity. depending on the command velocity, the h" icon 10653, the "m" icon 10655, or the "l" icon 10657 will be filled, shaded, or lit to indicate the command velocity setting. in addition, the velocity indicia 10652 may comprise an alphanumeric character 10664 to indicate either automatic or manual modes of operation. in the illustrated examples, the mode is set to manual for automatic. a status bar 10666 at the bottom of the display 10650 indicates operation status as normal (e.g., green) or cautionary (e.g., yellow). in the examples shown in figs. 25-27 the status bar 10666 indicates normal operation. in one aspect, the fill or shade color of the ή" icon 10653, the "m" icon graphic 10655, and the "l" icon 10657 may be same as the fill or shade color of the status bar 10666 to indicate normal or caution modes of operation. [0178] as illustrated in fig. 25, the actual velocity is set to medium as indicated by the filled or shaded first and second zones 10654, 1066 and an unfilled or unshaded third zone 16058 and the command velocity is set to medium as indicated by the filled or shaded "m" icon 10655 (and unfilled or unshaded ή" and "l" icons 10653, 10657). as illustrated in fig. 26, the actual velocity is slow as indicated by the filled or shaded first zone 10654 (and unfilled or unshaded second and third zones 10656, 16058) and the command velocity is set to low as further indicated by the filled "l" icon 10657 (and unfilled or unshaded ή" and "m" icons 10653, 10655). as illustrated in fig. 27, the actual velocity is fast as indicated by all three zones 10654, 10656, 10658 completely filled or shaded and as the command velocity is set to high as further indicated by the filled or shaded ή" icon 10653 (and unfilled or unshaded circled "m" and circled "l" graphics 10655, 10657). [0179] figs. 28-30 illustrate various displays 10670, 10670' depicting various velocity feedback screens according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10670, 10670' depicts a graphic image of an end effector staple cartridge 10682. the display 10670, 10670' comprises velocity indicia 10672, 10672' to indicate the command velocity as well as the actual velocity of the displacement member (e.g., i-beam 2514) during the firing cycle. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10672, 10672' comprises a shape or series of shapes that are filled or shaded proportionally to the velocity, such as is depicted in figs. 28-30. the shape or shapes of the velocity indicia 10672, 10672' can include, e.g., an arcuate or any other suitable geometric shape. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10672, 10672' can comprise an arcuate graphic 10678, 10678' comprising multiple graduations 10680 to indicate the actual velocity from 0-30 mm/sec, for example, of the displacement member. alphanumeric characters 10684 (0, 7, 12, and 30) are disposed about the perimeter of the arcuate graphic 10678, 10678' to indicate the actual velocity by a filled or shaded region 10686. the display 10670 shown in fig. 28 is a slightly modified version of the display 10670' shown in figs. 29 and 30. for example, the arcuate graphic 10678 of the display 10670 shown in fig. 34 includes cutouts around the alphanumeric characters 10684 (7 and 12), for example. [0180] in addition, the velocity indicia 10672, 10672' further comprises a filled or shaded circle icon 10676 with one or more white arrows to indicate the command velocity, such that, for example, one arrow refers to low velocity or slow, two arrows refer to medium velocity, and three arrows refer to high velocity or fast. an additional alphanumeric character 10674 indicates the units of velocity, e.g., mm/sec. as the velocity increases or decreases, the shaded region 10686 increases and decreases correspondingly. a status bar 10688 at the bottom of the display 10670 indicates operation status as normal (e.g., green) or cautionary (e.g., yellow). in the examples shown in figs. 28-30 the status bar 10688 indicates normal operation. in one aspect, the fill or shade color of the velocity region 10686 may be same as the fill or shade color of the status bar 10688 to indicate normal or caution modes of operation. [0181] as illustrated in fig. 28, the actual velocity is fast (~12mm/sec) as indicated by the shaded region 10686 and the command velocity is set to high as indicated by the three arrows in the circle icon 10676. as noted earlier, the alphanumeric characters 10684 "7" and "12" include a cutout. as illustrated in fig. 29, the actual velocity also is fast (~30mm/sec) as indicated by the shaded region 10686 and the command velocity is set to high as indicated by the three arrows in the circle icon 10676. as illustrated in fig. 30, the command velocity is medium (~10mm/sec) as indicated by the shaded region 10686 and the command velocity is set to medium as indicated by the two arrows in the circle icon 10676. [0182] figs. 31-33 illustrate various displays 10690, 10690', 10690" depicting various velocity feedback screens according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10690, 10690', 10690" depicts a graphic image of an end effector staple cartridge 10702, 10702', 10702". the display 10690, 10690', 10690" comprises velocity indicia 10692, 10692', 10692" to indicate the command velocity as well as the actual velocity of the displacement member (e.g., i-beam 2514) during the firing cycle. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10692, 10692', 10692" comprises a shape or series of shapes that are filled or shaded proportionally to the velocity, such as is depicted in figs. 31-33. the shape or shapes of the velocity indicia 10692, 10692', 10692" can include, e.g., an arcuate or any other suitable geometric shape. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10692, 10692', 10692" can comprise an arcuate graphic 10698, 10698', 10698" comprising multiple graduations 10700, 10700', 10700" to indicate the actual velocity from 0-30 mm/sec, for example. alphanumeric characters 10704, 10704', 10704" (0, 7, 12, and 30) are disposed about the perimeter of the arcuate graphic 10698, 10698', 10698" to indicate the actual velocity by a filled or shaded region 10706, 10706', 10706". the displays 10690, 10690', 10690" are substantially similar but include some slight variations. for example, the arcuate graphic 10678 of the display 10690 depicted in fig. 31 includes cutouts around the alphanumeric characters 10704 (7 and 12), for example, whereas the arcuate graphic 10678', 10678" of the displays 10690', 10690" depicted in figs. 32 and 33 do not. furthermore, the velocity indicia 10692, 10692" of the displays 10690, 10690" depicted in figs. 31 and 33 include an alphanumeric character 10694, 10694" to indicate the units of velocity, e.g., mm/sec, at a bottom portion of the display 10690, 10690" whereas the display 10690' depicted in fig. 32 includes an alphanumeric character 10694' to indicate the units of velocity, e.g., mm/sec, at a top portion of the display 10690'. [0183] in addition, the velocity indicia 10692, 10692', 10692" further comprises a filled or shaded circle icon 10696, 10696', 10696" with one or more white arrows to indicate the command velocity, such that, for example, one arrow refers to low velocity or slow, two arrows refer to medium velocity, and three arrows refer to high velocity or fast. as the velocity increases or decreases the filled or shaded region 10706, 10706', 10706" increases and decreases correspondingly. a status bar 10708, 10708', 10708" at the bottom of the displays 10690, 10690', 10690" indicates operation status as normal (e.g., green) or cautionary (e.g., yellow). in the example shown in fig. 31 , the status bar 10708 indicates caution operation. in the examples shown in figs. 32-33, the bars 10708', 10708" indicate normal operation. in one aspect, the fill or shade color of the velocity region 10706, 10706', 10706" may be same as the fill or shade color of the status bar 10708, 10708', 10708" to indicate normal or caution modes of operation. [0184] as illustrated in fig. 31 , the actual velocity is medium (~12mm/sec) as indicated by the shaded region 10706 but the command velocity is set to fast as indicated by the three arrows in the circle icon 10696. as noted earlier, the alphanumeric characters 10704 "7" and "12" include a cutout. as illustrated in fig. 32, the actual velocity is slow (~7mm/sec) as indicated by the shaded region 10706' and the command velocity is set to low as indicated by the single arrow in the circle icon 10696'. as illustrated in fig. 33, the actual velocity also is slow (~2mm/sec) as indicated by the shaded region 10706" and the command velocity is set to low as indicated by the single arrow in the circle icon 10696". [0185] figs. 34-36 illustrate various displays 10720, 10720' depicting various velocity feedback screens according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10720, 10720' depicts a graphic image of an end effector staple cartridge 10732. the display 10720, 10720' comprises velocity indicia 10722, 10722' to indicate the command velocity as well as the actual velocity of the displacement member (e.g., i-beam 2514) during the firing cycle. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10722, 10722' comprises a shape or series of shapes that are filled or shaded proportionally to the velocity, such as is depicted in figs. 34-36. the shape or shapes of the velocity indicia 10722, 10722' can include, e.g., an arcuate or any other suitable geometric shape. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10722, 10722' can comprise an arcuate graphic 10728, 10728' comprising multiple graduations 10736 to indicate the actual velocity from 0-30 mm/sec, for example. alphanumeric characters 10734 (0, 7, 12, and 30) are disposed about the perimeter of the arcuate graphic 10728, 10728' to indicate the actual velocity by a filled or shaded region 10736. the display 10720 shown in fig. 34 is a slightly modified version of the display 10720' shown in figs. 35 and 36. for example, the arcuate graphic 10728 of the display 10720 shown in fig. 34 includes cutouts around the alphanumeric characters 10734 (7 and 12), for example. [0186] in addition, the velocity indicia 10722, 10722' further comprises a clear or white circle icon 10726 with one or more black or shaded arrows to indicate the command velocity, such that, for example, one arrow refers to low velocity or slow, two arrows refer to medium velocity, and three arrows refer to high velocity or fast. an additional alphanumeric character 10724 indicates the units of velocity, e.g., mm/sec. as the velocity increases or decreases, the shaded region 10736 increases and decreases correspondingly. a status bar 10738 at the bottom of the display 10720, 1072' indicates operation status as normal (e.g., green) or cautionary (e.g., yellow). in the examples shown in figs. 34-36 the status bar 10738 indicates normal operation. in one aspect, the fill or shade color of the velocity region 10736 be same as the fill or shade color of the status bar 10738 to indicate normal or caution modes of operation. [0187] as illustrated in fig. 34, the actual velocity is medium to fast (~12mm/sec) as indicated by the shaded region 10736 and the command velocity is set to high as indicated by the three arrows in the circle icon 10726. as noted earlier, the alphanumeric characters 10734 "7" and "12" include a cutout. as illustrated in fig. 35, the actual velocity is fast (~30mm/sec) as indicated by the shaded region 10736 and the command velocity is set to high as indicated by the three arrows in the circle icon 10726. as illustrated in fig. 36, the actual velocity is medium (~10mm/sec) as indicated by the shaded region 10736 and the command velocity is set to medium as indicated by the two arrows in the circle icon 10726. [0188] figs. 37-39 illustrate various displays 10740, 10740', 10740" depicting various velocity feedback screens according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10740, 10740', 10740" depicts a graphic image of an end effector staple cartridge 10752, 10752', 10752". the display 10740, 10740', 10740" comprises velocity indicia 10742, 10742', 10742" to indicate the command velocity as well as the actual velocity of the displacement member (e.g., i-beam 2514) during the firing cycle. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10742, 10742', 10742" comprises a shape or series of shapes that are filled or shaded proportionally to the velocity, such as is depicted in figs. 37-39. the shape or shapes of the velocity indicia 10742, 10742', 10742" can include, e.g., an arcuate or any other suitable geometric shape. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10742, 10742', 10742" can comprise an arcuate graphic 10748, 10748', 10748" comprising multiple graduations 10750, 10750', 10750" to indicate the actual velocity from 0-30 mm/sec, for example. alphanumeric characters 10704, 10704', 10704" (0, 7, 12, and 30) are disposed about the perimeter of the arcuate graphic 10748, 10748', 10748" to indicate the actual velocity by a filled or shaded region 10756, 10756', 10756". the displays 10740, 10740', 10740" are substantially similar but include some slight variations. for example, the arcuate graphic 10748 of the display 10740 depicted in fig. 37 includes cutouts around the alphanumeric characters 10754 (7 and 12), for example, whereas the arcuate graphic 10748', 10748" of the displays 10740', 10740" depicted in figs. 38 and 39 do not. furthermore, the velocity indicia 10742, 10742" of the displays 10740, 10740" depicted in figs. 37 and 39 include an alphanumeric character 10744, 10744" to indicate the units of velocity, e.g., mm/sec, at a bottom portion of the display 10740, 10740" whereas the display 10740' depicted in fig. 38 includes an alphanumeric character 10744' to indicate the units of velocity, e.g., mm/sec, at a top portion of the display 10740'. [0189] in addition, the velocity indicia 10742, 10742', 10742" further comprises a clear or white circle icon 10746, 10746', 10746" with one or more black or shaded arrows to indicate the command velocity, such that, for example, one arrow refers to low velocity or slow, two arrows refer to medium velocity, and three arrows refer to high velocity or fast. as the velocity increases or decreases the filled or shaded region 10756, 10756', 10756" increases and decreases correspondingly. a status bar 10758, 10758', 10758" at the bottom of the displays 10740, 10740', 10740" indicates operation status as normal (e.g., green) or cautionary (e.g., yellow). in the example shown in fig. 37, the status bar 10758 indicates caution operation. in the examples shown in figs. 38-39, the bars 10758', 10758" indicate normal operation. in one aspect, the fill or shade color of the velocity region 10756, 10756', 10756" may be same as the fill or shade color of the status bar 10758, 10758', 10758" to indicate normal or caution modes of operation. [0190] as illustrated in fig. 37, the actual velocity is medium (~12mm/sec) as indicated by the shaded region 10756 and the command velocity is set to high velocity as indicated by the three arrows in the circle icon 10726. as noted earlier, the alphanumeric characters 10734 "7" and "12" include a cutout. as illustrated in fig. 38, actual velocity is slow (~7mm/sec) as indicated by the shaded region 10756' and the command velocity is set to low as indicated by the single arrow in the circle icon 10746'. as illustrated in fig. 39, the actual velocity is slow (~2mm/sec) as indicated by the shaded region 10756" and the command velocity is set to low as indicated by the single arrow in the circle icon 10746". [0191] figs. 40-42 illustrate a display 10760 depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10760 depicts a graphic image of an end effector staple cartridge 10772. the display 10760 comprises velocity indicia 10762 to indicate the command velocity as well as the actual velocity of the displacement member (e.g., i-beam 2514). in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10762 comprises a shape or series of shapes that are filled or shaded proportionally to the velocity, such as is depicted in figs. 40-42. the shape or shapes of the velocity indicia 10762 can include, e.g., a rectangular shape or any other suitable geometric shape. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10762 can comprise a rectangular zone 10778 that is filled or shaded to indicate the value of the actual velocity. the control circuit 2510 causes the display 10760 to indicate the zone in which the velocity falls, as determined by the control circuit 2510 as discussed above. the rectangular zone 10778 may comprise graduations or marks to provide additional resolution of the command velocity of the i-beam 2514 element. in addition the velocity indicia 10762 may include an icon 10766 comprising an alphanumeric character located within a geometric element to represent automatic or manual mode of operation. in the illustrated examples, the mode is set to automatic "a" and the command velocity is set to a range of 7 to 12 mm/sec. thus the automatic icon 10766 is located between the range that the actual velocity can very between. a filled or shaded region 10770 indicates the range that the actual velocity can very between, e.g., 7-12mm/sec. a bar graph element 10764 indicates the actual velocity of the displacement member. a status bar 10776 at the bottom of the display 10760 indicates operation status as normal (e.g., green) or cautionary (e.g., yellow). in the examples shown in figs. 40-42 the status bar 10776 indicates normal operation. in one aspect, the fill or shade color of the filled or shaded region 10770 may be same as the fill or shade color of the status bar 10776 to indicate normal or caution modes of operation. an additional alphanumeric character 10762 indicates the units of velocity, e.g., mm/sec. additional alphanumeric characters 10768 indicate the command velocity range (e.g., 0-7, 7-12, 12-30). [0192] as illustrated in fig. 40, the automatic "a" command velocity icon 10766 is located between 7-12 mm/sec and the actual velocity as indicated by the bar graph element 10764 is located toward the upper end of the set range. as illustrated in fig. 41 , the actual velocity is located toward the bottom of the set range of 7-12 mm/sec as indicated by the bar graph element 10764. as illustrated in fig. 42, the actual velocity is slow as indicated by the bar graph element 10764 and the automatic range is 0-7 mm/sec as indicated by the position of the icon 10766. [0193] figs. 43-45 illustrate a display 10780 depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10780 depicts a graphic image of an end effector staple cartridge 10792. the display 10780 comprises velocity indicia 10782 to indicate the command velocity as well as the actual velocity of the displacement member (e.g., i-beam 2514). in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10782 comprises a shape or series of shapes that are filled or shaded proportionally to the velocity, such as is depicted in figs. 43-45. the shape or shapes of the velocity indicia 10782 can include, e.g., a rectangular shape or any other suitable geometric shape. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10782 can comprise a rectangular element 10798 that is filled or shaded to indicate the value of the actual velocity. the control circuit 2510 causes the display 10780 to indicate the zone in which the velocity falls, as determined by the control circuit 2510 as discussed above. the rectangular element 10798 may comprise graduations or marks to provide additional resolution of the command velocity of the i-beam 2514 element. in addition the velocity indicia 10782 may include an icon 10786 comprising an alphanumeric character located within a geometric element to represent automatic or manual mode of operation. in the illustrated examples, the mode is set to manual "m" and the command velocity is set to a range of 7 to 12 mm/sec. the icon 10786 is connected to a bar 10792 which indicates the mid point of the range on the rectangular element 10798. thus the automatic icon 10786 is located between the range that the actual velocity can very between. a filled or shaded region 10790 indicates the range that the actual velocity can very between, e.g., 7-12mm/sec. a bar graph element 10784 indicates the actual velocity of the displacement member. a status bar 10796 at the bottom of the display 10780 indicates operation status as normal (e.g., green) or cautionary (e.g., yellow). in the examples shown in figs. 43-44 the status bar 10796 indicates normal operation and as indicated in fig. 45, the status bar 10796 indicates the status as cautionary. in one example, the cautionary status may be set because the actual velocity as indicated by the bar graph element 10784 is well below the set range of 12-30 mm/sec, which could indicate that the cutting element encountered thicker tissue than expected. in one aspect, the fill or shade color of the filled or shaded region 10790 may be same as the fill or shade color of the status bar 10796 to indicate normal or caution modes of operation. an additional alphanumeric character 10794 indicates the units of velocity, e.g., mm/sec. additional alphanumeric characters 10788 indicate the command velocity range (e.g., 0-7, 7-12, 12-30). [0194] as illustrated in fig. 43, the manual "m" command velocity range icon 10786 is located between 7-12 mm/sec and the actual velocity is indicated by the bar graph element 10784 to be between the set range just above the bar 10792. as illustrated in fig. 44, the actual velocity is within the set range of 12-30 mm/sec as indicated by the bar graph element 10784 and just below the bar 10792. as illustrated in fig. 45, the actual velocity is located below the set range of 12-30 mm/sec as indicated by the bar graph 10784 and the bar 10792. [0195] figs. 46-48 illustrate a display 10800 depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10800 depicts a graphic image of an end effector staple cartridge 10812. the display 10800 comprises velocity indicia 10802 to indicate the command velocity as well as the actual velocity of the displacement member (e.g., i-beam 2514). in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10802 comprises a shape or series of shapes that are filled or shaded proportionally to the velocity, such as is depicted in figs. 46-48 the shape or shapes of the velocity indicia 10802 can include, e.g., a rectangular shape or any other suitable geometric shape. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10802 can comprise a rectangular element 10814 that is divided into two smaller rectangular elements 10804, 10806. the bottom element 10804 indicates the command or "set" velocity (e.g., 30mm/sec) and the top element 10806 indicates the actual velocity (e.g., 25 mm/sec). an additional alphanumeric character 10808 indicates the units of velocity, e.g., mm/sec. a status bar 10810 at the bottom of the display 10800 indicates operation status as normal (e.g., green) or cautionary (e.g., yellow). in the examples shown in figs. 46-47 the status bar 10810 indicates normal operation and as indicated in fig. 48, the status bar 10810 indicates the status as cautionary. in one example, the cautionary status may be set because the actual velocity 6 mm/sec as indicated by the top rectangular element 10806 is well below the set command velocity of 12 mm/sec, which could indicate that the cutting element encountered thicker tissue than expected. [0196] as illustrated in fig. 46, the command velocity is set to 30 mm/sec as indicated by the bottom rectangular element 1084 and the actual velocity is 25 mm/sec as indicated by the top rectangular element 10806. as illustrated in fig. 47, the command velocity is set to 12 mm/sec as indicated by the bottom rectangular element 1084 and the actual velocity is 1 1 mm/sec as indicated by the top rectangular element 10806. as illustrated in fig. 48, the command velocity is set to 12 mm/sec as indicated by the bottom rectangular element 1084 and the actual velocity is 6 mm/sec as indicated by the top rectangular element 10806. [0197] figs. 49-52 illustrate a display 10820 depicting a velocity feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10820 depicts a graphic image of an end effector staple cartridge 10832. the display 10820 comprises velocity indicia 10822 to indicate the command velocity as well as the actual velocity of the displacement member (e.g., i-beam 2514). in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10822 comprises a shape or series of shapes that are filled or shaded proportionally to the velocity, such as is depicted in figs. 49-52 the shape or shapes of the velocity indicia 10822 can include, e.g., an arcuate shape or any other suitable geometric shape. in one aspect, the velocity indicia 10822 can comprise an arcuate element 10828 that is divided into three smaller elements 10836a, 10836b, 10836c. the smaller elements 10836a, 10836b, 10836c when filled or shaded represent the command velocity range. an icon 10826 comprising an alphanumeric element encompassed in a geometric shape represents automatic "a" or manual "m" mode of operation. a needle 10840 is connected to the icon 10826 and indicates the actual velocity much like a speedometer ad including graduations 10830 for increased resolution. as shown in fig. 49, the first element 10836a is shaded and represents a command velocity between 0-7 mm/sec (low). as shown in fig. 50, the second element 10836b is shaded and represents a command velocity between 7-12 mm/sec (medium). as shown in fig. 51 , the third element 10836c is shaded and represents a command velocity between 12-30 mm/sec (high). an additional alphanumeric character 10824 indicates the units of velocity, e.g., mm/sec. a status bar 10838 at the bottom of the display 10820 indicates operation status as normal (e.g., green) or cautionary (e.g., yellow). in the examples shown in figs. 49-51 the status bar 10838 indicates normal operation and as indicated in fig. 52, the status bar 10838 indicates the status as cautionary. in one example, the cautionary status may be set because the actual velocity as indicated by the needle 10840 is above the command velocity range indicated in the first element 10836a, which could indicate that the cutting element encountered thinner tissue than expected. [0198] as illustrated in fig. 49, the command velocity is set to a low range of 0-7 mm/sec as indicated by the first element 10836a and the actual velocity is about 3.5 mm/sec as indicated by the needle 10840. as illustrated in fig. 50, the command velocity is set to a medium range of 7-12 mm/sec as indicated by the second element 10836b and the actual velocity is about 9.5 mm/sec as indicated by the needle 10840. as illustrated in fig. 51 , the command velocity is set to a high range of 12-30 mm/sec as indicated by the third element 10836c and the actual velocity is about 21 mm/sec as indicated by the needle 10840. in each of the examples illustrated in figs. 49-51 , the operation is normal and the status bar 10838 indicates normal operation. turning now to fig. 52, the command velocity is set to a low range of 0-7 mm/sec as indicated by the first element 10836a and the actual velocity is about 9.5 mm/sec as indicated by the needle 10840, which is outside the command velocity range. accordingly, the status bar 10838 is set to indicate caution. as previously discussed, the cautionary operation is indicated because the actual velocity as indicated by the needle 10840 is higher than the upper limit of the command velocity range indicating perhaps that the cutting element encountered tissue that is thinner than expected. [0199] fig. 53 illustrates a display 10860 depicting a battery feedback screen according to one aspect of this disclosure. the display 10860 depicts a graphic image of a battery 10864 communicating an overheated battery10864. if the battery 10864 is in an overheated state, it may not have the ability complete the firing as requested indicating an overheated battery condition. the display 10860 includes an icon that represents heat 10868 such as the sun, for example. an icon of a thermometer 10866 also may indicate the actual temperature of the battery 10864. a caution icon 10870 and a cautionary status bar 10872 is displayed to indicate the overheated battery 10864 state. [0200] the functions or processes 10550 described herein may be executed by any of the processing circuits described herein, such as the control circuit 700 described in connection with figs. 5-6, the circuits 800, 810, 820 described in figs. 7-9, the microcontroller 1 104 described in connection with figs. 10 and 12, and/or the control circuit 2510 described in fig. 14. [0201] aspects of the motorized surgical instrument may be practiced without the specific details disclosed herein. some aspects have been shown as block diagrams rather than detail. parts of this disclosure may be presented in terms of instructions that operate on data stored in a computer memory. an algorithm refers to a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result, where a "step" refers to a manipulation of physical quantities which may take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. these signals may be referred to as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers. these and similar terms may be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. [0202] generally, aspects described herein which can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various types of "electrical circuitry." consequently, "electrical circuitry" includes electrical circuitry having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one application specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g., a general purpose computer or processor configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein, electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of random access memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electrical equipment). these aspects may be implemented in analog or digital form, or combinations thereof. [0203] the foregoing description has set forth aspects of devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples, which may contain one or more functions and/or operation. each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. in one aspect, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via application specific integrated circuits (asics), field programmable gate arrays (fpgas), digital signal processors (dsps), programmable logic devices (plds), circuits, registers and/or software components, e.g., programs, subroutines, logic and/or combinations of hardware and software components, logic gates, or other integrated formats. some aspects disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. [0204] the mechanisms of the disclosed subject matter are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative aspect of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. examples of a signal bearing medium include the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a compact disc (cd), a digital video disk (dvd), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and a transmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link (e.g., transmitter, receiver, transmission logic, reception logic, etc.). [0205] the foregoing description of these aspects has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. it is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting to the precise form disclosed. modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. these aspects were chosen and described in order to illustrate principles and practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the aspects and with modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. it is intended that the claims submitted herewith define the overall scope. [0206] various aspects of the subject matter described herein are set out in the following numbered examples: [0207] example 1 . a surgical instrument comprising: a displacement member configured to translate within the surgical instrument; a motor coupled to the displacement member to translate the displacement member; a display; a control circuit coupled to the motor and the display; a position sensor coupled to the control circuit, the position sensor configured to monitor a position of the displacement member; and wherein the control circuit is configured to: determine a velocity of the displacement member via the position sensor; cause the display to present a mode indicia that is indicative of a mode of the surgical instrument, wherein the mode comprises an automatic mode and a manual mode, and cause the display to present an indicia that is indicative of the velocity of the displacement member, wherein a portion of the display occupied by the indicia corresponds to the velocity of the displacement member. [0208] example 2. the surgical instrument of example 1 , wherein the indicia is a first indicia, the control circuit is further configured to: provide a set point velocity to the motor, the motor set point configured to cause the motor to drive the displacement member at a motor velocity; and cause the display to present a second indicia indicative of the motor set point velocity. [0209] example 3. the surgical instrument of example 1 through example 2, wherein the indicia comprises a plurality of zones, each of the plurality of zones indicative of a velocity level. [0210] example 4. the surgical instrument of example 3, wherein the plurality of zones comprise a first zone indicative of a low velocity, a second zone indicative of a medium velocity, and a third zone indicative of a fast velocity. [0211] example 5. a surgical instrument comprising: a displacement member configured to translate within the surgical instrument; a motor coupled to the displacement member to translate the displacement member; a display; a control circuit coupled to the motor and the display; a position sensor coupled to the control circuit, the position sensor configured to monitor a position of the displacement member; and wherein the control circuit is configured to: provide a motor set point to the motor, the motor set point configured to cause the motor to drive the displacement member at a velocity; display an indicia on the display that is indicative of the velocity of the displacement member, wherein a portion of the display occupied by the indicia corresponds to the velocity of the displacement member, and display a second indicia on the display that is indicative of the motor set point velocity. [0212] example 6. the surgical instrument of example 5, wherein the control circuit is further configured to cause the display to present a mode indicia that is indicative of a mode of the surgical instrument. [0213] example 7. the surgical instrument of example 6, wherein the mode comprises an automatic mode and a manual mode. [0214] example 8. the surgical instrument of example 5, wherein the control circuit is further configured to: display an image representative of the displacement member; and display progress of the image representative of the displacement member as the displacement member advances distally. [0215] example 9. the surgical instrument of example 5 through example 8, wherein the control circuit is further configured to cause the display to present a second indicia indicative of the motor set point velocity, wherein the second indicia represents a range of motor set point velocities. [0216] example 10. the surgical instrument of example 5 through example 9, wherein the control circuit is further configured to display a status bar that represents operation status of the surgical instrument. [0217] example 1 1 . the surgical instrument of example 10, wherein the status bar represents normal operation when the velocity of the displacement member is within a range of motor set point velocities. [0218] example 12. the surgical instrument of example 10 through example 1 1 , wherein the status bar represents cautionary operation when the velocity of the displacement member is outside a range of motor set point velocities. [0219] example 13. the surgical instrument of example 5 through example 12, wherein the control circuit is further configured to: monitor a condition of a battery; and cause the display to present an image of a battery indicative of the condition of the battery. [0220] example 14. a method of operating a surgical instrument, the surgical instrument comprising a displacement member configured to translate within the surgical instrument, a motor coupled to the displacement member to translate the displacement member, a display, a control circuit coupled to the motor and the display, a position sensor coupled to the control circuit, the position sensor configured to monitor a position of the displacement member, the method comprising: determining, by the control circuit, a velocity of the displacement member via the position sensor; and presenting, by the control circuit, an indicia on the display that is indicative of the velocity of the displacement member, wherein a portion of the display occupied by the indicia corresponds to the velocity of the displacement member, and wherein the indicia representative of a higher velocity is larger than the indicia representative of a lower velocity. [0221] example 15. the method of example 14, wherein the indicia is a first indicia, the method further comprising: providing, by the control circuit, a set point velocity to the motor, the motor set point configured to cause the motor to drive the displacement member at a motor velocity; and presenting, by the control circuit, a second indicia on the display that is indicative of the motor set point velocity. [0222] example 16. the method of example 14 through example 15, further comprising presenting, by the control circuit, on the display a mode indicia that is indicative of a mode of the surgical instrument. [0223] example 17. the method of example 16, further comprising presenting, by the control circuit, on the display a mode comprising an automatic mode and a manual mode. [0224] example 18. the method of example 14 through example 17, further comprising presenting, by the control circuit, on the display an indicia comprising a plurality of zones, each of the plurality of zones indicative of a velocity level. [0225] example 19. the method of example 18, further comprising presenting, by the control circuit, on the display a plurality of zones comprising a first zone indicative of a low velocity, a second zone indicative of a medium velocity, and a third zone indicative of a fast velocity. [0226] example 20. the method of claim 14 through example 19, further comprising: monitoring, by the control circuit, a condition of a battery; and presenting, by the control circuit, on the display an image of a battery indicative of the condition of the battery.
065-071-130-798-062	DE	[ "DE", "EP", "ES", "JP", "US" ]	F02F1/24,F02M35/10,F02M55/02,F02M61/14,F02M61/16,F02M69/04,F02M69/46	1999-10-12T00:00:00	1999	[ "F02" ]	holder for an injector	problem to be solved: to provide a retaining device which can be fixed tightly in systems even under a comparatively high injection pressure and can be easily assembled. solution: a cylindrical first end part 12 and a second part 13 arranged on a nozzle body 11 of an injection nozzle 9 cooperate with a first hole 14 and a second hole 15 formed on a plurality of components of an internal combustion engine 1. a fastening device 16 is applied to the nozzle body 11. the fastening device positions and fixes the first end part 12 inside the first hole 14 formed on a cylinder head 2 of the internal combustion engine 1 by using regulated preload applied in an axial direction a of the injection nozzle 9. the second end part 13 cooperates with the second hole 15 formed in an intake device 3 through an intermediate sleeve 17.	an internal-combustion engine, especially with direct fuel injection, comprising a cylinder head (2), an intake system (3) and an injection nozzle with a nozzle body (11), the cylindrical first and second end pieces (12, 13) of which co-operate with first and second bores (14, 15) formed in the cylinder head (2) and the intake system (3), and comprising a holder for the injection nozzle (9), characterised in that a clamping device in the form of a clamping sleeve (21) engages the nozzle body (11) of the injection nozzle (9) and holds the first end piece (12) in position in the first bore (14) of the cylinder head (2) of the internal-combustion engine (1) with defined bias acting in the axial direction (a) of the injection nozzle (9), wherein the clamping sleeve (21) surrounds at least part of the nozzle body (11) of the injection nozzle (9) and is supported on a stop (22) of the nozzle body (11) and on a supporting plane (23) of the intake system (3). an internal-combustion engine according to claim 1, characterised in that the clamping sleeve (21) is made of metal. an internal-combustion engine according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that part of the clamping sleeve (21) is provided with a bellows-type resilient portion (24). an internal-combustion engine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the second end piece (13) co-operates with the second bore (15) of the intake system (3) by means of an intermediate sleeve (17), and in that the clamping sleeve (21) is provided, in the region of the intermediate sleeve (17), with an indentation (25) which engages in a groove-type recess (26) of the intermediate sleeve (17) in such a way that the indentation (25) and the recess (26) co-operate positively and frictionally. an internal-combustion engine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the clamping sleeve (21) has an extension (27) which engages over a wall portion (28) of the intake system (3), the extension (27) resting against the wall portion (28) under spring tension. an internal-combustion engine according to claim 5, characterised in that the extension (27) is provided with an indentation (29) which engages in a depression (30) of the wall portion (28) in such a way that the indentation (29) and the depression (30) co-operate positively. an internal-combustion engine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that a fuel supply duct (31) is provided adjacent to the intermediate sleeve (17) in the intake system (3) and is formed in one piece with the intake system (3). an internal-combustion engine according to claim 7, characterised in that the fuel supply duct (31) has a substantially oval shape, wherein longitudinal sides (32, 33) of the fuel supply duct (31) are substantially in alignment with the longitudinal direction of a duct (7) of the intake system (3). an internal-combustion engine according to any one of claims 4 to 8, characterised in that a first seal (37) is provided between an end piece (34) of the intermediate sleeve (17) and the second bore (15) of the intake system (3), and a second seal (39) is provided between a bore (38) in the intermediate sleeve (17) and the second end piece (13) of the injection nozzle (9). an internal-combustion engine according to claim 1, characterised in that the clamping device (21) engages a radial stop (22) of the nozzle body (11).	background and summary of the invention this application claims the priority of german application 199 49 080.5, filed in germany on oct. 12, 1999, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein. the invention relates to a fixing device for an injection nozzle, in particular, for internal combustion engines with direct fuel injection. the injection nozzle is of the type having a nozzle holder body whose cylindrical first and second end pieces interact with a first and a second bore hole which are worked into the components of the internal combustion engine. a known injection nozzle, de 44 18 001 a1, is set between a curved suction pipe and a flange connected to a cylinder head. here, the injection nozzle is connected to the cylinder head as a pre-assembled unit. in de 28 29 057 a1 (corresponding to u.s. pat. no. 4,295,452), injection valves are treated and inserted, on the one hand, into a suction equipment with the first end pieces, and on the other hand, by way of screws, connected to a fuel distributing pipe with the second end pieces. one goal of the invention is to create a fixing device for an injection nozzle, which on the one hand, is leakproof even at relatively high injection pressures, and on the other, is easy to mount. according to the invention, at least this goal is solved by incorporating a clamping device which acts upon a nozzle holder body of the injection nozzle, the clamping device keeping in place a first end piece of the nozle holder in a first bore hole of a cylinder head of the internal combustion engine with a defined prestress that acts in an axial direction of the injection nozzle, against which a second end piece of the nozzle holder, preferably with the help of a reduction sleeve, works together with the second bore hole of an intake arrangement. the advantages of the invention that are mainly achieved are seen in the clamping device that keeps the injection nozzle in place with a defined prestress acting in an axial direction, on account of which the system pressure is taken into account, particularly in direct fuel injection for internal combustion engines of the otto design, and special screws for each injection nozzle can be eliminated. the reduction sleeve also ensures that the manufacturing tolerances that constantly appear are not damaging to the connecting function of the injection nozzle. with the metallic clamping sleeve, which is easy to produce, a targeted prestress, aimed towards the cylinder head, can be effected also, thanks to the shock absorber. it is also possible for the reduction sleeve to be pre-assembled in a simple manner through the inward formations and the recesses between the clamping sleeve and reduction sleeve or the extension of the clamping sleeve and the wall section of the suction pipe equipment. the assembly of the injection nozzle itself is only a simple introductory process. other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a partial cross sectional view of a cylinder head of an internal combustion engine with the fixing device according to the invention for an injection nozzle; fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a detail of fig. 1 in a larger scale; fig. 3 is a view corresponding to fig. 2 with another form of embodiment; and fig. 4 is a view of a detail of fig. 3 in a larger scale. detailed description of the drawings a multicylinder internal combustion engine 1 of the otto design, not presented in greater detail, comprises, for instance, of a cylinder head 2 and an intake arrangement 3 . the intake arrangement 3 is connected to the cylinder head 2 , for which purpose the cylinder head 2 is provided with a first contact surface 4 and the intake arrangement 3 with a second contact surface 5 . by means of the intake arrangement 3 , fresh air is fed to a combustion chamber 8 through a conduit 7 provided with a butterfly valve 6 . in this combustion chamber 8 , motor fuel, i.e., gasoline, is fed using an injection nozzle 9 , which means that the internal combustion engine works with direct fuel injection. in the cylinder head 2 , intake and exhaust valves, which are not shown, are effective for gas-changing control-fresh air/waste gas. for the injection nozzle 9 , a fixing device 10 is provided, with the injection nozzle 9 exhibiting a nozzle holder body 11 with a first end piece 12 and a second end piece 13 . the nozzle holder body 11 and the end pieces 12 and 13 exhibit a cylindrical configuration with a circular cross-section. the end pieces 12 and 13 interact with a first bore hole 14 and a second bore hole 15 , which are worked into the components of the internal combustion engine 1 . these components are formed by the cylinder head 2 and the intake arrangement 3 . a clamping device 16 acts upon the nozzle holder body 11 of the injection nozzle 9 , which clamping device 16 holdswith a defined prestress that acts in an axial direction athe first end piece 12 in the first bore hole 14 in the cylinder head 2 . in comparison, the second end piece works together with the second bore hole 15 in the intake arrangement 2 through the intermediary of a reduction sleeve 17 . the clamping device 16 acts upon a radial catch 18 of the nozzle holder body 11 . to this end, the clamping device 16 is provided with a bifurcated clamping section 19 , which is adjacent to the catch 18 . the clamping section 19 of the clamping device 16 is a component of a plate-like support 20 , which is clamped between the first contact surface 4 of the cylinder head 2 and the second contact surface 5 of the intake arrangement 3 and is held in place. according to fig. 3 , the clamping device is a clamping sleeve 21 , which coaxially, and like a casing, surrounds the nozzle holder body 11 of the injection nozzle 9 in a partial area 22 ; another partial area 23 of the nozzle holder body 11 is exposed. the clamping sleeve 21 is propped, on the one hand, on a buffer 50 of the nozzle holder body 11 , and on the other hand, on a support plane 52 of the intake arrangement 3 . the clamping sleeve 21 consists of a suitable metal with spring characteristics. manufacturing the clamping sleeve 21 from an appropriate synthetic material is also conceivable. to obtain a targeted clamp force, the clamping sleeve 21 encircles sector by sector a bellows-like spring section 24 , which is provided next to the support plane 3 of the intake arrangement 3 . according to fig. 4 , in the area of the reduction sleeve 17 , the clamping sleeve 21 exhibits an inward formation 25 , which flexibly engages in a groove-like recess 26 of the said reduction sleeve 17 . as a result, the inward formation 25 and the recess 26 work together in a form- and force-locking manner. moreover, the clamping sleeve 21 is provided with an extension 27 that overlaps a wall section 28 of the intake arrangement 3 and rests against this wall section while under spring tension. the extension 27 has an inward formation 29 , which engages in an outward formation 30 of the wall section 28 , as a result of which the inward formation 29 and the outward formation 30 work together in a form-locking manner. the intake arrangement 3 is provided with a fuel supply conduit 31 next to the reduction sleeve 17 , said fuel supply conduit being made of one piece with the intake arrangement 3 . from a cross-sectional view, the fuel supply conduit 31 exhibits an oval shape with side walls 32 , 33 , which are aligned in more or less longitudinal direction bb of the conduit 7 or of a medium length plane of the latter. an end piece 34 , which rests in the second bore hole 15 of the intake arrangement 3 , and is turned towards the intake arrangement 3 , is provided on the reduction sleeve 17 . the end piece 34 is provided on its exterior 35 with a recess 36 , which is developed as a receptacle for a first sealing 37 . the sealing 37 is effective between borehole 15 and reduction sleeve 17 or recess 36 . a comparable execution is arranged on the second end piece 13 of the nozzle holder body 11 . the second end piece 13 rests in a bore hole 38 of the reduction sleeve 17 and it exhibits a recess 40 that serves as a receptacle for a second sealing 39 . the sealing 39 is operative between the borehole 38 and the end piece 13 or of the recess 40 . the injection nozzle 9 is consequently stored on the side of the intake arrangement 3 in such a way that it compensates for tolerance. in comparison, the injection nozzle 9 is set position-wise on the side of the cylinder head 2 by means of conical surfaces 41 , in the course of which the injection nozzle 9 , at a distance to the conical surfaces 41 , is provided with a radial stopping face 42 , which is propped on a corresponding stopping surface 44 of the cylinder head 2 , by means of a sealing body 43 . the foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
066-363-057-492-542	US	[ "US" ]	G06F16/11,G06F16/13,G06F16/18	2021-07-19T00:00:00	2021	[ "G06" ]	online data format conversion	in some examples, a data management system generates snapshots in a distributed file system based on a protocol or a user triggered event, the data management system identifies a snappable file in a distributed file system and a first data block in the snappable file, the first data block including data and attribute data. the system scans an index file to access the attribute data of the first data block and initiates construction of a patch file based on the accessed attribute data. the system repeats the scanning of the index file to access attribute data of at least a further second data block, the second data block including data and attribute data, and completes construction of the patch file based on the accessed attribute data of the first and second data blocks. the system generates conversion simulation information by collecting attribute data for all the data blocks of the constructed patch file, and writes the simulation information to a patch file image.	1 . a method of online data conversion, the method including: identifying a snappable file in a distributed file system; identifying a first data block in the snappable file, the first data block including data and attribute data; scanning an index file to access the attribute data of the first data block; initiating construction of a patch file based on the accessed attribute data; repeating the scanning of the index file to access attribute data of at least a further second data block, the second data block including data and attribute data; completing construction of the patch file based on the accessed attribute data of the first and second data blocks; generating conversion simulation information by collecting attribute data for all the data blocks of the constructed patch file; and writing the simulation information to a patch file image. 2 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the attribute data of the first and second data blocks includes at least logical space offset and data size information. 3 . the method of claim 2 , wherein scanning the index file to access attribute data of the first data block is performed without reading the data of the first data block. 4 . the method of claim 3 , wherein the patch file is constructed without writing the data from the first or second data block to the patch file. 5 . the method of claim 4 , further comprising: receiving a request to transfer data of the snappable file to a remote location, the transfer involving or necessitating a conversion of data from a first data format to a second data format; and effecting a data format conversion for the transfer using only the simulation information. 6 . the method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving a read request for data in the first or second data block; and re-routing the read request to corresponding data in a journaled patch file using information contained in the patch file image. 7 . a data management system to generate snapshots in a distributed file system based on a protocol or a user triggered event, the data management system comprising at least one processor configured to perform operations including: identifying a snappable file in a distributed file system; identifying a first data block in the snappable file, the first data block including data and attribute data; scanning an index file to access the attribute data of the first data block; initiating construction of a patch file based on the accessed attribute data; repeating the scanning of the index file to access attribute data of at least a further second data block, the second data block including data and attribute data; completing construction of the patch file based on the accessed attribute data of the first and second data blocks; generating conversion simulation information by collecting attribute data for all the data blocks of the constructed patch file; and writing the simulation information to a patch file image. 8 . the system of claim 7 , wherein the attribute data of the first and second data blocks includes at least logical space offset and data size information. 9 . the system of claim 8 , wherein scanning the index file to access attribute data of the first data block is performed without reading the data of the first data block. 10 . the system of claim 9 , wherein the patch file is constructed without writing the data from the first or second data block to the patch file. 11 . the system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a request to transfer data of the snappable file to a remote location, the transfer involving or necessitating a conversion of data from a first data format to a second data format; and effecting a data format conversion for the transfer using only the simulation information. 12 . the system of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a read request for data in the first or second data block; and re-routing the read request to corresponding data in a journaled patch file using information contained in the patch file image. 13 . a non-transitory machine-readable medium including instructions which, when read by a machine, cause a machine to perform operations in a method of generating snapshots of a distributed file system, the operations including: identifying a snappable file in a distributed file system; identifying a first data block in the snappable file, the first data block including data and attribute data; scanning an index file to access the attribute data of the first data block; initiating construction of a patch file based on the accessed attribute data; repeating the scanning of the index file to access attribute data of at least a further second data block, the second data block including data and attribute data; completing construction of the patch file based on the accessed attribute data of the first and second data blocks; generating conversion simulation information by collecting attribute data for all the data blocks of the constructed patch file; and writing the simulation information to a patch file image. 14 . the medium of claim 13 , wherein the attribute data of the first and second data blocks includes at least logical space offset and data size information. 15 . the medium of claim 14 , wherein scanning the index file to access attribute data of the first data block is performed without reading the data of the first data block. 16 . the medium of claim 15 , wherein the patch file is constructed without writing the data from the first or second data block to the patch file. 17 . the medium of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a request to transfer data of the snappable file to a remote location, the transfer involving or necessitating a conversion of data from a first data format to a second data format; and effecting a data format conversion for the transfer using only the simulation information. 18 . the medium of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a read request for data in the first or second data block; and re-routing the read request to corresponding data in a journaled patch file using information contained in the patch file image.	technical field the present disclosure relates generally to online data format conversion and more particularly to online data format conversion during file transfer to a remote location. some examples herein may include “on the fly” upload capability. background the volume and complexity of data that is collected, analyzed, and stored are increasing rapidly over time. the computer infrastructure used to handle this data is also becoming more complex, with more processing power and more portability. as a result, data management and storage are becoming increasingly important. data can be stored in a variety of file formats across computer systems. each file format may have its own use case(s) that can cater to some specific needs and/or possibly allow better read/write performance in certain scenarios. at times, it is unavoidable to have to switch from one file format to another, either to take advantage of a certain format or in a view of some other limitation. summary in some examples, a data management system generates snapshots in a distributed file system based on a protocol or a user triggered event. an example data management system comprises at least one processor configured to perform operations including: identifying a snappable file in a distributed file system; identifying a first data block in the snappable file, the first data block including data and attribute data; scanning an index file to access the attribute data of the first data block; initiating construction of a patch file based on the accessed attribute data; repeating the scanning of the index file to access attribute data of at least a further second data block, the second data block including data and attribute data; completing construction of the patch file based on the accessed attribute data of the first and second data blocks; generating conversion simulation information by collecting attribute data for all the data blocks of the constructed patch file; and writing the simulation information to a patch file image. in some examples, the attribute data of the first and second data blocks includes at least logical space offset and data size information. in some examples, scanning the index file to access attribute data of the first data block is performed without reading the data of the first data block. in some examples, the patch file is constructed without writing the data from the first or second data block to the patch file. in some examples, the operations further comprise: receiving a request to transfer data of the snappable file to a remote location, the transfer involving or necessitating a conversion of data from a first data format to a second data format; and effecting a data format conversion for the transfer using only the simulation information. in some examples, the operations further comprise: receiving a read request for data in the first or second data block; and re-routing the read request to corresponding data in a journaled patch file using information contained in the patch file image. brief description of the drawings some embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the views of the accompanying drawing: fig. 1a is a block diagram illustrating an example networked computing environment in which some embodiments described herein are practiced. fig. 1b is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a server in the example networked computing environment of fig. 1a . fig. 1c is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a storage appliance in the example networked computing environment of fig. 1a . fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example cluster of a distributed decentralized database, according to some example embodiments. fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example journal file format, in accordance with some embodiments described herein. fig. 4 shows a schematic patch file format, in accordance with some embodiments described herein. fig. 5 shows aspects of a simulation, in accordance with some embodiments described herein. fig. 6 shows further aspects of a simulation, in accordance with some embodiments described herein. fig. 7 is a flow chart depicting operations in a method, according to an example embodiment. fig. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example architecture of software, that can be used to implement various embodiments described herein. fig. 9 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of an example machine in the form of a computer system within which a set of instructions may be executed for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of various embodiments described herein. detailed description the description that follows includes systems, methods, techniques, instruction sequences, and computing machine program products that embody illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure. in the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of example embodiments. it will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present inventive subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. it will be appreciated that some of the examples disclosed herein are described in the context of virtual machines that are backed up by using base and incremental snapshots, for example. this should not necessarily be regarded as limiting of the disclosures. the disclosures, systems, and methods described herein apply not only to virtual machines of all types that run a file system (for example), but also to networked-attached storage (nas) devices, physical machines (for example linux servers), and databases. various embodiments described herein relate to online data format conversion and in particular to online data format conversion during file transfer to a remote location. some examples herein may include “on the fly” upload capability. as mentioned above, challenging issues can arise when data is stored in a variety of file formats across computer systems. each file format may have its own use case that can cater to some specific need and/or possibly allow better read/write performance in certain scenarios. it can be challenging and, at times, unavoidable to have to switch from one file format to another during a file transfer, either to take advantage of a certain format or in view of some other limitation. one such limitation is archiving a file in one format, say format f1, residing in a computer system, say s1, to another computer system, say s2, which only understands file format f2. a naive way of transferring the file in format f1 from s1 to s2 in format f2 could include the following: convert the file locally on s1 from f1 to f2 format, and copy the new local file in f2 format to s2. similar steps may be encountered during archival of data to a cloud location, for example. a data management system (or backup service) may ingest customer data in a cluster in a write optimized journaled file format. after some duration, the data can then be archived to cloud locations (such as amazon s3, azure, and others, for example) for retaining the customer data for a longer duration. sometimes, these archival locations only support storing data in a read optimized patch file format. the naive approach mentioned above for archiving (or transferring) a given file in a journaled file format on (or to) a cluster in a patch file format at a cloud archival location can suffer from certain limitations, as follows. conversion of data in journaled file to a patch file format locally on a cluster requires reading data from the former and writing data to the latter format. this results in increased consumption of input/output (i/o) resources locally. the overall time for transferring the file to an archival location is a combination of two durations: (local conversion process time+file copy to archival location time). so there is an inherent extra time of conversion in the end to end transfer process. in some present examples, an efficient process is disclosed for transferring a file in a different format to an archival location. some examples seek to address the limitations discussed above. some examples simulate local conversion of a file into a different format without actually reading or writing the data blocks of the file to build a profile of the eventual patch file. this profiled data contains information about all the pieces of the eventual patch file and can be used to transfer the data in patch file format to an archival location without a direct or explicit need to convert the journaled file to a patch file format. reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. the present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. in some embodiments, data and/or metadata of a distributed file system is stored in a consistent, snapshottable distributed database. in some examples, the term “snapshottable” in relation to a distributed database means the distributed database is capable of being captured or backed up in one or more snapshots. in some examples, the term “snappable” in relation to an object, such as a file, means the object (e.g., the file) is capable of being captured or backed up in one or more snapshots. each snapshot of a distributed file system is stored in one or more files in the distributed file system. fig. 1a is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a networked computing environment 100 in which some embodiments are practiced. as depicted, the networked computing environment 100 includes a data center 150 , a storage appliance 140 , and a computing device 154 in communication with each other via one or more networks 180 . the networked computing environment 100 may include a plurality of computing devices interconnected through one or more networks 180 . the one or more networks 180 may allow computing devices and/or storage devices to connect to and communicate with other computing devices and/or other storage devices. in some cases, the networked computing environment may include other computing devices and/or other storage devices not shown. the other computing devices may include, for example, a mobile computing device, a non-mobile computing device, a server, a workstation, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, or an information processing system. the other storage devices may include, for example, a storage area network (san) storage device, a nas, a hard disk drive (hdd), a solid-state drive (ssd), or a data storage system. the data center 150 may include one or more servers, such as server 160 , in communication with one or more storage devices, such as storage device 156 . the one or more servers may also be in communication with one or more storage appliances, such as storage appliance 170 . the server 160 , storage device 156 , and storage appliance 170 may be in communication with each other via a networking fabric connecting servers and data storage units within the data center to each other. the storage appliance 170 may include a data management system for backing up virtual machines and/or files within a virtualized infrastructure. the server 160 may be used to create and manage one or more virtual machines associated with a virtualized infrastructure. the one or more virtual machines may run various applications, such as a cloud-based service, a database application or a web server. the storage device 156 may include one or more hardware storage devices for storing data, such as a hdd, a magnetic tape drive, a ssd, a san storage device, or a nas device. in some cases, a data center, such as data center 150 , may include thousands of servers and/or data storage devices in communication with each other. the data storage devices may comprise a tiered data storage infrastructure (or a portion of a tiered data storage infrastructure). the tiered data storage infrastructure may allow for the movement of data across different tiers of a data storage infrastructure between higher-cost, higher-performance storage devices (e.g., ssds and hdds) and relatively lower-cost, lower-performance storage devices (e.g., magnetic tape drives). the one or more networks 180 may include a secure network such as an enterprise private network, an unsecure network such as a wireless open network, a local area network (lan), a wide area network (wan), and the internet. the one or more networks 180 may include a cellular network, a mobile network, a wireless network, or a wired network. each network of the one or more networks 180 may include hubs, bridges, routers, switches, and wired transmission media such as a direct-wired connection. the one or more networks 180 may include an extranet or other private network for securely sharing information or providing controlled access to applications or files. a server, such as server 160 , may allow a client to download information or files (e.g., executable, text, application, audio, image, or video files) from the server or perform a search query related to particular information stored on the server. in some cases, a server may act as an application server or a file server. in general, a server may refer to a hardware device that acts as the host in a client-server relationship or a software process that shares a resource with or performs work for one or more clients. one embodiment of server 160 includes a network interface 165 , processor 166 , memory 167 , disk 168 , and virtualization manager 169 all in communication with each other. network interface 165 allows server 160 to connect to one or more networks 180 . network interface 165 may include a wireless network interface and/or a wired network interface. processor 166 allows server 160 to execute computer readable instructions stored in memory 167 . processor 166 may include one or more processing units or processing devices, such as one or more cpus and/or one or more gpus. memory 167 may comprise one or more types of memory (e.g., ram, sram, dram, rom, eeprom, flash, etc.). disk 168 may include a hard disk drive and/or a solid-state drive. memory 167 and disk 168 may comprise hardware storage devices. the virtualization manager 169 may manage a virtualized infrastructure and perform management operations associated with the virtualized infrastructure. the virtualization manager 169 may manage the provisioning of virtual machines running within the virtualized infrastructure and provide an interface to computing devices interacting with the virtualized infrastructure. in one example, the virtualization manager 169 may set a virtual machine into a frozen state in response to a snapshot request made via an application programming interface (api) by a storage appliance, such as storage appliance 170 . setting the virtual machine into a frozen state may allow a point in time snapshot of the virtual machine to be stored or transferred. in one example, updates made to a virtual machine that has been set into a frozen state may be written to a separate file (e.g., an update file) while the virtual disk file associated with the state of the virtual disk at the point in time is frozen. the virtual disk file may be set into a read-only state to prevent modifications to the virtual disk file while the virtual machine is in the frozen state. the virtualization manager 169 may then transfer data associated with the virtual machine (e.g., an image of the virtual machine or a portion of the image of the virtual machine) to a storage appliance in response to a request made by the storage appliance. after the data associated with the point in time snapshot of the virtual machine has been transferred to the storage appliance, the virtual machine may be released from the frozen state (i.e., unfrozen) and the updates made to the virtual machine and stored in the separate file may be merged into the virtual disk file. the virtualization manager 169 may perform various virtual machine related tasks, such as cloning virtual machines, creating new virtual machines, monitoring the state of virtual machines, moving virtual machines between physical hosts for load balancing purposes, and facilitating backups of virtual machines. one embodiment of storage appliance 170 includes a network interface 175 , processor 176 , memory 177 , and disk 178 all in communication with each other. network interface 175 allows storage appliance 170 to connect to one or more networks 180 . network interface 175 may include a wireless network interface and/or a wired network interface. processor 176 allows storage appliance 170 to execute computer readable instructions stored in memory 177 . processor 176 may include one or more processing units, such as one or more cpus and/or one or more gpus. memory 177 may comprise one or more types of memory (e.g., ram, sram, dram, rom, eeprom, nor flash, nand flash, etc.). disk 178 may include a hard disk drive and/or a solid-state drive. memory 177 and disk 178 may comprise hardware storage devices. in one embodiment, the storage appliance 170 may include four machines. each of the four machines may include a multi-core cpu, 64 gb of ram, a 400 gb ssd, three 4 tb hdds, and a network interface controller. in this case, the four machines may be in communication with the one or more networks 180 via the four network interface controllers. the four machines may comprise four nodes of a server cluster. the server cluster may comprise a set of physical machines that are connected together via a network. the server cluster may be used for storing data associated with a plurality of virtual machines, such as backup data associated with different point in time versions of 1000 virtual machines. the networked computing environment 100 may provide a cloud computing environment for one or more computing devices. cloud computing may refer to internet-based computing, wherein shared resources, software, and/or information may be provided to one or more computing devices on-demand via the internet. the networked computing environment 100 may comprise a cloud computing environment providing software-as-a-service (saas) or infrastructure-as-a-service (iaas) services. saas may refer to a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a service provider and made available to end users over the internet. in one embodiment, the networked computing environment 100 may include a virtualized infrastructure that provides software, data processing, and/or data storage services to end users accessing the services via the networked computing environment. in one example, networked computing environment 100 may provide cloud-based work productivity or business-related applications to a computing device, such as computing device 154 . the storage appliance 140 may comprise a cloud-based data management system for backing up virtual machines and/or files within a virtualized infrastructure, such as virtual machines running on server 160 or files stored on server 160 . in some cases, networked computing environment 100 may provide remote access to secure applications and files stored within data center 150 from a remote computing device, such as computing device 154 . the data center 150 may use an access control application to manage remote access to protected resources, such as protected applications, databases, or files located within the data center. to facilitate remote access to secure applications and files, a secure network connection may be established using a virtual private network (vpn). a vpn connection may allow a remote computing device, such as computing device 154 , to securely access data from a private network (e.g., from a company file server or mail server) using an unsecure public network or the internet. the vpn connection may require client-side software (e.g., running on the remote computing device) to establish and maintain the vpn connection. the vpn client software may provide data encryption and encapsulation prior to the transmission of secure private network traffic through the internet. in some embodiments, the storage appliance 170 may manage the extraction and storage of virtual machine snapshots associated with different point in time versions of one or more virtual machines running within the data center 150 . a snapshot of a virtual machine may correspond with a state of the virtual machine at a particular point in time. in response to a restore command from the server 160 , the storage appliance 170 may restore a point in time version of a virtual machine or restore point in time versions of one or more files located on the virtual machine and transmit the restored data to the server 160 . in response to a mount command from the server 160 , the storage appliance 170 may allow a point in time version of a virtual machine to be mounted and allow the server 160 to read and/or modify data associated with the point in time version of the virtual machine. to improve storage density, the storage appliance 170 may deduplicate and compress data associated with different versions of a virtual machine and/or deduplicate and compress data associated with different virtual machines. to improve system performance, the storage appliance 170 may first store virtual machine snapshots received from a virtualized environment in a cache, such as a flash-based cache. the cache may also store popular data or frequently accessed data (e.g., based on a history of virtual machine restorations, incremental files associated with commonly restored virtual machine versions) and current day incremental files or incremental files corresponding with snapshots captured within the past 24 hours, for example. an incremental file may comprise a forward incremental file or a reverse incremental file. a forward incremental file may include a set of data representing changes that have occurred since an earlier point in time snapshot of a virtual machine. to generate a snapshot of the virtual machine corresponding with a forward incremental file, the forward incremental file may be combined with an earlier point in time snapshot of the virtual machine (e.g., the forward incremental file may be combined with the last full image of the virtual machine that was captured before the forward incremental file was captured and any other forward incremental files that were captured subsequent to the last full image and prior to the forward incremental file). a reverse incremental file may include a set of data representing changes from a later point in time snapshot of a virtual machine. to generate a snapshot of the virtual machine corresponding with a reverse incremental file, the reverse incremental file may be combined with a later point in time snapshot of the virtual machine (e.g., the reverse incremental file may be combined with the most recent snapshot of the virtual machine and any other reverse incremental files that were captured prior to the most recent snapshot and subsequent to the reverse incremental file). the storage appliance 170 may provide a user interface (e.g., a web-based interface or a graphical user interface (gui)) that displays virtual machine backup information such as identifications of the virtual machines protected and the historical versions or time machine views for each of the virtual machines protected. a time machine view of a virtual machine may include snapshots of the virtual machine over a plurality of points in time. each snapshot may comprise the state of the virtual machine at a particular point in time. each snapshot may correspond with a different version of the virtual machine (e.g., version 1 of a virtual machine may correspond with the state of the virtual machine at a first point in time and version 2 of the virtual machine may correspond with the state of the virtual machine at a second point in time subsequent to the first point in time). the user interface may enable an end user of the storage appliance 170 (e.g., a system administrator or a virtualization administrator) to select a particular version of a virtual machine to be restored or mounted. when a particular version of a virtual machine has been mounted, the particular version may be accessed by a client (e.g., a virtual machine, a physical machine, or a computing device) as if the particular version was local to the client. a mounted version of a virtual machine may correspond with a mount point directory (e.g., /snapshots/vm5/version23). in one example, the storage appliance 170 may run an nfs server and make the particular version (or a copy of the particular version) of the virtual machine accessible for reading and/or writing. the end user of the storage appliance 170 may then select the particular version to be mounted and run an application (e.g., a data analytics application) using the mounted version of the virtual machine. in another example, the particular version may be mounted as an iscsi target. in some embodiments, the management system 190 provides management of one or more clusters of nodes as described herein, such as management of one or more policies with respect to the one or more clusters of nodes. the management system 190 can serve as a cluster manager for one or more clusters of nodes (e.g., present in the networked computing environment 100 ). according to various embodiments, the management system 190 provides for central management of policies (e.g., slas) that remotely manages and synchronizes policy definitions with clusters of nodes. for some embodiments, the management system 190 facilitates automatic setup of secure communications channels between clusters of nodes to facilitate replication of data. additionally, for some embodiments, the management system 190 manages archival settings for one or more clusters of nodes with respect to cloud-based data storage resource provided by one or more cloud service provider. fig. 1b is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of server 160 in fig. 1a . the server 160 may comprise one server out of a plurality of servers that are networked together within a data center. in one example, the plurality of servers may be positioned within one or more server racks within the data center. as depicted, the server 160 includes hardware-level components and software-level components. the hardware-level components include one or more processors 182 , one or more memory 184 , and one or more disks 185 . the software-level components include a hypervisor 186 , a virtualized infrastructure manager 199 , and one or more virtual machines, such as virtual machine 198 . the hypervisor 186 may comprise a native hypervisor or a hosted hypervisor. the hypervisor 186 may provide a virtual operating platform for running one or more virtual machines, such as virtual machine 198 . virtual machine 198 includes a plurality of virtual hardware devices including a virtual processor 192 , a virtual memory 194 , and a virtual disk 195 . the virtual disk 195 may comprise a file stored within the one or more disks 185 . in one example, a virtual machine may include a plurality of virtual disks, with each virtual disk of the plurality of virtual disks associated with a different file stored on the one or more disks 185 . virtual machine 198 may include a guest operating system 196 that runs one or more applications, such as application 197 . the virtualized infrastructure manager 199 , which may correspond with the virtualization manager 169 in fig. 1a , may run on a virtual machine or natively on the server 160 . the virtualized infrastructure manager 199 may provide a centralized platform for managing a virtualized infrastructure that includes a plurality of virtual machines. the virtualized infrastructure manager 199 may manage the provisioning of virtual machines running within the virtualized infrastructure and provide an interface to computing devices interacting with the virtualized infrastructure. the virtualized infrastructure manager 199 may perform various virtualized infrastructure related tasks, such as cloning virtual machines, creating new virtual machines, monitoring the state of virtual machines, and facilitating backups of virtual machines. in one embodiment, the server 160 may use the virtualized infrastructure manager 199 to facilitate backups for a plurality of virtual machines (e.g., eight different virtual machines) running on the server 160 . each virtual machine running on the server 160 may run its own guest operating system and its own set of applications. each virtual machine running on the server 160 may store its own set of files using one or more virtual disks associated with the virtual machine (e.g., each virtual machine may include two virtual disks that are used for storing data associated with the virtual machine). in one embodiment, a data management application running on a storage appliance, such as storage appliance 140 in fig. 1a or storage appliance 170 in fig. 1 a, may request a snapshot of a virtual machine running on server 160 . the snapshot of the virtual machine may be stored as one or more files, with each file associated with a virtual disk of the virtual machine. a snapshot of a virtual machine may correspond with a state of the virtual machine at a particular point in time. the particular point in time may be associated with a time stamp. in one example, a first snapshot of a virtual machine may correspond with a first state of the virtual machine (including the state of applications and files stored on the virtual machine) at a first point in time (e.g., 5:30 p.m. on jun. 29, 2024) and a second snapshot of the virtual machine may correspond with a second state of the virtual machine at a second point in time subsequent to the first point in time (e.g., 5:30 p.m. on jun. 30, 2024). in response to a request for a snapshot of a virtual machine at a particular point in time, the virtualized infrastructure manager 199 may set the virtual machine into a frozen state or store a copy of the virtual machine at the particular point in time. the virtualized infrastructure manager 199 may then transfer data associated with the virtual machine (e.g., an image of the virtual machine or a portion of the image of the virtual machine) to the storage appliance. the data associated with the virtual machine may include a set of files including a virtual disk file storing contents of a virtual disk of the virtual machine at the particular point in time and a virtual machine configuration file storing configuration settings for the virtual machine at the particular point in time. the contents of the virtual disk file may include the operating system used by the virtual machine, local applications stored on the virtual disk, and user files (e.g., images and word processing documents). in some cases, the virtualized infrastructure manager 199 may transfer a full image of the virtual machine to the storage appliance or a plurality of data blocks corresponding with the full image (e.g., to enable a full image-level backup of the virtual machine to be stored on the storage appliance). in other cases, the virtualized infrastructure manager 199 may transfer a portion of an image of the virtual machine associated with data that has changed since an earlier point in time prior to the particular point in time or since a last snapshot of the virtual machine was taken. in one example, the virtualized infrastructure manager 199 may transfer only data associated with virtual blocks stored on a virtual disk of the virtual machine that have changed since the last snapshot of the virtual machine was taken. in one embodiment, the data management application may specify a first point in time and a second point in time and the virtualized infrastructure manager 199 may output one or more virtual data blocks associated with the virtual machine that have been modified between the first point in time and the second point in time. in some embodiments, the server 160 may or the hypervisor 186 may communicate with a storage appliance, such as storage appliance 140 in fig. 1a or storage appliance 170 in fig. 1a , using a distributed file system protocol such as nfs. the distributed file system protocol may allow the server 160 or the hypervisor 186 to access, read, write, or modify files stored on the storage appliance as if the files were locally stored on the server. the distributed file system protocol may allow the server 160 or the hypervisor 186 to mount a directory or a portion of a file system located within the storage appliance. fig. 1c is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of storage appliance 170 in fig. 1a . the storage appliance may include a plurality of physical machines that may be grouped together and presented as a single computing system. each physical machine of the plurality of physical machines may comprise a node in a cluster (e.g., a failover cluster). in one example, the storage appliance may be positioned within a server rack within a data center. as depicted, the storage appliance 170 includes hardware-level components and software-level components. the hardware-level components include one or more physical machines, such as physical machine 120 and physical machine 130 . the physical machine 120 includes a network interface 121 , processor 122 , memory 123 , and disk 124 all in communication with each other. processor 122 allows physical machine 120 to execute computer readable instructions stored in memory 123 to perform processes described herein. disk 124 may include a hdd and/or a sdd. the physical machine 130 includes a network interface 131 , processor 132 , memory 133 , and disk 134 all in communication with each other. processor 132 allows physical machine 130 to execute computer readable instructions stored in memory 133 to perform processes described herein. disk 134 may include a hdd and/or a sdd. in some cases, disk 134 may include a flash-based ssd or a hybrid hdd/ssd drive. in one embodiment, the storage appliance 170 may include a plurality of physical machines arranged in a cluster (e.g., eight machines in a cluster). each of the plurality of physical machines may include a plurality of multi-core cpus, 128 gb of ram, a 500 gb ssd, four 4 tb hdds, and a network interface controller. in some embodiments, the plurality of physical machines may be used to implement a cluster-based network file server. the cluster-based network file server may neither require nor use a front-end load balancer. one issue with using a front-end load balancer to host the ip address for the cluster-based network file server and to forward requests to the nodes of the cluster-based network file server is that the front-end load balancer comprises a single point of failure for the cluster-based network file server. in some cases, the file system protocol used by a server, such as server 160 in fig. 1a , or a hypervisor, such as hypervisor 186 in fig. 1b , to communicate with the storage appliance 170 may not provide a failover mechanism (e.g., nfs version 3). in the case that no failover mechanism is provided on the client-side, the hypervisor may not be able to connect to a new node within a cluster in the event that the node connected to the hypervisor fails. in some embodiments, each node in a cluster may be connected to each other via a network and may be associated with one or more ip addresses (e.g., two different ip addresses may be assigned to each node). in one example, each node in the cluster may be assigned a permanent ip address and a floating ip address and may be accessed using either the permanent ip address or the floating ip address. in this case, a hypervisor, such as hypervisor 186 in fig. 1b may be configured with a first floating ip address associated with a first node in the cluster. the hypervisor may connect to the cluster using the first floating ip address. in one example, the hypervisor may communicate with the cluster using the nfs version 3 protocol. each node in the cluster may run a virtual router redundancy protocol (vrrp) daemon. a daemon may comprise a background process. each vrrp daemon may include a list of all floating ip addresses available within the cluster. in the event that the first node associated with the first floating ip address fails, one of the vrrp daemons may automatically assume or pick up the first floating ip address if no other vrrp daemon has already assumed the first floating ip address. therefore, if the first node in the cluster fails or otherwise goes down, then one of the remaining vrrp daemons running on the other nodes in the cluster may assume the first floating ip address that is used by the hypervisor for communicating with the cluster. in order to determine which of the other nodes in the cluster will assume the first floating ip address, a vrrp priority may be established. in one example, given a number (n) of nodes in a cluster from node ( 0 ) to node (n−1), for a floating ip address (i), the vrrp priority of node (j) may be (j-i) modulo n. in another example, given a number (n) of nodes in a cluster from node ( 0 ) to node (n−1), for a floating ip address (i), the vrrp priority of node (j) may be (i-j) modulo n. in these cases, node (j) will assume floating ip address (i) only if its vrrp priority is higher than that of any other node in the cluster that is alive and announcing itself on the network. thus, if a node fails, then there may be a clear priority ordering for determining which other node in the cluster will take over the failed node's floating ip address. in some cases, a cluster may include a plurality of nodes and each node of the plurality of nodes may be assigned a different floating ip address. in this case, a first hypervisor may be configured with a first floating ip address associated with a first node in the cluster, a second hypervisor may be configured with a second floating ip address associated with a second node in the cluster, and a third hypervisor may be configured with a third floating ip address associated with a third node in the cluster. as depicted in fig. 1c , the software-level components of the storage appliance 170 may include data management system 102 , a virtualization interface 104 , a distributed job scheduler 108 , a distributed metadata store 110 , a distributed file system 112 , and one or more virtual machine search indexes, such as virtual machine search index 106 . in one embodiment, the software-level components of the storage appliance 170 may be run using a dedicated hardware-based appliance. in another embodiment, the software-level components of the storage appliance 170 may be run from the cloud (e.g., the software-level components may be installed on a cloud service provider). in some cases, the data storage across a plurality of nodes in a cluster (e.g., the data storage available from the one or more physical machines) may be aggregated and made available over a single file system namespace (e.g., /snapshots/). a directory for each virtual machine protected using the storage appliance 170 may be created (e.g., the directory for virtual machine a may be /snapshots/vm_a). snapshots and other data associated with a virtual machine may reside within the directory for the virtual machine. in one example, snapshots of a virtual machine may be stored in subdirectories of the directory (e.g., a first snapshot of virtual machine a may reside in /snapshots/vm_a/s1/ and a second snapshot of virtual machine a may reside in /snapshots/vm_a/s2/). the distributed file system 112 may present itself as a single file system, in which as new physical machines or nodes are added to the storage appliance 170 , the cluster may automatically discover the additional nodes and automatically increase the available capacity of the file system for storing files and other data. each file stored in the distributed file system 112 may be partitioned into one or more chunks. each of the one or more chunks may be stored within the distributed file system 112 as a separate file. in some embodiments, the data management system 102 resides inside the distributed file system 112 . the data management system 102 may receive requests to capture snapshots of the entire distributed file system 112 on a periodic basis based on internal protocols or upon occurrence of user triggered events. the files stored within the distributed file system 112 may be replicated or mirrored over a plurality of physical machines, thereby creating a load-balanced and fault tolerant distributed file system. in one example, storage appliance 170 may include ten physical machines arranged as a failover cluster, and a first file corresponding with a snapshot of a virtual machine (e.g., /snapshots/vm_a/s1/s1.full) may be replicated and stored on three of the ten machines. the distributed metadata store 110 may include a distributed database management system that provides high availability without a single point of failure. in one embodiment, the distributed metadata store 110 may comprise a database, such as a distributed document oriented database. the distributed metadata store 110 may be used as a distributed key value storage system. in one example, the distributed metadata store 110 may comprise a distributed nosql key value store database. in some cases, the distributed metadata store 110 may include a partitioned row store, in which rows are organized into tables or other collections of related data held within a structured format within the key value store database. a table (or a set of tables) may be used to store metadata information associated with one or more files stored within the distributed file system 112 . the metadata information may include the name of a file, a size of the file, file permissions associated with the file, when the file was last modified, and file mapping information associated with an identification of the location of the file stored within a cluster of physical machines. in one embodiment, a new file corresponding with a snapshot of a virtual machine may be stored within the distributed file system 112 and metadata associated with the new file may be stored within the distributed metadata store 110 . the distributed metadata store 110 may also be used to store a backup schedule for the virtual machine and a list of snapshots for the virtual machine that are stored using the storage appliance 170 . in some cases, the distributed metadata store 110 may be used to manage one or more versions of a virtual machine. each version of the virtual machine may correspond with a full image snapshot of the virtual machine stored within the distributed file system 112 or an incremental snapshot of the virtual machine (e.g., a forward incremental or reverse incremental) stored within the distributed file system 112 . in one embodiment, the one or more versions of the virtual machine may correspond with a plurality of files. the plurality of files may include a single full image snapshot of the virtual machine and one or more incrementals derived from the single full image snapshot. the single full image snapshot of the virtual machine may be stored using a first storage device of a first type (e.g., a hdd) and the one or more incrementals derived from the single full image snapshot may be stored using a second storage device of a second type (e.g., an ssd). in this case, only a single full image needs to be stored and each version of the virtual machine may be generated from the single full image or the single full image combined with a subset of the one or more incrementals. furthermore, each version of the virtual machine may be generated by performing a sequential read from the first storage device (e.g., reading a single file from a hdd) to acquire the full image and, in parallel, performing one or more reads from the second storage device (e.g., performing fast random reads from an ssd) to acquire the one or more incrementals. the distributed job scheduler 108 may be used for scheduling backup jobs that acquire and store virtual machine snapshots for one or more virtual machines over time. the distributed job scheduler 108 may follow a backup schedule to backup an entire image of a virtual machine at a particular point in time or one or more virtual disks associated with the virtual machine at the particular point in time. in one example, the backup schedule may specify that the virtual machine be backed up at a snapshot capture frequency, such as every two hours or every 24 hours. each backup job may be associated with one or more tasks to be performed in a sequence. each of the one or more tasks associated with a job may be run on a particular node within a cluster. in some cases, the distributed job scheduler 108 may schedule a specific job to be run on a particular node based on data stored on the particular node. for example, the distributed job scheduler 108 may schedule a virtual machine snapshot job to be run on a node in a cluster that is used to store snapshots of the virtual machine in order to reduce network congestion. the distributed job scheduler 108 may comprise a distributed fault tolerant job scheduler, in which jobs affected by node failures are recovered and rescheduled to be run on available nodes. in one embodiment, the distributed job scheduler 108 may be fully decentralized and implemented without the existence of a master node. the distributed job scheduler 108 may run job scheduling processes on each node in a cluster or on a plurality of nodes in the cluster. in one example, the distributed job scheduler 108 may run a first set of job scheduling processes on a first node in the cluster, a second set of job scheduling processes on a second node in the cluster, and a third set of job scheduling processes on a third node in the cluster. the first set of job scheduling processes, the second set of job scheduling processes, and the third set of job scheduling processes may store information regarding jobs, schedules, and the states of jobs using a metadata store, such as distributed metadata store 110 . in the event that the first node running the first set of job scheduling processes fails (e.g., due to a network failure or a physical machine failure), the states of the jobs managed by the first set of job scheduling processes may fail to be updated within a threshold period of time (e.g., a job may fail to be completed within 30 seconds or within 3 minutes from being started). in response to detecting jobs that have failed to be updated within the threshold period of time, the distributed job scheduler 108 may undo and restart the failed jobs on available nodes within the cluster. the job scheduling processes running on at least a plurality of nodes in a cluster (e.g., on each available node in the cluster) may manage the scheduling and execution of a plurality of jobs. the job scheduling processes may include run processes for running jobs, cleanup processes for cleaning up failed tasks, and rollback processes for rolling-back or undoing any actions or tasks performed by failed jobs. in one embodiment, the job scheduling processes may detect that a particular task for a particular job has failed and in response may perform a cleanup process to clean up or remove the effects of the particular task and then perform a rollback process that processes one or more completed tasks for the particular job in reverse order to undo the effects of the one or more completed tasks. once the particular job with the failed task has been undone, the job scheduling processes may restart the particular job on an available node in the cluster. the distributed job scheduler 108 may manage a job in which a series of tasks associated with the job are to be performed atomically (i.e., partial execution of the series of tasks is not permitted). if the series of tasks cannot be completely executed or there is any failure that occurs to one of the series of tasks during execution (e.g., a hard disk associated with a physical machine fails or a network connection to the physical machine fails), then the state of a data management system may be returned to a state as if none of the series of tasks were ever performed. the series of tasks may correspond with an ordering of tasks for the series of tasks and the distributed job scheduler 108 may ensure that each task of the series of tasks is executed based on the ordering of tasks. tasks that do not have dependencies with each other may be executed in parallel. in some cases, the distributed job scheduler 108 may schedule each task of a series of tasks to be performed on a specific node in a cluster. in other cases, the distributed job scheduler 108 may schedule a first task of the series of tasks to be performed on a first node in a cluster and a second task of the series of tasks to be performed on a second node in the cluster. in these cases, the first task may have to operate on a first set of data (e.g., a first file stored in a file system) stored on the first node and the second task may have to operate on a second set of data (e.g., metadata related to the first file that is stored in a database) stored on the second node. in some embodiments, one or more tasks associated with a job may have an affinity to a specific node in a cluster. in one example, if the one or more tasks require access to a database that has been replicated on three nodes in a cluster, then the one or more tasks may be executed on one of the three nodes. in another example, if the one or more tasks require access to multiple chunks of data associated with a virtual disk that has been replicated over four nodes in a cluster, then the one or more tasks may be executed on one of the four nodes. thus, the distributed job scheduler 108 may assign one or more tasks associated with a job to be executed on a particular node in a cluster based on the location of data required to be accessed by the one or more tasks. in one embodiment, the distributed job scheduler 108 may manage a first job associated with capturing and storing a snapshot of a virtual machine periodically (e.g., every 30 minutes). the first job may include one or more tasks, such as communicating with a virtualized infrastructure manager, such as the virtualized infrastructure manager 199 in fig. 1b , to create a frozen copy of the virtual machine and to transfer one or more chunks (or one or more files) associated with the frozen copy to a storage appliance, such as storage appliance 170 in fig. 1a . the one or more tasks may also include generating metadata for the one or more chunks, storing the metadata using the distributed metadata store 110 , storing the one or more chunks within the distributed file system 112 , and communicating with the virtualized infrastructure manager that the virtual machine the frozen copy of the virtual machine may be unfrozen or released for a frozen state. the metadata for a first chunk of the one or more chunks may include information specifying a version of the virtual machine associated with the frozen copy, a time associated with the version (e.g., the snapshot of the virtual machine was taken at 5:30 p.m. on jun. 29, 2024), and a file path to where the first chunk is stored within the distributed file system 112 (e.g., the first chunk is located at /snapshots/vm_b/s1/s1.chunk1). the one or more tasks may also include deduplication, compression (e.g., using a lossless data compression algorithm such as lz4 or lz77), decompression, encryption (e.g., using a symmetric key algorithm such as triple des or aes-256), and decryption related tasks. the virtualization interface 104 may provide an interface for communicating with a virtualized infrastructure manager managing a virtualization infrastructure, such as virtualized infrastructure manager 199 in fig. 1b , and requesting data associated with virtual machine snapshots from the virtualization infrastructure. the virtualization interface 104 may communicate with the virtualized infrastructure manager using an api for accessing the virtualized infrastructure manager (e.g., to communicate a request for a snapshot of a virtual machine). in this case, storage appliance 170 may request and receive data from a virtualized infrastructure without requiring agent software to be installed or running on virtual machines within the virtualized infrastructure. the virtualization interface 104 may request data associated with virtual blocks stored on a virtual disk of the virtual machine that have changed since a last snapshot of the virtual machine was taken or since a specified prior point in time. therefore, in some cases, if a snapshot of a virtual machine is the first snapshot taken of the virtual machine, then a full image of the virtual machine may be transferred to the storage appliance. however, if the snapshot of the virtual machine is not the first snapshot taken of the virtual machine, then only the data blocks of the virtual machine that have changed since a prior snapshot was taken may be transferred to the storage appliance. the virtual machine search index 106 may include a list of files that have been stored using a virtual machine and a version history for each of the files in the list. each version of a file may be mapped to the earliest point in time snapshot of the virtual machine that includes the version of the file or to a snapshot of the virtual machine that includes the version of the file (e.g., the latest point in time snapshot of the virtual machine that includes the version of the file). in one example, the virtual machine search index 106 may be used to identify a version of the virtual machine that includes a particular version of a file (e.g., a particular version of a database, a spreadsheet, or a word processing document). in some cases, each of the virtual machines that are backed up or protected using storage appliance 170 may have a corresponding virtual machine search index. in one embodiment, as each snapshot of a virtual machine is ingested each virtual disk associated with the virtual machine is parsed in order to identify a file system type associated with the virtual disk and to extract metadata (e.g., file system metadata) for each file stored on the virtual disk. the metadata may include information for locating and retrieving each file from the virtual disk. the metadata may also include a name of a file, the size of the file, the last time at which the file was modified, and a content checksum for the file. each file that has been added, deleted, or modified since a previous snapshot was captured may be determined using the metadata (e.g., by comparing the time at which a file was last modified with a time associated with the previous snapshot). thus, for every file that has existed within any of the snapshots of the virtual machine, a virtual machine search index may be used to identify when the file was first created (e.g., corresponding with a first version of the file) and at what times the file was modified (e.g., corresponding with subsequent versions of the file). each version of the file may be mapped to a particular version of the virtual machine that stores that version of the file. in some cases, if a virtual machine includes a plurality of virtual disks, then a virtual machine search index may be generated for each virtual disk of the plurality of virtual disks. for example, a first virtual machine search index may catalog and map files located on a first virtual disk of the plurality of virtual disks and a second virtual machine search index may catalog and map files located on a second virtual disk of the plurality of virtual disks. in this case, a global file catalog or a global virtual machine search index for the virtual machine may include the first virtual machine search index and the second virtual machine search index. a global file catalog may be stored for each virtual machine backed up by a storage appliance within a file system, such as distributed file system 112 in fig. 1c . the data management system 102 may comprise an application running on the storage appliance that manages and stores one or more snapshots of a virtual machine. in one example, the data management system 102 may comprise a highest level layer in an integrated software stack running on the storage appliance. the integrated software stack may include the data management system 102 , the virtualization interface 104 , the distributed job scheduler 108 , the distributed metadata store 110 , and the distributed file system 112 . in some cases, the integrated software stack may run on other computing devices, such as a server or computing device 154 in fig. 1a . the data management system 102 may use the virtualization interface 104 , the distributed job scheduler 108 , the distributed metadata store 110 , and the distributed file system 112 to manage and store one or more snapshots of a virtual machine, and/or manage operations in online data format conversion during file transfer to a remote location, for example. more specific operations in example data format conversion techniques are discussed further below. each snapshot of the virtual machine may correspond with a point in time version of the virtual machine. the data management system 102 may generate and manage a list of versions for the virtual machine. each version of the virtual machine may map to or reference one or more chunks and/or one or more files stored within the distributed file system 112 . combined together, the one or more chunks and/or the one or more files stored within the distributed file system 112 may comprise a full image of the version of the virtual machine. fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example cluster 200 of a distributed decentralized database, according to some example embodiments. as illustrated, the example cluster 200 includes five nodes, nodes 1 - 5 . in some example embodiments, each of the five nodes runs from different machines, such as physical machine 130 in fig. 1c or virtual machine 198 in fig. 1b . the nodes in the example cluster 200 can include instances of peer nodes of a distributed database (e.g., cluster-based database, distributed decentralized database management system, a nosql database, apache cassandra, datastax, mongodb, couchdb), according to some example embodiments. the distributed database system is distributed in that data is sharded or distributed across the example cluster 200 in shards or chunks and decentralized in that there is no central storage device and no single point of failure. the system operates under an assumption that multiple nodes may go down, up, become non-responsive, and so on. sharding is splitting up of the data horizontally and managing each shard separately on different nodes. for example, if the data managed by the example cluster 200 can be indexed using the 26 letters of the alphabet, node 1 can manage a first shard that handles records that start with a through e, node 2 can manage a second shard that handles records that start with f through j, and so on. in some example embodiments, data written to one of the nodes is replicated to one or more other nodes per a replication protocol of the example cluster 200 . for example, data written to node 1 can be replicated to nodes 2 and 3 . if node 1 prematurely terminates, node 2 and/or 3 can be used to provide the replicated data. in some example embodiments, each node of example cluster 200 frequently exchanges state information about itself and other nodes across the example cluster 200 using gossip protocol. gossip protocol is a peer-to-peer communication protocol in which each node randomly shares (e.g., communicates, requests, transmits) location and state information about the other nodes in a given cluster. writing: for a given node, a sequentially written commit log captures the write activity to ensure data durability. the data is then written to an in-memory structure (e.g., a memtable, write-back cache). each time the in-memory structure is full, the data is written to disk in a sorted string table data file. in some example embodiments, writes are automatically partitioned and replicated throughout the example cluster 200 . reading: any node of example cluster 200 can receive a read request (e.g., query) from an external client. if the node that receives the read request manages the data requested, the node provides the requested data. if the node does not manage the data, the node determines which node manages the requested data. the node that received the read request then acts as a proxy between the requesting entity and the node that manages the data (e.g., the node that manages the data sends the data to the proxy node, which then provides the data to an external entity that generated the request). the distributed decentralized database system is decentralized in that there is no single point of failure due to the nodes being symmetrical and seamlessly replaceable. for example, whereas conventional distributed data implementations have nodes with different functions (e.g., master/slave nodes, asymmetrical database nodes, federated databases), the nodes of example cluster 200 are configured to function the same way (e.g., as symmetrical peer database nodes that communicate via gossip protocol, such as cassandra nodes) with no single point of failure. if one of the nodes in example cluster 200 terminates prematurely (“goes down”), another node can rapidly take the place of the terminated node without disrupting service. the example cluster 200 can be a container for a keyspace, which is a container for data in the distributed decentralized database system (e.g., whereas a database is a container for containers in conventional relational databases, the cassandra keyspace is a container for a cassandra database system). in some examples, a data management system (for example data management system 102 above) can take a backup of a user's data. the user data is ingested and may be stored in a journaled file format suitable for high write performance, enabling the taking of a backup in a short span of time, for example. an example journaled file format is shown in fig. 3 . with reference to that view, a journaled file format 302 is a sparse representation of the logical space 304 of data in a file where logical holes 306 (as shown in fig. 3 ) are not written. as the data is written to the file at 308 at different logical offsets (for example offset 310 for data block 3 and offset 312 for data block 310 ) these data blocks are simply appended to a data file 314 . information such as the logical offset (e.g. 310 , or 312 ) in the journaled file, and/or a physical offset in a data file 314 , and/or a size 318 of a data block (e.g. data block 1 , 2 , 3 , and/or 4 ) and so forth is stored in a separate index in memory (sorted by logical offset of blocks). once all the data is written to the journaled file, the index is written down to a separate index file 316 associated with this journaled file. in some examples, overwrites may occur in the logical space 304 of the file, but in this instance, some examples do not amend or discard parts of the data blocks in the data file 314 and only modify information in the index associated with the overwritten blocks. this can enable writing the actual data blocks sequentially in the data file resulting in higher write performance. in some examples, the index file 316 size is very small in comparison to the data file 314 . in some examples, the physical data block size is in the order of tens of kbs and the information corresponding to it in the index file is no more than 50 bytes. some present examples include a patch file format. in some instances, users may wish to configure a data backup system (or data management system) to archive snapshotted data to a desired cloud or offsite location. it can be desirable to store snapshotted data in patch file format because it is well suited for situations where file data is immutable (it does not change over time) and high read performance is needed. further, a patch file format is more space efficient than a journaled file format because data which has been overwritten is not stored. fig. 4 shows a schematic patch file format 402 , according to some examples. in the illustrated example, actual data is sparsely distributed over the logical space 404 of the patch file 406 . logical holes 408 exist in the file where data is not written to the file. in a physical patch file 414 , each part 410 of the data is written in one or more blocks 412 of fixed size (for example 64 kb) in the physical patch file 414 . one or more batches of data blocks 412 (for example the first batch of four data blocks, as shown) is accompanied or prefaced by an index block 416 . the index block 416 stores information regarding mapping of the logical offset and size of the data blocks, to a physical offset and size in the physical patch file. the first index block 416 stores this information for a series of data blocks including the four data blocks just discussed, made up by, in this instance, three blocks from the first data part 410 , and one block from the second data part 410 . a second index block 418 may store corresponding information about the next batch (or series) of data blocks, and so on. the index blocks can be placed either before or after a batch of data blocks depending on a given implementation. backed up data is generally read in a sequential fashion when restoring it. as such this format can be very suitable for reading data with high throughput from disks as the physical data blocks are stored in a sorted order of logical offsets. this is in contrast to the journaled file format where the actual physical data blocks can be randomly spread in the data file. in some examples, the size of the index blocks 416 or 418 is insignificant in comparison to the overall physical size of the file 406 , since approximately 1 gb of data can be indexed by an index block of size 200 kb. in some examples, a method of uploading a snapshot using data converted from a journaled file to a patch file format to an archival location may include performing a local journaled file to patch file conversion in a local node cluster and then copying the converted file to the remote archival location. this process may invoke three i/o operations for every data block in the local cluster, namely reading from a journaled file during conversion, writing to a patch file during conversion, and reading from the converted patch file during copying. these operations may be cumbersome or inconvenient in some examples. the present disclosure provides examples that enable “on the fly” archival upload from a journaled file format to a patch file format. in some “on the fly” examples, an entire conversion process is simulated. a simulation is performed in a way that there is no reading or writing of the data blocks of the file that constitute a major part of the file, as discussed above. this approach can be used in a variety of use cases such as transfer a file to another location in another format in following example scenarios: a file or snapshot archival to a cloud location, or a file or snapshot replication to another remote cluster. some examples use a virtual patch file locally for jobs or processes which can only work on patch files and not on journal files, such as operations performed in a specific format f2 which is different from an original format f1. example use cases include computing statistics for a patch file without, in fact, converting data residing in a different file format to a patch file. example statistics can be used to monitor or track metrics for a snapshot in reports or other analysis, or informing decisions for triggering other relevant future processes or jobs. in some examples, an “actual” (non-simulated) conversion includes one or more of the following operations, such as reading data at a certain offset from a journaled file. this may involve first inspecting the index and then actually reading the data blocks residing at an appropriate location. this data block is then passed on to a patch file constructor (whose purpose is to create the patch file) and the constructor places the data block at a certain location in the final file (along with writing some metadata in the index blocks of the file). a “simulated” approach, according to some present examples, involves simulating an actual process by passing only the attributes of the data blocks, without reading the data, to the patch file constructor. the patch file constructor places a fake or virtual data block according to the attributes of that block at some physical location inside the patch file. actual data is not written to the file. these attributes are captured and stored in a file, referred to as a patch file image. example operations in an example simulation 502 are now described with reference to fig. 5 . a file 506 has a logical space 504 . as shown by the flows in the figure, for a particular data block in the file 506 , information about its size, its physical offset in a patch file, and physical offset in a journaled file (along with journaled file path) is collected and stored in a separate file called a patch file image 508 . specific operations may include: in operation 1 , scanning an index file to access or read, in operation 2 , attribute information including offset and data size of a given data block, as shown. in operation 3 , these attributes (only) are used to implement construction of a patch file, as shown. operation 3 may be repeated in successive steps for further data blocks as the patch file image construction is completed. the sequence of a collection of the data block attributes may be based on or driven by an index order in the index file, for example as shown. in operation 4 , the attributes, or simulation information, is collected for all the relevant data blocks of the constructed patch file and written to the patch file image 508 . the data of the index blocks 510 generated in the patch file construction (operation 3 ) is copied “as is” in the patch file image 508 along with storing its physical offset in the patch file. in some examples, the resulting patch file image is very small in size in comparison to the actual patch file as it does not store the data blocks themselves. this allows some examples to store the patch file image in flash memory instead of a conventional disk for faster reads and writes. in some examples, the size of a patch file image may be 520 kb for a patch file having a size of 1.28 gb. with all the above simulation information, the patch file image thus formed contains information identifying exactly where all the pieces of the patch file reside. with reference to fig. 6 , if a read request 602 is made for a block at offset, say 1 mb, of size 4 kb, then that read request can be re-routed using the information in a patch file image 612 . here, two re-routings may be invoked and occur at 604 and 606 , for example, to respective physical locations 608 and 610 in a journaled data file from where the actual data can be read. in some examples, this re-routing management can be performed by a data management system, such as the data management system 102 , as described above. in some examples, the actual re-routing is performed inside a file system, such as a distributed file system 112 described above. the file system may reside on one or more node clusters, for example as described with reference to fig. 2 . a notional patch file 614 which might ordinarily be the subject of the read request 602 (instead of the patch file image) is shown for purposes of discussion only. in some examples, it is not present or involved in a re-routing operation. a virtual patch file can be exposed using the patch file image that was formed as a result of the simulation of the conversion process. a user of this virtual patch file need not know and will be unaware of the internal content thereof and will find no difference between an actual patch file and this virtual one. a read request for this virtual patch file at any arbitrary location will return the same data had it been an actual patch file. in some aspects, a virtual file may be considered as nothing but a wrapper layer in code which allows the writing of custom logic for read/write requests for a file which is being exposed via a file system so that a different view thereof can be presented to a user. in some examples, a journaled and patch file format described herein may be more rich or less rich in storing information. some file formats have the ability to store duplicate blocks of data in the form of references to original ones. for example, for data blocks already existing in a file system, the same (duplicate) data blocks are not stored again. only pointers to them are stored. these pointer or references may reside in the relevant index file in the case of journaled files and index blocks in the case of patch files. during the conversion processes discussed above, these references or pointers (or for that matter any other extra file metadata) can be copied over to the index blocks of the patch file. a patch file image will still be able to store this information as it copies the index block of the patch file in it. the methods described herein can, in some examples, provide expedited processes for local conversion of a file in different formats, and thus save a significant amount of time in the end to end process of archival upload of snapshotted data. this may be important in situations where large backed up files need to be archived on a periodic basis according to a sla policy. low overall archival time may help to support aggressive sla policies. in some examples, the number of i/os for each data block on a local cluster reduces by approximately 60-70%, for example by approximately 66%, by virtue of only needing to read each data block once. although some i/o processing occurs while scanning data and constructing the intermediate file for a patch file image, it is not significant in some examples as it only encompasses the metadata part of the file, which is very small as mentioned earlier. this reduction in i/o processing can be highly beneficial for cluster management as there may be many jobs or processes simultaneously contending for the limited availability of i/o resources. some disclosed examples herein include methods. fig. 7 is a flow chart depicting operations in an example method 700 of online data conversion. the example method 700 may include: at operation 702 , identifying a snappable file in a distributed file system; at operation 704 , identifying a first data block in the snappable file, the first data block including data and attribute data; at operation 706 , scanning an index file to access the attribute data of the first data block; at operation 708 , initiating construction of a patch file based on the accessed attribute data; at operation 710 , repeating the scanning of the index file to access attribute data of at least a further second data block, the second data block including data and attribute data; at operation 712 , completing construction of the patch file based on the accessed attribute data of the first and second data blocks; at operation 714 , generating conversion simulation information by collecting attribute data for all the data blocks of the constructed patch file; and, at operation, 716 , writing the simulation information to a patch file image. in some examples, the attribute data of the first and second data blocks includes at least logical space offset and data size information. in some examples, scanning the index file to access attribute data of the first data block is performed without reading the data of the first data block. in some examples, the patch file is constructed without writing the data from the first or second data block to the patch file. in some examples, the method 700 further comprises receiving a request to transfer data of the snappable file to a remote location, the transfer involving or necessitating a conversion of data from a first data format to a second data format; and effecting a data format conversion for the transfer using only the simulation information. in some examples, the method 700 further comprises receiving a read request for data in the first or second data block; and re-routing the read request to corresponding data in a journaled patch file using information contained in the patch file image. in some examples, a tangible or non-transitory machine-readable medium includes instructions which, when read by a machine, cause the machine to perform one or more operations as summarized above or as described elsewhere herein. fig. 8 is a block diagram 800 illustrating an example architecture 806 software that can be used to implement various embodiments described herein. fig. 8 is merely a non-limiting example of a software architecture 806 , and it will be appreciated that many other architectures can be implemented to facilitate the functionality described herein. in various embodiments, the software is implemented by a hardware layer 852 , which includes a processor 854 operating on instructions 804 , a memory 856 storing instructions 804 , and other hardware 858 . for some embodiments, the hardware layer 852 is implemented using a machine 900 of fig. 9 that includes processors 910 , memory 930 , and i/o components 950 . in this example architecture 806 , the software can be conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer may provide a particular functionality. for example, the software includes layers such as an operating system 802 , libraries 820 , frameworks 818 , and applications 816 . operationally, the applications 816 invoke api calls 808 through the software stack and receive messages 812 in response to the api calls 808 , consistent with some embodiments. in various implementations, the operating system 802 manages hardware resources and provides common services. the operating system 802 includes, for example, a kernel 822 , services 824 , and drivers 826 . the kernel 822 acts as an abstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers, consistent with some embodiments. for example, the kernel 822 provides memory management, processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management, networking, and security settings, among other functionality. the services 824 can provide other common services for the other software layers. the drivers 826 are responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware, according to some embodiments. for instance, the drivers 826 can include display drivers, camera drivers, bluetooth® or bluetooth® low energy drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers (e.g., universal serial bus (usb) drivers), wi-fi® drivers, audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth. in some embodiments, the libraries 820 provide a low-level common infrastructure utilized by the applications 816 . the libraries 820 can include system libraries 844 (e.g., c standard library) that can provide functions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions, mathematic functions, and the like. in addition, the libraries 820 can include api libraries 846 such as media libraries (e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation of various media formats such as moving picture experts group-4 (mpeg4), advanced video coding (h.264 or avc), moving picture experts group layer-3 (mp3), advanced audio coding (aac), adaptive multi-rate (amr) audio codec, joint photographic experts group (jpeg or jpg), or portable network graphics (png)), graphics libraries (e.g., an opengl framework used to render in two dimensions (2d) and three dimensions (3d) in a graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g., sqlite to provide various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., webkit to provide web browsing functionality), and the like. the libraries 820 can also include a wide variety of other libraries 848 to provide many other apis to the applications 816 . the frameworks 818 provide a high-level common infrastructure that can be utilized by the applications 816 , according to some embodiments. for example, the frameworks 818 provide various gui functions, high-level resource management, high-level location services, and so forth. the frameworks 818 can provide a broad spectrum of other apis that can be utilized by the applications 816 , some of which may be specific to a particular operating system or platform. in some embodiments, the applications 816 include a built-in application 838 and a broad assortment of other applications such as a third-party application 840 . according to some embodiments, the applications 816 are programs that execute functions defined in the programs. various programming languages can be employed to create one or more of the applications 816 , structured in a variety of manners, such as object-oriented programming languages (e.g., objective-c, java, or c++) or procedural programming languages (e.g., c or assembly language). in a specific example, the third-party application 840 (e.g., an application developed using the android™ or ios™ software development kit (sdk) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform) may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such as ios™, android™, windows® phone, or another mobile operating system. in this example, the third-party application 840 can invoke the api calls 808 provided by the operating system 802 to facilitate functionality described herein. fig. 9 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of an example machine 900 in the form of a computer system within which a set of instructions may be executed for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of various embodiments described herein. specifically, fig. 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine 900 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions 916 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code) for causing the machine 900 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. for example, the instructions 916 may cause the machine 900 to execute the method 700 of fig. 7 . additionally, or alternatively, the instructions 916 may implement operations of other methods described herein. the instructions 916 transform the general, non-programmed machine 900 into a particular machine 900 programmed to carry out the described and illustrated functions in the manner described. in alternative embodiments, the machine 900 operates as a standalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. in a networked deployment, the machine 900 may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. the machine 900 may comprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (pc), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (stb), a personal digital assistant (pda), an entertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance), other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing the instructions 916 , sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to be taken by the machine 900 . further, while only a single machine 900 is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include a collection of machines 900 that individually or jointly execute the instructions 916 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. the machine 900 may include processors 910 , memory 930 , and i/o components 950 , which may be configured to communicate with each other such as via a bus 902 . in some embodiments, the processors 910 (e.g., a cpu, a reduced instruction set computing (risc) processor, a complex instruction set computing (cisc) processor, a gpu, a digital signal processor (dsp), an asic, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (rfic), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 912 and a processor 914 that may execute the instructions 916 . the term “processor” is intended to include multi-core processors that may comprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. although fig. 9 shows multiple processors 910 , the machine 900 may include a single processor with a single core, a single processor with multiple cores (e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a single core, multiple processors with multiples cores, or any combination thereof. the memory 930 may include a main memory 932 , a static memory 934 , and a storage unit 936 , both accessible to the processors 910 such as via the bus 902 . the main memory 930 , the static memory 934 , and storage unit 936 store the instructions 916 embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. the instructions 916 may also reside, completely or partially, within the main memory 932 , within the static memory 934 , within the storage unit 936 , within at least one of the processors 910 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine 900 . the storage unit 936 can comprise a machine readable medium 938 for storing the instructions 916 . the i/o components 950 may include a wide variety of components to receive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. the specific i/o components 950 that are included in a particular machine will depend on the type of machine. for example, portable machines such as mobile phones will likely include a touch input device or other such input mechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include such a touch input device. it will be appreciated that the i/o components 950 may include many other components that are not shown in fig. 9 . the i/o components 950 are grouped according to functionality merely for simplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no way limiting. in various embodiments, the i/o components 950 may include output components 952 and input components 954 . the output components 952 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as a plasma display panel (pdp), a light emitting diode (led) display, a liquid crystal display (lcd), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (crt)), acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., a vibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and so forth. the input components 954 may include alphanumeric input components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receive alphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumeric input components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or another pointing instrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touch screen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures, or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., a microphone), and the like. in further embodiments, the i/o components 950 may include biometric components 956 , motion components 958 , environmental components 960 , or position components 962 , among a wide array of other components. for example, the biometric components 956 may include components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facial expressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measure biosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voice identification, retinal identification, facial identification, fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram-based identification), and the like. the motion components 958 may include acceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensor components, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth. the environmental components 960 may include, for example, illumination sensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components (e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature), humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g., barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphones that detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g., infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gas detection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases for safety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other components that may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding to a surrounding physical environment. the position components 962 may include location sensor components (e.g., a gps receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived), orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like. communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies. the i/o components 950 may include communication components 964 operable to couple the machine 900 to a network 980 or devices 970 via a coupling 982 and a coupling 972 , respectively. for example, the communication components 964 may include a network interface component or another suitable device to interface with the network 980 . in further examples, the communication components 964 may include wired communication components, wireless communication components, cellular communication components, near field communication (nfc) components, bluetooth® components (e.g., bluetooth® low energy), wi-fi® components, and other communication components to provide communication via other modalities. the devices 970 may be another machine or any of a wide variety of peripheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a usb). moreover, the communication components 964 may detect identifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers. for example, the communication components 964 may include radio frequency identification (rfid) tag reader components, nfc smart tag detection components, optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detect one-dimensional bar codes such as universal product code (upc) bar code, multi-dimensional bar codes such as quick response (qr) code, aztec code, data matrix, dataglyph, maxicode, pdf417, ultra code, ucc rss-2d bar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components (e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). in addition, a variety of information may be derived via the communication components 964 , such as location via ip geolocation, location via wi-fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting an nfc beacon signal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth. the various memories (i.e., 930 , 932 , 934 , and/or memory of the processor(s) 910 ) and/or storage unit 936 may store one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. these instructions (e.g., the instructions 916 ), when executed by processor(s) 910 , cause various operations to implement the disclosed embodiments. as used herein, the terms “machine-storage medium,” “device-storage medium,” and “computer-storage medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. the terms refer to a single or multiple storage devices and/or media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store executable instructions and/or data. the terms shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media, including memory internal or external to processors. specific examples of machine-storage media, computer-storage media and/or device-storage media include non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (eprom), eeprom, fpga, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and cd-rom and dvd-rom disks. the terms “machine-storage media,” “computer-storage media,” and “device-storage media” specifically exclude carrier waves, modulated data signals, and other such media, at least some of which are covered under the term “signal medium” discussed below. in various embodiments, one or more portions of the network 980 may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a vpn, a lan, a wlan, a wan, a wwan, a man, the internet, a portion of the internet, a portion of the pstn, a plain old telephone service (pots) network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a wi-fi® network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more such networks. for example, the network 980 or a portion of the network 980 may include a wireless or cellular network, and the coupling 982 may be a code division multiple access (cdma) connection, a global system for mobile communications (gsm) connection, or another type of cellular or wireless coupling. in this example, the coupling 982 may implement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as single carrier radio transmission technology (1×rtt), evolution-data optimized (evdo) technology, general packet radio service (gprs) technology, enhanced data rates for gsm evolution (edge) technology, third generation partnership project (3gpp) including 3g, fourth generation wireless (4g) networks, universal mobile telecommunications system (umts), high speed packet access (hspa), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (wimax), long term evolution (lte) standard, others defined by various standard-setting organizations, other long range protocols, or other data transfer technology. the instructions 916 may be transmitted or received over the network 980 using a transmission medium via a network interface device (e.g., a network interface component included in the communication components 964 ) and utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., hypertext transfer protocol (http)). similarly, the instructions 916 may be transmitted or received using a transmission medium via the coupling 972 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 970 . the terms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. the terms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying the instructions 916 for execution by the machine 900 , and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitate communication of such software. hence, the terms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any form of modulated data signal, carrier wave, and so forth. the term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a matter as to encode information in the signal. the terms “machine-readable medium,” “computer-readable medium,” and “device-readable medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. the terms are defined to include both machine-storage media and transmission media. thus, the terms include both storage devices/media and carrier waves/modulated data signals. other embodiments can comprise corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more machine readable media, each configured to perform the operations of the methods. the disclosed technology may be described in the context of computer-executable instructions, such as software or program modules, being executed by a computer or processor. the computer-executable instructions may comprise portions of computer program code, routines, programs, objects, software components, data structures, or other types of computer-related structures that may be used to perform processes using a computer. in some cases, hardware or combinations of hardware and software may be substituted for software or used in place of software. computer program code used for implementing various operations or aspects of the disclosed technology may be developed using one or more programming languages, including an object-oriented programming language such as java or c++, a procedural programming language such as the “c” programming language or visual basic, or a dynamic programming language such as python or javascript. in some cases, computer program code or machine-level instructions derived from the computer program code may execute entirely on an end user's computer, partly on an end user's computer, partly on an end user's computer and partly on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. for purposes of this document, it should be noted that the dimensions of the various features depicted in the figures may not necessarily be drawn to scale. for purposes of this document, reference in the specification to “an embodiment,” “one embodiment,” “some embodiments,” or “another embodiment” may be used to describe different embodiments and do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. for purposes of this document, a connection may be a direct connection or an indirect connection (e.g., via another part). in some cases, when an element is referred to as being connected or coupled to another element, the element may be directly connected to the other element or indirectly connected to the other element via intervening elements. when an element is referred to as being directly connected to another element, then there are no intervening elements between the element and the other element. for purposes of this document, the term “based on” may be read as “based at least in part on.” for purposes of this document, without additional context, use of numerical terms such as a “first” object, a “second” object, and a “third” object may not imply an ordering of objects, but may instead be used for identification purposes to identify different objects. for purposes of this document, the term “set” of objects may refer to a “set” of one or more of the objects. although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
066-785-342-894-25X	US	[ "WO", "EP", "CA", "US" ]	E04B1/61,E04B1/343,E04B2/08,E04F15/02,B32B15/04,B32B5/02,B32B5/18,E04C2/292,E04B1/14,E04C2/38	2021-01-12T00:00:00	2021	[ "E04", "B32" ]	enclosure component sealing systems	systems for sealing the abutting portions of wall, floor and roof components to limit or prevent the ingress of rain water, noise and outside air into the interior of foldable transportable building structures, which abutting portions are provided with two enclosure component sealing structures in pressing contact either when the building structure is manufactured, or later when the structure is transported to its final location and fully unfolded, and one or more compression or shear seals.	- 86 - what is claimed is: 1. an end cap for securing to an edge of a building structure enclosure component comprising: (a) a planar elongate seal plate having an interior face, an opposed exterior face, a first edge, an opposed second edge and a thickness, the interior face adapted to be secured to the edge of the enclosure component; (b) an elongate key on the interior face of the seal plate; (c) an elongate accessory slot defined in the exterior face of the seal plate of a depth less than the thickness of the seal plate; (d) a first locating slot extending from the first edge of the seal plate inwardly into the thickness of the seal plate toward the second edge; and (e) a second locating slot extending from the second edge of the seal plate inwardly into the thickness of the seal plate toward the first edge. 2. the end cap of claim 1, wherein the exterior face defines at least one elongate locating groove positioned between the elongate accessory slot and the first edge or the second edge. 3. the end cap of claim 1, further comprising a first locating ridge at the first edge of the seal plate proximate to the first locating slot. 4. the end cap of claim 3, further comprising a second locating ridge at the second edge of the seal plate proximate to the second locating slot. 5. the end cap of claim 1, wherein an edge of the first locating slot proximate the interior face of the seal plate terminates an inset distance from the first edge of the seal plate. 6. the end cap of claim 1 where the seal plate is foamed polyvinyl chloride. 7. an enclosure component comprising: (a) a planar laminate having an elongate edge and including (i) a planar foam panel layer having a first face and an opposed second face, (ii) a planar first metal layer bonded to the first face of the planar foam panel layer, and (iii) a planar second metal layer bonded to the second face of the planar foam panel layer; - 87 - (b) a planar elongate edge reinforcement having an interior face positioned on the edge of the planar laminate and an opposed exterior face in which is defined an elongate slot; (c) a planar elongate seal plate having an interior face, an opposed exterior face, a first edge, an opposed second edge and a thickness, the interior face of the seal plate positioned proximate to the exterior face of the edge reinforcement, with an elongate key on the interior face of the seal plate positioned in the elongate slot of the edge reinforcement; and (d) an elongate accessory slot defined in the exterior face of the seal plate of a depth less than the thickness of the seal plate. 8. the enclosure component of claim 7, further comprising: (e) a first locating slot extending from the first edge of the seal plate inwardly into the thickness of the seal plate toward the second edge; and (f) a second locating slot extending from the second edge of the seal plate inwardly into the thickness of the seal plate toward the first edge. 9. the enclosure component of claim 7, wherein the exterior face of the seal plate defines at least one elongate locating groove positioned between the accessory slot and the first edge or the second edge. 10. the enclosure component of claim 7, further comprising a first locating ridge at the first edge of the seal plate proximate to the first locating slot. 11. the enclosure component of claim 10, further comprising a second locating ridge at the second edge of the seal plate proximate to the second locating slot. 12. the enclosure component of claim 7, wherein the edge reinforcement is selected from the group consisting of laminated strand lumber board and wooden board and the seal plate is foamed polyvinyl chloride. 13. a perimeter board comprising : (a) a planar elongate perimeter plate having an interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge; (b) an elongate key on the interior face of the perimeter plate adapted to be received in an elongate accessory slot defined in an exterior face of an elongate seal plate; - 88 - (c) an elongate clearance slot defined in the interior face of the perimeter plate positioned between the key and the first edge, or between the key and the second edge; and (d) an elongate fastener slot defined in the first exterior face of the perimeter plate. 14. the perimeter board of claim 13, wherein there is an elongate locating groove defined in the portion of the exterior face of the first seal plate defining the fastener slot. 15. the perimeter board of claim 13, wherein the fastener slot is dovetail shaped in cross section. 16. the perimeter board of claim 14, wherein the fastener slot is dovetail shaped in cross section. 17. the perimeter board of claim 13, further comprising an elongate resilient strip snapped into the fastener slot. 18. the perimeter board of claim 15, further comprising an elongate resilient strip snapped into the fastener slot. 19. the perimeter board of claim 16, further comprising an elongate resilient strip snapped into the fastener slot. 20. the perimeter board of claim 13, wherein the perimeter plate is foamed polyvinyl chloride. 21. a perimeter seal assembly comprising: (a) an end cap comprising: (i) a planar elongate seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, the first interior face adapted to be secured to an edge of an enclosure component; (ii) an elongate seal key on the first interior face of the seal plate; and (iii) an elongate accessory slot defined in the first exterior face; and (b) a perimeter board comprising: (i) a planar elongate perimeter plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face; - 89 - (ii) the second interior face positioned proximate to the first exterior face, with an elongate accessory key on the second interior face received in the accessory slot defined in the first exterior face; (iii) an elongate fastener slot defined in the second exterior face; and (d) an elongate clearance slot defined in the second interior face of the perimeter plate positioned between the accessory key and the first edge, or between the accessory key and the second edge. 22. the perimeter seal assembly of claim 21, wherein the first exterior face defines at least one elongate locating groove positioned between the accessory slot and the first edge or the second edge. 23. the perimeter seal assembly of claim 22, wherein the clearance slot defined in the second interior face is positioned over the locating groove defined in the first exterior face. 24. the perimeter seal assembly of claim 21 wherein one or both of the end cap and perimeter board is foamed polyvinyl chloride. 25. a roof skirt board comprising: (a) a planar elongate skirt plate having a first interior face and an opposed first exterior face; (b) an elongate cinch key positioned on the first interior face of the skirt plate and adapted to be received in an elongate accessory slot defined in a second exterior face of a planar elongate seal plate, with the cinch key having a serpentine cross section; and (c) a portion of the first exterior face of the skirt plate defining a fastener slot that is positioned proximate to the cinch key positioned on the first interior face. 26. the roof skirt board of claim 25, wherein there is an elongate locating groove defined in the portion of the first exterior face of the skirt plate defining the fastener slot. 27. the roof skirt board of claim 26, wherein the fastener slot is dovetail shaped in cross section. - 90 - 28. the roof skirt board of claim 27, further comprising an elongate resilient strip snapped into the fastener slot. 29. the roof skirt board of claim 25 where the first seal plate is foamed polyvinyl chloride. 30. a roof seal assembly comprising: (a) an end cap comprising: (i) a planar elongate seal plate having a first interior face and an opposed first exterior face, the first interior face adapted to be secured to an edge of an enclosure component; (ii) an elongate seal key on the first interior face; and (iii) an elongate accessory slot defined in the first exterior face; and (b) a roof skirt board comprising: (i) a planar elongate skirt plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face; (ii) the second interior face positioned proximate to the first exterior face, with an elongate cinch key on the second interior face of the skirt plate received in the accessory slot defined in the first exterior face of the seal plate, and with the cinch key having a serpentine cross section; and (iii) an elongate fastener slot defined in the second exterior face of the skirt plate positioned proximate to the cinch key positioned on the second interior face. 31. the roof seal assembly of clam 30 where one or both of the end cap and roof skirt board is foamed polyvinyl chloride. 32. a sealing system for abutting regions of building structure enclosure components, comprising: (a) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face and an opposed first exterior face, the first interior face adapted to be secured to an enclosure component, and the first exterior face defining an elongate seal slot; - 91 - (b) the first seal plate adapted to mate with a planar elongate second seal plate, with the first exterior face positioned in proximity with a second exterior face of the second seal plate; (c) an elongate resilient compression seal positioned in the elongate seal slot, the elongate resilient compression seal having a hollow seal chamber and comprising: (1) an elongate base; (2) an elongate first seal wall joined to the base, and an opposed elongate second seal wall joined to the base, the first and second seal walls extending away from the base in a diverging relationship; (3) an elongate first arcuate buttress joined to an end of the first seal wall distal from the base, and an elongate second arcuate buttress joined to an end of the second seal wall distal from the base; (4) an elongate planar first seal surface joined to an end of the first arcuate buttress distal from the first seal wall, and an elongate planar second seal surface joined to an end of the second arcuate buttress distal from the second seal wall, the first seal surface and the second seal surface each extending away at an angle from the first arcuate buttress and the second arcuate buttress respectively in a converging relationship; and (5) an elongate seal closure having a first closure end joined to an end of the first seal surface distal from the first arcuate buttress and a second closure end joined to an end of the second seal surface distal from the second arcuate buttress; and wherein the base, the first and second seal walls, the first and second arcuate buttresses, the first and second seal surfaces and the seal closure define the hollow seal chamber. 33. the sealing system of claim 32, wherein the base of the compression seal has an arched section arched inwardly toward the seal chamber. 34. the sealing system of claim 33, wherein the arched section of the base has a first end and an opposed second end, and the base further comprises an elongate first winglet extending from the first end of the arched section and an elongate second winglet extending from the second end of the arched section. 35. the sealing system of claim 32, wherein the first and second seal walls extend away from the base at a divergence angle 0, where 0 < 90°. - 92 - 36. the sealing system of claim 35, wherein the divergence angle 0 is in the range of 40° < 0 < 50°. 37. the sealing system of claim 32, wherein the first and second seal surfaces extend away from the first arcuate buttress and the second arcuate buttress respectively at a convergence angle 6 of about 90°. 38. the sealing system of claim 32, wherein the seal slot has an elongate planar floor section with a first end and an opposed second end, with a first lateral groove extending away from the first end of the seal slot and a second lateral groove extending away from the second end of the seal slot. 39. the sealing system of claim 34, wherein the seal slot has an elongate planar floor section with a first end and an opposed second end, a first lateral groove extends away from the first end of the seal slot, a second lateral groove extends away from the second end of the seal slot, the first winglet is positioned in the first lateral groove and the second winglet is positioned in the second lateral groove. 40. the sealing system of claim 32, wherein the seal slot is further defined by an elongate first slot wall extending away from the floor section from a first location, an elongate second slot wall extending away from the floor section from an opposed second location, and the first and second slot walls extend away from the floor section in a diverging relationship. 41. the sealing system of claim 40, wherein the first and second slot walls extend away from the floor section at a divergence angle s, where s < 90°. 42. the sealing system of claim 41, wherein the divergence angle s is in the range of 40° < s < 50°. 43. the sealing system of claim 35, wherein the seal slot is further defined by an elongate first slot wall extending away from the floor section from a first location, an elongate second slot wall extending away from the floor section from an opposed second location, and the first and second slot walls extend away from the floor section at a divergence angle s equal to the divergence angle 0. - 93 - 44. the sealing system of claim 32, wherein the seal closure is curved in shape inwardly toward the seal chamber. 45. the sealing system of claim 32, wherein the first seal plate is foamed polyvinyl chloride. 46. a seal assembly for abutting regions of building structure enclosure components, comprising: (a) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, the first interior face being adapted to be secured to a first enclosure component, with (i) an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, and (ii) an elongate interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; (b) a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, the second interior face being adapted to be secured to a second enclosure component, the second seal plate adapted to mate with the first seal plate with the second exterior face in proximity with the first exterior face of the first seal plate; the second seal plate including an elongate interlock key on the second exterior face which is adapted to be received in the interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate when the first and second seal plates mate; and (c) an elongate resilient first compression seal positioned in the elongate first seal slot and adapted to be in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate when the first and second seal plates mate, the first compression seal having a hollow seal chamber. 47. the seal assembly of claim 46, wherein the first compression seal (c) comprises: (1) an elongate base; (2) an elongate first seal wall joined to the base, and an opposed elongate second seal wall joined to the base, the first and second seal walls extending away from the base in a diverging relationship; (3) an elongate first buttress joined to an edge of the first seal wall distal from the base, and an elongate second buttress joined to an edge of the second seal wall distal from the base; (4) an elongate planar first seal surface joined to an edge of the first buttress distal from the first seal wall, and an elongate planar second seal surface joined to an edge of the second buttress distal from the second seal wall, the first seal surface and the second seal surface each extending away at an angle from the first buttress and the second buttress respectively in a converging relationship; and (5) an elongate seal closure having a first edge joined to an edge of the first seal surface distal from the first arcuate buttress and a second edge joined to an edge of the second seal surface distal from the second buttress; wherein the base, the first and second seal walls, the first and second buttresses, the first and second seal surfaces and the seal closure define the hollow seal chamber. 48. the sealing system of claim 46, wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate second seal slot, with the interlock slot positioned between the first seal slot and the second seal slot, and further comprising an elongate resilient second compression seal positioned in the elongate second seal slot and adapted to be in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate when the second exterior face is in proximity with the first exterior face, the second compression seal having a hollow seal chamber. 49. the sealing system of claim 46, further comprising an elongate coupling inset defined in the first exterior face at each of the first and second edges of the first seal plat, an elongate coupling ridge extending from the second exterior face at each of the first and second edges of the second seal plate, the coupling inset at the first edge of the first seal plate adapted to mate with the coupling ridge at the first edge of the second seal plate, and the coupling inset at the second edge of the first seal plate adapted to mate with the coupling ridge at the second edge of the second seal plate, when the first and second seal plates mate. 50. the sealing system of claim 49, further comprising a series of elongate stepped locating ridges extending from the first interior face at the first edge of the first seal plate. 51. the sealing system of claim 48, wherein the first exterior face of the first seal plate further defines an elongate third seal slot, with the third seal slot positioned between the interlock slot and the second seal slot, and further comprising an elongate resilient third compression seal positioned in the elongate third seal slot and adapted to be in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate when the first and second seal plates mate, the third compression seal having a hollow seal chamber. 52. the sealing system of claim 46, wherein each of the first and second seal plates is foamed polyvinyl chloride. 53. an enclosure component assembly comprising: (a) a first planar laminate having an elongate edge, a first face and an opposed second face; (b) a planar elongate first seal plate having an interior face, an opposed exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; and (c) the interior face of the first seal plate secured to the first face of the planar laminate proximate the edge. 54. the enclosure component assembly of claim 53, further comprising flooring having a flooring thickness disposed on the first face of the first planar laminate, and wherein the first seal plate has a thickness at least equal to the flooring thickness. 55. the enclosure component assembly of claim 53, further comprising: (d) a second planar laminate have an elongate edge, a first face and an opposed second face; (e) a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, the second interior face secured to the edge of the second planar laminate and including an interlock key; (f) the first seal plate mating with the second seal plate, with the second exterior face in proximity with the first exterior face and the interlock key received in the interlock slot. 56. the enclosure component assembly of claim 55, further comprising an elongate seal slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate between the interlock slot and the first edge, and an elongate resilient compression seal positioned in the first seal - 96 - slot in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate, the compression seal having a hollow seal chamber. 57. the enclosure component assembly of claim 55, in which either or both of the first and second seal plates is foamed polyvinyl chloride. 58. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a first floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, the fixed wall portion having a fixed wall portion top edge, and (iii) a first roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; a second roof portion horizontally stacked in a second roof portion folded position on the first roof portion and pivotally connected thereto to permit the second roof portion to pivot, about a first horizontal axis relative to the first roof portion, from the second roof portion folded position to a second roof portion unfolded position, the second roof portion having a planar interior surface; a third roof portion horizontally stacked in a third roof portion folded position on the second roof portion and pivotally connected thereto to permit the third roof portion to pivot, about a second horizontal axis relative to the second roof portion, from the third roof portion folded position to a third roof portion unfolded position, the third roof portion having a planar interior surface; a second floor portion vertically positioned in a second floor portion folded position opposite to the first wall component and pivotally connected to the first floor portion to permit the second floor portion to pivot, about a third horizontal axis relative to the first floor portion, from the second floor portion folded position to a second floor portion unfolded position; a third wall component vertically positioned in a third wall component folded position against the second floor portion, the third wall component pivotally connected to the second floor portion to permit the third wall portion to pivot, about a fourth horizontal axis relative to the second floor portion, from the third wall component folded position to a third wall component unfolded position; - 97 - the second wall component additionally including a planar pivoting wall portion with a pivoting portion top edge, the pivoting wall portion (i) disposed in a pivoting portion folded position against the third wall component in the third wall component folded position and (ii) pivotally connected to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component to permit the pivoting wall portion to pivot, about a vertical axis relative to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component, from the pivoting portion folded position to a pivoting portion unfolded position in which the pivoting portion top edge is positioned under the interior surfaces of the second and third roof portions when the second and third roof portions are in their unfolded positions; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, an elongate resilient first compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the first seal slot, and an elongate first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, and an elongate first interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; one of the first interior face of the first seal plate and the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the pivoting portion top edge; the other of the first interior face of the first seal plate and the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the interior surface of the second roof portion at a position so that when the pivoting wall portion and the second roof portion are in their respective unfolded positions, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the first interlock slot, and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. 59. the folded building structure of claim 58, wherein the first seal slot defined in the first exterior face is positioned between one of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, and wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate second seal slot positioned between the other of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and there is an elongate resilient second compression seal with a hollow - 98 - seal chamber positioned in the second seal slot, so that when the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, the second compression seal is in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. 60. the folded building structure of claim 58, wherein the second interior face of the second seal plate is secured to the pivoting portion top edge, and the folded building structure further comprises: a planar elongate third seal plate having a third interior face, an opposed third exterior face, and an elongate second interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; the fixed wall portion of the first wall component having a fixed wall portion top edge that is positioned under the interior surface of the second roof portion when the second roof portion is in the second roof portion unfolded position; the third interior face of the third seal plate secured to the fixed wall portion top edge; and the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to the interior surface of the second roof portion at a position so that when the second roof portion is in the second roof portion unfolded position, the third seal plate mates with the first seal plate, with the second interlock key received in the first interlock slot and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the third exterior face of the third seal plate. 61. the folded building structure of claim 58, wherein the second interior face of the second seal plate is secured to the pivoting portion top edge, and the folded building structure further comprises: a planar elongate fourth seal plate having a fourth interior face, an opposed fourth exterior face, a third edge and an opposed fourth edge, with an elongate second seal slot defined in the fourth exterior face, an elongate resilient second compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the second seal slot, and an elongate second interlock slot defined in the fourth exterior face and positioned distal from the third and fourth edges; the fourth interior face of the fourth seal plate secured to the interior surface of the third roof portion at a position so that when the pivoting wall portion and the third roof - 99 - portion are in their respective unfolded positions, the fourth seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the second interlock slot, and the second compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. 62. the folded building structure of claim 58, further comprising: a planar elongate fifth seal plate having a fifth interior face, an opposed fifth exterior face, a fifth edge and an opposed sixth edge, with an elongate third seal slot defined in the fifth exterior face, an elongate resilient third compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the third seal slot, and an elongate third interlock slot defined in the fifth exterior face and positioned distal from the fifth and sixth edges; a planar elongate sixth seal plate having a sixth interior face and an opposed sixth exterior face, and an elongate third interlock key on the sixth exterior face adapted to be received in the third interlock slot defined in the fifth exterior face of the fifth seal plate; the third wall component having a third wall component top edge; the sixth interior face of the sixth seal plate secured to the third wall component top edge; the fifth interior face of the fifth seal plate secured to the interior surface of the third roof portion at a position so that when the second floor portion, the third wall component and the third roof portion are in their respective unfolded positions: (i) the fifth seal plate mates with the sixth seal plate, (ii) the third interlock key is received in the third interlock slot, and (iii) the third compression seal is in pressing contact with the sixth exterior face of the sixth seal plate. 63. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the floor portion and the first wall component, and (iii) a first roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion, the first roof portion having a first interior edge; a second roof portion having a second interior edge and an opposed third interior edge, the second roof portion horizontally stacked in a second roof portion folded position on - 100 - the first roof portion and pivotally connected between the second and first interior edges thereof to permit the second roof portion to pivot, about a first horizontal axis relative to the first roof portion, from the second roof portion folded position to a second roof portion unfolded position; a third roof portion having a fourth interior edge, the third roof horizontally stacked in a third roof portion folded position on the second roof portion and pivotally connected between the fourth and third interior edges thereof to permit the third roof portion to pivot, about a second horizontal axis relative to the second roof portion, from the third roof portion folded position to a third roof portion unfolded position, the third roof portion having a planar interior surface; the second wall component additionally including a planar pivoting wall portion with a pivoting portion top edge, the pivoting wall portion (i) disposed in a pivoting portion folded position opposite to the first wall component, and (ii) pivotally connected to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component to permit the pivoting wall portion to pivot, about a vertical axis relative to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component, from the pivoting portion folded position to a pivoting portion unfolded position in which the pivoting portion top edge is positioned under the interior surfaces of the second and third roof portions when the second and third roof portions are in their unfolded positions; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, an elongate resilient first compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the first seal slot, and an elongate first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, and an elongate first interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to one of the first and second interior edges; the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the other of the first and second interior edges so that when the second roof portion is in the unfolded position, the - 101 - first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the first interlock slot, and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. 64. the folded building structure of claim 63, further comprising: a planar elongate third seal plate having a third interior face, an opposed third exterior face, a third edge and an opposed fourth edge, with an elongate second seal slot defined in the third exterior face, an elongate resilient second compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the second seal slot, and an elongate second interlock slot defined in the third exterior face and positioned distal from the third and fourth edges; a planar elongate fourth seal plate having a fourth interior face and an opposed fourth exterior face, and an elongate second interlock key on the fourth exterior face adapted to be received in the second interlock slot defined in the third exterior face of the third seal plate; the third interior face of the third seal plate secured to one of the third and fourth interior edges; the fourth interior face of the fourth seal plate secured to the other of the third and fourth interior edges so that when the third roof portion is in the unfolded position, the third seal plate is mates with the fourth seal plate, with the second interlock key received in the second interlock slot, and the second compression seal in pressing contact with the fourth exterior face of the fourth seal plate. 65. the folded building structure of claim 63, wherein the first seal slot defined in the first exterior face is positioned between one of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, and wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate third seal slot and an elongate fourth seal slot, each of the third and fourth seal slots is positioned between the other of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, an elongate resilient third compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the third seal slot, and an elongate resilient fourth compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the fourth seal slot, so that when the second roof portion is in the unfolded position the third and fourth compression seals are in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. - 102 - 66. the folded building structure of claim 64, wherein the second seal slot defined in the third exterior face is positioned between one of the second interlock slot and the third edge, and the second interlock slot and the fourth edge, and wherein the third exterior face further defines an elongate fifth seal slot and an elongate sixth seal slot, each of the fifth and sixth seal slots is positioned between the other of the second interlock slot and the third edge, and the second interlock slot and the fourth edge, an elongate resilient fifth compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the fifth seal slot, and an elongate resilient sixth compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the sixth seal slot, so that when the third roof portion is in the unfolded position the fifth and sixth compression seals are in pressing contact with the fourth exterior face of the fourth seal plate. 67. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, the fixed wall portion having a fixed wall portion interior edge, and (iii) a roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; the second wall component additionally including a planar pivoting wall portion with a pivoting portion interior edge, the pivoting wall portion (i) disposed in a pivoting portion folded position opposite to the first wall component, and (ii) pivotally connected to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component to permit the pivoting wall portion to pivot, about a vertical axis relative to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component, from the pivoting portion folded position to a pivoting portion unfolded position; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, an elongate resilient first compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the first seal slot, and an elongate first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, and an elongate first interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; - 103 - the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to one of the fixed portion interior edge and the pivoting portion interior edge; the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to the other of the fixed portion interior edge and the pivoting portion interior edge so that when the pivoting wall portion is in its unfolded position, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the first interlock slot, and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. 68. the folded building structure of claim 67, wherein the first seal slot defined in the first exterior face is positioned between one of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, and wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate second seal slot positioned between the other of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and there is an elongate resilient second compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the second seal slot, so that when the pivoting portion is in the unfolded position the second compression seal is in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. 69. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a first floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, and (iii) a first roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; a second floor portion vertically positioned in a second floor portion folded position opposite to the first wall component and pivotally connected to the first floor portion to permit the second floor portion to pivot, about a first horizontal axis relative to the first floor portion, from the second floor portion folded position to a second floor portion unfolded position, the second floor portion including an interior surface; a third wall component having a third wall component lower edge and vertically positioned in a third wall component folded position against the second floor portion, the third wall component pivotally connected to the second floor portion proximate to the third wall component lower edge to permit the third wall portion to pivot, about a second - 104 - horizontal axis relative to the second floor portion, from the third wall component folded position to a third wall component unfolded position; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, an elongate resilient first compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the first seal slot, and an elongate first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, and an elongate first interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; one of the first interior face of the first seal plate and the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the third wall component lower edge; the other of the first interior face of the first seal plate and the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the interior surface of the second floor portion at a position so that when the second floor portion and the third wall component are in their respective unfolded positions, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the first interlock slot, and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. 70. the folded building structure of claim 69, wherein the first seal slot defined in the first exterior face is positioned between one of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, and wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate second seal slot positioned between the other of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and there is an elongate resilient second compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the second seal slot, so that when the pivoting portion is in the unfolded position the second compression seal is in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. 71. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a first floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion - 105 - and the first wall component, and (iii) a first roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; a second roof portion horizontally stacked in a second roof portion folded position on the first roof portion and pivotally connected thereto to permit the second roof portion to pivot, about a first horizontal axis relative to the first roof portion, from the second roof portion folded position to a second roof portion unfolded position, the second roof portion having a planar interior surface; third roof portion horizontally stacked in a third roof portion folded position on the second roof portion and pivotally connected thereto to permit the third roof portion to pivot, about a second horizontal axis relative to the second roof portion, from the third roof portion folded position to a third roof portion unfolded position, the third roof portion having a planar interior surface; a second floor portion vertically positioned in a second floor portion folded position opposite to the first wall component and pivotally connected to the first floor portion to permit the second floor portion to pivot, about a third horizontal axis relative to the first floor portion, from the second floor portion folded position to a second floor portion unfolded position, the second floor portion including an interior surface; a third wall component having a third wall component lower edge and an opposed third wall component upper edge and vertically positioned in a third wall component folded position against the second floor portion, the third wall component pivotally connected to the second floor portion proximate to the third wall component lower edge to permit the third wall portion to pivot, about a fourth horizontal axis relative to the second floor portion, from the third wall component folded position to a third wall component unfolded position; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, an elongate resilient first compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the first seal slot, and an elongate first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; - 106 - a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, and an elongate first interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; one of the first interior face of the first seal plate and the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the third wall component upper edge; the other of the first interior face of the first seal plate and the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the interior surface of the third roof portion at a position so that when the second floor portion, the third wall component and the third roof portion are in their respective unfolded positions, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the first interlock slot, and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. 72. the folded building structure of claim 71, wherein the first seal slot defined in the first exterior face is positioned between one of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, and wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate second seal slot positioned between the other of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and there is an elongate resilient second compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the second seal slot, so that when the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, the second compression seal is in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. 73. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a first floor portion having a first floor portion interior edge, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, and (iii) a first roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; a second floor portion having a second floor portion interior edge and vertically positioned in a second floor portion folded position opposite to the first wall component, the second floor portion pivotally connected to the first floor portion between the first floor portion interior edge and the second floor portion interior edge to permit the second floor - 107 - portion to pivot, about a horizontal axis relative to the first floor portion, from the second floor portion folded position to a second floor portion unfolded position; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, an elongate resilient first compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the first seal slot, and an elongate first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, and an elongate first interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to one of the first floor portion interior edge and the second floor portion interior edge; the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to the other of the first floor portion interior edge and the second floor portion interior edge so that when the second floor portion is in its unfolded position, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the first interlock slot, and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. 74. the folded building structure of claim 73, wherein the first seal slot defined in the first exterior face is positioned between one of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, and wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate third seal slot and an elongate fourth seal slot, each of the third and fourth seal slots positioned between the other of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, with an elongate resilient third compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the third seal slot, and an elongate resilient fourth compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the fourth seal slot, so that when the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate the third and fourth compression seals are in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. 75. a sealing system for abutting regions of enclosure components for a building structure, comprising: - 108 - (а) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face and an opposed first exterior face, the first interior face being adapted to be secured to a first enclosure component, and the first exterior face defining an elongate seal slot; the first seal plate adapted to mate with a planar elongate second seal plate by lateral movement of a second exterior face of the second seal plate relative to the first exterior face of the first seal plate; (c) an elongate resilient shear seal positioned in the elongate seal slot, the elongate resilient shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and comprising: (1) an elongate base; (2) an elongate first seal wall joined to the base, and an opposed elongate second seal wall joined to the base, the first and second seal walls extending away from the base in a diverging relationship; (3) an elongate seal support joined to an end of the first seal wall distal from the base; (4) an elongate planar seal closure joined to an end of the second seal wall distal from the base; (5) an elongate planar cantilevered seal surface joined to an end of the seal closure distal from the second seal wall at a shear seal junction, the cantilevered seal surface oriented at an upward angle relative to the base and terminating at a free end; and (б) an end of the seal support distal from the first seal wall joined either to the shear seal junction, or to the elongate planar cantilevered seal surface proximate to the shear seal junction, thereby defining the hollow seal chamber. 76. the sealing system of claim 75, wherein the base of the shear seal is planar. 77. the sealing system of claim 76, wherein the base has a first end and an opposed second end, and there is an elongate first winglet extending from the first end of the base and an elongate second winglet extending from the second end of the base. 78. the sealing system of claim 75, wherein the first and second seal walls extend away from the base at a divergence angle z, where z < 90°. 79. the sealing system of claim 78, wherein the divergence angle z is in the range of 40° < z < 50°. 80. the sealing system of claim 76, wherein the seal closure is oriented at an angle of inclination a relative to the planar base. - 109 - 81. the sealing system of claim 80, wherein > a. 82. the sealing system of claim 75, wherein the seal slot has an elongate planar floor section with a first end and an opposed second end, a first lateral groove extends away from the first end of the seal slot and a second lateral groove extends away from the second end of the seal slot. 83. the sealing system of claim 77, wherein the seal slot has a elongate planar floor section with a first end and an opposed second end, a first lateral groove extends away from the first end of the seal slot, a second lateral groove extends away from the second end of the seal slot, the first winglet is positioned in the first lateral groove and the second winglet is positioned in the second lateral groove. 84. the sealing system of claim 75, wherein the seal slot has an elongate floor section, and the seal slot is further defined by a first elongate slot wall extending away from the floor section from a first location, a second elongate slot wall extending away from the floor section from an opposed second location, and the first and second slot walls extend away from the floor section in a diverging relationship. 85. the sealing system of claim 84, wherein the first and second slot walls extend away from the floor section at a divergence angle s, where s < 90°. 86. the sealing system of claim 85, wherein the divergence angle s is in the range of 40° < s < 50°. 87. the sealing system of claim 78, wherein the seal slot has an elongate floor section, and the seal slot is further defined by a first elongate slot wall extending away from the floor section from a first location, a second elongate slot wall extending away from the floor section from an opposed second location, and the first and second slot walls extend away from the floor section at a divergence angle s equal to the divergence angle z. 88. the sealing system of claim 75, wherein the seal plate is foamed polyvinyl chloride. 89. an interlock seal component comprising: - 110 - (a) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, the first interior face adapted to be secured to an enclosure component; (b) an elongate key on the interior face of the seal plate; and (c) the exterior face being inclined at an angle relative to the interior face. 90. the interlock seal component of claim 89, further comprising an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face of the seal plate proximate the first edge. 91. the interlock seal component of claim 90, further comprising a step-down, in the direction moving from the first edge to the second edge, on the first exterior face between the first seal slot and the second edge. 92. an interlock seal component comprising: (a) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, the first interior face being adapted to be secured to a first enclosure component; (b) an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face of the seal plate proximate the first edge; and (c) the first exterior face being inclined at an angle relative to the interior face. 93. the interlock seal component of claim 92, further comprising one of a step-up and a step-down on the first exterior face positioned between the first seal slot and the second edge. 94. an interlock seal assembly comprising: (a) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge, an opposed second edge and a first thickness, the first interior face being adapted to be secured to a first enclosure component; (b) an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate proximate the first edge; and (c) the first exterior face being inclined at an angle y relative to the first interior face so that the first thickness decreases with increasing distance from the first edge; - il l - (d) a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face, an opposed second exterior face, a third edge, an opposed fourth edge and a second thickness, the second interior face being adapted to be secured to a second enclosure component; (e) an elongate second seal slot defined in the second exterior face of the second seal plate proximate the fourth edge; (f) the second exterior face being inclined at the angle y relative to the second interior face so that the second thickness increases with increasing distance from the third edge; and (g) the first seal plate adapted to mate with the second seal plate by lateral movement of the first exterior face relative to the second exterior face so that when mated the first exterior face is in proximity with the second exterior face, with the first edge proximate to the third edge and the second edge proximate to the fourth edge. 95. the interlock seal assembly of claim 94, further comprising: (h) a first shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and a first cantilevered seal surface, the first shear seal positioned in the first seal slot; (i) a second shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and a second cantilevered seal surface, the second shear seal positioned in the second seal slot; and (j) the first and second shear seals respectively positioned in the first and second seal slots so that the first and second cantilevered seal surfaces are oppositely oriented away from each other. 96. the interlock seal assembly of claim 95, further comprising a step-down, in the direction moving from the first edge to the second edge, on the first exterior face, in proximity to a step-up, in the direction moving from the third edge to the fourth edge, on the second exterior face. 97. an enclosure component assembly comprising: (a) a first planar laminate having an elongate laminate edge, a first face and an opposed second face; (b) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge, an opposed second edge and a first thickness; - 112 - (c) the first exterior face being inclined at an angle y relative to the first interior face so that the first thickness increases with increasing distance from the first edge; and (d) the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to the first face of the planar laminate parallel to the laminate edge, with the second edge proximate to the laminate edge. 98. the enclosure component assembly of claim 97, further comprising: (e) a second planar laminate have an elongate edge, a first face and an opposed second face; (f) a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, a third edge and an opposed fourth edge, the second interior face secured to the edge of the second planar laminate, the first and second seal plates mated with the first exterior face in proximity with the second exterior face, the first edge proximate the third edge and the second edge proximate the fourth edge; and (g) the second exterior face being inclined at the angle y relative to the second interior face so that the second thickness increases with increasing distance from the fourth edge. 99. the enclosure component assembly of claim 98, further comprising flooring having a flooring thickness disposed on the first face of the first planar laminate, and wherein the first seal plate has a thickness at least equal to the flooring thickness. 100. the enclosure component assembly of claim 98, further comprising: (g) an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate proximate the second edge; and (h) an elongate second seal slot defined in the second exterior face of the second seal plate proximate the third edge. 101. the enclosure component assembly of claim 100, further comprising: (i) a first shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and a first cantilevered seal surface, the first shear seal positioned in the first seal slot; (j) a second shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and a second cantilevered seal surface, the second shear seal positioned in the second seal slot; and - 113 - (k) the first and second shear seals respectively positioned in the first and second seal slots so that the first and second cantilevered seal surfaces are oppositely oriented away from each other. 102. the enclosure component assembly of claim 101, having a step-up, in the direction moving from the first edge to the second edge, on the first exterior face in proximity with a step-down on the second exterior face, in the direction moving from the third edge to the fourth edge. 103. the enclosure component assembly of claim 102, wherein the step-up is positioned between the first seal slot and the first edge, and the step-down is positioned between the second seal slot and the fourth edge. 104. the enclosure component assembly of claim 98, wherein either or both of the first and second seal plates is foamed polyvinyl chloride. 105. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a first floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, the fixed wall portion having a fixed wall portion top edge, and (iii) a first roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; a second floor portion vertically positioned in a second floor portion folded position opposite to the first wall component and pivotally connected to the first floor portion to permit the second floor portion to pivot, about a horizontal axis relative to the first floor portion, from the second floor portion folded position to a second floor portion unfolded position, the second floor portion having an interior surface and the first and second floor portions defining an exterior floor edge when the second floor portion is in the second floor portion unfolded position; the second wall component additionally including a planar pivoting wall portion with a pivoting portion bottom edge, the pivoting wall portion (i) disposed in a pivoting portion folded position against the third wall component in the third wall component folded position and (ii) pivotally connected to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component to permit the pivoting wall portion to pivot, about a vertical axis relative to the fixed wall portion of - 114 - the second wall component, from the pivoting portion folded position to a pivoting portion unfolded position in which at least a segment of the pivoting portion bottom edge is positioned over a select region of the interior surface of the second floor portion proximate to the exterior floor edge when the second floor portion is in the second floor portion unfolded position; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first thickness, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face proximate to the first edge; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face, an opposed second exterior face, a second thickness, a third edge and an opposed fourth edge, with an elongate second seal slot defined in the second exterior face proximate to the fourth edge; an elongate resilient first shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and an elongate first cantilevered seal surface terminating at a free end, the first shear seal positioned in the first seal slot, with the first cantilevered seal surface oriented toward the first edge, and an elongate resilient second shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and an elongate second cantilevered seal surface terminating at a free end, the second shear seal positioned in the second seal slot, with the second cantilevered seal surface oriented toward the fourth edge; the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the select region of the interior surface of the second floor portion, with the fourth edge of the second seal plate proximate to the exterior floor edge when the second floor portion is in the second floor portion unfolded position; the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to the pivoting portion bottom edge with the second edge proximate to the exterior floor edge when the second floor portion is in the second floor portion unfolded position and the pivoting wall portion is in the pivoting wall portion unfolded position, so that when the second floor portion and the pivoting wall portion are in their respective unfolded positions, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first edge being proximate to the third edge, the first cantilevered seal surface in pressing contact with the exterior face of the second seal plate, and the second cantilevered seal surface in pressing contact with the exterior face of the first seal plate. - 115 - 106. the folded building structure of claim 105, wherein a segment of the pivoting wall portion is positioned over a select region of the interior surface of the first floor portion proximate to the exterior floor edge when the pivoting wall portion is in the pivoting wall portion unfolded position and the second floor portion is in the second floor portion unfolded position, and the folded building structure further comprises: a planar elongate third seal plate having a third interior face, an opposed third exterior face, a third thickness, a fifth edge and an opposed sixth edge, with an elongate third seal slot defined in the third exterior face proximate to the sixth edge; an elongate resilient third shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and a third cantilevered seal surface terminating at a free end, the third shear seal positioned in the third seal slot, with the third cantilevered seal surface oriented toward the sixth edge; the third interior face of the third seal plate secured to the select region of the interior surface of the first floor portion so that when the pivoting wall portion is in the pivoting wall portion unfolded position, the fifth edge is proximate to the first edge, and the third seal plate mates with the first seal plate, with the third cantilevered seal surface in pressing contact with the first exterior face of the first seal plate. 107. the folded building structure of claim 105, wherein the first exterior face is inclined at an angle y relative to the first interior face so that the first thickness increases with increasing distance from the first edge, and the second exterior face being inclined at the angle y relative to the second interior face so that the second thickness decreases with increasing distance from the fourth edge. 108. the folded building structure of claim 105, wherein the first and second cantilevered seal surfaces are each oriented at an upward angle . 109. the folded building structure of claim 106, wherein the first exterior face is inclined at an angle y relative to the first interior face so that the first thickness decreases with increasing distance from the first edge, the second exterior face being inclined at the angle y relative to the second interior face so that the second thickness increases with increasing distance from the third edge, and the third exterior face being inclined at the angle y relative to the third interior face so that the third thickness increases with increasing distance from the fifth edge. - 116 - 110. the folded building structure of claim 106, wherein the first and second cantilevered seal surfaces are each oriented at an upward angle p. 111. the folded building structure of claim 110, wherein the third cantilevered seal surface is oriented at the upward angle . 112. the folded building structure of claim 105, wherein there is a step-down, in the direction moving from the first edge to the second edge, on the first exterior face which is in proximity with a step-up, in the direction moving from the third edge to the fourth edge, on the second exterior face when the pivoting wall portion is in the pivoting portion unfolded position. 113. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a first floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, and (iii) a roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; a second floor portion vertically positioned in a second floor portion folded position opposite to the first wall component and pivotally connected to the first floor portion to permit the second floor portion to pivot, about a first horizontal axis relative to the first floor portion, from the second floor portion folded position to a second floor portion unfolded position; a third wall component vertically positioned in a third wall component folded position against the second floor portion, the third wall component pivotally connected to the second floor portion to permit the third wall portion to pivot, about a second horizontal axis relative to the second floor portion, from the third wall component folded position to a third wall component unfolded position, the third wall component having an interior surface and an exterior wall edge; the second wall component additionally including a planar pivoting wall portion with a pivoting portion vertical edge, the pivoting wall portion (i) disposed in a pivoting portion folded position against the third wall component in the third wall component folded position and (ii) pivotally connected to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component to permit - 117 - the pivoting wall portion to pivot, about a vertical axis relative to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component, from the pivoting portion folded position to a pivoting portion unfolded position in which the pivoting portion vertical edge is positioned adjacent to a select region of the interior surface of the third wall component proximate to the exterior wall edge when the second floor portion and the third call components are in their unfolded positions; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first thickness, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face proximate to the first edge; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face, an opposed second exterior face, a second thickness, a third edge and an opposed fourth edge, with an elongate second seal slot defined in the second exterior face proximate to the fourth edge; an elongate resilient first shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and an elongate first cantilevered seal surface terminating at a free end, the first shear seal positioned in the first seal slot, with the first cantilevered seal surface oriented toward the first edge, and an elongate resilient second shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and an elongate second cantilevered seal surface terminating at a free end, the second shear seal positioned in the second seal slot, with the second cantilevered seal surface oriented toward the fourth edge; the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the select region of the interior surface of the third wall component, with the fourth edge of the second seal plate proximate to the exterior wall edge of the third wall component; the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to the pivoting portion vertical edge with the second edge proximate to the exterior wall edge of the third wall component when the second floor portion is in the second floor portion unfolded position, the third wall component is in the third wall component unfolded position and the pivoting wall portion is in the pivoting wall portion unfolded position, so that when the second floor portion, the third wall component and the pivoting wall portion are in their respective unfolded positions, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first edge being proximate to the third edge, the first cantilevered seal surface in pressing contact with the exterior face of the second seal plate, and the second cantilevered seal surface in pressing contact with the exterior face of the first seal plate. - 118 - 114. the folded building structure of claim 113, wherein the first exterior face is inclined at an angle y relative to the first interior face so that the first thickness increases with increasing distance from the first edge, and the second exterior face being inclined at the angle y relative to the second interior face so that the second thickness decreases with increasing distance from the fourth edge. 115. the folded building structure of claim 113, wherein the first and second cantilevered seal surfaces are each oriented at an upward angle . 116. the folded building structure of claim 113, wherein there is a step-down, in the direction moving from the first edge to the second edge, on the first exterior face which is in proximity with a step-up, in the direction moving from the third edge to the fourth edge, on the second exterior face when the pivoting wall portion is in the pivoting portion unfolded position.	enclosure component sealing systems cross-references to related applications [001] this application claims the benefit of u.s. provisional application no. 63/136,268 filed january 12, 2021, u.s. provisional application no. 63/181,447, filed april 29, 2021, and u.s. provisional application no. 63/196,400 filed june 3, 2021. background of the invention field of the invention [002] the inventions herein relate to structures, such as dwellings and other buildings for residential occupancy, commercial occupancy and/or material storage, and to components for such structures. description of the related art [003] in the field of residential housing, the traditional technique for building homes is referred to as “stick-built” construction, where a builder constructs housing at the intended location using in substantial part raw materials such as wooden boards, plywood panels, and steel columns. the materials are assembled piece by piece over a previously prepared portion of ground, for example, a poured concrete slab or a poured concrete or cinder block foundation. [004] there have been a variety of efforts to depart from the conventional construction techniques used to create dwellings, as well as commercial spaces and like. one of the alternatives to stick-built construction is very generally referred to as modular housing. as opposed to stick-built construction, where the structure is built on-site, a modular house is constructed in a factory and then shipped to the site, often by means of a tractor-trailer. [005] such modular housing often exceeds in size normally-permitted legal limits for road transport. for example, in the united states the maximum permitted dimensions for road transport are in general 102 inches (259.1 cm) in width, 13.5 feet (4.11 m) in height and 65 to 75 feet (19.81 to 22.86 m) in length. thus, in many cases transporting a modular house from factory to site requires oversize load permits, which may impose restrictions on when transport can be undertaken and what routes can be utilized. oversize road regulations may also require the use of an escort car and a trailing car as well. all of these requirements and restrictions inevitably increase the cost of the modular housing. [006] significant advancements in the construction of dwellings and commercial space are described in u.s. patent nos. 8,474,194, 8,733,029, 10,688,906, 10,829,029 and 10,926,689. in one aspect, these patents pertain to fabricating wall, floor and roof components in a factory that are folded together into a compact shipping module, and which are then transported to the intended location and unfolded to yield a fully formed structure. summary of the invention [007] the present inventions are directed to enclosure component sealing systems for foldable, transportable building structures. these foldable, transportable structures includes a number of wall, floor and roof components with exterior edges abutting top, bottom or interior faces of other wall, floor and roof components. in addition, the foldable, transportable structures include a number of partitioned wall, floor and roof components with abutting interior edges when the enclosure components are fully unfolded. [008] the present inventions describe advancements in sealing the abutting portions of the wall, floor and roof components to limit or prevent the ingress of rain water, noise and outside air into the interior of the structure. the present inventions include sealing systems that in general terms utilize two enclosure component sealing structures in pressing contact either when the building structure is manufactured, or later when the structure is transported to its final location and fully unfolded. [009] in one aspect, the present inventions are directed to an end cap, to be secured to an edge of a building structure enclosure component, which comprises a planar elongate seal plate having an interior face, an opposed exterior face, a first edge, an opposed second edge and a thickness. the interior face is adapted to be secured to the edge of the enclosure component, an elongate key is provided on the interior face of the seal plate, and an elongate accessory slot is defined in the exterior face of the seal plate, with the accessory slot having a depth less than the thickness of the seal plate. there is also provided a first locating slot extending from the first edge of the seal plate inwardly into the thickness of the seal plate toward the second edge, and a second locating slot extending from the second edge of the seal plate inwardly into the thickness of the seal plate toward the first edge. [0010] in another aspect, the present inventions are directed to a sealing system for abutting regions of building structure enclosure components, which comprises a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face and an opposed first exterior face, with the first interior face adapted to be secured to an enclosure component, and the first exterior face defining an elongate seal slot. the first seal plate is adapted to mate with a planar elongate second seal plate, with the first exterior face being positioned in proximity with a second exterior face of the second seal plate, and an elongate resilient compression seal is positioned in the elongate seal slot. the elongate resilient compression seal has a hollow seal chamber and comprises an elongate base, an elongate first seal wall joined to the base and an opposed elongate second seal wall joined to the base, with the first and second seal walls extending away from the base in a diverging relationship. an elongate first arcuate buttress is joined to an end of the first seal wall distal from the base, and an elongate second arcuate buttress is joined to an end of the second seal wall distal from the base. in addition, an elongate planar first seal surface is joined to an end of the first arcuate buttress distal from the first seal wall, and an elongate planar second seal surface is joined to an end of the second arcuate buttress distal from the second seal wall, with the first seal surface and the second seal surface each extending away at an angle from the first arcuate buttress and the second arcuate buttress respectively in a converging relationship. there is also provided an elongate seal closure having a first closure end joined to an end of the first seal surface distal from the first arcuate buttress, and a second closure end joined to an end of the second seal surface distal from the second arcuate buttress. the base, the first and second seal walls, the first and second arcuate buttresses, the first and second seal surfaces and the seal closure thereby define the hollow seal chamber. [0011] in yet another aspect, the present inventions are directed to a sealing system for abutting regions of enclosure components for a building structure, which comprises a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face and an opposed first exterior face, with the first interior face adapted to be secured to a first enclosure component, and the first exterior face defining an elongate seal slot. the first seal plate is adapted to mate with a planar elongate second seal plate by lateral movement of a second exterior face of the second seal plate relative to the first exterior face of the first seal plate, and an elongate resilient shear seal is positioned in the elongate seal slot. the elongate resilient shear seal has a hollow seal chamber and comprises an elongate base, an elongate first seal wall joined to the base and an opposed elongate second seal wall joined to the base, with the first and second seal walls extending away from the base in a diverging relationship. an elongate seal support is joined to an end of the first seal wall distal from the base, and an elongate planar seal closure is joined to an end of the second seal wall distal from the base. in addition, an elongate planar cantilevered seal surface is joined to the seal closure distal from the second seal wall at a shear seal junction, with the cantilevered seal surface oriented at an upward angle relative to the base and terminating at a free end, and an end of the seal support distal from the first seal wall is joined either to the shear seal junction, or to the elongate planar cantilevered seal surface proximate to the shear seal junction, to thereby define the hollow seal chamber. [0012] these and other aspects of the present inventions are described in the drawings annexed hereto, and in the description of the preferred embodiments and claims set forth below. brief description of the drawings [0013] figure 1 is a perspective view of a structure prepared in accordance with the present inventions. [0014] figure 2 is a top schematic view of the structure shown in figure 1. [0015] figure 3 is an end view of a shipping module from which is formed the finished structure shown in figure 1. [0016] figures 4 and 5 are partial cutaway views of a finished structure in accordance with the present inventions, depicting in greater detail aspects of the roof, wall and floor components. [0017] figure 6 is a schematic perspective view depicting the exterior edge reinforcement for a wall component in accordance with the present inventions. [0018] figure 7 is an exploded cross-sectional view of a multi-layered, laminate design for use in the enclosure components of the present inventions. [0019] figure 8a is an exploded perspective view of a finished structure in accordance with the present inventions, depicting suitable locations for the sealing systems of the present inventions on the horizontally positioned enclosure components, and figure 8b is an exploded perspective view of a finished structure in accordance with the present inventions, depicting correspondingly suitable locations for the sealing systems of the present inventions on the vertically positioned enclosure components [0020] figure 9 is a side view of a roof portion in accordance with the present inventions. [0021] figure 10 is a schematic side view of an i-beam end cap in accordance with the present inventions. [0022] figure 11a is a section view of a compression seal in accordance with the present inventions, and figure 1 ib is a side view of a roof bottom plate with a compression seal provided in one of its two seal slots in accordance with the present inventions. [0023] figure 12 is an exploded side view of the junction between a wall vertical interlock and a wall end cap in accordance with the present inventions, and figure 13 is an exploded side view of the junction between a roof bottom plate and wall end cap in accordance with the present inventions. [0024] figures 14 is an exploded side view of the junction between an i-beam interlock a and an i-beam interlock b in accordance with the present inventions. [0025] figure 15 is an exploded side view of the junction between a floor top plate and a wall end cap in accordance with the present inventions. [0026] figure 16a is a section view of a shear seal in accordance with the present inventions, and figure 16b is a side view of a wall end interlock with a shear seal provided in its seal slot in accordance with the present inventions. [0027] figure 17 is an exploded side view of the junction between a floor top interlock and a wall end interlock a in accordance with the present inventions. [0028] figure 18 is an exploded side view of the junction between a wall end interlock b and a wall end interlock a in accordance with the present inventions. [0029] figure 19 a is a side view of the junction between a perimeter board and an i-beam end lock in accordance with the present inventions, and figure 19b is a depiction of the positioning of an i-beam end cap, a floor top plate, a wall end cap and a perimeter board in accordance with the present inventions. [0030] figure 20 is a side view of the junction between a roof skirt board and an i-beam end lock in accordance with the present inventions. detailed description of the preferred embodiments [0031] an embodiment of the foldable, transportable structure 150 in which the inventions disclosed herein can be implemented is depicted in figures 1 through 5. when fully unfolded, as exemplified by figure 1, structure 150 has a rectangular shape made of three types of generally planar and rectangular enclosure components 155, the three types of enclosure components 155 consisting of a wall component 200, a floor component 300, and a roof component 400. as shown in figures 1 and 2, the perimeter of structure 150 is defined by first longitudinal edge 106, first transverse edge 108, second longitudinal edge 116 and second transverse edge 110. for convenience, a direction parallel to first longitudinal edge 106 and second longitudinal edge 116 may be referred to as the “longitudinal” direction, a direction parallel to first transverse edge 108 and second transverse edge 110 may be referred to as the “transverse” direction; and a direction parallel to the vertical direction in figure 1 may be referred to as the “vertical” direction. structure 150 as shown has one floor component 300, one roof component 400 and four wall components 200; although it should be understood that the present inventions are applicable to structures having other configurations as well. [0032] enclosure components 155 (wall component 200, floor component 300 and roof component 400) can be fabricated and dimensioned as described herein and positioned together to form a shipping module 100, shown end-on in figure 3. the enclosure components 155 are dimensioned so that the shipping module 100 is within u.s. federal highway dimensional restrictions. as a result, shipping module 100 can be transported over a limited access highway more easily, and with appropriate trailering equipment, transported without the need for oversize permits. thus, the basic components of structure 150 can be manufactured in a factory, positioned together to form the shipping module 100, and the modules 100 can be transported to the desired site for the structure, where they can be readily assembled, as described herein. enclosure component (155): general description [0033] the enclosure components 155 of the present invention include a number of shared design features that are described below. a. laminate structure design [0034] enclosure components 155 can be fabricated using a multi-layered, laminate design. a particular laminate design that can be used to fabricate enclosure components 155 comprises a first structural layer 210, a foam panel layer 213, a second structural layer 215 and a protective layer 218, as shown in figure 7 and described further below. [0035] in particular, first structural layer 210 is provided in the embodiment of enclosure component 155 that is depicted in figure 7. first structural layer 210 in the embodiment shown comprises a sheet metal layer 205, which can be for example galvanized steel or aluminum. sheet metal layer 205 is made from a plurality of generally planar rectangular metal sheets 206 positioned adjacent to each other to generally cover the full area of the intended enclosure component 155. [0036] referring again to figure 7, there is next provided in the depicted embodiment of enclosure component 155 a foam panel layer 213, comprising a plurality of generally planar rectangular foam panels 214 collectively presenting a first face 211 and a second opposing face 212. foam panels 214 are made for example of expanded polystyrene (eps) foam. a number of these foam panels 214 are positioned adjacent to each other and superposed first face-down on first structural layer 210 to generally cover the full area of the intended enclosure component 155. the foam panels 214 of foam panel layer 213 preferably are fastened to the metal sheets 206 of first structural layer 210 using a suitable adhesive, preferably a polyurethane based construction adhesive. foam panel layer 213 can include exterior edge reinforcement and interior edge reinforcement, as described further below. [0037] in the embodiment of the enclosure component 155 depicted in figure 7, there is next provided a second structural layer 215, having a first face that is positioned on the second opposing face 212 of foam panels 214 (the face distal from first structural layer 210), and also having a second opposing face. second structural layer 215 in the embodiment shown comprises a sheet metal layer 216, which can be for example galvanized steel or aluminum. sheet metal layer 216 is made from a plurality of generally planar rectangular metal sheets 217 positioned adjacent to each other and superposed first face-down on the second opposing face of foam panel layer 213 to generally cover the full area of the intended enclosure component 155. the metal sheets 217 of second structural layer 215 preferably are fastened to foam panel layer 213 using a suitable adhesive, preferably a polyurethane based construction adhesive. [0038] in the embodiment of the enclosure component 155 depicted in figure 7, there is optionally next provided a protective layer 218, having a first face that is positioned on the second opposing face of second structural layer 215 (the face distal from foam panel layer 213), and also having a second opposing face. optional protective layer 218 in the embodiment shown comprises a plurality of rectangular structural building panels 219 principally comprising an inorganic composition of relatively high strength, such as magnesium oxide (mgo). the structural building panels 219 are positioned adjacent to each other and superposed first face-down on the second opposing face of second structural layer 215 to generally cover the full area of the intended enclosure component 155. the building panels 219 of protective layer 218 preferably are fastened to second structural layer 215 using a suitable adhesive, preferably a polyurethane based construction adhesive. protective layer 218 can be used if desired to impart a degree of fire resistance to the enclosure component 155, as well as to provide a pleasing texture and/or feel. [0039] other embodiments of multi-layered, laminate designs that can be used to fabricate the enclosure components 155 of the present invention, are described in u.s. nonprovisional patent application no. 16/786,130, entitled “foldable building structures with utility channels and laminate enclosures,” filed on february 10, 2020, which has issued as u.s. patent no. 11,118,344. the contents of that u.s. nonprovisional patent application no. 16/786,130, entitled “foldable building structures with utility channels and laminate enclosures” and filed on february 10, 2020 are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, particularly including the multi-layered, laminate designs described for example at 0034-57 and depicted in figures 4a-4d thereof. b. enclosure component exterior edge reinforcement [0040] the exterior edges of each enclosure component 155 (i.e., the edges that define the perimeter of enclosure component 155) can be provided with exterior edge reinforcement, as desired. exterior edge reinforcement generally comprises an elongate rigid member which can protect the foam panel material of foam panel layer 213 that would otherwise be exposed at the exterior edges of enclosure components 155. exterior edge reinforcement can be fabricated from one or more of laminated strand lumber board, wooden board, c- channel extruded aluminum or steel, or the like, and is generally secured to the exterior edges of enclosure component 155 with fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, and/or adhesive. c. enclosure component partitioning [0041] enclosure components 155 in certain instances are partitioned into enclosure component portions to facilitate forming a compact shipping module 100. in those instances where an enclosure component 155 is partitioned into enclosure component portions, any exterior edge reinforcement on the exterior edges defining the perimeter of the enclosure component is segmented as necessary between or among the portions. [0042] the enclosure component portions can be joined by hinge structures or mechanisms to permit the enclosure component portions to be “folded” and thereby contribute to forming a compact shipping module 100. d. enclosure component interior edge reinforcement [0043] an enclosure component 155 partitioned into enclosure component portions will have interior edges. there will be two adjacent interior edges for each adjacent pair of enclosure component portions. such interior edges can be provided with interior edge reinforcement. similar to exterior edge reinforcement, such interior edge reinforcement generally comprises an elongate, rigid member which can protect the foam panel material of foam panel layer 213 which that would otherwise be exposed at the interior edges of enclosure components 155. interior edge reinforcement can be fabricated from one or more of laminated strand lumber board, wooden board, c-channel extruded aluminum or steel, or the like, and is generally secured to the interior edges of enclosure component 155 with fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, and/or adhesive. e. enclosure component load transfer [0044] in the case of enclosure components 155, it is necessary to transfer the loads imposed on their surfaces to their exterior edges, where those loads can be transferred either to or through adjoining walls, or to the building foundation. for enclosure components 155 that are horizontally oriented when in use (floor component 300 and roof component 400), such loads include the weight of equipment, furniture and people borne by their surfaces, as well as vertical seismic loads. for enclosure components that are vertically oriented when in use (wall component 200), such loads include those arising from meteorological conditions (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.) and human action (vehicle and other object impacts). [0045] for this purpose, multi-layered, laminate designs as shown in figure 7 will function to transfer the loads described above. to add additional load transfer capability, structural members, such as beams and/or joists, can be utilized within the perimeter of the enclosure components 155, as is deemed appropriate to the specific design of structure 150 and the particular enclosure component 155, to assist in the transfer of loads to the exterior edges. particular embodiments of such structural members, which also incorporate hinge structures, are described in u.s. provisional patent application no. 63/188,101, filed may 13, 2021, entitled “folding beam systems” and having the same inventors as this disclosure. [0046] further design details of wall component 200, floor component 300, and roof component 400 are provided in the sections following. wall component (200) [0047] typically, a structure 150 will utilize four wall components 200, with each wall component 200 corresponding to an entire wall of structure 150. a. general description [0048] wall component 200 has a generally rectangular perimeter. as shown in figure 1, wall components 200 have plural apertures, specifically a door aperture 202, which has a door frame and door assembly, and plural window apertures 204, each of which has a window frame and a window assembly. the height and length of wall components 200 can vary in accordance with design preference, subject as desired to the dimensional restrictions applicable to transport, described above. in this disclosure, structure 150 is fashioned with all sides of equal length; accordingly, its first and second longitudinal edges 106 and 116, and its first and second transverse edges 108 and 110, are all of equal length. it should be understood however, that the inventions described herein are applicable to structures having other dimensions, such as where two opposing wall components 200 are longer than the other two opposing wall components 200. [0049] as indicated above, wall components 200 of the present inventions can utilize a multi-layered, laminate design. in the embodiment depicted in figures 1 through 6, wall component 200 utilizes the multi-layered, laminate design shown in figure 7 employing these particular elements: sheet metal layer 205 of first structural layer 210 is 24 gauge galvanized steel approximately 0.022 - 0.028 inch thick, the foam panels 214 of foam panel layer 213 are eps foam approximately 5.68 inches thick, the sheet metal layer 216 of second structural layer 215 is 24 gauge galvanized steel approximately 0.022 - 0.028 inch thick, and the building panels 219 of protective layer 218 are mgo board approximately 0.25 inch (6 mm) thick. [0050] the perimeter of each wall component 200 is generally provided with exterior edge reinforcement. as exemplified by wall component 200 shown in figure 6, the exterior edge reinforcement for wall component 200 is a floor plate 220 along the bottom horizontal edge, a ceiling plate 240 along the top horizontal edge and two end pieces 270 respectively fastened at each vertical edge of wall component 200. in the case of a wall component 200, exterior edge reinforcement provides regions for fastening like regions of abutting wall components 200, roof component 400 and floor component 300, in addition to protecting the exterior edges of foam panel material. [0051] in the embodiment shown in figures 1 through 6, the exterior edge reinforcement for wall component 200 provided by floor plate 220, ceiling plate 240, and end pieces 270 is fabricated from laminated strand lumber board 5.625” deep and 1.5” thick. b. partitioned wall components [0052] referring to figure 2, structure 150 has two opposing wall components 200, where one of the two opposing wall components 200 comprises first wall portion 200s- 1 and second wall portion 200s-2, and the other of the two opposing wall components 200 comprises third wall portion 200s-3 and fourth wall portion 200s-4. each of wall portions 200s- 1, 200s-2, 200s-3 and 200s-4 has a generally rectangular planar structure. as shown in figure 2, the interior vertical edge 192-1 of wall portion 200s- 1 is proximate to a respective interior vertical edge 192-2 of wall portion 200s-2, and the interior vertical edge 194-3 of wall portion 200s-3 is proximate a respective interior vertical wall edge 194-4 of wall portion 200s-4. interior edge reinforcement can be provided at any one or more of vertical edges 192-1, 192-2, 194-3 and 194-4. in the embodiment shown in figures 1 through 6, the interior edge reinforcement provided at vertical edges 192-1, 192-2, 194-3 and 194-4 is fabricated from laminated strand lumber board 5.625” deep and 1.5” thick. [0053] referring again to figure 2, first wall portion 200s- 1 is fixed in position on floor portion 300a proximate to first transverse edge 108, and third wall portion 200s-3 is fixed in position on floor portion 300a, opposite first wall portion 200s- 1 and proximate to second transverse edge 110. first wall portion 200s- 1 is joined to second wall portion 200s-2 with a hinge structure that permits wall portion 200s-2 to pivot about vertical axis 192 between a folded position and an unfolded position, and third wall portion 200s-3 is joined to fourth wall portion 200s-4 with a hinge structure to permit fourth wall portion 200s-4 to pivot about vertical axis 194 between a folded position and an unfolded position. [0054] notably, first wall portion 200s- 1 is longer than third wall portion 200s-3 by a distance approximately equal to the thickness of wall component 200, and second wall portion 200s-2 is shorter than third wall portion 200s-3 by a distance approximately equal to the thickness of wall component 200. furthermore, wall portion 200s- 1 and wall portion 200s-3 are each shorter in length (the dimension in the transverse direction) than the dimension of floor portion 300a in the transverse direction. dimensioning the lengths of wall portions 200s- 1, 200s-2, 200s-3 and 200s-4 in this manner permits wall portions 200s-2 and 200s-4 to nest against each other in an overlapping relationship when in an inwardly folded position. in this regard, figure 2 depicts wall portions 200s-2 and 200s-4 both in their unfolded positions, where they are labelled 200s-2u and 200s4-u respectively, and figure 2 also depicts wall portions 200s-2 and 200s-4 both in their inwardly folded positions, where they are labelled 200s-2f and 200s4-f respectively. when wall portions 200s-2 and 200s-4 are in their inwardly folded positions (200s-2f and 200s-4f), they facilitate forming a compact shipping module. when wall portion 200s-2 is in its unfolded position (200s-2u), it forms with wall portion 200s-l a wall component 200 proximate first transverse edge 108, and when wall portion 200s-4 is in its unfolded position (200s-4u), it forms with wall portion 200s-3 a wall component 200 proximate second transverse edge 110. [0055] the hinge structures referenced above, for securing first wall portion 200s- 1 to second wall portion 200s-2, and third wall portion 200s-3 to fourth wall portion 200s-4, can be surface mounted or recessed, and of a temporary or permanent nature. the provision of interior edge reinforcement, as described above, can provide a region for securing such hinge structures. suitable hinge structures can be fabricated for example of ferrous or nonferrous metal, plastic or leather material. c. unpartitioned wall components [0056] as compared to the two wall components 200 proximate first and second transverse edges 108 and 110, which are partitioned into wall portions, the remaining two wall components 200 proximate first and second longitudinal edges 106 and 116 do not comprise plural wall portions, but rather each is a single piece structure. however, one of these wall components 200, which is sometimes denominated 200p in this disclosure, and which is located on floor portion 300b proximate first longitudinal edge 106, is pivotally secured to floor portion 300b by means of hinge structures to permit wall component 200p to pivot about horizontal axis 105 shown in figure 3 from a folded position to an unfolded position. pivotally securing wall component 200p also facilitates forming a compact shipping module 100. the remaining wall component 200, sometimes denominated 200r in this disclosure, is rigidly secured on floor portion 300a proximate second longitudinal edge 116 and abutting the vertical edges of first wall portion 200s- 1 and third wall portion 200s-3 proximate to second longitudinal edge 116, as shown in figure 2. [0057] the hinge structures referenced above, for securing wall component 200p to floor portion 300b, can be surface mounted or recessed, and of a temporary or permanent nature. the provision of exterior edge reinforcement, as described above, can provide a region for securing such hinge structures. suitable hinge structures can be fabricated for example of ferrous or non-ferrous metal, plastic or leather material. floor component (300) [0058] typically, structure 150 will utilize one floor component 300; thus floor component 300 generally is the full floor of structure 150. a. general description [0059] floor component 300 has a generally rectangular perimeter. figures 4 and 5 depict floor component 300 in accordance with the present inventions. the perimeter of floor component 300 is defined by first longitudinal floor edge 117, first transverse floor edge 120, second longitudinal floor edge 119 and second transverse floor edge 118. in particular, (a) first longitudinal floor edge 117, (b) first transverse floor edge 120, (c) second longitudinal floor edge 119 and (d) second transverse floor edge 118 generally coincide with (i.e., underlie) (w) first longitudinal edge 106, (x) first transverse edge 108, (y) second longitudinal edge 116 and (z) second transverse edge 110, respectively, of structure 150. [0060] the length and width of floor component 300 can vary in accordance with design preference. in the particular embodiment of structure 150 depicted in figures 2, 4 and 5, floor component 300 is approximately 19 feet (5.79 m) by 19 feet (5.79 m). [0061] floor component 300 and its constituent elements are generally designed and dimensioned in thickness and in other respects to accommodate the particular loads to which floor component 300 may be subject. it is preferred that floor component 300 utilize a multi-layered, laminate design, such as that described in connection with figure 7. in the embodiment shown in figures 4 and 5, the bottom- most surface of floor component 300 comprises sheet metal layer 205 of first structural layer 210, with sheet metal layer 205 being 24 gauge galvanized steel approximately 0.022 - 0.028 inch thick. above sheet metal layer 205 there are provided foam panels 214 of foam panel layer 213. in the embodiment shown in figures 4 and 5, foam panels 214 are eps foam approximately 7.125 inches thick. above foam panel layer 213 there is provided sheet metal layer 216 of second structural layer 215, with sheet metal layer 216 being 24 gauge galvanized steel approximately 0.022 - 0.028 inch thick. above sheet metal layer 216 of second structural layer 215, there are provided building panels 219 of protective layer 218, with building panels 219 being mgo board approximately 0.25 inch (6 mm) thick. [0062] the perimeter of each floor component 300 is generally provided with exterior edge reinforcement. as exterior edge reinforcement for the embodiments of floor component 300 shown in figures 4 and 5, a first footing beam 320 (visible edge-on in figure 4) is positioned at the first longitudinal floor edge 117 of floor component 300, a second footing beam 320 (visible edge-on in figure 5) is positioned at the second transverse floor edge 118 of floor component 300, a third footing beam 320 (visible edge-on in figure 5) is positioned at the first transverse floor edge 120 of floor component 300, and a fourth footing beam 320 (visible edge-on in figure 4) is positioned at the second longitudinal floor edge 119 of floor component 300. in the case of floor component 300, the exterior edge reinforcement provided by footing beams 320 assists in resisting vertical loads and transferring such loads to any roof component 400 thereunder and then to underlying wall components 200, and/or to the foundation of the structure 150, in addition to protecting the edges of foam panel material of the foam panel layer 213. [0063] in the embodiment shown in figures 1 through 6, the exterior edge reinforcement provided by footing beams 420 of floor component 300 is fabricated from laminated strand lumber board 7.125” deep and 1.5” thick. b. floor partitioning [0064] the floor component 300 is partitioned into floor portion 300a and floor portion 300b. figure 2 shows flow portions 300a and 300b in plan view, and figure 4 shows floor portions 300a and 300b in section view, edge-on. [0065] each of the floor portions 300a and 300b is a planar generally rectangular structure, with floor portion 300a adjoining floor portion 300b. interior edge 301a of floor portion 300a abuts interior edge 301b of floor portion 300b, as shown in figure 4. as interior edge reinforcement, a reinforcing board 307 is positioned in floor portion 300a adjacent interior edge 301a, and a reinforcing board is positioned in floor portion 300b adjacent interior edge 301b. additional structural members, such as beam and/or joists, can be utilized within the perimeter of one or more of floor portions 300a and 300b, as is deemed appropriate to the specific design of structure 150 and floor component 300, to assist in the transfer of vertical loads to one or more of reinforcing boards 307. [0066] referring to structure 150 shown in figures 2 and 4, floor portion 300a is fixed in position relative to first wall portion 200s- 1, third wall portion 200s-3 and wall component 200s-r. floor portion 300a is joined with hinge structures to floor portion 300b, so as to permit floor portion 300b to pivot through approximately ninety degrees (90°) of arc about a horizontal axis 305, located proximate the top surface of floor component 300, between a fully folded position, where floor portion 300b is vertically oriented as shown in figure 3, and the fully unfolded position shown in figures 2 and 4, where floor portion 300b is horizontally oriented and co-planar with floor portion 300a. [0067] the hinge structures joining floor portions 300a and 300b can be surface mounted or recessed, and of a temporary or permanent nature. suitable hinge structures can be fabricated for example of ferrous or non-ferrous metal, plastic or leather material. the hinge structures joining floor portions 300a and 300b are adapted to pivot through approximately ninety degrees (90°) of arc. [0068] there is provided interior edge reinforcement, reinforcing board 307, at each of interior edges 301a and 301b, as shown in figure 4. the interior edge reinforcement provided by reinforcing board 307 at interior edges 301, 301b can provide a region for mounting hinge structures, in addition to protecting the edges of foam panel material. reinforcing boards 307 can be made of laminated strand lumber board 7.125” deep and 1.5” thick. roof component (400) [0069] typically, structure 150 will utilize one roof component 400; thus roof component 400 generally is the full roof of structure 150. a. general description [0070] roof component 400 has a generally rectangular perimeter. figures 1, 4 and 5 depict roof component 400 in accordance with the present inventions. the perimeter of roof component 400 is defined by first longitudinal roof edge 406, first transverse roof edge 408, second longitudinal roof edge 416 and second transverse roof edge 410. in particular, (a) first longitudinal roof edge 406, (b) first transverse roof edge 408, (c) second longitudinal roof edge 416 and (d) second transverse roof edge 410 of roof component 400 generally coincide with (i.e., overlie) (w) first longitudinal edge 106, (x) first transverse edge 108, (y) second longitudinal edge 116 and (z) second transverse edge 110, respectively, of structure 150. [0071] the length and width of roof component 400 can vary in accordance with design preference. in the particular embodiment of structure 150 depicted in figures 1, 4 and 5, the length and width of roof component 400 approximates the length and width of floor component 300. [0072] roof component 400 and its constituent elements are generally designed and dimensioned in thickness and in other respects to accommodate the particular loads to which roof component 400 may be subject. it is preferred that roof component 400 utilize a multi-layered, laminate design, such as that described in connection with figure 7. in the embodiment shown in figures 4 and 5, the top-most surface of roof component 400 comprises sheet metal layer 205 of first structural layer 210, with sheet metal layer 205 being 24 gauge galvanized steel approximately 0.022 - 0.028 inch thick. below sheet metal layer 205 there are provided foam panels 214 of foam panel layer 213, with foam panels 214 in the embodiment shown in figures 4 and 5 being eps foam for example approximately 7.125 inches thick. below foam panel layer 213 there is provided sheet metal layer 216 of second structural layer 215, with sheet metal layer 216 being 24 gauge galvanized steel approximately 0.022 - 0.028 inch thick. below sheet metal layer 216 of second structural layer 215, there are provided building panels 219 of protective layer 218, with building panels 219 being mgo board approximately 0.25 inch (6 mm) thick. [0073] the perimeter of roof component 400 is generally provided with exterior edge reinforcement. as exterior edge reinforcement for the embodiment of roof component 400 shown in figures 4 and 5, a first shoulder beam 435 (visible edge-on in figure 4) is positioned at the first longitudinal roof edge 406 of roof component 400, a second shoulder beam 435 (visible edge-on in figure 5) is positioned at the first transverse roof edge 408 of roof component 400, a third shoulder beam 435 (visible edge-on in figure 5) is positioned at the second transverse roof edge 410 of roof component 400, and a fourth shoulder beam 435 (visible edge-on in figure 4) is positioned at the second longitudinal roof edge 416 of roof component 400. in addition to protecting the exterior edges of foam panel material, the exterior edge reinforcement provided by shoulder beams 435 assists in resisting vertical loads and transferring such loads to lower floors through underlying wall components 200 supporting roof component 400, and then to the foundation of the structure 150. such exterior edge reinforcement can also provide a region for fastening like regions of abutting enclosure components 155 (underlying and any overlying). shoulder beams 435 of roof component 400 can be fabricated from laminated strand lumber board 7.125” deep and 1.5” thick. b. roof partitioning [0074] the roof component 400 of structure 150 is partitioned into roof portions 400a, 400b and 400c. figure 1 shows roof portions 400a, 400b and 400c in perspective view, and figure 4 shows roof portions 400a, 400b and 400c in section view, edge-on. [0075] each of the roof portions 400a, 400b and 400c is a planar generally rectangular structure, with roof portion 400a adjoining roof portion 400b, and roof portion 400b adjoining roof portion 400c. interior edge 412c of roof component 400c abuts a first interior edge 412b of roof component 400b, as shown in figure 4. for interior edge reinforcement, a reinforcing board 437 is positioned adjacent interior edge 412c, and a reinforcing board 437 is positioned against first interior edge 412b. interior edge 412a of roof portion 400a abuts a second interior edge 412b of roof portion 400b, as shown in figure 4. for interior edge reinforcement, a reinforcing board 437 is positioned adjacent interior edge 412a, and a reinforcing board 437 is positioned against second interior edge 412b. additional structural members, such as beams and/or joists, can be utilized within the perimeter of one or more of roof portions 400a, 400b and 400c, as is deemed appropriate to the specific design of structure 150 and roof component 400, to assist in the transfer of vertical loads to one or more shoulder beams 435. [0076] referring to structure 150 shown in figure 4, roof portion 400a is fixed in position relative to first wall portion 200s- 1, third wall portion 200s-3 and wall component 200r. roof portion 400a is joined to roof portion 400b with hinge structures provided between interior edge 412a of roof portion 400a and second interior edge 412b of roof portion 400b. such hinge structures are adapted to permit roof portion 400b to pivot through up to one hundred and eighty degrees (180°) of arc about a horizontal axis 405a, located proximate the top of roof component 400 and shown in figure 4, between the fully folded position shown in figure 3, where roof portion 400b lies flat against roof portion 400a, and the fully unfolded position shown in figure 4. [0077] in turn, roof portion 400b is joined to roof portion 400c with hinge structures provided between first interior edge 412b of roof portion 400b and interior edge 412c of roof portion 400c. such hinge structures are adapted to permit roof portion 400c to pivot through up to one hundred and eighty degrees (180°) of arc about a horizontal axis 405b, located proximate the bottom of roof component 400 and shown in figure 4, between the folded position shown in figure 3, where roof portion 400c lies flat against roof portion 400b (when roof portion 400b is positioned to lie flat against roof portion 400a), and the fully unfolded position shown in figure 4. [0078] the hinge structures joining roof portions 400a, 400b and 400c can be surface mounted or recessed, and of a temporary or permanent nature. suitable hinge structures can be fabricated for example of ferrous or non-ferrous metal, plastic or leather material. the interior edge reinforcement provided by reinforcing boards 437 of roof portions 400a, 400b and 400c can provide a region for mounting hinge structures, in addition to protecting the edges of foam panel material. reinforcing boards 437 can be fabricated from laminated strand lumber board 7.125” deep and 1.5” thick. enclosure component sealing systems [0079] structure 150 can utilize the enclosure component sealing systems described below to limit or prevent the ingress of rain water, noise and outside air into the interior of structure 150. a. general description [0080] the enclosure component sealing systems for structure 150 utilize the sealing structures described below. except for i-beam end cap 221, which functions to seal the edges of select enclosure components 155, the enclosure component sealing systems comprise in general terms two enclosure component sealing structures, paired in in pressing contact in different combinations, to seal the junctions between different regions of the enclosure components 155 found in structure 150. these junctions consist of either two interior edges of adjacent enclosure component portions, positioned edge-to-edge when structure 150 is unfolded, or an exterior edge of an enclosure component 155 which abuts an interior surface of another enclosure component 155. where an enclosure component sealing structure is positioned on an interior or exterior edge of an enclosure component 155, there can respectively be provided interior edge reinforcement or exterior edge reinforcement between the sealing structure and the respective interior or exterior edge of the foam panel layer 213 in the case where the multi-layered, laminate design depicted in figure 7 is utilized (such that the enclosure component sealing structure is positioned proximate to the interior or exterior edge, as the case may be, of the foam panel layer 213). the specific enclosure component sealing structures described below are i-beam end cap 221; wall vertical interlock 245; wall end cap 246; i-beam interlock a 250; i-beam interlock b 251 ; floor top plate 252 ; roof bottom plate 255 ; floor top interlock 261; wall end interlock a 262; and wall end interlock b 263. excepting i-beam end cap 221, each of the foregoing enclosure component sealing structures utilizes either two or more compression seals 230, or one shear seal 260, which are also described below. exemplary placements of the enclosure component sealing structures described herein are found in subsections b. through j. below and also in the section below entitled “enclosure component sealing structure exemplary placements”. [0081] the current inventions include two closure boards, namely perimeter board 310 and roof skirt board 280. these closure boards, which are described below, are utilized in conjunction with i-beam end cap 221 to provide additional sealing, as well as to realize additional benefits. b. i-beam end cap (221) [0082] i-beam end cap 221, shown in cross-section in figure 10, is a rigid elongate member that is fastened to the periphery of select enclosure components 155, preferably the exterior edges of floor component 300 and roof component 400. i-beam end cap 221 constitutes an edge seal that performs a sealing function against water ingress into and environmental exposure of the edge of the enclosure component 155 to which it is secured, and imparts impact resistance to that edge. [0083] figure 10 shows an exemplary installation of i-beam end cap 221 secured to the edge of a schematic representation of floor portion 300a. in particular, i-beam end cap 221 has an elongate seal plate 223 with seal plate 223 having an elongate interior face 226 and an opposing elongate planar exterior face 227. i-beam end cap 221 has a length and width the same, or substantially the same, as the length and width of the exterior edge of floor portion 300a, so as to cover the entirety, or substantially the entirety, of the exterior edge of floor portion 300a. [0084] at the mid-point of the interior face 226 of seal plate 223, there is provided an elongate key 222, which is rectangular in cross section (as shown in figure 10), and has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of i-beam end cap 221. key 222 is received in a corresponding slot formed in the exterior edge reinforcement positioned on the exterior edge of the enclosure component 155 to which i-beam end cap 221 is secured. thus for example, figure 9 depicts key 222 of an i-beam end cap 221 received in slot 422 of a shoulder beam 435 of roof portion 400a. each of the top and bottom edges of i-beam end cap 221 define locating slots 229. in the case where the enclosure component 155 utilizes the enclosure component laminate design shown in figure 7, locating slots 229 receive the edge portions 207 of metal sheets 206 and 217 (of sheet metal layers 205 and 216 respectively), bent down at a ninety degree (90°) angle, as shown in figure 9. [0085] still referring to figure 10, the exterior face 227 of seal plate 223 of i-beam end cap 221 includes an elongate accessory slot 224, which is rectangular in cross section and has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of the exterior face 227 of i-beam end cap 221. the exterior face 227 further includes a plurality of elongate fastener locating grooves 225, each of which has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of seal plate 223. i-beam end cap 221 can be secured to an exterior edge of an enclosure component 155, such as the roof portion 400a shown in figure 9 and the floor portion 300a shown in figure 10, for example by adhesive applied to interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of i-beam end cap 221 and driven through the exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. locating grooves 225 assist in accurate positioning of such fasteners. c. compression seal (230) [0086] a number of the enclosure component sealing systems described herein and utilized in structure 150 include a compression seal system. an element of that compression seal system is a compression seal 230. [0087] compression seal 230, which is shown in cross-section in figure 11 a, is an elongate member having in cross-section an elongate base 231 with an elongate arched portion 232 that is flanked by two elongate winglets 233. at the intersection of the arched portion 232 of base 231 and each of the winglets 233, there are provided two opposed elongate seal walls 234, joined to and extending away from base 231 in a diverging relationship at a divergence angle 0, where 0 < 180°, for example 0 < 90° or in the range of 40° < 0 < 50°. it is most preferred that 0 be the same, or nearly so, as the divergence angle s of the slot walls 244 described below. thus as shown in figure 11 a, the ends of the seal walls 234 distal from base 231 are further apart than the ends of the seal walls proximate to base 231. [0088] at the ends of the seal walls 234 distal from base 231, each seal wall 234 is joined to an elongate arcuate buttress 235. the end of each arcuate buttress 235, distal from the seal wall 234 to which it is joined, is in turn joined to a respective planar elongate seal surface 236; thus there are two planar seal surfaces 236 in compression seal 230. the planar seal surfaces 236 extend away from the seal walls 234 in a converging relationship at a convergence angle 6, where 6 < 180°, for example 90°. thus the ends of seal surfaces 236 distal from arcuate buttresses 235 are closer together than the ends of seal surfaces 236 proximate to arcuate buttresses 235. the ends of seal surfaces 236 distal from arcuate buttresses 235 are joined by an elongate seal closure 237. the base 231, seal walls 234, arcuate buttresses 235, seal surfaces 236 and seal closure 237 thereby define a hollow elongate seal chamber 238, as shown in figure 11 a. seal closure 237 is curved in shape toward seal chamber 238, such as to assume a cupped appearance. [0089] seal 230 is intended to be received in an elongate seal slot 240, shown for example in figure 1 ib. slot 240 in general has a dovetail shape, with an elongate planar floor 241 flanked by two elongate lateral grooves 242, and with an elongate planar slot wall 244 abutting and extending from each groove 242 toward an elongate shoulder 243 at the surface of the slot 240. thus there are two opposed shoulders 243 in seal slot 240. the planar slot walls 244 extend away from grooves 242 in a diverging relationship at a divergence angle s, where s < 180° (for example s < 90° or in the range of 40° < s < 50°), such that the edges of slot walls 244 coincident with shoulders 243 are further apart than the edges of slot walls 244 abutting grooves 242. compression seal 230 is dimensioned to snugly fit within slot 240, as shown in figure 11b, such that winglets 233 are received in grooves 242 and the arched portion 232 of base 231 is compressed sufficiently to provide a resilient force that urges winglets 233 into grooves 242 and causes seal 230 to be retained in its proper position in slot 240 during fabrication and following fabrication of the enclosure component 155. [0090] when two enclosure components 155 on which are mounted two paired enclosure component sealing structures, one of which bears a compression seal 230, are appropriately positioned and pressed together, compression seal 230 will be squeezed against the planar exterior face 227 of the opposed seal plate 223, which causes seal closure 237 and arcuate buttresses 235 to be urged into seal chamber 238. this permits the two planar exterior faces 227 of the pressed-together seal plates 223 of the paired sealing structures to come into full contact. at the same time, arcuate buttresses 235 rotate down and seal surfaces 236 are urged into a generally coplanar relationship (with arcuate buttresses 238 functioning as hinges) with the opposing planar exterior face 227 pressing against it, to create two lines of sealing. [0091] compression seal 230 can be fabricated from a resilient material, such as rubber or plastic, for example polyurethane. particular embodiments of enclosure component sealing structures utilizing the foregoing compression sealing system are described below. d. wall vertical interlock (245), wall end cap (246) sealing system [0092] figure 12 depicts in exploded form the junction between a wall vertical interlock 245 and a wall end cap 246. the particular junction is shown for illustrative purposes between wall portion 200s- 1 and 200s-2, with wall vertical interlock 245 positioned on the interior vertical edge of wall portion 200s-2 (interior vertical edge 192-2 shown in figure 2) and wall end cap 246 positioned on the interior vertical edge of wall portion 200s- 1 (interior vertical edge 192-1 shown in figure 2). in structure 150, wall vertical interlock 245 and wall end cap 246 shown in figure 12 are vertically-oriented. [0093] in particular, wall vertical interlock 245 is a rigid elongate member that has an elongate seal plate 223 with an elongate interior face 226 and an opposing elongate planar exterior face 227. the exterior face 227 preferably is hard and smooth to provide a good sealing surface. seal plate 223 has a length and width the same, or substantially the same, as the length and width of the interior edge of wall portion 200s-2, so as to cover the entirety, or substantially the entirety, of that interior edge of wall portion 200s-2. [0094] as shown in figure 12, at the mid-point of the interior face 226 of wall vertical interlock 245 there is provided an elongate key 222, which is rectangular in cross section has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of seal plate 223. key 222 is received in a corresponding elongate slot formed in the interior edge reinforcement positioned on the interior vertical edge of wall portion 200s-2, to which wall vertical interlock 245 is secured. each of the top and bottom edges of wall vertical interlock 245 define elongate locating slots 229 for receiving the edge portions of sheet metal layers 205 and 216, when bent down at a ninety degree (90°) angle. in addition, the edge of one of the slots 229 abutting the interior face 226 of wall vertical interlock 245 is terminated an inset distance “i” from the opposing edge of that slot, where i is the thickness of the protective layer 218, such as magnesium oxide (mgo) board. [0095] still referring to figure 12, at the mid-point of the exterior face 227 of seal plate 223 of wall vertical interlock 245 there is provided an elongate interlock slot 228, which is rectangular in cross-section and has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of the exterior face 227 of wall vertical interlock 245. two elongate seal slots 240 are defined on the exterior face 227 of wall vertical interlock 245, one above interlock slot 228 and the other below interlock slot 228, as shown in figure 12. each slot 240 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of wall vertical interlock 245. [0096] wall vertical interlock 245 can be secured to the vertical edge of wall portion 200s -2 shown in figure 12 for example by adhesive applied to interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of wall vertical interlock 245 and driven through the exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. [0097] figure 12 additionally depicts a wall end cap 246. wall end cap 246 shown in figure 12 is a rigid elongate member that is defined by an elongate seal plate 223 having an elongate interior face 226 and an opposing elongate planar exterior face 227. the exterior face 227 preferably is hard and smooth to provide a good sealing surface. seal plate 223 has a length and width the same, or substantially the same, as the length and width of the exterior edge of wall portion 200s- 1, so as to cover the entirety, or substantially the entirety, of the vertical edge of wall portion 200s- 1 shown in in figure 12. [0098] at the mid-point of the interior face 226 of wall end cap 246 show in in figure 12 there is provided an elongate key 222, which is rectangular in cross-section and has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of seal plate 223. key 222 of wall end cap 246 is received in a corresponding elongate slot formed in the interior edge reinforcement, positioned on the interior vertical edge of wall portion 200s- 1, to which wall end cap 246 is secured. each of the top and bottom edges of wall end cap 246 define elongate locating slots 229 for receiving the edge portions of sheet metal layers 205 and 216, when bent down at a ninety degree (90°) angle. in addition, the edge of one of the slots 229 abutting the interior face 226 of wall end cap 246 is terminated an inset distance “i” from the opposing edge of that slot, where i is the thickness of the protective layer 218, such as magnesium oxide (mgo) board. [0099] wall end cap 246 can be secured to the vertical edge of wall portion 200s-l shown in figure 12 for example by adhesive applied to interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of wall end cap 246 and driven through the exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. [00100] in figure 12, wall vertical interlock 245 mates with wall end cap 246. for this purpose, at the mid-point of the exterior face 227 of seal plate 223 of wall end cap 246 there is provided an elongate interlock key 247, which is rectangular in cross-section and has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of the exterior face 227 of wall end cap 246. interlock key 247 mates with interlock slot 228 when wall vertical interlock 245 and wall end cap 246 are pressed together. additionally, the two edges of wall end cap 246 are provided with elongate coupling ridges 248 which mate with elongate coupling insets 249 located at the edges of wall vertical interlock 245. coupling ridges 248 and coupling insets 249 can have the same, or approximately the same, lengths as wall end cap 246 and wall vertical interlock 245 respectively. [00101] prior to mating wall vertical interlock 245 with wall end cap 246, a compression seal 230 is placed in each of the two seal slots 240 of wall vertical interlock 245, with each seal 230 having the same, or approximately the same, length as the slot 240 in which it is inserted. when wall vertical interlock 245 with wall end cap 246 are pressed together in a mating relationship, the two compression seals 230 are deformed in the manner described previously to provide four lines of sealing between wall vertical interlock 245 and wall end cap 246. e. i-beam interlock a (250), i-beam interlock b (251) sealing system [00102] figure 14 depicts in exploded form the junction between an i-beam interlock a 250 and an i-beam interlock b 251, each shown in cross-section. the particular junction is shown for illustrative purposes between roof portion 400b and roof portion 400c, with i-beam interlock a 250 positioned on the interior edge 412c of roof portion 400c, and with i-beam interlock b 251 positioned on first interior edge 412b of roof portion 400b. in structure 150, i-beam interlock a 250 and i-beam interlock b 251 shown in figure 14 are horizontally-oriented. [00103] in particular, i-beam interlock a 250 is a rigid elongate member that is defined by an elongate seal plate 223 having an elongate interior face 226 and an opposing elongate planar exterior face 227. the exterior face 227 preferably is hard and smooth to provide a good sealing surface. seal plate 223 has a length and width the same, or substantially the same, as the length and width of the interior edge 412c of roof portion 400c shown in figure 14, so as to cover the entirety, or substantially the entirety, of that interior edge. [00104] as shown in figure 14, at the mid-point of the interior face 226 of i-beam interlock a 250 there is provided an elongate key 222, which has a rectangular cross-section and a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of i-beam interlock a 250. key 222 is received in a corresponding elongate slot formed in the interior edge reinforcement positioned on the horizontal edge of roof portion 400c, to which i-beam interlock a 250 is secured. each of the top and bottom edges of i-beam interlock a 250 define elongate locating slots 229 for receiving the edge portions of sheet metal layers 205 and 216, bent down at a ninety degree (90°) angle. in addition, the edge of one of the slots 229 abutting the interior face 226 of i-beam interlock a 250 is terminated an inset distance “i” from the opposing edge of that slot, where i is the thickness of the protective layer 218, such as magnesium oxide (mgo) board. [00105] still referring to figure 14, in the lower half of the exterior face 227 of seal plate 223 of i-beam interlock a 250 there is provided an elongate interlock slot 228, which has a rectangular cross-section and a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of the exterior face 227 of i-beam interlock a 250. three elongate seal slots 240 are defined on the exterior face 227 of i-beam interlock a 250, two above interlock slot 228 and one below interlock slot 228, as shown in figure 14. each seal slot 240 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of i-beam interlock a 250. [00106] i-beam interlock a 250 can be secured to the interior edge 412c of roof portion 400c shown in figure 14 for example by adhesive applied to interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of i-beam interlock a 250 and driven through the exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. [00107] figure 14 additionally depicts an i-beam interlock b 251. i-beam interlock b 251 is a rigid elongate member that is defined by an elongate seal plate 223 having an elongate interior face 226 and an opposing elongate planar exterior face 227. the exterior face 227 preferably is hard and smooth to provide a good sealing surface. seal plate 223 has a length and width the same, or substantially the same, as the length and width of the first interior edge 412b of roof portion 400b, so as to cover the entirety, or substantially the entirety, of that interior edge. [00108] at the mid-point of the interior face 226 of i-beam interlock b 251 shown in in figure 14 there is provided an elongate key 222, which has a rectangular cross-section and a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of i-beam interlock b 251. key 222 of i-beam interlock b 251 is received in a corresponding elongate slot formed in the exterior edge reinforcement positioned on first interior edge 412b of roof portion 400b, to which i-beam interlock b 251 is secured. each of the top and bottom edges of i-beam interlock b 251 define elongate locating slots 229 for receiving the edge portions of sheet metal layers 205 and 216, bent down at a ninety degree (90°) angle. in addition, the edge of one of the slots 229 abutting the interior face 226 of wall end cap 246 is terminated an inset distance “i” from the opposing edge of that slot, where i is the thickness of the protective layer 218, such as magnesium oxide (mgo) board. [00109] i-beam interlock b 251 can be secured to the first interior edge 412b of roof portion 400b for example by adhesive applied to interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of i-beam interlock b 251 and driven through the exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. [00110] in figure 14, i-beam interlock a 250 mates with i-beam interlock b 251. for this purpose, in the lower half of the exterior face 227 of seal plate 223 of i-beam interlock b 251 there is provided an elongate interlock key 247, which has a rectangular cross-section and a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of i-beam interlock b 251. interlock key 247 mates with interlock slot 228 when i-beam interlock a 250 and i-beam interlock b 251 are pressed together. additionally, the exterior edges of i-beam interlock b 251 are provided with elongate coupling ridges 248 which mate with elongate coupling insets 249 located at the exterior edges of i-beam interlock a 250. coupling ridges 248 and coupling insets 249 can have the same, or approximately the same, lengths as i-beam interlock a 250 and i-beam interlock b 251 respectively. [00111] prior to mating i-beam interlock a 250 with i-beam interlock b 251, a compression seal 230 is placed in each of the three seal slots 240 of i-beam interlock a 250, with each seal 230 having the same, or approximately the same, length as the slot 240 in which it is inserted. when i-beam interlock a 250 and i-beam interlock b 251 are pressed together in a mating relationship, the three compression seals 230 are deformed in the manner described previously to provide six lines of sealing between i-beam interlock a 250 and i-beam interlock b 251. f. floor top plate (252), wall end cap (246) sealing system [00112] figure 15 depicts in exploded form the junction between a floor top plate 252 and a wall end cap 246, each shown in cross-section. the particular junction is shown for illustrative purposes between wall component 200r and floor portion 300a, with floor top plate 252 positioned along the upper surface of floor portion 300a adjacent second longitudinal floor edge 119, and with wall end cap 246 positioned on the bottom edge of wall component 200r. in structure 150, wall 200r shown in figure 15 is vertically oriented and floor portion 300a is horizontally oriented. [00113] in particular, floor top plate 252 in figure 15 is a rigid elongate member that has an elongate seal plate 223 with an elongate interior face 226 and an opposing elongate planar exterior face 227. the exterior face 227 preferably is hard and smooth to provide a good sealing surface. seal plate 223 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of second longitudinal floor edge 119, so as to cover the top edge of floor portion 300a proximate to second longitudinal floor edge 119. seal plate 223 of floor top plate 252 has a width the same, or substantially the same, as the width of wall component 200r. the floor top plate 252 preferably has a thickness “j” sufficient to accommodate the thickness of any protective layer 218 and/or flooring used to surface floor portion 300a, such as stone, wood or carpeting. [00114] as shown in figure 15, at the exterior edge of the interior face 226 of floor top plate 252, proximate to second longitudinal floor edge 119, there is provided a series of elongate stepped locating ridges 254. these stepped locating ridges, which have a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of floor top plate 252, mesh with the corresponding stepped locating ridges 253 shown on i-beam end cap 221 depicted in figure 10 and with dashed lines in figure 15. [00115] still referring to figure 15, at the mid-point of the exterior face 227 of seal plate 223 of floor top plate 252 there is provided an elongate interlock slot 228, which has a rectangular cross-section and a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of floor top plate 252. two elongate seal slots 240 are defined on the exterior face 227 of floor top plate 252, one on each side of interlock slot 228, as shown in figure 15. each slot 240 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of floor top plate 252. [00116] floor top plate 252 can be secured to the top edge of floor portion 300a proximate to second longitudinal floor edge 119 shown in figure 15 for example by adhesive applied to interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of floor top plate 252 and driven through the exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. [00117] figure 15 additionally depicts a wall end cap 246 positioned along the bottom edge of wall component 200r. the design of wall end cap 246 was previously described in connection with figure 12. the seal plate 223 of wall end cap 246 shown in figure 15 has a length and width the same, or substantially the same, as the length and width of the bottom edge of wall component 200r, so as to cover the entirety, or substantially the entirety, of the bottom edge of wall component 200r shown in in figure 15. [00118] wall end cap 246 can be secured to the bottom edge of wall component 200r shown in figure 15 for example by adhesive applied to interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of wall end cap 246 and driven through the exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. [00119] in figure 15, floor top plate 252 mates with wall end cap 246. for this purpose, the interlock key 247 of wall end cap 246 is provided with a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of the exterior face 227 of floor top plate 252. that interlock key 247 mates with the interlock slot 228 of floor top plate 252 when floor top plate 252 and wall end cap 246 are pressed together, with the elongate coupling ridges 248 of wall end cap 246 mating with the elongate coupling insets 249 of floor top plate 252. coupling ridges 248 and coupling insets 249 can have the same, or approximately the same, lengths as wall end cap 246 and floor top plate 252 respectively. [00120] prior to mating wall end cap 246 and floor top plate 252, a compression seal 230 is placed in each of the two seal slots 240 of floor top plate 252, with each seal 230 having the same, or approximately the same, length as the seal slot 240 in which it is inserted. when wall vertical interlock 245 and wall end cap 246 are pressed together in a mating relationship, the two compression seals 230 are deformed in the manner described previously to provide four lines of sealing between wall end cap 246 and floor top plate 252. g. roof bottom plate (255), wall end cap (246) sealing system [00121] figure 13 depicts in exploded form the junction between a roof bottom plate 255 and a wall end cap 246, each shown in cross-section. the particular junction shown for illustrative purposes is between wall component 200r and roof portion 400a, with roof bottom plate 255 positioned along the lower face of roof portion 400a adjacent second longitudinal roof edge 416, and wall end cap 246 positioned on the top edge of wall component 200r. in structure 150, wall component 200r in figure 13 is vertically oriented and roof portion 400a is horizontally oriented. [00122] the design of roof bottom plate 255 shown in figure 13 is substantially the same as floor top plate 252 shown in figure 15, except that roof bottom plate 255 is thinner because it need not accommodate the thickness of any flooring; for example, roof bottom plate 255 can have a thickness “i”, equal to the thickness of an abutting protective layer 218, such as mgo board. roof bottom plate 255 in figure 13 is a rigid elongate member that has an elongate seal plate 223 with an elongate planar interior face 226 and an opposing elongate planar exterior face 227. the exterior face 227 preferably is hard and smooth to provide a good sealing surface. seal plate 223 of roof bottom plate 255 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of second longitudinal roof edge 416, so as to cover the bottom edge of roof portion 400a proximate to second longitudinal roof edge 416. seal plate 223 of roof bottom plate 255 has a width the same, or substantially the same, as the width of wall component 200r. [00123] as shown in figure 13, at the exterior edge of the interior face 226 of roof bottom plate 255, proximate to second longitudinal roof edge 416, there is provided a series of elongate stepped locating ridges 254. these stepped locating ridges, which have a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of roof bottom plate 255, mesh with the corresponding stepped locating ridges 253 of wall end cap 221 depicted in figure 10 and with dashed lines in figure 13, and positioned at the exterior edge of roof portion 400a. [00124] still referring to figure 13, at the mid-point of the exterior face 227 of seal plate 223 of roof bottom plate 255 there is provided an elongate interlock slot 228, which has a rectangular cross-section and a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of roof bottom plate 255. there are two elongate seal slots 240 defined on the exterior face 227 of roof bottom plate 255, one on each side of interlock slot 228, as shown in figure 13. each seal slot 240 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of roof bottom plate 255. [00125] roof bottom plate 255 can be secured to the bottom face of roof portion 400a shown in figure 13 for example by adhesive applied to interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of roof bottom plate 255 and driven through the exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. [00126] figure 13 additionally depicts a wall end cap 246 positioned along the top edge of wall component 200r. the design of wall end cap 246 was previously described in connection with figure 12. the seal plate 223 of wall end cap 246 shown in figure 13 has a length and width the same, or substantially the same, as the length and width of the top edge of wall component 200r, so as to cover the entirety, or substantially the entirety, of the top edge of wall component 200r. wall end cap 246 can be fastened to that top edge for example by adhesive applied to its interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of wall end cap 246 and driven through its exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. [00127] in figure 13, roof bottom plate 255 mates with wall end cap 246. for this purpose, the interlock key 247 of wall end cap 246 is provided with a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of roof bottom plate 255. that interlock key 247 mates with the interlock slot 228 of roof bottom plate 255 when roof bottom plate 255 and wall end cap 246 are pressed together, with the elongate coupling ridges 248 of wall end cap 246 mating with elongate coupling insets 249 of roof bottom plate 255. coupling ridges 248 and coupling insets 249 can be the same, or approximately the same, as the lengths of wall end cap 246 and roof bottom plate 255 respectively. [00128] prior to mating wall end cap 246 and roof bottom plate 255, a compression seal 230 is placed in each of the two seal slots 240 of roof bottom plate 255, with each seal 230 having the same, or approximately the same, length as the slot 240 in which it is inserted. when roof bottom plate 255 and wall end cap 246 are pressed together in a mating relationship, the two compression seals 230 are deformed in the manner described previously to provide four lines of sealing between roof bottom plate 255 and wall end cap 246. h. shear seal (260) [00129] a number of the enclosure component sealing systems described herein and utilized in structure 150 include a shear seal system. an element of that shear seal system is a shear seal 260. [00130] shear seal 260, which is shown in cross-section in figure 16a, is an elongate member having a planar elongate base 231 flanked by two elongate winglets 233. at the intersection of base 231 and each of the winglets 233, there is provided two opposed elongate seal walls 234 (individually referred to as seal walls 234a, 234b), joined to and extending away from base 231 in a diverging relationship at a divergence angle 7. where 7. < 180°, for example 7. < 90° or in the range of 40° < 7. < 50°. it is most preferred that 7. be the same, or nearly so, as the divergence angle s of the slot walls 244 shown in figure 11b. thus as shown in figure 16 a, the ends of the seal walls 234 distal from base 231 are further apart than the ends of the seal walls 234 proximate to base 231. [00131] at the end of seal wall 234b distal from base 231, seal wall 234b is joined to an elongate seal closure 237, a planar surface oriented at an upward angle a (relative to the planar orientation of base 231) away from seal wall 234b in a direction toward an elongate seal support 239, described below, with a < 90°. a planar cantilevered seal surface 257 is joined to the edge of seal closure 237 that is distal from seal wall 234b, as shown in figure 16a. [00132] at the end of seal wall 234a distal from base 231, seal wall 234a is joined to the elongate seal support 239. proximate to seal wall 234a, seal support 239 comprises an elongate planar region oriented parallel to base 231. distal from seal wall 234 a, seal support 239 comprises an elongate arcuate buttress region. the edge of the arcuate buttress region of seal support 239, which is distal from seal wall 234a, joins cantilevered seal surface 257 proximate to the junction of cantilevered seal surface 257 and seal closure 237 to define a hollow seal chamber 238. planar cantilevered seal surface 257 is oriented at an upward angle p away from the junction of arcuate buttress 235 and seal closure 237 and terminates at a free end 258, with < 90°, for example p > a. [00133] shear seal 260 is intended to be received in an elongate seal slot 240, shown for example in figure 16b, which has the same geometry as the seal slots 40 utilized to receive compression seals 230. shear seal 260 is dimensioned to snugly fit within slot 240, such that winglets 233 of seal 260 are received in grooves 242 of slot 240. an exemplary placement of a shear seal 260 is depicted in figure 16b, which shows a shear seal 260 placed within the slot 240 of a wall end interlock a 262, described further below. as can be seen, when shear seal 260 is properly positioned in slot 240, both seal wall 234a and seal wall 234b terminate below the level of exterior face 227 of wall end interlock a 262, with seal wall 234a (underlying planar cantilevered seal surface 257) terminating below the level at which seal wall 234b terminates. [00134] shear seal 260 is preferably utilized where two enclosure components 155 are laterally moved during unfolding, one over the other. in such an instance, the two enclosure components 155 are provided with paired enclosure component sealing structures, with one enclosure component sealing structure mounted on one of the enclosure components 155 (such as on an exterior edge), and the other enclosure component sealing structure mounted on the other of the enclosure component structures 155 (such as on an interior face). each of the paired enclosure component sealing structures has a shear seal 260, with the two shear seals 260 being oppositely oriented; that is to say, the cantilevered seal surface 257 of each is oriented away from the cantilevered seal surface 257 of the other, and each is oriented in the direction of relative movement. thus in the case of each of the two shear seals 260, the lateral movement of one enclosure component 155, relative to the other, is in the direction from seal wall 234b toward seal wall 234a. this lateral movement flattens the cantilevered seal surface 257, as well as the seal closure 237, and squeezes down each shear seal 260, such that its seal closure 237 and seal support 239 are urged into seal chamber 238. this permits the opposing planar exterior faces 227 of each of the two enclosure component sealing structures to come into full contact. at the same time, the cantilevered seal surface 257 and seal closure 237 of each shear seal 260 are urged into a generally coplanar relationship, with the planar exterior face 227 of the opposing enclosure component seal structure pressing against them, to create an elongate area of sealing. [00135] shear seal 260 can be fabricated from a resilient material, such as rubber or plastic, for example polyurethane. particular embodiments of enclosure component sealing structures utilizing the foregoing compression sealing system are described below. i. wall end interlock a (262), floor top interlock (261) sealing system [00136] figure 17 depicts in exploded form the junction between a floor top interlock 261 and a wall end interlock a 262, each shown in cross-section. the particular junction is shown for illustrative purposes between wall portion 200s-2 and floor portion 300b, with floor top interlock 261 positioned along the upper face of floor portion 300b adjacent first transverse floor edge 120, and with wall end interlock a 262 positioned on the bottom edge of wall portion 200s-2. in structure 150, wall portion 200s-2 in figure 17 is vertically oriented and floor portion 300b is horizontally oriented. [00137] in particular, floor top interlock 261 shown in figure 17 is a rigid elongate member that has an elongate seal plate 223 with an interior face 226 and an opposing planar exterior face 227. the exterior face 227 preferably is hard and smooth to provide a good sealing surface. seal plate 223 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the dimension of floor portion 300b coinciding with first transverse floor edge 120, so as to cover the top edge of floor portion 300b proximate to first transverse floor edge 120. seal plate 223 of floor top interlock 261 has a width the same, or substantially the same, as the width of wall portion 200s-2. the floor top interlock 261 preferably has a thickness “j” at its interior edge, as shown in figure 17, sufficient to accommodate the thickness of any protective layer 218 and/or flooring used to surface floor portion 300b, such as stone, wood or carpeting. [00138] as shown in figure 17, at the exterior edge of the interior face 226 of floor top interlock 261, adjacent first transverse floor edge 120, there is provided a series of elongate stepped locating ridges 254. these stepped locating ridges 254, which have a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of floor top interlock 261, mesh with the corresponding stepped locating ridges 253. shown on the wall end cap 221 depicted in figure 10. such a wall end cap 221 is located at the exterior edge of wall portion 300b, as indicated in figure 17 by dashed lines. [00139] still referring to figure 17, an elongate seal slot 240 is defined on the exterior face 227 of floor top interlock 261, proximate to the exterior edge of floor portion 300b (such exterior edge coincides with first transverse floor edge 120). seal slot 240 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of floor top interlock 261. [00140] floor top interlock 261 can be secured to the top edge of floor portion 300b at first transverse floor edge 120 shown in figure 17 for example by adhesive applied to interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of floor top interlock 261 and driven through the exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. [00141] wall end interlock a 262, also shown in figure 17, is a rigid elongate member that has an elongate seal plate 223 with an interior face 226 and an opposing exterior face 227. the exterior face 227 preferably is hard and smooth to provide a good sealing surface. the seal plate 223 of wall end interlock a 262 has a length and width the same, or substantially the same, as the length and width of the bottom edge of wall portion 200s-2, so as to cover the entirety, or substantially the entirety, of the bottom edge of wall portion 200s-2, as shown in in figure 17. [00142] at the mid-point of the interior face 226 of seal plate 223 of wall end interlock a 262, there is provided an elongate key 222, which has a rectangular cross section and a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of wall end interlock a 262. key 222 is received in a corresponding elongate slot formed in the exterior edge reinforcement positioned on the bottom edge of the wall portion 200s-2 to which wall end interlock a 262 is secured. [00143] again referring to figure 17, an elongate seal slot 240 is defined on the exterior face 227 of wall end interlock a 262, toward the interior edge of wall end interlock a 262 (distal from first transverse floor edge 120). this seal slot 240 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of wall end interlock a 262. additionally, each of the interior and exterior edges of wall end interlock a 262 define locating slots 229. in the case where the enclosure component 155, in this case wall portion 200s-2, utilizes the enclosure component laminate design shown in figure 7, locating slots 229 receive the edge portions of sheet metal layers 205 and 216, bent down at a ninety degree (90°) angle. [00144] wall end interlock a 262 can be fastened to the bottom edge of wall portion 200s-2 for example by adhesive applied to its interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of wall end interlock a 262 and driven through its exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. [00145] in figure 17, floor top interlock 261 mates with wall end interlock a 262. prior to mating, a shear seal 260 is placed in the seal slot 240 of floor top interlock 261, and a shear seal 260 is placed in the seal slot 240 of wall end interlock a 262. the shear seals 260 placed in the seals slots 240 of floor top interlock 261 and wall end interlock a 262 each has the same, or approximately the same, length as the slot 240 in which it is inserted. [00146] mating of floor top interlock 261 with wall end interlock a 262 occurs by the bottom edge of wall portion 200s-2 moving over the top surface of floor portion 300b, from a folded position to an unfolded position. thus in the arrangement shown in figure 17, such mating will correspond to a movement of wall portion 200s-2 from the right-hand side of the figure toward the left, with wall end interlock a 262 sliding over floor top interlock 261 until the fully unfolded position is reached. in that fully unfolded position, the shear seal 260 in floor top interlock 261, and particularly its seal surface 257, will be in pressing contact with the exterior face 227 of wall end interlock a 262; and the shear seal 260 in wall end interlock a 262, and particularly its seal surface 257, will be in pressing contact with the exterior face 227 of floor top interlock 261. consistent with this movement, the shear seal 260 placed in seal slot 240 of floor top interlock 261 is preferably oriented so that the free end 258 of its cantilevered seal surface 257 is directed toward the exterior edge of floor top interlock 261 (toward first transverse floor edge 120), and the shear seal 260 placed in the seal slot 240 of wall end interlock a 262 is preferably oriented so that the free end 258 of its cantilevered seal surface 257 is directed toward the interior edge of wall end interlock a 262 (away from first transverse floor edge 120). [00147] to facilitate mating, it is preferred that planar exterior face 227 of floor top interlock 261 not be parallel to the interior face 226 of floor top interlock 261, or to the top face of wall portion 300b, but rather be inclined downward, in the direction moving away from first transverse floor edge 120 at an angle y, as shown in figure 17. likewise, it is preferred that planar exterior face 227 of wall end interlock a 262 be inclined upward, in the direction moving toward first transverse floor edge 120, at the same angle y, as shown in figure 17. accordingly, when bottom edge of wall portion 200s-2 moves over the top surface of floor portion 300b, from a folded position to an unfolded position, the shear seals 260 located in slots 240 of floor top interlock 261 and wall end interlock a 262 will be compressed by the sliding movement of wall end interlock a 262 to provide two elongate sealing areas between floor portion 300b and wall portion 200s-2. also to facilitate mating, there is shown in figure 17 a step-down 268 on the exterior face 227 of wall end interlock a 262. step-down 268 is an abrupt reduction in the thickness of wall end interlock a 262, in the direction moving from the inside edge of wall end interlock a 262 toward the outside edge of wall end interlock a 262, which outside edge in the case of the junction depicted in figure 17 is proximate first transverse floor edge 120 when wall portion 200s-2 is in the fully unfolded position. step-down 268 is located between the slot 240 and the outside edge of wall end interlock a 262. there is also shown in figure 17 a corresponding step-up 269 on the exterior face 227 of floor top interlock 261. step-up 269 is an abrupt increase in the thickness of floor top interlock 261, in the direction moving from the inside edge of floor top interlock 261 toward the outside edge of floor top interlock 261, which outside edge in the case of the junction depicted in figure 17 is proximate first transverse floor edge 120 when floor portion 300b is in the fully unfolded position. step-up 269 is located between the slot 240 and the inside edge of floor top interlock 261 (distal from first transverse floor edge 120). step-down 268 and step-up 269 are appropriately located to act as a “stop” and insure correct alignment of wall end interlock a 262 with floor top interlock 261 as wall end interlock a 262 slides over floor top interlock 261. j. wall end interlock b (263), wall end interlock a (262) sealing system [00148] figure 18 depicts in exploded form the junction between a wall end interlock b 263 and a wall end interlock a 262, each shown in cross-section. the particular junction is shown for illustrative purposes between wall portion 200s-2 and wall component 200p, with wall end interlock b 263 positioned on the interior edge of wall component 200p proximate first transverse edge 108 and wall end interlock a 262 positioned on the vertical edge of wall portion 200s-2 proximate first longitudinal edge 106. in structure 150, wall portion 200s-2 depicted in figure 18 is vertically oriented and wall component 200p is vertically oriented. [00149] in particular, wall end interlock b 263 in figure 18 is an elongate member that has an elongate seal plate 223 with an elongate interior face 226 and an opposing elongate planar exterior face 227. the exterior face 227 preferably is hard and smooth to provide a good sealing surface. seal plate 223 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the height of wall component 200p when unfolded, so as to cover the interior edge of wall component 200p proximate to first transverse edge 108. seal plate 223 of wall end interlock b 263 has a width the same, or substantially the same, as the width of wall portion 200s-2. in general terms, the design of wall end interlock b 263 is substantially the same as floor top interlock 261 depicted in figure 17, except wall end interlock b 263 is thinner because it need not accommodate any flooring; for example, wall end interlock b 263 can have a thickness “i” (not shown in figure 18) at its interior edge equal to the thickness of an abutting protective layer 218, such as mgo board. [00150] still referring to figure 18, an elongate seal slot 240 is defined on the exterior face 227 of wall end interlock b 263, proximate the interior edge of wall component 200p positioned adjacent to first longitudinal edge 106. seal slot 240 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of wall end interlock b 263. [00151] wall end interlock b 263 can be secured to the interior edge of wall component 200p as shown in figure 18 for example by adhesive applied to interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of wall end interlock b 263 and driven through the exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. [00152] figure 18 additionally shows a wall end interlock a 262 positioned along the depicted vertical edge of wall portion 200s-2. the design of wall end interlock a 262 was previously disclosed in connection with figure 17. the seal plate 223 of the wall end interlock a 262 shown in figure 18 has a length and width the same, or substantially the same, as the length and width of the depicted vertical edge of wall portion 200s-2, so as to cover the entirety, or substantially the entirety, of that vertical edge of wall portion 200s-2, as shown in in figure 18. the elongate rectangular key 222 of wall end interlock a 262 shown in figure 18 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of that wall end interlock a 262. key 222 is received in a corresponding elongate slot formed in the exterior edge reinforcement positioned on the vertical edge of the wall portion 200s-2 to which wall end interlock a 262 is secured. the seal slot 240 of wall end interlock a 262 shown in figure 18 has a length the same, or substantially the same, as the length of that wall end interlock a 262. in the case where the enclosure component 155, in this case wall portion 200s-2, utilizes the enclosure component laminate design shown in figure 7, the locating slots 229 of wall end interlock a 262 shown in figure 18 receive the edge portions of sheet metal layers 205 and 216, bent down at a ninety degree (90°) angle. [00153] wall end interlock a 262 can be secured to the vertical edge of wall portion 200s-2 shown in figure 18 for example by adhesive applied to its interior face 226, or by fasteners, such as screw or nail fasteners, spaced apart along the length of wall end interlock a 262 and driven through its exterior face 227, or by utilizing a combination of adhesive and fasteners. [00154] in figure 18, wall end interlock a 262 mates with a wall end interlock b 263. prior to mating, a shear seal 260 is placed in the seal slot 240 of wall end interlock a 262, and a shear seal 260 is placed in the seal slot 240 of wall end interlock b 263. each of the shear seals 260 placed in the seals slots 240 of wall end interlock a 262 and a wall end interlock b 263 has the same, or approximately the same, length as the slot 240 in which it is inserted. [00155] mating of wall end interlock a 262 and a wall end interlock b 263 occurs by the vertical edge of wall portion 200s-2 depicted in figure 18 swinging toward and across the interior surface of wall component 200p, as wall portion 200s-2 moves from a folded position to an unfolded position. thus in the arrangement shown in figure 18, such mating will correspond to a movement of wall portion 200s-2 from the top of the figure toward the bottom, with wall end interlock a 262 sliding across wall end interlock b 263 until the fully unfolded position is reached. in that fully unfolded position, the shear seal 260 in wall end interlock a 262, and particularly its seal surface 257, will be in pressing contact with the exterior face 227 of wall end interlock b 263; and the shear seal 260 in wall end interlock b 263, and particularly its seal surface 257, will be in pressing contact with the exterior face 227 of wall end interlock a 262. consistent with this movement, the shear seal 260 placed in seal slot 240 of floor top interlock b 263 is preferably oriented so that the free end 258 of its cantilevered seal surface 257 is directed toward the exterior edge of wall end interlock b 263 (toward first transverse edge 108), and the shear seal 260 placed in the seal slot 240 of wall end interlock a 262 is preferably oriented so that the free end 258 of its cantilevered seal surface 257 is directed toward the interior edge of wall end interlock a 262 (away from first transverse edge 108). [00156] to facilitate mating, it is preferred that planar exterior face 227 of wall end interlock b 263 not be parallel to the interior face 226 of wall end interlock b or to the interior face of wall component 200p, but rather be inclined at an angle y, as shown in figure 17, so that seal plate 223 of wall end interlock b 263 becomes progressively thinner moving away from first transverse edge 108. likewise, it is preferred that planar exterior face 227 of wall end interlock a 262 be inclined at the same angle y, as shown in figure 17, so that seal plate 223 of wall end interlock a 262 becomes progressively thicker moving away from first transverse edge 108. accordingly, when vertical edge of wall portion 200s- 2 swings toward and across the interior surface of wall component 200p, from a folded position to an unfolded position, the shear seals 260 located in slots 240 of floor end interlock a 262 and wall end interlock b 263 will be compressed by the sliding movement of wall end interlock a 262 to provide two elongate sealing areas between wall component 200p and wall portion 200s-2. also to facilitate mating, as previously described a stepdown 268 is provided on the exterior face 227 of wall end interlock a 262. step-down 268 is an abrupt reduction in the thickness of wall end interlock a 262, in the direction moving from the inside edge of wall end interlock a 262 toward the outside edge of wall end interlock a 262, which outside edge in the case of the junction depicted in figure 18 is proximate first transverse edge 108 when wall portion 200s-2 is in the fully unfolded position. step-down 268 is positioned between the slot 240 and the outside edge of wall end interlock a 262 (proximate transverse edge 108), as depicted in figure 18. also as depicted in figure 18, a corresponding step-up 269 is provided on the exterior face 227 of wall end interlock b 263. step-up 269 is an abrupt increase in thickness of wall end interlock b 263, in the direction moving from the inside edge of wall end interlock b 263 toward the outside edge of wall end interlock b 263, which outside edge in the case of the junction depicted in figure 18 is proximate first transverse edge 108. step-up 269 is positioned between the slot 240 and the inside edge of wall end interlock b 263 (distal from first transverse edge 108). step-down 268 and step-up 269 are appropriately located to act as a “stop” and insure correct alignment of wall end interlock a 262 with wall end interlock b 263 as wall end interlock a 262 slides across wall end interlock b 263. k. closure boards [00157] the two closure boards of these inventions, namely perimeter board 310 and roof skirt board 280, are described below. [00158] perimeter board (310). the exterior edges of floor component 300, or portions thereof, are optionally provided with a perimeter board 310. [00159] figure 19a depicts in cross section an exemplary positioning of perimeter board 310. in particular, perimeter board 310 is designed to be positioned against an i-beam end cap 221, in this instance the i-beam end cap 221 located on an exterior edge of floor portion 300a. perimeter board 310 includes an elongate seal plate 223 with an interior face 226 and an opposing exterior face 227. perimeter board 310 has such length as is desired, such as to span the entirety of the exterior edge of floor portion 300a. as shown in figure 19a, the width of perimeter board 310 can be sufficient to capture the thickness of the floor component 300a, or floor portion thereof against which it is positioned, plus a portion of the abutting wall component 200 or wall component portion. [00160] the interior face 226 of perimeter board 310 includes an elongate locating key 264, which is rectangular in cross section and dimensioned to be received in accessory slot 224 of i-beam end cap 221. locating key 264 can be the same length as the perimeter board 310, or can comprise space apart discrete segments. the interior face 226 of perimeter board 310 in figure 19a also includes a plurality of elongate clearance slots 266, rectangular in cross section in the embodiment shown, and having a length the same as, or substantially the same as, the length of perimeter board 310. clearance slots 266 are preferably located so as to be positioned over locating grooves 225 of i-beam end cap 221 when locating key 264 is received in accessory slot 224. when so located, clearance slots 266 provide space for fastener heads driven into locating grooves 225 of i-beam end cap 221 so that perimeter board 310 can be snugly positioned against i-beam end cap 221. [00161] the exterior face 227 of perimeter board 310 depicted in figure 19 a includes two elongate fastener slots 265, each of which has a dovetail shape in cross section in the embodiment shown, and a length the same as, or substantially the same as, the length of perimeter board 310. a locating groove 225 is provided in each fastener slot 265, so as to facilitate the accurate positioning of nails or other fasteners utilized to secure perimeter board 310 to abutting components. [00162] figure 19b depicts in cross section the positioning of i-beam end cap 221, floor top plate 252, wall end cap 246 and perimeter board 310 relative to each other at a junction between wall component 200r and floor portion 300a. as can be seen, perimeter board 310 masks this junction from external view to achieve a more attractive appearance, as well as providing an additional barrier against the ingress of soil, dust, rain and the like. a resilient strip 267, such as those shown in figure 19b, can be snapped into each of the fastener slots 265 to cover any nail or fastener heads exposed in those slots. [00163] roof skirt board. the exterior edges of roof component 400, or portions thereof, are optionally provided with a roof skirt board 280. [00164] figure 20 depicts in cross section an exemplary positioning of roof skirt board 280. in particular, roof skirt board 280 is designed to be positioned against an i-beam end cap 221, in this instance the i-beam end cap 221 located on an exterior edge of roof portion 400a. roof skirt board 280 includes an elongate seal plate 223 with an interior face 226 and an opposing exterior face 227. roof skirt board 280 has such length as is desired, such as to span the entirety of the exterior edge of roof portion 400a. as shown in figure 20, the width of roof skirt board 280 can be sufficient to capture the thickness of the roof component 400, or portion thereof against which it is positioned, plus a portion of the abutting wall component 200 or wall portion. [00165] the interior face 226 of roof skirt board 280 includes an elongate cinch key 278, which is preferably serpentine in cross section and dimensioned to be received in accessory slot 224 of i-beam end cap 221. cinch key 278 can be the same length as the perimeter board 310, or can comprise space apart discrete segments. in turn, the exterior face 227 of roof skirt board 280 includes an elongate fastener slot 265 positioned over cinch key 278. fastener slot 265 has a dovetail shape in cross section in the embodiment shown, and a length the same as, or substantially the same as, the length of roof skirt board 280. an elongate locating groove 225 is provided in the fastener slot 265 of roof skirt board 280, and provides a visual indication of where to place fasteners during construction. [00166] roof skirt board 280 facilitates the securing of roofing material, such as thermoplastic polyolefin membrane, to wall components 200. after fully unfolding the roof portions, such roofing material is optionally used to cover the top of roof component 400. the roofing material extending beyond roof component 400 is then folded down to extend between exterior face 227 of i-beam end cap 221 of roof portion 400a shown in figure 20 and interior face 226 of roof skirt board 280. after the roofing material is so positioned, nails or other fasteners are driven at spaced intervals along locating groove 225, to press roof skirt board 280 against the roofing material and secure the roofing material in place between roof skirt board 280 and i-beam end cap 221. cinch key 278, if provided with a serpentine or like cross section, provides additional area so as to better capture the roofing material. an elongate resilient strip 267, such as the one shown in figure 20, can be snapped into fastener slot 265 to cover any nail or fastener heads exposed in this slot. enclosure component sealing structure materials [00167] the enclosure component sealing structures described herein can be fabricated from a number of materials, such as wood, aluminum, plastics and the like. it is preferred to fabricate the enclosure component sealing structures from foamed polyvinyl chloride (pvc), particularly celuka foamed pvc. this material provides a strong, impact and crack-resistant lightweight material with a hard attractive exterior, which, in addition to contributing a sealing function, additionally contributes to the structural rigidity of the enclosure components 155. enclosure component sealing structure exemplary placements [00168] the exploded views in figures 8a and 8b of structure 150 depicted in figure 1 provide exemplary placements of the enclosure component sealing structures described herein. for illustrative purposes to better understand some of these exemplary placements, certain of the enclosure component sealing structures shown in figures 8a and 8b are shown slightly separated from the enclosure component 155 to which they are fastened. [00169] referring to figure 8 a, i-beam end caps 221 can be utilized to seal the horizontal exterior edges of floor portion 300a (three placements), floor portion 300b (three placements), roof portion 300a (three placements), roof portion 300b (two placements) and roof portion 300c (three placements). further, as shown in figure 8b and in detail in figure 12, the hinged junction between wall portion 200s- 1 and 200s-2 can be sealed by positioning a wall end cap 246 on the vertical edge of wall portion 200s- 1 and a wall vertical interlock 245 on the vertical edge of wall portion 200s-2. likewise, the hinged vertical junction between wall portion 200s-3 and 200s-4 can be sealed as shown in figure 8b by positioning a wall end cap 246 on the hinged vertical edge of wall portion 200s-3 and a wall vertical interlock 245 on the hinged vertical edge of wall portion 200s-4. [00170] in addition, as shown in figures 8 a and 8b, and in detail in figure 13, the horizontal junction between wall component 200r and roof portion 400a can be sealed by positioning a roof bottom plate 255 on the bottom face of roof portion 400a overlying wall component 200r and by positioning a wall end cap 246 on the horizontal edge of wall component 200r, which supports roof portion 400a. a like seal arrangement can be used to seal the horizontal junctions between roof portions 400a, 400b and 400c, and wall portions 200s- 1 through 200s -4 (unfolded roof portion 400b will rest on unfolded wall portion 200s-2 and also on a section of wall portion 200s-l, as can be appreciated from figure 3), as well as to seal the horizontal junction between roof portion 400c and wall component 200p. the two vertical exterior edges of wall component 200r can each be sealed by positioning on each of them a wall end cap 246. [00171] in a comparable manner, as shown in figures 8 a, 8b and in detail in figure 15, the horizontal junction between wall component 200r and floor portion 300a can be sealed by positioning a wall end cap 246 on the horizontal edge of wall component 200r resting on floor portion 300a and by positioning on the top face of floor portion 300a underlying wall component 200r a floor top plate 252. a like seal arrangement can be used to seal the horizontal junctions between floor portion 300b and wall component 200p, and between floor portion 300a and wall portions 200s-l and 200s-3, up to the point where wall portion 200s- 1 meets wall portion 200s-2, and up to the point where wall portion 200s-3 meets wall portion 200s-4. the two vertical exterior edges of wall component 200p can be sealed by positioning on each of them a wall end cap 246. [00172] furthermore, the hinged horizontal junction between roof portion 400b and roof portion 400c, as shown in figure 8a and in detail in figure 14, can be sealed by positioning an i-beam interlock a 250 on interior edge 412c of roof portion 400c, and an i-beam interlock b 251 on first interior edge 412b of roof portion 400b. similarly, the hinged horizontal junction between roof portion 400a and roof portion 400b shown in figure 8 a can be sealed by positioning an i-beam interlock a 250 on second interior edge 412b of roof portion 400b, and an i-beam interlock b 251 on interior edge 412a of roof portion 400a. in like manner, the hinged horizontal junction between floor portion 300a and floor portion 300b can be sealed by positioning an i-beam interlock a 250 on the interior edge 301b of floor portion 300b and an i-beam interlock b 251 on the interior edge 301a of floor portion 300a. [00173] referring now to figures 8a, 8b and in detail to figure 17, the horizontal junction between wall portion 200s-2 and floor portions 300a and 300b can be sealed by positioning a wall end interlock a 262 on the bottom edge of wall portion 200s-2 and a floor top interlock 261 on the regions of the upper face of floor portions 300a and 300b underlying wall portion 200s-2 when wall portion 200s-2 is in its fully unfolded position. the horizontal junction between wall portion 200s-4 and floor portions 300a and 300b when wall portion 200s-4 in its fully unfolded position can be sealed similarly. [00174] finally, referring to figure 8b and in detail to figure 18, the vertical junction between wall portion 200s-2 and wall component 200p can be sealed by positioning a wall end interlock a 262 on the vertical edge of wall portion 200s-2 that is adjacent to wall component 200p when both wall portion 200s-2 and wall component 200p are in their fully unfolded positons, and by positioning a wall end interlock b 263 on the region of the interior face of wall component 200p that is adjacent wall portion 200s-2 when both wall portion 200s-2 and wall component 200p are in their fully unfolded positions. the vertical junction between wall portion 200s-4 and wall component 200p can be sealed in like manner. enclosure component manufacture [00175] for enclosure components 155 having the construction disclosed herein in reference to figure 7, the metal sheets 206 and 217 that can be used to form first structural layer 210 and second structural layer 215 respectively can be entirely flat and juxtaposed in a simple abutting relationship. optionally, metal sheets 206 and 217 can be provided with edge structures that facilitate placement of sheets and panels during manufacture. [00176] particular edge structure designs for metal sheets 206 and 217 are described in u.s. nonprovisional patent application no. 17/504,883 entitled “sheet/panel design for enclosure component manufacture,” having the same inventors as the inventions described herein and filed on october 19, 2021. the contents of u.s. nonprovisional patent application no. 17/504,883 entitled “sheet/panel design for enclosure component manufacture,” having the same inventors as the inventions described herein and filed on october 19, 2021, are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, particularly including the exterior and interior edge structure designs described for example at paragraphs 00187-00205 and 00212 and in figures 8, 9a-9c, 23a-23j and 24a-24b thereof. [00177] a facility suitable for manufacturing the enclosure components 155 of the present invention, as well as exemplary manufacturing steps, are also described in u.s. nonprovisional patent application no. 17/504,883 entitled “sheet/panel design for enclosure component manufacture,” having the same u.s. nonprovisional patent application no. 17/504,883 entitled “sheet/panel design for enclosure component manufacture,” having the same inventors as the inventions described herein and filed on october 19, 2021, are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, particularly including the facility suitable for manufacturing the enclosure components 155 of the present invention, as well as exemplary manufacturing steps, described for example at paragraphs 00178-00186 and 00206-00222, and in figures 22, 23a-23j and 24a-24b. enclosure component relationships and assembly for transport [00178] for ease of transport and maximum design flexibility, it is preferred that there be a specific dimensional relationship among enclosure components 155. [00179] figure 2 shows a top schematic view of structure 150 shown in figure 1, and includes a geometrical orthogonal grid for clarity of explaining the preferred dimensional relationships among its enclosure components 155. the basic length used for dimensioning is indicated as “e” in figure 2; the orthogonal grid overlaid in figure 2 is 8e long and 8e wide; notably, the entire structure 150, including perimeter boards 310, preferably is bounded by this 8e by 8e orthogonal grid. [00180] roof portions 400a, 400b and 400c each can be identically dimensioned in the transverse direction. alternatively, referring to figure 3, roof portion 400c (which is stacked upon roof portions 400a and 400b when roof portions 400b, 400c are fully folded) can be dimensioned to be larger than either of roof portion 400a and roof portion 400b in the transverse direction for example, by ten to fifteen percent, or by at least the aggregate thickness of roof components 400a and 400b. this transverse direction dimensional increase is to reduce the chances of binding during the unfolding of roof portions 400b, 400c. in addition, as described in u.s. nonprovisional patent application no. 16/786,315, entitled “equipment and methods for erecting a transportable foldable building structure,” and filed on february 10, 2020, friction-reducing components can be used to facilitate unfolding roof component 400, such as by positioning a first wheel caster at the leading edge of roof portion 400c proximate to the comer of roof portion 400c that is supported by wall portion 200s-2 as roof portion 400c is deployed, and by positioning a second similar wheel caster at the leading edge of roof portion 400c proximate to the corner of roof portion 400c that is supported by wall portion 200s-4 as roof portion 400c is deployed. in such a case, roof portion 400c can be dimensioned larger than either of roof portions 400a and 400b in the transverse direction by at least the aggregate thickness of roof components 400a and 400b, less the length of the first or second wheel caster. [00181] in figure 2, the four wall components 200 are each approximately 8e long, and each of roof portions 400a and 400b is approximately 8e long and 2.5e wide. roof portion 400c is approximately 8e long and 2.9e wide. in figures 2 and 3, each of floor components 300a and 300b is 8h long; whereas floor component 300a is just over 3e wide and floor component 300b is just under 5e wide. [00182] the shipping module 100 shown edge-on in figure 3 includes a fixed space portion 102 defined by roof component 400a, floor component 300a, wall component 200r, wall portion 200s- 1 and wall portion 200s-3. as shown in figure 2, second wall portion 200s-2 is folded inward and positioned generally against fixed space portion 102, and fourth wall portion 200s-4 is folded inward and positioned generally against second wall portion 200s -2 (wall portions 200s -2 and 200s -4 are respectively identified in figure 2 as portions 200s-2f and 200s-4f when so folded and positioned). the three roof components 400a, 400b and 400c are shown unfolded in figure 1 and shown folded (stacked) in figure 3, with roof component 400b stacked on top of roof component 400a, and roof component 400c stacked on top of the roof component 400b. wall component 200p, shown in figures 2 and 3, is pivotally secured to floor portion 300b at the location of axis 105, and is vertically positioned against the outside of wall portions 200s-2 and 200s-4. in turn, floor portion 300b is vertically positioned proximate fixed space portion 102, with wall component 200p pending from floor portion 300b between floor portion 300b and wall portions 200s-2 and 200s-4. [00183] sizing the enclosure components 155 of structure 150 according to the dimensional relationships disclosed above yields a compact shipping module 100, as can be seen from the figures. thus shipping module 100 depicted in figure 3, when dimensioned according to the relationships disclosed herein using an “e” dimension (see figure 2) of approximately 28.625 inches (72.7 cm), and when its components are stacked and positioned as shown in figure 3, has an overall length of approximately 19 feet (5.79 m), an overall width of approximately 8.5 feet (2.59 meters) and an overall height of approximately 12.7 feet (3.87 meters). these overall dimensions are less than a typical shipping container. [00184] it is preferred that the fixed space portion 102 be in a relatively finished state prior to positioning (folding) together of the all other wall, roof and floor portions as described above. in the embodiment shown in figures 1 and 2, wall components 200 are fitted during manufacture and prior to shipment with all necessary door and window assemblies, with the enclosure components 155 being pre-wired, and fixed space portion 102 is fitted during manufacture with all mechanical and other functionality that structure 150 will require, such as kitchens, bathrooms, closets and other interior partitions, storage areas, corridors, etc. carrying out the foregoing steps prior to shipment permits the builder, in effect, to erect a largely finished structure 150 simply by “unfolding” (deploying) the positioned components of shipping module 100. [00185] each of the wall, floor and roof components 200, 300 and 400, and/or the portions thereof, can be sheathed in protective film 177 during fabrication and prior to forming the shipping module 100. alternatively or in addition, the entire shipping module 100 can be sheathed in a protective film. such protective films can remain in place until after the shipping module 100 is at the construction site, and then removed as required to facilitate enclosure component deployment and finishing. shipping module transport [00186] the shipping module 100 is shipped to the building site by appropriate transport means. one such transport means is disclosed in u.s. patent no. 11,007,921, issued may 18, 2021; the contents of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, particularly as found at paragraphs 0020-0035 and in figures 1a-2d thereof. as an alternative transport means, shipping module 100 can be shipped to the building site by means of a conventional truck trailer or a low bed trailer (also referred to as a lowboy trailer), and in the case of over-the-water shipments, by ship. structure deployment and finishing [00187] at the building site, shipping module 100 is positioned over its desired location, such as over a prepared foundation; for example, a poured concrete slab, a poured concrete or cinder block foundation, sleeper beams or concrete posts or columns. this can be accomplished by using a crane, either to lift shipping module 100 from its transport and move it to the desired location, or by positioning the transport means over the desired location, lifting shipping module 100, then moving the transport means from the desired location, and then lowering shipping module 100 to a rest state at the desired location. particularly suitable equipment and techniques for facilitating the positioning of a shipping module 100 at the desired location are disclosed in u.s. nonprovisional patent application no. 16/786,315, entitled “equipment and methods for erecting a transportable foldable building structure,” and filed on february 10, 2020. the contents of that u.s. nonprovisional patent application no. 16/786,315, entitled “equipment and methods for erecting a transportable foldable building structure,” and filed on february 10, 2020, are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, particularly including the equipment and techniques described for example at paragraphs 00126-00128 and in connection with figures 11a and 11b thereof. [00188] following positioning of shipping module 100 at the building site, the appropriate portions of wall, floor and roof components 200, 300 and 400 are “unfolded” (i.e., deployed) to yield structure 150. unfolding occurs in the following sequence: (1) floor portion 300b is pivotally rotated about horizontal axis 305 (shown in figures 3 and 4) to an unfolded position, (2) wall component 200p is pivotally rotated about horizontal axis 105 (shown in figure 3 behind perimeter board 312) to an unfolded position, (3) wall portions 200s-2 and 200s-4 are pivotally rotated about vertical axes 192 and 194 (shown in figure 2) respectively to unfolded positions, and (4) roof portions 400b and 400c are pivotally rotated about horizontal axes 405 a and 405b (shown in figures 3 and 4) respectively to unfolded positions. [00189] a mobile crane can be used to assist in the deployment of certain of the enclosure components 155, specifically roof portions 400b and 400c, floor portion 300b, as well as the wall component 200p pivotally secured to floor portion 300b. alternatively, particularly suitable equipment and techniques for facilitating the deployment of enclosure components 155 are disclosed in u.s. nonprovisional patent application no. 16/786,315, entitled “equipment and methods for erecting a transportable foldable building structure,” and filed on february 10, 2020. the contents of that u.s. nonprovisional patent application no. 16/786,315, entitled “equipment and methods for erecting a transportable foldable building structure,” and filed on february 10, 2020, are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, particularly including the equipment and techniques described for example at paragraphs 00132-00145 and depicted in figures 12a-14b thereof. [00190] after unfolding, the enclosure components 155 are secured together to finish the structure 150 that is shown in figure 1. perimeter board 312 and roof skirt board 280 provide structures for securing wall, floor and roof components in their deployed positions. if any temporary hinge structures have been utilized, then these temporary hinge structures can be removed if desired and the enclosure components 155 can be secured together. during or after unfolding and securing of the enclosure components 155, any remaining finishing operations are performed, such as addition of roofing material, and making hookups to electrical, fresh water and sewer lines to complete structure 150, as relevant here. [00191] this disclosure should be understood to include (as illustrative and not limiting) the subject matter set forth in the following numbered clauses: clause 1. an end cap for securing to an edge of a building structure enclosure component comprising: (a) a planar elongate seal plate having an interior face, an opposed exterior face, a first edge, an opposed second edge and a thickness, the interior face adapted to be secured to the edge of the enclosure component; (b) an elongate key on the interior face of the seal plate; (c) an elongate accessory slot defined in the exterior face of the seal plate of a depth less than the thickness of the seal plate; (d) a first locating slot extending from the first edge of the seal plate inwardly into the thickness of the seal plate toward the second edge; and (e) a second locating slot extending from the second edge of the seal plate inwardly into the thickness of the seal plate toward the first edge. clause 2. the end cap of clause 1, wherein the exterior face defines at least one elongate locating groove positioned between the elongate accessory slot and the first edge or the second edge. clause 3. the end cap of either clause 1 or 2, further comprising a first locating ridge at the first edge of the seal plate proximate to the first locating slot. clause 4. the end cap of clause 3, further comprising a second locating ridge at the second edge of the seal plate proximate to the second locating slot. clause 5. the end cap of any one of clause 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein an edge of the first locating slot proximate the interior face of the seal plate terminates an inset distance from the first edge of the seal plate. clause 6. the end cap of any one of clause 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein the seal plate is foamed polyvinyl chloride. clause 7. an enclosure component comprising: (a) a planar laminate having an elongate edge and including (i) a planar foam panel layer having a first face and an opposed second face, (ii) a planar first metal layer bonded to the first face of the planar foam panel layer, and (iii) a planar second metal layer bonded to the second face of the planar foam panel layer; (b) a planar elongate edge reinforcement having an interior face positioned on the edge of the planar laminate and an opposed exterior face in which is defined an elongate slot; (c) a planar elongate seal plate having an interior face, an opposed exterior face, a first edge, an opposed second edge and a thickness, the interior face of the seal plate positioned proximate to the exterior face of the edge reinforcement, with an elongate key on the interior face of the seal plate positioned in the elongate slot of the edge reinforcement; and (d) an elongate accessory slot defined in the exterior face of the seal plate of a depth less than the thickness of the seal plate. clause 8. the enclosure component of clause 7, further comprising: (e) a first locating slot extending from the first edge of the seal plate inwardly into the thickness of the seal plate toward the second edge; and (f) a second locating slot extending from the second edge of the seal plate inwardly into the thickness of the seal plate toward the first edge. clause 9. the enclosure component of either clause 7 or clause 8, wherein the exterior face of the seal plate defines at least one elongate locating groove positioned between the accessory slot and the first edge or the second edge. clause 10. the enclosure component of any one of clause 7, 8 or 9, further comprising a first locating ridge at the first edge of the seal plate proximate to the first locating slot. clause 11. the enclosure component of clause 10, further comprising a second locating ridge at the second edge of the seal plate proximate to the second locating slot. clause 12. the enclosure component of any one of clause 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11, wherein the edge reinforcement is selected from the group consisting of laminated strand lumber board and wooden board and the seal plate is foamed polyvinyl chloride. clause 13. a perimeter board comprising: (a) a planar elongate perimeter plate having an interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge; (b) an elongate key on the interior face of the perimeter plate adapted to be received in an elongate accessory slot defined in an exterior face of an elongate seal plate; (c) an elongate clearance slot defined in the interior face of the perimeter plate positioned between the key and the first edge, or between the key and the second edge; and (d) an elongate fastener slot defined in the first exterior face of the perimeter plate. clause 14. the perimeter board of clause 13, wherein there is an elongate locating groove defined in the portion of the exterior face of the first seal plate defining the fastener slot. clause 15. the perimeter board of clause 13, wherein the fastener slot is dovetail shaped in cross section. clause 16. the perimeter board of clause 14, wherein the fastener slot is dovetail shaped in cross section. clause 17. the perimeter board of clause 13, further comprising an elongate resilient strip snapped into the fastener slot. clause 18. the perimeter board of either of clause 14 or clause 15, further comprising an elongate resilient strip snapped into the fastener slot. clause 19. the perimeter board of clause 16, further comprising an elongate resilient strip snapped into the fastener slot. clause 20. the perimeter board of any one of clause 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19, wherein the perimeter plate is foamed polyvinyl chloride. clause 21. a perimeter seal assembly comprising: (a) an end cap comprising: (i) a planar elongate seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, the first interior face adapted to be secured to an edge of an enclosure component; (ii) an elongate seal key on the first interior face of the seal plate; and (iii) an elongate accessory slot defined in the first exterior face; and (b) a perimeter board comprising: (i) a planar elongate perimeter plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face; (ii) the second interior face positioned proximate to the first exterior face, with an elongate accessory key on the second interior face received in the accessory slot defined in the first exterior face; (iii) an elongate fastener slot defined in the second exterior face; and (d) an elongate clearance slot defined in the second interior face of the perimeter plate positioned between the accessory key and the first edge, or between the accessory key and the second edge. clause 22. the perimeter seal assembly of clause 21, wherein the first exterior face defines at least one elongate locating groove positioned between the accessory slot and the first edge or the second edge. clause 23. the perimeter seal assembly of clause 22, wherein the clearance slot defined in the second interior face is positioned over the locating groove defined in the first exterior face. clause 24. the perimeter seal assembly of any one of clause 21, 22 or 23, wherein one or both of the end cap and perimeter board is foamed polyvinyl chloride. clause 25. a roof skirt board comprising: (a) a planar elongate skirt plate having a first interior face and an opposed first exterior face; (b) an elongate cinch key positioned on the first interior face of the skirt plate and adapted to be received in an elongate accessory slot defined in a second exterior face of a planar elongate seal plate, with the cinch key having a serpentine cross section; and (c) a portion of the first exterior face of the skirt plate defining a fastener slot that is positioned proximate to the cinch key positioned on the first interior face. clause 26. the roof skirt board of clause 25, wherein there is an elongate locating groove defined in the portion of the first exterior face of the skirt plate defining the fastener slot. clause 27. the roof skirt board of either of clause 25 or 26, wherein the fastener slot is dovetail shaped in cross section. clause 28. the roof skirt board of any one of clause 25, 26 or 27, further comprising an elongate resilient strip snapped into the fastener slot. clause 29. the roof skirt board of any one of clause 25, 26, 27 or 28, wherein the first seal plate is foamed polyvinyl chloride. clause 30. a roof seal assembly comprising: (a) an end cap comprising: (i) a planar elongate seal plate having a first interior face and an opposed first exterior face, the first interior face adapted to be secured to an edge of an enclosure component; (ii) an elongate seal key on the first interior face; and (iii) an elongate accessory slot defined in the first exterior face; and (b) a roof skirt board comprising: (i) a planar elongate skirt plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face; (ii) the second interior face positioned proximate to the first exterior face, with an elongate cinch key on the second interior face of the skirt plate received in the accessory slot defined in the first exterior face of the seal plate, and with the cinch key having a serpentine cross section; and (iii) an elongate fastener slot defined in the second exterior face of the skirt plate positioned proximate to the cinch key positioned on the second interior face. clause 31. the roof seal assembly of claim 30 where one or both of the end cap and roof skirt board is foamed polyvinyl chloride. clause 32. a sealing system for abutting regions of building structure enclosure components, comprising: (a) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face and an opposed first exterior face, the first interior face adapted to be secured to an enclosure component, and the first exterior face defining an elongate seal slot; (b) the first seal plate adapted to mate with a planar elongate second seal plate, with the first exterior face positioned in proximity with a second exterior face of the second seal plate; (c) an elongate resilient compression seal positioned in the elongate seal slot, the elongate resilient compression seal having a hollow seal chamber and comprising: (1) an elongate base; (2) an elongate first seal wall joined to the base, and an opposed elongate second seal wall joined to the base, the first and second seal walls extending away from the base in a diverging relationship; (3) an elongate first arcuate buttress joined to an end of the first seal wall distal from the base, and an elongate second arcuate buttress joined to an end of the second seal wall distal from the base; (4) an elongate planar first seal surface joined to an end of the first arcuate buttress distal from the first seal wall, and an elongate planar second seal surface joined to an end of the second arcuate buttress distal from the second seal wall, the first seal surface and the second seal surface each extending away at an angle from the first arcuate buttress and the second arcuate buttress respectively in a converging relationship; and (5) an elongate seal closure having a first closure end joined to an end of the first seal surface distal from the first arcuate buttress and a second closure end joined to an end of the second seal surface distal from the second arcuate buttress; and wherein the base, the first and second seal walls, the first and second arcuate buttresses, the first and second seal surfaces and the seal closure define the hollow seal chamber. clause 33. the sealing system of clause 32, wherein the base of the compression seal has an arched section arched inwardly toward the seal chamber. clause 34. the sealing system of clause 33, wherein the arched section of the base has a first end and an opposed second end, and the base further comprises an elongate first winglet extending from the first end of the arched section and an elongate second winglet extending from the second end of the arched section. clause 35. the sealing system of any one of clause 32, 33 or 34, wherein the first and second seal walls extend away from the base at a divergence angle 0, where 0 < 90°. clause 36. the sealing system of clause 35, wherein the divergence angle 0 is in the range of 40° < 0 < 50°. clause 37. the sealing system of any one of clause 32, 33, 34, 35 or 36, wherein the first and second seal surfaces extend away from the first arcuate buttress and the second arcuate buttress respectively at a convergence angle 6 of about 90°. clause 38. the sealing system of any one of clause 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 or 37, wherein the seal slot has an elongate planar floor section with a first end and an opposed second end, with a first lateral groove extending away from the first end of the seal slot and a second lateral groove extending away from the second end of the seal slot. clause 39. the sealing system of clause 34, wherein the seal slot has an elongate planar floor section with a first end and an opposed second end, a first lateral groove extends away from the first end of the seal slot, a second lateral groove extends away from the second end of the seal slot, the first winglet is positioned in the first lateral groove and the second winglet is positioned in the second lateral groove. clause 40. the sealing system of clause 32, wherein the seal slot is further defined by an elongate first slot wall extending away from the floor section from a first location, an elongate second slot wall extending away from the floor section from an opposed second location, and the first and second slot walls extend away from the floor section in a diverging relationship. clause 41. the sealing system of clause 40, wherein the first and second slot walls extend away from the floor section at a divergence angle s, where s < 90°. clause 42. the sealing system of clause 41, wherein the divergence angle s is in the range of 40° < s < 50°. clause 43. the sealing system of clause 35, wherein the seal slot is further defined by an elongate first slot wall extending away from the floor section from a first location, an elongate second slot wall extending away from the floor section from an opposed second location, and the first and second slot walls extend away from the floor section at a divergence angle s equal to the divergence angle 0. clause 44. the sealing system of any one of clause 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 or 43, wherein the seal closure is curved in shape inwardly toward the seal chamber. clause 45. the sealing system of any one of clause 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 or 44, wherein the first seal plate is foamed polyvinyl chloride. clause 46. a seal assembly for abutting regions of building structure enclosure components, comprising: (a) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, the first interior face being adapted to be secured to a first enclosure component, with (i) an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, and (ii) an elongate interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; (b) a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, the second interior face being adapted to be secured to a second enclosure component, the second seal plate adapted to mate with the first seal plate with the second exterior face in proximity with the first exterior face of the first seal plate; the second seal plate including an elongate interlock key on the second exterior face which is adapted to be received in the interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate when the first and second seal plates mate; and (c) an elongate resilient first compression seal positioned in the elongate first seal slot and adapted to be in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate when the first and second seal plates mate, the first compression seal having a hollow seal chamber. clause 47. the seal assembly of clause 46, wherein the first compression seal (c) comprises: (1) an elongate base; (2) an elongate first seal wall joined to the base, and an opposed elongate second seal wall joined to the base, the first and second seal walls extending away from the base in a diverging relationship; (3) an elongate first buttress joined to an edge of the first seal wall distal from the base, and an elongate second buttress joined to an edge of the second seal wall distal from the base; (4) an elongate planar first seal surface joined to an edge of the first buttress distal from the first seal wall, and an elongate planar second seal surface joined to an edge of the second buttress distal from the second seal wall, the first seal surface and the second seal surface each extending away at an angle from the first buttress and the second buttress respectively in a converging relationship; and (5) an elongate seal closure having a first edge joined to an edge of the first seal surface distal from the first arcuate buttress and a second edge joined to an edge of the second seal surface distal from the second buttress; wherein the base, the first and second seal walls, the first and second buttresses, the first and second seal surfaces and the seal closure define the hollow seal chamber. clause 48. the sealing system of either of clause 46 or 47, wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate second seal slot, with the interlock slot positioned between the first seal slot and the second seal slot, and further comprising an elongate resilient second compression seal positioned in the elongate second seal slot and adapted to be in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate when the second exterior face is in proximity with the first exterior face, the second compression seal having a hollow seal chamber. clause 49. the sealing system of any one of clause 46, 47 or 48, further comprising an elongate coupling inset defined in the first exterior face at each of the first and second edges of the first seal plate, an elongate coupling ridge extending from the second exterior face at each of the first and second edges of the second seal plate, the coupling inset at the first edge of the first seal plate adapted to mate with the coupling ridge at the first edge of the second seal plate, and the coupling inset at the second edge of the first seal plate adapted to mate with the coupling ridge at the second edge of the second seal plate, when the first and second seal plates mate. clause 50. the sealing system of any one of clause 46, 47, 48 or 49, further comprising a series of elongate stepped locating ridges extending from the first interior face at the first edge of the first seal plate. clause 51. the sealing system of clause 48, wherein the first exterior face of the first seal plate further defines an elongate third seal slot, with the third seal slot positioned between the interlock slot and the second seal slot, and further comprising an elongate resilient third compression seal positioned in the elongate third seal slot and adapted to be in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate when the first and second seal plates mate, the third compression seal having a hollow seal chamber. clause 52. the sealing system of any one of clause 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 or 51, wherein each of the first and second seal plates is foamed polyvinyl chloride. clause 53. an enclosure component assembly comprising: (a) a first planar laminate having an elongate edge, a first face and an opposed second face; (b) a planar elongate first seal plate having an interior face, an opposed exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; and (c) the interior face of the first seal plate secured to the first face of the planar laminate proximate the edge. clause 54. the enclosure component assembly of clause 53, further comprising flooring having a flooring thickness disposed on the first face of the first planar laminate, and wherein the first seal plate has a thickness at least equal to the flooring thickness. clause 55. the enclosure component assembly of clause 53, further comprising: (d) a second planar laminate have an elongate edge, a first face and an opposed second face; (e) a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, the second interior face secured to the edge of the second planar laminate and including an interlock key; (f) the first seal plate mating with the second seal plate, with the second exterior face in proximity with the first exterior face and the interlock key received in the interlock slot. clause 56. the enclosure component assembly of clause 55, further comprising an elongate seal slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate between the interlock slot and the first edge, and an elongate resilient compression seal positioned in the first seal slot in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate, the compression seal having a hollow seal chamber. clause 57. the enclosure component assembly of either of clause 55 or 56, in which either or both of the first and second seal plates is foamed polyvinyl chloride. clause 58. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a first floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, the fixed wall portion having a fixed wall portion top edge, and (iii) a first roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; a second roof portion horizontally stacked in a second roof portion folded position on the first roof portion and pivotally connected thereto to permit the second roof portion to pivot, about a first horizontal axis relative to the first roof portion, from the second roof portion folded position to a second roof portion unfolded position, the second roof portion having a planar interior surface; a third roof portion horizontally stacked in a third roof portion folded position on the second roof portion and pivotally connected thereto to permit the third roof portion to pivot, about a second horizontal axis relative to the second roof portion, from the third roof portion folded position to a third roof portion unfolded position, the third roof portion having a planar interior surface; a second floor portion vertically positioned in a second floor portion folded position opposite to the first wall component and pivotally connected to the first floor portion to permit the second floor portion to pivot, about a third horizontal axis relative to the first floor portion, from the second floor portion folded position to a second floor portion unfolded position; a third wall component vertically positioned in a third wall component folded position against the second floor portion, the third wall component pivotally connected to the second floor portion to permit the third wall portion to pivot, about a fourth horizontal axis relative to the second floor portion, from the third wall component folded position to a third wall component unfolded position; the second wall component additionally including a planar pivoting wall portion with a pivoting portion top edge, the pivoting wall portion (i) disposed in a pivoting portion folded position against the third wall component in the third wall component folded position and (ii) pivotally connected to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component to permit the pivoting wall portion to pivot, about a vertical axis relative to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component, from the pivoting portion folded position to a pivoting portion unfolded position in which the pivoting portion top edge is positioned under the interior surfaces of the second and third roof portions when the second and third roof portions are in their unfolded positions; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, an elongate resilient first compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the first seal slot, and an elongate first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, and an elongate first interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; one of the first interior face of the first seal plate and the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the pivoting portion top edge; the other of the first interior face of the first seal plate and the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the interior surface of the second roof portion at a position so that when the pivoting wall portion and the second roof portion are in their respective unfolded positions, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the first interlock slot, and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 59. the folded building structure of clause 58, wherein the first seal slot defined in the first exterior face is positioned between one of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, and wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate second seal slot positioned between the other of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and there is an elongate resilient second compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the second seal slot, so that when the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, the second compression seal is in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 60. the folded building structure of clause 58, wherein the second interior face of the second seal plate is secured to the pivoting portion top edge, and the folded building structure further comprises: a planar elongate third seal plate having a third interior face, an opposed third exterior face, and an elongate second interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; the fixed wall portion of the first wall component having a fixed wall portion top edge that is positioned under the interior surface of the second roof portion when the second roof portion is in the second roof portion unfolded position; the third interior face of the third seal plate secured to the fixed wall portion top edge; and the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to the interior surface of the second roof portion at a position so that when the second roof portion is in the second roof portion unfolded position, the third seal plate mates with the first seal plate, with the second interlock key received in the first interlock slot and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the third exterior face of the third seal plate. clause 61. the folded building structure of clause 58, wherein the second interior face of the second seal plate is secured to the pivoting portion top edge, and the folded building structure further comprises: a planar elongate fourth seal plate having a fourth interior face, an opposed fourth exterior face, a third edge and an opposed fourth edge, with an elongate second seal slot defined in the fourth exterior face, an elongate resilient second compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the second seal slot, and an elongate second interlock slot defined in the fourth exterior face and positioned distal from the third and fourth edges; the fourth interior face of the fourth seal plate secured to the interior surface of the third roof portion at a position so that when the pivoting wall portion and the third roof portion are in their respective unfolded positions, the fourth seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the second interlock slot, and the second compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 62. the folded building structure of clause 58, further comprising: a planar elongate fifth seal plate having a fifth interior face, an opposed fifth exterior face, a fifth edge and an opposed sixth edge, with an elongate third seal slot defined in the fifth exterior face, an elongate resilient third compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the third seal slot, and an elongate third interlock slot defined in the fifth exterior face and positioned distal from the fifth and sixth edges; a planar elongate sixth seal plate having a sixth interior face and an opposed sixth exterior face, and an elongate third interlock key on the sixth exterior face adapted to be received in the third interlock slot defined in the fifth exterior face of the fifth seal plate; the third wall component having a third wall component top edge; the sixth interior face of the sixth seal plate secured to the third wall component top edge; the fifth interior face of the fifth seal plate secured to the interior surface of the third roof portion at a position so that when the second floor portion, the third wall component and the third roof portion are in their respective unfolded positions: (i) the fifth seal plate mates with the sixth seal plate, (ii) the third interlock key is received in the third interlock slot, and (iii) the third compression seal is in pressing contact with the sixth exterior face of the sixth seal plate. clause 63. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the floor portion and the first wall component, and (iii) a first roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion, the first roof portion having a first interior edge; a second roof portion having a second interior edge and an opposed third interior edge, the second roof portion horizontally stacked in a second roof portion folded position on the first roof portion and pivotally connected between the second and first interior edges thereof to permit the second roof portion to pivot, about a first horizontal axis relative to the first roof portion, from the second roof portion folded position to a second roof portion unfolded position; a third roof portion having a fourth interior edge, the third roof horizontally stacked in a third roof portion folded position on the second roof portion and pivotally connected between the fourth and third interior edges thereof to permit the third roof portion to pivot, about a second horizontal axis relative to the second roof portion, from the third roof portion folded position to a third roof portion unfolded position, the third roof portion having a planar interior surface; the second wall component additionally including a planar pivoting wall portion with a pivoting portion top edge, the pivoting wall portion (i) disposed in a pivoting portion folded position opposite to the first wall component, and (ii) pivotally connected to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component to permit the pivoting wall portion to pivot, about a vertical axis relative to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component, from the pivoting portion folded position to a pivoting portion unfolded position in which the pivoting portion top edge is positioned under the interior surfaces of the second and third roof portions when the second and third roof portions are in their unfolded positions; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, an elongate resilient first compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the first seal slot, and an elongate first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, and an elongate first interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to one of the first and second interior edges; the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the other of the first and second interior edges so that when the second roof portion is in the unfolded position, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the first interlock slot, and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 64. the folded building structure of clause 63, further comprising: a planar elongate third seal plate having a third interior face, an opposed third exterior face, a third edge and an opposed fourth edge, with an elongate second seal slot defined in the third exterior face, an elongate resilient second compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the second seal slot, and an elongate second interlock slot defined in the third exterior face and positioned distal from the third and fourth edges; a planar elongate fourth seal plate having a fourth interior face and an opposed fourth exterior face, and an elongate second interlock key on the fourth exterior face adapted to be received in the second interlock slot defined in the third exterior face of the third seal plate; the third interior face of the third seal plate secured to one of the third and fourth interior edges; the fourth interior face of the fourth seal plate secured to the other of the third and fourth interior edges so that when the third roof portion is in the unfolded position, the third seal plate is mates with the fourth seal plate, with the second interlock key received in the second interlock slot, and the second compression seal in pressing contact with the fourth exterior face of the fourth seal plate. clause 65. the folded building structure of either of clause 63 or 64, wherein the first seal slot defined in the first exterior face is positioned between one of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, and wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate third seal slot and an elongate fourth seal slot, each of the third and fourth seal slots is positioned between the other of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, an elongate resilient third compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the third seal slot, and an elongate resilient fourth compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the fourth seal slot, so that when the second roof portion is in the unfolded position the third and fourth compression seals are in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 66. the folded building structure of clause 64, wherein the second seal slot defined in the third exterior face is positioned between one of the second interlock slot and the third edge, and the second interlock slot and the fourth edge, and wherein the third exterior face further defines an elongate fifth seal slot and an elongate sixth seal slot, each of the fifth and sixth seal slots is positioned between the other of the second interlock slot and the third edge, and the second interlock slot and the fourth edge, an elongate resilient fifth compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the fifth seal slot, and an elongate resilient sixth compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the sixth seal slot, so that when the third roof portion is in the unfolded position the fifth and sixth compression seals are in pressing contact with the fourth exterior face of the fourth seal plate. clause 67. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, the fixed wall portion having a fixed wall portion interior edge, and (iii) a roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; the second wall component additionally including a planar pivoting wall portion with a pivoting portion interior edge, the pivoting wall portion (i) disposed in a pivoting portion folded position opposite to the first wall component, and (ii) pivotally connected to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component to permit the pivoting wall portion to pivot, about a vertical axis relative to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component, from the pivoting portion folded position to a pivoting portion unfolded position; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, an elongate resilient first compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the first seal slot, and an elongate first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, and an elongate first interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to one of the fixed portion interior edge and the pivoting portion interior edge; the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to the other of the fixed portion interior edge and the pivoting portion interior edge so that when the pivoting wall portion is in its unfolded position, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the first interlock slot, and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 68. the folded building structure of clause 67, wherein the first seal slot defined in the first exterior face is positioned between one of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, and wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate second seal slot positioned between the other of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and there is an elongate resilient second compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the second seal slot, so that when the pivoting portion is in the unfolded position the second compression seal is in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 69. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a first floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, and (iii) a first roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; a second floor portion vertically positioned in a second floor portion folded position opposite to the first wall component and pivotally connected to the first floor portion to permit the second floor portion to pivot, about a first horizontal axis relative to the first floor portion, from the second floor portion folded position to a second floor portion unfolded position, the second floor portion including an interior surface; a third wall component having a third wall component lower edge and vertically positioned in a third wall component folded position against the second floor portion, the third wall component pivotally connected to the second floor portion proximate to the third wall component lower edge to permit the third wall portion to pivot, about a second horizontal axis relative to the second floor portion, from the third wall component folded position to a third wall component unfolded position; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, an elongate resilient first compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the first seal slot, and an elongate first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, and an elongate first interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; one of the first interior face of the first seal plate and the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the third wall component lower edge; the other of the first interior face of the first seal plate and the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the interior surface of the second floor portion at a position so that when the second floor portion and the third wall component are in their respective unfolded positions, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the first interlock slot, and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 70. the folded building structure of clause 69, wherein the first seal slot defined in the first exterior face is positioned between one of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, and wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate second seal slot positioned between the other of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and there is an elongate resilient second compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the second seal slot, so that when the pivoting portion is in the unfolded position the second compression seal is in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 71. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a first floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, and (iii) a first roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; a second roof portion horizontally stacked in a second roof portion folded position on the first roof portion and pivotally connected thereto to permit the second roof portion to pivot, about a first horizontal axis relative to the first roof portion, from the second roof portion folded position to a second roof portion unfolded position, the second roof portion having a planar interior surface; third roof portion horizontally stacked in a third roof portion folded position on the second roof portion and pivotally connected thereto to permit the third roof portion to pivot, about a second horizontal axis relative to the second roof portion, from the third roof portion folded position to a third roof portion unfolded position, the third roof portion having a planar interior surface; a second floor portion vertically positioned in a second floor portion folded position opposite to the first wall component and pivotally connected to the first floor portion to permit the second floor portion to pivot, about a third horizontal axis relative to the first floor portion, from the second floor portion folded position to a second floor portion unfolded position, the second floor portion including an interior surface; a third wall component having a third wall component lower edge and an opposed third wall component upper edge and vertically positioned in a third wall component folded position against the second floor portion, the third wall component pivotally connected to the second floor portion proximate to the third wall component lower edge to permit the third wall portion to pivot, about a fourth horizontal axis relative to the second floor portion, from the third wall component folded position to a third wall component unfolded position; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, an elongate resilient first compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the first seal slot, and an elongate first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, and an elongate first interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; one of the first interior face of the first seal plate and the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the third wall component upper edge; the other of the first interior face of the first seal plate and the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the interior surface of the third roof portion at a position so that when the second floor portion, the third wall component and the third roof portion are in their respective unfolded positions, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the first interlock slot, and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 72. the folded building structure of clause 71, wherein the first seal slot defined in the first exterior face is positioned between one of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, and wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate second seal slot positioned between the other of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and there is an elongate resilient second compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the second seal slot, so that when the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, the second compression seal is in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 73. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a first floor portion having a first floor portion interior edge, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, and (iii) a first roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; a second floor portion having a second floor portion interior edge and vertically positioned in a second floor portion folded position opposite to the first wall component, the second floor portion pivotally connected to the first floor portion between the first floor portion interior edge and the second floor portion interior edge to permit the second floor portion to pivot, about a horizontal axis relative to the first floor portion, from the second floor portion folded position to a second floor portion unfolded position; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face, an elongate resilient first compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the first seal slot, and an elongate first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face and positioned distal from the first and second edges; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, and an elongate first interlock key on the second exterior face adapted to be received in the first interlock slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate; the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to one of the first floor portion interior edge and the second floor portion interior edge; the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to the other of the first floor portion interior edge and the second floor portion interior edge so that when the second floor portion is in its unfolded position, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first interlock key received in the first interlock slot, and the first compression seal in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 74. the folded building structure of clause 73, wherein the first seal slot defined in the first exterior face is positioned between one of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, and wherein the first exterior face further defines an elongate third seal slot and an elongate fourth seal slot, each of the third and fourth seal slots positioned between the other of the first interlock slot and the first edge, and the first interlock slot and the second edge, with an elongate resilient third compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the third seal slot, and an elongate resilient fourth compression seal with a hollow seal chamber positioned in the fourth seal slot, so that when the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate the third and fourth compression seals are in pressing contact with the second exterior face of the second seal plate. clause 75. a sealing system for abutting regions of enclosure components for a building structure, comprising: (a) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face and an opposed first exterior face, the first interior face being adapted to be secured to a first enclosure component, and the first exterior face defining an elongate seal slot; the first seal plate adapted to mate with a planar elongate second seal plate by lateral movement of a second exterior face of the second seal plate relative to the first exterior face of the first seal plate; (c) an elongate resilient shear seal positioned in the elongate seal slot, the elongate resilient shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and comprising: (1) an elongate base; (2) an elongate first seal wall joined to the base, and an opposed elongate second seal wall joined to the base, the first and second seal walls extending away from the base in a diverging relationship; (3) an elongate seal support having an arcuate region joined to an end of the first seal wall distal from the base; (4) an elongate planar seal closure joined to an end of the second seal wall distal from the base; (5) an elongate planar cantilevered seal surface joined to the seal closure distal from the second seal wall at a shear seal junction, the cantilevered seal surface oriented at an upward angle p relative to the base and terminating at a free end; and (6) an end of the seal support distal from the first seal wall joined either to the shear seal junction, or to the elongate planar cantilevered seal surface proximate to the shear seal junction, thereby defining the hollow seal chamber. clause 76. the sealing system of clause 75, wherein the base of the shear seal is planar. clause 77. the sealing system of either of clause 75 or 76, wherein the base has a first end and an opposed second end, and there is an elongate first winglet extending from the first end of the base and an elongate second winglet extending from the second end of the base. clause 78. the sealing system of any one of clause 75, 76 or 77, wherein the first and second seal walls extend away from the base at a divergence angle z, where z < 90°. clause 79. the sealing system of clause 78, wherein the divergence angle z is in the range of 40° < z < 50°. clause 80. the sealing system of clause 76, wherein the seal closure is oriented at an angle of inclination a relative to the planar base. clause 81. the sealing system of clause 80, wherein > a. clause 82. the sealing system of any one of clause 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80 or 81, wherein the seal slot has an elongate planar floor section with a first end and an opposed second end, a first lateral groove extends away from the first end of the seal slot and a second lateral groove extends away from the second end of the seal slot. clause 83. the sealing system of clause 77, wherein the seal slot has a elongate planar floor section with a first end and an opposed second end, a first lateral groove extends away from the first end of the seal slot, a second lateral groove extends away from the second end of the seal slot, the first winglet is positioned in the first lateral groove and the second winglet is positioned in the second lateral groove. clause 84. the sealing system of any one of clause 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80 or 81, wherein the seal slot has an elongate floor section, and the seal slot is further defined by a first elongate slot wall extending away from the floor section from a first location, a second elongate slot wall extending away from the floor section from an opposed second location, and the first and second slot walls extend away from the floor section in a diverging relationship. clause 85. the sealing system of clause 84, wherein the first and second slot walls extend away from the floor section at a divergence angle s, where s < 90°. clause 86. the sealing system of clause 85, wherein the divergence angle s is in the range of 40° < s < 50°. clause 87. the sealing system of clause 78, wherein the seal slot has an elongate floor section, and the seal slot is further defined by a first elongate slot wall extending away from the floor section from a first location, a second elongate slot wall extending away from the floor section from an opposed second location, and the first and second slot walls extend away from the floor section at a divergence angle s equal to the divergence angle z. clause 88. the sealing system of any one of clause 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86 or 87, wherein the seal plate is foamed polyvinyl chloride. clause 89. an interlock seal component comprising: (a) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, the first interior face adapted to be secured to an enclosure component; (b) an elongate key on the interior face of the seal plate; and (c) the exterior face being inclined at an angle relative to the interior face. clause 90. the interlock seal component of clause 89, further comprising an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face of the seal plate proximate the first edge. clause 91. the interlock seal component of clause 90, further comprising a stepdown, in the direction moving from the first edge to the second edge, on the first exterior face between the first seal slot and the second edge. clause 92. an interlock seal component comprising: (a) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge and an opposed second edge, the first interior face being adapted to be secured to a first enclosure component; (b) an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face of the seal plate proximate the first edge; and (c) the first exterior face being inclined at an angle relative to the interior face. clause 93. the interlock seal component of clause 92, further comprising one of a step-up and a step-down on the first exterior face positioned between the first seal slot and the second edge. clause 94. an interlock seal assembly comprising: (a) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge, an opposed second edge and a first thickness, the first interior face being adapted to be secured to a first enclosure component; (b) an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate proximate the first edge; and (c) the first exterior face being inclined at an angle y relative to the first interior face so that the first thickness decreases with increasing distance from the first edge; (d) a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face, an opposed second exterior face, a third edge, an opposed fourth edge and a second thickness, the second interior face being adapted to be secured to a second enclosure component; (e) an elongate second seal slot defined in the second exterior face of the second seal plate proximate the fourth edge; (f) the second exterior face being inclined at the angle y relative to the second interior face so that the second thickness increases with increasing distance from the third edge; and (g) the first seal plate adapted to mate with the second seal plate by lateral movement of the first exterior face relative to the second exterior face so that when mated the first exterior face is in proximity with the second exterior face, with the first edge proximate to the third edge and the second edge proximate to the fourth edge. clause 95. the interlock seal assembly of clause 94, further comprising: (h) a first shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and a first cantilevered seal surface, the first shear seal positioned in the first seal slot; (i) a second shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and a second cantilevered seal surface, the second shear seal positioned in the second seal slot; and (j) the first and second shear seals respectively positioned in the first and second seal slots so that the first and second cantilevered seal surfaces are oppositely oriented away from each other. clause 96. the interlock seal assembly of either of clause 94 or 95, further comprising a step-down, in the direction moving from the first edge to the second edge, on the first exterior face, in proximity to a step-up, in the direction moving from the third edge to the fourth edge, on the second exterior face. clause 97. an enclosure component assembly comprising: (a) a first planar laminate having an elongate laminate edge, a first face and an opposed second face; (b) a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first edge, an opposed second edge and a first thickness; (c) the first exterior face being inclined at an angle y relative to the first interior face so that the first thickness increases with increasing distance from the first edge; and (d) the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to the first face of the planar laminate parallel to the laminate edge, with the second edge proximate to the laminate edge. clause 98. the enclosure component assembly of clause 97, further comprising: (e) a second planar laminate have an elongate edge, a first face and an opposed second face; (f) a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face and an opposed second exterior face, a third edge and an opposed fourth edge, the second interior face secured to the edge of the second planar laminate, the first and second seal plates mated with the first exterior face in proximity with the second exterior face, the first edge proximate the third edge and the second edge proximate the fourth edge; and (g) the second exterior face being inclined at the angle y relative to the second interior face so that the second thickness increases with increasing distance from the fourth edge. clause 99. the enclosure component assembly of clause 98, further comprising flooring having a flooring thickness disposed on the first face of the first planar laminate, and wherein the first seal plate has a thickness at least equal to the flooring thickness. clause 100. the enclosure component assembly of either of clause 98 or 99, further comprising: (g) an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face of the first seal plate proximate the second edge; and (h) an elongate second seal slot defined in the second exterior face of the second seal plate proximate the third edge. clause 101. the enclosure component assembly of clause 100, further comprising: (i) a first shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and a first cantilevered seal surface, the first shear seal positioned in the first seal slot; (j) a second shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and a second cantilevered seal surface, the second shear seal positioned in the second seal slot; and (k) the first and second shear seals respectively positioned in the first and second seal slots so that the first and second cantilevered seal surfaces are oppositely oriented away from each other. clause 102. the enclosure component assembly of any one of clause 98, 99, 100 or 101, having a step-up, in the direction moving from the first edge to the second edge, on the first exterior face in proximity with a step-down on the second exterior face, in the direction moving from the third edge to the fourth edge. clause 103. the enclosure component assembly of clause 102, wherein the step-up is positioned between the first seal slot and the first edge, and the step-down is positioned between the second seal slot and the fourth edge. clause 104. the enclosure component assembly of any one of clause 98, 99, 100, 101, 102 or 103, wherein either or both of the first and second seal plates is foamed polyvinyl chloride. clause 105. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a first floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, the fixed wall portion having a fixed wall portion top edge, and (iii) a first roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; a second floor portion vertically positioned in a second floor portion folded position opposite to the first wall component and pivotally connected to the first floor portion to permit the second floor portion to pivot, about a horizontal axis relative to the first floor portion, from the second floor portion folded position to a second floor portion unfolded position, the second floor portion having an interior surface and the first and second floor portions defining an exterior floor edge when the second floor portion is in the second floor portion unfolded position; the second wall component additionally including a planar pivoting wall portion with a pivoting portion bottom edge, the pivoting wall portion (i) disposed in a pivoting portion folded position against the third wall component in the third wall component folded position and (ii) pivotally connected to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component to permit the pivoting wall portion to pivot, about a vertical axis relative to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component, from the pivoting portion folded position to a pivoting portion unfolded position in which at least a segment of the pivoting portion bottom edge is positioned over a select region of the interior surface of the second floor portion proximate to the exterior floor edge when the second floor portion is in the second floor portion unfolded position; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first thickness, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face proximate to the first edge; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face, an opposed second exterior face, a second thickness, a third edge and an opposed fourth edge, with an elongate second seal slot defined in the second exterior face proximate to the fourth edge; an elongate resilient first shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and an elongate first cantilevered seal surface terminating at a free end, the first shear seal positioned in the first seal slot, with the first cantilevered seal surface oriented toward the first edge, and an elongate resilient second shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and an elongate second cantilevered seal surface terminating at a free end, the second shear seal positioned in the second seal slot, with the second cantilevered seal surface oriented toward the fourth edge; the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the select region of the interior surface of the second floor portion, with the fourth edge of the second seal plate proximate to the exterior floor edge when the second floor portion is in the second floor portion unfolded position; the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to the pivoting portion bottom edge with the second edge proximate to the exterior floor edge when the second floor portion is in the second floor portion unfolded position and the pivoting wall portion is in the pivoting wall portion unfolded position, so that when the second floor portion and the pivoting wall portion are in their respective unfolded positions, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first edge being proximate to the third edge, the first cantilevered seal surface in pressing contact with the exterior face of the second seal plate, and the second cantilevered seal surface in pressing contact with the exterior face of the first seal plate. clause 106. the folded building structure of clause 105, wherein a segment of the pivoting wall portion is positioned over a select region of the interior surface of the first floor portion proximate to the exterior floor edge when the pivoting wall portion is in the pivoting wall portion unfolded position and the second floor portion is in the second floor portion unfolded position, and the folded building structure further comprises: a planar elongate third seal plate having a third interior face, an opposed third exterior face, a third thickness, a fifth edge and an opposed sixth edge, with an elongate third seal slot defined in the third exterior face proximate to the sixth edge; an elongate resilient third shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and a third cantilevered seal surface terminating at a free end, the third shear seal positioned in the third seal slot, with the third cantilevered seal surface oriented toward the sixth edge; the third interior face of the third seal plate secured to the select region of the interior surface of the first floor portion so that when the pivoting wall portion is in the pivoting wall portion unfolded position, the fifth edge is proximate to the first edge, and the third seal plate mates with the first seal plate, with the third cantilevered seal surface in pressing contact with the first exterior face of the first seal plate. clause 107 the folded building structure of either of clause 105 or 106, wherein the first exterior face is inclined at an angle y relative to the first interior face so that the first thickness increases with increasing distance from the first edge, and the second exterior face being inclined at the angle y relative to the second interior face so that the second thickness decreases with increasing distance from the fourth edge. clause 108. the folded building structure of any one of clause 105, 106 or 107, where the first and second cantilevered seal surfaces are each oriented at an upward angle p. clause 109. the folded building structure of clause 106, wherein the first exterior face is inclined at an angle y relative to the first interior face so that the first thickness decreases with increasing distance from the first edge, the second exterior face being inclined at the angle y relative to the second interior face so that the second thickness increases with increasing distance from the third edge, and the third exterior face being inclined at the angle y relative to the third interior face so that the third thickness increases with increasing distance from the fifth edge. clause 110. the folded building structure of clause 106, wherein the first and second cantilevered seal surfaces are each oriented at an upward angle . clause 111. the folded building structure of either of clause 106 or 110, wherein the third cantilevered seal surface is oriented at the upward angle p. clause 112. the folded building structure of clause 105, wherein there is a stepdown, in the direction moving from the first edge to the second edge, on the first exterior face which is in proximity with a step-up, in the direction moving from the third edge to the fourth edge, on the second exterior face when the pivoting wall portion is in the pivoting portion unfolded position. clause 113. a folded building structure transportable to a site at which the folded building structure is to be erected, comprising: a fixed space portion defined by (i) a first floor portion, (ii) a first wall component, (iii) a planar fixed wall portion of a second wall component adjoining the first floor portion and the first wall component, and (iii) a roof portion adjoining the first wall component and the fixed wall portion; a second floor portion vertically positioned in a second floor portion folded position opposite to the first wall component and pivotally connected to the first floor portion to permit the second floor portion to pivot, about a first horizontal axis relative to the first floor portion, from the second floor portion folded position to a second floor portion unfolded position; a third wall component vertically positioned in a third wall component folded position against the second floor portion, the third wall component pivotally connected to the second floor portion to permit the third wall portion to pivot, about a second horizontal axis relative to the second floor portion, from the third wall component folded position to a third wall component unfolded position, the third wall component having an interior surface and an exterior wall edge; the second wall component additionally including a planar pivoting wall portion with a pivoting portion vertical edge, the pivoting wall portion (i) disposed in a pivoting portion folded position against the third wall component in the third wall component folded position and (ii) pivotally connected to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component to permit the pivoting wall portion to pivot, about a vertical axis relative to the fixed wall portion of the second wall component, from the pivoting portion folded position to a pivoting portion unfolded position in which the pivoting portion vertical edge is positioned adjacent to a select region of the interior surface of the third wall component proximate to the exterior wall edge when the second floor portion and the third call components are in their unfolded positions; a planar elongate first seal plate having a first interior face, an opposed first exterior face, a first thickness, a first edge and an opposed second edge, with an elongate first seal slot defined in the first exterior face proximate to the first edge; a planar elongate second seal plate having a second interior face, an opposed second exterior face, a second thickness, a third edge and an opposed fourth edge, with an elongate second seal slot defined in the second exterior face proximate to the fourth edge; an elongate resilient first shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and an elongate first cantilevered seal surface terminating at a free end, the first shear seal positioned in the first seal slot, with the first cantilevered seal surface oriented toward the first edge, and an elongate resilient second shear seal having a hollow seal chamber and an elongate second cantilevered seal surface terminating at a free end, the second shear seal positioned in the second seal slot, with the second cantilevered seal surface oriented toward the fourth edge; the second interior face of the second seal plate secured to the select region of the interior surface of the third wall component, with the fourth edge of the second seal plate proximate to the exterior wall edge of the third wall component; the first interior face of the first seal plate secured to the pivoting portion vertical edge with the second edge proximate to the exterior wall edge of the third wall component when the second floor portion is in the second floor portion unfolded position, the third wall component is in the third wall component unfolded position and the pivoting wall portion is in the pivoting wall portion unfolded position, so that when the second floor portion, the third wall component and the pivoting wall portion are in their respective unfolded positions, the first seal plate mates with the second seal plate, with the first edge being proximate to the third edge, the first cantilevered seal surface in pressing contact with the exterior face of the second seal plate, and the second cantilevered seal surface in pressing contact with the exterior face of the first seal plate. clause 114. the folded building structure of clause 113, wherein the first exterior face is inclined at an angle y relative to the first interior face so that the first thickness increases with increasing distance from the first edge, and the second exterior face being inclined at the angle y relative to the second interior face so that the second thickness decreases with increasing distance from the fourth edge. clause 115. the folded building structure of clause 113, wherein the first and second cantilevered seal surfaces are each oriented at an upward angle . clause 116. the folded building structure of clause 113, wherein there is a stepdown, in the direction moving from the first edge to the second edge, on the first exterior face which is in proximity with a step-up, in the direction moving from the third edge to the fourth edge, on the second exterior face when the pivoting wall portion is in the pivoting portion unfolded position. clause 117. the folded building structure of any one of clauses 58-74, wherein the first compression seal comprises: (1) an elongate base; (2) an elongate first seal wall joined to the base, and an opposed elongate second seal wall joined to the base, the first and second seal walls extending away from the base in a diverging relationship; (3) an elongate first arcuate buttress joined to an end of the first seal wall distal from the base, and an elongate second arcuate buttress joined to an end of the second seal wall distal from the base; (4) an elongate planar first seal surface joined to an end of the first arcuate buttress distal from the first seal wall, and an elongate planar second seal surface joined to an end of the second arcuate buttress distal from the second seal wall, the first seal surface and the second seal surface each extending away at an angle from the first arcuate buttress and the second arcuate buttress respectively in a converging relationship; and (5) an elongate seal closure having a first closure end joined to an end of the first seal surface distal from the first arcuate buttress and a second closure end joined to an end of the second seal surface distal from the second arcuate buttress; and wherein the base, the first and second seal walls, the first and second arcuate buttresses, the first and second seal surfaces and the seal closure define the hollow seal chamber. clause 118. the folded building structure of clause 117, wherein the base of the first compression seal has an arched section arched inwardly toward the seal chamber. clause 119. the folded building structure of clause 117-118, wherein the base of the first compression seal has a first end and an opposed second end, and the base further comprises an elongate first winglet extending from the first end of the base and an elongate second winglet extending from the second end of the base. clause 120. the folded building structure of clause 119, wherein the first seal slot has an elongate planar floor section with a first end and an opposed second end, a first lateral groove extends away from the first end of the first seal slot, a second lateral groove extends away from the second end of the first seal slot, the first winglet is positioned in the first lateral groove and the second winglet is positioned in the second lateral groove. clause 121. the folded building structure of clause 120, wherein the first seal slot is further defined by an elongate first slot wall extending away from the floor section from a first location, an elongate second slot wall extending away from the floor section from an opposed second location, with the first and second slot walls extending away from the floor section in a diverging relationship. clause 122. the folded building structure of any one of clauses 105, 106, 107, 109, 112, 113, 114 and 116, wherein the first and second shear seals each comprises: (1) an elongate base; (2) an elongate first seal wall joined to the base, and an opposed elongate second seal wall joined to the base, the first and second seal walls extending away from the base in a diverging relationship; (3) an elongate seal support having an arcuate region joined to an end of the first seal wall distal from the base; (4) an elongate planar seal closure joined to an end of the second seal wall distal from the base; (5) the cantilevered seal surface being joined to the seal closure distal from the second seal wall at a shear seal junction, the cantilevered seal surface oriented at an upward angle relative to the base; and (6) an end of the seal support distal from the first seal wall joined either to the shear seal junction, or to the cantilevered seal surface proximate to the shear seal junction, thereby defining the hollow seal chamber. clause 123. the folded building structure of clause 122, wherein the base of each of the first and second shear seals is planar. clause 124. the folded building structure of either of clause 122 or 123, wherein the base of each of the first and second shear seals has a first end and an opposed second end, and there is an elongate first winglet extending from the first end of the base and an elongate second winglet extending from the second end of the base. clause 125. the folded building structure of clause 124, wherein each of the first seal slot and the second seal slot has an elongate planar floor section with a first end and an opposed second end, a first lateral groove extends away from the first end of the first seal slot, a second lateral groove extends away from the second end of the first seal slot, the first winglet is positioned in the first lateral groove and the second winglet is positioned in the second lateral groove. clause 126. the folded building structure of clause 125, wherein each of the first seal slot and the second seal slot is further defined by an elongate first slot wall extending away from the floor section from a first location, an elongate second slot wall extending away from the floor section from an opposed second location, with the first and second slot walls extending away from the floor section in a diverging relationship. clause 127. the folded building structure of any one of clauses 122-126, wherein the cantilevered seal surface of either or both of the first and second shear seals is planar.
067-192-463-629-068	DE	[ "GB", "SU", "FR", "JP", "BR", "DE", "CH", "IT", "US" ]	B65H67/04,B65H67/048,B65H18/04	1974-08-09T00:00:00	1974	[ "B65" ]	tube ejector	1498244 mounting reels on shafts barmag barmer maschinenfabrik ag 8 aug 1975 [9 aug 1974] 33155/75 heading f2u [also in divisions d1 and b8] windings 4 and 5 of band material are pushed off a cantilevered wind-up shaft 1 by moving an ejector 6 in the direction 7, a screw-thread connection 11, 12 between the ejector 6 and a head 8 causes the head 8, and therewith a friction surface 9 abutting the package 4, to rotate in a direction causing the packages 4, 5 and therewith the package supporting tubes 2, 3, to rotate in a direction permitting chuck elements on the shaft 1 to retract radially and thus release their grip on the internal surfaces of the tubes 2, 3. the pitch angle of the thread 11 is such that its tangent in smaller than the coefficient of friction between the surface 9 and the end face of the tube 2. figs. 4 and 5 show a modified arrangement for use with a bobbin revolver 15. a fork 14, that is rigid with an ejector 16, is normally urged by a spring 19 into abutting relationship with a stop 21. when a package is fully wound, the revolver 15 rotates in the direction of the arrow 20 and this causes the shaft 1.1 to commence to enter the fork 14 whilst at its broken line setting in fig. 5. surrounding the shaft 1, fig. 4, in a thrust ring 10 on which is a collar 22. the fork 14 enters this collar 22 and both of these items have friction areas such that the fork 14 holds the thrust ring 10 against rotation. the inertia of the still rotating package is such that relative rotation now takes place between the ejector head 8 and the now stationary thrust ring 10. this permits the aforesaid screw-thread connection 11, 12 to cause chuck elements on the shaft 1 to retract radially and so release their grip on the internal surface of the bobbin tube 2. the ejector 6 then moves towards the viewer in fig. 5 to eject the wound package and its support tube 2. 0-rings 23 centre the ejector head while the winding shaft is in operation securing bobbin tube to driving shaft.-as shown in fig. 2, rollers 124 rest on inclined surfaces 113, 115 formed in the surface of the wind-up shaft. the rollers 124 project through openings in a sleeve surrounding the wind-up shaft. when the wind-up shaft is rotated clockwise relatively to the surrounding sleeve the rollers 124 run down the inclined surfaces and so retract inwardly to release the bobbin tube. when the wind-up shaft is rotated anti-clockwise relatively to the surrounding sleeve the rollers 124 roll up the inclined surfaces 113, 115 and so move radially outwardly to grip a bobbin tube mounted on the sleeve.	1. an ejector mechanism for ejecting winding tubes from cantilevered winding machine chucks having means for gripping the winding tubes, said means having members engaging the inner face of tube in tube-gripping position and releasing the tubes for removal thereof upon rotation of the tubes relative to the chuck in a tube-releasing direction of rotation, said mechanism comprising a chuck rotatably supported on a winding machine with its chuck shaft cantilevered on said machine, an ejector actuator contiguous to said shaft and adapted for linear movement of said ejector actuator parallel to said shaft, an ejector head with tube-engaging means thereon to engage an end of said tube when said head is moved by said acutator toward said end of said tube, and cam means operatively associated with said ejector actuator and said ejector head to move said ejector head toward a tube on said chuck and to rotate said ejector head in said tube-releasing direction of rotation, as said tube-engaging means of said ejector head is moved into engagement with said end of said tube, thereby rotating said tube on said chuck in said tube-releasing direction as said tube is pushed axially on said chuck by said ejector head. 2. an ejector mechanism as claimed in claim 1, said ejector head being a cylindrical sleeve mounted slidably, rotatably and coaxially about said shaft with a tube-engaging surface on the tube-facing end of said sleeve, said actuator embodying a thrust ring positioned coaxially about said sleeve and movable in the axial direction, and said cam means embodying spiral cam surface means and follower means interconnecting said sleeve and said thrust ring to provide the movement of said tube engaging means into contact with said end of said tube and the simultaneous rotation thereof in the tube-releasing direction of rotation upon axial movement of said thrust ring. 3. an ejector mechanism as claimed in claim 2 mounted on each chuck shaft of a plurality of chucks supported on revolver means adapted to revolve said chucks orbitally into a winding position and a rest position, and linearly movable means with thrust ring-gripping means to grip the thrust ring of the ejector mechanism of the chuck in rest position to impart axial movement of said thrust ring toward the chuck while precluding rotation of said thrust ring. 4. an ejector mechanism as claimed in claim 3 wherein said movable gripping means embodies a pivotable member having a forked end adapted to frictionally engage said thrust ring, said member being pivotable about an axis parallel with the longitudinal axis of the thrust ring with the forked end of said member being orbitally movable from a first position in which the thrust ring enters the forked end as its chuck is orbited by said revolver means toward said rest position, then to said rest position with the thrust ring frictionally held in said forked end, and then to a position allowing said thrust ring to leave the forked end as its chuck is orbited from rest position toward said winding position, and spring means connected to said member for returning said forked end to said first position after the thrust ring as left said forked end. 5. an ejector mechanism as claimed in claim 2, said spiral cam surface means and said follower means comprising spiral grooves in the outer wall of said sleeve and ball bearings between said sleeve and said thrust ring and seated in said grooves. 6. an ejector mechanism as claimed in claim 2, two winding tubes mounted on said chuck with contiguous ends of the tubes in abutting relationship, the tangent of the pitch angle of said spiral cam surface means being less than the coefficient of friction between the abutting, contiguous ends of said tubes. 7. an ejector mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein said tube-engaging surface is a frusto-conical surface in the tube-facing end of said cylindrical sleeve. 8. an ejector mechanism as claimed in claim 2, compressible and twistable return spring means connecting said sleeve and said thrust ring for returning said sleeve after disengagement of its tube-engaging surface from said winding tube, and the direction of force of the compressed and twisted spring means being parallel to said spiral cam surface means.	this invention pertains to improvements in ejectors for releasing winding tubes mounted on cantilever-type tube chucks of winding machines. the tube-gripping members of the chuck are known in the art, e.g., german offen. nos. 2,106,493 and 2,202,009. tube chucks of this type can be used on winding machines for winding yarns, filaments, bands, ribbons or films. these german offen. indicate that it is necessary to slow down the rotation of the chucks in order to remove the winding tubes. an ejector mechanism for winding tubes on cantilever-type tube chucks of winding machines is described in british pat. no. 870,402. this ejector mechanism consists of a rod which can be extended outwardly from the side of the machine frame. the rod carries an ejector head which grips the face of the winding tube closest to the machine frame. such ejectors are indicated to be of particular advantage when two or more winding tubes are mounted on a given chuck. this invention pertains to improvements in ejector mechanisms opetatively associated with cantilever-type chucks of winding machines wherein the chucks have releasable gripping members which bear against the inner face of the winding tube and hold the tube tightly on the chuck while it is rotating in the winding direction. such tube gripping members release their gripping contact with the inner face of the tube when the tube is rotated relative to the chuck in a direction causing the tube-gripping members to loosen their pressure against the winding tube. this is achieved by utilizing chucks having means for gripping the inner face of the winding tube by members engaging the inner face of the tube or tubes mounted on the chuck in a tube-gripping position. the members are so mounted on the chuck that they release the tubes for removal thereof upon rotation of the tubes relative to the chuck in a tube-releasing direction of rotation. the chucks with which the subject invention is particularly useful are chucks which are supported in cantilever fashion on the winding machine. the ejector is contiguous to, and preferably is mounted coaxially about, the drive shaft of the rotatable chuck. the ejector embodies mechanisms which provides for movement of the ejector parallel to the shaft, e.g., coaxially about the shaft, toward and away from the machine-contiguous end of a winding tube mounted on the chuck. this ejector carries on its tube-facing end an ejector head having tube-engaging means to engage the aforesaid end of the tube when the ejector head is moved toward said end of the tube. the tube-engaging means may be an annular ring face positioned coaxially about the chuck shaft to engage the end wall of the tube, or it may be a conical or frusto-conical, annular surface into which the aforementioned end of the tube enters and is engaged. the ejector mechanism further embodies cam means operatively associated with the ejector head to rotate the latter in the aforesaid tube-releasing direction as the tube-engaging means is moved into engagement with the end of the tube. this cam means thereby causes the tube-engaging means and the engaged tube to rotate in the tube-releasing direction. the cam means preferably is a spiral or a screw thread-like camming surface which engages a follower or followers and provides the simultaneous axial and rotational movement to the ejector head. the spiral camming surface maybe provided by a spiral rib having followers on opposite sides thereof or it maybe a spiral or helical groove or grooves with ball followers in the groove(s). another feature of the invention pertains to ejector improvements for winding tube chucks supported in cantilever fashion on bobbin revolvers. such bobbin revolvers usually carry two winding tube chucks. the revolver moves the chucks in an orbital path between winding position and rest position. in the latter position the winding packages are removed from the chuck and an empty tube or tubes are mounted thereon. the ejector mechanism perferably is an axially shiftable and rotatable sleeve mounted concentrically about the shaft of each chuck between the machine face and the tube-holding portions of the chuck. this sleeve has a face moveable to and out of engagement with the contiguous end of the winding tube on the chuck. a thrust ring is mounted concentrically about the sleeve. the sleeve and ring are interconnected by a camming device which causes the sleeve to rotate in the tube-releasing direction when the thrust ring is moved linearly toward the winding tube. for machines having bobbin revolvers as before described, there maybe provided a fork rod with a bifurcated end. as the wound bobbin revolves toward rest position a collar on the outer face of the thrust ring enters and is engaged by the fork. such engagement is one precluding slippage between the fork and the sleeve. this fork rod has its opposite end pivotally mounted on a thrust rod moveable in a direction toward and away from the tube-bearing end of the chuck. axial movement is imparted to the thrust ring from the rod by the fork rod. such axial movement imparts axial and rotational movement to the sleeve via the camming means. the forked end of the fork rod orbits about the thrust rod between a home position wherein its open end faces the thrust ring collar for entry of the latter into the forked end prior to stopping of the bobbin revolver. the fork then remains seated in the thrust ring collar when the chuck continues to move to its stop or rest position on the rotating bobbin revolver. it can further pivot as the chuck, with its empty winding tube or tubes now placed thereon, is further moved by the bobbin revolver toward the winding position. a spring is employed to return the now-released fork back to its home position for engagement with the collar of the thrust ring of the next chuck on the bobbin revolver. the pitch of the camming member advantageously is one wherein the tangent of the pitch angle of the spiral or helical rib groove or the like is smaller than the coefficient of friction between the contacting faces of two winding tubes mounted on the chuck. further, the thrust ring and sleeve preferably are interconnected by a helical spring positioned therebetween and having its respective ends secured in the sleeve and ring. such spring exerts a torque force and a linear force, the composite vector of which is parallel to the pitch of the rib, groove or the like of the cam means. the invention will be appreciated from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention, which are illustrated in the drawings wherein: fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tube chuck with two windings thereon and a first embodiment of the invention of an ejector which is partially broken away; fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of a chuck shaft and a winding with a second embodiment of an ejector mechanism shown in diametric cross-section; fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross-section of the tube adjacent end of another embodiment of the ejector mechanism and a chuck with a winding tube mounted thereon as taken on section plane 3--3 of fig. 4; fig. 4 is a transverse cross-section of the chuck of fig. 3 taken on section plane 4--4 of fig. 3; fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a winder having two chucks mounted on a bobbin revolver and a forked member adapted to engage the ejector mechanism associated with each chuck; and fig. 6 is a fragmentary section of another embodiment of a cam device used to interconnect the axially moveable and pivotable sleeve by axial movement of the thrust ring. referring to the drawings and particularly to figs. 1 and 2, the drive shaft 1 of a chuck described in detail hereinafter rotatable drives a pair of abutting winding tubes 2 and 3 mounted about the chuck. the windings 4 and 5 formed on the tubes maybe windings of yarns, filaments, strips, bands, or films. the shaft 1 and its chuck are supported in cantilever fashion on a machine frame, on a bobbin revolver or the like. between the machine frame or the revolver and the tube bearing portion on the chuck is an ejector for ejecting wound packages from the chuck. this ejector comprises a reciprocally driven rod 6 projecting from the machine frame 1. when moved in the direction of arrow 7, it ejects the tubes and their windings toward the end of the chuck. the ejector mechanism includes a sleeve 8 mounted coaxially about and in spaced relationship to the chuck shaft 1. this sleeve is moveable axially relative to the shaft 1 into engagement with the ejector-facing end of the winding tube 2. as the sleeve 8 moves axially on the shaft 1 into engagement of its tube-facing, friction surface 9 against the end of the tube 2, the sleeve is also caused to rotate. the axial and rotary motion by the sleeve is imparted through a thrust ring 10, which is positioned coaxially about the sleeve 8. the thrust ring 10 is connected to the rod 6. as it is moved in the direction of the arrow 7 its follower rollers 12 having their shafts 12' mounted on the thrust ring 10 coact with the helical or spiral cam rib 11 on the sleeve to impart both an axial and rotational movement to the sleeve 11. thus, when the face 9 of the sleeve 8 engages the end of tube 2, it imparts to the latter an axial push and also a rotational force in a direction which releases the gripping engagement between the chuck and the inner face of the winding tube. an embodiment of the chuck construction is described hereinafter. thus the winding tubes 2 and 3 become loosely gripped by the chuck and the tubes 2 and 3 with their windings 4 and 5 can be pulled off the free end of the chuck. preferably, the sleeve 8 and the thrust ring 10 have positioned therein a coil spring 13. one end 13a of the coil spring is mounted in the thrust ring 10 while the other end 13b is mounted in the enlarged head portion 8a of the sleeve. this coil spring returns the sleeve 8 axially and rotationally to its normal position after the ejecting function. the return spring 13 has a torsional and compressive strength provided a resultant force action, which is the result from the axial compressive force on the spring and the torsional force action resulting from rotation of the sleeve, in parallel to the pitch angle of the rib 11. with this relationship the spring does not exert pressure against the rib 11 and follower rollers 12. the ejector mechanism of fig. 2, as is apparent from the above description, utilizes an ejector mechanism similar to fig. 1. it differs principally in the connection between the thrust ring 10 and the push rod 6. the ejector mechanism of fig. 2 may be used in a winder utilizing a bobbin revolver which supports two or more winding chucks. a winder with a bobbin revolver is illustrated diagrammatically in fig. 5. for more specific details reference made to u.s. application, ser. no. 456,222. the winding mechanism of fig. 5 includes a spirally grooved traverse roll 17 used per se or in conjunction with a reciprocating traverse guide to impart traversing motion to the yarns, filaments, etc., 16 delivered to the winding chuck 1.1 to form the winding 2.1. the winding chuck 1.1 and the winding 2.1 are shown in winding position. the winding is rotatably driven during the winding operation by the friction drive roll 18. the winding unit includes a bobbin revolver 15 on which two chuck shafts of the type herein described are supported in cantilever fashion at diametrically opposite sides of the revolver 15. the latter is revolved in direction of the arrow 20. the winding chuck 1.2 is in rest position wherein the winding tubes with the windings thereon are ejected as hereinafter described. referring compositely to figs. 2 and 5, the push rod 6 has pivotally mounted on its end a forked member 14 having a shaft 14a and a forked end 14b. the forked member 14 is normally urged by the tension spring 19 against a stop 21 (the position shown in phantom lines in fig. 5). as the winding chuck 1.2 is orbited into rest position by the rotation of the bobbin revolver 15, the forked end 14b is received by the collar 22 on the thrust ring 10 (fig. 2). as the chuck 1.2 orbits to rest position as shown in full lines in fig. 5, forked member 14 is pivoted from the position shown in phantom lines to the position shown in full lines. in the latter position the forked end 14b tightly bears against the flange wall 22a of the collar 22 to preclude rotation of the thrust ring 10 when the latter is pushed by the rod 6 and forked member 14 in the direction of the arrow 7. for this purpose the contact areas between the collar 22 and the forked end 14b each have a high friction surface. when the thrust ring 10 is pushed by the rod 6 and forked member 14, the ejector sleeve 8 is actuated by the spiral rib 11 and follower rollers 12 so that its face 9 contacts the end of the tube 2. the ejector sleeve 8 is moved both axially and rotatably by the spiral rib-follower roller mechanism 11, 12. return of the ejector sleeve 8 to its home position is accomplished by the spring 13. an ejector of the type illustrated in fig. 2 is mounted coaxially about each of the shafts of the tube chucks 1.1 and 1.2 in the manner illustrated in fig. 2. each of such shafts is like the shaft 1 of fig. 2 and each shaft is fitted with o-rings 23 which are seated in annular grooves 24 of the shaft. the o-rings 23 keep the sleeve 8 centered on and spaced from the shaft 1 while the latter is rotating. referring to figs. 3 and 4 the ejector sleeve 8 has at its tube contacting end a tapered, frusto-conical wall 9'. the tube 2 and the tube 3 are removably mounted on the shaft 1 by the chuck mechanism hereinafter described. in the ejecting function, the ejector-facing end of the tube 2 is engaged by the frusto-conical wall 9', which exerts both an axial push and a rotational force in a tube-releasing direction on the tube 2. the axial and rotational force transmitted to the tube 3 by the abutting faces of the respected tubes 2 and 3. the tube chuck mechanism is of itself known in the art. it embodies a ring sleeve 30 coaxially mounted about the hollow end 31 of the shaft 1. the sleeve 30 is secured on the hollow end 31 of the shaft in a manner precluding movement on the sleeve in the axial direction. the sleeve 30 has two sets of rectangular apertures 32 and 33 about its circumference. each set of apertures 32 and 33 is composed of circumferenctially spaced apertures respectively arranged in axially spaced rings about the circumference of the sleeve 30. these apertures respectively received tube-engaging rollers 34, which are seated in the apertures 32 and 33 of the sleeve 30. the sleeve 30 has peripheral, thin wall rings or tubes 34' and 35 at axially spaced positions thereon. these rings respectively have apertures 36 and 37 lying over the apertures 32 and 33 of the sleeve 30. the apertures 36 and 37 are the size and shape which allows the radially outer part of the rollers 34 to project therethrough while simultaneously preventing the rollers from falling out of the apertures by restraining the shafts 38 of the rollers 34 by the overlying parts of the tubes 34' and 35 contiguous to the openings 36 and 37 therein. the sleeve 30 is mounted on the end 31 of the shaft 1 so that it can rotate relatively easy on the shaft. the inner face 39 of the sleeve is supported on the annular ribs or rings 40, 41, 42, and 43, on the shaft end 31. between the shoulder or ring pairs 40, 42 and 41, 43 the shaft end 31 has annular grooves 44 and 45, in which grooves are mounted in helical springs 46 and 47. the ends 48 of the springs 46 and 47 are mounted in axial slots 49 and 50 in the outer face of the shaft end 31. the other end 52 of each spring is mounted in a radial aperture 53 and 54 in the shaft end 31. the springs 46 and 47 have their helicies spiraling in opposite directions whereby the springs are pre-tensioned in a manner wherein the sleeve 30 is urged resiliently relative to the shaft end 31 in a manner which produces tightening of the chuck through urging of the rollers 34 against the inner face of the tubes 2 and 3, i.e., in the clockwise direction as viewed in fig. 4. a cap 55 is mounted by screws 56 on the free end of the hollow shaft end 31 of the winding shaft. its annular shoulder 57 bears against the end of the sleeve 30 and the ring or tube 35 to preclude axial movement thereof. the rollers 34 are displaced radially inwardly and outwardly by cam surfaces 58 on the outer face of the shaft end 31. the rollers 34 ride on the cam surfaces 58. each cam surface 58 has a progressively increasing radius beginning at the side 59 of the cam and extending to the other side 60 of the cam surface. thus, when the sleeve 30 is rotated relative to the shaft end 31 in a clockwise direction as viewed in fig. 4, the rollers 34 are pushed radially outwardly relative to the axis of the shaft end 31. conversely when the sleeve 30 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in fig. 4, the rollers 34 are allowed to move radially inwardly relative to the axis of the shaft end 31. the tubes 2 and 3 are gripped by rotating the sleeve 30 in said clockwise direction until the rollers 34 bear tightly against the inner face of the tubes. conversely the grip of the tubes by the rollers 34 is released when the sleeve 30 is rotated in the counter-clockwise direction. a technician can remove, usually with some difficulty, the wound packages composed of tubes 2 and 3 and windings 4 and 5 by gripping an exposed end of the tube 2 or 3 and rotating the tube and its winding in a manner causing the tube and the sleeve 30 to rotate in the tube grip-releasing direction, i.e., counter-clockwise as shown in fig. 4. rotation of the sleeve in counter-clockwise direction pushes the rollers 34 in counter-clockwise orbit toward the end 59 of cam surfaces 58 to a point where the operator can slide the wound packages off the end of the chuck. advantageously, the ejector embodiments herein described perform the operations of axially pushing against the winding tube 2 and through the latter against the winding tube 3 in the axial direction to move the winding tube 2 and 3 a short distance axially along the chuck. simultaneously, the grip of the chuck rollers on the winding tube are loosened by the rotational motion imparted by the ejector head against the end of the tube 2. this loosens the grip of the chuck of the tubes 2 and 3 enough so that the tubes 2 and 3 and the windings thereon can be removed from the chuck easily and quickly by the technician or by an automated bobbin removal mechanism. the tube chuck shown in figs. 3 and 4 constitutes an illustrative embodiment of some such type of chuck. other chuck mechanisms for obtaining the same type of gripping winding tubes are known in the art and can be substituted for the embodiment of figs. 3 and 4. in this respect, attention is directed to the aforementioned german offen. accordingly, the embodiments of the ejectors described herein are not restricted to use in combination with tube chucks of the type shown in figs. 3 and 4 but can be used on all other types of tube chucks which utilize the same basic principles of gripping of winding tubes on the chuck by rotational action to attain gripping and release of the winding tubes. another embodiment of the amounting of the thrust ring on the ejector sleeve is shown in fig. 6, wherein the embodiment is shown in fragmentary view. the ejector sleeve 8' corresponds in shape and configuration to the ejector sleeve 8 of figs. 1 and 2, and the thrust ring 10' correspond in structure to the thrust ring 10 of figs. 1 and 2. in the embodiment of fig. 6, however, a spiral groove and ball mechanism is used to impart axial and rotational movement to the ejector sleeve 8' by axial movement of the thrust ring 10'. the thrust ring 10' is supported coaxially about in an annularly spaced relationship to the ejector sleeve 8' by a plurality of ball bearings 61 seated in helical or spiral grooves 62 in the outer face of the ejector sleeve 8'. the ball bearings 61 are seated in spherical seats 62 in the inner face of the thrust ring 10a or in cross spiral grooves 63 of the opposite hand to the grooves of 62 and provided in the inner face of the thrust ring 10'. thus, when the thrust ring 10' is moved axially, an axial and rotational movement is imparted through the ball bearings 61 to the ejector sleeve 8'. this type of mechanism is used in threaded roll spindles. see for example british pat. no. 1,231,748. the ball bearing, spiral groove connection of the thread roll spindle type between the thrust ring 10' and the ejector sleeve 8' offers the advantage of low friction losses. the pitch angle .alpha. of the spiral thread groove 62 is one in which its tangent is less than the coefficient of friction between the two abutting faces of the tubes 2 and 3. the tangent is also smaller than the coefficient of friction between the tube-engaging surface 9 or 9' of the ejector sleeve and the face of the tube which is contacted thereby. such pitch angle ensures that axial movement of the ejector sleeve is always accompanied by a torque action imparted to the tube 2. this avoids violent ejection of the tubes by sudden release of the gripping members of the chuck and consequent damage to the tubes, the tube chucks, or the windings thereon. a return spring like that of the helical spring 13 in fig. 2, which is used on an ejector with the ball bearing-spiral groove mechanism of fig. 6, is designed so that its result in force action, which is the composite resultant from the axial compressive force action on the spring and the torsion force on the spring result from rotation of the ejector sleeve 8' relative to the thrust ring 10', is parallel to the spiral thread groove 62 so that pressure between the spiral thread groove 62 and the ball bearings is not exerted by the spring. the tangent of the pitch angle of the spiral cam members, e.g., the rib 11 or the grooves 62, should be smaller than the sum of the coefficient of friction between the cam member and is follower or followers, e.g., the rollers 12 or ball bearings 61 plus the coefficient of friction between the two abutting faces of the tubes 2 and 3. this tangent should be smaller to the same extent than the sum of the aforementioned coefficient of friction of the camming members, the coefficient of friction between the two abutting tube faces and the coefficient of the friction between the end of the tube 2 and the contact friction surface of the ejector sleeve. this relationship between the tangent and the pitch angle and the aforementioned sums of the coefficient's affliction, ensures that rotation of both of the tubes 2 and 3 on the chuck in the tube-releasing direction always occurs during the ejection step. the invention thus provides ejectors for ejecting tubes held releasably on chucks of the type before described. the ejector mechanisms herein described have relatively simple construction and avoid the disadvantage of having to position the chuck very accurately in a preset position for the ejecting function in order that the ejector properly contact the face of the winding tube. the principles on which the invention is based, particularly with the aforedescribed thrust ring-ejector sleeve combinations, ensures constant and precise positioning of the tube-contacting face of the ejector sleeve with respect to the winding tube to be ejected, and allows the thrust ring to be sufficiently large so that it can be positioned without difficulty in the area in which the ejector is to be operated. the axial and rotational force imparted to the winding tubes by the ejector mechanism avoids the disadvantage that the ejector mechanism might apply a force in the axial direction only and without applying the torque necessary to release the tube or tubes on the chuck. the aforesaid relationship between the tangent of the pitch angle and the sums of the coefficient of the friction are particularly advantageous in this respect. sudden ejection of the winding tubes by application thereto of only a force in the axial direction could result in a sudden release of the tube or tubes on the chuck-resulting in damage to the tube chuck, the tube or the winding thereon. the problem of sudden ejection is particularly acute when two or more winding tubes are mounted on one chuck.
069-427-987-913-082	US	[ "EP", "SG", "MX", "TW", "ZA", "CN", "AR", "BR", "JP", "CA", "WO", "US", "KR", "AU", "RU" ]	C08F297/08,C08F2/38,C08F4/646,C08F210/06,C08F2/44,C08F4/76,C08L23/14,B32B27/08,C08F4/659,C08F297/06,C08L23/10,C08F/,C08F210/00,C08F4/6592,C08L53/00,B32B27/32,C08L23/20,C08F110/00,C08F110/06,C08F110/14,C08K5/56,C08L23/00,C08F10/00	2005-03-17T00:00:00	2005	[ "C08", "B32" ]	catalyst composition comprising shuttling agent for tactic/ atactic multi-block copolymer formation	copolymers, especially multi-block copolymer containing therein two or more segments or blocks differing in tacticity, are prepared by polymerizing propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c4-8 α-olefin in the presence of a composition comprising the admixture or reaction product resulting from combining: (a) a first metal complex olefin polymerization catalyst, (b) a second metal complex olefin polymerization catalyst capable of preparing polymers differing in tacticity from the polymer prepared by catalyst (a) under equivalent polymerization conditions, and (c) a chain shuttling agent. fig.1	a functional derivative of a multi-block copolymer formed by polymerizing propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-8 α-olefin in the presence of a composition comprising the admixture or reaction product resulting from combining: (a) a first olefin polymerization catalyst, (b) a second olefin polymerization catalyst capable of preparing a polymer differing in tacticity from the polymer prepared by catalyst (a) under equivalent polymerization conditions, and (c) a chain shuttling agent. the functional derivative according to claim 1, wherein the multi-block copolymer formed is functionalized by maleation, by metallation, or by incorporation of a diene or masked olefin. the functional derivative according to claim 1 or 2 selected from the group consisting of metallated polymers, hydroxyl-terminated polymers, olefin-terminated polymers, maleated polymers, amine-terminated polymers, epoxy-terminated polymers, ketone-terminated polymers, ester-terminated polymers, and nitrile-terminated polymers. a functional derivative according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the multi-block copolymer is formed in the presence of said composition wherein (a) the first olefin polymerization catalyst is a catalyst that under the conditions of polymerization forms a tactic polymer of one or more c 3-30 α-olefins, and (b) the second olefin polymerization catalyst is a catalyst that under the conditions of polymerization forms a polymer having a tacticity less than 95 percent of the polymer formed by catalyst (a). the functional derivative according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the multi-block copolymer comprises in polymerized form propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-8 α-olefin, said copolymer containing therein two or more blocks differing in tacticity and possessing a molecular weight distribution, mw/mn, of less than 3.0. the functional derivative according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the multi-block copolymer consists essentially of propylene in polymerized form, said copolymer containing therein two or more segments or blocks differing in tacticity and possessing a molecular weight distribution, mw/mn, of less than 3.0. the functional derivative according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the multi-block copolymer consists essentially of 4-methyl-1-pentene in polymerized form, said copolymer containing therein two or more segments or blocks differing in tacticity and possessing a molecular weight distribution, mw/mn, of less than 3.0. the functional derivative according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the multi-block copolymer contains therein four or more segments or blocks differing in tacticity. the functional derivative according to any one of the previous claims or a composition comprising the same in the form of a film, at least one layer of a multilayer film, at least one layer of a laminated article, a foamed article, a fiber, a nonwoven fabric, an injection molded article, a blow molded article, or a roto-molded article. the functional derivative according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the shuttling agent is a trihydrocarbyl aluminum- or dihydrocarbyl zinc- compound containing from 1 to 12 carbons in each hydrocarbyl group. the functional derivative according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the multi-block copolymer is made in a continuous process. the functional derivative according to claim 11, wherein the process is a solution process, and wherein propylene is the only monomer polymerized.	cross reference statement this application claims the benefit of u.s. provisional application no. 60/662,937, filed march 17, 2005 . background of the invention the present invention relates to compositions for polymerizing propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-8 α-olefin, to form an interpolymer product having unique physical properties, to a process for preparing such interpolymers, and to the resulting polymer products. in another aspect, the invention relates to methods of using these polymers in applications requiring unique combinations of physical properties. in still another aspect, the invention relates to the articles prepared from these polymers. the inventive polymers comprise two or more regions or segments (blocks) differing in tacticity causing the polymer to possess unique physical properties. these multi-block copolymers and polymeric blends comprising the same are usefully employed in the preparation of solid articles such as moldings, films, sheets, and foamed objects by molding, extruding, or other processes, and are useful as components or ingredients in laminates, polymeric blends, and other end uses. the resulting products are used in the manufacture of components for automobiles, such as profiles, bumpers and trim parts; packaging materials; electric cable insulation, and other applications. it has long been known that polymers containing a block-type structure often have superior properties compared to random copolymers and blends. for example, triblock copolymers of styrene and butadiene (sbs) and hydrogenated versions of the same (sebs) have an excellent combination of heat resistance and elasticity. other block copolymers are also known in the art. generally, block copolymers known as thermoplastic elastomers (tpe) have desirable properties due to the presence of "soft" or elastomeric block segments connecting "hard" either crystallizable or glassy blocks in the same polymer. at temperatures up to the melt temperature or glass transition temperature of the hard segments, the polymers demonstrate elastomeric character. at higher temperatures, the polymers become flowable, exhibiting thermoplastic behavior. known methods of preparing block copolymers include anionic polymerization and controlled free radical polymerization. unfortunately, these methods of preparing block copolymers require sequential monomer addition and batch processing and the types of monomers that can be usefully employed in such methods are relatively limited. for example, in the anionic polymerization of styrene and butadiene to form a sbs type block copolymer, each polymer chain requires a stoichiometric amount of initiator and the resulting polymers have extremely narrow molecular weight distribution, mw/mn, preferably from 1.0 to 1.3. additionally, anionic and free-radical processes are relatively slow, resulting in poor process economics. it would be desirable to produce block copolymers catalytically, that is, in a process wherein more than one polymer molecule is produced for each catalyst or initiator molecule. in addition, it would be highly desirable to produce block copolymers from propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-8 α-olefin monomer that are generally unsuited for use in anionic or free-radical polymerizations. in certain of these polymers, it is highly desirable that some or all of the polymer blocks comprise atactic polymer blocks and some or all of the remaining polymer blocks predominantly comprise tactic, especially isotactic propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or other c 4-8 α-olefin in polymerized form, preferably highly stereospecific, especially isotactic, polypropylene or 4-methyl-1-pentene homopolymers. finally, if would be highly desirable to be able to use a continuous process for production of block copolymers of the present type. previous researchers have stated that certain homogeneous coordination polymerization catalysts can be used to prepare polymers having a substantially "block-like" structure by suppressing chain-transfer during the polymerization, for example, by conducting the polymerization process in the absence of a chain transfer agent and at a sufficiently low temperature such that chain transfer by β-hydride elimination or other chain transfer processes is essentially eliminated. under such conditions, the sequential addition of different monomers was said to result in formation of polymers having sequences or segments of different monomer content. several examples of such catalyst compositions and processes are reviewed by coates, hustad, and reinartz in angew. chem., int. ed., 41, 2236-2257 (2002 ) as well as us-a-2003/0114623 . disadvantageously, such processes require sequential monomer addition and result in the production of only one polymer chain per active catalyst center, which limits catalyst productivity. in addition, the requirement of relatively low process temperatures increases the process operating costs, making such processes unsuited for commercial implementation. moreover, the catalyst cannot be optimized for formation of each respective polymer type, and therefore the entire process results in production of polymer blocks or segments of less than maximal efficiency and/or quality. for example, formation of a certain quantity of prematurely terminated polymer is generally unavoidable, resulting in the forming of blends having inferior polymer properties. accordingly, under normal operating conditions, for sequentially prepared block copolymers having mw/mn of 1.5 or greater, the resulting distribution of block lengths is relatively inhomogeneous, not a most probable distribution. finally, sequentially prepared block copolymers must be prepared in a batch process, limiting rates and increasing costs with respect to polymerization reactions carried out in a continuous process. for these reasons, it would be highly desirable to provide a process for producing olefin copolymers in well defined blocks or segments in a process using coordination polymerization catalysts capable of operation at high catalytic efficiencies. in addition, it would be desirable to provide a process and resulting block or segmented copolymers wherein insertion of terminal blocks or sequencing of blocks within the polymer can be influenced by appropriate selection of process conditions. finally, it would be desirable to provide a continuous process for producing multi-block copolymers. the use of certain metal alkyl compounds and other compounds, such as hydrogen, as chain transfer agents to interrupt chain growth in olefin polymerizations is well known in the art. in addition, it is known to employ such compounds, especially aluminum alkyl compounds, as scavengers or as cocatalysts in olefin polymerizations. in macromolecules, 33, 9192-9199 (2000 ) the use of certain aluminum trialkyl compounds as chain transfer agents in combination with certain paired zirconocene catalyst compositions resulted in polypropylene mixtures containing small quantities of polymer fractions containing both isotactic and atactic chain segments. in liu and rytter, macromolecular rapid comm., 22, 952-956 (2001 ) and bruaseth and rytter, macromolecules, 36, 3026-3034 (2003 ) mixtures of ethylene and 1-hexene were polymerized by a similar catalyst composition containing trimethylaluminum chain transfer agent. in the latter reference, the authors summarized the prior art studies in the following manner (some citations omitted): "mixing of two metallocenes with known polymerization behavior can be used to control polymer microstructure. several studies have been performed of ethene polymerization by mixing two metallocenes. common observations were that, by combining catalysts which separately give polyethene with different mw, polyethene with broader and in some cases bimodal mwd can be obtained. [s]oares and kim (j. polym. sci., part a: polym. chem., 38, 1408-1432 (2000 )) developed a criterion in order to test the mwd bimodality of polymers made by dual single-site catalysts, as exemplified by ethene/1-hexene copolymerization of the mixtures et(ind) 2 zrcl 2 /cp 2 hfcl 2 and et(ind) 2 zrcl 2 / cgc (constrained geometry catalyst) supported on silica. heiland and kaminsky (makromol. chem., 193, 601-610 (1992 )) studied a mixture of et-(ind) 2 zrcl 2 and the hafnium analogue in copolymerization of ethene and 1-butene. these studies do not contain any indication of interaction between the two different sites, for example, by readsorption of a terminated chain at the alternative site. such reports have been issued, however, for polymerization of propene. chien et al. (j. polym. sci. , part a: polym. chem., 37, 2439-2445 (1999 ), makromol., 30, 3447-3458 (1997 )) studied propene polymerization by homogeneous binary zirconocene catalysts. a blend of isotactic polypropylene (i-pp), atactic polypropylene (a-pp), and a stereoblock fraction (i-pp- b -a-pp) was obtained with a binary system comprising an isospecific and an aspecific precursor with a borate and tiba as cocatalyst. by using a binary mixture of isospecific and syndiospecific zirconocenes, a blend of isotactic polypropylene (i-pp), syndiotactic polypropylene (s-pp), and a stereoblock fraction (i-pp- b -s-pp) was obtained. the mechanism for formation of the stereoblock fraction was proposed to involve the exchange of propagating chains between the two different catalytic sites. przybyla and fink (acta polym., 50, 77-83 (1999 )) used two different types of metallocenes (isospecific and syndiospecific) supported on the same silica for propene polymerization. they reported that, with a certain type of silica support, chain transfer between the active species in the catalyst system occurred, and stereoblock pp was obtained. lieber and brintzinger (macromol. 3, 9192-9199 (2000 )) have proposed a more detailed explanation of how the transfer of a growing polymer chain from one type of metallocene to another occurs. they studied propene polymerization by catalyst mixtures of two different ansa -zirconocenes. the different catalysts were first studied individually with regard to their tendency toward alkyl-polymeryl exchange with the alkylaluminum activator and then pairwise with respect to their capability to produce polymers with a stereoblock structure. they reported that formation of stereoblock polymers by a mixture of zirconocene catalysts with different stereoselectivities is contingent upon an efficient polymeryl exchange between the zr catalyst centers and the al centers of the cocatalyst." brusath and rytter then disclosed their own observations using paired zirconocene catalysts to polymerize mixtures of ethylene/1-hexene and reported the effects of the influence of the dual site catalyst on polymerization activity, incorporation of comonomer, and polymer microstructure using methylalumoxane cocatalyst. analysis of the foregoing results indicate that rytter and coworkers likely failed to utilize combinations of catalyst, cocatalyst, and third components that were capable of readsorption of the polymer chain from the chain transfer agent onto both of the active catalytic sites, that is, two-way readsorption. while indicating that chain termination due to the presence of trimethylaluminum likely occurred with respect to polymer formed from the catalyst incorporating minimal comonomer, and thereafter that polymeryl exchange with the more open catalytic site followed by continued polymerization likely occurred, evidence of the reverse flow of polymer ligands appeared to be lacking in the reference. in fact, in a later communication, rytter, et. al., polymer, 45, 7853-7861 (2004 ), it was reported that no chain transfer between the catalyst sites actually took place in the earlier experiments. similar polymerizations were reported in wo98/34970 . in u.s. patents6,380,341 and 6,169,151 , use of a "fluxional" metallocene catalyst, that is a metallocene capable of relatively facile conversion between two stereoisomeric forms having differing polymerization characteristics such as differing reactivity ratios was said to result in production of olefin copolymers having a "blocky" structure. disadvantageously, the respective stereoisomers of such metallocenes generally fail to possess significant difference in polymer formation properties and are incapable of forming both highly crystalline and amorphous block copolymer segments, for example, from a given monomer mixture under fixed reaction conditions. moreover, because the relative ratio of the two "fluxional" forms of the catalyst cannot be varied, there is no ability, using "fluxional" catalysts, to vary polymer block composition or the ratio of the respective blocks. finally, prior art methods for olefin block copolymerization have been incapable of readily controlling the sequencing of the various polymer blocks, and in particular controlling the nature of the terminating block or segment of a multi-block copolymer. for certain applications, it is desirable to produce polymers having terminal blocks that are highly crystalline, that are functionalized or more readily functionalized, or that possess other distinguishing properties. for example, it is believed that polymers wherein the terminal segments or blocks are highly isotactic possess improved abrasion resistance. in addition, polymers wherein the atactic blocks are internal or primarily connected between tactic, especially isotactic, blocks, have improved physical properties, such as abrasion resistance. in jacs, 2004, 126, 10701-10712, gibson , et al discuss the effects of "catalyzed living polymerization" on molecular weight distribution. the authors define catalyzed living polymerization in this manner: "...if chain transfer to aluminum constitutes the sole transfer mechanism and the exchange of the growing polymer chain between the transition metal and the aluminum centers is very fast and reversible, the polymer chains will appear to be growing on the aluminum centers. this can then reasonably be described as a catalyzed chain growth reaction on aluminum....an attractive manifestation of this type of chain growth reaction is a poisson distribution of product molecular weights, as opposed to the schulz-flory distribution that arises when β-h transfer accompanies propagation." the authors reported the results for the catalyzed living homopolymerization of ethylene using an iron containing catalyst in combination with znet 2 , znme 2 , or zn(i-pr) 2 . homoleptic alkyls of aluminum, boron, tin, lithium, magnesium and lead did not induce catalyzed chain growth. using game 3 as cocatalyst resulted in production of a polymer having a narrow molecular weight distribution. however, after analysis of time-dependent product distribution, the authors concluded this reaction was, "not a simple catalyzed chain growth reaction." the reference fails to disclose the use of two or more catalysts in combination with a chain shuttling agent to make multi-block copolymers. similar processes employing single catalysts have been described in u.s. patents5,210,338 , 5,276,220 , and 6,444,867 . earlier workers have claimed to have formed block copolymers using a single ziegler-natta type catalyst in multiple reactors arranged in series, see for example u.s. patents3,970,719 and 4,039,632 . additional ziegler-natta based processes and polymers are disclosed in u.s. patents4,971,936 ; 5,089,573 ; 5,118,767 ; 5,118,768 ; 5,134,209 ; 5,229,477 ; 5,270,276 ; 5,270,410 ; 5,294,581 ; 5,543,458 ; 5,550,194 ; and 5,693,713 , as well as in ep-a-470,171 and ep-a-500,530 . despite the advances by the foregoing researchers, there remains a need in the art for a polymerization process that is capable of preparing block like copolymers, especially multi-block copolymers, and most especially linear multi-block copolymers predominantly comprising propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-8 α-olefin in high yield and selectivity. moreover, it would be desirable if there were provided an improved process for preparing such multi-block copolymers, especially linear multi-block copolymers of propylene or 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4 or higher α-olefin(s), by the use of a shuttling agent. in addition it would be desirable to provide such an improved process that is capable of preparing such multi-block copolymers, especially linear multi-block copolymers, having a relatively narrow molecular weight distribution. it would further be desirable to provide an improved process for preparing such copolymers having more than two segments or blocks. furthermore, it would be desirable to provide a process for identifying combinations of catalysts and chain shuttling agents capable of making such multi-block copolymers. even further, it would be desirable to provide a process for independent control of the order of the various polymer blocks, especially a process for preparing multi-block copolymers comprised predominantly of propylene or 4-methyl-1-pentene, containing terminal blocks having high stereospecificity and/or functionality. finally, it would be desirable to provide an improved process for preparing any of the foregoing desirable polymer products in a continuous process, especially a continuous solution polymerization process. highly desirably, such process allows for independent control of the quantity and/or identity of the shuttling agent(s) and/or catalysts used. summary of the invention according to the present invention there are now provided a composition for use in the polymerization of one or more c 3-30 α-olefin addition polymerizable monomers and optionally one or more c 4-30 cyclo-olefins or diolefins, to form a high molecular weight, segmented copolymer (multi-block copolymer), said copolymer containing therein two or more, preferably three or more segments or blocks differing in tacticity, the composition comprising the admixture or reaction product resulting from combining: (a) a first olefin polymerization catalyst, (b) a second olefin polymerization catalyst capable of preparing a polymer differing in tacticity or crystallinity from the polymer prepared by catalyst (a) under equivalent polymerization conditions, and (c) a chain shuttling agent; and preferably the admixture or reaction product resulting from combining: (a) a first olefin polymerization catalyst that under the conditions of polymerization forms a tactic polymer of one or more c 3-30 α-olefins, (b) a second olefin polymerization catalyst that under the conditions of polymerization forms a polymer having a tacticity less than 95 percent, preferably less than 90 percent, more preferably less than 75 percent, and most preferably less than 50 percent of the polymer formed by catalyst (a), and (c) a chain shuttling agent. in another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method for selecting an admixture of catalysts (a) and (b) and chain shuttling agent (c) capable of producing multi-block copolymers according to the invention, especially such polymers comprising propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-8 α-olefin as the sole polymerized olefin. highly desirably, the resulting polymer comprises alternating blocks of generally atactic polypropylene with blocks of generally isotactic polypropylene or alternating blocks of generally atactic poly-4-methyl-1-pentene with blocks of generally isotactic poly-4-methyl-1-pentene. also included are polymers of the foregoing type, wherein one or more polymer sequences therein are further characterized by the presence of regio-irregular monomer addition, preferably due to 2,1- or 3,1-monomer insertion errors or other insertion errors. in a further embodiment of the present invention there is provided a process for preparing a high molecular weight, segmented, copolymer consisting essentially of propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-8 α-olefin in polymerized form, said process comprising contacting propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-8 α-olefin under addition polymerization conditions with a composition comprising: the admixture or reaction product resulting from combining: (a) a first olefin polymerization catalyst, (b) a second olefin polymerization catalyst capable of preparing polymers differing in tacticity from the polymer prepared by catalyst (a) under equivalent polymerization conditions, and (c) a chain shuttling agent. preferably, the foregoing process takes the form of a continuous solution process for forming block copolymers, especially multi-block copolymers, preferably linear multi-block copolymers of propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene or another c 4-20 olefin, and most especially propylene, using multiple catalysts that are incapable of interconversion. that is the catalysts are chemically distinct. under continuous solution polymerization conditions, the process is ideally suited for polymerization of monomers at high monomer conversions. under these polymerization conditions, shuttling from the chain shuttling agent to the catalyst becomes advantaged compared to chain growth, and multi-block copolymers, especially linear multi-block copolymers according to the invention are formed in high efficiency. in another embodiment of the invention there is provided a segmented copolymer (multi-block copolymer), especially such a copolymer comprising propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-8 α-olefin in polymerized form, said copolymer containing therein two or more, preferably three or more segments differing in tacticity or crystallinity. desirably, the resulting polymer comprises alternating blocks of generally atactic polypropylene with blocks of stereospecific, preferably isotactic polypropylene or alternating blocks of generally atactic poly-4-methyl-1-pentene with blocks of stereospecific, preferably isotactic poly-4-methyl-1-pentene. highly preferably the copolymer possesses a molecular weight distribution, mw/mn, of less than 3.0, preferably less than 2.8. in yet another embodiment of the invention, there are provided functionalized derivatives of the foregoing segmented or multi-block copolymers. in a still further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a polymer mixture comprising: (1) an organic or inorganic polymer, preferably a homopolymer of propylene and/or a copolymer of ethylene and a copolymerizable comonomer, a homopolymer of 4-methyl-1-pentene, or a highly crystalline polyethylene, and (2) a high molecular weight, multi-block copolymer according to the present invention or prepared according to the process of the present invention. brief description of the drawings figure 1 is a schematic representation of the process of polymer chain shuttling involving two catalyst sites. detailed description of the invention all references to the periodic table of the elements herein shall refer to the periodic table of the elements, published and copyrighted by crc press, inc., 2003 . also, any references to a group or groups shall be to the group or groups reflected in this periodic table of the elements using the iupac system for numbering groups. unless stated to the contrary, implicit from the context, or customary in the art, all parts and percents are based on weight. for purposes of united states patent practice, the contents of any patent, patent application, or publication referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety (or the equivalent us version thereof is so incorporated by reference) especially with respect to the disclosure of synthetic techniques, definitions (to the extent not inconsistent with any definitions provided herein) and general knowledge in the art. the term "comprising" and derivatives thereof is not intended to exclude the presence of any additional component, step or procedure, whether or not the same is disclosed herein. in order to avoid any doubt, all compositions claimed herein through use of the term "comprising" may include any additional additive, adjuvant, or compound whether polymeric or otherwise, unless stated to the contrary. in contrast, the term, "consisting essentially of' excludes from the scope of any succeeding recitation any other component, step or procedure, excepting those that are not essential to operability. the term "consisting of' excludes any component, step or procedure not specifically delineated or listed. the term "or", unless stated otherwise, refers to the listed members individually as well as in any combination. the term "polymer", includes both conventional homopolymers, that is, homogeneous polymers prepared from a single monomer, and copolymers (interchangeably referred to herein as interpolymers), meaning polymers prepared by reaction of at least two monomers or otherwise containing chemically differentiated segments or blocks therein even if formed from a single monomer. more specifically, the term "polyethylene" includes homopolymers of ethylene and copolymers of ethylene and one or more c 3-30 α-olefins in which ethylene comprises at least 50 mole percent. the term "propylene copolymer" or "propylene interpolymer" means a copolymer comprising propylene and optionally one or more copolymerizable comonomers, wherein propylene comprises a plurality of the polymerized monomer units of at least one block or segment in the polymer, preferably at least 90 mole percent, more preferably at least 95 mole percent, and most preferably at least 98 mole percent. a polymer made primarily from a different α-olefin, such as 4-methyl-1-pentene would be named similarly. the term "crystalline" if employed, refers to a polymer or polymer block that possesses a first order transition or crystalline melting point (tm) as determined by differential scanning calorimetry (dsc) or equivalent technique. the term may be used interchangeably with the term "semicrystalline". the term "amorphous" refers to a polymer lacking a crystalline melting point. the term, "isotactic" or "syndiotactic" refers to polymer repeat units having at least 70 percent isotactic or syndiotactic pentads as determined by 13 c-nmr analysis. "highly isotactic" or "highly syndiotactic" is defined as polymers having at least 90 percent isotactic or syndiotactic pentads. the term "tactic" means polymer repeat units that are either isotactic or syndiotactic, and "highly tactic" refers to polymer repeat units that are either highly isotactic or highly syndiotactic. tactic polymers may be interchangeably referred to as crystalline or semi-crystalline polymers, whereas atactic polymers may be interchangeably referred to herein as amorphous. the term "multi-block copolymer" or "segmented copolymer" refers to a polymer comprising two or more chemically distinct regions or segments (referred to as "blocks") preferably joined in a linear manner, that is, a polymer comprising chemically differentiated units which are joined end-to-end with respect to polymerized ethylenic functionality, rather than in pendent or grafted fashion. in the present invention, the blocks differ in the type or degree of tacticity (atactic segments as well as isotactic or syndiotactic segments) and optionally regio-regularity. desirably the polymers are prepared from a single polymerizable monomer, most preferably propylene. compared to block copolymers of the prior art, including copolymers produced by fluxional catalysts, the copolymers of the invention are characterized by unique distributions of both polymer polydispersity (pdi or mw/mn), block length distribution, and/or block number distribution, due, in a preferred embodiment, to the effect of the shuttling agent(s) in combination with multiple catalysts. more specifically, when produced in a continuous process, the polymers desirably possess pdi from 1.7 to 2.9, preferably from 1.8 to 2.5, more preferably from 1.8 to 2.2, and most preferably from 1.8 to 2.1. when produced in a batch or semi-batch process, the polymers desirably possess pdi from 1.0 to 2.9, preferably from 1.3 to 2.5, more preferably from 1.4 to 2.2, and most preferably from 1.4 to 2.1. because the respective distinguishable segments or blocks joined into single polymer chains, the polymer cannot be completely fractionated using standard selective extraction techniques. for example, polymers containing regions that are highly tactic and regions that are relatively atactic cannot be selectively extracted or fractionated using differing solvents. in a preferred embodiment the quantity of extractable polymer using either a dialkyl ether- or an alkane-solvent is less than 10 percent, preferably less than 7 percent, more preferably less than 5 percent and most preferably less than 2 percent of the total polymer weight. in addition, the multi-block copolymers of the invention desirably possess a pdi fitting a schutz-flory distribution rather than a poisson distribution. the use of the present polymerization process results in a product having both a polydisperse block distribution as well as a polydisperse distribution of block sizes. this ultimates in the formation of polymer products having improved and distinguishable physical properties. the theoretical benefits of a polydisperse block distribution have been previously modeled and discussed in potemkin, physical review e (1998) 57(6), p. 6902-6912 , and dobrynin, j. chem. phys. (1997) 107(21), p 9234-9238 . in a further embodiment, the polymers of the invention, especially those made in a continuous, solution polymerization reactor, possess a most probable distribution of block lengths. most preferred polymers according to the invention are multi-block copolymers containing 4 or more blocks or segments including terminal blocks. the following mathematical treatment of the resulting polymers is based on theoretically derived parameters that are believed to apply to the present invented polymers and demonstrate that, especially in a steady-state, continuous, well-mixed reactor, the block lengths of the resulting polymer prepared using 2 or more catalysts will each conform to a most probable distribution, derived in the following manner, wherein p i is the probability of propagation with respect to block sequences from catalyst i. the theoretical treatment is based on standard assumptions and methods known in the art and used in predicting the effects of polymerization kinetics on molecular architecture, including the use of mass action reaction rate expressions that are not affected by chain or block lengths. such methods have been previously disclosed in w. h. ray, j. macromol. sci., rev. macromol. chem., c8, 1 (1972 ) and a. e. hamielec and j. f. macgregor, "polymer reaction engineering", k.h. reichert and w. geisler, eds., hanser, munich, 1983 . in addition it is assumed that adjacent sequences formed by the same catalyst form a single block. for catalyst i, the fraction of sequences of length n is given by x i [n], where n is an integer from 1 to infinity representing the number of monomer units in the block. most probable distribution of block lengths number average block length each catalyst has a probability of propagation (p i ) and forms a polymer segment having a unique average block length and distribution. in a most preferred embodiment, the probability of propagation is defined as: for each catalyst i = {1,2...}, where, rp[i] = rate of monomer consumption by catalyst i, (moles/l), rt[i] = total rate of chain transfer and termination for catalyst i, (moles/l), rs[i] = rate of chain shuttling with dormant polymer to other catalysts, (moles/l), and [c i ] = concentration of catalyst i (moles/l). dormant polymer chains refers to polymer chains that are attached to a csa. the overall monomer consumption or polymer propagation rate, rp[i], is defined using an apparent rate constant, k pi , multiplied by a total monomer concentration, [m], as follows: the total chain transfer rate is given below including values for chain transfer to hydrogen (h 2 ), beta hydride elimination, and chain transfer to chain shuttling agent (csa). the reactor residence time is given by θ and each subscripted k value is a rate constant. for a dual catalyst system, the rate of chain shuttling of polymer between catalysts 1 and 2 is given as follows: if more than 2 catalysts are employed then added terms and complexity in the theoretical relation for rs[i] result, but the ultimate conclusion that the resulting block length distributions are most probable is unaffected. as used herein with respect to a chemical compound, unless specifically indicated otherwise, the singular includes all isomeric forms and vice versa (for example, "hexane", includes all isomers of hexane individually or collectively). the terms "compound" and "complex" are used interchangeably herein to refer to organic-, inorganic- and organometal compounds. the term, "atom" refers to the smallest constituent of an element regardless of ionic state, that is, whether or not the same bears a charge or partial charge or is bonded to another atom. the term "heteroatom" refers to an atom other than carbon or hydrogen. preferred heteroatoms include: f, cl, br, n, o, p, b, s, si, sb, al, sn, as, se and ge. the term "amorphous" refers to a polymer lacking a crystalline melting point as determined by differential scanning calorimetry (dsc) or equivalent technique. the term, "hydrocarbyl" refers to univalent substituents containing only hydrogen and carbon atoms, including branched or unbranched, saturated or unsaturated, cyclic, polycyclic or noncyclic species. examples include alkyl-, cycloalkyl-, alkenyl-, alkadienyl-, cycloalkenyl-, cycloalkadienyl-, aryl-, and alkynyl- groups. "substituted hydrocarbyl" refers to a hydrocarbyl group that is substituted with one or more nonhydrocarbyl substituent groups. the terms, "heteroatom containing hydrocarbyl" or "heterohydrocarbyl" refer to univalent groups in which at least one atom other than hydrogen or carbon is present along with one or more carbon atom and one or more hydrogen atoms. the term "heterocarbyl" refers to groups containing one or more carbon atoms and one or more heteroatoms and no hydrogen atoms. the bond between the carbon atom and any heteroatom as well as the bonds between any two heteroatoms, may be a single or multiple covalent bond or a coordinating or other donative bond. thus, an alkyl group substituted with a heterocycloalkyl-, aryl- substituted heterocycloalkyl-, heteroaryl-, alkyl- substituted heteroaryl-, alkoxy-, aryloxy-, dihydrocarbylboryl-, dihydrocarbylphosphino-, dihydrocarbylamino-, trihydrocarbylsilyl-, hydrocarbylthio-, or hydrocarbylseleno- group is within the scope of the term heteroalkyl. examples of suitable heteroalkyl groups include cyanomethyl-, benzoylmethyl-, (2-pyridyl)methyl-, and trifluoromethyl- groups. as used herein the term "aromatic" refers to a polyatomic, cyclic, conjugated ring system containing (4δ+2) π-electrons, wherein δ is an integer greater than or equal to 1. the term "fused" as used herein with respect to a ring system containing two or more polyatomic, cyclic rings means that with respect to at least two rings thereof, at least one pair of adjacent atoms is included in both rings. the term "aryl" refers to a monovalent aromatic substituent which may be a single aromatic ring or multiple aromatic rings which are fused together, linked covalently, or linked to a common group such as a methylene or ethylene moiety. examples of aromatic ring(s) include phenyl, naphthyl, anthracenyl, and biphenyl, among others. "substituted aryl" refers to an aryl group in which one or more hydrogen atoms bound to any carbon is replaced by one or more functional groups such as alkyl, substituted alkyl, cycloalkyl, substituted cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, substituted heterocycloalkyl, halogen, alkylhalos (for example, cf 3 ), hydroxy, amino, phosphido, alkoxy, amino, thio, nitro, and both saturated and unsaturated cyclic hydrocarbons which are fused to the aromatic ring(s), linked covalently or linked to a common group such as a methylene or ethylene moiety. the common linking group may also be a carbonyl as in benzophenone or oxygen as in diphenylether or nitrogen in diphenylamine. monomers suitable monomers for use in preparing the polymers of the present invention include propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or other c 4-8 α-olefin, and optionally one or more copolymerizable comonomers, provided that the objects of the invention, preparation of a multi-block copolymer containing alternating blocks of differing tacticity are obtained. examples of suitable comonomers include ethylene and straight-chain or branched α-olefins of 4 to 30, preferably 4 to 20 carbon atoms, such as 1-butene, 1-pentene, 3-methyl-1-butene, 1-hexene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, 3-methyl-1-pentene, 1-octene, 1-decene, 1-dodecene, 1-tetradecene, 1-hexadecene, 1-octadecene and 1-eicosene; cycloolefins of 3 to 30, preferably 3 to 20 carbon atoms, such as cyclopentene, cycloheptene, norbornene, 5-methyl-2-norbornene, tetracyclododecene, and 2-methyl-1,4,5,8-dimethano-1,2,3,4,4a,5,8,8a-octahydronaphthalene; di- and poly-olefins, such as butadiene, isoprene, 4-methyl-1,3-pentadiene, 1,3-pentadiene, 1,4-pentadiene, 1,5-hexadiene, 1,4-hexadiene, 1,3-hexadiene, 1,3-octadiene, 1,4-octadiene, 1,5-octadiene, 1,6-octadiene, 1,7-octadiene, ethylidene norbornene, vinyl norbornene, dicyclopentadiene, 7-methyl-1,6-octadiene, 4-ethylidene-8-methyl-1,7-nonadiene, and 5,9-dimethyl-1,4,8-decatriene; aromatic vinyl compounds such as mono or poly alkylstyrenes (including styrene, o-methylstyrene, m-methylstyrene, p-methylstyrene, o,p-dimethylstyrene, o-ethylstyrene, m-ethylstyrene and p-ethylstyrene), and functional group-containing derivatives, such as methoxystyrene, ethoxystyrene, vinylbenzoic acid, methyl vinylbenzoate, vinylbenzyl acetate, hydroxystyrene, o-chlorostyrene, p-chlorostyrene, divinylbenzene, 3-phenylpropene, 4-phenylpropene, α-methylstyrene, vinylchloride, 1,2-difluoroethylene, 1,2-dichloroethylene, tetrafluoroethylene, and 3,3,3-trifluoro-1-propene. chain shuttling agents the term, "shuttling agent" refers to a compound or mixture of compounds employed in the composition of the present invention that is capable of causing polymeryl exchange between at least two active catalyst sites of the catalysts included in the composition under the conditions of the polymerization. that is, transfer of a polymer fragment occurs both to and from one or more of the active catalyst sites. in contrast to a shuttling agent, a "chain transfer agent" causes termination of polymer chain growth and amounts to a one-time transfer of growing polymer from the catalyst to the transfer agent. preferably, the shuttling agent has an activity ratio r a-b /r b-a of from 0.01 and 100, more preferably from 0.1 to 10, most preferably from 0.5 to 2.0, and most highly preferably from 0.8 to 1.2, wherein r a-b is the rate of polymeryl transfer from catalyst a active site to catalyst b active site via the shuttling agent, and r b-a is the rate of reverse polymeryl transfer, that is, the rate of exchange starting from the catalyst b active site to catalyst a active site via the shuttling agent. desirably, the intermediate formed between the shuttling agent and the polymeryl chain is sufficiently stable that chain termination is relatively rare. desirably, less than 90 percent, preferably less than 75 percent, more preferably less than 50 percent and most desirably less than 10 percent of shuttle-polymeryl products are terminated prior to attaining 3 distinguishable polymer segments or blocks. ideally, the rate of chain shuttling (defined by the time required to transfer a polymer chain from a catalyst site to the chain shuttling agent and then back to a catalyst site) is equivalent to or faster than the rate of polymer termination, even up to 10 or even 100 times faster than the rate of polymer termination. this permits polymer block formation on the same time scale as polymer propagation. by selecting different combinations of catalysts having differing polymerization ability, and by pairing various shuttling agents or mixtures of agents with these catalyst combinations, polymer products having segments of different tacticity or regio-error, different block lengths, and different numbers of such segments or blocks in each copolymer can be prepared. for example, if the activity of the shuttling agent is low relative to the catalyst polymer chain propagation rate of one or more of the catalysts, longer block length multi-block copolymers and polymer blends may be obtained. contrariwise, if shuttling is very fast relative to polymer chain propagation, a copolymer having a more random chain structure and shorter block lengths is obtained. an extremely fast shuttling agent may produce a multi-block copolymer having substantially random copolymer properties. by proper selection of both catalyst mixture and shuttling agent, relatively pure block copolymers, copolymers containing relatively large polymer segments or blocks, and/or blends of the foregoing with various homopolymers and/or copolymers can be obtained. a suitable composition comprising catalyst a, catalyst b, and a chain shuttling agent can be selected for this invention by the following multi-step procedure specially adapted for block differentiation based on tacticity or regio-error content: i. one or more addition polymerizable c 3-30 α-olefin monomers are polymerized using a mixture comprising a potential catalyst and a potential chain shuttling agent. this polymerization test is desirably performed using a batch or semi-batch reactor (that is, without resupply of catalyst or shuttling agent), preferably with relatively constant monomer concentration, operating under solution polymerization conditions, typically using a molar ratio of catalyst to chain shuttling agent from 1:5 to 1:500. after forming a suitable quantity of polymer, the reaction is terminated by addition of a catalyst poison and the polymer's properties (tacticity and optionally regio-error content) are measured. ii. the foregoing polymerization and polymer testing are repeated for several different reaction times, providing a series of polymers having a range of yields and pdi values. iii. catalyst/ shuttling agent pairs demonstrating significant polymer transfer both to and from the shuttling agent are characterized by a polymer series wherein the minimum pdi is less than 2.0, more preferably less than 1.5, and most preferably less than 1.3. furthermore, if chain shuttling is occurring, the mn of the polymer will increase, preferably nearly linearly, as conversion is increased. most preferred catalyst/ shuttling agent pairs are those giving polymer mn as a function of conversion (or polymer yield) fitting a line with a statistical precision (r 2 ) of greater than 0.95, preferably greater than 0.99. steps i-iii are then carried out for one or more additional pairings of potential catalysts and/or putative shuttling agents. a suitable composition comprising catalyst a, catalyst b, and one or more chain shuttling agents according to the invention is then selected such that the two catalysts each undergo chain shuttling with one or more of the chain shuttling agents, and catalyst a has a greater capacity of selectively forming stereospecific polymer compared to catalyst b under the reaction conditions chosen. most preferably, at least one of the chain shuttling agents undergoes polymer transfer in both the forward and reverse directions (as identified in the foregoing test) with both catalyst a and catalyst b. in addition, it is preferable that the chain shuttling agent does not reduce the catalyst activity (measured in weight of polymer produced per weight of catalyst per unit time) of either catalyst (compared to activity in the absence of a shuttling agent) by more than 60 percent, more preferably such catalyst activity is not reduced by more than 20 percent, and most preferably catalyst activity of at least one of the catalysts is increased compared to the catalyst activity in the absence of a shuttling agent. alternatively, it is also possible to detect desirable catalyst/shuttling agent pairs by performing a series of polymerizations under standard batch reaction conditions and measuring the resulting polymer properties. suitable shuttling agents are characterized by lowering of the resultant mn without significant broadening of pdi or loss of activity (reduction in yield or rate). the foregoing tests are readily adapted to rapid throughput screening techniques using automated reactors and analytic probes and to formation of polymer blocks having different distinguishing properties (syndiotacticity, isotacticity, and optionally regio-error content). for example, a number of potential shuttling agent candidates can be pre-identified or synthesized in situ by combination of various organometal compounds with various proton sources and the compound or reaction product added to a polymerization reaction employing an olefin polymerization catalyst composition. several polymerizations are conducted at varying molar ratios of shuttling agent to catalyst. as a minimum requirement, suitable shuttling agents are those that produce a minimum pdi of less than 2.0 in variable yield experiments as described above, while not significantly adversely affecting catalyst activity, and preferably improving catalyst activity, as above described. regardless of the method for identifying, a priori, a shuttling agent, the term is meant to refer to a compound that is capable of preparing the presently identified multi-block copolymers or usefully employed under the polymerization conditions herein disclosed. highly desirably, multi-block copolymers having an average number of blocks or segments per average chain (as defined as the average number of blocks of different composition divided by the mn of the polymer) greater than 3.0 more preferably greater than 3.5, even more preferably greater than 4.0, and less than 25, preferably less than 15, more preferably less than 10.0, most preferably less than 8.0 are formed according to the invention. suitable shuttling agents for use herein include group 1, 2, 12 or 13 metal compounds or complexes containing at least one c 1-20 hydrocarbyl group, preferably hydrocarbyl substituted aluminum, gallium or zinc compounds containing from 1 to 12 carbons in each hydrocarbyl group, and reaction products thereof with a proton source. preferred hydrocarbyl groups are alkyl groups, preferably linear or branched, c 2-8 alkyl groups. most preferred shuttling agents for use in the present invention are trialkyl aluminum and dialkyl zinc compounds, especially triethylaluminum, tri(i-propyl) aluminum, tri(i-butyl)aluminum, tri(n-hexyl)aluminum, tri(n-octyl)aluminum, triethylgallium, or diethylzinc. additional suitable shuttling agents include the reaction product or mixture formed by combining the foregoing organometal compound, preferably a tri(c 1-8 ) alkyl aluminum or di(c 1-8 ) alkyl zinc compound, especially triethylaluminum, tri(i-propyl) aluminum, tri(i-butyl)aluminum, tri(n-hexyl)aluminum, tri(n-octyl)aluminum, or diethylzinc, with less than a stoichiometric quantity (relative to the number of hydrocarbyl groups) of a secondary amine or a hydroxyl compound, especially bis(trimethylsilyl)amine, t-butyl(dimethyl)siloxane, 2-hydroxymethylpyridine, di(n-pentyl)amine, 2,6-di(t-butyl)phenol, ethyl(1-naphthyl)amine, bis(2,3,6,7-dibenzo-1-azacycloheptaneamine), or 2,6-diphenylphenol. desirably, sufficient amine or hydroxyl reagent is used such that one hydrocarbyl group remains per metal atom. the primary reaction products of the foregoing combinations most desired for use in the present invention as shuttling agents are n-octylaluminum di(bis(trimethylsilyl)amide), i-propylaluminum bis(dimethyl(t-butyl)siloxide), and n-octylaluminum di(pyridinyl-2-methoxide), i-butylaluminum bis(dimethyl(t-butyl)siloxane), i-butylaluminum bis(di(trimethylsilyl)amide), n-octylaluminum di(pyridine-2-methoxide), i-butylaluminum bis(di(n-pentyl)amide), n-octylaluminum bis(2,6-di-t-butylphenoxide), n-octylaluminum di(ethyl(1-naphthyl)amide), ethylaluminum bis(t-butyldimethylsiloxide), ethylaluminum di(bis(trimethylsilyl)amide), ethylaluminum bis(2,3,6,7-dibenzo-1-azacycloheptaneamide), n-octylaluminum bis(2,3,6,7-dibenzo-1-azacycloheptaneamide), n-octylaluminum bis(dimethyl(t-butyl)siloxide, ethylzinc (2,6-diphenylphenoxide), and ethylzinc (t-butoxide). it will be appreciated by the skilled artisan that a suitable shuttling agent for one catalyst or catalyst combination may not necessarily be as good or even satisfactory for use with a different catalyst or catalyst combination. some potential shuttling agents may adversely affect the performance of one or more catalysts and may be undesirable for use for that reason as well. accordingly, the activity of the chain shuttling agent desirably is balanced with the catalytic activity of the catalysts to achieve the desired polymer properties. in some embodiments of the invention, best results may be obtained by use of shuttling agents having a chain shuttling activity (as measured by a rate of chain transfer) that is less than the maximum possible rate. generally however, preferred shuttling agents possess the highest rates of polymer transfer as well as the highest transfer efficiencies (reduced incidences of chain termination). such shuttling agents may be used in reduced concentrations and still achieve the desired degree of shuttling. in addition, such shuttling agents result in production of the shortest possible polymer block lengths. highly desirably, chain shuttling agents with a single exchange site are employed due to the fact that the effective molecular weight of the polymer in the reactor is lowered, thereby reducing viscosity of the reaction mixture and consequently reducing operating costs. catalysts suitable catalysts for use herein include any compound or combination of compounds that is adapted for preparing polymers of the desired composition or type. both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts may be employed. examples of heterogeneous catalysts include the well known ziegler-natta compositions, especially group 4 metal halides supported on group 2 metal halides or mixed halides and alkoxides and the well known chromium or vanadium based catalysts. preferably however, for ease of use and for production of narrow molecular weight polymer segments in solution, the catalysts for use herein are homogeneous catalysts comprising a relatively pure organometallic compound or metal complex, especially compounds or complexes based on metals selected from groups 3-10 or the lanthanide series of the periodic table of the elements. it is preferred that any catalyst employed herein, not significantly detrimentally affect the performance of the other catalyst under the conditions of the present polymerization. desirably, no catalyst is reduced in activity by greater than 25 percent, more preferably greater than 10 percent under the conditions of the present polymerization. metal complexes for use herein having high tactic polymer formation (catalyst a) include complexes of transition metals selected from groups 3 to 15 of the periodic table of the elements containing one or more delocalized, π-bonded ligands or polyvalent lewis base ligands. examples include metallocene, half-metallocene, constrained geometry, and polyvalent pyridylamine, or other polychelating base complexes. the complexes are generically depicted by the formula: mk k x x z z , or a dimer thereof, wherein m is a metal selected from groups 3-15, preferably 3-10, more preferably 4-8, and most preferably group 4 of the periodic table of the elements; k independently each occurrence is a group containing delocalized π-electrons or one or more electron pairs through which k is bound to m, said k group containing up to 50 atoms not counting hydrogen atoms, optionally two or more k groups may be joined together forming a bridged structure, and further optionally one or more k groups may be bound to z, to x or to both z and x; x independently each occurrence is a monovalent, anionic moiety having up to 40 non-hydrogen atoms, optionally one or more x groups may be bonded together thereby forming a divalent or polyvalent anionic group, and, further optionally, one or more x groups and one or more z groups may be bonded together thereby forming a moiety that is both covalently bound to m and coordinated thereto; z independently each occurrence is a neutral, lewis base donor ligand of up to 50 non-hydrogen atoms containing at least one unshared electron pair through which z is coordinated to m; k is an integer from 0 to 3; x is an integer from 1 to 4; z is a number from 0 to 3; and the sum, k+x, is equal to the formal oxidation state of m. suitable metal complexes include those containing from 1 to 3 π-bonded anionic or neutral ligand groups, which may be cyclic or non-cyclic delocalized π-bonded anionic ligand groups. exemplary of such π-bonded groups are conjugated or nonconjugated, cyclic or non-cyclic diene and dienyl groups, allyl groups, boratabenzene groups, phosphole, and arene groups. by the term " π-bonded" is meant that the ligand group is bonded to the transition metal by a sharing of electrons from a partially delocalized π-bond. each atom in the delocalized π-bonded group may independently be substituted with a radical selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, hydrocarbyl, halohydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyl-substituted heteroatoms wherein the heteroatom is selected from group 14-16 of the periodic table of the elements, and such hydrocarbyl- substituted heteroatom radicals further substituted with a group 15 or 16 hetero atom containing moiety. in addition two or more such radicals may together form a fused ring system, including partially or fully hydrogenated fused ring systems, or they may form a metallocycle with the metal. included within the term "hydrocarbyl" are c 1-20 straight, branched and cyclic alkyl radicals, c 6-20 aromatic radicals, c 7-20 alkyl-substituted aromatic radicals, and c 7-20 aryl-substituted alkyl radicals. suitable hydrocarbyl-substituted heteroatom radicals include mono-, di- and tri-substituted radicals of boron, silicon, germanium, nitrogen, phosphorus or oxygen wherein each of the hydrocarbyl groups contains from 1 to 20 carbon atoms. examples include n,n-dimethylamino, pyrrolidinyl, trimethylsilyl, triethylsilyl, t-butyldimethylsilyl, methyldi(t-butyl)silyl, triphenylgermyl, and trimethylgermyl groups. examples of group 15 or 16 hetero atom containing moieties include amino, phosphino, alkoxy, or alkylthio moieties or divalent derivatives thereof, for example, amide, phosphide, alkyleneoxy or alkylenethio groups bonded to the transition metal or lanthanide metal, and bonded to the hydrocarbyl group, π-bonded group, or hydrocarbyl- substituted heteroatom. examples of suitable anionic, delocalized π-bonded groups include cyclopentadienyl, indenyl, fluorenyl, tetrahydroindenyl, tetrahydrofluorenyl, octahydrofluorenyl, pentadienyl, cyclohexadienyl, dihydroanthracenyl, hexahydroanthracenyl, decahydroanthracenyl groups, phosphole, and boratabenzyl groups, as well as inertly substituted derivatives thereof, especially c 1-10 hydrocarbyl- substituted or tris(c 1-10 hydrocarbyl)silyl- substituted derivatives thereof. preferred anionic delocalized π-bonded groups are cyclopentadienyl, pentamethylcyclopentadienyl, tetramethylcyclopentadienyl, tetramethylsilylcyclopentadienyl, indenyl, 2,3-dimethylindenyl, fluorenyl, 2-methylindenyl, 2-methyl-4-phenylindenyl, tetrahydrofluorenyl, octahydrofluorenyl, 1-indacenyl, 3-pyrrolidinoinden-1-yl, 3,4-(cyclopenta( l )phenanthren-1-yl, and tetrahydroindenyl. the boratabenzenyl ligands are anionic ligands which are boron containing analogues to benzene. they are previously known in the art having been described by g. herberich, et al., in organometallics, 14,1, 471-480 (1995 ). preferred boratabenzenyl ligands correspond to the formula: wherein r 1 is an inert substituent, preferably selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydrocarbyl, silyl, halo or germyl, said r 1 having up to 20 atoms not counting hydrogen, and optionally two adjacent r 1 groups may be joined together. in complexes involving divalent derivatives of such delocalized π-bonded groups one atom thereof is bonded by means of a covalent bond or a covalently bonded divalent group to another atom of the complex thereby forming a bridged system. phospholes are anionic ligands that are phosphorus containing analogues to a cyclopentadienyl group. they are previously known in the art having been described by wo 98/50392 , and elsewhere. preferred phosphole ligands correspond to the formula: wherein r 1 is as previously defined. preferred transition metal complexes for use herein correspond to the formula: mk k x x z z , or a dimer thereof, wherein: m is a group 4 metal; k is a group containing delocalized π-electrons through which k is bound to m, said k group containing up to 50 atoms not counting hydrogen atoms, optionally two k groups may be joined together forming a bridged structure, and further optionally one k may be bound to x or z; x each occurrence is a monovalent, anionic moiety having up to 40 non-hydrogen atoms, optionally one or more x and one or more k groups are bonded together to form a metallocycle, and further optionally one or more x and one or more z groups are bonded together thereby forming a moiety that is both covalently bound to m and coordinated thereto; z independently each occurrence is a neutral, lewis base donor ligand of up to 50 non-hydrogen atoms containing at least one unshared electron pair through which z is coordinated to m; k is an integer from 0 to 3; x is an integer from 1 to 4; z is a number from 0 to 3; and the sum, k+x, is equal to the formal oxidation state of m. preferred complexes include those containing either one or two k groups. the latter complexes include those containing a bridging group linking the two k groups. preferred bridging groups are those corresponding to the formula (er' 2 ) e wherein e is silicon, germanium, tin, or carbon, r' independently each occurrence is hydrogen or a group selected from silyl, hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy and combinations thereof, said r' having up to 30 carbon or silicon atoms, and e is 1 to 8. preferably, r' independently each occurrence is methyl, ethyl, propyl, benzyl, tert-butyl, phenyl, methoxy, ethoxy or phenoxy. examples of the complexes containing two k groups are compounds corresponding to the formula: wherein: m is titanium, zirconium or hafnium, preferably zirconium or hafnium, in the +2 or +4 formal oxidation state; r 3 in each occurrence independently is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydrocarbyl, silyl, germyl, cyano, halo and combinations thereof, said r 3 having up to 20 non-hydrogen atoms, or adjacent r 3 groups together form a divalent derivative (that is, a hydrocarbadiyl, siladiyl or germadiyl group) thereby forming a fused ring system, and x" independently each occurrence is an anionic ligand group of up to 40 non-hydrogen atoms, or two x" groups together form a divalent anionic ligand group of up to 40 non-hydrogen atoms or together are a conjugated diene having from 4 to 30 non-hydrogen atoms bound by means of delocalized π-electrons to m, whereupon m is in the +2 formal oxidation state, and r', e and e are as previously defined. exemplary bridged ligands containing two π-bonded groups are: dimethylbis(cyclopentadienyl)silane, dimethylbis(tetramethylcyclopentadienyl)silane, dimethylbis(2-ethylcyclopentadien-1-yl)silane, dimethylbis(2-t-butylcyclopentadien-1-yl)silane, 2,2-bis(tetramethylcyclopentadienyl)propane, dimethylbis(inden-1-yl)silane, dimethylbis(tetrahydroinden-1-yl)silane, dimethylbis(fluoren-1-yl)silane, dimethylbis(tetrahydrofluoren-1-yl)silane, dimethylbis(2-methyl-4-phenylinden-1-yl)-silane, dimethylbis(2-methylinden-1-yl)silane, dimethyl(cyclopentadienyl)(fluoren-1-yl)silane, dimethyl(cyclopentadienyl)(octahydrofluoren-1-yl)silane, dimethyl(cyclopentadienyl)(tetrahydrofluoren-1-yl)silane, (1, 1, 2, 2-tetramethy)-1, 2-bis(cyclopentadienyl)disilane, (1, 2-bis(cyclopentadienyl)ethane, and dimethyl(cyclopentadienyl)-1-(fluoren-1-yl)methane. preferred x" groups are selected from hydride, hydrocarbyl, silyl, germyl, halohydrocarbyl, halosilyl, silylhydrocarbyl and aminohydrocarbyl groups, or two x" groups together form a divalent derivative of a conjugated diene or else together they form a neutral, π -bonded, conjugated diene. most preferred x" groups are c 1-20 hydrocarbyl groups. examples of metal complexes of the foregoing formula suitable for use in the present invention include: bis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdimethyl, bis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dibenzyl, bis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium methyl benzyl, bis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium methyl phenyl, bis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdiphenyl, bis(cyclopentadienyl)titanium-allyl, bis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconiummethylmethoxide, bis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconiummethylchloride, bis(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdimethyl, bis(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)titaniumdimethyl, bis(indenyl)zirconiumdimethyl, indenylfluorenylzirconiumdimethyl, bis(indenyl)zirconiummethyl(2-(dimethylamino)benzyl), bis(indenyl)zirconiummethyltrimethylsilyl, bis(tetrahydroindenyl)zirconiummethyltrimethylsilyl, bis(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiummethylbenzyl, bis(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdibenzyl, bis(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiummethylmethoxide, bis(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiummethylchloride, bis(methylethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdimethyl, bis(butylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdibenzyl, bis(t-butylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdimethyl, bis(ethyltetramethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdimethyl, bis(methylpropylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdibenzyl, bis(trimethylsilylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdibenzyl, dimethylsilylbis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdichloride, dimethylsilylbis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdimethyl, dimethylsilylbis(tetramethylcyclopentadienyl)titanium (iii) allyl dimethylsilylbis(t-butylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdichloride, dimethylsilylbis(n-butylcyclopentadienyl)zirconiumdichloride, (dimethylsilylbis(tetramethylcyclopentadienyl)titanium(iii) 2-(dimethylamino)benzyl, (dimethylsilylbis(n-butylcyclopentadienyl)titanium(iii) 2-(dimethylamino)benzyl, dimethylsilylbis(indenyl)zirconiumdichloride, dimethylsilylbis(indenyl)zirconiumdimethyl, dimethylsilylbis(2-methylindenyl)zirconiumdimethyl, dimethylsilylbis(2-methyl-4-phenylindenyl)zirconiumdimethyl, dimethylsilylbis(2-methylindenyl)zirconium-1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, dimethylsilylbis(2-methyl-4-phenylindenyl)zirconium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, dimethylsilylbis(4,5,6,7-tetrahydroinden-1-yl)zirconiumdichloride, dimethylsilylbis(4,5,6,7-tetrahydroinden-1-yl)zirconiumdimethyl, dimethylsilylbis(tetrahydroindenyl)zirconium(ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, dimethylsilylbis(tetramethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dimethyl dimethylsilylbis(fluorenyl)zirconiumdimethyl, dimethylsilylbis(tetrahydrofluorenyl)zirconium bis(trimethylsilyl), ethylenebis(indenyl)zirconiumdichloride, ethylenebis(indenyl)zirconiumdimethyl, ethylenebis(4,5,6,7-tetrahydroindenyl)zirconiumdichloride, ethylenebis(4,5,6,7-tetrahydroindenyl)zirconiumdimethyl, (isopropylidene)(cyclopentadienyl)(fluorenyl)zirconiumdibenzyl, and dimethylsilyl(tetramethylcyclopentadienyl)(fluorenyl)zirconium dimethyl. a further class of metal complexes utilized in the present invention corresponds to the preceding formula: mkz z x x , or a dimer thereof, wherein m, k, x, x and z are as previously defined, and z is a substituent of up to 50 non-hydrogen atoms that together with k forms a metallocycle with m. preferred z substituents include groups containing up to 30 non-hydrogen atoms comprising at least one atom that is oxygen, sulfur, boron or a member of group 14 of the periodic table of the elements directly attached to k, and a different atom, selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen or sulfur that is covalently bonded to m. more specifically this class of group 4 metal complexes used according to the present invention includes "constrained geometry catalysts" corresponding to the formula: wherein: m is titanium or zirconium, preferably titanium in the +2, +3, or +4 formal oxidation state; k 1 is a delocalized, π-bonded ligand group optionally substituted with from 1 to 5 r 2 groups, r 2 in each occurrence independently is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydrocarbyl, silyl, germyl, cyano, halo and combinations thereof, said r 2 having up to 20 non-hydrogen atoms, or adjacent r 2 groups together form a divalent derivative (that is, a hydrocarbadiyl, siladiyl or germadiyl group) thereby forming a fused ring system, each x is a halo, hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy or silyl group, said group having up to 20 non-hydrogen atoms, or two x groups together form a neutral c 5-30 conjugated diene or a divalent derivative thereof; x is 1 or 2; y is -o-, -s-, -nr'-, -pr'-; and x' is sir' 2 , cr' 2 , sir' 2 sir' 2 , cr' 2 cr' 2 , cr'=cr', cr' 2 sir' 2 , or ger' 2 , wherein r' independently each occurrence is hydrogen or a group selected from silyl, hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy and combinations thereof, said r' having up to 30 carbon or silicon atoms. specific examples of the foregoing constrained geometry metal complexes include compounds corresponding to the formula: wherein, ar is an aryl group of from 6 to 30 atoms not counting hydrogen; r 4 independently each occurrence is hydrogen, ar, or a group other than ar selected from hydrocarbyl, trihydrocarbylsilyl, trihydrocarbylgermyl, halide, hydrocarbyloxy, trihydrocarbylsiloxy, bis(trihydrocarbylsilyl)amino, di(hydrocarbyl)amino, hydrocarbadiylamino, hydrocarbylimino, di(hydrocarbyl)phosphino, hydrocarbadiylphosphino, hydrocarbylsulfido, halo-substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy- substituted hydrocarbyl, trihydrocarbylsilyl- substituted hydrocarbyl, trihydrocarbylsiloxy- substituted hydrocarbyl, bis(trihydrocarbylsilyl)amino-substituted hydrocarbyl, di(hydrocarbyl)amino- substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyleneamino-substituted hydrocarbyl, di(hydrocarbyl)phosphino- substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbylenephosphino- substituted hydrocarbyl, or hydrocarbylsulfido- substituted hydrocarbyl, said r group having up to 40 atoms not counting hydrogen atoms, and optionally two adjacent r 4 groups may be joined together forming a polycyclic fused ring group; m is titanium; x' is sir 6 2 , cr 6 2 , sir 6 2 sir 6 2 , cr 6 2 cr 6 2 , cr 6 =cr 6 , cr 6 2 sir 6 2 , br 6 , br 6 l", or ger 6 2 ; y is -o-, -s-, -nr 5 -, -pr 5 -; -nr 5 2 , or -pr 5 2 ; r 5 , independently each occurrence, is hydrocarbyl, trihydrocarbylsilyl, or trihydrocarbylsilylhydrocarbyl, said r 5 having up to 20 atoms other than hydrogen, and optionally two r 5 groups or r 5 together with y or z form a ring system; r 6 , independently each occurrence, is hydrogen, or a member selected from hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy, silyl, halogenated alkyl, halogenated aryl, -nr 5 2 , and combinations thereof, said r 6 having up to 20 non-hydrogen atoms, and optionally, two r 6 groups or r 6 together with z forms a ring system; z is a neutral diene or a monodentate or polydentate lewis base optionally bonded to r 5 , r 6 , or x; x is hydrogen, a monovalent anionic ligand group having up to 60 atoms not counting hydrogen, or two x groups are joined together thereby forming a divalent ligand group; x is 1 or 2; and z is 0, 1 or 2. preferred examples of the foregoing metal complexes are substituted at both the 3- and 4-positions of a cyclopentadienyl or indenyl group with an ar group. examples of the foregoing metal complexes include: (3-phenylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, (3-phenylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, (3-phenylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,3-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene; (3-(pyrrol-1-yl)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, (3-(pyrrol-1-yl)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, (3-(pyrrol-1-yl)cyclopentadien-1-yl))dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene; (3-(1-methylpyrrol-3-yl)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, (3-(1-methylpyrrol-3-yl)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, (3-(1-methylpyrrol-3-yl)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene; (3,4-diphenylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, (3,4-diphenylcyclopentadien-l-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, (3,4-diphenylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido) silanetitanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene; (3-(3-n,n-dimethylamino)phenyl)cyclopentadien1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, (3-(3-n,n-dimethylamino)phenylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, (3-(3-n,n-dimethylamino)phenylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene; (3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-methylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, (3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-phenylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, (3-4-methoxyphenyl)-4-phenylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene; (3-phenyl-4-methoxycyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, (3-phenyl-4-methoxycyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, (3-phenyl-4-methoxycyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene; (3-phenyl-4-(n,n-dimethylamino)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, (3-phenyl-4-(n,n-dimethylamino)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, (3-phenyl-4-(n,n-dimethylamino)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene; 2-methyl-(3,4-di(4-methylphenyl)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, 2-methyl-(3,4-di(4-methylphenyl)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, 2-methyl-(3,4-di(4-methylphenyl)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene; ((2,3-diphenyl)-4-(n,n-dimethylamino)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silane titanium dichloride, ((2,3-diphenyl)-4-(n,n-dimethylamino)cyclopentadien-l-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silane titanium dimethyl, ((2,3-diphenyl)-4-(n,n-dimethylamino)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene; (2,3,4-triphenyl-5-methylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, (2,3,4-triphenyl-5-methylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, (2,3,4-triphenyl-5-methylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene; (3-phenyl-4-methoxycyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, (3-phenyl-4-methoxycyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, (3-phenyl-4-methoxycyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene; (2,3-diphenyl-4-(n-butyl)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, (2,3-diphenyl-4-(n-butyl)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, (2,3-diphenyl-4-(n-butyl)cyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene; (2,3,4,5-tetraphenylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dichloride, (2,3,4,5-tetraphenylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium dimethyl, and (2,3,4,5-tetraphenylcyclopentadien-1-yl)dimethyl(t-butylamido)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene. additional examples of suitable metal complexes for use as catalyst (a) herein are polycyclic complexes corresponding to the formula: where m is titanium in the +2, +3 or +4 formal oxidation state; r 7 independently each occurrence is hydride, hydrocarbyl, silyl, germyl, halide, hydrocarbyloxy, hydrocarbylsiloxy, hydrocarbylsilylamino, di(hydrocarbyl)amino, hydrocarbyleneamino, di(hydrocarbyl)phosphino, hydrocarbylene-phosphino, hydrocarbylsulfido, halo-substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy-substituted hydrocarbyl, silyl-substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbylsiloxy-substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbylsilylamino-substituted hydrocarbyl, di(hydrocarbyl)amino-substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyleneamino-substituted hydrocarbyl, di(hydrocarbyl)phosphino-substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbylene-phosphino-substituted hydrocarbyl, or hydrocarbylsulfido-substituted hydrocarbyl, said r 7 group having up to 40 atoms not counting hydrogen, and optionally two or more of the foregoing groups may together form a divalent derivative; r 8 is a divalent hydrocarbylene- or substituted hydrocarbylene group forming a fused system with the remainder of the metal complex, said r 8 containing from 1 to 30 atoms not counting hydrogen; x a is a divalent moiety, or a moiety comprising one σ-bond and a neutral two electron pair able to form a coordinate-covalent bond to m, said x a comprising boron, or a member of group 14 of the periodic table of the elements, and also comprising nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur or oxygen; x is a monovalent anionic ligand group having up to 60 atoms exclusive of the class of ligands that are cyclic, delocalized, π-bound ligand groups and optionally two x groups together form a divalent ligand group; z independently each occurrence is a neutral ligating compound having up to 20 atoms; x is 0, 1 or 2; and z is zero or 1. preferred examples of such complexes are 3-phenyl-substituted s-indecenyl complexes corresponding to the formula: 2,3-dimethyl-substituted s-indecenyl complexes corresponding to the formulas: or 2-methyl-substituted s-indecenyl complexes corresponding to the formula: additional examples of metal complexes that are usefully employed as catalyst (a) according to the present invention include those of the formula: , and specific metal complexes include: (8-methylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-1-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, (8-methylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-1-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene, (8-methylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-1-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iii) 2-(n,n-dimethylamino)benzyl, (8-methylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-1-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iv) dichloride, (8-methylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-1-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iv) dimethyl, (8-methylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-1-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iv) dibenzyl, (8-difluoromethylene-1,8 8-dihydrodibenzo[ e,h ]azulen-1-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, (8-difluoromethylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-1-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene, (8-difluoromethylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-1-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iii) 2-(n,n-dimethylamino)benzyl, (8-difluoromethylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-1-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iv) dichloride, (8-difluoromethylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-1-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iv) dimethyl, (8-difluoromethylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-1-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iv) dibenzyl, (8-methylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-2-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, (8-methylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-2-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene, (8-methylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-2-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iii) 2-(n,n-dimethylamino)benzyl, (8-methylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-2-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iv) dichloride, (8-methylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-2-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iv) dimethyl, (8-methylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-2-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iv) dibenzyl, (8-difluoromethylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-2-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, (8-difluoromethylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-2-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene, (8-difluoromethylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-2-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iii) 2-(n,n-dimethylamino)benzyl, (8-difluoromethylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-2-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iv) dichloride, (8-difluoromethylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e,h ]azulen-2-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iv) dimethyl, (8-difluoromethylene-1,8-dihydrodibenzo[ e , h ]azulen-2-yl)-n-(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilanamide titanium (iv) dibenzyl, and mixtures thereof, especially mixtures of positional isomers. further illustrative examples of metal complexes for use according to the present invention correspond to the formula: where m is titanium in the +2, +3 or +4 formal oxidation state; t is -nr 9 - or -o-; r 9 is hydrocarbyl, silyl, germyl, dihydrocarbylboryl, or halohydrocarbyl or up to 10 atoms not counting hydrogen; r 10 independently each occurrence is hydrogen, hydrocarbyl, trihydrocarbylsilyl, trihydrocarbylsilylhydrocarbyl, germyl, halide, hydrocarbyloxy, hydrocarbylsiloxy, hydrocarbylsilylamino, di(hydrocarbyl)amino, hydrocarbyleneamino, di(hydrocarbyl)phosphino, hydrocarbylene-phosphino, hydrocarbylsulfido, halo- substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy-substituted hydrocarbyl, silyl- substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbylsiloxy- substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbylsilylamino- substituted hydrocarbyl, di(hydrocarbyl)amino- substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyleneamino-substituted hydrocarbyl, di(hydrocarbyl)phosphino- substituted hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbylenephosphino- substituted hydrocarbyl, or hydrocarbylsulfido- substituted hydrocarbyl, said r 10 group having up to 40 atoms not counting hydrogen atoms, and optionally two or more of the foregoing adjacent r 10 groups may together form a divalent derivative thereby forming a saturated or unsaturated fused ring; x a is a divalent moiety lacking in delocalized π-electrons, or such a moiety comprising one σ-bond and a neutral two electron pair able to form a coordinate-covalent bond to m, said x' comprising boron, or a member of group 14 of the periodic table of the elements, and also comprising nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur or oxygen; x is a monovalent anionic ligand group having up to 60 atoms exclusive of the class of ligands that are cyclic ligand groups bound to m through delocalized π-electrons or two x groups together are a divalent anionic ligand group; z independently each occurrence is a neutral ligating compound having up to 20 atoms; x is 0, 1, 2, or 3; and z is 0 or 1. highly preferably t is =n(ch 3 ), x is halo or hydrocarbyl, x is 2, x' is dimethylsilane, z is 0, and r 10 each occurrence is hydrogen, a hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy, dihydrocarbylamino, hydrocarbyleneamino, dihydrocarbylamino- substituted hydrocarbyl group, or hydrocarbyleneamino- substituted hydrocarbyl group of up to 20 atoms not counting hydrogen, and optionally two r 10 groups may be joined together. illustrative metal complexes of the foregoing formula that may be employed in the practice of the present invention further include the following compounds: (t-butylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, (t-butylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene, (t-butylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iii) 2-(n,n-dimethylamino)benzyl, (t-butylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) dichloride, (t-butylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) dimethyl, (t-butylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) dibenzyl, (t-butylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) bis(trimethylsilyl), (cyclohexylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, (cyclohexylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene, (cyclohexylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iii) 2-(n,n-dimethylamino)benzyl, (cyclohexylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) dichloride, (cyclohexylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](l-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) dimethyl, (cyclohexylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) dibenzyl, (cyclohexylamido)dimethyl-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) bis(trimethylsilyl), (t-butylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, (t-butylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene, (t-butylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](l-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iii) 2-(n,n-dimethylamino)benzyl, (t-butylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](l-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) dichloride, (t-butylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](l-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) dimethyl, (t-butylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](l-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) dibenzyl, (t-butylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](l-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) bis(trimethylsilyl), (cyclohexylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, (cyclohexylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene, (cyclohexylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iii) 2-(n,n-dimethylamino)benzyl, (cyclohexylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](l-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) dichloride, (cyclohexylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](l-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) dimethyl, (cyclohexylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](1-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) dibenzyl; and (cyclohexylamido)di(p-methylphenyl)-[6,7]benzo-[4,5:2',3'](l-methylisoindol)-(3h)-indene-2-yl)silanetitanium (iv) bis(trimethylsilyl). illustrative group 4 metal complexes that may be employed in the practice of the present invention further include: (tert-butylamido)(11-dimethyl-2,3,4,9,10-η-1,4,5,6,7,8-hexahydronaphthalenyl)dimethylsilanetitaniumdimethyl, (tert-butylamido)(1,1,2,3-tetramethyl-2,3,4,9,10-η-1,4,5,6,7,8-hexahydronaphthalenyl)dimethylsilanetitaniumdimethyl, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl) dimethylsilanetitanium dibenzyl, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)dimethylsilanetitanium dimethyl, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)-1,2-ethanediyltitanium dimethyl, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -indenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium dimethyl, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)dimethylsilane titanium (iii) 2-(dimethylamino)benzyl; (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iii) allyl, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iii) 2,4-dimethylpentadienyl, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2-methylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2-methylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (ii) 2,4-hexadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2-methylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iv) 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2-methylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iv) isoprene, (tert-butylamido)(2-methylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iv) 1,3-butadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2,3-dimethylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iv) 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2,3-dimethylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iv) isoprene (tert-butylamido)(2,3-dimethylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iv) dimethyl (tert-butylamido)(2,3-dimethylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iv) dibenzyl (tert-butylamido)(2,3-dimethylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iv) 1,3-butadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2,3-dimethylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2,3-dimethylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2-methylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2-methylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iv) dimethyl, (tert-butylamido)(2-methylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iv) dibenzyl, (tert-butylamido)(2-methyl-4-phenylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2-methyl-4-phenylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (ii) 1,3-pentadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2-methyl-4-phenylindenyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (ii) 2,4-hexadiene, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)dimethyl-silanetitanium (iv) 1,3-butadiene, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iv) 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (iv) isoprene, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)dimethyl-silanetitanium (ii) 1,4-dibenzyl-1,3-butadiene, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)dimethylsilanetitanium (ii) 2,4-hexadiene, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)dimethyl-silanetitanium (ii) 3-methyl-1,3-pentadiene, (tert-butylamido)(2,4-dimethylpentadien-3-yl)dimethylsilanetitaniumdimethyl, (tert-butylamido)(6,6-dimethylcyclohexadienyl)dimethylsilanetitaniumdimethyl, (tert-butylamido)(1,1-dimethyl-2,3,4,9,10-η-1,4,5,6,7,8-hexahydronaphthalen-4-yl)dimethylsilanetitaniumdimethyl, (tert-butylamido)(1,1,2,3-tetramethyl-2,3,4,9,10-η-1,4,5,6,7,8-hexahydronaphthalen-4-yl)dimethylsilanetitaniumdimethyl (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl methylphenylsilanetitanium (iv) dimethyl, (tert-butylamido)(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl methylphenylsilanetitanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene, 1-(tert-butylamido)-2-(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)ethanediyltitanium (iv) dimethyl, and 1-(tert-butylamido)-2-(tetramethyl-η 5 -cyclopentadienyl)ethanediyl-titanium (ii) 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene. other delocalized, π-bonded complexes, especially those containing other group 4 metals, will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the art, and are disclosed among other places in: wo 03/78480 , wo 03/78483 , wo 02/92610 , wo 02/02577 , us 2003/0004286 and us patents 6,515,155 , 6,555,634 , 6,150,297 , 6,034,022 , 6,268,444 , 6,015,868 , 5,866,704 , and 5,470,993 . additional examples of metal complexes that are usefully employed as catalyst (a) are complexes of polyvalent lewis bases, such as compounds corresponding to the formula: ; preferably wherein t b is a bridging group, preferably containing 2 or more atoms other than hydrogen, x b and y b are each independently selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen and phosphorus; more preferably both x b and y b are nitrogen, r b and r b ' independently each occurrence are hydrogen or c 1-50 hydrocarbyl groups optionally containing one or more heteroatoms or inertly substituted derivative thereof. non-limiting examples of suitable r b and r b ' groups include alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, aralkyl, (poly)alkylaryl and cycloalkyl groups, as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen and halogen substituted derivatives thereof. specific examples of suitable rb and rb' groups include methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, octyl, phenyl, 2,6-dimethylphenyl, 2,6-di(isopropyl)phenyl, 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl, pentafluorophenyl, 3,5-trifluoromethylphenyl, and benzyl; g is 0 or 1; m b is a metallic element selected from groups 3 to 15, or the lanthanide series of the periodic table of the elements. preferably, m b is a group 3-13 metal, more preferably m b is a group 4-10 metal; l b is a monovalent, divalent, or trivalent anionic ligand containing from 1 to 50 atoms, not counting hydrogen. examples of suitable l b groups include halide; hydride; hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy; di(hydrocarbyl)amido, hydrocarbyleneamido, di(hydrocarbyl)phosphido; hydrocarbylsulfido; hydrocarbyloxy, tri(hydrocarbylsilyl)alkyl; and carboxylates. more preferred l b groups are c 1-20 alkyl, c 7-20 aralkyl, and chloride; h is an integer from 1 to 6, preferably from 1 to 4, more preferably from 1 to 3, and j is 1 or 2, with the value h x j selected to provide charge balance; z b is a neutral ligand group coordinated to m b , and containing up to 50 atoms not counting hydrogen preferred z b groups include aliphatic and aromatic amines, phosphines, and ethers, alkenes, alkadienes, and inertly substituted derivatives thereof. suitable inert substituents include halogen, alkoxy, aryloxy, alkoxycarbonyl, aryloxycarbonyl, di(hydrocarbyl)amine, tri(hydrocarbyl)silyl, and nitrile groups. preferred z b groups include triphenylphosphine, tetrahydrofuran, pyridine, and 1,4-diphenylbutadiene; f is an integer from 1 to 3; two or three of t b , r b and r b ' may be joined together to form a single or multiple ring structure; h is an integer from 1 to 6, preferably from 1 to 4, more preferably from 1 to 3; indicates any form of electronic interaction, especially coordinate or covalent bonds, including multiple bonds, arrows signify coordinate bonds, and dotted lines indicate optional double bonds. in one embodiment, it is preferred that r b have relatively low steric hindrance with respect to x b . in this embodiment, most preferred r b groups are straight chain alkyl groups, straight chain alkenyl groups, branched chain alkyl groups wherein the closest branching point is at least 3 atoms removed from x b , and halo, dihydrocarbylamino, alkoxy or trihydrocarbylsilyl substituted derivatives thereof. highly preferred r b groups in this embodiment are c 1-8 straight chain alkyl groups. at the same time, in this embodiment r b ' preferably has relatively high steric hindrance with respect to y b . non-limiting examples of suitable r b ' groups for this embodiment include alkyl or alkenyl groups containing one or more secondary or tertiary carbon centers, cycloalkyl, aryl, alkaryl, aliphatic or aromatic heterocyclic groups, organic or inorganic oligomeric, polymeric or cyclic groups, and halo, dihydrocarbylamino, alkoxy or trihydrocarbylsilyl substituted derivatives thereof. preferred r b ' groups in this embodiment contain from 3 to 40, more preferably from 3 to 30, and most preferably from 4 to 20 atoms not counting hydrogen and are branched or cyclic. examples of preferred t b groups are structures corresponding to the following formulas: wherein each r d is c 1-10 hydrocarbyl group, preferably methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, i-propyl, t-butyl, phenyl, 2,6-dimethylphenyl, benzyl, or tolyl. each r e is c 1-10 hydrocarbyl, preferably methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, i-propyl, t-butyl, phenyl, 2,6-dimethylphenyl, benzyl, or tolyl. in addition, two or more r d or r e groups, or mixtures of rd and re groups may together form a polyvalent derivative of a hydrocarbyl group, such as, 1,4-butylene, 1,5-pentylene, or a multicyclic, fused ring, polyvalent hydrocarbyl- or heterohydrocarbyl- group, such as naphthalene-1,8-diyl. preferred examples of the foregoing polyvalent lewis base complexes include: wherein r d each occurrence is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and c 1-50 hydrocarbyl groups optionally containing one or more heteroatoms, or inertly substituted derivative thereof, or further optionally, two adjacent r d' groups may together form a divalent bridging group; d' is 4; m b' is a group 4 metal, preferably titanium or hafnium, or a group 10 metal, preferably ni or pd; l b' is a monovalent ligand of up to 50 atoms not counting hydrogen, preferably halide or hydrocarbyl, or two l b' groups together are a divalent or neutral ligand group, preferably a c 2-50 hydrocarbylene, hydrocarbadiyl or diene group. the polyvalent lewis base complexes for use in the present invention especially include group 4 metal derivatives, especially hafnium derivatives of hydrocarbylamine substituted heteroaryl compounds corresponding to the formula: wherein: r 11 is selected from alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, cycloheteroalkyl, aryl, and inertly substituted derivatives thereof containing from 1 to 30 atoms not counting hydrogen or a divalent derivative thereof; t 1 is a divalent bridging group of from 1 to 41 atoms other than hydrogen, preferably 1 to 20 atoms other than hydrogen, and most preferably a mono- or di- c 1-20 hydrocarbyl substituted methylene or silane group; and r 12 is a c 5-20 heteroaryl group containing lewis base functionality, especially a pyridin-2-yl- or substituted pyridin-2-yl group or a divalent derivative thereof; m 1 is a group 4 metal, preferably hafnium; x 1 is an anionic, neutral or dianionic ligand group; x' is a number from 0 to 5 indicating the number of such x 1 groups; and bonds, optional bonds and electron donative interactions are represented by lines, dotted lines and arrows respectively. preferred complexes are those wherein ligand formation results from hydrogen elimination from the amine group and optionally from the loss of one or more additional groups, especially from r 12 . in addition, electron donation from the lewis base functionality, preferably an electron pair, provides additional stability to the metal center. preferred metal complexes correspond to the formula: wherein m 1 , x 1 , x', r 11 and t 1 are as previously defined, r 13 , r 14 , r 15 and r 16 are hydrogen, halo, or an alkyl, cycloalkyl, heteroalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, aryl, or silyl group of up to 20 atoms not counting hydrogen, or adjacent r 13 , r 14 , r 15 or r 16 groups may be joined together thereby forming fused ring derivatives, and bonds, optional bonds and electron pair donative interactions are represented by lines, dotted lines and arrows respectively. more preferred examples of the foregoing metal complexes correspond to the formula: wherein m 1 , x 1 , and x' are as previously defined, r 13 , r 14 , r 15 and r 16 are as previously defined, preferably r 13 , r 14 , and r 15 are hydrogen, or c 1-4 alkyl, and r 16 is c 6-20 aryl, most preferably naphthalenyl; r a independently each occurrence is c 1-4 alkyl, and a is 1-5, most preferably r a in two ortho- positions to the nitrogen is isopropyl or t-butyl; r 17 and r 18 independently each occurrence are hydrogen, halogen, or a c 1-20 alkyl or aryl group, most preferably one of r 17 and r 18 is hydrogen and the other is a c 6-20 aryl group, especially 2-isopropyl, phenyl or a fused polycyclic aryl group, most preferably an anthracenyl group, and bonds, optional bonds and electron pair donative interactions are represented by lines, dotted lines and arrows respectively. highly preferred metal complexes for use herein as catalyst (a) correspond to the formula: wherein x 1 each occurrence is halide, n,n-dimethylamido, or c 1-4 alkyl, and preferably each occurrence x 1 is methyl; r f independently each occurrence is hydrogen, halogen, c 1-20 alkyl, or c 6-20 aryl, or two adjacent r f groups are joined together thereby forming a ring, and f is 1-5; and r c independently each occurrence is hydrogen, halogen, c 1-20 alkyl, or c 6-20 aryl, or two adjacent r c groups are joined together thereby forming a ring, and c is 1-5. additional examples of metal complexes for use as catalyst (a) according to the present invention are complexes of the following formulas: wherein r x is c 1-4 alkyl or cycloalkyl, preferably methyl, isopropyl, t-butyl or cyclohexyl; and x 1 each occurrence is halide, n,n-dimethylamido, or c 1-4 alkyl, preferably methyl. examples of metal complexes usefully employed as catalyst (a) according to the present invention include: [n-(2,6-di(1-methylethyl)phenyl)amido)(o-tolyl)(α-naphthalen-2-diyl(6-pyridin-2-diyl)methane)]hafnium dimethyl; [n-(2,6-di(1-methylethyl)phenyl)amido)(o-tolyl)(α-naphthalen-2-diyl(6-pyridin-2-diyl)methane)]hafnium di(n,n-dimethylamido); [n-(2,6-di(1-methylethyl)phenyl)amido)(o-tolyl)(α-naphthalen-2-diyl(6-pyridin-2-diyl)methane)]hafnium dichloride; [n-(2,6-di(1-methylethyl)phenyl)amido)(2-isopropylphenyl)(α-naphthalen-2-diyl(6-pyridin-2-diyl)methane)]hafnium dimethyl; [n-(2,6-di(1-methylethyl)phenyl)amido)(2-isopropylphenyl)(α-naphthalen-2-diyl(6-pyridin-2-diyl)methane)]hafnium di(n,n-dimethylamido); [n-(2,6-di(1-methylethyl)phenyl)amido)(2-isopropylphenyl)(α-naphthalen-2-diyl(6-pyridin-2-diyl)methane)]hafnium dichloride; [n-(2,6-di(1-methylethyl)phenyl)amido)(phenanthren-5-yl)(α-naphthalen-2-diyl(6-pyridin-2-diyl)methane)]hafnium dimethyl; [n-(2,6-di(1-methylethyl)phenyl)amido)(phenanthren-5-yl)(α-naphthalen-2-diyl(6-pyridin-2-diyl)methane)]hafnium di(n,n-dimethylamido); and [n-(2,6-di(1-methylethyl)phenyl)amido)(phenanthren-5-yl)(α-naphthalen-2-diyl(6-pyridin-2-diyl)methane)]hafnium dichloride. under the reaction conditions used to prepare the metal complexes used in the present invention, the hydrogen of the 2-position of the α-naphthalene group substituted at the 6-position of the pyridin-2-yl group is subject to elimination, thereby uniquely forming metal complexes wherein the metal is covalently bonded to both the resulting amide group and to the 2-position of the α-naphthalenyl group, as well as stabilized by coordination to the pyridinyl nitrogen atom through the electron pair of the nitrogen atom. additional suitable metal complexes include compounds corresponding to the formula: , where: r 20 is an aromatic or inertly substituted aromatic group containing from 5 to 20 atoms not counting hydrogen, or a polyvalent derivative thereof; t 3 is a hydrocarbylene or silane group having from 1 to 20 atoms not counting hydrogen, or an inertly substituted derivative thereof; m 3 is a group 4 metal, preferably zirconium or hafnium; g is an anionic, neutral or dianionic ligand group; preferably a halide, hydrocarbyl or dihydrocarbylamide group having up to 20 atoms not counting hydrogen; g is a number from 1 to 5 indicating the number of such g groups; and bonds and electron donative interactions are represented by lines and arrows respectively. preferably, such complexes correspond to the formula: , wherein: t 3 is a divalent bridging group of from 2 to 20 atoms not counting hydrogen, preferably a substituted or unsubstituted, c 3-6 alkylene group; and ar 2 independently each occurrence is an arylene or an alkyl- or aryl-substituted arylene group of from 6 to 20 atoms not counting hydrogen; m 3 is a group 4 metal, preferably hafnium or zirconium; g independently each occurrence is an anionic, neutral or dianionic ligand group; g is a number from 1 to 5 indicating the number of such x groups; and electron donative interactions are represented by arrows. preferred examples of metal complexes of foregoing formula include the following compounds : where m 3 is hf or zr; ar 4 is c 6-20 aryl or inertly substituted derivatives thereof, especially 3,5-di(isopropyl)phenyl, 3,5-di(isobutyl)phenyl, dibenzo-1h-pyrrole-1-yl, or anthracen-5-yl, and t 4 independently each occurrence comprises a c 3-6 alkylene group, a c 3-6 cycloalkylene group, or an inertly substituted derivative thereof; r 21 independently each occurrence is hydrogen, halo, hydrocarbyl, trihydrocarbylsilyl, or trihydrocarbylsilylhydrocarbyl of up to 50 atoms not counting hydrogen; and g, independently each occurrence is halo or a hydrocarbyl or trihydrocarbylsilyl group of up to 20 atoms not counting hydrogen, or 2 g groups together are a divalent derivative of the foregoing hydrocarbyl or trihydrocarbylsilyl groups. especially preferred are compounds of the formula: wherein ar 4 is 3,5-di(isopropyl)phenyl, 3,5-di(isobutyl)phenyl, dibenzo-1h-pyrrole-1-yl, or anthracen-5-yl, r 21 is hydrogen, halo, or c 1-4 alkyl, especially methyl t 4 is propan-1,3-diyl or butan-1,4-diyl, and g is chloro, methyl or benzyl. other suitable metal complexes are those of the formula: the foregoing polyvalent lewis base complexes are conveniently prepared by standard metallation and ligand exchange procedures involving a source of the group 4 metal and the neutral polyfunctional ligand source. in addition, the complexes may also be prepared by means of an amide elimination and hydrocarbylation process starting from the corresponding group 4 metal tetraamide and a hydrocarbylating agent, such as trimethylaluminum. other techniques may be used as well. these complexes are known from the disclosures of, among others, us patents 6,320,005 , 6,103,657 , wo 02/38628 , wo 03/40195 , and us 04/0220050 . additional suitable metal complexes include group 4-10 metal derivatives corresponding to the formula: wherein m 2 is a metal of groups 4-10 of the periodic table of the elements, preferably group 4 metals, ni(ii) or pd(ii), most preferably zirconium; t 2 is a nitrogen, oxygen or phosphorus containing group; x 2 is halo, hydrocarbyl, or hydrocarbyloxy; t is one or two; x" is a number selected to provide charge balance; and t 2 and n are linked by a bridging ligand. such catalysts have been previously disclosed in j. am. chem. soc., 118, 267-268 (1996 ), j. am. chem. soc., 117, 6414 -6415 (1995 ), and organometallics, 16, 1514-1516, (1997 ), among other disclosures. preferred examples of the foregoing metal complexes are aromatic diimine or aromatic dioxyimine complexes of group 4 metals, especially zirconium, corresponding to the formula: wherein; m 2 , x 2 and t 2 are as previously defined; r d independently each occurrence is hydrogen, halogen, or r e ; and r e independently each occurrence is c 1-20 hydrocarbyl or a heteroatom-, especially a f, n, s or p- substituted derivative thereof, more preferably c 1-10 hydrocarbyl or a f or n substituted derivative thereof, most preferably alkyl, dialkylaminoalkyl, pyrrolyl, piperidenyl, perfluorophenyl, cycloalkyl, (poly)alkylaryl, or aralkyl. most preferred examples of the foregoing metal complexes for use as catalyst (a) are aromatic dioxyimine complexes of zirconium, corresponding to the formula: , or wherein; x 2 is as previously defined, preferably c 1-10 hydrocarbyl, most preferably methyl or benzyl; and r e ' is methyl, isopropyl, t-butyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, 2-methylcyclohexyl, 2,4-dimethylcyclohexyl, 2-pyrrolyl, n-methyl-2-pyrrolyl, 2-piperidenyl, n-methyl-2-piperidenyl, benzyl, o-tolyl, 2,6-dimethylphenyl, perfluorophenyl, 2,6-di(isopropyl)phenyl, or 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl. the foregoing complexes also include certain phosphinimine complexes are disclosed in ep-a-890581 . these complexes correspond to the formula: [(r f ) 3 -p=n] f m(k 2 )(r f ) 3-f , wherein: r f is a monovalent ligand or two r f groups together are a divalent ligand, preferably r f is hydrogen or c 1-4 alkyl; m is a group 4 metal, k 2 is a group containing delocalized π-electrons through which k 2 is bound to m, said k 2 group containing up to 50 atoms not counting hydrogen atoms, and f is 1 or 2. additional suitable metal complexes include metal complexes corresponding to the formula: where m' is a metal of groups 4-13, preferably groups 8-10, most preferably ni or pd; r a , r b and r c are univalent or neutral substituents, which also may be joined together to form one or more divalent substituents, and c is a number chosen to balance the charge of the metal complex. preferred examples of the foregoing metal complexes for use as catalysts are compounds corresponding to the formula: wherein m' is pd or ni. in one embodiment of the invention, branching, including hyper-branching, may be induced in a particular segment of the present multi-block copolymers by the use of specific catalysts known to result in "chain-walking" or 2,1- or 3,1-insertion in the resulting polymer. for example, certain homogeneous bridged bis indenyl- or partially hydrogenated bis indenyl- zirconium catalysts, disclosed by kaminski, et al., j. mol. catal. a: chemical, 102 (1995) 59-65 ; zambelli, et al., macromolecules, 1988, 21, 617-622 ; or dias, et al., j. mol. catal. a: chemical, 185 (2002) 57-64 may be used to prepare branched copolymers from single monomers. higher transition metal catalysts, especially nickel and palladium catalysts are also known to lead to hyper-branched polymers (the branches of which are also branched) as disclosed in brookhart, et al., j. am. chem. soc., 1995, 117, 64145-6415 . regio-irregular polymers possessing 2,1- and or 3,1-monomer insertion errors are also included within the scope of the present invention. in one embodiment of the invention, the presence of such regio-irregular monomer addition in the polymers can be confined to only the blocks or segments resulting from activity of catalyst a or b. accordingly, in one embodiment of the invention a multi-block copolymer containing blocks or segments differing in the presence of such branching in combination with other segments or blocks substantially lacking such branching can be produced as well as the requisite difference in tacticity between blocks. the presence of such branching in the multi-block copolymers of the invention can be detected by certain physical properties of the resulting copolymers, such as reduced surface imperfections during melt extrusion (reduced melt fracture), reduced melting point, tg, for the amorphous segments compared to a non-branched polymer segment, and/or the presence of regio-irregular addition errors as detected by nmr techniques. the quantity of all the foregoing types of regio-irregular monomer additions in the polymers of the invention (as a portion of the blocks or segments containing the same), is normally in the range from 0.01 to 10 per 1,000 carbons. especially desired metal complexes for use as catalyst (a) are the well known racemic biscyclopentadienyl complexes of group 4 metals, such as dimethylsilane or 1,2-ethylene bridged biscyclopentadienyl zirconium complexes, and inertly substituted derivatives thereof. examples include racemic dimethylsilane or 1,2-ethylene bisindenyl complexes of group 4 metals, especially zirconium, such as ethylenebis(4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1-indenyl)dimethyl zirconium or racemic ethylene bis(indenyl)dimethyl zirconium, and inertly substituted derivatives thereof. suitable metal compounds for use as catalyst (b) include the foregoing metal compounds mentioned with respect to catalyst (a) as well as other metal compounds, with the proviso, that the tacticity of the resulting polymer block is less than that of the block prepared by catalyst (a). examples of metal complexes especially suited for preparing essentially atactic polymers of c 3-20 α-olefins include the following metal complexes: and wherein r x is as previously defined. the skilled artisan will appreciate that in other embodiments of the invention, the criterion for selecting a combination of catalyst (a) and (b) may be any other distinguishing property of the resulting polymer blocks, such as combinations based on tacticity (isotactic/syndiotactic, isotactic/atactic or syndiotactic/atactic), regio-error content, or combinations thereof. cocatalysts each of the metal complex catalysts (a) and (b) (also interchangeably referred to herein as procatalysts) may be activated to form the active catalyst composition by combination with a cocatalyst, preferably a cation forming cocatalyst, a strong lewis acid, or a combination thereof. in a preferred embodiment, the shuttling agent is employed both for purposes of chain shuttling and as the cocatalyst component of the catalyst composition. the metal complexes desirably are rendered catalytically active by combination with a cation forming cocatalyst, such as those previously known in the art for use with group 4 metal olefin polymerization complexes. suitable cation forming cocatalysts for use herein include neutral lewis acids, such as c 1-30 hydrocarbyl substituted group 13 compounds, especially tri(hydrocarbyl)aluminum- or tri(hydrocarbyl)boron compounds and halogenated (including perhalogenated) derivatives thereof, having from 1 to 10 carbons in each hydrocarbyl or halogenated hydrocarbyl group, more especially perfluorinated tri(aryl)boron compounds, and most especially tris(pentafluoro-phenyl)borane; nonpolymeric, compatible, noncoordinating, ion forming compounds (including the use of such compounds under oxidizing conditions), especially the use of ammonium-, phosphonium-, oxonium-, carbonium-, silylium- or sulfonium- salts of compatible, noncoordinating anions, or ferrocenium-, lead- or silver salts of compatible, noncoordinating anions; and combinations of the foregoing cation forming cocatalysts and techniques. the foregoing activating cocatalysts and activating techniques have been previously taught with respect to different metal complexes for olefin polymerizations in the following references: ep-a-277,003 , us-a-5,153,157 , us-a-5,064,802 , us-a-5,321,106 , us-a-5,721,185 , us-a-5,350,723 , us-a-5,425,872 , us-a-5,625,087 , us-a-5,883,204 , us-a-5,919,983 , us-a-5,783,512 , wo 99/15534 , and wo99/42467 . combinations of neutral lewis acids, especially the combination of a trialkyl aluminum compound having from 1 to 4 carbons in each alkyl group and a halogenated tri(hydrocarbyl)boron compound having from 1 to 20 carbons in each hydrocarbyl group, especially tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane, further combinations of such neutral lewis acid mixtures with a polymeric or oligomeric alumoxane, and combinations of a single neutral lewis acid, especially tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane with a polymeric or oligomeric alumoxane may be used as activating cocatalysts. preferred molar ratios of metal complex:tris(pentafluorophenyl-borane:alumoxane are from 1:1:1 to 1:5:20, more preferably from 1:1:1.5 to 1:5:10. suitable ion forming compounds useful as cocatalysts in one embodiment of the present invention comprise a cation which is a bronsted acid capable of donating a proton, and a compatible, noncoordinating anion, a - . as used herein, the term "noncoordinating" means an anion or substance which either does not coordinate to the group 4 metal containing precursor complex and the catalytic derivative derived there from, or which is only weakly coordinated to such complexes thereby remaining sufficiently labile to be displaced by a neutral lewis base. a noncoordinating anion specifically refers to an anion which when functioning as a charge balancing anion in a cationic metal complex does not transfer an anionic substituent or fragment thereof to said cation thereby forming neutral complexes. "compatible anions" are anions which are not degraded to neutrality when the initially formed complex decomposes and are noninterfering with desired subsequent polymerization or other uses of the complex. preferred anions are those containing a single coordination complex comprising a charge-bearing metal or metalloid core which anion is capable of balancing the charge of the active catalyst species (the metal cation) which may be formed when the two components are combined. also, said anion should be sufficiently labile to be displaced by olefinic, diolefinic and acetylenically unsaturated compounds or other neutral lewis bases such as ethers or nitriles. suitable metals include, but are not limited to, aluminum, gold and platinum. suitable metalloids include, but are not limited to, boron, phosphorus, and silicon. compounds containing anions which comprise coordination complexes containing a single metal or metalloid atom are, of course, well known and many, particularly such compounds containing a single boron atom in the anion portion, are available commercially. preferably such cocatalysts may be represented by the following general formula: wherein: l* is a neutral lewis base; (l-h)+ is a conjugate bronsted acid of l; a g- is a noncoordinating, compatible anion having a charge of g-, and g is an integer from 1 to 3. more preferably a g- corresponds to the formula: [m'q 4 ] - ; wherein: m' is boron or aluminum in the +3 formal oxidation state; and q independently each occurrence is selected from hydride, dialkylamido, halide, hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxide, halosubstituted-hydrocarbyl, halosubstituted hydrocarbyloxy, and halo- substituted silylhydrocarbyl radicals (including perhalogenated hydrocarbyl- perhalogenated hydrocarbyloxy- and perhalogenated silylhydrocarbyl radicals), said q having up to 20 carbons with the proviso that in not more than one occurrence is q halide. examples of suitable hydrocarbyloxide q groups are disclosed in us-a-5,296,433 . in a more preferred embodiment, d is one, that is, the counter ion has a single negative charge and is a - . activating cocatalysts comprising boron which are particularly useful in the preparation of catalysts of this invention may be represented by the following general formula: wherein: l* is as previously defined; b is boron in a formal oxidation state of 3; and q is a hydrocarbyl-, hydrocarbyloxy-, fluorinated hydrocarbyl-, fluorinated hydrocarbyloxy-, or fluorinated silylhydrocarbyl- group of up to 20 nonhydrogen atoms, with the proviso that in not more than one occasion is q hydrocarbyl. preferred lewis base salts are ammonium salts, more preferably trialkylammonium salts containing one or more c 12-40 alkyl groups. most preferably, q is each occurrence a fluorinated aryl group, especially, a pentafluorophenyl group. illustrative, but not limiting, examples of boron compounds which may be used as an activating cocatalyst in the preparation of the improved catalysts of this invention are tri-substituted ammonium salts such as: trimethylammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, triethylammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, tripropylammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, tri(n-butyl)ammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, tri(sec-butyl)ammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, n,n-dimethylanilinium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, n,n-dimethylanilinium n-butyltris(pentafluorophenyl) borate, n,n-dimethylanilinium benzyltris(pentafluorophenyl) borate, n,n-dimethylanilinium tetrakis(4-(t-butyldimethylsilyl)-2, 3, 5, 6-tetrafluorophenyl) borate, n,n-dimethylanilinium tetrakis(4-(triisopropylsilyl)-2, 3, 5, 6-tetrafluorophenyl) borate, n,n-dimethylanilinium pentafluorophenoxytris(pentafluorophenyl) borate, n,n-diethylanilinium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, n,n-dimethyl-2,4,6-trimethylanilinium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, dimethyloctadecylammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, methyldioctadecylammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, dialkyl ammonium salts such as: di-(i-propyl)ammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, methyloctadecylammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, methyloctadodecylammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, and dioctadecylammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate; tri-substituted phosphonium salts such as: triphenylphosphonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, methyldioctadecylphosphonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, and tri(2,6-dimethylphenyl)phosphonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate; di-substituted oxonium salts such as: diphenyloxonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, di(o-tolyl)oxonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, and di(octadecyl)oxonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate; di-substituted sulfonium salts such as: di(o-tolyl)sulfonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate, and methylcotadecylsulfonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate. preferred (l-h) + cations are methyldioctadecylammonium cations, dimethyloctadecylammonium cations, and ammonium cations derived from mixtures of trialkyl amines containing one or 2 c 14-18 alkyl groups. another suitable ion forming, activating cocatalyst comprises a salt of a cationic oxidizing agent and a noncoordinating, compatible anion represented by the formula: wherein: ox h+ is a cationic oxidizing agent having a charge of h+; h is an integer from 1 to 3; and a g- and g are as previously defined. examples of cationic oxidizing agents include: ferrocenium, hydrocarbyl-substituted ferrocenium, ag + ' or pb +2 . preferred embodiments of a g- are those anions previously defined with respect to the bronsted acid containing activating cocatalysts, especially tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate. another suitable ion forming, activating cocatalyst comprises a compound which is a salt of a carbenium ion and a noncoordinating, compatible anion represented by the formula: wherein: [c] + is a c 1-20 carbenium ion; and a - is a noncoordinating, compatible anion having a charge of -1. a preferred carbenium ion is the trityl cation, that is triphenylmethylium. a further suitable ion forming, activating cocatalyst comprises a compound which is a salt of a silylium ion and a noncoordinating, compatible anion represented by the formula: wherein: q 1 is c 1-10 hydrocarbyl, and a - is as previously defined. preferred silylium salt activating cocatalysts are trimethylsilylium tetrakispentafluorophenylborate, triethylsilylium tetrakispentafluorophenylborate and ether substituted adducts thereof. silylium salts have been previously generically disclosed in j. chem soc. chem. comm., 1993, 383-384 , as well as lambert, j. b., et al., organometallics, 1994, 13, 2430-2443 . the use of the above silylium salts as activating cocatalysts for addition polymerization catalysts is disclosed in us-a-5,625,087 . certain complexes of alcohols, mercaptans, silanols, and oximes with tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane are also effective catalyst activators and may be used according to the present invention. such cocatalysts are disclosed in us-a-5,296,433 . suitable activating cocatalysts for use herein also include polymeric or oligomeric alumoxanes, especially methylalumoxane (mao), triisobutyl aluminum modified methylalumoxane (mmao), or isobutylalumoxane; lewis acid modified alumoxanes, especially perhalogenated tri(hydrocarbyl)aluminum- or perhalogenated tri(hydrocarbyl)boron modified alumoxanes, having from 1 to 10 carbons in each hydrocarbyl or halogenated hydrocarbyl group, and most especially tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane modified alumoxanes. such cocatalysts are previously disclosed in us patents 6,214,760 , 6,160,146 , 6,140,521 , and 6,696,379 . a class of cocatalysts comprising non-coordinating anions generically referred to as expanded anions, further disclosed in us patent 6,395,671 , may be suitably employed to activate the metal complexes of the present invention for olefin polymerization. generally, these cocatalysts (illustrated by those having imidazolide, substituted imidazolide, imidazolinide, substituted imidazolinide, benzimidazolide, or substituted benzimidazolide anions) may be depicted as follows: wherein: a + is a cation, especially a proton containing cation, and preferably is a trihydrocarbyl ammonium cation containing one or two c 10-40 alkyl groups, especially a methyldi (c 14-20 alkyl)ammonium cation, q 3 , independently each occurrence, is hydrogen or a halo, hydrocarbyl, halocarbyl, halohydrocarbyl, silylhydrocarbyl, or silyl, (including mono-, di- and tri(hydrocarbyl)silyl) group of up to 30 atoms not counting hydrogen, preferably c 1-20 alkyl, and q 2 is tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane or tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane). examples of these catalyst activators include trihydrocarbylammonium- salts, especially, methyldi(c 14-20 alkyl)ammonium- salts of: bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane)imidazolide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane)-2-undecylimidazolide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane)-2-heptadecylimidazolide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane)-4,5-bis(undecyl)imidazolide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane)-4,5-bis(heptadecyl)imidazolide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane)imidazolinide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane)-2-undecylimidazolinide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane)-2-heptadecylimidazolinide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane)-4,5-bis(undecyl)imidazolinide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane)-4,5-bis(heptadecyl)imidazolinide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane)-5,6-dimethylbenzimidazolide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane)-5,6-bis(undecyl)benzimidazolide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane)imidazolide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane)-2-undecylimidazolide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane)-2-heptadecylimidazolide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane)-4,5-bis(undecyl)imidazolide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane)-4,5-bis(heptadecyl)imidazolide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane)imidazolinide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane)-2-undecylimidazolinide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane)-2-heptadecylimidazolinide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane)-4,5-bis(undecyl)imidazolinide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane)-4,5-bis(heptadecyl)imidazolinide, bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane)-5,6-dimethylbenzimidazolide, and bis(tris(pentafluorophenyl)alumane)-5,6-bis(undecyl)benzimidazolide. other activators include those described in pct publication wo 98/07515 such as tris (2, 2', 2"-nonafluorobiphenyl)fluoroaluminate. combinations of activators are also contemplated by the invention, for example, alumoxanes and ionizing activators in combinations, see for example, ep-a-0 573120 , pct publications wo 94/07928 and wo 95/14044 and us patents 5,153,157 and 5,453,410 . wo 98/09996 describes activating catalyst compounds with perchlorates, periodates and iodates, including their hydrates. wo 99/18135 describes the use of organoboroaluminum activators. wo 03/10171 discloses catalyst activators that are adducts of bronsted acids with lewis acids. other activators or methods for activating a catalyst compound are described in for example, us patents 5,849,852 , 5,859, 653 , 5,869,723 , ep-a-615981 , and pct publication wo 98/32775 . all of the foregoing catalyst activators as well as any other know activator for transition metal complex catalysts may be employed alone or in combination according to the present invention, however, for best results alumoxane containing cocatalysts are avoided. the molar ratio of catalyst/cocatalyst employed preferably ranges from 1:10,000 to 100:1, more preferably from 1:5000 to 10:1, most preferably from 1:1000 to 1:1. alumoxane, when used by itself as an activating cocatalyst, is employed in large quantity, generally at least 100 times the quantity of metal complex on a molar basis. tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane, where used as an activating cocatalyst is employed in a molar ratio to the metal complex of from 0.5:1 to 10:1, more preferably from 1:1 to 6:1 most preferably from 1:1 to 5:1. the remaining activating cocatalysts are generally employed in approximately equimolar quantity with the metal complex. the process of the invention employing catalyst a, catalyst b, one or more cocatalysts, and chain shuttling agent c may be further elucidated by reference to figure 1 , where there are illustrated activated catalyst site a, 10, which under polymerization conditions forms a polymer chain, 13, attached to the active catalyst site, 12. similarly, active catalyst site b, 20, produces a differentiated polymer chain, 23, attached to the active catalyst site, 22. a chain shuttling agent c1, attached to a polymer chain produced by active catalyst b, 14, exchanges its polymer chain, 23, for the polymer chain, 13, attached to catalyst site a. additional chain growth under polymerization conditions causes formation of a multi-block copolymer, 18, attached to active catalyst site a. similarly, chain shuttling agent c2, attached to a polymer chain produced by active catalyst site a, 24, exchanges its polymer chain, 13, for the polymer chain, 23, attached to catalyst site b. additional chain growth under polymerization conditions causes formation of a multi-block copolymer, 28, attached to active catalyst site b. the growing multi-block copolymers are repeatedly exchanged between active catalyst a and active catalyst b by means of shuttling agent c resulting in formation of a block or segment of differing properties whenever exchange to the opposite active catalyst site occurs. the growing polymer chains may be recovered while attached to a chain shuttling agent and functionalized if desired. alternatively, the resulting polymer may be recovered by scission from the active catalyst site or the shuttling agent, through use of a proton source or other killing agent. it is believed (without wishing to be bound by such belief), that the composition of the respective segments or blocks, and especially of the end segments of the polymer chains, may be influenced through selection of process conditions or other process variables. in the polymers of the invention, the nature of the end segments is determined by the relative rates of chain transfer or termination for the respective catalysts as well as by the relative rates of chain shuttling. possible chain termination mechanisms include, but are not limited to, β-hydrogen elimination, β-hydrogen transfer to monomer, β-methyl elimination, and chain transfer to hydrogen or other chain-terminating reagent such as an organosilane or chain functionalizing agent. accordingly, when a low concentration of chain shuttling agent is used, the majority of polymer chain ends will be generated in the polymerization reactor by one of the foregoing chain termination mechanisms and the relative rates of chain termination for catalyst (a) and (b) will determine the predominant chain terminating moiety. that is, the catalyst having the fastest rate of chain termination will produce relatively more chain end segments in the finished polymer. in contrast, when a high concentration of chain shuttling agent is employed, the majority of the polymer chains within the reactor and upon exiting the polymerization zone are attached or bound to the chain shuttling agent. under these reaction conditions, the relative rates of chain transfer of the polymerization catalysts and the relative rate of chain shuttling of the two catalysts primarily determines the identity of the chain terminating moiety. if catalyst (a) has a faster chain transfer and/or chain shuttling rate than catalyst (b), then the majority of the chain end segments will be those produced by catalyst (a). at intermediate concentrations of chain shuttling agent, all three of the aforementioned factors are instrumental in determining the identity of the final polymer block. the foregoing methodology may be expanded to the analysis of multi-block polymers having more than two block types and for controlling the average block lengths and block sequences for these polymers. for example, using a mixture of catalysts 1, 2, and 3 with a chain shuttling agent, for which each catalyst type makes a different type of polymer block, produces a linear block copolymer with three different block types. furthermore, if the ratio of the shuttling rate to the propagation rate for the three catalysts follows the order 1>2>3, then the average block length for the three block types will follow the order 3>2>1, and there will be fewer instances of 2-type blocks adjacent to 3-type blocks than 1-type blocks adjacent to 2-type blocks. it follows that a method exists for controlling the block length distribution of the various block types. for example, by selecting catalysts 1, 2, and 3 (wherein 2 and 3 produce substantially the same polymer block type), and a chain shuttling agent, and the shuttling rate follows the order 1 > 2 > 3, the resulting polymer will have a bimodal distribution of block lengths made from the 2 and 3 catalysts. during the polymerization, the reaction mixture comprising the monomer of interest is contacted with the activated catalyst composition according to any suitable polymerization conditions. the process is characterized by use of elevated temperatures and pressures. hydrogen may be employed as a chain transfer agent for molecular weight control according to known techniques if desired. as in other similar polymerizations, it is highly desirable that the monomer(s) and solvents employed be of sufficiently high purity that catalyst deactivation does not occur. any suitable technique for monomer purification such as devolatilization at reduced pressure, contacting with molecular sieves or high surface area alumina, or a combination of the foregoing processes may be employed. the skilled artisan will appreciate that the ratio of chain shuttling agent to one or more catalysts and or monomers in the process of the present invention may be varied in order to produce polymers differing in one or more chemical or physical properties. supports may be employed in the present invention, especially in slurry or gas-phase polymerizations. suitable supports include solid, particulated, high surface area, metal oxides, metalloid oxides, or mixtures thereof (interchangeably referred to herein as an inorganic oxide). examples include: talc, silica, alumina, magnesia, titania, zirconia, sn 2 o 3 , aluminosilicates, borosilicates, clays, and mixtures thereof. suitable supports preferably have a surface area as determined by nitrogen porosimetry using the b.e.t. method from 10 to 1000 m 2 /g, and preferably from 100 to 600 m 2 /g. the average particle size typically is from 0.1 to 500 µm, preferably from 1 to 200 µm, more preferably 10 to 100 µm. in one embodiment of the invention the present catalyst composition and optional support may be spray dried or otherwise recovered in solid, particulated form to provide a composition that is readily transported and handled. suitable methods for spray drying a liquid containing slurry are well known in the art and usefully employed herein. preferred techniques for spray drying catalyst compositions for use herein are described in us-a's-5,648,310 and 5,672,669 . the polymerization is desirably carried out as a continuous polymerization, preferably a continuous, solution polymerization, in which catalyst components, shuttling agent(s), monomer(s), and optionally solvent, adjuvants, scavengers, and polymerization aids are continuously supplied to the reaction zone and polymer product continuously removed there from. within the scope of the terms "continuous" and "continuously" as used in this context are those processes in which there are intermittent additions of reactants and removal of products at small regular or irregular intervals, so that, over time, the overall process is substantially continuous. the catalyst compositions can be advantageously employed in a high pressure, solution, slurry, or gas phase polymerization process. for a solution polymerization process it is desirable to employ homogeneous dispersions of the catalyst components in a liquid diluent in which the polymer is soluble under the polymerization conditions employed. one such process utilizing an extremely fine silica or similar dispersing agent to produce such a homogeneous catalyst dispersion where either the metal complex or the cocatalyst is only poorly soluble is disclosed in us-a-5,783,512 . a solution process to prepare the novel polymers of the present invention, especially a continuous solution process is preferably carried out at a temperature between 80°c and 250°c, more preferably between 100°c and 210°c, and most preferably between 110°c and 210°c. a high pressure process is usually carried out at temperatures from 100°c to 400°c and at pressures above 500 bar (50 mpa). a slurry process typically uses an inert hydrocarbon diluent and temperatures of from 0°c up to a temperature just below the temperature at which the resulting polymer becomes substantially soluble in the inert polymerization medium. preferred temperatures in a slurry polymerization are from 30°c, preferably from 60°c up to 115°c, preferably up to 100°c. pressures typically range from atmospheric (100 kpa) to 500 psi (3.4 mpa). in all of the foregoing processes, continuous or substantially continuous polymerization conditions are preferably employed. the use of such polymerization conditions, especially continuous, solution polymerization processes employing two or more active polymerization catalyst species, allows the use of elevated reactor temperatures which results in the economical production of multi-block or segmented copolymers in high yields and efficiencies. both homogeneous and plug-flow type reaction conditions may be employed. the latter conditions are preferred where tapering of the block composition is desired. both catalyst compositions (a) and (b) may be prepared as a homogeneous composition by addition of the requisite metal complexes to a solvent in which the polymerization will be conducted or in a diluent compatible with the ultimate reaction mixture. the desired cocatalyst or activator and the shuttling agent may be combined with the catalyst composition either prior to, simultaneously with, or after combination with the monomers to be polymerized and any additional reaction diluent. at all times, the individual ingredients as well as any active catalyst composition must be protected from oxygen and moisture. therefore, the catalyst components, shuttling agent and activated catalysts must be prepared and stored in an oxygen and moisture free atmosphere, preferably a dry, inert gas such as nitrogen. without limiting in any way the scope of the invention, one means for carrying out such a polymerization process is as follows. in a stirred-tank reactor, the monomers to be polymerized are introduced continuously together with any solvent or diluent. the reactor contains a liquid phase composed substantially of monomers together with any solvent or diluent and dissolved polymer. preferred solvents include c 4-10 hydrocarbons or mixtures thereof, especially alkanes such as hexane or mixtures of alkanes, as well as one or more of the monomers employed in the polymerization. the mixture of two or more catalysts along with cocatalyst and chain shuttling agent are continuously or intermittently introduced in the reactor liquid phase or any recycled portion thereof. the reactor temperature and pressure may be controlled by adjusting the solvent/monomer ratio, the catalyst addition rate, as well as by cooling or heating coils, jackets or both. the polymerization rate is controlled by the rate of catalyst addition. the comonomer content (if any) of the polymer product is determined by the ratio of major monomer to comonomer in the reactor, which is controlled by manipulating the respective feed rates of these components to the reactor. the polymer product molecular weight is controlled, optionally, by controlling other polymerization variables such as the temperature, monomer concentration, or by the previously mentioned chain transfer agent, as is well known in the art. upon exiting the reactor, the effluent is contacted with a catalyst kill agent such as water, steam or an alcohol. the polymer solution is optionally heated, and the polymer product is recovered by flashing off gaseous monomers as well as residual solvent or diluent at reduced pressure, and, if necessary, conducting further devolatilization in equipment such as a devolatilizing extruder. in a continuous process the mean residence time of the catalyst and polymer in the reactor generally is from 5 minutes to 8 hours, and preferably from 10 minutes to 6 hours. alternatively, the foregoing polymerization may be carried out in a continuous loop reactor with or without a monomer, catalyst or shuttling agent gradient established between differing regions thereof, optionally accompanied by separated addition of catalysts and/or chain transfer agent, and operating under adiabatic or non-adiabatic solution polymerization conditions or combinations of the foregoing reactor conditions. examples of suitable loop reactors and a variety of suitable operating conditions for use therewith are found in u.s. patents5,977,251 , 6,319,989 and 6,683,149 . although not as desired, the catalyst composition may also be prepared and employed as a heterogeneous catalyst by adsorbing the requisite components on an inert inorganic or organic particulated solid, as previously disclosed. in an preferred embodiment, a heterogeneous catalyst is prepared by co-precipitating the metal complex and the reaction product of an inert inorganic compound and an active hydrogen containing activator, especially the reaction product of a tri (c 1-4 alkyl) aluminum compound and an ammonium salt of a hydroxyaryltris(pentafluorophenyl)borate, such as an ammonium salt of (4-hydroxy-3,5-ditertiarybutylphenyl)tris(pentafluorophenyl)borate. when prepared in heterogeneous or supported form, the catalyst composition may be employed in a slurry or a gas phase polymerization. as a practical limitation, slurry polymerization takes place in liquid diluents in which the polymer product is substantially insoluble. preferably, the diluent for slurry polymerization is one or more hydrocarbons with less than 5 carbon atoms. if desired, saturated hydrocarbons such as ethane, propane or butane may be used in whole or part as the diluent. as with a solution polymerization, the monomer or a mixture of different monomers may be used in whole or part as the diluent. most preferably at least a major part of the diluent comprises the monomers to be polymerized. preferably for use in gas phase polymerization processes, the support material and resulting catalyst has a median particle diameter from 20 to 200 µm, more preferably from 30 µm to 150 µm, and most preferably from 50 µm to 100 µm. preferably for use in slurry polymerization processes, the support has a median particle diameter from 1 µm to 200 µm, more preferably from 5 µm to 100 µm, and most preferably from 10 µm to 80 µm. suitable gas phase polymerization process for use herein are substantially similar to known processes used commercially on a large scale for the manufacture of polypropylene, poly-4-methyl-1-pentene, and other olefin polymers. the gas phase process employed can be, for example, of the type which employs a mechanically stirred bed or a gas fluidized bed as the polymerization reaction zone. preferred is the process wherein the polymerization reaction is carried out in a vertical cylindrical polymerization reactor containing a fluidized bed of polymer particles supported or suspended above a perforated plate or fluidization grid, by a flow of fluidization gas. the gas employed to fluidize the bed comprises the monomer or monomers to be polymerized, and also serves as a heat exchange medium to remove the heat of reaction from the bed. the hot gases emerge from the top of the reactor, normally via a tranquilization zone, also known as a velocity reduction zone, having a wider diameter than the fluidized bed and wherein fine particles entrained in the gas stream have an opportunity to gravitate back into the bed. it can also be advantageous to use a cyclone to remove ultra-fine particles from the hot gas stream. the gas is then normally recycled to the bed by means of a blower or compressor and one or more heat exchangers to strip the gas of the heat of polymerization. a preferred method of cooling of the bed, in addition to the cooling provided by the cooled recycle gas, is to feed a volatile liquid to the bed to provide an evaporative cooling effect, often referred to as operation in the condensing mode. the volatile liquid employed in this case can be, for example, a volatile inert liquid, for example, a saturated hydrocarbon having 3 to 8, preferably 4 to 6, carbon atoms. in the case that the monomer or comonomer itself is a volatile liquid, or can be condensed to provide such a liquid, this can suitably be fed to the bed to provide an evaporative cooling effect. the volatile liquid evaporates in the hot fluidized bed to form gas which mixes with the fluidizing gas. if the volatile liquid is a monomer or comonomer, it will undergo some polymerization in the bed. the evaporated liquid then emerges from the reactor as part of the hot recycle gas, and enters the compression/heat exchange part of the recycle loop. the recycle gas is cooled in the heat exchanger and, if the temperature to which the gas is cooled is below the dew point, liquid will precipitate from the gas. this liquid is desirably recycled continuously to the fluidized bed. it is possible to recycle the precipitated liquid to the bed as liquid droplets carried in the recycle gas stream. this type of process is described, for example in ep-89691 ; u.s. 4,543,399 ; wo-94/25495 and u.s. 5,352,749 . a particularly preferred method of recycling the liquid to the bed is to separate the liquid from the recycle gas stream and to reinject this liquid directly into the bed, preferably using a method which generates fine droplets of the liquid within the bed. this type of process is described in wo-94/28032 . the polymerization reaction occurring in the gas fluidized bed is catalyzed by the continuous or semi-continuous addition of catalyst composition according to the invention. the catalyst composition may be subjected to a prepolymerization step, for example, by polymerizing a small quantity of olefin monomer in a liquid inert diluent, to provide a catalyst composite comprising supported catalyst particles embedded in olefin polymer particles as well. the polymer is produced directly in the fluidized bed by polymerization of the monomer or mixture of monomers on the fluidized particles of catalyst composition, supported catalyst composition or prepolymerized catalyst composition within the bed. start-up of the polymerization reaction is achieved using a bed of preformed polymer particles, which are preferably similar to the desired polymer, and conditioning the bed by drying with inert gas or nitrogen prior to introducing the catalyst composition, the monomers and any other gases which it is desired to have in the recycle gas stream, such as a diluent gas, hydrogen chain transfer agent, or an inert condensable gas when operating in gas phase condensing mode. the produced polymer is discharged continuously or semi-continuously from the fluidized bed as desired. the gas phase processes most suitable for the practice of this invention are continuous processes which provide for the continuous supply of reactants to the reaction zone of the reactor and the removal of products from the reaction zone of the reactor, thereby providing a steady-state environment on the macro scale in the reaction zone of the reactor. products are readily recovered by exposure to reduced pressure and optionally elevated temperatures (devolatilization) according to known techniques. typically, the fluidized bed of the gas phase process is operated at temperatures greater than 50°c, preferably from 60°c to 110°c, more preferably from 70°c to 110°c. examples of gas phase processes which are adaptable for use in the process of this invention are disclosed in us patents: 4,588,790 ; 4,543,399 ; 5,352,749 ; 5,436,304 ; 5,405,922 ; 5,462,999 ; 5,461,123 ; 5,453,471 ; 5,032,562 ; 5,028,670 ; 5,473,028 ; 5,106,804 ; 5,556,238 ; 5,541,270 ; 5,608,019 ; and 5,616,661 . as previously mentioned, functionalized derivatives of multi-block copolymers are also included within the present invention. examples include metallated polymers wherein the metal is the remnant of the catalyst or chain shuttling agent employed, as well as further derivatives thereof, for example, the reaction product of a metallated polymer with an oxygen source and then with water to form a hydroxyl terminated polymer. in another embodiment, sufficient air or other quench agent is added to cleave some or all of the shuttling agent-polymer bonds thereby converting at least a portion of the polymer to a hydroxyl terminated polymer. additional examples include olefin terminated polymers formed by β-hydride elimination and ethylenic unsaturation in the resulting polymer. in one embodiment of the invention the multi-block copolymer may be functionalized by maleation (reaction with maleic anhydride or its equivalent), metallation (such as with an alkyl lithium reagent, optionally in the presence of a lewis base, especially an amine, such as tetramethylethylenediamine), or by incorporation of a diene or masked olefin in a copolymerization process. after polymerization involving a masked olefin, the masking group, for example a trihydrocarbylsilane, may be removed thereby exposing a more readily functionalized remnant. techniques for functionalization of polymers are well known, and disclosed for example in usp 5,543,458 , and elsewhere. because a substantial fraction of the polymeric product exiting the reactor is terminated with the chain shuttling agent, further functionalization is relatively easy. the metallated polymer species can be utilized in well known chemical reactions such as those suitable for other alkylaluminum, alkyl-gallium, alkyl-zinc, or alkyl-group 1 compounds to form amine-, hydroxy-, epoxy-, ketone-, ester-, nitrile- and other functionalized terminated polymer products. examples of suitable reaction techniques that are adaptable for use here in are described in negishi, "orgaonmetallics in organic synthesis", vol. 1 and 2, (1980 ), and other standard texts in organometallic and organic synthesis. polymer products utilizing the present process, novel polymers, especially multi-block copolymers of propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-20 α-olefin comonomer, having multiple blocks or segments of differing tacticity are readily prepared. highly desirably, the polymers are interpolymers comprising in polymerized form propylene or 4-methyl-1-pentene. tacticity in the resulting interpolymers may be measured using any suitable technique, with techniques based on nuclear magnetic resonance (nmr) spectroscopy preferred. it is highly desirable that some or all of the polymer blocks comprise an isotactic polymer, preferably a highly isotactic polypropylene or poly-4-methyl-1-pentene, and any remaining polymer blocks predominantly comprise atactic polymer, especially atactic polypropylene or poly-4-methyl-1-pentene. preferably the tactic segments or blocks are highly isotactic polypropylene or poly-4-methyl-1-pentene, especially homopolymers containing at least 99 mole percent propylene or 4-methyl-1-pentene therein. further preferably, the interpolymers of the invention comprise from 10 to 90 mole percent tactic segments and 90 to 10 mole percent atactic copolymer segments. regio-irregular branching in the polymers of the invention may also arise as a result of chain walking or other branch forming process. in the instance where chain walking in the polymerization of a c 4-20 α-olefin occurs, the catalyst chain may "walk" to the terminal methyl unit of the monomer before inserting another monomer. such insertions may include 1,ω- or 2,ω- insertions, and lead to either chain straightening or to differences in chain branching and/or lowered tg in the segments containing the same. specifically, 1,ω- insertions generally lead to a reduction in branching compared to a normal polymer. in addition, 2-ω insertions result in the formation of methyl branches. these insertions are included within the term "regio-irregular monomer insertion" or "regio-irregular branching" as used herein. among the tactic copolymer segments, those containing regio-irregular monomer additions may range from 15 to 100 percent, preferably from 50 to 100 percent of such blocks. regio-irregular insertions in such polymers generally are less than or equal to 5 percent, preferably less than or equal to 2 percent, and most preferably less than or equal to 1 percent of monomer insertions as determined by 13 c nmr. certain of the foregoing regio-irregular monomer additions in the tactic polymer segment characterize one embodiment of the invention. specifically, such errors are identifiable by 13 c nmr peaks at 14.6 and 15.7 ppm, the peaks being of approximately equal intensity and representing up to 5 mole percent, preferably from 0.1 to 5.0 mole percent of such polymer segment, most preferably an isotactic polypropylene block. the polymers of the invention can have a melt index, i 2 , from 0.01 to 2000 g/10 minutes, preferably from 0.01 to 1000 g/10 minutes, more preferably from 0.01 to 500 g/10 minutes, and especially from 0.01 to 100 g/10 minutes. desirably, the invented polymers can have molecular weights, m w , from 1,000 g/mole to 5,000,000 g/mole, preferably from 1000 g/mole to 1,000,000, more preferably from 10,000 g/mole to 500,000 g/mole, and especially from 10,000 g/mole to 300,000 g/mole. the density of the invented polymers can be from 0.80 to 0.99 g/cm 3 and preferably from 0.85 g/cm 3 to 0.97 g/cm 3 . the polymers of the invention may be differentiated from conventional, random copolymers, physical blends of polymers, and block copolymers prepared via sequential monomer addition, fluxional catalysts, anionic or cationic living polymerization techniques. in particular, compared to a random copolymer of the same monomers and monomer content at equivalent crystallinity or modulus, the polymers of the invention generally have better (higher) heat resistance as measured by melting point, higher tma penetration temperature, higher high-temperature tensile strength, and/or higher high-temperature torsion modulus as determined by dynamic mechanical analysis. compared to a random copolymer comprising the same monomers and monomer content, the inventive polymers generally have higher tear strength, faster setup due to higher crystallization (solidification) temperature, better abrasion resistance, and better oil and filler acceptance. moreover, the present polymers may be prepared using techniques to influence the degree or level of blockiness. that is the amount of tacticity and length of each polymer block or segment can be altered by controlling the ratio and type of catalysts and shuttling agent as well as the temperature of the polymerization, and other polymerization variables. a surprising benefit of this phenomenon is the discovery that as the degree of blockiness is increased, the optical properties, tear strength, and melt properties of the resulting polymer are generally improved. in particular, haze decreases while clarity and tear strength increase as the average number of blocks in the polymer increases while melt viscosity generally decreases. by selecting shuttling agents and catalyst combinations having the desired chain transferring ability (high rates of shuttling with low levels of chain termination) other forms of polymer termination are effectively suppressed. accordingly, little if any β-hydride elimination is observed in the polymerization of comonomer mixtures according to the invention. another surprising benefit of the invention is that polymers wherein chain ends are highly tactic can be selectively prepared. in certain applications this is desirable because reducing the relative quantity of polymer that terminates with an atactic block reduces the intermolecular dilutive effect on crystalline regions. this result can be obtained by choosing chain shuttling agents and catalysts having an appropriate response to hydrogen or other chain terminating agents. specifically, if the catalyst which produces highly tactic polymer is more susceptible to chain termination (such as by use of hydrogen) than the catalyst responsible for producing the atactic polymer segment, then the highly tactic polymer segments will preferentially populate the terminal portions of the polymer. not only are the resulting terminated groups tactic, but upon termination, the tactic polymer forming catalyst site is once again available for reinitiation of polymer formation. the initially formed polymer is therefore another tactic polymer segment. accordingly, both ends of the resulting multi-block copolymer are preferentially tactic. additional components of the present formulations usefully employed according to the present invention include various other ingredients in amounts that do not detract from the properties of the resultant composition. these ingredients include, but are not limited to activators, such as calcium or magnesium oxide; fatty acids such as stearic acid and salts thereof; fillers and reinforcers such as calcium or magnesium carbonate, silica, and aluminum silicates; plasticizers such as dialkyl esters of dicarboxylic acids; antidegradants; softeners; waxes; and pigments. applications and end uses the polymers of the invention can be useful employed in a variety of conventional thermoplastic fabrication processes to produce useful articles, including objects comprising at least one film layer, such as a monolayer film, or at least one layer in a multilayer film prepared by cast, blown, calendered, or extrusion coating processes; molded articles, such as blow molded, injection molded, or rotomolded articles; extrusions; fibers; and woven or non-woven fabrics. thermoplastic compositions comprising the present polymers, include blends with other natural or synthetic polymers, additives, reinforcing agents, ignition resistant additives, antioxidants, stabilizers, colorants, extenders, crosslinkers, blowing agents, and plasticizers. of particular utility are multicomponent fibers such as core/sheath fibers, having an outer surface layer, comprising at least in part, one or more polymers of the invention. fibers that may be prepared from the present polymers or blends include staple fibers, tow, multicomponent, sheath/core, twisted, and monofilament. suitable fiber forming processes include spinbonded, melt blown techniques, as disclosed in u.s. patents4,430,563 , 4, 663,220 , 4,668,566 , and 4,322,027 , gel spun fibers as disclosed in usp 4,413,110 , woven and nonwoven fabrics, as disclosed in usp 3,485,706 , or structures made from such fibers, including blends with other fibers, such as polyester, nylon or cotton, thermoformed articles, extruded shapes, including profile extrusions and co-extrusions, calendared articles, and drawn, twisted, or crimped yarns or fibers. the new polymers described herein are also useful for wire and cable coating operations, as well as in sheet extrusion for vacuum forming operations, and forming molded articles, including the use of injection molding, blow molding process, or rotomolding processes. compositions comprising the invented polymers can also be formed into fabricated articles such as those previously mentioned using conventional polyolefin processing techniques which are well known to those skilled in the art of polyolefin processing. dispersions (both aqueous and non-aqueous) can also be formed using the present polymers or formulations comprising the same. frothed foams comprising the invented polymers can also be formed, as disclosed in pct application no. 2004/027593, filed august 25, 2004 . the polymers may also be crosslinked by any known means, such as the use of peroxide, electron beam, silane, azide, or other cross-linking technique. the polymers can also be chemically modified, such as by grafting (for example by use of maleic anhydride (mah), silanes, or other grafting agent), halogenation, amination, sulfonation, or other chemical modification. additives and adjuvants may be included in any formulation comprising the present polymers. suitable additives include fillers, such as organic or inorganic particles, including clays, talc, titanium dioxide, zeolites, powdered metals, organic or inorganic fibers, including carbon fibers, silicon nitride fibers, steel wire or mesh, and nylon or polyester cording, nano-sized particles, clays, and so forth; tackifiers, oil extenders, including paraffinic or napthelenic oils; and other natural and synthetic polymers, including other polymers according to the invention. suitable polymers for blending with the polymers of the invention include thermoplastic and non-thermoplastic polymers including natural and synthetic polymers. exemplary polymers for blending include polypropylene, (both impact modifying polypropylene, isotactic polypropylene, atactic polypropylene, and random ethylene/propylene copolymers), conventional poly-4-methyl-1-pentene, various types of polyethylene, including high pressure, free-radical ldpe, ziegler natta lldpe, metallocene pe, including multiple reactor pe ("in reactor" blends of ziegler-natta pe and metallocene pe, such as products disclosed in u.s. patents6,545,088 , 6,538,070 , 6,566,446 , 5,844,045 , 5,869,575 , and 6,448,341 , ethylene-vinyl acetate (eva), ethylene/ vinyl alcohol copolymers, polystyrene, impact modified polystyrene, abs, styrene/butadiene block copolymers and hydrogenated derivatives thereof (sbs and sebs), and thermoplastic polyurethanes. homogeneous polymers such as olefin plastomers and elastomers, ethylene and propylene-based copolymers (for example polymers available under the trade designation versify™ available from the dow chemical company and vistamaxx™ available from exxonmobil can also be useful as components in blends comprising the present polymers. suitable end uses for the foregoing products include elastic films and fibers; molded goods, such as tooth brush handles and appliance parts; profiles; auto parts and profiles; foam goods (both open and closed cell); coated fabrics; and viscosity index modifiers, also known as pour point modifiers, for lubricants. particularly desirable blends are thermoplastic polyolefin blends (tpo), thermoplastic elastomer blends (tpe), thermoplastic vulcanisites (tpv) and styrenic polymer blends. tpe and tpv blends may be prepared by combining the invented multi-block polymers, including functionalized or unsaturated derivatives thereof with an optional rubber, including conventional block copolymers, especially an sbs block copolymer, and optionally a crosslinking or vulcanizing agent. tpo blends are generally prepared by blending the invented multi-block copolymers with a polyolefin, and optionally a crosslinking or vulcanizing agent. the foregoing blends may be used in forming a molded object, and optionally crosslinking the resulting molded article. a similar procedure using different components has been previously disclosed in usp 6,797,779 . suitable conventional block copolymers for this application desirably possess a mooney viscosity (ml 1+4 @ 100°c.) in the range from 10 to 135, more preferably from 25 to 100, and most preferably from 30 to 80. suitable polyolefins especially include linear or low density polyethylene, polypropylene (including atactic, isotactic, syndiotactic and impact modified versions thereof) and poly(4-methyl-1-pentene). suitable styrenic polymers include polystyrene, rubber modified polystyrene (hips), styrene/acrylonitrile copolymers (san), rubber modified san (abs or aes) and styrene maleic anhydride copolymers. the blends may be prepared by mixing or kneading the respective components at a temperature around or above the melt point temperature of one or both of the components. for most multiblock copolymers, this temperature may be above 130° c., most generally above 145° c., and most preferably above 150° c. typical polymer mixing or kneading equipment that is capable of reaching the desired temperatures and melt plastifying the mixture may be employed. these include mills, kneaders, extruders (both single screw and twin-screw), banbury mixers, and calenders. the sequence of mixing and method may depend on the final composition. a combination of banbury batch mixers and continuous mixers may also be employed, such as a banbury mixer followed by a mill mixer followed by an extruder. typically, a tpe or tpv composition will have a higher loading of cross-linkable polymer (typically the conventional block copolymer containing unsaturation) compared to tpo compositions. generally, for tpe and tpv compositions, the weight ratio of block copolymer to multi-block copolymer maybe from 90:10 to 10:90, more preferably from 80:20 to 20:80, and most preferably from 75:25 to 25:75. for tpo applications, the weight ratio of multi-block copolymer to polyolefin may be from 959:5 to 5:95, more preferably from 90:10 to 10:90. for modified styrenic polymer applications, the weight ratio of multi-block copolymer to polyolefin may also be from 95:5 to 5:95, more preferably from 90:10 to 10:90. the ratios may be changed by changing the viscosity ratios of the various components. there is considerable literature illustrating techniques for changing the phase continuity by changing the viscosity ratios of the constituents of a blend and a person skilled in this art may consult if necessary. the blend compositions may contain processing oils, plasticizers, and processing aids. rubber processing oils have a certain astm designations and paraffinic, napthenic or aromatic process oils are all suitable for use. generally from 0 to 150 parts, more preferably 0 to 100 parts, and most preferably from 0 to 50 parts of oil per 100 parts of total polymer are employed. higher amounts of oil may tend to improve the processing of the resulting product at the expense of some physical properties. additional processing aids include conventional waxes, fatty acid salts, such as calcium stearate or zinc stearate, (poly)alcohols including glycols, (poly)alcohol ethers, including glycol ethers, (poly)esters, including (poly)glycol esters, and metal salt-, especially group 1 or 2 metal or zinc-, salt derivatives thereof. it is known that non-hydrogenated rubbers such as those comprising polymerized forms of butadiene or isoprene, including block copolymers (here-in-after diene rubbers), have lower resistance to uv, ozone, and oxidation, compared to mostly or highly saturated rubbers. in applications such as tires made from compositions containing higher concentrations of diene based rubbers, it is known to incorporate carbon black to improve rubber stability, along with anti-ozone additives and anti-oxidants. for conventional tpo, tpv, and tpe applications, carbon black is the additive of choice for uv absorption and stabilizing properties. representative examples of carbon blacks include astm n110, n121, n220, n231, n234, n242, n293, n299, s315, n326, n330, m332, n339, n343, n347, n351, n358, n375, n539, n550, n582, n630, n642, n650, n683, n754, n762, n765, n774, n787, n907, n908, n990 and n991. these carbon blacks have iodine absorptions ranging from 9 to 145 g/kg and average pore volumes ranging from 10 to 150 cm 3 /100g. generally, smaller particle sized carbon blacks are employed, to the extent cost considerations permit. compositions, including thermoplastic blends according to the invention may also contain anti-ozonants or anti-oxidants that are known to the chemist of ordinary skill. the anti-ozonants may be physical protectants such as waxy materials that come to the surface and protect the part from oxygen or ozone or they may be chemical protectors that react with oxygen or ozone. suitable chemical protectors include styrenated phenols, butylated octylated phenol, butylated di(dimethylbenzyl) phenol, p-phenylenediamines, butylated reaction products of p-cresol and dicyclopentadiene (dcpd), polyphenolic anitioxidants, hydroquinone derivatives, quinoline, diphenylene antioxidants, thioester antioxidants, and blends thereof. some representative trade names of such products are wingstay™ s antioxidant, polystay™ 100 antioxidant, polystay™ 100 az antioxidant, polystay™ 200 antioxidant, wingstay™ l antioxidant, wingstay™ lhls antioxidant, wingstay™ k antioxidant, wingstay™ 29 antioxidant, wingstay™ sn-1 antioxidant, and irganox™ antioxidants. in some applications, the anti-oxidants and anti-ozonants used will preferably be non-staining and non-migratory. for providing additional stability against uv radiation, hindered amine light stabilizers (hals) and uv absorbers may be also used. suitable examples include tinuvin™ 123, tinuvin™ 144, tinuvin™ 622, tinuvin™ 765, tinuvin™ 770, and tinuvin™ 780, available from ciba specialty chemicals, and chemisorb™ t944, available from cytex plastics, houston tx, usa. a lewis acid may be additionally included with a hals compound in order to achieve superior surface quality, as disclosed in usp 6,051,681 . for some compositions, additional mixing process may be employed to pre-disperse the anti-oxidants, anti-ozonants, carbon black, uv absorbers, and/or light stabilizers to form a masterbatch, and subsequently to form polymer blends there from. the multi-block copolymers of the invention as well as blends thereof possess improved processability compared to prior art compositions, due, it is believed, to lower melt viscosity. thus, the composition or blend demonstrates an improved surface appearance, especially when formed into a molded or extruded article. at the same time, the present compositions and blends thereof uniquely possess improved melt strength properties, thereby allowing the present multi-block copolymers and blends thereof, especially tpo blends, to be usefully employed in foam and thermoforming applications where melt strength is currently inadequate. thermoplastic compositions according to the invention may also contain organic or inorganic fillers or other additives such as starch, talc, calcium carbonate, glass fibers, polymeric fibers (including nylon, rayon, cotton, polyester, and polyaramide), metal fibers, flakes or particles, expandable layered silicates, phosphates or carbonates, such as clays, mica, silica, alumina, aluminosilicates or aluminophosphates, carbon whiskers, carbon fibers, nanoparticles including nanotubes, wollastonite, graphite, zeolites, and ceramics, such as silicon carbide, silicon nitride or titanias. silane based or other coupling agents may also be employed for better filler bonding. the thermoplastic compositions of this invention, including the foregoing blends, may be processed by conventional molding techniques such as injection molding, extrusion molding, thermoforming, slush molding, over molding, insert molding, blow molding, and other techniques. films, including multi-layer films, may be produced by cast or tentering processes, including blown film processes. testing methods in the foregoing characterizing disclosure and the examples that follow, the following analytical techniques may be employed: dsc differential scanning calorimetry results may be determined using a tai model q1000 dsc equipped with an rcs cooling accessory and an autosampler. a nitrogen purge gas flow of 50 ml/min is used. the sample is pressed into a thin film and melted in the press at 175°c and then air-cooled to room temperature (25°c). 3-10 mg of material is then cut into a 6 mm diameter disk, accurately weighed, placed in a light aluminum pan (ca 50 mg), and then crimped shut. the thermal behavior of the sample is investigated with the following temperature profile. the sample is rapidly heated to 180°c and held isothermal for 3 minutes in order to remove any previous thermal history. the sample is then cooled to -40°c at 10°c/min cooling rate and held at -40°c for 3 minutes. the sample is then heated to 150 °c at 10°c/min. heating rate. the cooling and second heating curves are recorded. the dsc melting peak is measured as the maximum in heat flow rate (w/g) with respect to the linear baseline drawn between -30°c and end of melting. the heat of fusion is measured as the area under the melting curve between -30°c and the end of melting using a linear baseline. abrasion resistance abrasion resistance is measured on compression molded plaques according to iso 4649. the average value of 3 measurements is reported. plaques for the test are 6.4 mm thick and compression molded using a hot press (carver model #4095-4pr1001r). the pellets are placed between polytetrafluoroethylene sheets, heated at 190 °c at 55 psi (380 kpa) for 3 minutes, followed by 1.3 mpa for 3 minutes, and then 2.6 mpa for 3 minutes. next the plaques are cooled in the press with running cold water at 1.3 mpa for 1 minute and removed for testing. gpc method the gel permeation chromatographic system consists of either a polymer laboratories model pl-210 or a polymer laboratories model pl-220 instrument. the column and carousel compartments are operated at 140 °c. three polymer laboratories 10-micron mixed-b columns are used. the solvent is 1,2,4 trichlorobenzene. the samples are prepared at a concentration of 0.1 grams of polymer in 50 milliliters of solvent containing 200 ppm of butylated hydroxytoluene (bht). samples are prepared by agitating lightly for 2 hours at 160°c. the injection volume used is 100 microliters and the flow rate is 1.0 ml/minute. calibration of the gpc column set is performed with 21 narrow molecular weight distribution polystyrene standards with molecular weights ranging from 580 to 8,400,000, arranged in 6 "cocktail" mixtures with at least a decade of separation between individual molecular weights. the standards are purchased from polymer laboratories (shropshire, uk). the polystyrene standards are prepared at 0.025 grams in 50 milliliters of solvent for molecular weights equal to or greater than 1,000,000, and 0.05 grams in 50 milliliters of solvent for molecular weights less than 1,000,000. the polystyrene standards are dissolved at 80°c with gentle agitation for 30 minutes. the narrow standards mixtures are run first and in order of decreasing highest molecular weight component to minimize degradation. the polystyrene standard peak molecular weights are converted to polyethylene molecular weights using the following equation (as described in williams and ward, j. polym. sci., polym. let., 6, 621 (1968 )): m polyethylene = 0.431(m polystyrene ). polyetheylene equivalent molecular weight calculations are performed using viscotek trisec software version 3.0. compression set compression set is measured according to astm d 395. the sample is prepared by stacking 25.4 mm diameter round discs of 3.2 mm, 2.0 mm, and 0.25 mm thickness until a total thickness of 12.7 mm is reached. the discs are cut from 12.7 cm x 12.7 cm compression molded plaques molded with a hot press under the following conditions: zero pressure for 3 min at 190°c, followed by 86 mpa for 2 min at 190°c, followed by cooling inside the press with cold running water at 86 mpa. density samples for density measurement are prepared according to astm d 1928. measurements are made within one hour of sample pressing using astm d792, method b. flexural/secant modulus/ storage modulus samples are compression molded using astm d 1928. flexural and 2 percent secant moduli are measured according to astm d-790. storage modulus is measured according to astm d 5026-01 or equivalent technique. optical properties films of 0.4 mm thickness are compression molded using a hot press (carver model #4095-4pr1001r). the pellets are placed between polytetrafluoroethylene sheets, heated at 190 °c at 55 psi (380 kpa) for 3 min, followed by 1.3 mpa for 3 min, and then 2.6 mpa for 3 min. the film is then cooled in the press with running cold water at 1.3 mpa for 1 min. the compression molded films are used for optical measurements, tensile behavior, recovery, and stress relaxation. clarity is measured using byk gardner haze-gard as specified in astm d 1746. 45° gloss is measured using byk gardner glossmeter microgloss 45° as specified in astm d-2457 internal haze is measured using byk gardner haze-gard based on astm d 1003 procedure a. mineral oil is applied to the film surface to remove surface scratches. melt index melt index, or i 2 , is measured in accordance with astm d 1238, condition 190°c/2.16 kg. melt index, or i 10 is also measured in accordance with astm d 1238, condition 190°c/10 kg. atref analytical temperature rising elution fractionation (atref) analysis is conducted according to the method described in usp 4,798,081 . the composition to be analyzed is dissolved in trichlorobenzene and allowed to crystallize in a column containing an inert support (stainless steel shot) by slowly reducing the temperature to 20°c at a cooling rate of 0.1°c/min. the column is equipped with an infrared detector. an atref chromatogram curve is then generated by eluting the crystallized polymer sample from the column by slowly increasing the temperature of the eluting solvent (trichlorobenzene) from 20 to 120°c at a rate of 1.5°c/min. 13 c nmr analysis the samples are prepared by adding approximately 3g of a 50/50 mixture of tetrachloroethane-d 2 /orthodichlorobenzene to 0.4 g sample in a 10 mm nmr tube. the samples are dissolved and homogenized by heating the tube and its contents to 150°c. the data is collected using a jeol eclipse™ 400mhz spectrometer or a varian unity plus™ 400mhz spectrometer, corresponding to a 13 c resonance frequency of 100.5 mhz. the data is acquired using 4000 transients per data file with a 6 second pulse repetition delay. to achieve minimum signal-to-noise for quantitative analysis, multiple data files are added together. the spectral width is 25,000 hz with a minimum file size of 32k data points. the samples are analyzed at 130 °c in a 10 mm broad band probe. the comonomer incorporation is determined using randall's triad method ( randall, j.c.; jms-rev. macromol. chem. phys., c29, 201-317 (1989 ). specific embodiments the following specific embodiments of the invention and combinations thereof are especially desirable and hereby delineated in order to provide detailed disclosure for the appended claims. 1. a copolymer formed by polymerizing propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-30 α-olefin in the presence of a composition comprising the admixture or reaction product resulting from combining: (a) a first olefin polymerization catalyst, (b) a second olefin polymerization catalyst capable of preparing a polymer differing in tacticity from the polymer prepared by catalyst (a) under equivalent polymerization conditions, and (c) a chain shuttling agent. 2. a copolymer formed by polymerizing propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-30 α-olefin, and a copolymerizable comonomer in the presence of a composition comprising the admixture or reaction product resulting from combining: (a) a first olefin polymerization catalyst that under the conditions of polymerization forms a tactic polymer of one or more c 3-30 α-olefins, (b) a second olefin polymerization catalyst that under the conditions of polymerization forms a polymer having a tacticity less than 95 percent, preferably less than 90 percent, more preferably less than 75 percent, and most preferably less than 50 percent of the polymer made by catalyst (a), and (c) a chain shuttling agent. 3. a process for preparing a propylene containing multi-block copolymer comprising contacting propylene under addition polymerization conditions with a composition comprising: the admixture or reaction product resulting from combining: (a) a first olefin polymerization catalyst, (b) a second olefin polymerization catalyst capable of preparing a polymer differing in tacticity from the polymer prepared by catalyst (a) under equivalent polymerization conditions, and (c) a chain shuttling agent. 4. a process for preparing a propylene containing multi-block copolymer comprising contacting propylene under addition polymerization conditions with a composition comprising: the admixture or reaction product resulting from combining: a) a first olefin polymerization catalyst that under the conditions of polymerization forms tactic polypropylene, (b) a second olefin polymerization catalyst that under the conditions of polymerization forms a polymer having a tacticity less than 95 percent, preferably less than 90 percent, more preferably less than 75 percent, and most preferably less than 50 percent of the polymer made by catalyst (a), and (c) a chain shuttling agent. 5. a process for preparing a 4-methyl-1-pentene containing multi-block copolymer comprising contacting 4-methyl-1-pentene under addition polymerization conditions with a composition comprising: the admixture or reaction product resulting from combining: (a) a first olefin polymerization catalyst, (b) a second olefin polymerization catalyst capable of preparing a polymer differing in tacticity from the polymer prepared by catalyst (a) under equivalent polymerization conditions, and (c) a chain shuttling agent. 6. a process for preparing a 4-methyl-1-pentene containing multi-block copolymer comprising contacting 4-methyl-1-pentene under addition polymerization conditions with a composition comprising: the admixture or reaction product resulting from combining: a) a first olefin polymerization catalyst that under the conditions of polymerization forms a tactic 4-methyl-1-pentene homopolymer, (b) a second olefin polymerization catalyst that under the conditions of polymerization forms a polymer having a tacticity less than 95 percent, preferably less than 90 percent, more preferably less than 75 percent, and most preferably less than 50 percent of the polymer made by catalyst (a), and (c) a chain shuttling agent. 7. a multi-block copolymer comprising in polymerized form propylene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, or another c 4-8 α-olefin, said copolymer containing therein two or more, preferably three or more segments or blocks differing in tacticity and possessing a molecular weight distribution, mw/mn, of less than 3.0, more preferably less than 2.8. 8. a multi-block copolymer consisting essentially of propylene in polymerized form, said copolymer containing therein two or more, preferably three or more segments or blocks differing in tacticity and possessing a molecular weight distribution, mw/mn, of less than 3.0, more preferably less than 2.8. 9. a multi-block copolymer consisting essentially of 4-methyl-1-pentene in polymerized form, said copolymer containing therein two or more, preferably three or more segments or blocks differing in tacticity and possessing a molecular weight distribution, mw/mn, of less than 3.0, more preferably less than 2.8. 10. a multi-block copolymer according to any one of embodiments 5-9 containing therein four or more segments or blocks differing in tacticity. 11. a functionalized derivative of the multi-block copolymer of any one of embodiments 1, 2, 5-9 or made by the process of embodiment 3 or 4. 12. a functionalized derivative of the multi-block copolymer of embodiment 10. 13. a homogeneous polymer mixture comprising: (1) an organic or inorganic polymer, preferably a homopolymer of propylene or ethylene and/or a copolymer of ethylene and a copolymerizable comonomer, and (2) a multi-block copolymer according to any one of embodiments 1, 2, 5-9 or made by the process of embodiment 3 or 4 of the present invention. 14. a polymer according to any one of embodiments 1, 2, 5-9 or made by the process of embodiment 3 or 4, or a composition comprising the same in the form of a film, at least one layer of a multilayer film, at least one layer of a laminated article, a foamed article, a fiber, a nonwoven fabric, an injection molded article, a blow molded article, or a roto-molded article. 15. a polymer according to embodiment 12 or a composition comprising the same in the form of a film, at least one layer of a multilayer film, at least one layer of a laminated article, a foamed article, a fiber, a nonwoven fabric, an injection molded article, a blow molded article, or a roto-molded article. 16. a polymer mixture according to embodiment 13 or a composition comprising the same in the form of a film, at least one layer of a multilayer film, at least one layer of a laminated article, a foamed article, a fiber, a nonwoven fabric, an injection molded article, a blow molded article, or a roto-molded article. 17. a copolymer according to embodiment 1 or 2 wherein the shuttling agent is a trihydrocarbyl aluminum- or dihydrocarbyl zinc- compound containing from 1 to 12 carbons in each hydrocarbyl group. 18. a copolymer according to embodiment 17 wherein the shuttling agent is triethylaluminum or diethylzinc. 19. a process according to embodiment 3 or 4 which is a continuous process. 20. a process according to embodiment 19 which is a solution process. 21. a process according to embodiment 20 wherein propylene is the only monomer polymerized. the skilled artisan will appreciate that the invention disclosed herein may be practiced in the absence of any component, step or ingredient which has not been specifically disclosed. examples the following examples are provided as further illustration of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting. the term "overnight", if used, refers to a time of approximately 16-18 hours, the term "room temperature", refers to a temperature of 20-25 °c, and the term "mixed alkanes" refers to a commercially obtained mixture of c 6-9 aliphatic hydrocarbons available under the trade designation isopar e®, from exxon mobil chemicals inc. in the event the name of a compound herein does not conform to the structural representation thereof, the structural representation shall control. the synthesis of all metal complexes and the preparation of all screening experiments were carried out in a dry nitrogen atmosphere using dry box techniques. all solvents used were hplc grade and were dried before their use. mmao refers to modified methylalumoxane, a triisobutylaluminum modified methylalumoxane available commercially from akzo-noble corporation. catalyst (al) is [n-(2,6-di(1-methylethyl)phenyl)amido)(2-isopropylphenyl)(α-naphthalen-2-diyl(6-pyridin-2-diyl)methane)]hafnium dimethyl, prepared according to the teachings of wo 2003/040195 , wo/ 2004/024740 , wo 2004/099268 , and ussn 10/429,024, filed may 2, 2003 . catalyst (bl) is (t-butylamido)dimethyl(3-pyrrolidinyl-1h-inden-1-yl)silanetitanium 1,3-pentadiene, prepared according to the teachings of usp 6,268,444 . catalyst (b2) is [n-phenylamido)(2-isopropylphenyl)(α-naphthalen-2-diyl(6-pyridin-2-diyl)methane)]hafnium dimethyl, prepared according to the teachings of wo 2003/040195 , wo/ 2004/024740 , wo 2004/099268 , and ussn 10/429,024, filed may 2, 2003 . cocatalyst 1 a mixture of methyldi(c 14-18 alkyl)ammonium salts of tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate (here-in-after armeenium borate), prepared by reaction of a long chain trialkylamine (armeen™ m2ht, available from akzo-nobel, inc.), hcl and li[b(c 6 f 5 ) 4 ], substantially as disclosed in usp 5,919,983 , ex. 2. shuttling agents the shuttling agents employed include diethylzinc (dez) and trioctylaluminum (toa). general high throughput parallel polymerization conditions polymerizations are conducted using a high throughput, parallel polymerization reactor (ppr) available from symyx technologies, inc. and operated substantially according to u.s. patents6,248,540 , 6,030,917 , 6,362,309 , 6,306,658 , and 6,316,663 . polymerizations are conducted at 120°c using 1.2 equivalents of cocatalyst 1 based on total catalyst used (1.1 equivalents when mmao is present). a series of polymerizations are conducted in a parallel pressure reactor (ppr) comprising 48 individual reactor cells in a 6 x 8 array that are fitted with a pre-weighed glass tube. the working volume in each reactor cell is 6000 µl. each cell is temperature and pressure controlled with stirring provided by individual stirring paddles. the monomer gas and quench gas are plumbed directly into the ppr unit and controlled by automatic valves. liquid reagents are robotically added to each reactor cell by syringes and the reservoir solvent is mixed alkanes. the order of addition is mixed alkanes solvent (4 ml), monomers, cocatalyst, shuttling agent, and catalyst. after quenching with co, the reactors are cooled and the glass tubes are unloaded. the tubes are transferred to a centrifuge/vacuum drying unit, and dried for 12 hours at 60 °c. the tubes containing dried polymer are weighed and the difference between this weight and the tare weight gives the net yield of polymer. example 1 a 6-ml reaction vessel containing a glass vial insert is charged with mixed alkanes (3.295 ml), and then pressurized to 90 psi (0.63 mpa) with propylene. cocatalyst 1 (1.23 mm in toluene, 0.205 ml, 2.52 µmol) and dez (2.5 mm in toluene, 0.200 ml, 0.5 µmol) are sequentially added via syringe. a mixture of catalyst a1 (1.0 mm in toluene, 0.10 ml, 100 nmol) and b1 (10 mm in toluene, 0.20 ml, 2.0 µmol) is added via syringe. after 1200 seconds, the reaction is quenched by addition of co. the glass insert is removed and volatile components removed under vacuum. gpc reveals a pdi < 2.0. example 2 a 6-ml reaction vessel containing a glass vial insert is charged with mixed alkanes (3.434 ml) and 4-methyl-1-pentene (2.00 ml). cocatalyst 1 (1.23 mm in toluene, 0.100 ml, 1.23 µmol) and toa (2.5 mm in toluene, 0.200 ml, 0.5 µmol) are sequentially added via syringe. a mixture of catalyst a1 (0.15 mm in toluene, 0.166 ml, 25 nmol) and b2 (10 mm in toluene, 0.100 ml, 1.0 µmol) is added via syringe. after 1200 seconds, the reaction is quenched by addition of co. the glass insert is removed and volatile components removed under vacuum. gpc reveals pdi < 2.0. example 3 a 6-ml reaction vessel containing a glass vial insert is charged with mixed alkanes (3.434 ml), and then pressurized to 90 psi (0.63 mpa) with propylene. cocatalyst 1 (1.23 mm in toluene, 0.100 ml, 1.23 µmol) and toa (2.5 mm in toluene, 0.200 ml, 0.5 µmol) are sequentially added via syringe. a mixture of catalyst a1 (0.15 mm in toluene, 0.166 ml, 25 nmol) and b2 (10 mm in toluene, 0.100 ml, 1.0 µmol) is added via syringe. after 1000 seconds, the reaction is quenched by addition of co. the glass insert is removed and volatile components removed under vacuum. gpc reveals pdi < 2.0. comparative a a 6-ml reaction vessel containing a glass vial insert is charged with mixed alkanes (3.454 ml), and then pressurized to 90 psi (0.63 mpa) with propylene. cocatalyst 1 (1.23 mm in toluene, 0.148 ml, 1.82 µmol) and mmao (51 mm in toluene, 0.148 ml, 7.6 µmol) are sequentially added via syringe. a mixture of catalyst a1 (0.15 mm in toluene, 0.10 ml, 15 nmol) and b1 (10 mm in toluene, 0.15 ml, 1.5 µmol) is added via syringe. no shuttling agent is employed. after 500 seconds, the reaction is quenched by addition of co. the glass insert is removed and volatile components removed under vacuum. gpc reveals pdi > 2.0. comparative b a 6-ml reaction vessel containing a glass vial insert is charged with mixed alkanes (3.454 ml), and then pressurized to 90 psi (0.63 mpa) with propylene. cocatalyst 1 (1.2 mm in toluene, 0.148 ml, 1.8 µmol) and mmao (51 mm in toluene, 0.148 ml, 7.6 µmol) are sequentially added via syringe. a mixture of catalyst a1 (0.15 mm in toluene, 0.10 ml, 15 nmol) and b2 (10 mm in toluene, 0.15 ml, 1.5 µmol) is added via syringe. after 850 seconds, the reaction is quenched by addition of co. gpc reveals pdi > 2.0. examples 1-3 demonstrate the synthesis of linear block copolymers by the present invention as evidenced by the formation of a very narrow mwd, essentially monomodal copolymer when dez or toa is present and a bimodal, broad molecular weight distribution product (a mixture of generally isotactic and atactic polymers) in the absence of chain shuttling agent. due to the fact that catalyst (a1) has different stereospecificity characteristics than catalyst b1, the different blocks or segments of the resulting multi-block copolymers are distinguishable based on tacticity. examples of continuous solution polymerization continuous solution polymerizations are carried out in a computer controlled autoclave reactor equipped with an internal stirrer. purified mixed alkanes solvent (isopar™ e available from exxonmobil, inc.), propylene, and hydrogen (where used) are supplied to a 3.8 l reactor equipped with a jacket for temperature control and an internal thermocouple. the solvent feed to the reactor is measured by a mass-flow controller. a variable speed diaphragm pump controls the solvent flow rate and pressure to the reactor. at the discharge of the pump, a side stream is taken to provide flush flows for the catalyst and cocatalyst 1 injection lines and the reactor agitator. these flows are measured by micro-motion mass flow meters and controlled by control valves or by the manual adjustment of needle valves. the remaining solvent is combined with propylene and hydrogen (where used) and fed to the reactor. a mass flow controller is used to deliver hydrogen to the reactor as needed. the temperature of the solvent/monomer solution is controlled by use of a heat exchanger before entering the reactor. temperature of the reactor is maintained at the desired temperature, typically between 70 - 140 °c. this stream enters the bottom of the reactor. the catalyst component solutions are metered using pumps and mass flow meters and are combined with the catalyst flush solvent and introduced into the bottom of the reactor. the reactor is run liquid-full at 500 psig (3.45 mpa) with vigorous stirring. product is removed through exit lines at the top of the reactor. all exit lines from the reactor are steam traced and insulated. polymerization is stopped by the addition of a small amount of water into the exit line along with any stabilizers or other additives and passing the mixture through a static mixer. the product stream is then heated by passing through a heat exchanger before devolatilization. the polymer product is recovered by extrusion using a devolatilizing extruder and water cooled pelletizer. the reactor temperature and monomer concentration are used to control the tacticity of the polymer segment or block produced by each catalyst, enabling production of polymer segments or blocks from the two catalysts that are distinguishable based on tacticity. suitable blocks comprising isotactic polypropylene and atactic polypropylene can be produced by achieving the correct propylene concentration, catalyst ratios, and amount of chain shuttling agent (dez) added. monomer conversion is regulated at the desired level by adjusting the feeds of the catalysts. the overall composition of the polymer, meaning the relative amounts of the two types of differentiated polymer segments, is controlled by modifying either the catalyst feed ratio or the reactor temperature or monomer concentration. hydrogen and/or dez is used to control molecular weight of the polymer. when hydrogen alone is used for control of molecular weight, the product can display bimodal molecular weight and composition distributions. this copolymer blend can be separated by techniques commonly used by those skilled in the art. conversely, when dez is used for molecular weight control, the copolymer displays narrow molecular weight and composition distributions consistent with a multi-block polymer. the inventive polymer samples from the above continuous solution polymerization procedure can display several enhanced characteristics relative to comparative examples or normal propylene homopolymers. for example, high temperature resistance properties, as evidenced by tma temperature testing, pellet blocking strength, high temperature recovery, high temperature compression set and storage modulus ratio, g'(25°c)/g'(100°c), can all be achieved.
070-043-168-390-153	JP	[ "US", "WO", "DE" ]	C23C30/00	1998-04-14T00:00:00	1998	[ "C23" ]	coated cemented carbide cutting tool	the invention is to prolong the life time of tools dramatically by (1) considerably improving the flaking resistance of the coating layer at the time of cutting, (2) increasing the wear resistance and crater resistance of the coating layer itself, and (3) enhancing the breakage strength of the coating layer in comparison with the conventional coating cutting tools. in order to achieve the object, the coated cemented carbide of the invention has the following structure in the coating layer on the surface of the cemented carbides: the outer layer has an al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer practically having an .alpha.-type crystal structure. the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer has a region where .alpha.-type and .kappa.-type crystal grains coexist in the first row of the crystal grains that grow on the inner layer. in addition to that, the crystal grains of .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 in the region include no pores.	1. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool comprising: (1) a cemented-carbide substrate that comprises: (a) a hard phase comprising: (a1) tungsten carbide as the main constituent; and (a2) at least one member selected from the group consisting of carbide, nitride, and carbonnitride of the metals in the iva, va, and via groups; and (b) a bonding phase mainly consisting of co; and (2) a ceramic coating layer on the cemented-carbide substrate, the ceramic coating layer comprising an inner layer in contact with the cemented-carbide substrate and an outer layer on the inner layer, wherein (a) the inner layer comprises at least one layer of ti(cwbxnyoz), where w+x+y+z=1, and w, x, y, and z.gtoreq.0, and (b) the outer layer comprises al.sub.2 o.sub.3 comprising grains of .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 and a region with a row containing coexisting grains having an .alpha.-type crystal structure and grains having a .kappa.-type crystal structure, each in contact with the inner layer, wherein regions having crystal grains of .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 have substantially no pores. 2. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 1, wherein the outer layer includes at least one layer of ti(cwbxnyoz), where w+x+y+z=1, and w, x, y, and z.gtoreq.0. 3. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 1, wherein the inner layer comprises two or more layers of ti(cwbxnyoz), where w+x+y+z=1, and w, x, y, and z.gtoreq.0, and the layers mainly consist of titanium carbonitride having a columnar structure. 4. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 1, wherein the row on the inner layer has a ratio of grains of .kappa.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 to grains of .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 (.kappa./.alpha. ratio) of 0.25 to 0.75. 5. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 4, wherein the .kappa./.alpha. ratio decreases in the upward direction from the row on the inner layer and becomes zero within the coating layer. 6. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 4, wherein the coexisting region of .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 and .kappa.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 grains remains within 1.5 .mu.m of an inter-face with the inner layer. 7. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 1, wherein the grains in the row on the inner layer have a granular structure such that the majority of the grains have a diameter of 500 nm or less. 8. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 1, wherein the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer has a thickness of 2 to 20 .mu.m. 9. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 1, wherein the inner layer in contact with the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer has an acicular microstructure in which needle-shaped crystals have a thickness of 200 nm or less. 10. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 9, wherein the inner layer in contact with the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer comprises ti(cwbxnyoz), where w+x+y+z=1, w, y, and z.gtoreq.0, and x.gtoreq.0.05. 11. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 1, wherein the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having an .alpha.-type crystal structure has an oriented texture coefficient tca that satisfies tca(012)>1.3, where the texture coefficient tca is given by equation 1 below, ##equ3## where i(hkl): measured diffraction intensity of the (hkl) plane, i0(hkl): powder diffraction intensity of the (hkl) plane of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having an .alpha.-type crystal structure according to the astm standard, (hkl): (012), (104), (110), (113), (024), and (116) planes. 12. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 1, wherein the oriented texture coefficient tca as defined in equation 1 in claim 11 satisfies tca(104)>1.3 and tca(116)>1.3. 13. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 3, wherein the titanium carbonitride layer with a columnar structure in the inner layer has an oriented texture coefficient tc that takes the highest value in tc(311) of which the value is not less than 1.3 and not more than 3, where the oriented texture coefficient tc is given by equation 2 below, ##equ4## where i(hkl): measured diffraction intensity of the (hkl) plane, i0(hkl): average value of the powder diffraction intensity of the (hkl) planes of tic and tin according to the astm standard, (hkl): (111), (200), (220), (311), (331), (420), (422), and (511) planes (total 8 planes). 14. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 13, wherein the oriented texture coefficient tc is not less than 1.3 and not more than 3 in tc(422) and tc(311), where tc(422) means the oriented texture coefficient of the (422) plane, and tc(311) the (311) plane. 15. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 1, wherein the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer at the cutting edge of a cutting tool is thinner than at the portions other than the cutting edge or is absent. 16. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 15, wherein the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer at the cutting edge has a surface roughness rmax of 0.4 .mu.m or less over a length of 10 .mu.m. 17. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 15, wherein the outermost layer of the portions other than the cutting edge is made of tin. 18. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 15, wherein the residual tensile stress in the titanium carbonitride in the inner layer is 10 kg/mm.sup.2 or less at the cutting edge at least. 19. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 1, wherein the surface region of the cemented-carbide substrate has a layer in which the hard phase except tungsten carbide is decreased or removed with a thickness not less than 10 .mu.m and not more than 50 .mu.m at the flat portions. 20. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 19, wherein the cemented-carbide substrate includes zr in such a manner that at least part of the zr is a member of the constituents of the hard phase. 21. a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool as defined in claim 19, wherein the surface region of the cemented-carbide substrate has a hardness lower than the average hardness in the interior of the substrate and the region immediately beneath the surface region has a hardness higher than the interior of the substrate.	technical field the present invention relates to a coated cemented-carbide cutting tool that has high toughness and superior wear resistance. background art prolongation of the tool life has been practiced by depositing titanium carbide, titanium nitride, titanium carbonitride, al.sub.2 o.sub.3, or another coating layer on the surface of a cemented-carbide cutting tool. chemical vapor deposition (cvd), plasma cvd, and physical vapor deposition processes have been widely used for providing the coating layer. however, the wear resistance of the coating layers has been insufficient, and the tool life has been shortened due to damage to or flaking of the coating layer when these coated cemented-carbide cutting tools are used particularly for the following machining: (1) machining, such as high-speed cutting of steel or high-speed machining of cast iron, that requires wear resistance and crater resistance in the coating layer at high temperatures, and (2) machining, such as small-parts machining, that has many machining processes and many leading parts on the workpiece. in order to surmount these problems, controlling the structure and oriented texture of the coated layer has been studied on the multiple coated-layer structure in which the outer layer comprises al.sub.2 o.sub.3 and the inner layer comprises titanium carbide or titanium carbonitride, for example, which is superior in hardness as well as in bonding with cemented carbides. for example, published japanese patent application tokuhyohei 9-507528 has disclosed a coating method in which al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having an .alpha.-type crystal structure, which is stable at high temperatures, is given a certain amount of oriented texture in order to improve the high-temperature properties. although the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having an .alpha.-type crystal structure is said to be superior in high-temperature properties, the material is well known to have difficulty in obtaining high bonding strength that prevents flaking at the time of cutting. in the above-mentioned prior technique also endeavor has been made to obtain high bonding strength by controlling the moisture content at the initial stage of the coating of al.sub.2 o.sub.3. however, it cannot be said that sufficient bonding strength is obtained by this technique. disclosure of invention under these circumstances, an object of the present invention is to prolong the life time of tools extensively and stably by (1) considerably improving the flaking resistance of the coating layer at the time of cutting, (2) increasing the wear resistance and crater resistance of the coating layer itself, and (3) enabling the enhancement of the breakage strength of the coating layer in comparison with the conventional coated cutting tools. in order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention offers the following structure: the structure comprises: a cemented-carbide substrate that comprises a hard phase comprising tungsten carbide as the main constituent and at least one member selected from the group consisting of carbide, nitride, and carbonitride of the metals in the i va, va, and v i a groups, and a bonding phase mainly consisting of co; and a ceramic coating layer on the cemented-carbide substrate, the ceramic coating layer comprising an inner layer and an outer layer. the inner layer comprises at least one layer of ti(cwbxnyoz), where w+x+y+z=1, and w, x, y, and z.gtoreq.0. the outer layer has an al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer at the place where the outer layer is in contact with the inner layer. the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 practically comprises .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3. more specifically, the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 has a region where grains having an .alpha.-type crystal structure and grains having a .kappa.-type crystal structure coexist in the first row of the crystal grains that grow on the inner layer. the crystal grains of the .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 in the region include practically no pores. it is preferable that the outer layer include at least one layer of ti(cwbxnyoz), where w+x+y+z=1, and w, x, y, and z.gtoreq.0, in addition to the al.sub.2 o.sub.3. the following effects are attained by the coexistence of the grains having an .alpha.-type crystal structure and the grains having a .kappa.-type crystal structure in the first row of crystal grains that grow on the inner layer. first, high bonding strength between the outer layer and inner layer can be obtained by providing a certain proportion of al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having a .kappa.-type crystal structure, which is superior in bonding to the layer directly underneath, in the first row at the interface with the inner layer. in addition to that, the gradual dominance of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having an .alpha.-type crystal structure over the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having a .kappa.-type crystal structure during the growing process of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 enables the final growth, at the outermost layer, of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having an .alpha.-type crystal structure, which has superior mechanical and chemical wear resistance and breakage resistance under high-temperature cutting environments. second, the structure having practically no pores in the crystal grains of the .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 in the region enables the suppression of the reduction in the bonding strength; this reduction has caused problems in the conventional coated cutting tools having .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3. the low bonding strength of the conventional .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 is attributable to the strength reduction in the coating layer caused by the pores; this strength reduction has generated the mechanism of breakage followed by flaking of the layer. as described above, the structure of the present invention enables the formation of .alpha.-a.sub.2 o.sub.3, which is superior as a coating layer, on the inner layer with substantially high bonding strength, improving the cutting performance extensively. it is desirable that the inner layer comprise two or more layers of ti(cwbxnyoz), where w+x+y+z=1, and w, x, y, and z.gtoreq.0, and that the layers mainly consist of titanium carbonitride having a columnar structure. this constitution enables the attainment of substantially high wear resistance through not only preventing the damage starting at the outer al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer during intermittent cutting and cutting for parts machining, for example, but also preventing coating-layer breakage in the inner layer and separation between the inner layer and the substrate, thus enabling dramatic improvement of the tool performance. it is desirable that the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having an .alpha.-type crystal structure in the structure of the present invention have a .kappa./.alpha. ratio of 0.25 to 0.75 in the first row lying on the inner layer, where the .kappa./.alpha. ratio means the existing ratio of the grains of the .kappa.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 to the grains of the .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3. the .kappa./.alpha. ratio in this range enables easier concurrent attainment of the high bonding strength and the final coating of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having an .alpha.-type crystal structure at the outermost layer. it is preferable that the .kappa./.alpha. coexistence not be limited to the first row but extended to the following rows in a manner such that the .kappa./.alpha. ratio decreases in the upward direction from the first row and becomes zero within the coating layer. the reason being that if the .kappa.-type and the .alpha.-type coexist only in the first row, strains caused by the abrupt change in the distribution of crystal structure may decrease the strength of the coating layer at this location. it is yet preferable that the coexisting region is limited within 1.5 .mu.m of the interface with the inner layer because if the coexisting region extends beyond this limit, the existence of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having a .kappa.-type crystal structure begins to worsen the quality of the coating layer. in the structure of the present invention, the increase in the initial nucleation density in the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer on the inner layer can increase the bonding strength. this increase in bonding strength is preeminent when the nucleation density has a level such that the majority of the grains in the first row, where .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 and .kappa.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 coexist, on the inner layer have a grain diameter of 500 nm or less. the grain diameter is determined by the following means in the present invention: first, a cross-sectional micrograph is taken under a transmission electron microscope (tem) at 50,000 power. second, the number of grains in the first row is obtained on a 2-.mu.m-long line drawn arbitrarily on the micrograph. finally, the grain diameter is obtained by dividing 2 .mu.m by the number of grains. in the structure of the present invention, it is preferable that the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer have a thickness of 2 to 20 .mu.m. if thinner than 2 .mu.m, the .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 may have difficulty in exercising its effects. if thicker than 20 .mu.m, even the innately strong .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 may lack in strength, causing breakage of the layer during cutting or reduction in the wear resistance of the layer because of the coarsening of the crystal grains resulting from the increase in the layer thickness. the finally formed al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer was confirmed, by x-ray diffraction from the surface of the coating layer, to have only an .alpha.-type crystal structure based on the fact that all the diffraction peaks showed the .alpha.-type crystal structure of al.sub.2 o.sub.3, i.e., no peak corresponding to the .kappa.-type crystal structure was found. the existence of .alpha.-type and .kappa.-type grains in the initial stage of the coating of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 is determined by analyzing electron-beam diffraction patterns by a tem. ten or more grains are sampled arbitrarily from the first row on the interface with the inner layer for the analysis. the grains in the second and following rows are analyzed by the same method. the analysis is continued until a row is found in which no .kappa.-type grain is detected. the rows beyond this row are judged to have only an .alpha.-type crystal structure on the basis of the above results as well as on the fact that the x-ray diffraction from the surface shows only the .alpha.-type crystal structure. the presence or absence of pores in the layer of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having an .alpha.-type crystal structure is judged by using cross-sectional micrographs obtained through a tem at 50,000 power. it is preferable that the outermost layer, which is in contact with the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 in the outer layer, of the inner layer have an acicular microstructure in which needle-shaped crystals have a thickness of 200 nm or less. this facilitates the formation of fine, uniform grains in the first row of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer lying on the inner layer and prevents the strength reduction in the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 caused by the coarsening of the grains after the coating. it is preferable that the outermost layer of the inner layer comprise ti(cwbxnyoz), where w+x+y+z=1 and x.gtoreq.0.05. the inclusion of boron enables the suppression of the oxidation of the inner layer at the surface at the initial coating stage of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 and strengthens further the bonding between the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer and the outermost layer of the inner layer. in the structure of the present invention, it is preferable that the oriented texture coefficient tca of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having an .alpha.-type crystal structure satisfy tca(012)>1.3 or satisfy tca(104)>1.3 and tca(116)>1.3. ##equ1## where i(hkl): measured diffraction intensity of the (hkl) plane, i0(hkl): powder diffraction intensity of the (hkl) plane of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having an .alpha.-type crystal structure according to the astm standard, and (hkl): (012), (104), (110), (113), (024), and (116) planes. the structure of the present invention enables concurrent increase in strength and hardness of the coating layer and also enables prolongation of tool life resulting from the improvement of the wear resistance and chipping resistance of the coating layer. it is yet preferable that the oriented texture coefficient tc of the titanium carbonitride layer having a columnar structure in the inner layer take the highest value in tc(311) that is not less than 1.3 and not more than 3 or have both tc(422) and tc(311) not less than 1.3 and not more than 3, where tc(422) means the oriented texture coefficient of the (422) plane, and tc(311) of the (311) plane. ##equ2## where i(hkl): measured diffraction intensity of the (hkl) plane, i0(hkl): average value of the powder diffraction intensity of the (hkl) planes of tic and tin according to the astm standard, and (hkl): (111), (200), (220), (311), (331), (420), (422), and (511) planes (total 8 planes). the oriented texture coefficient lying in the range of the present invention enables considerable increase in the breakage resistance of the film of the inner layer and prevents minute chipping of the film, thus substantially increasing the wear resistance. if, however, the oriented texture coefficient exceeds 3, the breakage resistance of the coating layer decreases because of the excessively intensified orientation to a certain direction. the synergism of the above-described effects resulting from the combination of the quality and the structure of the inner and outer layers enables the dramatic prolongation of tool life. the following is an explanation of the method for fabricating the structure of the present invention. first, the titanium carbonitride of the present invention is deposited in an atmospheric gas of ticl.sub.4, ch.sub.3 cn, n.sub.2, and h.sub.2. the coating conditions for the first half are different from those for the second half as follows: the (ticl.sub.4 +ch.sub.3 cn)/total-gas-volume ratio for the first half (for 120 minutes from the start of coating) is lower than that for the second half, and the n.sub.2 /total-gas-volume ratio for the first half is two or more times that for the second half. the structure of the present invention is obtained under this condition. the titanium carbonitride layer having a thickness less than 10 .mu.m enables the oriented texture coefficient tc(311) to be not less than 1.3 and not more than 3. the coating layer having a thickness of 10 .mu.m or more enables both tc(311) and tc(422) to be not less than 1.3 and not more than 3. next, the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 of the present invention is produced by the ordinary cvd process using al.sub.2 o.sub.3 and co.sub.2 as the material gas. the following is an explanation of the specific method for producing the coexisting region of the .alpha.-type structure and the .kappa.-type structure at the initial formation stage of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer. first, the coating is conducted up to the inner layer immediately underneath the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer. second, after the cleaning of the inside of the coating furnace with an h.sub.2 atmosphere, co.sub.2 and al.sub.2 o.sub.3 are introduced concurrently. during this period, the initial co.sub.2 volume is changed until the steady coating condition is established. more specifically, the initial-co.sub.2 -volume/steady-co.sub.2 -volume ratio is increased steplessly or stair-steppedly from 0.1 up to 1.0 in 3 to 15 minutes. the temperature is maintained between 950 and 1050.degree. c. during this period. this condition enables the formation of the .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer that has the coexisting region of .alpha.-type and .kappa.-type structures at the initial stage without regard to the temperature for the coating of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3. the establishment of this initial condition can control the existing ratio of the .alpha.-type to the .kappa.-type and the thickness of the initial layer. this controls the oriented texture coefficient of the finally coated al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer. the oriented texture coefficient can also be changed by changing the thickness of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer produced under the same oxidative condition. if the initial condition deviates from the above-described specifications, the effects of the present invention cannot be exercised as shown below. (1) the coexisting region of the .alpha.-type and the .kappa.-type at the initial stage may not be obtained. (2) even if the coexisting region is obtained, a .kappa.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer may be formed finally. (3) even if the coexisting region is obtained, a number of pores are included in the grains of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 having an .alpha.-type crystal structure as has been experienced in the conventional .alpha.-al.sub.2 o.sub.3. after the coating, when the coated surface is treated with the blasting process or a mechanical process such as brushing until the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer at the cutting edge of a tool becomes smooth or thin in comparison with the other portions or is removed, the above-described effects are further enhanced. the effects are still upgraded when the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer at the cutting edge has a surface roughness rmax of 0.4 .mu.m or less, where the roughness is measured over a length of 10 .mu.m. it is yet desirable that the outermost layer of the cutting edge be made of al.sub.2 o.sub.3 or the exposed inner layer and that the outermost layer of the portions other than the cutting edge be made of tin. damage caused by the deposition of the workpiece at the portions other than the cutting edge under some cutting conditions can be suppressed by the effect of the tin, which is superior in deposition resistance. an additional explanation about the extent of this treatment is given below. in order to obtain the effect of the present invention, it is necessary for the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer at the cutting edge to become smooth or thin or to be removed without fail at the edge portion that is actually touched by chips at the time of cutting, but the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer at the cutting edge remote from the edge portion that is touched by chips may remain without becoming thin or without being removed. although the present invention specifies that the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer become smooth or thin or be removed only at the cutting edge, this treatment may be given to angular portions that have no direct relation with cutting, such as the peripheral portions of the bearing surface in a cutting tool, without practically altering the effect of the present invention. the above-described surface treatment for the coating layer can also reduce the residual tensile stress in the coating layer down to 10 kg/mm.sup.2 or below at the ticn layer in the inner layer, thus enhancing the breakage resistance of the coating layer. when a cemented-carbide substrate is toughened at the surface region by reducing or removing the hard phase excluding tungsten carbide in a manner such that the region has a thickness not less than 10 .mu.m and not more than 50 .mu.m at the portions other than the cutting edge and is combined with the coating layer and surface treatment of the present invention, damage in which the coating layer disappears together with some portions near the surface of the cemented carbides can be prevented with remarkable effectiveness. containing zr in the cemented carbide substrate is especially preferable. all the zr does not dissolve into the binder phase of cemented carbide, but at least some of the zr constitutes some of the hard phase. this enables further improvement in the hardness and strength properties of the substrate at high temperatures. in the structure of the present invention, when the surface region has a hardness lower than the average hardness in the interior of the substrate and the region immediately beneath the surface region has a hardness higher than the interior of the substrate, the improvement is further remarkable in the toughness resulting from the effect of the surface region as well as in the plastic-deformation resistance because of the high-hardness region. the reason why the present invention specifies that the surface region of the substrate have a thickness not less than 10 .mu.m and not more than 50 .mu.m is as follows: if more than 50 .mu.m, the surface region tends to produce slight plastic deformation or elastic deformation during cutting. if less than 10 .mu.m, the effect for increasing toughness is minimized. the above-described surface region can be produced by the following commonly known methods: one method uses a hard-phase material that contains nitrogen and the other uses a nitrogen-containing atmosphere at the temperature-rising period in the sintering process and changes this atmosphere to a denitrified, decarbonized atmosphere after a liquid phase appears in the bonding phase. best mode for carrying out the invention example 1 wc-based cemented-carbide substrates were prepared that comprise 8% co, 2% tic, 2% tac, and wc as the remainder and that have a shape of cnmg120408. four types of inner-layer structures shown in table 1 were provided on the substrates. subsequently, the outer layers shown in table 2 were laminated on the inner layers. the adopted initial coating conditions of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 are shown in table 3 as a to e (f and g are comparative examples). the samples fabricated under these conditions in combination are shown in table 4, in which the same symbols as in tables 1 to 3 are used. table 1 oriented texture inner-layer coefficient of the outer-layer .fwdarw.substrate ticn layer no. side.rarw. side (311) (422) samples 1a tibn(0.5)/ticn(12)/tin(1) 1.3 3.0 of the 2a tibn(0.5)/ticn(8)/tin(1) 3.0 1.3 present 3a tibn(0.5)/ticn(6)/tin(1) 3.0 1.0 invention 4a tic(3)/ticn(2) 1.3 0.9 : numbers 2a and 3a have an oriented texture coefficient tc(311) higher than any other coefficient. table 1 oriented texture inner-layer coefficient of the outer-layer .fwdarw.substrate ticn layer no. side.rarw. side (311) (422) samples 1a tibn(0.5)/ticn(12)/tin(1) 1.3 3.0 of the 2a tibn(0.5)/ticn(8)/tin(1) 3.0 1.3 present 3a tibn(0.5)/ticn(6)/tin(1) 3.0 1.0 invention 4a tic(3)/ticn(2) 1.3 0.9 : numbers 2a and 3a have an oriented texture coefficient tc(311) higher than any other coefficient. table 3 initial .kappa./.alpha. thickness of treatment ratio in the coexisting initial co.sub.2 / time the first region no. steady co.sub.2 (min) row (.mu.m) samples of a 0.3.fwdarw.2 10 0.25 0.8 the present b 0.1.fwdarw.2 5 0.75 1.5 invention c 0.4.fwdarw.2 15 0.2 0.5 d 0.1.fwdarw.2 3 0.8 2.0 e 0.1.fwdarw.2 10 0.45 1.2 comparative f 0.1 2 1.0 -- samples g 2 16 0.05 0.5 : numbers b and c were confirmed to have a .kappa./.alpha. coexisting region in which the .kappa./.alpha. ratio decreases in the upward direction. table 3 initial .kappa./.alpha. thickness of treatment ratio in the coexisting initial co.sub.2 / time the first region no. steady co.sub.2 (min) row (.mu.m) samples of a 0.3.fwdarw.2 10 0.25 0.8 the present b 0.1.fwdarw.2 5 0.75 1.5 invention c 0.4.fwdarw.2 15 0.2 0.5 d 0.1.fwdarw.2 3 0.8 2.0 e 0.1.fwdarw.2 10 0.45 1.2 comparative f 0.1 2 1.0 -- samples g 2 16 0.05 0.5 : numbers b and c were confirmed to have a .kappa./.alpha. coexisting region in which the .kappa./.alpha. ratio decreases in the upward direction. the ticn layers in table 1 used in the inner layers of the present invention were broken after the coating to observe the broken sections with a scanning electron microscope (sem); the results demonstrated that all the ticn layers have a columnar structure. the tibn layers used as the outermost layer have a uniform thickness and an acicular microstructure in which needle-shaped crystals have a thickness of 200 nm or less. the tibn layers were analyzed by energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (edx) which detected oxygen contained in the layers although the quantity is unknown. a sample having only an inner layer formed in the 3a condition was prepared and analyzed quantitatively from the surface by electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (esca). as a result, it was confirmed that the sample contained boron with a proportion of 5/100. table 1 also shows the oriented texture coefficients of the (311) and (422) planes of the ticn layers in the inner layers. the oriented texture coefficient of the ticn layer in the inner layer was obtained from the diffraction peak of x-ray diffraction. because the diffraction peak of the (311) plane of ticn overlaps the diffraction peak of the (111) plane of wc in the substrate, it is necessary to separate them. because the peak intensity of the (111) plane of wc is 1/4 the peak intensity of the (101) plane, which is the highest intensity in wc, calculation was made to obtain the peak intensity of the (111) plane of wc and this calculated value was subtracted from the peak intensity measured at the place for the (311) plane of ticn to obtain the true peak intensity of the (311) plane of ticn. table 3 includes data obtained on the samples produced under the individual initial coating conditions; the data are the .kappa./.alpha. ratio of the grains at the first row and the thickness of the region in which the .kappa.-type and .alpha.-type structures coexist. the cross section in the vicinity of the interface between the inner layer and the neighboring al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer was observed under a tem at 50,000 power; the oriented texture of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 was evaluated by x-ray diffraction from the surface of the individual samples after the coating. the results for the samples of the present invention confirmed that (1) 90% or more grains in the first row have a granular structure 500 nm or less in grain diameter, (2) the grains having an .alpha.-type crystal structure in this region include no pores, and (3) the outermost layer in the outer layer has only an .alpha.-type crystal structure because a .kappa.-type was not detected by x-ray diffraction from the surface. on the other hand, a comparative sample f has no coexisting region of .kappa.-type and .alpha.-type structures in the initial stage and has a .kappa.-type crystal structure in the outermost layer. the results for comparative sample g confirmed that (1) the coexisting region is present, (2) the outermost layer has an .alpha.-type crystal structure, (3) the .alpha.-type grains in the coexisting region in the first row include a number of pores, and (4) the crystal grains in the first row are coarse as a whole to such an extent that most grains have a diameter not less than 600 nm. table 4 includes the oriented texture coefficients of the (012), (104), and (116) planes of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3. the coating conditions used for the individual layers are as follows: tin layer: temperature: 860.degree. c., pressure: 200 torr, composition of the reaction gas: 48 vol. % h.sub.2, 4 vol. % ticl.sub.4, and 48 vol. % n.sub.2. ticn layer for samples 1 to 3 of the present invention: for the first half (120 minutes) of the coating process: temperature: 920.degree. c., pressure: 50 torr, composition of the reaction gas: 68 vol. % h.sub.2, 1.7 vol. % ticl.sub.4, 0.3 vol. % ch.sub.3 cn, and 30 vol. % n.sub.2. for the second half (the remainder) of the coating process: temperature: 920.degree. c., pressure: 50 torr, composition of the reaction gas: 78 vol. % h.sub.2, 6 vol. % ticl.sub.4, 1 vol. % ch.sub.3 cn, and 15 vol. % n.sub.2. tibn layer: temperature: 950.degree. c., pressure: 360 torr, composition of the reaction gas: 46 vol. % h.sub.2, 4 vol. % ticl.sub.4, 48 vol. % n.sub.2, and 2 vol. % bcl.sub.3. al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer: temperature: 1000.degree. c., pressure: 50 torr, composition of the reaction gas: 86 vol. % h.sub.2, 9 vol. % alcl.sub.3, and 5 vol. % co.sub.2. tic layer: temperature: 1020.degree. c., pressure: 50 torr, composition of the reaction gas: 90 vol. % h.sub.2, 3 vol. % ticl.sub.4, and 7 vol. % ch.sub.4. samples fabricated under the above-described conditions were evaluated by the cutting conditions 1 and 2 below: cutting condition 1: workpiece: scm415 (hb=170) with 4 grooves, cutting speed: 350 m/min, feed: 0.20 mm/rev, depth of cut: 1.5 mm, number of impacts given: 500 times, cutting oil: water-soluble oil. the results of the evaluation are shown in table 5. table 5 cutting condition 1 sample flank coating layer chipping, boundary no. wear crater wear breakage, etc. samples 1 0.18 very small none of present 2 0.20 small none invention 3 0.17 very small slight flaking and chipping at boundaries 4 0.21 none none 5 0.19 none none 6 0.20 none slight chipping at boundaries 7 0.24 very small none comparative 8 0.33 large many chipped parts in the coating samples layer at the cutting edge 9 0.30 large (flaking many flaked parts in the coating of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3) layer at the cutting edge 10 0.19 large none 11 0.29 none many chipped parts in the coating layer at the cutting edge cutting condition 2: workpiece: fc25, cutting speed: 350 m/min, feed: 0.3 mm/rev, depth of cut: 1.5 mm, cutting time: 20 min, cutting oil: water-soluble oil. the results of the evaluation are shown in table 6. table 6 cutting condition 1 sample coating layer chipping, no. flank wear crater wear boundary breakage, etc. samples 1 0.16 small none of present 2 0.17 small none invention 3 0.15 small flaking and chipping at boundaries 4 0.19 none slight chipping at boundaries 5 0.16 none none 6 0.17 none high moderate chipped parts at boundaries 7 0.24 small none comparative 8 0.68 very large severe damage at boundaries samples (crater breakage) 9 0.40 very large very severe boundary flaking (with flaking) 10 0.49 very large none (crater breakage) 11 0.42 small severe boundary chipping and (with chipping) damage these results demonstrate that the samples of the present invention have a coating layer superior to that of conventional products in wear resistance, flaking resistance, chipping resistance, and crater resistance. observations of these samples after the cutting test revealed that the samples coated with tin as the outermost layer show less deposition of the workpiece on the face as a whole than the samples that have exposed al.sub.2 o.sub.3. although the type of the outermost layer has no direct relation with the amount of wear within the scope of this evaluation test, it may affect the damage on the face as the cutting proceeds. example 2 samples 3, 4, and 6 prepared in example 1 were used for this example. the surface of the coating layer was treated with a nylon brush containing sic. the duration of the surface treatment was changed to provide samples with different degrees of treatment. samples treated for 1, 5, and 10 minutes are referred to as h1, h5, and h10, respectively. table 7 shows the ratio of the thickness of the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer at the cutting edge to that at the portions other than the cutting edge, the surface roughness of the coating layer at the cutting edge, and the residual tensile stress at the cutting edge on the individual samples. table 7 thickness ratio of surface roughness residual tensile the al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer of the coating stress in the at the cutting edge layer at the ticn at the to that at cutting edge cutting edge sample other portions rmax (.mu.m) (kg/mm.sup.2) 3 1 0.50 32 3h1 1 0.40 29 3h5 0.5 0.31 12 3h10 0 0.25 9 4 1 0.65 27 4h1 1 0.51 24 4h5 0.95 0.30 13 4h10 0.9 0.29 8 6 1 0.48 29 6h1 1 0.36 27 6h5 0.9 0.26 12 6h10 0.8 0.27 6 the residual tensile stress was obtained by using an x-ray analyzing device with the sin 2.psi. method on the ticn layer in the inner layer. these samples were subjected to the same cutting evaluation tests as in example 1; the results are shown in tables 8 and 9. table 9 cutting condition 2 sample coating layer chipping, boundary breakage, no. flank wear crater wear etc. samples 3h1 0.14 small chipping at boundaries and slight flaking of present slight chipping at boundaries invention 3h5 0.12 small none 3h10 0.12 small slight chipping at boundaries 4h1 0.19 none minimal chipped parts at boundaries 4h5 0.18 none none 4h10 0.18 none high moderate chipped parts at boundaries 6h1 0.16 none a few chipped parts at boundaries 6h5 0.13 none none 6h10 0.12 none the results show that the surface treatment enhances the strength of the coating layer and further suppresses the damage attributable to the performance of the coating layer. all the surface-treated samples 3 and 6 showed that whereas the tin outermost layer was removed at the cutting edge, it remained at the portions other than the cutting edge. the surface treatment effect was confirmed by the fact that the surface-treated samples not only increased the wear resistance as can be seen in tables 8 and 9 but also decreased the amount of the deposition of the workpiece at the face in comparison with the samples that have an exposed al.sub.2 o.sub.3 layer at the portions other than the cutting edge. example 3 for this example the same composition as in sample 6 prepared in example 1 was employed except the composition of the substrate. the substrate used in sample 6 is referred to as x; the substrate of which the composition was changed to 8% co, 2% tic, 2% zrc, and wc as the remainder is referred to as y; the substrate of which the composition was changed to 8% co, 4% zrn, and wc as the remainder is referred to as z. substrates x1, y1, and z1 were also prepared by sintering the substrates having the same composition as substrates x, y, and z, respectively, under a different condition and named differently; they were sintered in a nitrogen atmosphere having a pressure of 150 torr during the temperature-rising period from 1200 to 1400.degree. c. the surface analysis by an electron probe microanalyzer (epma) confirmed that the zr in substrates y, y1, z, and z1 constitutes some of the hard phase. table 10 shows that the thickness (p) of the layer in which the hard phase except tungsten carbide is removed at the surface region, the hardness difference (q) of the substrate between the surface region and the interior, and the hardness difference (r) between the high-hardness region immediately underneath the surface region and the interior on the individual samples. the hardness was measured with a micro-vickers hardness tester at a load of 500 g. table 10 substrate p q r no. (.mu.m) (kg/mm.sup.2) (kg/mm.sup.2) x 0 0 0 x1 10 210 230 y 0 0 0 y1 30 200 180 z 50 160 0 z1 58 180 0 samples having these different substrates were prepared under the same condition that was used for sample 6 in example 1. these samples were subjected to an evaluation test for the breakage resistance under the cutting condition 3 below and to an evaluation test for the plastic-deformation resistance under the cutting condition 4 below. the test results are shown in table 9. the breakage rate under the cutting condition 3 was obtained by averaging the data on 24 corners. cutting condition 3: workpiece: scm435 (hb=230) with 4 grooves, cutting speed: 100 m/min, feed: 0.15 to 0.30 mm/rev, depth of cut: 1.5 mm, cutting time: 30 sec maximum, number of corners: 24 cutting oil: no oil was used. cutting condition 4: workpiece: sk5, cutting speed: 100 m/min, feed: 0.4 mm/rev, cutting time: 5 min, cutting oil: no oil was used. table 11 cutting condition 3 cutting condition 4 substrate (breakage rate) (plastic deformation) no. (%) (mm) x 65 0.23 x1 38 0.09 y 55 0.13 y1 19 0.06 z 10 0.13 z1 8 0.18 although the data is not shown, the surface-treated samples referred to as h10 in example 2 were also evaluated similarly; all the samples showed a decrease in the breakage rate by a factor of 2 or more with practically unchanged plastic-deformation resistance. substrates y and z, which have a composition different from that of sample 6 in example 1, showed the same results as sample 6 when tested by the cutting conditions 1 and 2 in example 1, which means that the evaluation results are dependent only on the type of the coated layer. industrial applicability the coated cemented-carbide cutting tool of the present invention exhibits substantially prolonged tool life resulting from the improved wear resistance in the coating layer and the prevention of damage and flaking of the coating layer when used for the following machining in particular: (1) machining, such as high-speed cutting of steel or high-speed machining of cast iron, that requires wear resistance and crater resistance in the coating layer at high temperatures, and (2) machining, such as small-parts machining, that has numerous machining processes and many leading parts on the workpiece.
073-209-535-000-871	US	[ "US" ]	B32B9/00,B32B5/00,C23C16/00	2008-08-29T00:00:00	2008	[ "B32", "C23" ]	atomic composition controlled ruthenium alloy film formed by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition	a metal film composed of multiple atomic layers continuously formed by atomic layer deposition of ru and ta or ti includes at least a top section and a bottom section, wherein an atomic composition of ru, ta or ti, and n varies in a thickness direction of the metal film. the atomic composition of ru, ta or ti, and n in the top section is represented as ru (x1) ta/ti (y1 )n (z1) wherein an atomic ratio of ru (x1) /(ta/ti (y1) ) is no less than 15, and z1 is 0.05 or less. the atomic composition of ru, ta or ti, and n in the bottom section is represented as ru (x2) ta/ti (y2) n (z2) wherein an atomic ratio of ru (x2) /(ta/ti (y2) ) is more than zero but less than 15, and z2 is 0.10 or greater.	1 . a metal film composed of multiple atomic layers continuously formed by atomic layer deposition of ru and ta or ti, said metal film comprised of at least a top section and a bottom section, wherein an atomic composition of ru, ta or ti, and n varies in a thickness direction of the metal film, the atomic composition of ru, ta or ti, and n in the top section is represented as ru (x1) ta/ti (y1) n (z1) wherein an atomic ratio of ru (x1) /(ta/ti (y1) ) is no less than 15, and z1 is 0.05 or less, and the atomic composition of ru, ta or ti, and n in the bottom section is represented as ru (x2) ta/ti (y2) n (z2) wherein an atomic ratio of ru (x2) /(ta/ti (y2) ) is more than zero but less than 15, and z2 is 0.10 or greater. 2 . the metal film according to claim 1 , wherein 0.75≦x1≦1, 0≦y1≦0.05, 0≦z1<0.05, 0.02≦x2≦0.75, 0.05≦y2≦0.70, and 0.10≦z2≦0.25. 3 . the metal film according to claim 1 , wherein x1>x2 and y2>y1. 4 . the metal film according to claim 1 , wherein z2>z1. 5 . the metal film according to claim 1 , wherein the atomic composition is substantially or nearly constant in the thickness direction in each of the top and bottom sections. 6 . the metal film according to claim 1 , wherein the top section and the bottom section have a thickness of 1 to 3 nm. 7 . the metal film according to claim 1 , which is further comprised of an intermediate section, wherein the atomic composition of ru, ta or ti, and n in the intermediate section is represented as ru (x3) ta/ti (y3) n (z3) wherein an atomic ratio of ru (x3) /(ta/ti (y3) ) is less than one. 8 . the metal film according to claim 7 , wherein 0≦x3≦0.40, 0.40≦y3≦0.90, and 0.10≦z3≦0.25. 9 . the metal film according to claim 7 , wherein x1>x2>x3 and y3>y2>y1. 10 . the metal film according to claim 7 , wherein z2>z1, and z3>z1. 11 . the metal film according to claim 7 , wherein the top section, the intermediate section, and the bottom section have a thickness of 0.5 to 3 nm, 1 to 3 nm, and 0.5 to 3 nm, respectively. 12 . the metal film according to claim 7 , wherein the atomic composition is substantially or nearly constant in the thickness direction in each of the top, intermediate, and bottom sections. 13 . the metal film according to claim 1 , which is formed as a copper diffusion barrier metal film on a copper wiring layer and underneath a copper filling. 14 . a method of forming a metal film on a substrate, comprising: (i) placing a substrate in a reaction space; (ii) conducting atomic layer deposition of ta or ti x times, each atomic deposition of ta or ti being accomplished by introducing a ta or ti source gas into the reaction space and applying a reducing gas plasma to the reaction space; (iii) after step (ii), conducting atomic deposition of ru y times, each atomic deposition of ru being accomplished by introducing a ru source gas into the reaction space and applying a reducing gas plasma in the reaction space; and (iv) repeating steps (ii) and (iii) z times, thereby forming a metal film on the substrate; wherein an atomic proportion of n in the metal film varies in a thickness direction of the metal film by changing a proportion of a hydrogen gas plasma in the reducing gas plasma within step (iii) or per step (iii) in step (iv). 15 . the method according to claim 14 , wherein step (iv) comprises (iva) repeating steps (ii) and (iii) z1 times wherein a ratio of x/y is defined as a first ratio, thereby forming a first section of the metal film, and (ivb) repeating steps (ii) and (iii) z2 times using a second ratio of x/y which is different from the first ratio, thereby forming a second section of the metal film, wherein atomic proportions of ru, ta or ti, and n in the metal film vary in the thickness direction. 16 . the method according to claim 14 , wherein the reducing gas plasma in step (ii) is generated from a reducing gas including nitrogen. 17 . the method according to claim 15 , wherein the reducing gas plasma in step (iii) in step (iva) is generated from a reducing gas including both nitrogen and hydrogen, and as the step of changing the proportion of the hydrogen gas plasma, the reducing gas plasma in step (iii) in step (ivb) is generated from h 2 gas. 18 . the method according to claim 15 , wherein the second ratio in step (ivb) is greater than the first ratio in step (iva), step (iv) further comprises (ivc) repeating steps (ii) and (iii) z3 times using a third ratio of x/y which is smaller than the second ratio, and the reducing gas plasma in step (iii) in steps (iva) and (ivb) is generated from a reducing gas including both nitrogen and hydrogen, and as the step of changing the proportion of the hydrogen gas plasma, the reducing gas plasma in step (iii) in step (ivc) is generated from h 2 gas. 19 . the method according to claim 14 , wherein the ta or ti source gas is an organic ta source gas selected from the group consisting of taimata (tertiaryamylimidotris(dimethylamido)tantalum), tbtdet (ta(n-i-c 4 h 9 )[n(c 2 h 5 ) 2 ] 3 ), and pdmat (ta[n(ch 3 ) 2 ] 5 ). 20 . the method according to claim 14 , wherein the ru source gas is a β-diketone-coordinated ruthenium compound. 21 . the method according to claim 14 , wherein the ru source gas is a ru complex having a structure of xa-ru-xb wherein xa is a non-cyclic pentadienyl and xb is a cyclopentadienyl. 22 . the method according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a copper wiring substrate having trenches.	background 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to a method for forming a cu diffusion barrier metal for metal wiring structures that can be favorably used in the creation of fine semiconductor elements in general, as well as a structure of such cu diffusion barrier metal. 2. description of the related art ru film is drawing the attention for its property to improve the adhesion with cu, when a ru film is formed at the interface between cu and barrier metal in a cu wiring structure which is the main wiring structure used in high-speed logic elements such as mpus, and thereby significantly enhance the reliability of wiring. methods are being studied to form a ru film that provides a cu wiring liner on a tan film or wn film and then form a cu film on top of the ru film (one example of such method relating to a combination of ru and tan is described in c. c. yong et al., “physical, electrical, and reliability characterization of ru for cu interconnects,” iitc 2006, pp. 187-189). a ru/tan laminated film, whose utilization as a cu wiring liner is being examined, has a smaller cu wiring volume as the film becomes thicker, and as a result the cu wiring resistance tends to become higher. accordingly, any attempt to reduce the high resistivity resulting from the reduced cu wire size due to a smaller wiring width requires the cu wiring liner film to be made thinner. as a result, the industry is paying attention to the atomic layer deposition method, which can be used to form a film offering greater coverage than when the conventional pvd method is used. when it comes to adhesion, traditionally the pvd method causes physically accelerated ions to strike the surface and therefore a pvd-ta film or pvd-tan film constituting a cu liner can be formed in a manner similar to driving in a wedge. this means that even when a pvd-tan film is formed on a cu film of bottom-layer wiring, the tan film is formed in a manner biting into the cu film and consequently good adhesion can be achieved. on the other hand, it has been confirmed that a tan film formed by the atomic layer deposition method would result in lower adhesion with cu wiring. when a film is formed by means of chemical reaction, unlike when pvd is used an area where different atoms are mixed is not formed between the cu wiring in the bottom layer and the metal film constituting a cu liner. this makes it more difficult, than under the pvd method, to ensure good adhesion when a tan film or tanc film is formed as a cu barrier metal. it is expected that good adhesion can be achieved by inserting a ru film between a cu film and tan film or tanc film. when forming a multilayer cu wiring structure, many via holes need to be formed as connection holes with which to connect the top and bottom cu wirings. since a dual damascene structure is used in general, the following explanation assumes use of a dual damascene structure. a cu barrier film is formed on cu wiring via holes and trenches in the bottom layer, and then a cu wiring is formed. this is to prevent diffusion of cu into the inter-layer insulation film and consequent increase in leak current and failed insulation. if the adhesion of cu with this cu barrier metal is poor, however, the cu film will separate in the reliability test and voids will be formed. accordingly, it is desirable to form a ru film at the interface between cu wiring and cu barrier metal as shown in published examples. however, traditionally forming a ru film was difficult over the exposed areas of cu wiring at the bottom of via holes because normally the adhesion is poor at the interface between inter-layer insulation film and ru. as a way to solve this problem, se-hum kwon presented a paper entitled, “plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition of rutin thin films for the application of copper diffusion barrier” at ald conference 2004. in this paper, kwon showed that by adding ru to a tin film traditionally used as a copper diffusion barrier film, adhesion with copper could be improved. hynix semiconductor inc. also describes in u.s. pat. no. 6,800,567 a method for forming a rutin film or rutan film as a barrier metal film by means of the atomic layer deposition method, where it is self-evident that rutan can also be used as a cu diffusion barrier in a similar manner. in addition, seong-jun jeong et al. presented a paper entitled, “plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition of ru—tan thin films for the application of cu diffusion barrier” at ald conference 2006. in this paper, jeong et al. proposed forming a metal alloy film constituted by ta and ru between the bottom-layer cu film and top-layer cu film by repeating a step to introduce ta material, step to purge ta material, step to introduce hydrogen gas and apply high-frequency plasma, step to purge hydrogen gas, step to introduce ru material (ru(etcp) 2 ), step to purge ru material, step to introduce hydrogen and nitrogen gases and apply high-frequency plasma, and step to purge ammonia gas. in this case, the resulting formation of an alloy of ta and ru is shown to achieve good adhesion with the cu films at the top and bottom and also with dielectric layers. in addition, korean patent application no. 10-2005-0103373 describes application, as a cu barrier film, of a film containing amorphous ru and ta, wherein such film is formed by repeating the first atomic layer deposition process comprising a step to introduce ru material, step to purge ru material, step to introduce ammonia gas and apply high-frequency plasma and step to purge ammonia gas, as well as the second atomic layer deposition process comprising a step to introduce ta material, step to purge ta material, step to introduce hydrogen gas and apply high-frequency plasma and step to purge hydrogen gas. on the other hand, u.s. pat. no. 6,703,708 proposes a method for changing the cu, w and n composition of a cu barrier film in the depth direction, or specifically a method for changing the composition in the depth direction using the atomic layer deposition method in such a way that the cu content increases at the surface and the w and n contents increase in the bottom layer. summary however, the prior arts mentioned above are associated with at least the problems explained below. to be specific, the results of experiments conducted by the inventors of the present invention found it difficult to break down the materials and form a ru film unless nh 3 plasma or h 2 /n 2 mixed gas is used, if ru(etcp) 2 is used as an organic metal material containing ru metal atoms as described in the paper by seong-jun jeong et al. however, use of nh 3 plasma or h 2 /n 2 plasma promotes nitriding of the ta layer formed as the bottom layer, resulting in significantly high film resistivity. in other words, ta is nitrided by ammonia plasma and a high-resistivity film whose high-resistivity component of ta 3 n 5 is greater or which has a relatively high nitrogen content will be formed. accordingly, applying the present invention to via holes connecting the top-layer cu wiring layer and bottom-layer cu wiring, which is the object of the aforementioned published example, will significant increase the via resistance and result in loss of reliability of wiring. in addition, the amount of ru needs to be increased to lower the wiring resistance, and therefore the adhesion with the insulation film tends to drop as the amount of ru increases. particularly when a ru film is used as a cu wiring liner, the interface in the bottom layer contacts both cu and the inter-layer insulation film, while the interface in the top layer only contacts the cu wiring. these differences make it difficult to achieve good adhesion at the top and bottom interfaces based on the same film quality. korean patent application no. 10-2005-0103373 also presents a problem of increased resistivity due to nitriding of ta by nh 3 plasma. as is the case with the aforementioned paper by c. c. yong et al., it is difficult to achieve good wiring reliability relative to both the top layer and bottom layer using only an alloy having a specific composition of amorphous ta and ru, because ru provides good adhesion with copper in the top layer, while tan provides good adhesion with the inter-layer insulation film in the bottom layer. even if an alloy film of ta and ru film is proven effective as a copper diffusion barrier, voids tend to form as the barrier film and cu film separate or the barrier film and inter-layer insulation film separate as electrical current flows. therefore, it is desirable to have a structure that ensures adhesion with the cu wiring in the bottom layer, provides excellent cu diffusion barrier property, and also maintains good adhesion with the cu wiring in the top layer. also, the object of u.s. pat. no. 6,703,708 is to achieve a film that functions as both a seed layer and barrier layer for cu electroplating, and this is why cu is added intentionally. accordingly, even when the film functions as a cu barrier film, it is difficult to make the film thinner because cu is contained in the film. in other words, the thinner the film becomes, the higher the chances are that cu in the film diffuses into the bottom layer. therefore, it is desirable to use a non-cu metal that contributes to resistance reduction, such as ru. in view of the above, the inventors examined combinations of ta material and ru material. in particular, the inventors examined materials that can be broken down by h 2 plasma or h 2 /n 2 plasma. furthermore, the inventors examined an optimal composition in the depth direction of a film made by these materials, and a method for controlling such composition, in order to ensure adhesion and barrier property of the film as a cu wiring liner. in an embodiment of a method for forming a rutan film being a cu barrier film, combining ta material with h 2 /n 2 plasma, and ru material with h 2 /n 2 plasma, is effective. a stable rutan film can be formed by increasing the flow rate ratio of n 2 or adjusting the h 2 /n 2 plasma time. if h 2 plasma is applied after the supply of ta material, the residual carbon content in the film increases, thereby resulting in lower density and higher resistance. when h 2 /n 2 plasma is applied, on the other hand, the resistance becomes lower and the residual carbon content decreases. accordingly, it is effective to use plasma of h 2 /n 2 mixed gas after the supply of ta material. in the meantime, in an embodiment a ruta film containing less n can be formed by combining ta material with h 2 /n 2 plasma, and ru material with h 2 plasma. in this case, the resistivity can be lowered by reducing the n content, and also stable resistivity can be achieved according to the h 2 plasma conditions. to be specific, the residual carbon content drops due to h 2 /n 2 gas plasma applied after the supply of ta material, and the nitrogen content can also be reduced by hydrogen plasma applied after the supply of ru material, which allows for formation of a ruta alloy offering lower resistance. the aforementioned method is effective when specific ta and ru materials are used. particularly with the ru material, use of a material that can easily be broken down by h 2 plasma is effective in controlling the n content. this is not possible with conventional ru(etcp) 2 . an example of such effective material is one coordinated by two β-diketone groups. accordingly, in an embodiment an optimal liner film in terms of adhesion, cu barrier property and resistivity can be formed by plasma atomic layer deposition in a single process that can be carried out continuously in the same reaction apparatus, by using these effective materials along with the aforementioned plasma step and by also controlling the composition of the film in the depth direction in a manner appropriate for a cu wiring liner film. in other words, the adhesion with the cu wiring in the bottom layer, adhesion with the cu wiring in the top layer, and cu diffusion barrier property can be further optimized by controlling the composition of ru, ta and n in the depth direction. as explained above, one characteristic of a cu barrier metal film obtained in an embodiment of the present invention is that it is 1) a ruta alloy having an optimal distribution of ru, ta and n compositions to ensure the level of adhesion with the top/bottom layers and cu barrier property required of a cu liner. another characteristic in terms of controlling the composition of ru and ta is that 2) optimal ta and ru materials that can be made into a film using hydrogen plasma or hydrogen/nitrogen plasma are identified and the ta material is treated by h 2 /n 2 plasma, while the ru material is treated by h 2 plasma or h 2 /n 2 plasma, each under a controlled pulse ratio, to control ru and ta compositions in the depth direction. another characteristic is that 3) the n content is controlled in the depth direction by using hydrogen/nitrogen plasma for ta material, and using hydrogen plasma or h 2 /n 2 plasma for ru material. by utilizing inventions 1), 2) and 3) mentioned above, a cu barrier metal film constituted by ruta can be provided, wherein such film maintains adhesion, cu barrier property and low resistivity in next-generation, fine, highly integrated cu wiring structures having high aspect ratios, and has its composition controlled in the depth direction through plasma atomic layer deposition to ensure excellent coverage. for purposes of summarizing aspects of the invention and the advantages achieved over the related art, certain objects and advantages of the invention are described in this disclosure. of course, it is to be understood that not necessarily all such objects or advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the invention. thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other objects or advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. further aspects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows. brief description of the drawings these and other features of this invention will now be described with reference to the drawings of preferred embodiments which are intended to illustrate and not to limit the invention. the drawings are oversimplified for illustrative purposes and are not to scale. fig. 1 is an overview showing the distribution (1) in the depth direction of compositions of a cu wiring metal liner film used in an embodiment of the present invention. fig. 2 is an overview showing the distribution (2) in the depth direction of compositions of a cu wiring metal liner film used in an embodiment of the present invention. fig. 3 is an overview showing the distribution (3) in the depth direction of compositions of a cu wiring metal liner film used in an embodiment of the present invention. fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram showing one example of an atomic layer deposition apparatus that can be used in the film forming process in an embodiment of the present invention. fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an atomic layer deposition process sequence for forming a ruta alloy in an embodiment of the present invention. fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an atomic layer deposition process sequence for forming a ruta alloy in an embodiment of the present invention. figs. 7( a ) to ( f ) show a cu wiring forming process based on dual damascene, using the cu barrier metal film shown in fig. 1 . figs. 8( a ) to ( g ) show a cu wiring forming process based on dual damascene, using the cu barrier metal film shown in fig. 2 . figs. 9( a ) to ( g ) show a cu wiring forming process based on dual damascene, using the cu barrier metal film shown in fig. 3 . fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram showing one example of an atomic layer deposition apparatus that can be used in the film forming process in an embodiment of the present invention. description of the symbols 101 : bottom-layer copper wiring 102 : sicn cu diffusion barrier insulation film 103 : inter-layer insulation film 104 : etching stop film 105 : inter-layer insulation film 106 : etching stop film 107 : dual damascene via hole 108 : dual damascene trench 113 : film formed in step 1 114 : metal film conforming to step 1 in the table in fig. 1 115 : cu film by pvd method 116 : cu plating 117 : cu plating 118 : cu wiring 301 : reaction apparatus 302 : showerhead 303 : substrate heating base 304 : exhaust for evacuation 305 : pressure adjustment valve 306 : substrate 307 : gas introduction pipe connected to shower head 308 : argon gas valve for purge 309 : ta material introduction valve 310 : orifice 311 : argon gas valve for purge 312 : ru material carrier argon introduction valve 313 : orifice 314 : gas introduction valve 315 : orifice 316 : gas introduction valve 317 : orifice 318 : gas introduction valve 319 : apr 320 : mfc 321 : bypass valve 322 : ar gas introduction valve 323 : ru material 324 : ta material bottle 325 : ta material 326 : apr 327 : mfc 328 : bypass valve 333 : apr 334 : mfc 335 : apr 336 : mfc 337 : apr 338 : mfc 413 : ruta alloy formed in step 1 in the table in fig. 2 414 : ruta alloy formed in step 2 in the table in fig. 2 415 : ruta alloy formed in step 3 in the table in fig. 2 416 : cu film by pvd method 417 : cu plating 418 : cu wiring 419 : ru conforming to step 3 in the table in fig. 3 420 : cu wiring 501 : cassette loader 502 : transfer robot 503 : load lock chamber 504 : vacuum robot 505 : reaction chamber 506 : reaction chamber 507 : reaction chamber 508 : ar gas supply 509 : ru material supply 510 : ta material supply 511 : hydrogen gas supply 512 : ru material supply pipe 513 : ta material supply pipe 514 : h 2 gas supply pipe 515 : nitrogen gas supply 516 : nitrogen gas supply pipe detailed description of embodiments the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to specific embodiments. however, the specific embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention. in an embodiment wherein one or more of the problems described above can be solved, a metal film composed of multiple atomic layers continuously formed by atomic layer deposition of ru and ta or ti may be comprised of at least a top section and a bottom section, wherein (a) an atomic composition of ru, ta or ti, and n varies in a thickness direction of the metal film, (b) the atomic composition of ru, ta or ti, and n in the top section is represented as ru (x1) ta/ti (y1) n (z1) wherein an atomic ratio of ru (x1) /(ta/ti (y1) ) is no less than 15, and z1 is 0.05 or less, and (c) the atomic composition of ru, ta or ti, and n in the bottom section is represented as ru (x2) ta/ti (y2) n (z2) wherein an atomic ratio of ru (x2) /(ta/ti (y2) ) is more than zero but less than 15, and z2 is 0.10 or greater. in embodiments, the following ranges may be employed: 15≦ru (x1) /(ta/ti (y1) )<∞ ((ta/ti (y1) )=0), 15≦ru (x1) /(ta/ti (y1) )<100; 0.2≦ru (x2) /(ta/ti (y2) <15, 1≦ru (x2) /(ta/ti (y2) )<15). in an embodiment, the metal film may have the atomic composition wherein 0.75≦x1≦1 (typically 0.999 or less), 0≦y1≦0.05, 0≦z1≦0.05, 0.02≦x2≦0.75, 0.05≦y2≦0.70, and 0.10≦z2≦0.25. in another embodiment, the metal film may have the atomic composition wherein 0.75≦x1≦0.99, 0≦y1≦0.05, 0≦z1≦0.05, 0.40≦x2≦0.75, 0.05≦y2≦0.40, and 0.10≦z2≦0.25. in still another embodiment, x1 may be 0.75 to 0.85. in the above, the remainder may be carbon atoms. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the atomic composition may satisfy x1>x2 and y2>y1. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the atomic composition may satisfy z2>z1. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the atomic composition may be substantially or nearly constant in the thickness direction in each of the top and bottom sections. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the top section and the bottom section may have a thickness of 1 to 3 nm. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the metal film may further be comprised of an intermediate section, wherein the atomic composition of ru, ta or ti, and n in the intermediate section is represented as ru (x3) ta/ti (y3) n (z3) wherein an atomic ratio of ru (x3) /(ta/ti (y3) ) is less than one. in an embodiment, the metal film may have the atomic composition wherein 0≦x3≦0.40, 0.40≦y3≦0.90, and 0.10≦z3≦0.25. in another embodiment, the the atomic composition wherein 0≦x3≦0.30, 0.40≦y3≦0.80, and 0.15≦z3≦0.30. in still embodiment, x3 may be at least 0.01. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the metal film may have the atomic composition wherein x1>x2>x3 and y3>y2>y1. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the metal film may have the atomic composition wherein z2>z1, and z3>z1. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the top section, the intermediate section, and the bottom section may have a thickness of 0.5 to 3 nm, 1 to 3 nm, and 0.5 to 3 nm, respectively. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the atomic composition may be substantially or nearly constant in the thickness direction in each of the top, intermediate, and bottom sections. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the metal film may be formed as a copper diffusion barrier metal film on a copper wiring layer and underneath a copper filling. in an embodiment, the total thickness of the metal film may be 2 nm to 9 nm in view of the size of vias and trenches formed by dual damascene methods. the number of sections formed in the thickness direction is not limited to two or three but can be more than three (e.g., four or five), wherein each section has a different atomic composition. in an embodiment, the ranges specified in any of the foregoing embodiments may include or exclude their endpoints. in another aspect, an embodiment provides a method of forming a metal film on a substrate comprising: (i) placing a substrate in a reaction space; (ii) conducting atomic layer deposition of ta or ti x times, each atomic deposition of ta or ti being accomplished by introducing a ta or ti source gas into the reaction space and applying a reducing gas plasma to the reaction space; (iii) after step (ii), conducting atomic deposition of ru y times, each atomic deposition of ru being accomplished by introducing a ru source gas into the reaction space and applying a reducing gas plasma in the reaction space; and (iv) repeating steps (ii) and (iii) z times, thereby forming a metal film on the substrate; wherein an atomic proportion of n in the metal film varies in a thickness direction of the metal film by changing a proportion of a hydrogen gas plasma in the reducing gas plasma within step (iii) or per step (iii) in step (iv). in an embodiment, step (iv) may comprise: (iva) repeating steps (ii) and (iii) z1 times wherein a ratio of x/y is defined as a first ratio, thereby forming a first section of the metal film, and (ivb) repeating steps (ii) and (iii) z2 times using a second ratio of x/y which is different from the first ratio, thereby forming a second section of the metal film, wherein atomic proportions of ru, ta or ti, and n in the metal film vary in the thickness direction. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the reducing gas plasma in step (ii) may be generated from a reducing gas including nitrogen. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the reducing gas plasma in step (iii) in step (iva) may be generated from a reducing gas including both nitrogen and hydrogen, and as the step of changing the proportion of the hydrogen gas plasma, the reducing gas plasma in step (iii) in step (ivb) may be generated from h 2 gas. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the second ratio in step (ivb) may be greater than the first ratio in step (iva); step (iv) may further comprise (ivc) repeating steps (ii) and (iii) z3 times using a third ratio of x/y, which is smaller than the second ratio; and the reducing gas plasma in step (iii) in steps (iva) and (ivb) may be generated from a reducing gas including both nitrogen and hydrogen, and as the step of changing the proportion of the hydrogen gas plasma, the reducing gas plasma in step (iii) in step (ivc) may be generated from h 2 gas. in an embodiment, x may be one or two, and y may be an integer of 1 to 5. when x exceeds two or y exceeds five, it may be difficult to form a ru—ta/ti alloy. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the ta or ti source gas may be an organic ta source gas selected from the group consisting of taimata (tertiaryamylimidotris(dimethylamido)tantalum), tbtdet (ta(n-i-c 4 h 9 )[n(c 2 h 5 ) 2 ] 3 ), and pdmat (ta[n(ch 3 ) 2 ] 5 ). in any of the foregoing embodiments, the ru source gas may be a β-diketone-coordinated ruthenium compound. in another embodiment, the ru source gas may be a ru complex having a structure of xa-ru-xb wherein xa is a non-cyclic pentadienyl and xb is a cyclopentadienyl. in any of the foregoing embodiments, the substrate may be a copper wiring substrate having trenches. the present invention is explained based on a rutan film. it should be noted, however, that the present invention also applies to a rutin in a similar manner, where ti and ta can be handled in a similar manner. in an embodiment of a method for forming a rutan film effective as the bottom layer (bottom section), combination of ta material with h 2 /n 2 plasma, and ru material with h 2 /n 2 plasma, is effective. a stable rutan film can be formed by increasing the flow rate ratio of n 2 or adjusting the h 2 /n 2 plasma time. use of plasma of h 2 /n 2 mixed gas after the supply of ta material lowers the resistance and reduces the residual carbon content. on the other hand, as for a ruta film effective as the top layer (top section) a film containing less n can be formed by combining ta material with h 2 /n 2 plasma, and ru material with h 2 plasma, in an embodiment. in this case, the lower n content results in lower resistivity, and a stable resistivity can be achieved according to the h 2 plasma conditions. in other words, h 2 /n 2 gas plasma applied after the supply of ta material lowers the residual carbon content, and hydrogen plasma applied after the supply of ru material reduces the flow rate of nitrogen, which allows for formation of a ruta alloy of lower resistance. in a continuous atomic layer deposition process it is possible to form a ru layer by implementing the ru material pulse step and h 2 /n 2 plasma step continuously. similarly, a tan film can be formed by implementing the ta material pulse step and h 2 plasma step or h 2 /n 2 plasma step continuously. accordingly, in an embodiment a ru/rutan structure (two-layer structure whose top layer is constituted by a ru film), ruta/rutan structure (two-layer structure whose top layer is constituted by a ru alloy containing virtually zero n), ru/tan/rutan structure (three-layer structure whose top layer is constituted by a ru film and intermediate layer is constituted by a tan film), or ruta/tan/rutan structure (three-layer structure whose intermediate layer is constituted by a tan film), can be formed, among others. optimal compositions of top and bottom layers can be selected from the viewpoint of adhesion with the top/bottom cu wirings and inter-layer insulation film. also, combining ta (h 2 /n 2 plasma) and ru (h 2 plasma) allows the carbon in the film to be reduced significantly, which enables the formation of a low-carbon film. examples of h 2 /n 2 plasma and h 2 plasma conditions are shown below: pressure: 150 to 400 pa temperature: 250 to 350 degrees h 2 flow rate: 100 to 500 sccm n 2 flow rate: 10 to 200 sccm h 2 /n 2 ratio: ∞ to 0.5 rf power: 250 to 500 rf frequency: 1 to 30 mhz application time: 1 to 20 (per cycle) among the above conditions, if the h 2 /n 2 ratio is infinitely great (i.e., n 2 =0), effectively h 2 plasma is applied. however, addition of even a very small amount of n 2 changes the film quality, and in an embodiment, the h 2 /n 2 ratio is 1000 or greater and if n 2 increases beyond this ratio, effects equivalent or similar to what can be achieved by h 2 plasma will not be obtained. in an embodiment, atomic compositions in the thickness direction are largely classified into the following four patterns: pattern 1: the ru content is higher in the top layer than in the bottom layer and low in the bottom layer, while the ta content is high in the bottom layer and low in the top layer of the film. (see fig. 1 explained later.) pattern 2: the ru content is higher in the bottom layer than in the intermediate layer of the film, low in the intermediate layer, and higher in the top layer than in the intermediate layer. on the other hand, the ta content is low in the bottom layer, high in the intermediate layer, and lower in the top layer than in the intermediate layer. (see figs. 2 and 3 explained later.) pattern 3: the n content is high in the bottom layer, and lower in the top layer than in the bottom layer. (see fig. 1 explained later.) pattern 4: the n content is lower in the top layer than in the intermediate layer and bottom layer. (see figs. 2 and 3 explained later.) among the above patterns, combination of patterns 1 and 3, and patterns 2 and 4, are realistic. however, the n content can still be changed under other patter combinations, as long as the composition ratio of ru and ta is maintained, in which case combination of patterns 1 and 4 (i.e., the ru and ta contents change in two layers, while the n content changes in three layers), or patterns 2 and 3 (i.e., the ru and ta contents change in three layers, while the n content changes in two layers), is also possible. in addition, the n content can be made higher in the intermediate layer as a variation of pattern 4. when a metal film is used as a copper diffusion barrier film, n needs to be contained because a nitrided film is more effective in preventing copper diffusion, and accordingly a layer of relatively higher n content needs to be provided in the metal film. this layer can be provided as either the bottom layer or intermediate layer, but containing nitrogen more in the bottom layer than in the top layer is effective in preventing copper diffusion. the effects of increasing the n content include higher amorphous nature and prevention of copper diffusion due to segregation of nitrogen at the crystalline grain boundary. in general, metal nitrides tend to prevent copper diffusion. however, increasing the n content results in lower adhesion with copper, so it is effective to increase the ru content in the layer where adhesion with copper is required. also, resistivity can also be reduced by increasing the ru content. forming the entire rutan film by means of h 2 /n 2 plasma increases the n content, which is advantageous as a cu diffusion barrier but reduces the adhesion with cu at the same time. after examining which process would be effective in lowering the n content, the inventors found that changing the h 2 /n 2 plasma to h 2 plasma after the supply of ru precursor would significantly reduce the n content. since the ta material has ta—n/ta═n bonds to begin with, ta—n is formed even by h 2 plasma. surprisingly, however, implementing h 2 plasma after the supply of ru material reduces n in ta—n. to be specific, this reduction of n content requires two elements: one being adsorption of ru material, and the other being h 2 plasma. combination of the effects of these two elements breaks the ta—n bond and reduces the n content (in other words, it is estimated that the ta—n bond is broken down from the ru material and the resulting decomposition product bonds with the n atom to be discharged; where, although this phenomenon is more likely to occur with ru materials having a β-diketone structure, such estimation does not limit the present invention in any way). also, plasma applied after the supply of ta material can also be h 2 plasma, use of h 2 /n 2 plasma is favorable because it has the effect of reducing carbon, which is an impurity, to a greater extent. accordingly, in the case of a three-layer structure the following plasma combination can be used in an embodiment (in the case of a two-layer structure, the plasma condition is the same for the bottom layer and top layer). here, the x cycle refers to a cycle where ta atomic film deposition is repeated x times (ta pulse), while the y cycle refers to a cycle where ru atomic film deposition is repeated y times (ru pulse). table 1x cycley cyclebottom layerh2/n2h2/n2intermediate layerh2/n2h2/n2 (the n 2 ratio can be raised relativeto the bottom layer.)top layerh2/n2h2 take note that the n content can be changed not only by implementing h 2 plasma after the supply of ru material, but also by, for example, decreasing the ru/ta composition ratio in the intermediate layer, or specifically by increasing the ta content and thereby increasing the n content comparably. this is because n easily bonds with ta, among others. if a three-layer structure is used as a barrier film, it is effective to provide three layers of bottom layer, intermediate layer and top layer, each offering a different function. to be specific, tan is the most desirable material for the bottom layer because the insulation layer being a wiring inter-layer film needs to be formed in a manner maintaining good adhesion with the bottom-layer copper wiring and ensuring no separation. on the other hand, however, tan is not suitable for adhesion with copper in the bottom layer. ru provides the greatest adhesion property with respect to copper. accordingly, forming a rutan layer in the bottom layer satisfies both requirements. in the meantime, the top layer only adheres to cu wiring. accordingly, ru is the best choice for the top layer and adhesion will decrease if n is contained. if the top layer and bottom layer are to be designed by attaching importance to adhesion, it is effective to provide one more layer, or intermediate layer, to prevent diffusion of copper. before, it was difficult to achieve both copper diffusion prevention property and adhesion at the same time. however, both can be achieved by forming an intermediate layer as an excellent copper diffusion barrier layer and then constituting the top layer and bottom layer by attaching importance to adhesion with copper. in an embodiment, these three layers can be formed by changing their compositions in a continuous process with ease. the intermediate layer need not contain ru, and the top layer need not contain ta. even in this case, the resulting metal film is a continuously laminated atomic layer film and provides a ru—ta alloy as a whole. take note that a two-layer structure is also possible as long as copper diffusion barrier property, adhesion with copper and adhesion with the inter-layer insulation film can be ensured for the bottom layer film. in an embodiment, h 2 /n 2 plasma can be substituted by nh 3 plasma. in the foregoing, ru materials that allow for formation of a ru atomic film by h 2 plasma applied after the supply of ru material include those having the structure illustrated below: wherein x1 and x2 are each independently ch3, c(ch3)3, ch(ch3)2, or ch2(ch3). wherein x1 to x4 are each independently ch3, c(ch3)3, ch(ch3)2, or ch2(ch3), with a proviso that if x1 and x4 are the same, x2 and x3 are different. in addition to the above, any ru-containing compounds disclosed in u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/469,828 and ser. no. 11/557,891 and u.s. provisional application no. 60/976,378, all of which are owned by the same assignee as in the present application, can be used in embodiments (the disclosure of the ru-containing precursor compounds taught in the above applications is herein incorporated by reference in their entirety). if ru(etcp) 2 used in a published example is used, breaking it down requires nh 3 plasma or h 2 /n 2 plasma and this increases the resistance of rutan. on the other hand, ru materials having the aforementioned structure can be broken down by h 2 plasma, and even if h 2 /n 2 plasma is used the resistance of the obtained rutan is lower than that of ru(etcp) 2 . in the case of a two-layer or three-layer structure, any of the film structures shown below can be used in an embodiment (the remainder is constituted by carbon atoms, etc.). table 2-1<two layers>filmthicknessru atomsta atomsru/tan atomsnm%%ratio%bottom layer1 to 340 to 755 to 401 to 1510 to 25top layer1 to 375 to 99.9<515 to 100<5 table 2-2<two layers>xyzy/xbottom layer11 to 310 to 1001 to 3top layer0 or 11 to 5 if x = 110 to 1001 to 5 if x = 1 table 3-1<three layers>filmthicknessru atomsta atomsru/tan atomsnm%%ratio%bottom layer1 to 340 to 755 to 401 to 1510 to 25intermediate1 to 3<40>40<110 to 25layertop layer0.5 to 375 to 99<515 to 100<5 table 3-2<three layers>xyzy/xbottom layer11 to 310 to 1001 to 3intermediate layer10 or 110 to 1000 to 1top layer0 or 13 to 5 if x = 110 to 1003 to 5 if x = 1 in an embodiment, ru/rutan or ruta/rutan can be formed continuously. even in this case, the n content in the thickness direction of the film is controlled by applying h 2 /n 2 plasma after the supply of ta material and h 2 plasma or h 2 /n 2 plasma after the supply of ru material. the ru content can be controlled in the top layer and wide-ranging films from ru—ta alloy film to ru film can be formed. for example, form rutan, and then perform the ta pulse once and ru pulse 10 times, or perform the ta pulse once and ru pulse 10 times and repeat this twice or more, or perform the ta pulse once and ru pulse 20 times. accordingly, in this embodiment, the following conditions are applied (regardless of the total number of layers in the film). table 3-3xyzy/xtop layer0 or 15 to 30 if x = 11 to 105 to 30 if x = 1 in other embodiment, the number of ta pulses (x) is controlled in a range of 1 to 5, while the number of ru pulses (y) is controlled in a range of 1 to 20. take note that, in yet other embodiment, the top layer and bottom layer conform to the following conditions regardless of the number of layers. table 4ru atoms %ta atoms %ru/ta ration atoms %bottom layer20 to 755 to 701 to 1510 to 25top layer75 to 99<515 and up<5 a pressure of 150 to 400 pa and substrate temperature of approx. 250 to 300 degrees are sufficient as cycle conditions. in the embodiment explained later using fig. 1 , the following conditions are used. table 5stepxplasma (ta)yplasma (ru)11h2/n22h2/n221h2/n23h2 in the embodiment explained later using fig. 2 , the following conditions are used. table 6stepxplasma (ta)yplasma (ru)11h2/n22h2/n221h2/n21h2/n231h2/n23h2 in the embodiment explained later using fig. 3 , the following conditions are used. table 7stepxplasma (ta)yplasma (ru)11h2/n22h2/n221h2/n21h2/n231h2/n24h2 the intermediate layer can be divided into two to decrease the n content in the intermediate layer closer to the top layer, and increase the n content in the intermediate layer closer to the bottom layer, without changing the ru/ta ratio (thereby effectively providing a four-layer structure). for example, the following conditions can be used. table 8stepx cycleplasma (ta)y cycleplasma (ru)11h2/n22h2/n221h2/n21h2/n231h2/n21h241h2/n23h2 take note that in an embodiment, the metal film is constituted by a continuous layer formed by atomic layer deposition. this continuous layer is defined as a “layer” in a broader sense, while the aforementioned “top layer (top section),” “intermediate layer (intermediate section)” and “bottom layer (bottom section)” are defined as “layers” in a narrower sense than the aforementioned “layer” in a broader sense, in that they represent areas separated by the atomic layer deposition cycle condition or areas where the ru, ta and n composition is roughly uniform. each layer deposited by atomic layer deposition is a “layer” in a narrower sense. accordingly, in an embodiment, the “layer” in a broader sense has its ru, ta and n composition change in its thickness direction, but the ru, ta and n composition remains roughly unchanged in a more narrowly defined “layer” in its thickness direction. also, in an embodiment, the top layer, bottom layer, intermediate layer, etc., can be defined simply by thickness (sometimes defining them by thickness is desirable, especially when the composition changes continuously in the thickness direction). if the deposition condition is changed for each atomic layer, a layer defined by cycle condition is no longer identical with a layer defined by composition distribution. for example, a film can be grown by 0.2 to 0.5 angstrom in thickness in one atomic layer (narrower sense), and a normal atomic layer can be assumed as 2 angstrom. in this case, changing the condition for each cycle results in the formation of a narrowly defined layer in one cycle, and multiple sets of these narrowly defined layers are laminated. however, distinguishing the changes among individual layers is difficult, and if narrowly defined layers are defined by composition, then the entire structure becomes a single narrowly defined layer. for example, repeating x=1, y=1 once and x=1, y=2 once provides a film with an average composition of x=1, y=1.5 and such film may appear to have only one layer. in this case, the “layer” that appears to be a single layer (based on composition analysis, etc.) is a narrowly defined layer. accordingly, a narrowly defined layer, even when its composition changes continuously in the depth direction, should be treated as an area where the ru, ta and n composition is roughly uniform, as long as it appears to be a single layer. for example, repeating x=1, y=1 five times, repeating x=1, y=2 and y=1, y=1 five times alternately, and then repeating x=1, y=2 five times, may provide a film where only the ru content has increased continuously, because the film thickness of each section is 2 to 3 angstrom. in this case, the obtained metal film is a “layer” in a broader sense constituted by a continuous layer formed by continuous atomic layer deposition, where the composition changes in the thickness direction of the layer. the bottom layer is a narrowly defined layer formed by repeating the initial condition of x=1, y=1 five times, while the top layer is a narrowly defined layer formed by repeating the last condition of x=1, y=2 five times. the intermediate layer is formed by repeating the two deposition cycle conditions five times alternately, so when this narrowly defined layer is defined by cycle condition, it is defined as being constituted by 10 “layers.” however, the “intermediate layer” appears to have a roughly uniform composition, and thus it is treated as a single narrowly defined layer. however, as explained above the cycle condition can be changed each time in the actual operation, and one cycle of atomic layer deposition is controlled proportionally to the thickness of atomic layer film (broader sense), or in a range of approx. 1/10 to ¼, for example. accordingly, it is possible in reality to implement finer control than in units of layers, and the composition can be made to look as if changing continuously. in this case, it is appropriate to separate narrowly defined layers by cycle condition. in either case, the composition changes in a specified manner in a broadly defined “layer” in the thickness direction of the film. also note that the above definitions apply only to an embodiment, and different definitions can be used in another embodiment (including definition by thickness, such as defining the top layer as a layer having a thickness of 1 to 3 nm from the top, bottom layer as a layer having a thickness of 1 to 3 nm from the bottom, and intermediate layer as a layer provided in an intermediate position having a thickness of 0.5 to 3 nm). next, an overview of a method for forming a ruta alloy liner film conforming to an embodiment of the present invention is explained below. take note, however, that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment in any way. a basic method for forming a ruta alloy is to, on wiring in the bottom layer, i) repeat x1 times a basic plasma atomic layer deposition cycle comprising a step to supply ta material, step to purge gas, step to apply hydrogen/nitrogen plasma, and step to purge gas (this step can be omitted). then, ii) repeat y1 times a basic plasma atomic layer deposition cycle comprising a step to supply ru material, step to purge gas, step to apply hydrogen plasma or hydrogen/nitrogen plasma or hydrogen plasma and nitrogen plasma continuously, and step to purge gas (this step can be omitted). next, iii) repeat the aforementioned steps i) and ii) z1 times to form the bottom layer of the ruta alloy layer. furthermore, i) repeat x2 times a basic plasma atomic layer deposition cycle comprising a step to supply ta material, step to purge gas, step to apply hydrogen/nitrogen plasma, and step to purge gas (this step can be omitted), in a similar manner. then, ii) repeat y2 times a basic plasma atomic layer deposition cycle comprising a step to supply ru material, step to purge gas, step to apply hydrogen plasma or hydrogen/nitrogen plasma or hydrogen plasma and nitrogen plasma continuously, and step to purge gas (this step can be omitted). next, iii) repeat the aforementioned steps i) and ii) z2 times to form on the bottom layer of the ruta alloy layer a ruta alloy having a different composition than the bottom layer. in addition, the values of x, y and z can be controlled continuously to form a ruta layer having i layers after repetitions by xi, yi and zi, in order to form a film whose composition changes in the thickness direction of the ruta film. ta materials that can be applied to these processes proposed by the present invention include taimata (tertiaryamylimidotris(dimethylamido)tantalum), tbtdet (ta(n-i-c 4 h 9 )[n(c 2 h 5 ) 2 ] 3 ), and pdmat (ta[n(ch 3 ) 2 ] 5 ). also, ru materials include those coordinated by two or three β-diketones (x): ru(co) 2 xy type materials coordinated by two carbonyl groups such as cpruet(co) 2 , cprume(co) 2 and (mecp)rume(co) 2 ; or ru(co) 3 x type compounds coordinated by three carbonyl groups such as ru(co) 3 c 6 h 7 (ch 3 ), ru(co) 3 (1-methyl-cyclopentadienyl), or ru(co) 3 (1-methyl-cyclohexadienyl). also, it is expected that similar effects can also be achieved with ru materials where one cyclopentadienyl (cp) is coordinated to ru and other different ligands are bonded. as for the reactant gas to be applied following the supply of ta material, use of mixed gas plasma of hydrogen and nitrogen results in lower resistivity compared to when hydrogen-only plasma is used. the reason is considered to be the promotion of dissociation of ligands, thereby causing carbon and other impurities to decrease. accordingly, it is desirable to use mixed gas plasma of hydrogen and nitrogen after the supply of ta material. on the other hand, it is possible to control the nitrogen content in a range of 0.1 to 10% if hydrogen plasma is used after the supply of any of the specific ru materials mentioned above. if plasma of mixed gas of nitrogen and nitrogen is used, on the other hand, the nitrogen content can be controlled in a range of 10 to 25%. in the first embodiment, the cu wiring liner film is a cu barrier metal film having a higher ru content in the top layer than in the bottom layer, low ru content in the bottom layer, high ta content in the bottom layer, and low ta content in the top layer. in the second embodiment, the cu wiring liner film is a metal layer having a higher ru content in the bottom layer than in the intermediate layer, low ru content in the intermediate layer, higher ru content in the top layer than in the intermediate layer, low ta content in the bottom layer, high ta content in the intermediate layer, and lower ta content in the top layer than in the intermediate layer. in the third embodiment, the cu wiring liner film is made by a process that achieves a high n content in the bottom layer and lower n content in the top layer than in the bottom layer. in the fourth embodiment, the cu wiring liner film is made by a process that achieves a lower n content in the top layer than in the intermediate layer and bottom layer. as for the method for forming a cu wiring liner film in the first embodiment, the bottom layer is formed as a rutan layer using ta material and h 2 /n 2 plasma, and ru material and h 2 /n 2 plasma, where the number of ru pulses is x relative to one ta pulse. the top layer is formed as a ruta layer using ta material and h 2 /n 2 plasma, and ru material and h 2 plasma, where the number of ru pulses is x or more relative to one ta pulse. at this time, an appropriate value of x is normally around 1, 2 or 3. as for the method for forming a cu wiring liner film in the second embodiment, on the other hand, a rutan layer is formed using ta material and h 2 /n 2 plasma, and ru material and h 2 /n 2 plasma, where the number of ru pulses is x relative to one ta pulse. the number of ta pulse is 1 for the intermediate layer, while the number of ru pulses is x or less for the bottom layer. with the top layer, on the other hand, x or more ru pulses are performed for one ta pulse. this way, the ru content can be made high in the bottom layer, lower in the intermediate layer than in the bottom layer, and higher in the top layer than in the intermediate layer. similarly, the ta content can be made low in the bottom layer, higher in the intermediate layer than in the bottom layer, and higher in the top layer than in the intermediate layer. normally, x is around 1 to 3. as for the method in the third embodiment, h 2 /n 2 plasma is used for the bottom layer after the ru material introduction step. for the top layer, however, h 2 plasma is used after the ru material introduction step. in this h 2 plasma step, a ruta alloy layer whose n content in the film is lowered to a controlled range of approx. 0.1 to 10% can be formed. as for the method for forming a cu wiring liner film in the fourth embodiment, h 2 /n 2 plasma is used for the bottom layer and intermediate layer after the introduction of ru material, but h 2 plasma is used for the top layer. this way, the n content in the film is lowered to a range of 0.1 to 10%, while the n content in the ruta alloy in the top layer becomes lower than in the intermediate layer and bottom layer. on the other hand, the nitrogen content is controlled to 10% or more in the intermediate layer and bottom layer. as explained above, when forming a barrier having a specified composition in the depth direction, the composition ratio of ru and ta can be controlled by the number of pulses implemented during the atomic layer deposition of each material. in other words, the greater the value of x/y, the higher the ta content becomes compared to the ru content when the ta material introduction step and h 2 /n 2 plasma step are repeated x times, and then the ru material introduction step and h 2 /n 2 plasma step or h 2 plasma step are repeated y times. on the other hand, controlling the n content by applying h 2 plasma after the introduction of ru material has the effect of reducing the n content. accordingly, the n content can be controlled most efficiently in the plasma step after the supply of ru material. favorable embodiments relate first and foremost to an optimal composition when an alloy of ru and ta, or ru and ti, is applied as a cu barrier metal film. the following embodiments can be considered. in the first embodiment, the ru/ta or ru/ti composition ratio changes in the thickness direction of the film, where the ru content is higher in the top layer than in the bottom layer, and ta or ti content is lower in the bottom layer than in the top layer. this is because, although a barrier metal is normally formed on an inter-layer insulation film by the dual damascene method, higher ta or ti content works favorably in achieving good adhesion. on the other hand, a cu wiring is formed in the top layer in the top section, which makes it desirable to have a higher ru content in order to ensure good adhesion with cu. in the second embodiment, the ru/ta or ru/ti composition ratio changes in the thickness direction of the film, where the ru content is lower in the intermediate layer than in the bottom layer, and higher in the top layer than in the intermediate layer. this is because the cu layer is formed on a ruta or ruti alloy in the top layer, which makes it desirable to have a higher ru content in order to ensure good adhesion. on the other hand, although the film is formed on a dual damascene inter-layer insulation film in the bottom layer, the via holes for connecting the bottom-layer wiring and top-layer wiring normally have cu exposed in the bottom-layer cu wiring area. to ensure adhesion between this cu and barrier metal, the ru content is desirably as high as permitted. on the other hand, the intermediate layer desirably has a structure most suited to prevent cu diffusion, which is normally achieved as a ta or ti nitrided film. if an alloy containing ru is used, the ru content may be lower than in the top layer and bottom layer. under the method in the third embodiment, changing the n atomic composition in the depth direction also helps achieve effects similar to those mentioned above. with a ruta alloy or ruti alloy, increasing the nitrogen content in the bottom layer while decreasing it in the top layer is one effective embodiment. to be specific, increasing the nitrogen content improves the function as a cu diffusion barrier. when adhesion with the cu wiring in the top layer is considered, on the other hand, a lower n content in the top layer results in greater adhesion. in a different embodiment, it is also effective to lower the nitrogen content in the bottom layer, raise it in the intermediate layer, and lower it in the top layer for a ruta alloy or ruti alloy. this is because dual damascene via holes have cu exposed in the bottom-layer wiring area, and adhesion with this cu can be improved by lowering the n content to a level not causing the adhesion to drop. on the other hand, good cu diffusion barrier property can be ensured by relatively increasing the n content in the intermediate layer, while adhesion with the cu wiring in the top layer can be enhanced by lowering the n content in the top layer. in connection with the method for controlling the composition of such ruta and ruti alloys, the inventors examined ways to continuously change the composition in the depth direction of the film. as a result, it was found that the ru, ta and n composition, or ru, ti and n composition, can be changed in the depth direction by using the plasma atomic layer deposition method. this finding led to the establishment of a method for forming a ruta alloy or ruti alloy having varying compositions by selecting specific ta and ru materials that allow for implementation of a thin film forming process at the same temperature using the same vacuum apparatus. this method comprises a first process where a step to supply material vapor constituted by ta atoms and another step to supply a first reactant gas obtained by high-frequency excitation of a reactant gas containing at least hydrogen gas are repeated at least x times, as well as a second process where a step to supply material vapor constituted by ru atoms and another step to supply a first reactant gas obtained by high-frequency excitation of a reactant gas containing at least hydrogen gas are repeated at least y times, and a metal film manufacturing process where the aforementioned first process and second process are repeated multiple times (z times) is repeated to form a film. in other words, the characteristics of the process for forming a ruta alloy having a specific composition can be expressed as (x, y, z). by changing the values of (x, y, z), such as repeating the process n times from (x0, y0, z0), (x1, y1, z1), to (xn, yn, zn), the value of x/y in each cycle can be changed to change the ru/ta composition ratio in the depth direction, while the value of z can be changed to change the film thickness. accordingly, the ru content can be increased on the cu wiring side and decreased on the insulation film side in order to improve the adhesion with cu, and similarly the ta content can be decreased on the cu wiring side and increased on the insulation film side. in the case of a cu diffusion barrier film constituted by a ruta alloy or ruti alloy, nitriding tends to improve the barrier property and controls the profile of nitrogen in such film in the depth direction. there is a first process where a step to supply material vapor constituted by ta atoms and another step to supply a first reactant gas obtained by high-frequency excitation of a reactant gas containing at least hydrogen gas are repeated at least x times, and there is also a second process where a step to supply material vapor constituted by ru atoms and another step to supply a first reactant gas obtained by high-frequency excitation of a reactant gas containing at least hydrogen gas are repeated at least y times, and a metal film manufacturing process where the aforementioned first process and second process are repeated multiple times (z times) is repeated to form a film. although plasma by hydrogen gas or hydrogen/nitrogen mixed gas is used after the supply of ta material, and plasma by hydrogen gas or hydrogen/nitrogen mixed gas is used after the supply of ru material, the nitrogen content can be controlled independently of the ru/ta composition ratio by introducing plasma of hydrogen/nitrogen mixed gas after the supply of ru material or controlling the flow rate of nitrogen relative to the flow rate of hydrogen. accordingly, the inventors confirmed that even when (x, y, z) are the same, the nitrogen content can be increased by introducing nitrogen gas or increasing the amount of nitrogen in the plasma step following the supply of ru material. therefore, under this characteristic process (x, y(n), z) represent introduction of nitrogen gas by means of plasma after the supply of ru material, while (x, y(h), z) represent hydrogen plasma after the supply of ru material. under these definitions, the nitrogen content changes significantly between y(h) and y(n) even when x/y and z are the same. accordingly, n atoms can be changed in the depth direction by changing x/y or adjusting y as y(n) in the (x, y(n), z) process, just like when changing the ru/ta composition ratio in the depth direction according to the x/y ratio. increase in the nitrogen content tends to reduce the adhesion with cu wiring, and thus the n content can be decreased on the cu wiring side and increased in the film or on the insulation film side. also, breakdown of ta material is promoted more when hydrogen/nitrogen plasma is used, compared to when hydrogen plasma is used, after the supply of ta material, and therefore hydrogen/nitrogen plasma is desirably used. on the other hand, the n content of ruta alloy or ruti alloy is affected more by whether or not nitrogen gas is introduced in the plasma step using reducing gas after the supply of ru material. next, in a different embodiment, the control of n content in the depth direction can be achieved simultaneously with the control of ru/ta or ru/ti composition in the depth direction. in this case, whether to mainly use hydrogen plasma using reducing gas or hydrogen/nitrogen mixed gas after the supply of ru material, simultaneously as the x/y ratio control, has significant impact. accordingly, the ru/ta composition and nitrogen content in the depth direction can be controlled by changing x/y and whether or not mainly y is adjusted to y(n), respectively. optimal ta materials in the above process include taimata (tertiaryamylimidotris(dimethylamido)tantalum), tbtdet (ta(n-i-c 4 h 9 )[n(c 2 h 5 ) 2 ] 3 ), and pdmat (ta[n(ch 3 ) 2 ] 5 ), because selecting at least one type in the aforementioned group was found favorable in implementing the present invention. particularly in the formation of a ruta alloy using any of these materials, use of plasma of hydrogen/nitrogen mixed gas in the plasma step after the supply of ta material was effective in reducing the film resistivity and increasing the film density compared to when hydrogen-only plasma was used. this is because mixed gas plasma better promotes dissociation of ligands in ta material. take note that in the above process, optimal ru materials were found to be those coordinated by a β-diketone group or groups or others coordinated by a carbonyl group or groups. these materials are adsorbed to an insulation film relatively easily, which makes them effective materials in the atomic layer deposition process. these materials also exhibit a stronger tendency of ligand dissociation when a reducing gas is applied. furthermore, among ru materials those molecules having one pentadienyl group are relatively easy to break down and thus easily adsorbed to an insulation film, and the adsorbed material also breaks down easily when a reducing gas is applied. based on the above, these ru materials were found favorable in the formation of a ruta alloy. in particular, materials coordinated by a β-diketone group or groups were broken down favorably even with hydrogen plasma, and similar breakdown property was obtained when mixed gas of hydrogen and nitrogen was used. other ru materials were also found to break down in hydrogen in general, although the degree of reactivity to hydrogen was different. accordingly, a ruta alloy or ruti alloy formed by utilizing any of these forming methods and materials confirming to the present invention provides favorable characteristics as a next-generation cu barrier metal and is extremely effective in the formation of next-generation semiconductor elements. the aforementioned characteristics in embodiments of the present invention are explained by referring to the drawings of favorable embodiments. in the present disclosure where conditions and/or structures are not specified, the skilled artisan in the art can readily provide such conditions and/or structures, in view of the present disclosure, as a matter of routine experimentation. figs. 1 , 2 and 3 show profiles of ru, ta and n compositions in the depth direction of ruta alloys obtained in embodiments of the present invention. the table in fig. 1 shows this atomic layer deposition process. here, x indicates the number of ta material pulses, y indicates the number of ru material pulses, plasma(ta) indicates the gas used in the plasma step after the supply of ta material, and plasma(ru) indicates the gas used in the plasma step after the supply of ru material. in the first ruta alloy layer deposition cycle, x=1, y=2, plasma(ta): h 2 /n 2 and plasma(ru): h 2 /n 2 are used. in this case, the atomic composition is such that ru accounts for 60%, ta accounts for approx. 15%, and n accounts for approx. 15%. these percentages change slightly according to the combination of ta and ru materials. this cycle is repeated for a specified number of times, and then a ru/ta alloy in the top layer is formed. here, x=1, y=3, plasma(ta): h 2 /n 2 and plasma(ru): h 2 are used. in this case, the ru content is in a range of 70 to 80%, while the ta content is in a range of 3 to 5%. fig. 1 shows the composition distribution obtained by this process for forming a ruta alloy constituted by the aforementioned mutually continuous two layers. in the bottom layer, the ru/ta ratio is approx. 4, while the n content is approx. 15%. in the top layer, on the other hand, the ru/ta ratio is approx. 15 to 20, while the n content is 5% or less, indicating a ru-rich film. accordingly, the top layer film has good adhesion with the cu film. fig. 2 shows a distribution of compositions in the depth direction of a cu barrier metal film obtained in an embodiment. the table in fig. 2 shows this atomic layer deposition process. here, x indicates the number of ta material pulses, y indicates the number of ru material pulses, plasma(ta) indicates the gas used in the plasma step after the supply of ta material, and plasma(ru) indicates the gas used in the plasma step after the supply of ru material. in the first ruta alloy layer deposition cycle, x=1, y=2, plasma(ta): h 2 /n 2 and plasma(ru): h 2 /n 2 are used. this cycle is repeated for a specified number of times, and then a ru/ta alloy in the top layer is formed. in this case, the ru content is 60%, ta content is approx. 15%, and n content is approx. 15%. here, x=1, y=2, plasma(ta): h 2 /n 2 and plasma(ru): h 2 /n 2 are use in this case, although the n content is 15 to 20%, the ru content is 40 to 50%, while the ta content is approx. 30 to 40%. furthermore, for the third layer x=1, y=3, plasma(ta): h 2 /n 2 and plasma(ru): h 2 are used. in this case, the ru content is in a range of 70 to 80%, while the ta content is in a range of 3 to 5%. fig. 2 shows the composition distribution obtained by this process for forming a ruta alloy constituted by the aforementioned mutually continuous two layers. in the bottom layer, the ru/ta ratio is approx. 4, while the n content is approx. 15%. in the intermediate layer, on the other hand, the ru/ta ratio is approx. 1 to 1.5, while the n content is approx. 15 to 20%. in the top layer, the ru/ta ratio is approx. 15 to 20, while the n content is 5% or less, indicating a ru-rich film. accordingly, the top layer is ru-rich and low on n content, thereby achieving good adhesion with cu. in the meantime, the ru/ta composition ratio drops and the n content increases in the intermediate layer of the film, which contributes to good cu barrier property. furthermore, the bottom layer is ru-rich, but the n content is also high, which suggests that the adhesion with cu in the bottom layer is also expected to be favorable despite the film being a cu barrier film. fig. 3 shows a distribution of compositions in the depth direction of a cu barrier metal film obtained in an embodiment. the table in fig. 3 shows this atomic layer deposition process. here, x indicates the number of ta material pulses, y indicates the number of ru material pulses, plasma(ta) indicates the gas used in the plasma step after the supply of ta material, and plasma(ru) indicates the gas used in the plasma step after the supply of ru material. in the first ruta alloy layer deposition cycle, x=1, y=2, plasma(ta): h 2 /n 2 and plasma(ru): h 2 /n 2 are used. this cycle is repeated for a specified number of times, and then a ru/ta alloy in the bottom layer is formed. here, x=1, y=2, plasma(ta): h 2 /n 2 and plasma(ru): h 2 /n 2 are used. fig. 2 shows the distribution of compositions obtained by the process for forming a ruta alloy constituted by these mutually continuous two layers. furthermore, an intermediate layer is formed based on x=1, y=1, plasma(ta): h 2 /n 2 and plasma(ru): h 2 /n 2 . in addition, a ru film is formed in the top layer based on x=1 and y=5. accordingly, the ru content is increased in the bottom layer to improve the adhesion with the cu layer. on the other hand, the ta content is increased and n content is controlled in the intermediate layer to ensure good cu barrier property. furthermore, a ru film is formed in the top layer and a cu film is formed on top of this ru. the ru/ta composition of this cu barrier metal can be changed continuously in the same vacuum process. the residual carbon content drops due to hydrogen/nitrogen plasma after the supply of ta material, and also the n content can be decreased or controlled using hydrogen plasma after the supply of ru material. fig. 4 shows a process apparatus for ruta alloy used to form a cu barrier metal film explained in any one of figs. 1 to 3 . fig. 5 illustrates a detailed process implemented by this apparatus. fig. 4 is used to illustrate the structure of a basic plasma atomic layer deposition apparatus for forming ruta alloy. this apparatus comprises a reaction apparatus 301 housing a substrate heating base 303 , an exhaust 304 , a showerhead 302 , a gas introduction pipe connected to showerhead 307 , a substrate 306 , an exhaust pipe 304 and a pressure regulating valve 305 . the gas introduction system comprises a ta material supply system, a ru material supply system, a h 2 gas supply system, a n 2 gas supply system and an ar gas supply system. first, the structure of the ta material supply system is explained using fig. 4 . numeral 319 indicates an apr (auto pressure regulator), which controls the secondary pressure to a specified level. numeral 320 indicates a mfc (mass flow controller), which controls the flow rate to a specified level. ta material is denoted by 325 , and filled in a material tank 324 . the ta material supply system has an ar gas introduction valve 322 , a bypass valve 321 and a material supply valve 323 . numeral 309 indicates a ta material introduction valve, numeral 310 indicates an orifice, and numeral 308 indicates an argon gas introduction valve for dilution or purge. argon gas supplied at a specified pressure is used to transport material vapor pressure in the material tank 324 , and when the valve 309 is opened the material is fed through the specified gas introduction hole in the orifice to the gas introduction pipe 307 at a flow rate according to the pressure set by the apr 319 . next, ru material supply is explained in a similar manner. numeral 326 indicates an apr (auto pressure regulator), which controls the secondary pressure to a specified level. numeral 327 indicates a mfc (mass flow controller), which controls the flow rate to a specified level. ru material is denoted by 332 , and filled in a material tank 331 . the ru material supply system has an ar gas introduction valve 329 , a bypass valve 328 and a material supply valve 330 . numeral 312 indicates a ru material introduction valve, numeral 313 indicates an orifice, and numeral 311 indicates an argon gas introduction valve for dilution or purge. argon gas supplied at a specified pressure is used to transport material vapor pressure in the material tank 331 , and when the valve 312 is opened the material is fed through the specified gas introduction hole in the orifice 313 to the gas introduction pipe 307 at a flow rate according to the pressure set by the apr 326 . in the aforementioned ta material supply and ru material supply, the mfcs 320 , 327 are not controlled during the process, but they are used only to monitor the flow rate with the valves in the mfcs remaining open. next, the h 2 , n 2 and ar gas supply systems are explained using fig. 4 . as for the gases supplied via pulsation for use in the plasma atomic layer deposition process, aprs (auto pressure regulators) 333 , 335 , 337 and mfcs (mass flow controllers) 334 , 336 , 338 are connected in series, just like in the case of the ta material supply system and ru material supply system, and the respective units are connected to gas introduction valves 314 , 316 , 318 . the hydrogen and nitrogen lines have orifices 315 , 317 and introduction holes are provided to allow a specified flow rate to be achieved over a short period. although not illustrated, it is effective to install an orifice in the introduction valve 318 if gas is to be introduced at a specified flow rate over a short period. similar effects can be achieved using an atomic layer deposition apparatus not having the aforementioned apparatus structure or gas system structures, as long as the apparatus is designed to achieve a similar purpose. fig. 5 shows the details of the plasma atomic layer deposition process for implementing the processes shown in figs. 1 to 3 using the apparatus illustrated in fig. 4 above. fig. 5 shows a sequence comprising a tan, tanc film forming process by plasma atomic layer deposition using ta material where such process comprises a ta material supply step, purge step, plasma step using h 2 /n 2 mixed gas and purge step, as well as a ru film forming process by plasma atomic layer deposition using ru material where such process comprises a ru material supply step, purge step, plasma step using h 2 /n 2 mixed gas and purge step. here, if a ruta alloy is formed, the plasma atomic layer deposition process using ta material is implemented x times, and then the plasma atomic layer deposition process using ru material is implemented y times, and the foregoing is repeated z times to form a ruta alloy having a desired ta/ru composition. here, the deposition speed of tan or tanc is approx. 2.5 times the deposition speed of ru, and thus normally x is adjusted to 1, while y is adjusted to around 1 to 10, or desirably around 1 to 5, to repeat x and y z times to form a ruta alloy. it is also possible, after the process repetition of z times, to change the values of x and y to x1 and y1 and repeat x and y z1 times further, in order to laminate the second ruta alloy layer on top of the first ruta alloy layer. furthermore, the foregoing can be repeated to control the ru/ta composition in the depth direction of the film. fig. 6 shows what happens when a plasma step by h 2 gas is used as the plasma step after the ru material supply step and purge step. in this case, the n content in the ruta alloy drops. accordingly, it is possible to control the n content in the film by combining the method illustrated in fig. 5 with the method illustrated in fig. 6 . fig. 7 shows a process where the ruta barrier metal film having the composition shown in fig. 2 is applied to a normal cu wiring forming process based on dual damascene. in fig. 7( a ), a sicn 102 being a cu barrier insulation film, an inter-layer insulation film 103 , an etching stop film 104 , an inter-layer insulation film 105 and an etching stop film 106 are formed on a cu wiring 101 in the bottom layer, to form a dual damascene wiring structure. here, numeral 107 indicates a via hole, while numeral 108 indicates a wiring area. in figs. 7( b ) and ( c ), application of the process in fig. 1 is shown. in fig. 7( b ), numeral 113 indicates the process of step 1 shown in table 1 in fig. 1 , where x=1, y=2, h 2 /n 2 is used as plasma, and a rutan film whose nitrogen content is relatively high is formed. on the other hand, numeral 114 in fig. 7( c ) indicates the process of step 2 shown in table 1 in fig. 1 , where x=1, y=3, h 2 /n 2 mixed gas is used as plasma after the supply of ta material, and h 2 is used as plasma after the supply of ru material. in this case, the film contains ru by 6 to 7 times the content of ta and the n content is low. in fig. 7( d ), numeral 115 indicates a cu film formed by the pvd method. this film can also be formed as a cu film by the cvd method. in fig. 7( e ), numeral 116 indicates a cu film formed by electroplating, while fig. 7( f ) shows a cu wiring 118 obtained after the cmp process. fig. 8 shows the application of a cu barrier metal film having the composition shown in fig. 2 to a dual damascene cu wiring using the process shown in table 2. in fig. 8( a ), a sicn 102 being a cu barrier insulation film, an inter-layer insulation film 103 , an etching stop film 104 , an inter-layer insulation film 105 and an etching stop film 106 are formed on a cu wiring 101 in the bottom layer, to form a dual damascene wiring structure. here, numeral 107 indicates a via hole, while numeral 108 indicates a wiring area. in figs. 8( b ) to ( d ), application of the process in fig. 2 is shown. in fig. 8( b ), numeral 413 indicates the process of step 1 shown in table 2 in fig. 2 , where x=1, y=2, h 2 /n 2 is used as plasma, and a rutan film whose nitrogen content is relatively high is formed. on the other hand, numeral 414 in fig. 8( c ) indicates the process of step 2 shown in table 2 in fig. 2 , where x=1, y=1, h 2 /n 2 mixed gas is used as plasma after the supply of ta material, and h 2 /n 2 mixed gas is used as plasma after the supply of ru material. in this case, a ruta alloy whose ru content is lower than in the first layer is formed. in fig. 8( d ), a ruta alloy 415 conforming to step 3 shown in table 2 in fig. 2 is formed as the third layer. here, x=1, y=3, and hydrogen plasma is used after the supply of ru material. accordingly, a film containing ru by 6 to 7 times the content of ta and whose n content is low can be formed. in fig. 8( e ), numeral 416 indicates a cu film formed by the pvd method. this film can also be formed as a cu film by the cvd method. in fig. 8( f ), numeral 417 indicates a cu film formed by electroplating, while fig. 8( g ) shows a cu wiring 418 obtained after the cmp process. fig. 9 shows the application of a cu barrier metal film having the composition shown in fig. 3 to a dual damascene cu wiring using the process shown in table 3. in fig. 9( a ), a sicn 102 being a cu barrier insulation film, an inter-layer insulation film 103 , an etching stop film 104 , an inter-layer insulation film 105 and an etching stop film 106 are formed on a cu wiring 101 in the bottom layer, to form a dual damascene wiring structure. here, numeral 107 indicates a via hole, while numeral 108 indicates a wiring area. in figs. 9( b ) to ( d ), application of the process in fig. 3 is shown. in fig. 9( b ), numeral 413 indicates the process of step 1 shown in table 3 in fig. 3 , where x=1, y=2, h 2 /n 2 is used as plasma, and a rutan film whose nitrogen content is relatively high is formed. on the other hand, numeral 414 in fig. 9( c ) indicates the process of step 2 shown in table 2 in fig. 2 , where x=1, y=1, h 2 /n 2 mixed gas is used as plasma after the supply of ta material, and h 2 /n 2 mixed gas is used as plasma after the supply of ru material. in this case, a ruta alloy whose ru content is lower than in the first layer is formed. in fig. 9( d ), ru 419 conforming to step 3 shown in table 3 in fig. 3 is formed as the third layer. here, x=1, y=5, and hydrogen plasma is used after the supply of ru material. accordingly, a film whose ru content is 90% or more and n content is low can be formed. in fig. 9( e ), numeral 416 indicates a cu film formed by the pvd method. this film can also be formed as a cu film by the cvd method. in fig. 9( f ), numeral 417 indicates a cu film formed by electroplating, while fig. 9( g ) shows a cu wiring 420 obtained after the cmp process. as explained above, the present invention is characterized by formation of films having the compositions shown in figs. 1 to 3 by combining the basic sequences of basic plasma atomic layer deposition shown in figs. 5 and 6 using the apparatus shown in fig. 4 , and the actual application of the present invention to semiconductor elements is achieved according to the process procedures shown in figs. 7 to 9 . the examples cited here only talk about changing the ru, ta and n composition, from those shown in figs. 1 to 3 , in the thickness direction of the film. however, the present invention is not at all limited to these specific examples and its object is basically to obtain a ruta film having a desired composition distribution by combining the processes in figs. 5 and 6 in a desired manner. this object can also be achieved with a ruti alloy in a similar fashion. specific examples are explained in further detail using the aforementioned drawings. take note, however, that these examples are not intended to limit the present invention in any way and are designed to clearly show the effects of methods conforming to the present invention by illustrating specific examples. example 1 a specific example where the process in fig. 1 is implemented using the apparatus shown in fig. 4 based on the process sequences shown in figs. 5 and 6 is explained. a cu wiring is formed according to the process shown in fig. 7 in a cu wiring forming process based on dual damascene structure. silicon substrates having a device that has been processed up to the state in fig. 7( a ) are treated using the apparatus shown in fig. 10 . a silicon substrate is set in a cassette loader 501 , and a transfer robot 502 is used to transfer the substrate into a load lock chamber 503 , after which the substrate is transferred by a vacuum robot 504 from the load lock chamber 503 into a reaction chamber for plasma atomic layer deposition 505 . the next substrate is transferred to a reaction chamber 507 , and the subsequent substrate is transferred to a reaction chamber 508 , to allow the process to be implemented in a similar manner. the substrate transferred to the reaction chamber 505 is placed on the substrate heating base that has been set to a specified temperature. the reaction chambers 505 , 506 , 507 have an ar gas supply 508 , a ru material supply 509 and a ta gas supply 510 , respectively, furthermore, a hydrogen gas supply 511 and a nitrogen gas supply 515 are also installed. accordingly, the same process sequence can be implemented in any reactor. here, taimata is used as the ta material, while cpru(co) 2 et is used as the ru material. the process was implemented by adjusting the substrate temperature to a range of 250 to 300 degrees, or preferably to 280 degrees. taimata was heated to 90 degrees, and the ta material was supplied by means of argon gas, while the ru material was heated to 35 degrees and supplied by means of argon gas. the supply pressures of ta and ru materials were optimized in a range of 150 to 400 pa, while the process pressures during plasma generation were also optimized in a range of 150 to 400 pa. as for the implementation of the process in fig. 1 , step 1 uses the sequence shown in fig. 5 , while step 2 uses the sequence shown in fig. 6 , and based on the structural diagram of the apparatus in fig. 4 the gas control in the actual process is implemented according to the valve operations and gas flow rates shown in table 9 for step 1 , and those shown in table 10 for step 2 . here, the ru supply cycle is repeated twice in step 1 , and three times in step 2 , relative to one cycle of ta material supply, purge, plasma step and purge, in order to control the ta/ru composition. the gas flow rates shown in tables 9 and 10 are representative values, and needless to say these flow rates will change according to the process apparatus, process conditions, etc. a ruta barrier metal film having the composition shown in fig. 1 can be formed using the process apparatus shown in fig. 4 based on the specific process conditions shown in tables 9 and 10. in this example, the film thickness was set to 2 nm in step 1 , and 1 nm in step 2 , where the desired film thicknesses could be obtained after 20 cycles and 10 cycles, respectively. table 9 table 10 by applying these processes in the formation of cu wiring illustrated in fig. 7 , a highly reliable cu wiring could be formed. example 2 a specific example where the process in fig. 2 is implemented using the apparatus shown in fig. 4 based on the process sequences shown in figs. 5 and 6 is explained. a cu wiring is formed according to the process shown in fig. 8 in a cu wiring forming process based on dual damascene structure. silicon substrates having a device that has been processed up to the state in fig. 8( a ) are treated using the apparatus shown in fig. 10 . a silicon substrate is set in a cassette loader 501 , and a transfer robot 502 is used to transfer the substrate into a load lock chamber 503 , after which the substrate is transferred by a vacuum robot 504 from the load lock chamber 503 into a reaction chamber for plasma atomic layer deposition 505 . the next substrate is transferred to a reaction chamber 507 , and the subsequent substrate is transferred to a reaction chamber 508 , to allow the process to be implemented in a similar manner. the substrate transferred to the reaction chamber 505 is placed on the substrate heating base that has been set to a specified temperature. the reaction chambers 505 , 506 , 507 have an ar gas supply 508 , a ru material supply 509 and a ta gas supply 510 , respectively, furthermore, a hydrogen gas supply 511 and a nitrogen gas supply 515 are also installed. accordingly, the same process sequence can be implemented in any reactor. here, taimata is used as the ta material, while cpru(co) 2 et is used as the ru material. the process was implemented by adjusting the substrate temperature to a range of 250 to 300 degrees, or preferably to 280 degrees. taimata was heated to 90 degrees, and the ta material was supplied by means of argon gas, while the ru material was heated to 35 degrees and supplied by means of argon gas. the supply pressures of ta and ru materials were optimized in a range of 150 to 400 pa, while the process pressures during plasma generation were also optimized in a range of 150 to 400 pa. as for the implementation of the process in fig. 2 , steps 1 and 2 use the sequence shown in fig. 5 , while step 3 uses the sequence shown in fig. 6 , and based on the structural diagram of the apparatus in fig. 4 the gas control in the actual process is implemented according to the valve operations and gas flow rates shown in table 9 for steps 1 and 2 , and those shown in table 10 for step 3 . here, the ru supply cycle is repeated twice in step 1 , once in step 2 , and three times in step 3 , relative to one cycle of ta material supply, purge, plasma step and purge, in order to control the ta/ru composition. the gas flow rates shown in tables 4 and 5 are representative values, and needless to say these flow rates will change according to the process apparatus, process conditions, etc. a ruta barrier metal film having the composition shown in fig. 2 can be formed using the process apparatus shown in fig. 4 based on the specific process conditions shown in tables 9 and 10. in this example, the film thickness was set to 1 nm in step 1 , 2 nm in step 2 , and 1 nm in step 3 , where the desired film thicknesses could be obtained after 10 cycles, 20 cycles and 10 cycles, respectively. example 3 a specific example where the process in fig. 1 is implemented using the apparatus shown in fig. 4 based on the process sequences shown in figs. 5 and 6 is explained. a cu wiring is formed according to the process shown in fig. 9 in a cu wiring forming process based on dual damascene structure. silicon substrates having a device that has been processed up to the state in fig. 9( a ) are treated using the apparatus shown in fig. 10 . a silicon substrate is set in a cassette loader 501 , and a transfer robot 502 is used to transfer the substrate into a load lock chamber 503 , after which the substrate is transferred by a vacuum robot 504 from the load lock chamber 503 into a reaction chamber for plasma atomic layer deposition 505 . the next substrate is transferred to a reaction chamber 507 , and the subsequent substrate is transferred to a reaction chamber 508 , to allow the process to be implemented in a similar manner. the substrate transferred to the reaction chamber 505 is placed on the substrate heating base that has been set to a specified temperature. the reaction chambers 505 , 506 , 507 have an ar gas supply 508 , a ru material supply 509 and a ta gas supply 510 , respectively, furthermore, a hydrogen gas supply 511 and a nitrogen gas supply 515 are also installed. accordingly, the same process sequence can be implemented in any reactor. here, taimata is used as the ta material, while cpru(co) 2 et is used as the ru material. the process was implemented by adjusting the substrate temperature to a range of 250 to 300 degrees, or preferably to 280 degrees. taimata was heated to 90 degrees, and the ta material was supplied by means of argon gas, while the ru material was heated to 35 degrees and supplied by means of argon gas. the supply pressures of ta and ru materials were optimized in a range of 150 to 400 pa, while the process pressures during plasma generation were also optimized in a range of 150 to 400 pa. as for the implementation of the process in fig. 3 , step 1 uses the sequence shown in fig. 5 , while step 2 uses the sequence shown in fig. 6 , and based on the structural diagram of the apparatus in fig. 4 the gas control in the actual process is implemented according to the valve operations and gas flow rates shown in table 9 for step 1 , and those shown in table 10 for step 2 . here, the ru supply cycle is repeated twice in step 1 and once in step 2 , and in step 3 the ru supply cycle is repeated five times while the ta supply cycle is repeated once, relative to one cycle of ta material supply, purge, plasma step and purge. the gas flow rates shown in tables 4 and 5 are representative values, and needless to say these flow rates will change according to the process apparatus, process conditions, etc. a ruta barrier metal film having the composition shown in fig. 3 can be formed using the process apparatus shown in fig. 4 based on the specific process conditions shown in tables 9 and 10. in this example, the film thickness was set to 1 nm in step 1 , 2 nm in step 2 , and 2 nm in step 3 , where the desired film thicknesses could be obtained after 10 cycles, 20 cycles and 20 cycles, respectively. the present invention includes the above mentioned embodiments and other various embodiments including the following: 1) a cu diffusion barrier metal film characterized in that, in a metal film constituted by ru and ta or ti, the ru/ta or ru/ti atomic composition ratio changes in the depth direction. 2) a cu diffusion barrier metal film characterized in that, in a metal film constituted by ru and ta or ti, the n atomic content in the metal film changes in the depth direction. 3) a cu diffusion barrier metal film characterized in that, in a metal film constituted by ru and ta or ti, the ru/ta atomic composition ratio changes in the depth direction and the n atomic content also changes in the depth direction. 4) a cu diffusion barrier metal film according to 1) above, characterized in that such metal film is formed by i) repeating x1 times a cycle comprising a step to introduce ta material and a plasma step based on reducing gas, ii) repeating y1 times a cycle comprising a step to introduce ru material and a plasma step using a reducing gas, and then iii) repeating i) and ii) z1 times to form a film having a first ru/ta atomic composition, after which the x1/y1 ratio is changed and the same cycles are repeated z2 times to achieve a second composition and film thickness, and then the foregoing is repeated at least twice to change the ru/ta atomic composition ratio in the depth direction. 5) a cu diffusion barrier metal film according to 2) above, characterized in that such metal film is formed by i) repeating x1 times a cycle comprising a step to introduce ta material and a plasma step based on reducing gas, ii) repeating y1 times a cycle comprising a step to introduce ru material and a plasma step using a reducing gas, and then iii) repeating i) and ii) z times to form an alloy of ru and ta; wherein hydrogen plasma is used in the plasma step based on reducing gas after the ru material introduction step to decrease the n content, while the nitrogen gas ratio in the plasma of hydrogen/nitrogen mixed gas is controlled in a manner increasing the n content, in order to control the n content in the aforementioned cu barrier metal in the depth direction and i) to iii) above are repeated to change the n content in the applicable metal barrier film. 6) a cu diffusion barrier metal film according to 3) above, characterized in that such metal film is formed by i) repeating x1 times a cycle comprising a step to introduce ta material and a plasma step based on reducing gas, ii) repeating y1 times a cycle comprising a step to introduce ru material and a plasma step using a reducing gas, and then iii) repeating i) and ii) z1 times to form a film having a first ru/ta atomic composition, after which x2 and y 2 are set so that the x2/y2 ratio becomes different from x1/y1, and at the same time hydrogen plasma is used in the plasma step based on reducing gas after the ru material introduction step to decrease the n content, while the nitrogen gas ratio in the plasma of hydrogen/nitrogen mixed gas is controlled to change the manner in which the n content decreases, and i) and ii) are repeated z2 times to achieve a second thickness associated with a different ru/ta atomic composition ratio and n atomic content, and the foregoing is further repeated to change the ru/ta atomic composition ratio and n atomic composition ratio in the depth direction. 7) a cu diffusion barrier metal film according to 4), 5) or 6) above, characterized in that the reducing gas used in the cycle comprising a step to introduce ta material and a plasma step based on reducing gas is at least nitrogen gas or gas molecules containing nitrogen atoms. 8) a cu diffusion barrier metal film according to 1) or 3) above, characterized in that the ru atomic content is low in the bottom layer and high in the top layer, while the ta atomic content is high in the bottom layer and low in the top layer. 9) a cu diffusion barrier metal film according to 1) or 3) above, characterized in that the ru atomic content is high in the bottom layer and low in the intermediate layer, and also higher in the top layer than in the intermediate layer. 10) a cu diffusion barrier metal film according to 2) or 3) above, characterized in that the n atomic content is high in the bottom layer and low in the top layer. 11) a cu diffusion barrier metal film according to 2) or 3) above, characterized in that the n atomic content is lower in the top layer than in the intermediate layer and bottom layer. 12) a cu diffusion barrier metal film according to any one of 1) to 11) above, characterized in that the ta material is selected from among taimata (tertiaryamylimidotris(dimethylamido)tantalum), tbtdet (ta(n-i-c 4 h 9 )[n(c 2 h 5 ) 2 ] 3 ), and pdmat (ta[n(ch 3 ) 2 ] 5 ). 13) a cu diffusion barrier metal film according to any one of 1) to 12) above, characterized in that the ru material is selected from among materials coordinated by a β-diketone group or groups. 14) a cu diffusion barrier metal film according to any one of 1) to 12) above, characterized in that the ru material is selected from among materials coordinated by a carbonyl group or groups. 15) a cu diffusion barrier metal film according to any one of 1) to 12) above, characterized in that the ru material is selected from among materials coordinated by one cyclopentadienyl group. it will be understood by those of skill in the art that numerous and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. therefore, it should be clearly understood that the forms of the present invention are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
077-557-409-167-706	US	[ "US", "EP", "WO", "KR", "CA", "CN" ]	H01M4/36,C01B31/02,C01B31/04,H01M10/00,H01M10/052,H01M10/36,H01M16/00,B82Y30/00,H01M4/02,H01M4/485,H01M4/587,H01M10/0525,H01M10/42,H01M4/583,B32B5/16,H01M4/62,B32B9/00,C01B31/00,C08K3/04,C08K3/20,H01M4/24,H01M4/48,B32B9/04,B05D3/10,B32B3/26,B82Y40/00,H01M4/13,B05D7/00,H01M4/58,B23P17/04,H01M6/00	2008-07-28T00:00:00	2008	[ "H01", "C01", "B82", "B32", "C08", "B05", "B23" ]	nanocomposite of graphene and metal oxide materials	nanocomposite materials comprising a metal oxide bonded to at least one graphene material. the nanocomposite materials exhibit a specific capacity of at least twice that of the metal oxide material without the graphene at a charge/discharge rate greater than about 10 c.	1 . a nanocomposite material comprising a metal oxide bonded directly to a graphene layer, wherein the graphene layer consists essentially of 1 to 147 graphene sheets, the nanocomposite material having a specific capacity at least twice that of the metal oxide without the graphene layer at a charge/discharge rate greater than about 10 c. 2 . the nanocomposite material of claim 1 wherein the graphene layer has a carbon to oxygen ratio of 10-500:1. 3 . the nanocomposite material of claim 1 wherein the metal oxide is m x o y , and where m is ti, sn, ni, mn, v, si, or co, or is a combination thereof. 4 . the nanocomposite material of claim 1 wherein the metal oxide is titania. 5 . the nanocomposite material of claim 1 wherein the metal oxide is tin oxide. 6 . the nanocomposite material of claim 1 including a plurality of graphene layers having metal oxide bonded directly thereto, the plurality of graphene layers forming a nanoarchitecture with the metal oxide substantially uniformly distributed throughout the nanoarchitecture. 7 . the nanocomposite material of claim 1 wherein the graphene layer comprises functionalized graphene sheets. 8 . the nanocomposite material of claim 1 wherein the graphene layer consists essentially of 6 to 29 graphene sheets. 9 . the nanocomposite material of claim 8 wherein the graphene layer comprises functionalized graphene sheets. 10 . the nanocomposite material of claim 4 wherein the titania is in a mesoporous form. 11 . the nanocomposite material of claim 4 wherein the mesoporous titania is in a rutile crystalline structure. 12 . a method comprising: providing graphene layers in a first mixture, the graphene layers having a first surface and a second surface and thicknesses of 0.5 to 50 nm; dispersing the graphene layers with a surfactant; adding a metal oxide precursor to said dispersed graphene layers to form a second mixture; precipitating the metal oxide from the second mixture on surfaces of the dispersed graphene layers to form a nanocomposite material comprising a metal oxide bonded directly to the first and second surfaces of a graphene layer; and wherein the precipitating the metal oxide further comprises condensing the metal oxide at a temperature of less than 100° c. to form rutile crystalline metal oxide bonded directly to the first and second surfaces of the graphene layer. 13 . the method of claim 12 wherein the metal oxide comprises tin oxide. 14 . the method of claim 12 wherein the metal oxide comprises titania. 15 . the method of claim 14 wherein the titania is mesoporous.	cross reference to related applications this application claims priority to u.s. provisional application no. 61/084,140 filed jul. 28, 2008, entitled metal oxide-graphene hybrid nanostructures and method of making. the invention was made with government support under contract de-ac0676rlo 1830, awarded by the u.s. department of energy. the government has certain rights in the invention. technical field this invention relates to nanocomposite materials of graphene bonded to metal oxides and methods for forming nanocomposite materials of graphene bonded to metal oxides. background of the invention graphene is generally described as a one-atom-thick planar sheet of sp2-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice. the carbon-carbon bond length in graphene is approximately 0.142 nm. graphene is the basic structural element of some carbon allotropes including graphite, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. graphene exhibits unique properties, such as very high strength and very high conductivity. those having ordinary skill in the art recognize that many types of materials and devices may be improved if graphene is successfully incorporated into those materials and devices, thereby allowing them to take advantage of graphene's unique properties. thus, those having ordinary skill in the art recognize the need for new methods of fabricating graphene and composite materials that incorporated graphene. graphene has been produced by a variety of techniques. for example, graphene is produced by the chemical reduction of graphene oxide, as shown in gomez-navarro, c.; weitz, r. t.; bittner, a. m.; scolari, m.; mews, a.; burghard, m.; kern, k. electronic transport properties of individual chemically reduced graphene oxide sheets. and nano lett. 2007, 7, 3499-3503. si, y.; samulski, e. t. synthesis of water soluble graphene. nano lett. 2008, 8, 1679-1682. while the resultant product shown in the forgoing methods is generally described as graphene, it is clear from the specific capacity of these materials that complete reduction is not achieved, because the resultant materials do not approach the theoretical specific capacity of neat graphene. accordingly, at least a portion of the graphene is not reduced, and the resultant material contains at least some graphene oxide. as used herein, the term “graphene” should be understood to encompass materials such as these, that contain both graphene and small amounts of graphene oxide. for example, functionalized graphene sheets (fgss) prepared through the thermal expansion of graphite oxide as shown in mcallister, m. j.; lio, j. l.; adamson, d. h.; schniepp, h. c.; abdala, a. a.; liu, j.; herrera-alonso, m.; milius, d. l.; caro, r.; prud'homme, r. k.; aksay, i. a. single sheet functionalized graphene by oxidation and thermal expansion of graphite. chem. mater. 2007, 19, 4396-4404 and schniepp, h. c.; li, j. l.; mcallister, m. j.; sal, h.; herrera-alonso, m.; adamson, d. h.; prud'homme, r. k.; car, r.; saville, d. a.; aksay, i. a. functionalized single graphene sheets derived from splitting graphite oxide. j. phys. chem. b 2006, 110, 8535-8539 have been shown to have tunable c/o ratios ranging from 15 to 500. the term “graphene” as used herein should be understood to include both pure graphene and graphene with small amounts of graphene oxide, as is the case with these materials. further, while graphene is generally described as a one-atom-thick planar sheet densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice, these one-atom-thick planar sheets are typically produced as part of an amalgamation of materials, often including materials with defects in the crystal lattice. for example, pentagonal and heptagonal cells constitute defects. if an isolated pentagonal cell is present, then the plane warps into a cone shape. likewise, an isolated heptagon causes the sheet to become saddle-shaped. when producing graphene by known methods, these and other defects are typically present. the iupac compendium of technology states: “previously, descriptions such as graphite layers, carbon layers, or carbon sheets have been used for the term graphene . . . it is not correct to use for a single layer a term which includes the term graphite, which would imply a three-dimensional structure. the term graphene should be used only when the reactions, structural relations or other properties of individual layers are discussed”. accordingly, while it should be understood that while the terms “graphene” and “graphene layer” as used in the present invention refers only to materials that contain at least some individual layers of single layer sheets, the terms “graphene” and “graphene layer” as used herein should therefore be understood to also include materials where these single layer sheets are present as a part of materials that may additionally include graphite layers, carbon layers, and carbon sheets. the unique electrical and mechanical properties of graphene have led to interest in its use in a variety of applications. for example, electrochemical energy storage has received great attention for potential applications in electric vehicles and renewable energy systems from intermittent wind and solar sources. currently, li-ion batteries are being considered as the leading candidates for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all electrical vehicles, and possibly for utility applications as well. however, many potential electrode materials (e.g., oxide materials) in li-ion batteries are limited by slow li-ion diffusion, poor electron transport in electrodes, and increased resistance at the interface of electrode/electrolyte at high charging-discharging rates. to improve the charge-discharge rate performance of li-ion batteries, extensive work has focused on improving li-ion and/or electron transport in electrodes. the use of nanostructures (e.g., nanoscale size or nanoporous structures) has been widely investigated to improve the li-ion transport in electrodes by shortening li-ion insertion/extraction pathway. in addition, a variety of approaches have also been developed to increase electron transport in the electrode materials, such as conductive coating (e.g., carbon), and uses of conductive additives (e.g., conductive oxide wires or networks, and conductive polymers). recently, tio 2 has been extensively studied to demonstrate the effectiveness of nanostructures and conductive coating in these devices. tio 2 is particularly interesting because it is an abundant, low cost, and environmentally benign material. tio 2 is also structurally stable during li-insertion/extraction and is intrinsically safe by avoiding li electrochemical deposition. these properties make tio 2 particularly attractive for large scale energy storage. another way to improve the li-ion insertion properties is to introduce hybrid nanostructured electrodes that interconnect nanostructured electrode materials with conductive additive nanophases. for example, hybrid nanostructures, e.g., v 2 o 5 — carbon nanotube (cnt) or anatase tio 2 -cnt hybrids, lifepo 4 —ruo 2 nanocomposite, and anatase tio 2 —ruo 2 nanocomposite, combined with conventional carbon additives (e.g., super p carbon or acetylene black) have demonstrated an increased li-ion insertion/extraction capacity in the hybrid electrodes at high charge/discharge rates. while the hybrids or nanocomposites offer significant advantages, some of the candidate materials to improve the specific capacity, such as ruo 2 and cnts, are inherently expensive. in addition, conventional carbon additives at high loading content (e.g., 20 wt % or more) are still needed to ensure good electron transport in fabricated electrodes. to improve high-rate performance and reduce cost of the electrochemically active materials, it is important to identify high surface area, inexpensive and highly conductive nanostructured materials that can be integrated with electrochemical active materials at nanoscale. those having ordinary skill in the art recognize that graphene may be the ideal conductive additive for applications such as these hybrid nanostructured electrodes because of its high surface area (theoretical value of 2630 m 2 /g), which promises improved interfacial contact, the potential for low manufacturing cost as compared to cnts, and high specific capacity. recently, high-surface-area graphene sheets were studied for direct li-ion storage by expanding the layer spacing between the graphene sheets as described in yoo, e.; kim, j.; hosono, e.; zhou, h.-s.; kudo, t.; honma, i. large reversible li storage of graphene nanosheet families for use in rechargeable lithium ion batteries, nano lett. 2008, 8, 2277-2282. in addition to these studies, graphene has also been used to form composite materials with sno 2 for improving capacity and cyclic stability of the anode materials as described in paek, s.-m.; yoo, e.; honma, i. enhanced cyclic performance and lithium storage capacity of sno 2 /graphene nanoporous electrodes with three-dimensionally delaminated flexible structure, nano lett. 2009, 9, 72-75. while these results were promising, they fell short of producing materials exhibiting specific capacity approaching the theoretical possibilities. for example, while it has been shown that graphene may be combined with certain metal oxides, the graphene materials in these studies fall far short of the theoretical maximum conductivity of single-sheet graphene. further, those having ordinary skill in the art recognize that the carbon:oxygen ratio and the specific surface area of graphene provide an excellent proxy to measure the relative abundance of high conductivity single-sheets in a given sample. this is because the c:o ratio is a good measure of the degree of “surface functionalization” which affects conductivity, and the surface area conveys the percentage of single-sheet graphene in the synthesized powder. accordingly, those having ordinary skill in the art recognize that improvements to these methods are required to achieve the potential of using graphene nanostructures in these and other applications. specifically, those skilled in the art recognize the need for new methods that produce nanocomposite materials of graphene and metal oxides that exhibit greater specific capacity than demonstrated in these prior art methods. the present invention fulfills that need, and provides such improved composite nanostructures of graphene layers and metal oxides that exhibit specific capacities heretofore unknown in the prior art. the present invention further provides improved and novel methods for forming these composite nanostructures, and improved and novel devices that take advantage of the new and unique properties exhibited by these materials. the present invention meets these objectives by making nanostructures of graphene layers and metal oxides where the c:o ratio of the graphene layers in these nanostructures is between 15-500:1, and preferably 20-500:1, and the surface area of the graphene layers in these nanostructures is 400-2630 m2/g, and preferably 600-2630 m2/g, as measured by bet nitrogen adsorption at 77k. while those having ordinary skill in the art have recognized the desirability of having c:o ratios and surface areas this high in the graphene of nanostructures of graphene and metal oxides, the prior art methods have failed to produce them. summary of the invention the present invention thus includes a nanocomposite material comprising a metal oxide bonded to at least one graphene layer. the metal oxide is preferably m x o y , and where m is selected from the group consisting of ti, sn, ni, mn, v, si, co and combinations thereof. the nanocomposite materials of the present invention are readily distinguished from the prior art because they exhibit a specific capacity of at least twice that of the metal oxide material without the graphene at a charge/discharge rate greater than about 10 c. for example, while not meant to be limiting, an example where titania is used as the metal oxide, the resulting nanocomposite material has a specific capacity at least twice that of a titania material without graphene at a charge/discharge rate greater than about 10 c. continuing the example, where titania is used as the metal oxide, the titania may be provided in a mesoporous form, and the mesoporous titania may further be provided in a rutile crystalline structure, or in an anatase crystalline structure. the nanocomposite material of the present invention preferably is provided as graphene layers with metal oxides uniformly distributed throughout the nanoarchitecture of the layers. preferably, but not meant to be limiting, the nanocomposite material of the present invention provides a metal oxide bonded to at least one graphene layer that has a thickness between 0.5 and 50 nm. more preferably, but also not meant to be liming, the nanocomposite material of the present invention provides a metal oxide bonded to at least one graphene layer that has a thickness between 2 and 10 nm. preferably, the carbon to oxygen ratio (c:o) of the graphene in the nanostructures of the present invention is between 15-500:1, and more preferably between 20-500:1. preferably, the surface area of the graphene in the nanostructures of the present invention is between 400-2630 m2/g, and more preferably between 600-2630 m2/g, as measured by bet nitrogen adsorption at 77k. another aspect of the present invention is a method for forming the nanocomposite materials of graphene bonded to metal oxide. the method consists of the steps of providing graphene in a first suspension; dispersing the graphene with a surfactant; adding a metal oxide precursor to the dispersed graphene to form a second suspension; and precipitating the metal oxide from the second suspension onto at least one surface of the dispersed graphene. in this manner, a nanocomposite material of at least one metal oxide bonded to at least one graphene layer is thereby formed. the nanocomposite materials formed in this manner are readily distinguished from materials formed by prior art methods because they exhibit a specific capacity of at least twice that of the metal oxide material without the graphene at a charge/discharge rate greater than about 10 c. preferably, but not meant to be limiting, the first suspension is, at least in part, an aqueous suspension and the surfactant is an anionic surfactant. also not meant to be limiting, a preferred anionic sulfate surfactant is sodium dodecyl sulfate. the method of the present invention may further comprise the step of heating the second suspension from 50 to 500 degrees c. to condense the metal oxide on the graphene surface. the method of the present invention may also further comprise the step of heating the second suspension from 50 to 500 degrees c. to remove the surfactant. the present invention also encompasses an energy storage device comprising a nanocomposite material having an active metal oxide compound and one graphene layer arranged in a nanoarchitecture. the energy storage devices of the present invention are readily distinguished from prior art energy storage devices because they exhibit a specific capacity of at least twice that of the metal oxide material without the graphene at a charge/discharge rate greater than about 10 c. for example, while not meant to be limiting, an example where titania is used as the metal oxide, the energy storage device of the present invention has a specific capacity at least twice that of a titania material without graphene at a charge/discharge rate greater than about 10 c. preferably, but not meant to be limiting, the energy storage device of the present invention is provided as having at least one component having a nanocomposite material having graphene layers with metal oxides uniformly distributed throughout the nanoarchitecture of the layers. also preferably, but not meant to be limiting, the energy storage device of the present invention is an electrochemical device having an anode, a cathode, an electrolyte, and a current collector, wherein at least one of the anode, cathode, electrolyte, and current collector is fabricated, at least in part, from a nanocomposite material having graphene layers with metal oxides uniformly distributed throughout the nanoarchitecture of the layers. in embodiments where the energy storage device of the present invention includes a cathode fabricated, at least in part, from a nanocomposite material having graphene layers with metal oxides uniformly distributed throughout the nanoarchitecture of the layers, the graphene in the cathode is preferably, but not meant to be limiting, 5% or less of the total weight of the cathode, and more preferably, but also not meant to be limiting, 2.5% or less of the total weight of the cathode. in this manner, the energy storage devices of the present invention are distinguished from prior art devices which are characterized by having more than 5% of the total weight of the cathode as carbon with no graphene. in embodiments where the energy storage device of the present invention includes an anode fabricated, at least in part, from a nanocomposite material having graphene layers with metal oxides uniformly distributed throughout the nanoarchitecture of the layers, the graphene in the anode is preferably, but not meant to be limiting, 10% or less of the total weight of anode, and more preferably, but also not meant to be limiting, 5% or less of the total weight of anode. in this manner, the energy storage devices of the present invention are distinguished from prior art devices which are characterized by having more than 10% of the total weight of the anode as carbon with no graphene. one embodiment where the present invention is an energy storage device is as a lithium ion battery. in this embodiment, the lithium ion battery has at least one electrode with at least one graphene layer bonded to titania to form a nanocomposite material, and the nanocomposite material has a specific capacity at least twice that of a titania material without graphene at a charge/discharge rate greater than about 10 c. the electrode of this lithium ion battery may further have multiple nanocomposite material layers uniformly distributed throughout the electrode. brief description of the drawings the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention will be more readily understood when taken in conjunction with the following drawing, wherein: fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of the present invention showing anionic sulfate surfactant mediated stabilization of graphene and growth of tio 2 -fgs hybrid nanostructures. fig. 2 is a graph showing high energy resolution photoemission spectra of the c 1 s region in functionalized graphene sheets (fgs) used in one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 3 are raman spectra of rutile tio 2 -fgs and fgs in one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 4( a ) is a photograph of fgs (left) and sds-fgs aqueous dispersions (right); fig. 4( b ) is a graph of the uv-vis absorbance of the sds-fgs aqueous dispersion. fig. 5 is an xrd pattern of one embodiment of the present invention, an anatase tio 2 -fgs and rutile tio 2 -fgs hybrid material. standard diffraction peaks of anatase tio 2 (jcpds no. 21-1272) and rutile tio 2 (jcpds no. 21-1276) are shown as vertical bars. fig. 6( a )-( g ) are tem and sem images of the nanocomposite materials of various embodiments of the present invention at selected magnifications. fig. 7( a )-( f ) are graphs showing the electrical performance of one embodiment of the present invention. fig. 7( a ) shows the voltage profiles for control rutile tio 2 and rutile tio 2 -fgs (0.5 wt % fgs) hybrid nanostructures at c/5 charge-discharge rates. fig. 7( b ) shows the specific capacity of control rutile tio 2 and the rutile tio 2 -fgs hybrids at different charge/discharge rates; fig. 7( c ) shows the cycling performance of the rutile tio 2 -fgs up to 100 cycles at 1 c charge/discharge rates after testing at various rates shown in fig. 7( b ). fig. 7( d ) shows the voltage profiles for control anatase tio 2 and anatase tio 2 -fgs (2.5 wt % fgs) hybrid nanostructures at c/5 charge-discharge rates. fig. 7( e ) shows the specific capacity of control anatase tio 2 and the anatase tio 2 -fgs hybrids at different charge/discharge rates; fig. 7( f ) shows the cycling performance of the anatase tio 2 -fgs up to 100 cycles at 1 c charge/discharge rates after testing at various rates shown in fig. 7( e ). fig. 8 is a graph showing a plot of coulombic efficiency versus cycle number of tio 2 -fgs hybrids of one embodiment of the present invention at various charge/discharge rate between 1˜3 v vs. li/li + . fig. 9 is a graph showing the capacity of functionalized graphene sheets of one embodiment of the present invention as function of cycling numbers between 1˜3 v vs. li/li + . fig. 10( a ) is a graph showing the impedance measurement of coin cells using the electrode materials of control rutile tio 2 and rutile tio 2 -fgs hybrids with different weight percentage of fgss. fig. 10( b ) is a graph showing the specific capacity of rutile tio 2 -cnt and rutile tio 2 -fgs at 30 c rate with different percentages of graphene. fig. 11 is a graph showing the specific capacity of control rutile tio 2 (10 wt % super p) and rutile tio 2 -fgs hybrids (10 wt % fgs) at different charge/discharge rates. the rutile tio 2 -fgs hybrid electrode was prepared by mixing the calcined hybrid with pvdf binder at a mass ratio of 90:10. the control tio 2 electrode was prepared by mixing control tio 2 powder, super p and pvdf binder at a mass ratio of 80:10:10. fig. 12 is an sem image of tio 2 /fgs hybrid materials made in one embodiment of the present invention without using sds as a stabilizer. as shown, tio 2 and fgs domains are separated from each other with minor tio 2 coated on fgs. detailed description of the preferred embodiments for the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. it will nevertheless be understood that no limitations of the inventive scope is thereby intended, as the scope of this invention should be evaluated with reference to the claims appended hereto. alterations and further modifications in the illustrated devices, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated herein are contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. a series of experiments were conducted to demonstrate certain embodiments of the present invention. in these experiments, anionic sulfate surfactants were used to assist the stabilization of graphene in aqueous solutions and facilitate the self-assembly of in-situ grown nanocrystalline tio 2 , rutile and anatase, with graphene. these nanostructured tio 2 -graphene hybrid materials were then used for investigation of li-ion insertion properties. the hybrid materials showed significantly enhanced li-ion insertion/extraction in tio 2 . the specific capacity was more than doubled at high charge rates, as compared with the pure tio 2 phase. the improved capacity at high charge-discharge rate may be attributed to increased electrode conductivity in the presence of a percolated graphene network embedded into the metal oxide electrodes. while not to be limiting, these are among the features that distinguish the methods, materials, and devices of the present invention from the prior art. these experiments thereby demonstrated that the use of graphene as a conductive additive in self-assembled hybrid nanostructures enhances high rate performance of electrochemical active materials. while the metal oxide tio 2 was selected as a model electrochemical active oxide material, the method of the present invention is equally applicable to all metal oxides. these experiments utilized a one-step synthesis approach to prepare metal oxide-graphene hybrid nanostructures. in these experiments, the reduced and highly conductive form of graphene is hydrophobic and oxides are hydrophilic. the present invention's use of surfactants not only solved the hydrophobic/hydrophilic incompatibility problem, but also provides a molecular template for controlled nucleation and growth of the nanostructured inorganics, resulting in a uniform coating of the metal oxide on the graphene surfaces. this approach, schematically illustrated in fig. 1 , starts with the dispersion of the graphene layers with an anionic sulfate surfactant. for example, but not meant to be limiting, sodium dodecyl sulfate. the method then proceeds with the self-assembly of surfactants with the metal oxide precursor and the in-situ precipitation of metal oxide precursors to produce the desired oxide phase and morphology. in a typical preparation of rutile tio 2 -fgs hybrid materials (e.g., 0.5 wt % fgs), 2.4 mg fgss and 3 ml sds aqueous solution (0.5 mol/l) were mixed together. the mixture was diluted to 15 ml and sonicated for 10-15 min using a branson sonifer s-450a, 400w. 25 ml ticl 3 (0.12 mol/l) aqueous solution was then added into as-prepared sds-fgs dispersions while stirring. then, 2.5 ml h 2 o 2 (1 wt %) was added dropwise followed by de-ionized water under vigorous stirring until reaching a total volume of 80 ml. in a similar manner, 0.8, 26.4, and 60 mg fgss were used to prepare the hybrid materials with 0.17, 5, and 10 wt % fgs, respectively. rutile tio 2 -cnt (0.5 wt % carbon nanotubes) hybrid materials were also prepared using corresponding single-wall cnts (2.4 mg) according to the above method. in a typical preparation of anatase tio 2 -fgs hybrid materials (e.g., 2.5 wt % fgs), 13 mg fgs and 0.6 ml sds aqueous solution (0.5 mol/l) were mixed and sonicated to prepare an sds-fgs dispersion. 25 ml ticl 3 (0.12 mol/l) aqueous solution was added into as-prepared sds-fgs dispersions while stirring followed by the addition of 5 ml 0.6 m na 2 so 4 . 2.5 ml h 2 o 2 (1 wt %) was then added dropwise followed by addition of de-ionized water under vigorous stirring until reaching a total volume of 80 ml. all of these resulting mixtures were further stirred in a sealed polypropylene flask at 90° c. for 16 h. the precipitates were separated by centrifuge followed by washing with de-ionized water and ethanol. the centrifuging and washing processes were repeated 3 times. the product was then dried in a vacuum oven at 70° c. overnight and subsequently calcined in static air at 400° c. for 2 h. the thermal gravimetric analysis (tga) indicated approximately 50 wt % percentage loss of fgss during calcination in air at 400° c. for 2 h. the weight percentage of the graphene in the hybrid materials was thus correspondingly normalized, which is consistent with tga of the hybrid materials. the samples were characterized by xrd patterns obtained on a philips xpert x-ray diffractometer using cu k α radiation at λ=1.54 å. the tem imaging was performed on a jeol jsm-2010 tem operated at 200 kv. sem images were obtained on an fei helios nanolab dual-beam focused ion beam/scanning electron microscope (fib/sem) operated at 2 kv. xps characterization was performed using a physical electronics quantum 2000 scanning esca microprobe with a focused monochromatic al k α x-ray (1486.7 ev) source and a spherical section analyzer. electrochemical experiments were performed with coin cells (type 2335, half-cell) using li foil as counter electrode. the working electrode was prepared using the mixture of calcined tio 2 -fgs or control tio 2 , super p and poly (vinylidene fluoride) (pvdf) binder dispersed in n-methylpyrrolidone (nmp) solution, for the preparation of rutile tio 2 electrode (less than 5 wt % graphene), the mass ratio of rutile tio 2 -hybrid or control rutile tio 2 , super p and pvdf was 80:10:10. for the preparation of anatase tio 2 electrode, the mass ratio was 70:20:10 and 80:10:10 for control anatase tio 2 and anatase tio 2 -fgs hybrid (2.5 wt % fgs), respectively. rutile tio 2 -fgs hybrid (10 wt % fgs) electrode was prepared with a mass ratio of hybrid and pvdf binder at 90:10 without super p. the resultant slurry was then uniformly coated on an aluminum foil current collector and dried overnight in air. the electrolyte used was 1 m lipf 6 dissolved in a mixture of ethyl carbonate (ec) and dimethyl carbonate (dmc) with the volume ratio of 1:1. the coin cells were assembled in an argon-filled glove box. the electrochemical performance of tio 2 -graphene was characterized with an arbin battery testing system at room temperature. the electrochemical tests were performed between 3˜1 v vs. li + /li and c-rate currents applied were calculated based on a rutile tio 2 theoretical capacity of 168 mah/g. functionalized graphene sheets (fgss) used in this study were prepared through the thermal expansion of graphite oxide according to the method shown in mcallister, m. j.; lio, j. l.; adamson, d. h.; schniepp, h. c.; abdala, a. a.; liu, j.; herrera-alonso, m.; milius, d. l.; caro, r.; prud'homme, r. k.; aksay, i. a. single sheet functionalized graphene by oxidation and thermal expansion of graphite. chem. mater. 2007, 19, 4396-4404 and schniepp, h. c.; li, j. l.; mcallister, m. j.; sai, h.; herrera-alonso, m.; adamson, d. h.; prud'homme, r. k.; car, r.; saville, d. a.; aksay, i. a. functionalized single graphene sheets derived from splitting graphite oxide. j. phys. chem. b 2006, 110, 8535-8539. as discussed previously, in comparison to the graphene produced by the chemical reduction of graphene oxide, graphene prepared by the thermal expansion approach can have tunable c/o ratios ranging from 15 to 500 and thus its conductivity can be tuned to higher values. fgss processing starts with chemical oxidation of graphite flakes to increase the c-axis spacing from 0.34 to 0.7 nm. the resultant graphite oxide is then split by a rapid thermal expansion to yield separated graphene sheets. x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (xps) of fgss shows a sharp cis peak indicating good sp 2 conjugation as shown in fig. 2 . a small shoulder at 286 ev indicates the existence of some c—o bonds corresponding to the epoxy and hydroxyl functional groups on fgss. sodium dodecyl sulfate (sds)-fgs aqueous dispersions were prepared by ultrasonication. similar to the colloidal stabilization of cnts using sds shown in bonard, j. m.; stora, t.; salvetat, j. p.; maier, f.; stockli, t.; duschl, c.; forro, l.; deheer, w. a.; chatelain, a. purification and size-selection of carbon nanotubes. adv. mater. 1997, 9, 827-831 and richard, c.; balavoine, f.; schultz, p.; ebbesen, t. w.; mioskowski, c. supramolecular self-assembly of lipid derivatives on carbon nanotubes, science 2003, 300, 775-778, the sds-fgs aqueous dispersions were stable. only minor sedimentation was observed after a week at room temperature as shown in fig. 4 a. uv-vis spectrum of the sds-fgs dispersion showed an absorption peak at 275 nm with a broad absorption background ( fig. 4 b ) consistent with that of aqueous stable graphene sheets. raman spectra of fgs and calcined tio 2 -fgs showed similar g and d bands structure of carbon, indicating that the structure of graphene is maintained during the synthesis procedure, as shown in fig. 3 . a mild, low-temperature (below 100° c.) crystallization process was carried out to form crystalline tio 2 with controlled crystalline phase (i.e., rutile and anatase) on the graphene sheets. the low temperature condition was also important in preventing aggregation of graphene sheets at elevated temperatures. consistent with previous studies, by the low-temperature oxidative hydrolysis and crystallization, rutile tio 2 -fgs is obtained with a minor anatase phase. to obtain anatase tio 2 -fgs, additional sodium sulfate was added to the solution to promote the formation of the anatase phase. xrd patterns of the tio 2 -fgs hybrids shown in fig. 5 show the formation of nanocrystalline rutile and anatase metal oxides with an estimated crystalline domain size of 6 and 5 nm, respectively. typical morphology of fgss is shown in the transmission electron microscopy (tem) image of fig. 6 a . the free standing 2d fgss are not perfectly flat but display intrinsic microscopic roughening and out-of-plane deformations (wrinkles). more than 80% of the fgss have been shown to be single sheets by afm characterization, when they were deposited onto an atomically smooth, highly oriented pyrolytic carbon (hopg) template. some regions appeared as multilayers in the tem images, which may represent the regions that either have not been fully exfoliated or the regions that have restacked together due to capillary and van der waals forces experienced during the drying process. figs. 6 b to 6 e show tem and scanning electron microscopy (sem) images of as-grown rutile tio 2 -fgs hybrid nanostructures. figs. 6 b and 6 c show planar views of fgss covered with nanostructured tio 2 . both the edge of graphene and the nanostructure of the tio 2 are clearly observable in the higher magnification image of fig. 6 c. the nanostructured tio 2 is composed of rod-like rutile nanocrystals organized in parallel interspaced with the sds surfactants. the sem image of fig. 6 d shows randomly oriented rod-like nanostructured rutile lying on the fgs. the cross-section tem image further confirms that the nanostructured rutile mostly lies on the fgs with the rod length parallel to the graphene surface ( fig. 6 e ). figs. 6 f and 6 g show plane-view tem images of anatase tio 2 -fgs hybrid nanostructures. fgss underneath are covered with spherical aggregated anatase tio 2 nanoparticles. the dark field tem image ( fig. 6 g ) further confirms crystalline tio 2 nanoparticles (bright regions) with a diameter of 5 nm spreading over the graphene surface. it is important to note that the sds surfactant determines the interfacial interactions between graphene and the oxide materials in promoting the formation of tio 2 -hybrid nanostructures. when the surfactant molecules are added, they can adsorb onto graphene through the hydrophobic tails making fgss highly dispersed and interact with the oxide precursor through the hydrophilic head groups. the cooperative interactions between the surfactant, the graphene, and the oxide precursors lead to the homogeneous mixing of the components, in which the hydrophobic graphene most likely resides in the hydrophobic domains of the sds micelles. as nanocrystalline tio 2 formed, as-grown nanoparticles are then coated to the graphene surfaces since sulfate head groups have strong bonding with tio 2 . without the surfactant, some of the surface functional sites (e.g., carboxylate, epoxy, and hydroxyl groups) on fgss may provide bonding to tio 2 nanoparticles. however, only a very small amount of the metal oxides will then be attached to graphene through such interactions due to the low number density of these functional groups on fgss. thus, in the control samples without the surfactant, fgss are barely covered with the metal oxides along with phase separation from tio 2 as shown in fig. 12 . this indicates the important role of sds in the formation of the self-assembled hybrid nanostructures. to examine the effectiveness of fgss in improving the rate capability of the electrode, we investigated the li-ion insertion/extraction properties in the tio 2 -fgs hybrid materials. the electrodes were fabricated in a conventional way by mixing the hybrid materials with super p carbon additive and a pvdf binder and thus tested in li-ion battery coin cell. the rutile tio 2 -fgs hybrid showed a slope profile of voltage-capacity relationship at both the charge and discharge state as shown in fig. 7 a , similar to that of control rutile tio 2 and nanostructured rutile studied previously as reported in hu, y. s.; kienle, l.; guo, y. g.; maier, j. high lithium electroactivity of nanometer-sized rutile tio 2 . adv. mater. 2006, 18, 1421-1426. as shown in fig. 7 b , with the incorporation of fgss, the specific capacity of rutile tio 2 in the hybrids (0.5 wt % fgs) increased at all charge/discharge rates compared with the control rutile tio 2 . the relative increase in specific capacity is especially larger at higher rates. for instance, at a rate of 30 c (2 min of charging or discharging), the specific capacity of the rutile tio 2 -fgs hybrid material is 87 mah/g which is more than double the high rate capacity (35 mah/g) of the control rutile tio 2 as shown in fig. 7 b. the voltage-capacity profile of anatase tio 2 -fgs (2.5 wt % fgs) at c/5 rate shows plateaus around 1.8 v (discharge process) and 1.9 v (charge process) is shown in fig. 7 d , which is similar to that of control anatase tio 2 and nanostructured anatase. the plateaus are related to the phase transition between the tetragonal and orthorhombic phases with li insertion into anatase tio 2 . similar to rutile tio 2 -fgs, the specific capacity of the anatase tio 2 -fgs hybrid is enhanced at all charge-discharge rates as shown in fig. 7 e . the specific capacity of the anatase tio 2 -fgs at the rate of 30 c is as high as 96 mah/g compared with 25 mah/g of control anatase tio 2 . furthermore, the coulombic efficiencies of tio 2 -fgs hybrids at various charge/discharge rates are greater than 98% as shown in fig. 8 . both rutile and anatase tio 2 -fgs hybrids show good capacity retention of the li-ion insertion/extraction with over 90% capacity retention after 100 cycles at a 1 c rate, as shown in figs. 7 c and 7 f. to identify the capacity contribution from fgss, the li-ion insertion/extraction behavior of the fgss was also studied. the initial capacity of fgs of 100 mah/g with 50% irreversible loss is observed between 1˜3 v potential window applied, which is consistent with a recent study of li-ion storage in graphene described in yoo, e.; kim, j.; hosono, e.; zhou, h.-s.; kudo, t.; honma, i. large reversible li storage of graphene nanosheet families for use in rechargeable lithium ion batteries. nano lett. 2008, 8, 2277-2282. however, the specific capacity of fgs rapidly decreases to 25 mah/g within 10 cycles. al higher charge/discharge rates, fgs has almost negligible li-ion insertion as shown in fig. 9 . for 1 wt % fgs hybrids, the capacity contribution from fgs itself after 2 cycles can be a maximum value of 0.4 mah/g. thus, the increase of the specific capacity at high rate is not attributed to the capacity of the graphene additive itself in the hybrid materials. to further understand the improved high-rate performance, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements on rutile tio 2 -fgs hybrid materials were performed after cycles. the nyquist plots of the rutile tio 2 -fgs electrode materials with different percentage of graphene cycled in electrolyte, as shown in fig. 10( a ), all show depressed semicycles at high frequencies. as electrolyte and electrode fabrication are similar between each electrode, the high frequency semicircle should relate to the internal resistance of the electrode. we estimate that the resistivity of the cells decreased from 93ω for the pure tio 2 to 73ω with the addition of only 0.5 wt % graphene. by increasing the graphene percentage in the hybrid materials further, the specific capacity is slightly increased, e.g., to 93 mah/g in the hybrid material with 5 wt % fgs, indicating that a kinetic capacity limitation may be reached by only improving the electrode conductivity with the incorporation of fgss as shown in fig. 10( b ). rutile tio 2 -cnt hybrids prepared and tested under similar conditions showed poorer performance at identical carbon loadings than the rutile tio 2 -fgs hybrid anodes, as shown in the yellow bar in fig. 10( b ). similarly, hybrid nanostructures prepared using solution reduced graphene oxides also showed even poorer performance, indicating the importance of the highly conductive graphene phase of fgss. to study the properties of electrode materials without any super p carbon, li-ion insertion/extraction properties of the rutile tio 2 -fgs (10 wt % graphene) were compared with control rutile tio 2 with 10 wt % super p at high charge-discharge rates. the hybrid material showed a much higher capacity at all charge-discharge rate, as shown in fig. 11 . this result indeed confirms that the graphene in the self-assembled hybrid materials is more effective than the commonly used super p carbon materials in improving high rate performance of the electrode materials. the high rate performance is important for applications where fast charge and discharge is needed, such as in load leveling utility applications. the simple self-assembly approach, and the potential low manufacturing cost of graphene of the present invention, thus provide a new pathway for large scale applications of novel hybrid nanocomposite materials for energy storage. while the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character. only certain embodiments have been shown and described, and all changes, equivalents, and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention described herein are desired to be protected. any experiments, experimental examples, or experimental results provided herein are intended to be illustrative of the present invention and should not be considered limiting or restrictive with regard to the invention scope. further, any theory, mechanism of operation, proof, or finding stated herein is meant to further enhance understanding of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention in any way to such theory, mechanism of operation, proof, or finding. thus, the specifics of this description and the attached drawings should not be interpreted to limit the scope of this invention to the specifics thereof. rather, the scope of this invention should be evaluated with reference to the claims appended hereto. in reading the claims it is intended that when words such as “a”, “an”, “at least one”, and “at least a portion” are used there is no intention to limit the claims to only one item unless specifically stated to the contrary in the claims. further, when the language “at least a portion” and/or “a portion” is used, the claims may include a portion and/or the entire items unless specifically stated to the contrary. likewise, where the term “input” or “output” is used in connection with an electric device or fluid processing unit, it should be understood to comprehend singular or plural and one or more signal channels or fluid lines as appropriate in the context. finally, all publications, patents, and patent applications cited in this specification are herein incorporated by reference to the extent not inconsistent with the present disclosure as if each were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference and set forth in its entirety herein.
078-153-901-163-323	US	[ "US" ]	E21B43/243	1974-07-26T00:00:00	1974	[ "E21" ]	method of igniting in situ oil shale retort with fuel rich flue gas	a technique is provided for igniting one in situ oil shale retort with flue gas from an earlier retort. towards the end of oil shale retorting the flue gas from an in situ retort has a substantial fuel value so that it can be burned for generating heat. this fuel gas is conveyed to the entrance to a second retort and burned to initiate retorting. even after retorting of the bed of particles in the first retort is completed, a fuel rich flue gas can be obtained and used for ignition of a subsequent retort. in either case the prior retort has a large bed of hot spent oil shale particles through which air is passed to burn carbonaceous material therein. hot flue gas from the earlier retort can also be used for preheating.	1. a process for igniting an in situ oil shale retort comprising the steps of: generating a combustible flue gas in a first in situ retort containing a bed of hot spent oil particles by introducing air at the top of the first retort, and withdrawing flue gas from the bottom of the first retort; burning the combustible flue gas at a top entrance of a second in situ retort containing a bed of unretorted oil shale particles and passing the combustion products downwardly through the bed for heating a portion of the top of the second bed of oil shale particles to the ignition temperature of oil shale particles in the top portion of the bed for establishing a combustion zone at the top of the second bed; and introducing air to the top of the second bed for moving the combustion zone downwardly in the ignited second retort. 2. a process as defined in claim 3 further comprising the step of preheating the bed of unretorted oil shale particles by introducing hot flue gas from the first retort into the second retort. 3. a process as defined in claim 1 wherein the step of generating a combustible flue gas comprises: passing gas downwardly through a bed of hot spent oil shale particles occupying a major portion of the length of the first retort. 4. a process as defined in claim 3, wherein the generating step further comprises passing the gas downwardly through a bed of unretorted oil shale particles occupying a minor portion of the length of the first retort. 5. a process for in situ retorting oil shale comprising the steps of: introducing air into a first in situ retort containing a bed of heated oil shale particles, at least part of which bed is spent, for reaction with carbonaceous material in the heated oil shale particles and production of a combustible flue gas; recovering flue gas from the first retort; conducting the flue gas from the first retort to the top of a second in situ oil shale retort containing a bed of unretorted oil shale particles; and reacting the flue gas with air at a top entrance of the second retort for igniting the bed of oil shale particles therein; and wherein the steps are performed after the end of normal retorting operations when substantially all of the bed of oil shale particles in the first retort has been retorted so that the first retort is substantially completely filled with spent oil shale particles. 6. a process for retorting a bed of oil shale particles in an underground in situ retort comprising the steps of: introducing oxygen bearing gas into a first in situ retort containing a bed of oil shale particles, at least part of which bed is spent oil shale particles, for reaction with residual carbonaceous material in the spent oil shale particles for generating a combustible off gas; recovering combustible off gas from the first retort; conducting the combustible off gas from the first retort to the top of bed of unretorted oil shale particles in a second in situ oil shale retort; reacting the off gas with oxygen bearing gas at the top of the bed in the second retort for heating a portion of the top of the bed of oil shale particles therein so the ignition temperature of the oil shale particles at the top of the bed for establishing a combustion zone at the top of the bed; and introducing an oxygen bearing gas downwardly into the combustion zone for moving the combustion zone downwardly through the bed for retorting the bed of oil shale particles in the second retort. 7. a process as defined in claim 6 wherein the recovering step comprises recovering hot combustible flue gas from the first retort; and the conducting step comprises conducting the hot flue gas from the first retort to the top of the second retort for reaction with air for utilizing both the sensible heat and the latent chemical heat of the flue gas. 8. a process as defined in claim 6 further comprising the steps of: recovering hot flue gas from the first retort; conducting the hot flue gas to the top of the second retort; and introducing the hot flue gas downwardly into the second retort for preheating the bed of oil shale particles therein. 9. a process as defined in claim 6 wherein the combustible off gas is recovered from the first retort after the end of normal retorting operations in the first bed when substantially all of the shale oil has been retorted from the bed of oil shale particles in the first retort so that it is substantially completely filled with spent oil shale particles. 10. a process as defined in claim 6 wherein the combustible off gas is recovered from the first retort prior to the end of normal retorting operations in the first retort so that a major portion of the first retort is occupied by a bed of spent oil shale particles and a minor portion of the first retort is occupied by unretorted oil shale particles or oil shale particles undergoing retorting. 11. a process as defined in claim 6 wherein the combustible off gas recovered from said first retort is hot and said hot off gas is conducted to the top of the bed in the second retort for supplying heat to the top of the bed in the second retort. 12. a process for retorting of oil shale in an in situ retort in an underground deposit containing oil shale, said in situ oil shale retort containing a bed of oil shale particles comprising the steps of: introducing oxygen bearing gas into a first in situ retort containing a bed of oil shale particles for moving a combustion zone and a retorting zone downwardly therethrough, thereby retorting oil shale, and continuing the retorting until the combustion zone is near the bottom of the retort, whereby the first in situ retort contains a bed of heated spent oil shale particles; recovering combustible off gas from the bottom of the first retort after the combustion zone nears the bottom; conducting the off gas from the bottom of the first retort to the top of a second in situ oil shale retort containing a bed of unretorted oil shale particles; burning the off gas with air at a top entrance of the second retort for igniting the bed of oil shale particles and establishing a combustion zone therein; and introducing oxygen bearing gas into the top of the second in situ retort for moving the combustion zone downwardly through the second retort for sustaining a retorting zone below the combustion zone and retorting oil shale. 13. a process as defined in claim 12 wherein the step of recovering combustible flue gas includes: introducing oxygen bearing gas at the top of the first retort for reaction with carbonaceous material in the heated spent shale.	background there are vast deposits of oil shale throughout the world with some of the richest deposits being in the western united states in colorado, utah and wyoming. these reserves are regarded as one of the largest untapped energy reserves available. the oil shale is in the form of solid rock with a solid carbonaceous material known as kerogen intimately distributed therethrough. the kerogen can be decomposed to a synthetic crude petroleum by subjecting it to elevated temperatures, in the order of 900.degree. f. this causes the kerogen to decompose to a hydrocarbon liquid, small amounts of hydrocarbon gas and some residual carbon that remains in the spent shale. the heat for retorting the shale oil can be obtained by burning some of the carbonaceous material in the shale with air or other oxidizing gas. preferably the oil shale is retorted in situ in a bed of oil shale particles filling a cavity blasted into the undisturbed oil shale. in such an in situ retort the rubble pile of shale particles is ignited preferably at the top and air is passed downwardly through the bed to sustain combustion and retort the oil. liquid oil flows to the bottom of the retort and is recovered. such retorts can be formed, for example, by excavating a portion of rock in a volume that ultimately will become an underground retort. the balance of the rock in the volume to become a retort is then explosively expanded to form a rubble pile or bed of oil shale particles substantially completely filling the retort volume. the original excavated volume is thus distributed through the expanded oil shale particles as the void volume therebetween. oil is then extracted from the expanded rubble pile in the underground retort by igniting the top of the bed of oil shale particles and passing an oxygen bearing gas, such as air, downwardly through the retort. once raised to a sufficient temperature the oil shale will support combustion, initially at the top of the retort by burning some of the oil in the shale. thereafter, as the oil is extracted there is residual carbon left in the shale, and, when at a sufficient temperature, this too will react with oxygen to burn and supply heat for retorting. this burning of residual carbon in the shale depletes oxygen from the air being passed down through the retort and the substantially inert gas then carries heat to a retorting zone below the reaction zone for decomposing the kerogen and extracting oil. gases from the bottom of the retort are collected and often contain sufficient hydrogen, carbon monoxide and/or hydrocarbons to be combustible. oil is also collected at the bottom of the retort and transported for conventional refining. after retorting of the shale oil is completed, the retort contains a large volume of hot spent shale. this heated spent shale contains a substantial amount of unburned residual carbon. some combustion does occur in the heated spent shale during retorting by reaction between oxygen and residual carbon. in a typical retorting operation only about 46% of the residual carbon resulting from retorting was consumed during the retorting operation. the other 54% of the residual carbon remained in the spent shale at the end of normal retorting operations. appreciable quantities of recoverable energy in the form of sensible heat or unburned carbon may remain in the spent shale. when the oil shale is expanded in the underground retort the particles ordinarily fill the entire volume so that there is no significant void space above the rubble pile. air for combustion can be brought to the top of the bed of particles by means of holes bored through overlying intact rock. appreciable difficulty may be encountered, however, in igniting the top of the rubble pile to support combustion. ignition requires a substantial amount of heat delivered over a sufficient time to raise a reasonable volume of oil shale above its ignition temperature. some difficulty is encountered in heating a substantial volume of oil shale in the retort and assuring that ignition has been obtained. brief summary of the invention there is, therefore, provided in practice of this invention according to a presently preferred embodiment, a technique for igniting an oil shale retort having a bed of unretorted oil shale particles therein by first generating a combustible flue gas in a first retort containing a bed of hot spent oil shale particles. the combustible gas is then burned at the entrance of the retort containing unretorted oil shale for generating an ignition temperature in the bed. the first retort may be entirely spent, with combustible gas generated during post retorting operations, or the combustible gas may be generated near the end of retorting operations in the first retort when there is a large bed of hot spent oil shale, but wherein retorting is still continuing. drawing these and other features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing which is a schematic representation of a vertical cross section through a pair of in situ oil shale retorts. description the drawing illustrates a retort for oil shale in the form of a cavity 10 formed in undisturbed shale 11 and filled with a bed or rubble pile of expanded or fragmented oil shale particles 12. the cavity 10 and bed of oil shale particles 12 are ordinarily created simultaneously by blasting by any of a variety of techniques. such a typical in situ oil shale retort is described and illustrated in u.s. pat. no. 3,661,423. several in situ retorts may be in an area and separated from each other by walls of undisturbed shale, known as pillars, which form gas barriers and support the overlying rock. a conduit 13 communicates with the top of the bed of oil shale particles and during the retorting operation compressed air or other oxidizing gas is forced downwardly therethrough to supply oxygen for combustion. it will be understood that as used herein the term "air" is ordinarily ambient air but can include composition variations including oxygen. thus, for example, if desired the air can be augmented with additional oxygen so that the partial pressure of oxygen is increased. similarly air can be diluted with recycled flue gas or other materials for reducing the partial pressure of oxygen. such recycling is, for example, practiced for reducing the oxygen concentration of the gas introduced into the retort to about 14% instead of the usual 20%. a tunnel 14 is in communication with the bottom of the retort and contains a sump 16 in which liquid oil is collected. off gas or flue gas is also recovered from the retort by way of the tunnel 14. when the retort is operated the oil shale is ignited adjacent the conduit 13 and the combustion zone so established readily moves downwardly through the retort. at the end of the retorting operation the spent oil shale in the retort is at an elevated temperature with the hottest region being near the bottom, and a somewhat cooler region being at the top due to continual cooling by inlet air during retorting and conduction of heat into adjacent shale. the hot spent shale in the retort contains appreciable amounts of unburned residual carbon present in a relatively reactive form because of its formation from decomposed kerogen. the drawing illustrates a second oil shale retort in the form of a cavity 17 filled with a bed of oil shale particles 18. as previously described this retort also has a gas conduit 19 at the top and a tunnel 21 at the bottom for recovering products. in practice of this invention the second retort 17 has a bed of unretorted oil shale particles. the bed of oil shale particles 12 in the first retort 10 is made up largely or entirely of spent oil shale from which shale oil has already been retorted. towards the end of operation of an in situ oil shale retort the fuel value of the flue gas tends to be higher than at the beginning of retorting. a number of factors may contribute to this effect. one reason, for example, is that as the inlet air passes through a greater thickness of bed containing hot spent oil shale particles more of the oxygen is depleted in the spent shale and there is less combustion of light fractions in the kerogen decomposition products. also as greater areas of the walls of the retort, which are substantially impervious shale, are heated to elevated temperature there is more retorting of oil from the intervening pillars adjacent the retort. this additional oil may be subjected to appreciably higher temperatures than oil otherwise retorted and therefore be subject to more cracking with consequent light fractions appearing in the flue gas. each of these effects results in more hydrocarbon gas in the flue gas near the end of the retorting operation and enhanced fuel value. enhanced amounts of hydrogen and carbon monoxide may also be present in the flue gas when there is a large bed of hot spent shale due to water gas reaction, or reaction of carbon dioxide with carbon to produce carbon monoxide. it is believed that the large amount of fuel rich flue gas near the end of a retorting operation comes about because of the large bed of heated spent oil shale particles which serves to heat the walls of the retort and extract additional hydrocarbon vapors. after normal retorting operations are completed a continuing flow of air may be provided through the spent retort having a hot bed of spent oil shale particles. oxygen in the air continues to react with carbonaceous material remaining in the spent shale. the hot shale continues to retort oil from the retort walls and the flow of gases downwardly through the retort sweeps the combustion products, some of which may be flammable, and the hydrocarbon vapors out of the retort as a fuel rich flue gas. the flue gas from the bottom of the retort near the end, and after the end, of retorting operations may be heated to a substantially elevated temperature because of its flow through the hot bed of spent oil shale particles. temperatures as high as 1000.degree. f. may be reached by the flue gas under some circumstances. at least a portion of the flue gas from the first retort 10 is conveyed to the top of the second retort 17 containing unretorted oil shale particles. the flue gas from the tunnel 14 is conveyed to the conduit 19 at the top of the second retort through an underground raise (not shown) which typically does not extend to the ground surface so that the length of conduit is minimized. conventional bulkheads, pipes, valves, blowers if needed, metering devices, and the like will be apparent to one skilled in the art and are not set forth in detail herein. air is also introduced through the conduit 19 for combustion with the fuel rich flue gas from the bottom of the first retort. this combustion generates substantial quantities of heat and is continued for a long enough time to heat the top of the bed of unretorted oil shale particles 18 to the ignition temperature. thus, the fuel rich flue gas obtained near the end of retorting of one retort is used by burning with air or other oxygen containing gas for ignition of a second retort. it is important that the flue gas employed for igniting the second retort be obtained near the end, or after the end, of retorting of the first retort since this gas is richest in fuel value due to the large bed of hot spent oil shale particles through which gas is passed. at this time the bed of hot spent oil shale particles occupies a major portion of the length of the retort. all of the lower portion of the retort may be filled with hot spent oil shale (after the end of retorting) or a minor portion of the length of the bed may be unretorted or retorting oil shale (near the end of retorting). the flue gas from hot spent shale may be substantially above ambient temperatures when introduced into the second retort and this sensible heat serves to preheat the unretorted oil shale therein and augments the combustion energy. it is generally desirable to employ a flue gas at a temperature below the maximum available from the first retort because of the expense and hazard of conveying hot gas for substantial distances underground. large volumes of gas are involved and the cost of heat resistant conduits may be prohibitive. ignition temperatures are therefore obtained by combustion of the fuel rich flue gas instead of merely the sensible heat of the flue gas, although at least a portion of this sensible heat may be of assistance in preheating the unretorted oil shale in the retort to be ignited. by using the latent heat of the fuel rich flue gas from a spent retort for ignition of a second retort any requirement for external gas sources for ignition can be avoided. since in situ retorting is done at remote locations any added gas sources required for retorting operations are expensive and preferably avoided. one can pass hot gas from a first retort having a large bed of spent oil shale particles to the second retort for preheating the unretorted shale therein. flue gas from the first retort may be burned at the entrance of the second retort so that the latent chemical energy of the fuel therein further preheats and ignites the second retort. latent heat combined with this latent chemical energy can further augment the preheating and ignition. although but limited embodiments of technique for igniting an oil shale retort have been described and illustrated herein many modifications and variations will be apparent to one skilled in the art. thus, for example, a portion of flue gas from the first retort may be recycled through the retort for further enhancing the fuel value before a portion is used for igniting the second retort. many other modifications and variations will be apparent and it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.
080-134-529-616-426	US	[ "DE", "JP", "US", "WO" ]	G06V10/80,G06N3/0475,G06T7/50,G06T7/55,G06T7/00,G06K9/62,G06K9/00,G06N3/04,G06T11/00,G06N3/063,G06N3/08	2020-10-09T00:00:00	2020	[ "G06" ]	real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation	a method for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation is presented. the method includes synthesizing, by a cross-spectral generative adversarial network (cs-gan), visual images from different data streams obtained from a plurality of different types of sensors, applying a feature-preserving loss function resulting in real-time pairing of corresponding cross-spectral objects, and applying dual bottleneck residual layers with skip connections to accelerate real-time inference and to accelerate convergence during model training.	1 . a method for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation, the method comprising: synthesizing, by a cross-spectral generative adversarial network (cs-gan), visual images from different data streams obtained from a plurality of different types of sensors; applying a feature-preserving loss function resulting in real-time pairing of corresponding cross-spectral objects; and applying dual bottleneck residual layers with skip connections to accelerate real-time inference and to accelerate convergence during model training. 2 . the method of claim 1 , wherein object detection is performed in at least one data stream of the different data streams to detect first objects. 3 . the method of claim 2 , wherein an adaptive spatial search is performed in at least one data stream of the different data streams to form several candidate bounding box proposals as second objects. 4 . the method of claim 3 , wherein the first objects are fed to a first feature extractor and the second objects are fed to the cs-gan for data transformation, and then to a second feature extractor. 5 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the cs-gan includes bottleneck cascaded residual layers along with custom perpetual loss and feature loss functions. 6 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the cs-gan includes a first network and a second network, the first network being a thermal-to-visual synthesis network and the second network being a visual-to-thermal synthesis network. 7 . the method of claim 6 , wherein the first network includes a generator and a discriminator, the generator synthesizing visual images from corresponding thermal patches, and the discriminator distinguishing between real and generated visual images. 8 . the method of claim 7 , wherein a cyclical loss, an adversarial loss, a perpetual loss, and a feature loss are employed to optimize the generator, and wherein the feature loss estimates a euclidean norm between feature point coordinates of the real and generated visual images and minimizes an error as training progresses. 9 . the method of claim 1 , wherein a depth and offset estimator is provided to estimate distance and offset of objects in a scene relative to a sensor of the plurality of sensors by an object specific depth perception network. 10 . a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a computer-readable program for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation, wherein the computer-readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform the steps of: synthesizing, by a cross-spectral generative adversarial network (cs-gan), visual images from different data streams obtained from a plurality of different types of sensors; applying a feature-preserving loss function resulting in real-time pairing of corresponding cross-spectral objects; and applying dual bottleneck residual layers with skip connections to accelerate real-time inference and to accelerate convergence during model training. 11 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein object detection is performed in at least one data stream of the different data streams to detect first objects. 12 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein an adaptive spatial search is performed in at least one data stream of the different data streams to form several candidate bounding box proposals as second objects. 13 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the first objects are fed to a first feature extractor and the second objects are fed to the cs-gan for data transformation, and then to a second feature extractor. 14 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the cs-gan includes bottleneck cascaded residual layers along with custom perpetual loss and feature loss functions. 15 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the cs-gan includes a first network and a second network, the first network being a thermal-to-visual synthesis network and the second network being a visual-to-thermal synthesis network. 16 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the first network includes a generator and a discriminator, the generator synthesizing visual images from corresponding thermal patches, and the discriminator distinguishing between real and generated visual images. 17 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein a cyclical loss, an adversarial loss, a perpetual loss, and a feature loss are employed to optimize the generator and wherein the feature loss estimates a euclidean norm between feature point coordinates of the real and generated visual images and minimizes an error as training progresses. 18 . the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein a depth and offset estimator is provided to estimate distance and offset of objects in a scene relative to a sensor of the plurality of sensors by an object specific depth perception network. 19 . a system for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation, the system comprising: a memory; and one or more processors in communication with the memory configured to: synthesize, by a cross-spectral generative adversarial network (cs-gan), visual images from different data streams obtained from a plurality of different types of sensors; apply a feature-preserving loss function resulting in real-time pairing of corresponding cross-spectral objects; and apply dual bottleneck residual layers with skip connections to accelerate real-time inference and to accelerate convergence during model training. 20 . the system of claim 19 , wherein the cs-gan includes a first network and a second network, the first network being a thermal-to-visual synthesis network and the second network being a visual-to-thermal synthesis network, the first network including a generator and a discriminator, the generator synthesizing visual images from corresponding thermal patches, and the discriminator distinguishing between real and generated visual images, and wherein a cyclical loss, an adversarial loss, a perpetual loss, and a feature loss are employed to optimize the generator.	related application information this application claims priority to provisional application no. 63/089,703, filed on oct. 9, 2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. background technical field the present invention relates to cross-spectral transformation and matching and, more particularly, to real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation. description of the related art fusing the data captured with multiple sensor modalities to localize, detect and perceive depth of objects is a difficult task due to the unavoidable physical displacement of sensors, and the vastly different semantic information in different types of sensor streams. summary a method for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation is presented. the method includes synthesizing, by a cross-spectral generative adversarial network (cs-gan), visual images from different data streams obtained from a plurality of different types of sensors, applying a feature-preserving loss function resulting in real-time pairing of corresponding cross-spectral objects, and applying dual bottleneck residual layers with skip connections to accelerate real-time inference and to accelerate convergence during model training. a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a computer-readable program for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation is presented. the computer-readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform the steps of synthesizing, by a cross-spectral generative adversarial network (cs-gan), visual images from different data streams obtained from a plurality of different types of sensors, applying a feature-preserving loss function resulting in real-time pairing of corresponding cross-spectral objects, and applying dual bottleneck residual layers with skip connections to accelerate real-time inference and to accelerate convergence during model training. a system for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation is presented. the system includes a memory and one or more processors in communication with the memory configured to synthesize, by a cross-spectral generative adversarial network (cs-gan), visual images from different data streams obtained from a plurality of different types of sensors, apply a feature-preserving loss function resulting in real-time pairing of corresponding cross-spectral objects, and apply dual bottleneck residual layers with skip connections to accelerate real-time inference and to accelerate convergence during model training. these and other features and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. brief description of drawings the disclosure will provide details in the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the following figures wherein: fig. 1 is a block/flow diagram of an exemplary object localization architecture, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; fig. 2 is a block/flow diagram of an exemplary thermal-to-visual synthesis architecture, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; fig. 3 is a block/flow diagram of an exemplary visual-to-thermal synthesis architecture, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; fig. 4 is a block/flow diagram of an exemplary dual bottleneck residual block, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; fig. 5 is a block/flow diagram of exemplary cross-spectral generative adversarial network (cs-gan) inferencing, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; fig. 6 is a block/flow diagram of an exemplary depth and offset estimator, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; fig. 7 is a block/flow diagram of an exemplary generator network architecture, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; fig. 8 is an exemplary practical application for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; fig. 9 is an exemplary processing system for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; and fig. 10 is a block/flow diagram of an exemplary method for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. detailed description of preferred embodiments many emerging applications combine data streams from a variety of sensors to leverage the complementary strengths of different sensing modalities while canceling out their weaknesses, leading to improved sensing capabilities. such sensor fusion produces rich, context-aware data that eliminates the limitations in information, range, and accuracy of any individual sensor. as an example, autonomous cars are considered. a challenge is to adequately understand the car's 3d environment in real-time under affordable sensor cost and embedded computing constraints. cameras placed on every side of the car attempt to recognize objects and stitch together a 360-degree view of the environment. radars supplement camera vision in times of low visibility like night driving and provide data on the speed and location of objects. lidars measure distances and perceive depth of objects even in lowlight conditions, which neither cameras nor radars can do. so, rather than rely on just one type of sensor, autonomous cars combine data from a variety of sensors to achieve real-time vision, autonomy, reliability and redundancy. other applications that make simultaneous use of visual camera and depth sensors include human pose estimation, action recognition, simultaneous localization and mapping, and people tracking. visual and thermal sensors are increasingly being used together to improve accuracy and speed of a variety of new video surveillance systems and face-recognition based applications such as biometric payment systems, authentication and unmanned access control systems, and fever screening solutions to infer person attributes such as liveliness or elevated body temperature. the ability to localize, detect and perceive depth of objects in an observed 3d scene is a key precondition in many applications like automatic manufacturing, inspection and quality assurance, and human-robot interaction. however, single modality sensing systems have limitations that are inherently difficult to overcome, and they are inadequate for many emerging sensing applications. for example, single-camera perception systems cannot provide reliable 3d-geometry, and their average accuracy is 60% less than a lidar-based system. multiple-camera systems (stereo cameras) can provide accurate 3d geometry, but they do so at a high computational cost and they perform poorly in high-occlusion and texture-less environments, or in poor lighting conditions. lidars provide high-precision 3d geometry, independent of ambient light, but they are limited by their high cost, poor performance in severe weather conditions like heavy rain, fog and snow, and inability to recognize or classify objects as well as visual cameras. to mitigate the limitations of single modality sensing systems, cross-spectral fusion such as sensor fusion of data streams from visual cameras and lidars, fusion of visual and thermal data streams and fusion of lidar and thermal streams is an emerging research theme. a common issue when fusing the data captured with multiple sensor modalities is to find the corresponding regions in the data streams. this is a non-trivial task. first, due to the physical displacement of the sensors, their fields of view are not aligned. second, the semantic information contained in the sensor streams, and the data format, are very different. visual (rgb) cameras project the real-world into a dense, regular, ordered and discrete 2d array of pixel intensities, an image that includes rich visual information to recognize or classify objects. in contrast, the data from a depth sensor such as lidar preserves the 3d geometry and structure information in a point cloud that is sparse, irregular, order-less and preserves the continuous values of physical distances. in contrast to a visual camera and a depth sensor, thermal cameras detect radiation emitted, transmitted and reflected by an object, which increases with temperature. thermal data allows a person to see variations in temperatures and compute discriminative temperature signatures. third, 3d scene object localization, detection, recognition and depth perception by using multiple sensor modalities is further complicated by the need to deliver real-time performance under application-specific affordable cost and resource constraints. in view thereof, the exemplary methods introduce a cross-spectral object association and depth estimation technique for real-time applications. although the exemplary methods illustrate the concepts using visual and thermal data streams, the proposed techniques are applicable to other combinations of sensor types and sensing modalities. the advantages include at least: employing a cs-gan, which is a cross-spectral deep-learning generative adversarial network that synthesizes visual spectrum object images from thermal data. cs-gan ensures that the synthesized images are visually homogeneous and have the key, representative object level features necessary to uniquely associate with objects detected in the visual spectrum. this appears to be the first technique that enables real-time feature-level association of objects in visual and thermal streams. cs-gan further includes a feature-preserving loss function that results in high-quality pairing of corresponding regions in real-time, which has been difficult to accomplish with computation intensive pixel-level approaches. network enhancements are also introduced that leverage dual bottleneck residual layers with skip connections to accelerate real-time inference and speed up convergence during model training. a multivariable linear regression model to estimate location by leveraging the object's feature level correspondence from cs-gan is also provided. this avoids the need to take into account the geometric calibration of visual and thermal cameras, which is usually necessary to account for the intrinsic (optical center and focal length) and extrinsic (location of cameras) parameters between the visual rgb and thermal cameras. a real-time system for finding corresponding objects in full high-definition (hd) visual and non-visual data streams is further introduced. by using the object's feature-level correspondence, the exemplary methods avoid the more compute-intensive pixel-level cross-spectral stereoscopy. fig. 1 illustrates the proposed object localization approach. a visual stream 102 is provided to the object detector 104 . a thermal stream 112 is provided to the adaptive spatial searcher 114 . the visual objects 105 determined or extracted by the object detector 104 from the visual stream 102 are also provided to the adaptive spatial searcher 114 , as well as to the feature extractor 106 . the thermal objects 115 extracted from the thermal stream 112 are provided to the cs-gan 116 , where the data is transformed and provided to a feature extractor 118 . the data from the feature extractors 106 , 118 are fused or combined by the feature fuser 120 to generate a depth perception network 122 to determine object locations. the input thermal stream data can be from a variety of electromagnetic spectrums like ultraviolet (uv), near infra-red or far infra-red. although the exemplary methods consider only visual and thermal data streams, the exemplary approach can be used with other spectral modalities such as depth streams (point clouds). in fig. 1 , the input visual stream 102 is the target domain. the exemplary methods use object detectors 104 in the target domain to detect objects like a face, person, or vehicle. using the bounding boxes from object detector 104 , the exemplary methods perform an adaptive spatial search 114 in the thermal spectrum, which is also the source domain, to form several candidate bounding box proposals. this avoids the need for good object detectors in the thermal domain where accurate object detection is a known issue due to the texture-less nature of such data. due to sensor displacement, corresponding objects in the cross-spectral image pair are not aligned. spatial displacement, and orientation, of corresponding cross-spectral object images are a function of both distance and offset relative to the axes of the two sensors. since the exemplary methods only have good feature extractors for the target domain (visual) readily available, the exemplary methods first transform images from the source domain (thermal) to the target domain (visual) by using a generative adversarial network cs-gan 116 , which is a modified version of cyclegan. cyclegan models are often used to generate realistic looking images for applications like color conversion, object transfiguration and style transfer. cyclegan processes an input image of size 256×256, and the time taken to synthesize rich textured target images (from which the exemplary methods can extract object level features in the target domain) is several 100's of milliseconds per object image tile. this processing rate is not suitable for real-time applications. to perform the object detection and feature extraction in real-time, the exemplary methods show that a 64×64 image size is enough to design an accurate inference pipeline. however, reducing the image size to lower resolutions like 64×64 does not improve the cyclegan inference time significantly. moreover, the generated visual images are not of good quality, and they are unsuitable for feature extraction in the source domain. in a real-time video processing scenario (25 fps), a frame has to be processed in under 40 ms. to achieve this goal, the exemplary methods propose a new deep-learning network cs-gan 116 , which uses bottleneck cascaded residual layers along with custom perceptual loss and feature loss functions (in addition to the adversarial and cyclical losses). these modifications enable the exemplary methods to improve inference time to under 40 ms, and the generated images are sharper and of good, acceptable quality. regarding cross-spectral gan, cs-gan 116 has two networks. fig. 2 illustrates the first network 200 , which synthesizes visual spectrum object images from thermal images. given a thermal patch (bounding-box), the generator 210 in the first network 200 synthesizes visual images that conserve the spatial information in the thermal patch. on the other hand, the discriminator 220 in the first network 200 learns to judge whether synthesized visual images are structurally sound, visually homogeneous and the images have representative object level features. the results show that cs-gan 116 ( fig. 1 ) can achieve state-of-the-art generation quality, with lower frechet inception distance (fid) scores. the second network 300 , shown in fig. 3 , transforms visual images into the thermal domain. such backward translation from visual to thermal domain preserves the cyclic property of the cyclegan. regarding thermal to visual synthesis network 200 , the network 200 includes a generator network 210 and a discriminator network 220 . the generator network 210 synthesizes visual images from corresponding thermal patches. discriminator network 220 is used to distinguish between real and generated visual images. this tug of war between the generator 210 and discriminator 220 leads to training of both the networks, so that the generator can produce good synthetic visual images. given a thermal image x, the generator g y synthesizes a synthetic visual image g y (x). the synthetic visual images are used for training the discriminator d y , which can distinguish between the original visual image y and the synthesized visual image g y (x). the discriminator network 220 is able to predict whether the image is real or fake, and its output allows computation of the adversarial loss for both the discriminator 220 and the generator 210 . generator network g x , is used to reconstruct the original thermal image from the synthesized visual image g y (x). the reconstructed thermal image is x′=g x (g y (x)). the difference between the original thermal image and the synthesized thermal image (that is x, x′) is used to calculate the cyclical loss 205 , which is necessary to train the generator networks g y and g x . to ensure that the synthesized visual images are of good quality, the exemplary methods leverage perceptual loss 207 that is normally used in image super resolution and style transfer tasks. perceptual loss 207 can help with the synthesis of images of good quality to generate sharp images. the exemplary methods estimate perceptual loss 207 by using a pre-trained vgg-19 network 225 . as shown in fig. 2 , the exemplary methods input the original visual image g y (x) image to the vgg network 225 . features are extracted from slices of the network before each of the max pool layers. these output features are used to calculate the perceptual loss 207 using l1 norm. ensuring that the synthesized images are sharp, and of good quality is not sufficient. the exemplary methods also ensure that the synthesized images retain the important landmarks in an object. the exemplary methods introduce a new loss function to retain higher level object features such as facial features and facial landmarks in the synthesized visual images. landmarks or features can be generic or task specific. for example, if the object is a face, the exemplary methods extract facial landmarks from the visual images and calculate the euclidean distance between the features. by considering the landmarks in the source and target domain images, the exemplary methods compute the feature loss function 209 . regarding the visual to thermal synthesis network 300 , visual to thermal synthesis network has a generator g x and a discriminator d x . again, the exemplary methods use adversarial loss 307 to train the generator g x and discriminator d x , using real and synthesized thermal images. for the cyclical loss 305 , the exemplary methods calculate the l1 norm between the real y and the reconstructed visual images y′=g y (g x (y)). the perceptual loss function 309 is calculated from the real and synthesized thermal images x(g x (y)). however, the exemplary methods note one major difference from the thermal to visual synthesis. unlike the thermal to visual gan design, the exemplary methods cannot use feature loss for training the generator g x because the visual domain landmarks estimator cannot extract features in thermal images, and there are no known reliable and accurate landmark estimators in the thermal domain. regarding the loss functions: adversarial loss (l adv ), computed from the output of discriminators d y and d x , is applied to both generators, g y : x→y and g x : y→x and fed back to discriminators d y and d x , respectively. training samples from the thermal domain are x∈x and visual domain are y∈y and the data distributions are denoted as x˜p data (x) and y˜p data (y) respectively. the adversarial training minimizes the cost for the generator and maximizes it for the discriminator which eventually leads to training of both the networks. cyclical loss (l cyc ) works to minimize errors between original and reconstructed images which are passed through both generators. the difference between the original image in the thermal domain g x (g y (x)) should be as small as possible. it must fulfil the cyclic consistency of images which is represented as follows: x′=g x ( g y ( x ))≈ x. regarding perceptual loss, as cross spectral input images often have lower resolution, adding perceptual loss to the objective function helps to extract finer textures of objects in such images. this improvement allows the exemplary methods to have smaller input image sizes to enable real-time processing. where n is the number of slices, v s i is the ith slice of vgg19-network and v s i (·) is its corresponding feature. the loss is calculated between the real and generated images in both the domains and fed back to the generators. regarding the feature-preserving loss, the exemplary methods introduce a feature preserving loss (algorithm 1 below) to optimize the generator g y . the exemplary methods estimate the euclidean norm between the feature point coordinates of real and generated images in the visible spectral domain and minimize this error as training progresses. this enables the generator to produce textured synthetic images, which enables detection of various objects and associated landmarks with ease and higher accuracy. given a batch size m and k feature points, the exemplary methods define the feature preserving loss as: where f pg y(x) and f p y are feature points of generated and real images respectively, f p ∈ 2 is the coordinate of the feature point in an image, t feat is the threshold beyond which the fpl is added and mratio is paired visual and corresponding visual object images are used for training purposes. the main goal is to ensure that synthetic images maintain landmark/correspondence with images in the visual domain, and to train the generator to learn the mapping function with fewer iterations. this allows the model to converge quickly during training. this also makes the cs-gan feature-point-centric, and it conserves object specific features during inference. estimation of the feature preserving loss is described in algorithm 1 below. in early iterations, the generator is not able to reproduce images with accurate features. thus, the exemplary methods cannot detect features, and the exemplary methods do not consider feature-loss if the loss (miss rate) is too high, and this also prevents this loss from dominating other losses. once the generator can produce images with noticeable features, the exemplary methods add feature loss to the overall objective function. as shown in algorithm 1, the exemplary methods keep a state variable flag during training, which is set to false initially. at the end of every batch, the exemplary methods check whether features could be extracted from the generated images g y (x). once the exemplary methods can detect features in more than t feat in batch of size m, the exemplary methods set flag to true and start including feature loss into the overall loss irrespective of the mratio. the mratio is compensated by adding a weighted error μ to the feature preserving loss. the value of μ is kept higher to compensate for missed cases since error for those isn't added to fl. the overall objective function is given as: where λ cyc , λ per , and λ feat are weighting hyper-parameters for cyclical, perceptual and feature preserving losses, respectively. algorithm 1 feature-preserving loss1:function featurepreservingloss(g γ (x), y, t feat )2:initialize a feature loss, fl ← [ ]3:initialize miss ← 04:initialize result ← 0.05:for ( , ) ϵ {y, g γ (x)} do6:f ← extractfeaturepoints( )7:fp ← extractfeaturepoints( )8:if fp then9:fl ∥fp - − fp ∥ 210:else11:miss ← miss + 112:end if13:end for14:if ¬flag {circumflex over ( )} (miss / y.length ≤ t feat ) then15:flag ← true16:end if17:if flag then18:result ← mean(fl) + μ * miss19:end if20:return result21:end function( ) regarding the dual bottleneck residual block, vanishing gradients are a common issue in deeper networks. gradients start getting smaller and smaller as they are backpropagated to earlier layers due to a chain multiplication of partial derivatives. skip connections using residual blocks provide an alternate path for gradients by skipping layers, which helps in model convergence. the intuition behind skipping layers is that it is easier to optimize residual mapping than to optimize the original, un-referenced mapping. skip connections enable information that was captured in initial layers (where the features correspond to lower semantic information) to be utilized in deeper layers. without skip connections, low-level information would become abstract as such information travels deeper in the network. utilizing bottleneck blocks instead of basic residual blocks is beneficial, as it reduces the number of channels for convolutions. this significantly improves the computation time for a forward pass. it also reduces the search space for the optimizer, which improves training. the exemplary methods introduce the use of a dual bottleneck residual block (dual brb 400 ), shown in fig. 4 , which includes four convolutional blocks using g(., (1×1), f(., (3×3, 3×3)), h(., (1×1)). the function g(·) squeezes the number of channels by a factor of 4. this decrease reduces the number of channels for function f(·). the exemplary methods then have function h(·) which expands the number of channels by a factor of 4 similar to the input channels. the exemplary methods have two skip connections in the dual-brb 400 . the inner skip connection works as an identity for function f(·), while the outer skip connection is an identity for the complete dual-brb. the outer skip connection serves to provide identity mapping, similar to the one in the basic residual block. blocks in dual-brb 400 are represented as follows: w=g ( x ); z=f ( w )+ w;y=h ( z )+ x; the output from dual-brb 400 is: y=h ( f ( g ( x ))+ g ( x ))= x 3×3 convolution, which is added on top of the basic bottleneck adds robustness during initial epochs, but doesn't converge properly in later epochs while training. inner skip connection across f(·) helps in learning the residual across it, while helping in model robustness and convergence. the intuition for inner skip connection is to create an alternative path for backpropagation of gradients during the later epochs of training which helps with convergence and provides stability during training. the final equation of y includes a combination of f(g(x)) and g(x). having this alternative path for the backpropagation of gradients helps in eliminating the function f(·) if needed for a particular block instead of eliminating the complete block. also, y includes a combination of h(·) and x, having another alternative path for the backpropagation of gradients across the complete block. this modification in the transformer block helps achieve the real-time inferencing, quality, and accuracy of generated images. regarding inferencing, inferencing block 500 is highlighted in fig. 5 . the thermal object image tiles 502 which are obtained from adaptive spatial search are fed to generator g y ( 504 ), which in turn transforms them to the visible spectral domain. these transformed visible spectral images 506 retain structural information of thermal images so that feature points can be extracted. regarding the depth and offset estimator 600 , as shown in fig. 6 , to estimate distance and offset of objects in a scene relative to a sensor, the exemplary methods introduce an object specific depth perception network. for each incoming frame y from the visual camera, objects of interest are identified using 2d object detectors. performance of 2d object detectors is suitable for real-time inferencing even in embedded systems with high degree of accuracy. since both visual and thermal sensors are separated by baseline distance without being coplanar, images are not mutually aligned with respect to each other. once the bounding box of objects is identified in visual domain, adaptive spatial search 114 ( fig. 1 ) is performed to identify object proposals in the thermal domain with proposal areas being a function of sensor displacement, sensor field of views, zoom levels, their resolutions, and relative orientation. let visual image y include {y i } i=1 n where n is the number of objects. visual bounding boxes are {b y i } i=1 n where b y i =(b y i x ,b y i y ,b y i w , b y i h ) specifies the pixel co-ordinates (x, y) with a width and a height of the bounding box. let the thermal image be x and the associated thermal bounding box proposals are: b x i =φ(b y i ) where φ is a transformation function, to estimate the bounding box in the thermal image. b x is estimated by using multiple parameters. the bounding box area of an object is directly proportional to a focal length of a camera when the distance between the camera and the object is unchanged, that is, increasing focal length brings objects closer by narrowing the extent of field of view. adaptive search also depends on baseline (distance separating the cameras) b, which determines the offset, angle of view, and image resolution. in the exemplary methods, the image resolutions of both cameras are the same and the field of view intersects more than 95%, where the function φ is heuristically calculated using the ratio of focal lengths of cameras and offset. let the pairs (r y , r x ) and (f y , f x ) represent resolution and focal length of visual and thermal imaging sensor. given φ∝(f, r), the heuristic bounding box is estimated as: b x =f x b y /f y ±{circumflex over (b)}, where {circumflex over (b)} is the horizontal offset. using thermal object proposals b x , visual object proposals b y are expanded, so that each visual (y i ) and corresponding thermal (x i )cropped proposal has the same size. next, landmark detection is performed on y i and feature vector y i is extracted. since landmark detection cannot be performed directly on x, it is covered to g y (x i ) using the previously described cs-gan 116 . landmark detection is performed on g y (x i ) and feature vector ŷ ι is extracted. let z be an object feature disparity vector. includes a euclidean distance between k-feature points and an angle between k-feature points, e.g. =(∥ − ∥ 2 , a tan(y,ŷ)). where z∈ m and m=2k. the exemplary embodiments regress distance (d) from sensors and offset (o) of thermal images from the visual camera by training a multiple variable linear regression using 2k explanatory variables. the exemplary methods train the regressor by minimizing the residual sum of squares. let the coefficients of the distance-estimator model be w∈ m+1 , offset-estimator coefficients are u∈ m+1 , and the distance is then estimated as: where {circumflex over (ε)} d and {circumflex over (ε)} o are the distance and offset residuals. in an exemplary network architecture 700 , as shown in fig. 7 , generator network includes an encoder 710 , a transformer 720 , and a decoder block 730 . the encoder network 710 includes a 7×7 convolution layer, followed by down-sampling using two 3×3 convolution layers (with stride-2). the transformer network 720 includes nine dual bottleneck residual blocks (dual-brb). each dual-brb includes 1×1 convolution, a residual block, followed by 1×1 convolution again to squeeze and expand the number of channels to reduce computation. the exemplary methods use a full pre-activation residual block of 3×3 convolution. skip connection is added from the input of the dual-brb to the output of the block in addition to a skip connection between residual block. the dual-brbs reduce inference time by a factor of 3.5 compared to basic residual block implementations, without degrading the image quality. the decoder network 730 includes two up-sampling layers of 3×3 transpose convolution (t.conv) and a 7×7 convolution layer with tanh activation. all the convolution layers are followed by instance normalization (in). discriminator networks d y and d x classify patches in original and generated images as real or fake. training of the generator architecture can be performed by the following algorithm: algorithm 2 cs-gan training.1:function traincsgan(g x , g y , d x , d y , x, y)2:—draw m samples {(x i , y i )} i=1 m , from x, y3;—compute adversarial loss, l adv——4:—compute cyclical loss l cyc , perceptual loss l perp ,——feature preserving loss l feat (refer:algorithm 1)5:—generator loss——l g ← λ adv l adv + λ cyc l cyc + λ per l per + λ feat l feat6:—discriminator loss————7:—update discriminator and generator weights8;—iterate until convergence9:end function() in conclusion, the exemplary methods present a cross-spectral object association and depth estimation technique for real-time cross-spectral applications. the cross-spectral generative adversarial network (cs-gan) synthesizes visual images that have the key, representative object level features required to uniquely associate objects across visual and thermal spectrum. features of cs-gan include a feature preserving loss function that results in high-quality pairing of corresponding cross-spectral objects, and dual bottleneck residual layers with skip connections (a new, network enhancement) to not only accelerate real-time inference, but also speed up convergence during model training. by using the feature-level correspondence from cs-gan, a novel real-time system is created to accurately fuse information in thermal and full hd visual data streams. fig. 8 is a block/flow diagram 800 of a practical application for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. in one practical example, one or more sensors 802 detect objects, such as, objects 804 , 806 and provide visual streams and thermal streams to the cs-gan 116 , which includes a feature preserving loss function 850 and dual bottleneck residual layers with skip connection 860 . the results 810 (e.g., target objects) can be provided or displayed on a user interface 812 handled by a user 814 . fig. 9 is an exemplary processing system for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. the processing system includes at least one processor (cpu) 904 operatively coupled to other components via a system bus 902 . a gpu 905 , a cache 906 , a read only memory (rom) 908 , a random access memory (ram) 910 , an input/output (i/o) adapter 920 , a network adapter 930 , a user interface adapter 940 , and a display adapter 950 , are operatively coupled to the system bus 902 . additionally, the cs-gan 116 can be employed by using a feature-preserving loss function 850 and dual bottleneck residual layers with skip connections 860 . a storage device 922 is operatively coupled to system bus 902 by the i/o adapter 920 . the storage device 922 can be any of a disk storage device (e.g., a magnetic or optical disk storage device), a solid-state magnetic device, and so forth. a transceiver 932 is operatively coupled to system bus 902 by network adapter 930 . user input devices 942 are operatively coupled to system bus 902 by user interface adapter 940 . the user input devices 942 can be any of a keyboard, a mouse, a keypad, an image capture device, a motion sensing device, a microphone, a device incorporating the functionality of at least two of the preceding devices, and so forth. of course, other types of input devices can also be used, while maintaining the spirit of the present invention. the user input devices 942 can be the same type of user input device or different types of user input devices. the user input devices 942 are used to input and output information to and from the processing system. a display device 952 is operatively coupled to system bus 902 by display adapter 950 . of course, the processing system may also include other elements (not shown), as readily contemplated by one of skill in the art, as well as omit certain elements. for example, various other input devices and/or output devices can be included in the system, depending upon the particular implementation of the same, as readily understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. for example, various types of wireless and/or wired input and/or output devices can be used. moreover, additional processors, controllers, memories, and so forth, in various configurations can also be utilized as readily appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art. these and other variations of the processing system are readily contemplated by one of ordinary skill in the art given the teachings of the present invention provided herein. fig. 10 is a block/flow diagram of an exemplary method for real-time cross-spectral object association and depth estimation, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. at block 1010 , synthesizing, by a cross-spectral generative adversarial network (cs-gan), visual images from different data streams obtained from a plurality of different types of sensors. at block 1020 , applying a feature-preserving loss function resulting in real-time pairing of corresponding cross-spectral objects. at block 1030 , applying dual bottleneck residual layers with skip connections to accelerate real-time inference and to accelerate convergence during model training. as used herein, the terms “data,” “content,” “information” and similar terms can be used interchangeably to refer to data capable of being captured, transmitted, received, displayed and/or stored in accordance with various example embodiments. thus, use of any such terms should not be taken to limit the spirit and scope of the disclosure. further, where a computing device is described herein to receive data from another computing device, the data can be received directly from the another computing device or can be received indirectly via one or more intermediary computing devices, such as, for example, one or more servers, relays, routers, network access points, base stations, and/or the like. similarly, where a computing device is described herein to send data to another computing device, the data can be sent directly to the another computing device or can be sent indirectly via one or more intermediary computing devices, such as, for example, one or more servers, relays, routers, network access points, base stations, and/or the like. as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” “calculator,” “device,” or “system.” furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon. any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. the computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. a computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. more specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (ram), a read-only memory (rom), an erasable programmable read-only memory (eprom or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (cd-rom), an optical data storage device, a magnetic data storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. in the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can include, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. a computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. a computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, rf, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as java, smalltalk, c++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “c” programming language or similar programming languages. the program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. in the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (lan) or a wide area network (wan), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the internet using an internet service provider). aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the present invention. it will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. these computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks or modules. these computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks or modules. the computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks or modules. it is to be appreciated that the term “processor” as used herein is intended to include any processing device, such as, for example, one that includes a cpu (central processing unit) and/or other processing circuitry. it is also to be understood that the term “processor” may refer to more than one processing device and that various elements associated with a processing device may be shared by other processing devices. the term “memory” as used herein is intended to include memory associated with a processor or cpu, such as, for example, ram, rom, a fixed memory device (e.g., hard drive), a removable memory device (e.g., diskette), flash memory, etc. such memory may be considered a computer readable storage medium. in addition, the phrase “input/output devices” or “i/o devices” as used herein is intended to include, for example, one or more input devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, scanner, etc.) for entering data to the processing unit, and/or one or more output devices (e.g., speaker, display, printer, etc.) for presenting results associated with the processing unit. the foregoing is to be understood as being in every respect illustrative and exemplary, but not restrictive, and the scope of the invention disclosed herein is not to be determined from the detailed description, but rather from the claims as interpreted according to the full breadth permitted by the patent laws. it is to be understood that the embodiments shown and described herein are only illustrative of the principles of the present invention and that those skilled in the art may implement various modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. those skilled in the art could implement various other feature combinations without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. having thus described aspects of the invention, with the details and particularity required by the patent laws, what is claimed and desired protected by letters patent is set forth in the appended claims.
082-267-343-524-832	US	[ "US" ]	A63B69/00,A63B69/36	1999-06-28T00:00:00	1999	[ "A63" ]	golf practice device with marking wheel	the invention is a portable, self-contained apparatus that will easily mark a practice golf ball with a water-soluble substance. this mark will transfer to the face of any club when the golf ball is struck and will show a golfer exactly where he/she is striking the ball on the face of the club. the ball rotates in a circular horizontal direction when struck. it then rolls over the marker as it is returned to the striking position. the object of the device is to consistently put the mark on the face of the club directly on the sweet spot (center of the face of the club). this will enable a golfer to correct mistakes and improve both the long and short games (including putting).	1. a golf marking device for a player to improve the player's consistency and accuracy during practice and thereby improve the player's overall game of golf comprising: 2. the golf marking device of claim 1 whereby the means of marking the ball comprises;	statement regarding federally sponsored research or development not applicable reference to microfiche appendix not applicable background of the invention the invention pertains to golf practice devices. practicing in an accurate way with a suitable practice device is the most important factor for a golfer to acquire proficiency. there is no widely accepted marking device that allows a golfer to practice with each individual club, indoors or outdoors. this invention can teach a golfer to consistently hit the ball on the sweet spot (center of the face of the club). brief summary of the invention this invention has several points in favor. first and foremost is the ability to mark the face of the club in such a manner that will immediately show the golfer where he/she is making contact with the club. the benefits of seeing precisely where the impact is on the club will facilitate the correction of slicing, hooking, topping, or hacking. another advantage is its portability. it can be used indoors or outdoors, with or without golf shoes (excluding metal cleats).the lightweight arm and golf ball enable a golfer to learn how to hit a golf ball correctly without wearing out expensive clubs. the water soluble marking substance is readily washed from the mat with a garden hose. the mark that is transferred to the club can be wiped easily from the face of the club with the hand or a cloth. use of this invention will teach a golfer to be able to stand and be comfortable at the proper distance from the golf ball in order to hit the golf ball on the center of the face of the club. this will improve all phases of the golfer's game, from driving from the tee to the putting on the green. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 top view of the marking device showing the top cover, with curved pressure portion, center pin, stoppers, arm and golf ball, disk, marker and snaps fig. 2 side view of the marking device showing the top cover with curved pressure portion, center pin, arm and golf ball, disk, mat and support base fig. 3 perspective view of the marking device showing the top cover with curved pressure portion, center pin, stoppers, arm and golf ball, disk, container, mat and support base fig. 4 top view of marker and container showing the container, wheel, nuts and support pin fig. 5 cut-away view of marker and container showing the container, wheel, support pin, snaps, marking substance fig. 6 view of marker from the bottom showing the container, snaps, nuts and support pin detailed description of the invention the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. top cover fig. 1 the top cover 1 stabilizes the center pin 2 and holds the stoppers 3 and 3 a to position the golf ball 5 for both marking and striking. the downward curve of the top cover 1 a , is the portion that applies adjustable downward tension on the arm 4 and golf ball 5 to ensure proper marking. center pin fig. 1 the center pin 2 supports and acts as a fulcrum for the arm 4 and golf ball 5 . it supports the top cover 1 , allowing for an easily adjustable tension on the arm 4 and golf ball 5 for marking purposes. it also supports the disk 6 that controls the speed and elevation of the arm 4 and golf ball 5 . stoppers fig. 1 there are two stoppers located on each side of the center pin 2 . the first stopper 3 , helps to slow the arm 4 and golf ball 5 so that it can be marked properly. the second stopper 3 a stops the golf ball 5 in the proper position for striking. arm and golf ball fig. 1 the golf ball 5 rotates as the arm 4 and golf ball 5 move in a horizontal circular motion when the golf ball 5 is hit. the arm 4 and golf ball 5 are slowed down by the first stopper 3 to allow the golf ball 5 to be marked. the golfer, then guides the arm 4 and golf ball 5 , (manually with the club or by hand) over the marker 8 . when the arm 4 and golf ball 5 reach the second stopper, the mark on the golf ball 5 is in the proper position for striking. the arm 4 and golf ball 5 is made of resilient light-weight material. snaps fig. 1 there are two sets of snaps 14 located on the mat 11 in the direct path of the golf ball 5 . these snaps allow the marker to be moved from right-handed to left-handed positions. disk fig. 2 the disk 6 is located on the center pin 2 directly below the arm 4 and golf ball 5 . the disk 6 controls the speed of the arm 4 and golf ball 5 . it can be raised or lowered, depending on whether the golfer wishes to practice driving or putting. mat fig. 2 the mat 11 enables the mechanisms of the invention to be attached in a secure, proper position. made of a resilient, durable material that simulates grass, the mat 11 , also serves as a protection against damage to golf clubs or flooring. support base fig. 3 the support base 2 is the same width as the top cover 1 . it is located under the mat 11 immediately below the top cover 1 . the purpose of this support base is to give added stability to the top cover 1 and the center pin 2 . the underside of the container fig. 4 the container 7 that holds the marker 8 and the marking substance has snaps 13 on the bottom. this allows the marker to be moved from right-handed to left-handed position. the marker fig. 5 secured in place by a support pin 10 and nuts 9 , the marker is a wheel 8 that rotates in a vertical position through a water soluble substance as the golf ball 5 is guided over it. the marker 8 leaves a very precise mark on the golf ball 5 and when the golf ball is struck, the mark is transferred to the face of the golf club. the container fig. 6 the wheel 8 is centered in a container 7 that holds a water-soluble substance. this marking device in accordance with the invention will be constructed of light weight materials and is designed to be very cost efficient. easily replaceable, inexpensive parts (i.e. the arm and golf ball) should they be needed, will make this invention very affordable for all golfers.
083-553-602-312-302	JP	[ "DE", "JP", "US" ]	B60K23/00,B81B3/00,G01P15/125	1991-10-18T00:00:00	1991	[ "B60", "B81", "G01" ]	microsensor and control system using it	purpose:to prevent the adhesion between the movable part and fixed part or between the movable parts of a microsensor or an actuator and prevent the generation of an operation disabled state. constitution:a means for preventing the adhesion of a movable electrode 5 and a fixed electrode 6 is installed. in the concrete constitution, an abnormally high voltage is applied between the fixed electrode 6 and the movable electrode 5 supported by an elastic body 4, and even if the electric charge such as static electricity is charged into both the electrodes 5 and 6 from outside, no electric field is applied to an electric insulating layer 7. in other case, a means for reducing the electric field intensity (e.g. equal potential electrode 8 which is set to the equal potential to the movable electrode 5) is installed. further, a means for reducing the contact area between the insulation film 7 and the fixed electrode 6 in the case where the movable electrode excessively shifts is installed. accordingly, the adhesion between the movable electrode 5 and the fixed electrode 6 can be prevented, and the yield in mass production is improved, and the reliability of a microsensor or a vehicle control system using the microprocessor is improved in use.	1. an electrostatic type micro transducer comprising, a plate shaped movable electrode made of monocrystalline silicon; a first substrate of the same material as said plate shaped movable electrode surrounding the plate shaped movable electrode; means for connecting said plate shaped movable electrode with said first substrate, said connecting means elastically supporting said plate shaped movable electrode; a first stationary electrode facing one major surface of said plate shaped movable electrode with a predetermined gap; and first members provided on possible contacting portions of said plate shaped movable electrode; means for preventing sticking of said plate shaped movable electrode to said first stationary electrode through said first members due to at least one of residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water located around possible contacting portions between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode, when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces, further comprising, a first insulator substrate carrying said first stationary electrode thereon; and wherein said sticking preventing means includes means for reducing electric fields induced around the possible contacting portions to prevent sticking caused by said first members. 2. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 1, wherein said electric field reducing means comprises stationary electrode removed portions formed at the possible contacting portions exposing the surface of said first insulator substrate, and said first members are made of an electrical insulator material. 3. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 2, wherein said electric field reducing means comprises stationary electrode removed portions formed at the possible contacting portions and second members disposed at the stationary electrode removed portions while electrically isolating from said first stationary electrode, and said first members are made of an electrical insulator material. 4. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 2, wherein said electric field reducing means comprises stationary electrode removed portions formed at the possible contacting portions, and equipotentional electrodes with that of said plate shaped movable electrode disposed at the stationary electrode removed portions, and wherein said first members are made of one of an electrical insulator material and an electrically conductive material. 5. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 2, wherein said electric field reducing means comprises said first member made of an electrical insulator material having an increased thickness disposed on dug faces at the possible contacting portions of said plate shaped movable electrode. 6. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 2, wherein said electric field reducing means comprises said first member made of an electrical insulator material having a horizontal extension which first contacts to said stationary electrode when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces. 7. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 2, wherein said electric field reducing means comprises said first member made of a high resistance material. 8. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 2, wherein said electric field reducing means comprises an extension formed integral with said plate shaped movable electrode toward the surrounding first substrate and a groove formed on the surrounding first substrate to limit the movement of the extension. 9. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 2, wherein said electric field reducing means comprises a short circuiting lead connecting an external pad for said plate shaped movable electrode and an external pad for said stationary electrode, said short circuiting lead is provided before mounting the electrostatic type micro transducer and said first members are made of an electrical insulator material. 10. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 2, wherein said first members are made of one of silicon oxide prepared at a dry atmosphere, silicon nitride and silicon oxide formed by steam oxidation which is thereafter heat-treated at about 1000.degree. c. 11. an electrostatic type micro transducer comprising, a plate shaped movable electrode made of monocrystalline silicon; a first substrate of the same material as said plate shaped movable electrode surrounding the plate shaped movable electrode; means for connecting said plate shaped movable electrode with said first substrate, said connecting means elastically supporting said plate shaded movable electrode; a first stationary electrode facing one major surface of said plate shaped movable electrode with a predetermined gap; and first members made of an electrical insulator material provided on the possible contacting portions of said plate shaped movable electrode; means for preventing sticking of said plate shaped movable electrode to said first stationary electrode through said first members due to at least one of residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water located around possible contacting portions between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode, when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces, further comprising, a first insulator substrate carrying said first stationary electrode; and wherein said sticking preventing means comprises means for reducing water adsorption and condensation around the possible contacting portions to prevent sticking caused by said first members. 12. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 11, wherein said water reducing means comprises a vaccum environment surrounding the possible contacting portions. 13. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 12, wherein said water reducing means comprises a dry gas environment surrounding the possible contacting portions. 14. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 12, wherein said water reducing means comprises a hydrophobic material applied around the possible contacting portions. 15. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 12, wherein said water reducing means comprises a chemical hydrophobic treatment applied around the possible contacting portions. 16. an electrostatic type micro transducer comprising, a plate shaped movable electrode made of monocrystalline silicon; a first substrate of the same material as said plate shaped movable electrode surrounding the plate shaded movable electrode; means for connecting said plate shaped movable electrode with said first substrate, said connecting means elastically supporting said plate shaped movable electrode; a first stationary, electrode facing one major surface of said plate shaped movable electrode with a predetermined gap; and first members made of an electrical insulator material provided on the possible contacting portions of said plate shaped movable electrode; means for preventing sticking of said plate shaped movable electrode to said first stationary electrode through said first members due to at least one of residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water located around possible contacting portions between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode, when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces, further comprising, a first insulator substrate carrying said first stationary electrode thereon; and wherein said sticking preventing means comprises a combination of means for reducing electric fields induced around the possible contacting portions and means for reducing water adsorption and condensation around the possible contacting portions to prevent sticking caused by said first members. 17. an electrostatic type micro transducer comprising, a plate shaped movable electrode made of monocrystalline silicon; a first substrate of the same material as said plate shaped movable electrode surrounding the plate shaped movable electrode; means for connecting said plate shaped movable electrode with said first substrate, said connecting means elastically supporting said plate shaped movable electrode; a first stationary electrode facing one major surface of said plate shaped movable electrode with a predetermined gap; and means for preventing sticking of said plate shaped movable electrode to said first stationary electrode due to at least one of residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water located around possible contacting portions between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode, when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces, further comprising, a first insulator substrate carrying said first stationary electrode thereon, wherein said sticking preventing means includes means for limiting contacting area between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode in a form of insulator protrusions formed either on one surface of said plate shaped movable electrode or on the surface of said first stationary electrode having one of configurations of pyramid, truncated pyramid, circular cone, truncated circular cone, semi-sphere and laid down triangular prism of which a ridge runs parallel to the axis of said supporting means. 18. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 17, wherein said insulator protrusions are formed uniformly on at least one of the one surface of said plate shaped movable electrode and on the surface of said first stationary electrode. 19. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 17, wherein said insulator protrusions are formed on at least one of the one surface of said plate shaped movable electrode and on the surface of said first stationary electrode at the possible contacting portions. 20. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 19, wherein the top contacting area of the insulator protrusions near said supporting means is determined to be larger than the top contacting areas remote from said supporting means. 21. an electrostatic type micro transducer comprising, a plate shaped movable electrode made of monocrystalline silicon; a first substrate of the same material as said plate shaped movable electrode surrounding the plate shaped movable electrode; means for connecting said plate shaped movable electrode with said first substrate, said connecting means elastically supporting said plate shaped movable electrode; a first stationary electrode facing one major surface of said plate shaped movable electrode with a predetermined gap; and first members made of an electrical insulator material formed on at least one of the one surface of said plate shaped movable electrode and on the surface of said first stationary electrode at the possible contacting portions; means for preventing sticking of said plate shaped movable electrode to said first stationary electrode through said first members due to at least one of residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water located around possible contacting portions between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode, when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces, further comprising, a first insulator substrate carrying said first stationary electrode thereon; wherein said sticking preventing means includes means for limiting contacting area between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode in a form of a roughened surface formed on the surfaces opposing said first members. 22. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 21, wherein the surface roughening is performed by one of photolithography, polishing, etching and back sputtering. 23. an electrostatic type micro transducer comprising, a plate shaped movable electrode made of monocrystalline silicon; a first substrate of the same material as said plate shaped movable electrode surrounding the plate shaped movable electrode; means for connecting said plate shaped movable electrode with said first substrate, said connecting means elastically supporting said plate shaped movable electrode; a first stationary electrode facing one major surface of said plate shaped movable electrode with a predetermined gap; and means for preventing sticking of said plate shaped movable electrode to said first stationary electrode due to at least one of residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water located around possible contacting portions between said plate shaded movable electrode and said first stationary electrode, when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces, further comprising, a first insulator substrate carrying said first stationary electrode thereon, wherein said sticking preventing means includes a combination of means for reducing electric fields induced at the possible contacting portions and means for limiting contacting area between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode in a form of insulator protrusions formed on at least one of the one surface of said plate shaped movable electrode and on the surface of said first stationary electrode at possible contacting portions. 24. an electrostatic type micro transducer comprising, a plate shaped movable electrode made of monocrystalline silicon; a first substrate of the same material as said plate shaped movable electrode surrounding the plate shaped movable electrode; means for connecting said plate shaped movable electrode with said first substrate, said connecting means elastically supporting said plate shaped movable electrode; a first stationary electrode facing one major surface of said plate shaped movable electrode with a predetermined gap; and means for preventing sticking of said plate shaped movable electrode to said first stationary electrode due to at least one of residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water located around possible contacting portions between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode, when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces, further comprising, a first insulator substrate carrying said first stationary electrode thereon; and first members made of an electrical insulator material formed on at least one of the one surface of said plate shaped movable electrode and on the surface of said first stationary electrode at the possible contacting portions, wherein said sticking preventing means includes a combination of means for reducing electric fields induced at the possible contacting portions of the first members and means for limiting contact area between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode in a form of roughened surfaces formed on the surface opposing said first members. 25. an electrostatic type micro transducer comprising, a plate shaped movable electrode made of monocrystalline silicon; a first substrate of the same material as said plate shaped movable electrode surrounding the plate shaped movable electrode; means for connecting said plate shaped movable electrode with said first substrate, said connecting means elastically supporting said plate shaped movable electrode; a first stationary electrode facing one major surface of said plate shaped movable electrode with a predetermined gap; and first members provided on the possible contacting portions of said plate shaped movable electrode; means for preventing sticking of said plate shaped movable electrode to said first stationary electrode through said first members due to at least one of residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water located around possible contacting portions between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode, when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces, further comprising, a second stationary electrode facing the other major surface of said plate shaped movable electrode with a predetermined gap; further means for preventing sticking of said plate shaped movable electrode with said second stationary electrode caused by said first members due to at least one of residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water around possible contacting portions between said plate shaped movable electrode and said second stationary electrode when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces; a first insulator substrate carrying said first stationary electrode thereon; a second insulator substrate carrying said second stationary electrode thereon. 26. an electrostatic type micro transducer comprising, a plate shaped movable electrode made of monocrystalline silicon; a first substrate of the same material as said plate shaped movable electrode surrounding the plate shaped movable electrode; means for connecting said plate shaped movable electrode with said first substrate, said connecting means elastically supporting said plate shaped movable electrode; a first stationary electrode facing one major surface of said plate shaped movable electrode with a predetermined gap; and means for preventing sticking of said plate shaped movable electrode to said first stationary electrode due to at least one of residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water located around possible contacting portions between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode, when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces; a second stationary electrode facing the other major surface of said plate shaped movable electrode with a predetermined gap; further means for prevent sticking of said plate shaped movable electrode with said second stationary electrode due to at least one of residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water around possible contacting portions between said plate shaped movable electrode and said second stationary electrode when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces; wherein said first and second stationary electrodes are respectively made of monocrystalline silicon and, further comprising a first insulating layer disposed between said first stationary electrode and said first substrate, and a second insulating layer disposed between said first substrate and said second stationary electrode, wherein said both sticking preventing means are means for limiting contacting area between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first and second stationary electrodes in a form of insulator protrusions formed on at least one of the surfaces of said plate shaped movable electrode and on the surfaces of said first and second stationary electrodes at the possible contacting portions having one of the configurations of pyramid, truncated pyramid, circular cone, truncated circular cone, semi-sphere and laid down triangular prism of which a ridge runs parallel to the axis of said supporting means. 27. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 26, wherein one of porous silicon and porous silicon oxide is formed on the surface opposing said insulator protrusions at the possible contacting portions. 28. a motor vehicle control system comprising, an electrostatic type micro accelerometer unit including a plate shaped movable electrode made of monocrystalline silicon; a first substrate of the same material as said plate shaped movable electrode surrounding the plate shaped movable electrode; means for connecting said plate shaped movable electrode with said first substrate, said connecting means elastically supporting said plate shaped movable electrode; a first stationary electrode facing one major surface of said plate shaped movable electrode with a predetermined gap; a stopper means for preventing mechanical contact between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode provided either on said plate shaped movable electrode or on said first stationary electrode at their possible contacting portions when said plate shaped movable electrode excessively displaces toward said first stationary electrode; and means for preventing permanent sticking of said plate shaped movable electrode to said first stationary electrode through said stopper means due to at least one of residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water located around the possible contacting portions between said plate shaped movable electrode and said first stationary electrode; and at least one of an anti-lock brake control unit; an active suspension control unit; a total spin control unit; a traction control unit; and an air bag control unit, wherein at least one of said anti-lock brake control unit, said active suspension control unit, said total spin control unit, said traction control unit and said air bag control unit performs a predetermined control based upon an output signal from said accelerometer. 29. an electrostatic accelerometer which determines an acceleration by detecting displacement of a pendulum mass comprising: a first member serving as the pendulum mass; a second member elastically supporting said first member; a third member disposed facing said first member via predetermined gap, wherein said first and third members are electrodes; a fourth member disposed either on said first member or on said third member at a mechanically contactable portion between said first and third members which is designed to prevent said first member from contacting to said third member, wherein the contactable area at the top end of said fourth member is selected smaller than the bottom area thereof whereby sticking of said first member to said third member via said fourth member is prevented. 30. an accelerometer according to claim 29, wherein said first and second members are made of silicon and said fourth member is made of an insulating material. 31. an accelerometer according to claim 30, wherein said first member also serves as a movable electrode and said third member serves as a stationary electrode. 32. an accelerometer according to claim 29, wherein further comprising a fifth member disposed also facing said first member and, further wherein said first and second members are made of silicon, said first member serves as a movable electrode and is electrically connected to said third member, said fourth member is made of an electrically conductive material and said fifth member serves as a stationary electrode. 33. an electrostatic type micro pressure sensor comprising: a movable electrode in a form of diaphragm, formed on one of the major surfaces of which a pressure to be detected is designed to be applied; a stationary electrode disposed facing the other major surface of said movable electrode via a predetermined gap; and an insulator protrusion disposed either on said movable electrode or on said stationary electrode at a mechanically contactable portion between said movable and stationary electrodes which is designed to prevent said movable electrode from sticking to said stationary electrode, wherein the contactable area at the top end of said insulator protrusion is selected smaller than the bottom area thereof to prevent sticking caused by the insulator protrusion. 34. an electrostatic type micro valve actuator comprising: a movable electrode in a form of diaphragm serving as a movable valve; a stationary electrode serving as a stationary valve having an orifice supported on an insulator substrate and disposed facing said movable electrode, a part of said stationary electrode facing said movable electrode is removed at their possible contacting portions when a predetermined voltage is applied between said movable and stationary electrodes exposing the surface of said insulator substrate; and an insulator protrusion formed either on the exposed surface of said insulator substrate or on the surface of said movable electrode facing the exposed surface of said insulator substrate and having a height which prevents direct contact between said movable and stationary electrodes. 35. an electrostatic type micro transducer comprising: a movable electrode made of silicon; a substrate made of silicon for supporting said movable electrode via an elastic connecting means; a stationary electrode facing one major surface of said movable electrode with a predetermined gap; a stopper means for preventing mechanical contact between said movable electrode and said stationary electrode provided either on said movable electrode or on said stationary electrode at their possible contacting portions when said movable electrode excessively displaces toward said stationary electrode, said stopper means being configurated in a form of protrusion having a smaller top contactable area than the bottom thereof whereby permanent sticking of said movable electrode to said stationary electrode caused by said stopper means is prevented. 36. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 35, wherein said movable electrode is electrically isolated from said stationary electrode and said stopper means is made of an insulating material. 37. an electrostatic type micro transducer according to claim 35, wherein said movable electrode is electrically connected to said stationary electrode and said stopper means is made of a conductive material. 38. an electrostatic microactuator: a first member serving as a movable mass; a second member elastically supporting said first member; a third member disposed facing said first member via a predetermined gap, wherein said first and third members are electrodes; a fourth member disposed either on said first member or on said third member at a mechanically contactable portion between said first and third members which is designed to prevent said first member from contacting to said third member, wherein the contactable area at the top end of said fourth member is selected smaller than the bottom area thereof whereby sticking of said first member to said third member via said fourth member is prevented.	background of the invention 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to an electrostatic type micro transducer such as a micro sensor and a micro actuator, and a control system using the same, and in particular relates to an electrostatic type micro transducer having an improved yield during the production thereof and an excellent reliability during the use thereof, and a control system using the same. 2. description of related art in general, a plurality of physical forces due to several kinds of mechanisms act between surfaces of solid bodies, in particular in a micro sensor which is constituted by micro structural bodies the ratio of their surface area with respect to their masses becomes large so that the mutual action between the surfaces plays an important role. for example, a plurality of attractive forces due to several kinds of mechanisms are induced between movable parts or between a movable part and a stationary part which are facing each other with or without a microscopic gap therebetween so that it sometimes happens that both parts stick to each other to render the micro sensor inoperative. an example of conventional micro sensors serving as an accelerometer is disclosed in jp-a-60-244864 (1985), which corresponds to u.s. pat. nos. 4,574,327 and 4,609,968, wherein a plurality of dielectric stops are provided on a movable capacitor plate to prevent a short circuiting current flowing between the movable capacitor plate and an opposing fixed capacitor plate when both are contacted. in the above conventional micro sensor, the technical problem with regard to prevention of short circuiting current between the movable and fixed capacitor plates has been resolved by means of the dielectric stops, however no consideration is given with regard to prevention of sticking by physical forces between the movable electrode plate and the stationary electrode plate in a micro sensor because of the very existence of the dielectric stops. namely, in the micro sensor such as an electrostatic type micro sensor and an electrostatic servo type micro sensor, the movable electrode may be attracted toward the stationary electrode due to an electrostatic attraction force during the production thereof or during the handling thereof before or after mounting thereof, when a high voltage is applied for some causes between the movable electrode and the stationary electrode or when a charged external body touches the micro sensor and a static electricity is charged between the both electrodes, such is caused, for example, when clothes, charged by static electricity, of a worker touches to an electrode terminal of the micro sensor during the handling thereof. at this moment, a high electric field is applied to an electric insulator film such as the dielectric stop provided on the electrodes, thus a dielectric polarization thereof, a movement of movable electric charges such as ions contained within the insulator film, an injection of electric charges from the outside into the insulator film and an accumulation of electric charges in the interfaces between the insulator film and electrodes are caused thereby a spacial distribution of electric charges is generated inside the insulator film or at the vicinity of the interfaces between the insulator film and the electrodes, and such spacial electric charge distribution may remain even after the electric field caused from the outside is removed. because of these residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges, an attractive force due to the electrostatic force is caused between the facing electrodes spaced apart with the electric insulator film and a microscopic gap. as a result, there arises an undesirable phenomenon of continuous sticking of the movable electrode and the stationary electrode via the insulator film, herein the term "sticking" is used to indicate a phenomenon wherein facing contacting surfaces connect each other by microscopic physical forces other than chemical bonding forces acting on the respective facing surfaces. summary of the invention an object of the present invention is to provide an electrostatic type micro transducer such as a micro sensor and micro actuator having a measure which prevents sticking between the movable electrode and the stationary electrode therefor which may render the electrostatic type micro transducer inoperable. another object of the present invention is to provide a control system which uses such reliable electrostatic type micro sensor. the former object according to the present invention is achieved by an electrostatic type micro transducer which comprises a movable electrode member, a stationary electrode member disposed facing the movable electrode member and a sticking force reducing means between the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member. according to one aspect of the present invention, the sticking force reducing means is achieved by providing means for preventing or reducing residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges between the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member. according to another aspect of the present invention, the sticking force reducing means is achieved by providing means for preventing contacting or for limiting contact area between the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member when the movable electrode member excessively displaces. according to a further aspect of the present invention, the sticking force reducing means is achieved by filling the space between the movable electrode and stationary electrode with a dry gas or by evacuating the same. the latter object according to the present invention is achieved by a motor vehicle control system in which an electrostatic capacitive type or an electrostatic servo type accelerometer is mounted on a motor vehicle to be controlled. the accelerometer includes a movable electrode member suspended by an elastic member and a stationary electrode member disposed facing the movable electrode member spaced apart with a predetermined gap and further includes a sticking force reducing means between the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member. data necessary for at least one of auti-lock brake control, active suspension control, total spin control, traction control and air bag control for the motor vehicle is obtained from the output of the accelerometer and at least one of the motor vehicle controls is performed based upon the data obtained. with the provision of the sticking force reducing means between the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member in the electrostatic type micro transducer, when the movable electrode member excessively displaces during the use of the micro transducer and contacts to the stationary electrode member, the sticking between the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member is prevented thereby the operation of the micro transducer is maintained. further, with the provision of means for preventing or reducing residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges in the electrostatic type micro transducer, electric charges spacially distributed within the electrical insulator film formed on the electrode surfaces and at the vicinity of interfaces between the insulator film and the electrodes are removed or sufficiently reduced, thereby an attractive force between the electrical insulator film and the opposing electrode due to electrostatic force is eliminated or is rendered smaller than the restoring force of the elastic member suspending the movable electrode member. thus, the sticking of the both electrode members is prevented. still further, with the provision of means for preventing contacting or limiting contact area between the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member when the movable electrode member excessively displaces in the electrostatic type micro transducer, a substantial contacting area between the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member is reduced and the sticking force between movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member is also reduced as a whole. thus, the sticking of both electrode members is prevented. still further, with the provision of means for reducing water deposition on possible contacting surfaces of the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member such as by sealing a dry gas into the space between the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member or by evacuating the space in the electrostatic type micro transducer, the humidity at the space is reduced and the amount of water adsorption and condensation on the possible contacting surfaces of the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member is also reduced, thereby the sticking forces via water such as liquid bridging force and hydrogen atom coupling force between water molecules physically adsorbed on the possible contacting surfaces is reduced. accordingly, the sticking between both electrodes because of water is prevented. further, with the motor vehicle control system using the electrostatic capacitive type or electrostatic servo type accelerometer with the sticking force reducing means between the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member, malfunctioning of the accelerometer because of the sticking of the both electrodes is eliminated. accordingly, reliability of the motor vehicle control system is improved. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of the first embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention taken along the line i--i in fig. 2; fig. 2 is a plan view of the electrode portion of the first embodiment shown in fig. 1; fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a mounting state of the micro accelerometer shown in fig. 1; fig. 4 is a diagram showing an experimental result on sticking force acting on the electrodes of the micro accelerometer as shown in fig. 1 and a conventional one depending upon the time of voltage application on the electrodes; fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the second embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention; fig. 6 is a cross sectional view of the third embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention; fig. 7 is a cross sectional view of the fourth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention taken along the line ii--ii in fig. 8; fig. 8 is a plan view of the electrode portion of the fourth embodiment shown in fig. 7; fig. 9 is a cross sectional view of the fifth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention; fig. 10 is a cross sectional view of the sixth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention; fig. 11 is a cross sectional view of the seventh embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention; fig. 12 is a cross sectional view of the eighth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention; fig. 13 is a cross sectional view of the ninth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention; fig. 14 is a cross sectional view of the tenth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention; fig. 15 is a perspective view of the eleventh embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention; fig. 16 is a cross sectional view of the twelfth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present embodiment; fig. 17 is a cross sectional view of the thirteenth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention taken along the line iii--iii in fig. 18; fig. 18 is a plan view of the movable electrode and the cantilever portions in the thirteenth embodiment shown in fig. 17; fig. 19 is a schematic perspective view of the insulator protrusion in the thirteenth embodiment shown in fig. 17 drawn based upon a sem photograph thereof; fig. 20 is a diagram showing an experimental result on sticking force acting on the electrodes of the micro accelerometer as shown in fig. 17 depending upon the width of the insulator protrusion formed on the surface of one of the electrodes; fig. 21 is a plan view of the movable electrode and cantilever portions of the fourteenth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention which are used in place of those shown such as in fig. 17 and fig. 18; fig. 22 is a plan view of the movable electrode and cantilever portions of the fifteenth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention which are used in place of those shown such as in fig. 17 and fig. 18; fig. 23 is a plan view of the movable electrode and cantilever portions of the sixteenth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention which are used in place of those shown such as in fig. 17 and fig. 18; fig. 24 is a plan view of the movable electrode and cantilever portions of the seventeenth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention which are used in place of those shown such as in fig. 17 and fig. 18; fig. 25 is a cross sectional view taken along the line iv--iv in fig. 24; fig. 26 is a plan view of the movable electrode and cantilever portions of the eighteenth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention which are used in place of the those shown such as in fig. 17 and fig. 18; fig. 27 is a plan view of the movable electrode and cantilever portions of the nineteenth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention which are used in place of those shown such as in fig. 17 and fig. 18; fig. 28 is a plan view of the movable electrode and cantilever portions of the twentieth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention which are used in place of those shown such as in fig. 17 and fig. 18; fig. 29 is a plan view of the stationary electrode of the twenty-first embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention which is used in place of that shown such as in fig. 13; fig. 30 is a cross sectional view of the twenty-second embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention; fig. 31 is a cross section view of the twenty-third embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention; fig. 32 is a plan view of the stationary electrode of the twenty-third embodiment shown in fig. 31; fig. 33 is a cross sectional view of the twenty-fourth embodiment of micro accelerometers according to the present invention; fig. 34 is a cross sectional view of one embodiment of electrostatic capacitive type micro pressure sensors according to the present invention; figs. 35(a) and 35(b) are schematic cross sectional views of one embodiment of micro actuators in a form of an electrostatically operable valve wherein fig. 35(a) shows the open state thereof and fig. 35(b) shows the closed state thereof; fig. 36 is a block diagram of one embodiment of vehicle control systems according to the present invention incorporating the micro accelerometer shown in fig. 1; and fig. 37 is a block diagram of another embodiment of vehicle control systems according to the present invention incorporating the micro accelerometer shown in fig. 1; and fig. 38 is a view for explaining measurement of rotating angular velocity of a motor vehicle with a pair of accelerometers. description of the preferred embodiments hereinbelow, the present invention is explained with reference to the embodiments, in particular mostly with reference to embodiments in forms of electrostatic capacitive type or electrostatic servo type accelerometers. further, hereinbelow the same numerals and symbols designate the same or equivalent element. fig. 1 is a vertial cross sectional view taken along the line i--i in fig. 2 of the first embodiment of accelerometers using a silicon semiconductor body according to the present invention which is applicable both for an electrostatic type and electrostatic servo type. fig. 2 is a plan view of the first embodiment drawn by viewing from the movable electrode side toward one of the opposing stationary electrodes and the equipotential electrodes side. in fig. 1, reference numeral 2 is a silicon substrate, and through etching process thereof a movable electrode 5 serving as a seismic mass and a cantilever 4 are formed integrally. substrates 1 and 3 are arranged in opposing relation while sandwiching the silicon substrate 2 therebetween. the entire parts of the substrates 1 and 3 or at least the surface portions facing the silicon substrate 2 thereof are made of an insulating material and in the present embodiment made by pyrex glass. a pair of stationary electrodes 6 are formed on the respective substrates 1 and 3 so as to face the respective major surfaces of the movable electrode 5 with a microscopic gap of about 1.about.10 .mu.m respectively. on a part of the major surfaces of the movable electrode 5, electrical insulator films 7 are disposed and in the present embodiment four insulator films 7 are disposed at the four corners on each of the respective major surfaces of the movable electrode 5. equipotential electrodes 8 with the movable electrode 5 are formed on the insulator substrates 1 and 3 at the position facing the insulator films 7 on the movable electrode 5. accordingly, when the movable electrode 5 excessively displaces the insulator films 7 on the movable electrode 5 they initially contact the equipotential electrodes 8 to thereby eliminate direct contacting of the insulator films 7 to one of the stationary electrodes 6. as illustrated fig. 2, the equipotential electrodes 8 formed on the respective substrates 1 and 3 are designed to extend into stationary electrode removing portions or notching portions 9 so as to face the respective insulator films 7 on the movable electrode 5 in order to allow contact thereto when the movable electrode 5 excessively displaces. when the accelerometer of the present embodiment is used as an electrostatic capacitive type accelerometer, the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6 constitute capacitors and when the movable electrode 5 displaces the capacitances thereof vary. namely, when there appears a certain acceleration in the direction perpendicular to the major faces of the substrates 1, 2 and 3, an inertial force acts on the movable electrode 5 and the movable electrode 5 displaces upward or downward in the drawing against the restoring force of the cantilever 4. the displacement thereof is detected by the change of electrostatic capacitance between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6 and an acceleration measurement circuit 10 calculates the acceleration via conversion of the capacitance change. further, when the accelerometer of the present embodiment is used as an electrostatic servo type accelerometer, and when the movable electrode 5 tends to displace in response to an acceleration, a corresponding voltage is applied between the movable electrode 5 and the respective stationary electrodes 6 which induces an electrostatic force or a servo force necessary to maintain the movable electrode 5 at the center between the stationary electrodes 6, and the acceleration acted on is calculated based upon the applied voltage. fig. 3 shows a mounting state of the accelerometer shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2. an accelerometer chip 11 and the acceleration measurement circuit 10 as shown in fig. 1 are bonded on a stem 13. electrode pads at three locations for the movable electrode 5 and the upper and lower two stationary electrodes 6 on the accelerometer chip 11 and the acceleration measurement circuit 10 are connected via wire bondings, and electrode pads for input and output and for grounding of the acceleration measurement circuit 10 are connected to the corresponding external pins. in the electrostatic type accelerometer thus constituted, when a high voltage is applied between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6 by some causes or when an external charged body touches one of electrode terminal and bonding pads and static electricity is charged between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6, a large electrostatic force acts on the both movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6. at this instance, in the present embodiment, the insulator films 7 on the movable electrode 5 for the first time contact the equipotential electrodes 8. when the potential of the equipotential electrodes 8 is always set equal to that of the movable electrode 5, the voltage applied to the contacting portions is always zero so that no electric fields are generated and further even if a certain voltage is applied between the movable electrode 5 and stationary electrodes 6, the influence due to an electric field generated by the applied voltage over the insulator films 7 at the contacting portions is very small. as a result, after the electric field is removed, residual dielectric poralization and residual electric charges in the insulator films 7 are minimized and the attractive force acting between the insulator films 7 and the equipotential electrodes 8 is also reduced below the restoring force of the cantilever 4. accordingly, the movable electrode 5 is separated from the equipotential electrodes 8 via the elastic restoring force of the cantilever 4. fig. 4 shows an experimental result on the variation of sticking forces acting on the movable electrode and the stationary electrodes when a voltage of 100 v is applied therebetween while changing the application time. the experiment was carried out on two accelerometers, one having the structure shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2 wherein the silicon movable electrodes is sized of 1.3 mm.times.1.8 mm and of 0.2 mm thick, the insulator films are made of silicon oxide of 50 .mu.m square and are disposed on the four corners on the respective major surfaces of the movable electrode, the movable electrode is suspended by the two cantilevers each having a width of 250 .mu.m, length of 800 .mu.m and thickness of 13 .mu.m, and the thin film stationary electrodes and the equipotential electrodes are formed on the respective pyrex glass substrates so as to face the respective major surfaces of the movable electrode with respective gaps of 3 .mu.m, and the other having the same dimension as above but excluding the equipotential electrodes. curve a shows the experimental result with respect to the present embodiment and curve b shows the result with the conventional one with no equipotential electrodes. as will be apparent from the two curves, the sticking force acting on both electrodes in the accelerometer having the equipotential electrodes is reduced less than 1/10 of that having no equipotential electrodes. the above comparison result shows that the equipotential electrodes are very effective to reduce the sticking force. accordingly, the sticking of the movable electrode 5 to the opposing stationary electrode member 6 due to residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges in the insulator films 7 is prevented and the malfunctioning of the accelerometer because of the sticking is eliminated. as a result, during the production of accelerometers, the yield thereof is improved and after mounting the accelerometers, the reliability thereof is enhanced. further, when a plurality of insulator films 7 are formed on the movable electrode 5, the equipotential electrodes 8 need not necessarily be formed so as to correspond to all of the insulator films 7. in an electostatic capacitive type accelerometer, the electrostatic capacitance between the electrodes is desirable to be as large as posible, and in an electrostatic servo type accelerometer, the electrostatic servo force acting between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6 is desirable to be as large as possible in order to obtain a broad acceleration measurement range. accordingly in both types of accelerometers, the area of the equipotential electrodes 8, which do not contribute to increase the electrostatic capacitance and the electrostatic servo force, is desired to be decreased as much as possible. the second embodiment shown in fig. 5 is constituted in view of the above, in that the equipotential electrodes 8 are formed only for the insulator films 7 located at the top end portions on the movable electrode 5, in other words the opposite side of the cantilever 4, among the insulator films 7 formed at the same locations as in the first embodiment shown in fig. 1. in this embodiment, the insulator films 7 on the movable electrode 5 located at the cantilever 4 side directly contact to the stationary electrodes 6. in the structure as illustrated in fig. 1 and fig. 5 wherein the movable electrode 5 is supported at one side by the cantilever 4, when an external force perpendicular to the faces of the substrates 1, 2 and 3 acts on the movable electrode 5, the insulator films 7 at the top end on the movable electrode 5 initially contact to the respective equipotential electrodes 8 and the cantilever 4 deforms accordingly. the restoring force of the cantilever 4, in that the force tending to restore the movable electrode 5 to the center between the stationary electrodes 6, when all of the insulator films 7 contact to the stationary electrode member, is much larger than that when the insulator films 7 only at the top end on the movable electrode 5 contact to the stationary in electrode member because of the difference in displacement angles of the cantilever 4. accordingly, a possible sticking force acting between the insulator films 7 and the stationary electrode member including the stationary electrodes 6 and the equipotential electrodes 8 is usually much smaller than the restoring force generated by the cantilever 4 when all of the insulator films 7 contact to the stationary electrode member so that such condition that all of the insulator films 7 stick to the stationary electrode member rarely happens. therefore in that structure where the movable electrode 5 is supported at one side by the cantilever 4, the sticking between electrodes primarily happens at the insulator films 7 at the top end on the movable electrode 5. accordingly, the sticking is fully prevented by providing the equipotential electrodes 8 explained in connection with the first embodiment only at the positions opposing the insulator films 7 disposed at the top end on the movable electrode 5. according to the second embodiment, the sticking between the electrodes is fully prevented while limiting the area of the equipotential electrodes 8 to be as small as possible. fig. 6 shows the third embodiment according to the present invention wherein the insulator films 7 are omitted, instead, a part of the movable electrode 5 is designed to contact directly to the equipotential electrodes 8. the insulator films 7 are initially designed to contact the surfaces of the stationary electrodes 6 prior to the movable electrode 5 when the movable electrode 5 excessively displaces, to thereby prevent electrical contact between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6 and to prevent short circuiting current flowing therebetween and further to prevent bonding by fusion therebetween caused by the short circuiting current. in the third embodiment omitting the insulator films 7, since the potential of the equipotential electrodes 8 is set equal to that of the movable electrode 5, no short circuiting current flows between the movable electrode 5 and the equipotential electrodes 8 even when the silicon on the surface of the movable electrode contacts directly to the equipotential electrodes 8 due to excess displacement of the movable electrode 5. in the present embodiment in order to contact initially the part of the movable contact 5 to the equipotential electrodes 8, silicon protrusions 14 are formed on the surfaces of the movable electrode 5. as in the first, second and third embodiments explained above, the potential at the portions on the stationary electrode member, 6 where the insulator films 7 on the movable electrode member, 5 or the protruded parts of the movable electrode 5 itself contact when the movable electrode member excessively displaces, is always kept equal to that of the movable electrode 5. therefore, the voltage applied at the contacting portions is always zero. even when a certain voltage is applied between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6, the influence of the electric field applied at the insulator films 7 and the contacting portions of the movable electrode 5 is very small, thus the sticking between the electrodes due to residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges is sufficiently prevented. fig. 7 is a vertical cross sectional view of the fourth embodiment according to the present invention taken along the line ii--ii in fig. 8, and fig. 8 is a plan view of the movable electrode and one of the facing stationary electrodes of the fourth embodiment. in fig. 7 and fig. 8, on the regions of the stationary electrodes 6, portions 9' are removed from of the stationary electrodes, (hereinafter called stationary electrode removing portions 9) and, are provided at the positions and their around which face the respective insulator films 7 on the movable electrode 5. at the stationary electrode removing portions 9', the surfaces of the substrates 1 and 3 are exposed. in the electrostatic capacitive type or the electrostatic servo type accelerometer having such construction, when a high voltage is applied between the movable electode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6 by some causes or when an external electrically charged body contacts, for example, to the electrode terminals and the bonding pads, and static electricity is charged between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6, a large electrostatic attraction force acts between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6. at this instance, in the present embodiment, the insulator films 7 on the movable electrode 5 contact the surfaces of the insulator substrates 1 and 3 via the stationary electrode removing portions 9'. at the time when the insulator films 7 are contacting the substrate 1 or 3, if the distance between the respective outer circumferences of the insulator films 7 and the respective surrounding circumferences of the stationary electrode removing portions 9' is sufficiently far in comparison with the thickness of the insulator films 7, the influence on the insulator films 7 due to the electric field generated between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6 is sufficiently small in comparison with the instance where no stationary electrode removing portions 9' are provided, in that the insulator films 7 directly contact to one of the stationary electrodes 6. as a result, after removing the electric field, residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges in the insulator films 7 are reduced and the electrostatic attraction force acting between the insulator films 7 and the surfaces of the facing insulator substrate or the stationary electrode 6 reduces smaller than the restoring force by the cantilever 4. thus the movable electrode 5 is separated from the stationary electrode 6 by the elastic restoring force of the cantilever 4. accordingly, the sticking of the movable electrode 5 to one of the stationary electrodes 6 due to residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges in the insulator films 7 is prevented and the malfunctioning of the accelerometer because of the sticking is eliminated. fig. 9 shows a cross sectional view of the fifth embodiment according to the present invention having a similar construction as that of the fourth embodiment shown in fig. 7 and fig. 8, except that layer members 15 which are spaced apart and electrically isolated from the stationary electrode 6 are provided in the regions of the respective stationary electrode removing portions 9'. the layer member 15 may be either a conductive material or an insulating material. when an abnormally high voltage is applied between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6, and the movable electrode 5 excessively displaces, the insulator films 7 on the movable electrode 5 contact initially to the solid largers 15 to thereby prevent direct contact between the movable electrode 5 and one of the stationary electrodes 6. in this instance, since the layer members 15 are electrically isolated from the stationary electrode 6, like the fourth embodiment shown in fig. 7 and fig. 8, the influence on the insulator films 7 due to the electric field generated between the movable electrode 5 and one of the stationary electrodes 6 is sufficiently small in comparison with the instance wherein the insulator films 7 contact directly to one of the stationary electrodes 6. further, with regard to selection of material for the layer members 15, when the insulator films 7 contact the surfaces of the insulator substrate 1 or 3, physical force, other than the electrostatic attraction force such as liquid bridging force due to water is likely to act therebetween. a material having in addition a property to prevent such physical force such as hydrophobic polymers may be selected for the layer members 15, thereby the sticking between the movable electrode 5 and one of the stationary electrodes 6 is further surely prevented. with the present embodiment, the sticking between the electrodes due to residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges in the insulator films 7 is prevented and at the same time the sticking force due to the other physical forces is also reduced. further, described fourth and fifth embodiments in the above, the stationary electrode removing portions 9' are provided for all of the insulator films 7 disposed on the movable electrode 5. however in the same idea in the second embodiment explained above, it is unnecessary to form the stationary electrode removing portions 9' for all of the insulator films 7. because in the electrostatic capacitive type or the electrostatic servo type accelerometer, it is desired to reduce the area of the stationary electrode removing portions 9', which do not contribute for increasing the electrostatic capacity or the electrostatic servo force, as much as possible. fig. 10 is a cross sectional view of the sixth embodiment according to the present invention having a similar structure as the fourth embodiment shown in fig. 7 and fig. 8, except that the stationary electrode removing portions 9' are only provided for the insulator films 7 disposed at the top end on the movable electrode 5. in the structure wherein the movable electrode 5 is supported at one side by the cantilever 4, the sticking between the movable electrode 5 and one of the stationary electrodes 6 is primarily induced at the top end of the stationary electrode 5, therefore a similar sticking prevention effect is obtained if the stationary electrode removing portions 9' are formed only for the insulator films 7 located on the corresponding top end portions of the movable electrode 5. fig. 11 is a cross sectional view of the seventh embodiment according to the present invention constructed based upon the same idea explained above, in that the stationary electrode removing portions 9' are formed only for the insulator films 7 located at the top end portions of the movable electrode 5 and the layer members 15 which are spaced apart and electrically isolated from the stationary electrode 6 are disposed in the regions of the stationary electrode removing portions 9'. according to the sixth and seventh embodiments shown in fig. 10 and fig. 11, the sticking between the movable electrode 5 and one of the stationary electrodes 6 is prevented while limiting the area for the stationary electrode removing portions 9' to be as small as possible. in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh embodiments explained above, since the stationary electrode removing portions 9' and the layer members 15 formed therein are electrically isolated from the stationary electrode 6, no short circuiting current flow through the portions on the movable electrode 15 which contact the stationary electrode removing portions 9' or the layer members 15, when the movable electrode 5 excessively displaces even if no insulator films 7 are provided on the movable electrode 5. accordingly, the possible contacting portions on the movable electrode 5 may be the exposed silicon surfaces of the movable electrode 5 or may be provided with other conductive bodies. fig. 12 is a cross sectional view of the eighth embodiment according to the present invention constructed based on the same idea of the third embodiment shown in fig. 6. in the present embodiment, a stopper 16, which limits the displacement range of the movable electrode 5, is provided on the silicon substrate 2 having the equal potential as the movable electrode 5. when the movable electrode 5 displaces up to a predetermined extent, the movable electrode 5 contacts the stopper 16 prior to contacting one of the stationary electrodes 6, thereby an excessive displacement of the movable electrode 5 is prevented. more specifically, at the top end of the movable electrode 5, there is provided a protrusion 17 and on the facing silicon substrate 2 the stopper 16 is formed of a channel shape which limits upward and downward displacement of the protrusion 17 within a predetermined range. according to the present embodiment, via the cooperation of the stopper 16 and the protrusion 17, the contacting between the movable electrode 5 and one of the stationary electrodes 6 is prevented, thereby no insulator films 7 are needed to be provided on the movable electrode 5 and further, no voltages are applied at the contacting portion between the stopper 16 and the protrusion 17. moreover, even when an abnormally high voltage is applied between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6, influence on the both electrodes due to the electric field generated by the applied voltage is very small so that the sticking between the movable electrode 5 and one of the stationary electrodes 6 rarely happens. reduction of electric field strength applied on the insulator films 7 on the movable electrode 5 is also realized by modifying the configuration of the insulator films 7. electric field strength in the insulator films 7 decreases dependent upon the distance increase between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6. accordingly, it is preferable to modify the configuration of the insulator films 7 so that the distance between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6 at the possible contacting portions becomes as large as possible when both electrodes 5 and 6 contact via the insulator films 7. the most simple approach is to increase the thickness of the insulator films 7, because the electric field applied thereto reduces in a manner of inverse propotion. however, insulator films 7 having thickness more than the gap distance between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6 can not be used if no measures are taken on the movable electrode 5. fig. 13 is a cross sectional view of the ninth embodiment according to the present invention wherein the insulator films 7 are disposed on dug planes on the surfaces of the movable electrode 5 while protruding the facing surfaces of the insulator films 7 above the non dug planes of the movable electrode 5 to thereby increase the thickness of the inslator films 7. fig. 14 is a cross sectional view of the tenth embodiment according to the present invention, in which a horizontal protrusion 7a is provided for the respective insulator films 7 located at the top end on the movable electrode 5 and the respective horizontal protrusions 7a are adapted to contact initially to one of the stationary electrodes 6 to thereby prevent the contacting between the movable electrode 5 and one of the stationary electrodes 6. further, since the top end of the movable electrode 5 is formed in a taper shape via inclined surfaces 5a, the distance between the possible contacting portion of a horizontal protrusion 7a on the stationary electrode 6 and the movable electrode 5, in that the inclined surface 5a increases, thereby the electrical field strength near the insulating films 7 is reduced when the movable electrode 5 contacts to one of the stationary electrodes 6 via the insulator films 7. accordingly, after the electric field is removed residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges in the insulator films 7 are sufficiently reduced and the sticking between the electrodes is eliminated. according to the ninth and tenth embodiments explained above, via the modification of configuration of the insulator films 7 and the movable electrode 5 the sticking between the electrodes is prevented. even when static electricity is accummulated on the electrodes if no potential difference appears between the movable electrode and the stationary electrodes, no problems arise. fig. 15 is a perspective view of the eleventh invention according to the present embodiment which is constructed based upon the above idea wherein pad portions 18 for the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6 are mutually connected by leads 19 in order to maintain the potentials of both electrodes 5 and 6 equal until the accelerometer is mounted. as a result, the sticking of the movable electrode 5 to one of the stationary electrodes 6 due to electrostatic attraction force before mounting thereof is prevented. the connection between pads 18 can be disconnected by making use of for example, laser beams after the mounting thereof as illustrated in fig. 3. since the pads 18 are connected to the acceleration measurement circuit 10 after the accelerometer has been mounted, when a proper measure for static electricity is provided in the circuit, application of an abnormally high voltage or charging of static electricity onto the accelerometer chip 11 is prevented and the sticking between electrodes due to static electricity is eliminated. according to the present embodiment, the sticking between electrodes due to charging of static electricity is prevented without modifying the structure of the electrode member but with modifying simply the wiring condition of the pad portions. other than modifying the structure of the electrode members as in the preceeding embodiments, the sticking between the electrodes is prevented by modifying the material of the insulator films 7. for reducing residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges in the insulator films 7, materials such dry silicon oxide and thermal silicon nitride are more preferable for the insulator films 7 than silicon oxide prepared by for example steam oxidation. however, if the silicon oxide prepared by the steam oxidation is heat treated thereafter at a temperature of about 1000.degree. c., internal defects therein are reduced and resistances to residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges are increased. fig. 16 is a cross sectional view of the twelfth embodiment according to the present invention wherein high resistance films 20 are formed on the movable electrode 5 in place of the insulator films 5 in the preceeding embodiments and the high resistance films 20 are designed to initally contact one of the stationary electrodes 6 when the movable electrode 5 excessively displaces. these high resistance films 7 can be disposed on the stationary electrodes instead of on the movable electrode 5. with the accelerometer thus constituted, when the movable electrode 5 excessively displaces during the use thereof and contacts one of the stationary electrodes 6, such contacting is performed via the high resistance films 20 such that the short circuiting current flowing therebetween is limited and the bonding by fusion between the electrodes 5 and 6 is prevented. further, since no insulator films 5 are used, electrostatic attraction forces between the electrodes 5 and 6 due to residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges in the insulator films 7 are generated, accordingly the sticking between the electrodes caused thereby is prevented. on the other hand, sticking due to water adsorbed or condensated on possible contacting surfaces of the movable electrode member and the stationary electrode member of accelerometers is prevented such as by evacuating an internal space 21 (see fig. 1) of the accelerometer surrounding for example, the movable electrode 5, the stationary electrodes 6, insulator films 7, the equipotential electrodes 8, layer member 15, and high resistance films 20, by sealing a dry gas in the space 21, by forming at least the possible contacting surfaces with a hydrophobic material, and by applying a chemical hydrophobic treatment at least on the possible contacting surfaces. accordingly the amount of adsorbed and condensated water on the possible contacting surfaces is reduced and, the sticking force due to water is reduced, thereby the sticking between the electrodes is further prevented. fig. 17 is a cross sectional view of the thirteenth embodiment according to the present invention taken along the line iii--iii in fig. 18, and fig. 18 is a plan view of the movable electrode and the cantilever portions in fig. 17. in the thirteenth embodiment, conical or pyramid shaped protrusions 7b made of an electrical insulator material and having a very small top area are disposed on a part of the surfaces of the movable electrode 5. in the present embodiment, four right pyramid shaped insulator protrusions 7b are formed at the four corners on the respective major surfaces of the movable electrode 5. these insulator protrusions 7b contact the surface of one of the stationary electrodes 6 prior to the movable electrode 5 when the movable electrode 5 excessively displaces. when a large external force acts on the movable electrode 5 during handling or operation of the accelerometer and the movable electrode 5 excessively displaces and the insulator protrusions 7b contact the surface of one of the stationary electrodes 6, and a physical attraction force may be caused therebetween. however, since the insulator protrusions 7b have a pyramid shape as illsurated in fig. 17 and fig. 18, the contacting area s of the insulator protrusions 7b with the surface of the stationary electrode 6 is very small so that even if the physical attraction force fs acting on a unit area in the contacting portions is relatively large, the total sticking force fs=fs.times.s is reduced, thereby the sticking between the electrodes 5 and 6 is prevented. the top portion of, such as a circular cone and a pyramid, is a point from mathematical point of view, although the top portion of an actually formed circular cone and pyramid has a small plane or spherical surface. however, when the total sticking force fs is controlled to be smaller than the external forces which tend to release the sticking force acting on the electrodes such as the restoring force by the cantilever 4 and the electrostatic servo force, the sticking never happens. fig. 19 shows a perspective view of the pyramid shaped protrusion 7b of silicon oxide formed on the movable electrode 5 drawn with reference to an sem phtograph thereof. fig. 20 shows an experimental result of the relationship between the sticking force and the width of the insulator protrusion, in that length in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the cantilever 4. from the drawing, it will be seen that when the width of the insulator protrusion is selected below 15 .mu.m the sticking force suddenly decreases and further when the width is selected below 10 .mu.m the sticking force reduces to a negligibly small amount with respect to the restoring force of the cantilever 4. in the present embodiment, the insulator protrusions 7b of, such as a circular cone and a pyramid shape, are exemplified, however the purpose of introducing such insulator protrusions is to reduce the contacting area s with the opposing electrode surface, therefore the shape of the insulator protrusion is not limited to a circular cone and a pyramid shape as in the previous embodiment if such has a small top area. however in view of easy production and mechanical strength thereof, an insulator protrusion having a larger bottom area and a smaller top area is preferable. further, the number of the insulator protrusions 7b on one major surface of the movable electrode 5 is not limited to four as in the embodiment shown in fig. 18. fig. 21 is a plan view of the movable electrode and the cantilever of the fourteenth embodiment according to the present invention wherein the number of insulator protrusions 7b having a larger bottom area and a smaller top area is increased in view of their mechanical strength, with the present embodiment, the sticking between the electrodes is likely prevented, as a result, yield during production thereof is improved and operational reliability after mounting thereof is enhanced. in the present embodiment, the insulator protrusions 7b are uniformly distributed over the surfaces of the movable electrode 5, however the insulator protrusions 7b are not necessarily distributed uniformly as in the present embodiment. as explained in connection with the second embodiment shown in fig. 5, in the structure where the movable electrode 5 is supported at one side by the cantilevers 4, the sticking between the electrodes primarily happens at the insulator protrusions 7b located at the top end on the movable electrode 5. accordingly the sticking is sufficiently prevented only by disposing the insulator protusions 7b having a small top area at the top end portions on the movable electrode 5. fig. 22 and fig. 23 show respectively cross sectional views of fifteenth and sixteenth embodiments according to the present invention which are constructed in view of the idea explained above, in that in view of the mechanical strength of the insulator protrusions when an exessive external force acts on the movable electrode and the insulator protrusions are pressed onto the stationary electrode with a large force. when such excessively large external force acts on the movable electrode, all of the insulator protrusions on the movable electrode are pressed onto the stationary electrode. however, since the insulator protrusions located at the cantilever side do not directly relate to the sticking prevention as explained above, there are no problems if the contacting area of the insulator protrusions at the cantilever side with the stationary electrode is increased to some extent. in the fifteenth embodiment shown in fig. 22, a plurality of insulator protrusions 7c, which have somewhat larger top area than that disposed at the top end portion on the movable electrode 5, are provided at the cantilever side on the movable electrode 5, and in the sixteenth embodiment shown in fig. 23, two insulator protrusions 7d having a further larger top area disposed on the two corners at the cantilever side. with the accelerometers of the fifteenth and sixteenth embodiments wherein the movable electrode 5 is supported at one side by cantilevers and the top contacting area of the insulator protrusions or the insulator films at the cantilever sides on the movable electrode 5 is enlarged, when a large external force acts on the movable electrode 5 such as because an execessively large acceleration due to a mechanical shock is applied to the accelerometer, the substantial portion of the force is applied to the insulator protrusions 7c or 7d at the cantilever side and the burden of insulator protrusions 7b having a small top area located at the top end of the movable electrode 5 is reduced. thereby the breakdown of the insulator protrusions 7b located at the top end portions on the movable electrode 5 have an important function for the sticking prevention. namely, in these embodiments, the function of the sticking prevention is primarily assigned to the protrusions 7b located at the top end portions on the movable electrode 5 and the function of maintaining mechanical strength is primarily assigned to the protrusions 7c or 7 d located at the cantilever side on the movable electrode 5. as explained above, for preventing the sticking phenomenon between the electrodes, it is sufficient if the contacting area of the insulator protrusions located at the top end portions on the movable electrode 5 is reduced and it is not necessary to reduce the top area of all of the insulator protrusions on the movable electrode 5. fig. 24 is a plan view of the movable electrode and the cantilever portions of the seventeenth embodiment according to the present invention and fig. 25 is a cross sectional view taken along the line iv--iv in fig. 24, wherein a pair of insulator protrusions 7e having a configuration like a triangular prism are disposed at the two corners at the top end on the respective major surfaces of the movable electrode 5 while aligning the axes of the triangular prism shaped insulator protrusions 7e with the axis of the cantilever. in the present embodiment, the top end portions p on the insulator protrusions 7e initially contact to the stationary electrode so that the sticking which possibly occurs is at the top end portions thereby a small contacting area is also maintained. further, when an excessively large force acts on the movable electrode 5, the large force is supported by the ridges of the insulator protrusions 7e and the insulator protrusions 7d disposed at the cantilever side on the movable electrode 5, thereby the contacting area is increased and the mechanical strength of the insulator protrusions againt an excessively large external force is maintained. fig. 26 is a plan view of the movable electrode and the cantilever portions of the eighteenth embodiment according to the present invention wherein the number of triangular prism like insulator protrusions 7e is increased, thereby the mechanical strength of the insulator protrusions is further increased. the configuration of the insulator protrusion 7e is not limited to the triangular prism like shape if the insulator protrusion contacts the stationary electrode via point contacts or the like, accordingly the insulator protrusion 7e may be a semicolumn shape or a pentagonal prism shape. fig. 27 and fig. 28 are respectively the movable electrode and cantilever portions of the nineteenth and twentieth embodiments according to the present invention. in the nineteenth embodiment shown in fig. 27, a pair of insulator protrusions 7f having a truncated triangular pyramid shape are disposed at the top end portions on the movable electrode 5 and in the twentieth embodiment shown in fig. 28 a pair of insulator protrusions 7g having a truncated pyramid shape are disposed at the top end portions on the movable electrode 5. in both embodiments only the top end portions q and r of the insulator protrusions 7f and 7g and therearound contact the stationary electrode, thereby a small contacting area is also maintained like the seventeenth embodiment shown in fig. 24 and fig. 25. in these embodiments, even if the truncated top areas of the insulator protrusions 7f and 7g are formed relatively large, the possible sticking portions of the insulator protrusions to the stationary electrode are always limited to the top end portions q and r and therearound, the sticking between electrodes is prevented like the previous embodiments. further, the insulator protrusions 7f and 7g are easily produced and the configuration thereof is hardly affected by the size variation during production. the shape of the truncated top face of the insulator protrusions 7f and 7g is not limited to triangle and quadrangle shapes, but any shapes are acceptable if there is provided an angled portion at the top end of the respective truncated top faces which defines a contacting point with the stationary electrode. in the above embodiments, the insulator protrusions 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e, 7f and 7g, and the insulator films 7 are disposed on the movable electrode 5, however these insulator protrusions and the insulator films can be formed on the stationary electrode at the corresponding locations with the same advantage explained above. now, in preventing of sticking between electrodes by means way roughening the surface of solid body, one of is to apply a texture processing on the surface of the movable electrode or the stationary electrodes by photolithography to form a microscopic uneven surface thereon. fig. 29 is a plan view of the stationary electrode of the twenty-first embodiment according to the present invention wherein a plurarity of patterns 22 having slits of which direction is arranged in parallel with the axis of the cantilever 4 are formed on the stationary electrode 6 at the positions facing the respective insulator films 7 formed on the movable electrode 5. the width of the respective microscopic slits is selected to be about 1 .mu.m or therebelow and the contacting area reduces in propotion to the number of the slits. a structure obtained by applying the microscopic texture processing to the surface of the movable electrode 5 is analogous to the eighteenth embodiment shown in fig. 26. the roughening of the surface of the movable electrode or the stationary electrodes is also achieved by polishing the surface thereof with abrasives. when a texture processing, which provides a muliplicity of microscopic slits having a pitch of one micron order or therebelow and a depth of more than several nanometers by properly selecting the grain diameter of the abrasives, is applied at least on and near the possible contacting surfaces of the movable electrode or the stationary electrodes, the sticking between the electrodes is also prevented. further, when the electrodes and the insulator films are formed by a thin film forming process such as sputtering and a cvp, a film having an uneven surface is easily formed by properly selecting the thin film forming condition. when an uneven surface having a pitch of one micron or therebelow and a depth of more than several nanometers is formed on the movable electrode or the stationary electrodes, the sticking between electrodes is sufficiently prevented. such an uneven surface can likely be formed by etching or by back-sputtering. with regard to the silicon substrate itself, an uneven surface of silicon is formed by subjecting the silicon monocrystalline to anodic formation in a hydrofluoric acid water solution to obtain porous silicon. in the accelerometers of the previous embodiments, the entire portion of the substrates 1 and 3 or at least the portion facing the substrate 2 is formed of an insulator material, however the measures for preventing the sticking between the electrodes which are applied to the previous embodiments are also applicable to an accelerometer shown in fig. 30 in which the upper and lower substrates corresponding to the substrates 1 and 3 in the previous embodiments are made of silicon, in which the silicon surfaces of the two silicon substrates 23 and 24 facing the movable electrode 5 are barely exposed and serves as the stationary electrodes. insulator layers 25 made of for example, glass and silicon oxide is interposed between the respective adjacent silicon substrates 5, 23 and 24 to electrically isolate each other. for the accelerometer having the three layered structure of silicon/silicon/silicon as explained above, the structure applied to the embodiments explained in connection with the eighth embodiment shown in fig. 12 and thereafter are also applicable without substantial modification. fig. 30 is one of such examples corresponding to the thirteenth embodiment shown in fig. 17 and shows a cross sectional view of the twenty-second embodiment according to the present invention wherein the insulator protrusions 7b having a small top area are provided on the movable electrode 5. analogous to the twenty-first embodiment shown in fig. 29, on the surfaces of the silicon substrates 23 and 24 facing the respective insulator protrusions 7b, muliplicity of microscopic unevennesses can be formed by etching to prevent the sticking. fig. 31 is a cross sectional view of the twenty-third embodiment according to the present invention and fig. 32 is a plan view of one of the stationary electrode silicon substrates in fig. 31, wherein the insulator protrusions 7b are disposed on the sides of the stationary electrode silicon substrates 23 and 24 contrary to the twenty-second embodiment shown in fig. 30. in the above embodiments and their modifications, the embodiments from the first to the twelfth and their modifications are directed to measures to eliminate or reduce the causes inducing the sticking between the electrodes such as residual dielectric polarization, residual electric charges and water at the vicinity of the possible contacting portions on the movable and stationary electrodes in order to reduce the attraction force acting between both electrodes, and the embodiments from the thirteenth to the twenty-third are directed to measures to reduce the contacting area of the possible contacting portions of the movable and stationary electrodes in order to reduce the attractive force possibly acting between both electrodes. when combining the two types of measures, the electrode sticking prevention effect is further enchanced. fig. 33 is a cross sectional view of the twenty-fourth embodiment according to the present invention in which the measure in the first embodiment shown in fig. 1 and the measure in the thirteenth embodiment shown in fig. 17 are combined. hereinabove, the sticking prevention of the movable electrode and the stationary electrode is explained with reference to accelerometers wherein the movable electrode is supported at one side by the cantilevels, however the present invention is not limited to such structure, the present embodiments are also applicable to such accelerometers wherein the movable electrode is supported from the four sides by beams or by a diaphragm in place of the cantilever, except for the embodiments directed to the sticking prevention only at the top end of the movable electrode. the above measures according to the present invention explained with reference to the embodiments in the form of accelerometers are also applicable to other types of sensors. fig. 34 is a cross sectional view of one embodiment of an electrostatic capacitive type pressure sensor according to the present invention wherein a movable electrode 5' is reconstructed by a diaphragm, and the diaphragm 5' faces a stationary electrode 6' with a microscopic gap and displaces in response to pressure p applied via a communication port 26 and the variation of the electrostatic capacitance between the movable electrode 5' and the stationary electrode 6' caused the applied pressure p is detected by a detection circuit 27 to determine the applied pressure p. when an excessively large pressure p is applied to the movable electrode diaphragm 5', the movable electrode 5' contacts the stationary electrode 6', however, since a plurality of insulator protrusions 7b having a small top area similar to those in the thirteenth embodiment shown in fig. 17 are provided on the movable electrode diaphragm 5', the total sticking force between both electrodes when both electrodes contact is reduced and the permanent sticking of the movable electrode diaphragm 5' to the stationary electrode 6 is prevented. since a difference in structure between the electrostatic capacitive type pressure sensor and the accelerometers explained above is that the combination of the movable electrode and the cantilevers is constituted by the diaphragm serving as the movable electrode, the measures applied to the accelerometers for preventing the sticking between electrodes are also applicable to the electrostatic capacitive type pressure sensor without substantial modification. other than the above accelerometers and the pressure sensor, the present invention is also applicable to such sensors which comprise a movable men,her and a stationary member or another movable men%her facing thereto with a small gap and detects the magnitude of force acting on the movable member to determine the physical amount causing the force, as an electrostatic capacitive type vibration gyro which determines angular velocity based upon corioli's force acting on the vibrating movable electrode and a visual sensor which determines a distribution of forces acting on a multiplicity of movable electrodes arranged in two dimensions in order to prevent sticking between the movable member and the stationary member. hereinabove, the present invention is explained in particular with reference to sensors, the present invention is also applicable to micro actuators which comprise a movable electrode and a stationary electrode or a movable member and a stationary member which are connected to operate in an electrically equivalent manner as the movable and stationary electrodes. fig. 35(a) and fig. 35(b) show a cross sectional view of one embodiment of actuators in the form of an electrostatically open and closable valve according to the present invention. an insulator substrate 1a is provided with a through-hole 29 which constitutes a fluid passage around which a stationary electrode 6a with stationary electrode removing portions 9' like in the embodiments of the accelerometers is provided. the stationary electrode 6a faces a diaphragm 28 formed with a silicon substrate 2a with a small gap. a part of the diaphragm 28 facing the stationary electrode 6a constitutes a movable electrode 28'. at the portions on the movable electrode 28' corresponding to the stationary electrode removing portions 9' the insulator films 7 are disposed which function to prevent bonding by fusion. when no voltage is applied between both electrodes, the diaphragm 28 remains with no displacement as shown in fig. 35(a) wherein the through-hole 29 is in an open condition and the fluid flows in the arrowed direction or in the anti-arrowed direction depending upon the pressure difference. when a driving voltage is applied between the movable and stationary electrodes, the diaphragm 28 displaces toward the stationary electrode 6a by means of electrostatic attraction force until the insulator films 7 contact the stationary electrode removing portions 9' as illustrated in fig. 35(b), and under this condition, the valve is closed and no fluid flows therethrough. with the provision of the stationary electrode removing portions 9', the sticking between the electrodes due to residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges when an abnormally high voltage is applied between the movable and stationary electrodes, is prevented like in the previous embodiments for the accelerometers. other measures for preventing the sticking between the electrodes due to residual dielectric polarization and residual electric charges as explained in connection with the previous embodiments for the accelerometers are also applicable to the above actuator to enhance its operational reliability. the measures for preventing sticking between electrodes as explained with reference to the embodiments for the accelerometers are also applicable for preventing the sticking between the movable portion and the stationary portion for a micro rotary motor, a micro linear motor and a micro switch. now, motor vehicle control systems such as anti-lock brake system, traction control system, suspension control system and total spin control system which make use of one of the embodiments for the accelerometers are explained below. fig. 36 is a block diaphragm of one embodiment of an anti-lock brake systems (abs) according to the present invention. in an accelerometer unit 30 of the present invention, the accelerometer of the first embodiment shown in fig. 1 is incorporated. when the movable electrode 5 tends to displace in response to an acceleration, such is detected as an electrostatic capacity difference .delta.c=c1-c2 between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6 by a .delta.c detector 10a and the detected signal is pulse--width--modulated by a pulse width modulator 10b to apply voltages in inverted relation to each other between the movable electrode 5 and the stationary electrodes 6. thereby an electrostatic servo control is performed wherein an electrostatic force is applied to the movable electrode 5 so as to always maintain the movable electrode 5 at the center between the stationary electrodes 6. the voltage ve used for the electrostatic servo control is also input to an abs control unit 31. the anti-lock brake system is a system in which when the driver presses the brake pedal the braking force is controlled so that the slip rate of the wheels assumes a predetermined value to achieve safety of the motor vehicle. the slip rate s is defined by the following equation. s=(vr-vw)/vr (1) wherein vr is a vehicle velocity with respect to the ground in that a true velocity of the vehicle with respect to the road surface, vw is a velocity determined by the rotating velocity of a vehicle wheel which is equal to the vehicle velocity with respect to the ground when there is no slip (s=0) and is smaller than the vehicle velocity with respect to the ground when there are slips (0<s.ltoreq.1). the slip rate s is calculated in the abs control unit 31 and the vehicle velocity with respect to the ground used for the above calculation is calculated according to the following equation by making use of the signal from the accelerometer unit 30. vr(t)=vr(0)+.intg..alpha.(t)dt (2) namely, the vehicle velocity is calculated by the initial value of the vehicle velocity vr(0) and time integration of the acceleration .alpha.(t). since the wheel velocity is equal to the vehicle velocity when no slip occurs, the wheel velocity immediately before the brake pedal is pressed, for example, is used as the initial vehicle velocity vr(0). when a slip rate s is determined, the abs control unit drives an actuator for anti-lock use 32 so as to assume the target slip rate s. the actuator for anti-lock use 32 performs a braking force reducing control and accordingly an anti-lock braking control. an example of the actuator for anti-lock use 32 is a solenoid valve for a hydraulic pressure braking force control. in contrast to the above anti-lock brake system, a control system which provides a driving force to start the vehicle safely and smoothly by controlling the slip rate during starting is a traction control system which also requires a sensor to determine the vehicle velocity with respect to the ground, therefore with the above accelerometer and based upon the above equation (2) the vehicle velocity is obtained in the same manner. fig. 37 is a block diagram of one embodiment of an active suspension control system according to the present invention. in the present embodiment, the same accelerometer unit 30 as in the previous embodiment is used. a hydraulic pressure suspension system, which actively controls the up and down vibration and the attitude of the motor vehicle by making use of hydraulic pressure, regulates the forces of hydraulic pressure actuators disposed for the respective four wheels in response to road conditions such as irregularity thereof and the running conditions to suppress the vibration and attitude variation of the vehicle, and to thereby improve the riding comfort as well as driving safety of the vehicle. with the above accelerometer unit 30, accelerations of the vehicle in front and rear directions and in right and left directions and further in up and down directions are detected, and input to a control unit 33 wherein a control signal is determined based upon the detected accelerations and output to a hydraulic pressure actuator 34 to control the pressure therein. the suspension is actively controlled through an accurate detection of the vibration and the attitude of the vehicle with the above accelerometer, both the riding comfort and the driving safety of the vehicle together are improved up to a very high level. the total spin control system shown in fig. 38 is a system which provides a smooth yawing performance as well as a braking performance without unstable swaying for the vehicle and requires a rotating angular velocity sensor for measuring a yaw rate of the vehicle as a major sensor. now, when two accelerometer units 30 and 30' are mounted on the vehicle with a distance of l, the rotating angular velocity .omega. of the vehicle is expressed by the following equation by making use of the detected accelerations .alpha.1 and .alpha.2 by the respective accelerometer units 30 and 30'. ##equ1## other than the above examples, the accelerometer according to the present invention is applicable to a motor vehicle engine total control system, transmission control system and four wheel drive system, and further is used as a collision detection sensor used in an air bag control system relating to motor vehicle safety. further the accelerometer according to the present invention is used as an accelerometer or vibration detection sensor for an electric railcar control system, an elevator riding comfort control system and other control systems such as for space application, robot and home appliances. according to the present invention, the malfunctioning of a micro transducer such as a micro sensor and micro actuator due to sticking between the movable member and the stationary member or between the movable members is prevented and thereby the reliability of the micro sensor, micro actuator and accordingly the systems using the same is greatly improved. further, the yield during the production of the micro sensor and the micro actuator is improved, thereby the production cost thereof is also reduced.
088-085-738-408-423	US	[ "US", "JP", "AU", "PL", "EP", "CN", "DK", "ES" ]	G01C15/00,E01C19/00,E01C19/42,E01C23/088,G01C15/06,G05D1/02,E01C19/50,G05D1/10,E01C19/26,B62D6/00,E01C19/48,E01C23/00,G05D3/00,G06F7/70	2012-10-12T00:00:00	2012	[ "G01", "E01", "G05", "B62", "G06" ]	self-propelled civil engineering machine system with field rover	a civil engineering machine has a machine control unit configured to determine data which defines the position and/or orientation of a reference point on the civil engineering machine in relation to a reference system independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine. a geometrical shape to be produced on the ground is preset in either a machine control unit or a field rover control unit. the field rover is used to determine a position of at least one identifiable point of the preset geometrical shape in the independent reference system. curve data defining a desired curve in the independent reference system, corresponding to the preset shape, is determined at least partially on the basis of the position of the at least one identifiable point of the preset geometrical shape in the independent reference system.	1. a hand held field rover survey apparatus, comprising: a support rod having a lower end for engaging a ground surface; a position sensor mounted on the support rod; and a control unit communicated with the position sensor, the control unit including: a position data determination component configured to determine position data using the position sensor to define a surveyed position of the position sensor in relation to a reference system; a shape fitting component configured to define a defined shape corresponding to a series of surveyed positions which are determined with the position data determination component, the shape fitting component configured such that a user may select for at least some of the surveyed positions whether the positions are part of a straight line portion or part of a curved portion of the defined shape; and a shape storing component configured to store in memory the defined shape defined by the shape fitting component. 2. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein: the shape fitting component includes a shape smoothing component configured such that the user may selectively use position data in defining the defined shape. 3. the apparatus of claim 2 , wherein: the shape smoothing component is configured such that the user may select for at least one surveyed position to use the position data only with regard to elevation position of the defined shape. 4. the apparatus of claim 2 , wherein: the shape smoothing component is configured such that the user may select for at least one surveyed position to use the position data only with regard to horizontal position of the defined shape. 5. the apparatus of claim 2 , wherein: the shape smoothing component is configured such that the user may select for at least one surveyed position to not include the position data in defining the defined shape. 6. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein: the shape fitting component includes a deviation display component configured to display how far the defined shape deviates from a surveyed position. 7. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein: the shape fitting component is configured such that the user may select to re-survey a surveyed position and replace original position data with new position data for the re-surveyed position. 8. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein: the shape fitting component is configured to query the user whether a surveyed position is part of a straight line portion or part of a curved portion of the defined shape. 9. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein: the shape fitting component is configured to query the user for at least one surveyed position whether to use the position data with regard to elevation of the defined shape. 10. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein: the shape fitting component is configured such that the defined shape is defined as a series of one or more straight line portions and one or more curved portions. 11. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control unit further includes: a shape selection component configured to select a geometrical shape for a structure to be produced on the ground surface or for the ground to which changes are to be made; and a curve data determination component configured to determine curve data for reproducing the selected geometrical shape on the ground surface in a selected location and orientation in the reference system. 12. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is mounted on the support rod. 13. the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is separate from the support rod. 14. the apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the control unit communicates with the position sensor via wireless communication. 15. a hand held field rover survey apparatus, comprising: a support rod having a lower end for engaging a ground surface; a position sensor mounted on the support rod; and a control unit communicated with the position sensor, the control unit including: a shape selection component configured to select a geometrical shape for a structure to be produced on the ground surface or for the ground to which changes are to be made; a position data determination component configured to determine position data using the position sensor to define a surveyed position of the position sensor in relation to a reference system; and a curve data determination component configured to determine curve data for reproducing the selected geometrical shape on the ground surface in a selected location and orientation in the reference system. 16. the apparatus of claim 15 , wherein: the shape selection component is configured to select the geometrical shape from a plurality of stored predefined shapes. 17. the apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the control unit further includes: a shape fitting component configured to define a defined shape corresponding to a series of surveyed positions, the shape fitting component configured such that a user may select for at least some of the surveyed positions whether the positions are part of a straight line portion or part of a curved portion of the defined shape; and a shape storing component configured to store in memory the defined shape defined by the shape fitting component. 18. the apparatus of claim 17 , wherein: the shape fitting component includes a shape smoothing component configured such that the user may selectively use position data in defining the defined shape. 19. the apparatus of claim 18 , wherein: the shape smoothing component is configured such that the user may select for at least one surveyed position to use the position data only with regard to elevation position of the defined shape. 20. the apparatus of claim 18 , wherein: the shape smoothing component is configured such that the user may select for at least one surveyed position to use the position data only with regard to horizontal position of the defined shape. 21. the apparatus of claim 18 , wherein: the shape smoothing component is configured such that the user may select for at least one surveyed position to not include the position data in defining the defined shape. 22. the apparatus of claim 17 , wherein: the shape fitting component includes a deviation display component configured to display how far the defined shape deviates from a surveyed position. 23. the apparatus of claim 17 , wherein: the shape fitting component is configured such that the user may select to re-survey a surveyed position and replace original position data with new position data for the re-surveyed position. 24. the apparatus of claim 17 , wherein: the shape fitting component is configured to query the user whether a surveyed position is part of a straight line portion or part of a curved portion of the defined shape. 25. the apparatus of claim 17 , wherein: the shape fitting component is configured to query the user for at least some surveyed positions whether to use the position data with regard to elevation of the defined shape. 26. the apparatus of claim 17 , wherein: the shape storing component is configured such that the defined shape is defined as a series of one or more straight line portions and one or more curved portions. 27. the apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the control unit is mounted on the support rod. 28. the apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the control unit is separate from the support rod. 29. the apparatus of claim 28 , wherein the control unit communicates with the position sensor via wireless communication.	background of the invention the invention relates to a self-propelled civil engineering machine, and in particular a road milling machine, road paver or slipform paver, and to a method of controlling a self-propelled civil engineering machine and in particular a road milling machine, road paver or slipform paver. description of the prior art there are a variety of known kinds of self-propelled civil engineering machines. in particular, these machines include the known slipform pavers, road pavers and road milling machines. the characteristic feature of these self-propelled civil engineering machines is that they have a working unit having working means for producing structures on the ground or for making changes to the ground. in the known slipform pavers, the working unit comprises an arrangement for moulding flowable material and in particular concrete, which arrangement will be referred to in what follows as a concrete mould. structures of different types, such as crash barriers and road gutters, can be produced with the concrete mould. a slipform paver is described ep 1 103 659 b1 (u.s. pat. no. 6,481,924) for example. the known road pavers generally have a screed as their working unit. the screed is so arranged, at that end of the road paver which is at the rear looking in the direction of paving, that it is supported by a lower sliding plate on the material of the road covering being laid and a pre-compression of the material thus takes place. the working unit of the known road milling machines is a milling arrangement which has a milling drum fitted with milling tools, by which milling drum material can be milled off the ground over a preset working width. the known self-propelled civil engineering machines also have a drive unit which has drive means to allow movements in translation and/or rotation to be performed, and a control unit for controlling the drive unit in such a way that the civil engineering machine performs movements in translation and/or rotation on the ground. when self-propelled civil engineering machines are controlled automatically, the problem arises that a preset reference point on the civil engineering machine has to move precisely along a preset curve in space on the ground, in order for example to enable a structure of a preset shape to be produced on the ground in the correct position and in the correct orientation. a known method of controlling slipform pavers presupposes the use of a guiding wire or line which lays down the desired curve along which the reference point on the civil engineering machine is to move. elongated objects, such as crash barriers or road gutters for example, can be produced effectively by using a guiding wire or line. however, the use of a guiding wire or line is found to be a disadvantage when structures of small dimensions, such as cigar-shaped traffic islands for example, which are distinguished by extending for small distances and having tight radiuses, are to be produced. it is also known for self-propelled civil engineering machines to be controlled by using a satellite-based global positioning system (gps). a civil engineering machine having a gps receiver is known from u.s. pat. no. 5,612,864 for example. it is a disadvantage that the plotting of the position of an object using a master measurement system to control the civil engineering machine calls for a great deal of technical cost and complication because the construction project will be complex and the object has to be fitted into it. what is particularly costly and complicated is the plotting which has to be done of the positions of various reference points in the measurement system. this cost and complication can only be justified for large objects. for small objects on the other hand the cost and complication is disproportionately high. another disadvantage of the objects being fitted into the complex building project lies in the fact that in practice, with small objects, allowance often has to be made for fixed points, such for example as existing hydrants or water outlets on the site, which may possibly not be situated precisely at the points at which they were entered in the plans. should the project data not agree with the actual local facts, the project data has to be amended off the site in the office at relatively high cost and the amended project data then has to be read in again on the site. summary of the invention the object underlying the invention is therefore to provide a self-propelled civil engineering machine, and in particular a road milling machine, a road paver or a slipform paver, which can move automatically, without any great cost or complication in the plotting of position and with high accuracy, along a desired curve extending for relatively short distances of travel and having tight radiuses. another object is to specify a method which allows a self-propelled civil engineering machine to be controlled automatically, without any great cost or complication in the plotting of position and with high accuracy, along a desired curve extending for relatively short distances of travel and having tight radiuses. the self-propelled civil engineering machine according to the invention has a control unit which has means for presetting a given geometrical shape for the structure to be produced or the ground to which changes are to be made. this given shape may for example be a traffic island in the shape of a cigar. it may be entered or selected by the operator of the machine. the control unit of the self-propelled civil engineering machine according to the invention also has means for determining data which defines the position and/or orientation of a reference point on the civil engineering machine in relation to a reference system which is independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine. the reference system (x,y,z) independent of the machine-related reference system (x,y,z) can be selected as desired, and there is thus no need for the positions of various reference points to be plotted on the ground. in one mode of operation of the control system of the civil engineering machine, the civil engineering machine is moved to a preset starting point on the ground which can be freely selected. at the preset starting point the civil engineering machine is aligned in a preset orientation. the position and orientation of the object are thus laid down. consequently, the object can always be optimally positioned on the ground with due allowance made for any possible fixed points. the starting point may for example be sited at the corner of a gutter already present on the ground whose position need not exactly correspond to the layout plan. as well as this, the control unit of the civil engineering machine also has means for determining data defining a desired curve, the desired curve being the curve along which the reference point (r) on the civil engineering machine is to move in the reference system (x,y,z) independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine. the means for determining data defining the desired curve are so designed that the data defining the desired curve is determined on the basis of the preset geometrical shape of the structure to be produced or the ground to which changes are to be made and on the basis of the position and orientation of the reference point (r) on the civil engineering machine in the reference system (x,y,z) independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine. the data which defines the desired curve may be the distance covered by the desired curve and/or its curvature. this data is dependent on the shape of the object. in a preferred embodiment, the means for controlling the drive unit are so designed that the drive unit is so controlled, as a function of the position and orientation of the reference point in the reference system independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine, that the distance between the desired position of the civil engineering machine, as defined by the desired curve, and its actual position, and/or the difference in direction between the desired direction, as defined by the desired curve, and the actual direction, is minimal. the control algorithms required for this purpose are well known to the person skilled in the art. an embodiment of the invention which is a particular preference makes provision for use to be made of a satellite-based global positioning system (gps) to determine the position and/or orientation of the reference point on the civil engineering machine. the reference system (x,y,z) independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine is thus the reference system of the satellite-based global positioning system, whose position and direction relative to the machine-related reference system (x,y,z) constantly change as the civil engineering machine moves over the ground. the civil engineering machine has a first and a second dgps receiver for decoding the gps satellite signals from the satellite-based global positioning system and correcting signals from a reference station for determining the position and/or orientation of the civil engineering machine, the first and second dgps receivers being arranged in different positions on the civil engineering machine. however, rather than by means of a satellite-based global positioning system, the position and/or orientation of the reference point may also be determined with a non-satellite measurement system. the only thing that is crucial is for the control unit to receive data defining the position and orientation of the reference point in the reference system (x,y,z) independent of the civil engineering machine. in a further preferred embodiment, the control unit has an input unit having means ( 7 b) for the input of parameters which define the geometrical shape of the structure to be produced or the ground to which changes are to be made. these parameters may for example be parameters which define the length of a straight line and/or the radius of an arc of a circle. it is assumed in this case that the object can be broken down into straight lines and arcs. this can be done for example in the case of a traffic island in the shape of a cigar. however, it is also possible for other geometrical figures to be defined by the parameters. in a further preferred embodiment, the control unit has an input unit having means for selecting one geometrical shape from a plurality of preset geometrical shapes, the plurality of geometrical shapes being stored in a storage unit which co-operates with the input unit. the advantage of this is that the data defining the geometrical shape does not have to be created afresh and instead recourse may be had to data sets which have already been created. a choice may for example be made between a circle and a cigar shape as an object. a further embodiment which is a particular preference makes provision for means for modifying a preset geometrical shape. the advantage that this has is that the shape of a cigar for example may be selected and the dimensions of the cigar can then be adjusted to suit the actual requirements on the site. in a further embodiment, a field rover is provided which may be used to determine some or all of the curve data in the independent reference system (x,y,z). the field rover may include a rover control unit having a rover shape selection component, a rover position data determination component, and a rover curve data determination component. in another embodiment a method of controlling a self-propelled civil engineering machine is provided wherein a field rover is utilized to determine a position of at least one identifiable point of a preset geometrical shape in a reference system independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine. then curve data defining a desired curve is determined in part on the basis of the position of the at least one identifiable point of the preset geometrical shape as determined by the rover. in another embodiment a self-propelled civil engineering machine system includes a civil engineering machine and a field rover. the civil engineering machine may include a machine chassis, a working unit arranged on the chassis, a drive unit, and a machine control unit. the field rover may include a rover control unit including a rover shape selection component. each of the following components is included in at least one of the machine control unit and the rover control unit: a shape selection component operable to preset a geometrical shape for the structure to be produced or for the ground to which changes are to be made;a machine position data determination component operable to determine position data to define the position and/or orientation of a reference point on the civil engineering machine in relation to the reference system which is independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine;a curve data determination component operable to determine curve data to define a desired curve based on the preset geometrical shape of the structure to be produced or the ground to which changes are to be made and based on a desired position and orientation of the preset geometrical shape in the reference system independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine, the desired curve being that curve along which the reference point on the civil engineering machine is to move in the reference system independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine; anda drive control component operable to control the drive unit, as a function of the curve data defining the desired curve, in such a way that the reference point on the civil engineering machine moves along the desired curve. in another embodiment a self-propelled civil engineering machine system includes a civil engineering machine including a machine chassis and a working unit arranged on the chassis. a drive unit drives the machine. a machine control unit is operable to control the movement of the machine. the machine control unit includes a machine data determination component and a drive control component. the machine data determination component may include a field rover mounted on the civil engineering machine, the field rover being removable from the civil engineering machine so that the field rover may be used separately to survey positions on the ground. in another embodiment a hand held field rover apparatus includes a control unit having a position data determination component, a shape fitting component and a shape storing component. the shape fitting component is configured to define a defined shape corresponding to a series of surveyed positions, the shape fitting component being configured such that a user may select for at least some of the surveyed positions whether the positions are part of a straight line portion or part of a curved portion of the defined shape. in another embodiment the shape fitting component may include a shape smoothing component configured such that the user may selectively use position data in defining the defined shape. the shape smoothing component may be configured such that the user may select for each surveyed position to use the position data only with regard to the elevation position or the horizontal position of the defined shape. the shape smoothing component may be configured such that the user may select for each surveyed position to not include the position data in defining the defined shape. the determinations for use of position data may be made in response to queries posed by the shape fitting component. in another embodiment a hand held field rover survey apparatus includes a control unit including a shape selection component, a position data determination component and a curve data determination component. in another embodiment a method of surveying using a hand held field rover is provided. the field rover includes a support rod having a lower end for engaging a ground surface and a position sensor mounted on the support rod. the field rover is used to determine a series of surveyed positions of a geometrical shape for a structure to be produced or the ground to which changes are to be made. for at least some of the surveyed positions a selection is made whether the positions are part of a straight line portion or part of a curved portion of the geometrical shape. a defined shape is then defined corresponding to the series of surveyed positions. embodiments of the invention will be explained in detail in what follows by reference to the drawings. brief description of the drawings in the drawings: fig. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of slipform paver. fig. 2 is a side view of an embodiment of road milling machine. fig. 3 shows a machine co-ordinate system related to a civil engineering machine together with the civil engineering machine, which is merely indicated. fig. 4 shows a measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z) independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine together with the machine related co-ordinate system (x,y,z) and civil engineering machine which are shown in fig. 3 . fig. 5 shows the graph curves for curvature and direction for an object in the shape of a cigar. fig. 6 is a view of the geometrical shape defining a cigar-shaped object for controlling the civil engineering machine, before it is transposed into the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z). fig. 7 is a view of the desired curve defining a cigar-shaped object for controlling the civil engineering machine, after it has been transposed into the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z). fig. 8 shows the distance between the desired position of the civil engineering machine as defined by the desired curve and its actual position. fig. 9 shows the difference in direction between the desired direction of the civil engineering machine as defined by the desired curve and its actual direction. fig. 10 is a schematic illustration of a civil engineering machine system including a gps field rover. fig. 11 is a schematic illustration similar to fig. 7 , showing how the location of the preset shape in the independent reference system can be defined by the location of one point of the shape plus an orientation of the shape, or by the location of two points of the shape. fig. 12 is a schematic flow chart representation of a shape fitting component of the field rover control unit. fig. 13 is a screen shot of a display screen of the field rover showing display of surveyed points and an input screen. in fig. 13 a first point has been surveyed. fig. 14 is another screen shot similar to fig. 13 , wherein a second point has been surveyed and a straight line portion of a defined shape has been displayed. fig. 15 is another screen shot illustrating the addition of four more surveyed points defining a second straight line portion and a curved portion. fig. 16 is another screen shot illustrating the addition of a seventh surveyed point defining a third straight line portion. fig. 17 is a schematic illustration similar to fig. 10 showing an alternative embodiment wherein the field rover may be mounted on the civil engineering machine for use as one of the receivers of the civil engineering machine. fig. 18 is a schematic illustration similar to fig. 17 showing another alternative embodiment wherein the rover control unit of the field rover is used as the machine control unit of the civil engineering machine. detailed description fig. 1 is a side view of, as an example of a self-propelled civil engineering machine, a slipform paver which is described in detail in ep 1 103 659 b1 (u.s. pat. no. 6,481,924). because slipform pavers as such are part of the prior art, all that will be described here are those components of the civil engineering machine which are material to the invention. the slipform paver 1 has a chassis 2 which is carried by running gear 3 . the running gear 3 has two front and two rear track-laying running gear units 4 a, 4 b which are fastened to front and rear lifting pillars 5 a, 5 b. the direction of working (direction of travel) of the slipform paver is identified by an arrow a. the track-laying running gear units 4 a, 4 b and the lifting pillars 5 a, 5 b are parts of a drive unit of the slipform paver which has drive means to allow the civil engineering machine to carry out movements in translation and/or rotation on the ground. by raising and lowering the lifting pillars 5 a, 5 b, the chassis 2 of the machine can be moved relative to the ground to adjust its height and inclination. the civil engineering machine can be moved backwards and forwards by the track-laying running gear units 4 a, 4 b. the civil engineering machine thus has three degrees of freedom in translation and three degrees of freedom in rotation. the slipform paver 1 has an arrangement 6 , which is only indicated, for moulding concrete which will be referred to in what follows as a concrete mould. the concrete mould is part of a working unit which has working means for producing a structure 10 of a preset shape on the ground. fig. 2 is a side view of, as a further example of a self-propelled civil engineering machine, a road milling machine. once again, the road milling machine 1 too has a chassis 2 which is carried by running gear 3 . the running gear 3 has two front and two rear track-laying running gear units 4 a, 4 b which are fastened to front and rear lifting pillars 5 a, 5 b. the road milling machine has a working unit which has working means to make changes to the ground. this working unit is a milling arrangement 6 which has a milling drum 6 a fitted with milling tools. fig. 3 shows the self-propelled civil engineering machine in a machine-related cartesian co-ordinate system (x,y,z). the civil engineering machine may be a slipform paver, a road milling machine or any other civil engineering machine which has an appropriate working unit. the present embodiment is a slipform paver 1 which has a concrete mould 6 . the slipform paver 1 and the concrete mould 6 are merely indicated. it has the chassis 2 , having the track-laying running gear units 4 a, 4 b, and the concrete mould 6 . the origin of the machine co-ordinate system is at a reference point r on the slipform paver 1 , what is laid down as the reference point r being that edge of the concrete mould 6 which is on the inside and at the rear in the direction of travel. this edge corresponds to the outer boundary of the structure 10 to be produced. in the machine co-ordinate system, the reference point r is determined as follows: r=xr,yr,zr= 0,0,0 the machine co-ordinate system is clearly defined by six degrees of freedom, with the lengths of travel dx, dy, dz defining the movements in translation and the angles ω, φ, κ, defining the three movements in rotation. to simplify things, it will be assumed that the civil engineering machine is standing on flat ground and is not inclined. the angles ω and κ in rotation are thus each equal to zero. the machine co-ordinate system and the civil engineering machine are aligned to one another in such a way that the angle φ in rotation is equal to zero as well. it will also be assumed that the bottom edge of the concrete mould 6 is resting on the ground. this lays it down that the height zr of the reference point r is not to change as the civil engineering machine moves over the flat ground. fig. 4 shows the machine co-ordinate system together with a cartesian reference system, independent of the machine co-ordinate system (x,y,z), which will be referred to in what follows as the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z). the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z) may be selected at random. it remains in the same position and orientation as the civil engineering machine moves. to control the drive unit, the civil engineering machine has a control unit 7 which is merely indicated. the control unit 7 controls the drive means of the drive unit in such a way that the civil engineering machine performs the requisite movements in translation and/or rotation on the ground to enable it to produce the structure 10 or make changes to the ground. the control unit 7 comprises all the components which are required to perform calculating operations and to generate control signals for the drive means of the drive unit. it may form a self-contained unit or it may be part of the central control system of the civil engineering machine. to allow the drive unit to be controlled, the position and/or orientation of the reference point r of the civil engineering machine in the machine co-ordinate system (x,y,z) is transposed into the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z) independent of the movements of the civil engineering machine. in the present embodiment, the position and orientation of the reference point r are determined using a satellite-based global positioning system (gps), which is only indicated in fig. 4 . however, rather than a satellite-based positioning system what may also be used is a non-satellite terrestrial measuring system (a total station). because the requirements for the accuracy with which position and orientation are determined are stringent ones, what is preferably used is that satellite-based global positioning system which is known as the differential global positioning system (dgps). the gps-based method of determining orientation is based in this case on the measurement of position by two dgps receivers which are arranged at different points s 1 , s 2 on the civil engineering machine. the two dpgs receivers s 1 and s 2 are merely indicated in figs. 3 and 4 . the case assumed is the more general one where the dgps receiver s 1 and the dgps receiver s 2 are situated near the origin of the machine co-ordinate system in which the reference point r is sited, the position and orientation of which reference point r are determined in the measurement co-ordinate system. the positions of the dgps receivers s 1 and s 2 are determined in the machine co-ordinate system (x,y,z) by the co-ordinates s 1 =xs 1 , ys 1 , zs 1 and s 2 =xs 2 , ys 2 , zs 2 . in the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z), the positions of the dgps receivers s 1 and s 2 are determined by s 1 =xs 1 , ys 1 , zs 1 and s 2 =xs 2 , ys 2 , zs 2 . by using the two dgps receivers s 1 and s 2 , the control unit 7 employs the gps system to determine data which defines the position of the dgps receivers. from this data on position, the control unit 7 then calculates the position and orientation of the reference point r on the civil engineering machine near to which the two dgps receivers are situated. for this purpose, the control unit 7 performs a transformation with the rotation matrix r to transform the co-ordinates at the points s 1 and s 2 which were measured in the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z) by the dgps receivers s 1 and s 2 to give the reference point r the result is that the control unit determines the measurement co-ordinates of the reference point r on the concrete mould 6 of the slipform paver 1 in the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z): the control unit uses the following equation to calculate the angle 4 ) giving the direction of the civil engineering machine from the co-ordinates (xs 2 , xs 1 ; ys 2 , ys 1 ) of the measured points s 1 and s 2 : φ=arctan( xs 2− xs 1/ ys 2− ys 1) the control unit 7 controls the drive unit of the civil engineering machine in such a way that the civil engineering machine moves along a preset desired curve, i.e. the reference point r on the civil engineering machine moves along the desired curve. in its general form, the desired curve can be defined as follows as a function of distance traveled and curvature: where α=∫ k ( d 1) the curvature k is defined by k=1/r. as an alternative to the system just described using two dgps receivers, it is also to devise a control system using a single dgps receiver. such a control system would lock the rear drive tracks 4 b in a straight forward position. the machine could then automatically follow a curve based on the data of just one dgps sensor because there is a fixed center of rotation at the locked tracks. in this case the orientation of the machine could be determined by observing the position data of the one dgps sensor, the alignment of the steerable front tracks 4 a and the distance driven. in the present embodiment, the slipform paver is to produce a traffic island in the shape of a “cigar”. the geometrical shape of the cigar is defined by a curve which comprises two parallel distances traveled and two arcs of a circle. what will be described in what follows will be only that part of the curve which comprises the initial straight line and the first semi-circular arc. in the embodiment of the cigar, the curvature on the initial straight line is equal to zero. when the reference point r on the civil engineering machine moves along the first arc of a circle, the curvature is constant. once the civil engineering machine has ceased to move along the arc, the curvature once again becomes zero. fig. 5 shows the graph plot 9 for curvature and the graph plot 8 for direction for the slipform paver when producing a cigar whose geometrical shape is defined by a straight line of a length of 2 m and by a semi-circular arc whose radius is 2 m. the length and radius constitute in this case two parameters by which the geometrical shape of the cigar is preset. it will be clear that the graph plot for direction changes as the civil engineering machine enters the arc. the operator of the civil engineering machine first presets a given geometrical shape such as the shape of a cigar for example. the operator is free as to the geometrical shape he presets. fig. 6 shows the geometrical shape which is defined by a straight line “a” and a semi-circular arc “b”. simply to make things clear, the geometrical shape of the cigar has been shown in a grid which relates to the machine co-ordinate system (x,y,z). the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z) has therefore been indicated in fig. 6 only to show the relationship between the machine and measurement co-ordinate systems. the control system according to the invention relies on a starting point at which the production of the structure 10 , such as a cigar for example, begins first being freely selected for the slipform paver on the ground. this starting point corresponds to the origin of the machine co-ordinate system, i.e. the reference point r ( fig. 6 ). the starting point may for example be situated next to a fixed point which is preset on the ground, such as a water inlet for example. the starting point defines the place at which the structure 10 , such as the cigar for example, is to be produced. the orientation of the civil engineering machine is preset freely at the starting point, thus laying down the direction in which the structure 10 , such as the cigar for example, is to extend. the civil engineering machine is now driven to the selected starting point and is aligned in the preset orientation. this process is not automated. the automated control of the civil engineering machine then takes place. the civil engineering machine having been positioned and aligned, the control unit 7 determines for the starting point the data which defines the position and orientation of the reference point r in the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z). this data which defines the position and orientation of the reference point r may be referred to as position data. for the subsequent control, the preset geometrical shape, such as the cigar for example, then has to be transposed to the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z). on the basis of the preset geometrical shape of the structure to be produced or of the ground to which changes are to be made and on the basis of the position and orientation of the reference point r on the civil engineering machine in the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z) which is independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine, the control unit 7 determines data which defines a desired curve, the desired curve being that curve along which the reference point r on the civil engineering machine is to move in the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z). the data defining the desired curve may be referred to as curve data. figs. 6 and 7 show the transfer of the freely preset geometrical shape ( fig. 6 ) to the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z) ( fig. 7 ), to allow the desired curve which defines the desired positions of the reference point in the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z) to be laid down. the position and orientation of the reference point r on the civil engineering machine at the starting point having been determined and the desired curve having been laid down, the control unit 7 puts the civil engineering machine into operation. the control unit now determines, continuously or at discrete increments of time, the actual position (xr, yr) and actual direction (ϕ) of the reference point r on the civil engineering machine in the measurement co-ordinate system (x,y,z). in so doing the control unit each time calculates the distance d between the desired position p and the actual position (xr, yr) and the difference in direction δϕ between the desired direction α and the actual direction ϕ. using a preset control algorithm, a drive control component of the control unit 7 calculates from the distance d and the difference in direction δϕ the value at the time of the manipulated variable for the drive means of the drive unit in such a way that the distance d and the difference in direction δϕ are minimal, i.e. in such a way that the reference point on the civil engineering machine moves along the desired curve. control algorithms of this kind are well known to the person skilled in the art. fig. 8 shows the distance d between the desired position of a point on the desired curve and the actual position (xr, yr) of the reference point r, while fig. 9 shows the difference in direction δϕ between the desired direction α and the actual direction ϕ at a point on the desired curve. the correction to the steering is found as a function of the distance d and the difference in direction δϕ (correction to steering=f (d, δϕ). for the presetting of the geometrical shape, i.e. for the presetting of a given object, the control unit has an input unit 7 a which is once again merely indicated. the input unit 7 a may also be referred to as a shape selection component 7 a. in one embodiment, the input unit 7 a has means 7 b in the form of, for example, a keyboard or a touch screen. from the keyboard or touch screen 7 b, the operator of the machine can enter various parameters which define the geometrical shape. the operator may for example enter the length of the straight line and the radius of the arc for a cigar. the input unit 7 a may also have means 7 b, such for example as a keyboard or touch screen once again, to enable one geometrical shape which defines the desired object to be selected from a plurality of geometrical shapes which are stored in a memory unit 7 c of the control unit. as well as for the input of parameters and/or the selection of geometrical shapes, a further embodiment of the control unit 7 also makes provision for the modification of a geometrical shape which has been entered or selected. for example, a cigar whose straight lines are of a preset length and whose arcs are of a preset radius may be selected and then, by entering new parameters for the length of the straight lines and/or the radius of the arcs from the keyboard or touch screen 7 b, the cigar which was selected may be adjusted to suit the particular requirements which exist at the site, the cigar being made smaller or larger for example and in particular its width or length being changed. as well as this, the input unit 7 a also has means 7 d, in the form of a switch or push-button 7 d for example, by which the civil engineering machine can be put into operation on the ground after the positioning and alignment. a switch or push-button 7 d may also be provided on the input unit 7 a to enable the civil engineering machine to be stopped before it has moved for the entire length of the desired curve. the civil engineering machine having been stopped, new parameters may, for example, then be entered from the keyboard or touch screen 7 b to change the path followed by the curve and for example to change the height of the object being produced. alternative techniques the system described above provides a great deal of flexibility in creating and using preset geometrical shapes to be applied to selected actual ground locations. more generally, the control unit described above can be described as including: a shape selection component operable to preset a geometrical shape for the structure to be produced or for the ground to which changes are made; a position data determination component operable to determine position data to define the position and/or orientation of a reference point on the civil engineering machine in relation to a reference system which is independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine; a curve data determination component operable to determine curve data to define a desired curve based on the preset geometrical shape of the structure to be produced or the ground to which changes are to be made and based on a desired position and orientation of the preset geometrical shape in the reference system independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine, the desired curve being that curve along which the reference point on the civil engineering machine is to move in the reference system independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine; and a drive control component operable to control the drive unit, as a function of the curve data defining the desired curve, in such a way that the reference point on the civil engineering machine moves along the desired curve. one way to determine the desired position and orientation of the preset geometrical shape in the reference system independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine is the method described in detail above wherein the shape is first defined in the machine-related coordinate system (x,y,z) and is then transformed into the reference system independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine. in that case, the desired position and orientation of the preset geometrical shape is the position in which the starting point and orientation corresponds to the current location of the reference point r on the civil engineering machine 1 and the current orientation of the civil engineering machine in the independent reference system (x,y,z). in that case, the machine is already located at a known point and in a known orientation on the desired curve, and the drive control component 7 d may be activated to move the machine along the desired curve. it will be appreciated that identifying the current position and orientation of the reference point r on the civil engineering machine 1 as a known point and orientation on the desired curve is only one way to determine the curve data defining the desired curve. the curve data for the desired curve can be determined by any technique that will define the location and orientation of the preset shape in the reference system independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine. in general, once the preset shape has been selected, it is necessary to either identify the location within the independent reference system (x,y,z) of at least two identifiable points of the preset shape, or to identify the location within the independent reference system of one identifiable point of the preset shape and identify the orientation of the preset shape within the independent reference system. for example in fig. 11 a cigar shape is shown defined by two straight line portions and two semi-circular portions of radius “r” having centers m 1 and m 2 . it will be appreciated in viewing fig. 11 that the location and orientation of the cigar shape curve there shown can be defined by identifying the location in the independent reference system of any two identifiable points on the curve, or by identifying the location of one point plus the orientation of the shape. that orientation may be described by the direction along the shape at the identified point. if the point is on a curved portion of the shape, the direction is preferably defined as the tangent of the curve. for example, with reference to fig. 11 , the system described above can determine the curve data of the desired curve by the operator inputting information defining the location of a selected point s 100 ′ on the preset shape within the independent reference system, and information defining the selected orientation of the preset shape within the independent reference system such as the angle 109 shown in fig. 11 . then using that input information the data defining the preset shape can be transformed into data defining the desired curve in the independent reference system in the same way as described above for use of the current position and orientation of the reference point r of the civil engineering machine 1 as the input data. this input data may for example be determined on the job site by identifying the desired location of a point on the desired curve within the independent reference system (x,y,z). this may be accomplished by surveying the location of a desired starting point for the preset shape within the independent reference system, for example the point s 100 ′. the surveying may be accomplished via a gps field rover as further described below, or by any other suitable surveying technology. the desired orientation of the preset shape within the independent reference system may also be similarly determined on the job site. also, if the desired location in the independent reference system of two points of the preset shape can be identified, that information can then be used to transform the preset shape into curve data defining the desired curve in the independent reference system. in the example of fig. 11 the two points could be the beginning and ending points s 100 ′ and s 100 ″ of one of the straight sections of the cigar shape as shown in fig. 11 . the desired location of those two points may be identified in the independent reference system, for example by using the field rover. the information identifying those two points within the independent reference system can then be used as the reference points to transform the data defining the preset shape into curve data defining the desired curve within the independent reference system. in a situation like either of the alternative examples just described, wherein the reference point of the civil engineering machine is not already located at a known location on the desired curve, it is necessary to move the civil engineering machine to the desired starting point and to orient the civil engineering machine in the desired orientation before beginning the paving or milling or other construction operation of the civil engineering machine. this movement of the civil engineering machine to the desired starting point and orientation can also be automated. the control unit 7 can control the movement of the civil engineering machine from any initial location to any desired point and orientation on the desired curve in the same manner as described above with regard to figs. 8 and 9 . in practice, the machine operator will typically drive the machine to a location near to the desired curve, and then allow the automated control unit 7 to take over and move the machine precisely into a starting position on the desired curve. use of a field rover one way to conveniently gather and input the information defining the desired locations in the independent reference system of corresponding points on the preset shape is to use a gps field rover to survey the desired location of those points. it is particularly desirable to use a gps field rover including a control unit which substantially duplicates the shape selection component, the position data determination component and the curve data determination component of the control unit of the civil engineering machine. this allows the gps field rover to be used to generate the curve data defining the desired curve in advance of moving the civil engineering machine to the field location. then the curve data can simply be transferred into the control unit of the civil engineering machine and used to control the operation of the civil engineering machine. a schematic representation of a civil engineering machine system 101 including a field rover 100 is shown in fig. 10 . the rover 100 includes a rod 102 . a lower end 104 of the rod is placed on a location on the ground surface for which the gps coordinates are to be determined. a gps receiver s 100 is located at the upper end of the rod 102 and may be connected to a rover control unit 107 via electrical connection 105 . optionally, the rover control unit may be embodied as a separate hand held control unit 107 ′ connected via wireless connection 105 ′ to the receiver s 100 as indicated in fig. 10 . the rover control unit 107 may substantially duplicate the shape selection component, the position data determination component, and the curve data determination component of the control unit of the civil engineering machine. the rover control unit 107 includes a rover position data determination component 107 e which receives the signals from the gps receiver s 100 to determine position data to define the position of the field rover 100 in relation to the independent reference system (x,y,z). the field rover 100 may also include a radio 103 for communicating with a gps base station, and a battery 106 to provide power. the rover 100 may also be constructed for use with any of the other location technologies described above. for example the gps receiver s 100 may be replaced with a prism for use with a total station. or other satellite based location technologies may be used. thus for the pre-setting of the geometrical shape, i.e. for the pre-setting of a given object, the rover control unit 107 has a rover input unit 107 a. the rover input unit 107 a may also be referred to as a shape selection component 107 a. in one embodiment, the rover input unit 107 a has means 107 b in the form of, for example, a keyboard or a touch screen. from the keyboard or touch screen 107 b, the operator of the rover can enter various parameters which define the geometrical shape. the operator may for example enter the length of the straight line and the radius of the arc for a cigar. the rover input unit 107 a may also have means 107 b, such for example as a keyboard or touch screen once again, to enable one geometrical shape which defines the desired object to be selected from a plurality of geometrical shapes which are stored in a rover memory unit 107 c of the rover control unit. as well as for the input of parameters and/or the selection of geometrical shapes, a further embodiment of the rover control unit 107 also makes provision for the modification of a geometrical shape which has been entered or selected. for example, a cigar whose straight lines are of a preset length and whose arcs are of a preset radius may be selected and then, by entering new parameters for the length of the straight lines and/or the radius of the arcs from the rover keyboard or touch screen 107 b, the cigar which was selected may be adjusted to suit the particular requirements which exist at the site, the cigar being made smaller or larger for example and in particular its width or length being changed. the rover control unit 107 has the same capabilities as described above for the machine control unit 7 , with regard to the determination of curve data to be used by the machine control unit 7 . thus the rover control unit 107 can take a preset shape and then use information representing the desired location in the independent reference system of at least two identifiable points of the shape or of one point and the orientation of the shape, to create curve data completely identifying the location of the shape in the independent reference system. this portion of the rover control unit 107 comprises a rover curve data determination component. the rover control unit 107 has an input/output port 108 which allows curve data determined via the rover control unit 107 to be downloaded to a digital media such as a memory stick which can then be used to transfer the curve data to the control unit 7 of the civil engineering machine. furthermore, additional predefined geometrical shapes and/or pre-processed gps data can be loaded into the rover memory unit 107 c. the data may also be transferred by wireless means or any other suitable technology. the addition to the civil engineering machine system 101 of the separate field rover 100 having the rover control unit 107 duplicating many of the capabilities of the shape selection component, the position data determination component, and the curve data determination component, greatly increases the flexibility of the system. this allows selected steps to be performed in the machine control unit 7 or in the rover control unit 107 , whichever is most convenient. in one embodiment, as described above with regard to figs. 1-9 , the machine control unit 7 can be utilized to perform all the functions. in that case the position and orientation of the machine are used to define the position and orientation of the preset shape in the independent reference system (x,y,z). in another embodiment, the field rover 100 can be utilized to gather only partial data for the desired curve location. for example the field rover could be used to survey the location of a starting point s 100 ′, which location could then be used by the machine control unit 7 to determine curve data in the independent reference system. the machine could then be driven to the surveyed starting point. in another embodiment the field rover 100 can be utilized to completely determine the curve data in the independent reference system, and that curve data can be transferred to the machine control unit. the combined system of the civil engineering machine with its machine control unit 7 and the field rover 100 with its rover control unit 107 provides the ability to deal with any situation which may be encountered in the field. for example, at a large sophisticated job site, the entire site may have been surveyed and designed in a state plane coordinate system, and the surveyor may have provided pre-processed gps coordinate files defining all of the structures to be paved on the job site. if those pre-processed files are accurate, they may be loaded into the machine control unit 7 and executed without modification. if the pre-processed gps coordinate file is unusable because of error or because of the presence of some unexpected obstacle on the ground, the machine operator can edit the file in the machine control unit 7 or in the rover control unit 107 to make it usable. furthermore, the pre-processed file can be used simply as a shape file, and a new gps coordinate file may be generated by the machine control unit 7 or by the rover control unit 107 to move that shape to any desired location and orientation within the independent reference system. in another example, the designer of the job site may have pre-surveyed the site and placed pins or stakes in the ground identifying the locations of a series of surveyed points along the ground surface, which points identify the desired curve on the ground surface. in the prior art such pre-surveyed points are utilized to build a stringline to guide the civil engineering machine. with the present system, the field rover 100 may be utilized to create a virtual stringline by using the rover to identify the locations of those pre-surveyed points, and then to define the desired curve within the independent reference system. the curve data defining that virtual stringline may then be transferred into the machine control unit 7 . in another example the job site designer may have only provided a paper plan specifying the desired locations of various structures on the jobsite. there may be no pre-processed gps files and no pre-surveyed ground locations. in that situation either the machine control unit 7 or the rover control unit 107 , or a combination of both, may be utilized to determine the curve data defining the desired curve in the independent reference system. in still another example, there may not even be a paper plan. there may just be a job site, and structures may be designed on site by selecting or creating a preset shape, and then determining the curve data to define the desired curve for that shape within the independent reference system. that can be done with either the machine control unit 7 or the rover control unit 107 , or a combination of both, in any of the manners described above. in general the machine control unit 7 and the rover control unit 107 together should collectively provide the various control unit components described above. the machine control unit 7 and the rover control unit 107 may completely duplicate all functions to provide redundant capability. or selected control unit components may be provided by either one or both of the control units. the minimum capability that should be present in the rover control unit 107 is to provide the rover position data determination component. the rover control unit 107 may also provide the shape selection component and/or the curve data determination component. use of field rover to design shapes the rover 100 can also be utilized to easily create new complex shapes. the rover can survey a series of points on a ground surface identifying the shape which is to be created. the rover control unit 107 can then define a shape based upon the series of points. that shape can then be saved in the memory 107 c for subsequent use, and it can also be transferred to the machine control unit 7 . in order to create these new complex shapes, the rover control unit 107 may include a shape fitting component 110 embodied in software which may be stored in the memory 107 c. the functionality of the shape fitting component 110 is schematically illustrated in the flow chart of fig. 12 . various representative screen shots illustrating embodiments of the touch screen 107 b corresponding to various features of the shape fitting component 110 are illustrated in figs. 13-16 . the shape fitting component 110 may be generally described as a shape fitting component configured to define a defined shape corresponding to a series of surveyed positions. as is further explained below, the shape fitting component 110 is preferably configured such that a user may select for at least some of the surveyed positions whether the positions are part of a straight line portion of part of a curved portion of the defined shape. after definition of the defined shape, the defined shape may be stored in memory 107 c. the shape fitting component 110 may include a shape smoothing component 112 configured such that the user may selectively use position data in defining the defined shape. the shape smoothing component is configured such that the user may select for each surveyed position, or at least some of the surveyed positions, to not include the position data in defining the defined shape or to use the position data for the surveyed position only with regard to either elevation position or horizontal position of the defined shape. an example of the manner of use of the shape fitting component 110 in association with the display and input functions of the touch screen 107 b as illustrated in figs. 13-16 will now be described. starting for example with a straight line curb with uniform slope, if the user knows where the curb is to be located in the field, the field rover 100 may be placed on the ground at the starting point of the curb. fig. 13 illustrates the display of the touch screen 107 b having on the left hand side a display 114 of the surveyed points and subsequently of the shape defined by those points, and having on the right hand side 116 an input screen. in fig. 13 the first surveyed point is indicated by the numeral 1 . after measuring the first point 1 , the user is prompted to decide whether the point is part of a straight line portion or a curved portion of the defined shape. this query is answered by the selective use of an enter button 118 , a start arc 120 and an end arc button 122 . if the point surveyed lies on a straight line the query is answered simply by touching the enter button 118 . if the point is to lie on a curve then either the start arc button 120 or end arc button 122 is pressed. it is noted that a curved portion of the defined shape may be an actual arc of a circle, but more generally a curved portion is a portion that is not substantially straight and the curved portion does not have to be an arc of a circle. additionally, the right hand side 116 of input screen 107 b illustrates a prompt for a vertical offset. for example, if the user is surveying the base of a subgrade, and the user knows that the top of the pavement is for example 0.25 meters higher than the subgrade, then the user can enter a vertical offset “voff” of 0.25 as shown, representing the top of the pavement. in the flow chart of fig. 12 , the surveying of a position such as position 1 is indicated at block 120 , the addition of vertical offset is illustrated in the block 122 , and the response to the query as to whether the point is part of a straight portion or a curved portion of the shape is indicated at block 124 . the shape fitting component may also query as indicated at block 126 , whether the user wishes to enter a cross slope value associated with each measured point, in order to generate an additional file which will automatically control the cross slope of the civil engineering machine. in this most simple example of defining a straight line portion of the defined shape, an end point 2 of the straight line portion may be surveyed as illustrated in fig. 14 , and a straight line portion 128 of a defined shape may be defined joining the beginning and ending points 1 and 2 of the straight line portion. it is noted that in general the defined shape being defined is a three dimensional shape, wherein each surveyed or determined position has both a horizontal position in two dimensions as illustrated from the left hand side of figs. 13 and 14 , and a vertical or elevation position. thus, even when defining a straight line portion such as 128 , additional positions may be surveyed between the beginning and ending points 1 and 2 , which additional positions may for example be utilized simply to provide elevation position data for the straight line portion 128 . in general, as indicated at block 130 in fig. 12 the user may select whether or not to use the data for any surveyed position, and as further indicated in block 132 the user may select whether to use data from a given surveyed position only for purposes of defining elevation position of the shape or only for purposes of defining horizontal position of the shape, or both. as each surveyed position is added to the group of surveyed positions from which the defined shape is to be defined, the algorithms contained in the software defining the shape fitting component 110 will define or redefine the defined shape based on the available data as indicated at block 134 . at any time during the gathering of survey data defining the various surveyed positions, the shape fitting component may be prompted to display the defined shape as shown for example in fig. 14 . as indicated at block 136 the display may show the deviation 138 (see fig. 14 ) of any given surveyed point x from the defined line. as indicated at block 140 the user may choose to delete a point, or to resurvey the position of a selected point. if the user chooses to resurvey a position then the position data for that point will be substituted for the original position data and then as indicated at block 142 the shape fitting component 110 will redefine the defined shape 142 based upon the modified data. as long as additional data for additional surveyed positions is to be added, the process repeats by returning to block 120 and surveying those additional positions. as previously noted, the defined shape may include curved portions. those curved portions may be adjacent to and extend from adjacent straight portions, as for example previously shown in fig. 11 . also, a curved portion or an additional straight portion may be spaced from the first straight portion 128 of the defined shape. as shown for example in fig. 15 , additional points 3 , 4 , 5 and 6 have been surveyed. in the example of fig. 14 , an additional straight line segment is defined between points 3 and 4 . there is a gap or spacing between points 2 and 3 . a curved portion is defined by points 4 , 5 and 6 . in general there are several options for how to create a curved portion utilizing the shape fitting component. the choice will depend on the amount of data which is available to the user, and the type of curve to be defined, though several options include: 1. if the curve is an arc, and if start point (=pc) and end point (pt) and the design radius are known and given to the user, that is sufficient to define the arc.2. if the curve is an arc, and if start point and end point and a third point which lays on the arc are given to the user, that is sufficient to define the arc.3. if the curve is an arc, and if start point and end point are not precisely defined, but a third point which lays on the arc is given to the user, that is sufficient to define the arc.4. if the curve is a more complex shape that is not an arc, and if start point and end point are not precisely defined and there are more than 2 points on the curve (e.g. a spiral curve with undefined radius), then an algorithm is used to define a curve corresponding to the data points.5. a complex curve may also be represented as a series of many relatively short straight lines. regardless of which option is used, the user starts a curve by tapping on the “start arc” button 120 and takes the measurements for the various surveyed positions based on whatever information is available. the algorithms utilized by the shape fitting component 110 will always create a smooth shape which is tangential to the element measured before the curve starts and tangential to the element after the curve ends. any suitable mathematical method may be utilized to define a defined curve corresponding to the series of data points. one suitable mathematical method is a bezier curve, which is an elegant method of approximating lines between a flexible number of data points defining the curve. the calculated curve is very suitable for designing roadways and railways as it results in a smooth and homogenous line. it is noted that in an actual field situation, the user may not know for certain whether a given portion of the structure being surveyed is best represented as a straight line portion or as a curved portion. in such a case it is better to define that portion of the structure as a curve and to provide at least four surveyed points. also, if the user is not certain where the start and end point of a curved portion resides, it is better to start the curve early and finish it later in order to generate a smooth transition between the straight and curved elements of the defined shape. if the curve changes direction, this is accomplished simply by starting a new curve at the point of inflection. the curved portion is ended when the entire curve transitions into a straight line. at the end of the curved portion, the user presses the “end arc” button 122 and the algorithm will automatically calculate the defined curved portion such as 144 seen in fig. 15 . fig. 16 illustrates a further continuation of the process where an additional point 7 has been surveyed to define an additional straight line portion 146 between points 6 and 7 . thus, for example the structures indicated in fig. 16 might indicate the locations of curbing in a parking lot with a gap between points 2 and 3 for an entrance into the parking lot. as indicated at block 148 of fig. 12 , the shape fitting component 110 further provides for the editing of the vertical profile of the defined shape. for example, the user may be provided with construction plans for the project which define the desired slope between various points on the defined shape. thus, any field measurements taken may be modified to conform them as desired to define a defined shape having the desired vertical profile. once the defined shape has been fully defined, as indicated at block 150 a shape storing component 150 of the control unit 107 stores in the memory 107 c the data defining the defined shape. that defined shape is preferably defined as a series of one or more straight line portions and/or one or more curved portions. each straight line portion may be defined by a direction and a length. if the curved portion is an arc, it may be defined by a radius of curvature and a length. if the curved portion is a complex curve it may be defined in more complex format, such as by a bezier curve or by other suitable curve fitting technique, or it may be defined as a series of many short straight line segments. such data may for example be similar in format to the data shown in the following table i defining the shapes shown in fig. 16 . the data of table i is provided as an example only, and is not intended to be in any way limiting of the scope of the claims. table iseg-type ofendingline/arctangentmentelementstationnorthingeastinglengthout128line4.6965849.5963322.9804.69673.1432ne143line1.4875851.6953320.9681.48730.3803nw144curve3.9875852.6313318.8222.50077.4446sw146line5.9875852.2063316.8682.0077.4446sw after the defined shape is defined and stored in memory, it may be saved in either of two formats. first, the data gathered by the rover using gps co-ordinates may be saved in the gps co-ordinates representing the shape in the reference system independent of the position and orientation of the civil engineering machine. in this first instance, the file may simply be loaded into controller 7 of the civil engineering machine and used without further transformation. second, the data may be saved in a format like that of the table above, defining the shape as a series of straight and curved lines with lengths and directions. in this second instance, the shape file may be utilized like any other pre-stored shape and may be selected and used. the selected shape defined as a series of distances and directions in the reference system of a civil engineering machine may be transformed into curve data representative of the location and orientation of the selected shape in the reference system independent of the civil engineering machine. alternatively instead of transferring the data from the rover control unit 107 to the machine control unit 7 , the civil engineering machine may be provided with an interface or docking station 160 which allows the rover control unit 107 to be connected to the civil engineering machine. when the rover 100 is docked with the civil engineering machine the rover can perform various functions on the civil engineering machine, including serving as one of the position sensors of the civil engineering machine and/or serving as at least a part of the control unit of the civil engineering machine. for example, as schematically illustrated in fig. 17 , the rover 100 may be constructed to be mounted on the chassis 2 of the civil engineering machine by engaging the rover 100 with the docking station 160 , so that the receiver s 100 of the rover 100 takes the place of the receiver s 2 of the civil engineering machine. in this embodiment, when it is desired to survey various positions on the ground located remotely from the civil engineering machine, the rover 100 may be undocked and used to survey those ground locations as indicated. then the rover may be again docked with the civil engineering machine and serve in the role of one of the receivers of the civil engineering machine. when docked in the docking station 160 the rover control unit 107 may be communicated with the machine control unit. 7 further, as schematically illustrated in fig. 18 , when the rover 100 is docked with the civil engineering machine the rover control unit 107 may be used as the machine control unit for the civil engineering machine, and the separate machine control unit 7 may be eliminated. thus it is seen that the apparatus and methods of the present invention readily achieve the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as those inherent therein. while certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in the present disclosure, numerous changes in the arrangement and construction of parts and steps may be made by those skilled in the art, which changes are encompassed within the scope and spirit of the present invention which is defined by the appended claims.
088-436-114-123-210	US	[ "CA", "AU", "US", "MX", "WO", "AR" ]	C12P5/02,C02F3/28,C02F3/30,C02F11/04,C12M1/00,C12M1/107,C12P1/00,C05F17/00,C05F17/02,C12P7/54,C05F7/00,C02F11/02,C02F11/12,C05F5/00,C05G3/00,C12F3/02,C12M1/34,C12P3/00,C05F11/00,C10J3/46,C10L5/00	2007-10-25T00:00:00	2007	[ "C12", "C02", "C05", "C10" ]	system and method for anaerobic digestion of biomasses	provided herein are methods and system for the production of biogas, u.s. environmental protection agency classified class a biosolids, and pathogen reduced organic liquid fertilizer. through the digestion of waste materials using sequential phases in an efficient digestion process, enhanced biomass conversion efficiency and improved output of products (in quantity and/or quality) are obtained with a significant reduction in dwell time in each phase.	1 . a method for digesting a biomass, the method comprising: processing at least a portion of the biomass in a first unit to undergo a first digestion, wherein the first digestion is performed at a first temperature; processing at least another portion of the biomass in a second unit, wherein the at least another portion of the biomass transferred from the first unit to the second unit, wherein the at least another portion of the biomass in the second unit undergoes a second digestion, wherein the second digestion is performed at a second temperature that is higher than the first temperature; processing at least a further portion of the biomass in at least one third unit, wherein the at least further portion of the biomass is transferred from the second unit to the at least one third unit, wherein in the at least one third unit the processing includes a third digestion, wherein the third digestion is performed at a third temperature that is higher than either the first temperature or the second temperature; diverting at least a portion of feedstream from the at least one third unit after undergoing the third digestion, wherein diverting provides a bioproduct suitable as one or more of a fuel, supplement, fertilizer and gas. 2 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the first unit digestion is a hydrolysis reaction performed under aerobic conditions. 3 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the second unit digestion is an acidification reaction performed under anaerobic conditions. 4 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one third unit digestion is a thermophilic reaction performed under anaerobic conditions. 5 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the first temperature is up to about 85 degrees fahrenheit. 6 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the second temperature is greater than 85 degrees fahrenheit and less than about 100 degrees fahrenheit. 7 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the third temperature is greater than 100 degrees fahrenheit and less than about 160 degrees fahrenheit. 8 . the method of claim 1 further comprising processing a still further portion of the biomass from the at least one third unit to a fourth unit, wherein the still further portion of the biomass in the fourth unit undergoes a fourth digestion, wherein the fourth digestion is performed at a temperature that is at or near the second temperature. 9 . the method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the bioproduct is diverted back into the system. 10 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the biomass has a solids content of up to about 15% when processed in the first unit. 11 . the method of claim 1 processing in a fourth unit, wherein feed stream from the fourth unit has a portion of which is diverted for providing the bioproduct. 12 . a system for digesting a biomass, the system comprising a first unit for processing at least a portion of the biomass in a first digestion, wherein the first digestion is performed at a first temperature; a second unit for processing at least some of the at least portion of the biomass in a second digestion, wherein the second digestion is performed at a second temperature that is higher than the first temperature; at least one third unit for processing a further portion of the biomass in a third digestion, wherein the third digestion is performed at a third temperature that is higher than either the first temperature or the second temperature; a diversion unit for transferring at least a portion of feed stream from the at least one third unit to provides a bioproduct suitable as one or more of a fuel, supplement, fertilizer and gas. 13 . the system of claim 12 further comprising a fourth unit for processing at least some output from the at least one third digestion, wherein the temperature in the fourth unit is at or near a temperature of the second unit. 14 . the system of claim 12 further comprising a second diversion unit for diverting some of the feed stream to a dewatering system, wherein the dewatering system separates solids from liquid in the diverted feed stream. 15 . the system of claim 12 further comprising a treating unit for treating the biogas. 16 . the system of claim 12 further comprising a mixing system for circulating fluid in any one of the second unit and the at least one third unit. 17 . the system of claim 12 further comprising a system for monitoring and adjusting oxygen levels in the system. 18 . the system of claim 12 further comprising at least one unit for modifying temperature of a portion of the system. 19 . the system of claim 12 further comprising a ph adjustment system located between one or more of the first unit, the second unit, and the third unit. 20 . a composition obtained from the system of claim 12 .	cross-references to related applications this application is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/346,368 filed jan. 9, 2012, which claims priority to and is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 12/258,925 filed oct. 27, 2008, which claims the benefit for priority of u.s. provisional application no. 60/982,672 filed oct. 25, 2007, and u.s. provisional application no. 61/078,835 filed jul. 8, 2008, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes. background waste material may include material obtained from waste streams, such as sewage, sewage sludge, chemical wastes, food processing wastes, agricultural wastes, animal wastes including manure, and other organic waste and materials. waste materials, collectively referred to herein as biomass, when broken down, may be used as a source of hydrocarbon, such as methane and/or other biogases, biosolids and other biofuels or bioproducts. waste materials may also serve as a source of organic fertilizer. unfortunately, processes to produce hydrocarbons, such as methane and/or other bioproducts or biofuels (e.g., biogases, biosolids, safe fertilizers, biosupplements) are complicated, costly and difficult to control. summary as described, the invention relates generally to the field of anaerobic digestion of biomasses. more particularly, the present invention relates to the conversion of biomass to methane or other bioproducts or biofuels, such as biogases, biosolids, safe fertilizers, and bio supplements. in various embodiments are provided one or more processes, apparatus, and systems for production of output that includes one or more biofuels or bioproducts (e.g., biogases, biosolids, fertilizer and/or biosupplements). said output is provided by waste/biomass input into one or more digesters, generally via a feed stream. such biofuels or bioproducts are produced via digestion of said waste materials, as further described herein. said digester systems as described herein may yield a high biomass conversion efficiency at a high conversion rate. conversions by digester systems described herein produce one or more bioproducts and biofuels, such as decomposed solids and biogases. in one form, a produced biofuel or bioproduct complies with a u.s. environmental protection agency (epa) classification as a class a biosolids. in addition or as an alternative, a produced biofuel or bioproduct includes one or more biogases, such as methane and hydrogen. in addition or as an alternative, a produced biofuel or bioproduct includes a safe and organic liquid fertilizer, a pathogen reduced fertilizer and/or a pathogen reduced biosupplement. in one or more embodiments biomass digesters described herein are provided with increased efficiency that may enable reductions in digester volume and/or reactor size. in turn, such reductions should lead to reduced capital costs and reduced energy requirements, as a consequence of lower heating and mixing demands, as examples. as described herein, in one or more forms, operating efficiency may be enhanced by a separation of phases in the digestion process, wherein each phase is identified as an isolated stage. separation enables independent environments that may be pre-selected and optimized for each phase that includes a specific group of microorganisms involved in digestion. separation of stages allows independent manipulation of a given stage in order to enhance production of a particular output, such one biogas over another or the co-production of one or more output products. separation also allows one or more microbial environments to be independently manipulated for activity, inactivity and/or growth. for example, effective isolation of acidogenic microbes helps manage their normally very rapid and aggressive growth. together, the independence of phase environments and separate control of said phases provides a more stable operation by minimizing process upsets (e.g., microbe displacement and spillover that could normally be caused by unequal microbial growth) and provides uninterrupted operating periods that should maximize biogas, biosolid and/or biofuel production. in one or more embodiments, systems and processes described herein may provide stable anaerobic digestion and uninterrupted plant operation with reduced plant upsets, upsets that are normally due to unequal growth rates of one or more microorganism. hence, described herein is a means for efficient manipulation of one or more desired microorganisms and their activity within a given and isolated phase. in yet other forms, systems and processes described herein may provide greater production of desired digestion products due to, in part, to decreased plant delays, interruptions and more efficient processing of waste/biomass. additional embodiments, as described herein, may include systems and processes for treatment and recycling of biomass water and effluent used in the digestion process. such treatment reduces the overall amount of water consumed in digestion processes, as described herein. still further embodiments described herein include more manageable environmental conditions for microorganisms, including more moderate ph for microbe preservation, avoidance of over-acidification as well as minimal operating energy requirements, particularly suitable for commercial applications. such enhancements promote system efficiency and stability. in many embodiments, systems and processes described herein may provide efficient and on-demand biomass digestion and output production without a need for regular biomass biosupplements. enhanced efficiency, as described herein, allows for digestion and output production with minimal operating energy requirements. enhanced efficiency also provides for the reliable production of one or more biogases, biofuels and/or biosolids, including safe organic fertilizer. still further, as described herein are provided systems and processes that may be used for production of one or more biogases, including methane and/or hydrogen, wherein said one or more biogas may be used as an energy source for the digester system described herein. in additional embodiments, described herein are parallel operations of two or more digester systems, which may further include the feeding of methane from one system into another system. such parallel operation and/or sharing of resources may promote production of additional methane and/or other biofuels or bioproducts, such as hydrogen, class a biosolids, fertilizers and/or biosupplements, in one or more of the systems. other embodiments described herein may include operation of digestion phases in series, thereby further enhancing biofuel or bioproduct production from a given feed stream for example, two thermophilic digester reactors may be positioned in series to enhance and more efficiently produce methane and/or hydrogen and/or other biogases from a feed stream. yet further embodiments, as described herein, may include a consumption of a portion of volatile solids from a given biomass feed stream for production of a biogas, such as, for example, methane and/or hydrogen, with consumption of the remaining portion for production of one or more other biogases. one or more embodiments provided herein may include the capability to adjust the amount of volatile solids in one or more portions of the feed stream without increasing water demands in a particular digestion phase, such as the hydrolysis phase. those skilled in the art will further appreciate the above-noted features and enhancements together with other important aspects thereof upon reading the detailed description that follows in conjunction with the drawings. brief description of the figures for more complete understanding of the features and advantages of the inventions described herein, reference is now made to a description of the invention along with accompanying figures, wherein: figs. 1a , 1 b, 1 c and 1 d are each block diagrams, each schematically illustrating a representative system and process of biomass digestion as described herein, including output production of one or more biofuels and/or bioproducts; figs. 2a and 2b each depict representative side view configurations for a digestion reactor as described herein, which include a representative recirculation device; fig. 3 depicts a representative process for dewatering effluent; figs. 4a and 4b each depict representative schematics for a gas treating method as described herein; fig. 5 depicts schematically a representative biogas stripping apparatus as described herein; fig. 6 depicts a front cross section of a representative digestion reactor that includes a dissolved air system as described herein; fig. 7 depicts an end view of a dissolved air system of fig. 6 incorporated into a digestion reactor; fig. 8 illustrates a representative flow chart as described herein for producing one or more biogases, including methane; fig. 9 illustrates a representative flow chart as described herein for producing one or more biosolids, biofuels and/or biosupplements, including pathogen reduced liquid fertilizer and pathogen reduced biofuels and biosupplements; figs. 10a and 10b illustrate a representative flow chart as described herein for producing one or more biogases, including methane, using two thermophilic reactors in series; and figs. 11a and 11b illustrate together a representative flow chart as described herein for producing one or more biogases, including methane, using two biomass digester systems in parallel. detailed description the invention, as described herein, may be better understood by reference to the following detailed description. the description is meant to be read with reference to the figures contained herein. this detailed description relates to examples of the invented subject matter for illustrative purposes, and is in no way meant to limit the scope of the invention. the specific aspects and embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of ways to make and use the invention, and do not limit the scope of the invention. waste material includes material obtained from waste streams, such as sewage, sewage sludge, chemical wastes, food processing wastes, agricultural wastes, animal wastes including manure, and other organic waste and materials. waste materials, when digested may provide a high amount of one or more biogases, biosolids, and/or other biofuels and biosupplements. waste materials may also serve as a source of organic fertilizer. unfortunately, processes to produce such output products, including methane and safe fertilizers, are complicated, costly and difficult to control. for example, cow manure, which may be composted to produce a safe fertilizer, is difficult to process and is costly to process. the unreliability in current composting methods are evidenced by recent outbreaks of one or more pathogen infections in humans, such as escherichia coli infection after the ingestion of spinach and lettuce that had been organically fertilized and irrigated with composted cow manure. the e. coli outbreak prompted product recalls, caused numerous infections, and even resulted in death. pathogens that may be present in animal manure include e. coli, salmonella typhimurium, streptococcus pyogenes , and staphylococcus aureus , to name a few. digestion processes have been used to treat and remove organic compounds from waste streams containing the above-mentioned waste material (also referred to herein as biomass). biological anaerobic digestion of biomass wastes produce, in one form, methane. conventionally, natural gas, which is about 95 percent methane, is mined from deep natural gas deposits, which is very costly. the biologic digestion process reduces carbon dioxide emissions and does not require expansive mining projects or destruction of natural resources. unfortunately, current biomass digestion systems are large and costly to build. for example, the size of a conventional digester is 15 to 20 times the daily waste volume. in addition, such a digester requires high level management. a biomass digester for methane production and elimination of volatile solids may also be susceptible to environmental changes and a biological upset may take months to correct. and, with a digester system upset, methane generation and volatile solid reduction may decrease dramatically or even stop. as of yet, digester systems and biomass methane generation are not viable energy options for commercial and/or farm use. the same can be said that there are currently no viable means for providing risk-free commercial grade fertilizer using biomass digester systems. generally, biomass for digestion is placed in a feed stream and is diluted, or otherwise adjusted, to achieve a desired solution of suspended solids. most conventional standard multi-stage anaerobic digestion systems include two phases, an acidogenesis phase and a methanogenesis phase, each of which are physically separated. the acidogenesis stage may or may not be combined with a hydrolysis stage. acidogenesis, as a separate stage or combined with hydrolysis, precedes the methanogenesis stage. typically, heat is added to the acidogenic phase but not in the methanogenic phase. the methanogenesis stage may be further preceded by a thermophilic stage; however, this stage is uncommon because it involves digestion by thermophilic microbes that convert acid chains to methane and is a much more volatile process than mesophilic methanogenesis (which uses mesophilic microbes). thermophilic methanogenesis, when present, may be separated from mesophilic methanogenesis. such stages may be separated by temperature. while some current systems may separate some phases, such as hydrolysis, into one or more stages (e.g., a hydrolysis phase may be separated into three stages using escalating temperatures), such systems and methods require a substantial amount of energy for heating (e.g., for heating the final stages of hydrolysis) and one or more essential microbes may be destroyed at temperatures currently used by these alternative systems. for example, some alternative system will combine hydrolysis and acidification and hydrolysis enzymes will be included in the combined phase yet acidic ph levels will result. too low of a ph, however, may lead to over acidification. in addition, a very low ph may lend to there being a difficulty in controlling ph in one or more subsequent stages and a very low ph has been known to attenuate growth of methanogenic microbes. in one alternative multistage anaerobic digester, a partially partitioned long rectangular container was used (e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,525,229). a modified plug flow with a fixed film reactor was employed. hydrolysis was separated at the entry chamber of the horizontal rectangular container, continuing to a second chamber for the thermophilic phase and a mesophilic phase was in the third chamber. the operating temperatures and ph were the same for the hydrolysis stage and the thermophilic stage. unfortunately, such conditions are not found to be conducive for timely acidogenesis and biogas production. sufficient and timely acidogenesis are needed to enhance biomass digestion and methane/biogas generation rate. a biofilm that increases surface area for bacterial growth may appear in digestion processes and will also add to maintenance demands of a digestion system. biofilm production has been a problem particularly in systems in which all multi-stage chambers are in fluid communication with each other, such as that of u.s. pat. no. 5,525,229. spillover is also a problem in such a design as that of u.s. pat. no. 5,525,229. as described herein, systems, methods, and apparatus are provided that overcome many shortcomings of other biomass digesters. digesters described herein are capable of accommodating a large variety of organic waste. an improvement included herewith is increased digester efficiency (e.g., lower heating and mixing demands) that can translate into decreased digester volume and/or reactor capacity/size, reduced energy requirements during operation and cost savings. operating efficiency is enhanced with systems and processes described herein via a number of avenues, including separation of phases during digestion, providing uninterrupted operating periods as well as energy and water reductions. generally, digesters as described herein include four separate stages, such that there may be a unique and independent setting for each group of microorganisms specific to each digestion stage, including hydrolysis, acidogenesis and methanogenesis, including at least one thermophilic and mesophilic phase. feed stream is moved between each separate stage by means of one or more pumps, pipelines and control valves. a feed stream as described herein may include a biomass with or without additional water, an output after digestion and/or between digestion stages, within one or more digestion stages or output from one or more digestion stages. as further described, systems and methods herein improve overall biomass digestion, enhance generation rate of methane and/or hydrogen and output of safe organic liquid fertilizer, class a biosolids and other pathogen reduced fertilizers and/or biosupplements. separate phase environments allow for optimum conditions of microbe activity and growth and minimizes digestion process upsets that would ordinarily occur with microbe displacement and spillover and/or unequal microorganism growth rates. when, in other alternative systems, microbes spill over, production is generally halted and efficiency may be significantly reduced because water and energy usage cannot be effectively managed. on the other hand, more manageable and moderate reactor conditions as described herein (e.g., ph and/or temperature), preserve microbe colonies and minimize energy requirements, both of which are particularly suitable for commercial applications. as described herein, treatment of and recycling of water is used, which translates into a reduced amount of water consumed with the digestion process. still further is provided a method and system whereby methane production is sufficient to meet the energy requirements of the digester. referring now to figs. 1a-1d , representative diagrams of digestion processes and components, as further described herein, are shown, which include at least one hydrolysis phase 1 , at least one acidic phase 2 , at least one thermophilic phase 3 and at least one mesophilic phase 4 . generally, waste (block 1 a) and optionally water (block 1 b) are fed via a feed stream to hydrolysis phase 1 . in some embodiments, waste (also referred to herein as organic waste and/or biomass feed) is diluted with a specified volume of water to provide a desired solids content. in addition or as an alternative, waste or biomass is pretreated to provide a predetermined solids content. in some embodiments, the solids content is pretreated to have at or about 15% solids. in addition or as an alternative, the solids content may be at or about 12% or less, or about 10% or less, or about 7% or less. the solids content may span a range of from about 1% to 15%, or from about 1% to 7% or from about 4% to 7%, or from about 6% to 7% or from about 7% to 15% or from about 7% to 12% or from about 10% to 12%. in yet another embodiment, the total suspended solids content may be reduced to at or about 2% to 3%, facilitating production of one or more select biogases in the thermophilic phase. a low solids content in one embodiment may be combined with a higher total suspended solids content in a parallel system, in which one system is more favorable to production of one biogas and the other system is more favorable to production of a second biogas. in still further embodiments, at least two biomass digesters are operated in parallel, wherein one digester has a pretreated feed stream yielding a 2% to 4% total solid suspension and a second pretreated feed stream yielding a higher percent of total suspended solids, for example, greater than 4% or at or about 5% to 15% total suspended solids or about 6% to 7%, or an even greater percentage of solids. pretreatment may involve dilution, dehydration, screening and/or emulsification to achieve the desired solids concentration. often, pretreatment may be determined by the actual contents/components of the waste, as is known and understood by one skilled in the relevant art. pretreatment of waste may be accompanied by additional water dilution, when appropriate or desired. in the hydrolysis phase (block 1 ), which is an aerobic phase, the feed stream is typically maintained at a temperature suitable for hydrolysis, often at an optimal temperature. generally, the temperature is at or less than about 80° f. or 85° f. often, the temperature is between about 60° to 85° f. biomass remains in the hydrolysis phase for a period of about 12 hours to up to about 36 hours. in some embodiments, the hydrolysis phase includes a pretreatment stage, as previously described above. as such, pretreatment and hydrolysis may be performed in the same reactor or in alternate vessels. in some embodiments, for example when pretreatment and hydrolysis stages are combined, dwell time may be for as long as 36 hours. in alternative embodiments, said dwell times may be for as long as 28 hours or as long as 24 hours or as long as 20 hours. generally, mixing of the feed stream occurs initially in the hydrolysis phase. the aerobic atmosphere during hydrolysis encourages faster growth of acidogenic microbes and lends to a stabilization in the consistency and/or viscosity of the feed stream. during hydrolysis, complex biomolecules, such as proteins, cellulose, lipids, and other complex organics are broken down into simpler molecules, often in the form of monomers, using water to split chemical bonds. with acidogenesis, a group of microorganisms begin feeding on the monomers and/or long chain fatty acids obtained from the hydrolysis stage. acidogenic microorganisms produce volatile fatty acids. in the thermophilic stage, when present, a group of microorganisms produce acetic acid, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and methane from volatile fatty acids. in addition, thermophilic microorganisms produce acetic acid intermediates, including propionate and butyrate, as well as hydrogen and carbon dioxide. because digestion by thermophilic microbes is more volatile, this stage is often excluded in conventional digester systems. during the methanogenic stage, a group of microorganisms produce methane and other products comprised in biogas from the remaining long chain acids and from acetic acid products of thermophilic digestion. biogas produced by biomass digestion typically comprises about 55-70% methane, about 25-30% carbon dioxide, and any remaining mixture includes any of nitrogen, hydrogen, and hydrogen sulfide. about 70% of methanogenesis includes a fermentation process in which amino acids and sugars are converted to acetate; a specific group of microorganisms in the thermophilic stage convert acetate to methane. up to 30% of methanogenesis may be a redox process, using hydrogenotrophic microbes that oxidize hydrogen with carbon dioxide (the electron receptor) to produce methane and thermophilic synotroph microbes that oxidize acetate to form hydrogen and carbon dioxide. referring again to figs. 1a-1d , a feed stream from block 1 moves to block 2 , the acidic phase. transport from hydrolysis phase to acidic phase occurs when a desired retention time in the hydrolysis phase has been reached. a reaction vessel for the acidic phase is constantly fed at a volatile solids loading rate that is a function of the individual feed stream used for a particular waste and digestion process. in some embodiments, a feed stream is heated prior to entering the acidic phase. in this manner, one or more feed stream heat sources are placed between separate vessels and temperature is adjusted by passing a feed stream through a heating element or heat source that controls temperature, such as a heat exchanger or heating pad (as depicted in block 2 a). in addition or as an alternative, a hydrolysis vessel may include an external or internal heat source, such as heat exchanger or heating pad. the acidic phase is generally held at an elevated temperature that is higher than that of the hydrolysis phase. in some embodiments, the temperature in the acidic phase is less than 100 degrees f. the temperature may often be between about 95° and 100° f. or between about 95° and 98° f. the ph in the acidic phase is generally below about 6.5. the ph in the acidic phase may be between about 5.8 and 6.2. the retention time of the feed stream in the reaction vessel for acidogenesis may be about 12 to 24 or about 12 to 20 hours. in some embodiments, the retention may be about 16 hours. in additional embodiments, the retention may be 16 hours. it has generally been found that as dwell time approaches or exceeds about 24 hours, over acidification may occur and the control of ph may become problematic. conditions in the acidic phase are anaerobic. generally, conditions after the hydrolysis phase are anaerobic. generally, at least one airtight vessel is used for each anaerobic phase to provide independent conditions and encourage a desired microbial activity. in the acidic phase, acidogenic anaerobic microbes break down the contents in the feed stream into short chain acids and produce carbon dioxide. in several embodiments described herein, anaerobic conditions during any anaerobic digestion phase are improved by a recirculation of anaerobic gases, such as carbon dioxide, as shown in line 2 c, lines 3 c and lines 4 c ( figs. 1a-1d ). any gas fluid mixing systems may be used for recirculating anaerobic gases. for example, carbon dioxide produced by acidic microbes in the acidic phase may be removed via a product line (block 2 b) and may also be recirculated (line 2 c) to maintain an environment that is anaerobic, so as to maintain little to no oxygen in the vessel. in addition or as an alternative, any of the digester vessels may employ a mixing and/or blending system in which one or more gases, such as carbon dioxide or a biogas, is recirculated by removing said gas or gases above the fluid line and then injecting the gases through an inlet in the tank, often at the bottom or side of the tank. a bubbling device, such as that taught in u.s. pat. no. 4,595,296, may also be used, which provides bubbles of a predetermined and/or of variable size at one or more frequencies. with u.s. pat. no. 4,595,296, gas is injected via an inlet. as described herein, one or more gases may be introduced into a reaction vessel through one or more air inlet openings with or without an accumulator plate. inlet orientation may be predetermined and may include either a single inlet or a ring of two or more inlets (that may further include and encircle a center inlet) at any desired position. via placement of inlets, circular and/or toroidal gas flows may be created in the contents of the tank or vessel. in one or more embodiments, placement may be at or near the bottom of the vessel. in addition or as an alternative, placement may be at the top and/or at the sides of the vessel. in addition or as an alternative, placement may be at or near the middle of the vessel. other bubbling and/or mixing methods may also be used in combination with a recirculating system, including inlets that have crossed pipes with holes in them and/or a gas lift mixing device that may have an eductor tube and/or an accumulator plate (see figs. 2a , 2 b). still further fluid mixing systems, such as motors, jets and/or diffusers may be used for mixing the contents of a vessel, used alone or in combination with a recirculating system as described herein. in addition, a mixing system may be included to advance digestion more quickly. in one or more embodiments, a gas, such as carbon dioxide or other air or gaseous mixture may be pumped through a device, such as a mixing device or via one or more jets or diffusers, to keep the feed stream in a state of suspension. the mixing generally provides a bubbling in the mixture and the bubbling enhances microbial growth, as bubbles feed in and around microbes for optimum microbial activity and gas generation. in addition or as an alternative, the mixing device may also generate a stable mixing pattern to keep the contents in a stable suspension. the gas, such as carbon dioxide or other air mixture, also provides a blanket on the surface of the biomass during the acidic phase (e.g., the gas collection zone or freeboard section) and may be used to displace oxygen away from the microbes. gas recirculation and/or auxiliary mixing in a reaction vessel will generally occur with each anaerobic phase (e.g., acidic, thermophilic, mesophilic) as depicted in figs. 1a-1d , and, as described herein, offer additional benefits, including a reduction in thermal stratification and a dispersion of volatile biosolids, which increases their contact with a microbe and their subsequent breakdown. by maintaining the biomass in suspension and in combination with a continuous and/or desired feed rate, conditions for digestion are maximized, which promotes more complete digestion and significantly reduces emission or output of non-digested products from the system. auxiliary mixing methods that may be used include low energy air mixing (continuous and or discontinuous), pump and jet mixing, a gas lift mixing, mechanical mixing, and/or hydraulic mixing. while other conventional systems and processes often combine the acidic stage with the methanogenesis stage, the problem is that such systems when combining these stages are subject to a higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the biogas produced therefrom. as described herein, the separation of an acidic stage from a phase for biogas and methane production reduces the concentration of carbon dioxide in the biogas produced therefrom, thereby reducing contaminants in the biogas. referring again to figs. 1a-1d , after completion of the acidic phase (block 2 ), the feed stream is transported to a next segment of digestion, which is the thermophilic phase (block 3 ). in one or more embodiments, transportation of the feed stream to this next stage is by pump. because thermophilic microbes are active in a less acidic environment, the ph is higher in the thermophilic reactor vessel. generally, the ph is at about 7.5 or less. the ph may be in a range of 6.8 to 7.2. in one or more embodiments, ph is modified between one or more reactors by a ph adjustment system, such as that depicted in block 9 . such an adjustment system generally shocks or rather quickly adjusts ph in the feed stream when it is between digestion stages or when the feed stream is within a digestion vessel. in one or more embodiments, at least one ph adjustment system may be located between an acidic stage and a thermophilic stage. in addition or as an alternative, at least one ph adjustment system may be located between a thermophilic stage and a mesophilic stage. as desired or appropriate, a ph adjustment system may be associate with any of the additional reactors in the digestion system. a ph adjustment system is operable to adjust the ph of the feed stream in at least one location that includes the feed stream before entering the at least one anaerobic vessel, the feed stream in the at least one anaerobic vessel, and the feed stream after leaving the at least one anaerobic vessel. in one example of an adjustment system, ph is modified by addition or injection of a chemical, such as sodium bicarbonate. sodium bicarbonate (or similar chemical) injection will add additional carbon atoms to the feed stream and increase methane content in the biogas generated therefrom. in addition or as an alternative, ph is adjusted using alternate methods, including addition or injection of organic bases, such as calcium carbonate, calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, and dihydroxyaluminum sodium carbonate, as examples. ph in the thermophilic vessels may be continually monitored and controlled by instrumentation and by additional injection of one or more basic compounds. gas injection in any of the reaction vessels includes a gas injection line with one or more control valves for injecting a gas into a feed stream. chemical injection may include a similar line or a separate line with valves for controlling input. gas and/or chemical lines may feed into a reaction vessel or prior to feed stream entry into the vessel. the ph and temperature changes will curtail the acidogenesis reaction, diminish the population of acid microbes in the feed stream, retard growth of any surviving acid microbes, and stabilize the feed stream, particularly as it enters the thermophilic stage. temperature in the thermophilic phase is increased by passing the feed stream through a heating element, such as a heat exchanger (block 3 a) or by heating the feed stream in the thermophilic reaction vessel. generally, the heating element of 2 a and of 3 a are separate elements. in one form, a single element is used to heat and cool effluent, wherein the shell side of a conventional heat exchanger can heat effluent passing there-through, and the tube side of the heat exchanger can cool effluent received from a second source. in another embodiment, the same element heats the post acidic phase effluent and cools the post thermophilic phase effluent via respective tube and shell sides. in another embodiment heat of a pre-acidogenic feed stream and a post-thermophilic feed stream are achieved through the same element. while in further embodiments as depicted in figs. 1a-1d , separate heat elements are used between each phase and/or between each vessel. accordingly, the number of said elements may be varied while still keeping with the spirit of the invention, such that a single element or heat exchange system may be utilized in each of the embodiments schematically depicted in figs. 1a-1d . the thermophilic reactor is a constantly mixed reactor. the vessel may be a single vessel. as an alternative, the thermophilic phase may comprise multiple vessels, as well as vessels in series or in parallel, as depicted in figs. 1c and 1d , respectively. in addition, or as an alternative, a mixing device as previously described may also be included with one or more of the thermophilic vessels. mixing keeps the feed stream in suspension and prevents solids from settling into a sludge layer. operating parameters in the thermophilic phase are independent and may be adjusted to provide an optimum environment for remaining acetogenic and methanogenic microbes that cohabitate in the vessel. cohabitation promotes efficient biogas production and volatile solid digestion in the anaerobic digestion process into decomposed solids. operating parameters for the thermophilic phase generally include a more elevated temperature than that of the acidic phase. typically, the temperature in the thermophilic phase is less than about 150° f. in many embodiments, the temperature is in a range from about 125° to about 140° f. in an alternate embodiment, the temperature ranges from about 130° to about 140° f. the retention time of the feed stream in the thermophilic stage is from about 24 to 96 hours. in alternative embodiments, the retention time may be from about 24 to about 28 hours. in still other embodiments, the dwell time is from about 30 to 35 hours. to reduce energy demands, the dwell time may be kept to 48 hours or less. a higher temperature will generally reduce the dwell time. for example, in one embodiment to maximize methane production efficiency, the retention time is 31 hours with a temperature of 130° or 131° f. in yet another embodiment, the temperature of the thermophilic stage is as high as 160° f. while the dwell time is reduced in order to achieve class a biosolids (block 14 ) and fertilizer and/or biosupplements (block 13 ). and, in yet another embodiment, with a temperature of 125° f., the dwell time for producing class a biosolids and fertilizer and/or biosupplements (block 13 ) approaches 3 days. as with previous phases, the one or more vessels of the thermophilic phase are generally fed at a volatile solid loading rate. the feed rate is typically constant and the rate a function of the biomass contents. in one or more embodiments, the feed rate may be up to 2.66 lb/ft 3 . other feed rates, may also be used. said feed rates generally depend on one or more implementations as described herein. for example, systems and processes described herein may handle higher feed rates that alternative systems, due in part to one or more adjustment systems included herein, such as a dissolved oxygen adjustment system and a ph adjustment system. the thermophilic phase begins the initial production of biogas (block 11 , figs. 1a-1b and block 16 , figs. 1c and 1d ). biogas or at least a portion thereof produced in this phase of the process is generally routed to one or more treating phases (block 10 , figs. 1a-1b ; blocks 10 a and 10 b, figs. 1c-1d ) via a pipeline and one or more control valves. the biogas produced is generally a mixture of gases. the treating phase separates and/or purifies the one or more gases from the biogas mixture. recirculating lines 3 c may be included to recirculate a partial stream of the produced biogas back through the thermophilic vessel. similarly, as depicted in figs. 1a-1d , recirculation may also occur with the mesophilic phase, as described further below. in one or more embodiments, recirculation includes a gas recirculating line with one or more control valves routed via a recirculation compressor or blower. recirculation may be in combination with a mixing device, such as a gas lifting mixing device, as previously described, or any alternate mixing system, alone or in combination. the mixing system ensures that contents in each reactor, such as the thermophilic reactor, are thoroughly mixed and in suspension. mixing action may also produce a bubbling condition that contributes to a hospitable environment for thermophilic microbes to inhabit. recirculated biogas also provides a gas blanket on the surface to displace oxygen and maintain an anaerobic atmosphere. recirculation of a biogas may operate in parallel with a dissolved air system, as described below and as shown in a system of fig. 1c . the combination allows for a partial oxidation of methane to methanol, which is a source of feed for select microbes, such as hydrogen producing microbes. in addition or as an alternative, methanol may be fed in to a thermophilic reactor in the absence of biogas recirculation, such as in a system shown with fig. 1a . in such an example, additional parameters will likewise be adjusted to suit production of one or more biogases, such as that of hydrogen. in still another embodiment, biogas from a mesophilic reactor may be fed into either a thermophilic vessel (e.g., block 3 as depicted in fig. 1a ) or into a second thermophilic reactor (e.g., block 3 d as depicted in fig. 1c ) which provides for subsequent oxidization of methane into methanol. when running a parallel system embodiment, such as one shown in fig. 1d , biogas from a mesophilic vessel provided with a low feed stream may also be fed into a thermophilic reactor (also provided with a low feed stream) to promote hydrogen production. the thermophilic phase at the dwell time and temperature levels described herein yield class a biosolids (see, e.g., alternate flow, lines 19 , figs. 1b and 1c , and may also occur with fig. 1d , though lines not shown), including biosolids that meet standards of the epa (e.g., see 40 c.f.r. §530). in addition, the thermophilic phase conditions described herein kill pathogens in the feed stream, which assist in the classification of such biosolids as class a biosolids (block 14 ) and in production of a pathogen reduced organic liquid fertilizer and/or other pathogen reduced fertilizer and/or biosupplements (block 13 , figs. 1a-1d ). as described herein, in one form is a digester that includes a multi-phased, multi-stage, process that maintains an independent microbial environment within each phase of the digestion process. independent environments allow for optimization of conditions for enhanced production of one or more desired end products. a separate stage for acidogenic microbes, such as e. coli, l. mesenteroides , and c. butyricum and others, is preferred because acidic microbes need a slightly acidic ph and a temperature just below human body temperature in order to thrive with rapid growth and consume the biomass feed stream. acid microbes are aggressive in their growth and propagation. in contrast, methane producing microbes, such as m. bakeri, m. bryantii and m. formicicum , that are slower growing and need an independent stage for optimal growth so that acid microbes, which manifest rapid aggressive growth, will not displace the slower growing methane and syntropic microbes, particularly if acid microbes are commingled with the latter. biochemical oxygen demand (bod) and chemical oxygen demand (cod) may be monitored and controlled during the digestion process described herein. monitoring and adjusting of bod level, which is an assessment of the difference between an initial and a final dissolved oxygen level, helps promote efficient operating parameters. bod and cod are both essentially a measure of oxygen level, and when in decline may be indicative of a reduction in a desired microbe population that consumes dissolved oxygen in that reaction. swings or fluctuations in bod measurements may signal an impending plant upset. a rise in ammonia content is also associated with a high bod and cod and is generally detrimental to the operating stability of the digestion system. on the other hand, some embodiments may desire a slightly elevated ammonia amount, particularly those systems that operate digestion phases in parallel (e.g., fig. 1d ) and/or when methane oxidation is preferable because ammonia acts as a catalyst for oxidation of methane. for example, a higher ammonia content, in some embodiments, such as those having a second thermophilic reactor, is desirable because ammonia acts a catalyst for oxidation of methane to methanol. high bod and cod measurements may be adjusted for by use of a separate adjustment system, which may include addition of dissolved air or oxygen. generally one or more cod measurements are made and converted to adjust the bod level in a reaction vessel. as referred to herein, a dissolved air adjustment system (or das) circulates (and may recirculate) oxygen or air as a means for controlling bod. oxygen adjustment is generally made in either or both of the thermophilic and mesophilic stages. in one or more embodiments, oxygen adjustment is provided by a dissolved air system installed in at least one of a thermophilic and/or mesophilic reactor, as depicted schematically in fig. 6 , which illustrates a front cross section of a representative reaction vessel 600 that includes a das for bod and cod control. a dissolved air system as represented in fig. 6 , includes generally a pump 610 , which is typically a recirculation pump, a suction line 620 , and a venturi type assembly 630 in a discharge line 640 for infusing air into a feed stream 650 , which raises dissolved oxygen level in the feed stream which feeds into vessel 600 . feed stream, in one form, may move through the suction line followed by air or oxygen infusion and re-entry into the vessel. raising dissolved oxygen levels, when appropriate, will enhance the digestion environment for microbes. addition of dissolved oxygen or air in this manner does not disturb a desired anaerobic environment in the vessel, because free air or free oxygen is not generally introduced into the reaction vessel, itself, but into the feed stream prior to entry into the vessel. in addition or as an alternative, ozone may be fed into the venturi port to supply an even higher level of dissolved oxygen into the feed stream. in other embodiments, an air diffuser with a compressor may be used to provide dissolved air into a feed stream or directly into a reaction vessel via lines. referring again to figs. 1a-1d , from the thermophilic reactor, the biomass feed stream is transported by a pump and pipeline and may optionally pass through a heating/cooling element, such as a heat exchanger (blocks 4 a and 4 b), to the mesophilic phase (block 4 ). again, heating elements, as depicted in figs. 1a-1d , may be replaced or be assisted by one or more external or internal vessel heating sources used to heat the vessel content and/or for heat maintenance. the design may, in many instances, depend on reactor size. in one or more embodiments, transport from one reactor, such as thermophilic reactor, to the next occurs after a desired retention time is reached at the exiting end of thermophilic reaction vessel. the mesophilic phase of the process is a second phase of biogas generation, depicted as block 11 and/or block 16 . the vessel(s) used with the mesophilic phase are generally constantly fed at a loading rate that is a function of the individual biomass feed streams used in the process. for the mesophilic phase, a different set of operating parameters are generally used as compared with those of the thermophilic phase. the mesophilic stage is generally cooler than the thermophilic stage. in one or more embodiments, the feed stream is cooled before entry into the mesophilic phase. for example, as described herein, the temperature in the mesophilic stage is generally about or less than 100° f. in many embodiments, the temperature is in a range of between about 94° f. and about 100° f. in some embodiments, the temperature is at or about 95° f. ph in the mesophilic phase is typically less than about 7.5. in several embodiments, the ph is from about 6.8 to 7.2. retention time is generally from about 95 to about 170 hours. often, the retention time is between about 100 to 115 hours. in one or more embodiment, the temperature of the mesophilic phase is 95° f. with a hydraulic retention time of 108 hours. it has been found that too low a retention (e.g., less than about 95 hours) may reduce the maximal amount of biogas capable of being achieved. on the other hand, too high a retention time (e.g., greater than about 170 hours) will also reduce biogas production. in some embodiments, however, maximal biogas production may not be required or desired, possibly because biogas supply is in surplus, in which case retention time may be prolonged and/or biomass feed stream may be slowed down. control and monitoring of ph takes place by inclusion of an adjustment system, similar to that described with adjustment of ph for the thermophilic phase, as depicted in block 9 of figs. 1a-1d . the same physical adjustment system may be used with pipelines leading to both phases. in other embodiments, a separate system with independent components may be used. in one or more forms, ph is adjusted via a sodium bicarbonate injection system, similar to that previously described. in addition or as an alternative, ph is adjusted using alternate methods, including injection of one or more chemicals, such as organic bases, including but not limited to calcium carbonate, calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, and dihydroxyaluminum sodium carbonate, as examples. ph in the thermophilic vessels may be continually monitored and controlled by instrumentation and by additional injection of one or more basic compounds. as with the thermophilic phase, biogas produced during the mesophilic phase may be routed via a pipeline (generally with control valves) to a treating phase (block 10 , figs. 1a-1b or blocks 10 a and 10 b, figs. 1c-1d ). in addition or as an alternative, the biogas or a portion thereof of the gas stream may be recirculated (via recirculating lines 3 c). some recirculation is typical and generally involves a separate pipeline and compressor to recirculate some gas back into the mesophilic reactor, the thermophilic reactor and/or the feed stream (see figs. 1c and 1d ). recirculation in the mesophilic phase includes the use of one or more of the mixing devices described previously, which provide mixing and a bubbling action in the mesophilic reaction vessel. mixing prevents the settling of solids and prevents stratification which can lead to upset conditions. gas recirculation, as described herein, may use gas produced in the particular vessel itself or may introduce an additional gas. gas may or may not be compressed and then recirculated. two representative mixing systems 200 and 202 are depicted in figs. 2a and 2b , respectively. fig. 2a shows a first recirculation type ( 205 ), wherein fig. 2b shows a second type with separate lines for biogas removal ( 210 ) and for recirculation of gas into a vessel ( 220 ). the area depicted by 250 is associated with a preferred sloping of the vessel floor for aid in mixing and the prevention of sludge buildup. in one embodiment a bottom surface of a reaction vessel slopes to a center at a 3 to 12 ratio. systems represented by figs. 2a and 2b rely on gas being compressed by a compressor ( 230 ) and recirculated into the vessel via at least one eductor tube 240 . in one form, a single eductor tube, which may or may not be centered within a given vessel, can be used. as an alternative, more than one eductor tube may also be positioned at various points within a tank. each system, whether that of fig. 2a or fig. 2b or others not shown in detail but described previously, cause some turbulence and mixing of the feed stream, maintain the feed stream in suspension and may be included for increased efficiency in biogas production and biomass digestion. referring back to figs. 1a-1d , at the completion of the mesophilic phase (block 4 ), biogas production is generally complete and the feed stream comprising decomposed solids, after passing through a separation process to remove solids (block 5 ), is typically referred to as effluent (block 6 ). in some instances, after the thermophilic phase, as shown in fig. 1b , an alternative flow path may direct feed stream effluent from the thermophilic phase to the separation process (block 5 ) to provide biosolids (block 14 ) and effluent (block 6 ). in both flow paths, an effluent pipeline with one or more control valves route feed stream from either reaction vessel to the separator. the effluent stream after separation includes media rich in nutrients and minerals that are highly valued in soil biosupplementation and in fertilizers (block 13 ) and the production will be described in further detail below. referring now to fig. 1c , the figure illustrates an embodiment in which a thermophilic phase is run in series. with such an embodiment, conditions in a first thermophilic phase (block 3 ) differ from that of a second thermophilic phase (block 3 d). dwell time in the first thermophilic reactor (block 3 ) may be between about 1 and 3 days, its ph is generally between about 6.8 and about 7.2 and the temperature is at about 130 to 135° f., generally less than 135° f. or at or about 131° f. in one or more embodiments, a suitable ph is at or about 6.8. when suitable conditions are reached, the feed stream is transferred to a second thermophilic reactor (block 3 d). in the second thermophilic reactor, the ph is lower, generally maintained at 6.8 or less or between about 6.4 to about 6.8 and the temperature is greater than in the first thermophilic reactor, and is maintained at about 135° f. or more, generally between about 135° f. to 158° f. or 135° f. and 138° f. or at about 137° f. in one or more embodiments, a suitable ph for a second thermophilic reactor is at or about 6.4. conditions in the second reactor are often selected to favor one or more alternate biogases other than methane; however methane is generally produced in both the first and second thermophilic phases. by first routing the feed stream through the first thermophilic reactor, the volume of volatile solids in the feed stream fed into the second thermophilic reactor should be reduced as volatile solids in the first thermophilic phase are digested. accordingly, one may readily vary the dwell time in the first thermophilic reactor in order to adjust the percent volatile solids entering the second thermophilic reactor, and thereby adjust the total output of biosolids, biosupplements and/or biofuels, as desired. the biomass feed stream exiting the second thermophilic reactor is generally routed to an element (e.g., heat exchanger) as denoted by block 4 b for cooling the feed stream to the appropriate mesophilic temperature described previously or is routed by an alternate path (see alternative flow, line 19 ) for transfer to the separation process (block 5 ). referring briefly to fig. 1d , the figure illustrates an embodiment in which two biomass digester systems are operated in parallel. for one system, organic waste (block 1 a- 2 ) is generally pretreated to contain a low total suspended solids content, for example, at about 2% to about 3%, thereby forming a low biomass feed stream. a second system, undergoing an alternative pretreatment, produces a higher total suspended solids content and higher feed stream, wherein the solids content is greater than 5% or up to 15% or between about 5% to about 6%. depending on the solids content desired in the second system, the waste may or may not undergo pretreatment. generally, hydrolysis and acidic phases in both systems may run at the same operating conditions. in some embodiments, and in order to alter biogas production, the thermophilic phases of each system may run under different operating conditions. for example, for the low feed stream, the thermophilic phase (block 3 - 2 ) may operate at a higher temperature that is more favorable to the production of biogas b, such as hydrogen (block 16 ). an example of one operating condition for the low feed stream is a temperature of about 137° f. with a ph of between about 6.4 to 6.8 and a dwell time about 31 hours. the higher feed stream in the thermophilic phase (block 3 - 1 ) may be set to be more favorable for production of biogas a, such as methane. in this instance, the operating conditions for the higher feed stream may be at a temperature of about 131° f. with a ph of between about 6.8 to 7.2 and a dwell time about 31 hours. in addition, some biogas a, which may be methane, may be fed into the low thermophilic reactor (block 3 - 2 ). in addition or as an alternative, part of the effluent stream having the higher solids content (block 3 - 1 ) may be fed into the thermophilic reactor with the low solids content (block 3 - 2 ). biogas obtained from either or both of thermophilic phase and/or mesophilic phase will generally be treated by a treating phase (blocks 10 , 10 a and/or 10 b in figs. 1a-1d ). treatment removes undesired impurities, increasing the percentage of one or more biogases, such as methane, so that the treated gas approaches or exceeds pipeline quality natural gas and/or has little impurities. in addition or as an alternative, hydrogen and methane are separated from the obtained biogas and provided at desired qualities and/or quantities. representative treatment schemes are depicted in more detail in figs. 4a and 4b . additional treatment processes may include resin or gas column separation, as is known to one skilled in the relevant art. referring now to figs. 4a and 4b , representative or exemplary treatment systems are shown to receive a biogas stream and to treat the biogas stream, such as through stripping, to produce or extract one or more biogases. it should be understood that figs. 4a and 4b are only representative systems, and other systems may be implemented to receive and treat a biogas stream to produce one or more desirable biogases. referring now to fig. 4a , an exemplary treatment system is shown that includes a compressor 410 , a dryer, such as a drying vessel 420 , a stripping vessel 430 , a compressor 440 , a stripping vessel 450 , and a valve 480 . the exemplary treatment system of fig. 4a receives a biogas stream 405 , such as from one or both of a thermophilic reactor, such as a thermophilic vessel, and a mesophilic reactor, such as a mesophilic vessel, and treats the biogas stream to extract both methane and hydrogen. in operation, the biogas stream 405 is received at the compressor 410 , which may be implemented as a pump or other available compression system, where the biogas stream 405 undergoes compression. the stream passes through a dryer, such as the drying vessel 420 , to dry the biogas stream. after passing through the drying vessel 420 , the gas passes through a stripping vessel 430 where, in one embodiment, an earth mineral such as a chabazite is used to filter or strip the gas stream. the media provided in the stripping vessel 430 , i.e., the chabazite in this embodiment, may also be referred to as a molecular sieve. in other embodiments, other earth minerals may be used, including different types of zeolites. the chabazite at the stripping vessel 430 absorbs or removes carbon dioxide from the gas stream. the gas stream, in one embodiment, may then be compressed again at the gas compressor 440 , and then provided to the second stripping vessel 450 . in certain embodiments, the stripping vessel 450 uses a charcoal or carbon activated charcoal, to filter the gas stream. in this embodiment, the carbon activated charcoal in the stripping vessel 450 absorbs methane in the gas stream such that hydrogen may be directed to block 470 to store, accumulate or provide hydrogen. the methane stored within the carbon activated charcoal of the stripping vessel 450 may be recovered and supplied to block 460 through the valve 480 , which in one embodiment may be implemented as a let down valve. in one embodiment, the methane may be provided by isolating block 470 from the stripping vessel 450 , and allowing the compressor 440 to operate to pressurize the carbon activated charcoal such that the methane may be released, and then provided to block 460 through the valve 480 . fig. 4a is representative of a path that may be used to treat and separate multiple gases from a biogas stream, such as, for example, hydrogen and methane obtained from a thermophilic reactor or thermophilic stage. referring now to fig. 4b , an exemplary treatment system is shown that includes the compressor 410 , the dryer, such as a drying vessel 420 , the stripping vessel 430 , the compressor 440 , and a stripping vessel 490 to generate methane at the block 460 . the exemplary treatment system of fig. 4b receives a biogas stream 405 , such as from one or both of a thermophilic reactor and a mesophilic reactor, and treats the biogas stream to extract or separate out methane. in operation, the biogas stream 405 is received at the compressor 410 , which may be implemented as a pump or other available compression system, where the biogas stream 405 undergoes compression. the stream passes through a dryer, such as the drying vessel 420 , to dry the biogas stream, and then to the stripping vessel 430 . the stripping vessel 430 includes a media that functions as a stripper, filter or molecular sieve to remove portions of the gas stream. in one embodiment, a zeolite, such as a clinoptilolite, is used to filter or strip the gas stream. in other embodiments, other filters, strippers and/or earth minerals may be used, including different types of zeolites. the clinoptilolite at the stripping vessel 430 absorbs or removes hydrogen sulfide from the gas stream. the gas stream, in one embodiment, may then be compressed again at the gas compressor 440 , and then provided to the second stripping vessel 490 . in certain embodiments, the stripping vessel 490 uses a chabazite, similar to the chabazite used in connection with stripping vessel 430 of fig. 4a , to filter the gas stream by removing carbon dioxide from the gas stream. in this embodiment, the remaining methane is then directed to block 460 to store, accumulate or provide the methane as desired. a representative example of a stripping vessel is illustrated schematically in fig. 5 , shown as stripping vessel 500 that includes a relief valve 510 , gas inlet 540 , gas outlet 520 , filter media 530 (e.g., plastic balls, as an example), media chamber 550 , and cover lift 560 (e.g., davit arm). generally, compounds used in the media chamber include zeolites or other compounds (activated or otherwise) that remove hydrogen sulfide and/or carbon dioxide from a gas stream. in one or more embodiments, the media housed in the media chamber includes chabazite, clinoptilolite, an activated carbon source and/or activated charcoal, as examples and provided depending on the phase/extent of purification. for example, referring back to figs. 4a and 4b , in one form a biogas treating system may include chabazite, provided in the stripping vessel 430 of fig. 4a to remove or absorb carbon dioxide in the gas stream, and activated charcoal, provided in the stripping vessel 450 to assist with separating methane and hydrogen. in another example, a biogas treating system may include clinoptilolite, included in stripping vessel 430 of fig. 4b to remove or absorb hydrogen sulfide in the gas stream, and chabazite, provided in the stripping vessel 490 to remove carbon dioxide from the gas and thereby providing a high quality methane. after a treating phase as described herein, at least one biogas (e.g., biogas 460 ) may be, in certain embodiments, equivalent to or better than pipeline quality natural gas and/or is of a high purity. in one or more embodiments, some biogas (e.g., methane) may be regulated via one or more valves, such as the valve 480 ( fig. 4a ). fig. 8 illustrates a representative flow chart for producing one or more biogases, including methane, using a digester system and processes as described herein. a biomass is initially collected and then fed as a feed stream. in one embodiment, it may be fed into a water stream (block 805 ) after which a total suspended solids (tss) is adjusted to a desired percentage (block 810 ), creating a biomass feed stream. in another embodiment, the feed stream may not require adjustment in percent suspended solids content. the feed stream is aerobically hydrolyzed via a hydrolysis phase (block 815 ) before being transferred to an acidifying stage (block 820 ). hydrolysis will occur for a period of time, generally between about 12 and about 36 hours, which is followed by transfer to an acidogenic phase (block 825 ) in an anaerobic environment, generally for a dwell time between about 12 and about 24 hour. in one embodiment, the ph is then adjusted (block 830 ) and the temperature of the acidified feed stream may be raised thereafter (block 835 ) before the feed stream is transferred to a thermophilic phase (block 840 ). in an alternate embodiment, block 835 occurs within the thermophilic reactor (block 840 ). in still another embodiment, block 830 and 835 are performed in parallel. in the thermophilic phase, dwell time may be between about 24 to about 96 hours (block 845 ). biogases generated during methanogenesis, such as during the thermophilic phase, may be recirculated back into the thermophilic reactor (block 847 ). after the desired or appropriate dwell time, post-thermophilic effluent is transferred to the mesophilic phase (block 855 ) after the temperature is lowered (block 850 ), which generally occurs prior to transfer. the dwell time in the mesophilic stage (block 860 ) is generally between about 96 to about 170 hours, during which time, generated biogas may be recirculated (block 862 ) and/or removed (block 865 ). extracted biogas will generally be filtered (block 867 ) before use via a treating phase, as previously described. fig. 9 illustrates a representative flow chart for producing one or more biosolids, biofuels and/or biosupplements, including pathogen reduced liquid fertilizer and pathogen reduced biosupplements and/or fertilizer. with block 905 , in one embodiment, a biomass is fed into a water stream (block 905 ) and adjusted to a desired percent tss (block 910 ), which may be between about 2% and about 15%. in other embodiments, the feed stream is not adjusted in tss and suitable for further processing. the feed stream is aerobically hydrolyzed (block 915 ) for between about 12 and about 36 hours at a ph between about 5.8 and about 6.2. the feed stream is transferred to an acidifying stage (block 920 ), whereby ph is maintained between about 5.8 and about 6.2 during a dwell time between about 12 to about 24 hours (block 925 ). upon completion of the acidic phase, the ph of the acidified feed stream is raised to between about 6.8 and about 7.2 (block 930 ). thereafter, the temperature of the post acidogenic feed stream is raised to a temperature between about 125° and about 158° f. (block 935 ). in some embodiments, the post-acidogenic ph adjustment (block 930 ) and temperature increase (block 935 ) will be performed in parallel and prior to transfer to the thermophilic stage (block 940 ). in other embodiments, block 930 and block 935 occur in series, as depicted in fig. 9 . as an alternative, block 935 may occur in the thermophilic reactor (block 945 ). during thermophilic digestion (block 945 ), biogas produced therefrom maybe recirculated (block 947 ) and/or transferred for dewatering (block 946 ) at which time the effluent is separated into one or more biofuels, such as pathogen reduced liquid fertilizer and/or biosupplements (block 949 ) and biosolids (block 948 ). figs. 10a and 10b illustrate a representative flow chart for producing one or more biogases, including methane, using two thermophilic reactors in series. referring first to fig. 10a , in one embodiment, a biomass is fed into a water stream (block 1005 ) and adjusted to a desired a percent tss (block 1010 ), which may be between about 2 and 15 percent. in other embodiments, the feed stream is not adjusted in tss and suitable for further processing. the feed stream is aerobically hydrolyzed (block 1015 ) before being transferred to an acidifying stage (block 1020 ). following acidogenesis (block 1025 ), the ph of the feed stream is raised (block 1030 ) and the temperature is raised (block 1035 ), which may occur in parallel or in series. as an alternative, the temperature may be raised after transfer to the thermophilic stage (block 1040 ). moving to fig. 10b , the heated and ph adjusted feed stream is digested in a first thermophilic phase (block 1045 ), where biogas is generated and may be recirculated (block 1047 ) and/or injected into a second thermophilic stage (block 1065 ). additionally, after the desired or appropriate dwell time, feed stream from the first thermophilic stage is transferred to a second thermophilic phase (block 1055 ); feed stream exiting the first thermophilic phase will contain a decreased tss percent as compared with the feed stream that entered the first thermophilic phase. the temperature of the feed stream prior to transfer to the second thermophilic phase is raised (block 1050 ) after which the feed stream is digested (block 1065 ). during the second thermophilic digestion, biogas produced may be recirculated (block 1067 ) or removed (block 1068 ) and filtered to produce a first selected biogas, biogas a (block 1069 ). in addition, the remaining feed stream is digested for an appropriate and/or desired period and then cooled and transferred to a mesophilic stage (block 1070 ). in the mesophilic phase, additional biogas is produced and removed (block 1080 ) and/or recirculated (block 1077 ). biogas at this stage contains a large amount of methane, which may be selected for via a filter (block 1090 ). figs. 11a and 11b illustrate a representative flow chart for producing one or more biogases, including methane, using two biomass digester systems in parallel, depicted as a and b. in both systems, biomass is fed for use. in one embodiment, the feed stream is fed into a water stream (blocks 1105 , 1107 ), adjusted to a desired percent tss—which may be up to about 15% (block 1110 ) and up to about 5% (block 1112 ), aerobically hydrolyzed (blocks 1115 , 1117 ), transferred to an acidifying stage (blocks 1120 , 1122 ) and acidified (blocks 1125 , 1127 ). in other embodiments, the feed stream is not adjusted in tss and suitable for further processing (e.g., hydrolyzing, acidifying, etc.). acidification times for system a and system b need not be the same; however, both systems require a lower, more acidic ph. after the desired and/or appropriate dwell time, both acidified feed streams undergo and adjustment in ph and/or temperature (blocks 1130 , 1132 ). in system a, the ph may be adjusted to between about 6.8 and about 7.2 and the temperature may be about between about 125° and 135° f. (block 1130 ). in system b, the ph may be adjusted to between about 6.4 and 7.0 with a temperature may be about between about 135 and 158 ° f. (block 1132 ). in either or both systems, ph and/or temperature adjustments may occur in parallel or in series and prior to transfer to a first thermophilic phase (block 1135 , 1137 ). in alternate embodiments, and in either or both systems, temperature and/or ph may be adjusted during methanogenesis, such as at a thermophilic phase. referring now to fig. 11b , thermophilic digestion is performed with both systems (blocks 1140 , 1142 ) and biogas produced is recirculated (blocks 1141 , 1143 ) and/or removed (blocks 1170 , 1147 ). removed biogas is generally filtered and selected for one or more specified gases, such as biogas a or biogas b (blocks 1175 , 1149 , respectively), which may include methane and/or hydrogen. alternatively or in addition, some or all of removed biogas from system a may be injected into the thermophilic phase of system b (block 1144 ). feed stream after the thermophilic phase of either system is generally cooled and transferred (blocks 1150 , 1152 ) to a next phase, which is the mesophilic phase. in the mesophilic phase, the feed stream is further digested (blocks 1155 , 1157 ) and biogas generated may be recirculated (blocks 1156 , 1158 ) and/or removed (blocks 1160 , 1162 ) and further filtered (blocks 1165 , 1167 ) to yield a select gas, such as methane. alternatively or in addition, all or a portion of biogas generated during mesophilic digestion (blocks 1155 , 1157 ) may be removed and injected (block 1159 ) back into the thermophilic phase of system b (block 1142 ). the effluent stream from the thermophilic and/or mesophilic phases, rich in nutrients and minerals, generally includes a large amount of nitrogen, typically inorganic nitrogen in the form of ammonia. nitrogen is one of the primary elements in soil biosupplements and fertilizers. to recycle liquid in the effluent (line 12 , figs. 1a-1d ), ammonia and other harmful elements must first be removed. thus, it is beneficial to remove nitrogen from the effluent and reprocess it into biosupplements and fertilizers. nitrogen, in the form of ammonia is generally removed from the effluent via nitrification. nitrification sequentially oxidizes ammonia to one or more forms of nitrate. nitrification can be accomplished by various methods known to one of skill in the relevant art. as described herein, denitrification closely follows nitrification to preserve nitrogen where desired. during denitrification, nitrates are converted to gaseous nitrogen via passage through a filter, such as a cation bed type filter (block 8 , figs. 1a-1d ). in one form, zeolites are used with or as a cation bed filter. separation of solids from effluent generally includes transport of the feed stream by pump and pipeline to a liquid-solid separation process (block 5 , figs. 1a-1d ), which is depicted schematically in one form and in more detail with fig. 3 . referring now to fig. 3 , feed stream from the mesophilic phase (line 32 a) and/or thermophilic phase (line 32 b) are passed through one or more dewatering systems ( 33 and 34 ). suitable dewatering methods include a belt press, cyclone separator, screw press, resin bed, and other dewatering processes known to one skilled in the art that separate solids from a solid-liquid stream. in addition or as an alternative, solids may be separated by evaporation. the solids ( 38 ) are generally odorless and rich in nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous and other minerals. such solids may be maintained in storage and/or may undergo further drying ( 39 ) using method known to those skilled in the relevant art. the effluent captured from the dewatering process is collected in an effluent line ( 35 ) and generally stored until use ( 37 ). liquids obtained from a process described herein after dewatering may be marked as a pathogen reduced organic liquid fertilizer because the liquid effluent of this process is high in nitrogen (in the form of ammonia) and other nutrients that make it an ideal organic or natural fertilizer. the solids obtained from a process described herein and after dewatering are generally classified as class a biosolids (as outlined by the epa). part of the liquid effluent may also be recycled. the feed stream may be diverted in whole or in part, as production goals dictate. prior to re-use, liquid effluent must be further processed, as depicted in blocks 7 and 8 of figs. 1a-1d , to remove nitrogen (generally in the form of ammonia and other elements) by nitrification followed by denitrification. while alternative methods may be used (e.g., conventional methods, such as reverse osmosis), a preferred method of nitrification as described herein involves a biological contactor (block 7 , figs. 1a-1d ). a biological contactor employs natural bacteria and/or microbes to perform nitrification in the effluent. suitable microbes include nitrosomonas and nitrobacter microbes. these and other microbes perform nitrification in specifically aerated chambers within the biological contactor. after the nitrification process is completed, the effluent is transported by pump and pipeline to a filter and/or other cation bed (block 8 , figs. 1a-1d ) for denitrification. an example of an earth filter or cation bed is a zeolite that is able to accommodate a wide variety of cations, loosely held by the compound or filter and may be readily exchanged for others in an appropriate solution. many such zeolites, including clinoptilolite, are thus re-usable as they are capable of recharging, such as by passing through a solution of salt water. in addition, or as an alternative, an earth filter when no longer suitable, may, itself, be recycled by adding it to the class a biosolids because spent filters/cation beds will be high in nitrogen. as discussed previously, criteria for classification of processed biosolids is provided by the epa (e.g., 40 c.f.r. §503). in addition, 40 c.f.r. §503.32 (a)(3) describes alternatives to achieve class a status. applying said standards to the process and system described herein, one residence time at the thermophilic phase has been calculated to be at or about 24 hours at or about 130-132° f. to provide pathogen reduced biosolids when a feed stream has about a 7% solids content. moreover, the liquid portion of the stream, also experiencing pathogen destruction from the thermophilic phase of the process, will provide a pathogen reduced liquid fertilizer at the completion of only a 24 hour residence time. pathogen reduction has been found to be significantly enhanced with a sodium bicarbonate injection upon exiting the acidic phase (block 2 , figs. 1a-1d ). as is understood by one skilled in the relevant art, dwell time and temperatures, particularly in the thermophilic and mesophilic phases, as well as distribution and flow path of the feed stream will be adjusted to produce the desired quantity of biogas, fertilizer and/or biosupplements. for example, a large portion of the feed stream may be diverted to a dewatering system after the thermophilic phase for recovery of pathogen reduced organic fertilizer, while the remaining portion moves through the mesophilic phase to generate additional biogas, in addition to that generated during the thermophilic phase. as an alternative, biogas production may be maintained at a level that is just enough to provide for energy requirements for the digestion system. as described herein, a multi-phase digestion system and process allows for an optimal microbial environment at each phase of the digestion process. moreover, optimizing each phase means that the system and process herein provides for a significant reduction in dwell time in each phase and increased biomass conversion efficiency as compared with alternative systems and processes. additional benefits are that the multi-phase system and process allows for a reduction in reactor size capacity, while providing for the same or even more quantity of biogas, fertilizer and/or biosupplements. a reduced reactor volume and capacity reduces capital costs, lowers heating and mixing demands and overall energy expenditures for heating and mixing of the feed stream during operational periods. in one form, a higher conversion efficiency as described herein yields a greater amount of produced biogas, a cleaner effluent, a reduced volume of non-decomposed effluent solids, and an increased volume of class a biosolids. in one or more embodiments is disclosed a method of producing methane gas that includes stripping methane from other gases in a biogas mixture that is obtained from either or both thermophilic and/or mesophilic phases. in addition is disclosed herein a method of producing class a biosolids that includes a post-mesophilic stage of dewatering stage in which the recovered liquid is transferred to a liquid container or pipe and the post-mesophilic stage products after dewatering include class a biosolids. still further is disclosed herein a method of producing pathogen reduced liquid fertilizer that includes performing mesophilic digestion on the acetic acid in solution, transferring the post-mesophilic stage effluent to a dewatering stage; and separating liquid from solid in the dewatering stage, whereby the liquid is obtained in the form of a liquid fertilizer. even further is disclosed herein a method of recycling water in a biomass digestion process that includes transferring post-mesophilic stage effluent to a dewatering stage, separating liquid from solid in the dewatering stage, transferring the separated liquid to a biological contactor, filtering the liquid through one or more times (e,g., first with a biological contactor and after with an earth filter) and re-entering the filtered water into an initial phase of the biomass digestion process. still further is provided herein a system for generating a biogas, biosolids and pathogen reduced liquid fertilizer that includes aerobic hydrolysis, anaerobic acidogenesis, at least one phase of anaerobic thermophilic methanogenesis, at least one phase of mesophilic methanogenesis, a ph adjustment system to neutralize a feed stream prior to or during acidogenesis and/or thermophilic methanogenesis, at least one heat exchanger in cooperation with acidogenesis, thermophilic methanogenesis and/or mesophilic methanogenesis, a mixing device in cooperation with acidogenesis, thermophilic methanogenesis and/or mesophilic methanogenesis, a gas lifting device in cooperation with thermophilic methanogenesis and/or mesophilic methanogenesis, a means for diverting at least a portion of a feed stream after thermophilic methanogenesis and/or mesophilic methanogenesis, a dewatering system, a biogas treating system and optionally a liquid recycling system. described herein is a biomass digestion system that produces one or more biofuels, including organic fertilizer and/or organic biosupplements, with a reduced amount of pathogens. enhancements provided and described herein include more manageable, efficient and controllable digestion processes and systems, each having more moderate and modifiable reactor conditions (e.g., tss, ph and/or temperature), which removes the potential for over-acidification and assists in isolating acidogenic microbes in order to manage their rapid and aggressive growth. in addition, efficient and timely biomass digestion is obtained without the need for regular biomass supplements. while specific alternatives to steps of the invention have been described herein, additional alternatives not specifically disclosed but known in the art are intended to fall within the scope of the invention. thus, it is understood that other applications of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the described embodiment and after consideration of the appended claims.
089-533-766-559-176	US	[ "US" ]	B60W30/16,B60W30/165,B60W40/04,B60W40/06,B60W40/10,G06V20/58,G06K9/00	2020-10-07T00:00:00	2020	[ "B60", "G06" ]	trailing vehicle positioning system based on detected pressure zones	a system for controlling platooning by a following vehicle includes a main body of the following vehicle. the system further includes a pressure sensor located in or on the main body and configured to detect a pressure corresponding to a pressure wake from a leading vehicle. the system further includes an electronic control unit (ecu) located in or on the main body, coupled to the pressure sensor, and configured to determine an optimal distance from the following vehicle to the leading vehicle based on the detected pressure. the optimal distance corresponding to a distance at which drag applied to the following vehicle is reduced based on the pressure wake from the leading vehicle.	1. a system for controlling platooning by a following vehicle, the system comprising: a main body of the following vehicle; a pressure sensor located in or on the main body and configured to detect a pressure corresponding to a pressure wake from a leading vehicle; a sensor located in or on the main body and configured to detect data related to a plurality of shapes of a plurality of respective vehicles within a predetermined area near the following vehicle, the plurality of shapes of the plurality of respective vehicles including a shape of the leading vehicle; and an electronic control unit (ecu) located in or on the main body, coupled to the pressure sensor and the sensor, and configured to: select the leading vehicle from the plurality of respective vehicles as an optimal leading vehicle to follow based on the detected data related to the plurality of shapes of the plurality of respective vehicles, determine a wake profile of the leading vehicle based on the detected data related to the shape of the leading vehicle in response to the selection of the leading vehicle as the optimal leading vehicle to follow, and determine an optimal distance from the following vehicle to the leading vehicle based on the detected pressure and the determined wake profile, the optimal distance corresponding to a distance at which drag applied to the following vehicle is reduced based on the pressure wake from the leading vehicle. 2. the system of claim 1 , wherein: the main body includes a front end and a rear end; the pressure sensor includes a first pressure sensor located closer to the front end than the rear end; and the pressure sensor includes a second pressure sensor located closer to the rear end than the front end. 3. the system of claim 2 , wherein: the main body includes a grill towards the front end and a windshield; and the first pressure sensor is located at least one of on the grill or on the windshield. 4. the system of claim 3 , wherein: the pressure sensor includes a third pressure sensor located on the grill; and the first pressure sensor is located on the windshield. 5. the system of claim 3 , wherein the ecu is further configured to determine the optimal distance to be a distance at which a first pressure detected by the first pressure sensor is less than a second pressure detected by the second pressure sensor. 6. the system of claim 1 , wherein the ecu is further configured to determine the optimal distance based on the shape of the leading vehicle. 7. the system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of: a location sensor located in or on the following vehicle and configured to detect data corresponding to a current location of the following vehicle; or a speed sensor located in or on the following vehicle and configured to detect a speed of the following vehicle; and wherein the ecu is further configured to determine the optimal distance based on at least one of the current location of the following vehicle or the speed of the following vehicle. 8. the system of claim 7 , wherein the ecu is further configured to determine the optimal distance based on the current location of the following vehicle and the speed of the following vehicle. 9. the system of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the sensor or another sensor is configured to detect road data on a current or upcoming roadway of the following vehicle, the road data including at least one of: a tunnel; an overpass; a grade; a curve; a wind speed; a wind direction; precipitation; a temperature; or an elevation, and wherein the ecu is further configured to determine the optimal distance based on the detected road data. 10. the system of claim 1 , further comprising: an output device located in or on the following vehicle and configured to output data corresponding to the optimal distance; and a power source located in or on the following vehicle and configured to propel the following vehicle along a roadway; and wherein the ecu is further configured to at least one of: control the output device to output the data corresponding to the optimal distance, or control the power source to cause the following vehicle to remain within a predetermined distance of the optimal distance relative to the leading vehicle. 11. a system for controlling platooning by a following vehicle, the system comprising: a main body of the following vehicle having a front end and a rear end; a first pressure sensor and a second pressure sensor each located in or on the main body and configured to detect pressure data corresponding to at least a portion of a pressure wake from a leading vehicle, the first pressure sensor being located closer to the front end than the second pressure sensor; a sensor located in or on the main body and configured to detect data related to a plurality of shapes of a plurality of respective vehicles within a predetermined area near the following vehicle, the plurality of shapes of the plurality of respective vehicles including a shape of the leading vehicle; and an electronic control unit (ecu) located in or on the main body, coupled to the first pressure sensor, the second pressure sensor, and the sensor, and configured to: select the leading vehicle from the plurality of respective vehicles as an optimal leading vehicle to follow based on the detected data related to the plurality of shapes of the plurality of respective vehicles, determine a wake profile of the leading vehicle based on the detected data related to the shape of the leading vehicle in response to the selection of the leading vehicle as the optimal leading vehicle to follow, and determine an optimal distance from the following vehicle to the leading vehicle based on the pressure data and the determined wake profile, the optimal distance corresponding to a distance at which drag applied to the following vehicle is reduced based on the pressure wake from the leading vehicle. 12. the system of claim 11 , wherein the ecu is further configured to determine the optimal distance based on the shape of the leading vehicle. 13. a method for controlling platooning by a following vehicle, the method comprising: detecting, by a pressure sensor located on or in the following vehicle, a pressure corresponding to a pressure wake from a leading vehicle; detecting, by a sensor located in or on a main body of the following vehicle, data related to a plurality of shapes of a plurality of respective vehicles within a predetermined area near the following vehicle, the plurality of shapes of the plurality of respective vehicles including a shape of the leading vehicle; selecting, by an electronic control unit (ecu) located on or in the following vehicle and coupled to the pressure sensor and the sensor, the leading vehicle from the plurality of respective vehicles as an optimal leading vehicle to follow in response to detecting the data related to the plurality of shapes of the plurality of respective vehicles; determining, by the ecu, a wake profile of the leading vehicle in response to detecting the data related to the shape of the leading vehicle and selecting the leading vehicle as the optimal leading vehicle to follow; and determining, by the ecu, an optimal distance from the following vehicle to the leading vehicle in response to detecting the pressure and determining the wake profile, the optimal distance corresponding to a distance at which drag applied to the following vehicle is reduced based on the pressure wake from the leading vehicle. 14. the method of claim 13 , wherein the pressure sensor includes a first pressure sensor located closer to a front end of the following vehicle than a rear end of the following vehicle and a second pressure sensor located closer to the rear end than the front end. 15. the method of claim 14 , wherein the first pressure sensor is located at least one of on a grill on the following vehicle or on a windshield on the following vehicle. 16. the method of claim 14 , wherein determining the optimal distance includes determining a distance (i) at which a first pressure detected by the first pressure sensor is less than a second pressure detected by the second pressure sensor and (ii) which is equal to or greater than a threshold distance. 17. the method of claim 13 , wherein determining the optimal distance includes determining the optimal distance based on the shape of the leading vehicle. 18. the method of claim 13 , further comprising at least one of: outputting, by an output device on or in the following vehicle, data corresponding to the optimal distance; or controlling, by the ecu, a power source on or in the following vehicle to cause the following vehicle to remain within a predetermined distance of the optimal distance relative to the leading vehicle.	background 1. field the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for controlling platooning by a following vehicle and, more particularly, to systems and methods for increasing vehicle efficiency using drag force estimations during platooning. 2. description of the related art some autonomous vehicle fleets may be designed to platoon such that they follow each other in close proximity where speed and driving operations are controlled as a fleet. however, in manual vehicles, semi-autonomous vehicles, or fully autonomous vehicles traveling separate from a fleet, it is desirable for the driver or the vehicle to remain a safe distance behind a leading vehicle. wind resistance may reduce energy efficiency of a vehicle. it follows then that reducing wind resistance at a front of a vehicle will increase energy efficiency. due to the wake generated by vehicles, a pressure wave is produced behind them. if the pressure wave is timed such that a front end of a trailing vehicle is located in a low pressure portion of the wave and a rear end of the trailing vehicle is located in a high pressure portion of the wave then the trailing vehicle will experience reduced wind resistance at a front end of the vehicle and increased pressure behind the vehicle propelling the vehicle forward. however, information regarding pressure waves of multiple vehicle types is unknown. because each vehicle shape will produce a different pressure wave, it is not possible to create a formula or select a generalized trailing distance that will provide this benefit regardless of the leading vehicle. thus, there is a need in the art for systems and methods for optimizing platooning by a following vehicle. summary described herein is a system for controlling platooning by a following vehicle. the system includes a main body of the following vehicle. the system further includes a pressure sensor located in or on the main body and configured to detect a pressure corresponding to a pressure wake from a leading vehicle. the system further includes an electronic control unit (ecu) located in or on the main body, coupled to the pressure sensor, and configured to determine an optimal distance from the following vehicle to the leading vehicle based on the detected pressure, the optimal distance corresponding to a distance at which drag applied to the following vehicle is reduced based on the pressure wake from the leading vehicle. also disclosed is a system for controlling platooning by a following vehicle. the system includes a main body of the following vehicle having a front end and a rear end. the system further includes a first pressure sensor and a second pressure sensor each located in or on the main body and configured to detect pressure data corresponding to a pressure wake from a leading vehicle, the first pressure sensor being located closer to the front end than the second pressure sensor. the system further includes an electronic control unit (ecu) located in or on the main body, coupled to the pressure sensor, and configured to determine an optimal distance from the following vehicle to the leading vehicle based on the pressure data, the optimal distance corresponding to a distance at which drag applied to the following vehicle is reduced based on the pressure wake from the leading vehicle. also disclosed is a method for controlling platooning by a following vehicle. the method includes detecting, by a pressure sensor of the following vehicle, a pressure corresponding to a pressure wake from a leading vehicle. the method further includes determining, by an electronic control unit (ecu) of the following vehicle, an optimal distance from the following vehicle to the leading vehicle based on the detected pressure, the optimal distance corresponding to a distance at which drag applied to the following vehicle is reduced based on the pressure wake from the leading vehicle. brief description of the drawings other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present invention will be or will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. it is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. component parts shown in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, and may be exaggerated to better illustrate the important features of the present invention. in the drawings, like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the different views, wherein: fig. 1a is a block diagram illustrating a vehicle having a system for controlling platooning behind a leading vehicle to increase fuel efficiency according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 1b is a drawing illustrating a profile view of the vehicle of fig. 1a according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 illustrates various features of the system of fig. 1a according to an embodiment of the present invention; figs. 3a and 3b are flowcharts illustrating a method for controlling platooning behind a leading vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 4a illustrates an exemplary leading vehicle and an exemplary following vehicle implementing the features of the present disclosure according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 4b illustrates dimensions of various leading vehicles according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 4c illustrates fuel efficiency savings of the following vehicle of fig. 4a implementing the method of figs. 3a and 3b according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 5a is a graph illustrating an amount of force required by the following vehicle of fig. 4a to maintain a constant speed based on a distance between the leading vehicle and the following vehicle of fig. 4a according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 5b is a drawing showing wake profiles behind the leading vehicle of fig. 4a and its impact upon the following vehicle of fig. 4a at various distances between the vehicles according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 5c is a close-up view of the impact of the wake profile of the leading vehicle of fig. 4a as it contacts the following vehicle of fig. 4a at a first time according to an embodiment of the present invention; and fig. 5d is a close-up view of the impact of the wake profile of the leading vehicle of fig. 4a as it contacts the following vehicle of fig. 4a at a second time according to an embodiment of the present invention. detailed description the present disclosure describes systems and methods for controlling platooning by a following vehicle. the system can advantageously determine wake profile data or drag force data corresponding to a pressure wake behind a leading vehicle, and can determine an optimal following distance for the following vehicle to remain behind the leading vehicle based on the wake profile or drag force. the optimal distance advantageously increases fuel or energy efficiency of the following vehicle, thus saving fuel and reducing costs of driving. the system advantageously may include multiple pressure sensors to detect pressure corresponding to the pressure wake of the leading vehicle, which provides the benefit of improved calculation of the optimal distance based on actual pressure applied to the following vehicle. the system can advantageously autonomously control the following vehicle to remain the optimal distance behind the leading vehicle during autonomous driving or during adaptive cruise control mode, reducing effort of a driver to achieve the savings. the system also provides the advantage of reducing swings in acceleration or deceleration (i.e., will fluctuate from the optimal distance in certain situations) in order to provide a smoother ride. the system provides additional benefits such as continuously or periodically calculating new drag force or wake profile data of various potential leading vehicles and selecting a new leading vehicle that will provide greater fuel efficiency benefits than a current leading vehicle. the system also advantageously will select a greater optimal distance in response to a leading vehicle being human-driven rather than autonomously-driven in order to increase safety. an exemplary system includes one or more pressure sensor located in or on a following vehicle that detects pressure data corresponding to the pressure wake left behind a leading vehicle. for example, the following vehicle may include a first pressure sensor towards a front of the vehicle and a second pressure sensor towards a rear of the vehicle. the system may further include an electronic control unit (ecu) coupled to the pressure sensor(s). the ecu may determine characteristics corresponding to the pressure wake behind the leading vehicle based on the detected pressure data (and potentially based on other information such as a current vehicle speed, a shape of the leading vehicle, or the like). the ecu may also determine an optimal distance to platoon, or follow, behind the leading vehicle. the optimal distance is a distance at which drag applied to the following vehicle is reduced and is based on the data corresponding to the pressure wake from the leading vehicle. due to the wake generated by vehicles, a pressure wave is produced behind them. accordingly, vehicles disrupt the atmosphere and pressure leaving a trail of atmospheric turbulence while moving. each vehicle creates a predictable wake or drag profile depending on the type of vehicle, the vehicle shape, and features on the vehicle (such as spoilers). the closer a following vehicle is to a lead vehicle, the less drag or wind resistance the following vehicle will face. this is due to the lead vehicle breaking the wind barrier and absorbing the brunt of the wind resistance. a following vehicle may experience decreased drag the further behind a leading vehicle it is traveling, however, the decreased drag is not a linear digression. simulations have shown that the pressure wake of a vehicle creates a predictable pattern or profile based on various features such as vehicle type, vehicle shape, and other parameters. accordingly, it is possible to predict or estimate the type of drag wave left behind by a leading vehicle given any number of variables and parameters (pressure data detected at one or more location on the following vehicle, a shape of the lead vehicle, wind, road, terrain, altitude, temperature, and cross-talk impact from other vehicles and external objects (e.g., bridges, barriers, trees, open fields, etc.)). furthermore, simulation software can determine an amount of drag force exerted on a trailing vehicle based on variable distance behind a lead vehicle. the optimal distance to generate the least amount of drag force working against a trailing vehicle (minimum drag) is based on, for example, vehicle parameters and external variables mentioned above. however, no technology previously existed where the simulation data is used to build a database of identifiable drag profiles that provide unique characteristics of a wake pattern or wave print of a vehicle according to various vehicle categories (e.g., vehicle type, shape, size, etc.) including specific vehicle types (e.g., make, model, year, options, aftermarket add-ons, etc.). for instance, when vehicles travel they create a drag wake which generally follows a dispersing wave pattern. the wind resistance is broken by a lead vehicle while a trailing vehicle may benefit from the wake of a lead vehicle. however, in some areas in a drag wake of a leading vehicle, a trailing vehicle may experience greater than nominal wind resistance (i.e., resistance if no lead vehicle was present) because the drag profile follows a wave-like pattern. as in most waves, being in frequency allows harmonious results while being out of frequency, similar to being out of rhythm with a beat, creates clash and disruption of the medium. accordingly, it is desirable for a trailing vehicle to follow within a valley, for example, in a sine wave configuration, where the vehicle experiences high pressure at rear surfaces of the vehicle (e.g., rear window, trunk area, rear cargo door, etc.) above the nominal pressure (i.e., without a lead vehicle in front). similarly, the vehicle should experience a low pressure along forward-facing surfaces (e.g., front windshield, grill, etc.) due to driving behind a lead vehicle in a valley or low-pressure zone. this location in the valley, or low-pressure zone, is where the high pressure in the rear pushes the vehicle forward and the low pressure in the front produces reduced wind resistance (as compared to a lack of leading vehicle), thus increasing vehicle efficiency. this allows the trailing vehicle to take advantage of the aerodynamic improvement of driving in a low-pressure zone or sweet spot behind a lead vehicle. the present disclosure provides systems and methods for controlling platooning by a following vehicle by determining data corresponding to the pressure wake behind a leading vehicle. the system may determine the wake pressure data based on various pieces of information such as pressure sensors located on the following vehicle, based on image data of the leading vehicle, based on a vehicle speed of the vehicles, or the like. the pressure sensors are able to detect external pressures along a front surface and a rear surface of the vehicle. for example, such pressure sensors may detect relevant pressures if mounted along surfaces absorbing a relatively large amount of wind resistance (e.g., a windshield or a grill) and those surfaces causing the most drag (e.g., a rear window or windshield, a trunk, or the like). by referencing simulation databases (e.g., saved locally, remotely, or some combination thereof using a cloud or remote server) to determine an optimal following distance behind the leading vehicle to minimize drag force that may reduce fuel or energy efficiency of the following vehicle. the present disclosure provides such benefits by estimating the amount of drag force exerted on the trailing vehicle at any distance behind the lead vehicle based on the lead vehicle drag wake data. as the trailing vehicle is trailing a lead vehicle, the front and rear pressure zones are monitored to detect where in the wake of the lead vehicle the trailing vehicle is located (e.g., is the front pressure zone of the following vehicle in a peak or valley of the wake). the pressure data can be used to optimize the following distance behind the leading vehicle. for example, if the front pressure reading is greater than a nominal pressure reading (e.g., without a leading vehicle) and the rear pressure reading is less than nominal then the trailing vehicle is in a disadvantaged drag position. the trailing vehicle may continue to modify the distance as the front and rear pressure values are continuously or periodically monitored. if the system determines that the rear pressure values are greater than nominal (e.g., if rear winds are providing acceleration) then the system may determine that an improved position has been obtained. based on this information and based on the anticipated wave pattern, the system may notify the driver to continue the trending direction or maintain the current following distance. likewise, if the front pressure values are less than nominal, the same result and improvement of fuel efficiency may be achieved. once the vehicle has obtained improved front and rear pressure values, the vehicle may determine that the following vehicle is in a valley of the drag wave and an optimal distance has been achieved. turning to figs. 1a and 1b , a vehicle 100 may include a system 101 for controlling platooning of the vehicle 100 . platooning refers to a method for driving a group (e.g., two or more) of vehicles together. pressure waves may be present behind a leading (e.g., front) vehicle 103 . depending on how the pressure waves hit a following (e.g., rear) vehicle 100 , the pressure waves may cause the following vehicle 100 to either increase or decrease in efficiency. for example, an increase in drag force on the vehicle 100 will decrease vehicle efficiency by slowing down the vehicle 100 and consuming excess fuel and/or stored energy, and a decrease in drag force on the vehicle 100 will increase vehicle efficiency. the drag force applied to the vehicle 100 changes with distance between the vehicles as the pressure wake behind the leading vehicle 103 may have a periodic shape rather than a flat, or linear, shape. the position of the pressure waves on the following vehicle 100 and the effects of the pressure waves may be based on various factors such as a shape of the leading vehicle 103 , a distance 105 between the leading vehicle 103 and the following vehicle 100 , a speed of the vehicles 100 , 103 , and road data (e.g., wind speed, wind direction, grade of the current roadway, precipitation, or the like). it is possible to calculate, determine, or predict the drag force (and/or a wake profile) applied to the vehicle 100 based on the above factors. it is therefore desirable to utilize systems and methods for determining or estimating drag force applied to the vehicle 100 and determining an optimal distance between vehicles based on the drag force. such determinations may be implemented in order to achieve significant savings in fuel or energy efficiency. the vehicle 100 (or system 101 ) may include an ecu 102 , a memory 104 , a power source 106 , and a main body 109 . the vehicle 100 (or system 101 ) may further include a network access device 110 , an image sensor 122 , a location sensor 124 , and a sensor 132 . the vehicle 100 may further include a front pressure sensor 136 and a rear pressure sensor 138 . the vehicle 100 may also include an input device 138 and an output device 140 . the main body 109 may be propelled along a roadway, may be suspended in or on water, or may fly through air. the main body 109 may resemble a vehicle such as a car, a bus, a motorcycle, a boat, an aircraft, or the like. the main body 109 may further support one or more individual such as a driver, a passenger, or the like. the main body 109 may have a front half 140 and a rear half 142 separated by a centerline 134 . the centerline 134 may be directly between a front end and a rear end of the main body 109 . the front pressure sensor 136 may be located on the main body 109 on the front half 140 , and the rear pressure sensor 138 may be located on the main body 109 on the rear half 142 . the ecu 102 may be coupled to each of the components of the vehicle 100 and may include one or more processors or controllers which may be specifically designed for automotive systems. the functions of the ecu 102 may be implemented in a single ecu or in multiple ecus. the ecu 102 may receive data from components of the vehicle 100 , may make determinations based on the received data, and may control the operations of the components based on the determinations. in some embodiments, the ecu 102 may be designed to perform artificial intelligence or machine learning functions. in that regard, the ecu 102 may be a machine learning ecu. the vehicle 100 may be non-autonomous, fully autonomous, or semi-autonomous. in that regard, the ecu 102 may control various aspects of the vehicle 100 (such as steering, braking, accelerating, or the like) to maneuver the vehicle 100 from a starting location to a destination location. in some embodiments, the vehicle 100 may be operated in an autonomous, semi-autonomous, or fully driver-operated state. in that regard, the vehicle 100 may be operated independently of driver control and, from time to time, without a person inside of the vehicle 100 . the ecu 102 may facilitate such autonomous functionality. the ecu 102 may also, for example, make determinations based on data detected by the image sensor 122 , the location sensor 124 , and/or the sensor 132 . for example, the ecu 102 may determine information corresponding to drag force of the leading vehicle 103 or a wake profile of the leading vehicle 103 , and may determine optimal platooning control of the vehicle 100 based on the determined information. the memory 104 may include any non-transitory memory and may store data usable by the ecu 102 . for example, the memory 104 may store instructions usable by the ecu 102 to drive autonomously (which may include fully autonomous driving or partial autonomous driving such as adaptive cruise control). the memory 104 may further store data associating shapes of leading vehicles 103 with corresponding drag force or wake profile data, and the ecu may determine the platooning distance 105 based on the stored data. the memory 104 may be located in or on the main body 109 and may thus be referred to as a local memory. the power source 106 may include any one or more of an engine 114 , a motor-generator 116 , a battery 118 , and a fuel cell circuit 120 . the engine 114 may convert a fuel into mechanical power for propelling the vehicle 100 . in that regard, the engine 114 may be a gasoline engine, a diesel engine, an ethanol engine, or the like. the battery 118 may store electrical energy. in some embodiments, the battery 118 may include any one or more energy storage device including a battery, a flywheel, a super capacitor, a thermal storage device, or the like. the battery 118 may be used to store power usable by the motor generator 116 , power usable to start the engine 114 , or the like. the fuel-cell circuit 120 may include a plurality of fuel cells that facilitate a chemical reaction to generate electrical energy. for example, the fuel cells may receive hydrogen and oxygen, facilitate a reaction between the hydrogen and the oxygen, and output electricity in response to the reaction. in that regard, the electrical energy generated by the fuel-cell circuit 120 may be stored in the battery 118 and/or used by the motor-generator 116 or other electrical components of the vehicle 100 . in some embodiments, the vehicle 100 may include multiple fuel-cell circuits including the fuel-cell circuit 120 . the motor-generator 116 may convert the electrical energy stored in the battery 118 (or electrical energy received directly from the fuel-cell circuit 120 ) into mechanical power usable to propel the vehicle 100 . the motor-generator 116 may further convert mechanical power received from the engine 114 or from wheels of the vehicle 100 into electricity, which may be stored in the battery 118 as energy and/or used by other components of the vehicle 100 . in some embodiments, the motor-generator 116 may include a motor without a generator portion and, in some embodiments, a separate generator may be provided. the location sensor 112 may include any sensor capable of detecting data corresponding to a current location of the vehicle 100 . for example, the location sensor 112 may include one or more of a global positioning system (gps) sensor 128 , an inertial measurement unit (imu) sensor 130 , or the like. the gps sensor 128 may detect data corresponding to a current location of the vehicle 100 . for example, the gps sensor 128 may detect global positioning coordinates of the vehicle 100 . the imu sensor 130 may include one or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or the like. the imu sensor 130 may detect inertial measurement data corresponding to a position, a velocity, an orientation, an acceleration, or the like of the vehicle 100 . the inertial measurement data may be used to identify a change in location of the vehicle 100 , which the ecu 102 may track in order to determine a current location of the vehicle 100 . the location sensor 112 may be used to determine various road data corresponding to a current or upcoming roadway on which the vehicle 100 is traveling. the road data may include, for example, information indicating whether the vehicle 100 is traveling through a tunnel, over an overpass, a grade of the current or upcoming roadway, a curve of the roadway (including an angle of the curve), a current wind speed, a current wind direction, precipitation (e.g., rain, snow, sleet, etc.), a current temperature, or an elevation of the current roadway. for example, the ecu 102 may transmit the current location of the main body 109 to a remote device (not shown), and may receive the road data in response. as another example, the memory 104 may store some road data (e.g., a grade, a tunnel, or the like), and the ecu 102 may compare the current location to the stored data to determine the current road data. the image sensor 122 may be coupled to the main body 108 and may detect image data corresponding to an environment of the vehicle 100 . for example, the image sensor 122 may include a camera 126 , a radar detector 128 , a lidar detector 130 , or any other image sensor capable of detecting light having any wavelength. the image sensor 122 may include one or multiple image sensors which may be oriented to detect image data in any direction relative to the main body 109 . for example, the image sensor 122 may include four or more radar detectors to detect radar data on all four sides of the main body 109 . the image sensor 122 may also or instead include a first camera to detect image data in a forward direction relative to the main body 109 and a second camera to detect image data in a rear direction relative to the main body 109 . the data from the image sensor 122 may include information corresponding to a shape of a leading vehicle 103 . for example, the shape may include a general shape of the vehicle 103 , specific features of the vehicle 103 , a specific type of the vehicle 103 (e.g., a sedan, a coupe, a minivan, a sports utility vehicle (suv), or the like), or a specific make and/or model of the vehicle 103 . in some embodiments, the data from the image sensor 122 may further be used to determine a current distance between the main body 109 and the leading vehicle 103 . the sensor 132 may include one or more of a sensor capable of detecting road data (as described above) including environmental conditions (e.g., weather conditions), a voltage sensor, a current sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a fuel gauge, an airflow sensor, an oxygen sensor, or the like. the front pressure sensor 136 may be located on an outside of the main body 109 at any location on the front half 140 . for example, the main body 109 may include a grill 150 , a front windshield 152 , a hood 160 , a roof 154 , or the like. the front pressure sensor 136 may include any one or more of a first pressure sensor 151 located on the grill 150 , a second pressure sensor 153 located on the windshield 152 , a third pressure sensor 161 located on the hood 160 , a fourth pressure sensor 163 located on the roof 154 (on the front half 140 ), or the like. the rear pressure sensor 138 may be located on an outside of the main body 109 at any location on the rear half 142 . for example, the main body 109 may include a trunk 156 , a spoiler 158 , a rear windshield 164 , or the like. the rear pressure sensor 138 may include any one or more of a fifth pressure sensor 155 located on the roof 154 (on the rear half 142 ), a sixth pressure sensor 157 located on the trunk 156 , a seventh pressure sensor 159 located on the spoiler 158 , an eighth pressure sensor 165 located on the rear windshield 164 , or the like. the pressure sensors 136 , 138 may include any sensors capable of detecting pressure data corresponding to a pressure wake behind the leading vehicle 103 . for example, the pressure sensors 136 may include any one or more of a potentiometric pressure sensor, an inductive pressure sensor, a capacitive pressure sensor, a piezoelectric pressure sensor, a strain gauge pressure sensor, a variable reluctance pressure sensor, or the like. the pressure sensors 136 , 138 may include any quantity of pressure sensors. in some embodiments, it may be desirable for the vehicle 100 to include at least the front pressure sensor 136 and the rear pressure sensor 138 . in some embodiments, it may be desirable to include at least three pressure sensors including the front pressure sensor 136 , the rear pressure sensor 138 , and a third pressure sensor between the front pressure sensor 136 and the rear pressure sensor 138 . the ecu 102 may use the data from the memory 104 , the location sensor 124 , the image sensor 122 , the sensor 132 , and the pressure sensors 136 , 138 to determine an optimal platooning distance from the main body 109 of the following vehicle 100 to the leading vehicle 103 . in various embodiments, the ecu 102 may implement an artificial intelligence, or machine learning, algorithm to continually improve the quality of the optimal distance calculation. in some embodiments, the ecu 102 may control the power source 106 and any steering elements to cause the main body 109 to remain within a predetermined amount of the optimal distance from the leading vehicle 103 . the predetermined amount may be any amount that is sufficiently close to the optimal distance that the benefits of timing the pressure wave from the leading vehicle 103 are still achieved. for example, the predetermined amount may be provided as a percentage (e.g., within 3 percent (3%), 5%, 10%, or the like of the optimal distance) or as an absolute distance (e.g., within 1 foot, 3 feet, 5 feet, 10 feet, 15 feet, or the like of the optimal distance). in particular, the ecu 102 may utilize machine learning and image recognition to identify the lead vehicle 103 by one or more vehicle features (e.g., shape, make, model, year, license plate number, accessories, or the like). for example, the ecu 102 may cross reference the one or more features to a vehicle database or register to identify the lead vehicle. after identifying the lead vehicle, the ecu 102 may pull simulation data from a vehicle drag profile database to procure a baseline drag signature. in some embodiments, the ecu 102 may calculate the baseline drag signature further using the detected pressure data. the baseline drag signature may provide the variable drag force and turbulence signature at any point along the wake of the lead vehicle 103 . this point may equate to a distance as a function of speed and time. the baseline drag signature may provide simulation data using real-time vehicle parameters and actual environmental variables (e.g., road data including road slope and curves, type of terrain, weather, interference from other vehicles or drag wakes, or the like). in some embodiments, the ecu 102 may make adjustments to the optimal distance based on the detected pressure data. for example, the ecu 102 may determine the baseline drag signature based on image data and/or other data, may select an optimal following distance, and then may utilize the detected pressure data to verify that the optimal following distance is accurate. in some embodiments, the ecu 102 may select the optimal distance based only on pressure data, or on any combination of pressure data and other data. in some embodiments, the ecu 102 may continue to monitor the vehicle data, road data, and actual drag forces to evaluate the estimated drag force data to readjust the determination of the optimal distance or position. in terms of overall performance, vehicle range, cost, comfort, and fuel or energy efficiency, simulations illustrate that lead vehicles having a large, box shaped, bluff body that exhibit driving patterns that are smooth and consistent (both regarding acceleration and braking) appear more favorable than other vehicles. accordingly, the ecu 102 may continue to identify other vehicles on the roadway to determine if a different leading vehicle would provide greater benefits. such processes may be similar as those described above such that the ecu 102 identifies vehicles as they are passed using machine learning and image recognition. the drag profile of each vehicle may be retrieved to determine if the candidate vehicle is a better fit as a lead vehicle than the present lead vehicle 103 . if so, the driver or autonomous vehicle may be alerted and passengers notified via the output device 140 to provide the driver or passengers with an option to change lead vehicles. in some embodiments, the ecu 102 may instead simply inform the driver or passengers as to the reason for the change in lead vehicles. the input device 138 may include any one or more input device such as a button, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, a microphone, or the like. the input device 138 may receive input from a user of the vehicle 100 such as a driver or a passenger. in some embodiments, the network access device 110 may be considered an input device as it may receive input from a remote device associated with a vehicle user. the input device 138 may receive data such as steering data, control of various features of the vehicle 100 (e.g., a cruise control selection device), or the like. the output device 140 may include any output device such as a speaker, a display, a touchscreen, or the like. the output device 140 may output data to a user of the vehicle such as a representation of the optimal distance. the representation may be given as a value (e.g., “25 yards”), as a visual representation (e.g., showing a green light if the vehicle is within the predetermined amount of the optimal distance and showing a red light otherwise), or the like. the network access device 110 may likewise be considered an output device as it may transmit output data to a remote device (e.g., a tablet, laptop, or mobile phone), where it may be output to a vehicle user. the network access device 110 may include any network access device capable of communicating via a wireless protocol. for example, the network access device 110 may communicate via bluetooth, wi-fi, a cellular protocol, vehicle to vehicle (v2v) communications, zigbee, or any other wireless protocol. the network access device 110 may be referred to as a data communication module (dcm) and may communicate with any device on the vehicle 100 and/or any remote device. for example, the network access device 110 may communicate with at least one of a remote server (such as a cloud server or other central server), a remote memory, or a remote device (such as a mobile telephone, a laptop, a tablet, a desktop computer, a pda, or the like). the network access device 110 may receive data from the remote device such as road data. in some embodiments, the network access device 110 may communicate with other vehicles (e.g., the vehicle 103 ) and may receive an identifier of the vehicle type from the other vehicles. in such embodiments, the ecu 102 may determine the optimal distance based on the received vehicle type. in some embodiments, the data referred to herein as stored in the memory 104 may also or instead be stored in a remote memory accessed by the network access device 110 . referring now to fig. 2 , an exemplary implementation of the system 101 is shown. in particular, the ecu 102 may include a shape recognition algorithm 206 . the ecu 102 may further include a data machine learning algorithm 200 , an artificial intelligence algorithm 202 , and a lookup table 204 . in various embodiments, the lookup table 204 may be retrieved from the memory 104 based on a type or shape of leading vehicle. the data machine learning algorithm 200 may receive various pieces of information such as image data from the image sensor 122 , an identification of a shape of a leading vehicle or a type of the leading vehicle, location data from the location sensor 124 , a current vehicle speed, road data from the sensor 132 , pressure data from the pressure sensors 136 , 138 , or the like. the data machine learning algorithm 200 may determine information based on the inputs. for example, the data machine learning algorithm 200 may determine an identification of the leading vehicle type using machine learning. as another example, the data machine learning algorithm 200 may determine a distance between the present vehicle 100 and the leading vehicle based on the sensor data, and may further determine road data based on the sensor data. the ecu 102 may determine an applicable lookup table 204 based on the determination of the type or shape of the leading vehicle. for example, the memory 104 may store multiple lookup tables each corresponding to a particular leading vehicle shape or type. in response to the ecu 102 identifying the type or shape of the leading vehicle, the ecu 102 may retrieve the associated lookup table from the memory 104 . the artificial intelligence algorithm 202 may receive the determinations from the data machine learning algorithm 200 and may access the corresponding lookup table 204 . the artificial intelligence algorithm 202 may determine control logic 208 usable to at least one of output an optimal distance between the vehicle 108 leading vehicle or control the power source of the vehicle 100 to remain within a predetermined amount of the optimal distance from the leading vehicle. as an example, the lookup table 204 may associate a drag force estimation or a wake profile with a distance between vehicles for various speeds. each lookup table may make this association for a different leading vehicle type or shape. in some embodiments, the lookup table 204 may be replaced by an equation or other calculation that determines a drag force or wake profile for a leading vehicle at various speeds. in some embodiments, the lookup tables or the equations or calculations may be determined by modeling drag force or wake profiles of vehicles and, in some embodiments, the lookup tables, equations, or calculations may be determined based on testing of vehicles in various situations. the artificial intelligence algorithm may further learn to adjust calculations or determinations based on received pressure data from the pressure sensors 136 , 138 . the control logic 208 may be determined by the artificial intelligence algorithm 202 based on the data in the lookup table 204 and based on the determinations of the data machine learning algorithm 200 . in some embodiments, the artificial intelligence algorithm 202 may receive feedback from one or more sensor of the vehicle 100 (e.g., corresponding to fuel efficiency, detected pressure values, power consumption, or the like) which may indicate an accuracy of the determined optimal distance. in such embodiments, the artificial intelligence algorithm 202 may continuously update to improve the determination of the optimal distance. referring now to figs. 1a, 1b, and 2 , the control logic 208 may instruct the output device 140 to output data corresponding to the optimal distance between the vehicle 100 and the leading vehicle 103 . alternatively or in addition, the control logic 208 may be used to control the power source 106 (e.g., as adaptive cruise control or in a semi- or fully-autonomous mode) to cause the main body 109 to remain within a predetermined amount of the optimal distance from leading vehicle 103 . referring now to figs. 3a and 3b , a method 300 may be performed by components of the vehicle 100 to control platooning of the vehicle 100 . the method 300 may begin in block 302 in which various sensors of the vehicle may detect data. such data may include data usable to identify a shape or type of the leading vehicle. for example, this data may include image data corresponding to a shape of the leading vehicle, image data including a license plate of the leading vehicle (which may be used to retrieve a make and model of the vehicle), image data including text having a make and model of the leading vehicle, a wireless signal received from the leading vehicle indicating the make and model of the leading vehicle, or the like. the detected data may further include vehicle data such as a present speed of the vehicle, a present location of the vehicle, present energy efficiency of the present vehicle, or the like. the detected data may also include road data (which may also or instead be received via a network access device, e.g., based on the present location of the vehicle or a navigation route of the vehicle). the road data may include, for example, whether vehicle is traveling through a tunnel, under or over an overpass, a grade of a present road, a curve of the present road, a wind speed and wind direction, a type and intensity of precipitation, a temperature, an elevation (e.g., altitude), or the like. the detected data may further include pressure data from one or more pressure sensor that corresponds to detected pressures at one or more location on the main body of the vehicle. the pressure data may correspond to pressure from a leading vehicle pressure wake, from environmental factors (e.g., wind), or the like. in block 304 , the memory of the vehicle may store data that associates shapes or types of leading vehicles with drag force or wake profile data. as discussed above, this stored data may include lookup tables or calculations. a wake profile of the vehicle (which affects the drag force applied by the vehicle) may change based on the shape of the vehicle and the speed of the vehicle. in that regard, the memory may store data associating drag force or wake profile data for multiple vehicle shapes/types and at multiple speeds. in response to identifying a leading vehicle, the ecu may access the memory to retrieve a corresponding lookup table or equation for the specific leading vehicle. in block 306 , the ecu may determine an optimal distance from the present vehicle to the leading vehicle based on the detected data and the stored data. the optimal distance may correspond to a distance at which the drag force applied by the wake of the leading vehicle is minimized at the following vehicle. for example, the ecu may use image recognition on the detected data to identify a shape or type of the leading vehicle. based on this information and the detected and stored data, the ecu may determine drag force data or a wake profile of the leading vehicle. in some embodiments, the ecu may access the lookup table for the determined shape or type of the leading vehicle and may compare a portion of the detected and received data to the lookup table to determine the optimal distance. in some embodiments, the ecu may utilize a calculation or determination to adjust the determined optimal distance based on additional detected or stored data (e.g., the ecu may adjust the determined optimal distance based on a grade of the present road, wind speed and direction, or the like). in some embodiments, the ecu may perform a single calculation based on all detected and stored data to determine the optimal distance. in some embodiments, the ecu may determine or calculate the optimal distance based on some or all of the detected and received data including the pressure data. for example, the ecu may perform a calculation using the detected and received data as inputs and that outputs the optimal distance. in some embodiments, the ecu may adjust the determined optimal distance based on the detected pressure data. for example, the ecu may calculate a first optimal distance based on the detected and received data (which may include or exclude the pressure data). the ecu may then monitor the pressure data to determine whether a front of the vehicle is in a peak, valley, or midpoint of the pressure wake. based on this determination, the ecu may increase or decrease the optimal distance to further optimize the distance. using the pressure data to adjust the determined distance provides advantages as it allows for verification of the calculated optimal distance by measuring the pressure data. in some embodiments, the ecu may determine the optimal following distance based only, or mainly, on the detected pressure data. for example, the ecu may receive the front and rear pressure data. in response to the front pressure data being greater than nominal and the rear pressure data being less than nominal, the ecu may determine that the following distance can be optimized to increase energy efficiency. the ecu may continuously or periodically adjust the following distance until the rear pressure data is greater than nominal and the front pressure data is less than nominal. the ecu may continue to adjust the following distance until the front pressure data is minimized and the rear pressure data is maximized, so long as the following distance is at least a safe distance behind the leading vehicle. in some embodiments, autonomous control of the power source may be adjusted based on various additional factors such as based on ride comfort. for example, the ecu may gradually accelerate or decelerate to reach the optimal distance to reduce quick accelerations or decelerations (without such gradual changes in acceleration, a rider may experience a “jerky” feel in the vehicle). as another example, the ecu may select an optimal distance based on user-received factors. these factors may be received from an input device, may be learned as the vehicle is driven by a driver, or the like. the factors may include, for example, a maximum acceleration or deceleration rate of the vehicle, a minimum following distance below which a driver or rider is uncomfortable, or the like. for example, a driver may be uncomfortable being less than 2 seconds behind a leading vehicle; in such situations, the ecu may select an optimal distance that is at least 2 seconds behind the leading vehicle. in some embodiments, the ecu may select an optimal distance based on detected information corresponding to the environment or based on detected information corresponding to the leading vehicle. for example, the ecu may determine to avoid platooning behind a leading vehicle that is traveling above a posted speed limit. as another example, the ecu may set a limit as to the optimal distance in response to determining that a leading vehicle is being driven by a human (rather than autonomously). for example, the ecu may determine to remain at least 3 seconds behind a driver-operated vehicle, while such limitation may not exist for autonomously-operated vehicles. as yet another example, the ecu may determine to remain at least a preset distance behind a leading vehicle that is accelerating or decelerating unnecessarily. in block 308 , the ecu may control an output device to output data corresponding to the optimal distance. this data may be output in a number of manners. for example, the ecu may control the output device to output a numerical representation of the optimal distance (e.g., 25 yards). as another example, the ecu may control the output device to output a representation of the present vehicle and the leading vehicle and indicate whether the present vehicle should be closer or farther from the leading vehicle. as yet another example, the ecu may control the output device to output light of a first color to indicate that the present vehicle should be closer to the leading vehicle, light of a second color to indicate that the present vehicle should be farther from the leading vehicle, and light of a third color to indicate that the present vehicle is approximately the optimal distance from the leading vehicle. in block 310 , the ecu may control a power source of the vehicle to cause the following vehicle to remain within a predetermined amount of the optimal distance from the leading vehicles. the ecu may perform this operation when the vehicle is operating in a semi-autonomous state, a fully autonomous state, or an adaptive cruise control state. the predetermined amount may correspond to a variation of the optimal distance that still provides a certain amount of improved efficiency. for example, if the optimal distance is 25 yards, the present vehicle may still achieve fuel economy savings (based on the specific drag folders of the pressure wake behind the leading vehicle) when the present vehicle is located between 22 yards and 28 yards of the leading vehicle. in this example, the predetermined amount may be 3 yards. in that regard, the ecu may aim to control the present vehicle to remain 25 yards behind the leading vehicle (as this distance may provide a maximum amount of fuel efficiency benefit) and may at least cause that present vehicle to remain between 22 and 28 yards behind the leading vehicle without sacrificing safety. that is, if the ecu determines that for any reason remaining this distance behind the leading vehicle will present a danger, the ecu may control the vehicle to be a different distance behind the leading vehicle in order to prioritize safety. safety determinations may be based on various factors such as vehicle speed, whether other vehicles are human-driven or autonomously-driven, or the like. in some embodiments (e.g., the leading vehicle accelerating and decelerating erratically), it may be difficult for the ecu to comfortably control the vehicle to remain the optimal distance behind the leading vehicle. for example, a passenger may experience discomfort if speed of the present vehicle erratically increases and decreases. in that regard, the ecu may control the present vehicle to accelerate and decelerate at a different rate than the leading vehicle while remaining within the predetermined amount of the optimal distance behind the leading vehicle. such control of the present vehicle may optimize passenger comfort while still providing fuel efficiency benefits. in block 312 , various sensors of the vehicle may detect new data corresponding to shapes of multiple leading vehicles in the vicinity of the present vehicle. for example, the previous leading vehicle may remain directly in front of the present vehicle, a first potential leading vehicle may be located to the right of the previous leading vehicle, a second potential leading vehicle may be located directly in front of the previous leading vehicle, and a third potential leading vehicle may be located behind the present vehicle. any vehicle on the roadway for which the present vehicle may determine the shape or type may be selected as a potential leading vehicle. the data detected in block 312 may include similar data is that detected in block 302 . for example, an image sensor may detect image data for each of the potential leading vehicles. they ecu may determine a shape or type of each of the potential leading vehicles using an image recognition algorithm. various sensors may also detect (and a network access device may receive) additional data such as the present location of the vehicle, a current speed of the vehicle, other vehicle data, or road data. as referenced above, certain vehicle shapes or types may provide an increase in fuel efficiency relative to other vehicle shapes or types. in that regard and in block 314 , the ecu may select an optimal leading vehicle based on the newly detected data, previously detected data, and information indicating optimal leading vehicle shapes or types. for example, the memory may store data indicating that an suv provides increased fuel efficiency for the present vehicle relative to a sedan. in that regard, the ecu may select any of the potential leading vehicles that is an suv as a new leading vehicle. as another example, the memory may store data indicating a ranked list of vehicle makes and models. in this example, the ecu may determine the ranking of each potential leading vehicle and may select the highest ranked potential leading vehicle as a new leading vehicle. in some embodiments, the ecu may update the ranking in the memory based on data detected while platooning behind different types of leading vehicles. such updates may be performed, for example, using an artificial intelligence algorithm. in some embodiments, the ecu may calculate drag force data or wake profile data for each of the potential leading vehicles based on the detected and received data. in that regard, the ecu may calculate an optimal leading vehicle from the potential leading vehicles. in some embodiments, the vehicles may share information therebetween such as route information of each vehicle. the ecu may determine an optimal leading vehicle based on this shared information and based on any other information. for example, the ecu may select an optimal leading vehicle based on: optimal drag force or wake profile data, which potential leading vehicle will be traveling along a route of the present vehicle for a longest distance, whether the leading vehicles are traveling in an autonomous or semiautonomous mode, whether the leading vehicles are utilizing adaptive cruise control, the lowest speed fluctuation of the leading vehicles, or the like. the ecu may also or instead determine an optimal leading vehicle based on a speed of the potential leading vehicles (some speeds may provide increased fuel efficiency benefits relative to other speeds). the ecu may also or instead determine an optimal leading vehicle based on which potential leading vehicle is traveling at a speed closest to a preferred speed of a driver or passenger of the present vehicle. in block 316 , the ecu may determine a shape of a new leading vehicle based on the detected data. the new leading vehicle may be a vehicle selected in block 314 as an optimal leading vehicle or may be a new vehicle behind which the present vehicle is traveling. for example, if a third vehicle merges between the present vehicle and a previous leading vehicle then the ecu may select the third vehicle as the new leading vehicle. in block 318 , the ecu may determine a new optimal distance between the present vehicle and the new leading vehicle based on the shape of the new leading vehicle and any additional detected or received data. this determination may be performed in a similar manner as block 306 , and may be further adjusted based on the detected pressure data. referring now to figs. 4a, 4b, and 4c , experiments were performed using the method 300 of figs. 3a and 3b to verify operation of the method (excluding the pressure data from the pressure sensors; use of pressure data may further optimize the method 300 ). the experiments verified the functionality of the method. in a specific experiment, a light sedan (following vehicle) 402 was controlled to platoon behind a minivan (leading vehicle). a table 420 illustrates a length (along a longitudinal axis) and a frontal area of various toyota® vehicles, and these values were used to calculate drag force and wake profile data of each of the vehicles. in particular, these values were used to calculate the drag force and wake profile data of the minivan 400 used in the experiments. during implementation of the method 300 of figs. 3a and 3b , the light sedan 402 may detect image data corresponding to the leading vehicle (minivan 400 ), may identify characteristics of the minivan 400 based on the image data (e.g., an identification of the minivan 400 , a calculation of the frontal area of the minivan 400 , etc.), and may determine drag force or wake profile data corresponding to the minivan 400 based on the identified characteristics. the light sedan 402 may then determine an optimal following distance between the light sedan 402 and the minivan 400 and may either output information corresponding to the optimal distance or may control the light sedan 402 to remain the optimal distance behind the minivan 400 . a table 440 illustrates a percentage of force reduction experienced by the light sedan 402 based on various speeds of the vehicles (measured in kilometers per hour) and based on a distance between the light sedan 402 and the minivan 400 (measured in seconds). the distance is measured in seconds and refers to a quantity of seconds for the following vehicle to cover the distance between the following vehicle and the leading vehicle. the percentage of force reduction illustrates a difference in an amount of force required by the light sedan 402 to maintain speed in the platooning situation relative to a nominal, or non-platooning, situation (e.g., without a leading vehicle). as shown, the reduction in force required by the light sedan 402 is non-linear and varies based on the speed of the vehicles and the following distance. this illustrates that the optimal distance may vary based on the speed and following distance. referring now to figs. 4a, 5a, 5b, and 5c , a specific force calculation is determined for the light sedan 402 traveling at various distances between the minivan 400 at 110 kilometers per hour. as shown in a plot 500 , the determined force required to maintain speed of the sedan 401 is non-linear and varies based on the distance behind the minivan 400 . the force generally increases with distance but distances exist which provide significant savings over adjacent distances. wake profile data is shown in fig. 5b that illustrates the reasoning for this non-linearity. in particular, a first wake profile 520 illustrates the pressure wake 521 behind the minivan 400 and its impact upon the light sedan 402 at a distance of 2 seconds, a second wake profile 522 illustrates the pressure wake 523 behind the minivan 400 and its impact upon the light sedan 402 at a distance of 2.5 seconds, and a third wake profile 524 illustrates the pressure wake 525 behind the minivan 400 and its impact upon the light sedan 402 at a distance of 4 seconds. as shown, the pressure wakes have peaks and valleys that reach the light sedan 402 at different locations based on the following distance. furthermore, the pressure wakes generally reduce as the distance increases. referring to figs. 5b and 5c , the pressure wake 521 reaches the light sedan 402 in such a way that a greater amount of pressure is applied towards a front 540 of the light sedan 402 than towards a rear 542 of the light sedan 402 . referring now to figs. 5b and 5d , the pressure wake 523 reaches the light sedan 402 in such a way that a greater amount of pressure is applied towards the rear 542 of the light sedan 402 than towards the front 540 of the light sedan 402 . as described above, fuel efficiency savings are optimized by reducing pressure applied to a front of a vehicle and increasing pressure applied to a rear of the vehicle. accordingly, the reduction in force required for the light sedan 402 to maintain its speed is greater (an advantage) at 2.5 seconds than at 2 seconds due to the location of the light sedan 402 in the pressure wake behind the minivan 400 . where used throughout the specification and the claims, “at least one of a or b” includes “a” only, “b” only, or “a and b.” exemplary embodiments of the methods/systems have been disclosed in an illustrative style. accordingly, the terminology employed throughout should be read in a non-limiting manner. although minor modifications to the teachings herein will occur to those well versed in the art, it shall be understood that what is intended to be circumscribed within the scope of the patent warranted hereon are all such embodiments that reasonably fall within the scope of the advancement to the art hereby contributed, and that that scope shall not be restricted, except in light of the appended claims and their equivalents.
090-250-338-173-31X	GB	[ "US", "CA", "EP", "AU", "CN", "WO", "GB", "KR", "JP" ]	F28F1/08,B21D53/06,F01N5/02,F28D7/00,F28D7/08,F28D7/16,F28D9/00,F28D21/00,F28F1/06,F28F1/42,F28F7/02,F28F13/12,F28F13/06,B33Y80/00	2017-08-04T00:00:00	2017	[ "F28", "B21", "F01", "B33" ]	heat exchanger	a heat exchanger ( 4 ) has fluid flow channels ( 6 ) with at least one heat exchanging surface ( 10 ) which has an undulating surface section for which the surface profile varies along a predetermined direction such that at a first edge (e 1 ) the surface profile follows a first transverse wave ( 20 ), at a second edge (e) 2 the surface profile follows a second transverse wave ( 22 ) and at an intermediate point i between the edges the surface profile follows a third transverse wave ( 24 ). the third transverse wave ( 24 ) has a different phase, frequency or amplitude to the first and second transverse waves so that chevron-shaped ridges and valleys are formed. this improves the mixing of fluid passing through the channel and hence the heat exchange efficiency.	1 . a heat exchanger comprising: a plurality of fluid flow channels; at least one of the fluid flow channels comprising at least one heat exchanging surface comprising at least one undulating surface section extending along at least part of a length of the channel, wherein the at least one heat exchanging surface comprises a secondary surface of the heat exchanger; wherein for each undulating surface section: along a first edge of the undulating surface section aligned with a predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a first transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; along a second edge of the undulating surface section aligned with the predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a second transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; and at an intermediate portion of the undulating surface section lying between the first edge and the second edge, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a third transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; wherein said third transverse wave has at least one of different phase, different amplitude and different frequency to at least one of said first transverse wave and said second transverse wave, to provide one or more chevron-shaped ridges or valleys in the undulating surface section. 2 . the heat exchanger according to clam 1 , wherein the predetermined direction corresponds to a fluid flow direction of fluid through the fluid flow channels. 3 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein one or more of the frequency, amplitude and phase of at least one of the first transverse wave, the second transverse wave and the third transverse wave varies in the predetermined direction. 4 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein the first transverse wave has the same phase, amplitude and frequency as the second transverse wave. 5 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein the third transverse wave is out of phase with at least one of the first transverse wave and the second transverse wave. 6 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein the third transverse wave has a different frequency to at least one of the first transverse wave and the second transverse wave. 7 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein the third transverse wave has a different amplitude to at least one of the first transverse wave and the second transverse wave. 8 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein the third transverse wave has a different waveform to at least one of the first transverse wave and the second transverse wave. 9 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein an apex of the chevron-shaped ridges or valleys lies half way between the first edge and the second edge. 10 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the chevron-shaped ridges or valleys has an apex lying closer to one of the first edge and the second edge than the other. 11 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one heat exchanging surface comprises a plurality of said undulating surface sections arranged side by side with the first edge of one undulating surface section adjacent to the second edge of another undulating surface section. 12 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one heat exchanging surface has a substantially constant thickness in said at least one undulating surface section. 13 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one heat exchanging surface comprises a wall of the at least one fluid flow channel. 14 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one heat exchanging surface comprises an internal fin within the at least one fluid flow channel. 15 . the heat exchanger according to claim 13 , wherein said internal fin extends along less than a full length of the heat exchanging channel in the predetermined direction. 16 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises an integrated mass of consolidated material. 17 . the heat exchanger according to claim 1 , comprising at least two heat exchanging surfaces, wherein the undulating surface on a first of the at least two heat exchanging surfaces is different to an undulating surface on a second of the at least two heat exchanging surfaces. 18 . a system comprising: a combustor to generate heat by combusting a fuel; and a recuperator to recover heat from the exhaust gas output by the combustor; wherein the recuperator comprises the heat exchanger according to claim 1 . 19 . a method of manufacturing a heat exchanger comprising: forming a plurality of fluid flow channels; at least one of the fluid flow channels comprising at least one heat exchanging surface comprising at least one undulating surface section extending along at least part of a length of the channel, wherein the at least one heat exchanging surface comprises a secondary surface of the heat exchanger; wherein for each undulating surface section: along a first edge of the undulating surface section aligned with a predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a first transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; along a second edge of the undulating surface section aligned with the predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a second transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; and at an intermediate portion of the undulating surface section lying between the first edge and the second edge, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a third transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; wherein said third transverse wave has at least one of different phase, different amplitude and different frequency to at least one of said first transverse wave and said second transverse wave, to provide one or more chevron-shaped ridges or valleys in the undulating surface section. 20 . the method of claim 19 , wherein the heat exchanger is made by additive manufacture. 21 . a computer-readable data structure representing a design of a heat exchanger according to claim 1 . 22 . a storage medium storing the data structure of claim 21 .	the present technique relates to the field of heat exchangers. a heat exchanger may include a number of fluid flow channels through which fluid can flow so that heat may be exchanged by the fluid in respective channels of the heat exchanger. heat exchangers can be useful for a range of applications, for example as a recuperator for recovering heat from exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine or gas turbine, or in other applications such as power generation or ventilation systems. at least examples provide a heat exchanger comprising: a plurality of fluid flow channels; at least one of the fluid flow channels comprising at least one heat exchanging surface comprising at least one undulating surface section extending along at least part of a length of the channel, wherein the at least one heat exchanging surface comprises a secondary surface of the heat exchanger; wherein for each undulating surface section: along a first edge of the undulating surface section aligned with a predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a first transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; along a second edge of the undulating surface section aligned with the predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a second transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; and at an intermediate portion of the undulating surface section lying between the first edge and the second edge, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a third transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; wherein said third transverse wave has at least one of different phase, different amplitude and different frequency to at least one of said first transverse wave and said second transverse wave, to provide one or more chevron-shaped ridges or valleys in the undulating surface section. at least some examples provide a method of manufacturing a heat exchanger comprising: forming a plurality of fluid flow channels; at least one of the fluid flow channels comprising at least one heat exchanging surface comprising at least one undulating surface section extending along at least part of a length of the channel, wherein the at least one heat exchanging surface comprises a secondary surface of the heat exchanger; wherein for each undulating surface section: along a first edge of the undulating surface section aligned with a predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a first transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; along a second edge of the undulating surface section aligned with the predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a second transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; and at an intermediate portion of the undulating surface section lying between the first edge and the second edge, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a third transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; wherein said third transverse wave has at least one of different phase, different amplitude and different frequency to at least one of said first transverse wave and said second transverse wave, to provide one or more chevron-shaped ridges or valleys in the undulating surface section. at least examples provide a system comprising a combustor to generate heat by combusting a fuel, and a recuperator to recover heat from the exhaust gas output by the combustor, where the recuperator comprises of the heat exchanger as discussed above. at least some examples provide a computer-readable data structure representing a design of a heat exchanger as discussed above. the data structure may be stored on the storage medium. the storage medium may be a non-transitory storage medium. further aspects, features and advantages of the present technique will be apparent from the following description of examples, which is to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: fig. 1 schematically illustrates an example of a heat exchanger used as a recuperator in a combined heat and power (chp) system; fig. 2 shows an example of a heat exchanger comprising fluid flow channels; fig. 3 shows an example of a heat exchanging surface for one of the fluid flow channels of the heat exchanger, which comprises an undulating surface section; fig. 4 shows a side view of the undulating surface section of the heat exchanging surface; fig. 5 shows an example where internal fins which internally sub-divide a heat exchanging channel comprise an undulating surface section; fig. 6 shows an example where the undulating surface section has an intermediate portion which has a profile varying in a transverse wave which has a different amplitude to a wave corresponding to portions of the undulating surface section at the edges; fig. 7 shows an example in which the apex of chevron-shaped ridges and valleys of the undulating surface section lies closer to one edge than the other; fig. 8 shows an example where the third transverse wave at an intermediate point of the undulating surface section has a different frequency to the first and second transverse waves edges of the undulating surface section; fig. 9 shows an example where the heat exchanging surface includes multiple undulating surface sections arranged side by side; fig. 10 illustrates one example of manufacturing equipment for manufacturing the heat exchanger by additive manufacture; fig. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a heat exchanger; figs. 12 and 13 show velocity streamline diagrams obtained by a computational fluid dynamics (cfd) simulation of fluid flow through a channel having a heat exchanging surface as shown in fig. 3 , with fig. 12 showing top and front views and fig. 13 showing a side view; and fig. 14 shows, for comparison, a velocity streamline diagram obtained by cfd in a case where the fluid flows through the channel in the opposite direction to the direction shown in figs. 12 and 13 . a heat exchanger has a number of fluid flow channels. fluid can flow through the channels and exchange heat with fluid flowing through neighbouring channels. in some examples, the heat exchanger may comprise alternating channels for flow of the first and the second fluid so that the first and second fluids may exchange heat. however, there may be tendency for fluid flowing through a given channel to stick to the walls of the channel so that there may not be a significant amount of mixing between the fluid adjacent to the walls of the channel and fluid at the centre of the channel further from the walls. this can reduce the effectiveness of the heat exchanger as there is less opportunity for the fluid in the centre of the channel to exchange heat through the boundaries of the channel with the fluid in neighbouring channels. in the heat exchanger described below, at least one of the fluid flow channels includes at least one heat exchanging surface which has at least one undulating surface section extending along at least part of a length of the channel. for each undulating surface section, along a first edge of the undulating surface section aligned with a predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a first transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to a predetermined direction; along a second edge of the undulating surface section aligned with the predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a second transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; and at an intermediate portion of the undulating surface section lying between the first edge and the second edge, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a third transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction. the third transverse wave has at least one of different phase, different amplitude and different frequency to at least one of the first transverse wave and the second transverse wave, to provide one or more chevron-shaped ridges or valleys in the undulating surface section. hence, the undulating surface section has a wavy surface profile and the wave at an intermediate portion of the undulating surface section has at least one of different phase, different amplitude and different frequency to at least one of the first and second transverse waves at the edges of the undulating surface section. this means that one or more chevron-shaped ridges or valleys are provided in the undulating surface section. these chevron-shaped ridges and valleys help to guide the fluid flow away from the heat exchanging surface and promote mixing of the fluid within the fluid flow channel, so that it is less likely that a certain volume of fluid stays at the centre of the channel all the way along the length of the channel. the heat transfer is enhanced because the flow passes over the concave surfaces of the valleys to form counter-rotating vortices on the respective sides of the apex of the chevron-shapes, which generates local zones of flow separation and re-attachment. unlike a surface where the profile of the surface follows the same wave profile all the way across the surface in the direction perpendicular to the predetermined direction, by making the third transverse wave have a different form to the first and third transverse waves and forming the chevron-shaped ridges and valleys, lower pressure drop can be achieved and the efficiency of heat exchange improved. while making a surface with such a wavy profile can be challenging using conventional means such as casting or moulding, by using additive manufacture it is possible to manufacture intricately patterned surfaces. hence, a heat exchanger with at least one channel having the undulating surface section as discussed above provides better heat exchange properties, and is practical to manufacture. in some examples the first and second transverse waves may have different phase, different amplitude and/or different frequency. this provides a high degree of freedom in controlling the surface profile of the undulating surface section. however, in other examples the first transverse wave may have the same phase, amplitude and frequency as the second transverse wave. hence, the surface profile at the edges of the undulating surface section may vary in the same manner along the predetermined direction, but there is a different transverse wave pattern of variation of the surface profile at the intermediate portion. in one example the third transverse wave may be out of phase with at least one of the first transverse wave and the second transverse wave. hence, the apex of the chevron-shaped ridges or valleys occurs at a different position along the predetermined direction at the intermediate portion of the undulating surface section than at the edges. this results in chevron-shaped ridges which point in the predetermined direction or in the opposite direction to the predetermined direction, which has been found to be an effective surface profile for promoting cyclic re-circulation patterns to promote mixing of fluid. in another example the third transverse wave may have a different frequency to at least one of the first and second transverse waves. hence, the surface may have a greater or smaller number of ridges or valleys at the centre of the undulating surface section compared to the edges. in another example the third transverse wave may have a different amplitude to at least one of the first and second transverse waves. hence, the difference between the depth of the valleys and height of the ridges at the intermediate portion of the undulating surface section can be greater or smaller than the difference between the ridge height and valley depth at the edges of the undulating surface section. again, this results in chevron-shaped ridges and valleys extending across the undulating surface section which helps to promote the mixing of fluid. in some examples each of the first, second and third transverse waves may have the same waveform. however it is also possible for the third transverse wave to have a different waveform to at least one of the first and second transverse waves. a number of different waveforms could be used, but particularly useful waveforms may include a sinusoidal wave or a triangle wave. sinusoidal or triangle waves are useful they avoid sharp changes in level which makes it easier to manufacture the undulating surface section through additive manufacturing techniques (as additive manufacture may impose a limitation that it is not possible for an upper layer to be built on a lower layer of material if the upper layer overhangs by more than a certain threshold angle). nevertheless, other waveforms could also be used. the waveforms of the first, second and third transverse waves need not be regular, e.g. they could be superposition of a set of harmonics or components. for example in some cases the first, second or third transverse waves may include waveforms which have the period from one peak to the next trough different to the period from one trough to the next peak, or which have multiple peaks/troughs per cycle at irregular intervals within the cycle. in some examples an apex of the chevron-shaped ridges or values lies halfway between the first edge and the second edge. hence, the chevrons may be symmetrical so that there are equal sized portions of the chevron on either side of the apex at the midpoint of the first and second edges. alternatively, at least one of the chevron-shaped ridges or valleys may have an apex lying closer to one of the first edge and the second edge than the other. in this case the chevrons may be asymmetric as the portion on one side of the apex may be larger than the portion on the other. some fluid flow channels may have a single undulating surface section as discussed above, disposed across the width of the channel. however it is also possible for multiple such undulating surface sections to be disposed side by side within the heat exchanging surface, with the first edge of one undulating surface section adjacent to the second edge of another undulation surface section. in this case the chevron-shaped ridges of the adjacent undulating surface sections could join up to form a w-shaped ridge or a zigzag-shaped ridge. alternatively, the chevrons of adjacent undulating surface sections may be out of phase with one another, in which case a number of distinct chevrons may be provided going across the undulating surface section in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction, with the chevrons not linking up in adjacent undulating surface sections as they are disposed at different locations along the predetermined direction for different undulating surface sections within the heat exchanging surface. the at least one heat exchanging surface may have a substantially constant thickness in the at least one undulating surface section. hence, even though the surface profile of the undulating surface section varies in the wave pattern discussed above, the thickness still remains the same (within bounds of manufacturing tolerance) regardless of the point of the wave at which are given point on the surfaces located. this can be useful for ensuring a consistent thermal conductance across the undulating surface so that the wave like surface of the heat exchanger surface provided to promote fluid mixing does not compromise the ability to conduct heat through the walls of the channel. in some cases, the undulating heat exchanging surface may comprise the wall of the fluid flow channel in which the heat exchanging surface is provided. alternatively, the heat exchanging surface could be an internal fin which partially sub-divides a given fluid flow channel. the internal fins need not pass along the entire length of the heat exchanging channel. instead the internal fin may extend along less than a full length of the heat exchanging channel in the predetermined direction. if multiple fins are provided then these could be placed at offset locations along the length of the channel, with gaps in-between. in some cases the lateral positions of the internal fins in the channel in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction could be offset or staggered. the predetermined direction corresponds to the direction of fluid flow of fluid through the fluid flow channels. for example the fluid flow direction may correspond to the long axis of the fluid flow channels. note that the fluid flow channels could in some embodiments correspond to straight channels, but could also be bent or follow a tortuous path or a path bending around a turn, and so in some cases the fluid flow direction may not be straight but may follow a curved path. in this case the first, second and third transverse waves may also follow the curve path. by orienting the first, second and third transverse waves such that they have a direction of travel that corresponds to the fluid flow direction, this provides greater heat exchanger efficiency as this means that the fluid passing through the channels alternates across the chevron-shaped ridges and valleys in the undulating surface section and this promotes re-circulation of the fluid at periodic intervals along the channel length making it less likely that a given volume of fluid remains far from any surface by which heat can be conducted to fluid in adjacent channels. the heat exchanger may comprise of an integrated mass of consolidated material, for example made by additive manufacture. this contrasts with heat exchangers where the respective channels are manufactured from a number of separate components. hence, the fluid flow channels, including at least one heat exchanging surface having the undulating surface section, may be formed together as one entity from a single body of material. the heat exchanger described above can be used in a range of engineering systems. however it can be particularly useful for a system comprising a combustor for generating heat by combusting a fuel and a recuperator for recovering heat from exhaust gas output by the combustor. the recuperator may comprise the heat exchanger as discussed above. compactness can often be an important requirement for such systems. by improving the heat exchanger efficiency, the heat exchanger can often be made smaller as shorter channels may be sufficient to provide a given amount of heat exchange. for example the heat exchanger can be formed by additive manufacture. in additive manufacture, an article may be manufactured by successively building up layer after layer of material in order to produce an entire article. for example the additive manufacture could be by selective laser melting, selective laser centring, electron beam melting, etc. the material used for the heat exchanger can vary, but in some examples may be a metal, for example aluminium, titanium or steel or could be an alloy. in some cases the heat exchanger may be formed in one single process whereby the layers making up the respective parts of the heat exchanger may be laid down successfully by additive manufacture. the additive manufacture process may be controlled by supplying an electronic design file which represents characteristics of the design to be manufactured, and inputting the design file to a computer which translates the design file into instructions supplied to the manufacturing device. for example, the computer may slice a three-dimensional design into successive two-dimensional layers, and instructions representing each layer may be supplied to the additive manufacture machine, e.g. to control scanning of a laser across a powder bed to form the corresponding layer. hence, in some embodiments rather than providing a physical heat exchanger, the technique could also be implemented in a computer-readable data structure (e.g. a computer automated design (cad) file) which represents the design of a heat exchanger as discussed above. thus, rather than selling the heat exchanger in its physical form, it may also be sold in the form of data controlling an additive manufacturing machine to form such a heat exchanger. a storage medium may be provided storing the data structure. fig. 1 schematically illustrates an example of a system 2 comprising a heat exchanger 4 . in this example the system 2 comprises a micro turbine engine used for combined heat and power (chp) for home energy supply. a combustor 306 combusts a fuel (e.g. gas). the intake air for the combustor is compressed by a compressor 308 which is driven by a turbine 310 driven by the exhaust gas from the combustor 306 . the turbine and compressor 308 are mounted on a common shaft together with a generator 312 which generates electrical power based on the rotation of the turbine. the electrical power can be supplied as part of the electricity supply for home. the exhaust gas from the combustor 306 having driven the turbine 310 is passed to the recuperator 4 which comprises a heat exchanger with alternating channels for the exchange of heat between first and second fluids. the heat in the exhaust gas is used to pre-heat the compressed air intake for the combustor so that the air is at a higher temperature upon entering the combustor and so the combustion efficiency of the combustor 306 can be improved. having passed through the recuperator 4 , the exhaust gas still contains some heat which can be recovered for example to heat the domestic water supply or central heating within the home at heating element 314 , and then the exhaust gas is exhausted to the outside at vent 316 . the combustor intake air entering the recuperator 4 is at higher pressure than the exhaust gas from the combustor 306 and turbine 310 , since the intake air has been compressed by the compressor 308 and the exhaust gas has been expanded by the turbine 310 . of course, it will be appreciated that fig. 1 shows one use case for a heat exchanger, but the heat exchanger described above and below may also be used for many other engineering applications. fig. 2 shows an example of the heat exchanger 4 in more detail. the heat exchanger includes a number of fluid flow channels 6 through which fluid can flow in the fluid flow direction illustrated at the top of fig. 2 . a number of alternating hot and cold channels are provided for the flow of hot fluid (first fluid) and cold fluid (second fluid) respectively. for example in the system of fig. 1 the hot fluid may be the exhaust gas from the combustor 306 which has left the turbine 310 and the cold fluid may be the compressed intake air from the compressor 308 which is pre-heated using the exhaust gas heat. manifolds are provided to distribute fluid from a hot inlet conduit or cold inlet conduit respectively, and split the fluid between the respective hot or cold channels as appropriate. the heat exchanger could be a parallel flow heat exchanger in which the hot and cold fluid flows in corresponding directions through the channels or could be a counter-flow heat exchanger in which the hot fluid flows in the opposite direction to the cold fluid. in this example the hot channels and cold channels are separated by primary channel walls 8 which extend along the y axis shown in fig. 2 . in addition, within each hot or cold channel a number of regions are internally sub divided by secondary surfaces 10 which divide different portions of the hot channel or different portions of the cold channel from one another. although the primary mechanism of heat exchange is through the primary channel walls 8 between the hot and cold channels, the internal sub divisions within a hot channel or within a cold channel by the secondary surfaces 10 provides additional surfaces through which heat can be conducted to the primary walls 8 . the secondary surfaces 10 could be further walls which extend along the full length of the fluid flow channel 6 in the fluid flow direction, or could be subdividing fins which only extend partially along less than the full length of the channel (e.g. see fig. 5 below). while fig. 2 shows an example where the hot channels are aligned in a column and cold channels are aligned in a column, in other examples the hot and cold channels could be staggered or interleaved in a checkerboard pattern, so that each hot channel (other than the channels at the edge of the heat exchanger) is surrounded by cold channels on each side, and vice versa. as described above, a primary surface separates two different fluids, such as a hot channel from a cold channel, whilst a secondary surface separates two channels containing the same fluid, for example where the two channels contain the hot fluid or the two channels contain the cold fluid. due to the difference in fluid properties on either side of a primary surface, such as temperature and pressure, compared to a secondary surface, the primary surfaces are required to be stronger and more robust than the secondary surfaces. for example, primary surfaces may have a greater wall thickness than secondary surfaces. as shown in fig. 3 for at least some of the channels 6 , the secondary heat exchanging surface 10 may be provided, along at least part of its length, with an undulating profile which has a surface profile which varies in a wave like pattern along a predetermined direction corresponding to the fluid flow direction (the z axis in this example). in this context the surface profile of the surface refers to the position of the surface in the y axis which is generally perpendicular to the x, z plane of the surface. hence, rather than being a flat surface, the secondary dividers 10 within channel 6 have a wiggly surface. more particular, for each undulating section of the secondary heat exchanging surface 10 , at a first edge e 1 of the undulating section which is aligned with the predetermined direction (z axis), the surface profile varies according to a first transverse wave 20 with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction. similarly at a second edge e 2 aligned with the predetermined direction, the profile varies according to a second transverse wave 22 with a direction travel that corresponds to the predetermined direction (z axis, which in this example corresponds to the fluid flow direction). on the other hand, at an intermediate point i which lies between the first edge e 1 and the second edge e 2 , the surface profile of the undulating surface section varies according to a third transverse wave 24 with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction. in this example the first and second transverse waves 20 , 22 are in phase and have the same frequency and amplitude so that the y-position (profile) of the surface is the same at both edges e 1 and e 2 of the undulating surface section. on the other hand, in this example the third transverse wave 24 has the same frequency and amplitude as the first and second transverse waves but a different phase relationship. as the third transverse wave 24 is out of phase with the first and second transverse waves 20 , 22 , the crests and troughs of the wave occur at different positions along the z axis (predetermined direction). note that in order to show the relationship between the first, second and third transverse waves in a two dimensional diagram, the portion shown on the right hand side of fig. 3 plots the first, second and third transverse waves side by side with e 1 , i and e 2 arranged from left to right in the same way as the view shown in fig. 3 . however, while the y axis is shown in the right hand part of fig. 3 as extending along the plane of the page in order to enable a two dimensional representation, it will be appreciated that in reality if the view is such that e 1 , i and e 2 are seen side by side as shown in fig. 3 , the y axis would actually extend perpendicular to the page (into or out of the page) so that the crests and troughs of the ridges and valleys would actually be going in and out of the page. as shown in fig. 3 , the effect of having the variation of the surface profile at the intermediate portion out of phase with the variation at the edges is that the surface provides a number of chevron-shaped ridges 26 and valleys 28 which point in a v-shape along the fluid flow direction in the z axis. this can also be seen by the lines 29 joining the adjacent crest and troughs of the waves as shown in the right hand part of fig. 3 . when the heat exchanger 4 is in use then this has the effect that as fluid (gas or liquid) flows through the channel, the part of the fluid which sticks nearest the heat exchanging surface 10 has to flow over the ridges and this tends to cause re-circulation of the fluid towards the centre, with other parts of the fluid which are further away from the wall taking the place of the fluid which was previously at the ridge, and hence as the fluid passes along the length of the channel this mixes the fluid and reduces the likelihood that a given volume of fluid stays far away from the heat exchanging surfaces or along the length of the channel. fig. 4 shows another view of the undulating surface profile of the secondary heat exchanging surface 10 when viewed along the x axis in the z-y plane. from the side view it is clear how the peaks of the chevron-shaped ridges 26 occur at different positions along the z axis at the edge of the chevrons compared to the centre of the chevrons at the intermediate points i, so that they provide the chevron shapes pointing along the predetermined fluid flow direction. as shown in figs. 3 and 4 , the secondary heat exchanging surface may include a bent portion 30 at one end which may direct the fluid around a turn at an angle. this can be useful for heat exchangers where the fluid needs to exit at a conduit oriented at a different orientation to the input flow. hence the bent portion may guide the fluid around a corner to the outlet conduit for example. as shown in fig. 3 , at one end of the surface the surface may be formed with a v-shaped notch 32 extending inwards from the end of the surface. this can be useful because it allows the surface to be built by additive manufacture since it means that there is no overhang greater than a certain angle when an upper layer is built above a lower layer of material when being formed layer by layer in the additive manufacture process. hence, the build direction for the surface can be in the opposite direction to the fluid flow direction in this particular example as illustrated in fig. 3 . as shown in fig. 5 , if the fluid flow channels 6 are viewed along the y-z plane then the secondary dividing surfaces 10 need not to be provided along the full length of the channel 6 but could be internal fins which extend only along part of the length to subdivide regions of a hot channel 6 or cold channel 6 as required. the positions of the fins could be staggered at different portions along the y axis. note that each of the internal fins could have the undulating profile as shown in fig. 3 as showed for an example fin 10 - 1 in fig. 5 . alternatively, only some of the fins could have the undulating section and other fins could be flat. as shown at the lower part of fig. 5 , when multiple fins are provided at different positions along the z axis with a gap 40 between the fins 10 , then by having the notch shape 32 at the base of each fin, this enables the fins to be made by additive manufacture since they bridge out from adjacent primary walls 8 of the channel. since there is a v-shaped notch then the upper layers of the material being laid down need only extend beyond lower layers by a smaller angle for each successive layer until eventually they meet in the middle and then the full surface with chevron-shaped ridges 26 and valleys can be formed. while fig. 3 shows an example where the first and second transverse waves 20 , 22 are identical, this is not essential and in other examples the second transverse wave 22 could have a different phase, amplitude and/or frequency to the first transverse wave 20 . in this case there may be some difference or asymmetry in the chevron shapes. as shown in fig. 6 , in an alternative, the third transverse wave 24 may have a different amplitude so that its peaks and troughs are deeper or shallower than the peaks and troughs in the first and second transverse waves. in this case, rather than pointing along the z axis, the chevron-shaped ridges 26 and valleys 28 may point in the y axis as shown in the bottom diagram of fig. 6 . hence, if viewed in the x-z plane the ridges 26 and valleys may appear straight as the crests and troughs of the first, second and third transverse waves 20 , 22 , 24 are in phase in the z direction, however when viewed from above in the x-y plane as shown in the bottom of fig. 6 then it can be seen that the chevrons are formed because the size of the peaks and troughs is larger at the intermediate point i 1 of the surface than at the edges e 1 , e 2 . again, this type of surface promotes mixing a fluid and hence better heat exchange. while in fig. 6 the first and second waves are in phase with the third wave, in other examples the third wave may differ in both amplitude and phase, compared to the first and second waves. in the examples of figs. 3 and 6 , the intermediate point i 1 was halfway between the edges e 1 , e 2 , but this is not essential and fig. 7 shows an example in which the intermediate point at which the apex of each chevron-shaped ridge or valley is formed lies closer to one edge e 1 than the other edge e 2 . fig. 8 shows another example in which the third transverse wave 24 has a different frequency to the first and second transverse waves 20 , 22 and so in this case there are more crests and troughs at the intermediate point i 1 than at the edges e 1 , e 2 of the undulating surface section of the heat exchange surface 10 . this may result in diamond-shaped ridges where two adjacent chevrons link up as shown in the left hand part of fig. 8 . again this can provide greater mixing of fluid. it is not essential for the entire surface of a given heat exchange surface 10 to have the wave-like undulating section as discussed above. in some cases only part of the secondary heat exchanging surfaces 10 may be provided with the wave-like surface and other parts may be flat. also, while the above example show cases where the undulating surface is in the secondary walls 10 of the heat exchanging channels (which divide different portions of the hot channels or different portions of the cold channels respectively), it is also possible to form the primary walls 8 which divide a hot channel from a cold channel with such an undulating surface section. also, in the examples shown above the secondary wall surfaces 10 comprise a single undulating section with a single chevron across the width of the surface. however, as shown in fig. 9 it is also possible to provide multiple undulating sections 50 side by side so that multiple chevron-shaped ridges 26 are formed across the width of the surface 10 as shown at the bottom of fig. 9 . hence, in a first undulating section 50 - 1 the surface profile variation along the z axis corresponds to first, second and third transverse waves 20 , 22 , 24 at the edges e 1 , e 2 and intermediate point i 1 respectively, in the second undulating section the first edge e 1 essentially corresponds to the second edge e 2 of the first undulating section and so the first transverse wave of the second undulating portion 50 - 2 is the same as the second transverse wave for the first undulating portion, and then further second and third transverse waves 22 - 2 and 24 - 2 are formed at the second edge e 2 and intermediate i 1 portion of the second undulating section 50 - 2 . while in the example shown at the top of fig. 9 and in the bottom left the second and third transverse waves 22 - 2 , 24 - 2 are in phase with the second and third transverse waves 22 , 24 of the first undulating section 50 - 1 respectively, so that the chevrons in the adjacent undulating sections line up to form w-shaped ridges, this is not essential and in an alternative the second undulating section could have its waves out of phase with those of the first undulating section so that the chevron-shaped ridges 26 are at different positions along the z axis for the first and second undulating sections. it will be appreciated that more than two undulating sections could be placed side by side. also, whilst in the examples shown above the first, second and third transverse waves which form the undulating surface have a constant frequency, amplitude and phase along the length of the undulating surface in the predetermined direction, it is possible for one or more of the frequency, amplitude and phase of the waves to vary along the length of the surface. for example, the frequency of each of the first, second and third transverse waves may decrease along the z axis, thereby increasing the wavelength of each of the first, second and third transverse waves along the z axis. alternatively, or in addition, the amplitude of the each of the first, second and third transverse waves may increase along the z axis. in another example, the frequency of the first and second transverse waves may increase along the z axis whilst the frequency of the third transverse wave remains constant along the z axis. alternatively, the frequency of the first and second transverse waves may increase along the z axis at a greater rate than the frequency of the third transverse wave. in both cases, this reduces the internal angle of the chevron-shaped ridges or valleys along the z axis, resulting in different chevron-shaped ridges or valleys along the z axis. any changes in the frequency, amplitude and phase of the first, second and/or third transverse waves along the length of the undulating surface may account for changes in the properties of the fluid in the fluid flow channels. for example, if the fluid is expected to decelerate as it flows along the z axis, the frequency of the first, second and/or third transverse waves can be increased in the z axis to ensure the same degree of fluid mixing occurs along the length of the undulating surface. in this way, the undulating surface can be tuned to the expected flow properties of the fluid in the fluid flow channels. it will be appreciated that any combination of changes in frequency, amplitude and phase of the first, second and/or third transverse waves along the z axis may be employed in order to achieve the desired undulations in the undulating surface. providing the undulating surface on a secondary surface instead of a primary surfaces makes the heat exchanger easier to build using additive manufacture whilst not adversely impact the structural rigidity of the primary surface. it also allows a different undulating surface pattern to be used on a secondary surface dividing two hot fluid channels compared to a secondary surface dividing two cold fluid channels, thereby allowing pattern of each undulating surface to be tailored to the fluid properties of the particular fluid on both sides of the secondary surface, such as temperature, pressure and mass flow. the undulating surfaces may be arranged such that a given fluid channel has an undulating surface on more than one surface of the channel. in such a case, the transverse waves making up each undulating surface may have a frequency, amplitude and/or phase that ensures that the peaks and/or troughs of a wave on one undulating surface of the fluid channel do not contact the peaks and/or troughs of a wave on another undulating surface of the fluid channel. fig. 10 schematically illustrates an example of additive manufacture. in this example, laser fused metal powder 188 is used to form an article 4 such as the heat exchanger described above. the article 4 is formed layer-by-layer upon a lowering powder bed 180 on top of which thin layers of metal power to be fused are spread by a powder spreader 182 prior to being melted (fused) via a scanning laser beam provided from a laser 184 . the scanning of the laser beam via the laser 184 , and the lowering of the bed 180 , are computer controlled by a control computer 186 . the control computer 186 is in turn controlled by a computer program (e.g. computer data defining the article 4 to be manufactured). this article defining data is stored upon a computer readable non-transitory medium 198 . fig. 10 illustrates one example of a machine which may be used to perform additive manufacture. various other machines and additive manufacturing processes are also suitable for use in accordance with the present techniques, whereby a heat exchanger is manufactured with channels including a heat exchange surface with an undulating section as discussed above. for the specific design shown in fig. 4 , the build direction for additive manufacture in one example is illustrated by the arrow on the right hand side. by building the manifold portion starting with the layer closest to the entrance/exit of the heat exchanger core, it is possible to build the rest of the manifold portion without an upper layer needing to extend beyond a lower layer by an angle of more than 45 degrees from the vertical, and there is greater support for upper layers by lower layers, to make it more practical to make the component by additive manufacture. fig. 11 shows a method for manufacturing a heat exchanger. at step 200 a computer automated design (cad) file is obtained. the cad file provides a data structure which represents the design of a heat exchanger comprising fluid flow channels including a heat exchange surface with an undulating surface section as discussed above. for example, obtaining the cad file at step 200 may comprise a designer generating a three-dimensional (3d) model of the heat exchanger from scratch, or could comprise reading an existing design from a recording medium or obtaining the cad file via a network. the design file may represent the 3d geometry to be manufactured. at step 202 the cad file is converted to instructions for supplying to an additive manufacturing machine. the instructions control the additive manufacturing machine to deposit or form respective layers of material, which are built up layer by layer to form the overall heat exchanger. for example, the 3d design represented by the cad file may be sliced into layers each providing a two-dimensional representation of the material to be formed in the corresponding layer. at step 204 the converted instructions are supplied to an additive manufacturing machine which manufactures the heat exchanger as an integrated mass of consolidated material using additive manufacture. the heat exchanger can be made from various materials, e.g. metals or alloys, such as titanium or stainless steel, or a polymer for example. various forms of additive manufacturing can be used, but in one example the additive manufacture uses selective laser melting. figs. 12 to 14 show velocity streamline diagrams showing results of computational fluid dynamics (cfd) simulations of fluid flow through a channel with a heat exchange surface having the undulating surface section as shown in the example of fig. 3 . the shading used for the streamlines represents the velocity of fluid flow. the darkest lines in the region 400 nearest the apex of the chevron-shaped ridges represent the slowest fluid flow velocity. as can be seen in the two views shown in fig. 12 , the chevron-shaped ridges and valleys promotes cyclic recirculation of fluid from the edges of the channel towards the centre of the channel. as shown in the side view in fig. 13 , an effect of the recirculation is to disperse a curtain of slow-moving fluid which would otherwise be present at the boundaries of the channel. this is clear from the comparison between figs. 13 and 14 . fig. 13 shows simulation of fluid flowing through the channel with the fluid flow direction being aligned with the direction in which the chevrons point (so that the apex of the chevron-shaped ridges and valleys points towards the fluid outlet region of the channel, and points away from the fluid inlet region). in contrast, fig. 14 shows simulation of a case where the fluid flows in the opposite direction relative to the chevrons (such that the chevron apex points towards the fluid inlet region). in the comparative simulation shown in fig. 14 , a curtain 402 of slow-moving fluid (indicated by the darker lines near the edge of the channel) remains near the side walls of the channel for substantially the full length of the portion of the channel shown in fig. 14 . a similar curtain would arise in a channel with flat surfaces. such a curtain acts as a thermal boundary layer which tends to reduce the heat exchange efficiency of the channel, because it insulates hotter fluid in the centre of the channel from the walls of the channel through which heat can be conducted to adjacent channels. in contrast, as shown in fig. 13 when the chevrons are aligned with the fluid flow so that the apex of each chevron points away from the fluid inlet region, the boundary curtain 402 is rapidly broken up by the cyclic recirculation induced by the chevron-shaped ridges in the undulating surface, to enable greater exchange of heat between the fluid in the channel and fluid in adjacent channels. in one example, a heat exchanger comprises: a plurality of fluid flow channels; at least one of the fluid flow channels comprising at least one heat exchanging surface comprising at least one undulating surface section extending along at least part of a length of the channel; wherein for each undulating surface section: along a first edge of the undulating surface section aligned with a predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a first transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; along a second edge of the undulating surface section aligned with the predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a second transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; and at an intermediate portion of the undulating surface section lying between the first edge and the second edge, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a third transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; wherein said third transverse wave has at least one of different phase, different amplitude and different frequency to at least one of said first transverse wave and said second transverse wave, to provide one or more chevron-shaped ridges or valleys in the undulating surface section. in one example, a method of manufacturing a heat exchanger is provided comprising: forming a plurality of fluid flow channels; at least one of the fluid flow channels comprising at least one heat exchanging surface comprising at least one undulating surface section extending along at least part of a length of the channel; wherein for each undulating surface section: along a first edge of the undulating surface section aligned with a predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a first transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; along a second edge of the undulating surface section aligned with the predetermined direction, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a second transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; and at an intermediate portion of the undulating surface section lying between the first edge and the second edge, a profile of the heat exchanging surface varies according to a third transverse wave with a direction of travel corresponding to the predetermined direction; wherein said third transverse wave has at least one of different phase, different amplitude and different frequency to at least one of said first transverse wave and said second transverse wave, to provide one or more chevron-shaped ridges or valleys in the undulating surface section. although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various changes and modifications can be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
091-264-712-195-29X	US	[ "US" ]	G01S1/00,G01S5/14,G01S19/04,G01S19/10,G01S19/44,G01S19/46	1997-07-07T00:00:00	1997	[ "G01" ]	real-time kinematic integrity estimator and monitor	a first receiver computes its position using data from sources chosen according to conditions at a second receiver and reference data. the computed position is compared with a known position. the data may be gps positioning data from satellites and/or pseudolites and the reference data may be rtk gps data provided by an rtk gps reference station. the conditions at the second receiver generally correspond to satellite constellations and other parameters and the position of the first receiver may be computed by configuring the first receiver to mimic the conditions at the second receiver. the comparison of the computed position to the known position may result in an error measurement which may be used to initiate an alert condition. in a further embodiment, a receiver has first circuitry configured to compute its position using data from sources chosen according conditions at a remote receiver and reference data. the receiver may further include second circuitry for comparing the computed position with a known position. the first circuitry may include a gps engine which is configured to compute the position from gps data derived from gps satellites and/or pseudolites. in yet another embodiment, a system includes a first unit and a second unit, the second unit being configured to compute its position using data from sources chosen according to conditions at the first unit and reference data. the system may also include a reference unit configured to provide rtk gps reference data to the second unit.	1. a method comprising the steps of: computing a position of a first receiver using global positioning system (gps) positioning data from sources chosen according to conditions at a second receiver, said conditions having been specified by data transmitted from said second receiver to said first receiver, and real-time kinematic (rtk) gps reference data provided by an rtk gps reference station; and comparing said computed position with a known position of said first receiver. 2. a method as in claim 1 wherein said conditions comprise particular satellite constellations. 3. a method as in claim 2 wherein said conditions further comprise signal-to-noise ratios for said satellite constellations and attitude information for a rover unit associated with said second receiver. 4. a method as in claim 2 wherein said step of computing further comprises configuring said first receiver to mimic said second receiver by initializing to said satellite constellations. 5. a method as in claim 4 wherein said reference data is provided via radio link. 6. a method as in claim 5 wherein said step of comparing further comprises determining an error measurement representing an offset between said computed position and said known position. 7. a method as in claim 6 further comprising initiating an alert condition if said error measurement exceeds a preestablished threshold value. 8. a method as in claim 6 further comprising transmitting said error measurement to said second receiver. 9. a method as in claim 8 further comprising initiating an alert condition at said second receiver if said error measurement exceeds a preestablished threshold. 10. a receiver comprising first circuitry configured to compute a position of said receiver using data from sources chosen according to conditions at a remote receiver, said conditions having been specified by data transmitted from said remote receiver to said receiver, and real-time kinematic (rtk) global positioning system (gps) reference data. 11. a receiver as in claim 10 further comprising second circuitry for comparing said computed position with a known position of said receiver. 12. a receiver as in claim 11 wherein said first circuitry further comprises a gps engine configured to compute said position from gps data from said sources. 13. a receiver as in claim 12 wherein said first circuitry further includes a radio configured to provide said reference data to said gps engine. 14. a receiver as in claim 13 wherein said radio is configured to receive said reference data from a reference station. 15. a receiver as in claim 14 wherein said second circuitry comprises a general purpose programmable microprocessor. 16. a receiver as in claim 15 wherein at least one of said sources is a gps satellite. 17. a receiver as in claim 15 wherein at least one of said sources is a pseudolite. 18. a method as in claim 16 wherein said data transmitted from said remote receiver includes source identification information. 19. a method as in claim 18 wherein said data transmitted from said remote receiver further includes signal strength information for signals received at said remote receiver from said sources. 20. a system comprising: a first unit configured to transmit data specifying conditions being experienced at said first unit; and a second unit configured to compute a position of said second unit using data from sources chosen according to said conditions at said first unit and real-time kinematic (rtk) global positioning system (gps) reference data. 21. a system as in claim 20 further comprising a reference unit configured to provide said reference data. 22. a system as in claim 21 wherein said data specifying conditions comprises satellite identification information. 23. a system as in claim 22 wherein said second unit is further configured to compare said computed position to a known position of said second unit. 24. a system as in claim 23 wherein said second unit is further configured to report a result of a comparison of said computed position to said known position to said first unit. 25. a system as in claim 24 wherein said first unit is further configured to report an alarm condition when said result exceeds a predetermined threshold value. 26. a system as in claim 25 wherein said first unit further comprises an rtk gps receiver. 27. a system as in claim 24 wherein said second unit further comprises a gps engine configured to compute said position of said second unit according to said satellite identification information. 28. a system as in claim 27 further comprising a first radio link between said first unit and said second unit. 29. a system as in claim 28 further comprising a second radio link between said reference unit and said first unit. 30. a system as in claim 29 further comprising a third radio link between said reference unit and said second unit. 31. a system as in claim 30 wherein said first radio link between said first unit and said second unit includes a repeater unit configured to relay messages between said first unit and said second unit. 32. a system as in claim 31 wherein said messages include said satellite identification information. 33. a system as in claim 32 where in s aid messages further include said result of said comparison. 34. a system as in claim 33 wherein said repeater unit is further configured to relay said reference data between said reference unit and said first unit.	field of the invention the present invention relates to precise positioning systems and, more particularly, to real-time kinematic positioning systems utilizing global positioning system (gps) receiver stations. background to assist sea, air, and land navigation and other purposes, the united states government has placed a number of satellites in orbit around the earth in such a manner that, from any point on the earth, a user operating a roving receiver may have a line of sight to at least four satellites. this system is referred to as the global positioning system (gps). a gps receiver receives gps data from the satellites; from the gps data the roving receiver can determine its position. the gps data includes data regarding the position of the satellite. however, the gps data is corrupted by the u.s. government in order to degrade the accuracy of calculations performed. such errors are easily eliminated using the proper decoding algorithms and codes; however, such information is only available to the u.s. military. also, atmospheric and meteorological conditions, electromagnetic interference from terrestrial sources and other satellites, kinematic motion or orientation of the roving receiver and other uncertainties further degrade the signals. to ameliorate this problem, land-based reference stations at fixed, known locations have been erected to receive satellite transmissions and interpret the signals to generate measurement corrections, also referred to as dgps (differential gps) corrections. using the true, known position of the receiver antenna at each reference station, these land-based reference stations derive measurement corrections that adjust the gps data to produce more accurate results. these measurement corrections are transmitted, for example, via minimum shift keying (msk) transmissions, to the roving receivers as deviations or offsets to be added to the measurements derived by the roving receiver from the gps signals received directly from the satellites. an example of such a system is the differential gps navstar system operated by the u.s. coast guard to help ships navigate more accurately. to ensure that the corrections being broadcast by dgps stations are useful, i.e., that the corrections are not providing inaccurate position determinations at the roving receivers, integrity monitoring stations have been established. as shown in fig. 1, a dgps integrity monitoring (im) station 10 includes a receiver unit 12 having both gps receiver circuitry and integral radio receiver circuitry. in other instances, the gps receiver circuitry and radio circuitry may each comprise separate units. in either case, the radio receiver portion of dgps im station 10 receives the dgps corrections as they are being broadcast by the dgps station 14 to rover units 22 and provides these corrections to the gps receiver circuitry. the gps receiver circuitry of dgps im station 10 also receives gps signals from orbiting gps satellites 16 in the conventional manner and computes its position using the gps data from those signals and the dgps corrections provided by the radio receiver circuitry. the position obtained as a result of these calculations is compared to a known reference position 18 of the im station 10 (e.g., as determined from a precise survey) and an error which represents the difference between the gps computed position of the im station 10 from its known location is derived (e.g., by a computer system 20 associated with the im station 10). if the error between the known location 18 and the gps computed location of the im station 10 station is not within acceptable user established tolerances, the im station 10 may report an alarm condition to the dgps station 14 operators. this may alert the operators of the dgps station 14 that inaccurate dgps corrections are being broadcast and that appropriate corrective action should be taken. while dgps techniques are suitable for applications requiring only sub-meter accuracy (e.g., shipboard navigation and the like), they are not suitable for applications requiring precise positioning (e.g., on the order of .+-.1 cm.) because of the techniques used to obtain this accuracy. precise positioning applications, for example machine control applications and the like, require the use of real-time kinematic (rtk) gps techniques. rtk receivers use locally collected gps signals broadcast by gps satellites along with reference carrier-phase and code-phase signals transmitted from rtk reference stations to compute position results down to the centimeter level. unlike the dgps corrections broadcast by dgps reference stations, the signals transmitted by the rtk reference stations (hereafter referred to as rtk gps data) are specially formatted messages which include various satellite observables (e.g., carrier phase and pseudorange measurements) as seen by the rtk reference station. rather than computing positions by simply developing pseudoranges to each visible satellite based on the times codes being transmitted by the satellites, extremely accurate gps receivers, such as rtk gps receivers, utilize phase measurements of the radio carriers received from various gps satellites to compute positions. however, this position determination technique requires that so-called integer ambiguities be resolved by the gps receiver. the integer ambiguities result from the fact that the receiver must compute the number of 360.degree. carrier phase shifts between itself and the gps satellite, but each carrier cycle appears identical to the receiver. sometimes, an rtk gps receiver will produce a "bad fix" because the receiver failed to properly compute the correct number of integer phase shifts between itself and the gps satellite(s). as a result, the receiver will report a ("bad") position that is based on a calculation which places the receiver either too close to or too far from the satellite. as a result of the differences between rtk gps receivers and other gps receivers, the solution adopted by the dgps community for integrity monitoring is unsuitable for rtk applications. to illustrate, consider that dgps im stations rely on the fact that the corrections being broadcast by a dgps reference station are generally applicable to all roving gps receivers operating in proximity to (e.g., up to approximately 300 miles from) the dgps reference station. thus, the dgps im station operating within a given area need only monitor the dgps corrections being broadcast for that area and compute its gps position accordingly. however, rtk gps receivers must initialize to a selected group of integer carrier phase shifts for a selected group of satellites to obtain a position fix and there can be no guarantee that an rtk gps receiver at an im station has initialized to the same set of integer carrier phase shifts for these satellites as a roving receiver, especially if the roving receiver is operating in an area having a different visible sky from that seen at the rtk im station. because of these differences, position computations at a roving receiver may be different than position computations at an rtk gps receiver at an im station and, thus, the rtk im station may not provide an accurate indication of the reliability of the rtk position at the rover. for these reasons, an improved integrity monitoring scheme for rtk gps applications is desired. summary of the invention in one embodiment, the present invention provides a method which includes computing a position of a first receiver using data from sources chosen according to conditions at a second receiver and reference data. the computed position is compared with a known position of the first receiver. the data from the sources may be gps positioning data and the reference data may be rtk gps data. the reference data may be provided by an rtk gps reference station, for example via radio link. the conditions at the second receiver generally correspond to satellite constellations and the position of the first receiver may be computed by configuring the first receiver to mimic the second receiver by initializing to the same satellite constellations. these conditions may be further augmented by one or more site parameter characteristics for the second receiver, such as signal-to-noise ratio for each satellite of the satellite constellations, rover vehicle attitude, and other parameters. the comparison of the computed position to the known position may result in an error measurement being produced, the error measurement representing an offset between the computed position and the known position of the first receiver. this error measurement may be used to initiate an alert condition if the error measurement exceeds a preestablished threshold value. in a further embodiment, the present invention provides a receiver having first circuitry configured to compute a position of the receiver using data from sources chosen according conditions at a remote receiver and reference data. the receiver may further include second circuitry for comparing the computed position with a known position. the first circuitry may include a gps engine which is configured to compute the position from gps data derived from the sources. the sources may be gps satellites and or pseudolites. in yet another embodiment, the present invention provides a system including a first unit and a second unit, the second unit being configured to compute its position using data from sources chosen according to conditions at the first unit and reference data. the system may also include a reference unit configured to provide the reference data to the second unit. preferably, the reference data is rtk gps data. brief description of the drawings the present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which: fig. 1 illustrates a dgps system including a dgps integrity monitoring station; fig. 2 illustrates a system having an rtk integrity monitoring station configured according to one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary routine for creating and transmitting rtk gps data according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 4 illustrates an rtk reference station for use according to one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 5 illustrates an rtk integrity monitoring station configured according to one embodiment to the present invention; fig. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a variety of routines for performing integrity monitoring and control functions in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 7 illustrates a rover unit configured according to one embodiment of the present invention; fig. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine for controlling operations at a rover unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 9 illustrates a radio repeater for use according to an embodiment of the present invention; and fig. 10 illustrates a rover unit configured as a mobile integrity monitor station according to a further embodiment of the present invention. detailed description described herein is a real-time kinematic (rtk) integrity monitor (im). in one embodiment, a position of a first receiver may be computed using data from sources chosen according to conditions at a second receiver and reference data. the computed position is compared with a known position of the first receiver. the data from the sources may be gps positioning data and the reference data may be rtk gps data. the reference data may be provided by an rtk gps reference station, for example via a radio or other link. the conditions at the second receiver generally correspond to satellite constellations and the position of the first receiver may be computed by configuring the first receiver to mimic the second receiver by initializing to the satellite constellations and, in one embodiment, to one or more site parameter characteristics such as signal-to-noise ratio for each satellite of the satellite constellations, rover vehicle attitude, and other parameters for the second receiver. the comparison of the computed position to the known position may result in an error measurement being produced, the error measurement representing an offset between the computed position and the known position of the first receiver. this error measurement may be used to initiate an alert condition if the error measurement exceed a preestablished threshold value. in a further embodiment, the present invention provides a receiver having fist circuitry configured to compute a position of the receiver using data from sources chosen according conditions at a remote receiver and reference data. the receiver may further include second circuitry for comparing the computed position with a known position. the first circuitry may include a gps engine which is configured to compute the position from gps data derived from the sources. the sources may be gps satellites and or pseudolites. in yet another embodiment, the present invention provides a system including a first unit and a second unit, the second unit being configured to compute its position using data from sources chosen according to conditions at the first unit and reference data. the system may also include a reference unit configured to provide the reference data to the second unit. preferably, the reference data is rtk gps data. although the methods and apparatus of the present invention are hereafter described with reference to gps satellites, it will be appreciated that the teachings are equally applicable to positioning systems which utilize pseudolites or a combination of satellites and pseudolites. pseudolites are ground based transmitters which broadcast a prn code (similar to a gps signal) modulated on an l-band (or other) carrier signal, generally synchronized with gps time. each transmitter may be assigned a unique prn code so as to permit identification by a remote receiver. pseudolites are useful in situations where gps signals from an orbiting satellite might be unavailable, such as in tunnels, mines, buildings or other enclosed or semi-enclosed areas. the term "satellite", as used herein, is intended to include pseudolites or equivalents of pseudolites, and the terms gps signals and/or gps data, as used herein, are intended to include gps-like signals and/or data from pseudolites or equivalents of pseudolites. it will be further appreciated that the methods and apparatus of the present invention may be equally applicable for use with the glonass and/or other satellite-based positioning systems. the glonass system differs from the gps system in that the emissions from different satellites are differentiated from one another by utilizing slightly different carrier frequencies, rather than utilizing different pseudorandom codes. it should be recognized that the integrity measurements provided by the present invention are best understood as estimates because the integrity monitor can only mimic the actual conditions being experienced at a rover. this, in turn, means that the integrity monitor can only achieve an estimate of the rtk gps data integrity being received at the rover. nevertheless, the present invention provides an improved ability to monitor rtk gps data being broadcast to rover units and therefore may find application in a variety of situations where extremely precise gps receivers are employed. fig. 2 illustrates a system 100 configured according to one embodiment of the present invention. in particular, system 100 includes a base station 102 located at a convenient site. base station 102 includes an rtk gps reference station 104 configured to provide rtk gps reference data in the conventional fashion. base station 102 also includes an rtk integrity monitoring (im) station 106 configured to compute its location using data from gps sources, for example, gps satellites and/or pseudolites, chosen according to conditions at a remote unit and reference data provided by gps reference station 104. the reference data may be provided across a link 108 between reference station 104 and im station 106. preferably, link 108 is a radio link (to more accurately simulate the rover conditions) although in other embodiments a hard wire link (or both) may be used. system 100 also includes a number of rover units 110. each rover unit 110 includes an rtk gps receiver and generally operates in an area of interest. for example, rover units 110 may each be housed on various equipments (e.g., earth moving equipment, command or other vehicles, etc.) operating at a mine or construction site or within an agricultural field. many other examples of rtk rover units can be realized, for example automobiles, individuals (e.g., surveyors) and other uses. rover units 110 are each configured to receive rtk gps data from reference station 104 to assist in precise position determination. in one embodiment, the data link 112 between reference station 104 and rover units 110 may be a radio link with sufficient bandwidth to provide the updates required for the precise positioning calculations performed by rover units 110. the rtk gps data may be provided in a format such as the compact measurement record (cmr) format described by dr. nicholas c. talbot in "compact data transmission standard for high precision gps", journal of the institute of navigation, september 1996. the cmr format encompasses both a message protocol and a compression/decompression algorithm for the reference data. cmr message blocks are packetized in frames and generally include header information along with satellite observable information (e.g., carrier phase and pseudorange measurements) as seen at reference station 104. observables are transmitted from reference station 104 approximately once every second and reference station location and station description messages may be sent once every ten seconds. in general, the cmr message blocks contain all the information necessary for rover units 110 to compute their positions to centimeter accuracy. another format which could be used is rtcm 2.1, however, this would require additional radio bandwidth because of the relatively large message format as compared to the cmr format. radio link 112 is generally a line of sight radio link and may require the use of radio repeaters 114 where no direct line of sight exists between reference station 104 and rover units 110. such conditions may, for example, be encountered in mining operations where reference station 104 is positioned at an elevated location while rover units 110 are operating within the mine. depending on the depth of the mine, rover units 110 may be out of sight of reference station 104, thereby requiring the use of repeaters 114. in addition to rover units 110, system 100 may include various stationary units 116, each having an rtk gps receiver. stationary units 116 may correspond to, for example, offices located within the mine or other area of interest or, for example, may be operating platforms for which precise positions are required (e.g., drilling platforms). in addition, one or more stationary units 116 may correspond to rover units configured as remote integrity monitors as further described below. as shown in fig. 2, radio link 112 of system 110 maybe a two-way radio link between rover units 110 and/or stationary units 116 and base station 102. in such cases, in addition to rtk gps data being transmitted from reference station 104, data may be transmitted from any of rover units 110 and/or stationary units 116 to base station 102 across radio link 112. in other embodiments, the link from rover units 110 and/or stationary units 116 to base station 102 may be a separate radio link. the data provided by rover units 110 and/or stationary units 116 to base station 102 is formatted and includes information necessary to allow im station 106 to compute its position using gps sources chosen according to the conditions being experienced at the rover units 110 and/or stationary units 116. that is, a given rover unit 110 may transmit data to im station 106 across radio link 112, that data including information necessary for im station 106 to mimic the conditions being experienced at the transmitting rover unit 110. in particular, the data transmitted by rover unit 110 may include satellite identification information which allows im station 106 to identify the particular satellite constellation to which the transmitting rover unit 110 has initialized. such data may further include signal strength information for each satellite and other "site parameter" information such as rover position, attitude and/or other parameters. these site parameters may be used by the im station 106 to position the rover units within a virtual model of the operating area and may further be used to predict multipath transmissions (e.g., by knowing that a rover is at a certain attitude with respect to a nearby reflecting surface such as a building) which may affect position calculation. by knowing the particular satellites (and other site parameters) which the transmitting rover unit 110 has used to compute its position, im station 106, which includes a gps receiver, may compute its own position using those same satellites. this allows im station 106 to mimic the conditions being experienced at rover unit 110, even though im station 106 may be capable of receiving signals from satellites other than those used by rover unit 110. by mimicking the conditions being experienced at the transmitting rover unit 110, im station 106 may then use the rtk gps data provided by reference station 104 to compute its position. this computed position may be compared against a known position of im station 106 (e.g., as determined by a precise survey) and an error produced thereby. the error will be a measurement of the difference between the computed position of im station 106 (i.e., the position computed using gps data as derived by mimicking the conditions being experienced at rover unit 110 and the reference data provided by reference station 104) and the known location. this comparison may be performed using dedicated circuitry at im station 106 or it may be performed using a general purpose programmable microprocessor running suitable software. because im station 106 initialized to the same satellites as transmitting rover unit 110, the error derived at im station 110 will provide an indication of the reliability of the rtk data being broadcast from reference station 104 to the transmitting rover unit 110. fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary routine 200 for creating and transmitting rtk gps data at reference station 104. routine 200 may be implemented on a general purpose programmable processor operating at reference station 104. such an embodiment would be realized using programming techniques well known in the art. in other embodiments routine 200, or selected portions thereof, may be implemented in dedicated hardware and/or selectively programmed programmable logic. such implementation details are essentially design choices and are often dictated by cost and/or board space considerations. routine 200 is essentially a loop where, so long as power is applied to the system, reference station 104 continually takes gps measurements (step 202), creates rtk gps data messages therefrom, e.g., according to the cmr format (step 204), and transmits those messages over radio link 112. such a loop ensures that rtk gps messages are continually provided, e.g., typically once per second. these messages may be augmented by demi-measurements at the rover units 110 to produce position updates at a rate of 10 hz or more. such an update rate allows for precise machine control. fig. 4 further illustrates reference station 104 in greater detail. reference station 104 includes a gps receiver 120 having an associated gps antenna 122. gps receiver 120 is coupled to radio 124 which is used for transmitting rtk gps data developed by gps receiver 120 across radio link 112. radio 124 may be a dual port radio which is configured to communicate with gps receiver 120 as well as im station 106. gps receiver 120 may include the general purpose processor or other programmable logic which implements routine 200 of fig. 3. fig. 5 further illustrates im station 106. im station 106 includes a gps engine 126 coupled to receive gps data from gps receiver 120 which is coupled to gps antenna 122. gps engine 126 is also coupled to integrity monitor 128 which is also coupled to receive a position solution from gps receiver 120. integrity monitor 128 is further coupled to the second port of radio 124, allowing integrity monitor 128 to receive transmissions from rovers 110 and stationary units 116. in operation, a transmitting rover unit 110 provides satellite identification information (and other site parameters) across radio link 112 to integrity monitor 128. integrity monitor 128 provides this information to gps receiver 120 which takes a gps fix using the indicated satellites. this fix data along with rtk gps data from reference station 104 may be provided to gps engine 126 which computes a position solution. thus, the position solution is based upon conditions being experienced by a transmitting rover unit 110. integrity monitor 128 then compares this computed position with the known location of gps antenna 122 to determine an error. the error may be reported from integrity monitor 128 across radio link 112 to the transmitting rover unit 110. as discussed above, im station 106 may also be configured to maintain a virtual model of the area in which the rovers 110 and stationary units 116 are operating. this may be accomplished by having the rovers 110 and stationary units 116 provide im station 106 with their respective gps positions, e.g., as one of the site parameters to be transmitted to the im station 106. these position indications may be associated with other data identifying the transmitting rover 110 or stationary unit 116 and may be overlaid on a digital map of the operating area using programming techniques well known in the art. for example, conventional mapping or gis programming techniques and data structures may be implemented to establish the digital model of the operating area. fig. 6 illustrates one possible set of routines which may be executed by one or more processors or other programmable devices which make up im station 106. of course, many other routines which implement similar functionality could be devised and, therefore, the set of routines shown in fig. 6 should be regarded as illustrative of the various processes performed at im station 106 only. as shown, im station 106 implements an integrity monitor routine 300, a gps measurement routine 400 and a control routine 500. each of these routines communicate with each other to pass data and control information and thereby achieve the desired functionality. each of these routines is discussed below. integrity monitor routine 300 compares a computed gps position with a known position for the im station 106 and provides an error message indicating the difference between these two positions in response thereto. the routine begins at step 302 where data (such as satellite information, rover position and other site parameters) is received from a rover 110 via radio link 112. this data may be provided to gps measurement routine 400 as discussed below and may also be provided to a virtual model routine running on im station 106 to position the rover 110 in the virtual model. further, the satellite information is provided to gps receiver 120. using the satellite information, at step 304 gps receiver 120 is configured to take a fix using the same satellites as are being used by rover 110. the fix is then taken and the gps data derived therefrom is passed to routine 300 from gps receiver 120 at step 306. at step 308 (which may be performed substantially in parallel with step 306 in some embodiments), routine 300 receives rtk gps data from reference station 104. this may be accomplished across radio link 112 where im station 106 has a separate radio 130 (see fig. 5) for receiving such messages. in other embodiments, the rtk gps data may be provided across a dedicated (e.g. a hard wire) link. at step 310, routine 300 passes the gps data from step 306 and the rtk gps data from step 308 to gps measurement routine 400 to compute a gps position for im station 106. this computation may be performed in the conventional fashion or using the other rover site parameters as described below and the output gps position is reported to integrity monitor routine 300 at step 312. at step 314, integrity monitor routine 300 compares the computed gps position with the known position of im station 106. the result of this comparison is used to generate an error message representing the difference between the computed gps position and the known position. this error message may then be reported to the rover 110 and to the control routine 500 at step 316. the integrity monitor routine 300 then returns and waits to receive a new set of rover data. gps measurement routine 400 computes a gps position for im station 106 using gps data derived from measurements taken by gps receiver 120 and rtk gps data from reference station 104. the routine first receives the computed position solution from integrity monitor routine 300 at step 402. then, at step 404, the routine configures gps engine 126 in accordance with the various rover site parameters received from the integrity monitor routine. this may include weighting the gps measurements from gps receiver 120 differently, according to reported signal-to-noise ratios from rover 110. further, other weightings may be applied according to rover attitude, etc. this step is optional and in some embodiments will not be performed. at step 406, the routine instructs gps engine 126 to compute the gps position of im station 106 based on the above configuration, the gps data from gps receiver 120 and the rtk gps data from reference station 104. this computed position is then reported to the integrity monitor routine 300 at step 408. control routine 500 receives the error message from integrity monitor routine 300 at step 502. based on this message, appropriate alarm conditions may be generated and/or displayed at step 504. at step 506, the error message and/or alarm flags may be used to initiate appropriate control instructions, e.g., if the reported error exceeds preestablished thresholds. this may include automatically switching control to an alternate rtk reference station. fig. 7 illustrates an exemplary rover unit 110. each rover unit 110 will typically include a gps receiver 150 having an associated gps antenna 152. gps receiver 150 is configured as an rtk gps receiver which is capable of receiving rtk gps data through an associated radio 154. such rtk gps receivers are well known in the art. gps receiver 150 is further capable of determining which satellites have been used for initialization (i.e., which satellites are being used for computing its position) and is configured to transmit that information across radio link 112 using radio 154 to im station 106. further, the rover 110 may be configured to report other site parameters, as described above. this information will allow im station 106 to configure itself so as to mimic the conditions being experienced at rover unit 110 and may further allow im station 106 to construct the virtual model of the operating area. rover unit 110 may further include an application engine 156. application engine 156 will use the position information received from gps receiver 150 as well as error information produced by im station 106 to determine whether positions which are computed at rover unit 110 are within acceptable tolerances. that is, if the error exceeds a predetermined threshold, application engine 156 may recognize an alarm condition and report same to an operator associated with rover unit 110. fig. 8 illustrates a routine 600 which may be executed by one or more processors and/or other dedicated or programmable logic at rover unit 110. routine 600 begins at step 602 where gps measurements are taken by gps receiver 150. at step 604 (which may be performed substantially in parallel with step 602 in some embodiments), rover 110 receives rtk gps data from reference station 104 across radio link 112. this rtk gps data, together with the gps measurement data from step 602, is used to compute a position of rover 110 at step 606. at step 608, the satellite information used to compute this position may be passed to application engine 156 for further use. application engine 156 continues the operations defined by routine 600 and at step 610 transmits the satellite information (and other rover site parameters, e.g., signal-to-noise ratios for each satellite, rover position and/or attitude, etc., if desired) from step 606 to the im station 106. as described above, im station 106 uses this information to compute an error message which is returned to rover 110 at step 612. based on the error message, at step 614 alarm conditions may be reported, e.g., if the position error exceeds preestablished thresholds. these error conditions may be acted on by other processing elements or routines within application engine 156. if no errors are reported, routine 600 continues to execute, thereby monitoring the position solutions provided by gps receiver 150. fig. 9 further illustrates the optional radio repeater 114. radio repeater 114 may be a conventional repeater which includes a radio 160 and a power supply 162. the radio 160 is configured to receive and relay messages on radio link 112 between rovers 110 and/or stationary units 116 and base station 102. fig. 10 illustrates a rover unit which is configured as a mobile integrity monitor 170. mobile integrity monitor 170 includes gps receiver 172 and an associated gps antenna 174. mobile integrity monitor 170 also includes a radio 176 capable of interfacing to radio link 112. in operation, mobile integrity monitor 170 may be positioned over a known point 178 and left stationary for sometime. over time, gps receiver 172 will derive a highly accurate position of mobile integrity monitor 170 using conventional gps surveying techniques. this highly accurate position may be compared against the known position of point 178 and an error determined thereby. this error can be used as a check on the rtk gps data being provided by base station 102 across radio link 112. moreover, the mobile integrity monitor 170 may be used as a regular im station and the other rover units 110 may transmit data to the mobile integrity monitor 170 as for im station 106. in some situations, a mobile integrity monitor 170 may be able to provide a better integrity estimation of the rtk gps data being broadcast to the rovers 110 than is provided by im station 106. this may be because, in general, mobile integrity monitor 170 will be operating under conditions more closely resembling those experienced by the rovers 110 due to its physical proximity to the rovers 110 within the operating area. this physical proximity may provide for more real-world conditions (e.g., multipath) than can effectively be mimicked at im station 106. thus, a real-time kinematic integrity monitor has been described. although described with reference to certain specific illustrated embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may find application in a variety of precise positioning determination systems. accordingly, the present invention should only be measured in terms of the claims which follow.
091-941-833-980-193	US	[ "US" ]	G05D1/00,B64C39/02,G01C21/00,G05D1/10,G08G5/00	2016-07-22T00:00:00	2016	[ "G05", "B64", "G01", "G08" ]	deployable delivery guidance	delivery area guidance may be provided to an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) via one or more delivery area guidance vehicles. for example, a uav may be programmed to fly to a delivery area (e.g., a neighborhood, a block, a large residential or commercial property, and/or another area associated with landing and/or a delivery). approaching the delivery area, the uav may deploy one or more delivery area guidance vehicles. a guidance vehicle may be configured to maneuver a distance from the uav, and to assist in guiding the uav into the delivery area to the uav.	1. an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) comprising: an airframe; a guidance vehicle coupled to the airframe; one or more processors coupled to the airframe; and one or more memories coupled to the airframe, the one or more memories storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform acts comprising: sending a signal to a guidance vehicle to activate a lift system that at least one of generates lift or controls a rate of descent of the guidance vehicle; decoupling the guidance vehicle from the airframe; causing the guidance vehicle to be positioned at a distance from the uav; receiving one or more images from the guidance vehicle; identifying a delivery location based at least in part on the one or more images; and determining a flight path to the delivery location based at least in part on the one or more images. 2. the uav of claim 1 , the acts further comprising: determining that the uav is in a low-light environment; and causing emission of light from a light source of the guidance vehicle, wherein the emission of light illuminates the delivery location. 3. the uav of claim 1 , the acts further comprising: identifying an obstacle proximate to the delivery location based at least in part on the one or more images, wherein the determining the flight path includes determining a route to avoid the obstacle. 4. the uav of claim 1 , wherein the guidance vehicle is one of a plurality of guidance vehicles configured to provide the one or more images to the uav, the acts further comprising: processing, by a computing system of the uav, the plurality of images, wherein the processing comprises stitching the plurality of images together to generate a combined image of the delivery area; and comparing the combined image of the delivery area to an existing image of the delivery area that includes the delivery location, wherein the identifying the delivery location is based at least in part on the comparing. 5. a method comprising: identifying, by a computing system of an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav), a delivery area; causing, by the computing system of the uav, a guidance vehicle to be deployed; receiving, at the computing system of the uav, input from the guidance vehicle; and delivering, by the uav, a package to the delivery area based at least in part on the input. 6. the method of claim 5 , wherein the causing the guidance vehicle to be deployed comprises: releasing a connector between the guidance vehicle and the airframe; sending a signal to a computing system of the guidance vehicle to engage a lift system; and causing the guidance vehicle to be positioned at a distance from the uav. 7. the method of claim 6 , wherein the lift system comprises a parachute-type system, and the distance includes a vertical distance from uav toward ground proximate to the delivery location. 8. the method of claim 5 , wherein the causing the guidance vehicle to be deployed comprises: extending a camera from a first position proximate to an airframe to a second position distal to the airframe via a telescopic arm. 9. the method of claim 5 , wherein the receiving input from the guidance vehicle comprises receiving, from a sensor on the guidance vehicle, an indication of an obstacle in the delivery area, the indication comprising a location and a height of the obstacle. 10. the method of claim 5 , wherein the receiving input from the guidance vehicle comprises receiving, from a laser on the guidance vehicle, an indication of a delivery location in the delivery area, the indication comprising a laser beam directed to at least a portion of the delivery location. 11. the method of claim 5 , wherein the input comprises an image of the delivery area, the method further comprising: evaluating, by the computing system of the uav, the image of the delivery area; identifying a delivery location in the delivery area; and determining a flight path to the delivery location. 12. the method of claim 5 , wherein the guidance vehicle is one of a plurality of guidance vehicles and the receiving the input comprises receiving a plurality of images, the method further comprising: processing, by the computing system of the uav, the plurality of images, wherein the processing comprises combining the plurality of images together to generate a combined image of the delivery area; identifying an obstacle in the delivery area based at least in part on the combined image; and determining a flight path to a delivery location to avoid the obstacle. 13. the method of claim 5 , further comprising: determining, by a sensor on the uav, that the uav is in a low-light environment; and causing emission of light from a light source of the guidance vehicle, wherein the emission of light illuminates at least a portion of the delivery area. 14. the method of claim 5 , wherein the identifying the delivery area comprises: determining that the uav has arrived at a waypoint associated with a delivery of the package. 15. a system comprising: one or more processors; and memory coupled to the one or more processors, the memory including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising: identifying, by a computing system of an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav), a delivery area; causing a plurality of guidance vehicles to deploy based at least in part on an identification of the delivery area; receiving, by the computing system of the uav, a plurality of images from the plurality of guidance vehicles; identifying a delivery location in the delivery area based at least in part on the plurality of images; and delivering, by the uav, a package to the delivery location. 16. the system of claim 15 , further comprising: receiving, via a sensor on a guidance vehicle of the plurality of guidance vehicles and by the computing system of the uav, an indication of an obstacle proximate to the delivery location; determining a flight path to the delivery location to avoid the obstacle. 17. the system of claim 15 , further comprising: processing, by a computing system of the uav, the plurality of images, wherein the processing comprises combining the plurality of images together to generate a combined image of the delivery area; identifying an obstacle in the delivery area based at least in part on an analysis of the combined image; and determining a flight path to the delivery location to avoid the obstacle. 18. the system of claim 15 , wherein the identifying the delivery area comprises determining that the uav has arrived at a waypoint associated with the delivery area. 19. the system of claim 15 , wherein the causing the plurality of guidance vehicle to deploy comprises: releasing respective connectors between the plurality of guidance vehicles and an airframe of the uav; sending a signal to respective guidance vehicles of the plurality of guidance vehicles to engage respective lift systems and generate lift; and causing the plurality of guidance vehicles to fly at respective positions from the uav. 20. the system of claim 15 , further comprising: causing a first guidance vehicle of the plurality of guidance vehicles to activate a light; sending an illumination signal to the first guidance vehicle, wherein the illumination signal causes the first guidance vehicle to direct a light beam of the light on the delivery location.	background the delivery logistics industry has grown significantly in recent years, as many consumers have recognized the internet as a preferred source of making commercial purchases due to the convenience of having orders delivered directly to a home or place of business. currently, the majority of deliveries are conducted manually by delivery personnel going door-to-door. however, the unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) has great potential as an expedient and energy efficient vehicle for delivering goods to the consumer. for example, after processing an order for a product, a uav may be loaded with the product as cargo and it may fly to a delivery location, such as a consumer's home or office. traditionally, uavs include cameras and sensors to provide guidance on how to maneuver in a delivery environment. the cameras and sensors are often mounted in a fixed location in the uav. however, due to the fixed location, the cameras and sensors can often times be blocked by various parts of the uav and/or cargo carried by the uav, and/or limited in perspective based on the location on the uav. as a result, these cameras and sensors may have limitations in ability to provide data to the uav that facilitates effective guidance of the uav in some situations. as such, external delivery guidance may be helpful for obstacle avoidance and the successful delivery of the cargo. brief description of the drawings the detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. in the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. the same reference numbers in different figures indicate similar or identical items. figs. 1a and 1b collectively illustrate a pictorial flow diagram of an example process performed by a deployable delivery guidance system. fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an illustrative environment where a deployable delivery guidance system may provide landing and obstacle avoidance guidance to an unmanned aerial vehicle. fig. 3 is a block diagram of select components of an example unmanned aerial vehicle, and select components of an example delivery guidance vehicle. figs. 4a and 4b are front views of an unmanned aerial vehicle with an example ring-type guidance vehicle. fig. 4a illustrates the unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) with the ring-type guidance vehicle coupled to the airframe. fig. 4b illustrates the uav with the ring-type guidance vehicle deployed. figs. 5a and 5b are front views of an unmanned aerial vehicle with example delivery guidance systems. fig. 5a illustrates an unmanned aerial vehicle with a telescopic delivery guidance vehicle. fig. 5b illustrates an unmanned aerial vehicle with a deployable delivery guidance vehicle that utilizes parachutes to control a vertical speed. fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an illustrative environment with a first set of guidance vehicles configured to provide aerial guidance and a second set of guidance vehicles configured to provide land-based guidance. fig. 7 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative process to deploy one or more guidance vehicles in order to receive delivery area guidance. fig. 8 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative process to deploy and recover a guidance vehicle. detailed description this disclosure provides methods, apparatuses, and systems for providing delivery area guidance to an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) via one or more delivery area guidance vehicles. for example, a uav may be programmed to fly to a delivery area (e.g., a neighborhood, a block, a large residential or commercial property, and/or another area associated with landing and/or a delivery). approaching the delivery area, the uav may deploy one or more delivery area guidance vehicles (guidance vehicles). a guidance vehicle may be configured to maneuver a distance from the uav, and to assist in guiding the uav within the delivery area. in various examples, the guidance vehicle may include a camera system to provide a visual depiction of the delivery area to the uav. the camera system may capture images (e.g., still images, video, etc.) of the delivery area and send the images to the uav. a computing system of the uav may receive the images, and may process the images (e.g., stitch images from multiple camera systems together, etc.) into a combined image for a substantially complete view of the delivery area (e.g., view of an entire delivery area, view of relevant portions of the delivery area, etc.). the uav may use the view of the delivery area to identify obstacles in the delivery area and/or determine a flight path to a delivery location free from obstacles and/or obstructions. in some examples, the guidance vehicle may include a sensor to identify obstacles proximate to the delivery area. the obstacles can be stationary obstacles, such as those located in a flight path between the uav and a delivery location, or mobile, such as an obstacle on the ground near the delivery location, which may move to the delivery location. in some examples, the guidance vehicle may send a signal including obstacle information to the uav. in such examples, the signal may include an image of the obstacle, a location of the obstacle, such as an actual location (e.g., grid coordinates, latitude/longitude, height above ground, etc.) or a relative location (e.g., location with respect to the delivery location, a uav location, a flight path, etc.), and/or other relevant information for the uav to avoid the obstacle. in some examples, the guidance vehicle may emit a laser or other marker to identify a location of an obstacle, such as by shining a laser on the obstacle itself. in some examples, the guidance vehicle may include a lighting system to illuminate the delivery area. the lighting system can include lights in the visible light and/or infrared spectra. in various examples, the illumination provided by the guidance vehicle may provide lighting to capture images of the delivery area by other guidance vehicles and/or by the uav itself. in such examples, the camera systems may be able to identify obstacles and/or an obstruction-free approach path during times of low-light, such as at night. in some examples, the guidance vehicle may include a laser or other apparatus capable of highlighting a delivery location for the uav. in such examples, the guidance vehicle may direct a laser beam on the delivery location, and designate the delivery location as a target for the uav to deliver cargo. a sensor on the uav may recognize the laser beam, such as a particular reflective pulse of laser light, and may approach the specific location for delivery. the apparatuses, techniques, and systems described herein may be implemented in a number of ways. example implementations of the deployable delivery guidance system are provided below with reference to the following figures. figs. 1a and 1b collectively illustrate a pictorial flow diagram of an example process 100 of a deployable delivery guidance system. in various examples, the process 100 may apply to an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) 102 delivering a package to a destination 104 associated with a customer. in such examples, the uav 102 may be programmed to fly to a waypoint associated with the delivery. at 106 , the uav 102 may arrive at a waypoint associated with the delivery. the waypoint may include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, degrees minutes seconds, universal transverse mercator, etc.) and/or altitude in proximity of the destination 104 (e.g., a house, a place of business, etc.), such as coordinates associated with a delivery location 108 . at 110 , the uav 102 may deploy guidance vehicles 112 . the guidance vehicles 112 may include micro-uavs capable of self-propulsion, micro-uavs capable of controlling a vertical descent, camera and/or sensor systems coupled to the uav 102 , or a combination thereof. in some examples, the guidance vehicles 112 can be stored away from the uav 102 , such as in a neighborhood storage facility. in such examples, the uav 102 may send a signal to the guidance vehicles 112 to launch to the delivery area. in various examples, the guidance vehicles 112 can be stored inside an airframe of the uav 102 during flight to the waypoint associated with the delivery. in such examples, the uav 102 can deploy the guidance vehicles 112 , such as by opening a compartment door (e.g., docking station door) of the uav 102 and sending a signal to the guidance vehicles 112 to launch. in some examples, the guidance vehicles 112 can be autonomous micro-uavs. in various examples, the guidance vehicles 112 can be coupled to the airframe. in some examples, the coupling can be a cable or a wire connecting the uav 102 and the guidance vehicle 112 . in such examples, the guidance vehicle 112 may fly away from the uav 102 , but may maintain a wired connection to send and receive data (e.g., flight data, imagery, obstacle data, etc.). in such examples, the uav 102 may deploy the guidance vehicle by extending the cable or wire. as depicted below in fig. 5a , the guidance vehicles 112 can be coupled to the airframe via connection arms, such as telescopic arms affixed to the airframe. in such examples, the uav 102 can deploy the guidance vehicles 112 by extending the telescopic arms away from the airframe. as depicted below in figs. 4a and 4b , the connection arms can be coupled to the airframe via releasable connections. in such examples, the uav 102 can deploy the guidance vehicles 112 by releasing the connections. in some examples, the uav 102 can deploy a single guidance vehicle 112 . the single guidance vehicle 112 can be positioned at an altitude above the uav 102 (e.g., 10 feet, 50 feet, 100 feet, etc.). in various examples, the single guidance vehicle 112 can be configured to fly and/or be extended via telescopic arm a distance (e.g., 2 meters, 5 feet, 10 feet, etc.) above the uav 102 . in some examples, the single guidance vehicle 112 can fly based on a vertical descent configuration (e.g., parachute size, material, etc.). in various examples, the uav 102 may deploy a plurality of guidance vehicles 112 (e.g., 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, etc.). for example, the uav 102 may deploy six pairs (12) of guidance vehicles 112 . four of the six pairs may be programmed to fly to a position in a cardinal direction (e.g., north, east, south, west) from the uav 102 , while one pair may fly above and one pair may fly below the uav 102 . for another example, each pair of the six pairs may be programmed to fly to an axis (x-y-z) position relative to the uav 102 . in such examples, pairs of guidance vehicles 112 may be positioned in front of, behind, to the sides, above, and below the uav 102 . additionally or alternatively, the uav 102 may deploy one or more guidance vehicles 112 configured to land proximate to the delivery location 108 . the one or more guidance vehicles 112 may land via powered flight, a parachute material, and/or other means of effecting a controlled descent. at 114 , the uav can receive input from the guidance vehicles 112 . the input can include images of the delivery area, obstacle identification, identification of the delivery location, illumination of the delivery location, and the like. in various examples, the guidance vehicle 112 can include camera systems capable of capturing images of the delivery area. in such examples, the input can include images of the delivery area. the uav 102 can receive a plurality of images from the guidance vehicles 112 , and can process the images into a combined image (e.g., stitch together) to generate a substantially complete picture of the delivery area. the uav 102 can use the substantially complete picture of the delivery area to identify obstacles and/or determine an obstacle free flight path to the delivery location 108 . in some examples, the uav can receive the plurality of images and send the plurality of images to a central processing system. the central processing system can include computing resources and/or human input to process the images (e.g., inspect images to determine obstacles, determine delivery location, etc.). the central processing system can be configured to receive images from various uavs, and queue the images based on an urgency of the task associated with the images. the central processing system can process the images in order based on the queue, and send data corresponding to the images to the respective uav. responsive to receiving the data, the uav can update an operation (e.g., delivery path, delivery location, hover height, obstacle avoidance, delivery area illumination, etc.). in various examples, the guidance vehicles 112 can include sensors to detect obstacles in the delivery area. in such examples, the input can include data regarding the obstacles (e.g., a location of the obstacle, a height, and/or other relevant obstacle information). the obstacles can be stationary obstacles (e.g., a clothes line, a swing set, a barbeque, or other stationary obstruction) and/or mobile obstructions (e.g., an animal, a flying disc, etc.). in some examples, the obstacles and/or obstructions can be those located in a flight path between the uav 102 and the delivery area 108 . additionally, the guidance vehicles 112 may be configured to detect and send input of identified obstacles and/or obstructions outside the flight path. in various examples, the guidance vehicles 112 can include a laser or other apparatus capable of highlighting a location. in such examples, the input can include data related to the laser or other apparatus. in some examples, the laser or other apparatus can be configured to identify a location of an obstacle and/or an obstruction, such as by shining the laser on the obstacle and/or obstruction itself. in various examples, the laser or other apparatus can direct a beam on the delivery location 108 , and designate the delivery location 108 as a target of the uav to deliver the package. in such examples, a sensor on the uav 102 can recognize the beam, such as a particular pulse of laser light, and may approach the specific location for delivery. in various examples, the guidance vehicles 112 can include lighting systems to illuminate the delivery area. in such examples, the input can include the illumination from the lighting systems. the lighting systems can include lights in the visible light spectrum and/or the infra-red spectrum. in various examples, the lighting systems can provide illumination for the camera systems to capture images in a low-light environment. in some examples, the lighting systems can illuminate an object in a direction that causes a shadow. in such examples, a sensor in the guidance vehicle 112 and/or the uav 102 can determine, based on the shadow, a size and/or shape of the object. based on the input received from the guidance vehicles at 114 , the uav 102 can approach the delivery location 108 , and deliver the package. at 116 , the uav 102 can recall the guidance vehicles 112 . in some examples, the uav 102 can send a signal to the guidance vehicles 112 to return to a location proximate to the uav 102 , and/or proximate to a storage location (e.g., neighborhood storage facility). in various examples, the uav 102 can recall the guidance vehicles 112 by retracting a cable, wire, or telescopic arm to which the guidance vehicle 112 is coupled. at 118 , the uav 102 can recover the guidance vehicles 112 . in various examples, the uav 102 can open respective compartments (e.g., docking stations) for the guidance vehicles, and can recover the guidance vehicles 112 into the respective compartments. in some examples, the uav 102 can include a device to assist in recovering the guidance vehicles, such as a telescopic arm with a magnet and/or gripping mechanism. in such examples, the device can connect to the guidance vehicle 112 , and lead (e.g., pull, guide, etc.) the guidance vehicle 112 into the compartment. for example, the uav 102 can land proximate to or hover over a location of a landed guidance vehicle 112 . the device can connect to the landed guidance vehicle 112 and recover the vehicle onto the uav 102 . for another example, an autonomous guidance vehicle 112 may fly to a position proximate to the docking station of the uav. the device can then connect to the guidance vehicle 112 located proximate to the uav 102 , and can recover the vehicle into the uav 102 . in some examples, the uav 102 can employ a delivery mechanism (e.g., a releasable clamp, a hook, a tether, or other mechanism capable of securing a package and/or the guidance vehicle 112 ) to recover the guidance vehicle 112 . in such examples, after delivering the package, the delivery mechanism can connect to and secure the guidance vehicle 112 to the uav 102 prior to returning to a base station (e.g., warehouse facility, etc.). in various examples, the uav 102 may send a signal to the guidance vehicles 112 to fly into respective compartments. in such examples, the signal may include an order of recovery, directing individual guidance vehicles 112 to recover in a particular order. for example, a uav 102 may include two docking stations configured to recover six guidance vehicles 112 , three guidance vehicles 112 per docking station. the uav 102 may direct pairs of guidance vehicles 112 into the respective docking stations until the six guidance vehicles are recovered. in some examples, the uav 102 may cause the guidance vehicles 112 to be recovered at a storage location (e.g., neighborhood storage facility). in such examples, the uav 102 may send a signal to the guidance vehicles 112 to return to the storage location for recovery. fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an illustrative environment 200 where a deployable delivery guidance system may provide landing and/or obstacle avoidance guidance to an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) 202 , such as uav 102 , in the delivery area 204 . in the illustrative example, the deployable delivery guidance system includes a plurality of guidance vehicles 206 ( 1 )- 206 ( 6 ). in other examples, the deployable delivery guidance system can include a greater or fewer number of guidance vehicles 206 . the guidance vehicles 206 can include micro-uavs and/or other structures capable of housing a camera, a light, a laser, and/or a sensor. in some examples, the guidance vehicles 206 can include dependent micro-uavs and/or other structures. in such examples, the guidance vehicles 206 can be coupled to the uav 202 , via one or more connections, such as a cable connection, a wired connection, a wireless connection (e.g., wi-fi, bluetooth®, near-field communication, etc.), and/or a connection arm. the guidance vehicles 206 can receive flight instructions from the uav 202 via the one or more connections. as depicted in fig. 2 , the guidance vehicles 206 can include autonomous micro-uavs configured to fly respective flight plans. in such examples, the respective flight plans can be determined based on maintaining a distance from the uav 202 , maintaining a position relative to the uav 202 , a position and/or distance relative to a delivery location, a controlled descent, or a combination of the foregoing. in various examples, the guidance vehicles 206 , such as guidance vehicle 112 , can include a camera 210 (e.g., digital camera, spectral camera, thermographic camera, etc.) to capture images of the delivery area 204 . the camera 210 can capture images (e.g., still, video, etc.), and the guidance vehicles 206 can send the images to the uav 202 for processing. in some examples, the processing can include combining (e.g., stitching) images together from multiple guidance vehicles 206 , such as guidance vehicles 206 ( 1 ) and 206 ( 2 ), to generate a substantially complete image of the delivery area 204 . in other examples, the uav 202 can process images from a single guidance vehicle 206 . in such examples, the single guidance vehicle 206 can be positioned at an altitude above the uav 202 (e.g., 10 feet, 50 feet, 100 feet, etc.) in order to capture the delivery area 204 in a field of view of the camera. in various examples, the processing can include the uav 202 evaluating the images and detecting obstacles 210 depicted in the imagery. the obstacles 210 can include stationary objects, such as obstacle 210 ( 1 ), and/or mobile objects, such as obstacle 210 ( 2 ). the obstacles 210 can be those located in a flight path between the uav 202 and a delivery location 212 , such as delivery location 108 , and/or those located in the delivery area 204 outside the flight path. in various examples, the guidance vehicles 206 , such as guidance vehicles 206 ( 3 ) and 206 ( 6 ) can include a sensor 214 to identify the obstacles 210 . in such examples, the processing can include the uav 202 evaluating input from the sensor 214 , and determining a flight path to avoid the obstacles 210 . the input can include a location associated with the obstacle, such as an actual location (e.g., grid coordinates, latitude/longitude, etc.) or a relative location (e.g., location with respect to the delivery location, a uav location, a flight path, etc.), and/or whether it is a stationary obstacle 210 ( 1 ) or a mobile obstacle 210 ( 2 ). additionally or alternatively, guidance vehicles 206 ( 3 ) and 206 ( 6 ) can include a laser, such as laser 222 described below, configured to emit a marker 216 to identify a location of an obstacle. in the illustrative example, marker 216 can illuminate and/or identify an entire obstacle 210 , such as by shining a wide laser beam on the obstacle 210 . in some examples, the marker 216 can illuminate and/or identify part of the obstacle 210 , such as by shining a narrow laser beam on a part of the obstacle 210 closest in proximity to the flight path. in various examples, the processing can include the uav 202 evaluating the images and identifying the marker 216 . in some examples, the processing can include the uav 202 evaluating the images and identifying the delivery location 212 . in the illustrative example, the delivery location 212 is a pre-defined, marked location for delivery. in such an example, the uav 202 can evaluate the images and identify the marked delivery location 212 . in some examples, the uav 202 can store a picture of the delivery area 204 including the delivery location, such as in a data store. in such examples, the uav 202 can compare the images and the picture, and identify the delivery location 212 . in some examples, the delivery location 212 can be a location determined by the uav 202 after arrival at a waypoint associated with the delivery area 204 . in such examples, the uav 202 can evaluate the images and identify a delivery location 212 free of obstacles and capable of receiving a delivery (e.g., a flat location large enough to support the package). in the illustrative example, the guidance vehicles 206 , such as guidance vehicle 206 ( 5 ), can include a light 218 to illuminate the delivery location 212 . in some examples, the light 218 can illuminate a larger area, such as delivery area 204 . in such examples, the uav 202 may be able to evaluate the images and identify obstacles and/or an obstruction free flight path to the delivery location in a low-light environment. the light 218 can include a light beam 220 in the visible light spectrum and/or the infra-red spectrum. additionally, the guidance vehicles 206 , such as guidance vehicle 206 ( 4 ), can include a laser 222 or other apparatus capable of highlighting a delivery location 212 for the uav 202 . in various examples, the laser 222 or other apparatus can direct a laser beam 224 on the delivery location 212 , and designate the delivery location 212 as a target of the uav 202 to deliver the package. in such examples, a sensor on the uav 202 can recognize the beam 224 , such as a particular pulse of laser light, and may approach the specific location for delivery. for ease of description, the guidance vehicles 206 ( 1 )- 206 ( 6 ) are described in fig. 2 as having either a camera 208 , a sensor 214 , light 218 , or a laser 222 . however, the guidance vehicles 206 can each include one or more of the foregoing. for example, guidance vehicle 206 ( 1 ) can include a camera 208 , a sensor 214 , light 218 , and a laser 222 . for another example, guidance vehicle 206 ( 2 ) can include a camera 208 , a sensor 214 , and a light 218 . fig. 3 is a block diagram of select components of an example unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) 302 , such as uav 102 or 202 , and select components of an example guidance vehicle 304 ( 1 ), such as guidance vehicle 112 . in various examples, the guidance vehicles 304 can be stored in or on the uav 302 , and deployed therefrom proximate to a delivery area. in some examples, the guidance vehicle 304 can be stored at an alternate location, such as a neighborhood storage facility, and deployed therefrom to the delivery area. the uav 302 can be configured to communicate with the guidance vehicles 304 via one or more networks 306 . for example, network(s) 306 can include public networks such as the internet, private networks such as an institutional and/or personal intranet, or some combination of private and public networks. network(s) 306 can also include any type of wired and/or wireless network, including but not limited to satellite networks, wi-fi networks, wimax networks, mobile communications networks (e.g., 3g, 4g, and so forth), bluetooth® personal area network, or any combination thereof. network(s) 306 can utilize communications protocols, including packet-based and/or datagram-based protocols such as internet protocol (ip), transmission control protocol (tcp), user datagram protocol (udp), or other types of protocols. in some examples, network(s) 306 can further include devices that enable connection to a wireless network, such as a wireless access point (wap). example embodiments support connectivity through waps that send and receive data over various electromagnetic frequencies (e.g., radio frequencies), including waps that support institute of electrical and electronics engineers (ieee) 802.11 standards (e.g., 802.11g, 802.11n, and so forth), and other standards. in various examples, uav 302 can include one or more processor(s) 308 operably coupled to computer readable media 310 via one or more of a system bus, a data bus, an address bus, a pci bus, a mini-pci bus, and any variety of local, peripheral and/or independent busses. the computer readable media 310 may include a tangible non-transitory computer storage media and may include volatile and nonvolatile memory and/or removable and non-removable media implemented in any type of technology for storage of information such as computer-readable processor-executable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. the computer readable media 310 may include, but is not limited to, ram, rom, eeprom, flash memory, solid-state storage, magnetic disk storage, optical storage, and/or other computer-readable media technology. executable instructions stored on the computer-readable media 310 can include an operating system 312 , a flight control module 314 , a delivery guidance module 316 , and other modules and programs that are loadable and executable by the one or more processor(s) 308 . examples of such programs or modules include, but are not limited to, delivery guidance algorithms, imagery algorithms, sensor algorithms, flight path analysis algorithms, network connection software, and control modules. in some examples, computer-readable media 310 can also include a data store 318 to store customer data (e.g., customer identification, customer delivery preference data, etc.), delivery location data, scheduling data, and the like. various instructions, methods, and techniques described herein may be considered in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. for performing particular tasks or implementing particular abstract data types. these program modules can be implemented as software modules that execute on the processing unit, as hardware, and/or as firmware. typically, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments. an implementation of these modules and techniques may be stored on or transmitted across some form of computer-readable media. in various examples, the flight control module 314 can receive data associated with a package to deliver, such as from an internal data store 318 or an external source via one or more communication interface(s) 320 . the data can include flight plan information (e.g., a series of waypoints including a waypoint associated with the customer and/or delivery location), guidance vehicle flight information (e.g., position to maintain from the uav 302 and/or delivery area, etc.), guidance vehicle tasking (e.g., capture images of the delivery area, identify obstacles, illuminate delivery location, etc.), delivery information (e.g., last known and/or preferred delivery location, previously identified obstacles, known delivery flight path, etc.), and the like. in various examples, the flight control module 314 may initiate flight to the waypoint and/or delivery location to deliver the package based on the data. in some examples, the flight control module 314 can provide the guidance vehicle flight information and/or guidance vehicle tasking to the guidance vehicles 304 at a time proximate to deployment thereof. in various embodiments, the computer-readable media 310 can include a delivery guidance module 316 . in various examples, the delivery guidance module 316 can recognize a proximity to and/or an arrival of the uav 302 at a waypoint associated with the customer, such as at 106 of fig. 1 . responsive to the recognition of the waypoint associated with the customer, the delivery guidance module 316 can cause one or more guidance vehicles 304 ( 1 )- 304 (n) to deploy, such as by sending a signal to the one or more guidance vehicles 304 ( 1 )- 304 (n) to fly. in some examples, the guidance vehicles 304 can be deployed from the uav, such as by opening a compartment and releasing the guidance vehicles 304 . additionally or alternatively, one or more of the guidance vehicles 304 ( 1 )- 304 (n) can be deployed from an alternate location, such as a neighborhood storage facility. in such examples, the delivery guidance module 316 can send a signal to the one or more of the guidance vehicles 304 ( 1 )- 304 (n) to fly to the delivery area. in various examples, the signal to fly to the delivery area may be transmitted via the one or more communications interfaces 320 . the one or more communication interfaces 320 may enable communication between the uav 302 , the guidance vehicles 304 , and other networked devices, such as a central delivery system, a customer device, or other uavs. the one or more communication interfaces 320 can include network interface controllers (nics), i/o interfaces, or other types of transceiver devices to send and receive communications. for simplicity, other computers are omitted from the illustrated uav 302 . in various examples, the guidance vehicle 304 ( 1 ) can receive the signal to fly via one or more communication interfaces 322 . the one or more communication interfaces 322 , like one or more communication interfaces 320 , can include network interface controllers (nics), i/o interfaces, or other types of transceiver devices to send and receive communications. the signal can be delivered to a flight module 324 of the guidance vehicle 304 ( 1 ) via one or more processor(s) 326 can be operably coupled to a memory 326 , such as a computer-readable media, via one or more of a system bus, a data bus, an address bus, a pci bus, a mini-pci bus, and any variety of local, peripheral and/or independent busses. executable instructions stored on the memory 328 can include an operating system 330 , the flight control module 324 , and other modules and programs that are loadable and executable by the one or more processor(s) 326 . in some examples, the memory 328 can include a data store 332 . in various examples, the flight module 324 can receive the signal to fly from the uav 302 . the signal can include guidance vehicle flight information (e.g., position to maintain from the uav 302 and/or delivery area, etc.), guidance vehicle tasking (e.g., capture images of the delivery area, identify obstacles, illuminate delivery location, etc.), delivery information (e.g., last known and/or preferred delivery location, previously identified obstacles, known delivery flight path, etc.), and the like. the flight module 324 can process the information in the signal, and can fly a profile and/or complete tasks as indicated in the signal. the guidance vehicle 304 ( 1 ) can include one or more cameras 334 , one or more sensor(s) 336 , one or more laser(s) 338 , and/or one or more light(s) 340 to complete the tasks as indicated in the signal. in some examples, the guidance vehicle 304 ( 1 ) can include one or more cameras 334 (e.g., digital cameras, spectral cameras, thermographic cameras, etc.) to capture images (e.g., still images, video, etc.) of the delivery area, and send the images to the delivery guidance module 316 of the uav 302 . in some examples, the guidance vehicle 304 ( 1 ) can include one or more lights 336 to assist in the capturing of images in low-light environments. in such examples, the one or more lights 336 can be in the visible light and/or infra-red spectra. the one or more lights 336 can be configured to illuminate a delivery area or a portion thereof, such as a delivery location. in various examples, the delivery guidance module 316 of the uav 302 can be configured to receive and process the images into a combined image (e.g., stitch images from multiple camera systems together) for a substantially complete view of the delivery area. the delivery guidance module 316 can use the substantially complete view of the delivery area to identify obstacles in the delivery area and/or determine a flight path of the uav 302 to the delivery location free from obstacles and/or obstructions. in some examples, the delivery guidance module 316 can send the images to a central processing system. the central processing system can include computing resources and/or human input to process the images (e.g., inspect images to determine obstacles, determine delivery location, etc.). the central processing system can process the images, and send data corresponding to the images back to the delivery guidance module 316 . responsive to receiving the data, the delivery guidance module 316 can update an operation (e.g., delivery path, delivery location, hover height, obstacle avoidance, delivery area illumination, etc.). in various examples, guidance vehicle 304 ( 1 ) can include one or more sensors 338 to identify obstacles in the delivery area. the one or more sensors 338 can include a radar, a motion detector, and/or other sensors capable of detecting obstacles. in such examples, the guidance vehicle 304 ( 1 ) can send an input to the delivery guidance module 316 including information regarding the detected obstacles. the information can include a size of the obstacle, a location of the obstacle (e.g., relative to the uav, the delivery location, and/or a flight path between the uav and the delivery location), whether it is stationary or non-stationary, and other relevant information regarding the obstacle. in some examples, responsive to detecting the obstacle, such as via the one or more sensors 338 , the guidance vehicle 304 ( 1 ) can identify the obstacle using one or more laser(s) 340 capable of highlighting a location. in such examples, the one or more laser(s) 340 can be configured identify a location of the detected obstacle, such as by shining the laser on the obstacle itself. the one or more lasers 340 can direct a laser beam to cover an entire obstacle, or a portion thereof, such as a portion that is closest to a flight path of the uav 302 to the delivery location. additionally or alternatively, the one or more lasers 340 can direct a laser beam on the delivery location, and designate the delivery location as a target of the uav 302 to deliver the package. in such examples, one or more sensors 342 on the uav 302 can recognize the laser beam, such as a particular pulse of laser light, and may cause the uav 302 to approach the specific location for delivery. in various examples, the one or more sensor(s) 342 of the uav 302 can be configured to assist in the delivery area guidance, and to monitor the operation and functionality of the uav 302 and/or the guidance vehicles 304 . the one or more sensor(s) 342 can include, but are not limited to, one or more cameras (e.g., digital cameras, spectral cameras, thermographic camera, etc.), lidar/radar (laser illuminated detection and ranging/radio detection and ranging), and a global positioning system (gps) sensor. in various examples, the one or more sensor(s) 342 may operate in conjunction with one or more modules in the computer-readable media 310 , such as the flight control module 314 , and/or the delivery guidance module 316 , to assist in the successful delivery of a package. in various examples, the one or more sensors can include a light sensor configured to detect a low light environment. responsive to a detection of the low-light environment, the uav 302 send a signal to the guidance vehicle 304 ( 1 ) to illuminate the delivery area or portion thereof, such as via a light 336 . in some examples, the delivery guidance module 316 may receive an input from the one or more sensor(s) 342 that the uav 302 is stabilized at the delivery location (e.g., landed or in a stabilized hover). responsive to an indication of stabilization at the delivery location, the delivery guidance module 316 may cause a delivery mechanism 344 to release the package. the delivery mechanism 344 may include one or more of a releasable clamp, a hook, a tether, a winch, a sliding door, a folding door, or other mechanisms capable of securing a package to/in and releasing the package from the uav 302 . figs. 4a and 4b are front views of an unmanned aerial vehicle 400 with an example ring-type guidance vehicle 402 . fig. 4a illustrates the unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) 400 with the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 coupled to the airframe. uav 400 , such as uav 102 , 202 , or 302 , can include an airframe 406 to which the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 may be coupled, such as via one or more connection arms 408 . the airframe 406 , the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 and/or the one or more connection arms 408 may comprise carbon fiber, titanium, aluminum, plastic, combinations thereof, or any other material appropriate for aircraft construction. the one or more connection arms 408 can be fixed and/or telescopic connection arms with connectors on an end. in various examples, the connectors may be fixed to the uav 400 , and the connectors may detach from the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 . in some examples, the connectors may be fixed to the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 , and the connectors may detach from the uav 400 . the connectors may include a magnetic connector, a hook and loop connector, a snap fit connector, and/or any other reasonable method for securing two objects together. in various examples, the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 can include one or more cameras 410 (e.g., digital camera, spectral camera, thermographic camera, etc.) to capture images as directed by the uav 400 . the one or more cameras 410 may be fixed in place in the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 and/or gimbaled to allow rotation about one or more axes to increase a range of view of each camera 410 . in some examples, the uav 400 may direct the one or more cameras 410 to capture images of a delivery area. the one or more cameras 410 can capture images (e.g., still, video, etc.), and the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 can send the images to a computing system of the uav 400 for processing. in some examples, the processing can include combining (e.g., stitching) images together from the one or more cameras 410 , to generate a substantially complete image of the delivery area. in various examples, the processing can include the computing system of the uav 400 evaluating the images and detecting obstacles depicted in the imagery. the obstacles can include stationary objects and/or mobile objects. the obstacles can be those located in a flight path between the uav 400 and a delivery location, and/or those located in the delivery area outside the flight path. additionally or alternatively, the ring-type guidance vehicle 410 can include one or more of a sensor (e.g., a radar, a motion detector, and/or other sensor) to detect obstacles, a laser to highlight obstacles and/or the delivery location, and/or a light to illuminate the delivery location for the uav 400 . as depicted in fig. 4b , the uav 400 may deploy the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 . in various examples, a delivery guidance module in the uav 400 may send a signal causing the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 to deploy. in some examples, the signal may be sent to a mechanism to disconnect the connection arms. the mechanism to disconnect the connection arms can include a drive mechanism to retract one or more telescopic connection arms 408 and/or a mechanism to release one or more connectors. additionally or alternatively, a signal can be to a flight module in the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 to engage a lift system 412 for the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 . in various examples, the lift system 412 can be a parachute-type system. in such examples, the lift system 412 can be deployed from a top of the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 , and can be configured to control a rate of descent of the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 . in some examples, the lift system 412 can include a propulsion system (e.g., rotors, motors, lifting gas, etc.) configured to generate lift and/or control a rate of descent of the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 . as shown in the illustrative example, the lift system 412 may include one or more (two shown) parachute-type systems. in other examples, the lift system 412 can include a greater or lesser number of parachutes. in some examples, the lift system 412 can include a parachute material which covers the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 in whole or in part. for example, the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 may include a frame surrounded by parachute material. the parachute material can be configured to inflate when the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 is released and the parachute material catches the air (e.g., apparent wind from a vertical descent). as depicted in fig. 4b , the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 can remain above the uav 400 , such as by having a slower rate of descent. in such examples, the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 can provide imagery of the delivery area and the uav 400 from an elevated perspective. the elevated perspective can assist in identifying obstacles which may impede a flight path of the uav 400 . in some examples, the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 can descend below the uav 400 . in such examples, the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 can capture images of the delivery area throughout the descent, to provide the uav 400 with a complete vertical picture of the delivery area. in various examples, a first set of the one or more cameras 410 can be oriented in an upward direction, toward the uav 400 at the higher altitude, and a second set of the one or more cameras 410 can be oriented in a downward direction toward the delivery area and/or delivery location. in some examples, the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 can descend to the ground in the delivery area and/or proximate to the delivery location. in such examples, the ring-type guidance vehicle 402 can be recovered by the uav after delivery. figs. 5a and 5b are front views of unmanned aerial vehicles (uav) 500 and 502 with example delivery guidance vehicles. fig. 5a illustrates an uav 500 with a telescopic delivery guidance vehicle. uav 500 , such as uav 102 , 202 , or 302 , can include an airframe 504 to which one or more telescopic arms 506 may be coupled. the airframe 504 and/or the one or more telescopic arms 506 may comprise carbon fiber, titanium, aluminum, plastic, combinations thereof, or any other material appropriate for aircraft construction. in various examples, the telescopic arms 506 can be configured to extend and retract from the airframe 504 . in some examples, the telescopic arms 506 can be fully retracted into the airframe 504 , such that a tip of the telescopic arm 506 is substantially flush against the airframe. in such examples, the drag on the airframe 504 may be reduced in a forward flight regime. in various examples, a computing system (e.g., delivery guidance module) of the uav 500 can send a signal to a drive mechanism to deploy the one or more telescopic arms 506 . responsive to the signal, the drive mechanism can extend (e.g., deploy) the one or more telescopic arms 506 . the one or more telescopic arms 506 can be deployed to a fully extended position and/or to a position in between a retracted position and the fully extended position, as determined by the computing system. for example, for an approach to a large delivery area, the computing system may deploy the telescopic arms 506 to the fully extended position, to capture a wide field-of-view. for another example, for an approach to a small delivery area, the computing system may deploy the telescopic arms 506 to a position halfway between the retracted and fully extended positions, to capture a narrow field-of-view. in various examples, a first set of telescopic arms 506 can be deployed to a fully extended position, while a second set of telescopic arms 506 can be deployed to positions short of the fully extended position. in the illustrative example, the one or more telescopic arms 506 can be fixed at an angle α, relative to the airframe. in some examples, the angle α of the one or more telescopic arms 506 can be adjustable, such as by the drive mechanism as directed by the computing system. in such examples, the one or more telescopic arms 50 can be mounted on a pivoted support, such as a gimbal. in various examples, the one or more telescopic arms 506 can be adjusted together, such that each of the telescopic arms 506 are positioned at the same angle α. in some examples, the one or more telescopic arms 506 can be adjusted individually, such that the angle α of each telescopic arm 506 may be different. in various examples, uav 500 can include one or more cameras 508 (e.g., digital camera, spectral camera, thermographic camera, etc.) mounted at a distal end of the telescopic arms 506 to capture images as directed by the uav 500 . in some examples, the uav 500 may direct the one or more cameras 508 to capture images of a delivery area. the one or more cameras 508 can capture images (e.g., still, video, etc.), and send the images to a computing system of the uav 500 for processing. in some examples, the processing can include combining (e.g., stitching) images together from the one or more cameras 508 to generate a substantially complete image of the delivery area. in various examples, the processing can include the computing system of the uav 500 evaluating the images and detecting obstacles depicted in the imagery. the obstacles can include stationary objects and/or mobile objects. the obstacles can be those located in a flight path between the uav 500 and a delivery location, and/or those located in the delivery area outside the flight path. additionally or alternatively, one or more of the telescopic arms 506 can include a sensor (e.g., radar, a motion detector, and/or other sensor) to detect obstacles, a laser to highlight obstacles and/or the delivery location, and/or a light to illuminate the delivery location for the uav 500 . the sensor, laser, and/or light can be mounted at a distal end of the telescopic arm. for example, four of eight telescopic arms can include cameras, while include lasers and two include lights. fig. 5b illustrates a uav 502 with a deployable delivery guidance vehicle 510 that utilizes a parachute 512 to control a vertical speed (e.g., rate of descent). in various examples, the delivery guidance vehicle 402 can include one or more cameras 514 (e.g., digital camera, spectral camera, thermographic camera, etc.) to capture images as directed by the uav 502 . the one or more cameras 514 may be fixed in place in the delivery guidance vehicle 510 and/or gimbaled to allow rotation about one or more axes to increase a range of view of each camera 514 . in some examples, a computing system of the uav 502 may direct the one or more cameras 514 to capture images of a delivery area. the one or more cameras 514 can capture images (e.g., still, video, etc.) and send the images to the computing system of the uav 502 for processing. in some examples, the processing can include combining (e.g., stitching) images together from the one or more cameras 514 , to generate a substantially complete image of the delivery area. in various examples, the processing can include the computing system of the uav 502 evaluating the images and detecting obstacles depicted in the imagery. the obstacles can include stationary objects and/or mobile objects. the obstacles can be those located in a flight path between the uav 502 and a delivery location, and/or those located in the delivery area outside the flight path. additionally or alternatively, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 can include one or more of a sensor (e.g., a radar, a motion detector, and/or other sensor) to detect obstacles, a laser to highlight obstacles and/or the delivery location, and/or a light to illuminate the delivery location for the uav 502 . in various examples, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 can be mounted inside an airframe 516 of the uav 502 , such as in a compartment. in such examples, the computing system of the uav 502 may cause the delivery guidance vehicle 510 to deploy by opening a compartment door (e.g., docking station door) of the uav 502 and/or sending a signal to release a connection (e.g., a magnetic connection, snap-fit connection, or other type of connection securing the delivery guidance vehicle in place during flight, etc.) to the delivery guidance vehicle 510 . in some examples, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 can be mounted on an outside of the airframe 516 . in such examples, the computing system can cause the delivery guidance vehicle 510 to deploy by sending a signal to launch (e.g., to release the connection to the delivery guidance vehicle 510 ). in various examples, the signal to release a connection and/or to launch can include an instruction to deploy a parachute 512 (e.g., engage a lift system) on the delivery guidance vehicle 510 . in such examples, the parachute 512 can be deployed from a top of the delivery guidance vehicle 510 , and can be configured to control a rate of descent of the delivery guidance vehicle 510 . in the illustrative example, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 includes one parachute per vehicle. in other examples, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 can include a greater or lesser number of parachutes. in some examples, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 can include a parachute material which covers the delivery guidance vehicle 510 in whole or in part. for example, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 may include a frame surrounded by parachute material. the parachute material can be configured to inflate when the delivery guidance vehicle 510 is deployed and the parachute material catches the air (e.g., apparent wind from a vertical descent). in some examples, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 can include a lift system comprising a lifting gas (e.g. helium, etc.) stored in a balloon-type structure (e.g., a blimp). in such examples, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 can include a propulsion system to direct horizontal and/or vertical movement of the delivery guidance vehicle 510 . in various examples, delivery guidance vehicle 510 can remain above the uav 502 , such as by having a slower rate of descent than the uav 502 . in such examples, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 can provide imagery of the delivery area and the uav 502 from an elevated perspective. the elevated perspective can assist in identifying obstacles which may impede a flight path of the uav 502 . in some examples, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 can descend below the uav 502 . in such examples, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 can capture images of the delivery area throughout the descent, to provide the uav 502 with a complete vertical picture of the delivery area. in various examples, a first set of the one or more cameras 514 can be oriented in an upward direction, toward the uav 502 established at the higher altitude, and a second set of the one or more cameras 514 can be oriented in a downward direction toward the delivery area and/or delivery location. in some examples, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 can descend to the ground in the delivery area and/or proximate to the delivery location. in such examples, the delivery guidance vehicle 510 can be recovered by the uav after delivery. fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an illustrative environment 600 with a first set of guidance vehicles 602 configured to provide aerial guidance and a second set of guidance vehicles 604 configured to provide land-based guidance to an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) 606 , such as uav 102 , 202 , 302 , 500 , or 502 . the first set of guidance vehicles 602 , such as guidance vehicles 112 , 206 , or 304 can include one or more micro-uavs with propulsion systems. the one or more micro-uavs can be capable of autonomous, semi-autonomous, and/or directed flight. the one or more micro-uavs can be configured to deploy from the uav 606 and/or from an alternate location, such as a neighborhood storage facility. the first set of guidance vehicles 602 can provide aerial guidance (e.g., a downward facing view of the uav and/or the delivery area) to the uav 606 during an approach to the delivery area 608 . in some examples, the first set of guidance vehicles 602 can be configured to fly at a designated direction and distance relative to the uav 606 . for example, the first set of guidance vehicles 602 can be configured to fly abeam the uav 606 on either side, at a distance of 5 meters (e.g., 3 meters horizontally, 4 meters vertically). for another example, the first set of guidance vehicles can be configured to fly in cardinal directions (e.g., north, east, south, west) at a distance of 2 meters from the uav 606 . the second set of guidance vehicles 604 , such as guidance vehicles 112 , 206 , 304 , 402 , or 510 , can include one or more micro-uavs with propulsion systems and/or controlled descent systems (e.g., parachute material or other way to slow a rate of descent). in various examples, the second set of guidance vehicles 604 can be deployed from the uav 606 and/or an alternate location, such as the neighborhood storage facility. in some examples, the second set of guidance vehicles 604 can be configured to fly at a designated direction and/or distance relative to the delivery location 610 . in some examples, the second set of guidance vehicles 604 can land in the delivery area 608 , proximate to the delivery location 610 . in some examples, the second set of guidance vehicles 604 can be configured to land at a designated location and/or distance from the delivery location 610 . in the illustrative example, the second set of guidance vehicles 604 can each be configured to land in a cardinal direction from the delivery location. in other examples, the second set of guidance vehicles 604 can be configured to land in other locations relative to the delivery location 610 and/or the delivery area 608 . the second set of guidance vehicles 604 can provide land-based guidance (e.g., an upward facing and/or horizontal ground view of the delivery area) to the uav 606 delivering a package to the delivery location 610 . in various examples, one or more of the vehicles in the first set of guidance vehicles 602 and/or the second set of guidance vehicles 604 can include a camera (e.g., digital camera, spectral camera, thermographic camera, etc.) to capture images of the delivery area 608 and/or delivery location 610 . the camera can capture images (e.g., still, video, etc.) and send the images to the uav 606 for processing. in some examples, the processing can include combining (e.g., stitching) images together from the first set of guidance vehicles 602 and/or the second set of guidance vehicles 604 , to generate a substantially complete image of the delivery area 608 and/or the delivery location 610 . in some examples, the processing can include a computing system of the uav 606 can evaluate the images and detect obstacles in the delivery area 608 and/or at the delivery location 610 . the obstacles can include stationary or mobile objects. the obstacles can be those located in a flight path between the uav 606 and a delivery location 610 and/or those located in the delivery area 608 outside the flight path. in various examples, one or more of the vehicles in the first set of guidance vehicles 602 and/or the second set of guidance vehicles 604 can include a sensor (e.g., a radar, a motion detector, and/or other sensor) to identify the obstacles. in such examples, the processing can include the computing system of the uav 606 evaluating input from the sensor, and determining a flight path to avoid the obstacles. the input can include a location associated with the obstacle, such as an actual location (e.g., grid coordinates, latitude/longitude, etc.) or a relative location (e.g., location with respect to the delivery location, a uav location, a flight path, etc.), a size of the obstacle (e.g., height, width, depth, etc.), and/or whether it is a stationary or a mobile obstacle. in various examples, one or more of the vehicles in the first set of guidance vehicles 602 and/or the second set of guidance vehicles 604 can include a laser, such as laser 222 described above. the laser can be configured to emit a marker to identify a location of an obstacle, in whole or in part, and/or the delivery location 610 , in whole or in part. in various examples, the computing system of the uav 606 can evaluate the images provided by the cameras, and identify the marker. in some examples, the uav 606 can include one or more sensors configured to identify the marker as an obstacle marker and/or a delivery location marker. in some examples, one or more of the vehicles in the first set of guidance vehicles 602 and/or the second set of guidance vehicles 604 can include a light to illuminate the delivery area 608 and/or the delivery location 610 . in some examples, the lights can illuminate a large area, such as the delivery area 608 . in such examples, the uav 606 may be able to evaluate the images and identify obstacles and/or an obstruction free flight path to the delivery location in a low-light environment. the light can include a light beam in the visible light spectrum and/or the infra-red spectrum. figs. 7-8 are flow diagrams of illustrative processes. the processes 700 and 800 are illustrated as a collection of blocks in a logical flow graph, which represent a sequence of operations that can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. in the context of software, the blocks represent computer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or more processors, perform the recited operations. generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the like that perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types. the order in which the operations are described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described blocks can be combined in any order and/or in parallel to implement the processes. the processes discussed below may be combined in any way to create derivative processes that are still within the scope of this disclosure. fig. 7 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative process 700 to deploy one or more guidance vehicles in order to receive delivery area guidance. the guidance vehicles can include micro-uavs capable of self-propulsion, micro-uavs capable of controlling a vertical descent, camera and/or sensor systems coupled to the uav, or a combination thereof. at block 702 , a uav can identify a delivery area. in various examples, a computing system of the uav can identify the delivery area based on an arrival at a waypoint associated with the delivery area. the waypoint may include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, degrees minutes seconds, universal transverse mercator, etc.) and/or altitude in proximity of the destination (e.g., a house, a place of business, etc.), such as coordinates associated with a customer and/or a delivery location. in some examples, the uav can identify the delivery area by receiving a signal from a transmitter located at the delivery area. the signal can include a customer code specific to the customer associated with the delivery (e.g., a customer number, an order number, a delivery number, qr code, etc.), a code specific to the order (e.g., order number, confirmation number, etc.), or a code specific to the delivery area and/or delivery location. at block 704 , the uav can deploy one or more guidance vehicles. in some examples, the guidance vehicles can be stored away from the uav, such as in a neighborhood storage facility. in such examples, the uav may send a signal to the guidance vehicles and/or to a computing system of the storage facility to launch the guidance vehicles to the delivery area. additionally or alternatively, the guidance vehicles can be stored on and/or inside an airframe of the uav during flight to the waypoint associated with the delivery. the uav can deploy the guidance vehicles, such as by opening a compartment door (e.g., docking station door) of the uav and sending a signal to the guidance vehicles to launch (e.g., engage a propulsion system, engage a lift system, etc.). in various examples, the signal to launch may additionally cause a connector between the uav and the guidance vehicles to release. the connector can include a magnetic connector, a hook and loop connector, a snap fit connector, and/or any other reasonable method for securing two objects together. in various examples, the guidance vehicles can be coupled to the airframe. in some examples, the coupling can be a cable or a wire connecting the uav and the guidance vehicle. in such examples, the guidance vehicle can be configured to fly away from the uav, but may maintain a wired connection to send and receive data (e.g., flight data, imagery, obstacle data, etc.). in such examples, the uav may deploy the guidance vehicle by extending the cable or wire. in some examples, the uav can cause the guidance vehicles to fly to a position relative to the uav. the position can include a distance and a direction. for example, the uav can deploy a pair of guidance vehicles to fly 10 feet away from the uav in each cardinal direction. for another example, the uav may deploy one pair of guidance vehicles to fly one foot abeam on either side of the uav and 10 feet above, and one pair of guidance vehicles to fly to the ground proximate to the delivery location. at block 706 , the uav can receive input from the one or more guidance vehicles. in various examples, the input can include a plurality of images from camera systems on the guidance vehicles. in such examples, a computing system of the uav can receive the plurality of images from the guidance vehicles and process the imagery. in some examples, the processing can include combining (e.g., stitching) the images together to generate a substantially complete image of the delivery area. additionally, the processing can include evaluating the plurality of images to identify a delivery location, identifying one or more obstacles in the delivery area, and/or determining a flight path (e.g., an approach path) to the delivery location. in various examples, one or more of the guidance vehicles can include a sensor configured to detect an obstacle in the delivery area. in such examples, the input can include data from a sensor identifying the obstacle. in some examples, the one or more guidance vehicles can include a laser to highlight the obstacle and/or the delivery location. in such examples, the input can include data related to the laser. at block 708 , the uav can deliver a package to the delivery location. in various examples, based on the processed input from the guidance vehicles, the computing system of the uav can determine an obstacle-free flight path to the delivery location. the uav can fly to the delivery location and land at or hover over the delivery location. in some examples, the uav can engage a delivery mechanism to release the package. the delivery mechanism can include one or more of a releasable clamp, a hook, a tether, a winch, a sliding door, a folding door, or other mechanism capable of securing a package to/in and releasing the package from a uav. fig. 8 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative process 800 to deploy and recover a guidance vehicle. at block 802 , a uav can identify a delivery area. in various examples, a computing system of the uav can identify the delivery area based on an arrival at a waypoint associated with the delivery area. the waypoint may include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, degrees minutes seconds, universal transverse mercator, etc.) and/or altitude in proximity of the destination (e.g., a house, a place of business, etc.), such as coordinates associated with a customer and/or a delivery location. in some examples, the uav can identify the delivery area by receiving a signal from a transmitter located at the delivery area. the signal can include a customer code specific to the customer associated with the delivery (e.g., a customer number, an order number, a delivery number, qr code, etc.), a code specific to the order (e.g., order number, confirmation number, etc.), or a code specific to the delivery area and/or delivery location. at block 804 , the uav can deploy a guidance vehicle. in some examples, the guidance vehicle can be stored on and/or inside an airframe of the uav during flight to the waypoint associated with the delivery. the uav can deploy the guidance vehicle, such as by opening a compartment door (e.g., docking station door) of the uav and/or releasing a connector between the uav and the guidance vehicle. the connector can include a magnetic connector, a hook and loop connector, a snap fit connector, and/or any other reasonable method for securing two objects together. in some examples, the connector can be inside a compartment. in other examples, the connector can be on an external surface of the airframe. additionally, the uav can send a signal to the guidance vehicle to launch (e.g., engage a propulsion system, engage a lift system, etc.) and fly to a position relative to the uav and/or the delivery location. in various examples, the position can be a location on the ground proximate and/or relative to the delivery location (e.g., north, east, south or west of the delivery location at a distance of 1 meter, 3 meters, 10 feet from the delivery location, etc.). in such examples, the guidance vehicle may control a rate of descent, such as via a parachute, parachute material, and/or a propulsion system (e.g., motors, rotors, lifting gas, etc.), to the position. in various examples, the position may be based on a time of day (e.g., position of the sun), one or more obstacles in the delivery area, and/or a flight path of the uav. for example, the uav may detect a large swing set in the delivery area. the uav may determine the position for the guidance vehicle to avoid an obstruction of view of the uav from the guidance vehicle based on the swing set and the flight path of the uav. for another example, the uav may be scheduled to deliver a package at sunset. the uav may determine the position of the guidance vehicle such that a camera of the guidance vehicle faces a direction other than west. in some examples, the position can include a distance and a direction from the uav. for example, the uav can deploy a pair of guidance vehicles to fly 10 feet away from the uav in each cardinal direction. for another example, the uav may deploy one pair of guidance vehicles to fly one foot abeam on either side of the uav and 10 feet above, and one pair of guidance vehicles to fly to the ground proximate to the delivery location. in various examples, the guidance vehicle can be coupled to the airframe. in some examples, the coupling can be a cable or a wire connecting the uav and the guidance vehicle. in such examples, the guidance vehicle can be configured to fly away from the uav, but may maintain a wired connection to send and receive data (e.g., flight data, imagery, obstacle data, etc.). in such examples, the uav may deploy the guidance vehicle by extending the cable or wire. in some examples, the guidance vehicle can be coupled to the airframe via a telescopic arm. in such examples, the guidance vehicle can be deployed by extending the telescopic arm. at block 806 , the uav can receive input from the guidance vehicle. in various examples, the input can include a plurality of images from a camera system on the guidance vehicle. in such examples, the computing system of the uav can receive the plurality of images from the guidance vehicle and process the imagery. in some examples, the processing can include combining (e.g., stitching) the images together to generate a substantially complete image of the delivery area. additionally, the processing can include evaluating the plurality of images to identify a delivery location, identifying one or more obstacles in the delivery area, and/or determining a flight path (e.g., an approach path) to the delivery location. in various examples, the guidance vehicle can include a sensor configured to detect an obstacle in the delivery area. in such examples, the input can include data from a sensor identifying the obstacle. in some examples, the guidance vehicle can include a laser to highlight the obstacle and/or the delivery location. in such examples, the input can include data related to the laser. at block 808 , the uav can recover the guidance vehicle. in various examples, the uav can open a compartment (e.g., a docking station) for the guidance vehicle, and can recover the guidance vehicle into the compartment. in various examples, the uav may send a signal to the guidance vehicle to fly into the compartment. in some examples, the uav can include a device to assist in recovering the guidance vehicle, such as a telescopic arm with a magnet or gripping mechanism. in such examples, the device can connect to the guidance vehicle, and lead (e.g., pull, guide, etc.) the guidance vehicle into the compartment. for example, the uav can land or hover proximate to a location associated with the guidance vehicle. the device can connect to the guidance vehicle and recover the vehicle onto the uav. for another example, an autonomous guidance vehicle may fly to a position proximate to the uav. the device on the uav can then connect to the guidance vehicle, and lead the vehicle into the uav. in various examples, the uav can recover the guidance vehicle to a connector on an external surface of the airframe. in such examples, the uav can fly proximate to the guidance vehicle, and can engage the connector to the guidance vehicle to secure the guidance vehicle to the external surface of the airframe. for example, the uav can hover within inches of the guidance vehicle to place the two within a distance sufficient to engage a magnetic connection between the guidance vehicle and the connector. in some examples, the uav can recover the guidance vehicle via a delivery mechanism. the delivery mechanism can include one or more of a releasable clamp, a hook, a tether, or other mechanisms capable of securing a guidance vehicle to the uav. in some examples, the uav may cause the guidance vehicle to be recovered at a storage location (e.g., neighborhood storage facility). in such examples, the uav may send a signal to the guidance vehicle to return to the storage location for recovery. at block 810 , the uav can depart the delivery area. in various examples, the uav can depart and fly to a base location (e.g., an inventory facility, etc.), a recharging station, or other location as determined by a flight plan. in the context of software, the operations represent computer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or more processors, enable the one or more processors to perform the recited operations. generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, modules, components, data structures, and the like that perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types. the process can also be practiced in a distributed computing environment where functions are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communication network. in a distributed computing environment, computer-executable instructions can be located in local and/or remote computer storage media, including memory storage devices. in the context of hardware, some or all of the blocks can represent application specific integrated circuits (asics) or other physical components that perform the recited operations. although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as illustrative forms of implementing the claims.
092-173-302-505-358	US	[ "US" ]	A41F3/02	2015-01-12T00:00:00	2015	[ "A41" ]	suspender system and kit	the present invention relates to a suspender system in which fastener members attached to suspender straps provide expeditious attachment to a corresponding attachment member attached to a garment. the attachment member can be a no-sew button stud, a sew-in button, a rivet, a ring, rod or cloth loop. the fastener member can be a suspender clip, or a plastic or metal garter grip. the suspender system can hold pants or trousers in just the right position all day and the “tuck around” sew-in or pinned-in attachments let the wearer tuck in their shirt if they choose. the attachment member can be an attachment ring. the fastener and/or the attachment member having a height of predetermined distance from a garment, such as pants, to allow a worn second garment, such as a shirt, to be tucked around the attachment members.	1 . a suspender system comprising; a plurality of suspender straps, a plurality of fastener members, each of said fastener members attached to a first end of a respective on of the suspender straps, and a plurality of attachment members, each of said attachment members adapted to be attached to a first garment at a position below the top of the waistband, said attachment member adapted to allow a worn second garment to be placed over said attachment member, wherein each of said fastener members can be removably received over worn second garment and coupled to a respective one of said attachment members. 2 . the suspender system of claim 1 wherein said fastener member includes a coupling extension, said coupling extension having an extension opening and a coupling section below said opening, said attachment member being adapted to be received in said opening and slidably moved into said coupling section. 3 . the suspender system of claim 2 wherein said attachment member includes a no-sew button, wherein said no-sew button is received in said opening and slidably moved into said coupling section. 4 . the suspender system of claim 3 wherein said coupling section includes a coupling opening, said coupling opening being a smaller diameter than said coupling opening. 5 . the suspender system of claim 4 wherein said no-sew button includes a female head and a male insert, the female head being a diameter larger than said coupling opening. 6 . the suspender system of claim 5 wherein said female head is positioned adjacent an inner surface of said coupling section. 7 . the suspender system of claim 5 wherein said female head is positioned adjacent an outer surface of said coupling section. 8 . the suspender system of claim 2 wherein each of said fastener members includes a fastener ring, said fastener ring adapted for attaching said fastener member to one of said straps. 9 . the suspender system of claim 1 comprising three suspender straps and further comprising a junction member, a first end of first and second of the suspender straps being attached to one edge of the junction member and a first end of a third of the suspender straps being attached to an opposite edge of the junction member. 10 . the suspender system of claim 1 wherein the first and second of the suspender straps each include a buckle, a second end of the first and second suspender straps being inserted into said buckle, wherein said buckle can adjust a length of the first and second suspender straps. 11 . a kit comprising a plurality of suspender straps, a plurality of fastener members, each of said fastener members attached to a first end of a respective on of the suspender straps, and a plurality of attachment members, each of said attachment members adapted to be attached to a first garment at a position below the top of the waistband, said attachment member adapted to allow a worn second garment to be placed over said attachment member, wherein each of said fastener members can be removably received over worn second garment and coupled to a respective one of said attachment members. 12 . the suspender system of claim 11 wherein each of said fastener members is a clip, said clip includes a pair of clip members coupled to one another with a bias member, wherein said clip can be opened by pressing on said bias member to move said clips members away from one another and said clip can be closed by releasing said bias member to move said clip members toward one another. 13 . the suspender system of claim 11 wherein each of said fastener members includes a fastener ring, said fastener ring adapted for attaching said fastener member to one of said straps. 14 . the suspender system of claim 11 wherein said attachment member comprises a coupling ring and said coupling ring has a diameter for extending the predetermined distance and said clip is removably attached to said coupling ring. 15 . the suspender system of claim 11 wherein said attachment member further comprises an attachment ring coupled or integral with said coupling ring, said coupling ring has a diameter d 1 which is larger than diameter of d 2 of said attachment ring, said attachment ring adapted to be attached to said inner surface of said waistband. 16 . the suspender system of claim 11 wherein the diameter d 1 is in the range of about 0.50 to about 0.075 inches and the diameter d 2 is in the range of about 0.125 to about 0.25 inches. 17 . the suspender system of claim 11 wherein said coupling ring and said attachment ring have a circular or elliptical shape. 18 . the suspender system of claim 11 wherein said coupling ring has a circular shape and said attachment ring has an elliptical shape. 19 . the suspender system of claim 11 wherein said attachment member includes an attachment rod which has length l 1 which is sufficient to removably attach to said fastener member. 20 . the suspender system of claim 11 wherein a first attachment rod member is positioned at a first end of said attachment rod and a second attachment rod member is positioned at a second end of said attachment rod, said first attachment rod member and said second attachment rod member being adapted to be attached to the inner surface of said waistband.	background of the invention 1. field of the invention the present invention relates to a suspender system in which suspenders can be worn under a shirt and out of sight and include fastener members to removably couple the suspenders to corresponding attachment members attached to an inside of the garment. the suspender system of the present invention also allows a shirt to be easily tucked around the fasteners. 2. description of related art suspenders used to support pants or trousers on a person's body are known. the suspenders typically include a pair of straps that fit over the shoulders of the wearer with ends which attach to the waistband of the pants. the ends of the straps of the suspenders typically have a x or y shape with button holes at each end of the x or y shape. each button hole is attached to a corresponding button positioned on the inside of the waistband. the suspenders are worn over a shirt. u.s. pat. no. 8,555,421 describes suspenders having a pair of strap members particularly for wearing under loose fitting shirts. at least one side of each of the strap member has loop members thereon which mate with pieces of hook-type material secured adjacent one end of each of the strap members. the pair of strap members are connected together and the strap members are adjusted with hook and loop material for eliminating adjustment buckles. clip-type fastener members are affixed to ends of the strap members. the clip-type fasteners clip to the pants or trousers worn by the wearer. this patent has the shortcoming in which the bulky clip-type fastener clips make it difficult for a shirt to be tucked into the pants or trousers around the fastener clips without undoing the fastener clips. the wearer cannot wear traditional suspenders in an out-of-sight or invisible fashion. as opposed to conventional suspenders that are designed to be worn over the shirt, it is desirable to provide an undergarment suspender system that can be worn under a shirt. summary of the invention the present invention relates to suspender system in which fastener members such as for example suspender clips or plastic or metal garter belt clips, are attached to suspender straps to provide expeditious attachment to a corresponding attachment member, such as for example rings, buttons, metal rivets/buttons, or cloth loops, which are attached to a garment. the suspender system expeditiously attaches suspender straps to a garment (pants or skirt) by using corresponding fasteners which can be removably attached to attachment members coupled to the garment. the wearer can experience the practical benefits of suspenders (pants or skirt held in desired waistline position) while wearing them invisibly under a tucked-in shirt or blouse. this present invention can use different combinations of the above fastener members and corresponding attachment members. in one embodiment, a suspender clip (the fastener member) can be attached expeditiously to a metal or plastic ring (the attachment member) that can be sewn into the garment. in an alternate embodiment, the fastener member is a plastic garter belt clip which is expeditiously attached to the attachment member of a sew-in button. in another alternate embodiment, the fastener member is a metal garter belt clip which can be attached expeditiously to the attachment member of a rivet/button/pin mechanism that can be pinned to the garment and is also expeditiously removable. in another embodiment, the fastener member is a standard suspender clip which is attached to the attachment member of a cloth loop that can be sewn into the garment. during use of the suspender system, the attachment member is attached to the inner waistband of the garment. the suspender straps are positioned over the shoulders of the wearer before putting on a shirt or blouse. the fastener member is coupled to the corresponding attachment member. the shirt or blouse is put on over the suspenders. the shirt or blouse can be tucked around the fastener member between the fastener member and the attachment member. alternatively, the shirt or blouse can be worn outside of the garment and not tucked in or the suspenders can be worn over the shirt or blouse. the present invention has the advantage that the suspender system can hold pants or trousers in just the right position all day, and the “tuck-around” sew-in or pinned-in attachments let the wearer tuck in their shirt if they choose. worn out of sight, no one knows that suspenders are being worn. the invention will be more fully described by reference to the following drawings. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a front and side elevational view of suspenders in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the suspenders; fig. 3 is a back elevational view of the suspenders; fig. 4 is a side view of the suspenders; fig. 5 is a side view of the suspenders from the opposite side; fig. 6 is an end view of the suspenders; fig. 7 is an end view of the suspenders from the opposite end; fig. 8 is a front perspective view of a suspender system including attachment members; fig. 9 is a rear perspective view of the suspender system; fig. 10 is a front perspective view of an attachment member used in the suspender system; fig. 11 is a front elevational view of the attachment member shown in fig. 10 ; and fig. 12 is a side elevational view of the attachment member shown in fig. 10 . fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of the suspender system including the attachment member of fig. 8 during use. fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of an alternate embodiment of a suspender system during use. fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of an alternate embodiment of a suspender system during use. fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of an alternate embodiment of a suspender system during use. fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of an alternate embodiment of a suspender system during use. fig. 18a is a schematic diagram of an alternate embodiment of a suspender system during use. fig. 18b is a schematic diagram of an alternate embodiment of a suspender system during use. detailed description reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. wherever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. figs. 1-7 illustrate suspenders 10 in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. suspender straps 12 , 13 and 14 are attached to junction member 15 . strap 12 can be attached to or threaded through ring 16 on side 17 of junction member 15 . straps 13 and 14 can be attached to or threaded through ring 18 on side 19 of junction member 15 . ends 22 , 23 and 24 of respective straps 12 , 13 and 14 can be coupled to respective straps 12 , 13 and 14 for example by sewing as shown in fig. 2 . ends 25 and 26 of respective straps 13 and 14 can be doubled over respective straps 13 and 14 and secured with buckles 27 . buckles 27 can be adjusted along the length of respective straps 13 and 14 for adjusting the length of straps 13 and 14 . buckles 27 include buckle coupler 29 for contacting respective straps 13 and 14 after adjustment of the desired length of respective straps 13 and 14 as shown in fig. 3 . fastener members 30 a - 30 c can be formed as clip 31 . fastener member 30 a can be attached to end 32 of strap 12 as shown in figs. 4 and 5 . fastener member 30 b can be attached to end 33 of strap 13 . fastener member 30 c can be attached to end 34 of strap 14 . fastener members 30 a - 30 c can include fastener ring 35 . respective ends 32 , 33 and 34 are threaded through fastener ring 35 of respective fastener members 30 a - 30 c and are attached to respective straps 12 , 13 and 14 for example by sewing. clip 31 includes clip members 36 , 37 coupled to one another with bias member 38 as shown in fig. 1 . clip members 36 , 37 can be opened by pressing on bias member 38 to move clip members 36 , 37 away from one another. clip members 36 , 37 can be closed by releasing bias member 38 . figs. 8 and 9 are schematic diagrams of suspender system 40 in accordance with the teaching of the present invention. suspender system 40 includes suspenders 10 and attachment member 50 . attachment member 50 can include coupling ring 52 coupled or integral with attachment ring 54 as shown in figs. 10-12 . coupling ring 52 can have for example a circular or elliptical shape. attachment ring 54 can have, for example, a circular or elliptical shape. coupling ring 52 can have a diameter d 1 which is larger than diameter d 2 of attachment ring 54 as shown in fig. 11 . for example, diameter d 1 can be in the range of about 0.50 to about 0.75 inches. for example, diameter d 2 can be in the range of about 0.125 to about 0.25 inches. coupling ring 52 can be removably coupled to fastener member 30 as shown in fig. 13 . attachment ring 54 is attached to waistband 62 of garment 60 . attachment ring 54 can be sewn to waistband 62 with stitches 64 at a position beneath top 63 of waistband 62 . attachment ring 54 can be attached to inner surface 65 of waistband 62 . alternatively, attachment ring 54 can be stapled or sewn to waistband 62 . for example, garment 60 can be pants, trousers, shorts or a skirt. height h 1 of coupling ring 52 is selected to allow coupling ring 52 to be a predetermined distance from attachment ring 54 to allow edge 72 of garment 70 to be tucked around fastener member 30 between fastener member 30 and coupling ring 52 . for example, height h 1 can be in the range of about 1.0 to about 2.0 inches. for example, garment 70 can be a shirt or a blouse. fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of suspender system 80 in accordance with the teaching of the present invention. suspender system 80 includes suspenders 10 and attachment member 82 . attachment member 82 includes attachment rod 84 , that is removable. attachment rod 84 has length l 1 which is sufficient to removably attach fastener member 30 . attachment rod member 85 positioned at end 86 is integral with attachment rod 84 . attachment rod member 87 positioned at end 88 is integral with attachment rod 84 . attachment rod member 85 and attachment rod member 87 can be attached to inner surface 65 of waistband 62 . attachment rod member 85 and attachment rod member 87 can be pinned to waistband 62 . alternatively, attachment rod member 85 and attachment rod member 87 can be pinned or stapled to waistband 62 . height h 2 of fastener member 30 is selected to allow edge 72 of garment 70 to be tucked around attachment member 82 between fastener member 30 , between fastener member 30 and attachment member 82 and over waistband 62 . for example, height h 2 can be in the range of about 1.0 to about 1.5 inches. fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of suspender system 90 in accordance with the teaching of the present invention. suspender system 90 includes suspenders 100 and attachment member 92 . suspenders 100 can be the same as suspenders 10 except fastener member 30 is replaced with fastener member 110 . fastener member 110 includes coupling member 112 attaching to fastener ring 113 . coupling extension 114 extends from coupling member 112 . coupling extension 114 include flange 115 and flange 116 . flange 115 includes curvature 117 and flange 116 includes curvature 118 for forming opening 119 . coupling section 120 extends below opening 119 . attachment member 92 includes attachment rod 94 . coupling nut 93 is attached to attachment rod 94 . for example, coupling nut 93 can have a hexagonal shape. coupling nut 93 can be received within opening 119 . coupling nut 93 can be slidably moved into coupling section 120 between flanges 115 and 116 forming a track for removably coupling fastener 110 to attachment member 92 . attachment rod member 95 is positioned at end 96 of attachment rod 94 . attachment rod member 97 is positioned at end 98 of attachment rod 94 . attachment rod member 95 and attachment rod member 97 can be pinned to inner surface 65 of waistband 62 . attachment rod member 95 and attachment rod member 97 can be pinned to waistband 62 . height h 3 of fastener member 110 is selected to allow edge 72 of garment 70 to be tucked around attachment member 92 between fastener member 110 and attachment member 92 . for example, height h 3 can be in the range of about 0.5 to about 1.0 inches. fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of suspender system 120 in accordance with the teaching of the present invention. suspender system 120 includes suspenders 121 and attachment member 122 . suspenders 121 can be the same as suspenders 10 except fastener member 30 is replaced with fastener member 130 . fastener member 130 includes coupling member 132 attached or integral with fastener ring 135 . fastener ring 135 attaches to respective suspenders 12 , 13 , and 14 . coupling extension 134 extends from coupling member 132 . coupling extension 134 includes opening 136 . attachment member 122 includes button 123 . button 123 can be sewn to waistband 62 with stitches 125 . button 123 can be received within opening 136 of coupling extension 134 . button 123 can be slidably moved toward coupling section 137 of coupling member 132 for removably to fastener member 130 to attachment member 122 . height h 4 of fastener member 130 is selected to allow edge 72 of garment 70 to be tucked around attachment member 122 between fastener member 130 and attachment member 122 . for example, height h 4 can be in the range of about 0.5 to about 1.0 inches. fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of suspender system 200 in accordance with the teaching of the present invention. suspender system 200 includes suspenders 10 and attachment member 202 . attachment member 202 has a length l 1 which is sufficient to removably attach fastener member 30 . end 204 of attachment member 202 can be sewn to waistband 62 with stitches 205 . attachment member 202 can be formed of cloth. alternatively, attachment member 202 can be glued or stapled to waistband 62 . height h 2 of fastener member 30 is selected to allow edge 72 of garment 70 to be tucked around attachment member 202 between fastener member 30 , between fastener member 30 and attachment member 202 and over waistband 62 . for example, height h 2 can be in the range of about 0.5 to about 1.0 inches. a kit can be formed of suspenders 10 along with a plurality of attachment members 50 . during use, straps 13 and 14 are placed over the shoulders of a wearer and are positioned at the front and strap 12 is positioned at the rear of the wearer. buckles 27 are adjusted for adjusting the length of straps 13 and 14 . a pair of attachment members 50 are attached to garment 60 at a distance from one another on a front or side surface of garment 60 . a third attachment member 50 is attached at a rear of garment 60 . each of fasteners 30 a, 30 b and 30 c are opened to receive a respective coupling ring 52 . each of fastener members 30 a, 30 b, and 30 c are closed after receiving coupling ring 52 . alternatively, the kit can be formed of suspenders 10 along with a plurality of attachment members 82 . for example, the kit can contain 15 attachment members 82 for attaching to five garments. alternatively, the kit can be formed of suspenders 100 along with a plurality of attachment members 92 . for example, the kit can contain 15 attachment members 92 . alternatively, the kit can be formed of suspenders 120 and a plurality of attachment members 122 . alternatively, the kit can be formed of suspenders 10 along with a plurality of attachment members 202 . fig. 18a is a schematic diagram of suspender system 220 in accordance with the teaching of the present invention. all of the features of suspender system 220 are the same as suspender system 120 , except for button 123 . in suspender system 220 , instead of button 123 , the system uses no-sew button stud 124 that consists of two parts; female head 125 and male insert 126 . female head 125 is positioned adjacent inner surface 140 of coupling member 132 . no-sew button stud 124 can be connected by piercing the pants material to create an opening for insertion of no-sew button stud 124 . in this configuration, the shirt tail can be positioned over no-sew button stud 124 . coupling member 132 and fastener member 130 can be then placed over garment 70 and pressed down over the material and then over no-sew button stud 124 , using opening 136 . no-sew button 124 can be slidably moved toward coupling section 137 to secure garment 70 material in place. coupling section 137 includes opening 138 which has a smaller diameter than female head 125 of no-sew button stud 124 . fig. 18b is a schematic diagram of suspender system 220 in accordance with the teaching of the present invention. in this embodiment, female head 125 is position adjacent outer surface 142 of coupling member 132 . it is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative of only a few of the many possible specific embodiments, which can represent applications of the principles of the invention. numerous and varied other arrangements can be readily devised in accordance with these principles by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
093-822-476-458-794	EP	[ "EP", "US", "WO" ]	C07D401/14,A01N43/56,A01N43/80,C07D403/04,C07D409/14,C07D413/04	2017-10-06T00:00:00	2017	[ "C07", "A01" ]	pesticidally active pyrrole derivatives	compounds of formula (i) as defined herein, to processes for preparing them, to pesticidal, in particular insecticidal, acaricidal, molluscicidal and nematicidal compositions comprising them and to methods of using them to combat and control pests such as insect, acarine, mollusc and nematode pests.	a compound of formula (i), wherein r 1 is selected from h, c 1- c 6 -alkyl, c 2- c 6 alkenyl, c 2- c 6 alkynyl, -c 0- c 3 -alkyl-c 3- c 7 cycloalkyl, -c(=o)-c 1- c 6 -alkyl, -c(=o)-o-c 1- c 6 -alkyl, -c(=o)-n-(c 1- c 6 -alkyl) 2 , -(c 0- c 3 )-alkyl-aryl and -(c 0- c 3 )-alkyl-heteroaryl, wherein each of c 1- c 6 -alkyl, c 2- c 6 alkenyl, c 2- c 6 alkynyl, -c 0- c 3 -alkyl-c 3- c 7 cycloalkyl, -c(=o)-c 1- c 6 -alkyl, -c(=o)-o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -c(=o)-n-(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl) 2 , -(c 0- c 3 )-alkyl-aryl and -(c 0 -c 3 )-alkyl-heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 7 substituents independently selected from halogen, cyano, c 1 -c 6 -alkoxy and -c(=o)-o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl; q is selected from h, hydroxy, -c(=o)h, c 1- c 6 -alkyl, c 1- c 6 -alkoxy, c 2- c 6 alkenyl, c 2- c 6 alkynyl, -c 0- c 3 -alkyl-c 3- c 7 cycloalkyl, -c 0- c 3 -alkyl-c 3- c 7 heterocycloalkyl, -c 0- c 3 -alkyl-aryl, -c 0- c 3 -alkyl-heteroaryl, -nh-(c 1- c 6 -alkyl), -n-(c 1- c 6 -alkyl) 2 and -c(=o)n-(c 1- c 6 -alkyl) 2 , wherein each of c 1- c 6 -alkyl, c 1- c 6 -alkoxy, c 2- c 6 alkenyl, c 2- c 6 alkynyl, -c 0- c 3 -alkyl-c 3- c 7 cycloalkyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-c 3- c 7 heterocycloalkyl, -c 0- c 3 -alkylaryl, -c 0- c 3 -alkyl-heteroaryl, -nh-(c 1- c 6 -alkyl), -n-(c 1- c 6 -alkyl) 2 and -c(=o)n-(c 1- c 6 -alkyl) 2 is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 7 substituents independently selected from halogen, hydroxyl, nitro, amino, cyano, c 1- c 6 -haloalkyl, c 1- c 6 -alkoxy, c 1- c 6 -alkoxycarbonyl, -c(=o)oh, c 1- c 6 -alkylcarbamoyl, -c(=o)nh 2 , -c(=s)nh 2 , c 3- c 6 -cycloalkylcarbamoyl and phenyl; w is o or s; l is selected from wherein indicates the bond to the group t is selected from wherein indicates the bond to the l group; r 2 is h, cl or br; r 3 is selected from cl, br and cn; z 1 is selected from h, c 1- c 6 -alkyl and c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl wherein c 1- c 6 -alkyl and c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 9 substituents independently selected from halogen, cyano and c 1- c 6 -alkoxy; z 2 and z 4 are independently selected from h, halogen, cyano, nitro, c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -c(=s)-nh 2 , -c(=s)-nh(c 1- c 6 -alkyl), -c(=s)-n(c 1- c 6 -alkyl) 2 , c 3- c 7 heterocycloalkyl, c 3- c 6 -cycloalkyl, -s-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -s-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so 2 -c 1 -c 6 -alkyl,-so 2 -c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so 2 -o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl,-so 2 -o-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -c 0- c 3 -alkyl-aryl, -c 0- c 3 -alkyl-heteroaryl, wherein each of -c(=s)-nh(c 1- c 6 -alkyl), -c(=s)-n(c 1- c 6 -alkyl) 2 , c 1- c 6 -alkyl, c 3- c 7 heterocycloalkyl, c 3- c 6 -cycloalkyl, -s-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -s-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so 2 -c 1 -c 6 -alkyl,-so 2 -c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so 2 -o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so 2 -o-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -c 0- c 3 -alkyl-aryl and -c 0- c 3 -alkyl-heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 9 substituents independently selected from halogen, hydroxy, nitro, amino, cyano, c 1- c 6 -alkyl, c 1- c 6 -haloalkyl, c 1- c 6 -alkoxy, c 1- c 6 -alkoxycarbonyl and hydroxycarbonyl; z 3 is selected from h and halogen; or an agrochemically acceptable salt thereof. the compound or salt according to claim 1, wherein t is wherein indicates the bond to the l group; r 3 is selected from cl, br and cn, in particular cn. the compound or salt according to claim 1, wherein t is wherein indicates the bond to the l group; r 2 is h, cl or br. the compound or salt according to claim 1, wherein t is wherein indicates the bond to the l group; r 2 is h, cl or br. the compound or salt according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein l is wherein indicates the bond to the group a compound or salt according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein l is wherein indicates the bond to the group the compound or salt according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein r 1 is selected from h and c 1- c 6 -alkyl. the compound or salt according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein q is c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl which is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 3 substituents independently selected from halogen and cyano. the compound or salt according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein z 1 is c 1- c 6 -alkyl wherein c 1- c 6 -alkyl is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 7 halogen substituents; z 2 is selected from c 1- c 6 -alkyl which is substituted with 1 to 7 halogen substituents; z 3 is h or bromo; z 4 is selected from h, halogen, nitro, cyano, methyl, trifluoromethyl and -c(=s)-nh 2 . the compound or salt according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein z 1 is selected from methyl, -ch 2 cn, -ch 2 f and -ch 2 -o-ch 3 . z 2 is selected from -cf(cf 3 )(cf 3 ); z 3 is h or bromo; z 4 is selected from h, halogen, nitro, cyano, methyl, trifluoromethyl and -c(=s)-nh 2 . a pesticidal composition, which comprises at least one compound according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or an agrochemically acceptable salt or n-oxide thereof, as active ingredient and at least one auxiliary. the composition according to claim 11, which further comprises one or more other insecticidally, acaricidally, nematicidally and/or fungicidally active agents. a method for controlling pests, which comprises applying a composition according to claim 11 or 12 to the pests or their environment with the exception of a method for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy and diagnostic methods practised on the human or animal body. a method for the protection of plant propagation material from the attack by pests, which comprises treating the propagation material or the site, where the propagation material is planted, with a composition according to claim 11 or 12. a coated plant propagation material, wherein the coating of the plant propagation material comprises a compound as defined in any one of claims 1 to 10.	the present invention relates to pyrazole derivatives, to processes for preparing them, to intermediates for preparing them, to pesticidal, in particular insecticidal, acaricidal, molluscicidal and nematicidal compositions comprising those derivatives and to methods of using them to combat and control pests such as insect, acarine, mollusc and nematode pests. it has now surprisingly been found that certain pyrazole derivatives have highly potent insecticidal properties. other compounds in this area are known from wo2014/122083 , wo2012/107434 , wo2015/067646 , wo2015/067647 , wo2015/067648 , wo2015/150442 , wo2015/193218 , wo2010/051926 and wo2017/012970 . thus, as embodiment 1, the present invention relates to a compound of formula (i), wherein r 1 is selected from h, c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, c 2 -c 6 alkenyl, c 2 -c 6 alkynyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-c 3 -c 7 cycloalkyl, -c(=o)-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -c(=o)-o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -c(=o)-n-(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl) 2 , -(c 0 -c 3 )-alkyl-aryl and -(c 0 -c 3 )-alkyl-heteroaryl, wherein each of c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, c 2 -c 6 alkenyl, c 2 -c 6 alkynyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-c 3 -c 7 cycloalkyl, -c(=o)-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -c(=o)-o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -c(=o)-n-(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl) 2 , -(c 0 -c 3 )-alkyl-aryl and -(c 0 -c 3 )-alkyl-heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 7 substituents independently selected from halogen, cyano, c 1- c 6 -alkoxy and -c(=o)-o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl; q is selected from h, hydroxy, -c(=o)h, c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, c 1 -c 6 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 6 alkenyl, c 2 -c 6 alkynyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-c 3 -c 7 cycloalkyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-c 3 -c 7 heterocycloalkyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-aryl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-heteroaryl, -nh-(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl), -n-(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl) 2 and -c(=o)n-(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl) 2 , wherein each of c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, c 1 -c 6 -alkoxy, c 2 -c 6 alkenyl, c 2 -c 6 alkynyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-c 3 -c 7 cycloalkyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-c 3 -c 7 heterocycloalkyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-aryl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-heteroaryl, -nh-(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl), -n-(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl) 2 and -c(=o)n-(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl) 2 is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 7 substituents independently selected from halogen, hydroxyl, nitro, amino, cyano, c 1 -c 6 -haloalkyl, c 1 -c 6 -alkoxy, c 1- c 6 -alkoxycarbonyl, -c(=o)oh, c 1- c 6 -alkylcarbamoyl, -c(=o)nh 2 , -c(=s)nh 2 , c 3- c 6 -cycloalkylcarbamoyl and phenyl; w is o or s; l is selected from wherein indicates the bond to the group t is selected from wherein indicates the bond to the l group; r 2 is h, cl or br; r 3 is selected from cl, br and cn; z 1 is selected from h, c 1- c 6 -alkyl and c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl wherein c 1- c 6 -alkyl and c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 9 substituents independently selected from halogen, cyano and c 1- c 6 -alkoxy; z 2 and z 4 are independently selected from h, halogen, cyano, nitro, c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -c(=s)-nh 2 , -c(=s)-nh(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl), -c(=s)-n(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl) 2 , c 3- c 7 heterocycloalkyl, c 3- c 6 -cycloalkyl, -s-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -s-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so 2 -c 1 -c 6 -alkyl,-so 2 -c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so 2 -o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl,-so 2 -o-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-aryl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-heteroaryl, wherein each of -c(=s)-nh(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl), -c(=s)-n(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl) 2 , c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, c 3- c 7 heterocycloalkyl, c 3- c 6 -cycloalkyl, -s-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -s-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so 2 -c 1 -c 6 -alkyl,-so 2 -c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so 2 -o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so 2 -o-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-aryl and -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 9 substituents independently selected from halogen, hydroxy, nitro, amino, cyano, c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, c 1 -c 6 -haloalkyl, c 1 -c 6 -alkoxy, c 1 -c 6 -alkoxycarbonyl and hydroxycarbonyl; z 3 is selected from h and halogen; or an agrochemically acceptable salt thereof. preferred values of r 1 , q, l, t, w, z 1 , z 2 , z 3 and z 4 in relation to each compound of the present invention, including the intermediate compounds, are as set out below in embodiments 2 to 25. as used herein, when one embodiment refers to several other embodiments by using the term "according to any one of", for example "according to any one of embodiments 1 to 23", then said embodiment refers not only to embodiments indicated by integers such as 1 and 2 but also to embodiments indicated by numbers with a decimal component such as for example 23.1, 23.2, 23.3, 23.4, 23.20, 23.25, 23.30. embodiment 2: a compound or salt according to embodiment 1, wherein t is wherein indicates the bond to the l group; r 3 is selected from cl, br and cn, in particular cn. embodiment 3: a compound or salt according to embodiment 1, wherein t is wherein indicates the bond to the l group; r 2 is h, cl or br. embodiment 4: a compound or salt according to embodiment 1, wherein t is wherein indicates the bond to the l group; r 2 is h, cl or br. embodiment 5: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 4, wherein l is wherein indicates the bond to the group embodiment 6: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 4, wherein l is wherein indicates the bond to the group embodiment 7: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6, wherein r 1 is selected from h and c 1 -c 6 -alkyl. embodiment 7.1: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6, wherein r 1 is selected from h, methyl and ethyl. embodiment 8: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 7, wherein q is c 3 -c 6 -cycloalkyl which is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 3 substituents independently selected from halogen and cyano. embodiment 8.1: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 7, wherein q is selected from 1 -cyano-cyclopropyl and cyclopropyl. embodiment 9: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 8, wherein w is o. embodiment 10: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 9, wherein z 1 is selected from h and c 1- c 6 -alkyl wherein c 1- c 6 -alkyl is unsubstituted or substituted with with 1 to 7 substituents independently selected from halogen, cyano and c 1- c 6 -alkoxy; embodiment 11: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 9, wherein z 1 is selected from methyl, ethyl, -ch 2 cn, -ch 2 f, -chf 2 , -cf 3 and -ch 2 -o-ch 3 . embodiment 12: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 9, wherein z 1 is selected from methyl, -ch 2 cn, -ch 2 f and -ch 2 -o-ch 3 . embodiment 13: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 12, wherein z 2 is selected from halogen, c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -s-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -s-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so 2 -c 1 -c 6 -alkyl,-so 2 -c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so 2 -o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl,-so 2 -o-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-aryl and -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-heteroaryl, wherein each of -c(=s)-nh(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl), -c(=s)-n(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl) 2 , c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, c 3- c 7 heterocycloalkyl, c 3- c 6 -cycloalkyl, -s-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -s-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so 2 -c 1 -c 6 -alkyl,-so 2 -c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -so 2 -o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so 2 -o-c 3 -c 5 -cycloalkyl, -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-aryl and -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-heteroaryl is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 7 substituents independently selected from halogen. embodiment 14: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 12, wherein z 2 is selected from halogen, c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -s-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl and -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-aryl, wherein each of c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -s-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl and -c 0 -c 3 -alkyl-aryl is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 7 substituents independently selected from halogen. embodiment 15: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 12, wherein z 2 is selected from c 1- c 6 -alkyl which is substituted with 1 to 7 substituents independently selected from fluoro. embodiment 16: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 12, wherein z 2 is -cf(cf 3 )(cf 3 ). embodiment 17: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 16, wherein z 3 is h. embodiment 18: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 16, wherein z 3 is bromo. embodiment 19: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 18, wherein z 4 is selected from h, halogen, nitro, cyano, c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -c(=s)-nh 2 , -c(=s)-nh(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl), -c(=s)-n(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl) 2 , -s-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so 2 -c 1 -c 6 -alkyl and -so 2 -o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, wherein each of c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -c(=s)-nh 2 , -c(=s)-nh(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl), -c(=s)-n(c 1 -c 6 -alkyl) 2 , -s-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -so 2 -c 1 -c 6 -alkyl and -so 2 -o-c 1 -c 6 -alkyl is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 7 halogen substituents. embodiment 20: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 18, wherein z 4 is selected from h, halogen, nitro, cyano, c 1 -c 6 -alkyl, -c(=s)-nh 2 , wherein c 1 -c 6 -alkyl is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 7 substituents selected from halogen, in particular fluoro. embodiment 21: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 18, wherein z 4 is selected from h, halogen, nitro, cyano, methyl, trifluoromethyl and -c(=s)-nh 2 . embodiment 22: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 9, wherein z 1 is c 1- c 6 -alkyl wherein c 1 -c 6 -alkyl is unsubstituted or substituted with 1 to 7 halogen substituents; z 2 is selected from c 1 -c 6 -alkyl which is substituted with 1 to 7 halogen substituents; z 3 is h or bromo; z 4 is selected from h, halogen, nitro, cyano, methyl, trifluoromethyl and -c(=s)-nh 2 . embodiment 23: a compound or salt according to any one of embodiments 1 to 9, wherein z 1 is selected from methyl, -ch 2 cn, -ch 2 f and -ch 2 -o-ch 3 . z 2 is selected from -cf(cf 3 )(cf 3 ); z 3 is h or bromo; z 4 is selected from h, halogen, nitro, cyano, methyl, trifluoromethyl and -c(=s)-nh 2 . embodiment 24: a compound or salt according to embodiment 1 selected from table-tabl0001 example no. structure chemical name 1 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 2 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 3 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-cyclopropyl-benzamide 4 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-cyclopropyl-n-methyl-benzamide 5 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[3-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]isoxazol-5-yl]benzamide 6 5-[3-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]isoxazol-5-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 7 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1-methyl-3-nitro-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 8 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]-3-(trifluoromethyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 9 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 10 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[3-cyano-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 11 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1,3-dimethyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 12 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(fluoromethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 13 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(cyanomethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 14 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(methoxymethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 15 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-(3,4,5-tribromo-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl)pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 16 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[3,4-dibromo-1-methyl-5-(trifluoromethylsulfanyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 17 5-[1-[3-bromo-5-[1-(3,5-difluorophenyl)-1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-ethyl]-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 18 5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-cyano-n-cyclopropyl-thiophene-3-carboxamide 19 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)pyridine-3-carboxamide 20 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-n-ethyl-benzamide 21 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-n-methyl-benzamide 22 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-cyclopropyl-n-ethyl-benzamide 23 5-[1-[3-carbamothioyl-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 24 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-isopropyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 25 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-tert-butyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 26 5-[1-[3-bromo-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]-1-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 27 5-[1-[3-bromo-5-[1,2,2,3,3,3-hexafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)propyl]-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-( 1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 28 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[5-[1,2,2,3,3,3-hexafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)propyl]-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 29 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-chloro-1-(fluoromethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 30 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-chloro-5-[1-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)-1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-ethyl]-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 31 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-(1,1,2,2,2-pentafluoroethyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 32 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-(trifluoromethylsulfanyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 33 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-(1,1,2,2,2-pentafluoroethyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide 34 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[3-iodo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 35 n-acetyl-2-chloro-n-(1-cyano-1-methylethyl)-5-[1-[1-cyclopropyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 36 n-acetyl-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1-cyclopropyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 37 2-chloro-n-(1-cyano-1-methyl-ethyl)-5-[1-[1-cyclopropyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 38 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1-cyclopropyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-n-methyl-benzamide 39 methyl n-[2-chloro-5-[1-[1-cyclopropyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoyl]-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)carbamate 40 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1-cyclopropyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 41 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[3,4-dibromo-1-cyclopropyl-5-(trifluoromethylsulfanyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide 42 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-cyclopropyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide definitions: the term "alkyl" as used herein- in isolation or as part of a chemical group - represents straight-chain or branched hydrocarbons, preferably with 1 bis 6 carbon atoms, for example methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, s-butyl, t-butyl, pentyl, 1- methylbutyl, 2-methylbutyl, 3-methylbutyl, 1,2-dimethylpropyl, 1,1 -dimethylpropyl, 2,2-dimethylpropyl, 1 -ethylpropyl, hexyl, 1 -methylpentyl, 2-methylpentyl, 3-methylpentyl, 4- methylpentyl, 1,2-dimethylpropyl, 1,3-dimethylbutyl, 1,4-dimethylbutyl, 2,3-dimethylbutyl, 1,1-dimethylbutyl, 2,2-dimethylbutyl, 3,3-dimethylbutyl, 1,1,2-trimethylpropyl, 1,2,2-trimethylpropyl, 1- ethylbutyl and 2-ethylbutyl. alkyl groups with 1 to 4 carbon atoms are preferred, for example methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, s-butyl or t-butyl. the term "alkenyl" - in isolation or as part of a chemical group - represents straight-chain or branched hydrocarbons, preferably with 2 bis 6 carbon atoms and at least one double bond, for example vinyl, 2-propenyl, 2-butenyl, 3-butenyl, 1- methyl-2-propenyl, 2-methyl-2-propenyl, 2-pentenyl, 3-pentenyl, 4-pentenyl, 1-methyl-2-butenyl, 2- methyl-2-butenyl, 3-methyl-2-butenyl, 1-methyl-3-butenyl, 2-methyl-3-butenyl, 3-methyl-3-butenyl, 1,1 - dimethyl-2-propenyl, 1,2-dimethyl-2-propenyl, 1 -ethyl-2-propenyl, 2-hexenyl, 3-hexenyl, 4- hexenyl, 5-hexenyl, 1 -methyl-2-pentenyl, 2-methyl-2-pentenyl, 3-methyl-2-pentenyl, 4-methyl-2- pentenyl, 3-methyl-3-pentenyl, 4-methyl-3-pentenyl, 1 -methyl-4-pentenyl, 2-methyl-4-pentenyl, 3- methyl-4-pentenyl, 4-methyl-4-pentenyl, 1, 1 -dimethyl-2-butenyl, 1,1-dimethyl-3-butenyl, 1,2- dimethyl-2-butenyl, l,2-dimethyl-3-butenyl, 1,3-dimethyl-2-butenyl, 2,2-dimethyl-3-butenyl, 2,3- dimethyl-2-butenyl, 2,3-dimethyl-3-butenyl, 1 -ethyl-2-butenyl, 1-ethyl-3-butenyl, 2-ethyl-2-butenyl, 2-ethyl-3-butenyl, 1, 1,2-trimethyl-2-propenyl, 1 -ethyl- 1 -methyl-2-propenyl und 1-ethyl-2-methyl-2-propenyl. alkenyl groups with 2 to 4 carbon atoms are preferred, for example 2-propenyl, 2-butenyl or 1-methyl-2-propenyl. the term "alkynyl" - in isolation or as part of a chemical group - represents straight-chain or branched hydrocarbons, preferably with 2 bis 6 carbon atoms and at least one triple bond, for example 2-propynyl, 2-butynyl, 3-butynyl, 1-methyl-2- propynyl, 2-pentynyl, 3-pentynyl, 4-pentynyl, 1-methyl-3-butynyl, 2-methyl-3-butynyl, 1-methyl-2- butynyl, 1,1 -dimethyl-2-propynyl, 1 -ethyl-2-propynyl, 2-hexynyl, 3-hexynyl, 4-hexynyl, 5-hexynyl, 1- methyl-2-pentynyl, 1-methyl-3-pentynyl, 1 -methyl-4-pentynyl, 2-methyl-3-pentynyl, 2-methyl-4- pentynyl, 3 -methyl-4-pentynyl, 4-methyl-2-pentynyl, 1,1 -dimethyl-3 - butynyl, 1,2-dimethyl-3 -butynyl, 2,2- dimethyl-3-butynyl, 1-ethyl-3-butynyl, 2-ethyl-3-butynyl, 1-ethyl-1-methyl-2-propynyl and 2,5-hexadiynyl. alkynyls with 2 to 4 carbon atoms are preferred, for example ethynyl, 2- propynyl or 2-butynyl-2-propenyl. the term "cycloalkyl" - in isolation or as part of a chemical group - represents saturated or partially unsaturated mono-, bi- or tricyclic hydrocarbons, preferably 3 to 10 carbon atoms, for example cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cycloheptyl, cyclooctyl, bicyclo[2.2.1]heptyl, bicyclo[2.2.2]octyl or adamantyl. cycloalkyls with 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 carbon atoms are preferred, for example cyclopropyl or cyclobutyl. the term "heterocycloalkyl" - in isolation or as part of a chemical group - represents saturated or partially unsaturated mono-, bi- or tricyclic hydrocarbons, preferably 3 to 10 carbon atoms, for example cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cycloheptyl, cyclooctyl, bicyclo[2.2.1]heptyl, bicyclo[2.2.2]octyl or adamantyl, wherein one or more of the ring atoms, preferably 1 to 4, more preferably 1, 2 or 3 of the ring atoms are independently selected from n, o, s, p, b, si and se, more preferably n, o and s, wherein no o atoms can be located next to each other. the term "alkylcycloalkyl" represents mono-, bi- oder tricyclic alkylcycloalkyl, preferably with 4 to 10 or 4 to 7 carbon atoms, for example ethylcyclopropyl, isopropylcyclobutyl, 3-methylcyclopentyl und 4-methylcyclohexyl. alkylcycloalkyls with 4, 5 or 7 carbon atoms are preferred, for example ethylcyclopropyl or 4-methyl-cyclohexyl. the term "cycloalkylalkyl" represents mono, bi- or tricyclic cycloalkylalkyls, preferably 4 to 10 or 4 to 7 carbon atoms, for example cyclopropylmethyl, cyclobutylmethyl, cyclopentylmethyl, cyclohexylmethyl and cyclopentylethyl. cycloalkylalkyls with 4, 5 or 7 carbon atoms are preferred, for example cyclopropylmethyl or cyclobutylmethyl. the term "halogen" or "halo" represents fluoro, chloro, bromo or iodo, particularly fluoro, chloro or bromo. the chemical groups which are substituted with halogen, for example haloalkyl, halocycloalkyl, haloalkyloxy, haloalkylsulfanyl, haloalkylsulfinyl or haloalkylsulfonyl are substituted one or up to the maximum number of substituents with halogen. if "alkyl", "alkenyl" or "alkynyl" are substituted with halogen, the halogen atoms can be the same or different and can be bound at the same carbon atom or different carbon atoms. the term "halocycloalkyl" represents mono-, bi- or tricyclic halocycloalkyl, preferably with 3 to 10 carbon atoms, for example 1 -fluoro-cyclopropyl, 2-fluoro- cyclopropyl or 1 -fluoro-cyclobutyl. preferred halocycloalkyl mit 3, 5 oder 7 carbon atoms. the term "haloalkyl", "haloalkenyl" or "haloalkynyl" represents alkyls, alkenyls or alkynyls substituted with halogen, preferably with 1 to 9 halogen atoms that are the same or different, for example monohaloalkyls (= monohaloalkyl) like ch 2 ch 2 cl, ch 2 ch 2 f, chclch 3 , chfch 3 , ch 2 cl, ch 2 f; perhaloalkyls like ccl 3 or cf 3 or cf 2 cf 3 ; polyhaloalkyls like chf 2 , ch 2 f, ch 2 chfcl, cf 2 cf 2 h, ch 2 cf 3 . the same applies for haloalkenyl and other groups substituted by halogen. examples of haloalkoxy are for example ocf 3 , ochf 2 , och 2 f, ocf 2 cf 3 , och 2 cf 3 , ocf 3 , ochf 2 , och 2 f, ocf 2 cf 3 , och 2 cf 3 . further examples of haloalkyls are trichloromethyl, chlorodifluoromethyl, dichlorofluoromethyl, 1-fluoroethyl, 2-fluoroethyl, 2,2-difluoroethyl, 2,2,2-trifluorethyl, 2,2,2-trichloroethyl, 2-chloro-2,2-difluoroethyl, pentafluorethyl and pentafluoro-t-butyl. haloalkyls having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and 1 to 9, preferably 1 to 5 of the same or different halogen atoms selected from fluoro, chloro or bromo, are preferred. haloalkyls having 1 or 2 carbon atoms and 1 to 5 gleichen of the same or different halogen atoms selected from fluoro or chloro, for example difluoromethyl, trifluoromethyl or 2,2-difluoroethyl, are particularly preferred. the term "hydroxyalkyl" represents straight or branched chain alcohols, preferably with 1 to 6 carbon atoms, for example methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, isobutanol, s-butanol and t-butanol. hydroxyalkyls having 1 to 4 carbon atoms are preferred. the term "alkoxy" represents straight or branched chain o-alkyl, preferably having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, for example methoxy, ethoxy, n-propoxy, isopropoxy, n-butoxy, isobutoxy, s-butoxy und t-butoxy. alkoxy having 1 to 4 carbon atoms are preferred. the term "haloalkoxy" represents straight or branched chain o-alkyl substituted with halogen, preferably with 1 to 6 carbon atoms, for example difluoromethoxy, trifluoromethoxy, 2,2-difluoroethoxy, 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethoxy, 2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy and 2-chloro-1,1,2-trifluorethoxy. haloalkoxy having 1 to 4 carbon atoms are preferred. the term "alkylsulfanyl" represents straight or branched chain s-alkyl, preferably with 1 to 6 carbon atoms, for example methylthio, ethylthio, n-propylthio, isopropylthio, n- butylthio, isobutylthio, s-butylthio and t-butylthio. alkylsulfanyl having 1 to 4 carbon atoms are preferred. examples for haloalkylsulfanyl, i.e. with halogen substituted alkylsulfanyl, are for example difluoromethylthio, trifluoromethylthio, trichloromethylthio, chlorodifluoromethylthio, 1-fluoroethylthio, 2-fluoroethylthio, 2,2-difluoroethylthio, 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethylthio, 2,2,2- trifluoroethylthio or 2-chloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethylthio. the term "alkylsulfinyl" represents straight or branched chain alkylsulfinyl, preferably having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, for example methylsulfinyl, ethylsulfinyl, n-propylsulfinyl, isopropylsulfinyl, n-butylsulfinyl, isobutylsulfinyl, s-butylsulfinyl und t-butylsulfinyl. alkylsulfinyls having 1 to 4 carbon atoms are preferred. examples of haloalkylsulfinyls, i.e. with halogen substituted alkylsulfinyls, are difluoromethylsulfinyl, trifluoromethylsulfinyl, trichloromethylsulfinyl, chlorodifluoromethylsulfinyl, 1 -fluoroethylsulfinyl, 2-fluoroethylsulfinyl, 2,2-difluoroethylsulfinyl, 1,1,2,2- tetrafluoroethylsulfinyl, 2,2,2-trifluoroethylsulfinyl and 2-chloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethylsulfinyl. the term "alkylsulfonyl" represents straight or branched chain alkylsulfonyl, preferably having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, for example methylsulfonyl, ethylsulfonyl, n-propylsulfonyl, isopropylsulfonyl, n-butylsulfonyl, isobutylsulfonyl, s-butylsulfonyl and t-butylsulfonyl. alkylsulfonyls having 1 to 4 carbon atoms are preferred. examples of haloalkylsulfonyls, i.e.with halogen substituted alkylsulfonyls, are for example difluoromethylsulfonyl, trifluoromethylsulfonyl, trichloromethylsulfonyl, chlorodifluoromethylsulfonyl, 1 - fluoroethylsulfonyl, 2-fluoroethylsulfonyl, 2,2-difluoroethylsulfonyl, 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethylsulfonyl, 2,2,2-trifluoroethylsulfonyl and 2-chloro- 1,1,2-trifluorethylsulfonyl. the term "alkylcarbonyl" represents straight or branched chain alkyl-c(=o), preferably having 2 to 7 carbon atoms, for example methylcarbonyl, ethylcarbonyl, n-propylcarbonyl, isopropylcarbonyl, s-butylcarbonyl and t-butylcarbonyl. alkylcarbonyls having 1 to 4 carbon atoms are preferred. the term "cycloalkylcarbonyl" represents cycloalkyl-carbonyl, preferably 3 to 10 carbon atoms in the cycloalkyl part, for example cyclopropylcarbonyl, cyclobutylcarbonyl, cyclopentylcarbonyl, cyclohexylcarbonyl, cycloheptyl- carbonyl, cyclooctylcarbonyl, bicyclo[2.2.1]heptyl, bycyclo[2.2.2]octylcarbonyl and adamantylcarbonyl. cycloalkylcarbonyls having 3, 5 or 7 carbon atoms in the cycloalkyl part are preferred. the term "alkoxycarbonyl" " - in isolation or as part of a chemical group - represents straight or branched chain alkoxycarbonyl, preferably having 1 to 6 carbon atoms or 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkoxy part, for example methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, n-propoxycarbonyl, isopropoxycarbonyl, s-butoxycarbonyl and t- butoxycarbonyl. the term "alkylaminocarbonyl" represents straight or branched chain alkylaminocarbonyl having preferably 1 to 6 carbon atoms orr 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl part, for example methylaminocarbonyl, ethylaminocarbonyl, n-proylaminocarbonyl, isopropyl- aminocarbonyl, s-butylaminocarbonyl and t-butylaminocarbonyl. the term "n,n-dialkylamino-carbonyl" " represents straight or branched chain n,n-dialkylaminocarbonyl with preferably1 to 6 carbon atoms or 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl part, for example n,n-dimethylamino-carbonyl, n,n-diethylamino-carbonyl, n,n-di(n- propylamino)-carbonyl, n,n-di-(isopropylamino)-carbonyl and n,n-di-(s-butylamino)-carbonyl. the term "aryl" represents a mono-, bi- or polycyclical aromatic system with preferably 6 to 14, more preferably 6 to 10 ring-carbon atoms, for example phenyl, naphthyl, anthryl, phenanthrenyl, preferably phenyl. "aryl" also represents polycyclic systems, for example tetrahydronaphtyl, indenyl, indanyl, fluorenyl, biphenyl. arylalkyls are examples of substituted aryls, which may be further substituted with the same or different substituents both at the aryl or alkyl part. benzyl and 1 -phenylethyl are examples of such arylalkyls. the term "heterocyclyl", "heterocyclic ring" or "heterocyclic ring system" represents a carbocyclic ring system with at least one ring, in which ring at least one carbon atom is replaced by a heteroatom, preferably selected from n, o, s, p, b, si, se, and which ring is saturated, unsaturated or partially saturated, and which ring is unsubstituted or substituted with a substituent z, wherein the connecting bond is located at a ring atom. unless otherwise defined, the heterocyclic ring has preferably 3 to 9 ring atoms, preferably 3 to 6 ring atoms, and one or more, preferably 1 to 4, more preferably 1, 2 or 3 heteroatoms in the heterocyclic ring, preferably selected from n, o, and s, wherein no o atoms can be located next to each other. the heterocyclic rings normally contain no more than 4 nitrogens, and/or no more than 2 oxygen atoms and/or no more than 2 sulfur atoms. in case that the heterocyclic substituent or the heterocyclic ring are further substituted, it can be further annulated wth other heterocyclic rings. the term "heterocyclic" also includes polycyclic systems, for example 8-aza-bicyclo[3.2.1]octanyl or 1-aza-bicyclo[2.2.1]heptyl. the term "heterocyclic" also includes spirocyclic systems, for example 1-oxa-5-aza-spiro[2.3]hexyl. examples of heterocyclyls are for example piperidinyl, piperazinyl, morpholinyl, thiomorpholinyl, dihydropyranyl, tetrahydropyranyl, dioxanyl, pyrrolinyl, pyrrolidinyl, imidazolinyl, imidazolidinyl, thiazolidinyl, oxazolidinyl, dioxolanyl, dioxolyl, pyrazolidinyl, tetrahydrofuranyl, dihydrofuranyl, oxetanyl, oxiranyl, azetidinyl, aziridinyl, oxazetidinyl, oxaziridinyl, oxazepanyl, oxazinanyl, azepanyl, oxopyrrolidinyl, dioxopyrrolidinyl, oxomorpholinyl, oxopiperazinyl und oxepanyl. particularly important are heteroaryls, i.e. heteroaromatic systems. the term "heteroaryl" represents heteroaromatic groups, i.e. completely unsaturated aromatic heterocyclic groups, which fall under the above definition of heterocycles. "heteroaryls" with 5 to 7-membered rings with 1 to 3, preferably 1 or 2 of the same or different heteroatoms selected from n, o, and s. examples of "heteroaryls" are furyl, thienyl, pyrazolyl, imidazolyl, 1,2,3- and 1,2,4-triazolyl, isoxazolyl, thiazolyl, isothiazolyl, 1,2,3-, 1,3,4-, 1,2,4- and 1,2,5-oxadiazolyl, azepinyl, pyrrolyl, pyridyl, pyridazinyl, pyrimidinyl, pyrazinyl, 1,3,5-, 1,2,4- and 1,2,3-triazinyl, 1,2,4-, 1,3,2-, 1,3,6- and 1,2,6-oxazinyl, oxepinyl, thiepinyl, 1,2,4-triazolonyl und 1,2,4-diazepinyl. halogen is generally fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine. this also applies, correspondingly, to halogen in combination with other meanings, such as haloalkyl or halophenyl. haloalkyl groups preferably have a chain length of from 1 to 6 carbon atoms. haloalkyl is, for example, fluoromethyl, difluoromethyl, trifluoromethyl, chloromethyl, dichloromethyl, trichloromethyl, 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl, 2-fluoroethyl, 2-chloroethyl, pentafluoroethyl, 1,1-difluoro-2,2,2-trichloroethyl, 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoroethyl and 2,2,2-trichloroethyl. alkoxy is, for example, methoxy, ethoxy, propoxy, i-propoxy, n-butoxy, isobutoxy, sec-butoxy and tert-butoxy and also the isomeric pentyloxy and hexyloxy radicals. alkoxyalkyl groups preferably have a chain length of 1 to 6 carbon atoms. alkoxyalkyl is, for example, methoxymethyl, methoxyethyl, ethoxymethyl, ethoxyethyl, n-propoxymethyl, n-propoxyethyl, isopropoxymethyl or isopropoxyethyl. alkoxycarbonyl is for example methoxycarbonyl (which is c 1 alkoxycarbonyl), ethoxycarbonyl, propoxycarbonyl, isopropoxycarbonyl, n-butoxycarbonyl, tert-butoxycarbonyl, n-pentoxycarbonyl or hexoxycarbonyl. the cycloalkyl groups preferably have from 3 to 6 ring carbon atoms, for example cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl. a compound according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 which has at least one basic centre can form, for example, acid addition salts, for example with strong inorganic acids such as mineral acids, for example perchloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, nitrose acid, a phosphorus acid or a hydrohalic acid, with strong organic carboxylic acids, such as c 1 -c 4 alkanecarboxylic acids which are unsubstituted or substituted, for example by halogen, for example acetic acid, such as saturated or unsaturated dicarboxylic acids, for example oxalic acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid or phthalic acid, such as hydroxycarboxylic acids, for example ascorbic acid, lactic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid or citric acid, or such as benzoic acid, or with organic sulfonic acids, such as c 1 -c 4 alkane- or arylsulfonic acids which are unsubstituted or substituted, for example by halogen, for example methane- or p-toluenesulfonic acid. a compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 which have at least one acidic group can form, for example, salts with bases, for example mineral salts such as alkali metal or alkaline earth metal salts, for example sodium, potassium or magnesium salts, or salts with ammonia or an organic amine, such as morpholine, piperidine, pyrrolidine, a mono-, di- or tri-lower-alkylamine, for example ethyl-, diethyl-, triethyl- or dimethylpropylamine, or a mono-, di- or trihydroxy-lower-alkylamine, for example mono-, di- or triethanolamine. compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 also include hydrates which may be formed during the salt formation. the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 may be made by a variety of methods well known to a person skilled in the art or as shown in schemes 1-9. further instructions regarding the preparation may be found in wo2014/122083 , wo2012/107434 , wo2015/067646 , wo2015/067647 , wo2015/067648 , wo2015/150442 , wo2015/193218 , wo2010/051926 , wo2017/012970 , wo2017/055414 , wo2017/108569 and wo2017/140771 . compounds (i) may be prepared, for example, according to scheme 1-9. wherein t, q, r 1 , z 1 , z 2 and z 4 are as defined in any one of embodiments 1 to 24, x is a halogen such as cl, br or i , m represents a boronic acid or boronic ester or a zinc chloride or bromide, and alkyl is c 1 -c 6 -alkyl. (a) compounds of formula (3) can be prepared by reaction of a pyrrole of formula (1) with a pyrazole of formula (2) in the presence of an oxidant such as sodium hypochorite or tertbutylhypochlorite. (b) compound of formula (5) can be prepared from compounds of formula (3) wherein x is br or i by reacting with a compound of formula (4), suitably with a catalytic amount of iron salt such as iron sulfate in the presence of hydrogen peroxide for example. (c) compound of formula (6) can be prepared from compound of formula (5) using known processes from the literature using palladium-catalyzed reactions, such as the miyaura borylation reaction. for instance, the reactions can be carried out in the presence of a catalyst, such as palladium(ii) acetate, palladium(0) tetrakis-triphenylphosphine or bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(ii) dichloride, optionally in the presence of a ligand, such as triphenylphosphine, diphenylphosphinoferrocene ("dppf") and a base, such as sodium carbonate, pyridine, triethylamine, 4-(dimethylamino)-pyridine ("dmap") or diisopropylethylamine (hunig's base), in a solvent, such as water, n , n -dimethylformamide, dioxane, methyltetrahydrofuran or tetrahydrofuran, and in the presence of a borylating agent, such as bis(pinacolato)diboron. the reaction is carried out at a temperature of from 50°c to 200°c, preferably from 100°c to 150°c. alternatively, compound of formula (6) can be prepared from compound of formula (5) using known processes from the literature using a metal-halogen exchange reaction followed by a reaction with an electrophile such as trimethylborate, as is described in org. lett., 2011, 13, 4479-4481 . (d) in the same manner, compound of formula (8) can be prepared from compound of formula (6) with a compound of formula (7) using known processes from the literature using palladium-catalyzed reactions, such as the suzuki reaction. the compounds of the general structure (7) are either commercially available or may be prepared by processes known from to the person skilled in the art. (e) compound of formula (9a), where z 4 is cl, br or i, may be prepared from compound of formula (8) in analogy with literature methods by using a halogenating agent such as n-chlorosuccinimide, n-bromosuccinimide, n-iodosuccinimide, etc. (f) compounds of formula (ia) may be prepared in analogy with literature methods from compounds of formula (9a) via ester cleavage (see for example wo2010/051926 or wo2010/133312 ) followed by known amide formation methods (see for example wo2010/051926 and wo2010/133312 ). compounds of formula (10) are known or may be prepared by processes known from to the person skilled in the art. compounds of formula (1), (2), (4), (7) and (10) are commercially available or can be prepared according to methods known to a person skilled in the art. wherein z 1 , z 2 , z 3 , z 4 , t, r 1 and q are as defined in any one of the embodiments 1-24. r represents c 1 -c 4 -alkyl (preferably t-bu), x represents cl, br or i, lg a represents a leaving group like cl or c 1 -c 4 alkoxy, alkyl is c 1-c6 -alkyl and y is hydrogen or c 1- c 6 -alkyl or 2 adjacent y can be linked to form a cyclic bis boronate ester, for example, (b(oy) 2 ) 2 could be bis(pinacolato)diboron . (a) compound of formula (13) can be prepared by reaction of a strong base such as n-butyllithium on compound of formula (11) followed by reaction with an azodicarboxylate of formula (12). (b) compound of formula (14) can be prepared by hydrolysis of a ester compound of formula (13) by processes known from to the person skilled in the art. (c) compound of formula (15) can be prepared by reaction of compound of formula (14) with 1,1,3,3,tetramethoxypropane in a solvent such as ethanol or toluene. the reaction is carried out at a temperature of from 0°c to 110°c. (d) compound of formula (16) can be prepared in analogy with literature methods by reacting them with halogenating agents such as cl 2 , br 2 , i 2 , n-chlorosuccinimide, n-bromosuccinimide, n-iodosuccinimide, etc. (e) compound of formula (9b) may be prepared from compound of formula (16) and a boronic acid or ester of formula (20) by known processes from the literature using palladium-catalyzed reactions, as described in scheme 1. (f) compound of formula (16) may also be converted first into boronic acid or ester of formula (19) either by palladium-catalyzed reactions using (b(oy) 2 ) 2 of formula (17) or may be prepared by performing a halogen-metal exchange, for examples using with n-butyllithium, in order to prepare the organolithium reagent, followed by its reaction with an electrophile lg a -b(oy) 2 of formula (18), in a suitable solvent, such as diethyl ether, diisopropyl ether, tert-butyl methyl ether, methyltetrahydrofuran or tetrahydrofuran. the reaction is carried out at a temperature of from -80°c to 60°c, preferably from -20°c to 40°c. (g) compound of formula (19) may then be converted in compound of formula (9b) with a compound (7) using palladium-catalyzed reactions, as described in step (e)). (h) compounds of formula (ib) may be prepared in analogy with literature methods from compounds of formula (9b) via ester cleavage (see for example wo2010/051926 or wo2010/133312 ) followed by known amide formation methods (see for example wo2010/051926 and wo2010/133312 ). compounds of formula (11) are known or maybe prepared according to known methods. compounds of formula (12), (17), (18), (7), (20) and (10) are commercially available or may be prepared according to known methods. wherein z 1 , z 2 , z 3 , z 4 , t, w, r 1 , r 2 , a, r 3 and q are as defined in any one of the embodiments 1-24, r a represents an c 1 -c 4 -alkyl, x represents cl, br or i, a is n or c-h, qa can be the following groups: wherein p is oh or c 1 -c 6 alkoxy and qb can be the following groups: (a) compound of formula (21) may be prepared by reaction of a strong base such as n-butyllithium on compound of formula (11) followed by reaction with n,n-dimethylformamide, in a solvent, such as diethyl ether, diisopropyl ether, tert-butyl methyl ether, methyltetrahydrofuran or tetrahydrofuran. the reaction is carried out at a temperature from -80°c to 60°c, preferably from -80°c to 25°c. (b) compound of formula (22) may be prepared in analogy with literature methods from compound of formula (21). for example, known methods for the preparation of oximes from aldehydes may be used (for example h. metzger in houben-weyl, band x/4, p. 55 ff, georg thieme verlag stuttgart, 1968 ). (c) compound of formula (23) wherein x represents cl, br or i, may be prepared in analogy with literature methods by reacting them with halogenating agents such as cl 2 , br 2 , i 2 , n-chlorosuccinimide, n-bromosuccinimide, n-iodosuccinimide, etc. the compounds of the general structure (24) and (25) are either commercially available or may be prepared by processes known from to the person skilled in the art, for example using a sonogashira-type coupling with tms-acetylene. (d1) & (d2) compound of formula (26) and (ib) may be prepared according to known literature methods by reacting compound of formula (23) with a compound of formula (24) and (25), respectively, in the presence of a base in a suitable solvent and at a suitable temperature (for examples as described in wo2015/067646 , p. 145-147). (f) compounds of formula (ib) may be prepared in analogy with literature methods from compounds of formula (26) via ester cleavage (see for example wo2010/051926 or wo2010/133312 ) followed by known amide formation methods methods (see for example wo2010/051926 and wo2010/133312 ). compounds of formula (10) are either commercially available or maybe prepared according to known methods. wherein z 1 , z 2 , z 3 , z 4 , l, t, r 1 and q are as defined in any one of the embodiments 1-24. (a) compounds of formula (i) may be prepared by reacting a compound of formula (27) wherein p is oh, c 1 -c 6 alkoxy, cl, f or br, with an amine of formula (10), as shown in scheme 1. when p is oh such reactions are usually carried out in the presence of a suitable coupling reagent, such as n,n'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide ("dcc"), 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylamino-propyl)carbodiimide hydrochloride ("edc") or bis(2-oxo-3-oxazolidinyl)phosphonic chloride ("bop-cl"), in the presence of a base, and optionally in the presence of a nucleophilic catalyst, such as hydroxybenzotriazole ("hobt"). when p is cl, such reactions are usually carried out in the presence of a base, and optionally in the presence of a nucleophilic catalyst. alternatively, it is possible to conduct the reaction in a biphasic system comprising an organic solvent, preferably ethyl acetate, and an aqueous solvent, preferably a solution of sodium hydrogen carbonate. when p is c 1 -c 6 alkoxy it is sometimes possible to convert the ester directly to the amide by heating the ester and amine together in a thermal process. suitable bases include pyridine, triethylamine, 4-(dimethylamino)-pyridine ("dmap") or diisopropylethylamine (hunig's base). preferred solvents are n , n -dimethylacetamide, tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, 1,2-dimethoxyethane, ethyl acetate and toluene. the reaction is carried out at a temperature of from 0°c to 100°c, preferably from 15°c to 30°c, in particular at ambient temperature. acid halides of formula (27), wherein p is cl, f or br, may be made from carboxylic acids of formula (27), wherein p is oh, under standard conditions, known from a person skilled in the art. carboxylic acids of formula (27), wherein p is oh, may be formed from esters of formula (27), wherein p is c 1 -c 6 alkoxy under standard conditions, known from a person skilled in the art. (b) compounds of formula (i) may be prepared by reacting a compound of formula (28) wherein x is a leaving group, for example a halogen, such as bromo, with carbon monoxide and an amine of formula (10), in the presence of a catalyst, such as palladium(ii) acetate or bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(ii) dichloride, optionally in the presence of a ligand, such as triphenylphosphine, and a base, such as sodium carbonate, pyridine, triethylamine, 4-(dimethylamino)-pyridine ("dmap") or diisopropylethylamine (hunig's base), in a solvent, such as water, n , n -dimethylformamide or tetrahydrofuran. the reaction is carried out at a temperature of from 50°c to 200°c, preferably from 100°c to 150°c. the reaction is carried out at a pressure of from 50 to 200 bar, preferably from 100 to 150 bar. compounds of formula (27), wherein p is oh, may be prepared by reacting a compound of formula (28) wherein x is a leaving group, for example a triflate or a halogen, such as bromo, with carbon monoxide or potassium formate, in the presence of a catalyst, such as palladium(ii) acetate or bis-(triphenylphosphine)palladium(ii) dichloride, optionally in the presence of a ligand, such as triphenylphosphine, diphenylphosphinoferrocene ("dppf") and a base, such as sodium carbonate, pyridine, triethylamine, 4-(dimethylamino)-pyridine ("dmap") or diisopropylethylamine (hunig's base), in a solvent, such as water, n , n -dimethylformamide, methyltetrahydrofuran or tetrahydrofuran. the reaction is carried out at a temperature of from 50°c to 200°c, preferably from 100°c to 150°c. the reaction is carried out at a pressure of co from 50 to 200 bar, preferably from 100 to 150 bar. compounds of formula (27), wherein p is c 1 -c 6 alkoxy, may be prepared by reacting a compound of formula (28) wherein x is a leaving group, for example a triflate or a halogen, such as bromo, with carbon monoxide and an alcohol, in the presence of a catalyst, such as palladium(ii) acetate or bis-(triphenylphosphine)palladium(ii) dichloride, optionally in the presence of a ligand, such as triphenylphosphine, and a base, such as sodium carbonate, pyridine, triethylamine, 4-(dimethylamino)-pyridine ("dmap") or diisopropylethylamine (hunig's base), in a solvent, such as water, n,n-dimethylformamide, methyltetrahydrofuran or tetrahydrofuran. the reaction is carried out at a temperature of from 50°c to 200°c, preferably from 100°c to 150°c. the reaction is carried out at a pressure of carbon monoxide from 50 to 200 bar, preferably from 100 to 150 bar. alternatively, compounds of formula (27), wherein p is oh, may be prepared by reacting a compound of formula (28) wherein x is a halogen, such as bromo, with magnesium or butyllithium, in order to prepare the intermediate grignard reagent or respectively the organolithium reagent, followed by its reaction with carbon dioxide, in a solvent, such as diethyl ether, diisopropyl ether, tert-butyl methyl ether, methyltetrahydrofuran or tetrahydrofuran. the reaction is carried out at a temperature of from -80°c to 60°c, preferably from -20°c to 40°c. the preparation of the intermediate grignard reagent (halogen-metal reactions) can also be performed using isopropylmagnesium chloride, in the presence or absence of alkali salts, such as lithium chloride. wherein z 1 , z 2 , z 3 , z 4 , l and r 2 are as defined in any one of the embodiments 1-24. x represents cl, br or i. (a) compounds of formula (27a), wherein p is oh or c 1 -c 6 alkoxy, may be prepared by reacting a compound of formula (29) wherein u represents a boronic acid, boronic ester or trifluoroboronate or - snbu 3 or -znci with a compound of formula (31), wherein x b represents br, cl, i or triflate, using known processes from the literature using palladium-catalyzed reactions. for instance, the reactions can be carried out in the presence of a catalyst, such as palladium(ii) acetate, palladium(0) tetrakis-triphenylphosphine or bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(ii) dichloride, optionally in the presence of a ligand, such as triphenylphosphine, diphenylphosphinoferrocene ("dppf") and a base, such as sodium carbonate, pyridine, triethylamine, 4-(dimethylamino)-pyridine ("dmap") or diisopropylethylamine (hunig's base), in a solvent, such as water, n , n -dimethylformamide, methyltetrahydrofuran or tetrahydrofuran. the reaction is carried out at a temperature of from 50°c to 200°c, preferably from 100°c to 150°c. (b) compounds of formula (28a) wherein x is a leaving group, for example a triflate or a halogen, such as bromo, may be prepared by reacting a compound of formula (29) wherein u representes a boronic acid, boronic ester or trifluoroboronate or -snbu 3 or -zncl with a compound of formula (30), wherein x b represents bromo, chloro, iodo or triflate, using known processes from the literature using palladium-catalyzed reactions. for instance, the reactions can be carried out in the presence of a catalyst, such as palladium(ii) acetate, palladium(0)tetrakis-triphenylphosphine or bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(ii) dichloride, optionally in the presence of a ligand, such as triphenylphosphine, diphenylphosphinoferrocene ("dppf") and a base, such as sodium carbonate, pyridine, triethylamine, 4-(dimethylamino)-pyridine ("dmap") or diisopropylethylamine (hunig's base), in a solvent, such as water, n , n -dimethylformamide, methyltetrahydrofuran or tetrahydrofuran. the reaction is carried out at a temperature of from 50°c to 200°c, preferably from 100°c to 150°c. the compounds of the general structure (30) and (31) are either commercially available or may be prepared by processes known from to the person skilled in the art. the compounds of the general structure (29) may be prepared as described in the literature ( wo2015067647 ) or as above mentioned in schemes 1 and 2. wherein z 1 , z 2 , z 3 , z 4 , l, r 1 , q and r 2 are as defined in any one of the embodiments 1-24. compounds of formula (id), may be prepared by reacting a compound of formula (29) wherein u represents a boronic acid, boronic ester or trifluoroboronate or -snbu 3 or -zncl with a compound of formula (32), wherein x b represents bromo, chloro, iodo or triflate, using known processes from the literature using palladium-catalyzed reactions. the compounds of the general structure (32) may be prepared by processes known from to the person skilled in the art. wherein z 2 , z 4 , l, t, w, q and r 1 are as defined in any one of the embodiments 1-24, y represents cn, f, s-c 1 -c 4 alkyl, and p is oh, c 1 -c 6 alkoxy or nqr 1 . (a) compounds of formula (34) may be prepared by reaction of boron tribromide on compound of formula (33) in a suitable solvent, such as dichloromethane. (b) compound of formula (35) may be obtained by reacting a compound of formula (34) with a suitable nucleophile such as potassium fluoride or potassium cyanide. wherein l, t, w, q, z 1 and r 1 are as defined in any one of the embodiments 1-24. p is oh, c 1 -c 6 alkoxy or nqr 1 . (a) compounds of formula (37) may be prepared by reaction of trifluoroacetic anhydride on a compound of formula (36) in a suitable solvent such as pyridine, dichloromethane or benzene (as described for example in tetrahedron letters, 50(17), 1934-1938; 2009 ). (b) compounds of formula (38) can be prepared from compounds of formula (37) by treatment with an organometallic species of formula rm wherein m is a lithium or a magnesium salt and wherein r is c 1- c 6 -alkyl, aryl or halogen substituted aryl, in an inert solvent such as diethyl ether or tetrahydrofuran at temperatures of from -80 °c and 40 °c. (c) compound of formula (39) may be prepared from compound of formula (38) by treatment with an electrophilic fluorinating agent, such as dast (n,n-diethylaminosuflur trifluoride) or deoxofluor. wherein l, t, w, q and z 1 are as defined in any one of the embodiments 1-24. p represents p is oh, c 1 -c 6 alkoxy or nqr 1 . (a) compound of formula (40) can be prepared from compound of formula (39) by treatment with a sulfur electrophile such as trifluoromethylthiosaccharine. (b) compound of formula (41) may be obtained from compound of formula (40) by treatment with a bromine electrophile such as n-bromosuccinimide. a compound according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 can be converted in a manner known per se into another compound according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 by replacing one or more substituents of the starting compound according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 in the customary manner by (an)other substituent(s) according to the invention. depending on the choice of the reaction conditions and starting materials which are suitable in each case, it is possible, for example, in one reaction step only to replace one substituent by another substituent according to the invention, or a plurality of substituents can be replaced by other substituents according to the invention in the same reaction step. salts of compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 can be prepared in a manner known per se. thus, for example, acid addition salts of compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 are obtained by treatment with a suitable acid or a suitable ion exchanger reagent and salts with bases are obtained by treatment with a suitable base or with a suitable ion exchanger reagent. salts of compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 can be converted in the customary manner into the free compounds, acid addition salts, for example, by treatment with a suitable basic compound or with a suitable ion exchanger reagent and salts with bases, for example, by treatment with a suitable acid or with a suitable ion exchanger reagent. salts of compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 can be converted in a manner known per se into other salts of compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24, acid addition salts, for example, into other acid addition salts, for example by treatment of a salt of inorganic acid such as hydrochloride with a suitable metal salt such as a sodium, barium or silver salt, of an acid, for example with silver acetate, in a suitable solvent in which an inorganic salt which forms, for example silver chloride, is insoluble and thus precipitates from the reaction mixture. depending on the procedure or the reaction conditions, the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24, which have salt-forming properties can be obtained in free form or in the form of salts. the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 and, where appropriate, the tautomers thereof, in each case in free form or in salt form, can be present in the form of one of the stereoisomers which are possible or as a mixture of these, for example in the form of pure stereoisomers, such as antipodes and/or diastereomers, or as stereoisomer mixtures, such as enantiomer mixtures, for example racemates, diastereomer mixtures or racemate mixtures, depending on the number, absolute and relative configuration of asymmetric carbon atoms which occur in the molecule and/or depending on the configuration of non-aromatic double bonds which occur in the molecule; the invention relates to the pure stereoisomers and also to all stereoisomer mixtures which are possible and is to be understood in each case in this sense hereinabove and hereinbelow, even when stereochemical details are not mentioned specifically in each case. diastereomer mixtures or racemate mixtures of compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24, in free form or in salt form, which can be obtained depending on which starting materials and procedures have been chosen can be separated in a known manner into the pure diasteromers or racemates on the basis of the physicochemical differences of the components, for example by fractional crystallization, distillation and/or chromatography. enantiomer mixtures, such as racemates, which can be obtained in a similar manner can be resolved into the optical antipodes by known methods, for example by recrystallization from an optically active solvent, by chromatography on chiral adsorbents, for example high-performance liquid chromatography (hplc) on acetyl celulose, with the aid of suitable microorganisms, by cleavage with specific, immobilized enzymes, via the formation of inclusion compounds, for example using chiral crown ethers, where only one enantiomer is complexed, or by conversion into diastereomeric salts, for example by reacting a basic end-product racemate with an optically active acid, such as a carboxylic acid, for example camphor, tartaric or malic acid, or sulfonic acid, for example camphorsulfonic acid, and separating the diastereomer mixture which can be obtained in this manner, for example by fractional crystallization based on their differing solubilities, to give the diastereomers, from which the desired enantiomer can be set free by the action of suitable agents, for example basic agents. pure diastereomers or enantiomers can be obtained according to the invention not only by separating suitable stereoisomer mixtures, but also by generally known methods of diastereoselective or enantioselective synthesis, for example by carrying out the process according to the invention with starting materials of a suitable stereochemistry. n-oxides can be prepared by reacting a compound according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 with a suitable oxidizing agent, for example the h 2 o 2 /urea adduct in the presence of an acid anhydride, e.g. trifluoroacetic anhydride. such oxidations are known from the literature, for example from j. med. chem., 32 (12), 2561-73, 1989 or wo 00/15615 . it is advantageous to isolate or synthesize in each case the biologically more effective stereoisomer, for example enantiomer or diastereomer, or stereoisomer mixture, for example enantiomer mixture or diastereomer mixture, if the individual components have a different biological activity. the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 and, where appropriate, the tautomers thereof, in each case in free form or in salt form, can, if appropriate, also be obtained in the form of hydrates and/or include other solvents, for example those which may have been used for the crystallization of compounds which are present in solid form. the following examples illustrate, but do not limit, the invention. the compounds of the invention can be distinguished from known compounds by virtue of greater efficacy at low application rates, which can be verified by the person skilled in the art using the experimental procedures outlined in the examples, using lower application rates if necessary, for example 50 ppm, 12.5 ppm, 6 ppm, 3 ppm, 1.5 ppm or 0.8 ppm. the present invention also provides intermediates useful for the preparation of compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24. certain intermediates are novel and as such form a further aspect of the invention. one group of novel intermediates are compounds of formula (ii) wherein z 1 , z 2 , z 3 , z 4 , l, t and w are as defined in any one of embodiments 1 to 24. the preferences for z 1 , z 2 , z 3 , z 4 , l, t and w are the same as the preferences set out for the corresponding substituents of a compound according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24. another group of novel intermediates are compounds of formula (iii) wherein z 1 , z 2 , z 3 , z 4 , l, t and w are as defined in any one of embodiments 1 to 24. the preferences for z 1 , z 2 , z 3 , z 4 , l, t and w are the same as the preferences set out for the corresponding substituents of a compound according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24. "alkyl" is c 1 -c 6 alkyl. another group of novel intermediates are compounds of formula (iv) wherein z 1 , z 2 , z 3 , z 4 , l, t and w are as defined in any one of embodiments 1 to 24 and x is f or cl. the preferences for z 1 , z 2 , z 3 , z 4 , l, t and w are the same as the preferences set out for the corresponding substituents of a compound according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24. the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 are preventively and/or curatively valuable active ingredients in the field of pest control, even at low rates of application, which have a very favorable biocidal spectrum and are well tolerated by warm-blooded species, fish and plants. the active ingredients according to the invention act against all or individual developmental stages of normally sensitive, but also resistant, animal pests, such as insects or representatives of the order acarina. the insecticidal or acaricidal activity of the active ingredients according to the invention can manifest itself directly, i. e. in destruction of the pests, which takes place either immediately or only after some time has elapsed, for example during ecdysis, or indirectly, for example in a reduced oviposition and/or hatching rate. examples of the above mentioned animal pests are: from the order acarina , for example, acalitus spp, aculus spp, acaricalus spp, aceria spp, acarus siro, amblyomma spp., argas spp., boophilus spp., brevipalpus spp., bryobia spp, calipitrimerus spp., chorioptes spp., dermanyssus gallinae, dermatophagoides spp, eotetranychus spp, eriophyes spp., hemitarsonemus spp, hyalomma spp., ixodes spp., olygonychus spp, ornithodoros spp., polyphagotarsone latus, panonychus spp., phyllocoptruta oleivora, phytonemus spp, polyphagotarsonemus spp, psoroptes spp., rhipicephalus spp., rhizoglyphus spp., sarcoptes spp., steneotarsonemus spp, tarsonemus spp. and tetranychus spp.; from the order anoplura , for example, haematopinus spp., linognathus spp., pediculus spp., pemphigus spp. and phylloxera spp.; from the order coleoptera , for example, agriotes spp., amphimallon majale, anomala orientalis, anthonomus spp., aphodius spp, astylus atromaculatus, ataenius spp, atomaria linearis, chaetocnema tibialis, cerotoma spp, conoderus spp, cosmopolites spp., cotinis nitida, curculio spp., cyclocephala spp, dermestes spp., diabrotica spp., diloboderus abderus, epilachna spp., eremnus spp., heteronychus arator, hypothenemus hampei, lagria vilosa, leptinotarsa decemlineata, lissorhoptrus spp., liogenys spp, maecolaspis spp, maladera castanea, megascelis spp, melighetes aeneus, melolontha spp., myochrous armatus, orycaephilus spp., otiorhynchus spp., phyllophaga spp, phlyctinus spp., popillia spp., psylliodes spp., rhyssomatus aubtilis, rhizopertha spp., scarabeidae, sitophilus spp., sitotroga spp., somaticus spp, sphenophorus spp, sternechus subsignatus, tenebrio spp., tribolium spp. and trogoderma spp.; from the order diptera , for example, aedes spp., anopheles spp, antherigona soccata,bactrocea oleae, bibio hortulanus, bradysia spp, calliphora erythrocephala, ceratitis spp., chrysomyia spp., culex spp., cuterebra spp., dacus spp., delia spp, drosophila melanogaster, fannia spp., gastrophilus spp., geomyza tripunctata, glossina spp., hypoderma spp., hyppobosca spp., liriomyza spp., lucilia spp., melanagromyza spp., musca spp., oestrus spp., orseolia spp., oscinella frit, pegomyia hyoscyami, phorbia spp., rhagoletis spp, rivelia quadrifasciata, scatella spp, sciara spp., stomoxys spp., tabanus spp., tannia spp. and tipula spp.; from the order hemiptera , for example, acanthocoris scabrator, acrosternum spp, adelphocoris lineolatus, amblypelta nitida, bathycoelia thalassina, blissus spp, cimex spp., clavigralla tomentosicollis, creontiades spp, distantiella theobroma, dichelops furcatus, dysdercus spp., edessa spp, euchistus spp., eurydema pulchrum, eurygaster spp., halyomorpha halys, horcias nobilellus, leptocorisa spp., lygus spp, margarodes spp, murgantia histrionic, neomegalotomus spp, nesidiocoris tenuis, nezara spp., nysius simulans, oebalus insularis, piesma spp., piezodorus spp, rhodnius spp., sahlbergella singularis, scaptocoris castanea, scotinophara spp. , thyanta spp , triatoma spp., vatiga illudens; acyrthosium pisum, adalges spp, agalliana ensigera, agonoscena targionii, aleurodicus spp, aleurocanthus spp, aleurolobus barodensis, aleurothrixus floccosus, aleyrodes brassicae, amarasca biguttula, amritodus atkinsoni, aonidiella spp., aphididae, aphis spp., aspidiotus spp., aulacorthum solani, bactericera cockerelli, bemisia spp, brachycaudus spp, brevicoryne brassicae, cacopsylla spp, cavariella aegopodii scop., ceroplaster spp., chrysomphalus aonidium, chrysomphalus dictyospermi, cicadella spp, cofana spectra, cryptomyzus spp, cicadulina spp, coccus hesperidum, dalbulus maidis, dialeurodes spp, diaphorina citri, diuraphis noxia, dysaphis spp, empoasca spp., eriosoma larigerum, erythroneura spp., gascardia spp., glycaspis brimblecombei, hyadaphis pseudobrassicae, hyalopterus spp, hyperomyzus pallidus, idioscopus clypealis, jacobiasca lybica, laodelphax spp., lecanium corni, lepidosaphes spp., lopaphis erysimi, lyogenys maidis, macrosiphum spp., mahanarva spp, metcalfa pruinosa, metopolophium dirhodum, myndus crudus, myzus spp., neotoxoptera sp, nephotettix spp., nilaparvata spp., nippolachnus piri mats, odonaspis ruthae, oregma lanigera zehnter, parabemisia myricae, paratrioza cockerelli, parlatoria spp., pemphigus spp., peregrinus maidis, perkinsiella spp, phorodon humuli, phylloxera spp, planococcus spp., pseudaulacaspis spp., pseudococcus spp., pseudatomoscelis seriatus, psylla spp., pulvinaria aethiopica, quadraspidiotus spp., quesada gigas, recilia dorsalis, rhopalosiphum spp., saissetia spp., scaphoideus spp., schizaphis spp., sitobion spp., sogatella furcifera, spissistilus festinus, tarophagus proserpina, toxoptera spp, trialeurodes spp, tridiscus sporoboli, trionymus spp, trioza erytreae , unaspis citri, zygina flammigera, zyginidia scutellaris, ; from the order hymenoptera , for example, acromyrmex, arge spp, atta spp., cephus spp., diprion spp., diprionidae, gilpinia polytoma, hoplo-campa spp., lasius spp., monomorium pharaonis, neodiprion spp., pogonomyrmex spp, slenopsis invicta, solenopsis spp. and vespa spp.; from the order isoptera, for example, coptotermes spp, corniternes cumulans, incisitermes spp, macrotermes spp, mastotermes spp, microtermes spp, reticulitermes spp.; solenopsis geminate from the order lepidoptera , for example, acleris spp., adoxophyes spp., aegeria spp., agrotis spp., alabama argillaceae, amylois spp., anticarsia gemmatalis, archips spp., argyresthia spp, argyrotaenia spp., autographa spp., bucculatrix thurberiella, busseola fusca, cadra cautella, carposina nipponensis, chilo spp., choristoneura spp., chrysoteuchia topiaria, clysia ambiguella, cnaphalocrocis spp., cnephasia spp., cochylis spp., coleophora spp., colias lesbia, cosmophila flava, crambus spp, crocidolomia binotalis, cryptophlebia leucotreta, cydalima perspectalis, cydia spp., diaphania perspectalis, diatraea spp., diparopsis castanea, earias spp., eldana saccharina, ephestia spp., epinotia spp, estigmene acrea, etiella zinckinella, eucosma spp., eupoecilia ambiguella, euproctis spp., euxoa spp., feltia jaculiferia, grapholita spp., hedya nubiferana, heliothis spp., hellula undalis, herpetogramma spp, hyphantria cunea, keiferia lycopersicella, lasmopalpus lignosellus, leucoptera scitella, lithocollethis spp., lobesia botrana, loxostege bifidalis, lymantria spp., lyonetia spp., malacosoma spp., mamestra brassicae, manduca sexta, mythimna spp, noctua spp, operophtera spp., orniodes indica, ostrinia nubilalis, pammene spp., pandemis spp., panolis flammea, papaipema nebris, pectinophora gossypiela, perileucoptera coffeella, pseudaletia unipuncta, phthorimaea operculella, pieris rapae, pieris spp., plutella xylostella, prays spp., pseudoplusia spp, rachiplusia nu, richia albicosta, scirpophaga spp., sesamia spp., sparganothis spp., spodoptera spp., sylepta derogate, synanthedon spp., thaumetopoea spp., tortrix spp., trichoplusia ni, tuta absoluta, and yponomeuta spp.; from the order mallophaga , for example, damalinea spp. and trichodectes spp.; from the order orthoptera , for example, blatta spp., blattella spp., gryllotalpa spp., leucophaea maderae, locusta spp., neocurtilla hexadactyla, periplaneta spp. , scapteriscus spp, and schistocerca spp.; from the order psocoptera , for example, liposcelis spp.; from the order siphonaptera , for example, ceratophyllus spp., ctenocephalides spp. and xenopsylla cheopis; from the order thysanoptera , for example, calliothrips phaseoli, frankliniella spp., heliothrips spp, hercinothrips spp., parthenothrips spp, scirtothrips aurantii, sericothrips variabilis, taeniothrips spp., thrips spp; from the order thysanura, for example, lepisma saccharina. the active ingredients according to the invention can be used for controlling, i. e. containing or destroying, pests of the abovementioned type which occur in particular on plants, especially on useful plants and ornamentals in agriculture, in horticulture and in forests, or on organs, such as fruits, flowers, foliage, stalks, tubers or roots, of such plants, and in some cases even plant organs which are formed at a later point in time remain protected against these pests. suitable target crops are, in particular, cereals, such as wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, maize or sorghum; beet, such as sugar or fodder beet; fruit, for example pomaceous fruit, stone fruit or soft fruit, such as apples, pears, plums, peaches, almonds, cherries or berries, for example strawberries, raspberries or blackberries; leguminous crops, such as beans, lentils, peas or soya; oil crops, such as oilseed rape, mustard, poppies, olives, sunflowers, coconut, castor, cocoa or ground nuts; cucurbits, such as pumpkins, cucumbers or melons; fibre plants, such as cotton, flax, hemp or jute; citrus fruit, such as oranges, lemons, grapefruit or tangerines; vegetables, such as spinach, lettuce, asparagus, cabbages, carrots, onions, tomatoes, potatoes or bell peppers; lauraceae, such as avocado, cinnamonium or camphor; and also tobacco, nuts, coffee, eggplants, sugarcane, tea, pepper, grapevines, hops, the plantain family, latex plants and ornamentals. the active ingredients according to the invention are especially suitable for controlling aphis craccivora, diabrotica balteata, heliothis virescens, myzus persicae, plutella xylostella and spodoptera littoralis in cotton, vegetable, maize, rice and soya crops. the active ingredients according to the invention are further especially suitable for controlling mamestra (preferably in vegetables), cydia pomonella (preferably in apples), empoasca(preferably in vegetables, vineyards), leptinotarsa (preferably in potatos) and chilo supressalis (preferably in rice). in a further aspect, the invention may also relate to a method of controlling damage to plant and parts thereof by plant parasitic nematodes (endoparasitic-, semiendoparasitic- and ectoparasitic nematodes), especially plant parasitic nematodes such as root knot nematodes, meloidogyne hapla, meloidogyne incognita, meloidogyne javanica, meloidogyne arenaria and other meloidogyne species; cyst-forming nematodes, globodera rostochiensis and other globodera species; heterodera avenae, heterodera glycines, heterodera schachtii, heterodera trifolii, and other heterodera species; seed gall nematodes, anguina species; stem and foliar nematodes, aphelenchoides species; sting nematodes, belonolaimus longicaudatus and other belonolaimus species; pine nematodes, bursaphelenchus xylophilus and other bursaphelenchus species; ring nematodes, criconema species, criconemella species, criconemoides species, mesocriconema species; stem and bulb nematodes, ditylenchus destructor, ditylenchus dipsaci and other ditylenchus species; awl nematodes, dolichodorus species; spiral nematodes, heliocotylenchus multicinctus and other helicotylenchus species; sheath and sheathoid nematodes, hemicycliophora species and hemicriconemoides species; hirshmanniella species; lance nematodes, hoploaimus species; false rootknot nematodes, nacobbus species; needle nematodes, longidorus elongatus and other longidorus species; pin nematodes, pratylenchus species; lesion nematodes, pratylenchus neglectus, pratylenchus penetrans, pratylenchus curvitatus, pratylenchus goodeyi and other pratylenchus species; burrowing nematodes, radopholus similis and other radopholus species; reniform nematodes, rotylenchus robustus, rotylenchus reniformis and other rotylenchus species; scutellonema species; stubby root nematodes, trichodorus primitivus and other trichodorus species, paratrichodorus species; stunt nematodes, tylenchorhynchus claytoni, tylenchorhynchus dubius and other tylenchorhynchus species; citrus nematodes, tylenchulus species; dagger nematodes, xiphinema species; and other plant parasitic nematode species, such as subanguina spp., hypsoperine spp., macroposthonia spp., melinius spp., punctodera spp., and quinisulcius spp.. the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 may also have activity against the molluscs. examples of which include, for example, ampullariidae; arion (a. ater, a. circumscriptus, a. hortensis, a. rufus); bradybaenidae (bradybaena fruticum); cepaea (c. hortensis, c. nemoralis); ochlodina; deroceras (d. agrestis, d. empiricorum, d. laeve, d. reticulatum); discus (d. rotundatus); euomphalia; galba (g. trunculata); helicelia (h. itala, h. obvia); helicidae helicigona arbustorum); helicodiscus; helix (h. aperta); limax (l. cinereoniger, l. flavus, l. marginatus, l. maximus, l. tenellus); lymnaea; milax (m. gagates, m. marginatus, m. sowerbyi); opeas; pomacea (p. canaticulata); vallonia and zanitoides. the term "crops" is to be understood as including also crop plants which have been so transformed by the use of recombinant dna techniques that they are capable of synthesising one or more selectively acting toxins, such as are known, for example, from toxin-producing bacteria, especially those of the genus bacillus. toxins that can be expressed by such transgenic plants include, for example, insecticidal proteins, for example insecticidal proteins from bacillus cereus or bacillus popilliae; or insecticidal proteins from bacillus thuringiensis, such as δ-endotoxins, e.g. cry1ab, cry1ac, cry1f, cry1fa2, cry2ab, cry3a, cry3bb1 or cry9c, or vegetative insecticidal proteins (vip), e.g. vip1, vip2, vip3 or vip3a; or insecticidal proteins of bacteria colonising nematodes, for example photorhabdus spp. or xenorhabdus spp., such as photorhabdus luminescens, xenorhabdus nematophilus; toxins produced by animals, such as scorpion toxins, arachnid toxins, wasp toxins and other insect-specific neurotoxins; toxins produced by fungi, such as streptomycetes toxins, plant lectins, such as pea lectins, barley lectins or snowdrop lectins; agglutinins; proteinase inhibitors, such as trypsin inhibitors, serine protease inhibitors, patatin, cystatin, papain inhibitors; ribosome-inactivating proteins (rip), such as ricin, maize-rip, abrin, luffin, saporin or bryodin; steroid metabolism enzymes, such as 3-hydroxysteroidoxidase, ecdysteroid-udp-glycosyl-transferase, cholesterol oxidases, ecdysone inhibitors, hmg-coa-reductase, ion channel blockers, such as blockers of sodium or calcium channels, juvenile hormone esterase, diuretic hormone receptors, stilbene synthase, bibenzyl synthase, chitinases and glucanases. in the context of the present invention there are to be understood by δ-endotoxins, for example cry1ab, cry1ac, cry1f, cry1fa2, cry2ab, cry3a, cry3bb1 or cry9c, or vegetative insecticidal proteins (vip), for example vip1, vip2, vip3 or vip3a, expressly also hybrid toxins, truncated toxins and modified toxins. hybrid toxins are produced recombinantly by a new combination of different domains of those proteins (see, for example, wo 02/15701 ). truncated toxins, for example a truncated cry1ab, are known. in the case of modified toxins, one or more amino acids of the naturally occurring toxin are replaced. in such amino acid replacements, preferably non-naturally present protease recognition sequences are inserted into the toxin, such as, for example, in the case of cry3a055, a cathepsin-g-recognition sequence is inserted into a cry3a toxin (see wo 03/018810 ). examples of such toxins or transgenic plants capable of synthesising such toxins are disclosed, for example, in ep-a-0 374 753 , wo93/07278 , wo95/34656 , ep-a-0 427 529 , ep-a-451 878 and wo 03/052073 . the processes for the preparation of such transgenic plants are generally known to the person skilled in the art and are described, for example, in the publications mentioned above. cryl-type deoxyribonucleic acids and their preparation are known, for example, from wo 95/34656 , ep-a-0 367 474 , ep-a-0 401 979 and wo 90/13651 . the toxin contained in the transgenic plants imparts to the plants tolerance to harmful insects. such insects can occur in any taxonomic group of insects, but are especially commonly found in the beetles (coleoptera), two-winged insects (diptera) and moths (lepidoptera). transgenic plants containing one or more genes that code for an insecticidal resistance and express one or more toxins are known and some of them are commercially available. examples of such plants are: yieldgard® (maize variety that expresses a cry1ab toxin); yieldgard rootworm® (maize variety that expresses a cry3bb1 toxin); yieldgard plus® (maize variety that expresses a cry1ab and a cry3bb1 toxin); starlink® (maize variety that expresses a cry9c toxin); herculex i® (maize variety that expresses a cry1fa2 toxin and the enzyme phosphinothricine n-acetyltransferase (pat) to achieve tolerance to the herbicide glufosinate ammonium); nucotn 33b® (cotton variety that expresses a cry1ac toxin); bollgard i® (cotton variety that expresses a cry1ac toxin); bollgard ii® (cotton variety that expresses a cry1ac and a cry2ab toxin); vipcot® (cotton variety that expresses a vip3a and a cry1ab toxin); newleaf® (potato variety that expresses a cry3a toxin); naturegard®, agrisure® gt advantage (ga21 glyphosate-tolerant trait), agrisure® cb advantage (bt11 corn borer (cb) trait) and protecta®. further examples of such transgenic crops are: 1. bt11 maize from syngenta seeds sas, chemin de i'hobit 27, f-31 790 st. sauveur, france, registration number c/fr/96/05/10. genetically modified zea mays which has been rendered resistant to attack by the european corn borer ( ostrinia nubilalis and sesamia nonagrioides ) by transgenic expression of a truncated cry1ab toxin. bt11 maize also transgenically expresses the enzyme pat to achieve tolerance to the herbicide glufosinate ammonium. 2. bt176 maize from syngenta seeds sas, chemin de i'hobit 27, f-31 790 st. sauveur, france, registration number c/fr/96/05/10. genetically modified zea mays which has been rendered resistant to attack by the european corn borer ( ostrinia nubilalis and sesamia nonagrioides ) by transgenic expression of a cry1ab toxin. bt176 maize also transgenically expresses the enzyme pat to achieve tolerance to the herbicide glufosinate ammonium. 3. mir604 maize from syngenta seeds sas, chemin de i'hobit 27, f-31 790 st. sauveur, france, registration number c/fr/96/05/10. maize which has been rendered insect-resistant by transgenic expression of a modified cry3a toxin. this toxin is cry3a055 modified by insertion of a cathepsin-g-protease recognition sequence. the preparation of such transgenic maize plants is described in wo 03/018810 . 4. mon 863 maize from monsanto europe s.a. 270-272 avenue de tervuren, b-1150 brussels, belgium, registration number c/de/02/9. mon 863 expresses a cry3bb1 toxin and has resistance to certain coleoptera insects. 5. ipc 531 cotton from monsanto europe s.a. 270-272 avenue de tervuren, b-1150 brussels, belgium, registration number c/es/96/02. 6. 1507 maize from pioneer overseas corporation, avenue tedesco, 7 b-1160 brussels, belgium, registration number c/nl/00/10. genetically modified maize for the expression of the protein cry1f for achieving resistance to certain lepidoptera insects and of the pat protein for achieving tolerance to the herbicide glufosinate ammonium. 7. nk603 × mon 810 maize from monsanto europe s.a. 270-272 avenue de tervuren, b-1150 brussels, belgium, registration number c/gb/02/m3/03. consists of conventionally bred hybrid maize varieties by crossing the genetically modified varieties nk603 and mon 810. nk603 × mon 810 maize transgenically expresses the protein cp4 epsps, obtained from agrobacterium sp. strain cp4, which imparts tolerance to the herbicide roundup® (contains glyphosate), and also a cry1ab toxin obtained from bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki which brings about tolerance to certain lepidoptera, include the european corn borer. transgenic crops of insect-resistant plants are also described in bats (zentrum für biosicherheit und nachhaltigkeit, zentrum bats, clarastrasse 13, 4058 basel, switzerland) report 2003, (http://bats.ch ). the term "crops" is to be understood as including also crop plants which have been so transformed by the use of recombinant dna techniques that they are capable of synthesising antipathogenic substances having a selective action, such as, for example, the so-called "pathogenesis-related proteins" (prps, see e.g. ep-a-0 392 225 ). examples of such antipathogenic substances and transgenic plants capable of synthesising such antipathogenic substances are known, for example, from ep-a-0 392 225 , wo95/33818 and ep-a-0 353 191 . the methods of producing such transgenic plants are generally known to the person skilled in the art and are described, for example, in the publications mentioned above. crops may also be modified for enhanced resistance to fungal (for example fusarium, anthracnose, or phytophthora), bacterial (for example pseudomonas) or viral (for example potato leafroll virus, tomato spotted wilt virus, cucumber mosaic virus) pathogens. crops also include those that have enhanced resistance to nematodes, such as the soybean cyst nematode. crops that are tolerant to abiotic stress include those that have enhanced tolerance to drought, high salt, high temperature, chill, frost, or light radiation, for example through expression of nf-yb or other proteins known in the art. antipathogenic substances which can be expressed by such transgenic plants include, for example, ion channel blockers, such as blockers for sodium and calcium channels, for example the viral kp1, kp4 or kp6 toxins; stilbene synthases; bibenzyl synthases; chitinases; glucanases; the so-called "pathogenesis-related proteins" (prps; see e.g. ep-a-0 392 225 ); antipathogenic substances produced by microorganisms, for example peptide antibiotics or heterocyclic antibiotics (see e.g. wo95/33818 ) or protein or polypeptide factors involved in plant pathogen defence (so-called "plant disease resistance genes", as described in wo 03/000906 ). further areas of use of the compositions according to the invention are the protection of stored goods and store rooms and the protection of raw materials, such as wood, textiles, floor coverings or buildings, and also in the hygiene sector, especially the protection of humans, domestic animals and productive livestock against pests of the mentioned type. the present invention also provides a method for controlling pests (such as mosquitoes and other disease vectors; see also http://www.who.int/malaria/vector_control/irs/en/). in one embodiment, the method for controlling pests comprises applying the compositions of the invention to the target pests, to their locus or to a surface or substrate by brushing, rolling, spraying, spreading or dipping. by way of example, an irs (indoor residual spraying) application of a surface such as a wall, ceiling or floor surface is contemplated by the method of the invention. in another embodiment, it is contemplated to apply such compositions to a substrate such as non-woven or a fabric material in the form of (or which can be used in the manufacture of) netting, clothing, bedding, curtains and tents. in another embodiment, the method for controlling such pests comprises applying a pesticidally effective amount of the compositions of the invention to the target pests, to their locus, or to a surface or substrate so as to provide effective residual pesticidal activity on the surface or substrate. such application may be made by brushing, rolling, spraying, spreading or dipping the pesticidal composition of the invention. by way of example, an irs application of a surface such as a wall, ceiling or floor surface is contemplated by the method of the invention so as to provide effective residual pesticidal activity on the surface. in another embodiment, it is contemplated to apply such compositions for residual control of pests on a substrate such as a fabric material in the form of (or which can be used in the manufacture of) netting, clothing, bedding, curtains and tents. substrates including non-woven, fabrics or netting to be treated may be made of natural fibres such as cotton, raffia, jute, flax, sisal, hessian, or wool, or synthetic fibres such as polyamide, polyester, polypropylene, polyacrylonitrile or the like. the polyesters are particularly suitable. the methods of textile treatment are known, e.g. wo 2008/151984 , wo 2003/034823 , us 5631072 , wo 2005/64072 , wo2006/128870 , ep 1724392 , wo2005113886 or wo 2007/090739 . further areas of use of the compositions according to the invention are the field of tree injection/trunk treatment for all ornamental trees as well all sort of fruit and nut trees. in the field of tree injection/trunk treatment, the compounds according to the present invention are especially suitable against wood-boring insects from the order lepidoptera as mentioned above and from the order coleoptera , especially against woodborers listed in the following tables a and b: table-tabl0002 table a. examples of exotic woodborers of economic importance. family species host or crop infested buprestidae agrilus planipennis ash cerambycidae anoplura glabripennis hardwoods xylosandrus crassiusculus hardwoods scolytidae x. mutilatus hardwoods tomicus piniperda conifers table-tabl0003 table b. examples of native woodborers of economic importance. family species host or crop infested agrilus anxius birch agrilus politus willow, maple agrilus sayi bayberry, sweetfern agrilus vittaticolllis apple, pear, cranberry, serviceberry, hawthorn buprestidae chrysobothris femorata apple, apricot, beech, boxelder, cherry, chestnut, currant, elm, hawthorn, hackberry, hickory, horsechestnut, linden, maple, mountain-ash, oak, pecan, pear, peach, persimmon, plum, poplar, quince, redbud, serviceberry, sycamore, walnut, willow family species host or crop infested texania campestris basswood, beech, maple, oak, sycamore, willow, yellow-poplar goes pulverulentus beech, elm, nuttall, willow, black oak, cherrybark oak, water oak, sycamore goes tigrinus oak neoclytus acuminatus ash, hickory, oak, walnut, birch, beech, maple, eastern hophornbeam, dogwood, persimmon, redbud, holly, hackberry, black locust, honeylocust, yellow-poplar, chestnut, osage-orange, sassafras, lilac, mountain-mahogany, pear, cherry, plum, peach, apple, elm, basswood, sweetgum cerambycidae neoptychodes trilineatus fig, alder, mulberry, willow, netleaf hackberry oberea ocellata sumac, apple, peach, plum, pear, currant, blackberry oberea tripunctata dogwood, viburnum, elm, sourwood, blueberry, rhododendron, azalea, laurel, poplar, willow, mulberry oncideres cingulata hickory, pecan, persimmon, elm, sourwood, basswood, honeylocust, dogwood, eucalyptus, oak, hackberry, maple, fruit trees saperda calcarata poplar strophiona nitens chestnut, oak, hickory, walnut, beech, maple corthylus columbianus maple, oak, yellow-poplar, beech, scolytidae boxelder, sycamore, birch, basswood, chestnut, elm dendroctonus frontalis pine family species host or crop infested dryocoetes betulae birch, sweetgum, wild cherry, beech, pear monarthrum fasciatum oak, maple, birch, chestnut, sweetgum, blackgum, poplar, hickory, mimosa, apple, peach, pine phloeotribus liminaris peach, cherry, plum, black cherry, elm, mulberry, mountain-ash pseudopityophthorus pruinosus oak, american beech, black cherry, chickasaw plum, chestnut, maple, hickory, hornbeam, hophornbeam paranthrene simulans oak, american chestnut sannina uroceriformis persimmon synanthedon exitiosa peach, plum, nectarine, cherry, apricot, almond, black cherry synanthedon pictipes peach, plum, cherry, beach, black cherry sesiidae synanthedon rubrofascia tupelo synanthedon scitula dogwood, pecan, hickory, oak, chestnut, beech, birch, black cherry, elm, mountain-ash, viburnum, willow, apple, loquat, ninebark, bayberry vitacea polistiformis grape in the hygiene sector, the compositions according to the invention are active against ectoparasites such as hard ticks, soft ticks, mange mites, harvest mites, flies (biting and licking), parasitic fly larvae, lice, hair lice, bird lice and fleas. examples of such parasites are: of the order anoplurida: haematopinus spp., linognathus spp., pediculus spp. and phtirus spp., solenopotes spp.. of the order mallophagida: trimenopon spp., menopon spp., trinoton spp., bovicola spp., werneckiella spp., lepikentron spp., damalina spp., trichodectes spp. and felicola spp.. of the order diptera and the suborders nematocerina and brachycerina, for example aedes spp., anopheles spp., culex spp., simulium spp., eusimulium spp., phlebotomus spp., lutzomyia spp., culicoides spp., chrysops spp., hybomitra spp., atylotus spp., tabanus spp., haematopota spp., philipomyia spp., braula spp., musca spp., hydrotaea spp., stomoxys spp., haematobia spp., morellia spp., fannia spp., glossina spp., calliphora spp., lucilia spp., chrysomyia spp., wohlfahrtia spp., sarcophaga spp., oestrus spp., hypoderma spp., gasterophilus spp., hippobosca spp., lipoptena spp. and melophagus spp.. of the order siphonapterida, for example pulex spp., ctenocephalides spp., xenopsylla spp., ceratophyllus spp.. of the order heteropterida, for example cimex spp., triatoma spp., rhodnius spp., panstrongylus spp.. of the order blattarida, for example blatta orientalis, periplaneta americana, blattelagermanica and supella spp.. of the subclass acaria (acarida) and the orders meta- and meso-stigmata, for example argas spp., ornithodorus spp., otobius spp., ixodes spp., amblyomma spp., boophilus spp., dermacentor spp., haemophysalis spp., hyalomma spp., rhipicephalus spp., dermanyssus spp., raillietia spp., pneumonyssus spp., sternostoma spp. and varroa spp.. of the orders actinedida (prostigmata) and acaridida (astigmata), for example acarapis spp., cheyletiella spp., ornithocheyletia spp., myobia spp., psorergatesspp., demodex spp., trombicula spp., listrophorus spp., acarus spp., tyrophagus spp., caloglyphus spp., hypodectes spp., pterolichus spp., psoroptes spp., chorioptes spp., otodectes spp., sarcoptes spp., notoedres spp., knemidocoptes spp., cytodites spp. and laminosioptes spp.. the compositions according to the invention are also suitable for protecting against insect infestation in the case of materials such as wood, textiles, plastics, adhesives, glues, paints, paper and card, leather, floor coverings and buildings. the compositions according to the invention can be used, for example, against the following pests: beetles such as hylotrupes bajulus, chlorophorus pilosis, anobium punctatum, xestobium rufovillosum, ptilinuspecticornis, dendrobium pertinex, ernobius mollis, priobium carpini, lyctus brunneus, lyctus africanus, lyctus planicollis, lyctus linearis, lyctus pubescens, trogoxylon aequale, minthesrugicollis, xyleborus spec.,tryptodendron spec., apate monachus, bostrychus capucins, heterobostrychus brunneus, sinoxylon spec. and dinoderus minutus, and also hymenopterans such as sirex juvencus, urocerus gigas, urocerus gigas taignus and urocerus augur, and termites such as kalotermes flavicollis, cryptotermes brevis, heterotermes indicola, reticulitermes flavipes, reticulitermes santonensis, reticulitermes lucifugus, mastotermes darwiniensis, zootermopsis nevadensis and coptotermes formosanus, and bristletails such as lepisma saccharina. in one aspect, the invention therefore also relates to pesticidal compositions such as emulsifiable concentrates, suspension concentrates, microemulsions, oil dispersibles, directly sprayable or dilutable solutions, spreadable pastes, dilute emulsions, soluble powders, dispersible powders, wettable powders, dusts, granules or encapsulations in polymeric substances, which comprise - at least - one of the active ingredients according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 and which are to be selected to suit the intended aims and the prevailing circumstances. in these compositions, the active ingredient is employed in pure form, a solid active ingredient for example in a specific particle size, or, preferably, together with at least one of the auxiliaries conventionally used in the art of formulation, such as extenders, for example solvents or solid carriers, or such as surface-active compounds (surfactants). examples of suitable solvents are: unhydrogenated or partially hydrogenated aromatic hydrocarbons, preferably the fractions c 8 to c 12 of alkylbenzenes, such as xylene mixtures, alkylated naphthalenes or tetrahydronaphthalene, aliphatic or cycloaliphatic hydrocarbons, such as paraffins or cyclohexane, alcohols such as ethanol, propanol or butanol, glycols and their ethers and esters such as propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol ether, ethylene glycol or ethylene glycol monomethyl ether or ethylene glycol monoethyl ether, ketones, such as cyclohexanone, isophorone or diacetone alcohol, strongly polar solvents, such as n-methylpyrrolid-2-one, dimethyl sulfoxide or n,n-dimethylformamide, water, unepoxidized or epoxidized vegetable oils, such as unexpodized or epoxidized rapeseed, castor, coconut or soya oil, and silicone oils. solid carriers which are used for example for dusts and dispersible powders are, as a rule, ground natural minerals such as calcite, talc, kaolin, montmorillonite or attapulgite. to improve the physical properties, it is also possible to add highly disperse silicas or highly disperse absorbtive polymers. suitable adsorptive carriers for granules are porous types, such as pumice, brick grit, sepiolite or bentonite, and suitable non-sorptive carrier materials are calcite or sand. in addition, a large number of granulated materials of inorganic or organic nature can be used, in particular dolomite or comminuted plant residues. suitable surface-active compounds are, depending on the type of the active ingredient to be formulated, non-ionic, cationic and/or anionic surfactants or surfactant mixtures which have good emulsifying, dispersing and wetting properties. the surfactants mentioned below are only to be considered as examples; a large number of further surfactants which are conventionally used in the art of formulation and suitable according to the invention are described in the relevant literature. suitable non-ionic surfactants are, especially, polyglycol ether derivatives of aliphatic or cycloaliphatic alcohols, of saturated or unsaturated fatty acids or of alkyl phenols which may contain approximately 3 to approximately 30 glycol ether groups and approximately 8 to approximately 20 carbon atoms in the (cyclo)aliphatic hydrocarbon radical or approximately 6 to approximately 18 carbon atoms in the alkyl moiety of the alkyl phenols. also suitable are water-soluble polyethylene oxide adducts with polypropylene glycol, ethylenediaminopolypropylene glycol or alkyl polypropylene glycol having 1 to approximately 10 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain and approximately 20 to approximately 250 ethylene glycol ether groups and approximately 10 to approximately 100 propylene glycol ether groups. normally, the abovementioned compounds contain 1 to approximately 5 ethylene glycol units per propylene glycol unit. examples which may be mentioned are nonylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol, castor oil polyglycol ether, polypropylene glycol/polyethylene oxide adducts, tributylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol, polyethylene glycol or octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol. also suitable are fatty acid esters of polyoxyethylene sorbitan, such as polyoxyethylene sorbitan trioleate. the cationic surfactants are, especially, quarternary ammonium salts which generally have at least one alkyl radical of approximately 8 to approximately 22 c atoms as substituents and as further substituents (unhalogenated or halogenated) lower alkyl or hydroxyalkyl or benzyl radicals. the salts are preferably in the form of halides, methylsulfates or ethylsulfates. examples are stearyltrimethylammonium chloride and benzylbis(2-chloroethyl)ethylammonium bromide. examples of suitable anionic surfactants are water-soluble soaps or water-soluble synthetic surface-active compounds. examples of suitable soaps are the alkali, alkaline earth or (unsubstituted or substituted) ammonium salts of fatty acids having approximately 10 to approximately 22 c atoms, such as the sodium or potassium salts of oleic or stearic acid, or of natural fatty acid mixtures which are obtainable for example from coconut or tall oil; mention must also be made of the fatty acid methyl taurates. however, synthetic surfactants are used more frequently, in particular fatty sulfonates, fatty sulfates, sulfonated benzimidazole derivatives or alkylaryl sulfonates. as a rule, the fatty sulfonates and fatty sulfates are present as alkali, alkaline earth or (substituted or unsubstituted) ammonium salts and they generally have an alkyl radical of approximately 8 to approximately 22 c atoms, alkyl also to be understood as including the alkyl moiety of acyl radicals; examples which may be mentioned are the sodium or calcium salts of lignosulfonic acid, of the dodecylsulfuric ester or of a fatty alcohol sulfate mixture prepared from natural fatty acids. this group also includes the salts of the sulfuric esters and sulfonic acids of fatty alcohol/ethylene oxide adducts. the sulfonated benzimidazole derivatives preferably contain 2 sulfonyl groups and a fatty acid radical of approximately 8 to approximately 22 c atoms. examples of alkylarylsulfonates are the sodium, calcium or triethanolammonium salts of decylbenzenesulfonic acid, of dibutylnaphthalenesulfonic acid or of a naphthalenesulfonic acid/formaldehyde condensate. also possible are, furthermore, suitable phosphates, such as salts of the phosphoric ester of a p-nonylphenol/(4-14)ethylene oxide adduct, or phospholipids. as a rule, the compositions comprise 0.1 to 99%, especially 0.1 to 95%, of active ingredient and 1 to 99.9%, especially 5 to 99.9%, of at least one solid or liquid adjuvant, it being possible as a rule for 0 to 25%, especially 0.1 to 20%, of the composition to be surfactants(% in each case meaning percent by weight). whereas concentrated compositions tend to be preferred for commercial goods, the end consumer as a rule uses dilute compositions which have substantially lower concentrations of active ingredient. typically, a pre-mix formulation for foliar application comprises 0.1 to 99.9 %, especially 1 to 95 %, of the desired ingredients, and 99.9 to 0.1 %, especially 99 to 5 %, of a solid or liquid adjuvant (including, for example, a solvent such as water), where the auxiliaries can be a surfactant in an amount of 0 to 50 %, especially 0.5 to 40 %, based on the pre-mix formulation. normally, a tank-mix formulation for seed treatment application comprises 0.25 to 80%, especially 1 to 75 %, of the desired ingredients, and 99.75 to 20 %, especially 99 to 25 %, of a solid or liquid auxiliaries (including, for example, a solvent such as water), where the auxiliaries can be a surfactant in an amount of 0 to 40 %, especially 0.5 to 30 %, based on the tank-mix formulation. typically, a pre-mix formulation for seed treatment application comprises 0.5 to 99.9 %, especially 1 to 95 %, of the desired ingredients, and 99.5 to 0.1 %, especially 99 to 5 %, of a solid or liquid adjuvant (including, for example, a solvent such as water), where the auxiliaries can be a surfactant in an amount of 0 to 50 %, especially 0.5 to 40 %, based on the pre-mix formulation. whereas commercial products will preferably be formulated as concentrates (e.g., pre-mix composition (formulation)), the end user will normally employ dilute formulations (e.g., tank mix composition). preferred seed treatment pre-mix formulations are aqueous suspension concentrates. the formulation can be applied to the seeds using conventional treating techniques and machines, such as fluidized bed techniques, the roller mill method, rotostatic seed treaters, and drum coaters. other methods, such as spouted beds may also be useful. the seeds may be presized before coating. after coating, the seeds are typically dried and then transferred to a sizing machine for sizing. such procedures are known in the art. in general, the pre-mix compositions of the invention contain 0.5 to 99.9 especially 1 to 95, advantageously 1 to 50 %, by mass of the desired ingredients, and 99.5 to 0.1, especially 99 to 5 %, by mass of a solid or liquid adjuvant (including, for example, a solvent such as water), where the auxiliaries (or adjuvant) can be a surfactant in an amount of 0 to 50, especially 0.5 to 40 %, by mass based on the mass of the pre-mix formulation. examples of foliar formulation types for pre-mix compositions are: gr: granules wp: wettable powders wg: water dispersable granules (powders) sg: water soluble granules sl: soluble concentrates ec: emulsifiable concentrate ew: emulsions, oil in water me: micro-emulsion sc: aqueous suspension concentrate cs: aqueous capsule suspension od: oil-based suspension concentrate, and se: aqueous suspo-emulsion. whereas, examples of seed treatment formulation types for pre-mix compositions are: ws: wettable powders for seed treatment slurry ls: solution for seed treatment es: emulsions for seed treatment fs: suspension concentrate for seed treatment wg: water dispersible granules, and cs: aqueous capsule suspension. examples of formulation types suitable for tank-mix compositions are solutions, dilute emulsions, suspensions, or a mixture thereof, and dusts. preferred compositions are composed in particular as follows (% = percent by weight): table-tabl0004 emulsifiable concentrates: active ingredient: 1 to 95%, preferably 5 to 20% surfactant: 1 to 30%, preferably 10 to 20 % solvent: 5 to 98%, preferably 70 to 85% table-tabl0005 dusts: active ingredient: 0.1 to 10%, preferably 0.1 to 1% solid carrier: 99.9 to 90%, preferably 99.9 to 99% table-tabl0006 suspension concentrates: active ingredient: 5 to 75%, preferably 10 to 50% water: 94 to 24%, preferably 88 to 30% surfactant: 1 to 40%, preferably 2 to 30% table-tabl0007 wettable powders: active ingredient: 0.5 to 90%, preferably 1 to 80% surfactant: 0.5 to 20%, preferably 1 to 15% solid carrier: 5 to 99%, preferably 15 to 98% table-tabl0008 granulates: active ingredient: 0.5 to 30%, preferably 3 to 15% solid carrier: 99.5 to 70%, preferably 97 to 85% examples: the following compounds according to embodiment 1 may be prepared according to the methods described herein or according to known methods. experimental the following examples are intended to illustrate the invention and are not to be construed as being limitations thereon. mp means melting point in °c. 1 h nmr measurements were recorded on a brucker 400mhz spectrometer, chemical shifts are given in ppm relevant to a tms standard. spectra measured in deuterated solvents as indicated. lc ms method a: standard: spectra were recorded on a mass spectrometer from waters (sqd or zq single quadrupole mass spectrometer) equipped with an electrospray source (polarity: positive or negative ions, capillary: 3.00 kv, cone range: 30-60 v, extractor: 2.00 v, source temperature: 150 °c, desolvation temperature: 350 °c, cone gas flow: 0 l/hr, desolvation gas flow: 650 l/hr, mass range: 100 to 900 da) and an acquity uplc from waters: binary pump, heated column compartment and diode-array detector. solvent degasser, binary pump, heated column compartment and diode-array detector. column: waters uplc hss t3 , 1.8 µm, 30 x 2.1 mm, temp: 60 °c, dad wavelength range (nm): 210 to 500, solvent gradient: a = water + 5% meoh + 0.05 % hcooh, b= acetonitrile + 0.05 % hcooh: gradient: gradient: 0 min 0% b, 100%a; 1.2-1.5min 100% b; flow (ml/min) 0.85. lc ms method b: standard long: spectra were recorded on a mass spectrometer from waters (sqd or zq single quadrupole mass spectrometer) equipped with an electrospray source (polarity: positive or negative ions, capillary: 3.00 kv, cone range: 30-60 v, extractor: 2.00 v, source temperature: 150 °c, desolvation temperature: 350 °c, cone gas flow: 0 l/hr, desolvation gas flow: 650 l/hr, mass range: 100 to 900 da) and an acquity uplc from waters: binary pump, heated column compartment and diode-array detector. solvent degasser, binary pump, heated column compartment and diode-array detector. column: waters uplc hss t3, 1.8 µm, 30 x 2.1 mm, temp: 60 °c, dad wavelength range (nm): 210 to 500, solvent gradient: a = water + 5% meoh + 0.05 % hcooh, b= acetonitrile + 0.05% hcooh: gradient: gradient: 0 min 0% b, 100% a; 2.7-3.0min 100% b; flow (ml/min) 0.85. lc ms method c: unpolar: spectra were recorded on a mass spectrometer from waters (sqd or zq single quadrupole mass spectrometer) equipped with an electrospray source (polarity: positive or negative ions, capillary: 3.00 kv, cone range: 30-60 v, extractor: 2.00 v, source temperature: 150 °c, desolvation temperature: 350 °c, cone gas flow: 0 l/hr, desolvation gas flow: 650 l/hr, mass range: 100 to 900 da) and an acquity uplc from waters: binary pump, heated column compartment and diode-array detector. solvent degasser, binary pump, heated column compartment and diode-array detector. column: waters uplc hss t3, 1.8 □m, 30 x 2.1 mm, temp: 60 °c, dad wavelength range (nm): 210 to 500, solvent gradient: a = water + 5% meoh + 0.05% hcooh, b= acetonitrile + 0.05% hcooh: gradient: gradient: 0 min 40% b, 60% a; 1.2-1.5 min 100% b; flow (ml/min) 0.85. lc ms method d acquity sqd mass spectrometer from waters (single quadrupole mass spectrometer) lonisation method: electrospray polarity: positive ions capillary (kv) 3.00, cone (v) 60.00, extractor (v) 3.00, source temperature (°c) 150, desolvation temperature (°c) 400, cone gas flow (l/hr) 60, desolvation gas flow (l/hr) 700 mass range: 100 to 800 da dad wavelength range (nm): 210 to 400 method waters acquity uplc with the following hplc gradient conditions (solvent a: water/methanol 9:1,0.1 % formic acid and solvent b: acetonitrile,0.1 % formic acid) table-tabl0009 time (minutes) a (%) b (%) flow rate (ml/min) 0 100 0 0.75 2.5 0 100 0.75 2.8 0 100 0.75 3.0 100 0 0.75 type of column: waters acquity uplc hss t3; column length: 30 mm; internal diameter of column: 2.1 mm; particle size: 1.8 micron; temperature: 60°c. example 1: 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide a) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate to a stirred mixture of methyl 2-chloro-5-(1h-pyrazol-4-yl)benzoate (3.59 g, 15.2 mmol, may be prepared as described in wo2017/108569 ), 1-methylpyrrole (3.1 g, 38.0 mmol), sodium bicarbonate (1.27 g, 15.2 mmol), acetonitrile (25 g) and water (10 g) was added sodium hypochlorite 12% solution (28.3 g, 45.6 mmol) dropwise within 30 min while keeping the temperature at 30-35°c. after the addition was completed, the mixture was stirred for 30 min at 30°c. the reaction mixture was diluted with tbme (30 ml). the organic phase was separated and evaporated to give the crude product which was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 5 to 20%). 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.55 (s, 3 h), 3.97 (s, 3 h), 6.16 (m, 1h), 6.22 (m, 1h), 6.63 (dd, j =2.9, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.48 (d, j =8.3 hz, 1h), 7.57 (dd, j =8.3, 2.4 hz, 1h), 7.86 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h), 7.98 (d, j =2.5 hz, 1h), 8.01 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.05 min, m/z = 316 [m+1]. b) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethymethyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate to a stirred mixture of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (0.52 g, 1.65 mmol), 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoro-2-iodo-propane (0.55 g, 1.86 mmol), iron(ii) sulfate heptahydrate (0.092 g, 0.33 mmol) and dimethyl sulfoxide (3.0 g) was added 30% hydrogen peroxide solution (0.37 g, 3.3 mmol) dropwise within 10 min while keeping the temperature at 55-60°c. the mixture was kept at 60°c for 5 min and then allowed to cool slowly to room temperature. the reaction mixture was diluted with water (10 g) and extracted twice with cyclohexane (10 + 5 ml). the combined extract was washed with water (5 ml), dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated to give the title compound as a yellow solid. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.56 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3 h), 3.98 (s, 3 h), 6.33 (dd, j =4.2, 1.4 hz, 1 h), 6.58 (m, 1h), 7.50 (d, j =8.3 hz, 1h), 7.58 (dd, j =8.3, 2.4 hz, 1h), 7.90 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h), 7.99 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.06 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.17 (s, 1f), -75.31 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.26 min, m/z = 484 [m+1]. c) preparation of 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoic acid to a stirred solution of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (0.10 g, 0.207 mmol) in a mixtue of tetrahydrofurane (3.3 ml) and water (0.8 ml) was added lithium hydroxide monohydrate (0.017 g, 0.41 mmol). the mixture was heated to 40°c for 4 h. the reactiom mixture was acidified with 1n hcl and the product was extracted with ethyl acetate. the organic extract was washed with water than with brine, dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated to result in a solid material. lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.13 min, m/z =468 [m-1], 470[m+1]. d) preparation of 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide to a stirred solution of 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoic acid (0.097 g, 0.207 mmol) in dry dichloromethane (2.0 ml) one drop of dry dimethylformamide was added followed by the addition of oxalyl chloride (0.053 g, 0.41 mmol) at room temperature. the reaction mixture was stirred for 30 min at room temperature and then for 10 min at 40 °c. after cooling down to room temperature, the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness. the remaining acid chloride was dissolved in dry pyridine (2.0 ml) followed by the addition of 1-amino-1-cyano-cyclopropane hydrochloride (0.037 g, 0.31 mmol). the reaction mixture was stirred for 1 h at room temperature. the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness and the crude product was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 40%) to afford a yellow solid. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.43 (m, 2 h), 1.71 (m, 2h), 3.57 (d, j =3.4 hz, 3h), 6.33 (dd, j =4.3, 1.5 hz, 1h), 6.58 (m, 1h), 6.89 (s, 1h), 7.45 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.57 (dd, j =8.3, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.92 (s, 1h), 7.96 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.07 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.19 (s, 1f), -75.26 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.12 min, m/z =532 [m-1], 534 [m+1]. example 2: 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazo]-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide a) preparation of methyl 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate a mixture of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (0.72 g, 1.5 mmol), n-bromosuccinimide (0.28 g, 1.6 mmol) and glacial acetic acid (12 ml) was stirred for 30 min at room temperature. the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness and the remaining residue was purified by flash chromatography. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.55 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3 h), 3.98 (s, 3 h), 6.64 (s, 1h), 7.52 (d, j =8.3 hz, 1h), 7.60 (dd, j =8.3, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.96 (s, 1h), 8.01 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.12 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.02 (s, 1f), -75.30 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.29 min, m/z =562 [m-1], 564 [m+1]. b) preparation of 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoic acid to a stirred solution of methyl 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate (0.10 g, 0.178 mmol) in a mixtue of tetrahydrofurane (3.3 ml) and water (0.8 ml) was added lithium hydroxide monohydrate (0.015 g, 0.36 mmol). the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 18 h. the reactiom mixture was acidified with 1n hci and the product was extracted with ethyl acetate. the organic extract was washed with water than with brine, dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated to result in a solid. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.56 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3 h), 6.65 (m, 1h), 7.55 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.66 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.97 (s, 1h), 8.14 (s, 1h), 8.17 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.02 (s, 1f), -75.32 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.16 min, m/z =548 [m-1], 550 [m+1]. c) 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2 chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide to a stirred solution of 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoic acid (0.090 g, 0.164 mmol) in dry dichloromethane (2.0 ml) one drop of dry dimethylformamide was added followed by the addition of oxalyl chloride (0.043 g, 0.33 mmol) at room temperature. the reaction mixture was stirred for 30 min at room temperature and then for 10 min at 40 °c. after cooling down to room temperature, the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness. the remaining acid chloride was dissolved in dry pyridine (2.0 ml) followed by the addition of 1-amino-1-cyano-cyclopropane hydrochloride (0.029 g, 0.25 mmol). the reaction mixture was stirred for 1 h at room temperature. the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness and the crude product was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 40%) to afford a yellow solid. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.43 (m, 2 h), 1.72 (m, 2h), 3.55 (d, j =3.4 hz, 3h), 6.64 (s, 1h), 6.89 (s, 1h), 7.45 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.59 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.97 (s, 1h), 7.98 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.12 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.00 (s, 1f), -75.29 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.16 min, m/z =612 [m-1], 614 [m+1]. example 3: 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methvl-5-[1.2.2.2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pvrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-cyclopropyl-benzamide to a stirred solution of 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoic acid (0.050 g, 0.091 mmol) in dry dichloromethane (1.0 ml) one drop of dry dimethylformamide was added followed by the addition of oxalyl chloride (0.024 g, 0.18 mmol) at room temperature. the reaction mixture was stirred for 30 min at room temperature and then for 10 min at 40 °c. after cooling down to room temperature, the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness. the remaining acid chloride was dissolved in dry pyridine (1.0 ml) followed by the addition of cyclopropanamine (0.016 g, 0.27 mmol). the reaction mixture was stirred for 1 h at room temperature. the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness and the crude product was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 30%) to afford a white solid. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 0.69 (m, 2h), 0.92 (m, 2h), 2.97 (m, 1 h), 3.55 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3h), 6.38 (br s, 1h), 6.64 (s, 1h), 7.43 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.53 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.88 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 7.93 (s, 1h), 8.10 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.91 (s, 1f), -75.32 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.17 min, m/z =585 [m-1], 587 [m+1]. example 4: 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-cyclopropyl-n-methyl-benzamide to a stirred solution of 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoic acid (0.070 g, 0.128 mmol) in dry dichloromethane (1.3 ml) one drop of dry dimethylformamide was added followed by the addition of oxalyl chloride (0.033 g, 0.26 mmol) at room temperature. the reaction mixture was stirred for 30 min at room temperature and then for 10 min at 40 °c. after cooling down to room temperature, the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness. the remaining acid chloride was dissolved in dry pyridine (1.3 ml) followed by the addition of n-methylcyclopropanamine hydrochloride (0.027 g, 0.25 mmol). the reaction mixture was stirred for 1 h at room temperature. the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness and the crude product was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 30%) to afford a white solid. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 0.55 (m, 2h), 0.87 (m, 2h), 2.80 (m, 1 h), 3.16 (s, 3h), 3.55 (d, j=3.6 hz, 3h), 6.64 (s, 1h), 7.41 - 7.53 (m, 3 h), 7.90 (s, 1h), 8.08 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.93 (s, 1f), -75.32 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.24 min, m/z = 601 [m+1]. example 5: 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[3-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]isoxazol-5-yl]benzamide a) preparation of 1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrole-2-carbaldehyde to a stirred mixture of 1-methylpyrrole-2-carbaldehyde (3.27 g, 30.0 mmol), 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoro-2-iodo-propane (6.00 g, 20.3 mmol), iron(ii) sulfate heptahydrate (1.11 g, 4.0 mmol) and dimethyl sulfoxide (40.0 g) was added 30% hydrogen peroxide solution (4.54 g, 40.0 mmol) dropwise within 15 min while keeping the temperature at 55-60°c. the mixture was kept at 60°c for 5 min and then allowed to cool slowly to room temperature. the reaction mixture was diluted with water (120 ml) and extracted twice with pentane. the combined extract was washed with water, dried over mgso4 and evaporated to afford the crude product which was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 10%). 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 4.14 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3 h), 6.60 (m, 1h), 6.95 (dd, j =4.5, 1.5 hz, 1h), 9.67 (s, 1h). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.08, no molecular ion peaks b) preparation of 1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyllpyrrole-2-carbaldehyde oxime to a stirred solution of 1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrole-2-carbaldehyde (0.50 g, 1.8 mmol) in anhydrous ethanol (2.7 ml) was added hydroxylamine 50% solution in water (0.14 g, 2.2 mmol). the reaction mixture was heated to 60°c for 30 min and then it was evaporated to dryness to afford the crude product which was used as is in the next step. lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.00, 1.02 (cis/trans mixture), m/z =291 [m-1], 293 [m+1]. c) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[3-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrro1-2-yl]isoxazol-5-yl]benzoate to a stirred mixture of 1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrole-2-carbaldehyde oxime (0.49 g, 1.7 mmol), methyl 2-chloro-5-ethynyl-benzoate (0.39 g, 2.0 mmol), triethylamine (0.26 g, 2.5 mmol) and dichloromethane (3.4 ml) was added sodium hypochlorite 12% solution (4.0 g, 6.4 mmol) at 0°c. the reaction mixture was stirred for 1 h at room temperture. the reaction mixture was diluted with water and extracted with dichloromethane. the extract was consecutively washed with water and brine, dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated. the crude product was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 10%) to afford the title compound as a yellow solid. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 4.00 (s, 3h), 4.10 (d, j =3.3 hz, 3h), 6.62 (m, 2h), 6.76 (s, 1h), 7.61 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.88 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 8.29 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -178.61 (s, 1f), -75.10 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.33 min, m/z =485 [m+1]. d) preparation of 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[3-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]isoxazol-5-yl]benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.45 (m, 2h), 1.72 (m, 2h), 4.10 (d, j =3.1 hz, 3h), 6.63 (m, 2h), 6.80 (s, 1h), 6.87 (s, 1h), 7.57 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.90 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 8.19 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -178.63 (s, 1f), -75.08 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.18 min, m/z =533 [m-1], 535 [m+1]. example 6: 5-[3-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyllpyrrol-2-yllisoxazol-5 yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide a) preparation of methyl 5-[3-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]isoxazol-5-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate a mixture of methyl 2-chloro-5-[3-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]isoxazol-5-yl]benzoate (0.050 g, 0.103 mmol), n-bromosuccinimide (0.019 g, 0.108 mmol) and glacial acetic acid (1.0 ml) was stirred for 1 h at room temperature. the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness and the remaining crude product was used in the next step without purification. lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.36 min, m/z = 563 [m+1]. b) preparation of 5-[3-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]isoxazol-5-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.45 (m, 2h), 1.73 (m, 2h), 3.95 (d, j =3.5 hz, 3h), 6.70 (s, 1h), 6.88 (s, 1h), 7.10 (s, 1h), 7.58 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.92 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 8.22 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.25 (s, 1f), -75.16 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.21 min, m/z = 611 [m-1], 613 [m+1]. example 7: 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1-methyl-3-nitro-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide a) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-3-nitro-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate to a stirred solution of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (0.10 g, 0.21 mmol) in acetic anhydride (1.1 g) was added 99% nitric acid (0.026 g, 0.41 mmol) at room tmperature. the reaction mixture was stirred for 1 h at room temperature and then it was poured into cold water (5 ml). the product was extracted with tbme, the extract was dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated to afford the title compound. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.61 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3 h), 3.98 (s, 3 h), 7.26 (s, 1h), 7.52 (d, j =8.2 hz, 1h), 7.60 (m, 1h), 8.03 (m, 1h), 8.05 (s, 1h), 8.18 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.91 (s, 1f), -75.20 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.21 min, m/z =527 [m-1], 529 [m+1]. b) preparation of 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1-methyl-3-nitro-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.44 (m, 2 h), 1.71 (m, 2h), 3.61 (d, j =4.0 hz, 3h), 6.92 (s, 1h), 7.26 (s, 1h), 7.45 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.59 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.96 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.06 (s, 1h), 8.17 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.92 (s, 1f), -75.22 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.10 min, m/z =577 [m-1], 579 [m+1]. example 8: 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]-3-(trifluoromethyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide a) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-iodo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate a mixture of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (0.50 g, 1.0mmol), n-iodosuccinimide (0.24 g, 1.1 mmol) and glacial acetic acid (8 ml) was stirred for 14 h at room temperature. the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness and the remaining residue was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / 10% ethyl acetate) to afford a yellow solid. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.55 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3 h), 3.98 (s, 3 h), 6.70 (s, 1h), 7.51 (d, j =8.2 hz, 1h), 7.60 (dd, j =8.2, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.94 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h), 8.02 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.12 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.06 (s, 1f), -75.27 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.28 min, m/z =608 [m-1], 610 [m+1]. b) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1.2.2.2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]-3-(trifluoromethyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate a vial was charged with methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-iodo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (0.050 g, 0.082 mmol), copper(i) iodide (0.016 g, 0.082 mmol) and anhydrous nmp (0.82 ml). the mixture was purged with argon followed by the addition of methyl 2,2-difluoro-2-(fluorosulfonyl)acetate (0.049 g, 0.25 mmol). the vial was sealed up and heated to 90 °c for 4 h. the reaction mixture was filtered over a celite pad. the filtrate was diluted with pentane, washed with water, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered and evaporated.the crude product was purified by flash chromatography. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.52 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3 h), 3.98 (s, 3 h), 6.82 (s, 1h), 7.52 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.59 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.94 (s, 1h), 8.00 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.13 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.65 (s, 1f), -75.31 (s, 6f), -57.25 (s, 3f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.28 min, m/z =550 [m-1], 552 [m+1]. c) preparation of 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]-3-(trifluoromethyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.43 (m, 2 h), 1.71 (m, 2h), 3.52 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3h), 6.82 (s, 1h), 6.91 (s, 1h), 7.46 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.58 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.95 (m, 2h), 8.13 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.66 (s, 1f), -75.30 (s, 6f), -57.22 (s, 3f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.15 min, m/z =600 [m-1], 602 [m+1]. example 9: 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-[1.2.2.2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoronriethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide a) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate to a stirred mixture of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (0.11 g, 0.23 mmol), n-chlorosuccinimide (0.032 g, 0.24 mmol) and glacial acetic acid (2.0 ml) was added a drop of 98% h 2 so 4 at room temperature follwed by stirring for 3 h at room temperature. the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness and the remaining residue was purified by flash chromatography. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.55 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3 h), 3.98 (s, 3 h), 6.59 (s, 1h), 7.51 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.60 (dd, j =8.3, 2.4 hz, 1h), 7.95 (s, 1h), 8.01 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.12 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.99 (s, 1f), -75.33 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.28 min, m/z =518 [m+1]. b) preparation of 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.43 (m, 2 h), 1.71 (m, 2h), 3.55 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3h), 6.59 (s, 1h), 6.90 (s, 1h), 7.46 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.59 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.96 (s, 1h), 7.97 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.12 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.97 (s, 1f), -75.32 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.15 min, m/z =566 [m-1], 568 [m+1]. example 10: 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[3-cyano-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide a) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-cyano-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate a mixture of 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-iodo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (0.60 g, 0.98 mmol), copper(i) cyanide (0.18 g, 2.0 mmol), l-proline (0.12 g, 0.98 mmol) and dry dmf (10 ml) was heated to 140°c for 7 h. after cooling to room temperature, ethyl acetate (100 ml) and water (20 ml) were added to the reaction mixture and the resulting slurry was filtered over a celite pad. the arganic layer was separated, washed 5 times with water (5 x 20 ml), once with brine and evaporated. the crude product was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 10%). 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.71 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3 h), 3.98 (s, 3 h), 6.89 (s, 1h), 7.52 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.60 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 8.01 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.08 (s, 1h), 8.16 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.88 (s, 1f), -75.28 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.20 min, m/z =507 [m-1], 509 [m+1]. b) preparation of 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[3-cyano-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.44 (m, 2 h), 1.71 (m, 2h), 3.72 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3h), 6.89 (s, 1h), 6.90 (s, 1h), 7.47 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.59 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.95 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.08 (s, 1h), 8.16 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.87 (s, 1f), -75.27 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.09 min, m/z =557 [m-1], 559 [m+1]. example 11: 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1,3-dimethyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide a) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1,3-dimethyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate a microwave tube was charged with methyl 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate (0.150 g, 0.27 mmol), methylboronic acid (0.051 g, 0.85 mmol), pd(dppf)cl 2 (0.020 g, 0.027 mol), anhydrous cesium fluoride (0.28 g, 0.85 mmol) and anhydrous dioxane (1.1 ml). the tube was purged with argon, sealed up and heated in a microwave reacter to 120 °c for 30 min. the reaction mixture was diluted with water and extracted with ethyl acetate. the organic layer was consecutively washed with water and brine, dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated. the crude product was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 20%). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.28 min, m/z = 498 [m+1]. b) preparation of 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[1,3-dimethyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.43 (m, 2 h), 1.71 (m, 2h), 1.98 (s, 3h), 3.43 (d, j =3.3 hz, 3h), 6.42 (s, 1h), 6.88 (s, 1h), 7.45 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.58 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.87 (s, 1h), 7.97 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.08 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.09 (s, 1f), -75.30 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.15 min, m/z =546 [m-1], 548 [m+1]. example 12: 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(fluoromethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2 yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide a) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-(methoxymethyl)pvrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate to a stirred mixture of methyl 2-chloro-5-(1h-pyrazol-4-yl)benzoate (3.59 g, 15.2 mmol), 1-(methoxymethyl)pyrrole (3.37 g, 30.3 mmol), sodium bicarbonate (1.27 g, 15.2 mmol), acetonitrile (25 g) and water (10 g) was added 12% sodium hypochlorite solution (20.7 g, 33.3 mmol) dropwise within 30 min while keeping the temperature at 30-35°c. after the addition was completed, the mixture was stirred at 30°c for 30 min. the reaction mixture was diluted with tbme (30 ml). the organic phase was separated and evaporated to give the crude product which was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 5 to 20%). 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.23 (s, 3 h), 3.97 (s, 3h), 5.19 (s, 2h), 6.23 (m, 1h), 6.30 (m, 1h), 6.81 (m, 1h), 7.47 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.57 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.93 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h), 7.98 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.01 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.03 min, m/z = 346 [m+1]. b) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-(methoxymethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate to a stirred mixture of methyl methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-(methoxymethyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (1.54 g, 4.45 mmol), 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoro-2-iodo-propane (1.52 g, 5.12 mmol), iron(ii) sulfate heptahydrate (0.250 g, 0.89 mmol) and dimethyl sulfoxide (8.0 g) was aded 30% hydrogen peroxide solution (1.01 g, 8.9 mmol) dropwise within 20 min while keeping the temperature at 60-65°c. the mixture was kept at 60°c for 5 min and then allowed to cool slowly to room temperature. the reaction mixture was diluted with water (30 g) and extracted twice with cyclohexane (30 + 15 ml). the combined extract was washed with water (50 ml), dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated to afford the title compound as a yellow gum. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.14 (d, j =1.1 hz, 3h), 3.98 (s, 3h), 5.30 (d, j =1.5 hz, 2h), 6.40 (dd, j =4.4, 1.5 hz, 1h), 6.64 (m, 1h), 7.50 (d, j =8.3 hz, 1h), 7.58 (dd, j =8.3, 2.4 hz, 1h), 7.95 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h), 7.99 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.06 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.71 (s, 1f), -75.72 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.24 min, m/z = 514 [m+1]. c) preparation of methyl 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(methoxymethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate to a stirred solution of 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-(methoxymethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (1.52 g, 2.96 mmol) in acetonitrile (10 ml) was added n -bromosuccinimide (0.585 g, 3.25 mmol) in several portions within 2 min at room temperature. the reaction mixture was stirred for 2 h at room temperature. the reaction mixture was diluted with water (30 g) and extracted twice with a cyclohexane / ethyl acetate mixture = 3:1 (30 + 15 ml). the combined extract was washed with a 5% sodium bicarbonate solution (30ml), dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated to afford the title compound as a yellow gum. lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.28 min, m/z = 592 [m+1]. d) preparation of methyl 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(bromomethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate to a stirred solution of 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(methoxymethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate (1.03 g, 1.74 mmol) in dichloromethane (5 ml) was added 1m boron tribromide solution in dichloromethane (2.0 ml, 2.0 mmol) dropwise at room temperature. the reaction mixture was stirred for 6 h at room temperature. the reaction mixture was quenched with ice. the organic phase was separated and evaporated to afford the crude product which was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 20%). 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.98 (s, 3h), 5.80 (s, 2h), 6.77 (s, 1h), 7.52 (d, j =8.3 hz, 1h), 7.62 (dd, j =8.3, 2.2 hz, 1h), 8.03 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.06 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h), 8.17 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -181.55 (s, 1f), -75.39 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.31 min, m/z = 640 [m+1]. e) preparation of methyl 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(fluoromethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate a mixture of 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(bromomethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate (0.137 g, 0.213 mmol), potassium fluoride (0.037 g, 0.639 mmol), 18-crown-6 (11.5 mg, 0.043 mmol) and anhydrous acetonitrile (0.7 ml) was heated to 80°c for 68 h under argon. the reaction mixture was evaporated and the product was isolated by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 15%) 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.98 (s, 3h), 5.85 (d, j =51.0 hz, 2h), 6.76 (s, 1h), 7.52 (d, j =8.3 hz, 1h), 7.60 (dd, j =8.3, 2.2 hz, 1h), 8.01 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.02 (s, 1h), 8.14 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -181.76 (s, 1f), -162.02 (s, 1f), -75.67 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.26 min, m/z = 578[m-1], 580 [m+1]. f) preparation of 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(fluoromethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.44 (m, 2 h), 1.71 (m, 2h), 5.85 (d, j =51.0 hz, 2h), 6.76 (s, 1h), 6.89 (s, 1h), 7.46 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.59 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.97 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.03 (s, 1h), 8.14 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -181.70 (s, 1f), -162.07 (s, 1f), -75.65 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.14 min, m/z =628 [m-1], 630 [m+1]. example 13: 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(cyanomethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2 yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide a) preparation of methyl 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(cyanomethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate a mixture of 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(bromomethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate (0.133 g, 0.207 mmol), potassium cyanide (0.027g, 0.415 mmol), 18-crown-6 (11 mg, 0.042 mmol) and anhydrous acetonitrile (2.1 ml) was stirred at room temperature for 18 h under argon and then it was heated to 40°c for 4 h. the reaction mixture was evaporated and the product was isolated by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 15%) 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.98 (s, 3h), 5.03 (m, 2h), 6.76 (s, 1h), 7.53 (d, j =8.1 hz, 1h), 7.60 (dd, j =8.1, 2.2 hz, 1h), 8.02 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.09 (s, 1h), 8.18 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.57 (s, 1f), -75.36 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.22 min, m/z = 585 [m-1], 587 [m+1]. b) preparation of 5-[1-[1-(2-amino-2-oxo-ethyl)-3-bromo-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoic acid to a stirred solution of methyl 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(cyanomethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate (0.10 g, 0.17 mmol) in a mixtue of tetrahydrofurane (2.7 ml) and water (0.7 ml) was added lithium hydroxide monohydrate (0.014 g, 0.34 mmol). the mixture was stirred over night at room temperture. the reactiom mixture was acidified with 1n hci and the product was extracted with ethyl acetate. the organic extract was washed with water than with brine, dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated to result in the crude product which was used as is in the next step. lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.00 min, m/z = 589 [m-1], 591 [m+1]. c) preparation of 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(cyanomethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. the amido group was converted back to the cyano group under the reaction conditions. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.44 (m, 2 h), 1.71 (m, 2h), 5.05 (d, j =1.1 hz, 2h), 6.77 (s, 1h), 6.89 (s, 1h), 7.47 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.60 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.97 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.10 (s, 1h), 8.18 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.47 (s, 1f), -75.33 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.11 min, m/z =635 [m-1], 637 [m+1]. example 14: 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-(methoxymethyl)-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2 yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.43 (m, 2 h), 1.71 (m, 2h), 3.15 (s, 3h), 5.25 (s, 2h), 6.69 (s, 1h), 6.91 (s, 1h), 7.45 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.59 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.97 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 7.99 (s, 1h), 8.12 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -181.56 (s, 1f), -75.76 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.15 min, m/z =640 [m-1], 642 [m+1]. example 15: 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-(3,4.5-tribromo-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl)pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide a) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-(3,4,5-tribromo-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl)pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate to a stirred solution of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (0.32 g, 1.0 mmol) in acetonitrile (5 ml) was added n-bromosuccinimide (0.76 g, 4.3 mmol) at -10°c. the reaction mixture was stirred for 30 min at -10°c. the reaction mixture was filtered, the product was washed with acetonitrile and dried to afford the desired compound as a white solid. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.50 (s, 3h), 3.98 (s, 3h), 7.50 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.58 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.89 (s, 1h), 7.99 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.08 (s, 1h). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.23 min, m/z = 550 [m+1] b) preparation of 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-(3,4,5-tribromo-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl)pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.43 (m, 2 h), 1.71 (m, 2h), 3.50 (s, 3h), 6.90 (s, 1h), 7.45 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.58 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.91 (s, 1h), 7.96 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.08 (s, 1h). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.08 min, m/z =598 [m-1], 600 [m+1]. example 16: 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[3,4-dibromo-1-methyl-5-(trifluoromethylsulfanyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide a) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[3,4-dibromo-1-methyl-5-(trifluoromethylsulfanyl)pyrro1-2 yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate a mixture of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (0.079 g, 0.25 mmol), n-trifluoromethylthiosaccharin (0.092 g, 0.315 mmol) and dmf (0.5 g) was stirred at 65°c for 2 h. the mixture was cooled to room temperature followed by the addition of n-bromosuccinimide (0.112 g, 0.60 mmol). the reaction mixture was stirred overnight at room temperature. mtbe (5 ml), water (5 ml) and saturated sodium bicarbonate solution (2 ml) were added to the reactiom mixture. the organic phase was separated and evaporated to dryness. the remaining crude product was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 20%). 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.67 (s, 3h), 3.98 (s, 3h), 7.51 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.59 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.97 (s, 1h), 8.00 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.11 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -43.13. lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.28 min, m/z = 572 [m+1]. b) preparation of 2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-5-[1-[3.4-dibromo-1-methyl-5-(trifluoromethylsulfanyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.44 (m, 2h), 1.71 (m, 2h), 3.67 (s, 3h), 6.90 (s, 1h), 7.46 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.59 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.98 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 7.99 (s, 1h), 8.11 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -43.11. lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.15 min, m/z =620 [m-1], 622 [m+1]. example 17: 5-[1-[3-bromo-5-[1-(3,5-difluorophenyl)-1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-ethyl]-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide a) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-(2,2,2-trifluoroacetyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate to a stirred mixture of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (0.904 g, 2.86 mmol), pyridine (0.453 g, 5.73 mmol) and dichloromethane (8.0 g) was added trifluoroacetic anhydride (0.72 g, 3.44 mmol) dropwise within 5 min at 0-5°c. the reaction mixture was allowed to reach room temperature. water (10 g) and dichloromethane (5 ml) was added to the mixture. the organic phase was separated, washed with water (10 ml) and evaporated to result in a viscous oil which then solidified upon standing. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.97 (s, 3 h), 4.00 (s, 3 h), 6.40 (d, j =4.6, 1h), 7.31 (m, 1h), 7.52 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.60 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.97 (s, 1h), 8.01 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.11 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -71.28 (s). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.17 min, m/z = 412 [m+1]. b) preparation of methyl 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-(2,2,2-trifluoroacetyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2 chloro-benzoate to a stirred solution of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-(2,2,2-trifluoroacetyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]benzoate (1.05 g, 2.55 mmol) in acetonitrile (5.0 g) was added n-bromosuccinimide (0.527 g, 2.93 mmol) in one portion at room temperature. the mixture was stirred for 1.5 h at room temperture. water (20 ml) and ethyl acetate (20 ml) was added to the mixture. the organic phase was separated, washed with 5% sodium bicarbonate solution (20 ml), then with water (20 ml), dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated to afford a crystalline material. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.87 (s, 3 h), 3.99 (s, 3 h), 7.32 (m, 1h), 7.52 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.60 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 8.01 (m, 2h), 8.15 (d, j =0.7 hz, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -71.67 (s). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.21 min, m/z = 488 [m-1], 490 [m+1]. c) preparation of methyl 5-[1-[3-bromo-5-[1-(3.5-difluorophenyl)-2.2.2-trifluoro-1-hydroxy-ethyl]-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate to a stirred solution of 5-[1-[3-bromo-1-methyl-5-(2,2,2-trifluoroacetyl)pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate (0.164 g, 0.333 mmol) in anhydrous thf (0.9 g) was added 3,5-difluorophenylmagnesium bromide 0.5m solution in thf (0.73 ml, 0.367 mmol) dropwise at 0°c under argon. the mixture was allowed to warm up to room temperature. the reaction mixture was acidified with 1n hcl (2 ml), diluted with water (2ml) and cyclohexane (3 ml) was added. the organic phase was separated, dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated to afford an amorphous solid (foam) which was used in the next step as is. lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.24 min, m/z = 602 [m-1], 604 [m+1]. d) preparation of methyl 5-[1-[3-bromo-5-[1-(3.5-difluorophenyl)-1,2.2.2-tetrafluoro-ethyl]-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate to a stirred solution of 5-[1-[3-bromo-5-[1-(3,5-difluorophenyl)-2,2,2-trifluoro-1-hydroxy-ethyl]-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-benzoate (0.194 g, 0.320 mmol) in toluene (1.0 ml) was added deoxo-fluor® 50% solution in toluene (0.31 g, 0.70 mmol) at room temperature under argon. the mixture was stirred for 2 h at room temperature. the reaction mixture was quenched with sodium bicarbonate 5% solution. the organic phase was separated and evaporated to give a crude product which was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 20%). 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.10 (d, j =1.1 hz, 3 h), 3.97 (s, 3 h), 6.70 (m, 1h), 6.92 - 7.01 (m, 3h), 7.49 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.58 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.94 (s, 1h), 7.99 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.06 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -154.62 (q, 1f), -106.72 (d, 2f), -75.91 (d, 3f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.32 min, m/z = 606 [m+1]. e) preparation of 5-[1-[3-bromo-5-[1-(3.5-difluorophenyl)-1.2.2.2-tetrafluoro-ethyl]-1-methyl-pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-chloro-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)benzamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.43 (m, 2 h), 1.70 (m, 2h), 3.10 (d, j =1.1 hz, 3 h), 6.70 (m, 1h), 6.90 (s, 1h), 6.92 - 7.01 (m, 3h), 7.44 (d, j =8.4 hz, 1h), 7.57 (dd, j =8.4, 2.2 hz, 1h), 7.95 (m, 2h), 8.06 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -154.60 (q, 1f), -106.70 (d, 2f), -75.89 (d, 3f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.20 min, m/z =654 [m-1], 656 [m+1]. example 18: 5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4 yl]-2-cyano-n-cyclopropyl-thiophene-3-carboxamide a) preparation of methyl 2-cyano-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]thiophene-3-carboxylate a vial was charged with 1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]-4-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)pyrazole (1.0 g, 2.3 mmol, see example 19 c)), methyl 5-bromo-2-cyano-thiophene-3-carboxylate (0.70 g, 2.8 mmol), potassium bicarbonate (0.78 g, 5.7 mmol), n,n-dimethylformamide (8.9 g) and water (2.3 g). the mixture was purged with argon followed by the addition of pd(pph 3 ) 4 (0.26 g, 0.23 mmol). the vial was sealed up and heated to 80 °c for 1.5 h. after cooling to room temperature, the reaction mixture was diluted with water and extracted with ethyl acetate. the organic layer was consecutively washed with water and brine, dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated. the crude product was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 30%). 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.58 (d, j =3.7 hz, 3h), 4.00 (s, 3h), 6.35 (d, j =4.2 hz, 1h), 6.60 (m, 1h), 7.60 (s, 1h), 7.92 (s, 1h), 8.02 (s, 1h), 8.04 (m, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.40 (s, 1f), -75.30 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.22 min, m/z = 481 [m+1]. b) preparation of methyl 5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-cyano-thiophene-3-carboxylate a mixture of methyl 2-cyano-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]thiophene-3-carboxylate (0.050 g, 0.1 mmol), n-chlorosuccinimide (0.015 g, 0.11 mmol) and dmf (0.49 g) was stirred overnight at room temperature. the product was isolated by preparative reversed phase chromatography. lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.25 min, m/z =515 [m+1]. c) preparation of 5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2 yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-cyano-n-cyclopropyl-thiophene-3-carboxamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 0.71 (m, 2h), 0.93 (m, 2h), 2.95 (m, 1h), 3.56 (d, j=3.7 hz, 3h), 6.51 (s, 1h), 6.59 (s, 1h), 7.58 (s, 1h), 7.96 (s, 1h), 8.05 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.12 (s, 1f), -75.31 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.17 min, m/z = 538 [m-1], 540 [m+1]. example 19: 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-[1.2.2.2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)pyridine-3-carboxamide a) preparation of 4-bromo-1-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)pyrazole to a stirred mixture of 4-bromo-1h-pyrazole (10.0 g, 68.0 mmol), 1-methylpyrrole (13.9 g, 170 mmol), sodium bicarbonate (5.72 g, 68.0 mmol), acetonitrile (69 g) and water (27 g) was added 5% sodium hypochlorite solution (140 ml, 108 mmol) dropwise within 20 min while keeping the temperature at 35°c. after the addition was completed, the mixture was stirred for 30 min at 30°c. the reaction mixture was diluted with tbme (200 ml). the organic phase was separated and evaporated to give the crude product which was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 5 to 10%). 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.49 (s, 3 h), 6.16 (m, 2h), 6.61 (m, 1h), 7.61 (s, 1h), 7.69 (s, 1h). lc-ms (method a): t r = 0.93 min, m/z = 226 [m+1] b) preparation of 4-bromo-1-h-methyl-5-[1.2.2.2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-vl]pyrazole to a stirred mixture of 4-bromo-1-(1-methylpyrrol-2-yl)pyrazole (0.62 g, 2.74 mmol), 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoro-2-iodo-propane (0.893 g, 3.02 mmol), iron(ii) sulfate heptahydrate (0.15 g, 0.55 mmol) and dimethyl sulfoxide (5.0 g) was added 30% hydrogen peroxide solution (0.62 g, 5.5 mmol) dropwise within 15 min while keeping the temperature at 55-60°c. the mixture was kept at 60°c for 10 min and then allowed to cool slowly to room temperature. the reaction mixture was diluted with water (20 g) and extracted with a cyclohexane / ethyl acetate mixture = 1:1 (20 ml). the extract was washed 3 times with water (3*15 ml), dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated to give the title compound as a yellow oil. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 3.50 (d, j =3.3 hz, 3 h), 6.28 (dd, j =4.2, 1.3 hz, 1h), 6.55 (m, 1h), 7.65 (s, 1h), 7.74 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.31 (s, 1f), -75.32 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.20 min, m/z = 394 [m+1]. c) preparation of 1-[1-methyl-5-[1.2.2.2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethylethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]-4-(4.4.5.5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)pyrazole a microwave tube was charged with 4-bromo-1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazole (3.5 g, 8.9 mmol), bis(pinacolato)diboron (2.7 g, 11.0 mmol), potassium acetate (2.6 g, 27 mmol) and anhydrous dioxane (18 ml). the tube was purged with argon followed by the addition of pd(pph 3 ) 4 (0.51 g, 0.44 mmol). the tube was sealed up and heated in a microwave reacter to 120 °c for 45 min. after cooling to room temperature, water and ethyl acetate were added to the reaction mixture and the resulting byphasic system was was filtered over a celite pad. the organic layer was separated, consecutively washed with water and brine, dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated. the crude product was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane / gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to10%). 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.35 (s, 12h), 3.50 (d, j =3.3 hz, 3 h), 6.25 (dd, j=4.2, 1.3 hz, 1h), 6.54 (m, 1h), 7.90 (s, 1h), 8.02 (s, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -179.02 (s, 1f), -75.31 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.26 min, m/z = 442 [m+1]. d) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrro1-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]pyridine-3-carboxylate a microwave tube was charged with 1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]-4-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)pyrazole (1.1 g, 2.5 mmol), methyl 5-bromo-2-chloropyridine-3-carboxylate (0.78 g, 3.1 mmol), potassium bicarbonate (0.86 g, 6.2 mmol), n,n-dimethylformamide (9.8 g) and water (2.5 g). the tube was purged with argon followed by the addition of pd(pph 3 ) 4 (0.29 g, 0.25 mmol). the tube was sealed up and heated in a microwave reacter to 80 °c for 2 h. after cooling to room temperature, the reaction mixture was diluted with water and extracted with ethyl acetate. the organic layer was consecutively washed twice with water and brine, dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated. the crude product was purified by flash chromatography (silica, cyclohexane/ gradient of ethyl acetate from 0 to 20%). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.19 min, m/z = 485 [m+1]. e) preparation of methyl 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]pyridine-3-carboxylate a mixture of 2-chloro-5-[1-[1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]pyridine-3-carboxylate (0.050 g, 0.1 mmol), n-chlorosuccinimide (0.015 g, 0.11 mmol) and dmf (0.49 g) was stirred overnight at room temperature. the product was isolated by preparative reversed phase chromatography. lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.22 min, m/z =519 [m+1]. f) preparation of 2-chloro-5-[1-[3-chloro-1-methyl-5-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]pyrrol-2-yl]pyrazol-4-yl]-n-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)pyridine-3-carboxamide hydrolysis and amide coupling were performed as described for above examples. 1 h nmr (400 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 1.45 (m, 2 h), 1.73 (m, 2h), 3.57 (d, j=3.7 hz, 3h), 6.60 (s, 1h), 7.19 (s, 1h), 8.04 (s, 1h), 8.17 (s, 1h), 8.39 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h), 8.70 (d, j =2.2 hz, 1h). 19 f nmr (376 mhz, cdcl 3 ) δ ppm -180.03 (s, 1f), -75.31 (s, 6f). lc-ms (method a): t r = 1.11 min, m/z = 567 [m-1], 569 [m+1]. the following compounds in table 1 may be prepared in analogy with example 1 or according to known literature methods or according to methods described in wo2012/107434 , wo2014/122083 , wo2015/067646 , wo2015/150442 , wo2015/193218 and wo2017/012970 . table-tabl0010 table 1 structure lcms 1 (method a): t r = 1.12 min, m/z = 534 [m+1]. 2 (method a): t r = 1.16 min, m/z = 612 [m+1], 614 [m+3]. 3 (method a): t r = 1.17 min, m/z = 587 [m+1], 589 [m+3]. 4 (method a): t r = 1.24 min, m/z = 601 [m+1], 603 [m+3]. 5 (method a): t r = 1.18 min, m/z = 535 [m+1]. 6 (method a): t r = 1.21 min, m/z = 613 [m+1], 615 [m+3]. 7 (method a): t r = 1.10 min, m/z = 579 [m+1]. 8 (method a): t r = 1.15 min, m/z = 502 [m+1]. 9 (method a): t r = 1.15 min, m/z = 568 [m+1]. 10 (method a): t r = 1.09 min, m/z = 559 [m+1]. 11 (method a): t r = 1.15 min, m/z = 548 [m+1]. 12 (method a): t r = 1.14 min, m/z = 630 [m+1], 632 [m+3]. 13 (method a): t r = 1.11 min, m/z = 637 [m+1], 639 [m+3]. 14 (method a): t r = 1.15 min, m/z = 642 [m+1], 644 [m+3]. 15 (method a): t r = 1.08 min, m/z = 600 [m+1], 602 [m+3], 604 [m+5]. 16 (method a): t r = 1.15 min, m/z = 622 [m+1], 624 [m+3]. 17 (method a): t r = 1.20 min, m/z = 658 [m+1]. 18 (method a): t r = 1.17 min, m/z = 540 [m+1]. 19 (method a): t r = 1.11 min, m/z = 569 [m+1]. 20 (method a): t r = 1.24 min, m/z = 640 [m+1], 642 [m+3]. 21 (method a): t r = 1.21 min, m/z = 626 [m+1], 628 [m+3]. 22 (method a): t r = 1.21 min, m/z = 615 [m+1], 617 [m+3]. 23 (method a): t r = 1.21 min, m/z = 593 [m+1], 595 [m+3]. 24 (method a): t r = 1.22 min, m/z = 640 [m+1], 642 [m+3]. 25 (method a): t r = 1.23 min, m/z = 654 [m+1], 656 [m+3]. 26 (method a): t r = 1.20 min, m/z = 680 [m+1], 682 [m+3]. 27 (method a): t r = 1.20 min, m/z = 662 [m+1], 664 [m+3]. 28 (method a): t r = 1.17 min, m/z = 584 [m+1]. 29 (method a): t r = 1.14 min, m/z = 586 [m+1]. 30 (method a): t r = 1.28 min, m/z = 644 [m+1], 646 [m+3]. 31 (method a): t r = 1.12 min, m/z = 562 [m+1], 564 [m+3]. 32 (method a): t r = 1.06 min, m/z = 498 [m-1]. 33 (method a): t r = 1.08 min, m/z = 516 [m-1]. 34 (method a): t r = 1.16 min, m/z = 660 [m+1]. 35 (method a): t r = 1.26 min, m/z = 660 [m+1]. 36 37 (method a): t r = 1.17 min, m/z = 562 [m+1]. 38 (method a): t r = 1.21 min, m/z = 574 [m+1]. 39 (method a): t r = 1.24 min, m/z = 618 [m+1]. 40 (method a): t r = 1.15 min, m/z = 560 [m+1]. 41 (method a): t r = 1.18 min, m/z = 648 [m+1], 650 [m+3]. 42 (method a): t r = 1.19 min, m/z = 638 [m+1], 640 [m+3]. the activity of the compositions according to the invention can be broadened considerably, and adapted to prevailing circumstances, by adding other insecticidally, acaricidally and/or fungicidally active ingredients. the mixtures of the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 with other insecticidally, acaricidally and/or fungicidally active ingredients may also have further surprising advantages which can also be described, in a wider sense, as synergistic activity. for example, better tolerance by plants, reduced phytotoxicity, insects can be controlled in their different development stages or better behaviour during their production, for example during grinding or mixing, during their storage or during their use. suitable additions to active ingredients here are, for example, representatives of the following classes of active ingredients: organophosphorus compounds, nitrophenol derivatives, thioureas, juvenile hormones, formamidines, benzophenone derivatives, ureas, pyrrole derivatives, carbamates, pyrethroids, chlorinated hydrocarbons, acylureas, pyridylmethyleneamino derivatives, macrolides, neonicotinoids and bacillus thuringiensis preparations. the following mixtures of the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 with active ingredients are preferred (the abbreviation "tx" means "one compound selected from the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24, preferably one compound from table 1): an adjuvant selected from the group of substances consisting of petroleum oils (alternative name) (628) + tx, an acaricide selected from the group of substances consisting of 1,1-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-2-ethoxyethanol (iupac name) (910) + tx, 2,4-dichlorophenyl benzenesulfonate (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (1059) + tx, 2-fluoro-n-methyl-n-1-naphthylacetamide (iupac name) (1295) + tx, 4-chlorophenyl phenyl sulfone (iupac name) (981) + tx, abamectin (1) + tx, acequinocyl (3) + tx, acetoprole [ccn] + tx, acrinathrin (9) + tx, aldicarb (16) + tx, aldoxycarb (863) + tx, alpha-cypermethrin (202) + tx, amidithion (870) + tx, amidoflumet [ccn] + tx, amidothioate (872) + tx, amiton (875) + tx, amiton hydrogen oxalate (875) + tx, amitraz (24) + tx, aramite (881) + tx, arsenous oxide (882) + tx, avi 382 (compound code) + tx, az 60541 (compound code) + tx, azinphos-ethyl (44) + tx, azinphos-methyl (45) + tx, azobenzene (iupac name) (888) + tx, azocyclotin (46) + tx, azothoate (889) + tx, benomyl (62) + tx, benoxafos (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, benzoximate (71) + tx, benzyl benzoate (iupac name) [ccn] + tx, bifenazate (74) + tx, bifenthrin (76) + tx, binapacryl (907) + tx, brofenvalerate (alternative name) + tx, bromo-cyclen (918) + tx, bromophos (920) + tx, bromophos-ethyl (921) + tx, bromopropylate (94) + tx, buprofezin (99) + tx, butocarboxim (103) + tx, butoxycarboxim (104) + tx, butylpyridaben (alternative name) + tx, calcium polysulfide (iupac name) (111) + tx, camphechlor (941) + tx, carbanolate (943) + tx, carbaryl (115) + tx, carbofuran (118) + tx, carbophenothion (947) + tx, cga 50'439 (development code) (125) + tx, chinomethionat (126) + tx, chlorbenside (959) + tx, chlordimeform (964) + tx, chlordimeform hydrochloride (964) + tx, chlorfenapyr (130) + tx, chlorfenethol (968) + tx, chlorfenson (970) + tx, chlorfensulfide (971) + tx, chlorfenvinphos (131) + tx, chlorobenzilate (975) + tx, chloromebuform (977) + tx, chloromethiuron (978) + tx, chloropropylate (983) + tx, chlorpyrifos (145) + tx, chlorpyrifos-methyl (146) + tx, chlorthiophos (994) + tx, cinerin i (696) + tx, cinerin ii (696) + tx, cinerins (696) + tx, clofentezine (158) + tx, closantel (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, coumaphos (174) + tx, crotamiton (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, crotoxyphos (1010) + tx, cufraneb (1013) + tx, cyanthoate (1020) + tx, cyflumetofen (cas reg. no.: 400882-07-7) + tx, cyhalothrin (196) + tx, cyhexatin (199) + tx, cypermethrin (201) + tx, dcpm (1032) + tx, ddt (219) + tx, demephion (1037) + tx, demephion-o (1037) + tx, demephion-s (1037) + tx, demeton (1038) + tx, demeton-methyl (224) + tx, demeton-o (1038) + tx, demeton-o-methyl (224) + tx, demeton-s (1038) + tx, demeton-s-methyl (224) + tx, demeton-s-methylsulfon (1039) + tx, diafenthiuron (226) + tx, dialifos (1042) + tx, diazinon (227) + tx, dichlofluanid (230) + tx, dichlorvos (236) + tx, dicliphos (alternative name) + tx, dicofol (242) + tx, dicrotophos (243) + tx, dienochlor (1071) + tx, dimefox (1081) + tx, dimethoate (262) + tx, dinactin (alternative name) (653) + tx, dinex (1089) + tx, dinex-diclexine (1089) + tx, dinobuton (269) + tx, dinocap (270) + tx, dinocap-4 [ccn] + tx, dinocap-6 [ccn] + tx, dinocton (1090) + tx, dinopenton (1092) + tx, dinosulfon (1097) + tx, dinoterbon (1098) + tx, dioxathion (1102) + tx, diphenyl sulfone (iupac name) (1103) + tx, disulfiram (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, disulfoton (278) + tx, dnoc (282) + tx, dofenapyn (1113) + tx, doramectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, endosulfan (294) + tx, endothion (1121) + tx, epn (297) + tx, eprinomectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, ethion (309) + tx, ethoate-methyl (1134) + tx, etoxazole (320) + tx, etrimfos (1142) + tx, fenazaflor (1147) + tx, fenazaquin (328) + tx, fenbutatin oxide (330) + tx, fenothiocarb (337) + tx, fenpropathrin (342) + tx, fenpyrad (alternative name) + tx, fenpyroximate (345) + tx, fenson (1157) + tx, fentrifanil (1161) + tx, fenvalerate (349) + tx, fipronil (354) + tx, fluacrypyrim (360) + tx, fluazuron (1166) + tx, flubenzimine (1167) + tx, flucycloxuron (366) + tx, flucythrinate (367) + tx, fluenetil (1169) + tx, flufenoxuron (370) + tx, flumethrin (372) + tx, fluorbenside (1174) + tx, fluvalinate (1184) + tx, fmc 1137 (development code) (1185) + tx, formetanate (405) + tx, formetanate hydrochloride (405) + tx, formothion (1192) + tx, formparanate (1193) + tx, gamma-hch (430) + tx, glyodin (1205) + tx, halfenprox (424) + tx, heptenophos (432) + tx, hexadecyl cyclopropanecarboxylate (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (1216) + tx, hexythiazox (441) + tx, iodomethane (iupac name) (542) + tx, isocarbophos (alternative name) (473) + tx, isopropyl 0-(methoxyaminothiophosphoryl)salicylate (iupac name) (473) + tx, ivermectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, jasmolin i (696) + tx, jasmolin ii (696) + tx, jodfenphos (1248) + tx, lindane (430) + tx, lufenuron (490) + tx, malathion (492) + tx, malonoben (1254) + tx, mecarbam (502) + tx, mephosfolan (1261) + tx, mesulfen (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, methacrifos (1266) + tx, methamidophos (527) + tx, methidathion (529) + tx, methiocarb (530) + tx, methomyl (531) + tx, methyl bromide (537) + tx, metolcarb (550) + tx, mevinphos (556) + tx, mexacarbate (1290) + tx, milbemectin (557) + tx, milbemycin oxime (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, mipafox (1293) + tx, monocrotophos (561) + tx, morphothion (1300) + tx, moxidectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, naled (567) + tx, nc-184 (compound code) + tx, nc-512 (compound code) + tx, nifluridide (1309) + tx, nikkomycins (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, nitrilacarb (1313) + tx, nitrilacarb 1:1 zinc chloride complex (1313) + tx, nni-0101 (compound code) + tx, nni-0250 (compound code) + tx, omethoate (594) + tx, oxamyl (602) + tx, oxydeprofos (1324) + tx, oxydisulfoton (1325) + tx, pp'-ddt (219) + tx, parathion (615) + tx, permethrin (626) + tx, petroleum oils (alternative name) (628) + tx, phenkapton (1330) + tx, phenthoate (631) + tx, phorate (636) + tx, phosalone (637) + tx, phosfolan (1338) + tx, phosmet (638) + tx, phosphamidon (639) + tx, phoxim (642) + tx, pirimiphos-methyl (652) + tx, polychloroterpenes (traditional name) (1347) + tx, polynactins (alternative name) (653) + tx, proclonol (1350) + tx, profenofos (662) + tx, promacyl (1354) + tx, propargite (671) + tx, propetamphos (673) + tx, propoxur (678) + tx, prothidathion (1360) + tx, prothoate (1362) + tx, pyrethrin i (696) + tx, pyrethrin ii (696) + tx, pyrethrins (696) + tx, pyridaben (699) + tx, pyridaphenthion (701) + tx, pyrimidifen (706) + tx, pyrimitate (1370) + tx, quinalphos (711) + tx, quintiofos (1381) + tx, r-1492 (development code) (1382) + tx, ra-17 (development code) (1383) + tx, rotenone (722) + tx, schradan (1389) + tx, sebufos (alternative name) + tx, selamectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, si-0009 (compound code) + tx, sophamide (1402) + tx, spirodiclofen (738) + tx, spiromesifen (739) + tx, ssi-121 (development code) (1404) + tx, sulfiram (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, sulfluramid (750) + tx, sulfotep (753) + tx, sulfur (754) + tx, szi-121 (development code) (757) + tx, tau-fluvalinate (398) + tx, tebufenpyrad (763) + tx, tepp (1417) + tx, terbam (alternative name) + tx, tetrachlorvinphos (777) + tx, tetradifon (786) + tx, tetranactin (alternative name) (653) + tx, tetrasul (1425) + tx, thiafenox (alternative name) + tx, thiocarboxime (1431) + tx, thiofanox (800) + tx, thiometon (801) + tx, thioquinox (1436) + tx, thuringiensin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, triamiphos (1441) + tx, triarathene (1443) + tx, triazophos (820) + tx, triazuron (alternative name) + tx, trichlorfon (824) + tx, trifenofos (1455) + tx, trinactin (alternative name) (653) + tx, vamidothion (847) + tx, vaniliprole [ccn] and yi-5302 (compound code) + tx, an algicide selected from the group of substances consisting of bethoxazin [ccn] + tx, copper dioctanoate (iupac name) (170) + tx, copper sulfate (172) + tx, cybutryne [ccn] + tx, dichlone (1052) + tx, dichlorophen (232) + tx, endothal (295) + tx, fentin (347) + tx, hydrated lime [ccn] + tx, nabam (566) + tx, quinoclamine (714) + tx, quinonamid (1379) + tx, simazine (730) + tx, triphenyltin acetate (iupac name) (347) and triphenyltin hydroxide (iupac name) (347) + tx, an anthelmintic selected from the group of substances consisting of abamectin (1) + tx, crufomate (1011) + tx, doramectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, emamectin (291) + tx, emamectin benzoate (291) + tx, eprinomectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, ivermectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, milbemycin oxime (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, moxidectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, piperazine [ccn] + tx, selamectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, spinosad (737) and thiophanate (1435) + tx, an avicide selected from the group of substances consisting of chloralose (127) + tx, endrin (1122) + tx, fenthion (346) + tx, pyridin-4-amine (iupac name) (23) and strychnine (745) + tx, a bactericide selected from the group of substances consisting of 1-hydroxy-1h-pyridine-2-thione (iupac name) (1222) + tx, 4-(quinoxalin-2-ylamino)benzenesulfonamide (iupac name) (748) + tx, 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate (446) + tx, bronopol (97) + tx, copper dioctanoate (iupac name) (170) + tx, copper hydroxide (iupac name) (169) + tx, cresol [ccn] + tx, dichlorophen (232) + tx, dipyrithione (1105) + tx, dodicin (1112) + tx, fenaminosulf (1144) + tx, formaldehyde (404) + tx, hydrargaphen (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, kasugamycin (483) + tx, kasugamycin hydrochloride hydrate (483) + tx, nickel bis(dimethyldithiocarbamate) (iupac name) (1308) + tx, nitrapyrin (580) + tx, octhilinone (590) + tx, oxolinic acid (606) + tx, oxytetracycline (611) + tx, potassium hydroxyquinoline sulfate (446) + tx, probenazole (658) + tx, streptomycin (744) + tx, streptomycin sesquisulfate (744) + tx, tecloftalam (766) + tx, and thiomersal (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, a biological agent selected from the group of substances consisting of adoxophyes orana gv (alternative name) (12) + tx, agrobacterium radiobacter (alternative name) (13) + tx, amblyseius spp. (alternative name) (19) + tx, anagrapha falcifera npv (alternative name) (28) + tx, anagrus atomus (alternative name) (29) + tx, aphelinus abdominalis (alternative name) (33) + tx, aphidius colemani (alternative name) (34) + tx, aphidoletes aphidimyza (alternative name) (35) + tx, autographa californica npv (alternative name) (38) + tx, bacillus firmus (alternative name) (48) + tx, bacillus sphaericus neide (scientific name) (49) + tx, bacillus thuringiensis berliner (scientific name) (51) + tx, bacillus thuringiensis subsp. aizawai (scientific name) (51) + tx, bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (scientific name) (51) + tx, bacillus thuringiensis subsp. japonensis (scientific name) (51) + tx, bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki (scientific name) (51) + tx, bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis (scientific name) (51) + tx, beauveria bassiana (alternative name) (53) + tx, beauveria brongniartii (alternative name) (54) + tx, chrysoperla camea (alternative name) (151) + tx, cryptolaemus montrouzieri (alternative name) (178) + tx, cydia pomonella gv (alternative name) (191) + tx, dacnusa sibirica (alternative name) (212) + tx, diglyphus isaea (alternative name) (254) + tx, encarsia formosa (scientific name) (293) + tx, eretmocerus eremicus (alternative name) (300) + tx, helicoverpa zea npv (alternative name) (431) + tx, heterorhabditis bacteriophora and h. megidis (alternative name) (433) + tx, hippodamia convergens (alternative name) (442) + tx, leptomastix dactylopii (alternative name) (488) + tx, macrolophus caliginosus (alternative name) (491) + tx, mamestra brassicae npv (alternative name) (494) + tx, metaphycus helvolus (alternative name) (522) + tx, metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum (scientific name) (523) + tx, metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae (scientific name) (523) + tx, neodiprion sertifer npv and n. lecontei npv (alternative name) (575) + tx, orius spp. (alternative name) (596) + tx, paecilomyces fumosoroseus (alternative name) (613) + tx, phytoseiulus persimilis (alternative name) (644) + tx, spodoptera exigua multicapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus (scientific name) (741) + tx, steinernema bibionis (alternative name) (742) + tx, steinernema carpocapsae (alternative name) (742) + tx, steinernema feltiae (alternative name) (742) + tx, steinernema glaseri (alternative name) (742) + tx, steinernema riobrave (alternative name) (742) + tx, steinernema riobravis (alternative name) (742) + tx, steinernema scapterisci (alternative name) (742) + tx, steinernema spp. (alternative name) (742) + tx, trichogramma spp. (alternative name) (826) + tx, typhlodromus occidentalis (alternative name) (844) and verticillium lecanii (alternative name) (848) + tx, a soil sterilant selected from the group of substances consisting of iodomethane (iupac name) (542) and methyl bromide (537) + tx, a chemosterilant selected from the group of substances consisting of apholate [ccn] + tx, bisazir (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, busulfan (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, diflubenzuron (250) + tx, dimatif (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, hemel [ccn] + tx, hempa [ccn] + tx, metepa [ccn] + tx, methiotepa [ccn] + tx, methyl apholate [ccn] + tx, morzid [ccn] + tx, penfluron (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, tepa [ccn] + tx, thiohempa (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, thiotepa (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, tretamine (alternative name) [ccn] and uredepa (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, an insect pheromone selected from the group of substances consisting of (e)-dec-5-en-1-yl acetate with (e)-dec-5-en-1-ol (iupac name) (222) + tx, (e)-tridec-4-en-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (829) + tx, (e)-6-methylhept-2-en-4-ol (iupac name) (541) + tx, (e,z)-tetradeca-4,10-dien-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (779) + tx, (z)-dodec-7-en-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (285) + tx, (z)-hexadec-11-enal (iupac name) (436) + tx, (z)-hexadec-11-en-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (437) + tx, (z)-hexadec-13-en-11-yn-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (438) + tx, (z)-icos-13-en-10-one (iupac name) (448) + tx, (z)-tetradec-7-en-1-al (iupac name) (782) + tx, (z)-tetradec-9-en-1-ol (iupac name) (783) + tx, (z)-tetradec-9-en-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (784) + tx, (7 e ,9 z )-dodeca-7,9-dien-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (283) + tx, (9z,11 e )-tetradeca-9,11-dien-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (780) + tx, (9z,12 e )-tetradeca-9,12-dien-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (781) + tx, 14-methyloctadec-1-ene (iupac name) (545) + tx, 4-methylnonan-5-ol with 4-methylnonan-5-one (iupac name) (544) + tx, alpha-multistriatin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, brevicomin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, codlelure (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, codlemone (alternative name) (167) + tx, cuelure (alternative name) (179) + tx, disparlure (277) + tx, dodec-8-en-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (286) + tx, dodec-9-en-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (287) + tx, dodeca-8 + tx, 10-dien-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (284) + tx, dominicalure (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, ethyl 4-methyloctanoate (iupac name) (317) + tx, eugenol (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, frontalin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, gossyplure (alternative name) (420) + tx, grandlure (421) + tx, grandlure i (alternative name) (421) + tx, grandlure ii (alternative name) (421) + tx, grandlure iii (alternative name) (421) + tx, grandlure iv (alternative name) (421) + tx, hexalure [ccn] + tx, ipsdienol (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, ipsenol (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, japonilure (alternative name) (481) + tx, lineatin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, litlure (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, looplure (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, medlure [ccn] + tx, megatomoic acid (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, methyl eugenol (alternative name) (540) + tx, muscalure (563) + tx, octadeca-2,13-dien-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (588) + tx, octadeca-3,13-dien-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (589) + tx, orfralure (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, oryctalure (alternative name) (317) + tx, ostramone (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, siglure [ccn] + tx, sordidin (alternative name) (736) + tx, sulcatol (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, tetradec-11-en-1-yl acetate (iupac name) (785) + tx, trimedlure (839) + tx, trimedlure a (alternative name) (839) + tx, trimedlure b 1 (alternative name) (839) + tx, trimedlure b 2 (alternative name) (839) + tx, trimedlure c (alternative name) (839) and trunc-call (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, an insect repellent selected from the group of substances consisting of 2-(octylthio)ethanol (iupac name) (591) + tx, butopyronoxyl (933) + tx, butoxy(polypropylene glycol) (936) + tx, dibutyl adipate (iupac name) (1046) + tx, dibutyl phthalate (1047) + tx, dibutyl succinate (iupac name) (1048) + tx, diethyltoluamide [ccn] + tx, dimethyl carbate [ccn] + tx, dimethyl phthalate [ccn] + tx, ethyl hexanediol (1137) + tx, hexamide [ccn] + tx, methoquin-butyl (1276) + tx, methylneodecanamide [ccn] + tx, oxamate [ccn] and picaridin [ccn] + tx, an insecticide selected from the group of substances consisting of 1-dichloro-1-nitroethane (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (1058) + tx, 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-ethylphenyl)ethane (iupac name) (1056), + tx, 1,2-dichloropropane (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (1062) + tx, 1,2-dichloropropane with 1,3-dichloropropene (iupac name) (1063) + tx, 1-bromo-2-chloroethane (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (916) + tx, 2,2,2-trichloro-1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)ethyl acetate (iupac name) (1451) + tx, 2,2-dichlorovinyl 2-ethylsulfinylethyl methyl phosphate (iupac name) (1066) + tx, 2-(1,3-dithiolan-2-yl)phenyl dimethylcarbamate (iupac/ chemical abstracts name) (1109) + tx, 2-(2-butoxyethoxy)ethyl thiocyanate (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (935) + tx, 2-(4,5-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolan-2-yl)phenyl methylcarbamate (iupac/ chemical abstracts name) (1084) + tx, 2-(4-chloro-3,5-xylyloxy)ethanol (iupac name) (986) + tx, 2-chlorovinyl diethyl phosphate (iupac name) (984) + tx, 2-imidazolidone (iupac name) (1225) + tx, 2-isovalerylindan-1,3-dione (iupac name) (1246) + tx, 2-methyl(prop-2-ynyl)aminophenyl methylcarbamate (iupac name) (1284) + tx, 2-thiocyanatoethyl laurate (iupac name) (1433) + tx, 3-bromo-1-chloroprop-1-ene (iupac name) (917) + tx, 3-methyl-1-phenylpyrazol-5-yl dimethylcarbamate (iupac name) (1283) + tx, 4-methyl(prop-2-ynyl)amino-3,5-xylyl methylcarbamate (iupac name) (1285) + tx, 5,5-dimethyl-3-oxocyclohex-1-enyl dimethylcarbamate (iupac name) (1085) + tx, abamectin (1) + tx, acephate (2) + tx, acetamiprid (4) + tx, acethion (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, acetoprole [ccn] + tx, acrinathrin (9) + tx, acrylonitrile (iupac name) (861) + tx, alanycarb (15) + tx, aldicarb (16) + tx, aldoxycarb (863) + tx, aldrin (864) + tx, allethrin (17) + tx, allosamidin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, allyxycarb (866) + tx, alpha-cypermethrin (202) + tx, alpha-ecdysone (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, aluminium phosphide (640) + tx, amidithion (870) + tx, amidothioate (872) + tx, aminocarb (873) + tx, amiton (875) + tx, amiton hydrogen oxalate (875) + tx, amitraz (24) + tx, anabasine (877) + tx, athidathion (883) + tx, avi 382 (compound code) + tx, az 60541 (compound code) + tx, azadirachtin (alternative name) (41) + tx, azamethiphos (42) + tx, azinphos-ethyl (44) + tx, azinphos-methyl (45) + tx, azothoate (889) + tx, bacillus thuringiensis delta endotoxins (alternative name) (52) + tx, barium hexafluorosilicate (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, barium polysulfide (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (892) + tx, barthrin [ccn] + tx, bayer 22/190 (development code) (893) + tx, bayer 22408 (development code) (894) + tx, bendiocarb (58) + tx, benfuracarb (60) + tx, bensultap (66) + tx, beta-cyfluthrin (194) + tx, beta-cypermethrin (203) + tx, bifenthrin (76) + tx, bioallethrin (78) + tx, bioallethrin s-cyclopentenyl isomer (alternative name) (79) + tx, bioethanomethrin [ccn] + tx, biopermethrin (908) + tx, bioresmethrin (80) + tx, bis(2-chloroethyl) ether (iupac name) (909) + tx, bistrifluron (83) + tx, borax (86) + tx, brofenvalerate (alternative name) + tx, bromfenvinfos (914) + tx, bromocyclen (918) + tx, bromo-ddt (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, bromophos (920) + tx, bromophos-ethyl (921) + tx, bufencarb (924) + tx, buprofezin (99) + tx, butacarb (926) + tx, butathiofos (927) + tx, butocarboxim (103) + tx, butonate (932) + tx, butoxycarboxim (104) + tx, butylpyridaben (alternative name) + tx, cadusafos (109) + tx, calcium arsenate [ccn] + tx, calcium cyanide (444) + tx, calcium polysulfide (iupac name) (111) + tx, camphechlor (941) + tx, carbanolate (943) + tx, carbaryl (115) + tx, carbofuran (118) + tx, carbon disulfide (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (945) + tx, carbon tetrachloride (iupac name) (946) + tx, carbophenothion (947) + tx, carbosulfan (119) + tx, cartap (123) + tx, cartap hydrochloride (123) + tx, cevadine (alternative name) (725) + tx, chlorbicyclen (960) + tx, chlordane (128) + tx, chlordecone (963) + tx, chlordimeform (964) + tx, chlordimeform hydrochloride (964) + tx, chlorethoxyfos (129) + tx, chlorfenapyr (130) + tx, chlorfenvinphos (131) + tx, chlorfluazuron (132) + tx, chlormephos (136) + tx, chloroform [ccn] + tx, chloropicrin (141) + tx, chlorphoxim (989) + tx, chlorprazophos (990) + tx, chlorpyrifos (145) + tx, chlorpyrifos-methyl (146) + tx, chlorthiophos (994) + tx, chromafenozide (150) + tx, cinerin i (696) + tx, cinerin ii (696) + tx, cinerins (696) + tx, cis-resmethrin (alternative name) + tx, cismethrin (80) + tx, clocythrin (alternative name) + tx, cloethocarb (999) + tx, closantel (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, clothianidin (165) + tx, copper acetoarsenite [ccn] + tx, copper arsenate [ccn] + tx, copper oleate [ccn] + tx, coumaphos (174) + tx, coumithoate (1006) + tx, crotamiton (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, crotoxyphos (1010) + tx, crufomate (1011) + tx, cryolite (alternative name) (177) + tx, cs 708 (development code) (1012) + tx, cyanofenphos (1019) + tx, cyanophos (184) + tx, cyanthoate (1020) + tx, cyclethrin [ccn] + tx, cycloprothrin (188) + tx, cyfluthrin (193) + tx, cyhalothrin (196) + tx, cypermethrin (201) + tx, cyphenothrin (206) + tx, cyromazine (209) + tx, cythioate (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, d-limonene (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, d-tetramethrin (alternative name) (788) + tx, daep (1031) + tx, dazomet (216) + tx, ddt (219) + tx, decarbofuran (1034) + tx, deltamethrin (223) + tx, demephion (1037) + tx, demephion-o (1037) + tx, demephion-s (1037) + tx, demeton (1038) + tx, demeton-methyl (224) + tx, demeton-o (1038) + tx, demeton-o-methyl (224) + tx, demeton-s (1038) + tx, demeton-s-methyl (224) + tx, demeton-s-methylsulphon (1039) + tx, diafenthiuron (226) + tx, dialifos (1042) + tx, diamidafos (1044) + tx, diazinon (227) + tx, dicapthon (1050) + tx, dichlofenthion (1051) + tx, dichlorvos (236) + tx, dicliphos (alternative name) + tx, dicresyl (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, dicrotophos (243) + tx, dicyclanil (244) + tx, dieldrin (1070) + tx, diethyl 5-methylpyrazol-3-yl phosphate (iupac name) (1076) + tx, diflubenzuron (250) + tx, dilor (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, dimefluthrin [ccn] + tx, dimefox (1081) + tx, dimetan (1085) + tx, dimethoate (262) + tx, dimethrin (1083) + tx, dimethylvinphos (265) + tx, dimetilan (1086) + tx, dinex (1089) + tx, dinex-diclexine (1089) + tx, dinoprop (1093) + tx, dinosam (1094) + tx, dinoseb (1095) + tx, dinotefuran (271) + tx, diofenolan (1099) + tx, dioxabenzofos (1100) + tx, dioxacarb (1101) + tx, dioxathion (1102) + tx, disulfoton (278) + tx, dithicrofos (1108) + tx, dnoc (282) + tx, doramectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, dsp (1115) + tx, ecdysterone (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, ei 1642 (development code) (1118) + tx, emamectin (291) + tx, emamectin benzoate (291) + tx, empc (1120) + tx, empenthrin (292) + tx, endosulfan (294) + tx, endothion (1121) + tx, endrin (1122) + tx, epbp (1123) + tx, epn (297) + tx, epofenonane (1124) + tx, eprinomectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, esfenvalerate (302) + tx, etaphos (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, ethiofencarb (308) + tx, ethion (309) + tx, ethiprole (310) + tx, ethoate-methyl (1134) + tx, ethoprophos (312) + tx, ethyl formate (iupac name) [ccn] + tx, ethyl-ddd (alternative name) (1056) + tx, ethylene dibromide (316) + tx, ethylene dichloride (chemical name) (1136) + tx, ethylene oxide [ccn] + tx, etofenprox (319) + tx, etrimfos (1142) + tx, exd (1143) + tx, famphur (323) + tx, fenamiphos (326) + tx, fenazaflor (1147) + tx, fenchlorphos (1148) + tx, fenethacarb (1149) + tx, fenfluthrin (1150) + tx, fenitrothion (335) + tx, fenobucarb (336) + tx, fenoxacrim (1153) + tx, fenoxycarb (340) + tx, fenpirithrin (1155) + tx, fenpropathrin (342) + tx, fenpyrad (alternative name) + tx, fensulfothion (1158) + tx, fenthion (346) + tx, fenthion-ethyl [ccn] + tx, fenvalerate (349) + tx, fipronil (354) + tx, flonicamid (358) + tx, flubendiamide (cas. reg. no.: 272451-65-7) + tx, flucofuron (1168) + tx, flucycloxuron (366) + tx, flucythrinate (367) + tx, fluenetil (1169) + tx, flufenerim [ccn] + tx, flufenoxuron (370) + tx, flufenprox (1171) + tx, flumethrin (372) + tx, fluvalinate (1184) + tx, fmc 1137 (development code) (1185) + tx, fonofos (1191) + tx, formetanate (405) + tx, formetanate hydrochloride (405) + tx, formothion (1192) + tx, formparanate (1193) + tx, fosmethilan (1194) + tx, fospirate (1195) + tx, fosthiazate (408) + tx, fosthietan (1196) + tx, furathiocarb (412) + tx, furethrin (1200) + tx, gamma-cyhalothrin (197) + tx, gamma-hch (430) + tx, guazatine (422) + tx, guazatine acetates (422) + tx, gy-81 (development code) (423) + tx, halfenprox (424) + tx, halofenozide (425) + tx, hch (430) + tx, heod (1070) + tx, heptachlor (1211) + tx, heptenophos (432) + tx, heterophos [ccn] + tx, hexaflumuron (439) + tx, hhdn (864) + tx, hydramethylnon (443) + tx, hydrogen cyanide (444) + tx, hydroprene (445) + tx, hyquincarb (1223) + tx, imidacloprid (458) + tx, imiprothrin (460) + tx, indoxacarb (465) + tx, iodomethane (iupac name) (542) + tx, ipsp (1229) + tx, isazofos (1231) + tx, isobenzan (1232) + tx, isocarbophos (alternative name) (473) + tx, isodrin (1235) + tx, isofenphos (1236) + tx, isolane (1237) + tx, isoprocarb (472) + tx, isopropyl o-(methoxy-aminothiophosphoryl)salicylate (iupac name) (473) + tx, isoprothiolane (474) + tx, isothioate (1244) + tx, isoxathion (480) + tx, ivermectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, jasmolin i (696) + tx, jasmolin ii (696) + tx, jodfenphos (1248) + tx, juvenile hormone i (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, juvenile hormone ii (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, juvenile hormone iii (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, kelevan (1249) + tx, kinoprene (484) + tx, lambda-cyhalothrin (198) + tx, lead arsenate [ccn] + tx, lepimectin (ccn) + tx, leptophos (1250) + tx, lindane (430) + tx, lirimfos (1251) + tx, lufenuron (490) + tx, lythidathion (1253) + tx, m-cumenyl methylcarbamate (iupac name) (1014) + tx, magnesium phosphide (iupac name) (640) + tx, malathion (492) + tx, malonoben (1254) + tx, mazidox (1255) + tx, mecarbam (502) + tx, mecarphon (1258) + tx, menazon (1260) + tx, mephosfolan (1261) + tx, mercurous chloride (513) + tx, mesulfenfos (1263) + tx, metaflumizone (ccn) + tx, metam (519) + tx, metam-potassium (alternative name) (519) + tx, metam-sodium (519) + tx, methacrifos (1266) + tx, methamidophos (527) + tx, methanesulfonyl fluoride (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (1268) + tx, methidathion (529) + tx, methiocarb (530) + tx, methocrotophos (1273) + tx, methomyl (531) + tx, methoprene (532) + tx, methoquin-butyl (1276) + tx, methothrin (alternative name) (533) + tx, methoxychlor (534) + tx, methoxyfenozide (535) + tx, methyl bromide (537) + tx, methyl isothiocyanate (543) + tx, methylchloroform (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, methylene chloride [ccn] + tx, metofluthrin [ccn] + tx, metolcarb (550) + tx, metoxadiazone (1288) + tx, mevinphos (556) + tx, mexacarbate (1290) + tx, milbemectin (557) + tx, milbemycin oxime (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, mipafox (1293) + tx, mirex (1294) + tx, monocrotophos (561) + tx, morphothion (1300) + tx, moxidectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, naftalofos (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, naled (567) + tx, naphthalene (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (1303) + tx, nc-170 (development code) (1306) + tx, nc-184 (compound code) + tx, nicotine (578) + tx, nicotine sulfate (578) + tx, nifluridide (1309) + tx, nitenpyram (579) + tx, nithiazine (1311) + tx, nitrilacarb (1313) + tx, nitrilacarb 1:1 zinc chloride complex (1313) + tx, nni-0101 (compound code) + tx, nni-0250 (compound code) + tx, nornicotine (traditional name) (1319) + tx, novaluron (585) + tx, noviflumuron (586) + tx, 0-5-dichloro-4-iodophenyl o-ethyl ethylphosphonothioate (iupac name) (1057) + tx, o,o-diethyl o-4-methyl-2-oxo-2h-chromen-7-yl phosphorothioate (iupac name) (1074) + tx, o,o-diethyl o-6-methyl-2-propylpyrimidin-4-yl phosphorothioate (iupac name) (1075) + tx, o,o,o',o'-tetrapropyl dithiopyrophosphate (iupac name) (1424) + tx, oleic acid (iupac name) (593) + tx, omethoate (594) + tx, oxamyl (602) + tx, oxydemeton-methyl (609) + tx, oxydeprofos (1324) + tx, oxydisulfoton (1325) + tx, pp'-ddt (219) + tx, para-dichlorobenzene [ccn] + tx, parathion (615) + tx, parathion-methyl (616) + tx, penfluron (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, pentachlorophenol (623) + tx, pentachlorophenyl laurate (iupac name) (623) + tx, permethrin (626) + tx, petroleum oils (alternative name) (628) + tx, ph 60-38 (development code) (1328) + tx, phenkapton (1330) + tx, phenothrin (630) + tx, phenthoate (631) + tx, phorate (636) + tx, phosalone (637) + tx, phosfolan (1338) + tx, phosmet (638) + tx, phosnichlor (1339) + tx, phosphamidon (639) + tx, phosphine (iupac name) (640) + tx, phoxim (642) + tx, phoxim-methyl (1340) + tx, pirimetaphos (1344) + tx, pirimicarb (651) + tx, pirimiphos-ethyl (1345) + tx, pirimiphos-methyl (652) + tx, polychlorodicyclopentadiene isomers (iupac name) (1346) + tx, polychloroterpenes (traditional name) (1347) + tx, potassium arsenite [ccn] + tx, potassium thiocyanate [ccn] + tx, prallethrin (655) + tx, precocene i (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, precocene ii (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, precocene iii (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, primidophos (1349) + tx, profenofos (662) + tx, profluthrin [ccn] + tx, promacyl (1354) + tx, promecarb (1355) + tx, propaphos (1356) + tx, propetamphos (673) + tx, propoxur (678) + tx, prothidathion (1360) + tx, prothiofos (686) + tx, prothoate (1362) + tx, protrifenbute [ccn] + tx, pymetrozine (688) + tx, pyraclofos (689) + tx, pyrazophos (693) + tx, pyresmethrin (1367) + tx, pyrethrin i (696) + tx, pyrethrin ii (696) + tx, pyrethrins (696) + tx, pyridaben (699) + tx, pyridalyl (700) + tx, pyridaphenthion (701) + tx, pyrimidifen (706) + tx, pyrimitate (1370) + tx, pyriproxyfen (708) + tx, quassia (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, quinalphos (711) + tx, quinalphos-methyl (1376) + tx, quinothion (1380) + tx, quintiofos (1381) + tx, r-1492 (development code) (1382) + tx, rafoxanide (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, resmethrin (719) + tx, rotenone (722) + tx, ru 15525 (development code) (723) + tx, ru 25475 (development code) (1386) + tx, ryania (alternative name) (1387) + tx, ryanodine (traditional name) (1387) + tx, sabadilla (alternative name) (725) + tx, schradan (1389) + tx, sebufos (alternative name) + tx, selamectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, si-0009 (compound code) + tx, si-0205 (compound code) + tx, si-0404 (compound code) + tx, si-0405 (compound code) + tx, silafluofen (728) + tx, sn 72129 (development code) (1397) + tx, sodium arsenite [ccn] + tx, sodium cyanide (444) + tx, sodium fluoride (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (1399) + tx, sodium hexafluorosilicate (1400) + tx, sodium pentachlorophenoxide (623) + tx, sodium selenate (iupac name) (1401) + tx, sodium thiocyanate [ccn] + tx, sophamide (1402) + tx, spinosad (737) + tx, spiromesifen (739) + tx, spirotetrmat (ccn) + tx, sulcofuron (746) + tx, sulcofuron-sodium (746) + tx, sulfluramid (750) + tx, sulfotep (753) + tx, sulfuryl fluoride (756) + tx, sulprofos (1408) + tx, tar oils (alternative name) (758) + tx, tau-fluvalinate (398) + tx, tazimcarb (1412) + tx, tde (1414) + tx, tebufenozide (762) + tx, tebufenpyrad (763) + tx, tebupirimfos (764) + tx, teflubenzuron (768) + tx, tefluthrin (769) + tx, temephos (770) + tx, tepp (1417) + tx, terallethrin (1418) + tx, terbam (alternative name) + tx, terbufos (773) + tx, tetrachloroethane [ccn] + tx, tetrachlorvinphos (777) + tx, tetramethrin (787) + tx, theta-cypermethrin (204) + tx, thiacloprid (791) + tx, thiafenox (alternative name) + tx, thiamethoxam (792) + tx, thicrofos (1428) + tx, thiocarboxime (1431) + tx, thiocyclam (798) + tx, thiocyclam hydrogen oxalate (798) + tx, thiodicarb (799) + tx, thiofanox (800) + tx, thiometon (801) + tx, thionazin (1434) + tx, thiosultap (803) + tx, thiosultap-sodium (803) + tx, thuringiensin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, tolfenpyrad (809) + tx, tralomethrin (812) + tx, transfluthrin (813) + tx, transpermethrin (1440) + tx, triamiphos (1441) + tx, triazamate (818) + tx, triazophos (820) + tx, triazuron (alternative name) + tx, trichlorfon (824) + tx, trichlormetaphos-3 (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, trichloronat (1452) + tx, trifenofos (1455) + tx, triflumuron (835) + tx, trimethacarb (840) + tx, triprene (1459) + tx, vamidothion (847) + tx, vaniliprole [ccn] + tx, veratridine (alternative name) (725) + tx, veratrine (alternative name) (725) + tx, xmc (853) + tx, xylylcarb (854) + tx, yi-5302 (compound code) + tx, zeta-cypermethrin (205) + tx, zetamethrin (alternative name) + tx, zinc phosphide (640) + tx, zolaprofos (1469) and zxi 8901 (development code) (858) + tx, cyantraniliprole [736994-63-19 + tx, chlorantraniliprole [500008-45-7] + tx, cyenopyrafen [560121-52-0] + tx, cyflumetofen [400882-07-7] + tx, pyrifluquinazon [337458-27-2] + tx, spinetoram [187166-40-1 + 187166-15-0] + tx, spirotetramat [203313-25-1] + tx, sulfoxaflor [946578-00-3] + tx, flufiprole [704886-18-0] + tx, meperfluthrin [915288-13-0] + tx, tetramethylfluthrin [84937-88-2] + tx, triflumezopyrim (disclosed in wo 2012/092115 ) + tx, a molluscicide selected from the group of substances consisting of bis(tributyltin) oxide (iupac name) (913) + tx, bromoacetamide [ccn] + tx, calcium arsenate [ccn] + tx, cloethocarb (999) + tx, copper acetoarsenite [ccn] + tx, copper sulfate (172) + tx, fentin (347) + tx, ferric phosphate (iupac name) (352) + tx, metaldehyde (518) + tx, methiocarb (530) + tx, niclosamide (576) + tx, niclosamide-olamine (576) + tx, pentachlorophenol (623) + tx, sodium pentachlorophenoxide (623) + tx, tazimcarb (1412) + tx, thiodicarb (799) + tx, tributyltin oxide (913) + tx, trifenmorph (1454) + tx, trimethacarb (840) + tx, triphenyltin acetate (iupac name) (347) and triphenyltin hydroxide (iupac name) (347) + tx, pyriprole [394730-71-3] + tx, a nematicide selected from the group of substances consisting of akd-3088 (compound code) + tx, 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (1045) + tx, 1,2-dichloropropane (iupac/ chemical abstracts name) (1062) + tx, 1,2-dichloropropane with 1,3-dichloropropene (iupac name) (1063) + tx, 1,3-dichloropropene (233) + tx, 3,4-dichlorotetrahydrothiophene 1,1-dioxide (iupac/chemical abstracts name) (1065) + tx, 3-(4-chlorophenyl)-5-methylrhodanine (iupac name) (980) + tx, 5-methyl-6-thioxo-1,3,5-thiadiazinan-3-ylacetic acid (iupac name) (1286) + tx, 6-isopentenylaminopurine (alternative name) (210) + tx, abamectin (1) + tx, acetoprole [ccn] + tx, alanycarb (15) + tx, aldicarb (16) + tx, aldoxycarb (863) + tx, az 60541 (compound code) + tx, benclothiaz [ccn] + tx, benomyl (62) + tx, butylpyridaben (alternative name) + tx, cadusafos (109) + tx, carbofuran (118) + tx, carbon disulfide (945) + tx, carbosulfan (119) + tx, chloropicrin (141) + tx, chlorpyrifos (145) + tx, cloethocarb (999) + tx, cytokinins (alternative name) (210) + tx, dazomet (216) + tx, dbcp (1045) + tx, dcip (218) + tx, diamidafos (1044) + tx, dichlofenthion (1051) + tx, dicliphos (alternative name) + tx, dimethoate (262) + tx, doramectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, emamectin (291) + tx, emamectin benzoate (291) + tx, eprinomectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, ethoprophos (312) + tx, ethylene dibromide (316) + tx, fenamiphos (326) + tx, fenpyrad (alternative name) + tx, fensulfothion (1158) + tx, fosthiazate (408) + tx, fosthietan (1196) + tx, furfural (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, gy-81 (development code) (423) + tx, heterophos [ccn] + tx, iodomethane (iupac name) (542) + tx, isamidofos (1230) + tx, isazofos (1231) + tx, ivermectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, kinetin (alternative name) (210) + tx, mecarphon (1258) + tx, metam (519) + tx, metam-potassium (alternative name) (519) + tx, metam-sodium (519) + tx, methyl bromide (537) + tx, methyl isothiocyanate (543) + tx, milbemycin oxime (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, moxidectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, myrothecium verrucaria composition (alternative name) (565) + tx, nc-184 (compound code) + tx, oxamyl (602) + tx, phorate (636) + tx, phosphamidon (639) + tx, phosphocarb [ccn] + tx, sebufos (alternative name) + tx, selamectin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, spinosad (737) + tx, terbam (alternative name) + tx, terbufos (773) + tx, tetrachlorothiophene (iupac/ chemical abstracts name) (1422) + tx, thiafenox (alternative name) + tx, thionazin (1434) + tx, triazophos (820) + tx, triazuron (alternative name) + tx, xylenols [ccn] + tx, yi-5302 (compound code) and zeatin (alternative name) (210) + tx, fluensulfone [318290-98-1] + tx, a nitrification inhibitor selected from the group of substances consisting of potassium ethylxanthate [ccn] and nitrapyrin (580) + tx, a plant activator selected from the group of substances consisting of acibenzolar (6) + tx, acibenzolar-s-methyl (6) + tx, probenazole (658) and reynoutria sachalinensis extract (alternative name) (720) + tx, a rodenticide selected from the group of substances consisting of 2-isovalerylindan-1,3-dione (iupac name) (1246) + tx, 4-(quinoxalin-2-ylamino)benzenesulfonamide (iupac name) (748) + tx, alpha-chlorohydrin [ccn] + tx, aluminium phosphide (640) + tx, antu (880) + tx, arsenous oxide (882) + tx, barium carbonate (891) + tx, bisthiosemi (912) + tx, brodifacoum (89) + tx, bromadiolone (91) + tx, bromethalin (92) + tx, calcium cyanide (444) + tx, chloralose (127) + tx, chlorophacinone (140) + tx, cholecalciferol (alternative name) (850) + tx, coumachlor (1004) + tx, coumafuryl (1005) + tx, coumatetralyl (175) + tx, crimidine (1009) + tx, difenacoum (246) + tx, difethialone (249) + tx, diphacinone (273) + tx, ergocalciferol (301) + tx, flocoumafen (357) + tx, fluoroacetamide (379) + tx, flupropadine (1183) + tx, flupropadine hydrochloride (1183) + tx, gamma-hch (430) + tx, hch (430) + tx, hydrogen cyanide (444) + tx, iodomethane (iupac name) (542) + tx, lindane (430) + tx, magnesium phosphide (iupac name) (640) + tx, methyl bromide (537) + tx, norbormide (1318) + tx, phosacetim (1336) + tx, phosphine (iupac name) (640) + tx, phosphorus [ccn] + tx, pindone (1341) + tx, potassium arsenite [ccn] + tx, pyrinuron (1371) + tx, scilliroside (1390) + tx, sodium arsenite [ccn] + tx, sodium cyanide (444) + tx, sodium fluoroacetate (735) + tx, strychnine (745) + tx, thallium sulfate [ccn] + tx, warfarin (851) and zinc phosphide (640) + tx, a synergist selected from the group of substances consisting of 2-(2-butoxyethoxy)ethyl piperonylate (iupac name) (934) + tx, 5-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)-3-hexylcyclohex-2-enone (iupac name) (903) + tx, farnesol with nerolidol (alternative name) (324) + tx, mb-599 (development code) (498) + tx, mgk 264 (development code) (296) + tx, piperonyl butoxide (649) + tx, piprotal (1343) + tx, propyl isomer (1358) + tx, s421 (development code) (724) + tx, sesamex (1393) + tx, sesasmolin (1394) and sulfoxide (1406) + tx, an animal repellent selected from the group of substances consisting of anthraquinone (32) + tx, chloralose (127) + tx, copper naphthenate [ccn] + tx, copper oxychloride (171) + tx, diazinon (227) + tx, dicyclopentadiene (chemical name) (1069) + tx, guazatine (422) + tx, guazatine acetates (422) + tx, methiocarb (530) + tx, pyridin-4-amine (iupac name) (23) + tx, thiram (804) + tx, trimethacarb (840) + tx, zinc naphthenate [ccn] and ziram (856) + tx, a virucide selected from the group of substances consisting of imanin (alternative name) [ccn] and ribavirin (alternative name) [ccn] + tx, a wound protectant selected from the group of substances consisting of mercuric oxide (512) + tx, octhilinone (590) and thiophanate-methyl (802) + tx, and biologically active compounds selected from the group consisting of azaconazole (60207-31-0] + tx, bitertanol [70585-36-3] + tx, bromuconazole [116255-48-2] + tx, cyproconazole [94361-06-5] + tx, difenoconazole [119446-68-3] + tx, diniconazole [83657-24-3] + tx, epoxiconazole [106325-08-0] + tx, fenbuconazole [114369-43-6] + tx, fluquinconazole [136426-54-5] + tx, flusilazole [85509-19-9] + tx, flutriafol [76674-21-0] + tx, hexaconazole [79983-71-4] + tx, imazalil [35554-44-0] + tx, imibenconazole [86598-92-7] + tx, ipconazole [125225-28-7] + tx, metconazole [125116-23-6] + tx, myclobutanil [88671-89-0] + tx, pefurazoate [101903-30-4] + tx, penconazole [66246-88-6] + tx, prothioconazole [178928-70-6] + tx, pyrifenox [88283-41-4] + tx, prochloraz [67747-09-5] + tx, propiconazole [60207-90-1] + tx, simeconazole [149508-90-7] + tx, tebucon-azole [107534-96-3] + tx, tetraconazole [112281-77-3] + tx, triadimefon [43121-43-3] + tx, triadimenol [55219-65-3] + tx, triflumizole [99387-89-0] + tx, triticonazole [131983-72-7] + tx, ancymidol [12771-68-5] + tx, fenarimol [60168-88-9] + tx, nuarimol [63284-71-9] + tx, bupirimate [41483-43-6] + tx, dimethirimol [5221-53-4] + tx, ethirimol [23947-60-6] + tx, dodemorph [1593-77-7] + tx, fenpropidine [67306-00-7] + tx, fenpropimorph [67564-91-4] + tx, spiroxamine [118134-30-8] + tx, tridemorph [81412-43-3] + tx, cyprodinil [121552-61-2] + tx, mepanipyrim [110235-47-7] + tx, pyrimethanil [53112-28-0] + tx, fenpiclonil [74738-17-3] + tx, fludioxonil [131341-86-1] + tx, benalaxyl [71626-11-4] + tx, furalaxyl [57646-30-7] + tx, metalaxyl [57837-19-1] + tx, r-metalaxyl [70630-17-0] + tx, ofurace [58810-48-3] + tx, oxadixyl [77732-09-3] + tx, benomyl [17804-35-2] + tx, carbendazim [10605-21-7] + tx, debacarb [62732-91-6] + tx, fuberidazole [3878-19-1] + tx, thiabendazole [148-79-8] + tx, chlozolinate [84332-86-5] + tx, dichlozoline [24201-58-9] + tx, iprodione [36734-19-7] + tx, myclozoline [54864-61-8] + tx, procymidone [32809-16-8] + tx, vinclozoline [50471-44-8] + tx, boscalid [188425-85-6] + tx, carboxin [5234-68-4] + tx, fenfuram [24691-80-3] + tx, flutolanil [66332-96-5] + tx, mepronil [55814-41-0] + tx, oxycarboxin [5259-88-1] + tx, penthiopyrad [183675-82-3] + tx, thifluzamide [130000-40-7] + tx, guazatine [108173-90-6] + tx, dodine [2439-10-3] [112-65-2] (free base) + tx, iminoctadine [13516-27-3] + tx, azoxystrobin [131860-33-8] + tx, dimoxystrobin [149961-52-4] + tx, enestroburin { proc. bcpc, int. congr., glasgow, 2003, 1, 93 } + tx, fluoxastrobin [361377-29-9] + tx, kresoxim-methyl [143390-89-0] + tx, metominostrobin [133408-50-1] + tx, trifloxystrobin [141517-21-7] + tx, orysastrobin [248593-16-0] + tx, picoxystrobin [117428-22-5] + tx, pyraclostrobin [175013-18-0] + tx, ferbam [14484-64-1] + tx, mancozeb [8018-01-7] + tx, maneb [12427-38-2] + tx, metiram [9006-42-2] + tx, propineb [12071-83-9] + tx, thiram [137-26-8] + tx, zineb [12122-67-7] + tx, ziram [137-30-4] + tx, captafol [2425-06-1] + tx, captan [133-06-2] + tx, dichlofluanid [1085-98-9] + tx, fluoroimide [41205-21-4] + tx, folpet [133-07-3] + tx, tolylfluanid [731-27-1] + tx, bordeaux mixture [8011-63-0] + tx, copperhydroxid [20427-59-2] + tx, copperoxychlorid [1332-40-7] + tx, coppersulfat [7758-98-7] + tx, copperoxid [1317-39-1] + tx, mancopper [53988-93-5] + tx, oxine-copper [10380-28-6] + tx, dinocap [131-72-6] + tx, nitrothal-isopropyl [10552-74-6] + tx, edifenphos [17109-49-8] + tx, iprobenphos [26087-47-8] + tx, isoprothiolane [50512-35-1] + tx, phosdiphen [36519-00-3] + tx, pyrazophos [13457-18-6] + tx, tolclofos-methyl [57018-04-9] + tx, acibenzolar-s-methyl [135158-54-2] + tx, anilazine [101-05-3] + tx, benthiavalicarb [413615-35-7] + tx, blasticidin-s [2079-00-7] + tx, chinomethionat [2439-01-2] + tx, chloroneb [2675-77-6] + tx, chlorothalonil [1897-45-6] + tx, cyflufenamid [180409-60-3] + tx, cymoxanil [57966-95-7] + tx, dichlone [117-80-6] + tx, diclocymet [139920-32-4] + tx, diclomezine [62865-36-5] + tx, dicloran [99-30-9] + tx, diethofencarb [87130-20-9] + tx, dimetho-morph [110488-70-5] + tx, syp-li90 (flumorph) [211867-47-9] + tx, dithianon [3347-22-6] + tx, ethaboxam [162650-77-3] + tx, etridiazole [2593-15-9] + tx, famoxadone [131807-57-3] + tx, fenamidone [161326-34-7] + tx, fenoxanil [115852-48-7] + tx, fentin [668-34-8] + tx, ferimzone [89269-64-7] + tx, fluazinam [79622-59-6] + tx, fluopicolide [239110-15-7] + tx, flusulfamide [106917-52-6] + tx, fenhexamid [126833-17-8] + tx, fosetyl-aluminium [39148-24-8] + tx, hymexazol [10004-44-1] + tx, iprovalicarb [140923-17-7] + tx, ikf-916 (cyazofamid) [120116-88-3] + tx, kasugamycin [6980-18-3] + tx, methasulfocarb [66952-49-6] + tx, metrafenone [220899-03- 6] + tx, pencycuron [66063-05-6] + tx, phthalide [27355-22-2] + tx, polyoxins [11113-80-7] + tx, probenazole [27605-76-1] + tx, propamocarb [25606-41-1] + tx, proquinazid [189278-12-4] + tx, pyroquilon [57369-32-1] + tx, quinoxyfen [124495-18-7] + tx, quintozene [82-68-8] + tx, sulfur [7704-34-9] + tx, tiadinil [223580-51-6] + tx, triazoxide [72459-58-6] + tx, tricyclazole [41814-78-2] + tx, triforine [26644-46-2] + tx, validamycin [37248-47-8] + tx, zoxamide (rh7281) [156052-68-5] + tx, mandipropamid [374726-62-2] + tx, isopyrazam [881685-58-1] + tx, sedaxane [874967-67-6] + tx, 3-difluoromethyl-1-methyl-1h-pyrazole-4-carboxylic acid (9-dichloromethylene-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,4-methano-naphthalen-5-yl)-amide (dislosed in wo 2007/048556 ) + tx, 3-difluoromethyl-1-methyl-1h-pyrazole-4-carboxylic acid (3',4',5'-trifluoro-biphenyl-2-yl)-amide (disclosed in wo 2006/087343 ) + tx, [(3s,4r,4ar,6s,6as,12r,12as,12bs)-3-[(cyclopropylcarbonyl)oxy]-1,3,4,4a,5,6,6a,12,12a,12b-decahydro-6,12-dihydroxy-4,6a,12b-trimethyl-11-oxo-9-(3-pyridinyl)-2 h, 11 h naphtho[2,1-b]pyrano[3,4-e]pyran-4-yl]methyl-cyclopropanecarboxylate [915972-17-7] + tx and 1,3,5-trimethyl-n-(2-methyl-1-oxopropyl)-n-[3-(2-methylpropyl)-4-[2,2,2-trifluoro-1-(methoxy-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]phenyl]-1h-pyrazole-4-carboxamide [926914-55-8] + tx. the references in brackets behind the active ingredients, e.g. [ 3878-19-1] refer to the chemical abstracts registry number . the above described mixing partners are known. where the active ingredients are included in " the pesticide manual" [the pesticide manual - a world compendium; thirteenth edition; editor: c. d. s. tomlin; the british crop protection council ], they are described therein under the entry number given in round brackets hereinabove for the particular compound; for example, the compound "abamectin" is described under entry number (1). where "[ccn]" is added hereinabove to the particular compound, the compound in question is included in the "compendium of pesticide common names", which is accessible on the internet [ a. wood; compendium of pesticide common names, copyright © 1995-2004 ]; for example, the compound "acetoprole" is described under the internet address http://www.alanwood.net/pesticides/acetoprole.html. most of the active ingredients described above are referred to hereinabove by a so-called "common name", the relevant "iso common name" or another "common name" being used in individual cases. if the designation is not a "common name", the nature of the designation used instead is given in round brackets for the particular compound; in that case, the iupac name, the iupac/chemical abstracts name, a "chemical name", a "traditional name", a "compound name" or a "develoment code" is used or, if neither one of those designations nor a "common name" is used, an "alternative name" is employed. "cas reg. no" means the chemical abstracts registry number. the active ingredient mixture of the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 with active ingredients described above comprises a compound according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 and an active ingredient as described above preferably in a mixing ratio of from 100:1 to 1:6000, especially from 50:1 to 1:50, more especially in a ratio of from 20:1 to 1:20, even more especially from 10:1 to 1:10, very especially from 5:1 and 1:5, special preference being given to a ratio of from 2:1 to 1:2, and a ratio of from 4:1 to 2:1 being likewise preferred, above all in a ratio of 1:1, or 5:1, or 5:2, or 5:3, or 5:4, or 4:1, or 4:2, or 4:3, or 3:1, or 3:2, or 2:1, or 1:5, or 2:5, or 3:5, or 4:5, or 1:4, or 2:4, or 3:4, or 1:3, or 2:3, or 1:2, or 1:600, or 1:300, or 1:150, or 1:35, or 2:35, or 4:35, or 1:75, or 2:75, or 4:75, or 1:6000, or 1:3000, or 1:1500, or 1:350, or 2:350, or 4:350, or 1:750, or 2:750, or 4:750. those mixing ratios are by weight. the mixtures as described above can be used in a method for controlling pests, which comprises applying a composition comprising a mixture as described above to the pests or their environment, with the exception of a method for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy and diagnostic methods practised on the human or animal body. the mixtures comprising a compound of according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 and one or more active ingredients as described above can be applied, for example, in a single "ready-mix" form, in a combined spray mixture composed from separate formulations of the single active ingredient components, such as a "tank-mix", and in a combined use of the single active ingredients when applied in a sequential manner, i.e. one after the other with a reasonably short period, such as a few hours or days. the order of applying the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 and the active ingredients as described above is not essential for working the present invention. the compositions according to the invention can also comprise further solid or liquid auxiliaries, such as stabilizers, for example unepoxidized or epoxidized vegetable oils (for example epoxidized coconut oil, rapeseed oil or soya oil), antifoams, for example silicone oil, preservatives, viscosity regulators, binders and/or tackifiers, fertilizers or other active ingredients for achieving specific effects, for example bactericides, fungicides, nematocides, plant activators, molluscicides or herbicides. the compositions according to the invention are prepared in a manner known per se, in the absence of auxiliaries for example by grinding, screening and/or compressing a solid active ingredient and in the presence of at least one auxiliary for example by intimately mixing and/or grinding the active ingredient with the auxiliary (auxiliaries). these processes for the preparation of the compositions and the use of the compounds i for the preparation of these compositions are also a subject of the invention. the application methods for the compositions, that is the methods of controlling pests of the abovementioned type, such as spraying, atomizing, dusting, brushing on, dressing, scattering or pouring - which are to be selected to suit the intended aims of the prevailing circumstances - and the use of the compositions for controlling pests of the abovementioned type are other subjects of the invention. typical rates of concentration are between 0.1 and 1000 ppm, preferably between 0.1 and 500 ppm, of active ingredient. the rate of application per hectare is generally 1 to 2000 g of active ingredient per hectare, in particular 10 to 1000 g/ha, preferably 10 to 600 g/ha. a preferred method of application in the field of crop protection is application to the foliage of the plants (foliar application), it being possible to select frequency and rate of application to match the danger of infestation with the pest in question. alternatively, the active ingredient can reach the plants via the root system (systemic action), by drenching the locus of the plants with a liquid composition or by incorporating the active ingredient in solid form into the locus of the plants, for example into the soil, for example in the form of granules (soil application). in the case of paddy rice crops, such granules can be metered into the flooded paddy-field. the compounds of the invention and compositions thereof are also be suitable for the protection of plant propagation material, for example seeds, such as fruit, tubers or kernels, or nursery plants, against pests of the abovementioned type. the propagation material can be treated with the compound prior to planting, for example seed can be treated prior to sowing. alternatively, the compound can be applied to seed kernels (coating), either by soaking the kernels in a liquid composition or by applying a layer of a solid composition. it is also possible to apply the compositions when the propagation material is planted to the site of application, for example into the seed furrow during drilling. these treatment methods for plant propagation material and the plant propagation material thus treated are further subjects of the invention. typical treatment rates would depend on the plant and pest/fungi to be controlled and are generally between 1 to 200 grams per 100 kg of seeds, preferably between 5 to 150 grams per 100 kg of seeds, such as between 10 to 100 grams per 100 kg of seeds. the term seed embraces seeds and plant propagules of all kinds including but not limited to true seeds, seed pieces, suckers, corns, bulbs, fruit, tubers, grains, rhizomes, cuttings, cut shoots and the like and means in a preferred embodiment true seeds. the present invention also comprises seeds coated or treated with or containing a compound according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24. the term "coated or treated with and/or containing" generally signifies that the active ingredient is for the most part on the surface of the seed at the time of application, although a greater or lesser part of the ingredient may penetrate into the seed material, depending on the method of application. when the said seed product is (re)planted, it may absorb the active ingredient. in an embodiment, the present invention makes available a plant propagation material adhered thereto with according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24. further, it is hereby made available, a composition comprising a plant propagation material treated with a compound according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24. seed treatment comprises all suitable seed treatment techniques known in the art, such as seed dressing, seed coating, seed dusting, seed soaking and seed pelleting. the seed treatment application of the compound according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 can be carried out by any known methods, such as spraying or by dusting the seeds before sowing or during the sowing/planting of the seeds. biological data: the pesticidal/insecticidal properties of the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 can be illustrated via the following tests: diabrotica balteata (corn root worm): maize sprouts placed onto an agar layer in 24-well microtiter plates were treated with aqueous test solutions prepared from 10'000 ppm dmso stock solutions by spraying. after drying, the plates were infested with l2 larvae (6 to 10 per well). the samples were assessed for mortality 4 days after infestation. the following compounds resulted in at least 80% control at an application rate of 200 ppm: compounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 41 and 42. euschistus heros (neotropical brown stink bug): feeding/contact activity soybean leaves on agar in 24-well microtiter plates were sprayed with aqueous test solutions prepared from 10'000 ppm dmso stock solutions. after drying the leaves were infested with n2 nymphs. the samples were assessed for mortality 5 days after infestation. the following compounds resulted in at least 80% control at an application rate of 200 ppm: compounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42. myzus persicae (green peach aphid): feeding/contact activity sunflower leaf discs were placed onto agar in a 24-well microtiter plate and sprayed with aqueous test solutions prepared from 10'000 ppm dmso stock solutions. after drying, the leaf discs were infested with an aphid population of mixed ages. the samples were assessed for mortality 6 days after infestation. the following compounds resulted in at least 80% control at an application rate of 200 ppm: compounds 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 and 42. plutella xylostella (diamond back moth): feeding/contact activity 24-well microtiter plates with artificial diet were treated with aqueous test solutions prepared from 10'000 ppm dmso stock solutions by pipetting. after drying, the plates were infested with l2 larvae (10 to 15 per well). the samples were assessed for mortality 5 days after infestation. the following compounds resulted in at least 80% control at an application rate of 200 ppm: compounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41 and 42. spodoptera littoralis (egyptian cotton leaf worm): feeding/contact activity cotton leaf discs were placed onto agar in 24-well microtiter plates and sprayed with aqueous test solutions prepared from 10'000 ppm dmso stock solutions. after drying the leaf discs were infested with five l1 larvae. the samples were assessed for mortality 3 days after infestation. the following compounds resulted in at least 80% control at an application rate of 200 ppm: compounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42. tetranychus urticae (two-spotted spider mite): feeding/contact activity bean leaf discs on agar in 24-well microtiter plates were sprayed with aqueous test solutions prepared from 10'000 ppm dmso stock solutions. after drying the leaf discs were infested with a mite population of mixed ages. the samples were assessed for mortality on mixed population (mobile stages) 8 days after infestation. the following compounds resulted in at least 80% control at an application rate of 200 ppm: compounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42. thrips tabaci (onion thrips): feeding/contact activity sunflower leaf discs were placed on agar in 24-well microtiter plates and sprayed with aqueous test solutions prepared from 10'000 ppm dmso stock solutions. after drying the leaf discs were infested with a thrips population of mixed ages. the samples were assessed for mortality 6 days after infestation. the following compounds resulted in at least 80% control at an application rate of 200 ppm: compounds 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 34 and 42. the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 can for example be distinguished from known compounds by virtue of greater efficacy at low application rates, which can be verified by the person skilled in the art using the experimental procedures outlined in the above biological tests, using lower application rates if necessary, for example 50 ppm, 12.5 ppm, 6 ppm, 3 ppm, 1.5 ppm, 0.8 ppm or 0.2 ppm. furthermore, besides of the insecticidal properties, the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 have surprisingly shown to have improved degradation properties compared with prior art compounds. additionally, the compounds according to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 have surprisingly shown to be less toxic to bees compared with prior art compounds.
096-383-582-545-629	KR	[ "US", "KR", "JP", "CN" ]	B01J23/89,B01D53/86,B01J23/83,B01J35/00,B01J37/00,B01J37/08,B01J37/14,F01N3/20,B01D53/94,B01J23/00,B01J35/04,B01J37/02,C22C1/02,C22C1/03,C22C1/04,C22C33/06,F01N3/035,F01N3/10	2013-11-18T00:00:00	2013	[ "B01", "F01", "C22" ]	oxidation catalyst, method for preparing same, and filter for exhaust gas purification comprising same	the present invention relates to an oxidation catalyst, a method for preparing the same, and a filter for exhaust gas purification comprising the same and, more specifically, to an oxidation catalyst, a method for preparing the same, and a filter for exhaust gas purification comprising the same, the oxidation catalyst being formed by comprising an amorphous metal alloy powder, thereby being preparable at a low cost, being capable of enhancing purification efficiency for exhaust gas when applied to the filter for exhaust gas purification, and being capable of deriving reliability enhancement for operation of an exhaust gas purifier having the filter for exhaust gas purification mounted therein. to this end, the present invention provides an oxidation catalyst, a method for preparing the same, and a filter for exhaust gas purification comprising the same, the oxidation catalyst characterized by being coated onto the carrier surface of the filter for exhaust gas purification and being formed by comprising an amorphous metal alloy powder.	1 - 4 . (canceled) 5 . a method of preparing an oxidation catalyst that coats a surface of a carrier of an exhaust gas purification filter, the method comprising: a melting step of melting a metal and a master alloy, producing a molten metal alloy comprising the metal and the master alloy; a rapid cooling step of producing an amorphous metal alloy by rapidly cooling the molten metal alloy; and a powdering step of converting the amorphous metal alloy into powder. 6 . the method of claim 5 , wherein, in the melting step, at least one element selected from the group consisting of fe, ni, mn, co, zr, and pt and at least two elements selected from the group consisting of b, y, ti, p, pd, be, si, c, ag, na, mg, ga, and al are used as the metal and the master alloy. 7 . the method of claim 6 , wherein, in the melting step, fe, b, y, ti, and pt are used as the metal and the master alloy. 8 . the method of claim 7 , wherein, in the melting step, fe, b, y, ti, and pt are used as the metal and the master alloy at ratios of at least 50 atomic % of fe, 10 to 30 atomic % of b, 5 to 20 atomic % of y, and 0 to 10 atomic % of ti+pt. 9 . the method of claim 5 , wherein, in the rapid cooling step, the molten metal alloy is cooled at a cooling rate ranging from 100° c./s to 1,000,000° c./s. 10 . the method of claim 5 , wherein the powdering step comprises pulverization after vacuum atomization or melt spinning. 11 . the method of claim 5 , further comprising a step of increasing a surface roughness value of the amorphous metal alloy after the powdering step. 12 . the method of claim 5 , further comprising an oxidation step of oxidizing the amorphous metal alloy powder at a temperature ranging from 300° c. to 600° c. in an oxygen atmosphere. 13 . the method of claim 12 , wherein, after the oxidation step, the oxidation catalyst comprising the amorphous metal alloy powder has a performance of converting co into co 2 of 95% or higher at 150° c. and does not react with no. 14 . the method of claim 12 , wherein, after the oxidation step, the oxidation catalyst comprising the amorphous metal alloy powder has an oxidation performance for nh 3 of 75% or higher at 300° c. and produces no no 2 by-product during oxidation of nh 3 . 15 . the method of claim 12 , wherein, in the oxidation step, a surface structure of the amorphous metal alloy changes from an feo structure, in which a degree of oxidation of fe in the amorphous metal alloy is +2, to an fe 2 o 3 structure, in which a degree of oxidation of fe in the amorphous metal alloy is +3, as a heat treatment temperature increases. 16 . (canceled)	technical field the present disclosure relates to an oxidation catalyst, a method of preparing the same, and an exhaust gas purification filter including the same. more particularly, the present disclosure relates to an oxidation catalyst able to be prepared at low cost since the composition thereof includes an amorphous metal alloy powder, able to improve the efficiency of exhaust gas purification when applied to an exhaust gas purification filter, and able to contribute to improvements in the reliability of the operation of an exhaust gas purifier in which the exhaust gas purification filter is disposed. in addition, the present disclosure relates to a method of preparing the oxidation catalyst and an exhaust gas purification filter including the oxidation catalyst. background art in general, exhaust gases discharged through the operation of a variety of combustion reactors in various types of facilities, such as power plants, ironworks, and incinerators, may be incompletely combusted due to low temperatures, moisture contents, insufficient amounts of oxygen, and the like. carbon monoxide (co), a most common gas discharged to the air through incomplete combustion, has a serious effect on the supply of oxygen to the human brain when inhaled into the human respiratory tract. thus, strong regulations for reducing the co concentrations of exhaust gases discharged from thermal power plants, ironworks, and means for transportation, such as vehicles, will enter into force. therefore, oxidation catalysis systems for converting harmful components, such as carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, into non-harmful components have been developed. fig. 1 illustrates a catalytic converter as an example of such oxidation catalysis systems. the catalytic converter has a structure in which the surface of a porous ceramic filter including a substrate and a carrier is coated with catalyst particles. the catalyst of the catalytic converter allows carbon monoxide or hydrocarbons introduced into the catalytic converter to react with oxygen supplied to the catalytic converter. through this reaction, carbon monoxide or hydrocarbons are converted into carbon dioxide or water, which may then be discharged from the catalytic converter. here, an element such as platinum (pt) or rhodium (rh) having superior reactivity and stability is typically used for the catalyst coating the surface of the porous ceramic filter. however, pt and rh are rare earth metals having limited reserves, while the prices thereof are recently showing rapid growth due to increased demand therefor. this results in increases in the fabrication costs of exhaust gas purification filters. in addition, pt may be disadvantageously deteriorated due to the growth or shedding of particles when exposed to exhaust gases, the temperature of which ranges from 500° c. to 600° c., over a long period of time, such that the efficiency of exhaust gas purification is lowered. prior art document korean patent no. 10-1251499 (apr. 1, 2013) disclosure technical problem accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in consideration of the above problems occurring in the related art, and the present invention is intended to propose an oxidation catalyst able to be prepared at low cost since the composition thereof includes an amorphous metal alloy powder, able to improve the efficiency of exhaust gas purification when applied to an exhaust gas purification filter, and able to contribute to improvements in the reliability of the operation of an exhaust gas purifier in which the exhaust gas purification filter is disposed. the present disclosure also proposes a method of preparing the oxidation catalyst and an exhaust gas purification filter including the oxidation catalyst. technical solution according to an aspect, the present disclosure provides an oxidation catalyst coating the surface of a carrier of an exhaust gas purification filter, wherein the oxidation catalyst is formed from an amorphous metal alloy powder. here, the amorphous metal alloy powder may be a mixture including at least one element selected from the group consisting of fe, ni, mn, co, zr, and pt and at least two elements selected from the group consisting of b, y, ti, p, pd, be, si, c, ag, na, mg, ga, and al. in addition, particle sizes of the amorphous metal alloy powder may range from 0.1 μm to 10 μm. a surface roughness value of the amorphous metal alloy powder may range from 1 nm to 10 nm. the present disclosure also provides a method of preparing an oxidation catalyst that coats a surface of a carrier of an exhaust gas purification filter. the method may include: a melting step of melting a metal and a master alloy; a rapid cooling step of producing an amorphous metal alloy by rapidly cooling a molten metal alloy including the metal and the master alloy; and a powdering step of converting the amorphous metal alloy into powder. in the melting step, at least one element selected from the group consisting of fe, ni, mn, co, zr, and pt and at least two elements selected from the group consisting of b, y, ti, p, pd, be, si, c, ag, na, mg, ga, and al may be used as the metal and the master alloy. in the melting step, fe, b, y, ti, and pt may be used as the metal and the master alloy. in the melting step, fe, b, y, ti, and pt may be used as the metal and the master alloy at ratios of at least 50 atomic % of fe, 10 to 30 atomic % of b, 5 to 20 atomic % of y, and 0 to 10 atomic % of ti+pt. in the rapid cooling step, the molten metal alloy may be cooled at a cooling rate ranging from 100° c./s to 1,000,000° c./s. in addition, the powdering step may include pulverization after vacuum atomization or melt spinning. the method may further include a step of increasing a surface roughness value of the amorphous metal alloy after the powdering step. in addition, the method may further include an oxidation step of oxidizing the amorphous metal alloy powder at a temperature ranging from 300° c. to 600° c. in an oxygen atmosphere. here, after the oxidation step, the oxidation catalyst formed from the amorphous metal alloy powder has a performance of converting co into co 2 of 95% or higher at 150° c. and the oxidation catalyst may not react with no. after the oxidation step, the oxidation catalyst formed from the amorphous metal alloy powder has an oxidation performance for nh 3 of 75% or higher at 300° c. and the oxidation catalyst may produce no no 2 by-product during oxidation of nh 3 . in the oxidation step, the surface structure of the amorphous metal alloy may change from an feo structure, in which the degree of oxidation of fe in the amorphous metal alloy is +2, to an fe 2 o 3 structure, in which the degree of oxidation of fe in the amorphous metal alloy is +3, as a heat treatment temperature increases. in addition, the present disclosure provides an exhaust gas purification filter including: the oxidation catalyst as stated above; and a carrier, the surface of which is coated with the oxidation catalyst. advantageous effects according to the present disclosure, the oxidation catalyst prepared from an amorphous metal alloy powder having superior durability is used instead of prior-art catalysts formed from a noble metal, such as pt or rh. it is thereby possible to significantly lower manufacturing cost from those of the prior art. when the oxidation catalyst is applied to the exhaust gas purification filter, it is possible to improve the efficiency of exhaust gas purification, thereby contributing to improvements in the reliability of the operation of an exhaust gas purifier. description of drawings fig. 1 is a configuration view schematically illustrating a typical catalytic converter; fig. 2 is a conceptual view illustrating the atomic structure of a crystalline metal; fig. 3 is a conceptual view illustrating the atomic structure of an amorphous metal; fig. 4 is a flowchart sequentially illustrating the process steps of a method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to an exemplary embodiment; fig. 5 is sem micrographs illustrating the surface shapes of oxidation catalysts prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the exemplary embodiment; fig. 6 is an xrd graph illustrating oxidation catalysts prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the exemplary embodiment; fig. 7 is a graph illustrating the results of co oxidation tests performed on oxidation catalysts prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the exemplary embodiment; fig. 8 is a graph illustrating the results of co oxidation tests performed, after pretreatment, on oxidation catalysts prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the exemplary embodiment; fig. 9 is a graph illustrating an no oxidation test result performed on the oxidation catalyst prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the exemplary embodiment; fig. 10 is a graph illustrating no-tpd test results performed on the oxidation catalyst prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the exemplary embodiment; fig. 11 is a graph illustrating nh 3 oxidation test results performed, after pretreatment, on the oxidation catalyst prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the exemplary embodiment; fig. 12 is a graph illustrating no 2 concentration measurements during the nh 3 oxidation test performed, after pretreatment, on the oxidation catalyst prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the exemplary embodiment; fig. 13 is a graph illustrating xps changes depending on oxidation performed on the oxidation catalyst prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the exemplary embodiment; fig. 14 is tem micrographs of the oxidation catalyst prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the exemplary embodiment; and fig. 15 is an xrd graph illustrating the oxidation catalyst prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the exemplary embodiment before and after oxidation. mode for invention hereinafter, reference will be made in detail to an oxidation catalyst, a method of preparing the same, and an exhaust gas purification filter including the same according to the present disclosure, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments thereof are illustrated. in addition, in the description of the present invention, detailed descriptions of known functions and components will be omitted in the case that the subject matter of the present invention is rendered unclear by the inclusion thereof. an oxidation catalyst according to an exemplary embodiment is a catalyst coating the surface of a carrier of an exhaust gas purification filter disposed in an exhaust gas purifier provided in a power plant, an incinerator, a vessel, or the like to play a part in or promote a chemical reaction for converting harmful components, such as co or nh 3 , contained in exhaust gases, into non-harmful components. the oxidation catalyst according to the present embodiment contains an amorphous metal alloy powder. comparing an amorphous metal with a crystalline metal with reference to fig. 2 and fig. 3 , the amorphous metal is characterized by having very high surface energy and activity, since the atomic structure of the surface thereof is highly disordered and a plurality of dangling bonds representing defects between atomic bonds are formed. in addition, the amorphous metal may have higher erosion resistance and higher mechanical strength than the crystalline metal, due to physical, chemical, and structural factors. thus, the oxidation catalyst according to the present embodiment is used as a catalyst for purifying exhaust gases on the basis of such characteristics of the amorphous metal. when the oxidation catalyst according to the present embodiment formed from an amorphous metal alloy powder is used to purify exhaust gases, it is possible to improve the efficiency of exhaust gas purification compared to prior-art processes in which noble metal catalysts are used. in addition, the oxidation catalyst can be prepared at low cost, such that an exhaust gas purification filter having the oxidation catalyst provided as an exhaust gas purification catalyst can be fabricated at a significantly low cost. in addition, the amorphous metal alloy has superior durability, since the amorphous metal alloy is neither condensed nor crystallized by exhaust gases having a temperature ranging from 500° c. to 600° c. thus, the oxidation catalyst formed from the amorphous metal alloy is not shed from the carrier of the exhaust gas purification filter when exposed to exhaust gases over a long period of time, thereby contributing to improvements in the reliability of the operation of an exhaust gas purifier in which the exhaust gas purification filter including the oxidation catalyst is disposed. the oxidation catalyst as described above may be formed from an amorphous metal alloy powder produced by mixing at least one selected from the group consisting of pt, ni, fe, co, and zr and at least one selected from the group consisting of b, p, pd, be, si, c, ag, na, mg, ga, y, ti, and al. that is, the composition of the oxidation catalyst according to the present embodiment may include three or more elements. in addition, the particle size of the amorphous metal alloy powder of the oxidation catalyst may range from 0.1 μm to 10 μm. furthermore, it is preferable that the surface roughness of the oxidation catalyst of the oxidation catalyst ranges from 1 nm to 10 nm such that the oxidation catalyst has an optimal specific surface area for a catalyst. hereinafter, reference will be made to a method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to an exemplary embodiment. as illustrated in fig. 4 , the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the present embodiment is a method of preparing an oxidation catalyst that coats the surface of a carrier of an exhaust gas purification filter disposed in an exhaust gas purifier provided in a power plant, an incinerator, a vessel, or the like, and includes a melting step s 1 , a rapid cooling step s 2 , and powdering step s 3 . first, the melting step s 1 is a step of melting a metal and a master alloy. that is, in the melting step s 1 , a molten liquid metal alloy is prepared by inserting the metal and the master alloy into a crucible and then heating the metal and the master alloy. in the melting step s 1 , at least one element selected from the group consisting of fe, ni, mn, co, zr, and pt and at least two elements selected from the group consisting of b, y, ti, p, pd, be, si, c, ag, na, mg, ga, and al may be used as the metal and the master alloy. for example, in the melting step s 1 , fe, b, y, ti, and pt may be selected as the metal and the master alloy. in this case, in the melting step s 1 , the content ratios of the metal and the master alloy may be controlled to be at least 50 atomic % of fe, 10 to 30 atomic % of b, 5 to 20 atomic % of y, and 0 to 10 atomic % of ti+pt. the subsequent rapid cooling step s 2 is a step of rapidly cooling the molten metal alloy. that is, the rapid cooling step s 2 produces an amorphous metal alloy by rapidly cooling the molten metal alloy. in this regard, in the rapid cooling step s 2 , the molten metal alloy can be cooled at a cooling rate ranging from 100° c./s to 1,000,000° c./s. when the molten metal alloy is rapidly cooled as described above, the molten metal alloy solidifies with a disordered atomic arrangement like that of glass, thereby forming the amorphous metal alloy. the final powdering step s 3 is a step of converting the amorphous metal alloy into powder. the powdering step s 3 may be vacuum atomization or melt spinning. that is, the powdering step s 3 may convert the amorphous metal alloy into a coarse powder, the particle sizes of which range from 10 μm to 50 μm, through vacuum atomization, and then convert the coarse powder into a fine powder, the particle sizes of which range from 0.1 μm to 10 μm, through additional mechanical milling. in addition, the powdering step s 3 may convert the amorphous metal alloy into an amorphous metal ribbon through melt spinning and then convert the amorphous metal ribbon into powder through mechanical milling. when the powdering step s 3 as described above is completed, an oxidation catalyst formed from the amorphous metal alloy powder is prepared. the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the present embodiment may further include a step of increasing the surface roughness of the amorphous metal alloy powder after the powdering step s 3 . here, the surface roughness of the amorphous metal alloy powder is increased in order to improve the performance of the oxidation catalyst through obtaining a greater specific surface area and to increase the compatibility and bonding force of the exhaust gas purification filter to a ceramic carrier through obtaining the rougher surfaces. this step may be a process of forming nanoscale structures on the surface of the amorphous metal alloy powder through mechanical pulverization technology using fluid. through this process, the metal alloy powder having an optimal specific surface area, the level of surface roughness of which ranges from 1 nm to 10 nm, may be prepared. hereinafter, reference will be made to the results of tests performed on the characteristics of oxidation catalysts prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the present embodiment in conjunction with fig. 5 to fig. 15 . fig. 5 is scanning electron microscopy (sem) micrographs illustrating the surface shapes of oxidation catalysts prepared by the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the present embodiment. in the present embodiment, oxidation catalyst samples formed from (fe 72 b 22 y 6 )ti 2 and ((fe 72 b 22 y 6 )ti 2 )pt 2 were prepared. both of the two samples were prepared to have reproducibility through a process of repeated experimentation. master alloys, the compositions of which include predetermined ratios of the above-described elements, were uniformly prepared using an arc melter. amorphous ribbons manufactured using a melt spinner were converted into powder having the surface shapes and particle sizes as illustrated in fig. 5 through spex milling or ball milling pulverization. through the analysis of the sem micrographs regarding the surface shapes and average particle sizes, it was appreciated that the particle sizes of the manufactured powders range from 5 μm to 10 μm. fig. 6 illustrates the results of xrd analysis intended to examine the atomic structures of oxidation catalysts formed from amorphous metal alloy powders prepared according to the present embodiment. it can be appreciated that amorphous metal ribbons were manufactured by the above-described method as expected, since the ribbons manufactured had no xrd peaks but had wide xrd patterns representing the uniform amorphous structure. since the powder samples had the same patterns after spex milling, it can be appreciated that no crystallization occurred during the milling. fig. 7 is a graph illustrating co oxidation performance measured to examine the performance of oxidation catalysts formed from amorphous metal alloys prepared according to the present embodiment. it can be appreciated from fig. 7 that fe-based amorphous metal powders clearly had co oxidation catalytic activity as the co conversion ratios of two sample compositions reached 70% or higher at a temperature of 250° c. or higher. in addition, it can be appreciated that the sample composition including 2 atomic % of pt element had higher oxidation catalytic performance as expected. as represented in the graph, two times of repeated experimentation showed uniform test results, thereby making the test results reliable. in fig. 7 , co oxidation tests were performed right after the oxidation catalysts were formed from the amorphous metal alloy powders. however, pretreatment of oxidizing or reducing the samples at several hundred degrees (300° c. to 700° c.) is generally performed in order to improve the performance of the oxidation catalysts. the pretreatment makes it possible to adjust the oxidation states of the oxidation catalysts formed from the amorphous metal alloy powders and optimize catalytic activities for materials. fig. 8 illustrates changes in the co oxidation performance of prepared amorphous metal alloy powder samples after pretreatment (high temperature oxidation). as represented in the graph, when co oxidation was performed after high temperature oxidation performed on samples at 400° c., 500° c., and 600° c., all the samples had improvements in oxidation performance. in particular, in the case of oxidation at 600° c., the co conversion ratio was higher than 95% in a relatively low temperature range of 150° c. this conversion ratio exceeds the conversion ratio of pt, a commercially-available catalyst. fig. 9 is a graph illustrating an no oxidation test result intended to examine whether or not an oxidation catalyst sample formed from an amorphous metal alloy prepared as described above has an effect on no oxidation. this test was designed to measure changes in the concentration of no 2 after no was flown over the sample. however, as illustrated in the result of fig. 9 , no injected in a wide temperature range was determined to be discharged without being converted into no 2 at all. thus, no-temperature programmed desorption (no-tpd) tests were performed in order to determine the reason why the prepared oxidation catalyst sample does not have an effect on no oxidation differently from superior co oxidation performance, and the results are illustrated in fig. 10 . no-tpd is intended to examine performance for no molecule absorption. first, samples were saturated in no, and then, desorption signals of no were analyzed while the temperature was being raised, whereby amounts of no absorbed in the sample were calculated. it can be appreciated from the results of fig. 10 that the oxidation catalyst prepared according to the present embodiment did not absorb no at all since substantially no amount of no desorption was measured before and after pretreatment, while the no oxidation catalyst developed in the prior art absorbed a significant amount of no and thus amounts of no desorption could be clearly measured. since the oxidation catalyst sample absorbs substantially no amount of no, the oxidation catalyst has selective co oxidation property. the selective co oxidation performance of the oxidation catalyst prepared according to the present embodiment is applicable to a variety of important industrial fields. in particular, at present, commercially available pt catalysts are generally used in order to oxidize co in exhaust gases from power plants or incinerators. a side effect of this process is no 2 generation occurring as a side reaction. unlikely colorless and odorless no, no 2 forms a noticeable yellow fume with an odor when only a 15 ppm of no 2 is contained in the air. in order to overcome this problem, an additional process, such as ethanol input, is required. in contrast, the oxidation catalyst prepared according to the present embodiment is completely selective for co and thus does not cause a side reaction, such as no 2 generation. thus, an additional process, such as ethanol input, is not required. fig. 11 is a graph illustrating oxidation test results performed on ammonia (nh 3 ) using oxidation catalyst samples prepared according to the present embodiment. it can be appreciated from the result graph that both of the samples pretreated at 400° c. and 600° c. had ammonia conversion ratios of 80% or higher in a temperature range of 300° c. fig. 12 is a graph illustrating no 2 concentration measurements intended to determine whether or not a no 2 side reaction occurs in gases converted through ammonia oxidation tests illustrated in fig. 11 . this graph indicates that the no 2 concentration was 0 ppm, i.e. no no 2 was produced. as appreciated from the no-tpd tests, it can be interpreted as the result of selective oxidation in which an no molecule produced during the oxidation of ammonia is not absorbed to the surface of amorphous metal alloy powder and thus is not converted to no 2 . an application of selective oxidation of ammonia is found in a de-no x scr system that treats residual ammonia caused by slips or treats ammonia produced as a by-product in several chemical processes. when this system uses the oxidation catalyst prepared according to the present embodiment, an oxidation catalyst system can be realized without the problem of the odor and the yellow fume of no 2 . fig. 13 illustrates xps data about fe in metal components contained in a sample right after being powdered and samples oxidized after being powdered in the method of preparing an oxidation catalyst according to the present embodiment. it was possible to measure the binding energy levels of elements based on the xps data and predict the atomic structure of the surface of expected materials based on the binding energy levels, thereby determining the oxidation states of metals. as appreciated from the graphs in fig. 13 , it is possible to determine the positions and intensities of peaks in three typical iron oxides, i.e. feo (fe oxidation state; +2), fe 2 o 3 (+3), and fe 3 o 4 (+8/3), by measuring the xps peaks of fe, the major element of the prepared oxidation catalysts. as appreciated from the xps result graphs, in the case of samples prior to pretreatment, feo, in which the degree of oxidation of fe is +2, has most peaks. after pretreatment at 400° c., peaks gradually increase in fe 2 o 3 and fe 3 o 4 . in particular, this tendency is more prominent after pretreatment at 600° c. comparing with the results ( fig. 8 ) in which the co oxidation performance is higher as the pretreatment temperature gradually increases as in the 400° c. and 600° c. pretreatments, it can be concluded that the catalytic performance will be higher as the surface structure is closer to the surface structure of fe 2 o 3 , in which the degree of oxidation changes from +2 to +3. in general, metal oxides, such as feo and fe 2 o 3 , have regular crystal structures. fig. 14 illustrates the results of transmission electron microscopy (tem) measurements intended to analyze the atomic structures of the surfaces of iron oxides, determined based on the xps data, in order to examine the regular crystal structures. as expected from the xps, a crystalline portion in the amorphous structure of the initial amorphous metal caused by surface oxidation was observed from the tem micrographs. it can be appreciated from a fast fourier transform (fft) image that nano crystalline structures caused by partial surface oxidation are partially distributed although not distributed over the entire surface. although specific portions of the surface of the oxidation catalyst prepared according to the present embodiment were crystallized due to oxidation, the oxidation catalyst generally has superior durability, since the amorphous metal alloy forming the oxidation catalyst is neither condensed nor crystallized by exhaust gases having a temperature ranging from 500° c. to 600° c. as illustrated in fig. 15 , right after the powdering step and after oxidation pretreatment at 600° c. following the powdering step, amorphous xrd patterns were measured through xrd analysis. that is, regarding the overall particle structure, it can be appreciated that the same structure was maintained without crystallization after calcination performed at 600° c. for four hours. thus, the oxidation catalyst formed from the amorphous metal alloy powder according to the present embodiment is free from deterioration, growth, or the like and thus is not shed from the surface of a carrier of an exhaust gas purification filter, even after having been exposed to exhaust gases for a long period of time. thus, the performance of the oxidation catalyst is superior to those of the pt and rd catalysts of the prior art. in addition, the oxidation catalyst prepared according to the present embodiment is applied to an exhaust gas purification filter. specifically, the exhaust gas purification filter may include a carrier, the surface of which is coated with the oxidation catalyst prepared according to the present embodiment. the exhaust gas purification filter may be fabricated by forming slurry by mixing an oxidation catalyst formed from an amorphous metal alloy powder into a solvent and coating the surface of a porous carrier with an oxidation catalyst layer by immersing the porous carrier into the slurry. describing in greater detail, in order to fabricate the exhaust gas purification filter, first, the slurry is formed by diluting the oxidation catalyst with an aqueous solvent, an alcoholic solvent, or a mixture thereof. in this case, it is preferable that the oxidation catalyst is added at a ratio ranging from 10 wt % to 50 wt % of the solvent. the solvent as described above may include a dispersant to improve the dispersibility of the oxidation catalyst. the dispersant may include a surfactant, such as ctab or dtab, in order to realize dispersibility based on steric hindrance or may include at least one salt selected from among nh 4 oh, nacl, and nh 4 cl in order to realize electrical dispersibility. afterwards, the oxidation catalyst layer is formed on the surface of the carrier by immersing the porous carrier into the prepared slurry. here, it is preferable that the thickness of the oxidation catalyst layer is controlled to range from 0.5 μm to 5 μm. subsequently, the solvent is evaporated by heating the porous carrier having the oxidation catalyst layer on the surface thereof at a temperature ranging from 100° c. to 150° c. for two hours. the oxidation catalyst layer is then sintered by heating the porous carrier at a temperature ranging from 450° c. to 550° c., thereby completing the fabrication of the exhaust gas purification filter. the foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented with respect to the drawings. they are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure to the precise forms disclosed herein, and many modifications and variations are obviously possible for a person having ordinary skill in the art in light of the above teachings. it is intended therefore that the scope of the present disclosure not be limited to the foregoing embodiments, but be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.
097-789-202-713-544	CA	[ "GB", "CA", "US" ]	G01N30/20	1987-09-17T00:00:00	1987	[ "G01" ]	liquid sampling valve for gas chromatography; cleaning circuit	a liquid sampling valve for a gas chromatographic analyser (gca) has a sampling stem. the stem is substantially cylindrical and has on its surface a sample collecting groove. the stem is movable from a first position in which said groove is in communication with the liquid to be analyzed for collection of same, to a second position in which said liquid collected in said groove is deposited in said gca for analysis. the stem is also movable to a third position in which the groove is in communication with a cleaning solution capable of cleaning residues, which are left by said liquid to be analyzed, in said groove.	1. a liquid sampling valve for a gas chromatographic analyzer (gca), said valve having a sampling stem, said stem being substantially cylindrical and having on its surface a sample collecting groove, said stem being movable from a first position in which said groove is in communication with the liquid to be analyzed for collection of same, to a second position in which said liquid collected in said groove is deposited in said gca for analysis, characterized in that said stem is also movable to a third position in which said groove is in communication with a cleaning solution capable of cleaning residues which are left by said liquid to be analyzed in said groove, said first position being between said second and third positions, said stem being movable from said first to said second position repeatedly without said groove being in communication with said cleaning solution, and a cleaning-in-place (cip) sub-system for an apparatus for the quantitative analysis of constituents of a liquid by gas chromatography, said cip including a pipeline for piping cleaning fluid around a closed loop, said loop being in communication with said liquid sampling valve, the interior of the piping thereby defining said third position. 2. a liquid sampling valve as described in claim 1 further characterized in that a space is provided between said first and said third positions whereby said groove is vented when moving from said third to said first positions. 3. a liquid sampling valve as described in claim 1, further characterized in that a source of rinse water is provided between said first and third positions, thereby said groove is rinsed when moving from said third to said first position. 4. the combination of claim 1, wherein the said groove is circumferential, and said stem intersects said piping through a bore transverse to a longitudinal axis of the piping, there being seals provided between said stem and said piping. 5. the combination of claim 4, wherein said cip sub-system includes a pump for propelling cleaning solution around said closed loop of piping, a reservoir for collecting cleaning fluid, situated on said loop as an integral part thereof, and a filter situated on said loop as an integral part thereof.	background of the invention the present invention relates to the field of brewing. more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved liquid sampling valve used in the quantitative analysis, by gas chromatography, of alcohol and carbon dioxide in beer. even more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved liquid sampling valve which may be used in conjunction with the method and apparatus for the quantitative analysis of carbon dioxide in beer described in the applicant's co-pending canadian patent application no. 537,187 filed july 30, 1987 for an invention entitled gas chromatograph modification. currently, to test beer for alcohol (i.e. ethanol) content or any other component than co.sub.2, it must first be de-gassed (i.e. the co.sub.2 must be removed). this is because conventional laboratory techniques including gas chromatographic analyses are based on the exact measurement of a defined sample quantity (volume or weight); partially de-gassed or carbonated beer samples cannot be measured accurately because of the inherent instability of the sample specimen and as a consequence inaccurate analytical results are obtained. the upshot of the foregoing is it is currently impossible to determine alcohol content in beer accurately with an in-line process gas chromatographic analyzer (gca). hence, de-gassification of discrete samples is done prior to alcoholic content determination by a gca. unfortunately, however, when beer is de-gassified prior to analysis, it is inevitable that some ethanol is lost. this further complicates the problem of alcohol determination as the discrete sample which has been de-gassed will no longer be representative of the batch from which it originated. a further problem associated with the use of a process gca for ethanol determination is that solids (mainly carbohydrates and proteins) from the beer tend to accumulate in the gca, necessitating its frequent dis-assembly for cleaning. the applicant's co-pending patent application aforesaid provides an apparatus by which the alcohol concentration and the carbon dioxide concentration in a pressurized beer sample may be gauged without de-gassing the beer. it provides an apparatus for use in the in-line chromatographic analysis of, for instance, alcohol or carbon dioxide in beer which apparatus is provided with a cip (cleaning-in-place) for continuous operation. more particularly, that patent application relates broadly to an apparatus to measure the concentration of a constituent of a solution containing dissolved gas including: (a) conduit means connectable to a source of said solution; (b) flow control means on said conduit means, selectively to permit the flow of said solution in said conduit means; (c) pressure regulation means on said conduit means to control the pressure of said solution in said conduit means, and maintain the pressure in said conduit means at a level sufficiently high to prevent gassification of said dissolved gas in said solution, thereby to prevent foaming in said conduit means; (d) a gas chromatographic analyzer (gca) in communication with said conduit means via a sampling valve, to permit the flow of discrete samples of said solution into said gca for analysis, the interior of said gca being maintained at the same pressure as in said conduit means. the copending application also relates to a method of measuring the concentration of a constituent in a solution containing a dissolved gas, including the steps of: (a) introducing a quantity of said solution into a pressurizable conduit; (b) pressurizing said solution in said conduit, to prevent gassification of the dissolved gas in the solution; (c) providing a gas chromatographic analyzer (gca) in communication with said conduit via a liquid sampling valve, and maintaining a pressure in said gca equal to that in said conduit; (d) measuring the desired constituent concentration in said solution with said gca. referring first to fig. 1, which corresponds to fig. 1 of the above referenced canadian application, a sampling system is provided which may be used to analyze the alcohol content of beer directly from the production lines in a brewery. an analyzer 1 is connected to the production line brewery via a process beer supply line 2. the beer in the line 2 is, of course, carbonated and at sub-ambient temperatures--both of which conditions had previously to be altered before analysis, and neither of which is altered utilizing the present invention. the beer flows through an air actuated valve 3 and is drawn into the sampling area with the aid of pump 4. the beer flows from the pump 4 to a liquid sampling valve 5, where a quantity can be diverted to a gas chromatographic analyzer 1, which is any suitable standard process gca unit. between the line 2 and the analyzer 1, a pressure of 80 psia is maintained in the analyzer by a pressure regulator 6 on the main sample line. pressure is monitored with a pressure indicator 7 on this line. the pressure in the sample line is necessary to deliver a uniformly liquid sample to the analyzer. maintenance of this pressure prevents the undesired separation of carbon dioxide from the liquid which otherwise would result in foam in the sample line. the size of the injected beer sample is predetermined and relatively small (0.5 microliter) and foam in the sample line would lead to inaccurate measurements. the major part of the beer flowing through the sampling line will not be diverted to the analyzer, but will re returned via return line 8 and will pass through air actuated drain/process return valve 10 to process return line 9, which flows to the main production line in the brewery. it has been found, using the system outlined above, that by maintaining back pressure in the sampling line and similar pressure in the gca, a sample with a co.sub.2 content can be analyzed, with no fluctuation upon vaporization in the gca to cause unreproducable results. to calibrate the gca 1 calibration standard (having a known concentration of the thing to be analyzed) is taken in through line 11, past flow indicator 12 and through air actuated valves 13 and 3 to the sampling area described above, where a sample of the known standard is analyzed to calibrate the analyzer 1. of course, a series of known standards must be analyzed before calibration of the analyzer is complete. also, it will be noted that valve 10 will be open to drain line, rather than process return line 9 during calibration. the system of fig. 1 also has a clean-in-place (cip) sub-system built into it. lines 15 and 16 respectively feed hot water and cleaning solvent into the cip sub-system, from whence it can be allowed to flow into the main sampling system. a pressure regulator 17 and pressure indicator 18 are provided on the hot water line, to ensure that the pressure in this line is kept at acceptable levels (as will be a matter of choice to one skilled in the brewing art and especially in plant maintenance). also, a flow indicator is provided on the hot water line so that a suitable quantity of hot water may easily be mixed with the solvent solution in-put through line 16. carefully measured quantities of cleaning solution are drawn through line 16 by metering pump 20 and pass through pressure indicator 21, flow indicator 22 and valve (air actuated) 23 to mixing coil 24. at the same time as when cleaning solution is let into coil 24, air actuated valve 25 on the hot water line is opened to allow hot water into the coil 24 and after the water and solution are mixed, air actuated valve 26 is opened and valves 13 and 3 are opened to permit a flow of mixed water and cleaning solution to pass through the sampling area and clean any deposited solids therefrom. valve 10 should, of course, be set to drain line 14 to permit used solution to be disposed of. after the sampling system has been cleaned with cleaning solution, it is flushed with hot water by opening valve 25 to by-pass line 27 (to by-pass coils 24), closing valve 23 and opening valves 26, 13, 3 and 10 to permit hot water flow through the sampling area and out the drain. the system of pressurized gas chromatography of the above referenced copending application may also be used in laboratory analysis of discrete samples (bottles or cans) of finished product beer, for quality control as illustrated schematically in fig. 2. a container 27, either a bottle or can of beer is placed in holder 28 which holds it securely while a sampling mechanism 29 is pneumatically driven into the container 27 to draw out the contents thereof. these contents flow through sampling line 30 through sampling valve 31 into the sampling loop 32 and through sampling pump 33 used to develop 80 psi in the sampling loop 32. the loop further includes a pressure regulator 34 and pressure indicator 35, for accurate regulation and monitoring of the pressure in the loop 32. a liquid sampling valve 36 on the loop 32 is used to divert samples to gca 37, the column of which is kept pressurized at 80 psi. completing the sampling loop is loop drain valve 38 which may be opened to drain line 39 when analysis is complete or to loop return line 40 for the actual sampling procedure. when fluid is injected into the loop from sampling mechanism 29, it fills the loop, at which time valve 38 is closed to drain line 39 and opened to loop return line 40. simultaneously, valve 31 is closed, which completes the loop, and permits pressurization thereof. to analyze the next sample, valve 38 is opened to drain line 39 and the sample in the loop discharged; the cycle is then repeated. the laboratory system illustrated in fig. 2 also includes a cleaning sub-system, much modified from the fill in-line cip system disclosed above. the cleaning sub-system of the fig. 2 apparatus is merely a line 41 provided with a valve 42 and a flow indicator 43, into which line, and thence into the loop, may be injected cleaning solution, hot rinse water or calibration standard solution. since the reason for the provision of a cleaning-in-place system which washes out the entire conduit system provided in the applicant's aforesaid patent application, it is the object of the present invention to provide a modified sampling valve and a modified cleaning-in-place sub-system which overcomes the drawback identified above, and thereby decreases down-time and complexity associated with using the invention described in the applicant's aforesaid co-pending patent application. summary of the invention in one broad aspect, the present invention relates to a liquid sampling valve for a gas chromatographic analyzer (gca), said valve having a sampling stem, said stem being substantially cylindrical and having on its surface a sample collecting groove, said stem being movable from a first position in which said groove is in communication with the liquid to be analyzed for collection of same, to a second position in which said liquid collected in said groove is deposited in said gca for analysis, characterized in that said stem is also movable to a third position in which said groove is in communication with a cleaning solution capable of cleaning residues which are left by said liquid to be analyzed in said groove. brief description of the drawings in drawings which illustrate the present invention by way of example: fig. 1 is a schematic of a system for the in-line determination of alcohol content in beer as disclosed in canadian patent application no. 537,187; fig. 2 is a schematic of a system for the laboratory analysis of the alcohol content of discrete samples in beer as described in canadian patent application no. 537,187; fig. 3 is a schematic of a system for the in-line determination of alcohol content in beer as disclosed in canadian patent application no. 537,187, but employing the present invention; fig. 4 is a schematic of a system for the laboratory analysis of the alcohol content of discrete samples in beer as described in canadian patent application no. 537,187, but employing the present invention; and fig. 5 is a partially schematic cross-sectional diagram of a liquid sampling valve employing the present invention. detailed description of the preferred embodiment referring first to fig. 3, it will be seen that the system shown therein is similar in many respects to the system shown in fig. 1. the differences are that a different liquid sampling valve 60, which will be described below is provided, and the cleaning-in-place system which was provided in the system shown in fig. 1 has been eliminated and replaced with a modified and simplified system. in particular, the cleaning-in-place system provides a loop conduit 51 in which cleaning solution may be continually circulated via pump 53 through the conduit 51 which may be provided with a reservoir 52 for collecting cleaning fluid and a filter 54 for filtering out any solids which may collect in the cleaning fluid. the loop conduit 51 is in communication with the modified liquid sampling valve 60 directly, and does not serve to wash out any of the beer lines provided in the overall system, since it has been found that the only solids contamination which is significant is directly in the groove. this is because the small capacity of the groove--from one-half to one microliter typically--tends to magnify the extent of any residue contamination. before moving on to a description of the liquid sampling valve which is provided, it can be seen from fig. 4 that the laboratory system provided in fig. 2 is modified by the inclusion of a cleaning-in-place system and a modified liquid sampling valve, as provided in the present invention, all as shown in fig. 4. in such an embodiment, the cleaning-in-place system provided in the prior art system described in fig. 2 will be used almost exclusively for calibration standard. moreover, it will be noted from both figs. 3 and 4 that there is no necessity of having a hot water rinse line in association with the cleaning-in-place loop 51 of the present invention. this is because the only part of the analysis system with which the cleaning solution of the loop will be in contact is the liquid sampling groove and as stated above, a volume of only one-half to one microliter of cleaning solution will be contained in the liquid sampling groove at any one time. such a small volume will leave negligible residues. turning now to the structure of the all important liquid sampling valve 60, which makes the continuous loop cleaning-in-place system of the present invention possible, reference may now be made to fig. 5. it will be seen from fig. 5 that a stem 61 movable by the actuator of a gca (not shown) is provided with a sampling groove 62 around its circumference (the stem being cylindrical). this groove is calibrated precisely to hold a predetermined volume of liquid, usually from 0.5 to 1.0 microliters. the stem extends transverse to the beer flow line 63 and above it also transverse to the cleaning solution loop conduit 51. the stem extends through bores in each of these lines, there being pressure and liquid tight seals 66 around the stem at the points of intersection with the lines. it will be noted that between the solution line and the beer line the stem is open to the atmosphere, to permit any solution which may have accumulated in the groove 62 to drip out, which will also prevent any cross-contamination which may result by a mixing of the beer stream and the cleaning stream. alternatively, a third line of constantly circulating water may be provided between the beer and the solution lines (this third line not being shown) to rinse the sampling groove between the solution line and the beer line. in operation, the stem 61 of the liquid sampling valve begins in a resting position wherein the sampling groove is in cleaning solution line 5. when it is desired to take a sample of the beer in line 63, the stem is moved downwardly so that the groove goes through the vented area 65 (which may be provided with a water line as noted above) and then through the beer line 63 and down in the oven 64 of the gca. all of the beer which has accumulated in the groove will be evaporated in the oven for analysis. the groove will have a residence time in the oven of about 15 seconds. the stem is then moved upwardly into the beer line and reciprocally between the beer line and the oven as samples are desired, until about fifty samples have been taken, at which point the groove ought to be cleaned and the stem is therefore moved up so that the groove is once again in the solution line, where is it permitted to remain for about three minutes, or until such shorter or longer time as it takes for cleaning. it will be seen that in this way, the down time of the system is extremely low. it is to be understood that the examples described above are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention. it is expected that numerous variants will be obvious to the person skilled in the brewing or quantitative analysis arts, without any departure from the spirit of the present invention.
098-916-808-541-375	EP	[ "WO", "CN", "JP", "US", "KR", "EP" ]	C03B23/023,C03B23/025,C03B35/20,C03B23/03	2012-06-28T00:00:00	2012	[ "C03" ]	process and system for fine tuning precision glass sheet bending	methods and apparatus provide for modification of a work-piece at elevated temperatures. a carrier may be provided and operable to support the work-piece. a support mechanism may be provided that is movable via gross translation between a retracted position such that a distal end thereof is away from the carrier, and an extended position such that the distal end thereof is at least proximate to the carrier. a work-piece modification system may be coupled to, and disposed proximate to, the distal end of the support mechanism, and operating to facilitate modifying the work-piece at an elevated temperature. a precision tuning mechanism may couple the work-piece modification system to the support mechanism, and may operate to provide fine adjustments to an orientation, and a distance, of the work-piece modification system relative to the work-piece.	claims : 1. an apparatus, comprising: a carrier operable to support a work-piece; a support mechanism being movable via gross translation between: (i) a retracted position such that a distal end thereof is away from the carrier, and (ii) an extended position such that the distal end thereof is at least proximate to the carrier ; a work-piece modification system coupled to, and disposed proximate to, the distal end of the support mechanism, and operating to facilitate modifying the work-piece at an elevated temperature, where the work-piece modification system is at least proximate to the work-piece when the support mechanism is in the extended position; and a precision tuning mechanism coupling the work-piece modification system to the support mechanism, and operating to provide fine adjustments to an orientation, and a distance, of the work-piece modification system relative to the work-piece, wherein the carrier operates to support the work-piece within a furnace having an ambient temperature at least above 300 °c, and further comprising a plurality of controls outside the furnace, , arranged to control the fine adjustments of the precision tuning mechanism are made via. 2. an apparatus according to claim 1 for precisely bending a glass sheet as the work-piece, wherein: the carrier is operable to support the glass sheet in a planar orientation, such that an edge of the glass sheet overhangs a corresponding edge of the carrier; the work-piece modification system is a bending system coupled to, and disposed proximate to, the distal end of the support mechanism, and operating to facilitate bending the edge of the glass sheet about the edge of the carrier such that the bending system is at least proximate to the edge of the glass sheet when the support mechanism is in the extended position; and wherein the carrier is arranged to support the glass sheet within a furnace having an ambient temperature at least at an annealing temperature of the glass sheet. 3. the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the precision tuning mechanism includes: an x-direction adjustment mechanism operating to adjust a position of the bending system relative to the glass sheet in an x-direction, parallel to the glass sheet, wherein the x- direction adjustment mechanism includes: a base coupled to the support mechanism such that the base cannot move in the x-direction; and a translation block in sliding engagement with respect to the base and operating to move in the x-direction in response to translational force in the x-direction, wherein at least a portion of the bending system is mounted to the translation block. 4. the apparatus of claim 3, wherein the x-direction adjustment mechanism further includes: the base having first and second arms extending transversely with respect to one another, the first arm extending transversely from a proximal end of the translation block, and the second arm spaced apart from, and extending in a direction substantially parallel to, the translation block; and a plurality of spacer plates, each spacer plate having a first end coupled to the translation block and a second end coupled to the second arm of the base, wherein the first and second ends of each spacer plate includes a respective flexible web connecting such ends to the translation block and the second arm, respectively, and the spacer plates permit the translation block to slide in the x- direction in response to the translational force in the x- direction while maintaining the translation block in a parallel orientation with the second arm of the base, and optionally wherein the base, the translation block, and the spacer plates are all integrally formed of a single piece of material . 5. the apparatus of claim 4, wherein the x-direction adjustment mechanism further includes an x-direction movement limiting feature, comprising: a protrusion extending from one of the first arm of the base and the translation block; and a channel extending within the other of the first arm of the base and the translation block, wherein the protrusion moves within the channel in the x- direction and stops against respective opposing walls of the channel at respective maximum and minimum x-direction positions of the translation block. 6. the apparatus of claim 3, 4 or 5 wherein the x- direction adjustment mechanism further includes: a tube extending from a position near the proximal end of the translation block to a position outside the furnace; a push rod sliding within the tube in response to an x- direction one of the plurality of controls outside the furnace, wherein a distal end of the push rod is coupled to, and provides the translational force to, the proximal end of the translation block in response to the x-direction control outside the furnace . 7. the apparatus of any of claims 2 to 6, wherein the precision tuning mechanism includes: a y-direction adjustment mechanism operating to adjust a position of the bending system relative to the glass sheet in y- directions, perpendicular to the glass sheet, wherein the y- direction adjustment mechanism includes: a fixed base rigidly coupled to the support mechanism; a lever rotationally coupled to the fixed base at a fulcrum and including an effort arm and a load arm, each extending from the fulcrum such that an effort force applied to a distal end of the effort arm causes rotation of the lever about the fulcrum and translational movement of a distal end of the load arm in the y-direction; and a translation block coupled to the distal end of the load arm of the lever and operating to move in the y-direction in response to the effort force, wherein at least a portion of the bending system is mounted to the translation block. 8. the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the y-direction adjustment mechanism further comprises: the fixed base having first and second arms extending transversely with respect to one another; an intermediate member extending from the translation block in a direction parallel and spaced apart from the second arm of the fixed base, and coupling the translation block to the distal end of the load arm; and a plurality of spacer plates, each spacer plate having a first end coupled to the second arm of the fixed base and a second end coupled to the intermediate member, wherein the first and second ends of each spacer plate includes a respective flexible web connecting such ends to the second arm of the fixed base and the intermediate member, respectively, and the spacer plates permit the intermediate member to slide in the y-direction in response to the effort force while maintaining the intermediate member in a parallel orientation with the second arm of the fixed base; and optionally wherein the fixed base, the translation block, the intermediate member, and the spacer plates are all integrally formed of a single piece of material. 9. the apparatus of claim 8, wherein the y-direction adjustment mechanism further includes an y-direction movement limiting feature, comprising: a protrusion extending from one of the first arm of the fixed base and the intermediate member; and a channel extending within the other of the first arm of the fixed base and the intermediate member, wherein the protrusion moves within the channel in the y- direction and stops against respective opposing walls of the channel at respective maximum and minimum y-direction positions of the intermediate member. 10. the apparatus of claim 7, 8 or 9 wherein the y- direction adjustment mechanism further includes: a tube extending from a position proximate the distal end of the effort arm to a position outside the furnace; a push rod sliding within the tube in response to a y- direction one of the plurality of controls outside the furnace, wherein a distal end of the push rod is coupled to, and provides the effort force to, the distal end of the effort arm of the lever in response to the y-direction control. 11. the apparatus of any of claims 2 to 10, wherein the precision tuning mechanism includes an x and y direction adjustment mechanism operating to adjust positions of the bending system relative to the glass sheet in an x-direction, parallel to the glass sheet, and a y-direction, perpendicular to the glass sheet, wherein the x and y direction adjustment mechanism includes: a fixed base rigidly coupled to the support mechanism; a lever rotationally coupled to the fixed base at a fulcrum and including an effort arm and a load arm, each extending from the fulcrum such that an effort force applied to a distal end of the effort arm causes rotation of the lever about the fulcrum and translational movement of a distal end of the load arm in the y-direction; a moving base coupled to the distal end of the load arm such that the moving base: (i) moves in the y-direction in response to the translational movement of the distal end of the load arm, and (ii) cannot move in the x-direction; and a translation block coupled to the moving base such that the translation block: (i) is in sliding engagement with the moving base in the x-direction and operates to move in the x- direction in response to a translational force in the x- direction, and (ii) is in fixed engagement with the moving base in the y-direction and operates to move in the y-direction along with the moving base in response to the translational movement of the distal end of the load arm, wherein the bending system is mounted to the translation block, and optionally wherein the x and y direction adjustment mechanism further comprises: the fixed base having first and second arms extending transversely with respect to one another; and the moving base having third and fourth arms extending transversely with respect to one another, wherein: the third arm of the moving base is coupled: (i) at a distal end to, and extends transversely from, a proximal end of the translation block in a direction substantially parallel to, and spaced apart from, the second arm of the fixed base, and (ii) at a proximal end to the distal end of the load arm, the fourth arm of the moving base is spaced apart from, and extending in a direction substantially parallel to, the translation block; and further optionally wherein the x and y direction adjustment mechanism further comprises an x and y direction movement limiting feature, including: a first protrusion extending from one of the third arm of the movable base and the proximal end of the translation block; a first channel extending within the other of the third arm of the movable base and the translation block, wherein the first protrusion moves within the first channel in the x-direction and stops against respective opposing walls of the channel at respective maximum and minimum x-direction positions of the translation block; a second protrusion extending from one of the first arm of the fixed base and a proximal end of the third arm of the movable base; and a second channel extending within the other of the first arm of the fixed base and the proximal end of the third arm of the movable base, wherein the second protrusion moves within the second channel in the y-direction and stops against respective opposing walls of the channel at respective maximum and minimum y-direction positions of the third arm of the movable base. 12. the apparatus of claim 11 wherein the x and y direction adjustment mechanism further comprises: a plurality of y-direction spacer plates, each y-direction spacer plate having a first end coupled to the second arm of the fixed base and a second end coupled to the third arm of the moving base, wherein the first and second ends of each of the y- direction spacer plates includes a respective flexible web connecting such ends to the second arm of the fixed base and the third arm of the movable base, respectively, and the y-direction spacer plates permit the third arm of the movable base to slide in the y-direction in response to the translational movement of the distal end of the load arm in the y-direction, while maintaining the third arm of the movable base in a parallel orientation with the second arm of the fixed base; and a plurality of x-direction spacer plates, each x-direction spacer plate having a first end coupled to the translation block and a second end coupled to the fourth arm of the moving base, wherein the first and second ends of each of the x-direction spacer plates includes a respective flexible web connecting such ends to the translation block and the fourth arm of the movable base, respectively, and the x-direction spacer plates permit the translation block to slide in the x-direction in response to the translational force in the x-direction while maintaining the translation block in a parallel orientation with the fourth arm of the movable base, and optionally wherein the fixed base, the moving base, the translation block, and the spacer plates are all integrally formed of a single piece of material. 13. the apparatus of claim 11 or 12, further comprising: the support mechanism, including first and second lateral sides, each of the first and second lateral sides including a distal end located at the distal end of the support mechanism, such that the respective distal ends move between the retracted position and the extended position; a first x and y direction adjustment mechanism disposed proximate to the distal end of the first lateral side of the support mechanism; a second x and y direction adjustment mechanism disposed proximate to the distal end of the second lateral side of the support mechanism; and the bending system including at least one elongate body coupled at a first end to a first translation block of the first x and y direction adjustment mechanism, and coupled at a second end to a second translation block of the second x and y direction adjustment mechanism, such that the elongate body extends at least between the first and second lateral sides of the support mechanism, wherein the precision tuning mechanism operates to provide fine adjustments to an orientation, and a distance, of each opposing end of the elongate body of the bending system relative to the glass sheet via the plurality of controls outside the furnace and optionally, wherein the bending system includes at least one of: (i) an elongate localized heating element defined at least in part by the at least one elongate body, and operating to elevate a temperature of the glass sheet in a region near the edge of the carrier to a level between the annealing temperature and a softening temperature of the glass sheet when the support mechanism is in the extended position and the bending system is proximate to the edge of the carrier and the edge of the glass sheet; and (ii) an elongate pushing member defined at least in part by the at least one elongate body, and operating to press against and facilitate bending the glass sheet over the edge of the carrier when the support mechanism is in the extended position proximate to the edge of the carrier. 14. the apparatus of claim 11, 12 or 13, further comprising : the support mechanism, including first and second lateral sides, each of the first and second lateral sides including a distal end located at the distal end of the support mechanism, such that the respective distal ends move between the retracted position and the extended position; a first x and y direction adjustment mechanism disposed proximate to the distal end of the first lateral side of the support mechanism; a second x and y direction adjustment mechanism disposed proximate to the distal end of the second lateral side of the support mechanism; a third x and y direction adjustment mechanism disposed proximate to the distal end of the first lateral side of the support mechanism; a fourth x and y direction adjustment mechanism disposed proximate to the distal end of the second lateral side of the support mechanism; the bending system including at least first and second elongate bodies, where: (i) the first elongate body coupled at a first end to a first translation block of the first x and y direction adjustment mechanism, and coupled at a second end to a second translation block of the second x and y direction adjustment mechanism, such that the first elongate body extends at least between the first and second lateral sides of the support mechanism, and (ii) the second elongate body coupled at a first end to a third translation block of the third x and y direction adjustment mechanism, and coupled at a second end to a fourth translation block of the fourth x and y direction adjustment mechanism, such that the second elongate body extends at least between the first and second lateral sides of the support mechanism, wherein the precision tuning mechanism operates to provide fine adjustments to an orientation, and a distance, of each opposing end of the first elongate body, and each opposing end of the second elongate body, of the bending system relative to the glass sheet via the plurality of controls outside the furnace , and optionally wherein the bending system includes: (i) an elongate localized heating element defined at least in part by the first elongate body, and operating to elevate a temperature of the glass sheet in a region near the edge of the carrier to a level between the annealing temperature and a softening temperature of the glass sheet when the support mechanism is in the extended position and the bending system is proximate to the edge of the carrier and the edge of the glass sheet; and (ii) an elongate pushing member defined at least in part by the second elongate body, and operating to press against and facilitate bending the glass sheet over the edge of the carrier when the support mechanism is in the extended position proximate to the edge of the carrier. 15. a method for precisely bending a glass sheet, comprising : providing a carrier to support the glass sheet in a planar orientation, such that an edge of the glass sheet overhangs a corresponding edge of the carrier; providing a support mechanism movable via gross translation between: (i) a retracted position such that a distal end thereof is away from the edge of the carrier, and (ii) an extended position such that the distal end thereof is at least proximate to the edge of the carrier; providing a bending system coupled to, and disposed proximate to, the distal end of the support mechanism, and operating to facilitate bending the edge of the glass sheet about the edge of the carrier such that the bending system is at least proximate to the edge of the glass sheet when the support mechanism is in the extended position; and providing a precision tuning mechanism coupling the bending system to the support mechanism, and operating to provide fine adjustments to an orientation, and a distance, of the bending system relative to the glass sheet, wherein the carrier operates to support the glass sheet within a furnace having an ambient temperature at least at an annealing temperature of the glass sheet, and the fine adjustments of the precision tuning mechanism are made via a plurality of controls outside the furnace at an ambient temperature substantially lower than that of the furnace.	process and system for fine tuning precision glass sheet bending [0001] this application claims the benefit of priority under 35 u.s.c. §119 of european patent application serial no. 12290212.5 filed on june 28, 2012 the content of which is relied upon and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. background [0002] the present disclosure is directed to methods and apparatus for localized heating of glass, such as for deformation of glass sheets during a manufacturing process. for example, the disclosure includes details relating to supporting and accurately positioning a large area glass sheet for high precision bending thereof. [0003] glass components produced via reforming of initial material parts, such as glass sheets, have many applications, a significant one being glazing for the automotive industry. reformed glass sheets are also used in display applications, for example in producing liquid crystal displays (lcds) , electrophoretic displays (epd) , organic light emitting diode displays (oleds) , plasma display panels (pdps) , or the like. for example, electronic devices often include a protective cover glass that provides impact and scratch resistance to the front, display or touch control portion of the device. [0004] prior to reforming, glass sheets are commonly fabricated by flowing molten glass to a forming body whereby a glass ribbon may be formed by a variety of ribbon forming process techniques, for example, slot draw, float, down-draw, fusion down-draw, or up-draw. the glass ribbon may then be subsequently divided to provide sheet glass suitable for further processing into intermediate shapes for final products. there has been a growing interest in extremely high quality, thin glass sheets that are reformed into more complex three dimensional shapes, such as a combination of flat portions and highly curved edges. [0005] the common processes used to reform glass sheets often involve a heating step at temperatures where deformation occurs under gravity or under mechanical actuation. heating of a glass sheet using conventional techniques involves application of heat to the entire glass sheet. for example, known means for achieving heating of a glass sheet for reforming include the use of metal-based wires wound around a ceramic support. however, such techniques have not heretofore been satisfactory because heating of the entire glass sheet is not necessarily a desirable result, especially in a reforming operation where only local deformations are needed (e.g., at the edges) and heating of other portions of the glass sheet could result in damage and/or degradation of physical, optical and/or electrical characteristics . [0006] advancements in reforming processes have been made in order to provide techniques to heat a specific, localized area of a glass sheet in order to achieve formability at the specific location. while such advancements have been substantial, there are still improvements that need to be made. specifically, very tight tolerances are required in high temperature, glass reforming processes. even for large consumer electronic devices, such as appliance or lcd devices, there are needs for significantly tight tolerances at 600° to 700°c local heating temperatures. in many areas of application, tolerances may be on the order of +/- 0.2 mm to +/-0.5 mm, depending on the overall dimensions of the glass sheet, which may include a major dimension on the order of about 1.8 meters or more. such tight tolerances are required for acceptable fit and finish when assembled with other parts of an overall product. [0007] at such high temperatures, however, management of tight tolerances is difficult to achieve, and requires very accurate tuning devices that are capable of operating in a reliable and consistent manner over time. for example, meeting the tolerances requires very precise and repeatable positioning of the local heating elements and/or any bending force elements with respect to the glass sheet. without such accuracy, it would be very difficult or impossible to achieve repeatable dimensions in the final product, especially in mass production. [0008] thus, there are needs for methods and apparatus for accurate and precise positioning of any localized heating elements and/or bending force elements in a glass reforming system in order to retain a high level of flatness in desired areas of the glass sheet; retaining pristine aspects of the glass sheet; obtaining a desired amount of deformation in certain areas of interest; and maintaining a high level of dimensional control. summary [0009] in one or more broad aspects, methods and apparatus provide for modification of a work-piece at elevated temperatures. for example, a carrier may be provided and operable to support the work-piece. a support mechanism may be provided that is movable via gross translation between: (i) a retracted position such that a distal end thereof is away from the carrier, and (ii) an extended position such that the distal end thereof is at least proximate to the carrier. a work-piece modification system may be coupled to, and disposed proximate to, the distal end of the support mechanism, and operating to facilitate modifying the work-piece at an elevated temperature. the work-piece modification system is at least proximate to the work-piece when the support mechanism is in the extended position. a precision tuning mechanism may couple the work- piece modification system to the support mechanism, and may operate to provide fine adjustments to an orientation, and a distance, of the work-piece modification system relative to the work-piece. the carrier may operate to support the work-piece within a furnace having an ambient temperature at least above 300 °c, preferably at least above 500 °c, and more preferably at least above 600 °c. the fine adjustments of the precision tuning mechanism are preferably made via a plurality of controls outside the furnace at an ambient temperature substantially lower than that of the furnace. [0010] methods and apparatus provide for precisely bending at least one edge portion of a glass sheet via: a carrier operable to support the glass sheet such that an edge of the glass sheet overhangs an edge of the carrier; and a support mechanism being movable via gross translation between a retracted position and an extended position to move a bending system proximate the edge of the glass sheet to facilitate bending the edge of the glass sheet about the edge of the carrier. a precision tuning mechanism operates to provide fine adjustments to an orientation, a distance, a position, etc., of the bending system relative to the glass sheet. the carrier and glass sheet are located within a furnace at elevated temperature, while a plurality of controls for manipulating the precision tuning mechanism are located outside the furnace at a lower temperature . [0011] in one or more further embodiments, methods and apparatus provide for precisely bending a glass sheet. in this regard, a carrier may be provided to support the glass sheet in a planar orientation, such that an edge of the glass sheet overhangs a corresponding edge of the carrier. a support mechanism may be provided for being movable via gross translation between: (i) a retracted position such that a distal end thereof is away from the edge of the carrier, and (ii) an extended position such that the distal end thereof is at least proximate to the edge of the carrier. a bending system may be coupled to, and disposed proximate to, the distal end of the support mechanism, and operating to facilitate bending the edge of the glass sheet about the edge of the carrier such that the bending system is at least proximate to the edge of the glass sheet when the support mechanism is in the extended position. a precision tuning mechanism may be provided for coupling the bending system to the support mechanism, and operating to provide fine adjustments to an orientation, and a distance, of the bending system relative to the glass sheet. the carrier may operate to support the glass sheet within a furnace having an ambient temperature at least at an annealing temperature of the glass sheet. the fine adjustments of the precision tuning mechanism may be made via a plurality of controls outside the furnace at an ambient temperature substantially lower than that of the furnace. [0012] directional terms such as "top", "upward", "bottom", "downward", "rearward", "forward", etc. may be used herein; however, they are for convenience of description and should not be interpreted as requiring a certain orientation of any item unless otherwise noted. [0013] the term "relatively large" or "large" as used in this description and the appended claims in relation to a glass sheet means a glass sheet having a dimension of 1 meter or more in at least one direction. [0014] the term "relatively high cte" or "high cte" as used in this description and the appended claims in relation to a glass sheet means a glass or glass sheet having a cte of at least 70 xlo "7 c 1 . [0015] the term "relatively thin" or "thin" as used in this description and the appended claims in relation to a glass sheet means a glass sheet having a thickness in a range of from about 0.5 mm to about 1.5 mm. [0016] it is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are merely exemplary, and are intended to provide an overview or framework to understand the nature and character of the claims. [0017] other aspects, features, and advantages of one or more embodiments disclosed and/or described herein will be apparent to one skilled in the art from the description herein taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. brief description of the drawing [0018] for the purposes of illustration, there are forms shown in the drawings that are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the embodiments disclosed and/or described herein are not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. [0019] fig. 1 is a schematic edge view of a reformed glass sheet in accordance with one or more embodiments herein; [0020] fig. 2 is a schematic side view of a conveyor and bending oven according to one or more embodiments herein; [0021] fig. 3 is a perspective top view of a carrier for supporting the glass sheet according to one or more embodiments herein; [0022] fig. 4 is a schematic side view of the carrier, a support mechanism, and a bending system in a bending zone of the bending oven of fig. 3; [0023] fig. 5 is a schematic top view of the carrier, the support mechanism, and the bending system in the bending zone of the bending oven of fig. 2; [0024] fig. 6 is a perspective view of a support mechanism and bending system suitable for use in the system of figs. 4-5 and or other embodiments herein; [0025] fig. 7 is a side view of portions of the carrier and the support mechanism of figs. 3-6 in a retracted position; [0026] fig. 8 is a side view of the carrier and the support mechanism of figs. 3-6 in an extended position; and [0027] figs. 9, 10, and 11 are detailed views of a precision tuning mechanism suitable for use in the system of fig. 6 and other embodiments herein. detailed description [0028] with reference to the drawings wherein like numerals indicate like elements there is shown in fig. 1 a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a reformed glass sheet 10 that may be used as a glass cover or fascia for an electronic device or architectural component. such a glass sheet 10 may be reformed such that it has extending side portions 12, 14 and a generally planar central portion 16. [0029] glass covers for devices with electronic displays or touch controls are increasingly being formed of thin glass that has been chemically strengthened using an ion exchange process, such as gorilla® glass from corning incorporated. such glass is thin and lightweight and provides a glass cover with enhanced fracture and scratch resistance, as well as enhanced optical and touch performance. the glass sheet 10 may have a thickness from about 0.5 mm to about 1.5 mm, although other thicknesses are also possible. [0030] assembly tolerances on the order of +/- 0.5 mm or less are often required to provide the desired quality look, feel, fit and finish for an electronic or other device. such tolerances are difficult to achieve when performing high temperature, localized, high precision bending of relatively large glass sheets 10 (e.g., having a major dimension of about 1 meter or more) of any kind, but particularly for ion exchangeable glasses. indeed, ion exchangeable glasses typically have a relatively high cte and when heating a relatively large glass sheet 10 to a temperature sufficient to soften the glass to the point that forming is possible (e.g., about 600° to 700°c), a number of factors must be addressed in order to maintain high precision tolerances, such as glass expansion, tooling precision and accuracy, etc. [0031] one or more embodiments disclosed and/or described herein provide solutions for precision shaping of glass sheets 10 or any size using one or more bending processes, such as a reforming process employing localized, high temperature heating elements and/or localized pushing elements. prior to discussing details concerning the methods and apparatus envisioned to improve the accuracy and precision of the reforming process, an overview of the overall reforming process will be provided. [0032] in order to locally reform a glass sheet 10 into a desired shape, the glass sheet 10 is typically supported on a carrier (e.g., a frame or mold) . the glass sheet 10 and the carrier are then placed in a bending furnace and the furnace is heated to a temperature between the annealing temperature and the softening temperature of the glass sheet 10. the glass sheet 10 may then be permitted to sag under the influence of gravity in order to form to the shape of the underlying carrier, especially any molding elements of the carrier. additionally, or alternatively, a force may be applied to one or more portions of the glass sheet 10 (e.g., by way of a pushing element, roller, etc.) to aid in the formation. the glass sheet 10 is then cooled and removed from the furnace. [0033] as schematically illustrated in fig. 2, in order to form a plurality of glass sheets 10 in a continuous fashion, a plurality of carriers 20 may be located on a continuously moving conveyor 21 for conveying the glass sheets 10 through a multi- zone bending furnace 24 in a serial fashion. the glass sheets 10 are disposed onto the carriers 20 at a relatively cool ambient environment (e.g., room temperature) upstream from the furnace 24. a first of the zones may be a preheating zone 26, in which the glass sheets 10 are heated to a temperature close to their annealing temperature. the overall preheating zone 26 may include a plurality of pre-heating zones 26a, 26b, etc., each at an increasing temperature for sequentially increasing the temperature of the glass sheets 10 as they are conveyed through the zones. [0034] the next zone is a bending zone 28, where the glass sheets 10 are elevated to a processing or bending temperature, such as a temperature between the annealing temperature and the softening temperature, for example, a temperature approaching about 600° c - 700° c. the bending zone 28 provides the glass sheets 10 with an environment suitable to mold to the shape of the underlying carriers 20, especially a mold feature of the carriers 20. this may involve heating the entire bending zone 28 to the temperature of between about 600° c - 700° c or it may involve providing a lower ambient temperature within the bending zone 28 and employing one or more local heating elements (not shown) to elevate particular areas of the glass sheets 10 (e.g., certain edges) to the higher temperature. within the bending zone 28, the glass sheets 10 may be permitted to bend under gravity and/or they may receive mechanical force to urge the glass sheets 10 into conformity with the underlying mold feature of the carriers 20. [0035] the glass sheets 10 are cooled in a cooling zone 30 to the external ambient temperature and then removed from the furnace 24. [0036] fig. 3 illustrates a flat, planar glass sheet 10 on a carrier 20 for symmetrically bending opposing side edge portions 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10, while a central portion 16 of the glass sheet 10 remains flat. the carrier 20 is designed for accurately registering/locating the glass sheet 10 thereon and retaining the glass sheet 10 in position throughout the reforming process. the carrier 20 may include a mold or stage 22 mounted on a base or frame 32 made of a material having stable thermal and mechanical properties at bending/processing temperatures, for example refractory steel type asi 310. the glass sheet 10 is precisely placed (registered) on the stage 22, with the side edge portions 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10 extending a desired distance beyond opposing edges 22a, 22b of the stage 22. [0037] the stage 22 has a precisely formed or machined rigid, substantially non-deformable, inelastic, flat, planar top surface for supporting the central portion 16 of the glass sheet 10 throughout the reforming process. however, it will be appreciated that the stage 22 may alternatively be curved or bowed to impart a non-flat shape to the central portion 16 of the glass sheet 10 or the side portions of the glass sheet 10 if desired. as such, the term "substantially planar" as used herein and in the appended claims is intended to mean planar, as well as slightly curved or bowed, for example a convex or concave curvature in one or more directions having a radius of up to 100 cm. the edges 22a, 22b of the stage 22 may be precisely machined to match the desired curvature or bend radius of the edge portions 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10. similarly, the edge regions of the top surface of the stage 22 may also be contoured or inclined, e.g. with beveled or curving edge portions, for imparting a desired shape to the edge portions 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10. [0038] the stage 22 may be formed of a rigid material having a low coefficient of thermal expansion (cte) in order to provide a stable, non-deformable support surface for the glass sheet 10 in a precise, known geometrical reference throughout the process. for example, the stage may be formed of a material having a cte of no more than about 10 x 10 ~6 k _1 , or no more than about 6 x 10 ~6 k -1 . the stage 22 may also be made of various materials having a low thermal expansion that are essentially elastic in the 20 °c to 750 °c range, in order to avoid permanent deformations from developing in the stage 22. such deformations may occur if materials such as stainless steel are used, due to the accumulation of thermal gradients upon repeated heating and cooling of the stage 22. for example, the stage 22 may be formed of a refractory non-metallic material, such as ceramic, glass-ceramic, silicon carbide (sic) or other rigid, non-deformable materials. the stage 22 may be formed of an insulating material, in order to minimize thermal transfer between the glass sheet 10 and the stage 22. the stage 22 may also be formed with a thickness of no more than about 1 cm in order to further minimize the thermal inertia of the stage 22 and minimize the thermal impact of the stage 22 on the glass sheet 10 during reforming. [0039] as previously described herein, the entire glass sheet 10 may be heated to a bending temperature between the annealing temperature and the softening temperature of the glass sheet 10 in the bending zone 28 in a single heat zone process. alternatively, the pre-heating zones 26 and the bending zone 28 may be maintained at temperatures that heat the glass sheet 10 in the bending zone 28 to a temperature that is near, but below, the bending temperature, e.g. close to the annealing temperature of the glass sheet 10. a localized heating device in the bending zone 28 may then heat only the edge portions 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10 up to the bending temperature. alternatively, just portions of the glass sheet 10 over the edges 22a, 22b of the stage 22 may be heated to the bending temperature, with the outermost edge portions 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10 remaining below the bending temperature. keeping the outermost edge portions 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10 below the bending temperature assures that these portions remain flat and planar and only the portions of the glass sheet 10 that are to be bent are heated sufficiently to bend. [0040] the edge portions 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10 may be bent downward under the force of gravity alone. however, when bending a relatively thin glass sheet 10, relying on gravity alone to bend the edge portions 12, 14 may be unsatisfactorily slow and unreliable due to the light weight of the glass sheet 10. thus, it may be advantageous to apply a force to the edge portions 12, 14 of relatively thin glass sheet 10 in order to increase the speed and reliability of the bending process. [0041] when a bending mechanism is employed to apply localized heating and/or an external force to bend the glass sheet 10, then a locating or registration mechanism may need to be provided. such will ensure accurate positioning of the bending mechanism relative to the edge portions 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10, so that such portions of the glass sheet 10 are bent with desired high precision tolerances. as will be discussed below, the bending mechanism may include localized heater (s) and/or bending force applying element (s). such localized heaters and force applying devices must be precisely and accurately located at correct positions and orientations relative to the edge portions 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10, in order to raise the correct portions of the glass sheet to the bending temperature and to properly bend the edge portions 12, 14. failure to heat the correct portions of the glass sheet 10 to the bending temperature and/or facilitate bending via force applying elements may result in failure of the glass sheet 10 and/or an otherwise unacceptable reformed sheet. [0042] figs. 4 and 5 schematically illustrate an embodiment of a mechanism 200 for precisely bending the glass sheet 10. the mechanism 200 interacts with the carrier 20 on which the glass sheet 10 is supported. the mechanism 200 precisely locates at least one bending system, and preferably two bending systems 110, 120, relative to one of the edge portions 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10 in the bending zone 28 of the furnace 24. each bending system 110, 120 may include one or more localized heating devices and/or one or more bending force applying elements (e.g., pushing devices, rollers, etc.). in the illustrated embodiment, there are two bending systems 110, 120 for locating respective heating devices and/or bending force elements relative to the edge portions 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10. the bending system 110 includes a localized heating device 212 and a bending force element 214, while the bending system 120 includes a localized heating device 214 and a bending force element 224. [0043] at least one support mechanism, and preferably two support mechanisms 210, 220 operate to support and move respective ones of the bending systems 110, 120 relative to the carrier 20 and glass sheet 10. as shown, each of the bending systems 110, 120 is coupled to a distal end of respective one of the support mechanisms 210, 220. each support mechanism 210, 220 operates to move via gross translation between: (i) a retracted position, such that the distal end thereof is away from the respective edge 22a or 22b of the carrier 20 and the glass sheet 10, and (ii) an extended position (as shown in fig. 4) such that the distal end thereof is at least proximate to the respective edge 22a or 22b of the carrier 20 and the glass sheet 10. it is noted that fig. 5 is a top view of the mechanism 200, where the support mechanisms 210, 220 are in an intermediate position between the retracted and extended positions. when the support mechanisms 210, 220 are in the extended positions, each bending system 110, 120 operates to facilitate bending the associated edge 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10 about the associated edge 22a, 22b of the carrier 20. [0044] as best seen in fig. 5, in the illustrated embodiment each support mechanism 210, 220 includes a pair of parallel members (or arms) 216, 218 and 226, 228 which extend from outside to inside the bending zone 28. the gross movement of the respective support mechanisms 210, 220 may be achieved using any suitable means, such as, for example, high precision stepper motors, hydraulic devices, pneumatic devices, etc. preferably, the mechanisms for achieving the gross movement are located outside the bending zone 28 at a lower ambient temperature, such as room temperature. each bending system 110, 120 is disposed at the distal ends of each pair of members 216, 218 and 226, 228. [0045] the local heaters 212 and 222 may be any suitable local heating device, such as radiant heaters, and the bending force elements 214 and 224 may be any suitable mechanisms, such as mechanical pushers, air nozzles, etc. the heaters 212, 222 and bending force elements 214, 224 may be elongate devices that act on the entire length of each edge portion 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10. [0046] in order to achieve desired precision and accuracy in heating and bending the edges 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10, the respective pairs of heaters 212, 214 and bending force elements 222, 224 should be maintained substantially parallel to the respective edges 22a, 22b of the stage 22 of the carrier 20 as the support mechanisms 210, 220 move between the retracted and extended positions. as will be discussed in detail below, a precision tuning mechanism may be employed to couple each bending system 110, 120 to the associated support mechanism 210, 220. each precision tuning mechanism operates to provide fine adjustments to the orientation, distance, position, etc., of the associated bending system 110, 120 relative to the glass sheet 10 and carrier 20 in order to achieve desired degrees of perpendicularity and positional accuracy during the reforming process . [0047] reference is now made to fig. 6, which is a more detailed view of one side of the mechanism 200, in particular, the side on which the support mechanism 220 (members 226, 228) and bending mechanism 120 (heating element 222 and bending force element 224) are located. at least one, and preferably a pair of precision tuning mechanisms 122, 124 is disposed at the distal end of the support mechanism 220, more particularly, one precision tuning mechanism 122 disposed at the distal end of one member 226, and the other precision tuning mechanism 124 disposed at the distal end of the other member 228. each of the local heating element 222 and the bending force element 224 of the bending mechanism 120 is supported at each opposing end by a respective one of the precision tuning mechanisms 122, 124. a partial wall of the bending zone 28 is illustrated, which defines the inside of the bending zone 28 (indicated by the arrow towards the left of the drawing) and the outside of the bending zone 28 (indicated by the arrow towards the right of the drawing) . thus, the members 226, 228 of the support mechanism 220 extend out of the bending zone 28 and operate to move, via gross translation, between: (i) a retracted position such that the bending mechanism 120 is away from the edges of the carrier 20 and glass sheet 10, and (ii) an extended position (as shown) such that the bending mechanism 120 is at least proximate to the edges of the carrier 20 and glass sheet 10. [0048] reference is now made to figs. 7 and 8, which illustrate the gross movement of the support mechanism 220 from the retracted position (fig. 7) to the extended position (fig. 8) . for clarity, details of the bending mechanism 120 have been omitted from the drawing. although only member (arm) 226 is viewable in the illustration, each of members 226, 228 (and also each of the members 216, 218 of the opposite support mechanism 210) includes a lift arm 251 and a lift roller 253 rotationally mounted on a distal end of the lift arm 251. a precision stop surface 255 is formed in, or provided on, each lift arm 251. a cap 261 and a precision formed reference surface 263 are disposed at respective sides of the edge 22b of the carrier 20 (and also at the opposite edge 22a of the carrier 20) . in order to achieve the extended position, the arms 226, 228 (and opposing arms 216, 218) are moved toward the carrier 20 via the gross movement mechanism discussed above. as the arms 216, 218 and the arms 226, 228 move toward the extended position, each of the respective lift rollers 253 contacts a corresponding ramp 227 on the carrier 20 and lifts the carrier 20 upward (fig. 8) . each lift roller 253 then contacts a respective portion of a lower surface of the carrier 20, thereby precisely lifting a respective corner of the carrier 20. as the arms 216, 218, 226, 228 continue to move toward the carrier 20, the respective stop surface 255 on each arm contacts a respective one of the reference surfaces 263. the arms 216, 218, 226, 228 are thus in the extended position and retain the carrier 20 securely clamped in position during the reforming process. [0049] in theory, the above-described mechanisms and operation should result in the bending systems 110, 120 (and specifically the heating elements 212, 222 and the bending force elements 214, 224) being precisely positioned relative to the carrier 20 and the edges 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10 when the supporting mechanisms 210, 220 are in the extended positions. at that point, the heating elements 212, 222 may provide very precise localized heating to the edges 12, 14, which elevates the temperature of the glass sheet 10 sufficiently to bend such edges 12, 14. additionally, the bending force elements 214, 224 may provide pressing force to the edges 12, 14 of the glass sheet 10 to precisely and accurately facilitate such bending. it has been discovered, however, that over time, temperature cycling, and/or set-up changes, the precision and/or accuracy of the reforming process may suffer. indeed, slight variations in the orientation, position, distance, etc. of the elongate bending systems 110, 120 relative to the glass sheet 10 and carrier 20 may result, even with the registration elements discussed above. [0050] as mentioned above, however, the precision tuning mechanisms 122, 124 that couple the bending system 120 to the arms 226, 228 of the associated support mechanism 220 may address some or all of such variations in the orientation and position of the bending system 120 relative to the glass sheet 10 and carrier 20. again, although only one side of the carrier 20 is illustrated in fig. 6, on the opposing side of the carrier 20 similar precision tuning mechanisms (not shown) may couple the bending system 110 to the associated support mechanism 210. [0051] each precision tuning mechanism 122, 124 operates to provide fine adjustments in the orientation, position, and/or distance, etc., of the bending system 120 relative to the glass sheet 10 and carrier 20 in order to achieve desired degrees of perpendicularity and positional accuracy during the reforming process. as best seen in fig. 6, fine adjustments of each precision tuning mechanism 122, 124 are made via a respective plurality of controls 230, 240 outside the bending zone 28. locating the controls 230, 240 at an ambient temperature substantially lower than that within the bending zone 28 of the furnace 24 permits an operator to make adjustments at any time, even when the bending zone 28 is at a very high ambient temperature . [ 0052 ] upon close inspection, each precision tuning mechanism 122, 124 may include one or more adjustment mechanisms. in the embodiment shown, the precision tuning mechanism 122 includes two distinct adjustment mechanisms (each with multi-directional control) and the precision tuning mechanism 124 includes two more adjustment mechanisms (again, each with multi-directional control) . as will be discussed in more detail below, the number of adjusting mechanisms is related to the ability of each precision tuning mechanism 122, 124 to independently adjust the orientation, position, distance, etc. of each of the local heating element 222 and the bending force element 224. each of the adjusting mechanisms will be discussed in detail below. [ 0053 ] reference is now made to fig. 9, which illustrates one adjustment mechanism 300 suitable for use in implementing the precision tuning mechanisms 122, 124. two such adjustment mechanisms 300 would be used to implement each of the specific precision tuning mechanisms 122, 124 shown in fig. 6, although skilled artisans will readily understand that any number of adjustment mechanisms 300 may be employed to achieve the desired degrees of freedom in adjusting the orientations, positions, distances, etc. of each end of the respective bending mechanisms 110, 120. the adjustment mechanism 300 includes at least one of an x-direction adjustment mechanism 310 and a y-direction adjustment mechanism 360. as illustrated, the adjustment mechanism 300 includes both an x-direction adjustment mechanism 310 and a y-direction adjustment mechanism 360. [ 0054 ] the x-direction adjustment mechanism 310 operates to adjust a position of the associated bending system 110 or 120 relative to the glass sheet 10 in an x-direction, substantially parallel to the planar portion 16 of the glass sheet 10. the x- direction adjustment mechanism 310 includes a base 312, a translation block 314, one or more spacer plates 316, and an actuator 318. at least a portion of the associated bending system 110 or 120 is coupled to the translation block 314, which is movable in order to make fine adjustments to the orientation, position, distance, etc. of the bending system 110 or 120 relative to the glass sheet 10 and carrier 20. in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 6, a first adjustment mechanism 300 operates on one end of the localized heating element 222, and a separate, second adjustment mechanism 300 operates on one end of the bending force element 224. alternative embodiments may provide for a single adjustment mechanism 300 to operate on one end of both the localized heating element 222 and the bending force element 224, although such an embodiment would provide fewer degrees of freedom in adjusting the associated bending system 120 relative to the glass sheet 10 in the x- direction . [0055] turning again to the details of the adjustment mechanism 300 of fig. 9, the translation block 314 includes a coupling element 317, which is particularly suited for connecting to one end of a rotatable bending force element 224. in alternative embodiments, the coupling element 317 may be adapted to connect to one end of the localized heating element 222. [0056] the base 312 is coupled to the support mechanism 220 (not shown) such that the base 312 cannot move in the x- direction. as will be established in more detail below, in the particular embodiment illustrated, the coupling of the base 312 to the support mechanism 220 is achieved via common elements with the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360. suffice it to say for now that the base 312 cannot move in the x-direction relative to the support mechanism 220. [0057] the translation block 314 is in sliding engagement with respect to the base 312 and operates to move in the x- direction (illustrated by the arrows labeled x) in response to a translational force in the x-direction provided by the actuator 318. in particular, the translation block 314 includes an elongate slot 320 near a proximal end thereof through which a pin 322 extends. as will be discussed in greater detail below, the spacer plates 316 support the translation block 314 as the movement in the x-direction occurs, where the pin 322 guides the translation block 314 via the elongate slot 320 and prevents any undesired torsional motion. the actuator 318 applies the translational force in the x-direction to the proximal end of the translation block 314 via a push rod 324 sliding within a tube 326. a distal end of the push rod 324 is connected to the proximal end of the translation block 314 via a hinge mechanism 328, which may be implemented via any suitable means, such as a slot and pin. the tube 326 extends from a fixed position 330 on the base 312 near the proximal end of the translation block 314 to a position outside the bending zone 28 of the furnace 24 (see fig. 6) . the push rod 324 slides within the tube 326 in response to one of the plurality of controls 230 outside bending zone 28. thus, the distal end of the push rod 324 is coupled to, and provides the translational force to, the proximal end of the translation block 314 in response to an x-direction control 230 outside bending zone 28. given that the controls 230 are formed from suitable precision mechanical elements (such as micrometric screws, etc.), very precise telescoping of the push rod 324 within the tube 326 may be achieved, which results in very precise positioning of the translation block 314 in the x- direction . [0058] the base 312 includes first and second arms 332, 334 extending transversely with respect to one another (in a general l-shape) . the first arm 332 extends transversely from the proximal end of the translation block 314 to the second arm 334. the second arm 334 is spaced apart from, and extends in a direction substantially parallel to, the translation block 314. a plurality of the spacer plates 316 are coupled between the translation block 314 and the second arm 334 of the base 312. each spacer plate 316 includes a first end coupled to the translation block 314 and a second end coupled to the second arm 334. the first and second ends of each spacer plate 316 include a respective flexible web 336 connecting such ends to the translation block 314 and the second arm 334, respectively. the thickness of a main body of each spacer plate 316 and the relatively smaller thickness of the flexible web 336 permit the spacer plates 316 to deform, bend, flex, etc., such that the translation block 314 is permitted to slide in the x-direction in response to the translational force in the x-direction, while maintaining the translation block 314 in a substantially parallel orientation with respect to the second arm 334 of the base 312. [0059] additional details of the x-direction movement of the translation block 314 will be provided with reference to figs. 10 and 11. as illustrated in fig. 10, the translation block 314 is in an essentially neutral or zero position (in the x- direction) . from the neutral position, fine adjustments in the x-direction may be achieved via movement in a leftward (negative) direction or a rightward (positive) direction, as viewed into the page of the drawing. the definitions of the leftward movement as "negative" and the rightward movement as "positive" are based on a cartesian coordinate system with zero being located at the neutral position. it is noted, however, that any alternative naming convention may be employed and is well within the discretion of a skilled artisan. [0060] in fig. 11, the translation block 314 has moved in the leftward (negative) x-direction in response to a translational force provided by the push rod 324 sliding out of the tube 326 resulting from the actuation of one of the controls 230. as the translation block 314 moves in the leftward (negative) x- direction, each spacer plate 316 deforms, bends, flexes, etc., such that the translation block 314 is maintained in a substantially parallel orientation with respect to the second arm 334 of the base 312. owing to the inherent properties of the material from which the spacer plates 316 are formed, they may provide a biasing force which urges the translation block 314 back to the neutral position (fig. 10) . the translation block 314 remains, however, in the x-direction position established by the push rod 324 within the tube 326. [0061] notably, the base 312, the translation block 314, and the spacer plates 316 are preferably all integrally formed of a single (preferably monolithic) piece of material in order to achieve a desirable level of precision in adjustment. [0062] the x-direction adjustment mechanism 310 further includes an x-direction movement limiting feature 340, which permits the translation block 314 to move between respective positive and negative maxima from the neutral position. for example, the maximal position attained in the leftward (negative) x-direction shown in fig. 11 may be considered a maximum x-direction position because the push rod 324 would have attained a maximum extension out of the tube 326. although not illustrated, a maximal position attained in the rightward (positive) x-direction may be considered a minimum x-direction position because the push rod 324 would have attained a fully retracted position within the tube 326. irrespective of the naming convention, the x-direction movement limiting feature 340 provides a limited range within which the translation block 314 may move in the x-direction. although any number of implementations are possible, one such embodiment provides a protrusion 342 extending from one of the first arm 332 of the base 312 and the translation block 314, and a channel 344 extending within the other of the first arm 332 and the translation block 314. the protrusion 342 moves within the channel 344 in the x-direction and stops against respective opposing walls of the channel 344 at the respective maximum and minimum x-direction positions of the translation block 314. by way of example, the deviation in the x-direction in either direction from neutral may be about 4 mm. [0063] reference is again made to fig. 9. the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360 operates to adjust a position of the associated bending system 110 or 120 relative to the glass sheet 10 in a y-direction, substantially perpendicular to the planar portion 16 of the glass sheet 10. the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360 includes a base 362, a lever 364, an intermediate member (in this embodiment the first arm 332 of the base 312), one or more spacer plates 366, and an actuator 368. although the translation block 314 was discussed above as being a part of the x-direction adjustment mechanism 310, it may additionally or alternatively be considered a part of the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360. indeed, as will be established below, the y- direction adjustment mechanism 360 operates to move the translation block 314 in the y-direction (irrespective of whether the adjustment mechanism 300 includes an x-direction adjustment mechanism 310 or not) . thus, for the purposes of discussing the details of the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360, one should keep in mind that the adjustment mechanism 300 may be implemented with either of, or both, the x-direction adjustment mechanism 310 and the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360. [0064] the base 362 is fixed to the support mechanism 220 (e.g., to the member 226, not shown in fig. 9) such that no movement in any direction relative to the support mechanism 220 is permitted. thus, the base 362 may be referred to as a "fixed base" 362. the lever 364 is rotationally coupled to the base 362 at a fulcrum 370, thereby defining an effort arm 372 and a load arm 374. each of the effort arm 372 and the load arm 374 extends from the fulcrum 370 such that an effort force applied to a distal end of the effort arm 372 causes rotation of the lever 364 about the fulcrum 370 and translational movement of a distal end of the load arm 374 in the y-direction. [0065] the translation block 314 is coupled to the distal end of the load arm 374 of the lever 364 via the intermediate member (the first arm 332 of the base 312) . in particular, a proximal end of the intermediate member (the first arm 332) is coupled to the distal end of the load arm 374 via a hinge 376 (or any alternative mechanism) such that the translational movement of the distal end of the load arm 374 in the y-direction is communicated to the intermediate member (the first arm 332) and to the translation block 314. thus, the translation block 314 moves in the y-direction in response to the effort force applied to the distal end of the effort arm 372. as will be discussed in more detail below, the effort force is applied to the distal end of the effort arm 372 via the actuator 368. [0066] as noted above with respect to the x-direction adjustment mechanism 310 of this particular embodiment, the coupling of the base 312 to the support mechanism 220 is achieved via certain common elements with the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360, such as the first arm 332 and the lever 364. although the base 312 does not move in the x- direction relative to the support mechanism 220, the base 312 does move in the y-direction relative to the support mechanism 220. thus, while the base 362 may be referred to as a "fixed base", the base 312 may be referred to as a "moving base". [0067] the actuator 368 applies the effort force to the distal end of the effort arm 372 via a push rod 378 sliding within a tube 380. a distal end of the push rod 378 is connected to the distal end of the effort arm 372 via a hinge mechanism 382, which may be implemented via any suitable means, such as a slot and pin. the tube 380 extends from a fixed position 384 on the base 362 near the distal end of the effort arm 372 to a position outside the bending zone 28 of the furnace 24. the push rod 378 slides within the tube 380 in response to one of the plurality of controls 230 outside bending zone 28. thus, the distal end of the push rod 378 is coupled to, and provides the effort force to, the distal end of the effort arm 372 in response to a y-direction control 230 outside bending zone 28. again, the controls 230 are formed from suitable precision mechanical elements, and therefore very precise telescoping of the push rod 378 within the tube 380 may be achieved, which results in very precise positioning of the translation block 314 in the y-direction. [0068] the base 362 includes first and second arms 386, 388 extending transversely with respect to one another (in a general l-shape) , each arm originating proximate to the fulcrum 370. the intermediate member (the first arm 332) extends between, and couples, the translation block 314 and the distal end of the load arm 374 (at the hinge 376), which is in a direction generally parallel and spaced apart from the second arm 388 of the base 362. a plurality of the spacer plates 366 are coupled between the second arm 388 of the base 362 and the intermediate member (the first arm 332) . each spacer plate 366 includes a first end coupled to the second arm 388 and a second end coupled to the intermediate member (the first arm 332) . the first and second ends of each spacer plate 366 include a respective flexible web 390 connecting such ends to the second arm 388 and the intermediate member (the first arm 332), respectively. the thickness of a main body of each spacer plate 366 and the relatively smaller thickness of the flexible web 390 permit the spacer plates 366 to deform, bend, flex, etc., such that the intermediate member (the first arm 332) is permitted to move in the y-direction in response to the effort force, while maintaining the intermediate member (the first arm 332) in a substantially parallel orientation with respect to the second arm 388 of the base 362. [0069] additional details of the y-direction movement of the translation block 314 will be provided with reference to figs. 10 and 11. as illustrated in fig. 11, the translation block 314 is in an essentially neutral or zero position (in the y- direction) . from the neutral position, fine adjustments in the y-direction may be achieved via movement in a downward (negative) direction or an upward (positive) direction, as viewed into the page of the drawing. the definitions of the downward movement as "negative" and the upward movement as "positive" are based on a cartesian coordinate system with zero being located at the neutral position. it is noted, however, that any alternative naming convention may be employed and is well within the discretion of a skilled artisan. [0070] in fig. 10, the translation block 314 has moved in the upward (positive) y-direction in response to an effort force provided by the push rod 378 sliding into the tube 380 resulting from the actuation of one of the controls 230. as the intermediate member (the first arm 332) moves in the upward (positive) y-direction, each spacer plate 366 deforms, bends, flexes, etc., such that the intermediate member (the first arm 332) is maintained in a substantially parallel orientation with respect to the second arm 388 of the base 362 as the translation block 314 also moves in the y-direction. owing to the inherent properties of the material from which the spacer plates 366 are formed, they may provide a biasing force which urges the intermediate member (the first arm 332) back to the neutral position (fig. 11) . the intermediate member (the first arm 332) and the translation block 314 remain, however, in the y- direction position established by the push rod 378 within the tube 380. [0071] as was the case with the x-direction adjustment mechanism 310, the certain parts of the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360, such as the fixed base 362, the intermediate member 332, the translation block 314, and the spacer plates 366 are preferably all integrally formed of a single (preferably monolithic) piece of material in order to achieve a desirable level of precision in adjustment. further, when both the x- direction adjustment mechanism 310 and the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360 are employed, at least the fixed base 362, the movable base 312, the translation block 314, and the spacer plates 316 and 366 are preferably all integrally formed of a single (preferably monolithic) piece of material. [0072] the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360 further includes a y-direction movement limiting feature 392, which permits the translation block 314 to move between respective positive and negative maxima from the neutral position. for example, the maximal position attained in the upward (positive) y-direction shown in fig. 10 may be considered a maximum y- direction position because the push rod 378 would have attained a maximum retraction into the tube 380. although not illustrated, a maximal position attained in the downward (negative) y-direction may be considered a minimum y-direction position because the push rod 378 would have attained maximum extension out of the tube 380. irrespective of the naming convention, the y-direction movement limiting feature 392 provides a limited range within which the translation block 314 may move in the y-direction. although any number of implementations are possible, one such embodiment provides a protrusion 394 extending from one of the first arm 386 of the base 362 and the intermediate member (the first arm 332), and a channel 396 extending within the other of the first arm 386 and the intermediate member. the protrusion 394 moves within the channel 396 in the y-direction and stops against respective opposing walls of the channel 396 at the respective maximum and minimum y-direction positions of the translation block 314. by way of example, the deviation in the y-direction in either direction from neutral may be about 4 mm. [0073] with reference to fig. 9, the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360 may include some features to further assist in the precision and accuracy of the y-direction adjustment. in particular, a pin 398 may be employed to facilitate in keeping the respective elements of the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360 in proper orientation and operation, such as preventing unwanted torsional motion. one end of the pin 398 may be fixed to the first arm 386 of the base 362 and an opposite end of the pin 398 may be slidingly coupled to the distal end of the intermediate member (the first arm 332), preferably by way of an oversized aperture. thus, as the intermediate member (the first arm 332) moves in the y-direction, the pin 398 provides a loose guide but does not inhibit the movement. each of the spacer plates 366 may include an aperture through which the pin 398 extends. as the spacer plates 366 flex, bend, move, etc. the apertures permit some relative movement with respect to the pin 398. additionally or alternatively, the base 362 may include a third arm 387 extending transversely from the second arm 388 in a substantially parallel and spaced apart orientation with respect to the first arm 386. the third arm 387 may be connected to the pin 398 and provide additional stability to the system. [0074] the respective spacer plates 316 and 366 are essentially shaped as right parallelepipeds and provide monolithic, locally flexible features, especially via the flexible webs 336, 390 to contribute to the x-direction and y- direction precision movement. the torsional stiffness of the respective x-direction and/or y-direction precision mechanisms 310, 360 may be increased by adding more spacer plates 316 and/or 366 or may be reduced by removing spacer plates 316 and/or 366. [0075] preferably all elements of the x-direction adjustment mechanism 310 and the y-direction adjustment mechanism 360 are formed from suitable materials able to withstand the mechanical and thermal stresses associated with the operation discussed above. by way of example, many of the elements may be formed from special alloys, such as inconel 718, which is a precipitation hardenable nickel-based alloy designed to display exceptionally high yield, tensile and creep-rupture properties at temperatures up to about 700°f. other suitable inconel grades may also be employed. an alternative material is asi 310, although other materials may also be selected by the skilled artisan. [0076] the system and structures described herein provide for reliable and precise bending of glass sheets 10, particularly relatively large and thin sheets of glass 10. with this construction the heaters and/or the force applying devices of the bending systems 110 and/or 120 may be precisely located relative to the carrier 20 and the glass sheet 10 with accuracies within tenths or even hundredths of a millimeter. [0077] it is understood that the above-discussed embodiments of precision high temperature compatible tuning systems may be applied to other applications (beyond glass bending) , which involve high temperature precision processes. [0078] although the embodiments herein have been described with reference to particular features and arrangements, it is to be understood that these details are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of such embodiments. it is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
099-048-627-437-957	KR	[ "WO", "EP", "AU", "KR", "US" ]	G06F17/30,G06F17/24,G11B27/031,G11B27/034,G11B27/32,H04N/,H04N5/262,H04N7/24,G06F3/00,H04N7/12	2002-10-22T00:00:00	2002	[ "G06", "G11", "H04" ]	device and method for editing, authoring, and retrieving object-based mpeg-4 contents	in a device for editing and authoring object-based av (audio and visual) contents using the mpeg-4 method, an object-based mpeg-4(moving picture experts group 4) contents editing and authoring device (200) comprises: an extensible description generator (120) for receiving either of an mpeg-4 textual format or internal data structure information of object-based mpeg-4 contents, and mpeg-7(moving picture experts group 7) descriptions of the mpeg-4 contents, and generating an xml (extensible markup language) based textual format file including the mpeg-7 descriptions; an extensible description/binary converter for receiving the xml based textual format file including the mpeg-7 descriptions generated by the extensible description generator (120), and generating them as a binary file; and an xml based contents storage unit (110) for storing the xml based textual format file generated by the extensible description generator (120) and the binary file generated by the extensible description/binary converter.	1 . in a device for editing and authoring object-based av (audio and visual) contents using the mpeg-4(moving picture experts group 4) method, an object-based mpeg-4 contents editing and authoring device comprising: an extensible description generator for receiving either of an mpeg-4 textual format or internal data structure information of object-based mpeg-4 contents, and mpeg-7(moving picture experts group 7) descriptions of the mpeg-4 contents, and generating an xml (extensible markup language) based textual format file including the mpeg-7 descriptions; an extensible description/binary converter for receiving the xml based textual format file including the mpeg-7 descriptions generated by the extensible description generator, and generating them as a binary file; and an xml based contents storage unit for storing the xml based textual format file generated by the extensible description generator and the binary file generated by the extensible description/binary converter. 2 . the device of claim 1 , further comprising: an mpeg-4 contents storage unit for storing the object-based mpeg-4 contents; and an mpeg-7 description generator for generating mpeg-7 descriptions of the mpeg-4 contents stored in the mpeg-4 contents storage unit. 3 . the device of claim 1 , wherein the xml based contents storage unit stores either of the textual format or the binary file generated on the xml basis, and storage information of the mpeg-4 contents storage unit of the mpeg-4 contents related to the corresponding xml based file. 4 . an object-based mpeg-4(moving picture experts group 4) contents editing and authoring method comprising: receiving one of a textual file and an internal data structure of object-based mpeg-4 contents stored in a contents database; receiving mpeg-7(moving picture experts group 7) descriptions of the object-based mpeg-4 contents; and combining either of the textual file or the internal data structure of the object-based mpeg-4 contents with the mpeg-7 descriptions, generating them into an xml (extensible markup language) based textual format file, and storing the xml based textual format file. 5 . the method of claim 4 , further comprising converting the xml based textual format file into a binary file, and storing the binary file. 6 . an object-based mpeg-4(moving picture experts group 4) contents editing/authoring and retrieving device comprising: a contents editor/author for receiving either of an mpeg-4 textual format or internal data structure information of object-based mpeg-4 contents, and mpeg-7 (moving picture experts group 7) descriptions of the mpeg-4 contents, combining them, editing or authoring them as an xml (extensible markup language) based textual format file or a binary file, and storing it; a contents storage unit for extracting mpeg-7 description information of the xml based textual format file edited, authored, and stored by the contents editor/author, and storing the mpeg-7 description information for a retrieval process; and a retrieval browser/reproducer for providing a user interface for retrieving mpeg-7 description information stored in the contents retriever, and reproducing the retrieved contents. 7 . the device of claim 6 , wherein the contents editor/author comprises: an extensible description generator for receiving either of an mpeg-4 textual format or internal data structure information of object-based mpeg-4 contents, and mpeg-7 descriptions of the mpeg-4 contents, and generating an xml based textual format file including the mpeg-7 descriptions; an extensible description/binary converter for receiving the xml based textual format file including the mpeg-7 descriptions generated by the extensible description generator, and generating them as a binary file; and an xml based contents storage unit for storing the xml based textual format file generated by the extensible description generator and the binary file generated by the extensible description/binary converter. 8 . the device of claim 6 , wherein the contents retriever comprises: a file parsing module for receiving the xml based textual format file or the binary file produced using the mpeg descriptions, and extracting mpeg-7 descriptions included in the corresponding file; an mpeg-7 description storage unit for generating the mpeg-7 description information extracted from the file parsing module into a database, and storing the information; and a retrieval module for retrieving the mpeg-7 description information stored in the mpeg-7 description storage unit according to a request by a user, and outputting corresponding results. 9 . the device of claim 6 , wherein the retrieval browser/reproducer comprises: a retrieval browser for receiving a retrieval request from a user, commanding the contents retriever to perform retrieval, receiving retrieval results, and outputting them to the user; and a reproducer for reproducing the contents retrieved through the retrieval browser. 10 . an object-based mpeg-4(moving picture experts group 4) contents retrieving method comprising: (a) receiving a user's request for contents retrieval through a retrieval browser, and retrieving mpeg-7 (moving picture experts group 7) description information stored in an mpeg-7 description storage unit at a retrieval module; (b) receiving retrieval results from the retrieval browser, and displaying the retrieval results; (c) allowing the user to select desired contents from among the displayed results; and (d) loading the contents selected from the retrieval browser from a storage unit, and driving a reproducer to reproduce the loaded data. 11 . the method of claim 10 , wherein (a) further comprises: allowing the user to input a keyword through the retrieval browser and request retrieval; retrieving an mpeg-7 description information storage unit at the retrieval module by using the keyword; and generating retrieval results into a list, and transmitting the list to the retrieval browser. 12 . the method of claim 10 , wherein (d) comprises analyzing original contents storage information stored in the mpeg-7 description storage unit, and loading the original contents storage information.	cross reference to related application this application claims priority to and the benefit of korea patent application no. 2002-64413 filed on oct. 22, 2002 in the korean intellectual property office, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. background of the invention (a) field of the invention the present invention relates to authoring and retrieval of object-based av (audio-visual) contents. more specifically, the present invention relates to a device and method for editing, authoring, and retrieving object-based mpeg-4 (moving picture experts group 4) contents for unifying mpeg-7 (moving picture experts group 7) descriptions with mpeg-4 scene descriptions to author new object-based av contents and retrieve them. (b) description of the related art recent developments of computer environments have increased usage of av contents, and techniques for indexing contents that include scenes and sound desired by users from among the increased av contents have also been developed. conventional av contents indexing methods include a text indexing method and a content-based indexing method. the text indexing method sorts the av contents into text indexes with respect to keywords, and in addition a user represents the av contents through keywords based on their personal views. however, the text indexing method generates high error rates because of limitations of text, and causes problems in checking a huge volume of av contents, defining them with keywords, making lists on them, and retrieving them. the content-based indexing method automatically extracts features from the av contents according to an indexing request to index them, and since this method requires much time to extract the features of the av contents, it wastes feature extracting time each time the indexing is requested. to solve the problems, mpeg-7 standardization has been furthered for improving the av contents indexing method and providing a more efficient indexing method. mpeg-7 includes descriptors for representing the features of the av contents, descript configurations for combining the descriptors, and descriptions for representing the descript configurations, and accordingly provides effective indexing methods by making up for demerits of the text indexing and content-based indexing methods. also, as to a multimedia data producing and retrieving system, korean published application no. 2001-0064252 (application filing no. 10-1999-0062402, titling “xml based multimedia data producing and retrieving system, and a multimedia data producing method using the system”) discloses a system for combining index information and multimedia data on the xml (extensible markup language) basis to produce and retrieve new multimedia data, and a multimedia data-producing method using the system. the above-noted publication for displaying the multimedia data on the xml basis receives multimedia data, divides them into respective scenes, converts retrieval information on each scene into mpeg-7 descriptions following the input xml documents, and inserts the mpeg-7 descriptions generated per scene into data to produce new multimedia data, thereby allowing convenient multimedia data management and structural retrieval. however, since the above-mentioned method cannot describe the av contents in detail when attempting to retrieve the av data used for the object-based av contents represented through descriptions of the mpeg-4 scenes, it is impossible to obtain efficient retrieval results and perform a function of retrieving the object-based av contents generated by the current mpeg-4 scene description standard. summary of the invention it is an advantage of the present invention to provide an object-based mpeg-4 contents edit/author and retrieve device and method for using mpeg-7 description techniques in the retrieval of object-based av (audio and visual) contents in the mpeg-4 (moving picture experts group 4) format to allow editing and authoring of new object-based av contents, and to provide convenience of contents retrieval by a user request. in one aspect of the present invention, in a device for editing and authoring object-based av contents using the mpeg-4 method, an object-based mpeg-4 contents editing and authoring device comprises: an extensible description generator for receiving either of an mpeg-4 textual format or internal data structure information of object-based mpeg-4 contents, and mpeg-7 (moving picture experts group 7) descriptions of the mpeg-4 contents, and generating an xml (extensible markup language) based textual format file including the mpeg-7 descriptions; an extensible description/binary converter for receiving the xml based textual format file including the mpeg-7 descriptions generated by the extensible description generator, and generating them as a binary file; and an xml based contents storage unit for storing the xml based textual format file generated by the extensible description generator and the binary file generated by the extensible description/binary converter. the device further comprises: an mpeg-4 contents storage unit for storing the object-based mpeg-4 contents; and an mpeg-7 description generator for generating mpeg-7 descriptions of the mpeg-4 contents stored in the mpeg-4 contents storage unit. the xml based contents storage unit stores either of the textual format or the binary file generated on the xml basis, and storage information of the mpeg-4 contents storage unit of the mpeg-4 contents related to the corresponding xml based file. in another aspect of the present invention, an object-based mpeg-4 contents editing and authoring method comprises: receiving one of a textual file and an internal data structure of object-based mpeg-4 contents stored in a contents database; receiving mpeg-7 descriptions of the object-based mpeg-4 contents; and combining either of the textual file or the internal data structure of the object-based mpeg-4 contents with the mpeg-7 descriptions, generating them into an xml based textual format file, and storing the xml based textual format file. the method further comprises converting the xml based textual format file into a binary file, and storing the binary file. in still another aspect of the present invention, an object-based mpeg-4 contents editing/authoring and retrieving device comprises: a contents editor/author for receiving either of an mpeg-4 textual format or internal data structure information of object-based mpeg-4 contents, and mpeg-7 descriptions of the mpeg-4 contents, combining them, editing or authoring them as an xml based textual format file or a binary file, and storing it; a contents storage unit for extracting mpeg-7 description information of the xml based textual format file edited, authored, and stored by the contents editor/author, and storing the mpeg-7 description information for a retrieval process; and a retrieval browser/reproducer for providing a user interface for retrieving mpeg-7 description information stored in the contents retriever, and reproducing the retrieved contents. the contents editor/author comprises: an extensible description generator for receiving either of an mpeg-4 textual format or internal data structure information of object-based mpeg-4 contents, and mpeg-7 descriptions of the mpeg-4 contents, and generating an xml based textual format file including the mpeg-7 descriptions; an extensible description/binary converter for receiving the xml based textual format file including the mpeg-7 descriptions generated by the extensible description generator, and generating them as a binary file; and an xml based contents storage unit for storing the xml based textual format file generated by the extensible description generator and the binary file generated by the extensible description/binary converter. the contents retriever comprises: a file parsing module for receiving the xml based textual format file or the binary file produced using the mpeg descriptions, and extracting mpeg-7 descriptions included in the corresponding file; an mpeg-7 description storage unit for generating the mpeg-7 description information extracted from the file parsing module into a database, and storing the information; and a retrieval module for retrieving the mpeg-7 description information stored in the mpeg-7 description storage unit according to a request by a user, and outputting corresponding results. the retrieval browser/reproducer comprises: a retrieval browser for receiving a retrieval request from a user, commanding the contents retriever to perform retrieval, receiving retrieval results, and outputting them to the user; and a reproducer for reproducing the contents retrieved through the retrieval browser. in still yet another aspect of the present invention, an object-based mpeg-4 contents retrieving method comprises: (a) receiving a user's request for contents retrieval through a retrieval browser, and retrieving mpeg-7 description information stored in an mpeg-7 description storage unit at a retrieval module; (b) receiving retrieval results from the retrieval browser, and displaying the retrieval results; (c) allowing the user to select desired contents from among the displayed results; and (d) loading the contents selected from the retrieval browser from a storage unit, and driving a reproducer to reproduce the loaded data. the step (a) further comprises: allowing the user to input a keyword through the retrieval browser, and request retrieval; retrieving an mpeg-7 description information storage unit at the retrieval module by using the keyword; and generating retrieval results into a list and transmitting the list to the retrieval browser. the step (d) comprises analyzing original contents storage information stored in the mpeg-7 description storage unit, and loading the original contents storage information. brief description of the drawings the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention: fig. 1 shows a block diagram of an object-based mpeg-4 contents editor/author and retriever according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 shows a block diagram of the contents editor/author of fig. 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; fig. 3 shows a method for combining a textual format file of mpeg-4 contents with mpeg-7 descriptions, and generating an xml based textual format file; fig. 4 shows a block diagram of the contents retriever of fig. 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; fig. 5 shows a block diagram of a contents browser/reproducer of fig. 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and fig. 6 shows an operational flowchart of the object-based mpeg-4 contents retrieving method. detailed description of the preferred embodiments in the following detailed description, only the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by the inventor(s) of carrying out the invention. as will be realized, the invention is capable of modification in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not restrictive. fig. 1 shows a block diagram of an object-based mpeg-4 contents editor/author and retriever according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. as shown, the object-based mpeg-4 contents editor/author and retriever comprises an mpeg-4 contents storage unit 110 , an mpeg-7 description generator 120 , a contents editor/author 200 , a contents retriever 300 , and a contents browser/reproducer 400 . the mpeg-4 contents storage unit 110 stores av contents produced on the object-basis according to the mpeg-4 standards. the mpeg-7 description generator 120 produces the object-based mpeg-4 contents stored in the mpeg-4 contents storage unit 110 as descriptions that follows the mpeg-7 standard. the contents editor/author 200 combines one of the textual file of the mpeg-4 contents stored in the mpeg-4 contents storage unit 110 and an internal data structure with the mpeg-7 descriptions produced by the mpeg-7 description generator 120 to edit or author them into an xml based textual format file (i.e., xmt; extensible mpeg-4 textual format) or a binary file (i.e., bifs; binary format for scene description), and store the same. in particular, the mpeg-7 description generator 120 generates mpeg-7 descriptions of the mpeg-4 contents stored in the mpeg-4 contents storage unit 110 , and provides the mpeg-7 descriptions to the contents editor/author 200 . the contents retriever 300 divides and stores the mpeg-7 descriptions, retrieves mpeg-7 description information stored according to a retrieval request by a user, generates retrieval results as a list, and provides the list in order to retrieve the xml based textual format file or the binary file stored in the contents editor/author 200 or externally input by the user. the contents browser/reproducer 400 allows the user to input desired retrieval conditions, displays retrieval results provided by the contents retriever 300 , and reproduces av contents according to a selection by the user. respective blocks in the object-based mpeg-4 contents editor/author and retriever are configured as follows. fig. 2 shows a block diagram of the contents editor/author 200 of fig. 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. as shown, the contents editor/author 200 comprises an extensible description generator 210 , an extensible description/binary converter 220 , and an xml based contents storage unit 230 . the extensible description generator 210 combines one of the textual format and the data structure of the mpeg-4 contents stored in the mpeg-4 contents storage unit 110 with the mpeg-7 descriptions of the mpeg-4 contents generated by the mpeg-7 description generator 120 to generate an xml based textual format file. in this instance, the extensible description generator 210 uses the mpeg-7 description information to insert additional information to the mpeg-4 scene description, and generates this as the xml based textual format. an embodiment of combining the data structure or the textual format of the mpeg-4 contents with the mpeg-7 descriptions will now be described. fig. 3 shows a method for combining a textual format file of mpeg-4 contents with the mpeg-7 descriptions, and generating an xml based textual format file. as shown, mpeg-4 contents 310 display a contents scene as a scene description tree 320 . the scene description tree 320 authors scenes per object unit such as video, audio, and still images, and the mpeg-4 contents can be shown as an xml based textual format file 330 . in this instance, the xml based textual format file 330 includes an initial object descriptor 310 for storing initial information on scene descriptions and descriptors used for scenes, scene descriptions 332 , and object descriptors 333 . the mpeg-7 description information is added to the object descriptor 333 , and the added result is added next to the initial object descriptor 331 and the scene descriptions 320 to thereby generate the xml based textual format file 330 . further, the above-described method is an embodiment for combining the data structure or the textual format file of the mpeg-4 contents with the mpeg-7 descriptions to generate them into an xml based textual format file, and the data structure or the textual format file of the mpeg-4 contents can be combined with the mpeg-7 descriptions in various ways. the extensible description/binary converter 220 converts the xml based textual format file generated by the extensible description generator 210 into a binary file. the xml based contents storage unit 230 stores the xml based textual format file generated by the extensible description generator 210 and the binary file generated by the extensible description/binary converter 220 . the xml based contents storage unit 230 stores the mpeg-4 contents edited and authored on the xml basis using the mpeg-7 descriptions and the contents generated on the xml basis input by the user through another medium. as described, the contents editor/author 200 adds mpeg-7 description information to the contents following the mpeg-4 standard, edits and authors them as xml based multimedia contents, and stores result data. the contents editor/author 200 comprises an mpeg-4 contents storage unit 110 for storing mpeg-4 contents, and an mpeg-7 description generator 120 for generating mpeg-7 descriptions of the mpeg-4 contents stored in the mpeg-4 contents storage unit 110 . the contents editor/author 200 additionally comprises an input device to allow the user to input mpeg-4 contents to the input device, and convert the mpeg-4 contents into xml based contents using the mpeg-7 descriptions to use them, thereby providing a conversion function. the contents retriever 300 extracts mpeg-7 description information of corresponding data and generates them into a database each time contents data of the xml based contents storage unit 230 of the contents editor/author 200 are added. fig. 4 shows a block diagram of the contents retriever 300 of fig. 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. as shown, the contents retriever 300 comprises a file parsing module 310 , a retrieval module 320 , and an mpeg-7 description storage unit 330 . the file parsing module 310 loads the xml based textual format or the binary file stored in the xml based contents storage unit 230 of the contents editor/author 200 and extracts mpeg-7 description information. the retrieval module 320 stores contents according to requirements by the user, generates stored results as a list, and outputs the list. the contents browser/reproducer 400 cooperates with the retrieval module 320 to receive a user's request, display results desired by the user, and reproduce av contents. fig. 5 shows a block diagram of a contents browser/reproducer 400 of fig. 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. referring to fig. 5 , the contents browser/reproducer 400 comprises a retrieval browser 410 and a reproducer 420 . the retrieval browser 410 provides a user interface for allowing the user to input retrieval conditions, request a retrieval, and display retrieval results to the user. the reproducer 420 reproduces av contents selected by the user from among the av contents retrieval results to the user through the retrieval browser 410 . a method for allowing the user to retrieve a huge volume of av contents by using the object-based mpeg-4 contents edit/author and retrieve device will be described. fig. 6 shows an operational flowchart of the object-based mpeg-4 contents retrieving method. referring to fig. 6 , a user inputs a retrieval condition to the retrieval browser 410 through the contents browser/reproducer 400 to request contents retrieval in step s 601 . the retrieval browser 410 transmits the user's retrieval conditions and request to the retrieval module 320 of the contents retriever 300 , and the retrieval module 320 uses the retrieval conditions to retrieve the mpeg-7 description storage unit 330 in step s 602 . the retrieval module 320 generates retrieved results into a list in step s 603 , and transmits the list to the retrieval browser 410 . the retrieval browser 410 displays the received retrieval result list to the user in step s 604 , and the user selects a desired content from the list in step s 605 to obtain further detailed information. when desiring to reproduce the selected av contents, the user requests to reproduce the same using the interface provided by the retrieval browser 410 in step s 606 , and the retrieval browser 410 loads the corresponding contents in step s 607 and drives the reproducer 420 to reproduce the contents in step s 608 . as described, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, mpeg-7 descriptions are used to retrieve contents desired by the user from among a large amount of av contents, the mpeg-7 descriptions are combined with mpeg-4 scene descriptions to be edited and authored into an xml based textual format file or a binary file, and be retrieved. in order to solve the problem of retrieving the contents in the object-based av contents system represented with the mpeg-4 data and propose a new object-based av contents describing method, the object-based mpeg-4 contents edit/author and retrieve device according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention uses mpeg-7 descriptions to insert additional information into the mpeg-4 scene description in the av contents producing process, generates them as an xml based texture or a binary file to provide a new object-based av contents scene descriptions, and accordingly accumulate fundamental descriptions of mpeg-4 related system fields. in addition, since the mpeg-7 descriptions are added, the av contents are effectively and accurately retrieved according to retrieval requests by the user. while this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
099-732-248-341-980	IT	[ "CA", "AU", "US", "IT", "EP", "NZ", "CN", "DK" ]	B62K27/10,B60D1/00,B62K13/02,B62K27/12,B62J99/00,B60D1/02,B62K27/00	2011-02-10T00:00:00	2011	[ "B62", "B60" ]	apparatus for towing vehicles, particularly for towing children's bicycles or the like	apparatus (10) for towing bicycles, particularly for towing children's bicycles or the like, comprising - a towing arm (11), - a connector (12), which is adapted to fix the arm (11) to a towing vehicle, particularly to a towing bicycle (13), - a joint (14) for interconnection between the arm (11) and the connector (12), which defines, for the arm (11), with respect to the joint (14), a first oscillation axis (a) and a second oscillation axis (b), the first oscillation axis (a) being substantially parallel to the resting surface (15) of the towing bicycle (13) to which the connector (12) is correctly coupled during use, the first oscillation axis (a) being furthermore substantially transverse to the anteroposterior direction (c) of the towing bicycle (13), the second oscillation axis (b) being substantially perpendicular to the resting surface (15), - a fork (16) for the connection of the arm (11) to the hub (17) of the front wheel (18) of the bicycle (19) to be towed, means (20) being provided for locking the fork (16) to the arm (11) in order to jointly connect them during use, and - a strut (21) pivoted on the arm (11), a coupling assembly (22) being provided which is adapted for the connection of the strut (21) to the bicycle (19) to be towed.	1 . an apparatus for towing bicycles, comprising: a towing arm; a connector, which is adapted to fix said towing arm to a towing vehicle; a joint for interconnection between said towing arm and said connector, which defines, for said towing arm, with respect to said joint, a first oscillation axis and a second oscillation axis, said first oscillation axis being substantially parallel to the resting surface of a towing vehicle to which said connector is correctly coupled during use, said first oscillation axis being furthermore substantially transverse to an anteroposterior direction of the towing vehicle, said second oscillation axis being substantially perpendicular to said resting surface; a fork for connection of said towing arm to a hub of a front wheel of the bicycle to be towed, locking means for locking said fork to said towing arm in order to jointly connect said fork and towing arm during use; and a strut pivoted on said towing arm, a coupling assembly being provided which is adapted for connection of said strut to the bicycle to be towed. 2 . the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the fork is pivoted to said towing arm along a third oscillation axis which is substantially parallel to said first oscillation axis. 3 . the apparatus of claim 2 , wherein said strut is pivoted to said towing arm along a fourth oscillation axis which is substantially parallel to said first oscillation axis. 4 . the apparatus of claim 2 , wherein said fork comprises: two secondary arms provided on opposite sides of a first end of said towing arm, a second end of said towing arm being adapted to be connected to the towing vehicle by way of said connector, a pivot, which passes through said first end and through said secondary arms so as to connect said first end and secondary arms, defining said third oscillation axis. 5 . the apparatus of claim 4 , wherein said locking means are interposed between said secondary arms and said towing arm and comprise: first blocks, which are jointly connected to said secondary arms, second blocks, which are jointly connected to said towing arm; fastening means for a mutual fastening of said first blocks to said second blocks; and rotation contrasting means for contrasting mutual rotation of said first blocks with respect to said second blocks when said first and second blocks are fastened by said fastening means. 6 . the apparatus of claim 4 , wherein said secondary arms have engagement seats for the ends of the hub of the front wheel of the bicycle to be towed, said engagement seats being provided at a first end of said secondary arms which lies opposite to a second end thereof which is pivoted to said towing arm. 7 . the apparatus of claim 6 , comprising clamping means for clamping said secondary arms toward each other, for a clamping thereof on said hub when said ends of said hub are inserted in said engagement seats, for a stable mating of said hub with said fork. 8 . the apparatus of claim 3 , wherein said coupling assembly is pivoted to said strut so as to oscillate about a fifth oscillation axis, which is substantially parallel to said fourth oscillation axis. 9 . the apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said strut comprises two parallel elements which are connected, at opposite ends thereof, to said towing arm and to said coupling assembly. 10 . the apparatus of claim 8 , wherein said coupling assembly comprises a flange for pivoting to said strut and brackets for fixing to a head tube of the handlebar of the bicycle to be towed, said coupling assembly, connected to the head tube, determining a substantially perpendicular arrangement between said fifth oscillation axis and the longitudinal axis of said head tube.	technical field the present invention relates to an apparatus for towing vehicles, in particular bicycles, particularly for towing children's bicycles or the like. background of the invention nowadays several types of apparatuses are known for the towed connection of a children's bicycle to another, an adult's, bicycle. a first type of such structures is provided with a contoured arm provided at a first end with a connector joined thereto by way of a universal joint. the connector is adapted to be integrally coupled to the shank or to the head tube of the saddle of the towing bicycle. when the connector is coupled to the towing bicycle, the universal joint enables, with respect thereto, the oscillation of the arm with respect to an axis that is substantially parallel to the ground and with respect to an axis that is substantially perpendicular to the ground. at the second end, the arm is provided with an upward-curved lug which is provided, at the antinode, with pins with nuts for connection to the fork of the bicycle to be towed, replacing the corresponding wheel. moreover, at the free end tip of the lug, the arm is provided with a bracket for the integral coupling thereof with the lower tube of the frame of the bicycle to be towed. thus, the arm, when joined to both bicycles, towing and being towed, prevents both the rolling and the pitching of the towed bicycle with respect to the towing bicycle. a drawback of this type of apparatus consists in that in order to join the two bicycles it is necessary to remove the front wheel of the bicycle to be towed, in order to couple the towing arm to the fork. not only is the operation for mounting and dismounting the front wheel complicated, but also, during use, the fact that the towed bicycle is deprived of its front wheel prevents the temporary use thereof once it is detached from the towing bicycle, unless the wheel is remounted. therefore, such an apparatus is extremely inconvenient for the parent who intends to accompany the child, by towing his or her bicycle, to a safe place where he or she can be allowed to freely use his or her bicycle. in fact the parent would have to dismount the front wheel of the child's bicycle in order to connect the towing apparatus thereto and accompany the child to where he or she can use his or her bicycle, then re-mount the wheel and subsequently dismount it again for the return trip, with the added inconvenience that, during the towing, the dismounted front wheel must be brought along so that it can be re-mounted when needed. an apparatus has been devised in order to avoid the dismounting of the front wheel of the bicycle to be towed, whose arm is provided at the two opposite ends with connectors to the head tubes of the saddles of the bicycles, towing and being towed, and, in an intermediate position on the arm, it is provided with a transverse secondary arm which juts out to be connected to the hub of the front wheel on one side thereof. such a structure, however, is cumbersome since, at the end thereof for connection to the bicycle to be towed, the main arm runs laterally to the frame thereof thus interfering with the legs of the cyclist who has mounted it. a further apparatus which is described in detail in ep 0966383 comprises a telescopic towing arm provided at its two ends with corresponding connectors, one for the connection to the head tube of the saddle of the towing bicycle and one for the connection to the head tube of the steering column of the bicycle to be towed. the connector between the towing arm and the head tube of the steering column of the bicycle to be towed consists in a flange and two u-shaped brackets with threaded ends. the brackets are mounted on the head tube so that their threaded ends are inserted through the flange that is placed at the front of the head tube. shims are interposed between the head tube and the flange at either one bracket or the other, for adjusting the angle of inclination of the bracket, on which the height depends to which the front wheel of the bicycle to be towed is lifted, when it is fixed to the arm joined to the towing bicycle. a drawback of this structure consists in the complexity of the prearrangement of the shims for adjusting the upward pitch of the bicycle to be towed, substantially as a function of the size thereof. brief summary of the invention the aim of the present invention is to provide a towing apparatus that overcomes the drawbacks of the conventional structures, allowing a simple and quick installation. within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a towing apparatus, particularly for children's bicycles, that makes it possible to avoid removing the front wheel of the bicycle to be towed, in order to tow it, and which makes it possible to easily release it. another object of the invention is to provide a towing apparatus that makes it possible to effectively hold the bicycle to be towed to the towing bicycle, so as to prevent rolling oscillations of the towed bicycle with respect to the towing bicycle. another object of the invention is to provide a towing apparatus that can be easily adapted to the type and size of the bicycle to be towed. another object of the invention is to provide a towing apparatus that makes it possible to hold the bicycle to be towed stable with respect to the towing bicycle, more safely than in conventional apparatuses. another object of the invention is to provide a towing apparatus that is structurally simple and easy to use, and can be implemented at low cost. this aim and these and other objects which will become more apparent hereinafter, are achieved by an apparatus for towing bicycles, particularly for towing children's bicycles or the like, comprising a towing arm,a connector, which is adapted to fix said arm to a towing vehicle, particularly to a bicycle,a joint for interconnection between said arm and said connector, which defines, for said arm, with respect to said joint, a first oscillation axis and a second oscillation axis, said first oscillation axis being substantially parallel to the resting surface of a towing vehicle to which said connector is correctly coupled during use, said first oscillation axis being furthermore substantially transverse to the anteroposterior direction of said towing vehicle, said second oscillation axis being substantially perpendicular to said resting surface, said apparatus being characterized in that it comprisesa fork for the connection of said arm to the hub of the front wheel of the bicycle to be towed, means being provided for locking said fork to said arm so as to jointly connect them during use, anda strut pivoted on said arm, a coupling assembly being provided which is adapted for the connection of said strut to the bicycle to be towed. brief description of the drawings further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the towing apparatus according to the invention, which is illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein: fig. 1 is a side elevation view of a towing apparatus, according to the invention; fig. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of a towing apparatus, according to the invention; fig. 3 is a partially assembled perspective view of a towing apparatus, according to the invention; fig. 4 is a perspective view of a component of a towing apparatus, according to the invention; fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation view of a detail of a towing apparatus, according to the invention; fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a detail of a different embodiment of a towing apparatus, according to the invention; fig. 7 is an enlarged side elevation view of a detail of a towing apparatus, according to the invention; fig. 8 is a further embodiment of a detail of the towing apparatus according to the invention. description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the figures, the reference numeral 10 generally designates an apparatus for towing bicycles, particularly for towing children's bicycles or the like, that comprises a towing arm 11 ,a connector 12 , which is adapted to fix the arm 11 to a towing vehicle, particularly to a towing bicycle 13 ,a joint 14 , conveniently universal, for interconnection between the arm 11 and the connector 12 , which defines, for the arm 11 , with respect to the joint 14 , a first oscillation axis a and a second oscillation axis b, the first oscillation axis a being substantially parallel to the resting surface 15 of the towing bicycle 13 to which the connector 12 is correctly coupled during use, the first oscillation axis a being furthermore substantially transverse to the anteroposterior direction c of the towing bicycle, the second oscillation axis b being substantially perpendicular to the resting surface 15 . according to the invention, the apparatus 10 has a particular peculiarity in that it comprises a fork 16 for the connection of the arm 11 to the hub 17 of the front wheel 18 of the bicycle 19 to be towed, means 20 being provided for locking the fork 16 to the arm 11 in order to jointly connect them during use, anda strut 21 pivoted on the arm 11 , a coupling assembly 22 being provided which is adapted for the connection of the strut 21 to the bicycle 19 to be towed. the fork 16 is conveniently pivoted to the arm 11 along a third oscillation axis d which is substantially parallel to the first oscillation axis a. conveniently, the strut 21 is pivoted to the arm 11 along a fourth oscillation axis e which is substantially parallel to the first oscillation axis a. in particular, the fork 16 preferably comprises two secondary arms 16 a and 16 b provided on opposite sides of a first end 11 a of the arm 11 , the second end 11 b of the arm 11 being adapted to be connected to the towing bicycle 13 by way of the connector 12 ,a pivot 23 , which passes through the first end 11 a and through the secondary arms 16 a and 16 b so as to connect them, the axis of the pin 23 defining the third oscillation axis d. the locking means 20 are conveniently interposed between the secondary arms 16 a and 16 b and the arm 11 and comprise first blocks 24 a and 24 b , which are jointly connected to the secondary arms 16 a and 16 b,second blocks 25 a and 25 b , which are jointly connected to the arm 11 ,means 26 for the mutual fastening of the first blocks 24 a and 24 b to the second blocks 25 a and 25 b,means 27 for contrasting the mutual rotation of the first blocks 24 a and 24 b with respect to the second blocks 25 a and 25 b , in order to integrally lock them to each other when they are fastened by the fastening means 26 . more specifically, preferably the means 27 for contrasting consist in radial ridges 28 and depressions 29 , provided conveniently in alternation on walls of the first blocks 24 a and 24 b and correspondingly abutting against walls of the second blocks 25 a and 25 b. conveniently, the ridges 28 and the depressions 29 are substantially radial to the third oscillation axis d so as to contrast the mutual rotation of the first blocks 24 a and 24 b with respect to the second blocks 25 a and 25 b when they are tightened thus arranging the ridges 28 seated in the depressions 29 . the fastening means 26 preferably comprise a first head 30 , in the form of a knob, integral with one end of the pivot 23 , and a second head 31 , also in the form of a knob, provided with a female thread adapted to receive through screwing the second end of the pivot 23 , which is threaded for this purpose. during use, the heads 30 and 31 tighten between them, threaded onto the pivot 23 , the secondary arms 16 a and 16 b,the blocks 24 a , 24 b , 25 a and 25 b andthe first end 11 a of the arm 11 , in order to mutually tighten them upon the mutual screwing of the second head 31 onto the pivot 23 , which is integral with the first head 30 . preferably, the secondary arms 16 a and 16 b are provided with engagement seats 32 for the ends of the hub 17 of the wheel 18 of the bicycle 19 to be towed. the engagement seats 32 are conveniently provided at a first end of the secondary arms 16 a and 16 b , opposite to their second end which is pivoted to the arm 11 . of these engagement seats 32 , in figs. 2 and 3 , only the one provided on the first secondary arm 16 a is visible, the corresponding one provided on the second secondary arm 16 b being hidden. advantageously, the apparatus 10 comprises means 33 for clamping the secondary arms 16 a and 16 b to each other, for the clamping thereof onto the hub 17 when the ends of the hub 17 are inserted in the engagement seats 32 , for the stable coupling of the hub 17 to the fork 16 . the coupling assembly 22 is pivoted to the strut 21 conveniently so as to oscillate about a fifth axis of oscillation f, which is substantially parallel to the fourth oscillation axis e. moreover, the strut 21 comprises two parallel elements 21 a and 21 b which are connected, at their opposite ends, to the arm 11 and to the coupling assembly 22 . the coupling assembly 22 conveniently comprises a flange 34 for pivoting to the strut 21 and brackets 35 and 36 for fixing to the head tube 37 of the handlebar of a bicycle 19 to be towed. the coupling assembly 22 , when it is connected to the head tube 37 , determines a substantially perpendicular arrangement between the fifth oscillation axis f and the longitudinal axis g of the head tube 37 . in particular, conveniently, the flange 34 is provided with holes 38 for threading the threaded ends 39 and 40 of the brackets 35 and 36 , in order to lock them to the flange 34 by means of nuts 41 . the means for clamping 33 conveniently comprise a rod 42 which at one end is provided with a first abutment 43 , in the form of a knob, integral therewith, which at the second end, which is threaded, is provided with a second abutment 44 with a female thread, in the form of a knob. moreover, the secondary arms 16 a and 16 b are advantageously provided with corresponding through holes 45 a and 45 b , 46 a and 46 b , for the insertion of the rod 42 . thus, during use, when the hub 17 is inserted into the engagement seats 32 , for locking the fork 17 thereto the rod 42 is inserted through the through holes 45 a and 45 b or 46 a and 46 b and the second abutment 44 is tightened thereon so as to clamp the fork 16 coupled with the hub 17 between the abutments 43 and 44 . advantageously, the first through holes 45 a and 45 b of the through holes 45 a and 45 b , 46 a and 46 b are provided proximate to the engagement seats, so that when the rod 42 clamps the fork 16 onto the hub 17 , it passes between the spokes of the wheel 18 of the bicycle 19 to be towed. the second through holes 46 a and 46 b of the through holes 45 a and 45 b , 46 a and 46 b are instead conveniently provided in proximity to the end of the secondary arms 16 a and 16 b for pivoting to the arm 11 , so as to be able to be engaged by the rod 42 which during use does not pass between the spokes of the wheel 18 . thus, in order to lock the fork 16 to the hub 17 of the bicycle 19 to be towed the user can choose whether to insert the rod through the first through holes 45 a and 45 b , as illustrated by way of example by the dotted line in fig. 1 , or alternatively through the second through holes 46 a and 46 b , depending on the contingent requirements of use. advantageously, at the free ends of the secondary arms 16 a and 16 b means of fastening the fork 16 to the towing bicycle 13 , not shown in the accompanying figures, are provided. in particular, such fastening means can be defined by the engagement seats 32 , if the ends of the hub of the front wheel of the towing bicycle 13 are free from devices, for example for changing gear. otherwise, such fastening means can be provided by way of clips adapted to snap onto and grip the lower tube 13 a of the frame of the towing bicycle 13 . thus, when the fork 16 is not engaged on the bicycle 19 to be towed, it can be directed toward the towing bicycle 13 and fixed thereto, in order to not impede the use thereof, as illustrated by way of non-limiting example in fig. 1 in dotted lines. conveniently, when the fork 16 is fixed thus to the towing bicycle 13 , the parallel elements 21 a and 21 b are also folded onto the arm 11 , and fixed thereto, for example with a strip with velcro® fastening or by way of elastic clips fixed to the arm 11 or other equivalent means of retention, which are not shown in the accompanying figures. in an alternative embodiment of the coupling assembly 22 , shown by way of example in figs. 6 and 7 , wherein it is designated with the reference numeral 100 , it comprises a contoured flange 101 which is substantially v-shaped and a bracket 102 which is substantially u-shaped and is adapted to hold it, for example by means of nuts 103 , coupled to the head tube 104 of the steering column of the bicycle to be towed. thus, when the coupling assembly 100 is associated with the head tube 104 , the latter is wedged in the flange 101 which is held thereto by the bracket 102 in a fixed manner, so as to help prevent the rolling of the bicycle 19 to be towed with respect to the towing bicycle 13 . from the back of the contoured flange 101 , two perforated tabs 105 conveniently protrude, adapted to be joined to the strut 21 conveniently so that it can rotate about the fifth oscillation axis f which is preferably defined by a bolt 106 adapted to join them. fig. 8 shows further embodiment of the strut, designated therein with the reference numeral 221 , pivoted to the arm 11 and coupled by means of a corresponding coupling assembly 222 to the bicycle 19 to be towed. the strut 221 comprises two elements 221 a and 221 b which are not parallel as in the embodiment of the invention described above, but instead are crossed and scissor-hinged by means of a pivoting screw 260 . the use of an apparatus 10 , according to the invention, is as follows. the user fixes a first part 12 a of the connector 12 to the upright 47 of the saddle of the towing bicycle 13 . then the user connects the part 12 a to the arm 11 by coupling the second part 12 b of the connector 12 to the first part 12 a , integrally fixing them. then, the user installs, on the bicycle 19 to be towed, the coupling assembly 22 to which the parallel elements 21 a and 21 b are pivoted advantageously by means of a bolt 48 . conveniently the bolt 48 is provided at its head with a pivoting lever with a pull cam which is known per se and not shown in the accompanying figures, adapted to allow quick and reversible tightening, by way of rotation of the lever, and locking, by way of pushing down the lever, where both operations are particularly easy to perform by hand. with the first blocks 24 a and 24 b loosened from the second blocks 25 a and 25 b , by at least partial loosening of the second head 26 from the pivot 23 , the fork 16 is opened at least partially to encompass the hub 17 and insert the ends thereof into the engagement seats 32 . for locking the fork 16 to the hub 17 it is rotated about the third oscillation axis d, proportionally according to the size of the bicycle 19 to be towed. then, the rod 42 is inserted through the first through holes 45 a and 45 b , or through the second through holes 46 a and 46 b , and tightened therein by clamping of the fork 16 . then, the blocks 24 a and 25 a , and 24 b and 25 b are mutually tightened, so as to keep the wheel 18 raised with respect to the resting surface 15 . in order to release the bicycle 19 to be towed, the user simply removes the rod 42 , loosens the blocks 24 a and 25 a , and 24 b and 25 b , and disconnects the coupling assembly 22 . in practice it has been found that the invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects by providing a towing apparatus that overcomes the drawbacks of conventional structures by allowing a simple and quick installation. moreover, an apparatus according to the invention, particularly for the towing of children's bicycles, makes it possible to avoid removing the front wheel of the bicycle to be towed, in order to tow it, and makes it possible to easily release it. an apparatus according to the invention likewise makes it possible to effectively hold the bicycle to be towed to the towing bicycle, so as to prevent rolling oscillations of the towed bicycle with respect to the towing bicycle, thanks to the combined action of the fork, which supports the bicycle to be towed, and of the strut, which prevents the rolling thereof with respect to the towing bicycle. what is more, a towing apparatus according to the invention is easily adaptable to the type and size of the bicycle to be towed and likewise makes it possible to hold the bicycle to be towed stable with respect to the towing bicycle, more safely than in conventional apparatuses moreover, a towing apparatus according to the invention is structurally simple, easy to use and can be produced at relatively low cost. the invention, thus conceived, is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements. in practice the materials employed, provided they are compatible with the specific use, and the contingent dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art. the disclosures in italian patent application no. pd2011a000035 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.
099-906-039-336-154	US	[ "US" ]	E21B43/24,E21B43/40	1975-12-10T00:00:00	1975	[ "E21" ]	process for in situ retorting of oil shale	a process for in situ retorting of oil shale wherein an externally heated gas is circulated through a first retort zone. surface retorting units comprised of compressors and furnaces are used to start the retorting process and to continue same until the off gas being recovered from the first retort zone reaches a temperature condition which is indicative that adequate heat is available in the retort zone to complete the retorting process without further external heating of the retorting gas. the surface retorting units are then replaced with frontal advance units comprised of low head fans which are capable of circulating the required volume of retorting gas but which require substantially less power to operate than the compressors. also, when the units are interchanged the off gas from the first retort zone is diverted through a second retort zone to cool the off gas and to preheat the second zone.	1. a process of in situ retorting an oil shale deposit to recover hydrocarbons therefrom, said process comprising: forming a retort zone of rubblized shale within said deposit; pressurizing a stream of retorting gas by passing it through a compressor means; heating said pressurized retorting gas stream to a temperature required to retort the oil shale by passing said pressurized gas stream through a heating means; injecting said heated retorting gas stream into said retort zone to retort said rubblized shale in said retort zone; recovering gaseous products including said retorting gas from said retort zone; passing at least a portion of said recovered gaseous products through said compressor means, heating means, and said retort zone until a temperature condition is reached wherein the temperature of the gaseous products being recovered substantially equals a value indicative that there is adequate heat available in said retort zone to complete the retorting process without additional externally supplied heat; replacing both said compressor means and said heating means with a fan means when said temperature condition is reached; passing at least a portion of the gaseous products recovered from said retort zone through said fan means; and continuing circulation of said at least a portion of the gaseous products through said retort zone and said fan means until the recovery of hydrocarbons from said retort zone is completed. 2. the in situ retorting process of claim 1 wherein said heating means comprises a furnace means and including: supplying a second portion of the recovered gaseous products to said furnace means to provide the fuel for said furnace means. 3. a process of in situ retorting an oil shale deposit to recover hydrocarbons therefrom, said process comprising: forming a first and a second retort zone of rubblized shale within said deposit; pressurizing a stream of retorting gas by passing it through a compressor means; heating said pressurized retorting gas stream to a temperature required to retort the oil shale by passing said pressurized gas stream through a heating means; injecting said heated retorting gas stream into said first retort zone to retort said rubblized shale in said first retort zone; recovering gaseous products including said retorting gas from said first retort zone; passing at least a portion of said recovered gaseous products through said compressor means, heating means, and said first retort zone until a temperature condition is reached wherein the temperature of the gaseous products being recovered substantially equals a value indicative that there is adequate heat available in said retort zone to complete the retorting process without additional externally supplied heat; replacing both said compressor means and said heating means with a fan means when said temperature condition is reached; passing said gaseous products from said first retort zone through said second retort zone when said temperature condition is reached to cool said gaseous products and to heat rubblized shale in said second retort zone; recovering gaseous products from said second retort zone; passing at least a portion of said gaseous products from said retort zone through said fan means to overcome pressure losses; and injecting said gaseous products exiting from said fan means into said first retort zone. 4. the in situ retorting process of claim 3 wherein said heating means comprises a furnace means and including: supplying a second portion of the recovered gaseous products from said first retort zone to said furnace means to provide the fuel for said furnace means. 5. a process for the in situ retorting of oil shale utilizing surface retorting units which are comprised of gas compressors and furnaces, and frontal advance units which are comprised of low head fans, said process comprising: passing a gas through said surface retorting units to compress and heat said gas; injecting said heated gas into a retort zone within an oil shale deposit; recovering the off gas from said retort zone; circulating at least a portion of said off gas through said surface retorting units and said retort zone until there is adequate heat available in said zone to complete said retorting operation; replacing said surface retorting units with said frontal advance units; and circulating at least a portion of the off gas from said retort zone through said frontal advance units and said retort zone until said retorting has been completed. 6. the in situ retorting process of claim 5 including: supplying a portion of said off gas to said furnaces to provide fuel therefor. 7. the in situ retorting process of claim 5 including: passing the off gas from said retort zone through a second retort zone in said oil shale deposit before passing it through said frontal advance units.	background of the invention the present invention relates to a hydrocarbon recovery method and more particularly relates to a method of in situ retorting an oil shale deposit to recover hydrocarbons therefrom wherein a heated gas stream is circulated through a rubblized oil shale zone within said deposit. oil shale deposits are shale formations wherein useful hydrocarbons exist in the form of "kerogen". while kerogen, which is a solid or semisolid, is for all practical purposes immobile within the shale, it is well known that liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons can be recovered by heating the oil shale. in recovering hydrocarbons from oil shale by use of heat, two basic techniques have evolved: surface retorting and in situ retorting. due to the problems normally encountered in surface retorting (e.g., cooling and disposal of spent shale), in situ retorting of oil shale is becoming more attractive as a possible means to recover hydrocarbons from oil shale. in certain in situ retorting operations, a retorting zone or gallery is formed within the oil shale deposit by first mining out a portion of the shale to create a cavity and then rubblizing the surrounding shale into the cavity by means of explosives or the like. the necessary heat for retorting is then applied to the rubblized shale either by in situ combustion or by circulating externally heated gas therethrough. in processes where an externally heated retorting gas is used, it is common to use a portion of the recovered gaseous products, i.e., "off gas", as the retorting gas. as off gas is recovered from the retort zone, a portion of it is passed through surface retorting units where it is compressed and heated, and then reinjected into the retort zone. surface retorting units of this type are comprised of gas compressors and gas furnaces. however, due to large pressure drops across the furnaces used to heat the gas to the high temperatures required, large quantities of power must be expanded to drive expensive compressors to overcome these pressure drops and those other pressure losses which occur throughout the circulation path of the retorting gas. since presently all factors relating to economic success of shale oil recovery are critical, any savings in these large power requirements may affect the profits of an operation to the extent that the operational life of a particular retorting process is extended which would otherwise have to be abandoned before all recoverable hydrocarbons have been produced. summary of the invention the present invention provides an in situ retorting process for recovering hydrocarbon from a retort zone formed in an oil shale deposit wherein the power required for circulating retorting gas is substantially reduced during the latter stages of the process. a retort zone of rubblized shale is formed within an oil shale deposit and the retorting process is commenced. off gas from the retort zone is passed through a surface retorting unit comprised of compressor means and heating means, e.g., gas fired furnaces. the gas is compressed, heated, and then circulated through the retort zone to heat the shale therein to thereby recover hydrocarbons as will be explained more fully below. as the gas is circulated through the furnaces, piping, and retort zone, large pressure drops occur which have to be overcome by the compressors. to boost the pressure of the gas stream sufficiently to overcome these losses, expensive compressors requiring large amounts of power to operate are required. of the total pressure drop encountered during circulation of the retorting gas, the largest drop occurs across the furnaces needed to heat the gas to the high temperatures required. the present invention provides a process where such compressors are used to circulate retorting gas only until that time when there is sufficient heat within a retort zone to carry out the remainder of the retorting operation without adding additional external heat. when this condition exists, as determined from the temperature of the off gas from the retort zone, the surface retorting units comprised of the compressor and furnaces are replaced with frontal advance units which are comprised only of low head fans. these fans do not have to overcome the large pressure drops that the compressors did since the main cause of the pressure loss, i.e., furnaces, are no longer in the circulation path. accordingly, substantially less power is required to operate the less expensive fans. also, the more expensive compressors are now free to commence initial retorting steps in another retort zone. as the unheated gas is circulated through the retort zone by the fans, it picks up heat from the spent portion of the zone being retorted and continues to advance the retorting front through the zone until the process is completed as will become apparent from the detailed description below. also in the present invention, when the frontal advance units replace the surface retorting units, the off gas from the retort zone is diverted through a second retort zone where it gives up heat. this aids in cooling the gas which makes it easier to handle at the surface, preheats the second retort zone, and allows hydrocarbons to condense out of the gas into the second zone from which they can be recovered when said second zone is retorted. brief description of the drawings the actual operation and the apparent advantages of the invention will be better understood by referring to the drawings in which like numerals identify like parts and in which: fig. 1 is a perspective view of a retort zone within an oil shale deposit undergoing an in situ retorting process in accordance with the present invention; fig. 2 is a schematic view of said process shown in fig. 1; and fig. 3 is a perspective view of a modification of the process shown in fig. 1. description of the preferred embodiment referring more particularly to the drawings, figs. 1 and 2 disclose an oil shale deposit 10 in which a gallery or retort zone 11 has bee formed. retort zone 11 may be formed by any known technique, e.g., a portion of the oil shale can be mined out to establish a cavity into which surrounding shale is then rubblized by means of explosives or the like. for a more complete description of such techniques, see u.s. pat. nos. 3,011,776; 2,481,051; and 1,919,636. in the present invention, a retorting gas is heated and circulated through retort zone 11 to recover hydrocarbons from the rubblized shale within zone 11. this retorting gas is comprised of the gaseous products recovered from the retorting operation, itself. gas may be temporarily supplied from an external source for start-up operations. the retorting gas gives up heat to the shale as it is circulated therethrough and the gaseous hydrocarbons formed from the kerogen in zone 11 flow along with the retorting gas back to the surface. the liquid hydrocarbons formed from the kerogen flow downward by gravity through the rubblized shale into sump 12 or the like from which they can be recovered through a well (not shown) or the like. looking now at fig. 2, as the retorting operation is commenced, the off gas exits from zone 11, flows to the surface through outlets 13, and passes into surface retorting unit 14. although only one retorting unit is shown in detail, it should be recognized that the actual size and number of such units will be dictated by the particular retort operation involved. retorting units 14 are basically comprised of compressor means 15, heating means 16, a gas treating means (e.g., scrubber 17), and the associated piping. compressor means 15, which is preferably comprised of one or more commercially available centrifugal compressors, boosts the pressure of the off gas stream to a value necessary to overcome the pressure drop which occurs in the piping, heating means 16, and the rubblized shale in retort zone 11, thereby providing the pressure required to insure continued circulation of gas through the retort system. the off gas stream is split after it passes through compressor means 15 into a first portion which flows through line 18 to heating means 16 and a second portion which flows through line 19 to gas treating means 17. the gas flowing through line 18 comprises the retorting gas which is recycled back to retort zone 11 through inlets 20 after it is heated by heating means 16. heating means 16 is preferably one or more gas-fired furnaces which heat the retorting gas to a temperature, e.g., 1175.degree. f., capable of retorting the shale in zone 11. the gas flowing through line 19 is treated by means 17 to remove unwanted diluents, e.g., an amine scrubber may be used to remove the ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and a large percentage of the carbon dioxide. a part of this treated gas is supplied through line 21 to heating means 16 to serve as fuel therefor. the excess gas from treating means 17 flows through line 23 and may be used to generate electrical power, sold as industrial gas, or put to any other suitable use. surface retort units 14 are used to start the retorting operation and are used to heat and circulate the retorting gas until sufficient heat is available in retort zone 11 to complete the retorting operation without any further external heating. this condition occurs from the externally heated gas giving up heat to the shale as the gas moves through zone 11. the shale holds a substantial portion of this heat and as more and more heated gas is circulated, the retorting front 11a moves away from inlets 20 toward outlets 13. the spent portion of the shale behind front 11a increases in temperature and accepts less and less heat from the externally heated gas as the gas passes therethrough. accordingly, the temperature of the off gas from outlets 13 begins to rise as front 11a moves further into zone 11. based on a heat and material balance which includes such factors as the size of zone 11, oil content of shale, inlet temperature and rate of retorting gas, etc., the time of switch over to frontal advance units is calculated to determine when there will be sufficient heat available in the spent portion of the shale behind retort zone to complete the retorting zone 11 without further external heating of the retorting zone. compressors 15 must be designed so that this temperature is below the maximum allowable suction inlet temperature of the compressors. at this point, there is no need to continue to externally heat the retorting gas since unheated gas flowing through zone 11 from inlets 20 to outlets 13 will pick up heat from the spent shale behind front 11a and will be hot enough when it reaches front 11a to advance same through the remainder of zone 11. since the retorting gas no longer needs to be heated externally, furnaces 16 are no longer required; and since the major pressure drop in the circulation path is due to the furnaces, there is no longer a need for the expensive and power consuming compressors 15. therefore, when the temperature of the off gas reaches a condition indicating that no further external heat is needed (this normally occurring when approximately two-thirds of zone 11 has been retorted), surface retort unit 14 is replaced with frontal advance unit 25 (see fig. 3). this frees the expensive, surface retort unit 14 for use in retorting another zone (not shown). frontal advance unit 25 is comprised of one or more commercially available low head fans 26 which are capable of circulating the required volume of retorting gas to advance front 11a but which require substantially less power to operate than did compressors 15. for example, in a particular retorting operation in accordance with the present invention, a single 48-inch suction, pedestal type 150,000 acfm (actual cubic foot per minute) centrifugal compressor unit requires approximately a 7000 horsepower electrical motor to provide the differential head necessary to insure proper gas circulation through furnaces 16 and zone 11. a low head fan capable of handling the same volume of gas, i.e., 150,000 acfm, and generating sufficient circulating pressure with no furnaces present requires only approximately a 2500 horsepower motor. to summarize the present method as heretofore described, surface retorting unit 14 is used to start the retorting and frontal advance unit 25 is used to complete the method. compressor means 15 is needed to develop the pressure necessary to force the retorting gas through the high pressure drop heating means 16 where the gas is heated to high temperature before it is injected into retort zone 11. when the temperature of the off gas from zone 11 indicates that adequate heat is available in zone 11 to complete retorting operations, surface retorting unit 14 is replaced with frontal advance unit 25 which circulates the necessary gas with substantially less power requirements. although the retorting gas is not externally heated when frontal advance unit 25 is in use, the gas picks up sufficient heat from the previously retorted portion of zone 11 as it moves from inlets 20 to outlets 13 to thereby continue the advance of the heat front through retort zone 11. to aid in replacing surface retorting unit 14 with frontal unit 25, both of said units are portable in that the units are preferably skid mounted (not shown) and the piping has common flanging as at 30, 31, 32 (fig. 2) so that the units may be exchanged as easily as possible. for most commercial-sized operations, the size and weight of these units will be substantial and since they will likely be transported in rough terrain, tracked vehicles or those having large diameter wheels will likely be required. when the retorting operation of the present invention reaches the point where surface retorting unit 14 is replaced with frontal advance unit 25, off gas from outlets 13 is routed into a second retort zone 40 by means of piping 41 and inlets 42. the off gas from zone 11 passes through the rubblized shale in zone 40 and gives up heat to preheat zone 40 and aid in eventual retorting of zone 40. also, this cools the off gas so that it can be more easily handled at the surface. still further, the heavier hydrocarbons in the hot off gas condense in relatively cool zone 40 and can be recovered later from sump 43. after the off gas from zone 11 passes through zone 40, it flows to the surface through outlets 44 and via piping 45 is fed into frontal advance unit 25. that portion of the gas that is to be recirculated is fed to the suction of low head fan 26 within unit 25 while any excess gas is split off through line 27 for suitable deposition. circulation of the off gas is continued through frontal unit 25 until the retorting process in zone 11 has been completed.
101-128-513-517-844	US	[ "WO", "US" ]	B22F1/054,B22F9/26,B82Y30/00	2011-06-23T00:00:00	2011	[ "B22", "B82" ]	size-controlled synthesis of monodispersed gold nanoparticles via carbon monoxide gas reduction	a method for forming monodispersed gold particles that includes preparing a solution of gold ions at a specific concentration and ph. then, while stirring, dispersing co gas into the solution. the gold ions in the solution are reduced by the co reducing agent to form desired monodispersed gold particles. the reaction conditions are selected such that the growth period of the monodispersed gold particles is greater than a nucleation period of the gold ions.	claims what is claimed is: 1. a method for forming solid monodispersed gold particles, comprising: preparing a solution of gold ions; dispersing co gas into the solution; and reducing, using the co gas, the gold ions to form the monodispersed solid gold particles, wherein a growth period of the monodispersed solid gold particles is greater than a nucleation period of the gold ions. 2. the method of claim 1, wherein the average diameter of the monodispersed solid gold particles ranges from 4 nm to 52 nm. 3. the method of claim 2, wherein the co gas is dispersed using a diffuser. 4. the method of claim 3, wherein the diffuser has an average pore size of 60-μιη. 5. the method of claim 1, wherein the co gas is dispersed in the solution of gold ions at a flow rate of at least 16 ml/min. 6. the method of claim 1, wherein the co gas is dispersed in the solution of gold ions at a flow rate of at least 42 ml/min. 7. the method of claim 1, wherein the gold ions solution is a chloroauric acid solution 8. the method of claim 1, wherein a concentration of gold ions in the solution of gold ions is between o.olmm and 1 n m. 9. the method of claim 1, wherein the solution of gold ions is stirred using a stir bar rotating at an rpm of at least 75. 10. the method of claim 1, wherein the polydispersity of the monodispersed gold particles is less than 13%. 11. a method forming monodispersed solid gold particles comprising: preparing a solution of gold ions with a specific ph; dispersing co gas into the solution; and reducing, using the co gas, the gold ions to form the monodispersed solid gold particles, wherein a growth period of the monodispersed solid gold particles is greater than a nucleation period of the gold ions. 12. the method of claim 11, wherein the specific ph of the solution of gold ions is set by the addition of potassium carbonate. 13. the method of claim 11 , wherein the co gas is dispersed using a diffuser with an average pore size of 60-μπι. 14. the method of claim 11, wherein the co gas is dispersed in the solution of gold ions at a flow rate of at least 16 ml/min. 15. the method of claim 11 , wherein the co gas is dispersed in the solution of gold ions at a flow rate of at least 42 ml/min. 16. the method of claim 11, wherein the gold ions solution is a chloroauric acid solution 17. the method of claim 11, wherein the concentration of gold ions in the solution of gold ions is between 0.0 imm and 1 mm. 18. the method of claim 11, wherein the solution of gold ions is stirred using a stir bar rotating at an rpm of at least 75. 19. the method of claim 1 1 , wherein the polydispersity of the monodispersed solid gold particles is less than 13%. 20. the method of claim 11, wherein the solution of gold ions is aged for at least 72 hrs prior to the dispersing of the co gas.	size-controlled synthesis of monodispersed gold nanoparticles via carbon monoxide gas reduction cross-reference to related applications [0001] this application claims priority pursuant to 35 u.s.c. § 119(e) to u.s. provisional patent application no. 61/500,376 entitled "size-controlled synthesis of monodispersed gold nanoparticles via carbon monoxide gas reduction," filed june 23, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. statement regarding federally sponsored research or development [0002] the invention is made with government support under grant number w81xwh-07-1-0428 awarded by the department of defense. the government has certain rights in the invention. [0003] this invention is made with government support under grant number dge-0940902 awarded by the national science foundation. the government has certain rights in the invention. background [0004] metallic nanoparticles have attracted substantial attention due to their distinctive properties and various applications. gold nanoparticles (aunps) can exhibit a strong optical response to the extinction of surface plasmons by an alternating electromagnetic field. by simply adjusting the size of the gold nanoparticles, this optical resonance can be positioned over hundreds of nanometers in wavelength across the visible into the near infrared spectrum. since these oscillations are located on the boundary of the metal and the external medium, these waves are very sensitive to changes in this boundary, such as the absorption of molecules to the metal surface. these features render aunps useful as building blocks, and pave the way for fabricating biological labels, biological sensors, environmental detection of biological reagents, and clinical diagnostic technologies. many researchers have also exploited the unique optical properties of aunps for biomedical applications, such as thermal ablative cancer therapy and gene therapy. because the plasmon- derived optical resonance of gold nanoparticles is strongly related to the dimensions and morphology of the nanoparticles, the ability to synthesize monodispersed aunps is essential. summary [0005] in general, in one aspect, one or more embodiments of the invention are directed to a method for forming monodispersed gold particles. the method includes preparing a solution of gold ions. the solution is stirred while dispersing carbon monoxide (co) gas into the solution. the co reducing agent reduces the gold ions to form monodispersed gold particles. the reaction conditions are selected such that a growth period of the monodispersed gold particles is greater than a nucleation period of the gold ions. [0006] in general, in one aspect, one or more embodiments of the invention are directed to a method for forming monodispersed gold particles. the method includes preparing a solution of gold ions at a specific concentration and ph. the solution is stirred while dispersing carbon monoxide (co) gas into the solution. the co reducing agent reduces the gold ions to form monodispersed gold particles. the reaction conditions are selected such that a growth period of the monodispersed gold particles is greater than a nucleation period of the gold ions. the concentration, ph, volume, flow rate of co gas are selected to produce the monodispersed gold particle solution. [0007] other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims. brief description of drawings [0008] fig. 1 shows a flow chart in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0009] fig. 2 shows a chart of the absorbance accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0010] figs. 3a-3c show charts of the absorbance and size distribution in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0011] fig. 4 shows a chart of an xps measurement in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0012] fig. 5 shows a chart of the absorbance in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0013] fig. 6 shows a chart of the absorbance in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0014] fig. 7 shows a chart of the absorbance in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0015] fig. 8 shows a chart of the plasmon peak position and absorbance in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0016] fig. 9 shows a chart of the ph as a function of concentration of gold in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0017] fig. 10 shows a chart of the absorbance in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0018] fig. 11 shows a table in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0019] fig. 12 shows a chart of the absorbance in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. detailed description [0020] specific embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying figures. like elements in the various figures are denoted by like reference numerals for consistency. [0021] in the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention. however, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. in other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description. [0022] in general, embodiments of the invention are directed to forming monodispersed solid gold particles using carbon monoxide (co). embodiments of the invention utilizing co as a reducing agent, to enable synthesis of aunp with size tuning from 1 to 100 nm diameters. the size and monodispersity of the aunps are tunable by controlling variables such as volume, haucl 4 concentration, and gas flow during synthesis. the co reduction method offered excellent tenability over a broad range of sizes while maintaining a high level of monodispersity in accordance with one or more embodiments. ensemble extinction spectra and tem images provide evidence that the co reduction offer controlled aunp tunability and co reduction is a viable alternative to other synthesis methods. [0023] in one or more embodiments of the invention, the gas-injection flow rates and diffuser pore size are selected based on the desired particle monodispersity. in one or more embodiments, a 60-μιη average diffuser pore size is sufficient for producing monodispersed particles. also, the solution temperature, prior to aeration, is maintained between 20 and 22°c. those skilled in the art will appreciate that other pore sizes may be used without departing from the invention. [0024] in one embodiment of the invention, by using co to synthesize monodispersed gold particles, the resulting monodispersed gold particles are formed in a solution that does not include any excess reducing agent. no excess reducing agent eliminates the need for purification via multiple centrifugation steps. further, the reduction of haucl 4 with co may take place at room temperature, unlike other methods such as citrate reduction that require boiling of the solution. the time necessary to produce aunps using co is less than 2 min in one or more embodiments, compared to 20 min for comparable particle sizes using citrate reduction and/or 45 min for discharge plasma synthesis. thus, co reduction offers a cheap and flexible alternative to current synthesis methods. [0025] the description provides information related to aunp synthesis, utilizing co as a reducing agent, to enable size tuning from sub 5 to 100 nm diameters. after synthesis, aunp mono- and polydispersity are examined. the size and monodispersity of the aunps are tunable by controlling variables such as haucl 4 concentration and gas flow during synthesis. embodiments of the co reduction method may provide excellent tenability over a broad range of sizes while maintaining a high level of monodispersity. ensemble extinction spectra and tem images provide clear evidence that co reduction offers excellent aunp tunability and is a viable alternative to other synthesis methods. [0026] in one embodiment of the invention, au reduction by co to au takes place via a number of redox reactions. when the co gas is introduced into the aqueous haucl 4 solution, electrons are donated to the [aucl 4 ] " ions. for [aucl 4 ] " ions to be reduced to gold atoms, a series of redox reactions take place, including the liberations of ci " ions. the above is described by equations 1 and 2 below. [0027] auclf + 2e→ aucl 2 " + 2c1 " (1) [0028] aucl 2 " + e " →au° + 2cl " (2) [0029] the electrons in the above reactions may be contributed from the reaction of co and dihydrogen monoxide and the reducing half reactions, as described by equations 3 and 4 below. [0030] co(g) + h 2 o→ co 2 (aq) + 2e +2h + (3) [0031] co(g) + 2h 2 o→ hc0 3 " + 2e +3h + (4) [0032] in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, the thermodynamics of haucl 4 reduction in aqueous solutions using co is shown. the entire thermodynamic process illustrated here is performed between 20 and 22 °c and a pressure of 1 atm. the ph of the solution varies as a function of haucl 4 concentration. the nernst equation (5) describes the potential of electrochemical cell as a function of concentrations of ions taking part in the reaction: rt [0033] e = e 0 -— ln(0 (5) nf [0034] where e° is the standard reduction potential, r is the absolute gas constant = 8.31441 j/(mol k), f is faraday constant = 96484.6 c/mol, t is the absolute temperature = 295.15 k, n is number or electrons, and q is the reaction quotient. the ratio rt/f can be considered constant. therefore, the reaction quotient may be expressed as: [0035] ρ = β¾ (6) 1 j {a} a {b} b [0036] therefore, the nernst equation may be expressed by: [0037] e = e 0 - ^- * 2.303 * log(g) (7) nf [0038] in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, a co gas is may be injected at a flow rate of 25.45 ml/min in a 40 ml aqueous sample volumes. a water saturation constant of 0.26 g per 1 kg at 22°c may be used. the associated redox potentials are given below. [0039] au 3+ + 2e " → au° e°(f) = 1.52 (8) [0040] auclf + 2e ~ → aucl 2 ~ + 2cf e°{v) = 0.926 (9) [0041] aucft + e → auo + 2c1- eo(v) = 1.154 (10) [0042] auc14- + 3e-→ auo + 4c1- eo(v) = 1.002 (11) [0043] co(g) + h2o →co(aq) + 2<?- + 2h+ £o(k) = 0.1 1 (12) [0044] co(g) + 2h2o→ hc03- + 2e- + 3h+ eo(v) = 0.101 (13) [0045] redox potentials (11) and (12) are given at ph = 0. one of ordinary skill will appreciate that the redox potentials are ph-dependent and must be adjusted for the varying ph values. [0046] aunps may be synthesized by co reduction, with average diameter ranging from 4 to 52 nm, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. a set of solutions with haucl 4 concentrations ranging from 0.01 ffim up to 2 mm may be used in the synthesis. further, different co flow rates may be used in the synthesis. the following is a non-exhaustive list of exemplary co flow rates: 16.9 ml/min, 25.45 ml/min, 31.59 ml/min, 37.0 ml/min, and 42.9 ml/min. in one embodiment of the invention, the number of revolutions per minute (rpm), by which the solution is stirred, played a role in particle size and morphology. in one embodiment of the invention, the stir rate is 500 rpm. [0047] in one embodiment of the invention, gas-injection flow rates and diffuser pore size may be varied in order to tune the amount of particles formed and the reaction completion times for forming the particles. in one or more embodiments, a 60-μπι average diffuser pore size may be used to produce monodispersed particles. in one or more embodiments, the solution temperature, prior to aeration, may be maintained between 20 and 22°c. [0048] in one embodiment of the invention, the following reagents may be used to form the monodispersed gold particles in accordance with one embodiment of the invention: (i) hydrogen tetrachloroaurate iii trihydrate (haucl 4 3h2o, 99.99%), (ii) absolute ethanol (c 2 h 5 oh, 99.5%), (iii) carbon monoxide (co, 99%). further, all solutions may be prepared using ultrapure water (18 m-ohm millipore milli-q water). [0049] in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, all chloroauric acid solutions are aged in individual amber bottles under 4°c and light protected for a minimum of 3 days prior to use. all glassware used in the procedures may be cleaned in a bath of freshly prepared aqua regia solution (3 parts hcl acid to 1 part hno 3 acid) and rinsed thoroughly with ethanol three times and then rigorously rinsed four times with copious amounts of pure grade water and oven dried prior to use. stirring may be conducted by a ptfe- coated magnetic stir bar, which is cleaned and dried in the same manner as the glassware. [0050] fig. 1 is a flow chart of the basic process for producing monodisperse gold particles in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. in general, embodiments of the claimed invention involve preparing a solution of gold ions st 1000 to be reduced to form monodispersed gold particles. the aqueous solution of gold ions may be derived from a metal salt, or metal complex. the concentration, ph, and volume of the gold ions in the gold ion solution may be selected based on the desired size, monodispersity, and concentration of the final solution of gold particles. the solution is stirred or mixed st 1002 using known techniques to ensure distribution of all the species involved. then, co gas is dispersed st 1004 into the solution as a reducing agent of the gold ions. the dispersal may be achieved through the use of a diffuser, or other known techniques. the rate of the dispersal of the co gas into the gold ion solution may be selected based on the desired size, monodispersity, and concentration of the final solution of gold particles. the co reducing agent may then reduce the gold ions st 1006 to form the desired monodispersed gold particles. [0051] several chloroauric acid solutions are prepared for utilization with co reduction in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. various weights of fresh chloroauric acid may be dissolved in individual amber bottles containing water (200 ml). at least two separate batches of all solution concentrations were employed to confirm reproducibility. one set of solutions consisted of varying concentrations of chloroauric acid (0.01 to 0.09 mm in 0.01 mm increments) and haucl 4 (1 mm) and haucl 4 (2 mm) solutions are prepared. a solution of haucl 4 (1 wt%) is also prepared. gold particles synthesized by co reduction, with average diameter particles ranging from 4.5 to 52 nm are prepared as described below in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. for each haucl concentration five volumes (40 ml) may be prepared. each sample is aerated at different flow rates controlled by a control valve in accordance with one or more embodiments. the gas may enter the solution via a 60um pore gas diffuser (fisher scientific) attached to the end of the gas supply line downstream of the control valve. the five solutions are exposed to co gas at flow rates of 16.9, 25.45, 31.59, 37.0, and 42.9 ml/min, respectively. the solution temperature, prior to aeration, is maintained between 20 and 22°c. [0052] in one or more embodiments, a 200 ml aqueous haucl 4 solution, with a concentration of 0.1 mm, is prepared by adding hauc14 of a certain weight to 200 ml of ultrapure milli-q water. the fresh gold solution may be used immediately or stored/aged in an amber bottle in light protected 4°c environment for future use in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. a fresh stock solution of potassium carbonate (k 2 co 3 0.5 n) is prepared and stirred for a minimum of 1 h. haucl 4 aqueous solutions with various ph values are prepared by the addition of certain amounts of k 2 co 3 aqueous solution into of haucl (0.1 mm) aqueous solution (20 ml) and shaken vigorously for a minimum of 1 min. [0053] this solution is allowed to age for 15 min before introduction of co gas in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. the ph values of the aqueous solutions, measured prior to reduction, may range from 4.25 to 11.4. additionally, several aqueous haucl 4 (0.38 mm) solutions (200 ml) are prepared by adding fresh gold to ultrapure milli-q water (200 ml). the solutions may be allowed to age for a minimum of 72 h. potassium carbonate, k 2 co 3 , (75mg, 2.71 mm) is added to two haucl 4 (0.38 ram) solutions (200 ml) and aged for 30 and 40 min, respectively. k 2 co 3 (100 mg, 3.62 mm) is added to a haucl 4 (0.38 mm) solution (200 ml) and aged for 30 min. all solutions are aerated with co gas at an inlet flow rate of 25.5 ml/min. [0054] the optical response of the gold particles is determined by examining the optical extinction spectra of aqueous samples in 1 cm path length polystyrene cuvettes using a varian cary 300 uv-visible spectrophotometer. the uv-visible spectra were acquired at wavelengths between 400 to 800 nm. distilled water is used as the reference and the blank for baseline subtraction. [0055] fig. 2 illustrates the effects of co gas flow injection rates on particle synthesis in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. gold particles were synthesized from an aqueous solution of haucl acid at a concentration of 0.01 mm at flow rates of 16.9 ml/min a, 25.5 ml/min b, 37.0 ml/min c, and 42.9 ml/min d. even at this lower concentration, which may or may not be used for the synthesis of aunps, the extinction spectra is clearly visible and well formed as evident in fig. 2. a smoother, more pronounced spectrum is generated at the minimum flow rate of 16.9 ml/min a when compared to the other injection flow rates. [0056] as the flow rate is increased from 16.9 ml/min a to 42.9 ml/min d, the change in spectral symmetry is clearly visible. the gas-injection flow rate of 16.9 ml/min a produced individual particles compared to the other injection rates, as determined by tem analysis. [0057] in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, the particles produced by the 16.9 ml/min a flow rate ranged in size from 5 to 11 nm in diameter. a flow rate of 25.5 ml/min b produced particle aggregates and irregularly shaped particulate matter. particles synthesized at a flow rate of 31.59 ml/min (not shown) consisted of aggregated particle chains. a co flow rate of 37 ml/min c resulted in aggregated particle chains similar to that of particles produced at a flow rate of 25.45 ml/min. the particle aggregation in fig. 2 may be evident by the broad spectral band. as the flow rate increased to 42.9 ml/min d, the particles became elliptical in shape and polydispersed. the particle sizes, when aerated at 42.9 ml/min, ranged from 5 to 40 nm in diameter with some aggregated particles. such a size distribution may also be reflected in the broad spectral band. those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the invention are not limited to making particles within 5 to 40 nm. [0058] in accordance with one or more embodiments, by increasing the chloroauric acid concentration, the polydispersity of the particles may be reduced. however, the gas-injection flow rate may continue to influence the aunp size distribution profiles. [0059] figs. 3a-3c show uv-visible spectra of aunps synthesized from a chloroauric acid concentration of 0.03 mm at flow rates of 16.9 ml/min (fig. 3a), 25.5 ml/min (fig. 3b), and 37.0 ml/min (fig. 3c) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. the polydispersity of the aunps aerated at 16.9 ml/min (fig 3 a) is represented by a broad particle distribution curve. the particle sizes for fig. 3a ranged from 2.5 to 17 nm in diameter. [0060] sample size distributions were determined by transmission electron microscopy (tem) performed using a jeol 1230 high contrast- transmission electron microscope (hc-tem) operating between 80 and 100 kv. samples were prepared for both instruments by contacting a 10 μΐ, drop of the aunp solution with a carbon film coated 200 mesh copper grid. the grids were placed in a spotlessly clean container, covered and allowed to dry completely before use. [0061] increasing the co flow reduced the width of the particle distribution curve where an optimum inlet gas flow is obtained at 25.5 ml/min (fig. 3b) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. the standard deviation for fig. 3b is 7%, well below the 13% to 15% normally obtained for comparable sizes via citrate reduction. [0062] to confirm the formation of au atoms from haucl 4 , the valence state of au is identified by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (xps). xps is carried out using a phi quantera sxm system. the soft x-ray source consisted of aluminum with source energy of 1486.7 ev. the take off angle is set at 45°. precut silicon wafers 4.5 mm χ 5 mm were cleaned by immersion in a 3:1 h 2 s0 4 :h 2 0 2 (piranha) solution for 15 min and rinsed with ultrapure milli-q water and then dried. the sample is prepared by concentrating the aunps and dropping colloidal solution on precut silicon wafers. they were placed in a spotlessly clean container, covered and allowed to dry. [0063] fig. 4 shows an xps spectrum of aunps synthesized via co gas reduction in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. the au 4f 7 /2 peak appeared at a binding energy of 83.98 ev and the au 4f 5/2 peak appeared at a binding energy of 87.71 ev. these peaks may indicate the formation of metallic gold. solutions of particles remained stable in excess of 12 months when stored at 4°c in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0064] a better understanding of the effect of the gas flow rates and chloroauric acid concentrations on particle synthesis in accordance with one or more embodiments may be obtained by considering the mechanisms involved in particle nucleation and growth. when aerating an aqueous haucl 4 solution with co gas, the precursor concentration increases continuously with increasing time. as the concentration reaches supersaturation, nucleation may take place and lead to a decrease in concentration. the continued decrease of the concentration is due to the growth of the particles. during the growth process, two growth mechanisms, or a combination of the two growth mechanisms, may take place. the first growth mechanism is due to the formation of particles from coalescence of the nuclei only. the second growth mechanism is due to the coalescence of nuclei into simple and multiple twins with further growth from monomer attachment of au atoms on the surface of an existing particle. [0065] in accordance with embodiments of the invention, to produce monodispersed aunps with co gas, the rate of nucleation must be high enough so that the precursor concentration does not continue to climb. instead, a large amount of nuclei may be formed in a short period. [0066] when the aqueous haucl 4 solution is neutral or acidic, the nucleus may be formed by gold organic polymer. while the aqueous haucl 4 solution is alkaline, a polymerization of gold hydroxide may take place. in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, the rate of growth of these gold organic polymer nuclei is fast enough to rapidly decrease the concentration below the nucleation concentration. such a method may result in the creation of a limited number of seed particles. in accordance with one or more embodiments, the rate of growth must be slow enough that the growth period is long compared with (or greater than) the nucleation period. this produces aunps with narrowed size distributions, which are the result of the limited nucleation period. [0067] because the morphology may depend strongly on injection flow rates and haucl 4 concentrations, a relationship between the haucl 4 concentration and gas-injection flow rates on particle monodispersity is used in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. solution stir speeds during synthesis were examined and it is found that stir speeds had an effect on synthesis and played a role in particle size disparities. slow solution stir speeds had the biggest affect on solutions aerated at a flow rate of 16.9 ml/min or below. [0068] increasing the stir speed of the solution aided in the solubility and dispersal of the co gas molecules during synthesis. by adjusting the gas- injection flow rate, it may be possible to compensate for a reduction or increase in solution stir speed. the gas diffuser pore size may affect the synthesis process when the solution is at a standstill or stirred at a relatively slow speed (below 75 rpm). once the solution stir speed approaches and/or crosses the 75 rpm threshold, injection-hole size may produce only small variances. once the stir speed reaches 500 rpm, no difference between samples produced with different diffuser pore sizes is observed, and only the au concentration or gas- injection flow rates affected particle sizes. therefore, the solution stirring speed is maintained at 500 rpm to isolate the gas-injection flow rate and au concentration effect on particle synthesis. one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the above considerations may be related to the total volume of the solution. however, one advantage of the invention may be the ease in which embodiments of the invention may be utilized for large-scale production of aunps. a chloroauric concentration of 0.03 mm and an inlet gas flow of 16.9 ml/min stirred at 500 rpm results in coalescence and growth of particles before the nucleation reached equilibrium in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. the induction period is initiated with a slow autocatalytic rise in the number of nuclei due to the lack of sufficient reducing agent in the solution. because of this slow nucleus formation, new nuclei may be formed while existing nuclei may have already undergone coalescence resulting in polydispersity. increasing the flow rate to 25.5 ml/min increases the autocatalytic rise in the number of nuclei. particle growth may take place after cessation of the nucleation process resulting in monodispersity in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. the particle distribution curve shown in fig. 3b consists of particle sizes in the range of 4 to 6 nm as opposed to the range of 2 tol7 nm shown in fig. 3a. by increasing the flow rate further, as in fig. 3c, rapid coalescence of the nuclei may take place. the resulting polydispersity of the solution at the increased gas- injection flow rates may still be marginal compared to the lower flow rate of 16.9 ml/min. when comparing the spectra of figs. 3a-3c, the more polydispersed sample possesses a broadened spectrum. [0070] referring to fig. 5, the effect of co flow rate on particle spectral profile is shown in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. normalized uv-visible spectra of particles synthesized from a chloroauric acid concentration of 0.03 ram aerated at flow rates of 16.9 ml/min (spectra a), 25.5 ml/min (spectra b), and 37.0 ml/min (spectra c) is shown in fig. 5. in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, the effect of the gas flow rate during synthesis is illustrated by a comparison of the three spectra. [0071] in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, when the chloroauric acid concentration approaches 0.2 mm, the gas-injection flow rate may have a less pronounced effect on the spectra symmetry, but the flow rate continues to determine the monodispersity of the particles. when particles are synthesized from a chloroauric acid concentration of 0.3 mm, the most monodispersed sample is produced at a flow rate of 25.5 ml/min in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. the mean diameter for this sample is 9 nm with a standard deviation of 11%. [0072] as the concentration increases to 0.5 mm, 20 to 25 nm particles are produced in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. continual increase of the chloroauric acid concentration beyond 0.5 to 0.6 mm only produced small changes in particle size with increased absorbance. the standard deviation for the aunps produced at 0.6 mm is 8% indicating monodispersity. as the concentration is increased to 1 mm, particles approaching 30 nm in diameter were produced, but the standard deviation approached 20%. further, doubling the concentration to 2 mm had no uniform effect on particle growth, with the majority of the particles in the 30 nm size regime and some of the particles in the 40 to 55 nm size regime with a standard deviation approaching 35%. [0073] fig. 6 is the uv-visible spectra of the above solutions prepared at different concentrations of chloroauric acid in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. fig. 6 demonstrates an increase in the chloroauric acid concentration from 0.02 to 1 mm. fig. 6 also shows an increase in absorbance with the concentration, which correlates to an increase in particle concentration and volume. fig. 7 shows the normalized uv-visible spectra, which demonstrate the pronounced red shifting of the plasmon, which is associated with increased particle size in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0074] fig. 8 is a chart of the absorbance and plasmon peak position as a function of chloroauric acid concentration in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. the red shift of the plasmon, which may be associated with increased particle size, is illustrated in fig. 8. in fig. 8, the chloroauric acid concentration ranges from 0.01 mm to 1 mm, plotted on a logarithmic scale. in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, as the haucl 4 concentration increases, the absorbance intensity 802 may increase with an accompanying red-shift of the plasmon peak position. the shifting of the plasmon 804 is congruent with the prediction described by mie theory. statistical analysis of the particles synthesized from the aqueous solutions of haucl 4 ranging from 0.02 to 0.6 mm revealed an average standard deviation of approximately 11% in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0075] one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the ph is a factor influencing the nucleation and growth of aunps. because the synthesis process takes place in an acidic environment, the particle may be formed from gold polymer with a small contribution from a gold hydroxide polymer reduction. as the concentration of chloroauric acid increases, the ph of the solution may decrease resulting in particle formation primarily by the gold polymer reduction. [0076] fig. 9 is a chart of the ph values before 906 and after 908 aunp synthesis in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. in fig. 9, ph values for hauc14 concentrations ranging from 0.02 to 0.1 mm in 0.01 mm increments and from 0.1 to 0.5 mm in 0.1 mm increments. the x- axis is plotted on a logarithmic scale. the inset shows the ph values of the aunp solutions from 0.01 to 0.1 mm and is plotted on a linear scale. as the reduction of haucl 4 by co takes place, h + ions are liberated, decreasing the ph of the solution. all ph measurements were taken at room temperature. [0077] in an acidic environment, an effective monodispersed particle size threshold may be reached at approximately 25 nm. the effective monodispersed threshold is defined as a standard deviation below 13%. as previously mentioned, continual increase of the chloroauric concentration may eventually result in adverse affects on particle monodispersity. to further grow particles and maintain monodispersity, haucl 4 hydrolysis may be used in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. the addition of potassium carbonate (k 2 co 3 ) to generate an alkaline solution for gold hydroxide polymer reduction is systematically investigated. it is found that the speciation of haucl 4 may influence on the size and monodispersity of the aunps. as the ph increased, speciation of aqueous haucl 4 occurred in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0078] adding k 2 co 3 raises the ph of the solution by allowing hydrolysis of haucl 4 to take place to form gold hydroxide solution. for example, a 200 ml aqueous haucl 4 solution, with a concentration of 0.1 mm, is prepared by adding fresh gold to 200 ml of di water. this solution is aged in an amber bottle, and light protected in a 4°c environment for a minimum of 72 h prior to use in accordance with embodiments of the invention. a 0.5 n stock solution of k 2 co 3 is prepared and stirred for a minimum of 1 h in accordance with embodiments of the invention. after the aging, the chloroauric acid solution is allowed to gradually rise to 22°c. the ph of the chloroauric acid solution is measured to be 3.6. haucl 4 (0.1 mm) aqueous solutions with various ph values were prepared by the addition of k 2 co 3 aqueous solution into 20 ml of haucl aqueous solution and shaken vigorously for a minimum of 1 min. the solutions are subsequently allowed to age for 15 min before introduction of co gas. the ph values of the aqueous solutions, measured prior to reduction, ranged from 4.25 to 11.4. [0079] fig. 10 shows uv-visible absorption spectra of aunps prepared by reduction of hydrolyzed haucl 4 at various phs in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. at ph = 4.25 1010, the acquired aunps exhibited a symmetric spectrum with a surface plasmon resonance (spr) peak at 512 nm. when the ph increased to 6.6 1012, there is a spr shift to 527 nm. when the ph increased to 7.45, the spr peak position did not change much at 528 nm, and the spr peak remained symmetric. the spr feature changed abruptly when the ph is 9.34 1014 showing a broad feature originating at 559 nm. the spr peak red-shifted further when as the ph increased to 10.3. absorption in the nir region also gained significant intensity with the higher ph values. [0080] previous experimental and theoretical results have demonstrated that auc14 undergoes a ph dependant stepwise hydrolysis which gives way to [aucl^(oh) -j " . the extent of hydrolysis in turn depends on the ph, which may indicate the amount of oh " available for hydrolysis. when the ph is low, [aucl 4 ] " ions may dominate the solution. as the ph is increased to 4.25, [aucl 4 ] " concentration is lowered and the contribution from [aucl 3 (oh)] " ions may be increased. raising the ph of the solution to 6.66 may reduce the concentration of [aucl ] ~ and [aucl 3 (oh)] " significantly, and the ionic composition may be primarily made up of [aucl 2 (oh) 2 ] " ions. further increasing the ph to 8.8 may result in a large ion contribution from [aucl(oh) 3 ] " ions. additional increase of the ph to 10.3 may result in an overwhelming ion contribution from [au(oh) 4 ] " ions with an appreciable contribution from [aucl(oh) 3 ] " ions. this may be due to [au(oh) 4 ] " being amphoteric. its solubility may be increased due to the formation of [au(oh) 4 ] ~ at a higher ph, thus making the soluble [au(oh) ] " the dominant species at high ph, instead of the precipitating [aucl(oh) 3 ] " . it is the control of hydrolysis to tune the speciation of [aucl x (oh) 4 ^] " that subsequently influences the particle size. [0081] it is observed that amongst the six species of [aucl ¾ (oh) 4-x ] " discussed earlier, [au(oh) ] " appears to have a lower tendency to be reduced in solution to form colloidal gold. this is evident from a slow and gradual color change during reduction, taking approximately 7 min for complete reduction to occur. in contrast, the reduction of other [aucl (oh) 4- j ~ species formed at a lower ph where it is observed that the addition of co gas caused a color change of the solution within seconds, and total reduction within approximately 2 min. this observation may be attributed to a weaker reduction potential of [au(oh) 4 ] " compared to other species. in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, adjustment of the ph to a ph < 10 by addition of small amounts of k 2 co 3 may result in the formation of other dominant species that has a greater tendency to be reduced in solution to form colloidal gold. [0082] one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the synthesis environment may also affect particle stability. as the ph increased, prior to synthesis, the particles became less stable in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. fig. 1 1 shows a illustrating the stability of the aunp solutions produced at varying ph in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. [0083] in accordance with fig. 11, the hydrolysis of [aucl 4 ] " starts to occur within minutes after the addition of k 2 co 3 , indicating immediate formation of the [aucl x (oh) 4- j " species. au colloid, of varying sizes, is produced when k 2 c0 3 and haucl 4 concentrations and gas-injection flow rates remained constant and only the aging times varied. this may indicate that the aging the gold hydroxide solution, before the addition of co gas, has a strong influence on the outcome of the reaction in accordance with one or more embodiments. [0084] in one or more embodiments of the invention, by controlling the development of the [aucl^(oh) 4- ] " species, colloids of various sizes may be synthesized using co as a reducing agent. when the ph is sufficiently high, the resultant aging process may generate coalescence of au(oh) 4 , initiating a limited nucleation process absent of a reducing agent. however, such a nucleation process is out of favor with the requirements necessary for generating monodispersed particles. thus, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, proper aging times may need to be determined in order to synthesize monodispersed particles of a particular size from a given k 2 co 3 and haucl 4 concentration. embodiments of the invention may exploit the control of [aucl^(oh) 4- j " species development by the addition of k 2 co 3 and aging of the solution. aunps in the ranges of 15 to 100 nm in diameter may be produced. [0085] fig. 12 shows the uv-visible spectra of au colloid produced in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. spectra a and b in fig. 11 show the uv-visible spectra of au colloid produced from a mixture of 200 ml of a 0.38 mm haucl 4 aqueous solution and 2.71 mm k 2 co 3 aged at 30 and 40 min, respectively. the solution reduction volumes were 40 ml. both plasmon resonance peaks were well ordered with a peak at 536 nm for the 30-min aged solution (spectra a) and 546 nm for the 40-min aged solution (spectra b). both solutions were aerated with co gas at an inlet gas flow rate of 25.5 ml/min. the red-shift and dampening of the sp peak may be an indication of an increase in particle size. [0086] in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, the solution volume being aerated may affect the particle size and monodispersity. spectra c, d, and e in fig. 12 were produced from aunps synthesized from a 200 ml 0.38 mm haucl 4 aqueous solution with 3.62 mm k 2 co 3 aged for 30 min. the aeration volumes were 20 ml (spectra c), 40 nil (spectra d), and 50 ml (spectra e). the amount of solution aerated had a small but noticeable effect on plasmon peak position. the resulting plasmon peak positions were 550nm (spectra c), 553 nm (spectra d), and 554 nm (spectra e). in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, increasing the amount of k 2 co 3 , in a haucl 4 aqueous solution of known concentration, while decreasing the aging time, may produce larger aunps, while still maintaining the desired monodispersity. aqueous solutions of 200 ml 0.38 mm haucl 4 with 2.71 and 3.62 mm of k 2 co 3 aged for 30 min (spectra a and c, respectively) each produced aunps with spr peak positions at 536 nm and 553 nm, respectively. [0087] in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, employing a combination of gold polymer reduction and/or gold hydrolyzed polymer reduction, monodispersed particles sizes from ~4 nm to 100 nm may be synthesized. monodispersed solid gold particles greater than 100 nm may be synthesized in accordance with the methods disclosed herein by adjusting the hydrolysis of the gold species prior to reduction with co. tem analysis of solutions of aunps synthesized without the addition of k 2 co 3 , and aunps synthesized from a hydrolyzed solution of aqueous haucl 4 via the addition of k 2 co 3 resulted in sizes of aunps of 4 nm, 6 nm, 15 nm, 25 nm, 50 nm, and -100 nm with standard deviations of 7%, 13%, 8%, 8%, 10%, and 11%, respectively. [0088] embodiments of the invention include aunps synthesized using co as a reducing agent. co as a reducing agent offers tunability of particle sizes via altering haucl 4 concentration and flow rate. advantages of the invention include fast synthesis rates, ease of tunability, and absence of byproducts may allow for co-based aunps to be optimized and readily produced for biomedical and industrial applications. in one or more embodiments, the manipulation of the solution ph and speciation of haucl 4 may be used to control particle morphology and also as a means to tune the particle size. tem micrographs and uv-visible spectral analysis have confirmed that the co- based aunps are monodispersed upon synthesis. [0089] further, as compared to the current synthesis methods, co has an advantage in that no excess reducing agent remains in solution. this may eliminate the need for further purification. the reduction of haucl 4 with co may also take place at room temperature, unlike other methods such as citrate reduction that require boiling of the solution. the time necessary to produce aunps using co may be less than 2 min compared to 20 min for comparable particle sizes using citrate reduction and 45 min for discharge plasma synthesis. co reduction may offer a cheap and flexible alternative to femtosecond laser- based aunp synthesis processes, while eliminating the need for surfactants and polymers to tune the particle sizes. [0090] while the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed herein. accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims.
101-305-860-922-128	US	[ "JP", "EP", "US", "KR", "BR", "RU", "MY", "HK", "CN", "AU", "CA", "WO" ]	A24C5/01,A24D1/20,A24F40/20,A24F40/465,H05B6/00,H05B6/10,A24F40/57,A24F47/00,A24F40/42	2015-10-30T00:00:00	2015	[ "A24", "H05" ]	article for use with apparatus for heating smokable material	disclosed is an article for use with apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material. the article comprises smokable material, such as tobacco, and a heater for heating the smokable material. the heater comprises heating material that is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field. the heating material has a curie point temperature that is less than the combustion temperature of the smokable material.	1 - 19 . (canceled) 20 . a method of manufacturing a product comprising a heater for use in heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material, the method comprising: determining a maximum temperature to which a heater is to be heated in use; and providing a heater comprising first and second portions of heating material, wherein both portions of the heating material are heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field, and wherein the first and second portions of heating material have different curie point temperatures and each of the first and second portions have a curie point temperature selected on the basis of the determined maximum temperature; wherein the method comprises forming an apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material, the apparatus comprising a heating zone for receiving an article comprising smokable material, the heater for heating the heating zone, and a magnetic field generator for generating a varying magnetic field that penetrates the heating material; and wherein a maximum temperature to which the heater is heatable by penetration with the varying magnetic field in use is exclusively determined by a higher of the curie point temperatures of the first and second portions of the heating material. 21 . the method of claim 20 , wherein the curie point temperature is equal to or less than the maximum temperature. 22 . the method of claim 20 , wherein the maximum temperature is less than the combustion temperature of the smokable material to be heated by the heater in use. 23 . the method of claim 20 , wherein the heating material comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: iron; an alloy comprising iron; an alloy comprising iron and nickel; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese and silicon; and stainless steel. 24 . the method of claim 20 , wherein the heater consists entirely of the heating material. 25 . the method of claim 20 , wherein the curie point temperature is no more than 350 degrees celsius. 26 . the method of claim 20 , wherein the curie point temperature is less than 300 degrees celsius. 27 . an apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material, the apparatus comprising: a heating zone for receiving an article comprising smokable material; a heater for heating the heating zone, wherein the heater comprises first and second portions of heating material that are heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field and which have different curie point temperatures; and a magnetic field generator for generating a varying magnetic field that penetrates the first and second portions of heating material; wherein a maximum temperature to which the heater is heatable by penetration with the varying magnetic field in use is exclusively determined by a curie point temperatures of the first and second portions of heating material. 28 . the apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the curie point temperature is no more than 350 degrees celsius. 29 . the apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the heating material comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: iron; an alloy comprising iron; an alloy comprising iron and nickel; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese and silicon; and stainless steel. 30 . the apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the heater consists entirely of the heating material. 31 . the apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the curie point temperature is less than 300 degrees celsius. 32 . a system, comprising: an apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material; and an article for use with the apparatus, wherein the article comprises smokable material; wherein the apparatus comprises: a heating zone for receiving the article, a heater for heating the smokable material when the article is in the heating zone, wherein the heater is formed of first and second portions of heating material that are both heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field, and a magnetic field generator for generating a varying magnetic field that penetrates the first and second portions of heating material; wherein a maximum temperature to which the heater is heatable by penetration with the varying magnetic field in use is exclusively determined by a higher of a curie point temperature of the first and second portions of heating material.	priority claim the present application is a continuation application of u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/772,386, filed apr. 30, 2018, which is a national phase entry of pct application no. pct/ep2016/075739, filed oct. 26, 2016, which claims priority from u.s. patent application ser. no. 14/927,532, filed oct. 30, 2015, each of which is hereby fully incorporated herein by reference. technical field the present disclosure relates to apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material, to articles for use with such apparatus, to systems comprising such apparatus and such articles, and to methods of manufacturing products comprising heaters for use in heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material. background smoking articles such as cigarettes, cigars and the like burn tobacco during use to create tobacco smoke. attempts have been made to provide alternatives to these articles by creating products that release compounds without combusting. examples of such products are so-called “heat not burn” products or tobacco heating devices or products, which release compounds by heating, but not burning, material. the material may be, for example, tobacco or other non-tobacco products, which may or may not contain nicotine. summary a first aspect of the present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a product comprising a heater for use in heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material, the method comprising: determining a maximum temperature to which a heater is to be heated in use; and providing a heater comprising heating material, wherein the heating material is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field, and wherein the heating material has a curie point temperature selected on the basis of the determined maximum temperature. in an exemplary embodiment, the curie point temperature is equal to or less than the maximum temperature. in an exemplary embodiment, the maximum temperature is less than the combustion temperature of the smokable material to be heated by the heater in use. in an exemplary embodiment, the combustion temperature of the smokable material is the autoignition temperature or kindling point of the smokable material. in an exemplary embodiment, the curie point temperature is no more than 350 degrees celsius. in respective exemplary embodiments, the curie point temperature may be less than 350 degrees celsius, less than 325 degrees celsius, less than 300 degrees celsius, less than 280 degrees celsius, less than 260 degrees celsius, less than 240 degrees celsius, or less than 220 degrees celsius. in an exemplary embodiment, the method comprises forming an article comprising the heater and smokable material to be heated by the heater in use. in an exemplary embodiment, the smokable material comprises tobacco and/or one or more humectants. in an exemplary embodiment, the method comprises providing that the heater is in contact with the smokable material. in an exemplary embodiment, the method comprises forming apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material, the apparatus comprising a heating zone for receiving an article comprising smokable material, the heater for heating the heating zone, and a magnetic field generator for generating a varying magnetic field that penetrates the heating material; and a maximum temperature to which the heater is heatable by penetration with the varying magnetic field in use is exclusively determined by the curie point temperature of the heating material. in an exemplary embodiment, the heating material comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: iron; an alloy comprising iron; an alloy comprising iron and nickel; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese and silicon; and stainless steel. in an exemplary embodiment, the heater consists entirely, or substantially entirely, of the heating material. a second aspect of the present disclosure provides an article for use with apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material, the article comprising: smokable material; and a heater for heating the smokable material, wherein the heater comprises heating material that is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field, and wherein the heating material has a curie point temperature that is less than the combustion temperature of the smokable material. in an exemplary embodiment, the combustion temperature of the smokable material is the autoignition temperature or kindling point of the smokable material. in an exemplary embodiment, the heating material is in contact with the smokable material. in an exemplary embodiment, the curie point temperature is no more than 350 degrees celsius. in respective exemplary embodiments, the curie point temperature may be less than 350 degrees celsius, less than 325 degrees celsius, less than 300 degrees celsius, less than 280 degrees celsius, less than 260 degrees celsius, less than 240 degrees celsius, or less than 220 degrees celsius. in an exemplary embodiment, the heating material comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: iron; an alloy comprising iron; an alloy comprising iron and nickel; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese and silicon; and stainless steel. in an exemplary embodiment, the smokable material comprises tobacco and/or one or more humectants. in an exemplary embodiment, the heater consists entirely, or substantially entirely, of the heating material. a third aspect of the present disclosure provides apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material, the apparatus comprising: a heating zone for receiving an article comprising smokable material; a heater for heating the heating zone, wherein the heater comprises heating material that is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field; and a magnetic field generator for generating a varying magnetic field that penetrates the heating material; wherein a maximum temperature to which the heater is heatable by penetration with the varying magnetic field in use is exclusively determined by a curie point temperature of the heating material. in an exemplary embodiment, the curie point temperature is no more than 350 degrees celsius. in respective exemplary embodiments, the curie point temperature may be less than 350 degrees celsius, less than 325 degrees celsius, less than 300 degrees celsius, less than 280 degrees celsius, less than 260 degrees celsius, less than 240 degrees celsius, or less than 220 degrees celsius. in an exemplary embodiment, the heating material comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: iron; an alloy comprising iron; an alloy comprising iron and nickel; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese and silicon; and stainless steel. in an exemplary embodiment, the heater consists entirely, or substantially entirely, of the heating material. a fourth aspect of the present disclosure provides a system, comprising: apparatus for heating the smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material; and an article for use with the apparatus, wherein the article comprises smokable material and a heater for heating the smokable material, wherein the heater is formed of heating material that is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field, and wherein the heating material has a curie point temperature that is less than the combustion temperature of the smokable material; wherein the apparatus comprises a heating zone for receiving the article, and a magnetic field generator for generating a varying magnetic field that penetrates the heating material when the article is in the heating zone. in respective exemplary embodiments, the article of the system may have any one or more of the features discussed above as being present in respective exemplary embodiments of the article of the second aspect of the present disclosure. a fifth aspect of the present disclosure provides a system, comprising: apparatus for heating the smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material; and an article for use with the apparatus, wherein the article comprises smokable material; wherein the apparatus comprises: a heating zone for receiving the article, a heater for heating the smokable material when the article is in the heating zone, wherein the heater is formed of heating material that is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field, and a magnetic field generator for generating a varying magnetic field that penetrates the heating material; wherein a maximum temperature to which the heater is heatable by penetration with the varying magnetic field in use is exclusively determined by a curie point temperature of the heating material. in an exemplary embodiment, the article of the system is the article of the second aspect of the present disclosure. the article of the system may have any one or more of the features discussed above as being present in respective exemplary embodiments of the article of the second aspect of the present disclosure. brief description of the drawings embodiments of the disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: fig. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of an example of an article for use with apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material. fig. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the article of fig. 1 . fig. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an example of apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material. fig. 4 is a flow diagram showing an example of a method of manufacturing an article for use with apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material. fig. 5 is a flow diagram showing an example of a method of manufacturing apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material. detailed description as used herein, the term “smokable material” includes materials that provide volatilized components upon heating, typically in the form of vapor or an aerosol. “smokable material” may be a non-tobacco-containing material or a tobacco-containing material. “smokable material” may, for example, include one or more of tobacco per se, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, tobacco extract, homogenized tobacco or tobacco substitutes. the smokable material can be in the form of ground tobacco, cut rag tobacco, extruded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, reconstituted smokable material, liquid, gel, gelled sheet, powder, or agglomerates, or the like. “smokable material” also may include other, non-tobacco, products, which, depending on the product, may or may not contain nicotine. “smokable material” may comprise one or more humectants, such as glycerol or propylene glycol. as used herein, the term “heating material” or “heater material” refers to material that is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field. induction heating is a process in which an electrically-conductive object is heated by penetrating the object with a varying magnetic field. the process is described by faraday's law of induction and ohm's law. an induction heater may comprise an electromagnet and a device for passing a varying electrical current, such as an alternating current, through the electromagnet. when the electromagnet and the object to be heated are suitably relatively positioned so that the resultant varying magnetic field produced by the electromagnet penetrates the object, one or more eddy currents are generated inside the object. the object has a resistance to the flow of electrical currents. therefore, when such eddy currents are generated in the object, their flow against the electrical resistance of the object causes the object to be heated. this process is called joule, ohmic, or resistive heating. an object that is capable of being inductively heated is known as a susceptor. it has been found that, when the susceptor is in the form of a closed circuit, magnetic coupling between the susceptor and the electromagnet in use is enhanced, which results in greater or improved joule heating. magnetic hysteresis heating is a process in which an object made of a magnetic material is heated by penetrating the object with a varying magnetic field. a magnetic material can be considered to comprise many atomic-scale magnets, or magnetic dipoles. when a magnetic field penetrates such material, the magnetic dipoles align with the magnetic field. therefore, when a varying magnetic field, such as an alternating magnetic field, for example as produced by an electromagnet, penetrates the magnetic material, the orientation of the magnetic dipoles changes with the varying applied magnetic field. such magnetic dipole reorientation causes heat to be generated in the magnetic material. when an object is both electrically-conductive and magnetic, penetrating the object with a varying magnetic field can cause both joule heating and magnetic hysteresis heating in the object. moreover, the use of magnetic material can strengthen the magnetic field, which can intensify the joule heating. in each of the above processes, as heat is generated inside the object itself, rather than by an external heat source by heat conduction, a rapid temperature rise in the object and more uniform heat distribution can be achieved, particularly through selection of suitable object material and geometry, and suitable varying magnetic field magnitude and orientation relative to the object. moreover, as induction heating and magnetic hysteresis heating do not require a physical connection to be provided between the source of the varying magnetic field and the object, design freedom and control over the heating profile may be greater, and cost may be lower. the curie point temperature, or curie temperature, is the temperature at which certain magnetic materials undergo a sharp change in their magnetic properties. it is understood that the curie point temperature is the temperature below which there is spontaneous magnetization in the absence of an externally applied magnetic field, and above which the material is paramagnetic. for example, the curie point temperature is the magnetic transformation temperature of a ferromagnetic material between its ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phase. when such a magnetic material reaches its curie point temperature, its magnetic permeability reduces or ceases, and the ability of the material to be heated by penetration with a varying magnetic field also reduces or ceases. that is, it may not be possible to heat the material above its curie point temperature by magnetic hysteresis heating. if the magnetic material is electrically-conductive, then the material may still be heatable, to a lesser extent, by penetration with a varying magnetic field above the curie point temperature by joule heating. however, if the magnetic material is non-electrically-conductive, then heating of the material above its curie point temperature by penetration with a varying magnetic field may be hindered or even impossible. referring to figs. 1 and 2 there are shown a schematic perspective view and a schematic cross-sectional view of an example of an article according to an embodiment of the disclosure. broadly speaking, the article 1 comprises smokable material 10 , a heater 20 for heating the smokable material 10 , and a cover 30 that encircles the smokable material 10 and the heater 20 . the heater 20 comprises heating material that is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field. example such heating materials are discussed elsewhere herein. the article 1 is for use with apparatus for heating the smokable material 10 to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material 10 without burning the smokable material 10 . in this embodiment, the article 1 is elongate and cylindrical with a substantially circular cross section in a plane normal to a longitudinal axis of the article 1 . however, in other embodiments, the article 1 may have a cross section other than circular and/or not be elongate and/or not be cylindrical. the article 1 may have proportions approximating those of a cigarette. in this embodiment, the heater 20 is elongate and extends along a longitudinal axis that is substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of the article 1 . this can help to provide more uniform heating of the smokable material 10 in use, and can also aid manufacturing of the article 1 . in this embodiment, the aligned axes are coincident. in a variation to this embodiment, the aligned axes may be parallel to each other. however, in other embodiments, the axes may be oblique to each other. in this embodiment, the heater 20 extends to opposite longitudinal ends of the mass of smokable material 10 . this can help to provide more uniform heating of the smokable material 10 in use, and can also aid manufacturing of the article 1 . however, in other embodiments, the heater 20 may not extend to either of the opposite longitudinal ends of the mass of smokable material 10 , or may extend to only one of the longitudinal ends of the mass of smokable material 10 and be spaced from the other of the longitudinal ends of the mass of smokable material 10 . in this embodiment, the heater 20 is within the smokable material 10 . in other embodiments, the smokable material 10 may be on only one side of the heater 20 , for example. in this embodiment, the heating material of the heater 20 is in contact with the smokable material 10 . thus, when the heating material is heated by penetration with a varying magnetic field, heat may be transferred directly from the heating material to the smokable material 10 . in other embodiments, the heating material may be kept out of contact with the smokable material 10 . for example, in some embodiments, the article 1 may comprise a thermally-conductive barrier that is free of heating material and that spaces the heater 20 from the smokable material 10 . in some embodiments, the thermally-conductive barrier may be a coating on the heater 20 . the provision of such a barrier may be advantageous to help to dissipate heat to alleviate hot spots in the heating material. the heater 20 of this embodiment has two opposing major surfaces joined by two minor surfaces. therefore, the depth or thickness of the heater 20 is relatively small as compared to the other dimensions of the heater 20 . the heating material may have a skin depth, which is an exterior zone within which most of an induced electrical current and/or induced reorientation of magnetic dipoles occurs. by providing that the heating material has a relatively small thickness, a greater proportion of the heating material may be heatable by a given varying magnetic field, as compared to heating material having a depth or thickness that is relatively large as compared to the other dimensions of the heating material. thus, a more efficient use of material is achieved and, in turn, costs are reduced. however, in other embodiments, the heater 20 may have a cross-section that is a shape other than rectangular, such as circular, elliptical, annular, polygonal, square, triangular, star-shaped, radially-finned, or the like. the cover 30 of the article 1 helps to maintain the relative positions of the smokable material 10 and the heater 20 . the cover 30 may be made of any suitable material, such as paper, card, a plastics material, or the like. overlapping portions of the cover 30 may be adhered to each other to help maintain the shape of the cover 30 and the article 1 as a whole. in some embodiments, the cover 30 may take a different form or be omitted. the curie point temperature of a material is determined or controlled by the chemical composition of the material. modern technology allows adjustment of the composition of a material to provide the material with a preset curie point temperature. some example heating materials that could be used in embodiments of the present disclosure, along with their approximate curie point temperatures, are as shown in table 1, below. table 1curie point temperaturematerial(degrees celsius)30% ni 70% fe10036% ni 64% fe27942% ni 58% fe32546% ni 54% fe46052% ni 48% fe56580% ni 20% fe460cobalt1120iron770low carbon steel760iron (iii) oxide675iron (ii, iii) oxide585niofe 2 o 3585cuofe 2 o 3455strontium ferrite450mgofe 2 o 3440kovar 435mnbi357nickel353mnsb314mnofe 2 o 3300y 3 fe 5 o 12287cro 2113mnas45 a typical composition of kovar is as follows, given in percentages of weight: ni 29%, co 17%, si 0.2%, mn 0.3%, c < 0.01%, fe balance. the % values given for the above various alloys of ni and fe may be % wt values. “ low curie temperature material for induction heating self - temperature controlling system ”; t. todaka et al.; journal of magnetism and magnetic materials 320 (2008) e702-e707, presents low curie temperature magnetic materials for induction heating. the materials are alloys based on sus430 (a grade of stainless steel), could be used in embodiments of the present disclosure, and are shown in table 2, below, along with their approximate curie point temperatures. table 2material compositioncurie point temperature(wt %)(degrees celsius)sus430-al 11.7 dy 0.5301sus430-al 11.7 gd 0.3300sus430-al 11.7 sm 0.3300sus430-al 12.8 gd 0.3194sus430-al 12.8 sm 0.1195sus430-al 12.8 y 0.3198sus430-al 13.5 gd 0.3106sus430-al 13.5 sm 0.1116sus430-al 13.5 y 0.3109 “ low curie temperature in fe—cr—ni—mn alloys ”; alexandru iorga et al.; u.p.b. sci. bull., series b, vol. 73, iss. 4 (2011) 195-202, provides a discussion of several fe—ni—cr alloys. some of the materials disclosed in this document could be used in embodiments of the present disclosure, and are shown in table 3, below, along with their approximate curie point temperatures. table 3material compositioncurie point temperature(wt %)(degrees celsius)cr 4 —ni 32 —fe 62 —mn 1.5 —si 0.555cr 4 —ni 33 —fe 62.5 —si 0.5122cr 10 —ni33—fe 53.5 —mn 3 —si 0.511cr 11 —ni 35 —fe 53.5 —si 0.566 a further material that could be used in some embodiments of the present disclosure is neomax ms-135, which is from neomax materials co., ltd. this material is described at www.neomax-materials.co.jp. in this embodiment, the chemical composition of the heating material of the heater 20 has been carefully and intentionally set, selected or provided so that the heating material has a curie point temperature that is less than the combustion temperature of the smokable material 10 . the combustion temperature may be the autoignition temperature or kindling point of the smokable material 10 . that is, the lowest temperature at which the smokable material 10 will spontaneously ignite in normal atmosphere without an external source of ignition, such as a flame or spark. accordingly, when the temperature of the heater 20 in use reaches the curie point temperature, the ability to further heat the heater 20 by penetration with a varying magnetic field is reduced or removed. for example, as noted above, when the heating material is electrically-conductive, joule heating may still be effected by penetrating the heating material with a varying magnetic field. alternatively, when the heating material is non-electrically-conductive, depending on the chemical composition of the heating material, such further heating by penetration with a varying magnetic field may be impossible. thus, in use, this inherent mechanism of the heating material of the heater 20 may be used to limit or prevent further heating of the heater 20 , so as to help avoid the temperature of the adjacent smokable material 10 from reaching a magnitude at which the smokable material 10 burns or combusts. thus, in some embodiments, the chemical composition of the heater 20 may help enable the smokable material 10 to be heated sufficiently to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material 10 without burning the smokable material 10 . in some embodiments, this may also help to prevent overheating of the apparatus with which the article 1 is being used, and/or help to prevent part(s), such as the cover 30 or an adhesive, of the article 1 being damaged by excessive heat during use of the article 1 . in some embodiments, if the combustion temperature of the smokable material 10 is greater than x degrees celsius, then the chemical composition of the heating material may be provided so that the curie point temperature is no more than x degrees celsius. for example, if the combustion temperature of the smokable material 10 is greater than 350 degrees celsius, then the chemical composition of the heating material may be provided so that the curie point temperature is no more than 350 degrees celsius. the curie point temperature may be, for example, less than 350 degrees celsius, less than 325 degrees celsius, less than 300 degrees celsius, less than 280 degrees celsius, less than 260 degrees celsius, less than 240 degrees celsius, or less than 220 degrees celsius. in some embodiments, the ability of the heating material to be heated by penetration with a varying magnetic field by magnetic hysteresis heating may return when the temperature of the heating material has dropped below the curie point temperature. in some embodiments, the heater 20 may consist entirely, or substantially entirely, of the heating material. the heating material may comprise, for example, one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: iron; an alloy comprising iron; an alloy comprising iron and nickel; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese and silicon; and stainless steel. in some embodiments, the heater of the product, such as the article, may comprise a first portion of heating material that has a first curie point temperature, and a second portion of heating material that has a second curie point temperature that is different to the first curie point temperature. the second curie point temperature may be higher than the first curie point temperature. in use, the second portion of heating material may thus be permitted to reach a higher temperature than the first portion of heating material when both are penetrated by a varying magnetic field. this may help progressive heating of the smokable material 10 , and thus progressive generation of vapor, to be achieved. both the first and second curie point temperatures may be less than the combustion temperature of the smokable material 10 . referring to fig. 4 , there is shown a flow diagram showing an example of a method of manufacturing a product for use in heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. the article 1 of figs. 1 and 2 may be made according to this method. the method 400 comprises determining 401 a maximum temperature to which a heater is to be heated in use. this determining 401 may comprise, for example, determining the combustion temperature of the smokable material 10 to be heated by the heater 20 in use, and then determining the maximum temperature on the basis of that combustion temperature. for example, in some embodiments, the maximum temperature may be less than the combustion temperature of the smokable material 10 , for the reasons discussed above. in other embodiments, the determining 401 may additionally or alternatively comprise determining a maximum temperature to which other part(s), such as a cover or an adhesive, of the article may be subjected in use without incurring damage, and then determining the maximum temperature on the basis of that temperature. for example, in some embodiments, the maximum temperature may be less than the temperature to which the part(s) may be safely subjected in use. in still other embodiments, the determining 401 may additionally or alternatively comprise determining a maximum temperature to which the smokable material 10 is to be heated on the basis of desired sensory properties, and then determining the maximum temperature on the basis of that temperature. for example, at different temperatures different components of the smokable material 10 may be volatilized. the method 400 further comprises providing 402 a heater 20 comprising heating material, wherein the heating material is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field, and wherein the heating material has a curie point temperature selected or determined on the basis of, or in dependence on, the maximum temperature determined at 401 . the providing 402 may comprise, for example, manufacturing the heater 20 from suitable heating material. the method may comprise adjusting the composition of the heating material during manufacture of the heater 20 . alternatively or additionally, the providing 402 may comprise selecting the heater 20 from a plurality of heaters 20 , wherein the plurality of heaters 20 are made of heating material having respective different curie point temperatures. the curie point temperature of the heating material of the heater 20 provided in 402 may, for example, be equal to the maximum temperature determined in 401 , or may be less than the maximum temperature determined in 401 . the heater 20 provided in 402 may consists entirely, or substantially entirely, of the heating material. the heating material may comprise or consist of any one or more of the available heating materials discussed above, for example. the method then comprises forming 403 an article, such as the article 1 of figs. 1 and 2 , comprising the heater 20 and smokable material 10 to be heated by the heater 20 in use. the forming 403 may comprise providing that the heater 20 is in contact with the smokable material 10 , as is the case in the article 1 of figs. 1 and 2 . however, in other embodiments, the smokable material 10 may be out of contact with the heater 20 and yet still be heatable by the heater 20 . the forming 403 of the method 400 may additionally or alternatively comprise encircling or covering the smokable material 10 and the heater 20 with a cover, such as the cover 30 of the article 1 shown in figs. 1 and 2 . the above-described article 1 and described variants thereof may be used with apparatus for heating the smokable material 10 to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material 10 without burning the smokable material 10 . any one of the article(s) 1 and such apparatus may be provided together as a system. the system may take the form of a kit, in which the article 1 is separate from the apparatus. alternatively, the system may take the form of an assembly, in which the article 1 is combined with the apparatus. the apparatus of the system comprises a heating zone for receiving the article 1 , and a magnetic field generator for generating a varying magnetic field that penetrates the heating material when the article 1 is in the heating zone. referring to fig. 3 there is shown a schematic cross-sectional view of an example of apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material according to an embodiment of the disclosure. broadly speaking, the apparatus 100 comprises a heating zone 111 for receiving an article comprising smokable material; a heater 115 for heating the heating zone 111 , wherein the heater 115 comprises heating material that is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field; and a magnetic field generator 112 for generating a varying magnetic field that penetrates the heating material of the heater 115 . a maximum temperature to which the heater 115 is heatable by penetration with the varying magnetic field in use is exclusively determined by a curie point temperature of the heating material of the heater 115 . example such heating materials are discussed elsewhere herein. the apparatus 100 is for use with an article that comprises smokable material. in some embodiments, the apparatus 100 is for heating the smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material without burning the smokable material. the article may comprise heating material, such as the article 1 of figs. 1 and 2 , or may be free of heating material. the apparatus 100 of this embodiment comprises a body 110 and a mouthpiece 120 . the mouthpiece 120 may be made of any suitable material, such as a plastics material, cardboard, cellulose acetate, paper, metal, glass, ceramic, or rubber. the mouthpiece 120 defines a channel 122 therethrough. the mouthpiece 120 is locatable relative to the body 110 so as to cover an opening into the heating zone 111 . when the mouthpiece 120 is so located relative to the body 110 , the channel 122 of the mouthpiece 120 is in fluid communication with the heating zone 111 . in use, the channel 122 acts as a passageway for permitting volatilized material to pass from an article inserted in the heating zone 111 to an exterior of the apparatus 100 . in this embodiment, the mouthpiece 120 of the apparatus 100 is releasably engageable with the body 110 so as to connect the mouthpiece 120 to the body 110 . in other embodiments, the mouthpiece 120 and the body 110 may be permanently connected, such as through a hinge or flexible member. in some embodiments, such as embodiments in which the article itself comprises a mouthpiece, the mouthpiece 120 of the apparatus 100 may be omitted. the apparatus 100 may define an air inlet that fluidly connects the heating zone 111 with the exterior of the apparatus 100 . such an air inlet may be defined by the body 110 of the apparatus 100 and/or by the mouthpiece 120 of the apparatus 100 . a user may be able to inhale the volatilized component(s) of the smokable material by drawing the volatilized component(s) through the channel 122 of the mouthpiece 120 . as the volatilized component(s) are removed from the article, air may be drawn into the heating zone 111 via the air inlet of the apparatus 100 . in this embodiment, the body 110 comprises the heating zone 111 . in this embodiment, the heating zone 111 comprises a recess 111 for receiving at least a portion of the article. in other embodiments, the heating zone 111 may be other than a recess, such as a shelf, a surface, or a projection, and may require mechanical mating with the article in order to co-operate with, or receive, the article. in this embodiment, the heating zone 111 is elongate, and is sized and shaped to receive the article. in this embodiment, the heating zone 111 accommodates the whole article. in other embodiments, the heating zone 111 may be dimensioned to receive only a portion of the article. in this embodiment, the magnetic field generator 112 comprises an electrical power source 113 , a coil 114 , a device 116 for passing a varying electrical current, such as an alternating current, through the coil 114 , a controller 117 , and a user interface 118 for user-operation of the controller 117 . in this embodiment, the electrical power source 113 is a rechargeable battery. in other embodiments, the electrical power source 113 may be other than a rechargeable battery, such as a non-rechargeable battery, a capacitor, a battery-capacitor hybrid, or a connection to a mains electricity supply. the coil 114 may take any suitable form. in this embodiment, the coil 114 is a helical coil of electrically-conductive material, such as copper. in some embodiments, the magnetic field generator 112 may comprise a magnetically permeable core around which the coil 114 is wound. such a magnetically permeable core concentrates the magnetic flux produced by the coil 114 in use and makes a more powerful magnetic field. the magnetically permeable core may be made of iron, for example. in some embodiments, the magnetically permeable core may extend only partially along the length of the coil 114 , so as to concentrate the magnetic flux only in certain regions. in this embodiment, the coil 114 is in a fixed position relative to the heater 115 and the heating zone 111 . in this embodiment, the coil 114 encircles the heater 115 and the heating zone 111 . in this embodiment, the coil 114 extends along a longitudinal axis that is substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis a-a of the heating zone 111 . in this embodiment, the aligned axes are coincident. in a variation to this embodiment, the aligned axes may be parallel to each other. however, in other embodiments, the axes may be oblique to each other. moreover, in this embodiment, the coil 114 extends along a longitudinal axis that is substantially coincident with a longitudinal axis of the heater 115 . this can help to provide more uniform heating of the heater 115 in use, and can also aid manufacturability of the apparatus 100 . in other embodiments, the longitudinal axes of the coil 114 and the heater 115 may be aligned with each other by being parallel to each other, or may be oblique to each other. in this embodiment, the device 116 for passing a varying current through the coil 114 is electrically connected between the electrical power source 113 and the coil 114 . in this embodiment, the controller 117 also is electrically connected to the electrical power source 113 , and is communicatively connected to the device 116 to control the device 116 . more specifically, in this embodiment, the controller 117 is for controlling the device 116 , so as to control the supply of electrical power from the electrical power source 113 to the coil 114 . in this embodiment, the controller 117 comprises an integrated circuit (ic), such as an ic on a printed circuit board (pcb). in other embodiments, the controller 117 may take a different form. in some embodiments, the apparatus may have a single electrical or electronic component comprising the device 116 and the controller 117 . the controller 117 is operated in this embodiment by user-operation of the user interface 118 . in this embodiment, the user interface 118 is located at the exterior of the body 110 . the user interface 118 may comprise a push-button, a toggle switch, a dial, a touchscreen, or the like. in other embodiments, the user interface 118 may be remote and connected to the rest of the apparatus wirelessly, such as via bluetooth. in this embodiment, operation of the user interface 118 by a user causes the controller 117 to cause the device 116 to cause an alternating electrical current to pass through the coil 114 , so as to cause the coil 114 to generate an alternating magnetic field. the coil 114 and the heater 115 of the apparatus 100 are suitably relatively positioned so that the alternating magnetic field produced by the coil 114 penetrates the heating material of the heater 115 . when the heating material of the heater 115 is an electrically-conductive material, this may cause the generation of one or more eddy currents in the heating material. the flow of eddy currents in the heating material against the electrical resistance of the heating material causes the heating material to be heated by joule heating. in this embodiment, the heating material is made of a magnetic material, and so the orientation of magnetic dipoles in the heating material changes with the changing applied magnetic field, which causes heat to be generated in the heating material. a maximum temperature to which the heater 115 of the apparatus 100 is heatable by penetration with the varying magnetic field in use is exclusively determined by a curie point temperature of the heating material of the heater 115 . that is, the apparatus 100 may be free of any other system for limiting the temperature to which the heater 115 is heatable to below the maximum temperature. in this embodiment, the chemical composition of the heating material of the heater 115 of the apparatus 100 has been carefully and intentionally set, selected or provided so that the heating material has a curie point temperature that is less than the combustion temperature of the smokable material in an article to be used with the apparatus 100 . accordingly, when the temperature of the heater 115 in use reaches the curie point temperature, the ability to further heat the heater 115 by penetration with a varying magnetic field is reduced or removed, as discussed above. thus, in use, this inherent mechanism of the heating material of the heater 115 may be used to limit or prevent further heating of the heater 115 , so as to help avoid the temperature of the heating zone 111 and an article located therein from reaching a magnitude at which the smokable material of the article burns or combusts. thus, in some embodiments, the chemical composition of the heater 115 may help enable the smokable material to be heated sufficiently to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material without burning the smokable material. in some embodiments, this may also help to prevent overheating of the apparatus 100 or damage to components of the apparatus, such as the magnetic field generator 112 . as noted above, in some embodiments, the ability of the heating material to be heated by penetration with a varying magnetic field by magnetic hysteresis heating may return when the temperature of the heating material has dropped below the curie point temperature. in some embodiments, if the combustion temperature of the smokable material to be used with the apparatus 100 is greater than x degrees celsius, then the chemical composition of the heating material may be provided so that the curie point temperature is no more than x degrees celsius. for example, if the combustion temperature of the smokable material is greater than 350 degrees celsius, then the chemical composition of the heating material may be provided so that the curie point temperature is no more than 350 degrees celsius. the curie point temperature may be, for example, less than 350 degrees celsius, less than 325 degrees celsius, less than 300 degrees celsius, less than 280 degrees celsius, less than 260 degrees celsius, less than 240 degrees celsius, or less than 220 degrees celsius. in some embodiments, the heater 115 may consist entirely, or substantially entirely, of the heating material. the heating material may comprise, for example, one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: iron; an alloy comprising iron; an alloy comprising iron and nickel; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese; an alloy comprising iron and nickel and chromium and manganese and silicon; and stainless steel. the apparatus 100 may comprise more than one coil. the plurality of coils of the apparatus 100 could be operable to provide progressive heating of the smokable material 10 in an article 1 , and thereby progressive generation of vapor. for example, one coil may be able to heat a first region of the heating material relatively quickly to initialize volatilization of at least one component of the smokable material 10 and formation of a vapor in a first region of the smokable material 10 . another coil may be able to heat a second region of the heating material relatively slowly to initialize volatilization of at least one component of the smokable material 10 and formation of a vapor in a second region of the smokable material 10 . accordingly, a vapor is able to be formed relatively rapidly for inhalation by a user, and vapor can continue to be formed thereafter for subsequent inhalation by the user even after the first region of the smokable material 10 may have ceased generating vapor. the initially-unheated second region of smokable material 10 could act as a heat sink, to reduce the temperature of created vapor or make the created vapor mild, during heating of the first region of smokable material 10 . in some embodiments, the apparatus 100 may have a sensor for detecting a curie-related change in magnetism of the heater 20 , 115 . the sensor may be communicatively-connected to the controller 117 . the controller 117 may be configured to control the device 116 to cause the generation of the varying magnetic field to be halted or changed, on the basis of a signal received at the controller 117 from the sensor. in some embodiments, the apparatus 100 may have an amplifier for amplifying the curie-related change in magnetism of the heater 20 , 115 of the article 1 or apparatus 100 . for example, the coil 114 may be configured or arranged so that a change in a property of the coil 114 in response to the curie-related change in magnetism of the heater 20 , 115 is large. the impedance of the coil 114 may be matched with the impedance of the heater 20 , 115 , to result in a curie-related event being more reliably detectable. referring to fig. 5 , there is shown a flow diagram showing an example of a method of manufacturing a product for use in heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. the apparatus 100 of fig. 3 may be made according to this method. the method 500 comprises determining 501 a maximum temperature to which a heater is to be heated in use. the determining 501 may comprise, for example, determining the combustion temperature of smokable material to be heated by the heater 115 in use, and then determining the maximum temperature on the basis of that combustion temperature. for example, in some embodiments, the maximum temperature may be less than the combustion temperature of the smokable material, for the reasons discussed above. in other embodiments, the determining 501 may additionally or alternatively comprise determining a maximum comfortable temperature to which the exterior of the apparatus 100 is to be permitted to reach in use while still being comfortable to hold by a user, and then determining the maximum temperature on the basis of that temperature. in still further embodiments, the determining 501 may additionally or alternatively comprise determining a maximum temperature to which components, such as electrical components, of the apparatus 100 may be subjected in use without incurring damage, and then determining the maximum temperature on the basis of that temperature. the method further comprises providing 502 a heater 115 comprising heating material, wherein the heating material is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field, and wherein the heating material has a curie point temperature selected or determined on the basis of, or in dependence on, the maximum temperature determined at 501 . the providing 502 may comprise, for example, manufacturing the heater 115 from suitable heating material. the method may comprise adjusting the composition of the heating material during manufacture of the heater 115 . alternatively or additionally, the providing 502 may comprise selecting the heater 115 from a plurality of heaters 115 , wherein the plurality of heaters 115 are made of heating material having respective different curie point temperatures. the curie point temperature of the heating material of the heater 115 provided in 502 may, for example, be equal to the maximum temperature determined in 501 , or may be less than the maximum temperature determined in 501 . the heater 115 provided in 502 may consists entirely, or substantially entirely, of the heating material. the heating material may comprise or consist of any one or more of the available heating materials discussed above, for example. the method then comprises forming 503 apparatus, such as the apparatus 100 of fig. 3 , that comprises a heating zone 111 for receiving an article comprising smokable material, the heater 115 for heating the heating zone 111 , and a magnetic field generator 112 for generating a varying magnetic field that penetrates the heating material, wherein a maximum temperature to which the heater 115 is heatable by penetration with the varying magnetic field in use is exclusively determined by the curie point temperature of the heating material. in some embodiments, the forming 403 of the method 400 of fig. 4 , and/or the forming 503 of the method 500 of fig. 5 , may be omitted. for example, in some such embodiments, the product made using the method may be a component or system for future incorporation into apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material. in some other such embodiments, the product made using the method may be a component or system for future incorporation into an article for use with such apparatus. accordingly, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, a product, such as the article 1 of figs. 1 and 2 or the apparatus 100 of fig. 3 , may be provided with an automatic mechanism for limiting the temperature to which a heater 20 , 115 of the product is heatable by penetration with a varying magnetic field. in each of the embodiments discussed above, the heating material may have a skin depth, which is an exterior zone within which most of an induced electrical current and/or induced reorientation of magnetic dipoles occurs. by providing that the component comprising the heating material has a relatively small thickness, a greater proportion of the heating material may be heatable by a given varying magnetic field, as compared to heating material in a component having a depth or thickness that is relatively large as compared to the other dimensions of the component. thus, a more efficient use of material is achieved. in turn, costs are reduced. in some embodiments, a component comprising the heating material may comprise discontinuities or holes therein. such discontinuities or holes may act as thermal breaks to control the degree to which different regions of the smokable material 10 are heated in use. areas of the heating material with discontinuities or holes therein may be heated to a lesser extent that areas without discontinuities or holes. this may help progressive heating of the smokable material 10 , and thus progressive generation of vapor, to be achieved. such discontinuities or holes may, on the other hand, be used to optimize the creation of complex eddy currents in use. in each of the above described embodiments, the smokable material 10 comprises tobacco. however, in respective variations to each of these embodiments, the smokable material 10 may consist of tobacco, may consist substantially entirely of tobacco, may comprise tobacco and smokable material other than tobacco, may comprise smokable material other than tobacco, or may be free of tobacco. in some embodiments, the smokable material 10 may comprise a vapor or aerosol forming agent or a humectant, such as glycerol, propylene glycol, triacetin, or diethylene glycol. in each of the above described embodiments, the article 1 is a consumable article. once all, or substantially all, of the volatilizable component(s) of the smokable material 10 in the article 1 has/have been spent, the user may remove the article 1 from the apparatus and dispose of the article 1 . the user may subsequently re-use the apparatus with another of the articles 1 . however, in other respective embodiments, the article 1 may be non-consumable, and the apparatus and the article 1 may be disposed of together once the volatilizable component(s) of the smokable material 10 has/have been spent. in some embodiments, the apparatus 100 discussed above is sold, supplied or otherwise provided separately from the articles with which the apparatus 100 is usable. however, in some embodiments, the apparatus 100 and one or more of the articles may be provided together as a system. similarly, in some embodiments, the article 1 discussed above is sold, supplied or otherwise provided separately from the apparatus with which the article 1 is usable. however, in some embodiments, one or more of the articles 1 may be provided together with the apparatus as a system. such systems may be in the form of a kit or an assembly, possibly with additional components, such as cleaning utensils. embodiments of the disclosure could be implemented in a system comprising any one of the articles discussed herein, and any one of the apparatuses discussed herein. heat generated in the heating material of the apparatus could be transferred to the article to heat, or further heat, the smokable material therein when the portion of the article is in the heating zone. some of the products discussed herein may be considered smoking industry products. in order to address various issues and advance the art, the entirety of this disclosure shows by way of illustration and example various embodiments in which the claimed invention may be practiced and which provide for superior apparatus for heating smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material, superior articles for use with such apparatus, superior systems comprising such apparatus and such articles, and superior methods of manufacturing products comprising heaters. the advantages and features of the disclosure are of a representative sample of embodiments only, and are not exhaustive and/or exclusive. they are presented only to assist in understanding and teach the claimed and otherwise disclosed features. it is to be understood that advantages, embodiments, examples, functions, features, structures and/or other aspects of the disclosure are not to be considered limitations on the disclosure as defined by the claims or limitations on equivalents to the claims, and that other embodiments may be utilized and modifications may be made without departing from the scope and/or spirit of the disclosure. various embodiments may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist in essence of, various combinations of the disclosed elements, components, features, parts, steps, means, etc. the disclosure may include other inventions not presently claimed, but which may be claimed in future.
102-813-317-419-827	US	[ "US" ]	A61B17/068,A61B17/00,A61B17/072,A61B17/29,A61B17/32,A61B34/00,A61B34/30,A61B50/30,A61B50/36,A61B90/00,A61B90/98,H02J7/00	2008-09-23T00:00:00	2008	[ "A61", "H02" ]	robotically-controlled motorized surgical instrument with an end effector	a surgical tool configured for operation in connection with a robotic system. the surgical tool includes a shaft and an end effector extending distally from the shaft. the end effector comprises a first jaw member and a second jaw member movable relative to the first jaw member from a closed position to an open position in response to at least one axial motion. in addition, the surgical tool includes a motor configured to generate at least one rotational motion and a motion conversion assembly operably coupled to the motor and the second jaw member, wherein the motion conversion assembly is configured to convert the at least one rotational motion to the at least one axial motion.	1. a surgical robotic system, comprising: a shaft; an end effector distal to the shaft, the end effector comprising: a first jaw member; and a second jaw member movable relative to the first jaw member between a closed position and an open position in response to at least one axial motion; an articulation joint disposed proximal to the end effector, wherein the end effector is rotatable relative to the shaft about the articulation joint; a motorized system comprising a motor, wherein the motorized system is configured to generate a first torque rotary motion during a first operating mode and a second torque rotary motion during a second operating mode, and wherein the first torque rotary motion is different than the second torque rotary motion; a control system configured to switch between the first operating mode and the second operating mode, wherein the control system comprises a user interface configured to allow a user to selectively switch between the first operating mode and the second operating mode; a motion conversion assembly operably coupled to the motor and the second jaw member, wherein the motion conversion assembly is configured to convert the at least one rotational motion to the at least one axial motion, wherein the motion conversion assembly comprises: a rotary input in operable communication with the motor; and a drive member in operable engagement with the rotary input; and wherein the first torque rotary motion from the motorized system moves the drive member to drive the second jaw member toward the closed position, and wherein an opposite rotary motion from the motorized system moves the drive member in an opposite direction to allow the second jaw member to move toward the open position. 2. the robotic surgical system of claim 1 , wherein the drive member comprises a drive link. 3. the robotic surgical system of claim 1 , wherein motor is run at a first torque in the first operating mode and run at a second torque in the second operating mode, and wherein the second torque is greater than the first torque. 4. the robotic surgical system of claim 3 , wherein the second torque is a maximum torque. 5. the robotic surgical system of claim 1 , further comprising a knife movable within the end effector based on the first torque rotary motion. 6. the robotic surgical system of claim 1 , wherein the drive member comprises a camming portion configured to engage the second jaw member. 7. a surgical system, comprising: an elongate shaft; an end effector, comprising: a proximal end; a distal end; an end effector axis extending between the proximal end and the distal end; a first jaw; and a second jaw movable relative to the first jaw movable between an unclamped position and a clamped position; an articulation joint rotatably connecting the end effector to the elongate shaft; a motorized system comprising a motor configured to generate a rotary motion, wherein the motorized system is configured to run the motor at a first torque in a first operating mode and a second torque in a second operating mode, and wherein the first torque is different than the second torque; a control system configured to switch between the first operating mode and the second operating mode, wherein the control system comprises a user interface configured to allow a user of the surgical system to selectively switch between the first operating mode and the second operating mode; a motion conversion assembly, wherein the motion conversion assembly comprises: a rotary input driveable by the motor; and a driver movable distally by the rotary input toward the distal end; and wherein the driver is movable distally by the first torque of the motorized system to motivate the second jaw toward the clamped position, and wherein the driver is movable proximally by an opposite rotary motion from the motorized system to allow the second jaw to move toward the unclamped position. 8. the surgical system of claim 7 , wherein the driver comprises a drive link. 9. the surgical system of claim 7 , wherein the second torque is greater than the first torque. 10. the surgical system of claim 7 , wherein the second torque is a maximum torque. 11. the surgical system of claim 7 , further comprising a knife movable within the end effector in response to the first torque. 12. the surgical system of claim 7 , wherein the driver comprises a camming portion configured to engage the second jaw. 13. a surgical system, comprising: an elongate shaft; an end effector, comprising: a proximal end; a distal end; an end effector axis extending between the proximal end and the distal end; a first jaw; and a second jaw movable relative to the first jaw movable between an unclamped position and a clamped position; an articulation joint rotatably connecting the end effector to the elongate shaft; a motorized system comprising a motor configured to generate a rotary motion, wherein the motorized system is configured to run the motor at a first torque in a first operating mode and a second torque in a second operating mode, and wherein the first torque is different than the second torque; a control system configured to switch between the first operating mode and the second operating mode, wherein the control system comprises a user interface configured to allow a user of the surgical system to selectively switch between the first operating mode and the second operating mode; a motion conversion assembly, wherein the motion conversion assembly comprises: a rotary input rotatable by the motor; and a driver movable distally by the rotary input toward the distal end; and wherein the motorized system is configured to run the motor in the first operating mode to move the driver in a first direction to drive the second jaw toward the clamped position, and wherein the motorized system is configured to run the motor in the first operating mode and then the second operating mode to move the driver in a second direction, opposite the first direction, to allow the second jaw to move toward the unclamped position. 14. the surgical system of claim 13 , wherein the driver comprises a drive link. 15. the surgical system of claim 13 , wherein the second torque is greater than the first torque. 16. the surgical system of claim 13 , wherein the second torque is a maximum torque. 17. the surgical system of claim 13 , further comprising a knife movable within the end effector in response to the first torque. 18. the surgical system of claim 13 , wherein the driver comprises a camming portion configured to engage the second jaw.	cross-reference to related applications this application is a continuation application claiming priority under 35 u.s.c. § 120 to u.s. patent application ser. no. 17/242,766, entitled robotically-controlled motorized surgical instrument with an end effector, filed apr. 28, 2021, now u.s. patent application publication no. 2021/0315566, which is a continuation application claiming priority under 35 u.s.c. § 120 to u.s. patent application ser. no. 16/903,803, entitled robotically-controlled motorized surgical instrument with an end effector, filed jun. 17, 2020, which issued on jun. 29, 2021 as u.s. pat. no. 11,045,189, which is a continuation application claiming priority under 35 u.s.c. § 120 to u.s. patent application ser. no. 16/146,335, entitled robotically-controlled motorized surgical instrument with an end effector, filed sep. 28, 2018, which issued on sep. 8, 2020 as u.s. pat. no. 10,765,425, which is a continuation application claiming priority under 35 u.s.c. § 120 to u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/274,826, entitled robotically-controlled motorized surgical instrument with an end effector, filed sep. 23, 2016, which issued on nov. 20, 2018 as u.s. pat. no. 10,130,361, which is a continuation application claiming priority under 35 u.s.c. § 120 to u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/792,263, entitled robotically-controlled motorized surgical instrument with an end effector, filed mar. 11, 2013, which issued on may 23, 2017 as u.s. pat. no. 9,655,614, which is a continuation application claiming priority under 35 u.s.c. § 120 to u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/118,253, entitled robotically-controlled motorized surgical instrument, filed may 27, 2011, which issued on jul. 12, 2016 as u.s. pat. no. 9,386,983, which is a continuation-in-part application claiming priority under 35 u.s.c. § 120 to u.s. patent application ser. no. 12/235,972, entitled motorized surgical instrument, filed sep. 23, 2008, which issued jun. 9, 2015 as u.s. pat. no. 9,050,083, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. background surgical staplers have been used in the prior art to simultaneously make a longitudinal incision in tissue and apply lines of staples on opposing sides of the incision. such instruments commonly include a pair of cooperating jaw members that, if the instrument is intended for endoscopic or laparoscopic applications, are capable of passing through a cannula passageway. one of the jaw members receives a staple cartridge having at least two laterally spaced rows of staples. the other jaw member defines an anvil having staple-forming pockets aligned with the rows of staples in the cartridge. such instruments typically include a plurality of reciprocating wedges that, when driven distally, pass through openings in the staple cartridge and engage drivers supporting the staples to effect the firing of the staples toward the anvil. an example of a surgical stapler suitable for endoscopic applications is described in published u.s. patent application publication no. 2004/0232196, entitled surgical stapling instrument having separate distinct closing and firing systems, now u.s. pat. no. 7,000,818, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. in use, a clinician is able to close the jaw members of the stapler upon tissue to position the tissue prior to firing. once the clinician has determined that the jaw members are properly gripping tissue, the clinician can fire the surgical stapler, thereby severing and stapling the tissue. the simultaneous severing and stapling steps avoid complications that may arise when performing such actions sequentially with different surgical tools that respectively only sever or staple. motor-powered surgical cutting and fastening instruments, where a motor powers the cutting instrument, are also known in the prior art, such as described in published u.s. patent application publication no. 2007/0175962, entitled motor-driven surgical cutting and fastening instrument with tactile position feedback, now u.s. pat. no. 7,422,139, which is incorporated herein by reference. in this reference, a battery in the handle is used to electrically power the motor. figures various embodiments of the present invention are described herein by way of example in conjunction with the following figures, wherein: figs. 1 and 2 are perspective views of a surgical cutting and fastening instrument according to various embodiments of the present invention; figs. 3-5 are exploded views of an end effector and shaft of the instrument according to various embodiments of the present invention; fig. 6 is a side view of the end effector according to various embodiments of the present invention; fig. 7 is an exploded view of the handle of the instrument according to various embodiments of the present invention; figs. 8 and 9 are partial perspective views of the handle according to various embodiments of the present invention; fig. 10 is a side view of the handle according to various embodiments of the present invention; fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a circuit used in the instrument according to various embodiments of the present invention; figs. 12-14 and 17 are schematic diagrams of circuits used to power the motor of the instrument according to various embodiments of the present invention; fig. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a charge management circuit according to various embodiments of the present invention; fig. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a charger base according to various embodiments of the present invention; fig. 18 illustrates a typical power curve of a battery; figs. 19 and 20 are schematic diagrams of circuits used in the instrument according to various embodiments of the present invention; figs. 21 and 23 are diagrams of instruments according to various embodiments of the present invention; figs. 22 and 24 are diagrams of battery packs according to various embodiments of the present invention; fig. 25 is a perspective view of one robotic controller embodiment; fig. 26 is a perspective view of one robotic surgical arm cart/manipulator of a robotic system operably supporting a plurality of surgical tool embodiments of the present invention; fig. 27 is a side view of the robotic surgical arm cart/manipulator depicted in fig. 26 ; fig. 28 is a perspective view of an exemplary cart structure with positioning linkages for operably supporting robotic manipulators that may be used with various surgical tool embodiments of the present invention; fig. 29 is a perspective view of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 30 is an exploded assembly view of an adapter and tool holder arrangement for attaching various surgical tool embodiments to a robotic system; fig. 31 is a side view of the adapter shown in fig. 30 ; fig. 32 is a bottom view of the adapter shown in fig. 30 ; fig. 33 is a top view of the adapter of figs. 30 and 31 ; fig. 34 is a partial bottom perspective view of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 29 ; fig. 35 is a partial exploded view of a portion of an articulatable surgical end effector embodiment of the present invention; fig. 36 is a perspective view of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 34 with the tool mounting housing removed; fig. 37 is a rear perspective view of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 34 with the tool mounting housing removed; fig. 38 is a front perspective view of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 34 with the tool mounting housing removed; fig. 39 is a partial exploded perspective view of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 38 ; fig. 40 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 34 ; fig. 41 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the surgical tool depicted in fig. 37 ; fig. 42 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the tool mounting portion of the surgical tool embodiment depicted in fig. 34 ; fig. 43 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of a portion of the tool mounting portion of fig. 42 ; fig. 44 is a partial cross-sectional view of a portion of the elongated shaft assembly of the surgical tool of fig. 34 ; fig. 45 is a side view of a half portion of a closure nut embodiment of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 46 is a perspective view of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 47 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of the surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 46 with the anvil in the open position and the closure clutch assembly in a neutral position; fig. 48 is another cross-sectional side view of the surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly shown in fig. 47 with the clutch assembly engaged in a closure position; fig. 49 is another cross-sectional side view of the surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly shown in fig. 47 with the clutch assembly engaged in a firing position; fig. 50 is a top view of a portion of a tool mounting portion embodiment of the present invention; fig. 51 is a perspective view of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 52 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of the surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 51 with the anvil in the open position; fig. 53 is another cross-sectional side view of a portion of the surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 51 with the anvil in the closed position; fig. 54 is a perspective view of a closure drive nut and portion of a knife bar embodiment of the present invention; fig. 55 is a top view of another tool mounting portion embodiment of the present invention; fig. 56 is a perspective view of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 57 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of the surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 56 with the anvil in the open position; fig. 58 is another cross-sectional side view of a portion of the surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 57 with the anvil in the closed position; fig. 59 is a cross-sectional view of a mounting collar embodiment of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention showing the knife bar and distal end portion of the closure drive shaft; fig. 60 is a cross-sectional view of the mounting collar embodiment of fig. 59 ; fig. 61 is a top view of another tool mounting portion embodiment of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 61a is an exploded perspective view of a portion of a gear arrangement of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 61b is a cross-sectional perspective view of the gear arrangement shown in fig. 61a ; fig. 62 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of a surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention employing a pressure sensor arrangement with the anvil in the open position; fig. 63 is another cross-sectional side view of a portion of the surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 62 with the anvil in the closed position; fig. 64 is a side view of a portion of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention in relation to a tool holder portion of a robotic system with some of the components thereof shown in cross-section; fig. 65 is a side view of a portion of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention in relation to a tool holder portion of a robotic system with some of the components thereof shown in cross-section; fig. 66 is a side view of a portion of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention with some of the components thereof shown in cross-section; fig. 67 is a side view of a portion of another surgical end effector embodiment of a portion of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention with some components thereof shown in cross-section; fig. 68 is a side view of a portion of another surgical end effector embodiment of a portion of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention with some components thereof shown in cross-section; fig. 69 is a side view of a portion of another surgical end effector embodiment of a portion of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention with some components thereof shown in cross-section; fig. 70 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the end effector of fig. 69 ; fig. 71 is another cross-sectional view of a portion of the end effector of figs. 69 and 70 ; fig. 72 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of a surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention with the anvil in the open position; fig. 73 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of a portion of the surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly of the surgical tool embodiment of fig. 72 ; fig. 74 is another cross-sectional side view of a portion of the surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly of figs. 72 and 73 with the anvil thereof in the closed position; fig. 75 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of a portion of the surgical end effector and elongated shaft assembly of the surgical tool embodiment of figs. 72-74 ; fig. 76 is a top view of a tool mounting portion embodiment of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 77 is a perspective assembly view of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 78 is a front perspective view of a disposable loading unit arrangement that may be employed with various surgical tool embodiments of the present invention; fig. 79 is a rear perspective view of the disposable loading unit of fig. 78 ; fig. 80 is a bottom perspective view of the disposable loading unit of figs. 78 and 79 ; fig. 81 is a bottom perspective view of another disposable loading unit embodiment that may be employed with various surgical tool embodiments of the present invention; fig. 82 is an exploded perspective view of a mounting portion of a disposable loading unit depicted in figs. 78-80 ; fig. 83 is a perspective view of a portion of a disposable loading unit and an elongated shaft assembly embodiment of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention with the disposable loading unit in a first position; fig. 84 is another perspective view of a portion of the disposable loading unit and elongated shaft assembly of fig. 83 with the disposable loading unit in a second position; fig. 85 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the disposable loading unit and elongated shaft assembly embodiment depicted in figs. 83 and 84 ; fig. 86 is another cross-sectional view of the disposable loading unit and elongated shaft assembly embodiment depicted in figs. 83-85 ; fig. 87 is a partial exploded perspective view of a portion of another disposable loading unit embodiment and an elongated shaft assembly embodiment of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 88 is a partial exploded perspective view of a portion of another disposable loading unit embodiment and an elongated shaft assembly embodiment of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 89 is another partial exploded perspective view of the disposable loading unit embodiment and an elongated shaft assembly embodiment of fig. 88 ; fig. 90 is a top view of another tool mounting portion embodiment of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 91 is a side view of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention with some of the components thereof shown in cross-section and in relation to a robotic tool holder of a robotic system; fig. 92 is an exploded assembly view of a surgical end effector embodiment that may be used in connection with various surgical tool embodiments of the present invention; fig. 93 is a side view of a portion of a cable-driven system for driving a cutting instrument employed in various surgical end effector embodiments of the present invention; fig. 94 is a top view of the cable-driven system and cutting instrument of fig. 93 ; fig. 95 is a top view of a cable drive transmission embodiment of the present invention in a closure position; fig. 96 is another top view of the cable drive transmission embodiment of fig. 95 in a neutral position; fig. 97 is another top view of the cable drive transmission embodiment of figs. 95 and 96 in a firing position; fig. 98 is a perspective view of the cable drive transmission embodiment in the position depicted in fig. 95 ; fig. 99 is a perspective view of the cable drive transmission embodiment in the position depicted in fig. 96 ; fig. 100 is a perspective view of the cable drive transmission embodiment in the position depicted in fig. 97 ; fig. 101 is a perspective view of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 102 is a side view of a portion of another cable-driven system embodiment for driving a cutting instrument employed in various surgical end effector embodiments of the present invention; fig. 103 is a top view of the cable-driven system embodiment of fig. 102 ; fig. 104 is a top view of a tool mounting portion embodiment of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 105 is a top cross-sectional view of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 106 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a surgical end effector embodiment of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 107 is a cross-sectional end view of the surgical end effector of fig. 106 taken along line 107 - 107 in fig. 106 ; fig. 108 is a perspective view of the surgical end effector of figs. 106 and 107 with portions thereof shown in cross-section; fig. 109 is a side view of a portion of the surgical end effector of figs. 106-108 ; fig. 110 is a perspective view of a sled assembly embodiment of various surgical tool embodiments of the present invention; fig. 111 is a cross-sectional view of the sled assembly embodiment of fig. 110 and a portion of the elongated channel of fig. 109 ; figs. 112-117 diagrammatically depict the sequential firing of staples in a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 118 is a partial perspective view of a portion of a surgical end effector embodiment of the present invention; fig. 119 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view of a portion of a surgical end effector embodiment of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 120 is another partial cross-sectional perspective view of the surgical end effector embodiment of fig. 119 with a sled assembly axially advancing therethrough; fig. 121 is a perspective view of another sled assembly embodiment of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 122 is a partial top view of a portion of the surgical end effector embodiment depicted in figs. 119 and 120 with the sled assembly axially advancing therethrough; fig. 123 is another partial top view of the surgical end effector embodiment of fig. 122 with the top surface of the surgical staple cartridge omitted for clarity; fig. 124 is a partial cross-sectional side view of a rotary driver embodiment and staple pusher embodiment of the surgical end effector depicted in figs. 119 and 120 ; fig. 125 is a perspective view of an automated reloading system embodiment of the present invention with a surgical end effector in extractive engagement with the extraction system thereof; fig. 126 is another perspective view of the automated reloading system embodiment depicted in fig. 125 ; fig. 127 is a cross-sectional elevational view of the automated reloading system embodiment depicted in figs. 125 and 126 ; fig. 128 is another cross-sectional elevational view of the automated reloading system embodiment depicted in figs. 125-127 with the extraction system thereof removing a spent surgical staple cartridge from the surgical end effector; fig. 129 is another cross-sectional elevational view of the automated reloading system embodiment depicted in figs. 125-127 illustrating the loading of a new surgical staple cartridge into a surgical end effector; fig. 130 is a perspective view of another automated reloading system embodiment of the present invention with some components shown in cross-section; fig. 131 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the automated reloading system embodiment of fig. 130 ; fig. 132 is another exploded perspective view of the portion of the automated reloading system embodiment depicted in fig. 131 ; fig. 133 is a cross-sectional elevational view of the automated reloading system embodiment of figs. 130-132 ; fig. 134 is a cross-sectional view of an orientation tube embodiment supporting a disposable loading unit therein; fig. 135 is a perspective view of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 136 is a partial perspective view of an articulation joint embodiment of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 137 is a perspective view of a closure tube embodiment of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 138 is a perspective view of the closure tube embodiment of fig. 137 assembled on the articulation joint embodiment of fig. 136 ; fig. 139 is a top view of a portion of a tool mounting portion embodiment of a surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; fig. 140 is a perspective view of an articulation drive assembly embodiment employed in the tool mounting portion embodiment of fig. 139 ; fig. 141 is a perspective view of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention; and fig. 142 is a perspective view of another surgical tool embodiment of the present invention. detailed description applicant of the present application also owns the following patent applications filed on may 27, 2011, and which are each herein incorporated by reference in their respective entireties: u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/118,259, entitled surgical instrument with wireless communication between a control unit of a robotic system and remote sensor, now u.s. pat. no. 8,684,253;u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/118,210, entitled robotically-controlled disposable motor driven loading unit, now u.s. pat. no. 8,752,749;u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/118,194, entitled robotically-controlled endoscopic accessory channel, now u.s. pat. no. 8,992,422;u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/118,278, entitled robotically-controlled surgical stapling devices that produce formed staples having different lengths, now u.s. pat. no. 9,237,891;u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/118,190, entitled robotically-controlled motorized cutting and fastening instrument, now u.s. pat. no. 9,179,912;u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/118,223, entitled robotically-controlled shaft based rotary drive systems for surgical instruments, now u.s. pat. no. 8,931,682;u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/118,263, entitled robotically-controlled surgical instrument having recording capabilities, now u.s. patent application publication no. 2011/0295295;u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/118,272, entitled robotically-controlled surgical instrument with force feedback capabilities, now u.s. patent application publication no. 2011/0290856;u.s. patent application ser. no. 13/118,246, entitled robotically-driven surgical instrument with e-beam driver, now u.s. pat. no. 9,060,770; andu.s. patent application ser. no. 13/118,241, entitled surgical stapling instruments with rotatable staple deployment arrangements, now u.s. pat. no. 9,072,535. certain exemplary embodiments will now be described to provide an overall understanding of the principles of the structure, function, manufacture, and use of the devices and methods disclosed herein. one or more examples of these embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the devices and methods specifically described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings are non-limiting exemplary embodiments and that the scope of the various embodiments of the present invention is defined solely by the claims. the features illustrated or described in connection with one exemplary embodiment may be combined with the features of other embodiments. such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention. uses of the phrases “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” “in one embodiment”, or “in an embodiment”, or the like, throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics of one or more embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more other embodiments. such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention. figs. 1 and 2 depict a surgical cutting and fastening instrument 10 according to various embodiments of the present invention. the illustrated embodiment is an endoscopic instrument and, in general, the embodiments of the instrument 10 described herein are endoscopic surgical cutting and fastening instruments. it should be noted, however, that according to other embodiments of the present invention, the instrument may be a non-endoscopic surgical cutting and fastening instrument, such as a laparoscopic instrument. the surgical instrument 10 depicted in figs. 1 and 2 comprises a handle 6 , a shaft 8 , and an articulating end effector 12 pivotally connected to the shaft 8 at an articulation pivot 14 . an articulation control 16 may be provided adjacent to the handle 6 to effect rotation of the end effector 12 about the articulation pivot 14 . in the illustrated embodiment, the end effector 12 is configured to act as an endocutter for clamping, severing and stapling tissue, although, in other embodiments, different types of end effectors may be used, such as end effectors for other types of surgical devices, such as graspers, cutters, staplers, clip appliers, access devices, drug/gene therapy devices, ultrasound, rf or laser devices, etc. more details regarding rf devices may be found in the '312 patent. the handle 6 of the instrument 10 may include a closure trigger 18 and a firing trigger 20 for actuating the end effector 12 . it will be appreciated that instruments having end effectors directed to different surgical tasks may have different numbers or types of triggers or other suitable controls for operating the end effector 12 . the end effector 12 is shown separated from the handle 6 by a preferably elongate shaft 8 . in one embodiment, a clinician or operator of the instrument 10 may articulate the end effector 12 relative to the shaft 8 by utilizing the articulation control 16 , as described in more detail in published u.s. patent application publication no. 2007/0158385, entitled surgical instrument having an articulating end effector, now u.s. pat. no. 7,670,334, which is incorporated herein by reference. the end effector 12 includes in this example, among other things, a staple channel 22 and a pivotally translatable clamping member, such as an anvil 24 , which are maintained at a spacing that assures effective stapling and severing of tissue clamped in the end effector 12 . the handle 6 includes a pistol grip 26 towards which a closure trigger 18 is pivotally drawn by the clinician to cause clamping or closing of the anvil 24 toward the staple channel 22 of the end effector 12 to thereby clamp tissue positioned between the anvil 24 and channel 22 . the firing trigger 20 is farther outboard of the closure trigger 18 . once the closure trigger 18 is locked in the closure position as further described below, the firing trigger 20 may rotate slightly toward the pistol grip 26 so that it can be reached by the operator using one hand. then the operator may pivotally draw the firing trigger 20 toward the pistol grip 12 to cause the stapling and severing of clamped tissue in the end effector 12 . in other embodiments, different types of clamping members besides the anvil 24 could be used, such as, for example, an opposing jaw, etc. it will be appreciated that the terms “proximal” and “distal” are used herein with reference to a clinician gripping the handle 6 of an instrument 10 . thus, the end effector 12 is distal with respect to the more proximal handle 6 . it will be further appreciated that, for convenience and clarity, spatial terms such as “vertical” and “horizontal” are used herein with respect to the drawings. however, surgical instruments are used in many orientations and positions, and these terms are not intended to be limiting and absolute. the closure trigger 18 may be actuated first. once the clinician is satisfied with the positioning of the end effector 12 , the clinician may draw back the closure trigger 18 to its fully closed, locked position proximate to the pistol grip 26 . the firing trigger 20 may then be actuated. the firing trigger 20 returns to the open position (shown in figs. 1 and 2 ) when the clinician removes pressure, as described more fully below. a release button on the handle 6 , when depressed may release the locked closure trigger 18 . the release button may be implemented in various forms such as, for example, as a slide release button 160 shown in fig. 7 or any of the mechanisms described in published u.s. patent application publication no. 2007/0175955, which is incorporated herein by reference. fig. 3 is an exploded view of the end effector 12 according to various embodiments. as shown in the illustrated embodiment, the end effector 12 may include, in addition to the previously mentioned channel 22 and anvil 24 , a cutting instrument 32 , a sled 33 , a staple cartridge 34 that is removably seated in the channel 22 , and a helical screw shaft 36 . the cutting instrument 32 may be, for example, a knife. the anvil 24 may be pivotably opened and closed at a pivot point 25 connected to the proximate end of the channel 22 . the anvil 24 may also include a tab 27 at its proximate end that is inserted into a component of the mechanical closure system (described further below) to open and close the anvil 24 . when the closure trigger 18 is actuated, that is, drawn in by a user of the instrument 10 , the anvil 24 may pivot about the pivot point 25 into the clamped or closed position. if clamping of the end effector 12 is satisfactory, the operator may actuate the firing trigger 20 , which, as explained in more detail below, causes the knife 32 and sled 33 to travel longitudinally along the channel 22 , thereby cutting tissue clamped within the end effector 12 . the movement of the sled 33 along the channel 22 causes the staples of the staple cartridge 34 to be driven through the severed tissue and against the closed anvil 24 , which turns the staples to fasten the severed tissue. in various embodiments, the sled 33 may be an integral component of the cartridge 34 . u.s. pat. no. 6,978,921, entitled surgical stapling instrument incorporating an e-beam firing mechanism, which is incorporated herein by reference, provides more details about such two-stroke cutting and fastening instruments. the sled 33 may be part of the cartridge 34 , such that when the knife 32 retracts following the cutting operation, the sled 33 does not retract. it should be noted that although the embodiments of the instrument 10 described herein employ an end effector 12 that staples the severed tissue, in other embodiments different techniques for fastening or sealing the severed tissue may be used. for example, end effectors that use rf energy or adhesives to fasten the severed tissue may also be used. u.s. pat. no. 5,709,680, entitled electrosurgical hemostatic device, and u.s. pat. no. 5,688,270, entitled electrosurgical hemostatic device with recessed and/or offset electrodes, which are incorporated herein by reference, disclose an endoscopic cutting instrument that uses rf energy to seal the severed tissue. published u.s. patent application publication no. 2007/0102453, now u.s. pat. no. 7,673,783, and published u.s. patent application publication no. 2007/0102452, now u.s. pat. no. 7,607,557, which are also incorporated herein by reference, disclose endoscopic cutting instruments that use adhesives to fasten the severed tissue. accordingly, although the description herein refers to cutting/stapling operations and the like below, it should be recognized that this is an exemplary embodiment and is not meant to be limiting. other tissue-fastening techniques may also be used. figs. 4 and 5 are exploded views and fig. 6 is a side view of the end effector 12 and shaft 8 according to various embodiments. as shown in the illustrated embodiment, the shaft 8 may include a proximate closure tube 40 and a distal closure tube 42 pivotably linked by a pivot links 44 . the distal closure tube 42 includes an opening 45 into which the tab 27 on the anvil 24 is inserted in order to open and close the anvil 24 , as further described below. disposed inside the closure tubes 40 , 42 may be a proximate spine tube 46 . disposed inside the proximate spine tube 46 may be a main rotational (or proximate) drive shaft 48 that communicates with a secondary (or distal) drive shaft 50 via a bevel gear assembly 52 . the secondary drive shaft 50 is connected to a drive gear 54 that engages a proximate drive gear 56 of the helical screw shaft 36 . the vertical bevel gear 52 b may sit and pivot in an opening 57 in the distal end of the proximate spine tube 46 . a distal spine tube 58 may be used to enclose the secondary drive shaft 50 and the drive gears 54 , 56 . collectively, the main drive shaft 48 , the secondary drive shaft 50 , and the articulation assembly (e.g., the bevel gear assembly 52 a - c ) are sometimes referred to herein as the “main drive shaft assembly.” a bearing 38 , positioned at a distal end of the staple channel 22 , receives the helical drive screw 36 , allowing the helical drive screw 36 to freely rotate with respect to the channel 22 . the helical screw shaft 36 may interface a threaded opening (not shown) of the knife 32 such that rotation of the shaft 36 causes the knife 32 to translate distally or proximately (depending on the direction of the rotation) through the staple channel 22 . accordingly, when the main drive shaft 48 is caused to rotate by actuation of the firing trigger 20 (as explained in more detail below), the bevel gear assembly 52 a -c causes the secondary drive shaft 50 to rotate, which in turn, because of the engagement of the drive gears 54 , 56 , causes the helical screw shaft 36 to rotate, which causes the knife driving member 32 to travel longitudinally along the channel 22 to cut any tissue clamped within the end effector. the sled 33 may be made of, for example, plastic, and may have a sloped distal surface. as the sled 33 traverses the channel 22 , the sloped forward surface may push up or drive the staples in the staple cartridge through the clamped tissue and against the anvil 24 . the anvil 24 turns the staples, thereby stapling the severed tissue. when the knife 32 is retracted, the knife 32 and sled 33 may become disengaged, thereby leaving the sled 33 at the distal end of the channel 22 . figs. 7-10 illustrate an exemplary embodiment of a motor-driven endocutter. the illustrated embodiment provides user-feedback regarding the deployment and loading force of the cutting instrument in the end effector. in addition, the embodiment may use power provided by the user in retracting the firing trigger 20 to power the device (a so-called “power assist” mode). as shown in the illustrated embodiment, the handle 6 includes exterior lower sidepieces 59 , 60 and exterior upper side pieces 61 , 62 that fit together to form, in general, the exterior of the handle 6 . a battery 64 , such as a li ion battery, may be provided in the pistol grip portion 26 of the handle 6 . the battery 64 powers an electric motor 65 disposed in an upper portion of the pistol grip portion 26 of the handle 6 . according to various embodiments, a number of battery cells connected in series may be used to power the motor 65 . the motor 65 may be a brushed driving motor having a maximum rotation of approximately 25,000 rpm with no load. in other embodiments, the motor 65 may include a brushless motor, a cordless motor, a synchronous motor, a stepper motor, or any other suitable electric motor. the motor 64 may drive a 90° bevel gear assembly 66 comprising a first bevel gear 68 and a second bevel gear 70 . the bevel gear assembly 66 may drive a planetary gear assembly 72 . the planetary gear assembly 72 may include a pinion gear 74 connected to a drive shaft 76 . the pinion gear 74 may drive a mating ring gear 78 that drives a helical gear drum 80 via a drive shaft 82 . a ring 84 may be threaded on the helical gear drum 80 . thus, when the motor 65 rotates, the ring 84 is caused to travel along the helical gear drum 80 by means of the interposed bevel gear assembly 66 , planetary gear assembly 72 , and ring gear 78 . the handle 6 may also include a run motor sensor 110 in communication with the firing trigger 20 to detect when the firing trigger 20 has been drawn in (or “closed”) toward the pistol grip portion 26 of the handle 6 by the operator to thereby actuate the cutting/stapling operation by the end effector 12 . the sensor 110 may be a proportional sensor such as, for example, a rheostat, or variable resistor. when the firing trigger 20 is drawn in, the sensor 110 detects the movement, and sends an electrical signal indicative of the voltage (or power) to be supplied to the motor 65 . when the sensor 110 is a variable resistor or the like, the rotation of the motor 65 may be generally proportional to the amount of movement of the firing trigger 20 . that is, if the operator only draws or closes the firing trigger 20 in a little bit, the rotation of the motor 65 is relatively low. when the firing trigger 20 is fully drawn in (or in the fully closed position), the rotation of the motor 65 is at its maximum. in other words, the harder the user pulls on the firing trigger 20 , the more voltage is applied to the motor 65 , causing greater rates of rotation. the handle 6 may include a middle handle piece 104 adjacent to the upper portion of the firing trigger 20 . the handle 6 also may comprise a bias spring 112 connected between posts on the middle handle piece 104 and the firing trigger 20 . the bias spring 112 may bias the firing trigger 20 to its fully open position. in that way, when the operator releases the firing trigger 20 , the bias spring 112 will pull the firing trigger 20 to its open position, thereby removing actuation of the sensor 110 , thereby stopping rotation of the motor 65 . moreover, by virtue of the bias spring 112 , any time a user closes the firing trigger 20 , the user will experience resistance to the closing operation, thereby providing the user with feedback as to the amount of rotation exerted by the motor 65 . further, the operator could stop retracting the firing trigger 20 to remove thereby force from the sensor 100 , to thereby stop the motor 65 . as such, the user may stop the deployment of the end effector 12 , thereby providing a measure of control of the cutting/fastening operation to the operator. the distal end of the helical gear drum 80 includes a distal drive shaft 120 that drives a ring gear 122 , which mates with a pinion gear 124 . the pinion gear 124 is connected to the main drive shaft 48 of the main drive shaft assembly. in that way, rotation of the motor 65 causes the main drive shaft assembly to rotate, which causes actuation of the end effector 12 , as described above. the ring 84 threaded on the helical gear drum 80 may include a post 86 that is disposed within a slot 88 of a slotted arm 90 . the slotted arm 90 has an opening 92 its opposite end 94 that receives a pivot pin 96 that is connected between the handle exterior side pieces 59 , 60 . the pivot pin 96 is also disposed through an opening 100 in the firing trigger 20 and an opening 102 in the middle handle piece 104 . in addition, the handle 6 may include a reverse motor (or end-of-stroke sensor) 130 and a stop motor (or beginning-of-stroke) sensor 142 . in various embodiments, the reverse motor sensor 130 may be a limit switch located at the distal end of the helical gear drum 80 such that the ring 84 threaded on the helical gear drum 80 contacts and trips the reverse motor sensor 130 when the ring 84 reaches the distal end of the helical gear drum 80 . the reverse motor sensor 130 , when activated, sends a signal to the motor 65 to reverse its rotation direction, thereby withdrawing the knife 32 of the end effector 12 following the cutting operation. the stop motor sensor 142 may be, for example, a normally closed limit switch. in various embodiments, it may be located at the proximate end of the helical gear drum 80 so that the ring 84 trips the switch 142 when the ring 84 reaches the proximate end of the helical gear drum 80 . in operation, when an operator of the instrument 10 pulls back the firing trigger 20 , the sensor 110 detects the deployment of the firing trigger 20 and sends a signal to the motor 65 to cause forward rotation of the motor 65 at, for example, a rate proportional to how hard the operator pulls back the firing trigger 20 . the forward rotation of the motor 65 in turn causes the ring gear 78 at the distal end of the planetary gear assembly 72 to rotate, thereby causing the helical gear drum 80 to rotate, causing the ring 84 threaded on the helical gear drum 80 to travel distally along the helical gear drum 80 . the rotation of the helical gear drum 80 also drives the main drive shaft assembly as described above, which in turn causes deployment of the knife 32 in the end effector 12 . that is, the knife 32 and sled 33 are caused to traverse the channel 22 longitudinally, thereby cutting tissue clamped in the end effector 12 . also, the stapling operation of the end effector 12 is caused to happen in embodiments where a stapling-type end effector is used. by the time the cutting/stapling operation of the end effector 12 is complete, the ring 84 on the helical gear drum 80 will have reached the distal end of the helical gear drum 80 , thereby causing the reverse motor sensor 130 to be tripped, which sends a signal to the motor 65 to cause the motor 65 to reverse its rotation. this in turn causes the knife 32 to retract, and also causes the ring 84 on the helical gear drum 80 to move back to the proximate end of the helical gear drum 80 . the middle handle piece 104 includes a backside shoulder 106 that engages the slotted arm 90 as best shown in figs. 8 and 9 . the middle handle piece 104 also has a forward motion stop 107 that engages the firing trigger 20 . the movement of the slotted arm 90 is controlled, as explained above, by rotation of the motor 65 . when the slotted arm 90 rotates ccw as the ring 84 travels from the proximate end of the helical gear drum 80 to the distal end, the middle handle piece 104 will be free to rotate ccw. thus, as the user draws in the firing trigger 20 , the firing trigger 20 will engage the forward motion stop 107 of the middle handle piece 104 , causing the middle handle piece 104 to rotate ccw. due to the backside shoulder 106 engaging the slotted arm 90 , however, the middle handle piece 104 will only be able to rotate ccw as far as the slotted arm 90 permits. in that way, if the motor 65 should stop rotating for some reason, the slotted arm 90 will stop rotating, and the user will not be able to further draw in the firing trigger 20 because the middle handle piece 104 will not be free to rotate ccw due to the slotted arm 90 . components of an exemplary closure system for closing (or clamping) the anvil 24 of the end effector 12 by retracting the closure trigger 18 are also shown in figs. 7-10 . in the illustrated embodiment, the closure system includes a yoke 250 connected to the closure trigger 18 by a pin 251 that is inserted through aligned openings in both the closure trigger 18 and the yoke 250 . a pivot pin 252 , about which the closure trigger 18 pivots, is inserted through another opening in the closure trigger 18 which is offset from where the pin 251 is inserted through the closure trigger 18 . thus, retraction of the closure trigger 18 causes the upper part of the closure trigger 18 , to which the yoke 250 is attached via the pin 251 , to rotate ccw. the distal end of the yoke 250 is connected, via a pin 254 , to a first closure bracket 256 . the first closure bracket 256 connects to a second closure bracket 258 . collectively, the closure brackets 256 , 258 define an opening in which the proximate end of the proximate closure tube 40 (see fig. 4 ) is seated and held such that longitudinal movement of the closure brackets 256 , 258 causes longitudinal motion by the proximate closure tube 40 . the instrument 10 also includes a closure rod 260 disposed inside the proximate closure tube 40 . the closure rod 260 may include a window 261 into which a post 263 on one of the handle exterior pieces, such as exterior lower sidepiece 59 in the illustrated embodiment, is disposed to fixedly connect the closure rod 260 to the handle 6 . in that way, the proximate closure tube 40 is capable of moving longitudinally relative to the closure rod 260 . the closure rod 260 may also include a distal collar 267 that fits into a cavity 269 in proximate spine tube 46 and is retained therein by a cap 271 (see fig. 4 ). in operation, when the yoke 250 rotates due to retraction of the closure trigger 18 , the closure brackets 256 , 258 cause the proximate closure tube 40 to move distally (i.e., away from the handle end of the instrument 10 ), which causes the distal closure tube 42 to move distally, which causes the anvil 24 to rotate about the pivot point 25 into the clamped or closed position. when the closure trigger 18 is unlocked from the locked position, the proximate closure tube 40 is caused to slide proximately, which causes the distal closure tube 42 to slide proximately, which, by virtue of the tab 27 being inserted in the window 45 of the distal closure tube 42 , causes the anvil 24 to pivot about the pivot point 25 into the open or unclamped position. in that way, by retracting and locking the closure trigger 18 , an operator may clamp tissue between the anvil 24 and channel 22 , and may unclamp the tissue following the cutting/stapling operation by unlocking the closure trigger 20 from the locked position. additional configurations for motorized surgical instruments are disclosed in published u.s. patent application publication no. 2007/0175962, entitled motor-driven surgical cutting and fastening instrument with tactile position feedback, now u.s. pat. no. 7,422,139, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of the motor control circuit according to various embodiments of the present invention. in various embodiments, the motor control circuit may include one of more integrated circuits (ics), such as, for example, a processor, memory, microcontroller, time circuits, etc. in other embodiments, the motor control circuit may not comprise any ics. such a non-ic motor control circuit may be advantageous because it is often difficult, complicated, and expensive to sterilize a surgical instrument including ics. when an operator initially pulls in the firing trigger 20 after locking the closure trigger 18 , the sensor 110 is activated (or closed, where the sensor 110 is a switch), allowing current to flow therethrough. if the normally open reverse motor sensor switch 130 is open (meaning the end of the end effector stroke has not been reached), current will flow to a single pole, double throw relay 132 . when the reverse motor sensor switch 130 is not closed, a coil 134 of the relay 132 will not be energized, so the relay 132 will be in its de-energized state. as shown in fig. 11 , the circuit may also include a resistive element 144 and a switch 146 connected in parallel, with the paralleled elements connected in series with the relay 132 . the resistive element 144 and the switch 146 are also connected to the power source 64 . the switch 146 may be controlled by a control circuit 148 that is responsive to the cutting instrument position sensor 150 . according to various embodiments, the control circuit 148 may open the switch 146 when the cutting instrument 32 is (i) very near to the beginning of its stroke and (ii) very near to the end of its stroke. for example, the control circuit may open the switch when the cutting instrument 32 is (i) 0.001 inches from the beginning point of its stroke and (ii) 0.001 inches from the end of its stroke, as determined by the cutting instrument position sensor 150 . with the switch 146 open, current flows through the resistive element 144 , and then through the relay 132 , the relay 138 , the run motor sensor switch 110 , to the motor 65 . current flowing through the resistive element 144 reduces the magnitude of the current delivered to the motor 65 , thereby reducing the power delivered by the motor 65 . thus, when the cutting instrument 32 is (i) very near to the beginning of its stroke or (ii) very near to the end of its stroke, the power delivered by the motor 65 is reduced. conversely, once the cutting instrument 32 moves sufficiently far from its beginning point or end of stroke point, the control circuit 148 may close the switch 146 , thereby shorting the resistive element 144 , thereby increasing the current to the motor 65 , thereby increasing the power delivered by the motor. according to various embodiments, the electrical circuit further includes lockout sensor switches 136 a - d collectively defining an interlock circuit 137 through which current from the relay 132 , when de-energized, passes in order for electrical operation of the motor 65 to be initiated. each lockout sensor switch 136 a - d may be configured to maintain an open (i.e., non-conductive) switch state or a closed (i.e., conductive) switch state responsive to the presence or absence, respectively, of a corresponding condition. any of the corresponding conditions, if present when the instrument 10 is fired, may result in an unsatisfactory cutting and stapling operation and/or damage to the instrument 10 . conditions to which the lockout sensor switches 136 a - d may respond include, for example, (a) the absence of the staple cartridge 34 in the channel 22 , (b) the presence of a spent (e.g., previously fired) staple cartridge 34 in the channel 22 , and (c) an open (or otherwise insufficiently closed) position of the anvil 24 with respect to the channel 22 . other conditions to which the lockout sensor switches 136 a - d may respond, such as component wear, may be inferred based upon an accumulated number of firing operations produced by the instrument 10 . accordingly, in various embodiments, if any of these conditions exists, the corresponding lockout sensor switches 136 a - d maintain an open switch state, thus preventing passage of the current necessary to initiate operation of the motor 65 . passage of current by the lockout sensors 136 a - d is allowed, in various embodiments, only after all of the conditions have been remedied. it will be appreciated that the above-described conditions are provided by way of example only, and that additional lockout sensor switches for responding to other conditions detrimental to operation of the instrument 10 may be provided. it will similarly be appreciated that for embodiments in which one or more of the above-described conditions may not exist or are of no concern, the number of lockout sensor switches may be fewer than that depicted. as shown in fig. 11 , the lockout sensor switch 136 a may be implemented using a normally open switch configuration such that a closed switch state is maintained when the staple cartridge 34 is in a position corresponding to its proper receipt by the channel 22 . when the staple cartridge 34 is not installed in the channel 22 , or is installed improperly (e.g., misaligned), the lockout sensor switch 136 a maintains an open switch state. lockout sensor switch 136 b may be implemented using a normally open switch configuration such that a closed switch state is maintained only when an unspent staple cartridge 34 (i.e., a staple cartridge 34 having a sled 33 in the unfired position) is present in the channel 22 . the presence of a spent staple cartridge 34 in the channel 22 causes the lockout sensor switch 136 b to maintain an open switch state. lockout sensor switch 136 c may be implemented using a normally open switch configuration such that a closed switch state is maintained when the anvil 24 is in a closed position with respect to the channel 22 . the lockout sensor switch 136 c may be controlled in accordance with a time delay feature wherein a closed switch state is maintained only after the anvil 24 is in the closed position for a pre-determined period of time. lockout sensor switch 136 d may be implemented using a normally closed switch configuration such that a closed switch state is maintained only when an accumulated number of firings produced by the instrument 10 is less than a pre-determined number. the lockout sensor switch 136 d may be in communication with a counter 139 configured for maintaining a count representative of the accumulated number of firing operations performed by the instrument 10 , comparing the count to the pre-determined number, and controlling the switch state of the lockout sensor switch 136 d based upon the comparison. although shown separately in fig. 11 , it will be appreciated that counter 139 may be integral with the lockout sensor switch 136 d so as to form a common device. preferably, the counter 139 is implemented as an electronic device having an input for incrementing the maintained count based upon the transition of a discrete electrical signal provided thereto. it will be appreciated that a mechanical counter configured for maintaining the count based upon a mechanical input (e.g., retraction of the firing trigger 20 ) may be used instead. when implemented as an electronic device, any discrete signal present in the electrical circuit that transitions once for each firing operation may be utilized for the counter 139 input. as shown in fig. 11 , for example, the discrete electrical signal resulting from actuation of the end-of-stroke sensor 130 may be utilized. the counter 139 may control the switch state of lockout sensor switch 136 d such that a closed switch state is maintained when the maintained count is less than a pre-determined number stored within the counter 139 . when the maintained count is equal to the pre-determined number, the counter 139 causes the lockout sensor switch 136 d to maintain an open switch state, thus preventing the passage of current therethrough. it will be appreciated that the pre-determined number stored by the counter 139 may be selectively adjusted as required. according to various embodiments, the counter 304 may be in communication with an external display (not shown), such as an lcd display, integral to the instrument 10 for indicating to a user either the maintained count or the difference between the pre-determined number and the maintained count. according to various embodiments, the interlock circuit 137 may comprise one or more indicators visible to the user of the instrument 10 for displaying a status of at least one of the lockout sensor switches 136 a - d . more details regarding such indicators may be found in published u.s. patent application publication no. 2007/0175956, entitled electronic lockouts and surgical instrument including same, now u.s. pat. no. 7,644,848, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. this application also includes example mounting arrangements and configurations for the lockout sensor switches 136 a - d. in the illustrated embodiment, when the lockout sensor switches 136 a - d collectively maintain a closed switch state, a single pole, single throw relay 138 is energized. when the relay 138 is energized, current flows through the relay 138 , through the run motor switch sensor 110 , and to the motor 65 via a double pole, double throw relay 140 , thereby powering the motor 65 , allowing it to rotate in the forward direction. according to various embodiments, because the output of the relay 138 , once energized, maintains the relay 138 in an energized state until relay 132 is energized, the interlock circuit 137 will not function to prevent operation of the motor 165 once initiated, even if one or more of the interlock sensor switches 136 a - d subsequently maintains an open switch state. in other embodiments, however, it may be necessary or otherwise desirable to connect the interlock circuit 137 and the relay 138 such that one or more the lockout sensor switches 136 a - d must maintain a closed switch state in order to sustain operation of the motor 165 once initiated. rotation of the motor in the forward direction causes the ring 84 to move distally and thereby de-actuate the stop motor sensor switch 142 in various embodiments. because the switch 142 is normally closed, a solenoid 141 connected to the switch 142 may be energized. the solenoid 141 may be a conventional push-type solenoid that, when energized, causes a plunger (not shown) to be axially extended. extension of the plunger may operate to retain the closure trigger 18 in the retracted position, thus preventing the anvil 24 from opening while a firing operation is in progress (i.e., while the switch 142 is not actuated). upon deenergization of the solenoid 141 , the plunger is retracted such that manual release of the closure trigger 18 is possible. when the end effector 12 reaches the end of its stroke, the reverse motor sensor 130 will be activated, thereby closing the switch 130 and energizing the relay 132 . this causes the relay 132 to assume its energized state (not shown in fig. 11 ), which causes current to bypass the interlock circuit 137 and run motor sensor switch 110 , and instead causes current to flow to both the normally-closed double pole, double throw relay 140 and back to the motor 65 , but in a manner, via the relay 140 , that causes the motor 65 to reverse its rotational direction. because the stop motor sensor switch 142 is normally closed, current will flow back to the relay 132 to keep it energized until the switch 142 opens. when the knife 32 is fully retracted, the stop motor sensor switch 142 is activated, causing the switch 142 to open, thereby removing power from the motor 65 , and de-energizing the solenoid 141 . in other embodiments, other alternatives may be used to limit the current supplied to the motor 65 during certain time periods during the cutting stroke cycle. other embodiments are described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 12/235,782, now u.s. pat. no. 8,210,411, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. in some instances, it may be advantageous to provide a momentary increase in current to the motor 65 to increase the output torque. fig. 19 shows an embodiment of a circuit for providing a momentary increase to the motor 65 according to various embodiments. the circuit is similar to that shown in fig. 11 , except that the circuit of fig. 19 additionally includes a charge accumulator device 1000 connected to the power source 64 . the charge accumulator device 1000 may be any device that can store charge, such as a capacitor. for example, the charge accumulator device 1000 may comprise an ultracapacitor (sometimes called a supercapacitor). when the motor 65 is first turned on, such as when the switch 110 is closed due to retraction of the firing trigger 20 , the switch s 1 may be closed so that the battery 64 can power the motor 65 as described above. in addition, the switch s 3 may also be closed for only a brief period of time (“the charging period”) to charge the charge accumulator device 1000 via the resistor r 1 . for example, according to various embodiments, the switch s 3 may be closed for one to ten rc time constants, where r is the resistance of the resistor r 1 and c is the capacitance of the charge accumulator device 1000 . the charge in the charge accumulator device 1000 may remain unused during normal operating conditions, but if there comes a time in the procedure where the clinician needs additional output torque from the motor 65 , the charge accumulator device 1000 could be put in series with the battery 64 . this could be done, for example, by opening switch s 1 and closing switch s 2 (with s 3 remaining open following the charging period). with switch s 2 closed, the charge accumulator device 1000 would be connected in series with the battery 64 , thereby supplying additional current to the motor 65 . the condition requiring the charge accumulator device 1000 may be detected in numerous ways. for example, there may be a variable resistor or spring connected to the firing trigger 20 . when the firing trigger is retracted beyond a certain point or with a force above a threshold level, the charge accumulator device 1000 may be connected in series to the battery 64 . additionally or alternatively, the handle 6 may comprise an external switch (not shown) that the clinician could activate to connect the charge accumulator device 1000 in series with battery 64 . the charge accumulator device 1000 could be used with or without the current limiting devices described above in connection with fig. 11 . at some times during use of the instrument 10 , it may be advantageous to have the motor 65 run at high speed but relatively low torque output. at other times, it may be desirable to have the motor 65 have a high torque output but at low speeds. according to various embodiments, this functionality may be accomplished with a motor 65 having multiple (e.g., two or more) windings, as shown in fig. 20 . in the illustrated embodiment, the motor has two windings. a first winding 1200 may have winding halves (or portions) 1201 and 1202 . a second winding 1204 may have winding halves (or portions) 1206 and 1208 . the motor 65 in this example may be a 6 or 8 lead motor with a bipolar driving circuit 1210 (see figs. 11 and 12 , for example). when the high-speed low-torque mode is desired, the two sets of winding may be connected in series. in this mode, as shown in fig. 20 , switches s 1 and s 4 are closed, and switches s 2 , s 3 , s 5 , and s 6 are open. when the low-speed high-torque mode is desired, the two sets of windings may be connected in parallel. in this mode, switches s 1 and s 4 are open, and switches s 2 , s 3 , s 5 , and s 6 are closed. the ability to transition between the two modes effectively creates a two-speed transmission with no additional moving parts. it also allows the same motor to generate both high speeds and high torque outputs, albeit not at the same time. an advantage of this configuration is that it avoids using multiple motors. in addition, it may be possible to eliminate some gearing because the motor 65 can generate extra torque when in the parallel mode and extra speed when in the series mode. in addition, additional windings could be employed such that a greater number of operating modes may be realized. for example, there could be windings for multiple combinations of series and parallel winding connections. also, some windings may be used for sensing motor conditions, etc. according to various embodiments, the handle 6 may comprise an external motor mode selection switch 1220 , as shown in fig. 21 . by using the switch 1220 , the operator of the instrument 10 could select with the motor 65 is in the high-speed low-torque mode or in the low-speed high-torque mode. other switching circuits could also be used to toggle the motor 65 between the operating modes, such as switching circuits that automatically switch the motor mode based on sensor inputs. in a motorized surgical instrument, such as one of the motorized endoscopic instruments described above or in a motorized circular cutter instrument, the motor may be powered by a number of battery cells connected in series. further, it may be desirable in certain circumstances to power the motor with some fraction of the total number of battery cells. for example, as shown in fig. 12 , the motor 65 may be powered by a power pack 299 comprising six (6) battery cells 310 connected in series. the battery cells 310 may be, for example, 3-volt lithium battery cells, such as cr 123a battery cells, although in other embodiments, different types of battery cells could be used (including battery cells with different voltage levels and/or different chemistries). if six 3-volt battery cells 310 were connected in series to power the motor 65 , the total voltage available to power the motor 65 would be 18 volts. the battery cells 310 may comprise rechargeable or non-rechargeable battery cells. in such an embodiment, under the heaviest loads, the input voltage to the motor 65 may sag to about nine to ten volts. at this operating condition, the power pack 299 is delivering maximum power to the motor 65 . accordingly, as shown in fig. 12 , the circuit may include a switch 312 that selectively allows the motor 65 to be powered by either (1) all of the battery cells 310 or (2) a fraction of the battery cells 310 . as shown in fig. 12 , by proper selection, the switch 312 may allow the motor 65 to be powered by all six battery cells or four of the battery cells. that way, the switch 312 could be used to power the motor 65 with either 18 volts (when using all six battery cells 310 ) or 12 volts (such using four of the second battery cells). in various embodiments, the design choice for the number of battery cells in the fraction that is used to power the motor 65 may be based on the voltage required by the motor 65 when operating at maximum output for the heaviest loads. the switch 312 may be, for example, an electromechanical switch, such as a micro switch. in other embodiments, the switch 312 may be implemented with a solid-state switch, such as transistor. a second switch 314 , such as a push button switch, may be used to control whether power is applied to the motor 65 at all. also, a forward/reverse switch 316 may be used to control whether the motor 65 rotates in the forward direction or the reverse direction. the forward/reverse switch 316 may be implemented with a double pole-double throw switch, such as the relay 140 shown in fig. 11 . in operation, the user of the instrument 10 could select the desired power level by using some sort of switch control, such as a position-dependent switch (not shown), such as a toggle switch, a mechanical lever switch, or a cam, which controls the position of the switch 312 . then the user may activate the second switch 314 to connect the selected battery cells 310 to the motor 65 . in addition, the circuit shown in fig. 12 could be used to power the motor of other types of motorized surgical instruments, such as circular cutters and/or laparoscopic instruments. more details regarding circular cutters may be found in published u.s. patent application publication no. 2006/0047307, now u.s. pat. no. 8,317,074, and published u.s. patent application publication no. 2007/0262116, now u.s. pat. no. 7,500,979, which are incorporated herein by reference. in other embodiments, as shown in fig. 13 , a primary power source 340 , such as a battery cell, such as a cr2 or cr123a battery cell, may be used to charge a number of secondary accumulator devices 342 . the primary power source 340 may comprise one or a number of series-connected battery cells, which are preferably replaceable in the illustrated embodiment. the secondary accumulator devices 342 may comprise, for example, rechargeable battery cells and/or supercapacitors (also known as “ultracapacitors” or “electrochemical double layer capacitors” (edlc)). supercapacitors are electrochemical capacitors that have an unusually high energy density when compared to common electrolytic capacitors, typically on the order of thousands of times greater than a high-capacity electrolytic capacitor. the primary power source 340 may charge the secondary accumulator devices 342 . once sufficiently charged, the primary power source 340 may be removed and the secondary accumulator devices 342 may be used to power the motor 65 during a procedure or operation. the accumulating devices 342 may take about fifteen to thirty minutes to charge in various circumstances. supercapacitors have the characteristic they can charge and discharge extremely rapidly in comparison to conventional batteries. in addition, whereas batteries are good for only a limited number of charge/discharge cycles, supercapacitors can often be charged/discharged repeatedly, sometimes for tens of millions of cycles. for embodiments using supercapacitors as the secondary accumulator devices 342 , the supercapacitors may comprise carbon nanotubes, conductive polymers (e.g., polyacenes), or carbon aerogels. as shown in fig. 14 , a charge management circuit 344 could be employed to determine when the secondary accumulator devices 342 are sufficiently charged. the charge management circuit 344 may include an indicator, such as one or more leds, an lcd display, etc., that is activated to alert a user of the instrument 10 when the secondary accumulator devices 342 are sufficiently charged. the primary power source 340 , the secondary accumulator devices 342 , and the charge management circuit 344 may be part of a power pack in the pistol grip portion 26 of the handle 6 of the instrument 10 , or in another part of the instrument 10 . the power pack may be removable from the pistol grip portion 26 , in which case, when the instrument 10 is to be used for surgery, the power pack may be inserted aseptically into the pistol grip portion 26 (or other position in the instrument according to other embodiments) by, for example, a circulating nurse assisting in the surgery. after insertion of the power pack, the nurse could put the replaceable primary power source 340 in the power pack to charge up the secondary accumulator devices 342 a certain time period prior to use of the instrument 10 , such as thirty minutes. when the secondary accumulator devices 342 are charged, the charge management circuit 344 may indicate that the power pack is ready for use. at this point, the replaceable primary power source 340 may be removed. during the operation, the user of the instrument 10 may then activate the motor 65 , such as by activating the switch 314 , whereby the secondary accumulator devices 342 power the motor 65 . thus, instead of having a number of disposable batteries to power the motor 65 , one disposable battery (as the primary power source 340 ) could be used in such an embodiment, and the secondary accumulator devices 342 could be reusable. in alternative embodiments, however, it should be noted that the secondary accumulator devices 342 could be non-rechargeable and/or non-reusable. the secondary accumulators 342 may be used with the cell selection switch 312 described above in connection with fig. 12 . the charge management circuit 344 may also include indicators (e.g., leds or lcd display) that indicate how much charge remains in the secondary accumulator devices 342 . that way, the surgeon (or other user of the instrument 10 ) can see how much charge remains through the course of the procedure involving the instrument 10 . the charge management circuit 344 , as shown in fig. 15 , may comprise a charge meter 345 for measuring the charge across the secondary accumulators 342 . the charge management circuit 344 also may comprise a non-volatile memory 346 , such as flash or rom memory, and one or more processors 348 . the processor(s) 348 may be connected to the memory 346 to control the memory. in addition, the processor(s) 348 may be connected to the charge meter 345 to read the readings of and otherwise control the charge meter 345 . additionally, the processor(s) 348 may control the leds or other output devices of the charge management circuit 344 . the processor(s) 348 can store parameters of the instrument 10 in the memory 346 . the parameters may include operating parameters of the instrument that are sensed by various sensors that may be installed or employed in the instrument 10 , such as, for example, the number of firings, the levels of forces involved, the distance of the compression gap between the opposing jaws of the end effector 12 , the amount of articulation, etc. additionally, the parameters stored in the memory 346 may comprise id values for various components of the instrument 10 that the charge management circuit 344 may read and store. the components having such ids may be replaceable components, such as the staple cartridge 34 . the ids may be for example, rfids that the charge management circuit 344 reads via a rfid transponder 350 . the rfid transponder 350 may read rfids from components of the instrument, such as the staple cartridge 34 , that include rfid tags. the id values may be read, stored in the memory 346 , and compared by the processor 348 to a list of acceptable id values stored in the memory 346 or another store associated with the charge management circuit, to determine, for example, if the removable/replaceable component associated with the read id value is authentic and/or proper. according to various embodiments, if the processor 348 determines that the removable/replaceable component associated with the read id value is not authentic, the charge management circuit 344 may prevent use of the power pack by the instrument 10 , such as by opening a switch (not shown) that would prevent power from the power pack being delivered to the motor 65 . according to various embodiments, various parameters that the processor 348 may evaluate to determine whether the component is authentic and/or proper include: date code; component model/type; manufacturer; regional information; and previous error codes. the charge management circuit 344 may also comprise an i/o interface 352 for communicating with another device, such as described below. that way, the parameters stored in the memory 346 may be downloaded to another device. the i/o interface 352 may be, for example, a wired or wireless interface. as mentioned before, the power pack may comprise the secondary accumulators 342 , the charge management circuit 344 , and/or the f/r switch 316 . according to various embodiments, as shown in fig. 16 , the power pack 299 could be connected to a charger base 362 , which may, among other things, charge the secondary accumulators 342 in the power pack. the charger base 362 could be connected to the power pack 299 by connecting aseptically the charger base 362 to the power pack 299 while the power pack is installed in the instrument 10 . in other embodiments where the power pack is removable, the charger base 362 could be connected to the power pack 299 by removing the power pack 299 from the instrument 10 and connecting it to the charger base 362 . for such embodiments, after the charger base 362 sufficiently charges the secondary accumulators 342 , the power pack 299 may be aseptically installed in the instrument 10 . as shown in fig. 16 , the charger base 362 may comprise a power source 364 for charging the secondary accumulators 342 . the power source 364 of the charger base 362 may be, for example, a battery (or a number of series-connected batteries), or an ac/dc converter that converters ac power, such as from electrical power mains, to dc, or any other suitable power source for charging the secondary accumulators 342 . the charger base 362 may also comprise indicator devices, such as leds, a lcd display, etc., to show the charge status of the secondary accumulators 342 . in addition, as shown in fig. 16 , the charger base 362 may comprise one or more processors 366 , one or more memory units 368 , and i/o interfaces 370 , 372 . through the first i/o interface 370 , the charger base 362 may communicate with the power pack 299 (via the power pack's i/o interface 352 ). that way, for example, data stored in the memory 346 of the power pack 299 may be downloaded to the memory 368 of the charger base 362 . in that way, the processor 366 can evaluate the id values for the removable/replaceable components, downloaded from the charge management circuit 344 , to determine the authenticity and suitability of the components. the operating parameters downloaded from the charge management circuit 344 may also stored in the memory 368 , and then may then be downloaded to another computer device via the second i/o interface 372 for evaluation and analysis, such as by the hospital system in which the operation involving the instrument 10 is performed, by the office of the surgeon, by the distributor of the instrument, by the manufacturer of the instrument, etc. the charger base 362 may also comprise a charge meter 374 for measuring the charge across the secondary accumulators 342 . the charge meter 374 may be in communication with the processor(s) 366 , so that the processor(s) 366 can determine in real-time the suitability of the power pack 299 for use to ensure high performance. in another embodiment, as shown in fig. 17 , the battery circuit may comprise a power regulator 320 to control the power supplied by the power savers 310 to the motor 65 . the power regulator 320 may also be part of the power pack 299 , or it may be a separate component. as mentioned above, the motor 65 may be a brushed motor. the speed of brushed motors generally is proportional to the applied input voltage. the power regulator 320 may provide a highly regulated output voltage to the motor 65 so that the motor 65 will operate at a constant (or substantially constant) speed. according to various embodiments, the power regulator 320 may comprise a switch-mode power converter, such as a buck-boost converter, as shown in the example of fig. 17 . such a buck-boost converter 320 may comprise a power switch 322 , such as a fet, a rectifier 32 , an inductor 326 , and a capacitor 328 . when the power switch 322 is on, the input voltage source (e.g., the power sources 310 ) is directly connected to the inductor 326 , which stores energy in this state. in this state, the capacitor 328 supplies energy to the output load (e.g., the motor 65 ). when the power switch 320 is in the off state, the inductor 326 is connected to the output load (e.g., the motor 65 ) and the capacitor 328 , so energy is transferred from the inductor 326 to the capacitor 328 and the load 65 . a control circuit 330 may control the power switch 322 . the control circuit 330 may employ digital and/or analog control loops. in addition, in other embodiments, the control circuit 330 may receive control information from a master controller (not shown) via a communication link, such as a serial or parallel digital data bus. the voltage set point for the output of the power regulator 320 may be set, for example, to one-half of the open circuit voltage, at which point the maximum power available from the source is available. in other embodiments, different power converter topologies may be employed, including linear or switch-mode power converters. other switch-mode topologies that may be employed include a flyback, forward, buck, boost, and sepic. the set point voltage for the power regulator 320 could be changed depending on how many of the battery cells are being used to power the motor 65 . additionally, the power regulator 320 could be used with the secondary accumulator devices 342 shown in fig. 13 . further, the forward-reverse switch 316 could be incorporated into the power regulator 320 , although it is shown separately in fig. 17 . batteries can typically be modeled as an ideal voltage source and a source resistance. for an ideal model, when the source and load resistance are matched, maximum power is transferred to the load. fig. 18 shows a typical power curve for a battery. when the battery circuit is open, the voltage across the battery is high (at its open circuit value) and the current drawn from the battery is zero. the power delivered from the battery is zero also. as more current is drawn from the battery, the voltage across the battery decreases. the power delivered by the battery is the product of the current and the voltage. the power reaches its peak around at a voltage level that is less than the open circuit voltage. as shown in fig. 18 , with most battery chemistries there is a sharp drop in the voltage/power at higher current because of the chemistry or positive temperature coefficient (ptc), or because of a battery protection device. particularly for embodiments using a battery (or batteries) to power the motor 65 during a procedure, the control circuit 330 can monitor the output voltage and control the set point of the regulator 320 so that the battery operates on the “left” or power-increasing side of the power curve. if the battery reaches the peak power level, the control circuit 330 can change (e.g., lower) the set point of the regulator so that less total power is being demanded from the battery. the motor 65 would then slow down. in this way, the demand from the power pack would rarely if ever exceed the peak available power so that a power-starving situation during a procedure could be avoided. in addition, according to other embodiments, the power drawn from the battery may be optimized in such a way that the chemical reactions within the battery cells would have time to recover, to thereby optimize the current and power available from the battery. in pulsed loads, batteries typically provide more power at the beginning of the pulse that toward the end of the pulse. this is due to several factors, including: (1) the ptc may be changing its resistance during the pulse; (2) the temperature of the battery may be changing; and (3) the electrochemical reaction rate is changing due to electrolyte at the cathode being depleted and the rate of diffusion of the fresh electrolyte limits the reaction rate. according to various embodiments, the control circuit 330 may control the converter 320 so that it draws a lower current from the battery to allow the battery to recover before it is pulsed again. as mentioned above, according to various embodiments the battery pack 299 may comprise multiple battery cells 310 . fig. 22 shows an embodiment with six (6) battery cells 310 . the battery cells 310 may be, for example, lithium primary batteries. according to various embodiments, the battery pack 299 may have only a fraction of the battery cells internally connected. for example, as shown in fig. 22 , cell 310 a is connected to cell 310 b , cell 310 c is connected to cell 310 d , and cell 310 e is connected to cell 310 f . however, cell 310 b is not connected internally in the battery pack to cell 310 c , and cell 310 d is not connected internally in the battery pack to cell 310 e . the handle 6 of the instrument 10 in such embodiments may comprise a battery cell connector 1300 that connects the cells 310 in series only when the battery pack 299 is physically inserted in the instrument 10 . for example, the connector 1300 may comprise a positive output terminal 1302 , a connector 1304 that series connects cell 310 b to cell 310 c , a connector 1306 that connects cell 310 d to cell 310 e , and a negative output terminal 1308 . fig. 23 shows an embodiment of the instrument 10 where a replaceable, removable battery pack 299 is installed in the handle 6 of the instrument 10 . as shown in fig. 23 , the battery cell connector 1300 may be integrated into the handle 6 such that, when the battery pack 299 is inserted into the handle 6 , the battery cell connector 1300 makes the necessary battery cell connections. of course, in other embodiments, battery packs with a different number of internal cells and different numbers of internally connected cells may be used. for example, fig. 24 shows an embodiment with six cells 310 a - f , where two sets of three cells (cells 310 a - c and cells 310 d - f ) are connected together. the devices disclosed herein can be designed to be disposed of after a single use, or they can be designed to be used multiple times. in either case, however, the device can be reconditioned for reuse after at least one use. reconditioning can include any combination of the steps of disassembly of the device, followed by cleaning or replacement of particular pieces, and subsequent reassembly. in particular, the device can be disassembled, and any number of the particular pieces or parts of the device can be selectively replaced or removed in any combination. upon cleaning and/or replacement of particular parts, the device can be reassembled for subsequent use either at a reconditioning facility, or by a surgical team immediately prior to a surgical procedure. those skilled in the art will appreciate that reconditioning of a device can utilize a variety of techniques for disassembly, cleaning/replacement, and reassembly. use of such techniques, and the resulting reconditioned device, are all within the scope of the present application. preferably, the various embodiments of the invention described herein will be processed before surgery. first, a new or used instrument is obtained and if necessary cleaned. the instrument can then be sterilized. in one sterilization technique, the instrument is placed in a closed and sealed container, such as a thermoformed plastic shell covered with a sheet of tyvek. the container and instrument are then placed in a field of radiation that can penetrate the container, such as gamma radiation, x-rays, or high-energy electrons. the radiation kills bacteria on the instrument and in the container. the sterilized instrument can then be stored in the sterile container. the sealed container keeps the instrument sterile until it is opened in the medical facility. it is preferred that the device is sterilized. this can be done by any number of ways known to those skilled in the art including beta or gamma radiation, ethylene oxide, steam and other methods. while the present invention has been illustrated by description of several embodiments and while the illustrative embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. additional advantages and modifications may readily appear to those skilled in the art. the various embodiments of the present invention represent vast improvements over prior staple methods that require the use of different sizes of staples in a single cartridge to achieve staples that have differing formed (final) heights. accordingly, the present invention has been discussed in terms of endoscopic procedures and apparatus. however, use herein of terms such as “endoscopic” should not be construed to limit the present invention to a surgical stapling and severing instrument for use only in conjunction with an endoscopic tube (i.e., trocar). on the contrary, it is believed that the present invention may find use in any procedure where access is limited, including but not limited to laparoscopic procedures, as well as open procedures. moreover, the unique and novel aspects of the various staple cartridge embodiments of the present invention may find utility when used in connection with other forms of stapling apparatuses without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. over the years a variety of minimally invasive robotic (or “telesurgical”) systems have been developed to increase surgical dexterity as well as to permit a surgeon to operate on a patient in an intuitive manner. many of such systems are disclosed in the following u.s. patents which are each herein incorporated by reference in their respective entirety: u.s. pat. no. 5,792,135, entitled articulated surgical instrument for performing minimally invasive surgery with enhanced dexterity and sensitivity, u.s. pat. no. 6,231,565, entitled robotic arm dlus for performing surgical tasks, u.s. pat. no. 6,783,524, entitled robotic surgical tool with ultrasound cauterizing and cutting instrument, u.s. pat. no. 6,364,888, entitled alignment of master and slave in a minimally invasive surgical apparatus, u.s. pat. no. 7,524,320, entitled mechanical actuator interface system for robotic surgical tools, u.s. pat. no. 7,691,098, entitled platform link wrist mechanism, u.s. pat. no. 7,806,891, entitled repositioning and reorientation of master/slave relationship in minimally invasive telesurgery, and u.s. pat. no. 7,824,401, entitled robotic tool with wristed monopolar electrosurgical end effectors. many of such systems, however, have in the past been unable to generate the magnitude of forces required to effectively cut and fasten tissue. fig. 25 depicts one version of a master controller 1001 that may be used in connection with a robotic arm slave cart 1100 of the type depicted in fig. 26 . master controller 1001 and robotic arm slave cart 1100 , as well as their respective components and control systems are collectively referred to herein as a robotic system 1000 . examples of such systems and devices are disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 7,524,320 which has been herein incorporated by reference. thus, various details of such devices will not be described in detail herein beyond that which may be necessary to understand various embodiments and forms of the present invention. as is known, the master controller 1001 generally includes master controllers (generally represented as 1003 in fig. 25 ) which are grasped by the surgeon and manipulated in space while the surgeon views the procedure via a stereo display 1002 . the master controllers 1001 generally comprise manual input devices which preferably move with multiple degrees of freedom, and which often further have an actuatable handle for actuating tools (for example, for closing grasping saws, applying an electrical potential to an electrode, or the like). as can be seen in fig. 26 , in one form, the robotic arm cart 1100 is configured to actuate a plurality of surgical tools, generally designated as 1200 . various robotic surgery systems and methods employing master controller and robotic arm cart arrangements are disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 6,132,368, entitled multi-component telepresence system and method, the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. in various forms, the robotic arm cart 1100 includes a base 1002 from which, in the illustrated embodiment, three surgical tools 1200 are supported. in various forms, the surgical tools 1200 are each supported by a series of manually articulatable linkages, generally referred to as set-up joints 1104 , and a robotic manipulator 1106 . these structures are herein illustrated with protective covers extending over much of the robotic linkage. these protective covers may be optional, and may be limited in size or entirely eliminated in some embodiments to minimize the inertia that is encountered by the servo mechanisms used to manipulate such devices, to limit the volume of moving components so as to avoid collisions, and to limit the overall weight of the cart 1100 . cart 1100 will generally have dimensions suitable for transporting the cart 1100 between operating rooms. the cart 1100 may be configured to typically fit through standard operating room doors and onto standard hospital elevators. in various forms, the cart 1100 would preferably have a weight and include a wheel (or other transportation) system that allows the cart 1100 to be positioned adjacent an operating table by a single attendant. referring now to fig. 27 , in at least one form, robotic manipulators 1106 may include a linkage 1108 that constrains movement of the surgical tool 1200 . in various embodiments, linkage 1108 includes rigid links coupled together by rotational joints in a parallelogram arrangement so that the surgical tool 1200 rotates around a point in space 1110 , as more fully described in issued u.s. pat. no. 5,817,084, the full disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. the parallelogram arrangement constrains rotation to pivoting about an axis 1112 a , sometimes called the pitch axis. the links supporting the parallelogram linkage are pivotally mounted to set-up joints 1104 ( fig. 26 ) so that the surgical tool 1200 further rotates about an axis 1112 b , sometimes called the yaw axis. the pitch and yaw axes 1112 a , 1112 b intersect at the remote center 1114 , which is aligned along a shaft 1208 of the surgical tool 1200 . the surgical tool 1200 may have further degrees of driven freedom as supported by manipulator 1106 , including sliding motion of the surgical tool 1200 along the longitudinal tool axis “lt-lt”. as the surgical tool 1200 slides along the tool axis lt-lt relative to manipulator 1106 (arrow 1112 c ), remote center 1114 remains fixed relative to base 1116 of manipulator 1106 . hence, the entire manipulator is generally moved to re-position remote center 1114 . linkage 1108 of manipulator 1106 is driven by a series of motors 1120 . these motors actively move linkage 1108 in response to commands from a processor of a control system. as will be discussed in further detail below, motors 1120 are also employed to manipulate the surgical tool 1200 . an alternative set-up joint structure is illustrated in fig. 28 . in this embodiment, a surgical tool 1200 is supported by an alternative manipulator structure 1106 ′ between two tissue manipulation tools. those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various embodiments of the present invention may incorporate a wide variety of alternative robotic structures, including those described in u.s. pat. no. 5,878,193, entitled automated endoscope system for optimal positioning, the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. additionally, while the data communication between a robotic component and the processor of the robotic surgical system is primarily described herein with reference to communication between the surgical tool 1200 and the master controller 1001 , it should be understood that similar communication may take place between circuitry of a manipulator, a set-up joint, an endoscope or other image capture device, or the like, and the processor of the robotic surgical system for component compatibility verification, component-type identification, component calibration (such as off-set or the like) communication, confirmation of coupling of the component to the robotic surgical system, or the like. an exemplary non-limiting surgical tool 1200 that is well-adapted for use with a robotic system 1000 that has a tool drive assembly 1010 ( fig. 30 ) that is operatively coupled to a master controller 1001 that is operable by inputs from an operator (i.e., a surgeon) is depicted in fig. 29 . as can be seen in that figure, the surgical tool 1200 includes a surgical end effector 2012 that comprises an endocutter. in at least one form, the surgical tool 1200 generally includes an elongated shaft assembly 2008 that has a proximal closure tube 2040 and a distal closure tube 2042 that are coupled together by an articulation joint 2011 . the surgical tool 1200 is operably coupled to the manipulator by a tool mounting portion, generally designated as 1300 . the surgical tool 1200 further includes an interface 1230 which mechanically and electrically couples the tool mounting portion 1300 to the manipulator. one form of interface 1230 is illustrated in figs. 27-31 . in various embodiments, the tool mounting portion 1300 includes a tool mounting plate 1302 that operably supports a plurality of (four are shown in fig. 34 ) rotatable body portions, driven discs or elements 1304 , that each include a pair of pins 1306 that extend from a surface of the driven element 1304 . one pin 1306 is closer to an axis of rotation of each driven elements 1304 than the other pin 1306 on the same driven element 1304 , which helps to ensure positive angular alignment of the driven element 1304 . interface 1230 includes an adaptor portion 1240 that is configured to mountingly engage the mounting plate 1302 as will be further discussed below. the adaptor portion 1240 may include an array of electrical connecting pins 1242 ( fig. 32 ) which may be coupled to a memory structure by a circuit board within the tool mounting portion 1300 . while interface 1230 is described herein with reference to mechanical, electrical, and magnetic coupling elements, it should be understood that a wide variety of telemetry modalities might be used, including infrared, inductive coupling, or the like. as can be seen in figs. 30-33 , the adapter portion 1240 generally includes a tool side 1244 and a holder side 1246 . in various forms, a plurality of rotatable bodies 1250 are mounted to a floating plate 1248 which has a limited range of movement relative to the surrounding adaptor structure normal to the major surfaces of the adaptor 1240 . axial movement of the floating plate 1248 helps decouple the rotatable bodies 1250 from the tool mounting portion 1300 when the levers 1303 along the sides of the tool mounting portion housing 1301 are actuated (see fig. 29 ). other mechanisms/arrangements may be employed for releasably coupling the tool mounting portion 1300 to the adaptor 1240 . in at least one form, rotatable bodies 1250 are resiliently mounted to floating plate 1248 by resilient radial members which extend into a circumferential indentation about the rotatable bodies 1250 . the rotatable bodies 1250 can move axially relative to plate 1248 by deflection of these resilient structures. when disposed in a first axial position (toward tool side 1244 ) the rotatable bodies 1250 are free to rotate without angular limitation. however, as the rotatable bodies 1250 move axially toward tool side 1244 , tabs 1252 (extending radially from the rotatable bodies 1250 ) laterally engage detents on the floating plates so as to limit angular rotation of the rotatable bodies 1250 about their axes. this limited rotation can be used to help drivingly engage the rotatable bodies 1250 with drive pins 1272 of a corresponding tool holder portion 1270 of the robotic system 1000 , as the drive pins 1272 will push the rotatable bodies 1250 into the limited rotation position until the pins 1234 are aligned with (and slide into) openings 1256 ′. openings 1256 on the tool side 1244 and openings 1256 ′ on the holder side 1246 of rotatable bodies 1250 are configured to accurately align the driven elements 1304 ( fig. 34 ) of the tool mounting portion 1300 with the drive elements 1271 of the tool holder 1270 . as described above regarding inner and outer pins 1306 of driven elements 1304 , the openings 1256 , 1256 ′ are at differing distances from the axis of rotation on their respective rotatable bodies 1250 so as to ensure that the alignment is not 180 degrees from its intended position. additionally, each of the openings 1256 is slightly radially elongated so as to fittingly receive the pins 1306 in the circumferential orientation. this allows the pins 1306 to slide radially within the openings 1256 , 1256 ′ and accommodate some axial misalignment between the tool 1200 and tool holder 1270 , while minimizing any angular misalignment and backlash between the drive and driven elements. openings 1256 on the tool side 1244 are offset by about 90 degrees from the openings 1256 ′ (shown in broken lines) on the holder side 1246 , as can be seen most clearly in fig. 33 . various embodiments may further include an array of electrical connector pins 1242 located on holder side 1246 of adaptor 1240 , and the tool side 1244 of the adaptor 1240 may include slots 1258 ( fig. 33 ) for receiving a pin array (not shown) from the tool mounting portion 1300 . in addition to transmitting electrical signals between the surgical tool 1200 and the tool holder 1270 , at least some of these electrical connections may be coupled to an adaptor memory device 1260 ( fig. 32 ) by a circuit board of the adaptor 1240 . a detachable latch arrangement 1239 may be employed to releasably affix the adaptor 1240 to the tool holder 1270 . as used herein, the term “tool drive assembly” when used in the context of the robotic system 1000 , at least encompasses various embodiments of the adapter 1240 and tool holder 1270 and which has been generally designated as 1010 in fig. 30 . for example, as can be seen in fig. 30 , the tool holder 1270 may include a first latch pin arrangement 1274 that is sized to be received in corresponding clevis slots 1241 provided in the adaptor 1240 . in addition, the tool holder 1270 may further have second latch pins 1276 that are sized to be retained in corresponding latch clevises 1243 in the adaptor 1240 . see fig. 32 . in at least one form, a latch assembly 1245 is movably supported on the adapter 1240 and is biasable between a first latched position wherein the latch pins 1276 are retained within their respective latch clevis 1243 and an unlatched position wherein the second latch pins 1276 may be into or removed from the latch clevises 1243 . a spring or springs (not shown) are employed to bias the latch assembly into the latched position. a lip on the tool side 1244 of adaptor 1240 may slidably receive laterally extending tabs of tool mounting housing 1301 . turning next to figs. 34-41 , in at least one embodiment, the surgical tool 1200 includes a surgical end effector 2012 that comprises in this example, among other things, at least one component 2024 that is selectively movable between first and second positions relative to at least one other component 2022 in response to various control motions applied thereto as will be discussed in further detail below. in various embodiments, component 2022 comprises an elongated channel 2022 configured to operably support a surgical staple cartridge 2034 therein and component 2024 comprises a pivotally translatable clamping member, such as an anvil 2024 . various embodiments of the surgical end effector 2012 are configured to maintain the anvil 2024 and elongated channel 2022 at a spacing that assures effective stapling and severing of tissue clamped in the surgical end effector 2012 . as can be seen in fig. 40 , the surgical end effector 2012 further includes a cutting instrument 2032 and a sled 2033 . the cutting instrument 2032 may be, for example, a knife. the surgical staple cartridge 2034 operably houses a plurality of surgical staples (not show) therein that are supported on movable staple drivers (not shown). as the cutting instrument 2032 is driven distally through a centrally-disposed slot (not shown) in the surgical staple cartridge 2034 , it forces the sled 2033 distally as well. as the sled 2033 is driven distally, its “wedge-shaped” configuration contacts the movable staple drivers and drives them vertically toward the closed anvil 2024 . the surgical staples are formed as they are driven into the forming surface located on the underside of the anvil 2024 . the sled 2033 may be part of the surgical staple cartridge 2034 , such that when the cutting instrument 2032 is retracted following the cutting operation, the sled 2033 does not retract. the anvil 2024 may be pivotably opened and closed at a pivot point 2025 located at the proximal end of the elongated channel 2022 . the anvil 2024 may also include a tab 2027 at its proximal end that interacts with a component of the mechanical closure system (described further below) to facilitate the opening of the anvil 2024 . the elongated channel 2022 and the anvil 2024 may be made of an electrically conductive material (such as metal) so that they may serve as part of an antenna that communicates with sensor(s) in the end effector, as described above. the surgical staple cartridge 2034 could be made of a nonconductive material (such as plastic) and the sensor may be connected to or disposed in the surgical staple cartridge 2034 , as was also described above. as can be seen in figs. 34-41 , the surgical end effector 2012 is attached to the tool mounting portion 1300 by an elongated shaft assembly 2008 according to various embodiments. as shown in the illustrated embodiment, the shaft assembly 2008 includes an articulation joint generally indicated as 2011 that enables the surgical end effector 2012 to be selectively articulated about an articulation axis aa-aa that is substantially transverse to a longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. see fig. 35 . in other embodiments, the articulation joint is omitted. in various embodiments, the shaft assembly 2008 may include a closure tube assembly 2009 that comprises a proximal closure tube 2040 and a distal closure tube 2042 that are pivotably linked by a pivot links 2044 and operably supported on a spine assembly generally depicted as 2049 . in the illustrated embodiment, the spine assembly 2049 comprises a distal spine portion 2050 that is attached to the elongated channel 2022 and is pivotally coupled to the proximal spine portion 2052 . the closure tube assembly 2009 is configured to axially slide on the spine assembly 2049 in response to actuation motions applied thereto. the distal closure tube 2042 includes an opening 2045 into which the tab 2027 on the anvil 2024 is inserted in order to facilitate opening of the anvil 2024 as the distal closure tube 2042 is moved axially in the proximal direction “pd”. the closure tubes 2040 , 2042 may be made of electrically conductive material (such as metal) so that they may serve as part of the antenna, as described above. components of the main drive shaft assembly (e.g., the drive shafts 2048 , 2050 ) may be made of a nonconductive material (such as plastic). in use, it may be desirable to rotate the surgical end effector 2012 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. in at least one embodiment, the tool mounting portion 1300 includes a rotational transmission assembly 2069 that is configured to receive a corresponding rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 and convert that rotary output motion to a rotary control motion for rotating the elongated shaft assembly 2008 (and surgical end effector 2012 ) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. in various embodiments, for example, the proximal end 2060 of the proximal closure tube 2040 is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 1302 of the tool mounting portion 1300 by a forward support cradle 1309 and a closure sled 2100 that is also movably supported on the tool mounting plate 1302 . in at least one form, the rotational transmission assembly 2069 includes a tube gear segment 2062 that is formed on (or attached to) the proximal end 2060 of the proximal closure tube 2040 for operable engagement by a rotational gear assembly 2070 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 1302 . as can be seen in fig. 37 , the rotational gear assembly 2070 , in at least one embodiment, comprises a rotation drive gear 2072 that is coupled to a corresponding first one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side 1307 of the tool mounting plate 1302 when the tool mounting portion 1300 is coupled to the tool drive assembly 1010 . see fig. 34 . the rotational gear assembly 2070 further comprises a rotary driven gear 2074 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 1302 in meshing engagement with the tube gear segment 2062 and the rotation drive gear 2072 . application of a first rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 to the corresponding driven element 1304 will thereby cause rotation of the rotation drive gear 2072 . rotation of the rotation drive gear 2072 ultimately results in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 2008 (and the surgical end effector 2012 ) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt (represented by arrow “r” in fig. 37 ). it will be appreciated that the application of a rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 in one direction will result in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 2008 and surgical end effector 2012 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt in a first direction and an application of the rotary output motion in an opposite direction will result in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 2008 and surgical end effector 2012 in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction. in at least one embodiment, the closure of the anvil 2024 relative to the staple cartridge 2034 is accomplished by axially moving the closure tube assembly 2009 in the distal direction “dd” on the spine assembly 2049 . as indicated above, in various embodiments, the proximal end 2060 of the proximal closure tube 2040 is supported by the closure sled 2100 which comprises a portion of a closure transmission, generally depicted as 2099 . in at least one form, the closure sled 2100 is configured to support the closure tube 2009 on the tool mounting plate 1320 such that the proximal closure tube 2040 can rotate relative to the closure sled 2100 , yet travel axially with the closure sled 2100 . in particular, as can be seen in fig. 41 , the closure sled 2100 has an upstanding tab 2101 that extends into a radial groove 2063 in the proximal end portion of the proximal closure tube 2040 . in addition, as can be seen in figs. 39 and 42 , the closure sled 2100 has a tab portion 2102 that extends through a slot 1305 in the tool mounting plate 1302 . the tab portion 2102 is configured to retain the closure sled 2100 in sliding engagement with the tool mounting plate 1302 . in various embodiments, the closure sled 2100 has an upstanding portion 2104 that has a closure rack gear 2106 formed thereon. the closure rack gear 2106 is configured for driving engagement with a closure gear assembly 2110 . see fig. 39 . in various forms, the closure gear assembly 2110 includes a closure spur gear 2112 that is coupled to a corresponding second one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side 1307 of the tool mounting plate 1302 . see fig. 34 . thus, application of a second rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 to the corresponding second driven element 1304 will cause rotation of the closure spur gear 2112 when the tool mounting portion 1300 is coupled to the tool drive assembly 1010 . the closure gear assembly 2110 further includes a closure reduction gear set 2114 that is supported in meshing engagement with the closure spur gear 2112 . as can be seen in figs. 38 and 39 , the closure reduction gear set 2114 includes a driven gear 2116 that is rotatably supported in meshing engagement with the closure spur gear 2112 . the closure reduction gear set 2114 further includes a first closure drive gear 2118 that is in meshing engagement with a second closure drive gear 2120 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 1302 in meshing engagement with the closure rack gear 2106 . thus, application of a second rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 to the corresponding second driven element 1304 will cause rotation of the closure spur gear 2112 and the closure transmission 2110 and ultimately drive the closure sled 2100 and closure tube assembly 2009 axially. the axial direction in which the closure tube assembly 2009 moves ultimately depends upon the direction in which the second driven element 1304 is rotated. for example, in response to one rotary output motion received from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 , the closure sled 2100 will be driven in the distal direction “dd” and ultimately drive the closure tube assembly 1009 in the distal direction. as the distal closure tube 2042 is driven distally, the end of the closure tube segment 2042 will engage a portion of the anvil 2024 and cause the anvil 2024 to pivot to a closed position. upon application of an “opening” out put motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 , the closure sled 2100 and shaft assembly 2008 will be driven in the proximal direction “pd”. as the distal closure tube 2042 is driven in the proximal direction, the opening 2045 therein interacts with the tab 2027 on the anvil 2024 to facilitate the opening thereof. in various embodiments, a spring (not shown) may be employed to bias the anvil to the open position when the distal closure tube 2042 has been moved to its starting position. in various embodiments, the various gears of the closure gear assembly 2110 are sized to generate the necessary closure forces needed to satisfactorily close the anvil 2024 onto the tissue to be cut and stapled by the surgical end effector 2012 . for example, the gears of the closure transmission 2110 may be sized to generate approximately 70-120 pounds. in various embodiments, the cutting instrument 2032 is driven through the surgical end effector 2012 by a knife bar 2200 . see figs. 40 and 42 . in at least one form, the knife bar 2200 may be fabricated from, for example, stainless steel or other similar material and has a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape. such knife bar configuration is sufficiently rigid to push the cutting instrument 2032 through tissue clamped in the surgical end effector 2012 , while still being flexible enough to enable the surgical end effector 2012 to articulate relative to the proximal closure tube 2040 and the proximal spine portion 2052 about the articulation axis aa-aa as will be discussed in further detail below. as can be seen in figs. 43 and 44 , the proximal spine portion 2052 has a rectangular-shaped passage 2054 extending therethrough to provide support to the knife bar 2200 as it is axially pushed therethrough. the proximal spine portion 2052 has a proximal end 2056 that is rotatably mounted to a spine mounting bracket 2057 attached to the tool mounting plate 1032 . see fig. 42 . such arrangement permits the proximal spine portion 2052 to rotate, but not move axially, within the proximal closure tube 2040 . as shown in fig. 40 , the distal end 2202 of the knife bar 2200 is attached to the cutting instrument 2032 . the proximal end 2204 of the knife bar 2200 is rotatably affixed to a knife rack gear 2206 such that the knife bar 2200 is free to rotate relative to the knife rack gear 2206 . see fig. 39 . as can be seen in figs. 36-41 , the knife rack gear 2206 is slidably supported within a rack housing 2210 that is attached to the tool mounting plate 1302 such that the knife rack gear 2206 is retained in meshing engagement with a knife gear assembly 2220 . more specifically and with reference to fig. 39 , in at least one embodiment, the knife gear assembly 2220 includes a knife spur gear 2222 that is coupled to a corresponding third one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side 1307 of the tool mounting plate 1302 . see fig. 34 . thus, application of another rotary output motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool drive assembly 1010 to the corresponding third driven element 1304 will cause rotation of the knife spur gear 2222 . the knife gear assembly 2220 further includes a knife gear reduction set 2224 that includes a first knife driven gear 2226 and a second knife drive gear 2228 . the knife gear reduction set 2224 is rotatably mounted to the tool mounting plate 1302 such that the first knife driven gear 2226 is in meshing engagement with the knife spur gear 2222 . likewise, the second knife drive gear 2228 is in meshing engagement with a third knife drive gear 2230 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 1302 in meshing engagement with the knife rack gear 2206 . in various embodiments, the gears of the knife gear assembly 2220 are sized to generate the forces needed to drive the cutting element 2032 through the tissue clamped in the surgical end effector 2012 and actuate the staples therein. for example, the gears of the knife drive assembly 2230 may be sized to generate approximately 40 to 100 pounds. it will be appreciated that the application of a rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 in one direction will result in the axial movement of the cutting instrument 2032 in a distal direction and application of the rotary output motion in an opposite direction will result in the axial travel of the cutting instrument 2032 in a proximal direction. in various embodiments, the surgical tool 1200 employs and articulation system 2007 that includes an articulation joint 2011 that enables the surgical end effector 2012 to be articulated about an articulation axis aa-aa that is substantially transverse to the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. in at least one embodiment, the surgical tool 1200 includes first and second articulation bars 2250 a , 2250 b that are slidably supported within corresponding passages 2053 provided through the proximal spine portion 2052 . see figs. 42 and 44 . in at least one form, the first and second articulation bars 2250 a , 2250 b are actuated by an articulation transmission generally designated as 2249 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 1032 . each of the articulation bars 2250 a , 2250 b has a proximal end 2252 that has a guide rod protruding therefrom which extend laterally through a corresponding slot in the proximal end portion of the proximal spine portion 2052 and into a corresponding arcuate slot in an articulation nut 2260 which comprises a portion of the articulation transmission. fig. 43 illustrates articulation bar 2250 a . it will be understood that articulation bar 2250 b is similarly constructed. as can be seen in fig. 40 , for example, the articulation bar 2250 a has a guide rod 2254 which extends laterally through a corresponding slot 2058 in the proximal end portion 2056 of the distal spine portion 2050 and into a corresponding arcuate slot 2262 in the articulation nut 2260 . in addition, the articulation bar 2250 a has a distal end 2251 a that is pivotally coupled to the distal spine portion 2050 by, for example, a pin 2253 a and articulation bar 2250 b has a distal end 2251 b that is pivotally coupled to the distal spine portion 2050 by, for example, a pin 2253 b . in particular, the articulation bar 2250 a is laterally offset in a first lateral direction from the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt and the articulation bar 2250 b is laterally offset in a second lateral direction from the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. thus, axial movement of the articulation bars 2250 a and 2250 b in opposing directions will result in the articulation of the distal spine portion 2050 as well as the surgical end effector 2012 attached thereto about the articulation axis aa-aa as will be discussed in further detail below. articulation of the surgical end effector 2012 is controlled by rotating the articulation nut 2260 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. the articulation nut 2260 is rotatably journaled on the proximal end portion 2056 of the distal spine portion 2050 and is rotatably driven thereon by an articulation gear assembly 2270 . more specifically and with reference to fig. 37 , in at least one embodiment, the articulation gear assembly 2270 includes an articulation spur gear 2272 that is coupled to a corresponding fourth one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side 1307 of the tool mounting plate 1302 . see fig. 34 . thus, application of another rotary input motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool drive assembly 1010 to the corresponding fourth driven element 1304 will cause rotation of the articulation spur gear 2272 when the interface 1230 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . an articulation drive gear 2274 is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 1302 in meshing engagement with the articulation spur gear 2272 and a gear portion 2264 of the articulation nut 2260 as shown. as can be seen in figs. 42 and 43 , the articulation nut 2260 has a shoulder 2266 formed thereon that defines an annular groove 2267 for receiving retaining posts 2268 therein. retaining posts 2268 are attached to the tool mounting plate 1302 and serve to prevent the articulation nut 2260 from moving axially on the proximal spine portion 2052 while maintaining the ability to be rotated relative thereto. thus, rotation of the articulation nut 2260 in a first direction, will result in the axial movement of the articulation bar 2250 a in a distal direction “dd” and the axial movement of the articulation bar 2250 b in a proximal direction “pd” because of the interaction of the guide rods 2254 with the spiral slots 2262 in the articulation gear 2260 . similarly, rotation of the articulation nut 2260 in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction will result in the axial movement of the articulation bar 2250 a in the proximal direction “pd” as well as cause articulation bar 2250 b to axially move in the distal direction “dd”. thus, the surgical end effector 2012 may be selectively articulated about articulation axis “aa-aa” in a first direction “fd” by simultaneously moving the articulation bar 2250 a in the distal direction “dd” and the articulation bar 2250 b in the proximal direction “pd”. likewise, the surgical end effector 2012 may be selectively articulated about the articulation axis “aa-aa” in a second direction “sd” by simultaneously moving the articulation bar 2250 a in the proximal direction “pd” and the articulation bar 2250 b in the distal direction “dd.” see fig. 35 . the tool embodiment described above employs an interface arrangement that is particularly well-suited for mounting the robotically controllable medical tool onto at least one form of robotic arm arrangement that generates at least four different rotary control motions. those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that such rotary output motions may be selectively controlled through the programmable control systems employed by the robotic system/controller. for example, the tool arrangement described above may be well-suited for use with those robotic systems manufactured by intuitive surgical, inc. of sunnyvale, calif., u.s.a., many of which may be described in detail in various patents incorporated herein by reference. the unique and novel aspects of various embodiments of the present invention serve to utilize the rotary output motions supplied by the robotic system to generate specific control motions having sufficient magnitudes that enable end effectors to cut and staple tissue. thus, the unique arrangements and principles of various embodiments of the present invention may enable a variety of different forms of the tool systems disclosed and claimed herein to be effectively employed in connection with other types and forms of robotic systems that supply programmed rotary or other output motions. in addition, as will become further apparent as the present detailed description proceeds, various end effector embodiments of the present invention that require other forms of actuation motions may also be effectively actuated utilizing one or more of the control motions generated by the robotic system. figs. 46-50 illustrate yet another surgical tool 2300 that may be effectively employed in connection with the robotic system 1000 that has a tool drive assembly that is operably coupled to a controller of the robotic system that is operable by inputs from an operator and which is configured to provide at least one rotary output motion to at least one rotatable body portion supported on the tool drive assembly. in various forms, the surgical tool 2300 includes a surgical end effector 2312 that includes an elongated channel 2322 and a pivotally translatable clamping member, such as an anvil 2324 , which are maintained at a spacing that assures effective stapling and severing of tissue clamped in the surgical end effector 2312 . as shown in the illustrated embodiment, the surgical end effector 2312 may include, in addition to the previously-mentioned elongated channel 2322 and anvil 2324 , a cutting instrument 2332 that has a sled portion 2333 formed thereon, a surgical staple cartridge 2334 that is seated in the elongated channel 2322 , and a rotary end effector drive shaft 2336 that has a helical screw thread formed thereon. the cutting instrument 2332 may be, for example, a knife. as will be discussed in further detail below, rotation of the end effector drive shaft 2336 will cause the cutting instrument 2332 and sled portion 2333 to axially travel through the surgical staple cartridge 2334 to move between a starting position and an ending position. the direction of axial travel of the cutting instrument 2332 depends upon the direction in which the end effector drive shaft 2336 is rotated. the anvil 2324 may be pivotably opened and closed at a pivot point 2325 connected to the proximate end of the elongated channel 2322 . the anvil 2324 may also include a tab 2327 at its proximate end that operably interfaces with a component of the mechanical closure system (described further below) to open and close the anvil 2324 . when the end effector drive shaft 2336 is rotated, the cutting instrument 2332 and sled 2333 will travel longitudinally through the surgical staple cartridge 2334 from the starting position to the ending position, thereby cutting tissue clamped within the surgical end effector 2312 . the movement of the sled 2333 through the surgical staple cartridge 2334 causes the staples therein to be driven through the severed tissue and against the closed anvil 2324 , which turns the staples to fasten the severed tissue. in one form, the elongated channel 2322 and the anvil 2324 may be made of an electrically conductive material (such as metal) so that they may serve as part of the antenna that communicates with sensor(s) in the end effector, as described above. the surgical staple cartridge 2334 could be made of a nonconductive material (such as plastic) and the sensor may be connected to or disposed in the surgical staple cartridge 2334 , as described above. it should be noted that although the embodiments of the surgical tool 2300 described herein employ a surgical end effector 2312 that staples the severed tissue, in other embodiments different techniques for fastening or sealing the severed tissue may be used. for example, end effectors that use rf energy or adhesives to fasten the severed tissue may also be used. u.s. pat. no. 5,709,680, entitled electrosurgical hemostatic device, and u.s. pat. no. 5,688,270, entitled electrosurgical hemostatic device with recessed and/or offset electrodes, which are incorporated herein by reference, disclose cutting instruments that use rf energy to fasten the severed tissue. u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/267,811, now u.s. pat. no. 7,673,783, and u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/267,383, now u.s. pat. no. 7,607,557, which are also incorporated herein by reference, disclose cutting instruments that use adhesives to fasten the severed tissue. accordingly, although the description herein refers to cutting/stapling operations and the like, it should be recognized that this is an exemplary embodiment and is not meant to be limiting. other tissue-fastening techniques may also be used. in the illustrated embodiment, the surgical end effector 2312 is coupled to an elongated shaft assembly 2308 that is coupled to a tool mounting portion 2460 and defines a longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. in this embodiment, the elongated shaft assembly 2308 does not include an articulation joint. those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that other embodiments may have an articulation joint therein. in at least one embodiment, the elongated shaft assembly 2308 comprises a hollow outer tube 2340 that is rotatably supported on a tool mounting plate 2462 of a tool mounting portion 2460 as will be discussed in further detail below. in various embodiments, the elongated shaft assembly 2308 further includes a distal spine shaft 2350 . distal spine shaft 2350 has a distal end portion 2354 that is coupled to, or otherwise integrally formed with, a distal stationary base portion 2360 that is non-movably coupled to the channel 2322 . see figs. 47-49 . as shown in fig. 47 , the distal spine shaft 2350 has a proximal end portion 2351 that is slidably received within a slot 2355 in a proximal spine shaft 2353 that is non-movably supported within the hollow outer tube 2340 by at least one support collar 2357 . as can be further seen in figs. 47 and 48 , the surgical tool 2300 includes a closure tube 2370 that is constrained to only move axially relative to the distal stationary base portion 2360 . the closure tube 2370 has a proximal end 2372 that has an internal thread 2374 formed therein that is in threaded engagement with a transmission arrangement, generally depicted as 2375 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 2462 . in various forms, the transmission arrangement 2375 includes a rotary drive shaft assembly, generally designated as 2381 . when rotated, the rotary drive shaft assembly 2381 will cause the closure tube 2370 to move axially as will be describe in further detail below. in at least one form, the rotary drive shaft assembly 2381 includes a closure drive nut 2382 of a closure clutch assembly generally designated as 2380 . more specifically, the closure drive nut 2382 has a proximal end portion 2384 that is rotatably supported relative to the outer tube 2340 and is in threaded engagement with the closure tube 2370 . for assembly purposes, the proximal end portion 2384 may be threadably attached to a retention ring 2386 . retention ring 2386 , in cooperation with an end 2387 of the closure drive nut 2382 , defines an annular slot 2388 into which a shoulder 2392 of a locking collar 2390 extends. the locking collar 2390 is non-movably attached (e.g., welded, glued, etc.) to the end of the outer tube 2340 . such arrangement serves to affix the closure drive nut 2382 to the outer tube 2340 while enabling the closure drive nut 2382 to rotate relative to the outer tube 2340 . the closure drive nut 2382 further has a distal end 2383 that has a threaded portion 2385 that threadably engages the internal thread 2374 of the closure tube 2370 . thus, rotation of the closure drive nut 2382 will cause the closure tube 2370 to move axially as represented by arrow “d” in fig. 48 . closure of the anvil 2324 and actuation of the cutting instrument 2332 are accomplished by control motions that are transmitted by a hollow drive sleeve 2400 . as can be seen in figs. 47 and 48 , the hollow drive sleeve 2400 is rotatably and slidably received on the distal spine shaft 2350 . the drive sleeve 2400 has a proximal end portion 2401 that is rotatably mounted to the proximal spine shaft 2353 that protrudes from the tool mounting portion 2460 such that the drive sleeve 2400 may rotate relative thereto. see fig. 47 . as can also be seen in figs. 47-49 , the drive sleeve 2400 is rotated about the longitudinal tool axis “lt-lt” by a drive shaft 2440 . the drive shaft 2440 has a drive gear 2444 that is attached to its distal end 2442 and is in meshing engagement with a driven gear 2450 that is attached to the drive sleeve 2400 . the drive sleeve 2400 further has a distal end portion 2402 that is coupled to a closure clutch 2410 portion of the closure clutch assembly 2380 that has a proximal face 2412 and a distal face 2414 . the proximal face 2412 has a series of proximal teeth 2416 formed thereon that are adapted for selective engagement with corresponding proximal teeth cavities 2418 formed in the proximal end portion 2384 of the closure drive nut 2382 . thus, when the proximal teeth 2416 are in meshing engagement with the proximal teeth cavities 2418 in the closure drive nut 2382 , rotation of the drive sleeve 2400 will result in rotation of the closure drive nut 2382 and ultimately cause the closure tube 2370 to move axially as will be discussed in further detail below. as can be most particularly seen in figs. 47 and 48 , the distal face 2414 of the drive clutch portion 2410 has a series of distal teeth 2415 formed thereon that are adapted for selective engagement with corresponding distal teeth cavities 2426 formed in a face plate portion 2424 of a knife drive shaft assembly 2420 . in various embodiments, the knife drive shaft assembly 2420 comprises a hollow knife shaft segment 2430 that is rotatably received on a corresponding portion of the distal spine shaft 2350 that is attached to or protrudes from the stationary base 2360 . when the distal teeth 2415 of the closure clutch portion 2410 are in meshing engagement with the distal teeth cavities 2426 in the face plate portion 2424 , rotation of the drive sleeve 2400 will result in rotation of the drive shaft segment 2430 about the stationary shaft 2350 . as can be seen in figs. 47-49 , a knife drive gear 2432 is attached to the drive shaft segment 2430 and is meshing engagement with a drive knife gear 2434 that is attached to the end effector drive shaft 2336 . thus, rotation of the drive shaft segment 2430 will result in the rotation of the end effector drive shaft 2336 to drive the cutting instrument 2332 and sled 2333 distally through the surgical staple cartridge 2334 to cut and staple tissue clamped within the surgical end effector 2312 . the sled 2333 may be made of, for example, plastic, and may have a sloped distal surface. as the sled 2333 traverses the elongated channel 2322 , the sloped forward surface of the sled 2333 pushes up or “drive” the staples in the surgical staple cartridge 2334 through the clamped tissue and against the anvil 2324 . the anvil 2324 turns or “forms” the staples, thereby stapling the severed tissue. as used herein, the term “fire” refers to the initiation of actions required to drive the cutting instrument and sled portion in a distal direction through the surgical staple cartridge to cut the tissue clamped in the surgical end effector and drive the staples through the severed tissue. in use, it may be desirable to rotate the surgical end effector 2312 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. in at least one embodiment, the transmission arrangement 2375 includes a rotational transmission assembly 2465 that is configured to receive a corresponding rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 and convert that rotary output motion to a rotary control motion for rotating the elongated shaft assembly 2308 (and surgical end effector 2312 ) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. as can be seen in fig. 50 , a proximal end 2341 of the outer tube 2340 is rotatably supported within a cradle arrangement 2343 attached to the tool mounting plate 2462 of the tool mounting portion 2460 . a rotation gear 2345 is formed on or attached to the proximal end 2341 of the outer tube 2340 of the elongated shaft assembly 2308 for meshing engagement with a rotation gear assembly 2470 operably supported on the tool mounting plate 2462 . in at least one embodiment, a rotation drive gear 2472 is coupled to a corresponding first one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 2462 when the tool mounting portion 2460 is coupled to the tool drive assembly 1010 . see figs. 34 and 50 . the rotation drive assembly 2470 further comprises a rotary driven gear 2474 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 2462 in meshing engagement with the rotation gear 2345 and the rotation drive gear 2472 . application of a first rotary output motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool drive assembly 1010 to the corresponding driven element 1304 will thereby cause rotation of the rotation drive gear 2472 by virtue of being operably coupled thereto. rotation of the rotation drive gear 2472 ultimately results in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 2308 (and the end effector 2312 ) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt (primary rotary motion). closure of the anvil 2324 relative to the staple cartridge 2034 is accomplished by axially moving the closure tube 2370 in the distal direction “dd”. axial movement of the closure tube 2370 in the distal direction “dd” is accomplished by applying a rotary control motion to the closure drive nut 2382 . to apply the rotary control motion to the closure drive nut 2382 , the closure clutch 2410 must first be brought into meshing engagement with the proximal end portion 2384 of the closure drive nut 2382 . in various embodiments, the transmission arrangement 2375 further includes a shifter drive assembly 2480 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 2462 . more specifically and with reference to fig. 50 , it can be seen that a proximal end portion 2359 of the proximal spine portion 2353 extends through the rotation gear 2345 and is rotatably coupled to a shifter gear rack 2481 that is slidably affixed to the tool mounting plate 2462 through slots 2482 . the shifter drive assembly 2480 further comprises a shifter drive gear 2483 that is coupled to a corresponding second one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 2462 when the tool mounting portion 2460 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . see figs. 34 and 50 . the shifter drive assembly 2480 further comprises a shifter driven gear 2478 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 2462 in meshing engagement with the shifter drive gear 2483 and the shifter rack gear 2482 . application of a second rotary output motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool drive assembly 1010 to the corresponding driven element 1304 will thereby cause rotation of the shifter drive gear 2483 by virtue of being operably coupled thereto. rotation of the shifter drive gear 2483 ultimately results in the axial movement of the shifter gear rack 2482 and the proximal spine portion 2353 as well as the drive sleeve 2400 and the closure clutch 2410 attached thereto. the direction of axial travel of the closure clutch 2410 depends upon the direction in which the shifter drive gear 2483 is rotated by the robotic system 1000 . thus, rotation of the shifter drive gear 2483 in a first rotary direction will result in the axial movement of the closure clutch 2410 in the proximal direction “pd” to bring the proximal teeth 2416 into meshing engagement with the proximal teeth cavities 2418 in the closure drive nut 2382 . conversely, rotation of the shifter drive gear 2483 in a second rotary direction (opposite to the first rotary direction) will result in the axial movement of the closure clutch 2410 in the distal direction “dd” to bring the distal teeth 2415 into meshing engagement with corresponding distal teeth cavities 2426 formed in the face plate portion 2424 of the knife drive shaft assembly 2420 . once the closure clutch 2410 has been brought into meshing engagement with the closure drive nut 2382 , the closure drive nut 2382 is rotated by rotating the closure clutch 2410 . rotation of the closure clutch 2410 is controlled by applying rotary output motions to a rotary drive transmission portion 2490 of transmission arrangement 2375 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 2462 as shown in fig. 50 . in at least one embodiment, the rotary drive transmission 2490 includes a rotary drive assembly 2490 ′ that includes a gear 2491 that is coupled to a corresponding third one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 2462 when the tool mounting portion 2460 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . see figs. 34 and 50 . the rotary drive transmission 2490 further comprises a first rotary driven gear 2492 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 2462 in meshing engagement with a second rotary driven gear 2493 and the rotary drive gear 2491 . the second rotary driven gear 2493 is coupled to a proximal end portion 2443 of the drive shaft 2440 . rotation of the rotary drive gear 2491 in a first rotary direction will result in the rotation of the drive shaft 2440 in a first direction. conversely, rotation of the rotary drive gear 2491 in a second rotary direction (opposite to the first rotary direction) will cause the drive shaft 2440 to rotate in a second direction. as indicated above, the drive shaft 2440 has a drive gear 2444 that is attached to its distal end 2442 and is in meshing engagement with a driven gear 2450 that is attached to the drive sleeve 2400 . thus, rotation of the drive shaft 2440 results in rotation of the drive sleeve 2400 . a method of operating the surgical tool 2300 will now be described. once the tool mounting portion 2462 has been operably coupled to the tool holder 1270 of the robotic system 1000 and oriented into position adjacent the target tissue to be cut and stapled, if the anvil 2334 is not already in the open position ( fig. 47 ), the robotic system 1000 may apply the first rotary output motion to the shifter drive gear 2483 which results in the axial movement of the closure clutch 2410 into meshing engagement with the closure drive nut 2382 (if it is not already in meshing engagement therewith). see fig. 48 . once the controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 has confirmed that the closure clutch 2410 is meshing engagement with the closure drive nut 2382 (e.g., by means of sensor(s)) in the surgical end effector 2312 that are in communication with the robotic control system), the robotic controller 1001 may then apply a second rotary output motion to the rotary drive gear 2492 which, as was described above, ultimately results in the rotation of the rotary drive nut 2382 in the first direction which results in the axial travel of the closure tube 2370 in the distal direction “dd”. as the closure tube 2370 moved in the distal direction, it contacts a portion of the anvil 2323 and causes the anvil 2324 to pivot to the closed position to clamp the target tissue between the anvil 2324 and the surgical staple cartridge 2334 . once the robotic controller 1001 determines that the anvil 2334 has been pivoted to the closed position by corresponding sensor(s) in the surgical end effector 2312 in communication therewith, the robotic system 1000 discontinues the application of the second rotary output motion to the rotary drive gear 2491 . the robotic controller 1001 may also provide the surgeon with an indication that the anvil 2334 has been fully closed. the surgeon may then initiate the firing procedure. in alternative embodiments, the firing procedure may be automatically initiated by the robotic controller 1001 . the robotic controller 1001 then applies the primary rotary control motion 2483 to the shifter drive gear 2483 which results in the axial movement of the closure clutch 2410 into meshing engagement with the face plate portion 2424 of the knife drive shaft assembly 2420 . see fig. 49 . once the controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 has confirmed that the closure clutch 2410 is meshing engagement with the face plate portion 2424 (by means of sensor(s)) in the end effector 2312 that are in communication with the robotic controller 1001 ), the robotic controller 1001 may then apply the second rotary output motion to the rotary drive gear 2492 which, as was described above, ultimately results in the axial movement of the cutting instrument 2332 and sled portion 2333 in the distal direction “dd” through the surgical staple cartridge 2334 . as the cutting instrument 2332 moves distally through the surgical staple cartridge 2334 , the tissue clamped therein is severed. as the sled portion 2333 is driven distally, it causes the staples within the surgical staple cartridge to be driven through the severed tissue into forming contact with the anvil 2324 . once the robotic controller 1001 has determined that the cutting instrument 2324 has reached the end position within the surgical staple cartridge 2334 (by means of sensor(s)) in the end effector 2312 that are in communication with the robotic controller 1001 ), the robotic controller 1001 discontinues the application of the second rotary output motion to the rotary drive gear 2491 . thereafter, the robotic controller 1001 applies the secondary rotary output motion to the rotary drive gear 2491 which ultimately results in the axial travel of the cutting instrument 2332 and sled portion 2333 in the proximal direction “pd” to the starting position. once the robotic controller 1001 has determined that the cutting instrument 2324 has reached the staring position by means of sensor(s) in the surgical end effector 2312 that are in communication with the robotic controller 1001 , the robotic controller 1001 discontinues the application of the secondary rotary output motion to the rotary drive gear 2491 . thereafter, the robotic controller 1001 applies the primary rotary output motion to the shifter drive gear 2483 to cause the closure clutch 2410 to move into engagement with the rotary drive nut 2382 . once the closure clutch 2410 has been moved into meshing engagement with the rotary drive nut 2382 , the robotic controller 1001 then applies the secondary output motion to the rotary drive gear 2491 which ultimately results in the rotation of the rotary drive nut 2382 in the second direction to cause the closure tube 2370 to move in the proximal direction “pd”. as can be seen in figs. 47-49 , the closure tube 2370 has an opening 2345 therein that engages the tab 2327 on the anvil 2324 to cause the anvil 2324 to pivot to the open position. in alternative embodiments, a spring may also be employed to pivot the anvil 2324 to the open position when the closure tube 2370 has been returned to the starting position ( fig. 47 ). figs. 51-55 illustrate yet another surgical tool 2500 that may be effectively employed in connection with the robotic system 1000 . in various forms, the surgical tool 2500 includes a surgical end effector 2512 that includes a “first portion” in the form of an elongated channel 2522 and a “second movable portion” in the form of a pivotally translatable clamping member, such as an anvil 2524 , which are maintained at a spacing that assures effective stapling and severing of tissue clamped in the surgical end effector 2512 . as shown in the illustrated embodiment, the surgical end effector 2512 may include, in addition to the previously-mentioned elongated channel 2522 and anvil 2524 , a “third movable portion” in the form of a cutting instrument 2532 , a sled (not shown), and a surgical staple cartridge 2534 that is removably seated in the elongated channel 2522 . the cutting instrument 2532 may be, for example, a knife. the anvil 2524 may be pivotably opened and closed at a pivot point 2525 connected to the proximate end of the elongated channel 2522 . the anvil 2524 may also include a tab 2527 at its proximate end that is configured to operably interface with a component of the mechanical closure system (described further below) to open and close the anvil 2524 . when actuated, the knife 2532 and sled travel longitudinally along the elongated channel 2522 , thereby cutting tissue clamped within the surgical end effector 2512 . the movement of the sled along the elongated channel 2522 causes the staples of the surgical staple cartridge 2534 to be driven through the severed tissue and against the closed anvil 2524 , which turns the staples to fasten the severed tissue. in one form, the elongated channel 2522 and the anvil 2524 may be made of an electrically conductive material (such as metal) so that they may serve as part of the antenna that communicates with sensor(s) in the surgical end effector, as described above. the surgical staple cartridge 2534 could be made of a nonconductive material (such as plastic) and the sensor may be connected to or disposed in the surgical staple cartridge 2534 , as described above. it should be noted that although the embodiments of the surgical tool 2500 described herein employ a surgical end effector 2512 that staples the severed tissue, in other embodiments different techniques for fastening or sealing the severed tissue may be used. for example, end effectors that use rf energy or adhesives to fasten the severed tissue may also be used. u.s. pat. no. 5,709,680, entitled electrosurgical hemostatic device, and u.s. pat. no. 5,688,270, entitled electrosurgical hemostatic device with recessed and/or offset electrodes, which are incorporated herein by reference, disclose cutting instruments that use rf energy to fasten the severed tissue. u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/267,811, now u.s. pat. no. 7,673,783, and u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/267,383, now u.s. pat. no. 7,607,557, which are also incorporated herein by reference, disclose cutting instruments that use adhesives to fasten the severed tissue. accordingly, although the description herein refers to cutting/stapling operations and the like, it should be recognized that this is an exemplary embodiment and is not meant to be limiting. other tissue-fastening techniques may also be used. in the illustrated embodiment, the elongated channel 2522 of the surgical end effector 2512 is coupled to an elongated shaft assembly 2508 that is coupled to a tool mounting portion 2600 . in at least one embodiment, the elongated shaft assembly 2508 comprises a hollow spine tube 2540 that is non-movably coupled to a tool mounting plate 2602 of the tool mounting portion 2600 . as can be seen in figs. 52 and 53 , the proximal end 2523 of the elongated channel 2522 comprises a hollow tubular structure configured to be attached to the distal end 2541 of the spine tube 2540 . in one embodiment, for example, the proximal end 2523 of the elongated channel 2522 is welded or glued to the distal end of the spine tube 2540 . as can be further seen in figs. 52 and 53 , in at least one non-limiting embodiment, the surgical tool 2500 further includes an axially movable actuation member in the form of a closure tube 2550 that is constrained to move axially relative to the elongated channel 2522 and the spine tube 1540 . the closure tube 2550 has a proximal end 2552 that has an internal thread 2554 formed therein that is in threaded engagement with a rotatably movable portion in the form of a closure drive nut 2560 . more specifically, the closure drive nut 2560 has a proximal end portion 2562 that is rotatably supported relative to the elongated channel 2522 and the spine tube 2540 . for assembly purposes, the proximal end portion 2562 is threadably attached to a retention ring 2570 . the retention ring 2570 is received in a groove 2529 formed between a shoulder 2527 on the proximal end 2523 of the elongated channel 2522 and the distal end 2541 of the spine tube 1540 . such arrangement serves to rotatably support the closure drive nut 2560 within the elongated channel 2522 . rotation of the closure drive nut 2560 will cause the closure tube 2550 to move axially as represented by arrow “d” in fig. 52 . extending through the spine tube 2540 and the closure drive nut 2560 is a drive member which, in at least one embodiment, comprises a knife bar 2580 that has a distal end portion 2582 that is rotatably coupled to the cutting instrument 2532 such that the knife bar 2580 may rotate relative to the cutting instrument 2582 . as can be seen in fig. 52-54 , the closure drive nut 2560 has a slot 2564 therein through which the knife bar 2580 can slidably extend. such arrangement permits the knife bar 2580 to move axially relative to the closure drive nut 2560 . however, rotation of the knife bar 2580 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt will also result in the rotation of the closure drive nut 2560 . the axial direction in which the closure tube 2550 moves ultimately depends upon the direction in which the knife bar 2580 and the closure drive nut 2560 are rotated. as the closure tube 2550 is driven distally, the distal end thereof will contact the anvil 2524 and cause the anvil 2524 to pivot to a closed position. upon application of an opening rotary output motion from the robotic system 1000 , the closure tube 2550 will be driven in the proximal direction “pd” and pivot the anvil 2524 to the open position by virtue of the engagement of the tab 2527 with the opening 2555 in the closure tube 2550 . in use, it may be desirable to rotate the surgical end effector 2512 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. in at least one embodiment, the tool mounting portion 2600 is configured to receive a corresponding first rotary output motion from the robotic system 1000 and convert that first rotary output motion to a rotary control motion for rotating the elongated shaft assembly 2508 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. as can be seen in fig. 55 , a proximal end 2542 of the hollow spine tube 2540 is rotatably supported within a cradle arrangement 2603 attached to a tool mounting plate 2602 of the tool mounting portion 2600 . various embodiments of the surgical tool 2500 further include a transmission arrangement, generally depicted as 2605 , that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 2602 . in various forms the transmission arrangement 2605 include a rotation gear 2544 that is formed on or attached to the proximal end 2542 of the spine tube 2540 for meshing engagement with a rotation drive assembly 2610 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 2602 . in at least one embodiment, a rotation drive gear 2612 is coupled to a corresponding first one of the rotational bodies, driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 2602 when the tool mounting portion 2600 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . see figs. 34 and 55 . the rotation drive assembly 2610 further comprises a rotary driven gear 2614 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 2602 in meshing engagement with the rotation gear 2544 and the rotation drive gear 2612 . application of a first rotary output motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool drive assembly 1010 to the corresponding driven rotational body 1304 will thereby cause rotation of the rotation drive gear 2612 by virtue of being operably coupled thereto. rotation of the rotation drive gear 2612 ultimately results in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 2508 (and the end effector 2512 ) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. closure of the anvil 2524 relative to the surgical staple cartridge 2534 is accomplished by axially moving the closure tube 2550 in the distal direction “dd”. axial movement of the closure tube 2550 in the distal direction “dd” is accomplished by applying a rotary control motion to the closure drive nut 2382 . in various embodiments, the closure drive nut 2560 is rotated by applying a rotary output motion to the knife bar 2580 . rotation of the knife bar 2580 is controlled by applying rotary output motions to a rotary closure system 2620 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 2602 as shown in fig. 55 . in at least one embodiment, the rotary closure system 2620 includes a closure drive gear 2622 that is coupled to a corresponding second one of the driven rotatable body portions discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 2462 when the tool mounting portion 2600 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . see figs. 34 and 55 . the closure drive gear 2622 , in at least one embodiment, is in meshing driving engagement with a closure gear train, generally depicted as 2623 . the closure gear drive rain 2623 comprises a first driven closure gear 2624 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 2602 . the first closure driven gear 2624 is attached to a second closure driven gear 2626 by a drive shaft 2628 . the second closure driven gear 2626 is in meshing engagement with a third closure driven gear 2630 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 2602 . rotation of the closure drive gear 2622 in a second rotary direction will result in the rotation of the third closure driven gear 2630 in a second direction. conversely, rotation of the closure drive gear 2483 in a secondary rotary direction (opposite to the second rotary direction) will cause the third closure driven gear 2630 to rotate in a secondary direction. as can be seen in fig. 55 , a drive shaft assembly 2640 is coupled to a proximal end of the knife bar 2580 . in various embodiments, the drive shaft assembly 2640 includes a proximal portion 2642 that has a square cross-sectional shape. the proximal portion 2642 is configured to slidably engage a correspondingly shaped aperture in the third driven gear 2630 . such arrangement results in the rotation of the drive shaft assembly 2640 (and knife bar 2580 ) when the third driven gear 2630 is rotated. the drive shaft assembly 2640 is axially advanced in the distal and proximal directions by a knife drive assembly 2650 . one form of the knife drive assembly 2650 comprises a rotary drive gear 2652 that is coupled to a corresponding third one of the driven rotatable body portions, discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 2462 when the tool mounting portion 2600 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . see figs. 34 and 55 . the rotary driven gear 2652 is in meshing driving engagement with a gear train, generally depicted as 2653 . in at least one form, the gear train 2653 further comprises a first rotary driven gear assembly 2654 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 2602 . the first rotary driven gear assembly 2654 is in meshing engagement with a third rotary driven gear assembly 2656 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 2602 and which is in meshing engagement with a fourth rotary driven gear assembly 2658 that is in meshing engagement with a threaded portion 2644 of the drive shaft assembly 2640 . rotation of the rotary drive gear 2652 in a third rotary direction will result in the axial advancement of the drive shaft assembly 2640 and knife bar 2580 in the distal direction “dd”. conversely, rotation of the rotary drive gear 2652 in a tertiary rotary direction (opposite to the third rotary direction) will cause the drive shaft assembly 2640 and the knife bar 2580 to move in the proximal direction. a method of operating the surgical tool 2500 will now be described. once the tool mounting portion 2600 has been operably coupled to the tool holder 1270 of the robotic system 1000 , the robotic system 1000 can orient the surgical end effector 2512 in position adjacent the target tissue to be cut and stapled. if the anvil 2524 is not already in the open position ( fig. 52 ), the robotic system 1000 may apply the second rotary output motion to the closure drive gear 2622 which results in the rotation of the knife bar 2580 in a second direction. rotation of the knife bar 2580 in the second direction results in the rotation of the closure drive nut 2560 in a second direction. as the closure drive nut 2560 rotates in the second direction, the closure tube 2550 moves in the proximal direction “pd”. as the closure tube 2550 moves in the proximal direction “pd”, the tab 2527 on the anvil 2524 interfaces with the opening 2555 in the closure tube 2550 and causes the anvil 2524 to pivot to the open position. in addition or in alternative embodiments, a spring (not shown) may be employed to pivot the anvil 2354 to the open position when the closure tube 2550 has been returned to the starting position ( fig. 52 ). the opened surgical end effector 2512 may then be manipulated by the robotic system 1000 to position the target tissue between the open anvil 2524 and the surgical staple cartridge 2534 . thereafter, the surgeon may initiate the closure process by activating the robotic control system 1000 to apply the second rotary output motion to the closure drive gear 2622 which, as was described above, ultimately results in the rotation of the closure drive nut 2382 in the second direction which results in the axial travel of the closure tube 2250 in the distal direction “dd”. as the closure tube 2550 moves in the distal direction, it contacts a portion of the anvil 2524 and causes the anvil 2524 to pivot to the closed position to clamp the target tissue between the anvil 2524 and the staple cartridge 2534 . once the robotic controller 1001 determines that the anvil 2524 has been pivoted to the closed position by corresponding sensor(s) in the end effector 2512 that are in communication therewith, the robotic controller 1001 discontinues the application of the second rotary output motion to the closure drive gear 2622 . the robotic controller 1001 may also provide the surgeon with an indication that the anvil 2524 has been fully closed. the surgeon may then initiate the firing procedure. in alternative embodiments, the firing procedure may be automatically initiated by the robotic controller 1001 . after the robotic controller 1001 has determined that the anvil 2524 is in the closed position, the robotic controller 1001 then applies the third rotary output motion to the rotary drive gear 2652 which results in the axial movement of the drive shaft assembly 2640 and knife bar 2580 in the distal direction “dd”. as the cutting instrument 2532 moves distally through the surgical staple cartridge 2534 , the tissue clamped therein is severed. as the sled portion (not shown) is driven distally, it causes the staples within the surgical staple cartridge 2534 to be driven through the severed tissue into forming contact with the anvil 2524 . once the robotic controller 1001 has determined that the cutting instrument 2532 has reached the end position within the surgical staple cartridge 2534 by means of sensor(s) in the surgical end effector 2512 that are in communication with the robotic controller 1001 , the robotic controller 1001 discontinues the application of the second rotary output motion to the rotary drive gear 2652 . thereafter, the robotic controller 1001 applies the secondary rotary control motion to the rotary drive gear 2652 which ultimately results in the axial travel of the cutting instrument 2532 and sled portion in the proximal direction “pd” to the starting position. once the robotic controller 1001 has determined that the cutting instrument 2524 has reached the staring position by means of sensor(s) in the end effector 2512 that are in communication with the robotic controller 1001 , the robotic controller 1001 discontinues the application of the secondary rotary output motion to the rotary drive gear 2652 . thereafter, the robotic controller 1001 may apply the secondary rotary output motion to the closure drive gear 2622 which results in the rotation of the knife bar 2580 in a secondary direction. rotation of the knife bar 2580 in the secondary direction results in the rotation of the closure drive nut 2560 in a secondary direction. as the closure drive nut 2560 rotates in the secondary direction, the closure tube 2550 moves in the proximal direction “pd” to the open position. figs. 56-61b illustrate yet another surgical tool 2700 that may be effectively employed in connection with the robotic system 1000 . in various forms, the surgical tool 2700 includes a surgical end effector 2712 that includes a “first portion” in the form of an elongated channel 2722 and a “second movable portion” in one form comprising a pivotally translatable clamping member, such as an anvil 2724 , which are maintained at a spacing that assures effective stapling and severing of tissue clamped in the surgical end effector 2712 . as shown in the illustrated embodiment, the surgical end effector 2712 may include, in addition to the previously-mentioned channel 2722 and anvil 2724 , a “third movable portion” in the form of a cutting instrument 2732 , a sled (not shown), and a surgical staple cartridge 2734 that is removably seated in the elongated channel 2722 . the cutting instrument 2732 may be, for example, a knife. the anvil 2724 may be pivotably opened and closed at a pivot point 2725 connected to the proximal end of the elongated channel 2722 . the anvil 2724 may also include a tab 2727 at its proximal end that interfaces with a component of the mechanical closure system (described further below) to open and close the anvil 2724 . when actuated, the knife 2732 and sled to travel longitudinally along the elongated channel 2722 , thereby cutting tissue clamped within the surgical end effector 2712 . the movement of the sled along the elongated channel 2722 causes the staples of the surgical staple cartridge 2734 to be driven through the severed tissue and against the closed anvil 2724 , which turns the staples to fasten the severed tissue. in one form, the elongated channel 2722 and the anvil 2724 may be made of an electrically conductive material (such as metal) so that they may serve as part of the antenna that communicates with sensor(s) in the surgical end effector, as described above. the surgical staple cartridge 2734 could be made of a nonconductive material (such as plastic) and the sensor may be connected to or disposed in the surgical staple cartridge 2734 , as described above. it should be noted that although the embodiments of the surgical tool 2500 described herein employ a surgical end effector 2712 that staples the severed tissue, in other embodiments different techniques for fastening or sealing the severed tissue may be used. for example, end effectors that use rf energy or adhesives to fasten the severed tissue may also be used. u.s. pat. no. 5,709,680, entitled electrosurgical hemostatic device, and u.s. pat. no. 5,688,270, entitled electrosurgical hemostatic device with recessed and/or offset electrodes, which are incorporated herein by reference, disclose cutting instruments that use rf energy to fasten the severed tissue. u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/267,811, now u.s. pat. no. 7,673,783, and u.s. patent application ser. no. 11/267,383, now u.s. pat. no. 7,607,557, which are also incorporated herein by reference, disclose cutting instruments that use adhesives to fasten the severed tissue. accordingly, although the description herein refers to cutting/stapling operations and the like, it should be recognized that this is an exemplary embodiment and is not meant to be limiting. other tissue-fastening techniques may also be used. in the illustrated embodiment, the elongated channel 2722 of the surgical end effector 2712 is coupled to an elongated shaft assembly 2708 that is coupled to a tool mounting portion 2900 . although not shown, the elongated shaft assembly 2708 may include an articulation joint to permit the surgical end effector 2712 to be selectively articulated about an axis that is substantially transverse to the tool axis lt-lt. in at least one embodiment, the elongated shaft assembly 2708 comprises a hollow spine tube 2740 that is non-movably coupled to a tool mounting plate 2902 of the tool mounting portion 2900 . as can be seen in figs. 57 and 58 , the proximal end 2723 of the elongated channel 2722 comprises a hollow tubular structure that is attached to the spine tube 2740 by means of a mounting collar 2790 . a cross-sectional view of the mounting collar 2790 is shown in fig. 59 . in various embodiments, the mounting collar 2790 has a proximal flanged end 2791 that is configured for attachment to the distal end of the spine tube 2740 . in at least one embodiment, for example, the proximal flanged end 2791 of the mounting collar 2790 is welded or glued to the distal end of the spine tube 2740 . as can be further seen in figs. 57 and 58 , the mounting collar 2790 further has a mounting hub portion 2792 that is sized to receive the proximal end 2723 of the elongated channel 2722 thereon. the proximal end 2723 of the elongated channel 2722 is non-movably attached to the mounting hub portion 2792 by, for example, welding, adhesive, etc. as can be further seen in figs. 57 and 58 , the surgical tool 2700 further includes an axially movable actuation member in the form of a closure tube 2750 that is constrained to move axially relative to the elongated channel 2722 . the closure tube 2750 has a proximal end 2752 that has an internal thread 2754 formed therein that is in threaded engagement with a rotatably movable portion in the form of a closure drive nut 2760 . more specifically, the closure drive nut 2760 has a proximal end portion 2762 that is rotatably supported relative to the elongated channel 2722 and the spine tube 2740 . for assembly purposes, the proximal end portion 2762 is threadably attached to a retention ring 2770 . the retention ring 2770 is received in a groove 2729 formed between a shoulder 2727 on the proximal end 2723 of the channel 2722 and the mounting hub 2729 of the mounting collar 2790 . such arrangement serves to rotatably support the closure drive nut 2760 within the channel 2722 . rotation of the closure drive nut 2760 will cause the closure tube 2750 to move axially as represented by arrow “d” in fig. 57 . extending through the spine tube 2740 , the mounting collar 2790 , and the closure drive nut 2760 is a drive member, which in at least one embodiment, comprises a knife bar 2780 that has a distal end portion 2782 that is coupled to the cutting instrument 2732 . as can be seen in figs. 57 and 58 , the mounting collar 2790 has a passage 2793 therethrough for permitting the knife bar 2780 to slidably pass therethrough. similarly, the closure drive nut 2760 has a slot 2764 therein through which the knife bar 2780 can slidably extend. such arrangement permits the knife bar 2780 to move axially relative to the closure drive nut 2760 . actuation of the anvil 2724 is controlled by a rotary driven closure shaft 2800 . as can be seen in figs. 57 and 58 , a distal end portion 2802 of the closure drive shaft 2800 extends through a passage 2794 in the mounting collar 2790 and a closure gear 2804 is attached thereto. the closure gear 2804 is configured for driving engagement with the inner surface 2761 of the closure drive nut 2760 . thus, rotation of the closure shaft 2800 will also result in the rotation of the closure drive nut 2760 . the axial direction in which the closure tube 2750 moves ultimately depends upon the direction in which the closure shaft 2800 and the closure drive nut 2760 are rotated. for example, in response to one rotary closure motion received from the robotic system 1000 , the closure tube 2750 will be driven in the distal direction “dd”. as the closure tube 2750 is driven distally, the opening 2745 will engage the tab 2727 on the anvil 2724 and cause the anvil 2724 to pivot to a closed position. upon application of an opening rotary motion from the robotic system 1000 , the closure tube 2750 will be driven in the proximal direction “pd” and pivot the anvil 2724 to the open position. in various embodiments, a spring (not shown) may be employed to bias the anvil 2724 to the open position ( fig. 57 ). in use, it may be desirable to rotate the surgical end effector 2712 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. in at least one embodiment, the tool mounting portion 2900 is configured to receive a corresponding first rotary output motion from the robotic system 1000 for rotating the elongated shaft assembly 2708 about the tool axis lt-lt. as can be seen in fig. 61 , a proximal end 2742 of the hollow spine tube 2740 is rotatably supported within a cradle arrangement 2903 and a bearing assembly 2904 that are attached to a tool mounting plate 2902 of the tool mounting portion 2900 . a rotation gear 2744 is formed on or attached to the proximal end 2742 of the spine tube 2740 for meshing engagement with a rotation drive assembly 2910 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 2902 . in at least one embodiment, a rotation drive gear 2912 is coupled to a corresponding first one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 2602 when the tool mounting portion 2600 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . see figs. 34 and 61 . the rotation drive assembly 2910 further comprises a rotary driven gear 2914 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 2902 in meshing engagement with the rotation gear 2744 and the rotation drive gear 2912 . application of a first rotary control motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool holder 1270 and the adapter 1240 to the corresponding driven element 1304 will thereby cause rotation of the rotation drive gear 2912 by virtue of being operably coupled thereto. rotation of the rotation drive gear 2912 ultimately results in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 2708 (and the end effector 2712 ) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt (primary rotary motion). closure of the anvil 2724 relative to the staple cartridge 2734 is accomplished by axially moving the closure tube 2750 in the distal direction “dd”. axial movement of the closure tube 2750 in the distal direction “dd” is accomplished by applying a rotary control motion to the closure drive nut 2760 . in various embodiments, the closure drive nut 2760 is rotated by applying a rotary output motion to the closure drive shaft 2800 . as can be seen in fig. 61 , a proximal end portion 2806 of the closure drive shaft 2800 has a driven gear 2808 thereon that is in meshing engagement with a closure drive assembly 2920 . in various embodiments, the closure drive system 2920 includes a closure drive gear 2922 that is coupled to a corresponding second one of the driven rotational bodies or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 2462 when the tool mounting portion 2900 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . see figs. 34 and 61 . the closure drive gear 2922 is supported in meshing engagement with a closure gear train, generally depicted as 2923 . in at least one form, the closure gear rain 2923 comprises a first driven closure gear 2924 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 2902 . the first closure driven gear 2924 is attached to a second closure driven gear 2926 by a drive shaft 2928 . the second closure driven gear 2926 is in meshing engagement with a planetary gear assembly 2930 . in various embodiments, the planetary gear assembly 2930 includes a driven planetary closure gear 2932 that is rotatably supported within the bearing assembly 2904 that is mounted on tool mounting plate 2902 . as can be seen in figs. 61 and 61b , the proximal end portion 2806 of the closure drive shaft 2800 is rotatably supported within the proximal end portion 2742 of the spine tube 2740 such that the driven gear 2808 is in meshing engagement with central gear teeth 2934 formed on the planetary gear 2932 . as can also be seen in fig. 61a , two additional support gears 2936 are attached to or rotatably supported relative to the proximal end portion 2742 of the spine tube 2740 to provide bearing support thereto. such arrangement with the planetary gear assembly 2930 serves to accommodate rotation of the spine shaft 2740 by the rotation drive assembly 2910 while permitting the closure driven gear 2808 to remain in meshing engagement with the closure drive system 2920 . in addition, rotation of the closure drive gear 2922 in a first direction will ultimately result in the rotation of the closure drive shaft 2800 and closure drive nut 2760 which will ultimately result in the closure of the anvil 2724 as described above. conversely, rotation of the closure drive gear 2922 in a second opposite direction will ultimately result in the rotation of the closure drive nut 2760 in an opposite direction which results in the opening of the anvil 2724 . as can be seen in fig. 61 , the proximal end 2784 of the knife bar 2780 has a threaded shaft portion 2786 attached thereto which is in driving engagement with a knife drive assembly 2940 . in various embodiments, the threaded shaft portion 2786 is rotatably supported by a bearing 2906 attached to the tool mounting plate 2902 . such arrangement permits the threaded shaft portion 2786 to rotate and move axially relative to the tool mounting plate 2902 . the knife bar 2780 is axially advanced in the distal and proximal directions by the knife drive assembly 2940 . one form of the knife drive assembly 2940 comprises a rotary drive gear 2942 that is coupled to a corresponding third one of the rotatable bodies, driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 2902 when the tool mounting portion 2900 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . see figs. 34 and 61 . the rotary drive gear 2942 is in meshing engagement with a knife gear train, generally depicted as 2943 . in various embodiments, the knife gear train 2943 comprises a first rotary driven gear assembly 2944 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 2902 . the first rotary driven gear assembly 2944 is in meshing engagement with a third rotary driven gear assembly 2946 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 2902 and which is in meshing engagement with a fourth rotary driven gear assembly 2948 that is in meshing engagement with the threaded portion 2786 of the knife bar 2780 . rotation of the rotary drive gear 2942 in one direction will result in the axial advancement of the knife bar 2780 in the distal direction “dd”. conversely, rotation of the rotary drive gear 2942 in an opposite direction will cause the knife bar 2780 to move in the proximal direction. tool 2700 may otherwise be used as described above. figs. 62 and 63 illustrate a surgical tool embodiment 2700 that is substantially identical to tool 2700 that was described in detail above. however tool 2700 ′ includes a pressure sensor 2950 that is configured to provide feedback to the robotic controller 1001 concerning the amount of clamping pressure experienced by the anvil 2724 . in various embodiments, for example, the pressure sensor may comprise a spring biased contact switch. for a continuous signal, it would use either a cantilever beam with a strain gage on it or a dome button top with a strain gage on the inside. another version may comprise an off switch that contacts only at a known desired load. such arrangement would include a dome on the based wherein the dome is one electrical pole and the base is the other electrical pole. such arrangement permits the robotic controller 1001 to adjust the amount of clamping pressure being applied to the tissue within the surgical end effector 2712 by adjusting the amount of closing pressure applied to the anvil 2724 . those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that such pressure sensor arrangement may be effectively employed with several of the surgical tool embodiments described herein as well as their equivalent structures. fig. 64 illustrates a portion of another surgical tool 3000 that may be effectively used in connection with a robotic system 1000 . the surgical tool 3003 employs on-board motor(s) for powering various components of a surgical end effector cutting instrument. in at least one non-limiting embodiment for example, the surgical tool 3000 includes a surgical end effector in the form of an endocutter (not shown) that has an anvil (not shown) and surgical staple cartridge arrangement (not shown) of the types and constructions described above. the surgical tool 3000 also includes an elongated shaft (not shown) and anvil closure arrangement (not shown) of the types described above. thus, this portion of the detailed description will not repeat the description of those components beyond that which is necessary to appreciate the unique and novel attributes of the various embodiments of surgical tool 3000 . in the depicted embodiment, the end effector includes a cutting instrument 3002 that is coupled to a knife bar 3003 . as can be seen in fig. 64 , the surgical tool 3000 includes a tool mounting portion 3010 that includes a tool mounting plate 3012 that is configured to mountingly interface with the adaptor portion 1240 ′ which is coupled to the robotic system 1000 in the various manners described above. the tool mounting portion 3010 is configured to operably support a transmission arrangement 3013 thereon. in at least one embodiment, the adaptor portion 1240 ′ may be identical to the adaptor portion 1240 described in detail above without the powered rotation bodies and disc members employed by adapter 1240 . in other embodiments, the adaptor portion 1240 ′ may be identical to adaptor portion 1240 . still other modifications which are considered to be within the spirit and scope of the various forms of the present invention may employ one or more of the mechanical motions (i.e., rotary motion(s)) from the tool holder portion 1270 (as described hereinabove) to power/actuate the transmission arrangement 3013 while also employing one or more motors within the tool mounting portion 3010 to power one or more other components of the surgical end effector. in addition, while the end effector of the depicted embodiment comprises an endocutter, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the unique and novel attributes of the depicted embodiment may be effectively employed in connection with other types of surgical end effectors without departing from the spirit and scope of various forms of the present invention. in various embodiments, the tool mounting plate 3012 is configured to at least house a first firing motor 3011 for supplying firing and retraction motions to the knife bar 3003 which is coupled to or otherwise operably interfaces with the cutting instrument 3002 . the tool mounting plate 3012 has an array of electrical connecting pins 3014 which are configured to interface with the slots 1258 ( fig. 33 ) in the adapter 1240 ′. such arrangement permits the controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 to provide control signals to the electronic control circuit 3020 of the surgical tool 3000 . while the interface is described herein with reference to mechanical, electrical, and magnetic coupling elements, it should be understood that a wide variety of telemetry modalities might be used, including infrared, inductive coupling, or the like. control circuit 3020 is shown in schematic form in fig. 64 . in one form or embodiment, the control circuit 3020 includes a power supply in the form of a battery 3022 that is coupled to an on-off solenoid powered switch 3024 . control circuit 3020 further includes an on/off firing solenoid 3026 that is coupled to a double pole switch 3028 for controlling the rotational direction of the motor 3011 . thus, when the controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 supplies an appropriate control signal, switch 3024 will permit battery 3022 to supply power to the double pole switch 3028 . the controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 will also supply an appropriate signal to the double pole switch 3028 to supply power to the motor 3011 . when it is desired to fire the surgical end effector (i.e., drive the cutting instrument 3002 distally through tissue clamped in the surgical end effector, the double pole switch 3028 will be in a first position. when it is desired to retract the cutting instrument 3002 to the starting position, the double pole switch 3028 will be moved to the second position by the controller 1001 . various embodiments of the surgical tool 3000 also employ a gear box 3030 that is sized, in cooperation with a firing gear train 3031 that, in at least one non-limiting embodiment, comprises a firing drive gear 3032 that is in meshing engagement with a firing driven gear 3034 for generating a desired amount of driving force necessary to drive the cutting instrument 3002 through tissue and to drive and form staples in the various manners described herein. in the embodiment depicted in fig. 61 , the driven gear 3034 is coupled to a screw shaft 3036 that is in threaded engagement with a screw nut arrangement 3038 that is constrained to move axially (represented by arrow “d”). the screw nut arrangement 3038 is attached to the firing bar 3003 . thus, by rotating the screw shaft 3036 in a first direction, the cutting instrument 3002 is driven in the distal direction “dd” and rotating the screw shaft in an opposite second direction, the cutting instrument 3002 may be retracted in the proximal direction “pd”. fig. 65 illustrates a portion of another surgical tool 3000 ′ that is substantially identical to tool 3000 described above, except that the driven gear 3034 is attached to a drive shaft 3040 . the drive shaft 3040 is attached to a second driver gear 3042 that is in meshing engagement with a third driven gear 3044 that is in meshing engagement with a screw 3046 coupled to the firing bar 3003 . fig. 66 illustrates another surgical tool 3200 that may be effectively used in connection with a robotic system 1000 . in this embodiment, the surgical tool 3200 includes a surgical end effector 3212 that in one non-limiting form, comprises a component portion that is selectively movable between first and second positions relative to at least one other end effector component portion. as will be discussed in further detail below, the surgical tool 3200 employs on-board motors for powering various components of a transmission arrangement 3305 . the surgical end effector 3212 includes an elongated channel 3222 that operably supports a surgical staple cartridge 3234 . the elongated channel 3222 has a proximal end 3223 that slidably extends into a hollow elongated shaft assembly 3208 that is coupled to a tool mounting portion 3300 . in addition, the surgical end effector 3212 includes an anvil 3224 that is pivotally coupled to the elongated channel 3222 by a pair of trunnions 3225 that are received within corresponding openings 3229 in the elongated channel 3222 . a distal end portion 3209 of the shaft assembly 3208 includes an opening 3245 into which a tab 3227 on the anvil 3224 is inserted in order to open the anvil 3224 as the elongated channel 3222 is moved axially in the proximal direction “pd” relative to the distal end portion 3209 of the shaft assembly 3208 . in various embodiments, a spring (not shown) may be employed to bias the anvil 3224 to the open position. as indicated above, the surgical tool 3200 includes a tool mounting portion 3300 that includes a tool mounting plate 3302 that is configured to operably support the transmission arrangement 3305 and to mountingly interface with the adaptor portion 1240 ′ which is coupled to the robotic system 1000 in the various manners described above. in at least one embodiment, the adaptor portion 1240 ′ may be identical to the adaptor portion 1240 described in detail above without the powered disc members employed by adapter 1240 . in other embodiments, the adaptor portion 1240 ′ may be identical to adaptor portion 1240 . however, in such embodiments, because the various components of the surgical end effector 3212 are all powered by motor(s) in the tool mounting portion 3300 , the surgical tool 3200 will not employ or require any of the mechanical (i.e., non-electrical) actuation motions from the tool holder portion 1270 to power the surgical end effector 3200 components. still other modifications which are considered to be within the spirit and scope of the various forms of the present invention may employ one or more of the mechanical motions from the tool holder portion 1270 (as described hereinabove) to power/actuate one or more of the surgical end effector components while also employing one or more motors within the tool mounting portion to power one or more other components of the surgical end effector. in various embodiments, the tool mounting plate 3302 is configured to support a first firing motor 3310 for supplying firing and retraction motions to the transmission arrangement 3305 to drive a knife bar 3335 that is coupled to a cutting instrument 3332 of the type described above. as can be seen in fig. 66 , the tool mounting plate 3212 has an array of electrical connecting pins 3014 which are configured to interface with the slots 1258 ( fig. 33 ) in the adapter 1240 ′. such arrangement permits the controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 to provide control signals to the electronic control circuits 3320 , 3340 of the surgical tool 3200 . while the interface is described herein with reference to mechanical, electrical, and magnetic coupling elements, it should be understood that a wide variety of telemetry modalities might be used, including infrared, inductive coupling, or the like. in one form or embodiment, the first control circuit 3320 includes a first power supply in the form of a first battery 3322 that is coupled to a first on-off solenoid powered switch 3324 . the first firing control circuit 3320 further includes a first on/off firing solenoid 3326 that is coupled to a first double pole switch 3328 for controlling the rotational direction of the first firing motor 3310 . thus, when the robotic controller 1001 supplies an appropriate control signal, the first switch 3324 will permit the first battery 3322 to supply power to the first double pole switch 3328 . the robotic controller 1001 will also supply an appropriate signal to the first double pole switch 3328 to supply power to the first firing motor 3310 . when it is desired to fire the surgical end effector (i.e., drive the cutting instrument 3232 distally through tissue clamped in the surgical end effector 3212 , the first switch 3328 will be positioned in a first position by the robotic controller 1001 . when it is desired to retract the cutting instrument 3232 to the starting position, the robotic controller 1001 will send the appropriate control signal to move the first switch 3328 to the second position. various embodiments of the surgical tool 3200 also employ a first gear box 3330 that is sized, in cooperation with a firing drive gear 3332 coupled thereto that operably interfaces with a firing gear train 3333 . in at least one non-limiting embodiment, the firing gear train 333 comprises a firing driven gear 3334 that is in meshing engagement with drive gear 3332 , for generating a desired amount of driving force necessary to drive the cutting instrument 3232 through tissue and to drive and form staples in the various manners described herein. in the embodiment depicted in fig. 66 , the driven gear 3334 is coupled to a drive shaft 3335 that has a second driven gear 3336 coupled thereto. the second driven gear 3336 is supported in meshing engagement with a third driven gear 3337 that is in meshing engagement with a fourth driven gear 3338 . the fourth driven gear 3338 is in meshing engagement with a threaded proximal portion 3339 of the knife bar 3235 that is constrained to move axially. thus, by rotating the drive shaft 3335 in a first direction, the cutting instrument 3232 is driven in the distal direction “dd” and rotating the drive shaft 3335 in an opposite second direction, the cutting instrument 3232 may be retracted in the proximal direction “pd”. as indicated above, the opening and closing of the anvil 3224 is controlled by axially moving the elongated channel 3222 relative to the elongated shaft assembly 3208 . the axial movement of the elongated channel 3222 is controlled by a closure control system 3339 . in various embodiments, the closure control system 3339 includes a closure shaft 3340 which has a hollow threaded end portion 3341 that threadably engages a threaded closure rod 3342 . the threaded end portion 3341 is rotatably supported in a spine shaft 3343 that operably interfaces with the tool mounting portion 3300 and extends through a portion of the shaft assembly 3208 as shown. the closure system 3339 further comprises a closure control circuit 3350 that includes a second power supply in the form of a second battery 3352 that is coupled to a second on-off solenoid powered switch 3354 . closure control circuit 3350 further includes a second on/off firing solenoid 3356 that is coupled to a second double pole switch 3358 for controlling the rotation of a second closure motor 3360 . thus, when the robotic controller 1001 supplies an appropriate control signal, the second switch 3354 will permit the second battery 3352 to supply power to the second double pole switch 3354 . the robotic controller 1001 will also supply an appropriate signal to the second double pole switch 3358 to supply power to the second motor 3360 . when it is desired to close the anvil 3224 , the second switch 3348 will be in a first position. when it is desired to open the anvil 3224 , the second switch 3348 will be moved to a second position. various embodiments of tool mounting portion 3300 also employ a second gear box 3362 that is coupled to a closure drive gear 3364 . the closure drive gear 3364 is in meshing engagement with a closure gear train 3363 . in various non-limiting forms, the closure gear train 3363 includes a closure driven gear 3365 that is attached to a closure drive shaft 3366 . also attached to the closure drive shaft 3366 is a closure drive gear 3367 that is in meshing engagement with a closure shaft gear 3360 attached to the closure shaft 3340 . fig. 66 depicts the end effector 3212 in the open position. as indicated above, when the threaded closure rod 3342 is in the position depicted in fig. 66 , a spring (not shown) biases the anvil 3224 to the open position. when it is desired to close the anvil 3224 , the robotic controller 1001 will activate the second motor 3360 to rotate the closure shaft 3340 to draw the threaded closure rod 3342 and the channel 3222 in the proximal direction ‘pd’. as the anvil 3224 contacts the distal end portion 3209 of the shaft 3208 , the anvil 3224 is pivoted to the closed position. a method of operating the surgical tool 3200 will now be described. once the tool mounting portion 3302 has be operably coupled to the tool holder 1270 of the robotic system 1000 , the robotic system 1000 can orient the end effector 3212 in position adjacent the target tissue to be cut and stapled. if the anvil 3224 is not already in the open position, the robotic controller 1001 may activate the second closure motor 3360 to drive the channel 3222 in the distal direction to the position depicted in fig. 66 . once the robotic controller 1001 determines that the surgical end effector 3212 is in the open position by sensor(s) in the and effector and/or the tool mounting portion 3300 , the robotic controller 1001 may provide the surgeon with a signal to inform the surgeon that the anvil 3224 may then be closed. once the target tissue is positioned between the open anvil 3224 and the surgical staple cartridge 3234 , the surgeon may then commence the closure process by activating the robotic controller 1001 to apply a closure control signal to the second closure motor 3360 . the second closure motor 3360 applies a rotary motion to the closure shaft 3340 to draw the channel 3222 in the proximal direction “pd” until the anvil 3224 has been pivoted to the closed position. once the robotic controller 1001 determines that the anvil 3224 has been moved to the closed position by sensor(s) in the surgical end effector 3212 and/or in the tool mounting portion 3300 that are in communication with the robotic control system, the motor 3360 may be deactivated. thereafter, the firing process may be commenced either manually by the surgeon activating a trigger, button, etc. on the controller 1001 or the controller 1001 may automatically commence the firing process. to commence the firing process, the robotic controller 1001 activates the firing motor 3310 to drive the firing bar 3235 and the cutting instrument 3232 in the distal direction “dd”. once robotic controller 1001 has determined that the cutting instrument 3232 has moved to the ending position within the surgical staple cartridge 3234 by means of sensors in the surgical end effector 3212 and/or the motor drive portion 3300 , the robotic controller 1001 may provide the surgeon with an indication signal. thereafter the surgeon may manually activate the first motor 3310 to retract the cutting instrument 3232 to the starting position or the robotic controller 1001 may automatically activate the first motor 3310 to retract the cutting element 3232 . the embodiment depicted in fig. 66 does not include an articulation joint. figs. 67 and 68 illustrate surgical tools 3200 ′ and 3200 ″ that have end effectors 3212 ′, 3212 ″, respectively that may be employed with an elongated shaft embodiment that has an articulation joint of the various types disclosed herein. for example, as can be seen in fig. 64 , a threaded closure shaft 3342 is coupled to the proximal end 3223 of the elongated channel 3222 by a flexible cable or other flexible member 3345 . the location of an articulation joint (not shown) within the elongated shaft assembly 3208 will coincide with the flexible member 3345 to enable the flexible member 3345 to accommodate such articulation. in addition, in the above-described embodiment, the flexible member 33345 is rotatably affixed to the proximal end portion 3223 of the elongated channel 3222 to enable the flexible member 3345 to rotate relative thereto to prevent the flexible member 3229 from “winding up” relative to the channel 3222 . although not shown, the cutting element may be driven in one of the above described manners by a knife bar that can also accommodate articulation of the elongated shaft assembly. fig. 68 depicts a surgical end effector 3212 ″ that is substantially identical to the surgical end effector 3212 described above, except that the threaded closure rod 3342 is attached to a closure nut 3347 that is constrained to only move axially within the elongated shaft assembly 3208 . the flexible member 3345 is attached to the closure nut 3347 . such arrangement also prevents the threaded closure rod 3342 from winding-up the flexible member 3345 . a flexible knife bar 3235 ′ may be employed to facilitate articulation of the surgical end effector 3212 ″. the surgical tools 3200 , 3200 ′, and 3200 ″ described above may also employ anyone of the cutting instrument embodiments described herein. as described above, the anvil of each of the end effectors of these tools is closed by drawing the elongated channel into contact with the distal end of the elongated shaft assembly. thus, once the target tissue has been located between the staple cartridge 3234 and the anvil 3224 , the robotic controller 1001 can start to draw the channel 3222 inward into the shaft assembly 3208 . in various embodiments, however, to prevent the end effector 3212 , 3212 ′, 3212 ″ from moving the target tissue with the end effector during this closing process, the controller 1001 may simultaneously move the tool holder and ultimately the tool such to compensate for the movement of the elongated channel 3222 so that, in effect, the target tissue is clamped between the anvil and the elongated channel without being otherwise moved. figs. 69-71 depict another surgical tool embodiment 3201 that is substantially identical to surgical tool 3200 ″ described above, except for the differences discussed below. in this embodiment, the threaded closure rod 3342 ′ has variable pitched grooves. more specifically, as can be seen in fig. 70 , the closure rod 3342 ′ has a distal groove section 3380 and a proximal groove section 3382 . the distal and proximal groove sections 3380 , 3382 are configured for engagement with a lug 3390 supported within the hollow threaded end portion 3341 ′. as can be seen in fig. 70 , the distal groove section 3380 has a finer pitch than the groove section 3382 . thus, such variable pitch arrangement permits the elongated channel 3222 to be drawn into the shaft 3208 at a first speed or rate by virtue of the engagement between the lug 3390 and the proximal groove segment 3382 . when the lug 3390 engages the distal groove segment, the channel 3222 will be drawn into the shaft 3208 at a second speed or rate. because the proximal groove segment 3382 is coarser than the distal groove segment 3380 , the first speed will be greater than the second speed. such arrangement serves to speed up the initial closing of the end effector for tissue manipulation and then after the tissue has been properly positioned therein, generate the amount of closure forces to properly clamp the tissue for cutting and sealing. thus, the anvil 3234 initially closes fast with a lower force and then applies a higher closing force as the anvil closes more slowly. the surgical end effector opening and closing motions are employed to enable the user to use the end effector to grasp and manipulate tissue prior to fully clamping it in the desired location for cutting and sealing. the user may, for example, open and close the surgical end effector numerous times during this process to orient the end effector in a proper position which enables the tissue to be held in a desired location. thus, in at least some embodiments, to produce the high loading for firing, the fine thread may require as many as 5-10 full rotations to generate the necessary load. in some cases, for example, this action could take as long as 2-5 seconds. if it also took an equally long time to open and close the end effector each time during the positioning/tissue manipulation process, just positioning the end effector may take an undesirably long time. if that happens, it is possible that a user may abandon such use of the end effector for use of a conventional grasper device. use of graspers, etc. may undesirably increase the costs associated with completing the surgical procedure. the above-described embodiments employ a battery or batteries to power the motors used to drive the end effector components. activation of the motors is controlled by the robotic system 1000 . in alternative embodiments, the power supply may comprise alternating current “ac” that is supplied to the motors by the robotic system 1000 . that is, the ac power would be supplied from the system powering the robotic system 1000 through the tool holder and adapter. in still other embodiments, a power cord or tether may be attached to the tool mounting portion 3300 to supply the requisite power from a separate source of alternating or direct current. in use, the controller 1001 may apply an initial rotary motion to the closure shaft 3340 ( fig. 66 ) to draw the elongated channel 3222 axially inwardly into the elongated shaft assembly 3208 and move the anvil from a first position to an intermediate position at a first rate that corresponds with the point wherein the distal groove section 3380 transitions to the proximal groove section 3382 . further application of rotary motion to the closure shaft 3340 will cause the anvil to move from the intermediate position to the closed position relative to the surgical staple cartridge. when in the closed position, the tissue to be cut and stapled is properly clamped between the anvil and the surgical staple cartridge. figs. 72-75 illustrate another surgical tool embodiment 3400 of the present invention. this embodiment includes an elongated shaft assembly 3408 that extends from a tool mounting portion 3500 . the elongated shaft assembly 3408 includes a rotatable proximal closure tube segment 3410 that is rotatably journaled on a proximal spine member 3420 that is rigidly coupled to a tool mounting plate 3502 of the tool mounting portion 3500 . the proximal spine member 3420 has a distal end 3422 that is coupled to an elongated channel portion 3522 of a surgical end effector 3412 . for example, in at least one embodiment, the elongated channel portion 3522 has a distal end portion 3523 that “hookingly engages” the distal end 3422 of the spine member 3420 . the elongated channel 3522 is configured to support a surgical staple cartridge 3534 therein. this embodiment may employ one of the various cutting instrument embodiments disclosed herein to sever tissue that is clamped in the surgical end effector 3412 and fire the staples in the staple cartridge 3534 into the severed tissue. surgical end effector 3412 has an anvil 3524 that is pivotally coupled to the elongated channel 3522 by a pair of trunnions 3525 that are received in corresponding openings 3529 in the elongated channel 3522 . the anvil 3524 is moved between the open ( fig. 72 ) and closed positions ( figs. 73-75 ) by a distal closure tube segment 3430 . a distal end portion 3432 of the distal closure tube segment 3430 includes an opening 3445 into which a tab 3527 on the anvil 3524 is inserted in order to open and close the anvil 3524 as the distal closure tube segment 3430 moves axially relative thereto. in various embodiments, the opening 3445 is shaped such that as the closure tube segment 3430 is moved in the proximal direction, the closure tube segment 3430 causes the anvil 3524 to pivot to an open position. in addition or in the alternative, a spring (not shown) may be employed to bias the anvil 3524 to the open position. as can be seen in figs. 72-75 , the distal closure tube segment 3430 includes a lug 3442 that extends from its distal end 3440 into threaded engagement with a variable pitch groove/thread 3414 formed in the distal end 3412 of the rotatable proximal closure tube segment 3410 . the variable pitch groove/thread 3414 has a distal section 3416 and a proximal section 3418 . the pitch of the distal groove/thread section 3416 is finer than the pitch of the proximal groove/thread section 3418 . as can also be seen in figs. 72-75 , the distal closure tube segment 3430 is constrained for axial movement relative to the spine member 3420 by an axial retainer pin 3450 that is received in an axial slot 3424 in the distal end of the spine member 3420 . as indicated above, the anvil 2524 is open and closed by rotating the proximal closure tube segment 3410 . the variable pitch thread arrangement permits the distal closure tube segment 3430 to be driven in the distal direction “dd” at a first speed or rate by virtue of the engagement between the lug 3442 and the proximal groove/thread section 3418 . when the lug 3442 engages the distal groove/thread section 3416 , the distal closure tube segment 3430 will be driven in the distal direction at a second speed or rate. because the proximal groove/thread section 3418 is coarser than the distal groove/thread segment 3416 , the first speed will be greater than the second speed. in at least one embodiment, the tool mounting portion 3500 is configured to receive a corresponding first rotary motion from the robotic controller 1001 and convert that first rotary motion to a primary rotary motion for rotating the rotatable proximal closure tube segment 3410 about a longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. as can be seen in fig. 76 , a proximal end 3460 of the proximal closure tube segment 3410 is rotatably supported within a cradle arrangement 3504 attached to a tool mounting plate 3502 of the tool mounting portion 3500 . a rotation gear 3462 is formed on or attached to the proximal end 3460 of the closure tube segment 3410 for meshing engagement with a rotation drive assembly 3470 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 3502 . in at least one embodiment, a rotation drive gear 3472 is coupled to a corresponding first one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 3502 when the tool mounting portion 3500 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . see figs. 34 and 76 . the rotation drive assembly 3470 further comprises a rotary driven gear 3474 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 3502 in meshing engagement with the rotation gear 3462 and the rotation drive gear 3472 . application of a first rotary control motion from the robotic controller 1001 through the tool holder 1270 and the adapter 1240 to the corresponding driven element 1304 will thereby cause rotation of the rotation drive gear 3472 by virtue of being operably coupled thereto. rotation of the rotation drive gear 3472 ultimately results in the rotation of the closure tube segment 3410 to open and close the anvil 3524 as described above. as indicated above, the surgical end effector 3412 employs a cutting instrument of the type and constructions described above. fig. 76 illustrates one form of knife drive assembly 3480 for axially advancing a knife bar 3492 that is attached to such cutting instrument. one form of the knife drive assembly 3480 comprises a rotary drive gear 3482 that is coupled to a corresponding third one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 3502 when the tool drive portion 3500 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . see figs. 34 and 76 . the knife drive assembly 3480 further comprises a first rotary driven gear assembly 3484 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 5200 . the first rotary driven gear assembly 3484 is in meshing engagement with a third rotary driven gear assembly 3486 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 3502 and which is in meshing engagement with a fourth rotary driven gear assembly 3488 that is in meshing engagement with a threaded portion 3494 of drive shaft assembly 3490 that is coupled to the knife bar 3492 . rotation of the rotary drive gear 3482 in a second rotary direction will result in the axial advancement of the drive shaft assembly 3490 and knife bar 3492 in the distal direction “dd”. conversely, rotation of the rotary drive gear 3482 in a secondary rotary direction (opposite to the second rotary direction) will cause the drive shaft assembly 3490 and the knife bar 3492 to move in the proximal direction. figs. 77-86 illustrate another surgical tool 3600 embodiment of the present invention that may be employed in connection with a robotic system 1000 . as can be seen in fig. 77 , the tool 3600 includes an end effector in the form of a disposable loading unit 3612 . various forms of disposable loading units that may be employed in connection with tool 3600 are disclosed, for example, in u.s. patent application publication no. 2009/0206131, entitled end effector coupling arrangements for a surgical cutting and stapling instrument, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. in at least one form, the disposable loading unit 3612 includes an anvil assembly 3620 that is supported for pivotal travel relative to a carrier 3630 that operably supports a staple cartridge 3640 therein. a mounting assembly 3650 is pivotally coupled to the cartridge carrier 3630 to enable the carrier 3630 to pivot about an articulation axis aa-aa relative to a longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. referring to fig. 82 , mounting assembly 3650 includes upper and lower mounting portions 3652 and 3654 . each mounting portion includes a threaded bore 3656 on each side thereof dimensioned to receive threaded bolts (not shown) for securing the proximal end of carrier 3630 thereto. a pair of centrally located pivot members 3658 extends between upper and lower mounting portions via a pair of coupling members 3660 which engage a distal end of a housing portion 3662 . coupling members 3660 each include an interlocking proximal portion 3664 configured to be received in grooves 3666 formed in the proximal end of housing portion 3662 to retain mounting assembly 3650 and housing portion 3662 in a longitudinally fixed position in relation thereto. in various forms, housing portion 3662 of disposable loading unit 3614 includes an upper housing half 3670 and a lower housing half 3672 contained within an outer casing 3674 . the proximal end of housing half 3670 includes engagement nubs 3676 for releasably engaging an elongated shaft 3700 and an insertion tip 3678 . nubs 3676 form a bayonet-type coupling with the distal end of the elongated shaft 3700 which will be discussed in further detail below. housing halves 3670 , 3672 define a channel 3674 for slidably receiving axial drive assembly 3680 . a second articulation link 3690 is dimensioned to be slidably positioned within a slot 3679 formed between housing halves 3670 , 3672 . a pair of blow out plates 3691 are positioned adjacent the distal end of housing portion 3662 adjacent the distal end of axial drive assembly 3680 to prevent outward bulging of drive assembly 3680 during articulation of carrier 3630 . in various embodiments, the second articulation link 3690 includes at least one elongated metallic plate. preferably, two or more metallic plates are stacked to form link 3690 . the proximal end of articulation link 3690 includes a hook portion 3692 configured to engage first articulation link 3710 extending through the elongated shaft 3700 . the distal end of the second articulation link 3690 includes a loop 3694 dimensioned to engage a projection formed on mounting assembly 3650 . the projection is laterally offset from pivot pin 3658 such that linear movement of second articulation link 3690 causes mounting assembly 3650 to pivot about pivot pins 3658 to articulate the carrier 3630 . in various forms, axial drive assembly 3680 includes an elongated drive beam 3682 including a distal working head 3684 and a proximal engagement section 3685 . drive beam 3682 may be constructed from a single sheet of material or, preferably, multiple stacked sheets. engagement section 3685 includes a pair of engagement fingers which are dimensioned and configured to mountingly engage a pair of corresponding retention slots formed in drive member 3686 . drive member 3686 includes a proximal porthole 3687 configured to receive the distal end 3722 of control rod 2720 (see fig. 86 ) when the proximal end of disposable loading unit 3614 is engaged with elongated shaft 3700 of surgical tool 3600 . referring to figs. 77 and 84-86 , to use the surgical tool 3600 , a disposable loading unit 3612 is first secured to the distal end of elongated shaft 3700 . it will be appreciated that the surgical tool 3600 may include an articulating or a non-articulating disposable loading unit. to secure the disposable loading unit 3612 to the elongated shaft 3700 , the distal end 3722 of control rod 3720 is inserted into insertion tip 3678 of disposable loading unit 3612 , and insertion tip 3678 is slid longitudinally into the distal end of the elongated shaft 3700 in the direction indicated by arrow “a” in fig. 84 such that hook portion 3692 of second articulation link 3690 slides within a channel 3702 in the elongated shaft 3700 . nubs 3676 will each be aligned in a respective channel (not shown) in elongated shaft 3700 . when hook portion 3692 engages the proximal wall 3704 of channel 3702 , disposable loading unit 3612 is rotated in the direction indicated by arrow “b” in figs. 83 and 84 to move hook portion 3692 of second articulation link 3690 into engagement with finger 3712 of first articulation link 3710 . nubs 3676 also form a “bayonet-type” coupling within annular channel 3703 in the elongated shaft 3700 . during rotation of loading unit 3612 , nubs 3676 engage cam surface 3732 ( fig. 84 ) of block plate 3730 to initially move plate 3730 in the direction indicated by arrow “c” in fig. 84 to lock engagement member 3734 in recess 3721 of control rod 3720 to prevent longitudinal movement of control rod 3720 during attachment of disposable loading unit 3612 . during the final degree of rotation, nubs 3676 disengage from cam surface 3732 to allow blocking plate 3730 to move in the direction indicated by arrow “d” in figs. 83 and 86 from behind engagement member 3734 to once again permit longitudinal movement of control rod 3720 . while the above-described attachment method reflects that the disposable loading unit 3612 is manipulated relative to the elongated shaft 3700 , the person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the disposable loading unit 3612 may be supported in a stationary position and the robotic system 1000 may manipulate the elongated shaft portion 3700 relative to the disposable loading unit 3612 to accomplish the above-described coupling procedure. fig. 87 illustrates another disposable loading unit 3612 ′ that is attachable in a bayonet-type arrangement with the elongated shaft 3700 ′ that is substantially identical to shaft 3700 except for the differences discussed below. as can be seen in fig. 87 , the elongated shaft 3700 ′ has slots 3705 that extend for at least a portion thereof and which are configured to receive nubs 3676 therein. in various embodiments, the disposable loading unit 3612 ′ includes arms 3677 extending therefrom which, prior to the rotation of disposable loading unit 3612 ′, can be aligned, or at least substantially aligned, with nubs 3676 extending from housing portion 3662 . in at least one embodiment, arms 3677 and nubs 3676 can be inserted into slots 3705 in elongated shaft 3700 ′, for example, when disposable loading unit 3612 ′ is inserted into elongated shaft 3700 ′. when disposable loading unit 3612 ′ is rotated, arms 3677 can be sufficiently confined within slots 3705 such that slots 3705 can hold them in position, whereas nubs 3676 can be positioned such that they are not confined within slots 3705 and can be rotated relative to arms 3677 . when rotated, the hook portion 3692 of the articulation link 3690 is engaged with the first articulation link 3710 extending through the elongated shaft 3700 ′. other methods of coupling the disposable loading units to the end of the elongated shaft may be employed. for example, as shown in figs. 88 and 89 , disposable loading unit 3612 ″ can include connector portion 3613 which can be configured to be engaged with connector portion 3740 of the elongated shaft 3700 ″. in at least one embodiment, connector portion 3613 can include at least one projection and/or groove which can be mated with at least one projection and/or groove of connector portion 3740 . in at least one such embodiment, the connector portions can include co-operating dovetail portions. in various embodiments, the connector portions can be configured to interlock with one another and prevent, or at least inhibit, distal and/or proximal movement of disposable loading unit 3612 ″ along axis 3741 . in at least one embodiment, the distal end of the axial drive assembly 3680 ′ can include aperture 3681 which can be configured to receive projection 3721 extending from control rod 3720 ′. in various embodiments, such an arrangement can allow disposable loading unit 3612 ″ to be assembled to elongated shaft 3700 in a direction which is not collinear with or parallel to axis 3741 . although not illustrated, axial drive assembly 3680 ′ and control rod 3720 can include any other suitable arrangement of projections and apertures to operably connect them to each other. also in this embodiment, the first articulation link 3710 which can be operably engaged with second articulation link 3690 . as can be seen in figs. 77 and 90 , the surgical tool 3600 includes a tool mounting portion 3750 . the tool mounting portion 3750 includes a tool mounting plate 3751 that is configured for attachment to the tool drive assembly 1010 . the tool mounting portion operably supported a transmission arrangement 3752 thereon. in use, it may be desirable to rotate the disposable loading unit 3612 about the longitudinal tool axis defined by the elongated shaft 3700 . in at least one embodiment, the transmission arrangement 3752 includes a rotational transmission assembly 3753 that is configured to receive a corresponding rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 and convert that rotary output motion to a rotary control motion for rotating the elongated shaft 3700 (and the disposable loading unit 3612 ) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. as can be seen in fig. 90 , a proximal end 3701 of the elongated shaft 3700 is rotatably supported within a cradle arrangement 3754 that is attached to the tool mounting plate 3751 of the tool mounting portion 3750 . a rotation gear 3755 is formed on or attached to the proximal end 3701 of the elongated shaft 3700 for meshing engagement with a rotation gear assembly 3756 operably supported on the tool mounting plate 3751 . in at least one embodiment, a rotation drive gear 3757 drivingly coupled to a corresponding first one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 3751 when the tool mounting portion 3750 is coupled to the tool drive assembly 1010 . the rotation transmission assembly 3753 further comprises a rotary driven gear 3758 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 3751 in meshing engagement with the rotation gear 3755 and the rotation drive gear 3757 . application of a first rotary output motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool drive assembly 1010 to the corresponding driven element 1304 will thereby cause rotation of the rotation drive gear 3757 by virtue of being operably coupled thereto. rotation of the rotation drive gear 3757 ultimately results in the rotation of the elongated shaft 3700 (and the disposable loading unit 3612 ) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt (primary rotary motion). as can be seen in fig. 90 , a drive shaft assembly 3760 is coupled to a proximal end of the control rod 2720 . in various embodiments, the control rod 2720 is axially advanced in the distal and proximal directions by a knife/closure drive transmission 3762 . one form of the knife/closure drive assembly 3762 comprises a rotary drive gear 3763 that is coupled to a corresponding second one of the driven rotatable body portions, discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 3751 when the tool mounting portion 3750 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . the rotary driven gear 3763 is in meshing driving engagement with a gear train, generally depicted as 3764 . in at least one form, the gear train 3764 further comprises a first rotary driven gear assembly 3765 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 3751 . the first rotary driven gear assembly 3765 is in meshing engagement with a second rotary driven gear assembly 3766 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 3751 and which is in meshing engagement with a third rotary driven gear assembly 3767 that is in meshing engagement with a threaded portion 3768 of the drive shaft assembly 3760 . rotation of the rotary drive gear 3763 in a second rotary direction will result in the axial advancement of the drive shaft assembly 3760 and control rod 2720 in the distal direction “dd”. conversely, rotation of the rotary drive gear 3763 in a secondary rotary direction which is opposite to the second rotary direction will cause the drive shaft assembly 3760 and the control rod 2720 to move in the proximal direction. when the control rod 2720 moves in the distal direction, it drives the drive beam 3682 and the working head 3684 thereof distally through the surgical staple cartridge 3640 . as the working head 3684 is driven distally, it operably engages the anvil 3620 to pivot it to a closed position. the cartridge carrier 3630 may be selectively articulated about articulation axis aa-aa by applying axial articulation control motions to the first and second articulation links 3710 and 3690 . in various embodiments, the transmission arrangement 3752 further includes an articulation drive 3770 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 3751 . more specifically and with reference to fig. 90 , it can be seen that a proximal end portion 3772 of an articulation drive shaft 3771 configured to operably engage with the first articulation link 3710 extends through the rotation gear 3755 and is rotatably coupled to a shifter rack gear 3774 that is slidably affixed to the tool mounting plate 3751 through slots 3775 . the articulation drive 3770 further comprises a shifter drive gear 3776 that is coupled to a corresponding third one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 3751 when the tool mounting portion 3750 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . the articulation drive assembly 3770 further comprises a shifter driven gear 3778 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 3751 in meshing engagement with the shifter drive gear 3776 and the shifter rack gear 3774 . application of a third rotary output motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool drive assembly 1010 to the corresponding driven element 1304 will thereby cause rotation of the shifter drive gear 3776 by virtue of being operably coupled thereto. rotation of the shifter drive gear 3776 ultimately results in the axial movement of the shifter gear rack 3774 and the articulation drive shaft 3771 . the direction of axial travel of the articulation drive shaft 3771 depends upon the direction in which the shifter drive gear 3776 is rotated by the robotic system 1000 . thus, rotation of the shifter drive gear 3776 in a first rotary direction will result in the axial movement of the articulation drive shaft 3771 in the proximal direction “pd” and cause the cartridge carrier 3630 to pivot in a first direction about articulation axis aa-aa. conversely, rotation of the shifter drive gear 3776 in a second rotary direction (opposite to the first rotary direction) will result in the axial movement of the articulation drive shaft 3771 in the distal direction “dd” to thereby cause the cartridge carrier 3630 to pivot about articulation axis aa-aa in an opposite direction. fig. 91 illustrates yet another surgical tool 3800 embodiment of the present invention that may be employed with a robotic system 1000 . as can be seen in fig. 91 , the surgical tool 3800 includes a surgical end effector 3812 in the form of an endocutter 3814 that employs various cable-driven components. various forms of cable driven endocutters are disclosed, for example, in u.s. pat. no. 7,726,537, entitled surgical stapler with universal articulation and tissue pre-clamp and u.s. patent application publication no. 2008/0308603, entitled cable driven surgical stapling and cutting instrument with improved cable attachment arrangements, the disclosures of each are herein incorporated by reference in their respective entireties. such endocutters 3814 may be referred to as a “disposable loading unit” because they are designed to be disposed of after a single use. however, the various unique and novel arrangements of various embodiments of the present invention may also be employed in connection with cable driven end effectors that are reusable. as can be seen in fig. 91 , in at least one form, the endocutter 3814 includes an elongated channel 3822 that operably supports a surgical staple cartridge 3834 therein. an anvil 3824 is pivotally supported for movement relative to the surgical staple cartridge 3834 . the anvil 3824 has a cam surface 3825 that is configured for interaction with a preclamping collar 3840 that is supported for axial movement relative thereto. the end effector 3814 is coupled to an elongated shaft assembly 3808 that is attached to a tool mounting portion 3900 . in various embodiments, a closure cable 3850 is employed to move pre-clamping collar 3840 distally onto and over cam surface 3825 to close the anvil 3824 relative to the surgical staple cartridge 3834 and compress the tissue therebetween. preferably, closure cable 3850 attaches to the pre-clamping collar 3840 at or near point 3841 and is fed through a passageway in anvil 3824 (or under a proximal portion of anvil 3824 ) and fed proximally through shaft 3808 . actuation of closure cable 3850 in the proximal direction “pd” forces pre-clamping collar 3840 distally against cam surface 3825 to close anvil 3824 relative to staple cartridge assembly 3834 . a return mechanism, e.g., a spring, cable system or the like, may be employed to return pre-clamping collar 3840 to a pre-clamping orientation which re-opens the anvil 3824 . the elongated shaft assembly 3808 may be cylindrical in shape and define a channel 3811 which may be dimensioned to receive a tube adapter 3870 . see fig. 92 . in various embodiments, the tube adapter 3870 may be slidingly received in friction-fit engagement with the internal channel of elongated shaft 3808 . the outer surface of the tube adapter 3870 may further include at least one mechanical interface, e.g., a cutout or notch 3871 , oriented to mate with a corresponding mechanical interface, e.g., a radially inwardly extending protrusion or detent (not shown), disposed on the inner periphery of internal channel 3811 to lock the tube adapter 3870 to the elongated shaft 3808 . in various embodiments, the distal end of tube adapter 3870 may include a pair of opposing flanges 3872 a and 3872 b which define a cavity for pivotably receiving a pivot block 3873 therein. each flange 3872 a and 3872 b may include an aperture 3874 a and 3874 b that is oriented to receive a pivot pin 3875 that extends through an aperture in pivot block 3873 to allow pivotable movement of pivot block 3873 about an axis that is perpendicular to longitudinal tool axis “lt-lt”. the channel 3822 may be formed with two upwardly extending flanges 3823 a , 3823 b that have apertures therein, which are dimensioned to receive a pivot pin 3827 . in turn, pivot pin 3875 mounts through apertures in pivot block 3873 to permit rotation of the surgical end effector 3814 about the “y” axis as needed during a given surgical procedure. rotation of pivot block 3873 about pin 3875 along “z” axis rotates the surgical end effector 3814 about the “z” axis. see fig. 92 . other methods of fastening the elongated channel 3822 to the pivot block 3873 may be effectively employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. the surgical staple cartridge 3834 can be assembled and mounted within the elongated channel 3822 during the manufacturing or assembly process and sold as part of the surgical end effector 3812 , or the surgical staple cartridge 3834 may be designed for selective mounting within the elongated channel 3822 as needed and sold separately, e.g., as a single use replacement, replaceable or disposable staple cartridge assembly. it is within the scope of this disclosure that the surgical end effector 3812 may be pivotally, operatively, or integrally attached, for example, to distal end 3809 of the elongated shaft assembly 3808 of a disposable surgical stapler. as is known, a used or spent disposable loading unit 3814 can be removed from the elongated shaft assembly 3808 and replaced with an unused disposable unit. the endocutter 3814 may also preferably include an actuator, preferably a dynamic clamping member 3860 , a sled 3862 , as well as staple pushers (not shown) and staples (not shown) once an unspent or unused cartridge 3834 is mounted in the elongated channel 3822 . see fig. 92 . in various embodiments, the dynamic clamping member 3860 is associated with, e.g., mounted on and rides on, or with or is connected to or integral with and/or rides behind sled 3862 . it is envisioned that dynamic clamping member 3860 can have cam wedges or cam surfaces attached or integrally formed or be pushed by a leading distal surface thereof. in various embodiments, dynamic clamping member 3860 may include an upper portion 3863 having a transverse aperture 3864 with a pin 3865 mountable or mounted therein, a central support or upward extension 3866 and substantially t-shaped bottom flange 3867 which cooperate to slidingly retain dynamic clamping member 3860 along an ideal cutting path during longitudinal, distal movement of sled 3862 . the leading cutting edge 3868 , here, knife blade 3869 , is dimensioned to ride within slot 3835 of staple cartridge assembly 3834 and separate tissue once stapled. as used herein, the term “knife assembly” may include the aforementioned dynamic clamping member 3860 , knife 3869 , and sled 3862 or other knife/beam/sled drive arrangements and cutting instrument arrangements. in addition, the various embodiments of the present invention may be employed with knife assembly/cutting instrument arrangements that may be entirely supported in the staple cartridge 3834 or partially supported in the staple cartridge 3834 and elongated channel 3822 or entirely supported within the elongated channel 3822 . in various embodiments, the dynamic clamping member 3860 may be driven in the proximal and distal directions by a cable drive assembly 3870 . in one non-limiting form, the cable drive assembly comprises a pair of advance cables 3880 , 3882 and a firing cable 3884 . figs. 93 and 94 illustrate the cables 3880 , 3882 , 3884 in diagrammatic form. as can be seen in those figures, a first advance cable 3880 is operably supported on a first distal cable transition support 3885 which may comprise, for example, a pulley, rod, capstan, etc. that is attached to the distal end of the elongated channel 3822 and a first proximal cable transition support 3886 which may comprise, for example, a pulley, rod, capstan, etc. that is operably supported by the elongated channel 3822 . a distal end 3881 of the first advance cable 3880 is affixed to the dynamic clamping assembly 3860 . the second advance cable 3882 is operably supported on a second distal cable transition support 3887 which may, for example, comprise a pulley, rod, capstan etc. that is mounted to the distal end of the elongated channel 3822 and a second proximal cable transition support 3888 which may, for example, comprise a pulley, rod, capstan, etc. mounted to the proximal end of the elongated channel 3822 . the proximal end 3883 of the second advance cable 3882 may be attached to the dynamic clamping assembly 3860 . also in these embodiments, an endless firing cable 3884 is employed and journaled on a support 3889 that may comprise a pulley, rod, capstan, etc. mounted within the elongated shaft 3808 . in one embodiment, the retract cable 3884 may be formed in a loop and coupled to a connector 3889 ′ that is fixedly attached to the first and second advance cables 3880 , 3882 . various non-limiting embodiments of the present invention include a cable drive transmission 3920 that is operably supported on a tool mounting plate 3902 of the tool mounting portion 3900 . the tool mounting portion 3900 has an array of electrical connecting pins 3904 which are configured to interface with the slots 1258 ( fig. 33 ) in the adapter 1240 ′. such arrangement permits the robotic system 1000 to provide control signals to a control circuit 3910 of the tool 3800 . while the interface is described herein with reference to mechanical, electrical, and magnetic coupling elements, it should be understood that a wide variety of telemetry modalities might be used, including infrared, inductive coupling, or the like. control circuit 3910 is shown in schematic form in fig. 91 . in one form or embodiment, the control circuit 3910 includes a power supply in the form of a battery 3912 that is coupled to an on-off solenoid powered switch 3914 . in other embodiments, however, the power supply may comprise a source of alternating current. control circuit 3910 further includes an on/off solenoid 3916 that is coupled to a double pole switch 3918 for controlling motor rotation direction. thus, when the robotic system 1000 supplies an appropriate control signal, switch 3914 will permit battery 3912 to supply power to the double pole switch 3918 . the robotic system 1000 will also supply an appropriate signal to the double pole switch 3918 to supply power to a shifter motor 3922 . turning to figs. 95-100 , at least one embodiment of the cable drive transmission 3920 comprises a drive pulley 3930 that is operably mounted to a drive shaft 3932 that is attached to a driven element 1304 of the type and construction described above that is designed to interface with a corresponding drive element 1250 of the adapter 1240 . see figs. 33 and 98 . thus, when the tool mounting portion 3900 is operably coupled to the tool holder 1270 , the robot system 1000 can apply rotary motion to the drive pulley 3930 in a desired direction. a first drive member or belt 3934 drivingly engages the drive pulley 3930 and a second drive shaft 3936 that is rotatably supported on a shifter yoke 3940 . the shifter yoke 3940 is operably coupled to the shifter motor 3922 such that rotation of the shaft 3923 of the shifter motor 3922 in a first direction will shift the shifter yoke in a first direction “fd” and rotation of the shifter motor shaft 3923 in a second direction will shift the shifter yoke 3940 in a second direction “sd”. other embodiments of the present invention may employ a shifter solenoid arrangement for shifting the shifter yoke in said first and second directions. as can be seen in figs. 95-98 , a closure drive gear 3950 mounted to a second drive shaft 3936 and is configured to selectively mesh with a closure drive assembly, generally designated as 3951 . likewise a firing drive gear 3960 is also mounted to the second drive shaft 3936 and is configured to selectively mesh with a firing drive assembly generally designated as 3961 . rotation of the second drive shaft 3936 causes the closure drive gear 3950 and the firing drive gear 3960 to rotate. in one non-limiting embodiment, the closure drive assembly 3951 comprises a closure driven gear 3952 that is coupled to a first closure pulley 3954 that is rotatably supported on a third drive shaft 3956 . the closure cable 3850 is drivingly received on the first closure pulley 3954 such that rotation of the closure driven gear 3952 will drive the closure cable 3850 . likewise, the firing drive assembly 3961 comprises a firing driven gear 3962 that is coupled to a first firing pulley 3964 that is rotatably supported on the third drive shaft 3956 . the first and second driving pulleys 3954 and 3964 are independently rotatable on the third drive shaft 3956 . the firing cable 3884 is drivingly received on the first firing pulley 3964 such that rotation of the firing driven gear 3962 will drive the firing cable 3884 . also in various embodiments, the cable drive transmission 3920 further includes a braking assembly 3970 . in at least one embodiment, for example, the braking assembly 3970 includes a closure brake 3972 that comprises a spring arm 3973 that is attached to a portion of the transmission housing 3971 . the closure brake 3972 has a gear lug 3974 that is sized to engage the teeth of the closure driven gear 3952 as will be discussed in further detail below. the braking assembly 3970 further includes a firing brake 3976 that comprises a spring arm 3977 that is attached to another portion of the transmission housing 3971 . the firing brake 3976 has a gear lug 3978 that is sized to engage the teeth of the firing driven gear 3962 . at least one embodiment of the surgical tool 3800 may be used as follows. the tool mounting portion 3900 is operably coupled to the interface 1240 of the robotic system 1000 . the controller or control unit of the robotic system is operated to locate the tissue to be cut and stapled between the open anvil 3824 and the staple cartridge 3834 . when in that initial position, the braking assembly 3970 has locked the closure driven gear 3952 and the firing driven gear 3962 such that they cannot rotate. that is, as shown in fig. 96 , the gear lug 3974 is in locking engagement with the closure driven gear 3952 and the gear lug 3978 is in locking engagement with the firing driven gear 3962 . once the surgical end effector 3814 has been properly located, the controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 will provide a control signal to the shifter motor 3922 (or shifter solenoid) to move the shifter yoke 3940 in the first direction. as the shifter yoke 3940 is moved in the first direction, the closure drive gear 3950 moves the gear lug 3974 out of engagement with the closure driven gear 3952 as it moves into meshing engagement with the closure driven gear 3952 . as can be seen in fig. 95 , when in that position, the gear lug 3978 remains in locking engagement with the firing driven gear 3962 to prevent actuation of the firing system. thereafter, the robotic controller 1001 provides a first rotary actuation motion to the drive pulley 3930 through the interface between the driven element 1304 and the corresponding components of the tool holder 1240 . as the drive pulley 3930 is rotated in the first direction, the closure cable 3850 is rotated to drive the preclamping collar 3840 into closing engagement with the cam surface 3825 of the anvil 3824 to move it to the closed position thereby clamping the target tissue between the anvil 3824 and the staple cartridge 3834 . see fig. 91 . once the anvil 3824 has been moved to the closed position, the robotic controller 1001 stops the application of the first rotary motion to the drive pulley 3930 . thereafter, the robotic controller 1001 may commence the firing process by sending another control signal to the shifter motor 3922 (or shifter solenoid) to cause the shifter yoke to move in the second direction “sd” as shown in fig. 97 . as the shifter yoke 3940 is moved in the second direction, the firing drive gear 3960 moves the gear lug 3978 out of engagement with the firing driven gear 3962 as it moves into meshing engagement with the firing driven gear 3962 . as can be seen in fig. 97 , when in that position, the gear lug 3974 remains in locking engagement with the closure driven gear 3952 to prevent actuation of the closure system. thereafter, the robotic controller 1001 is activated to provide the first rotary actuation motion to the drive pulley 3930 through the interface between the driven element 1304 and the corresponding components of the tool holder 1240 . as the drive pulley 3930 is rotated in the first direction, the firing cable 3884 is rotated to drive the dynamic clamping member 3860 in the distal direction “dd” thereby firing the stapes and cutting the tissue clamped in the end effector 3814 . once the robotic system 1000 determines that the dynamic clamping member 3860 has reached its distal most position—either through sensors or through monitoring the amount of rotary input applied to the drive pulley 3930 , the controller 1001 may then apply a second rotary motion to the drive pulley 3930 to rotate the closure cable 3850 in an opposite direction to cause the dynamic clamping member 3860 to be retracted in the proximal direction “pd”. once the dynamic clamping member has been retracted to the starting position, the application of the second rotary motion to the drive pulley 3930 is discontinued. thereafter, the shifter motor 3922 (or shifter solenoid) is powered to move the shifter yoke 3940 to the closure position ( fig. 95 ). once the closure drive gear 3950 is in meshing engagement with the closure driven gear 3952 , the robotic controller 1001 may once again apply the second rotary motion to the drive pulley 3930 . rotation of the drive pulley 3930 in the second direction causes the closure cable 3850 to retract the preclamping collar 3840 out of engagement with the cam surface 3825 of the anvil 3824 to permit the anvil 3824 to move to an open position (by a spring or other means) to release the stapled tissue from the surgical end effector 3814 . fig. 101 illustrates a surgical tool 4000 that employs a gear driven firing bar 4092 as shown in figs. 102-104 . this embodiment includes an elongated shaft assembly 4008 that extends from a tool mounting portion 4100 . the tool mounting portion 4100 includes a tool mounting plate 4102 that operable supports a transmission arrangement 4103 thereon. the elongated shaft assembly 4008 includes a rotatable proximal closure tube 4010 that is rotatably journaled on a proximal spine member 4020 that is rigidly coupled to the tool mounting plate 4102 . the proximal spine member 4020 has a distal end that is coupled to an elongated channel portion 4022 of a surgical end effector 4012 . the surgical effector 4012 may be substantially similar to surgical end effector 3412 described above. in addition, the anvil 4024 of the surgical end effector 4012 may be opened and closed by a distal closure tube 4030 that operably interfaces with the proximal closure tube 4010 . distal closure tube 4030 is identical to distal closure tube 3430 described above. similarly, proximal closure tube 4010 is identical to proximal closure tube segment 3410 described above. anvil 4024 is opened and closed by rotating the proximal closure tube 4010 in manner described above with respect to distal closure tube 3410 . in at least one embodiment, the transmission arrangement comprises a closure transmission, generally designated as 4011 . as will be further discussed below, the closure transmission 4011 is configured to receive a corresponding first rotary motion from the robotic system 1000 and convert that first rotary motion to a primary rotary motion for rotating the rotatable proximal closure tube 4010 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. as can be seen in fig. 104 , a proximal end 4060 of the proximal closure tube 4010 is rotatably supported within a cradle arrangement 4104 that is attached to a tool mounting plate 4102 of the tool mounting portion 4100 . a rotation gear 4062 is formed on or attached to the proximal end 4060 of the closure tube segment 4010 for meshing engagement with a rotation drive assembly 4070 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 4102 . in at least one embodiment, a rotation drive gear 4072 is coupled to a corresponding first one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 4102 when the tool mounting portion 4100 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . see figs. 34 and 104 . the rotation drive assembly 4070 further comprises a rotary driven gear 4074 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 4102 in meshing engagement with the rotation gear 4062 and the rotation drive gear 4072 . application of a first rotary control motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool holder 1270 and the adapter 1240 to the corresponding driven element 1304 will thereby cause rotation of the rotation drive gear 4072 by virtue of being operably coupled thereto. rotation of the rotation drive gear 4072 ultimately results in the rotation of the closure tube segment 4010 to open and close the anvil 4024 as described above. as indicated above, the end effector 4012 employs a cutting element 3860 as shown in figs. 102 and 103 . in at least one non-limiting embodiment, the transmission arrangement 4103 further comprises a knife drive transmission that includes a knife drive assembly 4080 . fig. 104 illustrates one form of knife drive assembly 4080 for axially advancing the knife bar 4092 that is attached to such cutting element using cables as described above with respect to surgical tool 3800 . in particular, the knife bar 4092 replaces the firing cable 3884 employed in an embodiment of surgical tool 3800 . one form of the knife drive assembly 4080 comprises a rotary drive gear 4082 that is coupled to a corresponding second one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 4102 when the tool mounting portion 4100 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . see figs. 34 and 104 . the knife drive assembly 4080 further comprises a first rotary driven gear assembly 4084 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 4102 . the first rotary driven gear assembly 4084 is in meshing engagement with a third rotary driven gear assembly 4086 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 4102 and which is in meshing engagement with a fourth rotary driven gear assembly 4088 that is in meshing engagement with a threaded portion 4094 of drive shaft assembly 4090 that is coupled to the knife bar 4092 . rotation of the rotary drive gear 4082 in a second rotary direction will result in the axial advancement of the drive shaft assembly 4090 and knife bar 4092 in the distal direction “dd”. conversely, rotation of the rotary drive gear 4082 in a secondary rotary direction (opposite to the second rotary direction) will cause the drive shaft assembly 4090 and the knife bar 4092 to move in the proximal direction. movement of the firing bar 4092 in the proximal direction “pd” will drive the cutting element 3860 in the distal direction “dd”. conversely, movement of the firing bar 4092 in the distal direction “dd” will result in the movement of the cutting element 3860 in the proximal direction “pd”. figs. 105-111 illustrate yet another surgical tool 5000 that may be effectively employed in connection with a robotic system 1000 . in various forms, the surgical tool 5000 includes a surgical end effector 5012 in the form of a surgical stapling instrument that includes an elongated channel 5020 and a pivotally translatable clamping member, such as an anvil 5070 , which are maintained at a spacing that assures effective stapling and severing of tissue clamped in the surgical end effector 5012 . as can be seen in fig. 107 , the elongated channel 5020 may be substantially u-shaped in cross-section and be fabricated from, for example, titanium, 203 stainless steel, 304 stainless steel, 416 stainless steel, 17-4 stainless steel, 17-7 stainless steel, 6061 or 7075 aluminum, chromium steel, ceramic, etc. a substantially u-shaped metal channel pan 5022 may be supported in the bottom of the elongated channel 5020 as shown. various embodiments include an actuation member in the form of a sled assembly 5030 that is operably supported within the surgical end effector 5012 and axially movable therein between a staring position and an ending position in response to control motions applied thereto. in some forms, the metal channel pan 5022 has a centrally-disposed slot 5024 therein to movably accommodate a base portion 5032 of the sled assembly 5030 . the base portion 5032 includes a foot portion 5034 that is sized to be slidably received in a slot 5021 in the elongated channel 5020 . see fig. 107 . as can be seen in figs. 107, 110, and 111 , the base portion 5032 of sled assembly 5030 includes an axially extending threaded bore 5036 that is configured to be threadedly received on a threaded drive shaft 5130 as will be discussed in further detail below. in addition, the sled assembly 5030 includes an upstanding support portion 5038 that supports a tissue cutting blade or tissue cutting instrument 5040 . the upstanding support portion 5038 terminates in a top portion 5042 that has a pair of laterally extending retaining fins 5044 protruding therefrom. as shown in fig. 107 , the fins 5044 are positioned to be received within corresponding slots 5072 in anvil 5070 . the fins 5044 and the foot 5034 serve to retain the anvil 5070 in a desired spaced closed position as the sled assembly 5030 is driven distally through the tissue clamped within the surgical end effector 5014 . as can also be seen in figs. 109 and 111 , the sled assembly 5030 further includes a reciprocatably or sequentially activatable drive assembly 5050 for driving staple pushers toward the closed anvil 5070 . more specifically and with reference to figs. 107 and 108 , the elongated channel 5020 is configured to operably support a surgical staple cartridge 5080 therein. in at least one form, the surgical staple cartridge 5080 comprises a body portion 5082 that may be fabricated from, for example, vectra, nylon (6/6 or 6/12) and include a centrally disposed slot 5084 for accommodating the upstanding support portion 5038 of the sled assembly 5030 . see fig. 107 . these materials could also be filled with glass, carbon, or mineral fill of 10%-40%. the surgical staple cartridge 5080 further includes a plurality of cavities 5086 for movably supporting lines or rows of staple-supporting pushers 5088 therein. the cavities 5086 may be arranged in spaced longitudinally extending lines or rows 5090 , 5092 , 5094 , 5096 . for example, the rows 5090 may be referred to herein as first outboard rows. the rows 5092 may be referred to herein as first inboard rows. the rows 5094 may be referred to as second inboard rows and the rows 5096 may be referred to as second outboard rows. the first inboard row 5090 and the first outboard row 5092 are located on a first lateral side of the longitudinal slot 5084 and the second inboard row 5094 and the second outboard row 5096 are located on a second lateral side of the longitudinal slot 5084 . the first staple pushers 5088 in the first inboard row 5092 are staggered in relationship to the first staple pushers 5088 in the first outboard row 5090 . similarly, the second staple pushers 5088 in the second outboard row 5096 are staggered in relationship to the second pushers 5088 in the second inboard row 5094 . each pusher 5088 operably supports a surgical staple 5098 thereon. in various embodiments, the sequentially-activatable or reciprocatably-activatable drive assembly 5050 includes a pair of outboard drivers 5052 and a pair of inboard drivers 5054 that are each attached to a common shaft 5056 that is rotatably mounted within the base 5032 of the sled assembly 5030 . the outboard drivers 5052 are oriented to sequentially or reciprocatingly engage a corresponding plurality of outboard activation cavities 5026 provided in the channel pan 5022 . likewise, the inboard drivers 5054 are oriented to sequentially or reciprocatingly engage a corresponding plurality of inboard activation cavities 5028 provided in the channel pan 5022 . the inboard activation cavities 5028 are arranged in a staggered relationship relative to the adjacent outboard activation cavities 5026 . see fig. 108 . as can also be seen in figs. 108 and 110 , in at least one embodiment, the sled assembly 5030 further includes distal wedge segments 5060 and intermediate wedge segments 5062 located on each side of the bore 5036 to engage the pushers 5088 as the sled assembly 5030 is driven distally in the distal direction “dd”. as indicated above, the sled assembly 5030 is threadedly received on a threaded portion 5132 of a drive shaft 5130 that is rotatably supported within the end effector 5012 . in various embodiments, for example, the drive shaft 5130 has a distal end 5134 that is supported in a distal bearing 5136 mounted in the surgical end effector 5012 . see figs. 107 and 108 . in various embodiments, the surgical end effector 5012 is coupled to a tool mounting portion 5200 by an elongated shaft assembly 5108 . in at least one embodiment, the tool mounting portion 5200 operably supports a transmission arrangement generally designated as 5204 that is configured to receive rotary output motions from the robotic system. the elongated shaft assembly 5108 includes an outer closure tube 5110 that is rotatable and axially movable on a spine member 5120 that is rigidly coupled to a tool mounting plate 5201 of the tool mounting portion 5200 . the spine member 5120 also has a distal end 5122 that is coupled to the elongated channel portion 5020 of the surgical end effector 5012 . in use, it may be desirable to rotate the surgical end effector 5012 about a longitudinal tool axis lt-lt defined by the elongated shaft assembly 5008 . in various embodiments, the outer closure tube 5110 has a proximal end 5112 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 5201 of the tool drive portion 5200 by a forward support cradle 5203 . the proximal end 5112 of the outer closure tube 5110 is configured to operably interface with a rotation transmission portion 5206 of the transmission arrangement 5204 . in various embodiments, the proximal end 5112 of the outer closure tube 5110 is also supported on a closure sled 5140 that is also movably supported on the tool mounting plate 5201 . a closure tube gear segment 5114 is formed on the proximal end 5112 of the outer closure tube 5110 for meshing engagement with a rotation drive assembly 5150 of the rotation transmission 5206 . as can be seen in fig. 105 , the rotation drive assembly 5150 , in at least one embodiment, comprises a rotation drive gear 5152 that is coupled to a corresponding first one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side 1307 of the tool mounting plate 5201 when the tool drive portion 5200 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . the rotation drive assembly 5150 further comprises a rotary driven gear 5154 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 5201 in meshing engagement with the closure tube gear segment 5114 and the rotation drive gear 5152 . application of a first rotary control motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool holder 1270 and the adapter 1240 to the corresponding driven element 1304 will thereby cause rotation of the rotation drive gear 5152 . rotation of the rotation drive gear 5152 ultimately results in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 5108 (and the end effector 5012 ) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt (represented by arrow “r” in fig. 105 ). closure of the anvil 5070 relative to the surgical staple cartridge 5080 is accomplished by axially moving the outer closure tube 5110 in the distal direction “dd”. such axial movement of the outer closure tube 5110 may be accomplished by a closure transmission portion closure transmission portion 5144 of the transmission arrangement 5204 . as indicated above, in various embodiments, the proximal end 5112 of the outer closure tube 5110 is supported by the closure sled 5140 which enables the proximal end 5112 to rotate relative thereto, yet travel axially with the closure sled 5140 . in particular, as can be seen in fig. 105 , the closure sled 5140 has an upstanding tab 5141 that extends into a radial groove 5115 in the proximal end portion 5112 of the outer closure tube 5110 . in addition, as was described above, the closure sled 5140 is slidably mounted to the tool mounting plate 5201 . in various embodiments, the closure sled 5140 has an upstanding portion 5142 that has a closure rack gear 5143 formed thereon. the closure rack gear 5143 is configured for driving engagement with the closure transmission 5144 . in various forms, the closure transmission 5144 includes a closure spur gear 5145 that is coupled to a corresponding second one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side 1307 of the tool mounting plate 5201 . thus, application of a second rotary control motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool holder 1270 and the adapter 1240 to the corresponding second driven element 1304 will cause rotation of the closure spur gear 5145 when the interface 1230 is coupled to the tool mounting portion 5200 . the closure transmission 5144 further includes a driven closure gear set 5146 that is supported in meshing engagement with the closure spur gear 5145 and the closure rack gear 5143 . thus, application of a second rotary control motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool holder 1270 and the adapter 1240 to the corresponding second driven element 1304 will cause rotation of the closure spur gear 5145 and ultimately drive the closure sled 5140 and the outer closure tube 5110 axially. the axial direction in which the closure tube 5110 moves ultimately depends upon the direction in which the second driven element 1304 is rotated. for example, in response to one rotary closure motion received from the robotic system 1000 , the closure sled 5140 will be driven in the distal direction “dd” and ultimately the outer closure tube 5110 will be driven in the distal direction as well. the outer closure tube 5110 has an opening 5117 in the distal end 5116 that is configured for engagement with a tab 5071 on the anvil 5070 in the manners described above. as the outer closure tube 5110 is driven distally, the proximal end 5116 of the closure tube 5110 will contact the anvil 5070 and pivot it closed. upon application of an “opening” rotary motion from the robotic system 1000 , the closure sled 5140 and outer closure tube 5110 will be driven in the proximal direction “pd” and pivot the anvil 5070 to the open position in the manners described above. in at least one embodiment, the drive shaft 5130 has a proximal end 5137 that has a proximal shaft gear 5138 attached thereto. the proximal shaft gear 5138 is supported in meshing engagement with a distal drive gear 5162 attached to a rotary drive bar 5160 that is rotatably supported with spine member 5120 . rotation of the rotary drive bar 5160 and ultimately rotary drive shaft 5130 is controlled by a rotary knife transmission 5207 which comprises a portion of the transmission arrangement 5204 supported on the tool mounting plate 5210 . in various embodiments, the rotary knife transmission 5207 comprises a rotary knife drive system 5170 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 5201 . in various embodiments, the knife drive system 5170 includes a rotary drive gear 5172 that is coupled to a corresponding third one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side of the tool mounting plate 5201 when the tool drive portion 5200 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . the knife drive system 5170 further comprises a first rotary driven gear 5174 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 5201 in meshing engagement with a second rotary driven gear 5176 and the rotary drive gear 5172 . the second rotary driven gear 5176 is coupled to a proximal end portion 5164 of the rotary drive bar 5160 . rotation of the rotary drive gear 5172 in a first rotary direction will result in the rotation of the rotary drive bar 5160 and rotary drive shaft 5130 in a first direction. conversely, rotation of the rotary drive gear 5172 in a second rotary direction (opposite to the first rotary direction) will cause the rotary drive bar 5160 and rotary drive shaft 5130 to rotate in a second direction. 2400 . thus, rotation of the drive shaft 2440 results in rotation of the drive sleeve 2400 . one method of operating the surgical tool 5000 will now be described. the tool drive 5200 is operably coupled to the interface 1240 of the robotic system 1000 . the controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 is operated to locate the tissue to be cut and stapled between the open anvil 5070 and the surgical staple cartridge 5080 . once the surgical end effector 5012 has been positioned by the robot system 1000 such that the target tissue is located between the anvil 5070 and the surgical staple cartridge 5080 , the controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 may be activated to apply the second rotary output motion to the second driven element 1304 coupled to the closure spur gear 5145 to drive the closure sled 5140 and the outer closure tube 5110 axially in the distal direction to pivot the anvil 5070 closed in the manner described above. once the robotic controller 1001 determines that the anvil 5070 has been closed by, for example, sensors in the surgical end effector 5012 and/or the tool drive portion 5200 , the robotic controller 1001 system may provide the surgeon with an indication that signifies the closure of the anvil. such indication may be, for example, in the form of a light and/or audible sound, tactile feedback on the control members, etc. then the surgeon may initiate the firing process. in alternative embodiments, however, the robotic controller 1001 may automatically commence the firing process. to commence the firing process, the robotic controller applies a third rotary output motion to the third driven disc or element 1304 coupled to the rotary drive gear 5172 . rotation of the rotary drive gear 5172 results in the rotation of the rotary drive bar 5160 and rotary drive shaft 5130 in the manner described above. firing and formation of the surgical staples 5098 can be best understood from reference to figs. 106, 108 , and 109 . as the sled assembly 5030 is driven in the distal direction “dd” through the surgical staple cartridge 5080 , the distal wedge segments 5060 first contact the staple pushers 5088 and start to move them toward the closed anvil 5070 . as the sled assembly 5030 continues to move distally, the outboard drivers 5052 will drop into the corresponding activation cavity 5026 in the channel pan 5022 . the opposite end of each outboard driver 5052 will then contact the corresponding outboard pusher 5088 that has moved up the distal and intermediate wedge segments 5060 , 5062 . further distal movement of the sled assembly 5030 causes the outboard drivers 5052 to rotate and drive the corresponding pushers 5088 toward the anvil 5070 to cause the staples 5098 supported thereon to be formed as they are driven into the anvil 5070 . it will be understood that as the sled assembly 5030 moves distally, the knife blade 5040 cuts through the tissue that is clamped between the anvil and the staple cartridge. because the inboard drivers 5054 and outboard drivers 5052 are attached to the same shaft 5056 and the inboard drivers 5054 are radially offset from the outboard drivers 5052 on the shaft 5056 , as the outboard drivers 5052 are driving their corresponding pushers 5088 toward the anvil 5070 , the inboard drivers 5054 drop into their next corresponding activation cavity 5028 to cause them to rotatably or reciprocatingly drive the corresponding inboard pushers 5088 towards the closed anvil 5070 in the same manner. thus, the laterally corresponding outboard staples 5098 on each side of the centrally disposed slot 5084 are simultaneously formed together and the laterally corresponding inboard staples 5098 on each side of the slot 5084 are simultaneously formed together as the sled assembly 5030 is driven distally. once the robotic controller 1001 determines that the sled assembly 5030 has reached its distal most position—either through sensors or through monitoring the amount of rotary input applied to the drive shaft 5130 and/or the rotary drive bar 5160 , the controller 1001 may then apply a third rotary output motion to the drive shaft 5130 to rotate the drive shaft 5130 in an opposite direction to retract the sled assembly 5030 back to its starting position. once the sled assembly 5030 has been retracted to the starting position (as signaled by sensors in the end effector 5012 and/or the tool drive portion 5200 ), the application of the second rotary motion to the drive shaft 5130 is discontinued. thereafter, the surgeon may manually activate the anvil opening process or it may be automatically commenced by the robotic controller 1001 . to open the anvil 5070 , the second rotary output motion is applied to the closure spur gear 5145 to drive the closure sled 5140 and the outer closure tube 5110 axially in the proximal direction. as the closure tube 5110 moves proximally, the opening 5117 in the distal end 5116 of the closure tube 5110 contacts the tab 5071 on the anvil 5070 to pivot the anvil 5070 to the open position. a spring may also be employed to bias the anvil 5070 to the open position when the closure tube 5116 has been returned to the starting position. again, sensors in the surgical end effector 5012 and/or the tool mounting portion 5200 may provide the robotic controller 1001 with a signal indicating that the anvil 5070 is now open. thereafter, the surgical end effector 5012 may be withdrawn from the surgical site. figs. 112-117 diagrammatically depict the sequential firing of staples in a surgical tool assembly 5000 ′ that is substantially similar to the surgical tool assembly 5000 described above. in this embodiment, the inboard and outboard drivers 5052 ′, 5054 ′ have a cam-like shape with a cam surface 5053 and an actuator protrusion 5055 as shown in figs. 112-118 . the drivers 5052 ′, 5054 ′ are journaled on the same shaft 5056 ′ that is rotatably supported by the sled assembly 5030 ′. in this embodiment, the sled assembly 5030 ′ has distal wedge segments 5060 ′ for engaging the pushers 5088 . fig. 112 illustrates an initial position of two inboard or outboard drivers 5052 ′, 5054 ′ as the sled assembly 5030 ′ is driven in the distal direction “dd”. as can be seen in that figure, the pusher 5088 a has advanced up the wedge segment 5060 ′ and has contacted the driver 5052 ′, 5054 ′. further travel of the sled assembly 5030 ′ in the distal direction causes the driver 5052 ′, 5054 ′ to pivot in the “p” direction ( fig. 113 ) until the actuator portion 5055 contacts the end wall 5029 a of the activation cavity 5026 , 5028 as shown in fig. 114 . continued advancement of the sled assembly 5030 ′ in the distal direction “dd” causes the driver 5052 ′, 5054 ′ to rotate in the “d” direction as shown in fig. 115 . as the driver 5052 ′, 5054 ′ rotates, the pusher 5088 a rides up the cam surface 5053 to the final vertical position shown in fig. 116 . when the pusher 5088 a reaches the final vertical position shown in figs. 116 and 117 , the staple (not shown) supported thereon has been driven into the staple forming surface of the anvil to form the staple. figs. 119-124 illustrate a surgical end effector 5312 that may be employed for example, in connection with the tool mounting portion 1300 and shaft 2008 described in detail above. in various forms, the surgical end effector 5312 includes an elongated channel 5322 that is constructed as described above for supporting a surgical staple cartridge 5330 therein. the surgical staple cartridge 5330 comprises a body portion 5332 that includes a centrally disposed slot 5334 for accommodating an upstanding support portion 5386 of a sled assembly 5380 . see figs. 119-121 . the surgical staple cartridge body portion 5332 further includes a plurality of cavities 5336 for movably supporting staple-supporting pushers 5350 therein. the cavities 5336 may be arranged in spaced longitudinally extending rows 5340 , 5342 , 5344 , 5346 . the rows 5340 , 5342 are located on one lateral side of the longitudinal slot 5334 and the rows 5344 , 5346 are located on the other side of longitudinal slot 5334 . in at least one embodiment, the pushers 5350 are configured to support two surgical staples 5352 thereon. in particular, each pusher 5350 located on one side of the elongated slot 5334 supports one staple 5352 in row 5340 and one staple 5352 in row 5342 in a staggered orientation. likewise, each pusher 5350 located on the other side of the elongated slot 5334 supports one surgical staple 5352 in row 5344 and another surgical staple 5352 in row 5346 in a staggered orientation. thus, every pusher 5350 supports two surgical staples 5352 . as can be further seen in figs. 119, 120 , the surgical staple cartridge 5330 includes a plurality of rotary drivers 5360 . more particularly, the rotary drivers 5360 on one side of the elongated slot 5334 are arranged in a single line 5370 and correspond to the pushers 5350 in lines 5340 , 5342 . in addition, the rotary drivers 5360 on the other side of the elongated slot 5334 are arranged in a single line 5372 and correspond to the pushers 5350 in lines 5344 , 5346 . as can be seen in fig. 119 , each rotary driver 5360 is rotatably supported within the staple cartridge body 5332 . more particularly, each rotary driver 5360 is rotatably received on a corresponding driver shaft 5362 . each driver 5360 has an arcuate ramp portion 5364 formed thereon that is configured to engage an arcuate lower surface 5354 formed on each pusher 5350 . see fig. 124 . in addition, each driver 5360 has a lower support portion 5366 extend therefrom to slidably support the pusher 5360 on the channel 5322 . each driver 5360 has a downwardly extending actuation rod 5368 that is configured for engagement with a sled assembly 5380 . as can be seen in fig. 121 , in at least one embodiment, the sled assembly 5380 includes a base portion 5382 that has a foot portion 5384 that is sized to be slidably received in a slot 5333 in the channel 5322 . see fig. 119 . the sled assembly 5380 includes an upstanding support portion 5386 that supports a tissue cutting blade or tissue cutting instrument 5388 . the upstanding support portion 5386 terminates in a top portion 5390 that has a pair of laterally extending retaining fins 5392 protruding therefrom. the fins 5392 are positioned to be received within corresponding slots (not shown) in the anvil (not shown). as with the above-described embodiments, the fins 5392 and the foot portion 5384 serve to retain the anvil (not shown) in a desired spaced closed position as the sled assembly 5380 is driven distally through the tissue clamped within the surgical end effector 5312 . the upstanding support portion 5386 is configured for attachment to a knife bar 2200 ( fig. 40 ). the sled assembly 5380 further has a horizontally-extending actuator plate 5394 that is shaped for actuating engagement with each of the actuation rods 5368 on the pushers 5360 . operation of the surgical end effector 5312 will now be explained with reference to figs. 119 and 120 . as the sled assembly 5380 is driven in the distal direction “dd” through the staple cartridge 5330 , the actuator plate 5394 sequentially contacts the actuation rods 5368 on the pushers 5360 . as the sled assembly 5380 continues to move distally, the actuator plate 5394 sequentially contacts the actuator rods 5368 of the drivers 5360 on each side of the elongated slot 5334 . such action causes the drivers 5360 to rotate from a first unactuated position to an actuated portion wherein the pushers 5350 are driven towards the closed anvil. as the pushers 5350 are driven toward the anvil, the surgical staples 5352 thereon are driven into forming contact with the underside of the anvil. once the robotic system 1000 determines that the sled assembly 5080 has reached its distal most position through sensors or other means, the control system of the robotic system 1000 may then retract the knife bar and sled assembly 5380 back to the starting position. thereafter, the robotic control system may then activate the procedure for returning the anvil to the open position to release the stapled tissue. figs. 125-129 depict one form of an automated reloading system embodiment of the present invention, generally designated as 5500 . in one form, the automated reloading system 5500 is configured to replace a “spent” surgical end effector component in a manipulatable surgical tool portion of a robotic surgical system with a “new” surgical end effector component. as used herein, the term “surgical end effector component” may comprise, for example, a surgical staple cartridge, a disposable loading unit or other end effector components that, when used, are spent and must be replaced with a new component. furthermore, the term “spent” means that the end effector component has been activated and is no longer useable for its intended purpose in its present state. for example, in the context of a surgical staple cartridge or disposable loading unit, the term “spent” means that at least some of the unformed staples that were previously supported therein have been “fired” therefrom. as used herein, the term “new” surgical end effector component refers to an end effector component that is in condition for its intended use. in the context of a surgical staple cartridge or disposable loading unit, for example, the term “new” refers to such a component that has unformed staples therein and which is otherwise ready for use. in various embodiments, the automated reloading system 5500 includes a base portion 5502 that may be strategically located within a work envelope 1109 of a robotic arm cart 1100 ( fig. 26 ) of a robotic system 1000 . as used herein, the term “manipulatable surgical tool portion” collectively refers to a surgical tool of the various types disclosed herein and other forms of surgical robotically-actuated tools that are operably attached to, for example, a robotic arm cart 1100 or similar device that is configured to automatically manipulate and actuate the surgical tool. the term “work envelope” as used herein refers to the range of movement of the manipulatable surgical tool portion of the robotic system. fig. 26 generally depicts an area that may comprise a work envelope of the robotic arm cart 1100 . those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the shape and size of the work envelope depicted therein is merely illustrative. the ultimate size, shape and location of a work envelope will ultimately depend upon the construction, range of travel limitations, and location of the manipulatable surgical tool portion. thus, the term “work envelope” as used herein is intended to cover a variety of different sizes and shapes of work envelopes and should not be limited to the specific size and shape of the sample work envelope depicted in fig. 26 . as can be seen in fig. 125 , the base portion 5502 includes a new component support section or arrangement 5510 that is configured to operably support at least one new surgical end effector component in a “loading orientation”. as used herein, the term “loading orientation” means that the new end effector component is supported in such away so as to permit the corresponding component support portion of the manipulatable surgical tool portion to be brought into loading engagement with (i.e., operably seated or operably attached to) the new end effector component (or the new end effector component to be brought into loading engagement with the corresponding component support portion of the manipulatable surgical tool portion) without human intervention beyond that which may be necessary to actuate the robotic system. as will be further appreciated as the present detailed description proceeds, in at least one embodiment, the preparation nurse will load the new component support section before the surgery with the appropriate length and color cartridges (some surgical staple cartridges may support certain sizes of staples the size of which may be indicated by the color of the cartridge body) required for completing the surgical procedure. however, no direct human interaction is necessary during the surgery to reload the robotic endocutter. in one form, the surgical end effector component comprises a staple cartridge 2034 that is configured to be operably seated within a component support portion (elongated channel) of any of the various other end effector arrangements described above. for explanation purposes, new (unused) cartridges will be designated as “ 2034 a ” and spent cartridges will be designated as “ 2034 b ”. the figures depict cartridges 2034 a , 2034 b designed for use with a surgical end effector 2012 that includes a channel 2022 and an anvil 2024 , the construction and operation of which were discussed in detail above. cartridges 2034 a , 2034 b are identical to cartridges 2034 described above. in various embodiments, the cartridges 2034 a , 2034 b are configured to be snappingly retained (i.e., loading engagement) within the channel 2022 of a surgical end effector 2012 . as the present detailed description proceeds, however, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the unique and novel features of the automated cartridge reloading system 5500 may be effectively employed in connection with the automated removal and installation of other cartridge arrangements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. in the depicted embodiment, the term “loading orientation” means that the distal tip portion 2035 a of the a new surgical staple cartridge 2034 a is inserted into a corresponding support cavity 5512 in the new cartridge support section 5510 such that the proximal end portion 2037 a of the new surgical staple cartridge 2034 a is located in a convenient orientation for enabling the arm cart 1100 to manipulate the surgical end effector 2012 into a position wherein the new cartridge 2034 a may be automatically loaded into the channel 2022 of the surgical end effector 2012 . in various embodiments, the base 5502 includes at least one sensor 5504 which communicates with the control system 1003 of the robotic controller 1001 to provide the control system 1003 with the location of the base 5502 and/or the reload length and color doe each staged or new cartridge 2034 a. as can also be seen in the figures, the base 5502 further includes a collection receptacle 5520 that is configured to collect spent cartridges 2034 b that have been removed or disengaged from the surgical end effector 2012 that is operably attached to the robotic system 1000 . in addition, in one form, the automated reloading system 5500 includes an extraction system 5530 for automatically removing the spent end effector component from the corresponding support portion of the end effector or manipulatable surgical tool portion without specific human intervention beyond that which may be necessary to activate the robotic system. in various embodiments, the extraction system 5530 includes an extraction hook member 5532 . in one form, for example, the extraction hook member 5532 is rigidly supported on the base portion 5502 . in one embodiment, the extraction hook member has at least one hook 5534 formed thereon that is configured to hookingly engage the distal end 2035 of a spent cartridge 2034 b when it is supported in the elongated channel 2022 of the surgical end effector 2012 . in various forms, the extraction hook member 5532 is conveniently located within a portion of the collection receptacle 5520 such that when the spent end effector component (cartridge 2034 b ) is brought into extractive engagement with the extraction hook member 5532 , the spent end effector component (cartridge 2034 b ) is dislodged from the corresponding component support portion (elongated channel 2022 ), and falls into the collection receptacle 5020 . thus, to use this embodiment, the manipulatable surgical tool portion manipulates the end effector attached thereto to bring the distal end 2035 of the spent cartridge 2034 b therein into hooking engagement with the hook 5534 and then moves the end effector in such a way to dislodge the spent cartridge 2034 b from the elongated channel 2022 . in other arrangements, the extraction hook member 5532 comprises a rotatable wheel configuration that has a pair of diametrically-opposed hooks 5334 protruding therefrom. see figs. 125 and 128 . the extraction hook member 5532 is rotatably supported within the collection receptacle 5520 and is coupled to an extraction motor 5540 that is controlled by the controller 1001 of the robotic system. this form of the automated reloading system 5500 may be used as follows. fig. 127 illustrates the introduction of the surgical end effector 2012 that is operably attached to the manipulatable surgical tool portion 1200 . as can be seen in that figure, the arm cart 1100 of the robotic system 1000 locates the surgical end effector 2012 in the shown position wherein the hook end 5534 of the extraction member 5532 hookingly engages the distal end 2035 of the spent cartridge 2034 b in the surgical end effector 2012 . the anvil 2024 of the surgical end effector 2012 is in the open position. after the distal end 2035 of the spent cartridge 2034 b is engaged with the hook end 5532 , the extraction motor 5540 is actuated to rotate the extraction wheel 5532 to disengage the spent cartridge 2034 b from the channel 2022 . to assist with the disengagement of the spent cartridge 2034 b from the channel 2022 (or if the extraction member 5530 is stationary), the robotic system 1000 may move the surgical end effector 2012 in an upward direction (arrow “u” in fig. 128 ). as the spent cartridge 2034 b is dislodged from the channel 2022 , the spent cartridge 2034 b falls into the collection receptacle 5520 . once the spent cartridge 2034 b has been removed from the surgical end effector 2012 , the robotic system 1000 moves the surgical end effector 2012 to the position shown in fig. 126 . in various embodiments, a sensor arrangement 5533 is located adjacent to the extraction member 5532 that is in communication with the controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 . the sensor arrangement 5533 may comprise a sensor that is configured to sense the presence of the surgical end effector 2012 and, more particularly the tip 2035 b of the spent surgical staple cartridge 2034 b thereof as the distal tip portion 2035 b is brought into engagement with the extraction member 5532 . in some embodiments, the sensor arrangement 5533 may comprise, for example, a light curtain arrangement. however, other forms of proximity sensors may be employed. in such arrangement, when the surgical end effector 2012 with the spent surgical staple cartridge 2034 b is brought into extractive engagement with the extraction member 5532 , the sensor senses the distal tip 2035 b of the surgical staple cartridge 2034 b (e.g., the light curtain is broken). when the extraction member 5532 spins and pops the surgical staple cartridge 2034 b loose and it falls into the collection receptacle 5520 , the light curtain is again unbroken. because the surgical end effector 2012 was not moved during this procedure, the robotic controller 1001 is assured that the spent surgical staple cartridge 2034 b has been removed therefrom. other sensor arrangements may also be successfully employed to provide the robotic controller 1001 with an indication that the spent surgical staple cartridge 2034 b has been removed from the surgical end effector 2012 . as can be seen in fig. 129 , the surgical end effector 2012 is positioned to grasp a new surgical staple cartridge 2034 a between the channel 2022 and the anvil 2024 . more specifically, as shown in figs. 126 and 129 , each cavity 5512 has a corresponding upstanding pressure pad 5514 associated with it. the surgical end effector 2012 is located such that the pressure pad 5514 is located between the new cartridge 2034 a and the anvil 2024 . once in that position, the robotic system 1000 closes the anvil 2024 onto the pressure pad 5514 which serves to push the new cartridge 2034 a into snapping engagement with the channel 2022 of the surgical end effector 2012 . once the new cartridge 2034 a has been snapped into position within the elongated channel 2022 , the robotic system 1000 then withdraws the surgical end effector 2012 from the automated cartridge reloading system 5500 for use in connection with performing another surgical procedure. figs. 130-134 depict another automated reloading system 5600 that may be used to remove a spent disposable loading unit 3612 from a manipulatable surgical tool arrangement 3600 ( figs. 77-90 ) that is operably attached to an arm cart 1100 or other portion of a robotic system 1000 and reload a new disposable loading unit 3612 therein. as can be seen in figs. 130 and 131 , one form of the automated reloading system 5600 includes a housing 5610 that has a movable support assembly in the form of a rotary carrousel top plate 5620 supported thereon which cooperates with the housing 5610 to form a hollow enclosed area 5612 . the automated reloading system 5600 is configured to be operably supported within the work envelop of the manipulatable surgical tool portion of a robotic system as was described above. in various embodiments, the rotary carrousel plate 5620 has a plurality of holes 5622 for supporting a plurality of orientation tubes 5660 therein. as can be seen in figs. 131 and 132 , the rotary carrousel plate 5620 is affixed to a spindle shaft 5624 . the spindle shaft 5624 is centrally disposed within the enclosed area 5612 and has a spindle gear 5626 attached thereto. the spindle gear 5626 is in meshing engagement with a carrousel drive gear 5628 that is coupled to a carrousel drive motor 5630 that is in operative communication with the robotic controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 . various embodiments of the automated reloading system 5600 may also include a carrousel locking assembly, generally designated as 5640 . in various forms, the carrousel locking assembly 5640 includes a cam disc 5642 that is affixed to the spindle shaft 5624 . the spindle gear 5626 may be attached to the underside of the cam disc 5642 and the cam disc 5642 may be keyed onto the spindle shaft 5624 . in alternative arrangements, the spindle gear 5626 and the cam disc 5642 may be independently non-rotatably affixed to the spindle shaft 5624 . as can be seen in figs. 131 and 132 , a plurality of notches 5644 are spaced around the perimeter of the cam disc 5642 . a locking arm 5648 is pivotally mounted within the housing 5610 and is biased into engagement with the perimeter of the cam disc 5642 by a locking spring 5649 . as can be seen in fig. 130 , the outer perimeter of the cam disc 5642 is rounded to facilitate rotation of the cam disc 5642 relative to the locking arm 5648 . the edges of each notch 5644 are also rounded such that when the cam disc 5642 is rotated, the locking arm 5648 is cammed out of engagement with the notches 5644 by the perimeter of the cam disc 5642 . various forms of the automated reloading system 5600 are configured to support a portable/replaceable tray assembly 5650 that is configured to support a plurality of disposable loading units 3612 in individual orientation tubes 5660 . more specifically and with reference to figs. 131 and 132 , the replaceable tray assembly 5650 comprises a tray 5652 that has a centrally-disposed locator spindle 5654 protruding from the underside thereof. the locator spindle 5654 is sized to be received within a hollow end 5625 of spindle shaft 5624 . the tray 5652 has a plurality of holes 5656 therein that are configured to support an orientation tube 5660 therein. each orientation tube 5660 is oriented within a corresponding hole 5656 in the replaceable tray assembly 5650 in a desired orientation by a locating fin 5666 on the orientation tube 5660 that is designed to be received within a corresponding locating slot 5658 in the tray assembly 5650 . in at least one embodiment, the locating fin 5666 has a substantially v-shaped cross-sectional shape that is sized to fit within a v-shaped locating slot 5658 . such arrangement serves to orient the orientation tube 5660 in a desired starting position while enabling it to rotate within the hole 5656 when a rotary motion is applied thereto. that is, when a rotary motion is applied to the orientation tube 5660 the v-shaped locating fin 5666 will pop out of its corresponding locating slot enabling the tube 5660 to rotate relative to the tray 5652 as will be discussed in further detail below. as can also be seen in figs. 130-132 , the replaceable tray 5652 may be provided with one or more handle portions 5653 to facilitate transport of the tray assembly 5652 when loaded with orientation tubes 5660 . as can be seen in fig. 134 , each orientation tube 5660 comprises a body portion 5662 that has a flanged open end 5664 . the body portion 5662 defines a cavity 5668 that is sized to receive a portion of a disposable loading unit 3612 therein. to properly orient the disposable loading unit 3612 within the orientation tube 5660 , the cavity 5668 has a flat locating surface 5670 formed therein. as can be seen in fig. 134 , the flat locating surface 5670 is configured to facilitate the insertion of the disposable loading unit into the cavity 5668 in a desired or predetermined non-rotatable orientation. in addition, the end 5669 of the cavity 5668 may include a foam or cushion material 5672 that is designed to cushion the distal end of the disposable loading unit 3612 within the cavity 5668 . also, the length of the locating surface may cooperate with a sliding support member 3689 of the axial drive assembly 3680 of the disposable loading unit 3612 to further locate the disposable loading unit 3612 at a desired position within the orientation tube 5660 . the orientation tubes 5660 may be fabricated from nylon, polycarbonate, polyethylene, liquid crystal polymer, 6061 or 7075 aluminum, titanium, 300 or 400 series stainless steel, coated or painted steel, plated steel, etc. and, when loaded in the replaceable tray 5662 and the locator spindle 5654 is inserted into the hollow end 5625 of spindle shaft 5624 , the orientation tubes 5660 extend through corresponding holes 5662 in the carrousel top plate 5620 . each replaceable tray 5662 is equipped with a location sensor 5663 that communicates with the control system 1003 of the controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 . the sensor 5663 serves to identify the location of the reload system, and the number, length, color and fired status of each reload housed in the tray. in addition, an optical sensor or sensors 5665 that communicate with the robotic controller 1001 may be employed to sense the type/size/length of disposable loading units that are loaded within the tray 5662 . various embodiments of the automated reloading system 5600 further include a drive assembly 5680 for applying a rotary motion to the orientation tube 5660 holding the disposable loading unit 3612 to be attached to the shaft 3700 of the surgical tool 3600 (collectively the “manipulatable surgical tool portion”) that is operably coupled to the robotic system. the drive assembly 5680 includes a support yoke 5682 that is attached to the locking arm 5648 . thus, the support yoke 5682 pivots with the locking arm 5648 . the support yoke 5682 rotatably supports a tube idler wheel 5684 and a tube drive wheel 5686 that is driven by a tube motor 5688 attached thereto. tube motor 5688 communicates with the control system 1003 and is controlled thereby. the tube idler wheel 5684 and tube drive wheel 5686 are fabricated from, for example, natural rubber, sanoprene, isoplast, etc. such that the outer surfaces thereof create sufficient amount of friction to result in the rotation of an orientation tube 5660 in contact therewith upon activation of the tube motor 5688 . the idler wheel 5684 and tube drive wheel 5686 are oriented relative to each other to create a cradle area 5687 therebetween for receiving an orientation tube 5060 in driving engagement therein. in use, one or more of the orientation tubes 5660 loaded in the automated reloading system 5600 are left empty, while the other orientation tubes 5660 may operably support a corresponding new disposable loading unit 3612 therein. as will be discussed in further detail below, the empty orientation tubes 5660 are employed to receive a spent disposable loading unit 3612 therein. the automated reloading system 5600 may be employed as follows after the system 5600 is located within the work envelope of the manipulatable surgical tool portion of a robotic system. if the manipulatable surgical tool portion has a spent disposable loading unit 3612 operably coupled thereto, one of the orientation tubes 5660 that are supported on the replaceable tray 5662 is left empty to receive the spent disposable loading unit 3612 therein. if, however, the manipulatable surgical tool portion does not have a disposable loading unit 3612 operably coupled thereto, each of the orientation tubes 5660 may be provided with a properly oriented new disposable loading unit 3612 . as described hereinabove, the disposable loading unit 3612 employs a rotary “bayonet-type” coupling arrangement for operably coupling the disposable loading unit 3612 to a corresponding portion of the manipulatable surgical tool portion. that is, to attach a disposable loading unit 3612 to the corresponding portion of the manipulatable surgical tool portion ( 3700 —see fig. 83, 84 ), a rotary installation motion must be applied to the disposable loading unit 3612 and/or the corresponding portion of the manipulatable surgical tool portion when those components have been moved into loading engagement with each other. such installation motions are collectively referred to herein as “loading motions”. likewise, to decouple a spent disposable loading unit 3612 from the corresponding portion of the manipulatable surgical tool, a rotary decoupling motion must be applied to the spent disposable loading unit 3612 and/or the corresponding portion of the manipulatable surgical tool portion while simultaneously moving the spent disposable loading unit and the corresponding portion of the manipulatable surgical tool away from each other. such decoupling motions are collectively referred to herein as “extraction motions”. to commence the loading process, the robotic system 1000 is activated to manipulate the manipulatable surgical tool portion and/or the automated reloading system 5600 to bring the manipulatable surgical tool portion into loading engagement with the new disposable loading unit 3612 that is supported in the orientation tube 5660 that is in driving engagement with the drive assembly 5680 . once the robotic controller 1001 ( fig. 25 ) of the robotic control system 1000 has located the manipulatable surgical tool portion in loading engagement with the new disposable loading unit 3612 , the robotic controller 1001 activates the drive assembly 5680 to apply a rotary loading motion to the orientation tube 5660 in which the new disposable loading unit 3612 is supported and/or applies another rotary loading motion to the corresponding portion of the manipulatable surgical tool portion. upon application of such rotary loading motions(s), the robotic controller 1001 also causes the corresponding portion of the manipulatable surgical tool portion to be moved towards the new disposable loading unit 3612 into loading engagement therewith. once the disposable loading unit 3612 is in loading engagement with the corresponding portion of the manipulatable tool portion, the loading motions are discontinued and the manipulatable surgical tool portion may be moved away from the automated reloading system 5600 carrying with it the new disposable loading unit 3612 that has been operably coupled thereto. to decouple a spent disposable loading unit 3612 from a corresponding manipulatable surgical tool portion, the robotic controller 1001 of the robotic system manipulates the manipulatable surgical tool portion so as to insert the distal end of the spent disposable loading unit 3612 into the empty orientation tube 5660 that remains in driving engagement with the drive assembly 5680 . thereafter, the robotic controller 1001 activates the drive assembly 5680 to apply a rotary extraction motion to the orientation tube 5660 in which the spent disposable loading unit 3612 is supported and/or applies a rotary extraction motion to the corresponding portion of the manipulatable surgical tool portion. the robotic controller 1001 also causes the manipulatable surgical tool portion to withdraw away from the spent rotary disposable loading unit 3612 . thereafter the rotary extraction motion(s) are discontinued. after the spent disposable loading unit 3612 has been removed from the manipulatable surgical tool portion, the robotic controller 1001 may activate the carrousel drive motor 5630 to index the carrousel top plate 5620 to bring another orientation tube 5660 that supports a new disposable loading unit 3612 therein into driving engagement with the drive assembly 5680 . thereafter, the loading process may be repeated to attach the new disposable loading unit 3612 therein to the portion of the manipulatable surgical tool portion. the robotic controller 1001 may record the number of disposable loading units that have been used from a particular replaceable tray 5652 . once the controller 1001 determines that all of the new disposable loading units 3612 have been used from that tray, the controller 1001 may provide the surgeon with a signal (visual and/or audible) indicating that the tray 5652 supporting all of the spent disposable loading units 3612 must be replaced with a new tray 5652 containing new disposable loading units 3612 . figs. 135-140 depict another non-limiting embodiment of a surgical tool 6000 of the present invention that is well-adapted for use with a robotic system 1000 that has a tool drive assembly 1010 ( fig. 27 ) that is operatively coupled to a master controller 1001 that is operable by inputs from an operator (i.e., a surgeon). as can be seen in fig. 135 , the surgical tool 6000 includes a surgical end effector 6012 that comprises an endocutter. in at least one form, the surgical tool 6000 generally includes an elongated shaft assembly 6008 that has a proximal closure tube 6040 and a distal closure tube 6042 that are coupled together by an articulation joint 6100 . the surgical tool 6000 is operably coupled to the manipulator by a tool mounting portion, generally designated as 6200 . the surgical tool 6000 further includes an interface 6030 which may mechanically and electrically couple the tool mounting portion 6200 to the manipulator in the various manners described in detail above. in at least one embodiment, the surgical tool 6000 includes a surgical end effector 6012 that comprises, among other things, at least one component 6024 that is selectively movable between first and second positions relative to at least one other component 6022 in response to various control motions applied to component 6024 as will be discussed in further detail below to perform a surgical procedure. in various embodiments, component 6022 comprises an elongated channel 6022 configured to operably support a surgical staple cartridge 6034 therein and component 6024 comprises a pivotally translatable clamping member, such as an anvil 6024 . various embodiments of the surgical end effector 6012 are configured to maintain the anvil 6024 and elongated channel 6022 at a spacing that assures effective stapling and severing of tissue clamped in the surgical end effector 6012 . unless otherwise stated, the end effector 6012 is similar to the surgical end effector 2012 described above and includes a cutting instrument (not shown) and a sled (not shown). the anvil 6024 may include a tab 6027 at its proximal end that interacts with a component of the mechanical closure system (described further below) to facilitate the opening of the anvil 6024 . the elongated channel 6022 and the anvil 6024 may be made of an electrically conductive material (such as metal) so that they may serve as part of an antenna that communicates with sensor(s) in the end effector, as described above. the surgical staple cartridge 6034 could be made of a nonconductive material (such as plastic) and the sensor may be connected to or disposed in the surgical staple cartridge 6034 , as was also described above. as can be seen in fig. 135 , the surgical end effector 6012 is attached to the tool mounting portion 6200 by the elongated shaft assembly 6008 according to various embodiments. as shown in the illustrated embodiment, the elongated shaft assembly 6008 includes an articulation joint generally designated as 6100 that enables the surgical end effector 6012 to be selectively articulated about a first tool articulation axis aa 1 -aa 1 that is substantially transverse to a longitudinal tool axis lt-lt and a second tool articulation axis aa 2 -aa 2 that is substantially transverse to the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt as well as the first articulation axis aa 1 -aa 1 . see fig. 136 . in various embodiments, the elongated shaft assembly 6008 includes a closure tube assembly 6009 that comprises a proximal closure tube 6040 and a distal closure tube 6042 that are pivotably linked by a pivot links 6044 and 6046 . the closure tube assembly 6009 is movably supported on a spine assembly generally designated as 6102 . as can be seen in fig. 137 , the proximal closure tube 6040 is pivotally linked to an intermediate closure tube joint 6043 by an upper pivot link 6044 u and a lower pivot link 6044 l such that the intermediate closure tube joint 6043 is pivotable relative to the proximal closure tube 6040 about a first closure axis ca 1 -ca 1 and a second closure axis ca 2 -ca 2 . in various embodiments, the first closure axis ca 1 -ca 1 is substantially parallel to the second closure axis ca 2 -ca 2 and both closure axes ca 1 -ca 1 , ca 2 -ca 2 are substantially transverse to the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. as can be further seen in fig. 134 , the intermediate closure tube joint 6043 is pivotally linked to the distal closure tube 6042 by a left pivot link 6046 l and a right pivot link 6046 r such that the intermediate closure tube joint 6043 is pivotable relative to the distal closure tube 6042 about a third closure axis ca 3 -ca 3 and a fourth closure axis ca 4 -ca 4 . in various embodiments, the third closure axis ca 3 -ca 3 is substantially parallel to the fourth closure axis ca 4 -ca 4 and both closure axes ca 3 -ca 3 , ca 4 -ca 4 are substantially transverse to the first and second closure axes ca 1 -ca 1 , ca 2 -ca 2 as well as to longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. the closure tube assembly 6009 is configured to axially slide on the spine assembly 6102 in response to actuation motions applied thereto. the distal closure tube 6042 includes an opening 6045 which interfaces with the tab 6027 on the anvil 6024 to facilitate opening of the anvil 6024 as the distal closure tube 6042 is moved axially in the proximal direction “pd”. the closure tubes 6040 , 6042 may be made of electrically conductive material (such as metal) so that they may serve as part of the antenna, as described above. components of the spine assembly 6102 may be made of a nonconductive material (such as plastic). as indicated above, the surgical tool 6000 includes a tool mounting portion 6200 that is configured for operable attachment to the tool mounting assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 in the various manners described in detail above. as can be seen in fig. 139 , the tool mounting portion 6200 comprises a tool mounting plate 6202 that operably supports a transmission arrangement 6204 thereon. in various embodiments, the transmission arrangement 6204 includes an articulation transmission 6142 that comprises a portion of an articulation system 6140 for articulating the surgical end effector 6012 about a first tool articulation axis ta 1 -ta 1 and a second tool articulation axis ta 2 -ta 2 . the first tool articulation axis ta 1 -ta 1 is substantially transverse to the second tool articulation axis ta 2 -ta 2 and both of the first and second tool articulation axes are substantially transverse to the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. see fig. 136 . to facilitate selective articulation of the surgical end effector 6012 about the first and second tool articulation axes ta 1 -ta 1 , ta 2 -ta 2 , the spine assembly 6102 comprises a proximal spine portion 6110 that is pivotally coupled to a distal spine portion 6120 by pivot pins 6122 for selective pivotal travel about ta 1 -ta 1 . similarly, the distal spine portion 6120 is pivotally attached to the elongated channel 6022 of the surgical end effector 6012 by pivot pins 6124 to enable the surgical end effector 6012 to selectively pivot about the second tool axis ta 2 -ta 2 relative to the distal spine portion 6120 . in various embodiments, the articulation system 6140 further includes a plurality of articulation elements that operably interface with the surgical end effector 6012 and an articulation control arrangement 6160 that is operably supported in the tool mounting member 6200 as will described in further detail below. in at least one embodiment, the articulation elements comprise a first pair of first articulation cables 6144 and 6146 . the first articulation cables are located on a first or right side of the longitudinal tool axis. thus, the first articulation cables are referred to herein as a right upper cable 6144 and a right lower cable 6146 . the right upper cable 6144 and the right lower cable 6146 extend through corresponding passages 6147 , 6148 , respectively along the right side of the proximal spine portion 6110 . see fig. 140 . the articulation system 6140 further includes a second pair of second articulation cables 6150 , 6152 . the second articulation cables are located on a second or left side of the longitudinal tool axis. thus, the second articulation cables are referred to herein as a left upper articulation cable 6150 and a left articulation cable 6152 . the left upper articulation cable 6150 and the left lower articulation cable 6152 extend through passages 6153 , 6154 , respectively in the proximal spine portion 6110 . as can be seen in fig. 136 , the right upper cable 6144 extends around an upper pivot joint 6123 and is attached to a left upper side of the elongated channel 6022 at a left pivot joint 6125 . the right lower cable 6146 extends around a lower pivot joint 6126 and is attached to a left lower side of the elongated channel 6022 at left pivot joint 6125 . the left upper cable 6150 extends around the upper pivot joint 6123 and is attached to a right upper side of the elongated channel 6022 at a right pivot joint 6127 . the left lower cable 6152 extends around the lower pivot joint 6126 and is attached to a right lower side of the elongated channel 6022 at right pivot joint 6127 . thus, to pivot the surgical end effector 6012 about the first tool articulation axis ta 1 -ta 1 to the left (arrow “l”), the right upper cable 6144 and the right lower cable 6146 must be pulled in the proximal direction “pd”. to articulate the surgical end effector 6012 to the right (arrow “r”) about the first tool articulation axis ta 1 -ta 1 , the left upper cable 6150 and the left lower cable 6152 must be pulled in the proximal direction “pd”. to articulate the surgical end effector 6012 about the second tool articulation axis ta 2 -ta 2 , in an upward direction (arrow “u”), the right upper cable 6144 and the left upper cable 6150 must be pulled in the proximal direction “pd”. to articulate the surgical end effector 6012 in the downward direction (arrow “dw”) about the second tool articulation axis ta 2 -ta 2 , the right lower cable 6146 and the left lower cable 6152 must be pulled in the proximal direction “pd”. the proximal ends of the articulation cables 6144 , 6146 , 6150 , 6152 are coupled to the articulation control arrangement 6160 which comprises a ball joint assembly that is a part of the articulation transmission 6142 . more specifically and with reference to fig. 140 , the ball joint assembly 6160 includes a ball-shaped member 6162 that is formed on a proximal portion of the proximal spine 6110 . movably supported on the ball-shaped member 6162 is an articulation control ring 6164 . as can be further seen in fig. 140 , the proximal ends of the articulation cables 6144 , 6146 , 6150 , 6152 are coupled to the articulation control ring 6164 by corresponding ball joint arrangements 6166 . the articulation control ring 6164 is controlled by an articulation drive assembly 6170 . as can be most particularly seen in fig. 140 , the proximal ends of the first articulation cables 6144 , 6146 are attached to the articulation control ring 6164 at corresponding spaced first points 6149 , 6151 that are located on plane 6159 . likewise, the proximal ends of the second articulation cables 6150 , 6152 are attached to the articulation control ring 6164 at corresponding spaced second points 6153 , 6155 that are also located along plane 6159 . as the present detailed description proceeds, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that such cable attachment configuration on the articulation control ring 6164 facilitates the desired range of articulation motions as the articulation control ring 6164 is manipulated by the articulation drive assembly 6170 . in various forms, the articulation drive assembly 6170 comprises a horizontal articulation assembly generally designated as 6171 . in at least one form, the horizontal articulation assembly 6171 comprises a horizontal push cable 6172 that is attached to a horizontal gear arrangement 6180 . the articulation drive assembly 6170 further comprises a vertically articulation assembly generally designated as 6173 . in at least one form, the vertical articulation assembly 6173 comprises a vertical push cable 6174 that is attached to a vertical gear arrangement 6190 . as can be seen in figs. 139 and 140 , the horizontal push cable 6172 extends through a support plate 6167 that is attached to the proximal spine portion 6110 . the distal end of the horizontal push cable 6174 is attached to the articulation control ring 6164 by a corresponding ball/pivot joint 6168 . the vertical push cable 6174 extends through the support plate 6167 and the distal end thereof is attached to the articulation control ring 6164 by a corresponding ball/pivot joint 6169 . the horizontal gear arrangement 6180 includes a horizontal driven gear 6182 that is pivotally mounted on a horizontal shaft 6181 that is attached to a proximal portion of the proximal spine portion 6110 . the proximal end of the horizontal push cable 6172 is pivotally attached to the horizontal driven gear 6182 such that, as the horizontal driven gear 6172 is rotated about horizontal pivot axis ha, the horizontal push cable 6172 applies a first pivot motion to the articulation control ring 6164 . likewise, the vertical gear arrangement 6190 includes a vertical driven gear 6192 that is pivotally supported on a vertical shaft 6191 attached to the proximal portion of the proximal spine portion 6110 for pivotal travel about a vertical pivot axis va. the proximal end of the vertical push cable 6174 is pivotally attached to the vertical driven gear 6192 such that as the vertical driven gear 6192 is rotated about vertical pivot axis va, the vertical push cable 6174 applies a second pivot motion to the articulation control ring 6164 . the horizontal driven gear 6182 and the vertical driven gear 6192 are driven by an articulation gear train 6300 that operably interfaces with an articulation shifter assembly 6320 . in at least one form, the articulation shifter assembly comprises an articulation drive gear 6322 that is coupled to a corresponding one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side 1307 of the tool mounting plate 6202 . see fig. 34 . thus, application of a rotary input motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool drive assembly 1010 to the corresponding driven element 1304 will cause rotation of the articulation drive gear 6322 when the interface 1230 is coupled to the tool holder 1270 . an articulation driven gear 6324 is attached to a splined shifter shaft 6330 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 6202 . the articulation driven gear 6324 is in meshing engagement with the articulation drive gear 6322 as shown. thus, rotation of the articulation drive gear 6322 will result in the rotation of the shaft 6330 . in various forms, a shifter driven gear assembly 6340 is movably supported on the splined portion 6332 of the shifter shaft 6330 . in various embodiments, the shifter driven gear assembly 6340 includes a driven shifter gear 6342 that is attached to a shifter plate 6344 . the shifter plate 6344 operably interfaces with a shifter solenoid assembly 6350 . the shifter solenoid assembly 6350 is coupled to corresponding pins 6352 by conductors 6352 . see fig. 139 . pins 6352 are oriented to electrically communicate with slots 1258 ( fig. 33 ) on the tool side 1244 of the adaptor 1240 . such arrangement serves to electrically couple the shifter solenoid assembly 6350 to the robotic controller 1001 . thus, activation of the shifter solenoid 6350 will shift the shifter driven gear assembly 6340 on the splined portion 6332 of the shifter shaft 6330 as represented by arrow “s” in figs. 139 and 140 . various embodiments of the articulation gear train 6300 further include a horizontal gear assembly 6360 that includes a first horizontal drive gear 6362 that is mounted on a shaft 6361 that is rotatably attached to the tool mounting plate 6202 . the first horizontal drive gear 6362 is supported in meshing engagement with a second horizontal drive gear 6364 . as can be seen in fig. 140 , the horizontal driven gear 6182 is in meshing engagement with the distal face portion 6365 of the second horizontal driven gear 6364 . various embodiments of the articulation gear train 6300 further include a vertical gear assembly 6370 that includes a first vertical drive gear 6372 that is mounted on a shaft 6371 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 6202 . the first vertical drive gear 6372 is supported in meshing engagement with a second vertical drive gear 6374 that is concentrically supported with the second horizontal drive gear 6364 . the second vertical drive gear 6374 is rotatably supported on the proximal spine portion 6110 for travel therearound. the second horizontal drive gear 6364 is rotatably supported on a portion of said second vertical drive gear 6374 for independent rotatable travel thereon. as can be seen in fig. 140 , the vertical driven gear 6192 is in meshing engagement with the distal face portion 6375 of the second vertical driven gear 6374 . in various forms, the first horizontal drive gear 6362 has a first diameter and the first vertical drive gear 6372 has a second diameter. as can be seen in figs. 139 and 140 , the shaft 6361 is not on a common axis with shaft 6371 . that is, the first horizontal driven gear 6362 and the first vertical driven gear 6372 do not rotate about a common axis. thus, when the shifter gear 6342 is positioned in a center “locking” position such that the shifter gear 6342 is in meshing engagement with both the first horizontal driven gear 6362 and the first vertical drive gear 6372 , the components of the articulation system 6140 are locked in position. thus, the shiftable shifter gear 6342 and the arrangement of first horizontal and vertical drive gears 6362 , 6372 as well as the articulation shifter assembly 6320 collectively may be referred to as an articulation locking system, generally designated as 6380 . in use, the robotic controller 1001 of the robotic system 1000 may control the articulation system 6140 as follows. to articulate the end effector 6012 to the left about the first tool articulation axis ta 1 -ta 1 , the robotic controller 1001 activates the shifter solenoid assembly 6350 to bring the shifter gear 6342 into meshing engagement with the first horizontal drive gear 6362 . thereafter, the controller 1001 causes a first rotary output motion to be applied to the articulation drive gear 6322 to drive the shifter gear in a first direction to ultimately drive the horizontal driven gear 6182 in another first direction. the horizontal driven gear 6182 is driven to pivot the articulation ring 6164 on the ball-shaped portion 6162 to thereby pull right upper cable 6144 and the right lower cable 6146 in the proximal direction “pd”. to articulate the end effector 6012 to the right about the first tool articulation axis ta 1 -ta 1 , the robotic controller 1001 activates the shifter solenoid assembly 6350 to bring the shifter gear 6342 into meshing engagement with the first horizontal drive gear 6362 . thereafter, the controller 1001 causes the first rotary output motion in an opposite direction to be applied to the articulation drive gear 6322 to drive the shifter gear 6342 in a second direction to ultimately drive the horizontal driven gear 6182 in another second direction. such actions result in the articulation control ring 6164 moving in such a manner as to pull the left upper cable 6150 and the left lower cable 6152 in the proximal direction “pd”. in various embodiments the gear ratios and frictional forces generated between the gears of the vertical gear assembly 6370 serve to prevent rotation of the vertical driven gear 6192 as the horizontal gear assembly 6360 is actuated. to articulate the end effector 6012 in the upper direction about the second tool articulation axis ta 2 -ta 2 , the robotic controller 1001 activates the shifter solenoid assembly 6350 to bring the shifter gear 6342 into meshing engagement with the first vertical drive gear 6372 . thereafter, the controller 1001 causes the first rotary output motion to be applied to the articulation drive gear 6322 to drive the shifter gear 6342 in a first direction to ultimately drive the vertical driven gear 6192 in another first direction. the vertical driven gear 6192 is driven to pivot the articulation ring 6164 on the ball-shaped portion 6162 of the proximal spine portion 6110 to thereby pull right upper cable 6144 and the left upper cable 6150 in the proximal direction “pd”. to articulate the end effector 6012 in the downward direction about the second tool articulation axis ta 2 -ta 2 , the robotic controller 1001 activates the shifter solenoid assembly 6350 to bring the shifter gear 6342 into meshing engagement with the first vertical drive gear 6372 . thereafter, the controller 1001 causes the first rotary output motion to be applied in an opposite direction to the articulation drive gear 6322 to drive the shifter gear 6342 in a second direction to ultimately drive the vertical driven gear 6192 in another second direction. such actions thereby cause the articulation control ring 6164 to pull the right lower cable 6146 and the left lower cable 6152 in the proximal direction “pd”. in various embodiments, the gear ratios and frictional forces generated between the gears of the horizontal gear assembly 6360 serve to prevent rotation of the horizontal driven gear 6182 as the vertical gear assembly 6370 is actuated. in various embodiments, a variety of sensors may communicate with the robotic controller 1001 to determine the articulated position of the end effector 6012 . such sensors may interface with, for example, the articulation joint 6100 or be located within the tool mounting portion 6200 . for example, sensors may be employed to detect the position of the articulation control ring 6164 on the ball-shaped portion 6162 of the proximal spine portion 6110 . such feedback from the sensors to the controller 1001 permits the controller 1001 to adjust the amount of rotation and the direction of the rotary output to the articulation drive gear 6322 . further, as indicated above, when the shifter drive gear 6342 is centrally positioned in meshing engagement with the first horizontal drive gear 6362 and the first vertical drive gear 6372 , the end effector 6012 is locked in the articulated position. thus, after the desired amount of articulation has been attained, the controller 1001 may activate the shifter solenoid assembly 6350 to bring the shifter gear 6342 into meshing engagement with the first horizontal drive gear 6362 and the first vertical drive gear 6372 . in alternative embodiments, the shifter solenoid assembly 6350 may be spring activated to the central locked position. in use, it may be desirable to rotate the surgical end effector 6012 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. in at least one embodiment, the transmission arrangement 6204 on the tool mounting portion includes a rotational transmission assembly 6400 that is configured to receive a corresponding rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 and convert that rotary output motion to a rotary control motion for rotating the elongated shaft assembly 6008 (and surgical end effector 6012 ) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. in various embodiments, for example, a proximal end portion 6041 of the proximal closure tube 6040 is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 6202 of the tool mounting portion 6200 by a forward support cradle 6205 and a closure sled 6510 that is also movably supported on the tool mounting plate 6202 . in at least one form, the rotational transmission assembly 6400 includes a tube gear segment 6402 that is formed on (or attached to) the proximal end 6041 of the proximal closure tube 6040 for operable engagement by a rotational gear assembly 6410 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 6202 . as can be seen in fig. 139 , the rotational gear assembly 6410 , in at least one embodiment, comprises a rotation drive gear 6412 that is coupled to a corresponding second one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side 1307 of the tool mounting plate 6202 when the tool mounting portion 6200 is coupled to the tool drive assembly 1010 . see fig. 34 . the rotational gear assembly 6410 further comprises a first rotary driven gear 6414 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 6202 in meshing engagement with the rotation drive gear 6412 . the first rotary driven gear 6414 is attached to a drive shaft 6416 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 6202 . a second rotary driven gear 6418 is attached to the drive shaft 6416 and is in meshing engagement with tube gear segment 6402 on the proximal closure tube 6040 . application of a second rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 to the corresponding driven element 1304 will thereby cause rotation of the rotation drive gear 6412 . rotation of the rotation drive gear 6412 ultimately results in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 6008 (and the surgical end effector 6012 ) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. it will be appreciated that the application of a rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 in one direction will result in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 6008 and surgical end effector 6012 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt in a first direction and an application of the rotary output motion in an opposite direction will result in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 6008 and surgical end effector 6012 in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction. in at least one embodiment, the closure of the anvil 2024 relative to the staple cartridge 2034 is accomplished by axially moving a closure portion of the elongated shaft assembly 2008 in the distal direction “dd” on the spine assembly 2049 . as indicated above, in various embodiments, the proximal end portion 6041 of the proximal closure tube 6040 is supported by the closure sled 6510 which comprises a portion of a closure transmission, generally depicted as 6512 . as can be seen in fig. 139 , the proximal end portion 6041 of the proximal closure tube portion 6040 has a collar 6048 formed thereon. the closure sled 6510 is coupled to the collar 6048 by a yoke 6514 that engages an annular groove 6049 in the collar 6048 . such arrangement serves to enable the collar 6048 to rotate about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt while still being coupled to the closure transmission 6512 . in various embodiments, the closure sled 6510 has an upstanding portion 6516 that has a closure rack gear 6518 formed thereon. the closure rack gear 6518 is configured for driving engagement with a closure gear assembly 6520 . see fig. 139 . in various forms, the closure gear assembly 6520 includes a closure spur gear 6522 that is coupled to a corresponding second one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side 1307 of the tool mounting plate 6202 . see fig. 34 . thus, application of a third rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 to the corresponding second driven element 1304 will cause rotation of the closure spur gear 6522 when the tool mounting portion 6202 is coupled to the tool drive assembly 1010 . the closure gear assembly 6520 further includes a closure reduction gear set 6524 that is supported in meshing engagement with the closure spur gear 6522 and the closure rack gear 2106 . thus, application of a third rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 to the corresponding second driven element 1304 will cause rotation of the closure spur gear 6522 and the closure transmission 6512 and ultimately drive the closure sled 6510 and the proximal closure tube 6040 axially on the proximal spine portion 6110 . the axial direction in which the proximal closure tube 6040 moves ultimately depends upon the direction in which the third driven element 1304 is rotated. for example, in response to one rotary output motion received from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 , the closure sled 6510 will be driven in the distal direction “dd” and ultimately drive the proximal closure tube 6040 in the distal direction “dd”. as the proximal closure tube 6040 is driven distally, the distal closure tube 6042 is also driven distally by virtue of it connection with the proximal closure tube 6040 . as the distal closure tube 6042 is driven distally, the end of the closure tube 6042 will engage a portion of the anvil 6024 and cause the anvil 6024 to pivot to a closed position. upon application of an “opening” out put motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 of the robotic system 1000 , the closure sled 6510 and the proximal closure tube 6040 will be driven in the proximal direction “pd” on the proximal spine portion 6110 . as the proximal closure tube 6040 is driven in the proximal direction “pd”, the distal closure tube 6042 will also be driven in the proximal direction “pd”. as the distal closure tube 6042 is driven in the proximal direction “pd”, the opening 6045 therein interacts with the tab 6027 on the anvil 6024 to facilitate the opening thereof. in various embodiments, a spring (not shown) may be employed to bias the anvil 6024 to the open position when the distal closure tube 6042 has been moved to its starting position. in various embodiments, the various gears of the closure gear assembly 6520 are sized to generate the necessary closure forces needed to satisfactorily close the anvil 6024 onto the tissue to be cut and stapled by the surgical end effector 6012 . for example, the gears of the closure transmission 6520 may be sized to generate approximately 70-120 pounds of closure forces. in various embodiments, the cutting instrument is driven through the surgical end effector 6012 by a knife bar 6530 . see fig. 139 . in at least one form, the knife bar 6530 is fabricated with a joint arrangement (not shown) and/or is fabricated from material that can accommodate the articulation of the surgical end effector 6102 about the first and second tool articulation axes while remaining sufficiently rigid so as to push the cutting instrument through tissue clamped in the surgical end effector 6012 . the knife bar 6530 extends through a hollow passage 6532 in the proximal spine portion 6110 . in various embodiments, a proximal end 6534 of the knife bar 6530 is rotatably affixed to a knife rack gear 6540 such that the knife bar 6530 is free to rotate relative to the knife rack gear 6540 . the distal end of the knife bar 6530 is attached to the cutting instrument in the various manners described above. as can be seen in fig. 139 , the knife rack gear 6540 is slidably supported within a rack housing 6542 that is attached to the tool mounting plate 6202 such that the knife rack gear 6540 is retained in meshing engagement with a knife drive transmission portion 6550 of the transmission arrangement 6204 . in various embodiments, the knife drive transmission portion 6550 comprises a knife gear assembly 6560 . more specifically and with reference to fig. 139 , in at least one embodiment, the knife gear assembly 6560 includes a knife spur gear 6562 that is coupled to a corresponding fourth one of the driven discs or elements 1304 on the adapter side 1307 of the tool mounting plate 6202 . see fig. 34 . thus, application of another rotary output motion from the robotic system 1000 through the tool drive assembly 1010 to the corresponding fourth driven element 1304 will cause rotation of the knife spur gear 6562 . the knife gear assembly 6560 further includes a knife gear reduction set 6564 that includes a first knife driven gear 6566 and a second knife drive gear 6568 . the knife gear reduction set 6564 is rotatably mounted to the tool mounting plate 6202 such that the first knife driven gear 6566 is in meshing engagement with the knife spur gear 6562 . likewise, the second knife drive gear 6568 is in meshing engagement with a third knife drive gear assembly 6570 . as shown in fig. 139 , the second knife driven gear 6568 is in meshing engagement with a fourth knife driven gear 6572 of the third knife drive gear assembly 6570 . the fourth knife driven gear 6572 is in meshing engagement with a fifth knife driven gear assembly 6574 that is in meshing engagement with the knife rack gear 6540 . in various embodiments, the gears of the knife gear assembly 6560 are sized to generate the forces needed to drive the cutting instrument through the tissue clamped in the surgical end effector 6012 and actuate the staples therein. for example, the gears of the knife gear assembly 6560 may be sized to generate approximately 40 to 100 pounds of driving force. it will be appreciated that the application of a rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 1010 in one direction will result in the axial movement of the cutting instrument in a distal direction and application of the rotary output motion in an opposite direction will result in the axial travel of the cutting instrument in a proximal direction. as can be appreciated from the foregoing description, the surgical tool 6000 represents a vast improvement over prior robotic tool arrangements. the unique and novel transmission arrangement employed by the surgical tool 6000 enables the tool to be operably coupled to a tool holder portion 1010 of a robotic system that only has four rotary output bodies, yet obtain the rotary output motions therefrom to: (i) articulate the end effector about two different articulation axes that are substantially transverse to each other as well as the longitudinal tool axis; (ii) rotate the end effector 6012 about the longitudinal tool axis; (iii) close the anvil 6024 relative to the surgical staple cartridge 6034 to varying degrees to enable the end effector 6012 to be used to manipulate tissue and then clamp it into position for cutting and stapling; and (iv) firing the cutting instrument to cut through the tissue clamped within the end effector 6012 . the unique and novel shifter arrangements of various embodiments of the present invention described above enable two different articulation actions to be powered from a single rotatable body portion of the robotic system. the various embodiments of the present invention have been described above in connection with cutting-type surgical instruments. it should be noted, however, that in other embodiments, the inventive surgical instrument disclosed herein need not be a cutting-type surgical instrument, but rather could be used in any type of surgical instrument including remote sensor transponders. for example, it could be a non-cutting endoscopic instrument, a grasper, a stapler, a clip applier, an access device, a drug/gene therapy delivery device, an energy device using ultrasound, rf, laser, etc. in addition, the present invention may be in laparoscopic instruments, for example. the present invention also has application in conventional endoscopic and open surgical instrumentation as well as robotic-assisted surgery. fig. 141 depicts use of various aspects of certain embodiments of the present invention in connection with a surgical tool 7000 that has an ultrasonically powered end effector 7012 . the end effector 7012 is operably attached to a tool mounting portion 7100 by an elongated shaft assembly 7008 . the tool mounting portion 7100 may be substantially similar to the various tool mounting portions described hereinabove. in one embodiment, the end effector 7012 includes an ultrasonically powered jaw portion 7014 that is powered by alternating current or direct current in a known manner. such ultrasonically-powered devices are disclosed, for example, in u.s. pat. no. 6,783,524, entitled robotic surgical tool with ultrasound cauterizing and cutting instrument, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. in the illustrated embodiment, a separate power cord 7020 is shown. it will be understood, however, that the power may be supplied thereto from the robotic controller 1001 through the tool mounting portion 7100 . the surgical end effector 7012 further includes a movable jaw 7016 that may be used to clamp tissue onto the ultrasonic jaw portion 7014 . the movable jaw portion 7016 may be selectively actuated by the robotic controller 1001 through the tool mounting portion 7100 in anyone of the various manners herein described. fig. 142 illustrates use of various aspects of certain embodiments of the present invention in connection with a surgical tool 8000 that has an end effector 8012 that comprises a linear stapling device. the end effector 8012 is operably attached to a tool mounting portion 8100 by an elongated shaft assembly 3700 of the type and construction describe above. however, the end effector 8012 may be attached to the tool mounting portion 8100 by a variety of other elongated shaft assemblies described herein. in one embodiment, the tool mounting portion 8100 may be substantially similar to tool mounting portion 3750 . however, various other tool mounting portions and their respective transmission arrangements describe in detail herein may also be employed. such linear stapling head portions are also disclosed, for example, in u.s. pat. no. 7,673,781, entitled surgical stapling device with staple driver that supports multiple wire diameter staples, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. various sensor embodiments described in u.s. patent application publication no. 2011/0062212, now u.s. pat. no. 8,167,185, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, may be employed with many of the surgical tool embodiments disclosed herein. as was indicated above, the master controller 1001 generally includes master controllers (generally represented by 1003 ) which are grasped by the surgeon and manipulated in space while the surgeon views the procedure via a stereo display 1002 . see fig. 25 . the master controllers 1001 are manual input devices which preferably move with multiple degrees of freedom, and which often further have an actuatable handle for actuating the surgical tools. some of the surgical tool embodiments disclosed herein employ a motor or motors in their tool drive portion to supply various control motions to the tool's end effector. such embodiments may also obtain additional control motion(s) from the motor arrangement employed in the robotic system components. other embodiments disclosed herein obtain all of the control motions from motor arrangements within the robotic system. such motor powered arrangements may employ various sensor arrangements that are disclosed in the published u.s. patent application cited above to provide the surgeon with a variety of forms of feedback without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. for example, those master controller arrangements 1003 that employ a manually actuatable firing trigger can employ run motor sensor(s) to provide the surgeon with feedback relating to the amount of force applied to or being experienced by the cutting member. the run motor sensor(s) may be configured for communication with the firing trigger portion to detect when the firing trigger portion has been actuated to commence the cutting/stapling operation by the end effector. the run motor sensor may be a proportional sensor such as, for example, a rheostat or variable resistor. when the firing trigger is drawn in, the sensor detects the movement, and sends an electrical signal indicative of the voltage (or power) to be supplied to the corresponding motor. when the sensor is a variable resistor or the like, the rotation of the motor may be generally proportional to the amount of movement of the firing trigger. that is, if the operator only draws or closes the firing trigger in a small amount, the rotation of the motor is relatively low. when the firing trigger is fully drawn in (or in the fully closed position), the rotation of the motor is at its maximum. in other words, the harder the surgeon pulls on the firing trigger, the more voltage is applied to the motor causing greater rates of rotation. other arrangements may provide the surgeon with a feed back meter 1005 that may be viewed through the display 1002 and provide the surgeon with a visual indication of the amount of force being applied to the cutting instrument or dynamic clamping member. other sensor arrangements may be employed to provide the master controller 1001 with an indication as to whether a staple cartridge has been loaded into the end effector, whether the anvil has been moved to a closed position prior to firing, etc. in alternative embodiments, a motor-controlled interface may be employed in connection with the controller 1001 that limit the maximum trigger pull based on the amount of loading (e.g., clamping force, cutting force, etc.) experienced by the surgical end effector. for example, the harder it is to drive the cutting instrument through the tissue clamped within the end effector, the harder it would be to pull/actuate the activation trigger. in still other embodiments, the trigger on the controller 1001 is arranged such that the trigger pull location is proportionate to the end effector-location/condition. for example, the trigger is only fully depressed when the end effector is fully fired. in still other embodiments, the various robotic systems and tools disclosed herein may employ many of the sensor/transponder arrangements disclosed above. such sensor arrangements may include, but are not limited to, run motor sensors, reverse motor sensors, stop motor sensors, end-of-stroke sensors, beginning-of-stroke sensors, cartridge lockout sensors, sensor transponders, charge accumulating devices, switching circuits, removable battery packs, etc. the sensors may be employed in connection with any of the surgical tools disclosed herein that are adapted for use with a robotic system. the sensors may be configured to communicate with the robotic system controller. in other embodiments, components of the shaft/end effector may serve as antennas to communicate between the sensors and the robotic controller. in still other embodiments, the various remote programming device arrangements described above may also be employed with the robotic controller. the devices disclosed herein can be designed to be disposed of after a single use, or they can be designed to be used multiple times. in either case, however, the device can be reconditioned for reuse after at least one use. reconditioning can include any combination of the steps of disassembly of the device, followed by cleaning or replacement of particular pieces, and subsequent reassembly. in particular, the device can be disassembled, and any number of the particular pieces or parts of the device can be selectively replaced or removed in any combination. upon cleaning and/or replacement of particular parts, the device can be reassembled for subsequent use either at a reconditioning facility, or by a surgical team immediately prior to a surgical procedure. those skilled in the art will appreciate that reconditioning of a device can utilize a variety of techniques for disassembly, cleaning/replacement, and reassembly. use of such techniques, and the resulting reconditioned device, are all within the scope of the present application. although the present invention has been described herein in connection with certain disclosed embodiments, many modifications and variations to those embodiments may be implemented. for example, different types of end effectors may be employed. also, where materials are disclosed for certain components, other materials may be used. the foregoing description and following claims are intended to cover all such modification and variations. any patent, publication, or other disclosure material, in whole or in part, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein is incorporated herein only to the extent that the incorporated materials does not conflict with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth in this disclosure. as such, and to the extent necessary, the disclosure as explicitly set forth herein supersedes any conflicting material incorporated herein by reference. any material, or portion thereof, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein, but which conflicts with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth herein will only be incorporated to the extent that no conflict arises between that incorporated material and the existing disclosure material.
103-082-889-856-15X	EP	[ "KR", "CA", "CN", "US", "HU", "IL", "DK", "AU", "EP", "JP", "EA", "LT", "SG", "CY", "RS", "BR", "ES", "PL", "PT", "HR", "WO", "SI" ]	C12N15/70,C07K14/195,C12N15/74,C12N15/63,A61K38/16,A61K47/46,A61P37/00,C12N1/21,C12N15/31,C12N15/62,C12N15/87,C12P21/02,C12Q1/00,C40B30/00,C40B40/02,C40B50/06,C07K14/24,C12Q1/02,A61K48/00,C07K1/14,C12N1/15,C12N1/16,C12N1/19,C12N5/10,C12R1/01,C12R1/185,C12R1/38,C12R1/42,A61K35/74,C12N15/09,C12P21/00,C07K14/00,C12N15/00,G01N33/53	2014-05-21T00:00:00	2014	[ "C12", "C07", "A61", "C40", "G01" ]	bacteria-based protein delivery	the present invention relates to recombinant gram-negative bacterial strains and the use thereof for delivery of heterologous proteins into eukaryotic cells.	1 . a recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain selected from the group consisting of the genera yersinia, escherichia, salmonella and pseudomonas , wherein said gram-negative bacterial strain is transformed with a vector which comprises in the 5′ to 3′ direction: a promoter; a first dna sequence encoding a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein, operably linked to said promoter; and a second dna sequence encoding a heterologous protein fused in frame to the 3′end of said first dna sequence, wherein the heterologous protein is selected from the group consisting of proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation, cell cycle regulators, ankyrin repeat proteins, cell signaling proteins, reporter proteins, transcription factors, proteases, small gtpases, gpcr related proteins, nanobody fusion constructs and nanobodies, bacterial t3ss effectors, bacterial t4ss effectors and viral proteins. 2 . the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain of claim 1 , wherein the vector comprises a third dna sequence encoding a protease cleavage site, wherein the third dna sequence is located between the 3′end of said first dna sequence and the 5′ end of said second dna sequence. 3 . (canceled) 4 . the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain of claim 1 , wherein the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is selected from the group consisting of the genera yersinia and salmonella. 5 . the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain of claim 1 , wherein the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is a yersinia strain and the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein encoded by the first dna sequence comprises the yope effector protein or an n-terminal fragment thereof or wherein the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is a salmonella strain and the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein encoded by the first dna sequence comprises the sope or the stea effector protein or an n-terminal fragment thereof. 6 . the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain of claim 1 , wherein the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is a yersinia strain and wherein said yersinia strain is wild type or deficient in the production of at least one t3ss effector protein and wherein the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein comprises the n-terminal 138 amino acids of the y. enterocolitica yope effector protein or, wherein the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is a salmonella strain and wherein said salmonella strain is wild type or deficient in the production of at least one t3ss effector protein and wherein the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein comprises the s. enterica stea effector protein or the n-terminal 81 or 105 amino acids of the s. enterica sope effector protein. 7 .- 9 . (canceled) 10 . the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain of claim 1 , wherein the gram-negative bacterial strain is deficient to produce adhesion proteins binding to the eukaryotic cell surface or extracellular matrix. 11 . (canceled) 12 . a vector which comprises in the 5′ to 3′ direction: a promoter; a first dna sequence encoding a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein, operably linked to said promoter; a second dna sequence encoding a heterologous protein fused in frame to the 3′end of said first dna sequence, wherein the heterologous protein is involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation; and alternatively a third dna sequence encoding a protease cleavage site, wherein the third dna sequence is located between the 3′end of said first dna sequence and the 5′ end of said second dna sequence. 13 .- 20 . (canceled) 21 . the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain of claim 1 , wherein the proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation are selected from the group consisting of bh3-only proteins, caspases and intracellular signalling proteins of death receptor control of apoptosis. 22 . the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain or the vector of claim 1 , wherein the vector comprises two second dna sequences encoding the identical or two different heterologous proteins fused independently from each other in frame to the 3′end of said first dna sequence, wherein both heterologous proteins are proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation and wherein one protein is a pro-apoptotic protein and the other protein is an inhibitor of apoptosis-prevention pathways or wherein one protein is a pro-apoptotic protein and the other protein is an inhibitor of pro-survival signalling or pathways. 23 . (canceled) 24 . the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain of claim 1 , wherein the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein encoded by the first dna sequence comprises the bacterial t3ss effector protein or an n-terminal fragment thereof, wherein the n-terminal fragment thereof includes at least the first 10 amino acids of the bacterial t3ss effector protein. 25 .- 26 . (canceled) 27 . a method for delivering a heterologous protein into a eukaryotic cell comprising the following steps: i) culturing the gram-negative bacterial strain of claim 1 ; and ii) contacting a eukaryotic cell with the gram-negative bacterial strain of i), wherein a fusion protein which comprises a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein and the heterologous protein is expressed by the gram-negative bacterial strain and is translocated into the eukaryotic cell. 28 .- 30 . (canceled) 31 . a method of purifying a heterologous protein comprising: culturing the gram-negative bacterial strain of claim 1 so that a fusion protein which comprises a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein and the heterologous protein is expressed and secreted into the supernatant of the culture. 32 . the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain of claim 1 for use in the delivery of a heterologous protein as a medicament or as a vaccine to a subject. 33 . a method for high throughput screening of inhibitors for a cellular pathway or event triggered by the translocated heterologous protein(s) using the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain of claim 1 . 34 . (canceled)	the field of the invention the present invention relates to recombinant gram-negative bacterial strains and the use thereof for delivery of heterologous proteins into eukaryotic cells. background of the invention transient transfection techniques have been applied in cell biological research over many years to address protein functions. these methods generally result in a massive overrepresentation of the protein under study, which might lead to oversimplified models of signalling [1]. for proteins controlling short-lived signalling processes, the protein of interest is present for far longer as the signalling event it controls [2]. even more, dna transfection based transient over-expression leads to a heterogenous and unsynchronized cell population, which complicates functional studies and hampers-omics approaches. besides this, the upscaling of such assays to a larger scale is very expensive. some of the above mentioned points are covered by existing techniques as microinjection or proteo-fection of purified proteins, the inducible translocation strategy to rapidly target plasmid born small gtpases to the cell membrane [2] or the addition of purified proteins fused to cell-permeable bacterial toxins [3]. but these techniques are all time-consuming and cumbersome and to our knowledge none fulfils all mentioned criteria. bacteria have evolved different mechanisms to directly inject proteins into target cells [4]. the type iii secretion system (t3ss) used by bacteria like yersinia, shigella and salmonella [5] functions like a nano-syringe that injects so-called bacterial effector proteins into host cells. bacterial proteins to be secreted via the t3ss, called effectors, harbour a short n-terminal secretion signal [6]. inside bacteria, some effectors are bound by chaperones. chaperones might mask toxic domains [7], they contribute to exposition of the secretion signal [8, 9] and keep the substrates in a secretion-competent conformation [10], therefore facilitating secretion. upon induction of secretion, an atpase adjacent to the t3ss removes the chaperones [1 1] and the effectors travel unfolded or only partially folded through the needle [10], and refold once in the host cytoplasm. t3s has been exploited to deliver hybrid peptides and proteins into target cells. heterologous bacterial t3ss effectors have been delivered in case the bacterium under study is hardly accessible by genetics (like chlamydia trachomatis; [12]). often reporter proteins were fused to possible t3ss secretion signals as to study requirements for t3ss dependent protein delivery, such as the bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase [13], murine dhfr [10] or a phosphorylatable tag [14]. peptide delivery was mainly conducted with the aim of vaccination. this includes viral epitopes [15, 16], bacterial epitopes (listeriolysin o, [17]) as well as peptides representing epitopes of human cancer cells [1 8]. in few cases functional eukaryotic proteins have been delivered to modulate the host cell, as done with nanobodies [1 9], nuclear proteins (cre-recombinase, myod) [20, 21] or 1110 and illra [22]. none of the above-mentioned systems allows single-protein delivery as in each case one or multiple endogenous effector proteins are still encoded. furthermore, the vectors used have not been designed in a way allowing simple cloning of other dna fragments encoding proteins of choice, hindering broad application of the system. therefore, a cheap and simple method allowing scalable, rapid, synchronized, homogenous and tuneable delivery of a protein of interest at physiological concentrations would be of great benefit for many cell biologists. summary of the invention the present invention relates generally to recombinant gram-negative bacterial strains and the use thereof for delivery of heterologous proteins into eukaryotic cells. the present invention provides gram-negative bacterial strains and the use thereof, which allows the translocation of various type iii effectors, but also of type iv effectors, of viral proteins and most importantly of functional eukaryotic proteins. means for fluorescent tracking of delivery, for relocalization to the nucleus and notably for removal of the bacterial appendage after delivery to the host cell are provided. this allows for the first time delivery of almost native proteins into eukaryotic cells using only a t3ss. the presented t3ss based system results in scalable, rapid, synchronized, homogenous and tunable delivery of a protein of interest. the delivery system of the present invention is suitable to inject eukaryotic proteins in living animals and can be used for therapeutic purposes. in a first aspect the present invention relates to a recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain selected from the group consisting of the genera yersinia, escherichia, salmonella and pseudomonas , wherein said gram-negative bacterial strain is transformed with a vector which comprises in the 5′ to 3′ direction: a promoter;a first dna sequence encoding a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein, operably linked to said promoter; anda second dna sequence encoding a heterologous protein fused in frame to the 3′end of said first dna sequence, wherein the heterologous protein is selected from the group consisting of proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation. in a further aspect, the present invention relates to a recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain transformed with a vector, which comprises in the 5′ to 3′ direction: a promoter; a first dna sequence encoding a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein, operably linked to said promoter;a second dna sequence encoding a heterologous protein fused in frame to the 3′end of said first dna sequence; anda third dna sequence encoding a protease cleavage site, wherein the third dna sequence is located between the 3′end of said first dna sequence and the 5′end of said second dna sequence. in a further aspect the present invention relates to a recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain, wherein the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is a yersinia strain and wherein said yersinia strain is wild type or deficient in the production of at least one t3ss effector protein and is transformed with a vector which comprises in the 5′ to 3′ direction: a promoter; a first dna sequence encoding a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein wherein the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein comprises the n-terminal 138 amino acids of the y. enterocolitica yope effector protein, operably linked to said promoter; anda second dna sequence encoding a heterologous protein fused in frame to the 3′end of said first dna sequence. in a further aspect the present invention relates to a recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain, wherein the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is a salmonella strain and wherein said salmonella strain is wild type or deficient in the production of at least one t3ss effector protein and is transformed with a vector which comprises in the 5′ to 3′ direction: a promoter;a first dna sequence encoding a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein wherein the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein comprises the s. enterica stea effector protein or the n-terminal 81 or 105 amino acids of the s. enterica sope effector protein, operably linked to said promoter; anda second dna sequence encoding a heterologous protein fused in frame to the 3′end of said first dna sequence. in a further aspect the present invention relates to a vector which comprises in the 5′ to 3′ direction: a promoter;a first dna sequence encoding a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein, operably linked to said promoter;a second dna sequence encoding a heterologous protein fused in frame to the 3′end of said first dna sequence; anda third dna sequence encoding a protease cleavage site, wherein the third dna sequence is located between the 3′end of said first dna sequence and the 5′end of said second dna sequence. the present invention further relates to a method for delivering a heterologous protein into a eukaryotic cell comprising the following steps: i) culturing a gram-negative bacterial strain; andii) contacting a eukaryotic cell with the gram-negative bacterial strain of i) wherein a fusion protein which comprises a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein and the heterologous protein is expressed by the gram-negative bacterial strain and is translocated into the eukaryotic cell. the present invention further relates to a method for delivering a heterologous protein into a eukaryotic cell comprising the following steps: i) culturing a gram-negative bacterial strain;ii) contacting a eukaryotic cell with the gram-negative bacterial strain of i) wherein a fusion protein which comprises a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein and the heterologous protein is expressed by the gram-negative bacterial strain and is translocated into the eukaryotic cell; andiii) cleaving the fusion protein so that the heterologous protein is cleaved from the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein. the present invention further relates to a method of purifying a heterologous protein comprising culturing a gram-negative bacterial strain so that a fusion protein which comprises a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein and the heterologous protein is expressed and secreted into the supernatant of the culture. in a further aspect the present invention relates to a library of gram-negative bacterial strains, wherein the heterologous protein encoded by the second dna sequence of the expression vector of the gram-negative bacterial strains is a human or murine protein and, wherein each human or murine expressed by a gram-negative bacterial strain is different in amino acid sequence. brief description of the figures fig. 1 : characterization of t3ss protein delivery. (a) schematic representation of t3ss dependent protein secretion into the surrounding medium (in-vitro secretion)(left side) or into eukaryotic cells (right side). i: shows the type 3 secretion system. ii indicates proteins secreted into the surrounding medium, iii proteins translocated through the membrane into the cytosol of eukaryotic cells (vii). vi shows a stretch of the two bacterial membranes in which the t3ss is inserted and the bacterial cytosol underneath. iv is a fusion protein attached to the yopei_i38n-terminal fragment (v) (b) in-vitro secretion of i: y. enterocolitica e40 wild type, ii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd or iii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+pbadsi_2 as revealed by western blotting on total bacterial lysates (iv) and precipitated culture supernatants (v) using an anti-yope antibody. fig. 2 : characterization of t3ss protein delivery into epithelial cells. (a) anti-myc immunofluorescence staining on hela cells infected at an moi of 100 for 1 h with i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd or ii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+pbad_si2. (b) quantification of anti-myc immunofluorescence staining intensity from (a) within hela cells. data were combined from n=20 sites, error bars indicated are standard error of the mean. i: uninfected, ii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd or iii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+pbad_si2. y-axis indicates anti-myc staining intensity [arbitrary unit], x-axis indicates time of infection in minutes (c) quantification of anti-myc immunofluorescence staining intensity within cells. hela cells were infected for 1 h with y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+pbad_si2 at an moi indicated on the x-axis. data were combined from n=20 sites, error bars indicated are standard error of the mean. y-axis indicates anti-myc staining intensity [a.u.]. fig. 3 : modifications of the t3ss based protein delivery allow nuclear localization of a yopei.138 fusion protein (egfp). egfp signal in hela cells infected with i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd or ii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd ayopb carrying the plasmids iii: +yopei_i38-egfp or iv: +yopei_i 38 -egfp-nls at an moi of 100. egfp signal is shown in “a”, for localization comparison nuclei were stained in “b”. fig. 4 : modifications of the t3ss based protein delivery allow removal of the yopei.i3 s appendage. hela cells are infected with two different y. enterocolitica strains at the same time, which is reached by simple mixing of the two bacterial suspensions. one strain is delivering the tev protease fused to yopei_i 38 , while the other strain delivers a protein of interest fused to yopei_i 38 with a linker containing a double tev protease cleavage site. after protein delivery into the eukaryotic cell, the tev protease will cleave the yopei_i 38 appendage from the protein of interest (a) digitonin lysed hela cells uninfected (ii) or after infection (moi of 100) for 2 h with i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd and iii: +pbadsi_2, iv: +yopei_i 38 -2x tev cleavage site-flag-ink4c, v: +yopei_i 38 -2x tev cleavage site-flag-ink4c and further overnight treatment with purified tev protease and vi: +yopei_i 38 -2x tev cleavage site-flag-ink4c and a second strain+yopei_i 38 -tev were analyzed by western blotting anti-ink4c (shown in “a”) for the presence of yopei_i 38 -2x tev cleavage site -flag-ink4c or its cleaved form flag-ink4c. as a loading control western blotting anti-actin was performed (shown in “b”). in one case (v) the lysed cells were incubated overnight with purified tev protease. (b) actin normalized quantification of anti-ink4c staining intensity (shown as [a.u.] on the y-axis) from (a) at the size of full length yopei_i 3 8 -2x tev cleavage site-flag-ink4c, where sample iv is set to 100%. i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd and iv: +yopei_i 3 8 -2x tev cleavage site-flag-ink4c, v: +yopei_i 3 8 -2x tev cleavage site-flag-ink4c and further overnight treatment with purified tev protease and vi: +yopei_i 3 8 -2x tev cleavage site-flag-ink4c and a second strain+yopei_i 3 8 -tev. data were combined from n=2 independent experiments, error bars indicated are standard error of the mean (c) digitonin lysed hela cells uninfected (ii) or after infection (moi of 100) for 2 h with i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd and iii: +pbadsi_2, iv: +yopei_i 3 8 -2x tev cleavage site-et1-myc, v: +yopei_i 38 -2x tev cleavage site-et1-myc and further overnight treatment with purified tev protease and vi: +yopei_i 38 -2x tev cleavage site-et1-myc and a second strain+yopei_i 38 -tev were analyzed by western blotting anti-myc (shown in “a”) for the presence of yopei_i 38 -2x tev cleavage site-et1-myc or its cleaved form et1-myc. as a loading control western blotting anti-actin was performed (shown in “b”) in one case (v) the lysed cells were incubated overnight with purified tev protease. fig. 5 : delivery of bacterial effector proteins into eukaryotic cells (a) hela cells were infected with i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd carrying ii: pbad_si2 or iii: yopei_i 38 -sope at an moi of 100 for the time indicated above the images (2, 10 or 60 minutes). after fixation cells were stained for the actin cytoskeleton (b) hela cells were left uninfected (ii) or infected with i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd carrying iii: yopei_i 38 -sope-myc and in some cases coinfected with iv: yopei_i 38 -sptp at the moi indicated below the strain (moi 50; moi50:moi50 or moi50:moi100) for 1 h. after fixation cells were stained for the actin cytoskeleton (shown in “a”) and the presence of the yopei_i 38 -sope-myc fusion protein was followed via staining anti-myc (shown in “b”). fig. 6 : delivery of bacterial effector proteins into eukaryotic cells (a) phospho-p38 (“a”), total p38 (“b”) and actin (“c”) western blot analysis on hela cells left untreated (ii) or infected for 75 min with i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd carrying iii: pbad_si2 or iv: yopei_i 38 -ospf at an moi of 100. cells were stimulated with tnfa for the last 30 min of the infection as indicated (+ stands for addition of tnfa, − represent no treatment with tnfa) (b) phospho-akt t308 (“a”) and s473 (“b”) and actin (“c”) western blot analysis on hela cells left untreated (ii) or infected for 22.5 or 45 min (indicated below the blots) with i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd carrying iii: pbad_si2, iv: yopei_i 38 -sope or v: yopei_i 38 -sopb at an moi of 100 (c) camp levels (in fmol/well shown on y-axis) in hela cells left untreated (i) or infected for 2.5 h with v: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+yopei_i 3 8 -bepa, vi: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+yopei_i3 8 -bepa e305-end , vii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+yopei_i 38 -bepg bid or viii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+pbad_si2 at an moi of 100. cholera toxin (ct) was added for 1 h as positive control to samples ii (1 μg/ηιl), iii (25 μg/ηιl) or iv (50 μg/ηιl) data were combined from n=3 independent experiments, error bars indicated are standard error of the mean. statistical analysis was performed using an unpaired two-tailed t-test (ns indicates a non significant change, indicates a p value<0.01, * indicates a p value<0.001). fig. 7 : delivery of human tbid into eukaryotic cells induces massive apoptosis. (a) cleaved caspase 3 pl7 (“a”) and actin (“b”) western blot analysis on hela cells left untreated (ii) or infected for 60 min with i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd carrying iii: pbad_si2, iv: yopei_i38-bid or v: yopei_i 3 8 -t-bid at an moi of 100. in some cases, cells were treated with vi: 0.5 μm staurosporine or vii: 1 μm staurosporine (b) digitonin lysed hela cells left untreated (ii) or after infection for 1 h with i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd carrying iii: pbad_si2, iv: yopei_i 38 -bid or v: yopei_i 38 -t-bid at an moi of 100 were analyzed by western blotting anti-bid (“a”) allowing comparison of endogenous bid levels (marked z) to translocated yopei_i 38 -bid (marked x) or yopei_i 38 -tbid (marked y) levels. as a loading control western blotting anti-actin was performed (shown in “b”). in some cases, cells were treated with vi: 0.5 μm staurosporine or vii: 1 μm staurosporine (c) hela cells were left untreated (i) or infected at an moi of 100 for 1 h with ii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+pbad_si2, iii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+yopei_i 38 -bid, iv: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+yopei_i 38 -tbid. in some cases, cells were treated with v: 0.5 μm staurosporine or vi: 1 μm staurosporine. after fixation cells were stained for the actin cytoskeleton (gray). fig. 8 : t3ss dependent delivery of zebrafish bim induces apoptosis in zebrafish embryos. (a) 2 dpf zebrafish embryos were infected with the egfp expressing y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+pbad_sil control strain (i) or zbim translocating strain (ii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+yopei_i 38 -zbim) by injection of about 400 bacteria into the hindbrain region. after 5.5 h the embryos were fixed, stained for activated caspase 3 (cleaved caspase 3, pl7; shown in “c”) and analyzed for presence of bacteria (egfp signal, shown in “b”). maximum intensity z projections are shown for fluorescent images. bright-field z projection are shown in “a” (b) automated image analysis on maximum intensity z projections of recorded z-stack images of (a). briefly, bacteria were detected via the gfp channel. around each area of a bacterial spot a circle with a radius of 10 pixels was created. overlapping regions were separated equally among the connecting members. in those areas closely surrounding bacteria, the caspase 3 pl7 staining intensity was measured and is plotted on the y-axis (as [a.u.]). statistical analysis was performed using a mann-whitney test (*** indicates a p value<0.001). data were combined from n=14 for y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+pbad_sil control strain (i) or n=19 for ii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+yopei_ 138 -zbim infected animals, error bars indicated are standard error of the mean. fig. 9 : tbid dependent phosphoproteome: hela cells were infected for 30 min with y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+yopei_i 3 8 -t-bid at an moi of 100 and as a control with y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+pbad_si2. (a) graphical representation of the tbid phosphoproteome. proteins containing phosphopeptides that were significantly regulated in a tbid dependent manner (gray) (q-value<0.01) as well as known apopotosis related proteins (dark gray) are represented in a string network of known and predicted protein-protein interactions (high-confidence, score 0.7). only proteins with at least one connection in string are represented. (b) confocal images of hela cells infected with either y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+pbad_si2 (i) or y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+yopei_ 138 -t-bid (ii) reveal the induction of an apoptotic phenotype upon tbid delivery. cells were stained for the nuclei with hoechst (“a”), for f-actin with phalloidin (“b”), for tubulin with an anti-tubulin antibody (“c”) and for mitochondria with mitotracker (“d)”. scale bar represents 40μιη. fig. 10 : description of the type iii secretion-based delivery toolbox. (a) vector maps of the cloning plasmids pbad_sil and pbad_si2 used to generate fusion constructs with yopei_138- the chaperone syce and the yopei_i3 8 -fusion are under the native y. enterocolitica promoter. the two plasmids only differ in presence of an arabinose inducible egfp present on pbad_sil (b) multiple cloning site directly following the yopei_i 38 fragment on pbad_sil and pbad_si2 plasmids. fig. 11 : characterization of t3ss protein delivery into various cell lines. anti-myc immunofluorescence staining on swiss 3t3 fibroblasts (“a”), jurkat cells (“b”) and huvec cells (“c”) left untreated (ii) or infected with y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+pbad_si2 (i) at the moi indicated above the images (moi 25, 50, 100, 200 and 400 for huvecs) for 1 h. fig. 12 : t3ss dependency of delivery of bacterial effector proteins into eukaryotic cell. digitonin lysed hela cells after infection at an moi of 100 for time indicated above the blots (0, 5, 15, 10, 60 and 120 minutes) with y. enterocolitica ahopemt asd ayopb+yopei_i 38 -sope-myc (i) or y. enterocolitica ahopemt asd+yopei_i 3 8 -sope-myc (ii) were analyzed by western blotting anti-myc. the size corresponding to yopei_i 3 8 -sope-myc is marked with “a”, while the size of the endogenous c-myc protein is marked with “b”. figs. 13 and 14 : t3ss dependent secretion of various other proteins into the culture supernatant. in-vitro secretion experiment of i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+yopei_ 138 fused to the protein as indicated. protein content of total bacterial lysates (“a”) and precipitated culture supernatants (“b”) was analyzed by western blotting using an anti-yope antibody. numbers written indicate molecular weight in kda at the corresponding height. figs. 15a to m: y. enterocolitica and s. enterica strains used in this study. list of y. enterocolitica and s. enterica strains used in this study providing information on background strains, plasmids and proteins for t3ss dependent delivery encoded on corresponding plasmids. further, information on oligonucleotides used for construction of the corresponding plasmid, the backbone plasmid and antibiotic resistances is provided. fig. 16 : delivery of murine tbid, murine bid bh3 and murine bax bh3 into b16f10 cells induces massive apoptosis. b16f10 cells uninfected (i) or after infection (moi of 50) for 2.5 h with y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd and ii: +pbadsi_2, iii: +yopei_i 38 -7. enterocolitica codon optimized murine tbid, iv: +yopei_i 38 -7. enterocolitica codon optimized murine bid bh3 or v: +yopei_i 38 -7. enterocolitica codon optimized murine bax bh3. after fixation cells were stained for the actin cytoskeleton and nuclei (both in gray). fig. 17 : delivery of murine tbid, murine bid bh3 and murine bax bh3 into d2a1 cells induces massive apoptosis. d2a1 cells uninfected (i) or after infection (moi of 50) for 2.5 h with y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd and ii: +pbadsi_2, iii: +yopei_i 38 -7. enterocolitica codon optimized murine tbid, iv: +yopei_i 38 -7. enterocolitica codon optimized murine bid bh3 or v: +yopei_i 38 -7. enterocolitica codon optimized murine bax bh3. after fixation cells were stained for the actin cytoskeleton and nuclei (both in gray). fig. 18 : delivery of murine tbid, murine bid bh3 and murine bax bh3 into hela cells induces massive apoptosis. hela cells uninfected (i) or after infection (moi of 50) for 2.5 h with y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd and ii: +pbadsi_2, iii: +yopei_i 38 -7. enterocolitica codon optimized murine tbid, iv: +yopei_i 38 -7. enterocolitica codon optimized murine bid bh3 or v: +yopei_i 38 -7. enterocolitica codon optimized murine bax bh3. after fixation cells were stained for the actin cytoskeleton and nuclei (both in gray). fig. 19 : delivery of murine tbid, murine bid bh3 and murine bax bh3 into 4t1 cells induces massive apoptosis. 4t1 cells uninfected (i) or after infection (moi of 50) for 2.5 h with y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd and ii: +pbadsi_2, iii: +yopei_i 38 -7. enterocolitica codon optimized murine tbid, iv: +yopei_i 38 -7. enterocolitica codon optimized murine bid bh3 or v: +yopei_i 38 -7. enterocolitica codon optimized murine bax bh3. after fixation cells were stained for the actin cytoskeleton and nuclei (both in gray). fig. 20 : delivery of murine tbid by s. enterica grown under spi-1 t3ss inducing conditions into eukaryotic cells induces apoptosis. cleaved caspase 3 pl7 western blot analysis on hela cells left untreated (i) or infected for 4 h with iii: s. enterica aroa carrying iv: steai_ 20 -t-bid, v: stea fl -bid, vi: sopei_ 8 i -t-bid or vii: sopei_i 05 -t-bid at an moi of 100. for this experiment, all s. enterica aroa strains were grown under spi-1 t3ss inducing conditions. in some cases, cells were treated with ii: 1 μm staurosporine. numbers written indicate molecular weight in kda at the corresponding height. fig. 21 : delivery of murine tbid by s. enterica grown under spi-2 t3ss inducing conditions into eukaryotic cells induces apoptosis. cleaved caspase 3 pl7 western blot analysis on hela cells left untreated (i) or infected for 4 h with iii: s. enterica aroa carrying iv: steai_ 20 -t-bid, v: stea fl -bid, vi: sopei_ 8 i -t-bid or vii: sopei_i 0 5 -t-bid at an moi of 100. for this experiment, all s. enterica aroa strains were grown under spi-2 t3ss inducing conditions. in some cases, cells were treated with ii: 1 μm staurosporine. numbers written indicate molecular weight in kda at the corresponding height. fig. 22 : s. enterica t3ss dependent secretion of various cell cycle proteins into the culture supernatant. in-vitro secretion experiment of s. enterica aroa+either stea fl (i, hi, v, vii) or sopei_i 05 (ii, iv, vi, viii) fused to proteins as listed following. i and ii: ink4a-mychis; iii and iv: ink4c-mychis; v and vi: mad2-mychis; vii and viii: cdkl-mychis. protein content of precipitated culture supernatants (“a”) and total bacterial lysates (“b”) was analyzed by western blotting using an anti-myc antibody. numbers written indicate molecular weight in kda at the corresponding height. fig. 23 : t3ss dependent secretion of various known cell cycle interfering peptides into the culture supernatant. in-vitro secretion experiment of i: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+pbad_si2. ii-vii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+yopei_i 38 fused to peptides as listed following: ii: ink4a 84 -io3 , iii: pl07/rbl1 657-662 , iv: p21 141-160d149a , v: p21 145-160d149a , vi: p2i 7-33 ; vii: cyclin d2i 39- i 47 . protein content of precipitated culture supernatants (“a”) and total bacterial lysates (“b”) was analyzed by western blotting using an anti-yope antibody. numbers written indicate molecular weight in kda at the corresponding height. fig. 24 : fusion of the t3ss delivered protein to ubiquitin allows removal of the yopei. 138 appendage. hela cells are infected with a strain delivering a protein of interest fused to yopei_i38 with a directly fused ubiquitin (yopei_i 38 -ubi). after protein delivery into the eukaryotic cell, endogenous ubiquitin specific proteases will cleave the yopei_i 38 -ubi appendage from the protein of interest. digitonin lysed hela cells uninfected (i) or after infection (moi of 100) for 1 h with ii: y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd+yopei_i 38 -flag-ink4c-mychis or iii: +yopei_i 38 -flag-ubiquitin-ink4c-mychis were analyzed by western blotting anti-ink4c for the presence of iv: yopei_i 38 -flag-ubiquitin-ink4c-mychis or v: yopei_i 38 -flag-ink4c-mychis, the cleaved form vi: ink4c-mychis and vii: the endogenous ink4c. detailed description of the invention the present invention provides recombinant gram-negative bacterial strains and the use thereof for delivery of heterologous proteins into eukaryotic cells. for the purposes of interpreting this specification, the following definitions will apply and whenever appropriate, terms used in the singular will also include the plural and vice versa. it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. the term “gram-negative bacterial strain” as used herein includes the following bacteria: aeromonas salmonicida, aeromonas hydrophila, aeromonas veronii, anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans, bordetella bronchiseptica, bordetella bronchiseptica, bordetella parapertussis, bordetella pertussis, bradyrhizobium japonicum, burkholderia cenocepacia, burkholderia cepacia, burkholderia mallei, burkholderia pseudomallei, chlamydia muridarum, chlamydia trachmoatis, chlamydophila abortus, chlamydophila pneumoniae, chromobacterium violaceum, citrobacter rodentium, desulfovibrio vulgaris, edwardsiella tarda, endozoicomonas elysicola, erwinia amylovora, escherichia albertii, escherichia coli, lawsonia intracellularis, mesorhizobium loti, myxococcus xanthus, pantoea agglomerans, photobacterium damselae, photorhabdus luminescens, photorabdus temperate, pseudoalteromonas spongiae, pseudomonas aeruginosa, pseudomonas plecoglossicida, pseudomonas syringae, ralstonia solanacearum, rhizobium sp, salmonella enterica and other salmonella sp, shigella flexneri and other shigella sp, sodalis glossinidius, vibrio alginolyticus, vibrio azureus, vibrio campellii, vibrio caribbenthicus, vibrio harvey, vibrio parahaemolyticus, vibrio tasmaniensis, vibrio tubiashii, xanthomonas axonopodis, xanthomonas campestris, xanthomonas oryzae, yersinia enterocolitica, yersinia pestis, yersinia pseudotuberculosis . preferred gram-negative bacterial strains of the invention are gram-negative bacterial strains comprised by the family of enterobacteriaceae and pseudomonadaceae. the gram-negative bacterial strain of the present invention is normally used for delivery of heterologous proteins by the bacterial t3ss into eukaryotic cells in vitro and in vivo. the term “recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain” used herein refers to a gram-negative bacterial strain genetically transformed with a vector. a useful vector of the present invention is e.g an expression vector, a vector for chromosomal or virulence plasmid insertion or a dna fragment for chromosomal or virulence plasmid insertion. the terms “gram-negative bacterial strain deficient to produce an amino acid essential for growth” and “auxotroph mutant” are used herein interchangeably and refer to gram-negative bacterial strains which can not grow in the absence of at least one exogenously provided essential amino acid or a precursor thereof. the amino acid the strain is deficient to produce is e.g. aspartate, meso-2,6-diaminopimelic acid, aromatic amino acids or leucine-arginine [23]. such a strain can be generated by e.g. deletion of the aspartate-beta-semialdehyde dehydrogenase gene (aasd). such an auxotroph mutant cannot grow in absence of exogenous meso-2,6-diaminopimelic acid [24]. the mutation, e.g. deletion of the aspartate-beta-semialdehyde dehydrogenase gene is preferred herein for a gram-negative bacterial strain deficient to produce an amino acid essential for growth of the present invention. the term “gram-negative bacterial strain deficient to produce adhesion proteins binding to the eukaryotic cell surface or extracellular matrix” refers to mutant gram-negative bacterial strains which do not express at least one adhesion protein compared to the adhesion proteins expressed by the corresponding wild type strain. adhesion proteins may include e.g. extended polymeric adhesion molecules like pili/fimbriae or non-fimbrial adhesins. fimbrial adhesins include type-1 pili (such as e. coli fim-pili with the fimh adhesin), p-pili (such as pap-pili with the papg adhesin from e. coli ), type 4 pili (as pilin protein from e.g. p. aeruginosa ) or curli (csg proteins with the csga adhesin from s. enterica ). non-fimbrial adhesions include trimeric autotransporter adhesins such as yada from y. enterocolitica , bpaa ( b. pseudomallei ), hia ( h. influenzae ), bada ( b. henselae ), nada ( n. meningitidis ) or uspa1 ( m. catarrhalis ) as well as other autotransporter adhesins such as aida-1 ( e. coli ) as well as other adhesins/invasins such as inva from y. enterocolitica or intimin ( e. coli ) or members of the dr-family or afa-family ( e. coli ). the terms yada and inva as used herein refer to proteins from y. enterocolitica . the autotransporter yada [25, 26] binds to different froms of collagen as well as fibronectin, while the invasin inva [27-29] binds to β-integrins in the eukaryotic cell membrane. if the gram-negative bacterial strain is a y. enterocolitica strain the strain is preferably deficient in inva and/or yada. as used herein, the term “family of enterobacteriaceae” comprises a family of gram-negative, rod-shaped, facultatively anaerobic bacteria found in soil, water, plants, and animals, which frequently occur as pathogens in vertebrates. the bacteria of this family share a similar physiology and demonstrate a conservation within functional elements and genes of the respective genomes. as well as being oxidase negative, all members of this family are glucose fermenters and most are nitrate reducers. enterobacteriaceae bacteria of the invention may be any bacteria from that family, and specifically includes, but is not limited to, bacteria of the following genera: escherichia, shigella, edwardsiella, salmonella, citrobacter, klebsiella, enterobacter, serratia, proteus, erwinia, morganella, providencia , or yersinia . in more specific embodiments, the bacterium is of the escherichia coli, escherichia blattae, escherichia fergusonii, escherichia hermanii, escherichia vuneris, salmonella enterica, salmonella bongori, shigella dysenteriae, shigella flexneri, shigella boydii, shigella sonnei, enterobacter aerogenes, enterobacter gergoviae, enterobacter sakazakii, enterobacter cloacae, enterobacter agglomerans, klebsiella pneumoniae, klebsiella oxytoca, serratia marcescens, yersinia pseudotuberculosis, yersinia pestis, yersinia enterocolitica, erwinia amylovora, proteus mirabilis, proteus vulgaris, proteus penneri, proteus hauseri, providencia alcalifaciens , or morganella morganii species. preferably the gram-negative bacterial strain is selected from the group consisting of the genera yersinia, escherichia, salmonella, shigella, pseudomonas, chlamydia, erwinia, pantoea, vibrio, burkholderia, ralstonia, xanthomonas , chromobacterium, sodalis, citrobacter, edwardsiella, rhizobiae, aeromonas, photorhabdus, bordetella and desulfovibrio , more preferably from the group consisting of the genera yersinia, escherichia, salmonella , and pseudomonas , most preferably from the group consisting of the genera yersinia and salmonella. the term “ yersinia ” as used herein includes all species of yersinia , including yersinia enterocolitica, yersinia pseudotuberculosis and yersiniapestis . preferred is yersinia enterocolitica. the term “ salmonella ” as used herein includes all species of salmonella , including salmonella enterica and s. bongori . preferred is salmonella enterica. “promoter” as used herein refers to a nucleic acid sequence that regulates expression of a transcriptional unit. a “promoter region” is a regulatory region capable of binding rna polymerase in a cell and initiating transcription of a downstream (3′ direction) coding sequence. within the promoter region will be found a transcription initiation site (conveniently defined by mapping with nuclease si), as well as protein binding domains (consensus sequences) responsible for the binding of rna polymerase such as the putative −35 region and the pribnow box. the term “operably linked” when describing the relationship between two dna regions simply means that they are functionally related to each other and they are located on the same nucleic acid fragment. a promoter is operably linked to a structural gene if it controls the transcription of the gene and it is located on the same nucleic acid fragment as the gene. usually the promoter is functional in said gram-negative bacterial strain, i.e. the promoter is capable of expressing the fusion protein of the present invention, i.e. the promoter is capable of expressing the fusion protein of the present invention without further genetic engineering or expression of further proteins. furthermore, a functional promoter must not be naturally counter-regulated to the bacterial t3ss. the term “delivery” used herein refers to the transportation of a protein from a recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain to a eukaryotic cell, including the steps of expressing the heterologous protein in the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain, secreting the expressed protein(s) from such gram-negative bacterial strain and translocating the secreted protein(s) by such gram-negative bacterial strain into the cytosol of the eukaryotic cell. accordingly, the terms “delivery signal” or “secretion signal” which are used interchangeably herein refer to a polypeptide sequence which can be recognized by the secretion and translocation system of the gram-negative bacterial strain and directs the delivery of a protein from the gram-negative bacterial strain to eukaryotic cells. as used herein, the “secretion” of a protein refers to the transportation of a heterologous protein outward across the cell membrane of a recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain. the “translocation” of a protein refers to the transportation of a heterologous protein from a recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain across the plasma membrane of a eukaryotic cell into the cytosol of such eukaryotic cell. the term “eukaryotic cells” as used herein includes e.g. the following eukaryotic cells: hi-5, hela, hek, huvecs, 3t3, cho, jurkat, sf-9, hepg2, vera, mdck, mefs, thp-1, j774, raw, caco2, nci60, du145, lncap, mcf-7, mda-mb-438, pc3, t47d, a549, u87, shsy5y, ea.hy926, saos-2, 4t1, d2a1, b16f10, and primary human hepatocytes. “eukaryotic cells” as used herein, are also referred to as “target cells” or “target eukaryotic cells”. the term “t3ss effector protein” as used herein refers to proteins which are naturally injected by t3s systems into the cytosol of eukaryotic cells and to proteins which are naturally secreted by t3s systems that might e.g form the translocation pore into the eukaryotic membrane (including pore-forming tranlocators (as yersinia yopb and yopd) and tip-proteins like yersinia lcrv). preferably proteins which are naturally injected by t3s systems into the cytosol of eukaryotic cells are used. these virulence factors will paralyze or reprogram the eukaryotic cell to the benefit of the pathogen. t3s effectors display a large repertoire of biochemical activities and modulate the function of crucial host regulatory molecules [5, 30] and include avra, avrb, avrbs2, avrbs3, avrbst, avrd, avrdl, avrpphb, avrpphc, avrpphepto, avrppibpto, avrpto, avrptob, avrrpml, avrrpt2, avrxv3, cigr, espf, espg, esph, espz, exos, exot, gogb, gtga, gtge, gala family of proteins, hopab2, hopaol, hopll, hopml, hopnl, hopptod2, hopptoe, hopptof, hoppton, hopul, hsvb, icsb, ipaa, ipab, ipac, ipah, ipah7.8, ipah9.8, ipgbl, ipgb2, ipgd, lcrv, map, ospcl, ospe2, ospf, ospg, ospl, pipb, pipb2, popb, popp2, pthxol, pthxo6, pthxo7, sifa, sifb, sipa/sspa, sipb, sipc/sspc, sipd/sspd, slrp, sopa, sopb/sigd, sopd, sope, sope2, spic/ssab, sptp, spvb, spvc, srfh, srfj, sse, sseb, ssec, ssed, ssef, sseg, ssel/srfh, ssej, ssekl, ssek2, ssek3, ssel, ssphl, ssph2, stea, steb, stec, sted, stee, tccp2, tir, vira, virppha, vopf, xopd, yopb, yopd yope, yoph, yopj, yopm, yopo, yopp, yopt, ypka. t3ss effector genes of yersinia have been cloned from e.g. y. enterocolitica which are yope, yoph, yopm, yopo, yopp/y opj, and yopt [31]. the respective effector genes can be cloned from shigellaflexneri (e.g. ospf, ipgd, ipgbl), salmonella enterica (e.g. sope, sopb, sptp), p. aeruginosa (e.g exos, exot, exou, exoy) or e. coli (e.g. tir, map, espf, espg, esph, espz). the nucleic acid sequences of these genes are available to those skilled in the art, e.g., in the genebank database (yoph, yopo, yope, yopp, yopm, yopt from nc_002120 gl10955536; s flexneri effector proteins from af386526.1 gl18462515; s enterica effectors from nc_0168 10.1 gl378697983 or fq312003.1 gl301 156631; p. aeruginosa effectors from ae00409 1.2 gi:1 10227054 or cp000438.1 gi:1 15583796 and e. coli effector proteins from nc_011601.1 gl215485161). for the purpose of the present invention, genes are denoted by letters of lower case and italicised to be distinguished from proteins. in case the genes (denoted by letters of lower case and italicised) are following a bacterial species name (like e. coli ), they refer to a mutation of the corresponding gene in the corresponding bacterial species. for example, yope refers to the effector protein encoded by the yope gene. y. enterocolitica yope represents a y. enterocolitica having a mutation in the yope gene. as used herein, the terms “polypeptide”, “peptide”, “protein”, “polypeptidic” and “peptidic” are used interchangeably to designate a series of amino acid residues connected to each other by peptide bonds between the alpha-amino and carboxy groups of adjacent residues. preferred are proteins which have an amino acid sequence comprising at least 10 amino acids, more preferably at least 20 amino acids. according to the present invention, “a heterologous protein” includes naturally occurring proteins or parts thereof and also includes artificially engineered proteins or parts thereof. as used herein, the term “heterologous protein” refers to a protein or a part thereof other than the t3ss effector protein or n-terminal fragment thereof to which it can be fused. in particular the heterologous protein as used herein refers to a protein or a part thereof, which do not belong to the proteome, i.e. the entire natural protein complement of the specific recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain provided and used by the invention, e.g. which do not belong to the proteome, i.e. the entire natural protein complement of a specific bacterial strain of the genera yersinia, escherichia, salmonella or pseudomonas . usually the heterologous protein is of animal origin including human origin. preferably the heterologous protein is a human protein. more preferably the heterologous protein is selected from the group consisting of proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation, cell cycle regulators, ankyrin repeat proteins, cell signaling proteins, reporter proteins, transcription factors, proteases, small gtpases, gpcr related proteins, nanobody fusion constructs and nanobodies, bacterial t3ss effectors, bacterial t4ss effectors and viral proteins. particular preferably the heterologous protein is selected from the group consisting of proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation, cell cycle regulators, ankyrin repeat proteins, reporter proteins, small gtpases, gpcr related proteins, nanobody fusion constructs, bacterial t3ss effectors, bacterial t4ss effectors and viral proteins. even more particular preferred are heterologous proteins selected from the group consisting of proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation, cell cycle regulators, and ankyrin repeat proteins. most preferred are proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation, like animal, preferably human heterologous proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation in some embodiments the vector of the gram-neagtive bacterial strain of the present invention comprises two second dna sequences encoding the identical or two different heterologous proteins fused independently from each other in frame to the 3′end of said first dna sequence. in some embodiments the vector of the gram-neagtive bacterial strain of the present invention comprises three second dna sequences encoding the identical or three different heterologous proteins fused independently from each other in frame to the 3′end of said first dna sequence. the heterologous protein expressed by the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain has usually a molecular weight of between 1 and 1501w, preferably between 1 and 120 kd, more preferably between land 100 kda, most preferably between 15 and 100 kda. according to the present invention “proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation” include, but are not limited to, bad, bcl2, bak, bmt, bax, puma, noxa, bim, bcl-xl, apafl, caspase 9, caspase 3, caspase 6, caspase 7, caspase 10, dffa, dffb, rock1, app, cad, icad, cad, endog, aif, htra2, smac/diablo, arts, atm, atr, bok/mtd, bmf, mcl-1(s), iap family, lc8, pp2b, 14-3-3 proteins, pka, pkc, pi3k, erkl/2, p9orsk, traf2, tradd, fadd, daxx, caspase8, caspase2, rip, raidd, mkk7, jnk, flips, fkhr, gsk3, cdks and their inhibitors like the ink4-family (p16(ink4a), p15(ink4b), p18(ink4c), p19(ink4d)), and the cipl/wafl/kipl-2-family (p21(cipl/wafl), p27(kipl), p57(kip2). preferably bad, bmt, bcl2, bak, bax, puma, noxa, bim, bcl-xl, caspase9, caspase3, caspase6, caspase7, smac/diablo, bok/mtd, bmf, mcl-1(s), lc8, pp2b, tradd, daxx, caspase8, caspase2, rip, raidd, fkhr, cdks and their inhibitors like the ink4-family (p16(ink4a), p15(ink4b), p18(ink4c), p19(ink4d)), most preferably bim, bid, truncated bid, fadd, caspase 3 (and subunits thereof), bax, bad, akt, cdks and their inhibitors like the ink4-family (p16(ink4a), p15(ink4b), p18(ink4c), p19(ink4d)) are used [32-34]. additionally proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation include diva, bcl-xs, nbk/bik, hrk/dp5, bid and tbid, egl-1, bcl-gs, cytochrome c, beclin, ced-13, bnip1, bnip3, bch b, bcl-w, ced-9, al, nr13, bfl-1, caspase 1, caspase 2, caspase 4, caspase 5, caspase 8. proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation are selected from the group consisting of pro-apoptotic proteins, anti-apoptotic proteins, inhibitors of apoptosis-prevention pathways and inhibitors of pro-survival signalling or pathways. pro-apoptotic proteins comprise proteins selected form the group consisting of bax, bak, diva, bcl-xs, nbk/bik, hrk/dp5, bmf, noxa, puma, bim, bad, bid and tbid, bok, apafl, smac/diablo, bnip1, bnip3, bcl-gs, beclin 1, egl-1 and ced-13, cytochrome c, fadd, the caspase family, and cdks and their inhibitors like the ink4-family (p16(ink4a), p15(ink4b), p18(ink4c), p19(ink4d)) or selected from the group consisting of bax, bak, diva, bcl-xs, nbk/bik, hrk/dp5, bmf, noxa, puma, bim, bad, bid and tbid, bok, egl-1, apafl, smac/diablo, bnip1, bnip3, bcl-gs, beclin 1, egl-1 and ced-13, cytochrome c, fadd, and the caspase family. preferred are bax, bak, diva, bch xs, nbk/bik, hrk/dp5, bmf, noxa, puma, bim, bad, bid and tbid, bok, egl-1, apafl, bnip1, bnip3, bcl-gs, beclin 1, egl-1 and ced-13, smac/diablo, fadd, the caspase family, cdks and their inhibitors like the ink4-family (p 16(ink4a), p 15(ink4b), p 18(ink4c), p19(ink4d)). equally preferred are bax, bak, diva, bcl-xs, nbk/bik, hrk/dp5, bmf, noxa, puma, bim, bad, bid and tbid, bok, apafl, bnip1, bnip3, bcl-gs, beclin 1, egl-1 and ced-13, smac/diablo, fadd, the caspase family. anti-apoptotic proteins comprise proteins selected form the group consisting of bcl-2, bcl-xl, bcl-b, bcl-w, mcl-1, ced-9, al, nr13, iap family and bfi-1. preferred are bcl-2, bcl-xl, bcl-b, bcl-w, mcl-1, ced-9, al, nr13 and bfl-1. inhibitors of apoptosis-prevention pathways comprise proteins selected form the group consisting of bad, noxa and cdc25a. preferred are bad and noxa. inhibitors of pro-survival signalling or pathways comprise proteins selected form the group consisting of pten, rock, pp2a, phlpp, jnk, p38. preferred are pten, rock, pp2a and phlpp. in some embodiments the heterologous proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation are selected from the group consisting of bh3-only proteins, caspases and intracellular signalling proteins of death receptor control of apoptosis. bh3-only proteins comprise proteins selected form the group consisting of bad, bim, bid and tbid, puma, bik/nbk, bod, hrk/dp5, bnip1, bnip3, bmf, noxa, mcl-1, bcl-gs, beclin 1, egl-1 and ced-13. preferred are bad, bim, bid and tbid. caspases comprise proteins selected form the group consisting of caspase 1, caspase 2, caspase 3, caspase 4, caspase 5, caspase 6, caspase 7, caspase 8, caspase 9, caspase 10. preferred are caspase 3, caspase 8 and caspase9. intracellular signalling proteins of death receptor control of apoptosis comprise proteins selected form the group consisting of fadd, tradd, asc, bap31, gulp1/ced-6, cidea, mfg-e8, cidec, ripk1/rip1, cradd, ripk3/rip3, crk, shb, crkl, daxx, the 14-3-3 family, flip, dff40 and 45, pea-15, sodd. preferred are fadd and tradd. in some embodiments two heterologous proteins involved in apoptosis or apoptosis regulation are comprised by the vector of the gram-negative bacterial strain of the present invention, wherein one protein is a pro-apoptotic protein and the other protein is an inhibitor of apoptosis-prevention pathways or wherein one protein is a pro-apoptotic protein and the other protein is an inhibitor of pro-survival signalling or pathways. pro-apoptotic proteins encompassed by the present invention have usually an alpha helical structure, preferably a hydrophobic helix surrounded by amphipathic helices and usually comprise at least one of bh1, bh2, bh3 or bh4 domains, preferably comprise at least one bh3 domain. usually pro-apoptotic proteins encompassed by the present invention have no enzymatic activity. the term “protease cleavage site” as used herein refers to a specific amino acid motif within an amino acid sequence e.g. within an amino acid sequence of a protein or a fusion protein, which is cleaved by a specific protease, which recognizes the amino acid motif. for review see [35]. examples of protease cleavage sites are amino acid motifs, which are cleaved by a protease selected from the group consisting of enterokinase (light chain), enteropeptidase, prescission protease, human rhinovirus protease (hrv 3c), tev protease, tvmv protease, factorxa protease and thrombin. the following amino acid motif is recognized by the respective protease: asp-asp-asp-asp-lys: enterokinase (light chain)/enteropeptidaseleu-glu-val-leu-phe-gln/gly-pro: prescission protease/human rhinovirus protease (hrv 3c)glu-asn-leu-tyr-phe-gln-ser and modified motifs based on the glu-x-x-tyr-x-gln-gly/ser (where x is any amino acid) recognized by tev protease (tobacco etch virus)glu-thr-val-arg-phe-gln-ser: tvmv proteaseile-(glu or asp)-gly-arg: factorxa proteaseleu-val-pro-arg/gly-ser: thrombin. encompassed by the protease cleavage sites as used herein is ubiquitin. thus in some preferred embodiments ubiquitin is used as protease cleavage site, i.e. the third dna sequence encodes ubiquitin as protease cleavage site, which can be cleaved by a specific ubiquitin processing proteases at the n-terminal site, e.g. which can be cleaved by a specific ubiquitin processing proteases called deubiquitinating enzymes at the n-terminal site endogeneously in the cell where the fusion protein has been delivered to. ubiquitin is processed at its c-terminus by a group of endogenous ubiquitin-specific c-terminal proteases (deubiquitinating enzymes, dubs). the cleavage of ubiquitin by dubs is supposed to happen at the very c-terminus of ubiquitin (after g76). an “individual,” “subject” or “patient” is a vertebrate. in certain embodiments, the vertebrate is a mammal. mammals include, but are not limited to, primates (including human and non-human primates) and rodents (e.g., mice and rats). in certain embodiments, a mammal is a human. the term “mutation” is used herein as a general term and includes changes of both single base pair and multiple base pairs. such mutations may include substitutions, frame-shift mutations, deletions, insertions and truncations. the term “labelling molecule or an acceptor site for a labelling molecule” as used herein refers to a small chemical compound binding to a specific amino acid sequence resulting in fluorescence of the bound chemical compound, preferably coumarin ligase/coumarine acceptor site (and derivates thereof), resorufin ligase/resorufin acceptor site (and derivates thereof) and the tetra-cysteine motif (as cys-cys-pro-gly-cys-cys and derivates thereof) in use with flash/reash dye (life technologies) or a fluorescent protein as enhanced green fluorescent protein (egfp). the term “nuclear localization signal” as used herein refers to an amino acid sequence that marks a protein for import into the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell and includes preferably a viral nuclear localization signal such as the sv40 large t-antigen derived nls (ppkkkrkv). the term “multiple cloning site” as used herein refers to a short dna sequence containing several restriction sites for cleavage by restriction endonucleases such as acll, hindlll, sspl, mluci, tsp509i, pcil, agel, bspmi, bfuai, sexai, mlul, bceai, hpych4iv, hpych4iii, bael, bsaxi, afliii, spel, bsrl, bmrl, bglll, afel, alul, stul, seal, clal, bspdi, pi-scel, nsil, asel, swal, cspci, mfel, bsssi, bmgbi, pmll, dralll, alel, ecop15i, pvuii, alwni, btsimuti, tspri, ndel, nlalll, cviaii, fatl, msli, fspei, xcml, bstxi, pflmi, beci, ncol, bseyi, faul, smal, xmal, tspmi, nt.cvipii, lpnpi, acil, sacii, bsrbi, mspl, hpall, scrfi, bsski, styd4i, bsaji, bsli, btgl, neil, avrll, mnll, bbvci, nb.bbvci, nt.bbvci, sbfl, bpuloi, bsu36i, econi, hpyav, bstni, pspgi, styl, bcgl, pvul, bstui, eagl, rsrii, bsiei, bsiwi, bsmbi, hpy99i, mspall, mspji, sgrai, bfal, bspcnl, xhol, earl, acul, pstl, bpml, ddel, sfcl, aflll, bpuei, smll, aval, bsobi, mboii, bbsl, xmnl, bsml, nb.bsml, ecori, hgal, aatll, zral, tthl 1ii pflfi, pshai, ahdl, drdl, eco53ki, sad, bseri, plel, nt.bstnbi, mlyl, hinfl, ecorv, mbol, sau3ai, dpnll bfuci, dpnl, bsabi, tfil, bsrdi, nb.bsrdl, bbvl, btsl, nb.btsl, bstapi, sfani, sphl, nmeaiii, nael, ngomiv, bgll, asisi, btgzi, hinpli, hhal, bsshii, notl, fnu4hi, cac8i, mwol, nhel, bmtl, sapl, bspqi, nt.bspqi, blpl, tsel, apeki, bsp 12861, alwl, nt.alwi, bamhi, fokl, btsci, haelll, phol, fsel, sffl, narl, kasl, sfol, pluti, ascl, ecil, bsmfi, apal, pspomi, sau96i, nla1v, kpnl, acc65i, bsal, hphl, bsteii, avail, banl, baegi, bsahi, banll, rsal, cviqi, bstz17i, bcivi, sail, nt.bsmai, bsmai, bcodi, apali, bsgl, accl, hpyl66ii, tsp45i, hpal, pmel, hindi, bsihkai, apol, nspl, bsrfi, bstyi, haell, cviki-1, ecoo109i, ppumi, i-ceul, snabi, i-scel, bsphi, bspei, mmel, taqal, nrul, hpyl 881, hpyl88iii, xbal, bell, hpych4v, fspl, pi-pspl, mscl, bsrgi, msel, pad, psil, bstbi, dral, pspxi, bsawi, bsaai, eael, preferably xhol, xbal, hindlll, ncol, notl, ecori, ecorv, bamhi, nhel, saci, sail, bstbi. the term “multiple cloning site” as used herein further refers to a short dna sequence used for recombination events as e.g in gateway cloning strategy or for methods such as gibbson assembly or topo cloning. the term “ yersinia wild type strain” as used herein refers to a naturally occurring variant (as y. enterocolitica e40) or a naturally occurring variant containing genetic modifications allowing the use of vectors, such as deletion mutations in restriction endonucleases or antibiotic resistance genes (as y. enterocolitica mrs40, the ampicillin sensitive derivate of y. enterocolitica e40) these strains contain chromosomal dna as well as an unmodified virulence plasmid (called pyv). the term “comprise” is generally used in the sense of include, that is to say permitting the presence of one or more features or components. in one embodiment the present invention provides a recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain, wherein the gram-negative bacterial strain is selected from the group consisting of the genera yersinia, escherichia, salmonella and pseudomonas . in one embodiment the present invention provides a recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain, wherein the gram-negative bacterial strain is selected from the group consisting of the genera yersinia and salmonella . preferably the gram-negative bacterial strain is a yersinia strain, more preferably a yersinia enterocolitica strain. most preferred is yersinia enterocolitica e40 [13] or ampicilline sensitive derivates thereof as y. enterocolitica mrs40 as described in [36]. also preferably the gram-negative bacterial strain is a salmonella strain, more preferably a salmonella enterica strain. most preferred is salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium sl1344 as described by the public health england culture collection (nctc 13347). in one embodiment of the present invention the delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein comprises a bacterial t3ss effector protein or a n-terminal fragment thereof wherein the t3ss effector protein or a n-terminal fragment thereof may comprise a chaperone binding site. a t3ss effector protein or a n-terminal fragment thereof which comprises a chaperone binding site is particular useful as delivery signal in the present invention. preferred t3ss effector proteins or n-terminal fragments thereof are selected from the group consisting of sope, sope2, sptp, yope, exos, sipa, sipb, sipd, sopa, sopb, sopd, ipgbl, ipgd, sipc, sifa, ssej, sse, srfh, yopj, avra, avrbst, yopt, yoph, ypka, tir, espf, tccp2, ipgb2, ospf, map, ospg, ospl, ipah, ssphl, vopf, exos, exot, hopab2, xopd, avrrpt2, hopaol, hopptod2, hopul, gala family of proteins, avrbs2, avrdl, avrbs3, yopo, yopp, yope, yopm, yopt, espg, esph, espz, ipaa, ipab, ipac, vira, icsb, ospcl, ospe2, ipah9.8, ipah7.8, avrb, avrd, avrpphb, avrpphc, avrpphepto, avrppibpto, avrpto, avrptob, virppha, avrrpml, hopptoe, hopptof, hoppton, popb, popp2, avrbs3, xopd, and avrxv3. more preferred t3ss effector proteins or n-terminal fragments thereof are selected from the group consisting of sope, sptp, yope, exos, sopb, ipgbl, ipgd, yopj, yoph, espf, ospf, exos, yopo, yopp, yope, yopm, yopt, whereof most preferred t3ss effector proteins or n-terminal fragments thereof are selected from the group consisting of ipgbl, sope, sopb, sptp, ospf, ipgd, yoph, yopo, yopp, yope, yopm, yopt, in particular yope or an n-terminal fragment thereof. equally preferred t3ss effector proteins or n-terminal fragments thereof are selected from the group consisting of sope, sope2, sptp, stea, sipa, sipb, sipd, sopa, sopb, sopd, ipgbl, ipgd, sipc, sifa, sifb, ssej, sse, srfh, yopj, avra, avrbst, yoph, ypka, tir, espf, tccp2, ipgb2, ospf, map, ospg, ospl, ipah, vopf, exos, exot, hopab2, avrrpt2, hopaol, hopul, gala family of proteins, avrbs2, avrdl, yopo, yopp, yope, yopt, espg, esph, espz, ipaa, ipab, ipac, vira, icsb, ospcl, ospe2, ipah9.8, ipah7.8, avrb, avrd, avrpphb, avrpphc, avrpphepto, avrppibpto, avrpto, avrptob, virppha, avrrpml, hopptod2, hopptoe, hopptof, hoppton, popb, popp2, avrbs3, xopd, and avrxv3. equally more preferred t3ss effector proteins or n-terminal fragments thereof are selected from the group consisting of sope, sptp, stea, sifb, sopb, ipgbl, ipgd, yopj, yoph, espf, ospf, exos, yopo, yopp, yope, yopt, whereof equally most preferred t3ss effector proteins or n-terminal fragments thereof are selected from the group consisting of ipgbl, sope, sopb, sptp, stea, sifb, ospf, ipgd, yoph, yopo, yopp, yope, and yopt, in particular sope, stea, or yope or an n-terminal fragment thereof, more particular stea or yope or an n-terminal fragment thereof, most particular yope or an n-terminal fragment thereof. in some embodiments the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein encoded by the first dna sequence comprises the bacterial t3ss effector protein or an n-terminal fragment thereof, wherein the n-terminal fragment thereof includes at least the first 10, preferably at least the first 20, more preferably at least the first 100 amino acids of the bacterial t3ss effector protein. in some embodiments the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein encoded by the first dna sequence comprises the bacterial t3ss effector protein or an n-terminal fragment thereof, wherein the bacterial t3ss effector protein or the n-terminal fragment thereof comprises a chaperone binding site. preferred t3ss effector proteins or a n-terminal fragment thereof, which comprise a chaperone binding site comprise the following combinations of chaperone binding site and t3ss effector protein or n-terminal fragment thereof: syce-yope, invb-sope, sicp-sptp, syct-yopt, syco-yopo, sycn/yscb-yopn, sych-yoph, spcs-exos, cesf-espf, sycd-yopb, sycd-yopd. more preferred are syce-yope, invb-sope, syct-yopt, syco-yopo, sycn/yscb-yopn, sych-yoph, spcs-exos, cesf-espf. most preferred is a yope or an n-terminal fragment thereof comprising the syce chaperone binding site such as an n-terminal fragment of a yope effector protein containing the n-terminal 138 amino acids of the yope effector protein designated herein as yopei_i 3 8 and as shown in seq id no. 2 or a sope or an n-terminal fragment thereof comprising the invb chaperone binding site s as uch an n-terminal fragment of a sope effector protein containing the n-terminal 81 or 105 amino acids of the sope effector protein designated herein as sopei_ s i or sopei_i 0 5 respectively, and as shown in seq id no. 142 or 143. in one embodiment of the present invention the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is a yersinia strain and the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein encoded by the first dna sequence comprises a yope effector protein or an n-terminal part, preferably the y. enterocolitica yope effector protein or an n-terminal part thereof. preferably the syce binding site is comprised within the n-terminal part of the yope effector protein. in this connection an n-terminal fragment of a yope effector protein may comprise the n-terminal 12, 16, 18, 52, 53, 80 or 138 amino acids [10, 37, 38]. most preferred is an n-terminal fragment of a yope effector protein containing the n-terminal 138 amino acids of the yope effector protein e.g. as described in forsberg and wolf-watz [39] designated herein as yopei_ 138 and as shown in seq id no. 2. in one embodiment of the present invention the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is a salmonella strain and the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein encoded by the first dna sequence comprises a sope or stea effector protein or an n-terminal part thereof, preferably the salmonella enterica sope or stea effector protein or an n-terminal part thereof. preferably the chaperon binding site is comprised within the n-terminal part of the sope effector protein. in this connection an n-terminal fragment of a sope effector protein protein may comprise the n-terminal 81 or 105 amino acids. most preferred is the full length stea and an n-terminal fragment of a sope effector protein containing the n-terminal 105 amino acids of the effector protein e.g. as described in seq id no. 142 or 143. one skilled in the art is familiar with methods for identifying the polypeptide sequences of an effector protein that are capable of delivering a protein. for example, one such method is described by sory et al. [13]. briefly, polypeptide sequences from e.g. various portions of the yop proteins can be fused in-frame to a reporter enzyme such as the calmodulin-activated adenylate cyclase domain (or cya) of the bordetella pertussis cyclolysin. delivery of a yop-cya hybrid protein into the cytosol of eukaryotic cells is indicated by the appearance of cyclase activity in the infected eukaryotic cells that leads to the accumulation of camp. by employing such an approach, one skilled in the art can determine, if desired, the minimal sequence requirement, i.e., a contiguous amino acid sequence of the shortest length, that is capable of delivering a protein, see, e.g. [13]. accordingly, preferred delivery signals of the present invention consists of at least the minimal sequence of amino acids of a t3ss effector protein that is capable of delivering a protein. in one embodiment the present invention provides mutant recombinant gram-negative bacterial strains in particular recombinant gram-negative bacterial strains which are deficient in producing at least one t3ss functional effector protein. according to the present invention, such a mutant gram-negative bacterial strain e.g. such a mutant yersinia strain can be generated by introducing at least one mutation into at least one effector-encoding gene. preferably, such effector-encoding genes include yope, yoph, yopo/ypka, yopm, yopp/y opj and yopt as far as a yersinia strain is concerned. preferably, such effector-encoding genes include avra, cigr, gogb, gtga, gtge, pipb, sifb, sipa/sspa, sipb, sipc/sspc, sipd/sspd, slrp, sopb/sigd, sopa, spic/ssab, sseb, ssec, ssed, ssef, sseg, ssel/srfh, sopd, sope, sope2, ssphl, ssph2, pipb2, sifa, sopd2, ssej, ssekl, ssek2, ssek3, ssel, stec, stea, steb, sted, stee, spvb, spvc, spvd, srfj, sptp, as far as a salmonella strain is concerned. most preferably, all effector-encoding genes are deleted. the skilled artisan may employ any number of standard techniques to generate mutations in these t3ss effector genes. sambrook et al. describe in general such techniques. see sambrook et al. [40]. in accordance with the present invention, the mutation can be generated in the promoter region of an effector-encoding gene so that the expression of such effector gene is abolished. the mutation can also be generated in the coding region of an effector-encoding gene such that the catalytic activity of the encoded effector protein is abolished. the “catalytic activity” of an effector protein refers normally to the anti-target cell function of an effector protein, i.e., toxicity. such activity is governed by the catalytic motifs in the catalytic domain of an effector protein. the approaches for identifying the catalytic domain and/or the catalytic motifs of an effector protein are well known by those skilled in the art. see, for example, [41, 42]. accordingly, one preferred mutation of the present invention is a deletion of the entire catalytic domain. another preferred mutation is a frameshift mutation in an effector-encoding gene such that the catalytic domain is not present in the protein product expressed from such “frameshifted” gene. a most preferred mutation is a mutation with the deletion of the entire coding region of the effector protein. other mutations are also contemplated by the present invention, such as small deletions or base pair substitutions, which are generated in the catalytic motifs of an effector protein leading to destruction of the catalytic activity of a given effector protein. the mutations that are generated in the genes of the t3ss functional effector proteins may be introduced into the particular strain by a number of methods. one such method involves cloning a mutated gene into a “suicide” vector which is capable of introducing the mutated sequence into the strain via allelic exchange. an example of such a “suicide” vector is described by [43]. in this manner, mutations generated in multiple genes may be introduced successively into a gram-negative bacterial strain giving rise to polymutant, e.g a sixtuple mutant recombinant strain. the order in which these mutated sequences are introduced is not important. under some circumstances, it may be desired to mutate only some but not all of the effector genes. accordingly, the present invention further contemplates polymutant yersinia other than sixtuple-mutant yersinia , e.g., double-mutant, triple-mutant, quadruple-mutant and quintuple-mutant strains. for the purpose of delivering proteins, the secretion and translocation system of the instant mutant strain needs to be intact. a preferred recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain of the present invention is a sixtuple-mutant yersinia strain in which all the effector-encoding genes are mutated such that the resulting yersinia no longer produce any functional effector proteins. such sixtuple-mutant yersinia strain is designated as ayoph,0,p,e,m,t for y. enterocolitica . as an example such a sixtuple-mutant can be produced from the y. enterocolitica mrs40 strain giving rise to y. enterocolitica mrs40 ayoph,0,p,e,m,t, which is preferred. a further aspect of the present invention is directed to a vector for use in combination with the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strains to deliver a desired protein into eukaryotic cells, wherein the vector comprises in the 5′ to 3′ direction: a promoter;a first dna sequence encoding a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein, operably linked to said promoter;a second dna sequence encoding a heterologous protein fused in frame to the 3′end of said first dna sequence; and alternativelya third dna sequence encoding a protease cleavage site, wherein the third dna sequence is located between the 3′end of said first dna sequence and the 5′end of said second dna sequence. promoter, heterologous protein and protease cleavage site as described supra can be used for the vector of the gram-negative bacterial strain. vectors which can be used according to the invention depend on the gram-negative bacterial strains used as known to the skilled person. vectors which can be used according to the invention include expression vectors, vectors for chromosomal or virulence plasmid insertion and dna fragments for chromosomal or virulence plasmid insertion. expression vectors which are useful in e.g. yersinia, escherichia, salmonella or pseudomonas strain are e.g puc, pbad, pacyc, pucp20 and pet plasmids. vectors for chromosomal or virulence plasmid insertion which are useful in e.g. yersinia, escherichia, salmonella or pseudomonas strain are e.g pknglo1. dna fragments for chromosomal or virulence plasmid insertion refer to methods used in e.g. yersinia, escherichia, salmonella or pseudomonas strain as e.g. lambda-red genetic engineering. vectors for chromosomal or virulence plasmid insertion or dna fragments for chromosomal or virulence plasmid insertion may insert the first, second and/or third dna sequence of the present invention so that the first, second and/or third dna sequence is operably linked to an endogenous promoter of the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain. thus if a vector for chromosomal or virulence plasmid insertion or a dna fragment for chromosomal or virulence plasmid insertion is used, an endogenous promoter can be encoded on the endogenous bacterial dna (chromosomal or plasmid dna) and only the first and second dna sequence will be provided by the engineered vector for chromosomal or virulence plasmid insertion or dna fragment for chromosomal or virulence plasmid insertion. thus a promoter is not necessarily needed to be comprised by the vector used for transformation of the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strains i.e. the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strains of the present invention may be transformed with a vector which dose not comprise a promoter. preferably an expression vector is used. the vector of the present invention is normally used for delivery of the heterologous proteins by the bacterial t3ss into eukaryotic cells in vitro and in vivo. a preferred expression vector for yersinia is selected from the group consisting of pbad_si_1 and pbad_si_2. pbad_si2 was constructed by cloning of the syce-yopei_i 3 8 fragment containing endogenous promoters for yope and syce from purified pyv40 into kpnl/hindlll site of pbad-mychisa (invitrogen). additional modifications include removal of the ncol/bgui fragment of pbad-mychisa by digest, klenow fragment treatment and religation. further at the 3′ end of yopei_i 3 8 the following cleavage sites were added: xbal-xhol-bstbi-(hindlll). pbad_sil is equal to pbad_si2 but encodes egfp amplified from pegfp-cl (clontech) in the ncol/bgui site under the arabinose inducible promoter. a preferred expression vector for salmonella is selected from the group consisting of psi_266, psi_267, psi_268 and psi_269. plasmids psi_266, psi_267, psi_268 and psi_269 containing the corresponding endogenous promoter and the steai_ 2 ofragment (psi_266), the full length stea sequence (psi_267), the sopei_ 8 i fragment (psi_268) or the sopei_i 0 5 fragment (psi_269) were amplified from s. enterica sl1344 genomic dna and cloned into ncol/kpnl site of pbad-mychisa (invitrogen). the vectors of the instant invention may include other sequence elements such as a 3′ termination sequence (including a stop codon and a poly a sequence), or a gene conferring a drug resistance which allows the selection of transformants having received the instant vector. the vectors of the present invention may be transformed by a number of known methods into the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strains. for the purpose of the present invention, the methods of transformation for introducing a vector include, but are not limited to, electroporation, calcium phosphate mediated transformation, conjugation, or combinations thereof. for example, a vector can be transformed into a first bacteria strain by a standard electroporation procedure. subsequently, such a vector can be transferred from the first bacteria strain into the desired strain by conjugation, a process also called “mobilization”. transformant (i.e., gram-negative bacterial strains having taken up the vector) may be selected, e.g., with antibiotics. these techniques are well known in the art. see, for example, [13]. in accordance with the present invention, the promoter of the expression vector of the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain of the invention can be a native promoter of a t3ss effector protein of the respective strain or a compatible bacterial strain or a promoter used in expression vectors which are useful in e.g. yersinia, escherichia, salmonella or pseudomonas strain e.g puc and pbad. such promoters are the t7 promoter, plac promoter or ara-bad promoter. if the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is a yersinia strain the promoter can be from a yersinia virulon gene. a “ yersinia virulon gene” refers to genes on the yersinia pyv plasmid, the expression of which is controlled both by temperature and by contact with a target cell. such genes include genes coding for elements of the secretion machinery (the ysc genes), genes coding for translocators (yopb, yopd, and lcrv), genes coding for the control elements (yopn, tyea and lcrg), genes coding for t3ss effector chaperones (sycd, syce, sych, sycn, syco and syct), and genes coding for effectors (yope, yoph, yopo/ypka, yopm, yopt and yopp/y opj) as well as other pyv encoded proteins as virf and yada. in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the promoter is the native promoter of a t3ss functional effector encoding gene. if the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is a yersinia strain the promoter is selected from any one of yope, yoph, yopo/y pka, yopm and yopp/y opj. more preferably, the promoter is from yope or syce. if the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is a salmonella strain the promoter can be from spil or spill pathogenicity island or from an effector protein elsewhere encoded. such genes include genes coding for elements of the secretion machinery, genes coding for translocators, genes coding for the control elements, genes coding for t3ss effector chaperones, and genes coding for effectors as well as other proteins encoded by spi-1 or spi-2. in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the promoter is the native promoter of a t3ss functional effector encoding gene. if the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain is a salmonella strain the promoter is selected from any one of the effector proteins. more preferably, the promoter is from sope, invb or stea. in a preferred embodiment the expression vector comprises a dna sequence encoding a protease cleavage site. generation of a functional and generally applicable cleavage site allows cleaving off the delivery signal after translocation. as the delivery signal can interfere with correct localization and/or function of the translocated protein within the target cells the introduction of a protease cleavage site between the delivery signal and the protein of interest provides for the first time delivery of almost native proteins into eukaryotic cells. preferably the protease cleavage site is an amino acid motif which is cleaved by a protease or the catalytic domains thereof selected from the group consisting of enterokinase (light chain), enteropeptidase, prescission protease, human rhinovirus protease 3c, tev protease, tvmv protease, factorxa protease and thrombin, more preferably an amino acid motif which is cleaved by tev protease. equally preferable the protease cleavage site is an amino acid motif which is cleaved by a protease or the catalytic domains thereof selected from the group consisting of enterokinase (light chain), enteropeptidase, prescission protease, human rhino virus protease 3c, tev protease, tvmv protease, factorxa protease, ubiquitin processing protease, called deubiquitinating enzymes, and thrombin. most preferred is an amino acid motif which is cleaved by tev protease or by an ubiquitin processing protease. thus in a further embodiment of the present invention, the heterologous protein is cleaved from the delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein by a protease. preferred methods of cleavage are methods wherein: a) the protease is translocated into the eukaryotic cell by a recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain as described herein which expresses a fusion protein which comprises the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein and the protease as heterologous protein; orb) the protease is expressed constitutively or transiently in the eukaryotic cell. usually the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain used to deliver a desired protein into a eukaryotic cell and the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain translocating the protease into the eukaryotic cell are different. in one embodiment of the present invention the vector comprises a further dna sequence encoding a labelling molecule or an acceptor site for a labelling molecule. the further dna sequence encoding a labelling molecule or an acceptor site for a labelling molecule is usually fused to the 5′ end or to the 3′ end of the second dna sequence. a preferred labelling molecule or an acceptor site for a labelling molecule is selected from the group consisting of enhanced green fluourescent protein (egfp), coumarin, coumarin ligase acceptor site, resorufin, resurofm ligase acceptor site, the tetra-cysteine motif in use with flash/reash dye (life technologies). most preferred is resorufin and a resurofm ligase acceptor site or egfp. the use of a labelling molecule or an acceptor site for a labelling molecule will lead to the attachment of a labelling molecule to the heterologous protein of interest, which will then be delivered as such into the eukaryotic cell and enables tracking of the protein by e.g. live cell microscopy. in one embodiment of the present invention the vector comprises a further dna sequence encoding a peptide tag. the further dna sequence encoding a peptide tag is usually fused to the 5′ end or to the 3′ end of the second dna sequence. a preferred peptide tag is selected from the group consisting of myc-tag, his-tag, flag-tag, ha tag, strep tag or v5 tag or a combination of two or more tags out of these groups. most preferred is myc-tag, flag-tag, his-tag and combined myc- and his-tags. the use of a peptide tag will lead to traceability of the tagged protein e.g by immunofluorescence or western blotting using anti-tag antibodies. further, the use of a peptide tag allows affinity purification of the desired protein either after secretion into the culture supernatant or after translocation into eukaryotic cells, in both cases using a purification method suiting the corresponding tag (e.g. metal-chelate affinity purification in use with a his-tag or anti-flag antibody based purification in use with the flag-tag). in one embodiment of the present invention the vector comprises a further dna sequence encoding a nuclear localization signal (nls). the further dna sequence encoding a nuclear localization signal (nls) is usually fused to the 5′end or to the 3′end of the second dna sequence wherein said further dna sequence encodes a nuclear localization signal (nls). a preferred nls is selected from the group consisting of sv40 large t-antigen nls and derivates thereof [44] as well as other viral nls. most preferred is sv40 large t-antigen nls and derivates thereof. in one embodiment of the present invention the vector comprises a multiple cloning site. the multiple cloning site is usually located at the 3′end of the first dna sequence and/or at the 5′end or 3′end of the second dna sequence. one or more than one multiple cloning sites can be comprised by the vector. a preferred multiple cloning site is selected from the group of restriction enzymes consisting of xhol, xbal, hindlll, ncol, notl, ecori, ecorv, bamhi, nhel, sad, sail, bstbi. most preferred is xbal, xhol, bstbi and hindlll. the protein expressed from the fused first and second and optional third dna sequences of the vector is also termed as a “fusion protein” or a “hybrid protein”, i.e., a fused protein or hybrid of delivery signal and a heterologous protein. the fusion protein can also comprise e.g. a delivery signal and two or more different heterologous proteins. the present invention contemplates a method for delivering heterologous proteins as hereinabove described into eukaryotic cells in cell culture as well as in-vivo. thus in one embodiment the method for delivering heterologous proteins comprises i) culturing the gram-negative bacterial strain as described herein;ii) contacting a eukaryotic cell with the gram-negative bacterial strain of i) wherein a fusion protein which comprises a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein and the heterologous protein is expressed by the gram-negative bacterial strain and is translocated into the eukaryotic cell; and optionallyiii) cleaving the fusion protein so that the heterologous protein is cleaved from the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein. in some embodiments at least two fusion proteins which comprises each a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein and a heterologous protein are expressed by the gram-negative bacterial strain and are translocated into the eukaryotic cell by the methods of the present inventions. the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain can be cultured so that a fusion protein is expressed which comprises the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein and the heterologous protein according to methods known in the art (e.g. fda, bacteriological analytical manual (bam), chapter 8: yersinia enterocolitica ). preferably the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain can be cultured in brain heart infusion broth e.g. at 28° c. for induction of expression of t3ss and e.g. yope/syce promoter dependent genes, bacteria can be grown at 37° c. in a preferred embodiment, the eukaryotic cell is contacted with two gram-negative bacterial strains of i), wherein the first gram-negative bacterial strain expresses a first fusion protein which comprises the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein and a first heterologous protein and the second gram-negative bacterial strain expresses a second fusion protein which comprises the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein and a second heterologous protein, so that the first and the second fusion protein are translocated into the eukaryotic cell. this embodiment provided for co-infection of e.g eukaryotic cells with two bacterial strains as a valid method to deliver e.g. two different hybrid proteins into single cells to address their functional interaction. the present invention contemplates a wide range of eukaryotic cells that may be targeted by the instant recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain e.g. hi-5 (bti-tn-5b1-4; life technologies b855-02), hela cells, e.g. hela cc12 (as atcc no. ccl-2), fibroblast cells, e.g. 3t3 fibroblast cells (as atcc no. ccl-92) or mef (as atcc no. scrc-1040), hek (as atcc no. crl-1573), huvecs (as atcc no. pcs-100-0 13), cho (as atcc no. ccl-61), jurkat (as atcc no. tib-152), sf-9 (as atcc no. crl-171 1), hepg2 (as atcc no. hb-8065), vera (as atcc no. ccl-81), mdck (as atcc no. ccl-34), thp-1 (as atcc no. tib-202), j774 (as atcc no. tib-67), raw (as atcc no. tib-71), caco2 (as atcc no. htb-37), nci cell lines (as atcc no. htb-182), du145 (as atcc no. htb-81), lncap (as atcc no. crl-1740), mcf-7 (as atcc no. htb-22), mda-mb cell lines (as atcc no. htb-128), pc3 (as atcc no. crl-1435), t47d (as atcc no. crl-2865), a549 (as atcc no. ccl-185), u87 (as atcc no. htb-14), shsy5y (as atcc no. crl-2266s), ea.hy926 (as atcc no. crl-2922), saos-2 (as atcc no. htbh-85), 4t1 (as atcc no. crl-2539), b 16f10 (as atcc no. crl-6475), or primary human hepatocytes (as life technologies hmcpis), preferably hela, hek, huvecs, 3t3, cho, jurkat, sf-9, hepg2 vera, thp-1, caco2, mef, a549, 4t1, b16f10 and primary human hepatocytes and most preferably hela, hek, huvecs, 3t3, cho, jurkat, thp-1, a549 and mef. by “target”, is meant the extracellular adhesion of the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain to a eukaryotic cell. in accordance with the present invention, the delivery of a protein can be achieved by contacting a eukaryotic cell with a recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain under appropriate conditions. various references and techniques are conventionally available for those skilled in the art regarding the conditions for inducing the expression and translocation of virulon genes, including the desired temperature, ca ++ concentration, addition of inducers as congo red, manners in which the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain and target cells are mixed, and the like. see, for example, [45]. the conditions may vary depending on the type of eukaryotic cells to be targeted and the recombinant bacterial strain to be used. such variations can be addressed by those skilled in the art using conventional techniques. those skilled in the art can also use a number of assays to determine whether the delivery of a fusion protein is successful. for example, the fusion protein may be detected via immunofluorescence using antibodies recognizing a fused tag (like myc-tag). the determination can also be based on the enzymatic activity of the protein being delivered, e.g., the assay described by [13]. in one embodiment the present invention provides a method of purifying a heterologous protein comprising culturing the gram-negative bacterial strain as described herein so that a fusion protein which comprises a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein and the heterologous protein is expressed and secreted into the supernatant of the culture. the fusion protein expressed may further comprise a protease cleavage site between the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein and the heterologous protein and/or may further comprise a peptide tag. thus in a particular embodiment the method of purifying a heterologous protein comprises i) culturing the gram-negative bacterial strain as described herein so that a fusion protein which comprises a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein, the heterologous protein and a protease cleavage site between the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein and the heterologous protein is expressed and secreted into the supernatant of the culture;ii) adding a protease to the supernatant of the culture wherein the protease cleaves the fusion protein so that the heterologous protein is cleaved from the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein;iii) optionally isolating the heterologous protein from the supernatant of the culture thus in another particular embodiment the method of purifying a heterologous protein comprises i) culturing the gram-negative bacterial strain as described herein so that a fusion protein which comprises a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein, the heterologous protein and a peptide tag is expressed and secreted into the supernatant of the culture;ii) targeting the peptide tag e.g. by affinity column purification of the supernatant. thus in another particular embodiment the method of purifying a heterologous protein comprises i) culturing the gram-negative bacterial strain as described herein so that a fusion protein which comprises a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein, the heterologous protein, a protease cleavage site between the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein and the heterologous protein and a peptide tag is expressed and secreted into the supernatant of the culture;ii) adding a protease to the supernatant of the culture wherein the protease cleaves the fusion protein so that the heterologous protein is cleaved from the delivery signal from the bacterial t3ss effector protein;ii) targeting the peptide tag e.g. by affinity column purification of the supernatant. in the above described particular embodiments the protease can be added to the supernatant of the culture in the form of e.g a purified protease protein or by adding a bacterial strain expressing and secreting a protease to the supernatant of the culture. further steps may include removal of the protease e.g. via affinity column purification. in one embodiment the present invention provides the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain as described herein for use in medicine. in one embodiment the present invention provides the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain as described herein for use in the delivery of a heterologous protein as a medicament or as a vaccine to a subject. the heterologous protein can be delivered to a subject as a vaccine by contacting the gram-negative bacterial strain with eukaryotic cells, e.g. with a living animal in vivo so that the heterologous protein is translocated into the living animal which then produces antibodies against the heterologous protein. the antibodies produced can be directly used or be isolated and purified and used in diagnosis, in research use as well as in therapy. the b-cells producing the antibodies or the therein contained dna sequence can be used for further production of specific antibodies for use in diagnosis, in research use as well as in therapy in one embodiment the present invention provides a method for delivering a heterologous protein, wherein the heterologous protein is delivered in vitro into a eukaryotic cell. in a further embodiment the present invention provides a method for delivering a heterologous protein, wherein the eukaryotic cell is a living animal wherein the living animal is contacted with the gram-negative bacterial strain in vivo so that a fusion protein is translocated into the living animal. the preferred animal is a mammal, more preferably a human being. in a further embodiment the present invention provides the use of the recombinant gram-negative bacterial strain as described supre for high throughput screenings of inhibitors for a cellular pathway or event triggered by the translocated heterologous protein(s). in a further embodiment the present invention provides a library of gram-negative bacterial strains, wherein the heterologous protein encoded by the second dna sequence of the expression vector of the gram-negative bacterial strains is a human or murine protein, preferably a human protein and, wherein each human or murein protein expressed by a gram-negative bacterial strain is different in amino acid sequence. a possible library could e.g. contain the 560 protein containing addgene human kinase orf collection (addgene no. 1000000014). as cloning vector for expression the above described expression vectors can be used. in a further embodiment the present invention provides a kit comprising a vector as described herein and a bacterial strain expressing and secreting a protease capable of cleaving the protease cleavage site comprised by the vector. a particular useful vector is a vector for use in combination with the bacterial strain to deliver a desired protein into eukaryotic cells as described above, wherein the vector comprises in the 5′ to 3′ direction: a promoter;a first dna sequence encoding a delivery signal from a bacterial t3ss effector protein, operably linked to said promoter;a second dna sequence encoding a heterologous protein fused in frame to the 3′end of said first dna sequence; and alternativelya third dna sequence encoding a protease cleavage site, wherein the third dna sequence is located between the 3′end of said first dna sequence and the 5′end of said second dna sequence. examples example 1 a) materials and methods bacterial strains and growth conditions. the strains used in this study are listed in figs. 15a to m. e. coli top 10, used for plasmid purification and cloning, and e. coli smlo λ pir, used for conjugation, as well as e. coli bw19610 [46], used to propagate pknglol, were routinely grown on lb agar plates and in lb broth at 37° c. ampiciuin was used at a concentration of 200 μg/ml { yersinia ) or 100 μg/ml ( e. coli ) to select for expression vectors. streptomycin was used at a concentration of 100 μg/ml to select for suicide vectors. y. enterocolitica mrs40 [36] a non ampiciuin resistant e40-derivate [13] and strains derived thereof were routinely grown on brain heart infusion (bhi; difco) at rt. to all y. enterocolitica strains nalidixic acid was added (35 μg/ml) and all y. enterocolitica asd strains were additionally supplemented with 100 μg/ml meso-2,6-diaminopimelic acid (mdap, sigma aldrich). s. enterica sl1344 were routinely grown on lb agar plates and in lb broth at 37° c. ampiciuin was used at a concentration of 100 μg/ml to select for expression vectors in s. enterica. genetic manipulations of y. enterocolitica. genetic manipulations of y. enterocolitica has been described [47, 48]. briefly, mutators for modification or deletion of genes in the pyv plasmids or on the chromosome were constructed by 2-fragment overlapping pcr using purified pyv40 plasmid or genomic dna as template, leading to 200-250 bp of flanking sequences on both sides of the deleted or modified part of the respective gene. resulting fragments were cloned in pkngl 01 [43] in e. coli bw19610 [46]. sequence verified plasmids were transformed into e. coli smlo λ pir, from where plasmids were mobilized into the corresponding y. enterocolitica strain. mutants carrying the integrated vector were propagated for several generations without selection pressure. then sucrose was used to select for clones that have lost the vector. finally mutants were identified by colony pcr. construction of plasmids. plasmid pbad_si2 or pbad_sil ( fig. 10 ) were used for cloning of fusion proteins with the n-terminal 138 amino acids of yope (seq id no. 2). pbad_si2 was constructed by cloning of the syce-yopei_i 3 8 fragment containing endogenous promoters for yope and syce from purified pyv40 into kpnl/hindlll site of pbad-mychisa (invitrogen). additional modifications include removal of the ncol/bgui fragment of pbad-mychisa by digestion, klenow fragment treatment and religation. a bidirectional transcriptional terminator (bba_b1006; igem foundation) was cloned into kpnl cut and klenow treated (pbad_si2) or bglll cut site (pbad_sil). further at the 3′ end of yopei_i 3 8 the following cleavage sites were added: xbal-xhol-bstbi-(hindlll) ( fig. 10 b). pbad_sil is equal to pbad_si2 but encodes egfp amplified from pegfp-cl (clontech) in the ncol/bgui site under the arabinose inducible promoter. plasmids psi_266, psi_267, psi_268 and psi_269 containing the corresponding endogenous promoter and the steal 2 ofragment (psi_266), the full length stea sequence (psi_267), the sopei_ s i fragment (psi_268) or the sopei_i 0 5 fragment (psi_269) were amplified from s. enterica sl1344 genomic dna and cloned into ncol/kpnl site of pbad-mychisa (invitrogen). full length genes or fragments thereof were amplified with the specific primers listed in table i below and cloned as fusions to yopei_i 3 , into plasmid pbad_si2 or in case of z-bim (seq id no. 21) into pbad_sil (see table ii below). for fusion to stea or sope, synthetic dna constructs were cleaved by kpnl/hindll and cloned into psi_266, psi_267, psi_268 or psi_269 respectively. in case of genes of bacterial species, purified genomic dna was used as template ( s. flexneri m90t, salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar typhimurium sl1344, bartonella henselae atcc 49882). for human genes a universal cdna library (clontech) was used if not otherwise stated ( figs. 15a to m), zebrafish genes were amplified from a cdna library (a kind gift of m. affolter). ligated plasmids were cloned in e. coli top 10. sequenced plasmids were electroporated into the desired y. enterocolitica or s. enterica strain using settings as for standard e. coli electroporation. table i(primer nr. si_:sequence)285: cataccatgggagtgagcaagggcgag286: ggaagatctttacttgtacagctcgtccat287: cggggtacctcaactaaatgaccgtggtg288: gttaaagcttttcgaatctagactcgagcgtggcgaactggtc292: cagtctcgagcaaattctaaacaaaatacttccac293: cagtttcgaattaatttgtattgctttgacgg296: cagtctcgagactaacataacactatccacccag297: gttaaagctttcaggaggcattctgaag299: cagtctcgagcaggccatcaagtgtgtg300: cagtttcgaatcattttctcttcctcttcttca301: cagtctcgaggctgccatccggaa302: cagtttcgaatcacaagacaaggcaccc306: gttaaagcttggaggcattctgaagatacttatt307: cagtctcgagcaaatacagagcttctatcactcag308: gttaaagctttcaagatgtgattaatgaagaaatg317: cagtttcgaacccataaaaaagccctgtc318: gttaaagcttctactctatcatcaaacgataaaatgg324: cagtctcgagttcactcaagaaacgcaaa339: cagtttcgaattttctcttcctcttcttcacg341: cgtatctagaaaaatgatgaaaatggagactg342: gttaaagcttttagctggagacggtgac346: cagtctcgagttccagatcccagagtttg347: gttaaagctttcactgggaggggg351: cagtctcgagctcgagttatctactcatagaaactacttttgcag352: cgcggatcctcagtgtctctgcggcatta353: catttattcctcctagttagtcacagcaactgctgctcctttc354: gaaaggagcagcagttgctgtgactaactaggaggaataaatg355: cgattcacggattgctttctcattattccctccaggtacta356: tagtacctggagggaataatgagaaagcaatccgtgaatcg357: cgtatctagacggctttaagtgcgacattc364: cgtatctagactaaagtatgaggagagaaaattgaa365: gttaaagctttcagcttgccgtcgt367: cgtatctagagacccgttcctggtgc369: cgtatctagaccccccaagaagaagc373: gttaaagcttgctggagacggtgacc386: cgtatctagatcaggacgcttcggaggtag387: cgtatctagaatggactgtgaggtcaacaa389: cgtatctagaggcaaccgcagca391: gttaaagctttcagtccatcccatttctg403: cgtatctagatctggaatatccctggaca406: gttaaagcttgtctgtctcaatgccacagt410: cagtctcgagatgtccggggtggtg413: cagtttcgaatcactgcagcatgatgtc417: cagtctcgagagtggtgttgatgatgacatg420: cagtttcgaattagtgataaaaatagagttcttttgtgag423: cagtctcgagatgcacataactaatttgggatt424: cagtttcgaattatacaaatgacgaatacccttt425: gttaaagcttttacaccttgcgcttcttcttgggcgggctggagacggtgac428: cgtatctagaatggacttcaacaggaacttt429: cgtatctagaggacatagtccaccagcg430: gttaaagctttcagttggatccgaaaaac433: cgtatctagagaattaaaaaaaacactcatccca434: cgtatctagaccaaaggcaaaagcaaaaa435: gttaaagcttttagctagccatggcaagc436: cgtatctagaatgccccgcccc437: gttaaagcttctacccaccgtactcgtcaat438: cgtatctagaatgtctgacacgtccagagag439: gttaaagctttcatcttcttcgcaggaaaaag445: cgcggatccttatgggttctcacagcaaaa446: catttattcctcctagttagtcaaggcaacagccaatcaagag447: ctcttgattggctgttgccttgactaactaggaggaataaatg448: ttgattgcagtgacatggtgcattattccctccaggtacta449: tagtacctggagggaataatgcaccatgtcactgcaatcaa450: cgtatctagatagccgcagatgttggtatg451: cgtatctagagatcaagtccaactggtgg463: cagtctcgaggaaagcttgtttaaggggc464: cagtttcgaattagcgacggcgacg476: gttaaagcttttacttgtacagctcgtccat477: cgtatctagagtgagcaagggcgag478: cagtctcgagatggaagattataccaaaatagagaaa479: gttaaagcttctacatcttcttaatctgattgtcca482: cgtatctagaatggcgctgcagct483: gttaaagctttcagtcattgacaggaattttg486: cgtatctagaatggagccggcggcg487: gttaaagctttcaatcggggatgtctg492: cgtatctagaatgcgcgaggagaacaaggg493: gttaaagctttcagtcccctgtggctgtgc494: cgtatctagaatggccgagccttg495: gttaaagcttttattgaagatttgtggctcc504:cgtatctagagaaaatctgtattttcaaagtgaaaatctgtattttcaaagtatgccccgcccc505: gttaaagcttcccaccgtactcgtcaattc508: cgtatctagagaaaatctgtattttcaaagtgaaaatctgtattttcaaagtatggccgagccttg509: gttaaagcttttgaagatttgtggctccc511: cgtatctagagaaaatctgtattttcaaagtgaaaatctgtattttcaaagtgtgagcaagggcgag512: cgtatctagagaaaatctgtattttcaaagtgaaaatctgtattttcaaagtccgccgaaaaaaaaacgtaaagttgtgagcaagggcgag513: gttaaagcttttaaactttacgtttttttttcggcggcttgtacagctcgtccat515: cgtatctagagaaaatctgtattttcaaagtgaaaatctgtattttcaaagtgattataaagatgatgatgataaaatggccgagccttg558: cgtatctagaatgaccagttttgaagatgc559: gttaaagctttcatgactcattttcatccat561: cgtatctagaatgagtctcttaaactgtgagaacag562: gttaaagcttctacacccccgcatca580: catgccatggatttatggtcatagatatgacctc585: cagtctcgagatgcagatcttcgtcaagac586: gttaaagcttgctagatcgaaaccaccacgtagacgtaagac588: cagtttcgaagattataaagatgatgatgataaaatggccgagccttg612: cggggtaccatgaggtagatatttcctgataaag613: cggggtaccataattgtccaaatagttatggtagc614: catgccatggcggcaaggctcctc615: cggggtacctttatttgtcaacactgccc616: cggggtacctgcggggtctttactcg677: ttactattcgaagaaattattcataatattgcccgccatctggcccaaattggtgatgaaatggatcattaagcttggagta678: tactccaagcttaatgatccatttcatcaccaatttgggccagatggcgggcaatattatgaataatttcttcgaatagtaa682: ttactactcgagaaaaaactgagcgaatgtctgcgccgcattggtgatgaactggatagctaagcttggagta683: tactccaagcttagctatccagttcatcaccaatgcggcgcagacattcgctcagttttttctcgagtagtaa table iicloned fusion proteinspro-teinprimerprotein to beseq.resultingseq.delivred byid.backboneplasmidprimers.idt3ssno.plasmidnamesi_nr.:no.yopel-138-3pbad-pbad_si_1285/28644/45mychismychisa(egfp),and(invitrogen)287/28846/47(syce-yopel-138)yopel-138-3pbad-pbad_si_2287/28846/47mychismychisa(syce-(invitrogen)yopel-138)yopel-138-4pbad_si_2psi_16292/29348/49ipgblyopel-138-5pbad_si_2psi_20296/29750/51sopeyopel-138-26pbad_si_2psi_22299/30052/53racl q61lyopel-138-27pbad_si_2psi_24301/30254/55rhoa q61eyopel-138-135pbad_si_2psi_28296/30650/56sope-mychisyopel-138-6pbad_si_2psi_30307/30857/58sopbyopel-138-28pbad_si_2psi_37367/38676/79faddyopel-138-7pbad_si_2psi_38317/31859/60ospfyopel-138-136pbad_si_2psi_43324/35161/67bepg 715-endyopel-138-137pbad_si_2psi_51299/33952/62racl q61l-mychisyopel-138-32pbad_si_2psi_53341/34263/64slmbl-vhh4yopel-138-bad29pbad_si_2psi_57346/34765/66yopel-138-8pbad_si_2psi_64364/36574/75sptpyopel-138-33pbad_si_2psi_70369/34277/64nls-slmbl-vhh4yopel-138-bid24pbad_si_2psi_85387/39180/82yopel-138-t-25pbad_si_2psi_87389/39181/82bidyopel-138-22pbad_si_2psi_97403/40683/84caspase3 pl7yopel-138-30pbad_si_2psi_103410/41385/86gpcr gna12yopel-138-23pbad_si_2psi_106417/42087/88caspase3plo/12yopel-138-9pbad_si_2psi_111423/42489/90ipgdyopel-138-34pbad_si_2psi_112341/42563/91slmbl-vhh4-nlsyopel-138-z-19pbad_si_2psi_116428/43092/94bidyopel-138-z-t-20pbad_si_2psi_117429/43093/94bidyopel-138-11pbad_si_2psi_118433/43595/97bepa e305-endyopel-138-10pbad_si_2psi_119434/43596/97bepayopel-138-36pbad_si_2psi_120436/43798/99et1yopel-138-z-21pbad_si_1psi_121438/439100/101bimyopel-138-31pbad_si_2psi_124451/373108/78vhh4 nanobodyrecognizingegfpyopel-138-42pbad_si_2psi_132463/464109/1 10tev proteases219vyopel-138-37pbad_si_2psi_140477/476112/1 11egfpyopel-138-14pbad_si_2psi_143478/479113/1 14cdklyopel-138-15pbad_si_2psi_145482/483115/1 16mad2yopel-138-16pbad_si_2psi_147486/487117/1 18ink4ayopel-138-17pbad_si_2psi_150492/493119/120ink4byopel-138-18pbad_si_2psi_151494/495121/122ink4cyopel-138-13pbad_si_2psi_153558/559131/132tifayopel-138-2x41pbad_si_2psi_156504/505123/124tevsite-et1yopel-138-39pbad_si_2psi_159511/513127/1292xtevsite-egfp-nlsyopel-138-38pbad_si_2psi_160512/476128/1 112xtevsite-nls-egfpyopel-138-2x40pbad_si_2psi_161508/509125/126tevsite-ink4cyopel-138-2x43pbad_si_2psi_164515/509130/126tevsite-flag-ink4cyopel-138-12pbad_si_2psi_166561/562133/134murine traf6yopel-138-y.138pbad_si_2psi_318677/678148/149enterocoliticacodon optimizedmurine tbidbh3 partyopel-138-y.139pbad_si_2psi_322682/683150/151enterocoliticacodon optimizedmurine bax bh3partsteal-20140pbad-psi_266580/612152/153mychisa(invitrogen)stea141pbad-psi_267580/613152/154mychisa(invitrogen)sopel-81142pbad-psi_268614/615155/156mychisa(invitrogen)sopel-105143pbad-psi_269614/616155/157mychisa(invitrogen)steal-20-s.144psi_266psi_270synthetic/enterica codonconstructoptimizedmurine tbidstea-s. enterica145psi_267psi_271synthetic/codon optimizedconstructmurine tbidsopel-81-s.146psi_268psi_272synthetic/enterica codonconstructoptimizedmurine tbidsopel-105-s.147psi_269psi_273synthetic/enterica codonconstructoptimizedmurine tbidyopel-138-y.158pbad_si_2psi_362745/746172/173enterocoliticacodon optimizedink4a 84-103yopel-138-y.159pbad_si_2psi_363747/748174/175enterocoliticacodon optimizedpl07/rbll657-662(aaa02489.1)yopel-138-y.160pbad_si_2psi_364749/750176/177enterocoliticacodon optimizedp21 141-160(aah13967.1)yopel-138-y.161pbad_si_2psi_366753/754178/179enterocoliticacodon optimizedp21 145-160(aah13967.1)yopel-138-y.162pbad_si_2psi_367755/756180/181enterocoliticacodon optimizedp21 17-33(aah13967.1)yopel-138-y.163pbad_si_2psi_368757/758182/183enterocoliticacodon optimizedcyclin d2 139-147(caa48493.1)stea-ink4a-164psi_267psi_333703/704184/185mychissopel-105-165psi_269psi_334703/704184/185ink4a-mychisstea-ink4c-166psi-267psi_335pcr1:186/187,mychis705/706188/189pcr2:707/708over-lappingpcr:705/708sopel-105167psi_269psi_336pcr1:186/187ink4c-mychis705/706;188/189pcr2:707/708;over-lappingpcr:705/708stea-mad2-168psi_267psi_337709/710190/191mychissopel-105-169psi_269psi_338709/710190/191mad2-mychisstea-cdkl-170psi_267psi_339711/712192/193mychissopel-105-171psi_269psi_340711/712192/193cdkl-mychisyopel-138-y.194pbad_si_2psi_315synthetic/enterocoliticaconstructcodon optimizedmurine tbidyopel-138-195pbad_si_2psi_236585/586197/198ubiquitinyopel-138-196psi_236psi_237_ii588/509199/126ubiquitin-flag-ink4c-mychis yop secretion. induction of the yop regulon was performed by shifting the culture to 37° c. in bhi-ox (secretion-permissive conditions) [49]. as carbon source glucose was added (4 mg/ml). total cell and supernatant fractions were separated by centrifugation at 20 800 g for 10 min at 4° c. the cell pellet was taken as total cell fraction. proteins in the supernatant were precipitated with trichloroacetic acid 10% (w/v) final for 1 h at 4° c. after centrifugation (20 800 g for 15 min) and removal of the supernatant, the resulting pellet was washed in ice-cold acetone over-night. the samples were centrifuged again, the supernatant was discarded and the pellet was air-dried and resuspened in 1×sds loading dye. secreted proteins were analysed by sds-page; in each case, proteins secreted by 3×10 8 bacteria were loaded per lane. detection of specific secreted proteins by immunoblotting was performed using 12.5% sds-page gels. for detection of proteins in total cells, 2×10 8 bacteria were loaded per lane, if not stated otherwise, and proteins were separated on 12.5% sds-page gels before detection by immunoblotting. immunoblotting was carried out using rat monoclonal antibodies against yope (mipa193-13a9; 1:1000, [50]). the antiserum was preabsorbed twice overnight against y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd to reduce background staining. detection was performed with secondary antibodies directed against rat antibodies and conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (1:5000; southern biotech), before development with ecl chemiluminescent substrate (lumiglo, kpm). cell culture and infections. hela cc12, swiss 3t3 fibroblast cells, 4t1, b16f10 and d2a1 were cultured in dulbecco's modified eagle's medium (dmem) supplemented with 10%>fcs and 2 mm l-glutamine (cdmem). huvecs were isolated and cultivated as described [51]. jurkat and 4t1 cells were cultured in rpmi 1640 supplemented with 10% fcs and 2 mm l-glutamine. y. enterocolitica were grown in bhi with additives overnight at rt, diluted in fresh bhi to an od 600 of 0.2 and grown for 2 h at rt before a temperature shift to a 37° c. waterbath shaker for further 30 min or for 1 h in case of delivery of egfp. finally, the bacteria were collected by centrifugation (6000 rcf, 30 sec) and washed once with dmem supplemented with 10 mm hepes and 2 mm l-glutamine. s. enterica were grown in lb with additives overnight at 37° c. and either diluted 1:40 in fresh lb and grown for 2.5 h at 37° c. (spil t3ss inducting conditions) or the overnight culture was further incubated at 37° c. (spill t3ss inducing conditions). finally, the bacteria were collected by centrifugation (6000 rcf, 30 sec) and washed once with dmem supplemented with 10 mm hepes and 2 mm l-glutamine. cells seeded in 96-well (for immunofluorescence) or 6-well (for western blotting) plates were infected at indicated mois in dmem supplemented with 10 mm hepes and 2 mm l-glutamine. after adding bacteria, plates were centrifuged for 1 min at 1750 rpm and placed at 37° c. for indicated time periods. extracellular bacteria were killed by gentamicin (100 mg/ml) if indicated. in case of immunofluorescence analysis, infection assays were stopped by 4% pfa fixation. for western blot analysis cells were washed twice with ice-cold pbs and phospho-safe lysis buffer (novagen) was added to lyse the cells. after incubation on ice, the cells were centrifuged (16 000 rcf, 25 min, 4° c.). supernatants were collected and analyzed for total protein content by bradford bca assay (pierce) before sds page and western blotting using anti-phospho-akt (ser473 and t308, both cell signaling), anti-actin (millipore), anti-bid (cell signaling), anti-myc (santa cruz), anti-p38 (cell signaling), anti-phospho-p-38 (thrl80/tyrl82; cell signaling), anti-caspase-3 pl7 (cell signaling) and anti-ink4c (cell signaling) antibody. secretion analysis with s. enterica. for induction of protein secretion by s. enterica, s. enterica were cultivated overnight in lb containing 0.3 m nacl on an orbital shaker (set to 150 rpm). s. enterica were then diluted 1:50 in fresh lb containing 0.3 m nacl and grown for 4 h at 37° c. without shaking. total cell and supernatant fractions were separated by centrifugation at 20 800 g for 20 min at 4° c. the cell pellet was taken as total cell fraction. proteins in the supernatant were precipitated with trichloroacetic acid 10% (w/v) final for 1 h at 4° c. after centrifugation (20 800 g for 15 min) and removal of the supernatant, the resulting pellet was washed in ice-cold acetone over-night. the samples were centrifuged again, the supernatant was discarded and the pellet was air-dried and resuspended in 1×sds loading dye. secreted proteins were analysed by sds-page; in each case, proteins secreted by 3×108 bacteria were loaded per lane. detection of specific secreted proteins by immunoblotting was performed using 12.5% sds-page gels. for detection of proteins in total cells, 2×10 8 bacteria were loaded per lane, if not stated otherwise, and proteins were separated on 12.5% sds-page gels before detection by immunoblotting. immunoblotting was carried out using anti-myc (santa cruz) antibody. western blotting of t3ss translocated proteins from infected cells. hela cells in 6-well plates were infected at an moi of 100 as described above. in case of coinfection with the tev protease translocating y. enterocolitica strain, the od 600 of the strains was set and the two bacterial suspensions were mixed in a tube at a ratio of 1:1 (if not otherwise indicated) before addition to the cells. at the end of the infection, the cells were washed twice with ice-cold pbs and collected by scraping in a small volume of ice-cold pbs. after centrifugation (16 000 rcf, 5 min, 4° c.) the pellet was dissolved in 0.002% digitonin supplemented with a protease inhibitor cocktail (roche complete, roche). the dissolved pellets were incubated for 5 minutes on ice and then centrifuged (16 000 rcf, 25 min, 4° c.). supernatants were collected and analyzed for total protein content by bradford bca assay (pierce) before sds page and western blotting using an anti-myc (santa cruz, 9e1 1) or anti-ink4c (cell signaling) antibody. immunofluorescence. cell seeded in 96-well plates (corning) were infected as described above and after fixation with 4% pfa the cells were washed three times with pbs. the wells were then blocked using 5% goat serum in pbs 0.3% triton x-100 for 1 h at rt. the primary antibody (anti-myc, santa cruz, 1:100) was diluted in pbs with 1% bsa and 0.3% triton x-100 and cells were incubated overnight at 4° c. cells were washed 4 times with pbs before the secondary antibody (af 488 anti-mouse, life technologies, 1:250) diluted in pbs with 1% bsa and 0.3%>triton x-100 was added. if needed hoechst dna staining (life technologies, 1:2500) and/or actin staining (dy647-phalloidin, dyeomics) were included. in some cases only the dna and/or actin stain was applied directly after washing the pfa off. cells were incubated for 1 h at rt, washed three times with pbs and analyzed by automated image analysis as described below. automated microscopy and image analysis. images were automatically acquired with an imagexpress micro (molecular devices, sunnyvale, usa). quantification of anti-myc staining intensities was performed using metaxpress (molecular devices, sunnyvale, usa). regions within cells excluding nuclear regions and regions containing bacteria were manually chosen (circles with an area of 40 pixels) and average intensity was recorded. tnfa stimulation and western blotting of phospho-p38. hela cells seeded in 6-well plates were infected with an moi of 100 as described above. 30 min p.i gentamicin was added and 45 min p.i. tnfa was added (10 ng/ml). 1 h 15 min p.i. cells were washed twice with ice-cold pbs and phospho-safe lysis buffer (novagen) was added to lyse the cells. after incubation on ice, the cells were centrifuged (16 000 rcf, 25 min, 4° c.). supernatants were collected and analyzed for total protein content by bradford bca assay (pierce) before sds page and western blotting using an anti-phospho-p38, total p38 antibodies (cell signaling) and anti-actin antibody (millipore). camp level determination of infected hela cells. hela cells seeded in 96-well plates were infected as described above. 30 min before the infection cdmem was changed to dmem supplemented with 10 mm hepes and 2 mm l-glutamine and 100 um 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthin (ibmx, sigma aldrich). 60 min p.i. gentamicin was added and cells were further incubated at 37° c. for another 90 min. determination of camp was performed using a competitive elisa according to the manufacturers instructions (amersham, camp biotrak, rpn225). as a positive control indicated amount of cholera toxin (c8052, sigma aldrich) was added for 1 h to cells in dmem supplemented with 10 mm hepes and 2 mm l-glutamine and 100 um ibmx. zebrafish embryo infections, imaging and automated image quantification. all animal experiments were performed according to approved guidelines. zebrafish were maintained at standard conditions [52]. embryos were staged by hours postfertilization (hpf) at 28.5° c. [53]. the following zebrafish lines were used in this study: wild type fish (ab/ek and ek/tl). infection protocol followed guidelines given in [54]. 12 hpf embryos were maintained in e3 medium containing 0.2 mm n-phenylthiourea (ptu) to prevent pigment formation. 2 days postfertilization (dpi) embryos were anesthetized by 0.2 mg/ml tricaine and aligned on 1% agar plates in e3 using a hair loop tool [54]. y. enterocolitica were grown in bhi supplemented with 0.4% arabinose and antibiotics and mdap overnight at rt, diluted in fresh bhi with 0.5% arabinose and other additives to an od 600 of 0.2 and grown for 2 h at rt before a temperature shift to a 37° c. waterbath shaker for further 45 min. finally, the bacteria were collected by centrifugation (6000 rcf, 30 sec) and washed once with pbs. the od 600 was set to 2 in pbs containing mdap. 1-2 nl of this suspension were injected into the hindbrain of aligned zebrafish embryos using an femtojet microinjector (eppendorf) using femtotips ii (eppendorf), where the tip of the needle had been broken off with fine tweezers. the injection time was set to 0.2 s and the compensation pressure to 15 hpa (eppendorf, femtojet) and the injection pressure was adjusted between 600 and 800 hpa. drop size and thus the inoculum was checked by microscopy and by control plating. following microinjection the fish were collected in e3 containing tricaine and ptu and incubated for 30 min at 37° c. and incubated for further 5 h at 28° c. a fluorescence binocular (leica) was used to observe bacterial egfp fluorescence 1 h post infection in zebrafish hindbrains, and embryos that are not properly injected were discarded. at the end of the infection, fish were fixed with 2% ice-cold pfa for 1 h on ice and further with fresh ice-cold pfa overnight at 4° c. antibody staining was performed as described previously [55, 56]. briefly, embryos were washed 4 times with pbs 0.1% tween for 5 min each wash and permeabilized with pbs-t+0.5% triton x-100 for 30 min at rt. embryos were blocked in blocking solution (pbs 0.1% tween 0.1% tritonx-100 5%>goat serum and 1% bsa) at 4° c. overnight. antibody (cleaved caspase-3 (asp 175), cell signaling) was diluted 1:100 in blocking solution and incubated under shaking at 4° c. in the dark. fish were washed 7 times with pbs 0.1% tween for 30 min before the secondary antibody (goat anti-rabbit af647, invitrogen, 1:500) diluted in blocking solution was added and incubated at 4° c. overnight. larvae were washed with pbs 0.1% tween four times 30 min at 4° c. and once overnight and further washed 3-4 times. images were taken with leica tcs sp5 confocal microscope using a 40× water immersion objective. images were analyzed using imaris (bitplane) and image j software (http://imagej.nih.gov/ij/). image analysis (on n=14 for pbad_si2 or n=19 for z-bim) was performed via cellprofiler [57] on maximum intensity z projections of recorded z-stack images. briefly, bacteria were detected via the gfp channel. around each area of a bacterial spot a circle with a radius of 10 pixels was created. overlapping regions were separated equally among the connecting members. in those areas closely surrounding bacteria, the caspase 3 pl7 staining intensity was measured. sample preparation for phosphoproteomics. for each condition, two 6-well plates of hela ccl-2 cells were grown to confluency. cells were infected for 30 min as described above. at the indicated time-points, the plates were put on ice and washed twice with ice-cold pbs. samples were then collected in urea solution [8 m urea (applichem), 0.1 m ammoniumbicarbonate (sigma), 0.1%) rapigest (waters), 1×phosstop (roche)]. the samples were briefly vortexed, sonicated at 4° c. (hielscher), shaked for 5 min on a thermomixer (eppendorf) and centrifuged for 20 min at 4° c. and 16000 g. supernatants were collected and stored at −80° c. for further processing. bca protein assay (pierce) was used to measure protein concentration. phosphopeptide enrichment. disulfide bonds were reduced with tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine at a final concentration of 10 mm at 37° c. for 1 h. free thiols were alkylated with 20 mm iodoacetamide (sigma) at room temperature for 30 min in the dark. the excess of iodoacetamide was quenched with n-acetyl cysteine at a final concentration of 25 mm for 10 min at room temperature. lys-c endopeptidase (wako) was added to a final enzyme/protein ratio of 1:200 (w/w) and incubated for 4 h at 37° c. the solution was subsequently diluted with 0.1 m ammoniumbicarbonate (sigma) to a final concentration below 2 m urea and digested overnight at 37° c. with sequencing-grade modified trypsin (promega) at a protein-to-enzyme ratio of 50:1. peptides were desalted on a c18 sep-pak cartridge (waters) and dried under vacuum. phosphopeptides were isolated from 2 mg of total peptide mass with ti0 2 as described previously [58]. briefly, dried peptides were dissolved in an 80% acetonitrile (acn)-2.5% trifluoroacetic acid (tfa) solution saturated with phthalic acid. peptides were added to the same amount of equilibrated ti0 2 (5-μιη bead size, gl sciences) in a blocked mobicol spin column (mobitec) that was incubated for 30 min with end-over-end rotation. the column was washed twice with the saturated phthalic acid solution, twice with 80% acn and 0.1% tfa, and finally twice with 0.1% tfa. the peptides were eluted with a 0.3 m nh 4 oh solution. the ph of the eluates was adjusted to be below 2.5 with 5%>tfa solution and 2 m hcl. phosphopeptides were again desalted with microspin c18 cartridges (harvard apparatus). lc-ms/ms analysis. chromatographic separation of peptides was carried out using an easy nano-lc system (thermo fisher scientific), equipped with a heated rp-hplc column (75μιη×45 cm) packed in-house with 1.9μιη ci8 resin (reprosil-aq pur, dr. maisch). aliquots of 1 μg total phosphopeptide sample were analyzed per lc-ms/ms run using a linear gradient ranging from 98% solvent a (0. 15% formic acid) and 2% solvent b (98% acetonitrile, 2% water, 0.15% formic acid) to 30% solvent b over 120 minutes at a flow rate of 200 nl/min. mass spectrometry analysis was performed on a dual pressure ltq-orbitrap mass spectrometer equipped with a nanoelectrospray ion source (both thermo fisher scientific). each msi scan (acquired in the orbitrap) was followed by collision-induced dissociation (cid, acquired in the ltq) of the 20 most abundant precursor ions with dynamic exclusion for 30 seconds. for phosphopeptide analysis the 10 most abundant precursor ions were subjected to cid with enabled multistage activation. total cycle time was approximately 2 s. for msi, 10 6 ions were accumulated in the orbitrap cell over a maximum time of 300 ms and scanned at a resolution of 60,000 fwhm (at 400 m/z). ms2 scans were acquired using the normal scan mode, a target setting of 10 4 ions, and accumulation time of 25 ms. singly charged ions and ions with unassigned charge state were excluded from triggering ms2 events. the normalized collision energy was set to 32%>, and one microscan was acquired for each spectrum. label-free quantification and database searching. the acquired raw-files were imported into the progenesis software tool (nonlinear dynamics, version 4.0) for label-free quantification using the default parameters. ms2 spectra were exported directly from progenesis in mgf format and searched using the mascot algorithm (matrix science, version 2.4) against a decoy database [59] containing normal and reverse sequences of the predicted swissprot entries of homo sapiens (www.ebi.ac.uk, release date 16 may 2012) and commonly observed contaminants (in total 41,250 sequences) generated using the sequencereverser tool from the maxquant software (version 1.0.13.13). to identify proteins originating from y. enterocolitica , non phosphopeptide enriched samples were searched against the same database above including predicted swissprot entries of y. enterocolitica (www.ebi.ac.uk, release date 15 aug. 2013) the precursor ion tolerance was set to 10 ppm and fragment ion tolerance was set to 0.6 da. the search criteria were set as follows: full tryptic specificity was required (cleavage after lysine or arginine residues unless followed by proline), 2 missed cleavages were allowed, carbamidomethylation (c) was set as fixed modification and phosphorylation (s,t,y) or oxidation (m) as a variable modification for ti02 enriched or not enriched samples, respectively. finally, the database search results were exported as an xml-file and imported back to the progenesis software for msi feature assignment. for phosphopeptide quantification, a csv-file containing the msi peak abundances of all detected features was exported and for not enriched samples, a csv-file containing all protein measurements based on the summed feature intensities of all identified peptides per protein was created importantly, the progenesis software was set that proteins identified by similar sets of peptides are grouped together and that only non-conflicting peptides with specific sequences for single proteins in the database were employed for protein quantification. both files were further processed using the in-house developed safequant v1.o r script (unpublished data, available at https://github.com/eahrne/safequant/). in brief, the software sets the identification level false discovery rate to 1% (based on the number of decoy protein sequence database hits) and normalizes the identified ms1 peak abundances (extracted ion chromatogram, xic) across all samples, i.e. the summed xic of all confidently identified peptide features is scaled to be equal for all lc-ms runs. next, all quantified phosphopeptides/proteins are assigned an abundance ratio for each time point, based on the median xic per time point. the statistical significance of each ratio is given by its q-value (false discovery rate adjusted p-values), obtained by calculating modified t-statistic p-values [60] and adjusting for multiple testing [61]. the location of the phosphorylated residues was automatically assigned by mascot (score>10). all annotated spectra together with the ms raw files and search parameters employed, will be deposited to the proteomexchange consortium (http://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org) via the pride partner repository [62]. sequence alignment was performed using embl-ebi web based clustalw2 multiple sequence alignment tool at http://www.ebi.ac.uk/tools/msa/clustalw2/. b) results a protein delivery system based on type 3 secretion of yope fusion proteins while the very n-terminus of the y. enterocolitica t3ss effector yope (seq id no. 1) contains the secretion signal sufficient to translocate heterologous proteins [10], the chaperone-binding site (cbs) for its chaperone (syce) is not included [63]. we selected the n-terminal 138 amino acids of yope (seq id no. 2) to be fused to proteins to be delivered, as this had been shown to give best results for translocation of other heterologous t3s substrates [38]. as these n-terminal 138 amino acids of yope contain the cbs, we further decided to coexpress syce. the syce-yopei_i 3 8 fragment cloned from purified y. enterocolitica pyv40 virulence plasmid contains the endogenous promoters of yope and of its chaperone syce ( fig. 10 ). therefore, syce and any yopei_i 3 8 fusion protein are induced by a rapid temperature shift from growth at rt to 37° c. culture time at 37° c. will affect fusion protein amount present in bacteria. a multiple cloning site (mcs) was added at the 3′ end of yopei_i 3 8 ( fig. 10 b) followed by a myc and a 6×his tag and a stop codon. the background strain was carefully selected. first, to limit the translocation of endogenous effectors, we used a y. enterocolitica strain that was deleted for all known effectors, yop h, o, p, e, m and t (named δhopemt) [64]. in addition, we used an auxotroph mutant that cannot grow in absence of exogenous meso-2,6-diaminopimelic acid [65]. this strain was deleted for the aspartate-beta-semialdehyde dehydrogenase gene (aasd), and classified as biosafety level 1 by the swiss safety agency (amendment to a o10088/2). in addition, we deleted the adhesion proteins yada and/or inva to offer a larger choice of background strains. while the use of the yada or yada/inva strains reduce the background signalling induced [66], the delivered protein amount is affected as well [67]. characterization of yope fusion protein delivery into eukaryotic cells in an in-vitro secretion assay (see fig. 1 a), protein secretion into the surrounding liquid is artificially induced. after tca based protein precipitation, western blot analysis with anti-yope antibody was used to determine protein amounts secreted ( fig. 1 b). while a wt strain secreted full length yope, the δhopemt asd strains did not. upon presence of yopei_i 38 -myc-his (further termed yopei_i 3 8 -myc; seq_id_no._3) a smaller yope band became visible ( fig. 1 b). hence, the yopei_i 3 8 fragment is well secreted in the set up described here. to analyze homogeneity of protein translocation into eukaryotic cells, we infected hela cells with the yopei_i38-myc encoding strain and stained the myc tag by if ( figs. 2 a and b). while in the beginning only the bacteria were stained, at 30 min post infection (p.i.) cell outlines start to be visible, which is enhanced upon increased infection time ( fig. 2 b). this trend is well reflected by the myc tag staining intensity inside hela cells ( figs. 2 a and b). the yopei_i 38 -myc can be detected everywhere in the cells ( fig. 2 a), except in the nuclei [68]. remarkably, most if not all cells were reached by this approach in a comparable way. as y. enterocolitica is known to infect many different cell types [69], we followed yopei_i 38 -myc delivery into various cell lines. the same homogenous anti-myc if staining was observed in infected murine fibroblasts, jurkat cells and huvecs ( fig. 11 ). even more, tuning the moi up or down allows modulating the protein amount delivered ( fig. 2 c), while still most of the cells remain targeted. a low bacterial number will not result in few cells with lots of delivered protein but rather with most cells containing a low amount of delivered protein ( fig. 2 c). redirection of t3ss delivered proteins to the nucleus as yope itself localized to the cytoplasm ( fig. 2 a), it is of special interest to test if the yopei_i 38 fragment hampers localization of nuclear fusion proteins. we therefore added the sv40 nls to the c-terminus (and n-terminus, similar results) of yopei_i 38 -egfp (seq id no. 39 and seq id no. 38, respectively). while yopei_i 38 -egfp (seq id no. 37) led to a weak cytoplasmic staining, yopei_i 38 -egfp-nls gave rise to a stronger nuclear egfp signal in hela cells infected ( fig. 3 ). this indicates that the yopei_i 38 fragment is compatible with the use of an nls. while mcherry had already been used in plant pathogens [70], this represents a successful delivery of a gfp-like protein via human or animal pathogenic bacteria encoding a t3ss. this validates the syce and yopei_i 38 dependent strategy to be very promising for delivery of many proteins of choice. removal of the yopei.i 38 appendage after translocation of the fusion protein to the eukaryotic cell while for bacterial delivery the yopei_i 3 , fragment is of great benefit, it might hamper the fusion proteins function and/or localization. therefore, its removal after protein delivery would be optimal. to this end, we introduced two tev cleavage sites (enlyfqs) [71-73] in between yopei_i 3 8 and a fusion partner (the transcriptional regulator et1-myc (seq id no. 36 and 41) [74] and human ink4c (seq id no. 40 and seq id no. 43)). to keep the advantages of the presented method, we further fused the tev protease (s219v variant; [75]) to yopei_i38 (seq id no. 42) in another y. enterocolitica strain. hela cells were infected with both strains at once. to allow analysis of the translocated fraction of proteins only, infected hela cells were lysed at 2 h p.i. ( fig. 4 ) with digitonin, which is known not to lyse the bacteria ([76]; see fig. 12 for control). western blot analysis revealed the presence of the yopei_i3 8 -2xtev-cleavage-site-et1-myc or yopei_i 38 -2xtev-cleavage-site-flag-ink4c-myc only when cells had been infected with the corresponding strain ( figs. 4 a and c). upon overnight digestion of this cell-lysate with purified tev protease, a shifted band could be observed ( figs. 4 a and c). this band corresponds to et1-myc ( fig. 4 c) or flag-ink4c ( fig. 4 a) with the n-terminal remnants of the tev cleavage site, most likely only one serine. upon coinfection of cells with the strain delivering the tev protease, the same cleaved et1-myc or flag-ink4c fragment became visible, indicating that the tev protease delivered via t3ss is functional and that single cells had been infected by both bacterial strains ( figs. 4 a and c). while cleavage is not complete, the majority of translocated protein is cleaved already 2 h post infection and even over-night digestion with purified tev protease did not yield better cleavage rates ( fig. 4 b). as reported, tev protease dependent cleavage might need optimization dependent on the fusion protein [77, 78]. tev protease dependent removal of the yopei_i38 appendage after translocation hence provides for the first time a t3ss protein delivery of almost native heterologous proteins, changing the amino acid composition by only one n-terminal amino acid. an alternative approach to the tev protease dependent cleavage of the yope fragment consisted in incorporating ubiquitin into the fusion protein of interest. indeed, ubiquitin is processed at its c-terminus by a group of endogenous ubiquitin-specific c-terminal proteases (deubiquitinating enzymes, dubs). as the cleavage is supposed to happen at the very c-terminus of ubiquitin (after g76), the protein of interest should be free of additional amino acid sequence. this method was tested on the yopel-138-ubiquitin-flag-ink4c-mychis fusion protein. in control cells infected by yopel-138-flag-ink4c-mychis-expressing bacteria, a band corresponding to yopel-138-flag-ink4c-mychis was found, indicative of efficient translocation of the fusion protein ( fig. 24 ). when cells were infected for 1 h with yopel-138-ubiquitin-flag-ink4c-mychis-expressing bacteria, an additional band corresponding to the size of flag-ink4c-mychis was visible, indicating that part of the fusion protein was cleaved. this result shows that the introduction of ubiquitin into the fusion protein enables to cleave off the yopel-138 fragment without a need for an exogenous protease. translocation of type iii and type iv bacterial effectors sope from salmonella enterica is a well-characterized guanine nucleotide exchange factor (gef) that interacts with cdc42, promoting actin cytoskeletal remodeling [79]. whereas the translocation of yopei_i 3 8 -myc into hela cells has no effect, translocated yopei_i 3 8 -sope (seq id no. 5 and 135) induced dramatic changes in the actin network ( fig. 5 a). similar results were obtained with another gef effector protein, ipgbl from shigella flexneri (seq id no. 4). remarkably, first changes in the actin cytoskeleton were observed as fast as 2 min p.i. ( fig. 5 a). therefore, one can conclude that t3ss dependent protein delivery happens immediately after infection is initiated by centrifugation. to proof strict t3ss dependent transport, one of the t3ss proteins forming the translocation pore into the eukaryotic cell membrane was deleted (yopb, see [80]) ( fig. 12 ). during salmonella infection, sope translocation is followed by translocation of sptp, which functions as a gtpase activating protein (gap) for cdc42 [81]. whereas the translocation of yopei_i38-sope-myc (seq id no. 135) alone triggered massive f-actin rearrangements, the co-infection with yopei_i 3 8 -sptp (seq id no. 8) expressing bacteria abolished this effect in a dose dependent manner ( fig. 5 b). an anti-myc staining indicated that this inhibition was not due to a reduced level of yopei_i 3 8 -sope-myc translocation ( fig. 5 b). together these results showed that the co-infection of cells with two bacterial strains is a valid method to deliver two different effectors into single cells to address their functional interaction. the s. flexneri type iii effector ospf functions as a phosphothreonine lyase that dephosphorylates map kinases p38 and erk [82]. to test the functionality of translocated yopei_i38-ospf (seq id no. 7), we monitored the phosphorylation of p38 after stimulation with tnfa. in uninfected cells or in cells infected with yopei_i 3 8 -myc expressing bacteria, tnfadinduced p38 phosphorylation. in contrast, after translocation of yopei_i 3 8 -ospf, tnfa-induced phosphorylation was abolished, showing that the delivered ospf is active towards p38 ( fig. 6 a). during salmonella infection, the type iii effector sopb protects epithelial cells from apoptosis by sustained activation of akt [83]. whereas the translocation of yopei_i 3 8 -myc or yopei_i 38 -sope had no effect on akt, the translocation of yopei_i 38 -sopb (seq id no. 6) induced a strong phosphorylation of akt at t308 and 5473, reflecting the active form ( fig. 6 b). similar results were obtained with the sopb-homolog from s. flexneri (ipgd, seq id no. 9). altogether, our results show that the yopei_i 38 -based delivery system functions for all t3s effectors tested so far, and that it allows investigating proteins involved in the control of central cellular functions including the cytoskeleton, inflammation and cell survival. a number of bacteria, including agrobacterium tumefaciens, legionella pneumophila and bartonella henselae , use type iv secretion to inject effectors into cells. we tested whether the type iv effector bepa from b. henselae could be translocated into hela cells using our tool. full length bepa (seq id no. 10) and bepa e305-end (seq id no. 11) containing the c-terminal bid domain, were cloned and cells were infected with the respective strains. as bepa was shown to induce the production of cyclic amp (camp) [84], the level of camp in hela cells was measured after infection. whereas the translocation of the bid domain of the b. henselae effector bepg (seq id no. 136) failed to induce camp, full length bepa and bepa e30 5-end triggered camp production in expected amounts [84] ( fig. 6 c). this result shows, that type iv effectors can also be effectively delivered by the yopei_i 38 -based delivery system into host cell targets and that they are functional. translocation of eukaryotic proteins into epithelial cells to show that human proteins can translocate via type iii secretion we fused human apoptosis inducers for delivery by y. enterocolitica to yopei_i 38 or for delivery by s. enterica to steai_ 2 o , stea, sopei_ 8 i or sopei_i 0 5 . we then monitored the translocation of the human bh3 interacting-domain death agonist (bid, seq id no. 24), which is a pro-apoptotic member of the bcl-2 protein family. it is a mediator of mitochondrial damage induced by caspase-8 (casp8). casp8 cleaves bid, and the truncated bid (tbid, seq id no. 25) translocates to mitochondria where it triggers cytochrome c release. the latter leads to the intrinsic mode of caspase 3 (casp3) activation during which it is cleaved into 17 and 12 kda subunits [85]. whereas infection for 1 h with yopei_i 3 8 -myc or yopei_i 3 8 -bid expressing y. enterocolitica failed to induce apoptosis, the translocation of human tbid triggered cell death in larger extend than the well-characterized apoptosis inducer staurosporin ( figs. 7 a and c). as expected, the translocation of tbid lead to the production of casp3 pl7 subunit, even in larger amounts as with staurosporin ( fig. 7 a). to be able to compare translocated protein amounts to endogenous bid, hela cells were lysed with digitonin and analyzed by western blotting using an anti bid antibody ( fig. 7 b). t3ss delivered yopei_i 3 8 -tbid reached about endogenous bid levels in hela cells, while delivered yopei_i 3 8 -bid was present in even higher quantities (2.5 fold) ( fig. 7 b). a deep proteome and transcriptome mapping of hela cells estimated 4.4 fold 10 5 copies of bid per single cell [86]. therefore, one can conclude that t3ss dependent human protein delivery reaches 10 5 to 10 6 proteins per cell. these numbers fit the copies per cell of nanobodies translocated via e. coli t3ss [19]. assuming a levelling of a factor of 10 for the moi and for the duration of the infection, a factor of 3.2 for the time-point of antibiotic addition and for the culture time at 37° c. before infection, the delivered protein copies/cell can be tuned from some 1000 copies/cell up to some 10 6 copies/cell altogether, these results indicated that translocated tbid was functional and delivered at relevant levels. this validated the translocation tool to study the role of proteins in the regulation of apoptosis, a central aspect of cell biology. we further fused murine tbid (codon optimized for y. enterocolitica ; seq id no. 194) or the bh3 domains of murine tbid or murine bax (in both cases codon optimized for y. enterocolitica ; seq id no. 138 and 139) to yopei_i 38 for delivery by y. enterocolitica . whereas infection for 2.5 h with y. enterocolitica δhopemt asd delivering no protein or yopei_i 38 -myc failed to induce apoptosis, the translocation of murine tbid (codon optimized to y. enterocolitica , seq id no. 194) triggered cell death in b16f10 ( fig. 16 ), d2a1 ( fig. 17 ), hela ( fig. 18 ) and 4t1 ( fig. 19 ) cells. the translocation of the bh3 domain of murine bid codon optimized for y. enterocolitica (seq id 138) or murine bax codon optimized for y. enterocolitica (seq id 139) were as well found to induce massive cell death in b16f10 ( fig. 16 ), d2a1 ( fig. 17 ), hela ( fig. 18 ) and 4t1 ( fig. 19 ) cells. whereas infection for 4 h with s. enterica aroa bacteria failed to induce apoptosis, the translocation of murine tbid triggered apoptosis, as the translocation of murine tbid lead to the production of casp3 pl7 subunit ( figs. 20 and 21 ). the extent of apoptosis induction for sope fusion proteins was larger when using spil t3ss inducing conditions ( fig. 20 ), which reflects the transport of sope exclusively by spil t3ss. steai_ 2 o fused murine tbid failed to induce apoptosis, very likely because the secretion signal within the 20 n-terminal amino acids of stea is not sufficient to allow delivery of a fusion protein ( figs. 20 and 21 ). murine tbid fused to full length stea lead to apoptosis induction in hela cells ( figs. 20 and 21 ), both in spil and spill t3ss inducing conditions, reflecting the ability of stea to be transported by both t3ss. it has to be noted that even under spill t3ss inducing conditions, a partial activity of the spil t3ss is expected as seen by the activity of sope fusion proteins in spill t3ss inducing conditions ( fig. 21 ). besides the here functionally elaborated translocated eukaryotic proteins, several other eukaryotic proteins have been secreted using the here-described tool. this includes for delivery by y. enterocolitica ( figs. 13, 14 and 23 ) proteins from cell cycle regulation (mad2 (seq id no. 15), cdk1 (seq id no. 14), ink4a (seq id no. 16), ink4b (seq id no. 17) and ink4c (seq id no. 18)) as well as parts thereof (ink4a 84-103 (seq id no. 158), p107 657-662 (seq id no. 159), p21 141-160 (seq id no. 160), p21 145-160 (seq id no. 161), p21 17-33 (seq id no. 162) and cyclin d2 139-147 (seq id no 163)), apoptosis related proteins (bad (seq id no. 29), fadd (seq id no. 28), and caspase 3 pl7 (seq id no. 22) and p12 (seq id no. 23), zebrafish bid (seq id no. 19) and t-bid (seq id no. 20)) as well as parts thereof (tbid bh3 (seq id no. 138), bax bh3 (seq id no. 139)), signalling proteins (murine traf6 (seq id no. 12), tifa (seq id no. 13)), gpcr ga subunit (gna12, shortest isoform, (seq id no. 30)), nanobody (vhhgfp4, (seq id no. 31)) and nanobody fusion constructs for targeted protein degradation (slmb-vhhgfp4; (seq id nos. 32, 33, 34) [87]) ( figs. 13 and 14 ) as well as small gtpases (racl q61e (seq id no. 26 and 137) and rhoa q63l (seq id no. 27) and pleckstrin homology domain from human akt (seq id no. 35). besides the functionally elaborated apoptosis related proteins (murine tbid, seq id no. 144-147), this further includes for delivery by s. enterica ( fig. 22 ) proteins from cell cycle regulation (mad2 (seq id no. 168-169), cdk1 (seq id no. 170-171), ink4a (seq id no. 164-165) and ink4c (seq id no. 166-167)). while those proteins have not been functionally validated, the possibility of t3ss dependent secretion of diverse eukaryotic proteins in combination with the possible removal of the yope appendage opens up new vistas on the broad applicability of t3ss in cell biology. in vivo translocation of truncated bid in zebrafish embryos induces apoptosis an interesting feature of this bacterial tool is the potential use in living animals. zebrafish in their embryonic state can be kept transparent allowing fluorescent staining and microscopy [54, 88, 89]. few zebrafish apoptosis inducers have been described in detail, whereof z-bim is the most potent [90]. therefore, we decided to clone z-bim into our system. even if weakly homolgous to human bim, we assayed the potency of apoptosis induction of yopei_i 3 8 -z-bim (seq id no. 21) in human epithelial cells. hela cells infected for 1 h with the strain translocating yopei_i 3 8 -z-bim showed clear signs of cell death. we then performed in-vivo experiments with 2 days post fertilization (dpf) zebrafish embryos, using a localized infection model via microinjection of bacteria into the hindbrain [54]. after infection for 5.5 h the fish were fixed, permeabilized and stained for presence of casp3 p i 7. upon infection with the yopei_i38-myc expressing strain, bacteria were visible in the hindbrain region (staining “b”, fig. 8 a i) but no induction of apoptosis around the bacteria was detected (staining “c”, fig. 8 a i). in contrast, upon infection with the strain delivering yopei_i 3 8 -z-bim a strong increase in presence of cleaved casp3 was observed in regions surrounding the bacteria ( fig. 8 a ii). automated image analysis on maximum intensity z projections confirms that yopei_i 3 8 -z-bim translocating bacteria induce apoptosis in nearby cells by far more than control bacteria do ( fig. 8 b). this indicates that z-bim is functional in zebrafish upon bacterial translocation. these results further validate the use of t3ss for eukaryotic protein delivery in living animals. phosphoproteomics reveal the global impact of translocated proteins on protein phosphorylation phosphorylation is a wide-spread post-translational modification which can either activate or inactivate biological processes and is therefore a suitable target to study signaling events [91, 92]. despite this, no systems-level analysis of phosphorylation in apoptosis is available today. to analyze the impact of human tbid delivered into hela cells, we used a label-free phosphoproteomic approach by lc-ms/ms. in three independent experiments, cells were either left untreated, infected with δhopemt asd+yopei_i 3 8 -myc or with δhopemt asd+yopei_i 38 -tbid for 30 minutes. cells were lysed, followed by enzymatic digestion, phosphopetide enrichment and quantification and identification of individual phosphpeptides. we compared cells infected with δhopemt asd+yopei_ i3 8 -myc to cells infected with δhopemt asd+yope_ i3 8 -tbid, allowing us to identify 363 tbid dependent phosphorylation events. 286 phosphopeptides showed an increase in phosphorylation whereas 77 were less phosphorylated upon tbid delivery, corresponding to 243 different proteins, which we defined as the tbid phosphoproteome. the string database was used to create a protein-protein interaction network of the tbid phosphoproteome [93] ( fig. 9 a). additionally 27 proteins known to be related to mitochondrial apoptosis were added to the network, building a central cluster. interestingly, only few proteins from the tbid phosphoproteome are connected to this central cluster indicating that many proteins undergo a change in phosphorylation that were so far not directly linked to apoptotic proteins. to characterize the biological functions covered by the tbid phosphoproteome, we performed a gene ontology analysis using the functional annotation tool of the database for annotation, visualization, and integrated discovery (david, http://david.abcc.ncifcrf.gov/) [94, 95]. identified biological functions show that diverse cellular processes are affected by tbid. many proteins involved in chromatin rearrangement and the regulation of transcription undergo a change in phosphorylation (i.e. cbx3, cbx5, trim28, hdac1). hdac1 for example is a histone deacetylase playing a role in regulation of transcription. it has been shown that hdac1 can modulate transcriptional activity of nf-kb, a protein also participating in apoptosis. we additionally identified a cluster of proteins involved in rna processing which has previously been shown to play an important role in the regulation of apoptosis [96]. finrpk for instance mediates a p53/tp53 response to dna damage and is necessary for the induction of apoptosis [97]. furthermore, the phosphorylation of proteins involved in protein translation is also affected. several eukaryotic initiation factors (i.e. eif4e2, eif4b, eif3a, eif4g2) undergo a change in phosphorylation, which is in line with the observation that overall protein synthesis is decreased in apoptotic cells. interestingly, the phosphorylation of many proteins involved in cytoskeleton remodeling (e.g. pxn, map1b9 are altered upon tbid delivery. this is in concordance with the observation that the morphology of cells changes dramatically upon tbid delivery ( fig. 9 b). cells shrinkage and loss of contact is reflected by the fact that we observe phosphorylation of adhesion related proteins like z02 and paxillin. similarly, shrinkage of the nuclei is accompanied by phosphorylation of laminar proteins like lamina/c and lamin bl. altogether, tbid delivery induces a rapid apoptotic response also 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105-086-110-469-086	US	[ "EP", "CN", "JP", "WO", "BR", "US" ]	A61B34/30,A61B34/32,A61B17/072,B25J15/02,A61B34/00,A61B34/37,B25J9/16,G05B19/401,G05B19/418	2017-06-29T00:00:00	2017	[ "A61", "B25", "G05" ]	system for controlling articulation forces	in some aspects, a control algorithm is provided for manipulating a pair of articulation arms configured to control an articulation angle of an end effector of a robotic surgical instrument. other aspects of the present disclosure focus on the robotic arm system, including the pair of articulation arms coupled to the end effector and guided by independent motors controlled by a control circuit. each of the articulation arms are designed to exert antagonistic forces competing against each other that are apportioned according to a ratio specified in the control algorithm. the ratio of the antagonistic forces may be used to determine the articulation angle of the head or end effector of the robotic surgical arm.	a system for a robotic surgical instrument, the system comprising: a control circuit; a first motor (2504d) and a second motor (2504e), both communicatively coupled to the control circuit; a first articulation arm (13510) communicatively coupled to the first motor; a second articulation arm (13514) communicatively coupled to the second motor; and an end effector (2502) coupled to the first articulation arm via a first hinge and the second articulation arm via a second hinge; wherein: the control circuit (2510) is configured to cause the first motor to apply a first force to the first articulation arm; the control circuit is configured to cause the second motor to apply a second force to the second articulation arm, wherein the second force is antagonistic to the first force such that the first and second forces apply counteracting forces at the end effector; and the first and second forces cause the end effector to articulate via the first and second hinges, the system further comprising an articulation pivot coupled to the end effector, wherein the end effector is further configured to articulate about the articulation pivot (13518), characterized in that the articulation pivot is positioned off of a center axis (13528) running longitudinally along a longitudinal tool axis in between and equidistant from at least a portion of the first and second articulation arms. the system of claim 1, wherein the end effector is configured to articulate to a prescribed angle based on a ratio of magnitudes between the first force and the second force. the system of claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising a shaft encapsulating the first and second articulation arms. the system of claim 3, further comprising a pivot link coupled to the articulation pivot and stably positioned within the shaft, wherein the pivot link is configured to stabilize the end effector while the end effector articulates about the articulation pivot. the system of claim 4, wherein the pivot link and the articulation pivot are positioned off of a center axis running longitudinally in between and equidistant from at least a portion of the first and second articulation arms. the system of claim 5, wherein the first force is greater than the second force when the end effector is articulated to a zero degree angle from a center position. the system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control circuit is configured to operate the first motor independent of the second motor. the system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first and second forces are pulling forces applied to the first and second articulation arms, respectively. the system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first and second forces are pushing forces applied to the first and second articulation arms, respectively.	technical field the present disclosure generally relates to robotic surgical instruments according to appended claim 1. in particular, the present disclosures relate to a system for controlling articulation forces in a robotic surgical arm with a surgical end effector. background robotic surgical tools may be useful in providing stable and reliable application for surgical procedures. various components may be interchangeable such that a single support apparatus may be used to attach to different modular robotic surgical arms. some of these robotic systems employ multiple motors to control individual components that may move independently but still involve a degree of interrelationship. relevant prior art is disclosed in ep 2 901 960 a1 , us 2016/192996 a1 , us 9 539 726 b2 and us 2014/128849 a1 . summary in one aspect, a system for a robotic surgical instrument is presented. the system includes the features of appended claim 1. in some aspects, the end effector is configured to articulate to a prescribed angle based on a ratio of magnitudes between the first force and the second force. in the invention, the system further includes an articulation pivot coupled to the end effector, wherein the end effector is further configured to articulate about the articulation pivot. in the invention, the articulation pivot is positioned off of a center axis running longitudinally in between and equidistant from at least a portion of the first and second articulation arms. in another aspect, an unclaimed method of a robotic surgical instrument comprising a control circuit, a first motor, a second motor, a first articulation arm, a second articulation arm, and an end effector is presented. the method may include: instructing, by the control circuit, the first motor to apply a first force to the first articulation arm; instructing, by the control circuit, the second motor to apply a second force to the second articulation arm, wherein the second force is antagonistic to the first force such that the first and second forces apply counteracting forces at the end effector; and causing the end effector to articulate via first and second hinges based on the first and second forces applied to the first and second articulation arms, respectively. figures fig. 1 is a perspective view of one robotic controller according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 2 is a perspective view of one robotic surgical arm cart/manipulator of a robotic surgical system operably supporting a plurality of surgical tool according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 3 is a side view of the robotic surgical arm cart/manipulator depicted in fig. 2 according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 4 is a perspective view of a surgical tool according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 5 is an exploded assembly view of an adapter and tool holder arrangement for attaching various surgical tools according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 6 is a partial bottom perspective view of the surgical tool aspect of fig. 4 according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 7 is a partial exploded view of a portion of an articulatable surgical end effector according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 8 is a rear perspective view of the surgical tool of fig. 105 with the tool mounting housing removed according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 9 is a front perspective view of the surgical tool of fig. 6 with the tool mounting housing removed according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 10 is a partial exploded perspective view of the surgical tool of fig. 6 according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 11a is a partial cross-sectional side view of the surgical tool of fig. 6 according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 11b is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the surgical tool depicted in fig. 11a according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 12 illustrates one aspect of an end effector comprising a first sensor and a second according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 13a illustrates an aspect wherein the tissue compensator is removably attached to the anvil portion of the end effector according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 13b illustrates a detail view of a portion of the tissue compensator shown in fig. 13a according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 13c illustrates various example aspects that use the layer of conductive elements and conductive elements in the staple cartridge to detect the distance between the anvil and the upper surface of the staple cartridge according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 14a illustrates an end effector comprising conductors embedded within according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 14b illustrates an end effector comprising conductors embedded within according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 15a illustrates a cutaway view of the staple cartridge according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 15b illustrates a cutaway view of the staple cartridge shown in fig. 15a illustrating conductors embedded within the end effector according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 16 illustrates one aspect of a left-right segmented flexible circuit for an end effector according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 17 illustrates one aspect of a segmented flexible circuit configured to fixedly attach to a jaw member of an end effector according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 18 illustrates one aspect of a segmented flexible circuit configured to mount to a jaw member of an end effector according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 19 illustrates one aspect of an end effector configured to measure a tissue gap gt according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 20 illustrates one aspect of an end effector comprising segmented flexible circuit, according to one aspect of this present disclosure. fig. 21 illustrates the end effector shown in fig. 20 with the jaw member clamping tissue between the jaw member and the staple cartridge according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 22 illustrates a logic diagram of one aspect of a feedback system according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 23 illustrates a control circuit configured to control aspects of the robotic surgical system according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 24 illustrates a combinational logic circuit configured to control aspects of the robotic surgical system according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 25 illustrates a sequential logic circuit configured to control aspects of the robotic surgical system according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 26 illustrates a logic diagram of a common control module for use with a plurality of motors of the robotic surgical instrument according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 27 is a diagram of an absolute positioning system of the surgical instrument of fig. 1 where the absolute positioning system comprises a controlled motor drive circuit arrangement comprising a sensor arrangement according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 28 is a diagram of a position sensor comprising a magnetic rotary absolute positioning system according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 29 is a section view of an end effector of the surgical instrument of fig. 1 showing a firing member stroke relative to tissue grasped within the end effector according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 30 is a schematic diagram of a robotic surgical instrument configured to operate the surgical tool described herein according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 31 shows an example structural portion of a robotic surgical arm including two articulation arms connected to an end effector, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. fig. 32 shows the anvil in a neutral or straight position relative to the articulation arms. fig. 33 shows the left articulation arm moved up along a first direction, while simultaneously the right articulation arm is moved down along an opposite direction. fig. 34 shows reverse movements by the articulation arms that cause the anvil to move in the reverse, i.e., clockwise, direction. fig. 35 shows, according to some aspects, the pivot moment of the end effector is actually off from the centerline of the shaft structure. fig. 36 shows an example graph representing an amount of force applied by both of the articulation arms as a function of a degree of articulation of the head from a horizontal centerline, according to some aspects. fig. 37 shows an example of how forces may be applied to the two articulation arms in order to cause the head/end effector to articulate 60° from the centerline, according to some aspects. fig. 38 shows another example of how forces may be applied to the two articulation arms in order to cause the head/end effector to articulate 30° from the centerline, according to some aspects. fig. 39 shows a third example of how forces may be applied to the two articulation arms in order to cause the head/end effector to articulate back to the center or neutral position, according to some aspects. fig. 40 illustrates a logic flow diagram depicting a process of a control program or a logic configuration for causing articulation of an end effector of a robotic surgical system based on controlling two independent articulation arms, according to some aspects. description fig.1 depicts one aspect of a master robotic controller 11 that may be used in connection with a robotic arm slave cart 100 of the type depicted in fig. 2 . the master controller 11 and robotic arm slave cart 100, as well as their respective components and control systems are collectively referred to herein as a robotic surgical system 10. examples of such systems and devices are disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 7,524,320 . the master controller 11 generally includes master controllers (generally represented as 13 in fig. 1 ) which are grasped by the surgeon and manipulated in space while the surgeon views the procedure via a stereo display 12. the master controllers 11 generally comprise manual input devices which preferably move with multiple degrees of freedom, and which often further have an actuatable handle for actuating tools (for example, for closing grasping saws, applying an electrical potential to an electrode, or the like). other arrangements may provide the surgeon with a feed back meter 15 that may be viewed through the display 12 and provide the surgeon with a visual indication of the amount of force being applied to the cutting instrument or dynamic clamping member. additional examples are disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 9,237,891 . as can be seen in fig. 2 , in one form, the robotic arm cart 100 is configured to actuate a plurality of surgical tools, generally designated as 200. various robotic surgery systems and methods employing master controller and robotic arm cart arrangements are disclosed in u.s. pat. no. 6,132,368 , entitled "multi-component telepresence system and method". in various forms, the robotic arm cart 100 includes a base 102 from which, in the illustrated aspect, three surgical tools 200 are supported. in various forms, the surgical tools 200 are each supported by a series of manually articulatable linkages, generally referred to as set-up joints 104, and a robotic manipulator 106. referring now to fig. 3 , in at least one form, robotic manipulators 106 may include a linkage 108 that constrains movement of the surgical tool 200. in various aspects, linkage 108 includes rigid links coupled together by rotational joints in a parallelogram arrangement so that the surgical tool 200 rotates around a point in space 110, as more fully described in issued u.s. pat. no. 5,817,084 ,. the parallelogram arrangement constrains rotation to pivoting about an axis 112a, sometimes called the pitch axis. the links supporting the parallelogram linkage are pivotally mounted to set-up joints 104 ( fig. 2 ) so that the surgical tool 200 further rotates about an axis 112b, sometimes called the yaw axis. the pitch and yaw axes 112a, 112b intersect at the remote center 114, which is aligned along a shaft 208 of the surgical tool 200. the surgical tool 200 may have further degrees of driven freedom as supported by manipulator 106, including sliding motion of the surgical tool 200 along the longitudinal tool axis "lt-lt". as the surgical tool 200 slides along the tool axis lt-lt relative to manipulator 106 (arrow 112c), remote center 114 remains fixed relative to base 116 of manipulator 106. hence, the entire manipulator is generally moved to re-position remote center 114. linkage 108 of manipulator 106 is driven by a series of motors 120. these motors actively move linkage 108 in response to commands from a processor of a control system. as will be discussed in further detail below, motors 120 are also employed to manipulate the surgical tool 200. fig. 4 is a perspective view of a surgical tool 200 that is adapted for use with a robotic surgical system 10 that has a tool drive assembly that is operatively coupled to a master controller 11 that is operable by inputs from an operator (i.e., a surgeon) is depicted in fig. 4 . as can be seen in that figure, the surgical tool 200 includes a surgical end effector 1012 that comprises an endocutter. in at least one form, the surgical tool 200 generally includes an elongated shaft assembly 1008 that has a proximal closure tube 1040 and a distal closure tube 1042 that are coupled together by an articulation joint 1011. the surgical tool 200 is operably coupled to the manipulator by a tool mounting portion, generally designated as 300. the surgical tool 200 further includes an interface 230 which mechanically and electrically couples the tool mounting portion 300 to the manipulator. in various aspects, the tool mounting portion 300 includes a tool mounting plate 302 that operably supports a plurality of (four are shown in fig. 6 ) rotatable body portions, driven discs or elements 304, that each include a pair of pins 306 that extend from a surface of the driven element 304. one pin 306 is closer to an axis of rotation of each driven elements 304 than the other pin 306 on the same driven element 304, which helps to ensure positive angular alignment of the driven element 304. interface 230 includes an adaptor portion 240 that is configured to mountingly engage the mounting plate 302 as will be further discussed below. the adaptor portion 240 may include an array of electrical connecting pins which may be coupled to a memory structure by a circuit board within the tool mounting portion 300. while interface 230 is described herein with reference to mechanical, electrical, and magnetic coupling elements, it should be understood that a wide variety of telemetry modalities might be used, including infrared, inductive coupling, or the like. fig. 5 is an exploded assembly view of an adapter and tool holder arrangement for attaching various surgical tools according to one aspect of this disclosure. a detachable latch arrangement 239 may be employed to releasably affix the adaptor 240 to the tool holder 270. as used herein, the term "tool drive assembly" when used in the context of the robotic surgical system 10, at least encompasses various aspects of the adapter 240 and tool holder 270 and which has been generally designated as 101 in fig. 5 . for example, as can be seen in fig. 5 , the tool holder 270 may include a first latch pin arrangement 274 that is sized to be received in corresponding clevis slots 241 provided in the adaptor 240. in addition, the tool holder 270 may further have second latch pins 276 that are sized to be retained in corresponding latch devises in the adaptor 240. in at least one form, a latch assembly 245 is movably supported on the adapter 240 and is biasable between a first latched position wherein the latch pins 276 are retained within their respective latch clevis and an unlatched position wherein the second latch pins 276 may be into or removed from the latch devises. a spring or springs (not shown) are employed to bias the latch assembly into the latched position. a lip on the tool side 244 of adaptor 240 may slidably receive laterally extending tabs of tool mounting housing 301. the adaptor portion 240 may include an array of electrical connecting pins 242 which may be coupled to a memory structure by a circuit board within the tool mounting portion 300. while interface 230 is described herein with reference to mechanical, electrical, and magnetic coupling elements, it should be understood that a wide variety of telemetry modalities might be used, including infrared, inductive coupling, or the like. as shown in figs. 4-6 the adapter portion 240 generally includes a tool side 244 and a holder side 246. in various forms, a plurality of rotatable bodies 250 are mounted to a floating plate 248 which has a limited range of movement relative to the surrounding adaptor structure normal to the major surfaces of the adaptor 240. axial movement of the floating plate 248 helps decouple the rotatable bodies 250 from the tool mounting portion 300 when the levers 303 along the sides of the tool mounting portion housing 301 are actuated. other mechanisms/arrangements may be employed for releasably coupling the tool mounting portion 300 to the adaptor 240. in at least one form, rotatable bodies 250 are resiliently mounted to floating plate 248 by resilient radial members which extend into a circumferential indentation about the rotatable bodies 250. the rotatable bodies 250 can move axially relative to plate 248 by deflection of these resilient structures. when disposed in a first axial position (toward tool side 244) the rotatable bodies 250 are free to rotate without angular limitation. however, as the rotatable bodies 250 move axially toward tool side 244, tabs 252 (extending radially from the rotatable bodies 250) laterally engage detents on the floating plates so as to limit angular rotation of the rotatable bodies 250 about their axes. this limited rotation can be used to help drivingly engage the rotatable bodies 250 with drive pins 272 of a corresponding tool holder portion 270 of the robotic system 10, as the drive pins 272 will push the rotatable bodies 250 into the limited rotation position until the pins 11234 are aligned with (and slide into) openings 256'. openings 256 on the tool side 244 and openings 256' on the holder side 246 of rotatable bodies 250 are configured to accurately align the driven elements 304 of the tool mounting portion 300 with the drive elements 271 of the tool holder 270. as described above regarding inner and outer pins 306 of driven elements 304, the openings 256, 256' are at differing distances from the axis of rotation on their respective rotatable bodies 250 so as to ensure that the alignment is not 180 degrees from its intended position. additionally, each of the openings 256 is slightly radially elongated so as to fittingly receive the pins 306 in the circumferential orientation. this allows the pins 306 to slide radially within the openings 256, 256' and accommodate some axial misalignment between the tool 200 and tool holder 270, while minimizing any angular misalignment and backlash between the drive and driven elements. openings 256 on the tool side 244 are offset by about 90 degrees from the openings 256' (shown in broken lines) on the holder side 246. fig. 6 is a partial bottom perspective view of the surgical tool aspect of fig. 4 . as shown in figs. 6-10 , the surgical end effector 1012 is attached to the tool mounting portion 300 by an elongated shaft assembly 1008 according to various aspects. as shown in the illustrated aspect, the shaft assembly 1008 includes an articulation joint generally indicated as 1011 that enables the surgical end effector 1012 to be selectively articulated about an articulation axis aa-aa that is substantially transverse to a longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. see fig. 7 . in other aspects, the articulation joint is omitted. in various aspects, the shaft assembly 1008 may include a closure tube assembly 1009 that comprises a proximal closure tube 1040 and a distal closure tube 1042 that are pivotably linked by a pivot links 1044 and operably supported on a spine assembly generally depicted as 1049. in the illustrated aspect, the spine assembly 1049 comprises a distal spine portion 1050 that is attached to the elongated channel 1022 and is pivotally coupled to the proximal spine portion 1052. the closure tube assembly 1009 is configured to axially slide on the spine assembly 1049 in response to actuation motions applied thereto. the distal closure tube 1042 includes an opening 1045 into which the tab 1027 on the anvil 1024 is inserted in order to facilitate opening of the anvil 1024 as the distal closure tube 1042 is moved axially in the proximal direction "pd". the closure tubes 1040, 1042 may be made of electrically conductive material (such as metal) so that they may serve as part of the antenna, as described above. components of the main drive shaft assembly (e.g., the drive shafts 1048, 1050) may be made of a nonconductive material (such as plastic). the anvil 1024 may be pivotably opened and closed at a pivot point 1025 located at the proximal end of the elongated channel 1022. in use, it may be desirable to rotate the surgical end effector 1012 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. in at least one aspect, the tool mounting portion 300 includes a rotational transmission assembly 1069 that is configured to receive a corresponding rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 101 of the robotic surgical system 10 and convert that rotary output motion to a rotary control motion for rotating the elongated shaft assembly 1008 (and surgical end effector 1012) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. in various aspects, for example, the proximal end 1060 of the proximal closure tube 1040 is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 302 of the tool mounting portion 300 by a forward support cradle 309 and a closure sled 1100 that is also movably supported on the tool mounting plate 302. in at least one form, the rotational transmission assembly 1069 includes a tube gear segment 1062 that is formed on (or attached to) the proximal end 1060 of the proximal closure tube 1040 for operable engagement by a rotational gear assembly 1070 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 302. as shown in fig. 8 , the rotational gear assembly 1070, in at least one aspect, comprises a rotation drive gear 1072 that is coupled to a corresponding first one of the driven discs or elements 304 on the adapter side 307 of the tool mounting plate 302 when the tool mounting portion 300 is coupled to the tool drive assembly 101. see fig. 6 . the rotational gear assembly 1070 further comprises a rotary driven gear 1074 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 302 in meshing engagement with the tube gear segment 1062 and the rotation drive gear 1072. application of a first rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 101 of the robotic surgical system 10 to the corresponding driven element 304 will thereby cause rotation of the rotation drive gear 1072. rotation of the rotation drive gear 1072 ultimately results in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 1008 (and the surgical end effector 1012) about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt (represented by arrow "r" in fig. 8 ). it will be appreciated that the application of a rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 101 in one direction will result in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 1008 and surgical end effector 1012 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt in a first direction and an application of the rotary output motion in an opposite direction will result in the rotation of the elongated shaft assembly 1008 and surgical end effector 1012 in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction. in at least one aspect, the closure of the anvil 1024 relative to the staple cartridge 1034 is accomplished by axially moving the closure tube assembly 1009 in the distal direction "dd" on the spine assembly 1049. as indicated above, in various aspects, the proximal end 1060 of the proximal closure tube 1040 is supported by the closure sled 1100 which comprises a portion of a closure transmission, generally depicted as 1099. in at least one form, the closure sled 1100 is configured to support the closure tube 1009 on the tool mounting plate 320 such that the proximal closure tube 1040 can rotate relative to the closure sled 1100, yet travel axially with the closure sled 1100. in particular, the closure sled 1100 has an upstanding tab 1101 that extends into a radial groove 1063 in the proximal end portion of the proximal closure tube 1040. in addition, as can be seen in fig. 10 , the closure sled 1100 has a tab portion 1102 that extends through a slot 305 in the tool mounting plate 302. the tab portion 1102 is configured to retain the closure sled 1100 in sliding engagement with the tool mounting plate 302. in various aspects, the closure sled 1100 has an upstanding portion 1104 that has a closure rack gear 1106 formed thereon. the closure rack gear 1106 is configured for driving engagement with a closure gear assembly 1110. the knife rack gear 1106 is slidably supported within a rack housing 1210 that is attached to the tool mounting plate 302 such that the knife rack gear 1106 is retained in meshing engagement with a knife gear assembly 1220. in various forms, the closure gear assembly 1110 includes a closure spur gear 1112 that is coupled to a corresponding second one of the driven discs or elements 304 on the adapter side 307 of the tool mounting plate 302. see fig. 6 . thus, application of a second rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 101 of the robotic surgical system 10 to the corresponding second driven element 304 will cause rotation of the closure spur gear 1112 when the tool mounting portion 300 is coupled to the tool drive assembly 101. the closure gear assembly 1110 further includes a closure reduction gear set 1114 that is supported in meshing engagement with the closure spur gear 1112. as can be seen in figs. 9 and 10 , the closure reduction gear set 1114 includes a driven gear 1116 that is rotatably supported in meshing engagement with the closure spur gear 1112. the closure reduction gear set 1114 further includes a first closure drive gear 1118 that is in meshing engagement with a second closure drive gear 1120 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 302 in meshing engagement with the closure rack gear 1106. thus, application of a second rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 101 of the robotic surgical system 10 to the corresponding second driven element 11304 will cause rotation of the closure spur gear 1112 and the closure transmission 1110 and ultimately drive the closure sled 1100 and closure tube assembly 1009 axially. the axial direction in which the closure tube assembly 1009 moves ultimately depends upon the direction in which the second driven element 304 is rotated. for example, in response to one rotary output motion received from the tool drive assembly 101 of the robotic surgical system 10, the closure sled 1100 will be driven in the distal direction "dd" and ultimately drive the closure tube assembly 101 in the distal direction. as the distal closure tube 1042 is driven distally, the end of the closure tube segment 1042 will engage a portion of the anvil 1024 and cause the anvil 1024 to pivot to a closed position. upon application of an "opening" out put motion from the tool drive assembly 101 of the robotic surgical system 10, the closure sled 1100 and shaft assembly 1008 will be driven in the proximal direction "pd". as the distal closure tube 1042 is driven in the proximal direction, the opening 1045 therein interacts with the tab 1027 on the anvil 1024 to facilitate the opening thereof. in various aspects, a spring (not shown) may be employed to bias the anvil to the open position when the distal closure tube 1042 has been moved to its starting position. in various aspects, the various gears of the closure gear assembly 1110 are sized to generate the necessary closure forces needed to satisfactorily close the anvil 1024 onto the tissue to be cut and stapled by the surgical end effector 1012. for example, the gears of the closure transmission 1110 may be sized to generate approximately 70-120 pounds. fig. 11a is a partial cross-sectional side view of the surgical tool 200 of fig. 6 and fig. 11b is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the surgical tool depicted in fig. 11a according to one aspect of this disclosure. with reference to figs. 11a and 11b , the distal end 1202 of the knife bar 1200 is attached to the cutting instrument 1032. the proximal end 1204 of the knife bar 1200 is rotatably affixed to a knife rack gear 1206 such that the knife bar 1200 is free to rotate relative to the knife rack gear 1206. the knife rack gear 1206 is slidably supported within a rack housing 1210 that is attached to the tool mounting plate 302 such that the knife rack gear 1206 is retained in meshing engagement with a knife gear assembly 1220. more specifically and with reference to fig. 10 , in at least one aspect, the knife gear assembly 1220 includes a knife spur gear 1222 that is coupled to a corresponding third one of the driven discs or elements 304 on the adapter side 307 of the tool mounting plate 302. see fig. 6 . thus, application of another rotary output motion from the robotic system 10 through the tool drive assembly 101 to the corresponding third driven element 304 will cause rotation of the knife spur gear 1222. the knife gear assembly 1220 further includes a knife gear reduction set 1224 that includes a first knife drive gear 1226 and a second knife drive gear 1228. the knife gear reduction set 1224 is rotatably mounted to the tool mounting plate 302 such that the first knife drive gear 1226 is in meshing engagement with the knife spur gear 1222. likewise, the second knife drive gear 1228 is in meshing engagement with a third knife drive gear 1230 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 302 in meshing engagement with the knife rack gear 1206. in various aspects, the gears of the knife gear assembly 1220 are sized to generate the forces needed to drive the cutting element 1032 through the tissue clamped in the surgical end effector 1012 and actuate the staples therein. for example, the gears of the knife drive assembly 1230 may be sized to generate approximately 40 to 100 pounds. it will be appreciated that the application of a rotary output motion from the tool drive assembly 101 in one direction will result in the axial movement of the cutting instrument 1032 in a distal direction and application of the rotary output motion in an opposite direction will result in the axial travel of the cutting instrument 1032 in a proximal direction. in various aspects, the surgical tool 200 employs an articulation system that includes an articulation joint 12011 that enables the surgical end effector 1012 to be articulated about an articulation axis aa-aa that is substantially transverse to the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. in at least one aspect, the surgical tool 200 includes first and second articulation bars 1250a, 1250b that are slidably supported within corresponding passages provided through the proximal spine portion 1052. in at least one form, the first and second articulation bars 1250a, 1250b are actuated by an articulation transmission that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 302. each of the articulation bars 1250a, 1250b has a proximal end that has a guide rod protruding therefrom which extend laterally through a corresponding slot in the proximal end portion of the proximal spine portion and into a corresponding arcuate slot in an articulation nut 1260 which comprises a portion of the articulation transmission. the articulation bar 1250a has a guide rod 1254 which extends laterally through a corresponding slot in the proximal end portion of the distal spine portion 1050 and into a corresponding arcuate slot in the articulation nut 1260. in addition, the articulation bar 1250a has a distal end that is pivotally coupled to the distal spine portion 1050 by, for example, a pin and articulation bar 1250b has a distal end that is pivotally coupled to the distal spine portion 1050 by a pin. in particular, the articulation bar 1250a is laterally offset in a first lateral direction from the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt and the articulation bar 1250b is laterally offset in a second lateral direction from the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. thus, axial movement of the articulation bars 1250a, 1250b in opposing directions will result in the articulation of the distal spine portion 1050 as well as the surgical end effector 1012 attached thereto about the articulation axis aa-aa as will be discussed in further detail below. articulation of the surgical end effector 1012 is controlled by rotating the articulation nut 1260 about the longitudinal tool axis lt-lt. the articulation nut 1260 is rotatably journaled on the proximal end portion of the distal spine portion 1050 and is rotatably driven thereon by an articulation gear assembly 1270. more specifically and with reference to fig. 8 , in at least one aspect, the articulation gear assembly 1270 includes an articulation spur gear 1272 that is coupled to a corresponding fourth one of the driven discs or elements 304 on the adapter side 307 of the tool mounting plate 302. thus, application of another rotary input motion from the robotic system 10 through the tool drive assembly 101 to the corresponding fourth driven element 304 will cause rotation of the articulation spur gear 1272 when the interface 230 is coupled to the tool holder 270. an articulation drive gear 1274 is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 302 in meshing engagement with the articulation spur gear 1272 and a gear portion 1264 of the articulation nut 1260 as shown. the articulation nut 1260 has a shoulder 1266 formed thereon that defines an annular groove 1267 for receiving retaining posts 1268 therein. retaining posts 1268 are attached to the tool mounting plate 302 and serve to prevent the articulation nut 1260 from moving axially on the proximal spine portion 1052 while maintaining the ability to be rotated relative thereto. thus, rotation of the articulation nut 1260 in a first direction, will result in the axial movement of the articulation bar 1250a in a distal direction "dd" and the axial movement of the articulation bar 1250b in a proximal direction "pd" because of the interaction of the guide rods 1254 with the spiral slots in the articulation gear 1260. similarly, rotation of the articulation nut 1260 in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction will result in the axial movement of the articulation bar 1250a in the proximal direction "pd" as well as cause articulation bar 1250b to axially move in the distal direction "dd". thus, the surgical end effector 1012 may be selectively articulated about articulation axis "aa-aa" in a first direction "fd" by simultaneously moving the articulation bar 1250a in the distal direction "dd" and the articulation bar 1250b in the proximal direction "pd". likewise, the surgical end effector 1012 may be selectively articulated about the articulation axis "aa-aa" in a second direction "sd" by simultaneously moving the articulation bar 1250a in the proximal direction "pd" and the articulation bar 1250b in the distal direction "dd." the tool aspect described above employs an interface arrangement that is particularly well-suited for mounting the robotically controllable medical tool onto at least one form of robotic arm arrangement that generates at least four different rotary control motions. those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that such rotary output motions may be selectively controlled through the programmable control systems employed by the robotic system/controller. for example, the tool arrangement described above may be well-suited for use with those robotic systems manufactured by intuitive surgical, inc. of sunnyvale, calif., u.s.a., many of which may be described in detail in various patents. the unique and novel aspects of various aspects of the present invention serve to utilize the rotary output motions supplied by the robotic system to generate specific control motions having sufficient magnitudes that enable end effectors to cut and staple tissue. thus, the unique arrangements and principles of various aspects of the present invention may enable a variety of different forms of the tool systems disclosed and claimed herein to be effectively employed in connection with other types and forms of robotic systems that supply programmed rotary or other output motions. in addition, as will become further apparent as the present detailed description proceeds, various end effector aspects of the present invention that require other forms of actuation motions may also be effectively actuated utilizing one or more of the control motions generated by the robotic system. fig. 12 illustrates one aspect of an end effector 3000 comprising a first sensor 3008a and a second sensor 3008b. the first and second sensors 3008a, 3008b are provided on the cartridge deck to determine tissue location using segmented electrodes. accordingly, the first and second sensors 3008a, 3008b enable sensing the load on the closure tube, the position of the closure tube, the firing member at the rack and the position of the firing member coupled to the i-beam 3005, the portion of the cartridge that contains tissue, the load and position on the articulation rods. the end effector 3000 comprises a first jaw member, or anvil, 3002 pivotally coupled to a second jaw member 3004. the second jaw member 3004 is configured to receive a staple cartridge 3006 therein. the staple cartridge 3006 comprises a plurality of staples. the plurality of staples is deployable from the staple cartridge 3006 during a surgical operation. the end effector 3000 comprises a first sensor 3008a. the first sensor 3008a is configured to measure one or more parameters of the end effector 3000. for example, in one aspect, the first sensor 3008a is configured to measure the gap 3010 between the anvil 3002 and the second jaw member 3004. the first sensor 3008a may comprise, for example, a hall effect sensor configured to detect a magnetic field generated by a magnet 3012 embedded in the second jaw member 3004 and/or the staple cartridge 3006. as another example, in one aspect, the first sensor 3008a is configured to measure one or more forces exerted on the anvil 3002 by the second jaw member 3004 and/or tissue clamped between the anvil 3002 and the second jaw member 3004. the sensors 3008a, 3008b may be employed to measure tissue thickness, force, displacement, compression, tissue impedance, and tissue location within the end effector 3000. the end effector 3000 comprises a second sensor 3008b. the second sensor 3008b is configured to measure one or more parameters of the end effector 3000. for example, in various aspects, the second sensor 3008b may comprise a strain gauge configured to measure the magnitude of the strain in the anvil 3002 during a clamped condition. the strain gauge provides an electrical signal whose amplitude varies with the magnitude of the strain. in various aspects, the first sensor 3008a and/or the second sensor 3008b may comprise, for example, a magnetic sensor such as, for example, a hall effect sensor, a strain gauge, a pressure sensor, a force sensor, an inductive sensor such as, for example, an eddy current sensor, a resistive sensor, a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor, and/or any other suitable sensor for measuring one or more parameters of the end effector 3000. the first sensor 3008a and the second sensor 3008b may be arranged in a series configuration and/or a parallel configuration. in a series configuration, the second sensor 3008b may be configured to directly affect the output of the first sensor 3008a. in a parallel configuration, the second sensor 3008b may be configured to indirectly affect the output of the first sensor 3008a. in one aspect, the first sensor 3008a may be configured to measure the gap 3010 between the anvil 3002 and the second jaw member 3004. the gap 3010 is representative of the thickness and/or compressibility of a tissue section clamped between the anvil 3002 and the staple cartridge 3006. the first sensor 3008a may comprise, for example, a hall effect sensor configured to detect a magnetic field generated by a magnet 3012 coupled to the second jaw member 3004 and/or the staple cartridge 3006. measuring at a single location accurately describes the compressed tissue thickness for a calibrated full bit of tissue, but may provide inaccurate results when a partial bite of tissue is placed between the anvil 3002 and the second jaw member 3004. a partial bite of tissue, either a proximal partial bite or a distal partial bite, changes the clamping geometry of the anvil 3002. in some aspects, the second sensor 3008b may be configured to detect one or more parameters indicative of a type of tissue bite, for example, a full bite, a partial proximal bite, and/or a partial distal bite. in some aspects, the thickness measurement of the first sensor 3008a may be provided to an output device of the robotic surgical system 10 coupled to the end effector 3000. for example, in one aspect, the end effector 3000 is coupled to the robotic surgical system 10 comprising a display. the measurement of the first sensor 3008a is provided to a processor. in another aspect, the end effector 3000 may comprise a plurality of second sensors configured to measure an amplitude of strain exerted on the anvil 3002 during a clamping procedure. in another aspect, the plurality of sensors allows a robust tissue thickness sensing process to be implemented. by detecting various parameters along the length of the anvil 3202, the plurality of sensors allow a surgical instrument, such as, for example, the surgical instrument 10, to calculate the tissue thickness in the jaws regardless of the bite, for example, a partial or full bite. in some aspects, the plurality of sensors comprises a plurality of strain gauges. the plurality of strain gauges is configured to measure the strain at various points on the anvil 3002. the amplitude and/or the slope of the strain at each of the various points on the anvil 3002 can be used to determine the thickness of tissue in between the anvil 3002 and the staple cartridge 3006. the plurality of strain gauges may be configured to optimize maximum amplitude and/or slope differences based on clamping dynamics to determine thickness, tissue placement, and/or material properties of the tissue. time based monitoring of the plurality of sensors during clamping allows a processor, such as, for example, a primary processor, to utilize algorithms and look-up tables to recognize tissue characteristics and clamping positions and dynamically adjust the end effector 3000 and/or tissue clamped between the anvil 3002 and the staple cartridge 3006. fig. 13a illustrates an aspect of an end effector 5500 comprising a layer of conductive elements 5512. the end effector 5500 is similar to the end effector 3000 described above. the end effector 5500 comprises a first jaw member, or anvil, 5502 pivotally coupled to a second jaw member 5504. the second jaw member 5504 is configured to receive a staple cartridge 5506 therein. fig. 13b illustrates a detail view of a portion of the tissue compensator shown in fig. 13a . the conductive elements 5512 can comprise any combination of conductive materials in any number of configurations, such as for instance coils of wire, a mesh or grid of wires, conductive strips, conductive plates, electrical circuits, microprocessors, or any combination thereof. the layer containing conductive elements 5512 can be located on the anvil-facing surface 5514 of the tissue compensator 5510. alternatively or additionally, the layer of conductive elements 5512 can be located on the staple cartridge-facing surface 5516 of the tissue compensator 5510. the conductive elements 5512 may be employed to measure tissue thickness, force, displacement, compression, tissue impedance, and tissue location within the end effector 5500. additional examples are disclosed in patent application no. us 2016/0066912 ,. fig. 13c illustrates various example aspects that use the layer of conductive elements 5512 and conductive elements 5524, 5526, and 5528 in the staple cartridge 5506 to detect the distance between the anvil 5502 and the upper surface of the staple cartridge 5506. the distance between the anvil 5502 and the staple cartridge 5506 indicates the amount and/or density of tissue 5518 compressed therebetween. this distance can additionally or alternatively indicate which areas of the end effector 5500 contain tissue. the tissue 5518 thickness, density, and/or location can be communicated to the operator of the surgical instrument 10. in the illustrated example aspects, the layer of conductive elements 5512 is located on the anvil-facing surface 5514 of the tissue compensator 5510, and comprises one or more coils of wire 5522 in communication with a control circuit comprising a microprocessor 5520. the microprocessor 5500 can be located in the end effector 5500 or any component thereof, or can be located in the tool mounting housing 301 of the instrument, or can comprise any microprocessor or microcontroller previously described. in the illustrated example aspects, the staple cartridge 5506 also includes conductive elements, which can be any one of: one or more coils of wire 5524, one or more conductive plates 5526, a mesh of wires 5528, or any other convenient configuration, or any combination thereof. the conductive elements of the staple cartridge 5506 can be in communication with the same microprocessor 5520 or some other microprocessor in the robotic surgical instrument. the conductive elements 5512 may be employed to measure tissue thickness, force, displacement, compression, tissue impedance, and tissue location within the end effector 5500. when the anvil 5502 is in a closed position and thus is compressing tissue 5518 against staple cartridge 5506, the layer of conductive elements 5512 of the tissue compensator 5510 can capacitively couple with the conductors in staple cartridge 5506. the strength of the capacitive field between the layer of conductive elements 5512 and the conductive elements of the staple cartridge 5506 can be used to determine the amount of tissue 5518 being compressed. alternatively, the staple cartridge 5506 can comprise eddy current sensors in communication with a microprocessor 5520, wherein the eddy current sensors are operable to sense the distance between the anvil 5502 and the upper surface of the staple cartridge 5506 using eddy currents. it is understood that other configurations of conductive elements are possible, and that the aspects of fig. 13c are by way of example only, and not limitation. for example, in some aspects the layer of conductive elements 5512 can be located on the staple cartridge-facing surface 5516 of the tissue compensator 5510. also, in some aspects the conductive elements 5524, 5526, and/or 5528 can be located on or within the anvil 5502. thus in some aspects, the layer of conductive elements 5512 can capacitively couple with conductive elements in the anvil 5502 and thereby sense properties of tissue 5518 enclosed within the end effector. it can also be recognized that a layer of conductive elements 5512 may be disposed on both the anvil-facing surface 5514 and the cartridge-facing surface 5516. a system to detect the amount, density, and/or location of tissue 5518 compressed by the anvil 5502 against the staple cartridge 5506 can comprise conductors or sensors either in the anvil 5502, the staple cartridge 5506, or both. aspects that include conductors or sensors in both the anvil 5502 and the staple cartridge 5506 can optionally achieve enhanced results by allowing differential analysis of the signals that can be achieved by this configuration. turning now to fig. 14a , there is illustrated a close-up cutaway view of the end effector 5600 with the anvil 5602 in a closed position. fig. 14b illustrates the end effector 5600 comprising electrical conductors 5620 embedded within according to one aspect of this disclosure. in a closed position, the anvil 5602 can compress tissue 5618 between the tissue compensator 5610 and the staple cartridge 5606. in some cases, only a part of the end effector 5600 may be enclosing the tissue 5618. in areas of the end effector 5600 that are enclosing tissue 5618, in areas of greater compression 5624, the array of conductors 5620 will also be compressed, while in uncompressed 5626 areas, the array of conductors 5620 will be further apart. hence, the conductivity, resistance, capacitance, and/or some other electrical property between the array of conductors 5620 can indicate which areas of the end effector 5600 contain tissue. the array of conductors 5620 may be employed to measure tissue thickness, force, displacement, compression, tissue impedance, and tissue location within the end effector 5600. with reference to figs. 14a and 14b , the end effector 5600 comprising a tissue compensator 5610 further comprising conductors 5620 embedded within. the end effector 5600 comprises a first jaw member, or anvil 5602 pivotally coupled to a second jaw member 5604. the second jaw member 5604 is configured to receive a staple cartridge 5606 therein. in some aspects, the end effector 5600 further comprises a tissue compensator 5610 removably positioned on the anvil 5602 or the staple cartridge 5606. an array of conductors 5620 are embedded within the material that comprises the tissue compensator 5610. the array of conductors 5620 can be arranged in an opposing configuration, and the opposing elements can be separated by insulating material. the array of conductors 5620 are each coupled to one or more conductive wires 5622. the conductive wires 5622 allow the array of conductors 5620 to communicate with a microprocessor or control circuit 961 ( fig. 22 ), 800 ( fig. 23 ), 810 ( fig. 24 ), 820 ( fig. 25 ), 4420 ( fig. 26 ), 2510 ( fig. 30 ). the array of conductors 5620 may span the width of the tissue compensator 5610 such that they will be in the path of a cutting member or knife bar 280. as the knife bar 280 advances, it will sever, destroy, or otherwise disable the conductors 5620, and thereby indicate its position within the end effector 5600. the array of conductors 5610 can comprise conductive elements, electric circuits, microprocessors, or any combination thereof. figs. 15a and 15b illustrate an aspect of an end effector 5650 further comprising conductors 5662 embedded therein. the end effector 5650 comprises a first jaw member, or anvil, 5652 pivotally coupled to a second jaw member 5654. the second jaw member 5654 is configured to receive a staple cartridge 5656 therein. fig. 15a illustrates a cutaway view of the staple cartridge 5656. the cutaway view illustrates conductors 5670 embedded within the end effector. each of the conductors 5672 is coupled to a conductive wire 5672. the conductive wires 5672 allow the array of conductors 5672 to communicate with a microprocessor. the conductors 5672 may comprise conductive elements, electric circuits, microprocessors, or any combination thereof. fig. 15b illustrates a close-up side view of the end effector 5650 with the anvil 5652 in a closed position. in a closed position, the anvil 5652 can compress tissue 5658 against the staple cartridge 5656. the conductors 5672 embedded within the tissue compensator 5660 can be operable to apply pulses of electrical current 5674, at predetermined frequencies, to the tissue 5658. the same or additional conductors 5672 can detect the response of the tissue 5658 and transmit this response to a microprocessor or microcontroller located in the instrument. the response of the tissue 5658 to the electrical pulses 5674 can be used to determine a property of the tissue 5658. for example, the galvanic response of the tissue 5658 indicates the moisture content in the tissue 5658. as another example, measurement of the electrical impedance through the tissue 5658 could be used to determine the conductivity of the tissue 5648, which is an indicator of the tissue type. other properties that can be determined include by way of example and not limitation: oxygen content, salinity, density, and/or the presence of certain chemicals. by combining data from several sensors, other properties could be determined, such as blood flow, blood type, the presence of antibodies, etc. the conductors 5662 may be employed to measure tissue thickness, force, displacement, compression, tissue impedance, and tissue location within the end effector 5650. fig. 16 illustrates one aspect of a left-right segmented flexible circuit 4600. the left-right segmented flexible circuit 4600 comprises a plurality of segments l1-l5 on the left side of the left-right segmented flexible circuit 4600 and a plurality of segments r1-r5 on the right side of the left-right segmented flexible circuit 4600. each of the segments l1-l5 and r1-r5 comprise temperature sensors and/or force sensors to sense tissue parameters locally within each segment l1-l5 and r1-r5. the left-right segmented flexible circuit 4600 is configured to sense tissue parameters locally within each of the segments l1-l5 and r1-r5. the flexible circuit 4600 may be employed to measure tissue thickness, force, displacement, compression, tissue impedance, and tissue location within an end effector. fig. 17 illustrates one aspect of a segmented flexible circuit 6430 configured to fixedly attach to a jaw member 6434 of an end effector. the segmented flexible circuit 6430 comprises a distal segment 6432a and lateral segments 6432b, 6432c that include individually addressable sensors to provide local tissue presence detection. the segments 6432a, 6432b, 6432c are individually addressable to detect tissue and to measure tissue parameters based on individual sensors located within each of the segments 6432a, 6432b, 6432c. the segments 6432a, 6432b, 6432c of the segmented flexible circuit 6430 are mounted to the jaw member 6434 and are electrically coupled to an energy source such as an electrical circuit via electrical conductive elements 6436. a hall effect sensor 6438, or any suitable magnetic sensor, is located on a distal end of the jaw member 6434. the hall effect sensor 6438 operates in conjunction with a magnet to provide a measurement of an aperture defined by the jaw member 6434, which otherwise may be referred to as a tissue gap, as shown with particularity in fig. 19 . the segmented flexible circuit 6430 may be employed to measure tissue thickness, force, displacement, compression, tissue impedance, and tissue location within an end effector. fig. 18 illustrates one aspect of a segmented flexible circuit 6440 configured to mount to a jaw member 6444 of an end effector. the segmented flexible circuit 6580 comprises a distal segment 6442a and lateral segments 6442b, 6442c that include individually addressable sensors for tissue control. the segments 6442a, 6442b, 6442c are individually addressable to treat tissue and to read individual sensors located within each of the segments 6442a, 6442b, 6442c. the segments 6442a, 6442b, 6442c of the segmented flexible circuit 6440 are mounted to the jaw member 6444 and are electrically coupled to an energy source, via electrical conductive elements 6446. a hall effect sensor 6448, or other suitable magnetic sensor, is provided on a distal end of the jaw member 6444. the hall effect sensor 6448 operates in conjunction with a magnet to provide a measurement of an aperture defined by the jaw member 6444 of the end effector or tissue gap as shown with particularity in fig. 19 . in addition, a plurality of lateral asymmetric temperature sensors 6450a, 6450b are mounted on or formally integrally with the segmented flexible circuit 6440 to provide tissue temperature feedback to the control circuit. the segmented flexible circuit 6440 may be employed to measure tissue thickness, force, displacement, compression, tissue impedance, and tissue location within an end effector. fig. 19 illustrates one aspect of an end effector 6460 configured to measure a tissue gap g t . the end effector 6460 comprises a jaw member 6462 and a jaw member 6444. the flexible circuit 6440 as described in fig. 18 is mounted to the jaw member 6444. the flexible circuit 6440 comprises a hall effect sensor 6448 that operates with a magnet 6464 mounted to the jaw member 6462 to measure the tissue gap g t . this technique can be employed to measure the aperture defined between the jaw member 6444 and the jaw member 6462. the jaw member 6462 may be a staple cartridge. fig. 20 illustrates one aspect of an end effector 6470 comprising segmented flexible circuit 6468 as shown in fig. 16 . the end effector 6470 comprises a jaw member 6472 and a staple cartridge 6474. the segmented flexible circuit 6468 is mounted to the jaw member 6472. each of the sensors disposed within the segments 1-5 are configured to detect the presence of tissue positioned between the jaw member 6472 and the staple cartridge 6474 and represent tissue zones 1-5. in the configuration shown in fig. 20 , the end effector 6470 is shown in an open position ready to receive or grasp tissue between the jaw member 6472 and the staple cartridge 6474. the segmented flexible circuit 6468 may be employed to measure tissue thickness, force, displacement, compression, tissue impedance, and tissue location within the end effector 6470. fig. 21 illustrates the end effector 6470 shown in fig. 20 with the jaw member 6472 clamping tissue 6476 between the jaw members 6472, e.g., the anvil and the staple cartridge. as shown in fig. 21 , the tissue 6476 is positioned between segments 1-3 and represents tissue zones 1-3. accordingly, tissue 6476 is detected by the sensors in segments 1-3 and the absence of tissue (empty) is detected in section 6478 by segments 4-5. the information regarding the presence and absence of tissue 6476 positioned within certain segments 1-3 and 4-5, respectively, is communicated to a control circuit as described herein via interface circuits, for example. the control circuit is configured to detect tissue located in segments 1-3. it will be appreciated that the segments 1-5 may contain any suitable temperature, force/pressure, and/or hall effect magnetic sensors to measure tissue parameters of tissue located within certain segments 1-5 and electrodes to deliver energy to tissue located in certain segments 1-5. the segmented flexible circuit 6468 may be employed to measure tissue thickness, force, displacement, compression, tissue impedance, and tissue location within the end effector 6470. fig. 22 illustrates a logic diagram of a feedback system 970 of the robotic surgical system 10 of fig. 1 in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. the system 970 comprises a circuit. the circuit includes a controller 961 comprising a processor 962 and a memory 968. one or more of sensors 972, 974, 976, such as, for example, provide real time feedback to the processor 962. a motor 982 driven by a motor driver 992 operably couples a longitudinally movable displacement member to drive the i-beam knife element. a tracking system 980 is configured to determine the position of the longitudinally movable displacement member. the position information is provided to the processor 962, which can be programmed or configured to determine the position of the longitudinally movable drive member as well as the position of a firing member, firing bar, and i-beam knife element. additional motors may be provided at the tool driver interface to control i-beam firing, closure tube travel, shaft rotation, and articulation. in one form, a strain gauge can be used to measure the force applied to the tissue by the end effector. a strain gauge can be coupled to the end effector to measure the force on the tissue being treated by the end effector. with reference now to fig. 22 , a system 970 for measuring forces applied to the tissue grasped by the end effector comprises a strain gauge sensor 972, such as, for example, a micro-strain gauge, is configured to measure one or more parameters of the end effector, for example. in one aspect, the strain gauge sensor 972 can measure the amplitude or magnitude of the strain exerted on a jaw member of an end effector during a clamping operation, which can be indicative of the tissue compression. the measured strain is converted to a digital signal and provided to a processor 962 of a microcontroller 961. a load sensor 974 can measure the force to operate the knife element, for example, to cut the tissue captured between the anvil and the staple cartridge. a magnetic field sensor 976 can be employed to measure the thickness of the captured tissue. the measurement of the magnetic field sensor 976 also may be converted to a digital signal and provided to the processor 962. the measurements of the tissue compression, the tissue thickness, and/or the force required to close the end effector on the tissue, as respectively measured by the sensors 972, 974, 976, can be used by the microcontroller 961 to characterize the selected position of the firing member and/or the corresponding value of the speed of the firing member. in one instance, a memory 968 may store a technique, an equation, and/or a look-up table which can be employed by the microcontroller 961 in the assessment. in the aspect illustrated in fig. 22 , a sensor 972, such as, for example, a strain gauge or a micro-strain gauge, is configured to measure one or more parameters of the end effector 912, such as, for example, the amplitude of the strain exerted on the anvil 914 during a clamping operation, which can be indicative of the closure forces applied to the anvil 914. the measured strain is converted to a digital signal and provided to the processor 962. alternatively, or in addition to the sensor 972, a sensor 974, such as, for example, a load sensor, can measure the closure force applied by the closure drive system to the anvil 914. the sensor 976, such as, for example, a load sensor, can measure the firing force applied to an i-beam in a firing stroke of the robotic surgical system 10 ( fig. 1 ). the i-beam is configured to engage a wedge sled, which is configured to upwardly cam staple drivers to force out staples into deforming contact with an anvil. the i-beam also includes a sharpened cutting edge that can be used to sever tissue as the i-beam is advanced distally by the firing bar. alternatively, a current sensor 978 can be employed to measure the current drawn by the motor 982. the force required to advance the firing member 220 can correspond to the current drawn by the motor 982, for example. the measured force is converted to a digital signal and provided to the processor 962. fig. 23 illustrates a control circuit configured to control aspects of the robotic surgical system 10 according to one aspect of this disclosure. fig. 23 illustrates a control circuit 800 configured to control aspects of the robotic surgical system 10 according to one aspect of this disclosure. the control circuit 800 can be configured to implement various processes described herein. the control circuit 800 may comprise a controller comprising one or more processors 802 (e.g., microprocessor, microcontroller) coupled to at least one memory circuit 804. the memory circuit 804 stores machine executable instructions that when executed by the processor 802, cause the processor 802 to execute machine instructions to implement various processes described herein. the processor 802 may be any one of a number of single or multicore processors known in the art. the memory circuit 804 may comprise volatile and non-volatile storage media. the processor 802 may include an instruction processing unit 806 and an arithmetic unit 808. the instruction processing unit may be configured to receive instructions from the memory circuit 804 of this disclosure. fig. 24 illustrates a combinational logic circuit 810 configured to control aspects of the robotic surgical system 10 according to one aspect of this disclosure. the combinational logic circuit 810 can be configured to implement various processes described herein. the circuit 810 may comprise a finite state machine comprising a combinational logic circuit 812 configured to receive data associated with the robotic surgical system 10 at an input 814, process the data by the combinational logic 812, and provide an output 816. fig. 25 illustrates a sequential logic circuit 820 configured to control aspects of the robotic surgical system 10 according to one aspect of this disclosure. the sequential logic circuit 820 or the combinational logic circuit 822 can be configured to implement various processes described herein. the circuit 820 may comprise a finite state machine. the sequential logic circuit 820 may comprise a combinational logic circuit 822, at least one memory circuit 824, and a clock 829, for example. the at least one memory circuit 820 can store a current state of the finite state machine. in certain instances, the sequential logic circuit 820 may be synchronous or asynchronous. the combinational logic circuit 822 is configured to receive data associated with the robotic surgical system 10 an input 826, process the data by the combinational logic circuit 822, and provide an output 828. in other aspects, the circuit may comprise a combination of the processor 802 and the finite state machine to implement various processes herein. in other aspects, the finite state machine may comprise a combination of the combinational logic circuit 810 and the sequential logic circuit 820. aspects may be implemented as an article of manufacture. the article of manufacture may include a computer readable storage medium arranged to store logic, instructions, and/or data for performing various operations of one or more aspects. for example, the article of manufacture may comprise a magnetic disk, optical disk, flash memory, or firmware containing computer program instructions suitable for execution by a general purpose processor or application specific processor. referring primarily to fig. 26 a robotic surgical system 10 may include a plurality of motors which can be activated to perform various functions. in certain instances, a first motor can be activated to perform a first function; a second motor can be activated to perform a second function; a third motor can be activated to perform a third function, a fourth motor can be activated to perform a fourth function, and so on. in certain instances, the plurality of motors of the robotic surgical instrument 4400 can be individually activated to cause firing, closure and/or articulation motions in the end effector 1012. the firing, closure and/or articulation motions can be transmitted to the end effector 1012 through the shaft assembly 200, for example. in certain instances, the robotic surgical system 10 may include a firing motor 4402. the firing motor 4402 may be operably coupled to a firing drive assembly 4404 which can be configured to transmit firing motions generated by the motor 4402 to the end effector 1012, and in particular to displace the i-beam element. in certain instances, the firing motions generated by the motor 4402 may cause the staples to be deployed from the staple cartridge into tissue captured by the end effector and/or the cutting edge of the i-beam element to be advanced to cut the captured tissue, for example. the i-beam element may be retracted by reversing the direction of the motor 4402. in certain instances, the robotic surgical system 10 may include a closure motor 4403. the closure motor 4403 may be operably coupled to a closure drive assembly 4405 which can be configured to transmit closure motions generated by the motor 4403 to the end effector 1012, and in particular to displace the closure tube 1040, 1042 to close the anvil 1024 and compress tissue between the anvil 1024 and the staple cartridge 1034. the closure motions may cause the end effector 1012 to transition from an open configuration to an approximated configuration to capture tissue, for example. the end effector 102 may be transitioned to an open position by reversing the direction of the motor 4403. in certain instances, the robotic surgical instrument 10 may include one or more articulation motors 4406a, 4406b, for example. the motors 4406a, 4406b may be operably coupled to respective articulation drive assemblies 4408a, 4408b, which can be configured to transmit articulation motions generated by the motors 4406a, 4406b to the end effector 1012. in certain instances, the articulation motions may cause the end effector to articulate relative to the shaft, for example. as described above, the robotic surgical instrument 10 may include a plurality of motors which may be configured to perform various independent functions. in certain instances, the plurality of motors of the robotic surgical instrument 10 can be individually or separately activated to perform one or more functions while the other motors remain inactive. for example, the articulation motors 4406a, 4406b can be activated to cause the end effector to be articulated while the firing motor 4402 remains inactive. alternatively, the firing motor 4402 can be activated to fire the plurality of staples and/or advance the cutting edge while the articulation motor 4406 remains inactive. furthermore the closure motor 4403 may be activated simultaneously with the firing motor 4402 to cause the closure tube 1040, 1042 and the i-beam element to advance distally as described in more detail hereinbelow. in certain instances, the robotic surgical system 10 may include a common control module 4410 which can be employed with a plurality of motors of the robotic surgical instrument 10. in certain instances, the common control module 4410 may accommodate one of the plurality of motors at a time. for example, the common control module 4410 can be separably couplable to the plurality of motors of the robotic surgical instrument 10 individually. in certain instances, a plurality of the motors of the robotic surgical instrument 10 may share one or more common control modules such as the module 4410. in certain instances, a plurality of motors of the robotic surgical instrument 10 can be individually and selectively engaged the common control module 4410. in certain instances, the module 4410 can be selectively switched from interfacing with one of a plurality of motors of the robotic surgical instrument 10 to interfacing with another one of the plurality of motors of the robotic surgical instrument 10. in at least one example, the module 4410 can be selectively switched between operable engagement with the articulation motors 4406a, 4406b and operable engagement with either the firing motor 4402 or the closure motor 4403. in at least one example, as illustrated in fig. 26 , a switch 4414 can be moved or transitioned between a plurality of positions and/or states. in a first position 4416 the switch 4414 may electrically couple the module 4410 to the firing motor 4402; in a second position 4417, the switch 4414 may electrically couple the module 4410 to the closure motor 4403; in a third position 4418a the switch 4414 may electrically couple the module 4410 to the first articulation motor 4406a; and in a fourth position 4418b the switch 4414 may electrically couple the module 4410 to the second articulation motor 4406b, for example. in certain instances, separate modules 4410 can be electrically coupled to the firing motor 4402, the closure motor 4403, and the articulations motor 4406a, 4406b at the same time, as shown, for example in fig. 30 . in certain instances, the switch 4414 may be a mechanical switch, an electromechanical switch, a solid state switch, or any suitable switching mechanism. each of the motors 4402, 4403, 4406a, 4406b may comprise a torque sensor to measure the output torque on the shaft of the motor. the force on an end effector may be sensed in any conventional manner such as by force sensors on the outer sides of the jaws or by a torque sensor for the motor actuating the jaws. in various instances, as illustrated in fig. 26 , the common control module 4410 may comprise a motor driver 4426 which may comprise one or more h-bridge field-effect transistors (fets). the motor driver 4426 may modulate the power transmitted from a power source 4428 to a motor coupled to the module 4410 based on input from a microcontroller 4420 ("controller"), for example. in certain instances, the controller 4420 can be employed to determine the current drawn by the motor, for example, while the motor is coupled to the module 4410, as described above. in certain instances, the controller 4420 may include a microprocessor 4422 ("processor") and one or more computer readable mediums or memory units 4424 ("memory"). in certain instances, the memory 4424 may store various program instructions, which when executed may cause the processor 4422 to perform a plurality of functions and/or calculations described herein. in certain instances, one or more of the memory units 4424 may be coupled to the processor 4422, for example. in certain instances, the power source 4428 can be employed to supply power to the controller 4420, for example. in certain instances, the power source 4428 may comprise a battery (or "battery pack" or "power pack"), such as a li ion battery, for example. in certain instances, the battery pack may be configured to be releasably mounted to the handle 14 for supplying power to the surgical instrument 4400. a number of battery cells connected in series may be used as the power source 4428. in certain instances, the power source 4428 may be replaceable and/or rechargeable, for example. in various instances, the processor 4422 may control the motor driver 4426 to control the position, direction of rotation, and/or velocity of a motor that is coupled to the module 4410. in certain instances, the processor 4422 can signal the motor driver 4426 to stop and/or disable a motor that is coupled to the module 4410. it should be understood that the term processor as used herein includes any suitable microprocessor, microcontroller, or other basic computing device that incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit (cpu) on an integrated circuit or at most a few integrated circuits. the processor is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. it is an example of sequential digital logic, as it has internal memory. processors operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary numeral system. in one instance, the processor 4422 may be any single core or multicore processor such as those known under the trade name arm cortex by texas instruments. in certain instances, the microcontroller 4420 may be an lm 4f230h5qr, available from texas instruments, for example. in at least one example, the texas instruments lm4f230h5qr is an arm cortex-m4f processor core comprising on-chip memory of 256 kb single-cycle flash memory, or other non-volatile memory, up to 40 mhz, a prefetch buffer to improve performance above 40 mhz, a 32 kb single-cycle sram, internal rom loaded with stellarisware ® software, 2 kb eeprom, one or more pwm modules, one or more qei analog, one or more 12-bit adc with 12 analog input channels, among other features that are readily available for the product datasheet. other microcontrollers may be readily substituted for use with the module 4410. accordingly, the present disclosure should not be limited in this context. in certain instances, the memory 4424 may include program instructions for controlling each of the motors of the surgical instrument 4400 that are couplable to the module 4410. for example, the memory 4424 may include program instructions for controlling the firing motor 4402, the closure motor 4403, and the articulation motors 4406a, 4406b. such program instructions may cause the processor 4422 to control the firing, closure, and articulation functions in accordance with inputs from algorithms or control programs of the robotic surgical system 10. in certain instances, one or more mechanisms and/or sensors such as, for example, sensors 4430 can be employed to alert the processor 4422 to the program instructions that should be used in a particular setting. for example, the sensors 4430 may alert the processor 4422 to use the program instructions associated with firing, closing, and articulating the end effector 1012. in certain instances, the sensors 4430 may comprise position sensors which can be employed to sense the position of the switch 4414, for example. accordingly, the processor 4422 may use the program instructions associated with firing the i-beam of the end effector 1012 upon detecting, through the sensors 4430 for example, that the switch 4414 is in the first position 4416; the processor 4422 may use the program instructions associated with closing the anvil upon detecting, through the sensors 4430 for example, that the switch 4414 is in the second position 4417; and the processor 4422 may use the program instructions associated with articulating the end effector 1012 upon detecting, through the sensors 4430 for example, that the switch 4418a, 4418b is in the third or fourth position 4418a, 4418b. fig. 27 is a diagram of an absolute positioning system 11100 of the robotic surgical instrument 10 where the absolute positioning system 11100 comprises a controlled motor drive circuit arrangement comprising a sensor arrangement 11102 according to one aspect of this disclosure. the sensor arrangement 11102 for an absolute positioning system 11100 provides a unique position signal corresponding to the location of a displacement member 11111. in one aspect the displacement member 11111 represents the longitudinally movable drive member coupled to the cutting instrument or knife (e.g., cutting instrument 1032 in fig. 11a , i-beam 3005 in fig. 12 , and/or i-beam 2514 in figs. 29-30 ) comprising the first knife driven gear 1226 in meshing engagement with the knife spur gear 1222, the second knife drive gear 1228 in meshing engagement with a third knife drive gear 1230 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 302 in meshing engagement with the knife rack gear 1206. in other aspects, the displacement member 11111 represents a firing member coupled to the cutting instrument or knife, which could be adapted and configured to include a rack of drive teeth. in yet another aspect, the displacement member 11111 represents a firing bar or the i-beam 3005, 2514 ( figs. 12 , 30 ), each of which can be adapted and configured to include a rack of drive teeth. accordingly, as used herein, the term displacement member is used generically to refer to any movable member of the robotic surgical instrument 10 such as a drive member, firing member, firing bar, cutting instrument, knife, and/or i-beam, or any element that can be displaced. accordingly, the absolute positioning system 11100 can, in effect, track the displacement of the cutting instrument i-beam 3005, 2514 ( figs. 12 , 29-30 ) by tracking the displacement of a longitudinally movable drive member. in various other aspects, the displacement member 11111 may be coupled to any sensor suitable for measuring displacement. thus, a longitudinally movable drive member, firing member, the firing bar, or i-beam, or combinations thereof, may be coupled to any suitable displacement sensor. displacement sensors may include contact or non-contact displacement sensors. displacement sensors may comprise linear variable differential transformers (lvdt), differential variable reluctance transducers (dvrt), a slide potentiometer, a magnetic sensing system comprising a movable magnet and a series of linearly arranged hall effect sensors, a magnetic sensing system comprising a fixed magnet and a series of movable linearly arranged hall effect sensors, an optical sensing system comprising a movable light source and a series of linearly arranged photo diodes or photo detectors, or an optical sensing system comprising a fixed light source and a series of movable linearly arranged photo diodes or photo detectors, or any combination thereof. an electric motor 11120 can include a rotatable shaft 11116 that operably interfaces with a gear assembly 11114 that is mounted in meshing engagement with a set, or rack, of drive teeth on the displacement member 11111. a sensor element 11126 may be operably coupled to a gear assembly 11114 such that a single revolution of the sensor element 11126 corresponds to some linear longitudinal translation of the displacement member 11111. an arrangement of gearing and sensors 11118 can be connected to the linear actuator via a rack and pinion arrangement or a rotary actuator via a spur gear or other connection. a power source 11129 supplies power to the absolute positioning system 11100 and an output indicator 11128 may display the output of the absolute positioning system 11100. the interface for adapting to the motor 11120 is shown in figs. 4-6 , 8-10 , and 11a, 11b . a single revolution of the sensor element 11126 associated with the position sensor 11112 is equivalent to a longitudinal displacement d1 of the of the displacement member 11111, where d1 is the longitudinal distance that the displacement member 11111 moves from point "a" to point "b" after a single revolution of the sensor element 11126 coupled to the displacement member 11111. the sensor arrangement 11102 may be connected via a gear reduction that results in the position sensor 11112 completing one or more revolutions for the full stroke of the displacement member 11111. the position sensor 11112 may complete multiple revolutions for the full stroke of the displacement member 11111. a series of switches 11122a-11122n, where n is an integer greater than one, may be employed alone or in combination with gear reduction to provide a unique position signal for more than one revolution of the position sensor 11112. the state of the switches 11122a-11122n are fed back to a controller 11104 that applies logic to determine a unique position signal corresponding to the longitudinal displacement d1 + d2 + ... dn of the displacement member 11111. the output 11124 of the position sensor 11112 is provided to the controller 11104. the position sensor 11112 of the sensor arrangement 11102 may comprise a magnetic sensor, an analog rotary sensor like a potentiometer, an array of analog hall-effect elements, which output a unique combination of position signals or values. the controller 11104 may be contained within the master controller 11 or may be contained within the tool mounting portion housing 301. the absolute positioning system 11100 provides an absolute position of the displacement member 11111 upon power up of the robotic surgical instrument 10 without retracting or advancing the displacement member 11111 to a reset (zero or home) position as may be required with conventional rotary encoders that merely count the number of steps forwards or backwards that the motor 11120 has taken to infer the position of a device actuator, drive bar, knife, and the like. the controller 11104 may be programmed to perform various functions such as precise control over the speed and position of the knife and articulation systems. in one aspect, the controller 11104 includes a processor 11108 and a memory 11106. the electric motor 11120 may be a brushed dc motor with a gearbox and mechanical links to an articulation or knife system. in one aspect, a motor driver 11110 may be an a3941 available from allegro microsystems, inc. other motor drivers may be readily substituted for use in the absolute positioning system 11100. the controller 11104 may be programmed to provide precise control over the speed and position of the displacement member 11111 and articulation systems. the controller 11104 may be configured to compute a response in the software of the controller 11104. the computed response is compared to a measured response of the actual system to obtain an "observed" response, which is used for actual feedback decisions. the observed response is a favorable, tuned, value that balances the smooth, continuous nature of the simulated response with the measured response, which can detect outside influences on the system. the absolute positioning system 11100 may comprise and/or be programmed to implement a feedback controller, such as a pid, state feedback, and adaptive controller. a power source 11129 converts the signal from the feedback controller into a physical input to the system, in this case voltage. other examples include pulse width modulation (pwm) of the voltage, current, and force. other sensor(s) 11118 may be provided to measure physical parameters of the physical system in addition to position measured by the position sensor 11112. in a digital signal processing system, absolute positioning system 1100 is coupled to a digital data acquisition system where the output of the absolute positioning system 11100 will have finite resolution and sampling frequency. the absolute positioning system 11100 may comprise a compare and combine circuit to combine a computed response with a measured response using algorithms such as weighted average and theoretical control loop that drives the computed response towards the measured response. the computed response of the physical system takes into account properties like mass, inertial, viscous friction, inductance resistance, etc., to predict what the states and outputs of the physical system will be by knowing the input. the motor driver 11110 may be an a3941 available from allegro microsystems, inc. the a3941 driver 11110 is a full-bridge controller for use with external n-channel power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (mosfets) specifically designed for inductive loads, such as brush dc motors. the driver 11110 comprises a unique charge pump regulator provides full (>10 v) gate drive for battery voltages down to 7 v and allows the a3941 to operate with a reduced gate drive, down to 5.5 v. a bootstrap capacitor may be employed to provide the above-battery supply voltage required for n-channel mosfets. an internal charge pump for the high-side drive allows dc (100% duty cycle) operation. the full bridge can be driven in fast or slow decay modes using diode or synchronous rectification. in the slow decay mode, current recirculation can be through the high-side or the lowside fets. the power fets are protected from shoot-through by resistor adjustable dead time. integrated diagnostics provide indication of undervoltage, overtemperature, and power bridge faults, and can be configured to protect the power mosfets under most short circuit conditions. other motor drivers may be readily substituted for use in the absolute positioning system 11100. fig. 28 is a diagram of a position sensor 11200 for an absolute positioning system 11100 comprising a magnetic rotary absolute positioning system according to one aspect of this disclosure. the position sensor 11200 may be implemented as an as5055eqft single-chip magnetic rotary position sensor available from austria microsystems, ag. the position sensor 11200 is interfaced with the controller 11104 to provide an absolute positioning system 11100. the position sensor 11200 is a low-voltage and low-power component and includes four hall-effect elements 11228a, 11228b, 11228c, 11228d in an area 11230 of the position sensor 11200 that is located above a magnet 11202 positioned on a rotating element associated with a displacement member such as, for example, the knife drive gear 1228, 1230 and/or the closure drive gear 1118, 1120 such that the displacement of a firing member and/or a closure member can be precisely tracked. a high-resolution adc 11232 and a smart power management controller 11238 are also provided on the chip. a cordic processor 11236 (for coordinate rotation digital computer), also known as the digit-by-digit method and volder's algorithm, is provided to implement a simple and efficient algorithm to calculate hyperbolic and trigonometric functions that require only addition, subtraction, bitshift, and table lookup operations. the angle position, alarm bits, and magnetic field information are transmitted over a standard serial communication interface such as an spi interface 11234 to the controller 11104. the position sensor 11200 provides 12 or 14 bits of resolution. the position sensor 11200 may be an as5055 chip provided in a small qfn 16-pin 4x4x0.85mm package. the hall-effect elements 11228a, 11228b, 11228c, 11228d are located directly above the rotating magnet 11202. the hall-effect is a well-known effect and for expediency will not be described in detail herein, however, generally, the hall-effect produces a voltage difference (the hall voltage) across an electrical conductor transverse to an electric current in the conductor and a magnetic field perpendicular to the current. a hall coefficient is defined as the ratio of the induced electric field to the product of the current density and the applied magnetic field. it is a characteristic of the material from which the conductor is made, since its value depends on the type, number, and properties of the charge carriers that constitute the current. in the as5055 position sensor 11200, the hall-effect elements 11228a, 11228b, 11228c, 11228d are capable producing a voltage signal that is indicative of the absolute position of the magnet 11202 in terms of the angle over a single revolution of the magnet 11202. this value of the angle, which is unique position signal, is calculated by the cordic processor 11236 is stored onboard the as5055 position sensor 11200 in a register or memory. the value of the angle that is indicative of the position of the magnet 11202 over one revolution is provided to the controller 11104 in a variety of techniques, e.g., upon power up or upon request by the controller 11104. the as5055 position sensor 11200 requires only a few external components to operate when connected to the controller 11104. six wires are needed for a simple application using a single power supply: two wires for power and four wires 11240 for the spi interface 11234 with the controller 11104. a seventh connection can be added in order to send an interrupt to the controller 11104 to inform that a new valid angle can be read. upon power-up, the as5055 position sensor 11200 performs a full power-up sequence including one angle measurement. the completion of this cycle is indicated as an int output 11242, and the angle value is stored in an internal register. once this output is set, the as5055 position sensor 11200 suspends to sleep mode. the controller 11104 can respond to the int request at the int output 11242 by reading the angle value from the as5055 position sensor 11200 over the spi interface 11234. once the angle value is read by the controller 11104, the int output 11242 is cleared again. sending a "read angle" command by the spi interface 11234 by the controller 11104 to the position sensor 11200 also automatically powers up the chip and starts another angle measurement. as soon as the controller 11104 has completed reading of the angle value, the int output 11242 is cleared and a new result is stored in the angle register. the completion of the angle measurement is again indicated by setting the int output 11242 and a corresponding flag in the status register. due to the measurement principle of the as5055 position sensor 11200, only a single angle measurement is performed in very short time (~600µs) after each power-up sequence. as soon as the measurement of one angle is completed, the as5055 position sensor 11200 suspends to power-down state. an on-chip filtering of the angle value by digital averaging is not implemented, as this would require more than one angle measurement and, consequently, a longer power-up time that is not desired in low-power applications. the angle jitter can be reduced by averaging of several angle samples in the controller 11104. for example, an averaging of four samples reduces the jitter by 6db (50%). fig. 29 is a section view of an end effector 2502 of the robotic surgical instrument 10 showing an i-beam 2514 firing stroke relative to tissue 2526 grasped within the end effector 2502 according to one aspect of this disclosure. the end effector 2502 is configured to operate with the surgical instrument 10. the end effector 2502 comprises an anvil 2516 and an elongated channel 2503 with a staple cartridge 2518 positioned in the elongated channel 2503. a firing bar 2520 is translatable distally and proximally along a longitudinal axis 2515 of the end effector 2502. when the end effector 2502 is not articulated, the end effector 2502 is in line with the shaft of the instrument. an i-beam 2514 comprising a cutting edge 2509 is illustrated at a distal portion of the firing bar 2520. a wedge sled 2513 is positioned in the staple cartridge 2518. as the i-beam 2514 translates distally, the cutting edge 2509 contacts and may cut tissue 2526 positioned between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518. also, the i-beam 2514 contacts the wedge sled 2513 and pushes it distally, causing the wedge sled 2513 to contact staple drivers 2511. the staple drivers 2511 may be driven up into staples 2505, causing the staples 2505 to advance through tissue and into pockets 2507 defined in the anvil 2516, which shape the staples 2505. an example i-beam 2514 firing stroke is illustrated by a chart 2529 aligned with the end effector 2502. example tissue 2526 is also shown aligned with the end effector 2502. the firing member stroke may comprise a stroke begin position 2527 and a stroke end position 2528. during an i-beam 2514 firing stroke, the i-beam 2514 may be advanced distally from the stroke begin position 2527 to the stroke end position 2528. the i-beam 2514 is shown at one example location of a stroke begin position 2527. the i-beam 2514 firing member stroke chart 2529 illustrates five firing member stroke regions 2517, 2519, 2521, 2523, 2525. in a first firing stroke region 2517, the i-beam 2514 may begin to advance distally. in the first firing stroke region 2517, the i-beam 2514 may contact the wedge sled 2513 and begin to move it distally. while in the first region, however, the cutting edge 2509 may not contact tissue and the wedge sled 2513 may not contact a staple driver 2511. after static friction is overcome, the force to drive the i-beam 2514 in the first region 2517 may be substantially constant. in the second firing member stroke region 2519, the cutting edge 2509 may begin to contact and cut tissue 2526. also, the wedge sled 2513 may begin to contact staple drivers 2511 to drive staples 2505. force to drive the i-beam 2514 may begin to ramp up. as shown, tissue encountered initially may be compressed and/or thinner because of the way that the anvil 2516 pivots relative to the staple cartridge 2518. in the third firing member stroke region 2521, the cutting edge 2509 may continuously contact and cut tissue 2526 and the wedge sled 2513 may repeatedly contact staple drivers 2511. force to drive the i-beam 2514 may plateau in the third region 2521. by the fourth firing stroke region 2523, force to drive the i-beam 2514 may begin to decline. for example, tissue in the portion of the end effector 2502 corresponding to the fourth firing region 2523 may be less compressed than tissue closer to the pivot point of the anvil 2516, requiring less force to cut. also, the cutting edge 2509 and wedge sled 2513 may reach the end of the tissue 2526 while in the fourth region 2523. when the i-beam 2514 reaches the fifth region 2525, the tissue 2526 may be completely severed. the wedge sled 2513 may contact one or more staple drivers 2511 at or near the end of the tissue. force to advance the i-beam 2514 through the fifth region 2525 may be reduced and, in some examples, may be similar to the force to drive the i-beam 2514 in the first region 2517. at the conclusion of the firing member stroke, the i-beam 2514 may reach the stroke end position 2528. the positioning of firing member stroke regions 2517, 2519, 2521, 2523, 2525 in fig. 29 is just one example. in some examples, different regions may begin at different positions along the end effector longitudinal axis 2515, for example, based on the positioning of tissue between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518. as discussed above and with reference now to figs. 27-29 , the electric motor 11122 positioned within the master controller 13 of the surgical instrument 10 can be utilized to advance and/or retract the firing system of the shaft assembly, including the i-beam 2514, relative to the end effector 2502 of the shaft assembly in order to staple and/or incise tissue captured within the end effector 2502. the i-beam 2514 may be advanced or retracted at a desired speed, or within a range of desired speeds. the controller 1104 may be configured to control the speed of the i-beam 2514. the controller 11104 may be configured to predict the speed of the i-beam 2514 based on various parameters of the power supplied to the electric motor 11122, such as voltage and/or current, for example, and/or other operating parameters of the electric motor 11122 or external influences. the controller 11104 may be configured to predict the current speed of the i-beam 2514 based on the previous values of the current and/or voltage supplied to the electric motor 11122, and/or previous states of the system like velocity, acceleration, and/or position. the controller 11104 may be configured to sense the speed of the i-beam 2514 utilizing the absolute positioning sensor system described herein. the controller can be configured to compare the predicted speed of the i-beam 2514 and the sensed speed of the i-beam 2514 to determine whether the power to the electric motor 11122 should be increased in order to increase the speed of the i-beam 2514 and/or decreased in order to decrease the speed of the i-beam 2514. force acting on the i-beam 2514 may be determined using various techniques. the i-beam 2514 force may be determined by measuring the motor 2504 current, where the motor 2504 current is based on the load experienced by the i-beam 2514 as it advances distally. the i-beam 2514 force may be determined by positioning a strain gauge on the drive member, the firing member, i-beam 2514, the firing bar, and/or on a proximal end of the cutting edge 2509. the i-beam 2514 force may be determined by monitoring the actual position of the i-beam 2514 moving at an expected velocity based on the current set velocity of the motor 11122 after a predetermined elapsed period t 1 and comparing the actual position of the i-beam 2514 relative to the expected position of the i-beam 2514 based on the current set velocity of the motor 11122 at the end of the period t 1 . thus, if the actual position of the i-beam 2514 is less than the expected position of the i-beam 2514, the force on the i-beam 2514 is greater than a nominal force. conversely, if the actual position of the i-beam 2514 is greater than the expected position of the i-beam 2514, the force on the i-beam 2514 is less than the nominal force. the difference between the actual and expected positions of the i-beam 2514 is proportional to the deviation of the force on the i-beam 2514 from the nominal force. fig. 30 is a schematic diagram of a robotic surgical instrument 2500 configured to operate the surgical tool described herein according to one aspect of this disclosure. the robotic surgical instrument 2500 may be programmed or configured to control distal/proximal translation of a displacement member, closure tube distal/proximal displacement, shaft rotation, and articulation, either with single or multiple articulation drive links. in one aspect, the surgical instrument 2500 may be programmed or configured to individually control a firing member, a closure member, a shaft member, and/or one or more articulation members. the surgical instrument 2500 comprises a control circuit 2510 configured to control motor-driven firing members, closure members, shaft members, and/or one or more articulation members. in one aspect, the robotic surgical instrument 2500 comprises a control circuit 2510 configured to control an anvil 2516 and an i-beam 2514 (including a sharp cutting edge) portion of an end effector 2502, a removable staple cartridge 2518, a shaft 2540, and one or more articulation members 2542a, 2542b via a plurality of motors 2504a-2504e. a position sensor 2534 may be configured to provide position feedback of the i-beam 2514 to the control circuit 2510. other sensors 2538 may be configured to provide feedback to the control circuit 2510. a timer/counter 2531 provides timing and counting information to the control circuit 2510. an energy source 2512 may be provided to operate the motors 2504a-2504e and a current sensor 2536 provides motor current feedback to the control circuit 2510. the motors 2504a-2504e can be individually operated by the control circuit 2510 in open loop or closed loop feedback control. in one aspect, the control circuit 2510, may comprise one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other suitable processors for executing instructions that cause the processor or processors. the control circuit 2510 may be implemented as control circuit 961 ( fig. 22 ), 800 ( fig. 23 ), 810 ( fig. 24 ), 820 ( fig. 25 ), 4420 ( fig. 26 ). in one aspect, a timer/counter circuit 2531 provides an output signal, such as elapsed time or a digital count, to the control circuit 2510 to correlate the position of the i-beam 2514 as determined by the position sensor 2534 with the output of the timer/counter circuit 2531 such that the control circuit 2510 can determine the position of the i-beam 2514 at a specific time (t) relative to a starting position or the time (t) when the i-beam 2514 is at a specific position relative to a starting position. the timer/counter circuit 2531 may be configured to measure elapsed time, count external evens, or time external events. in one aspect, the control circuit 2510 may be programmed to control functions of the end effector 2502 based on one or more tissue conditions. the control circuit 2510 may be programmed to sense tissue conditions, such as thickness, either directly or indirectly, as described herein. the control circuit 2510 may be programmed to select a firing control program or closure control program based on tissue conditions. a firing control program may describe the distal motion of the displacement member. different firing control programs may be selected to better treat different tissue conditions. for example, when thicker tissue is present, the control circuit 2510 may be programmed to translate the displacement member at a lower velocity and/or with lower power. when thinner tissue is present, the control circuit 2510 may be programmed to translate the displacement member at a higher velocity and/or with higher power. a closure control program may control the closure force applied to the tissue by the anvil 2516. other control programs control the rotation of the shaft 2540 and the articulation members 2542a, 2542b. in one aspect, the control circuit 2510 may generate motor set point signals. the motor set point signals may be provided to various motor controllers 2508a-2508e. the motor controllers 2508a-2508e may comprise one or more circuits configured to provide motor drive signals to the motors 2504a-2504e to drive the motors 2504a-2504e as described herein. in some examples, the motors 2504a-2504e may be brushed dc electric motors. for example, the velocity of the motors 2504a-2504e may be proportional to the respective motor drive signals. in some examples, the motors 2504a-2540e may be brushless direct current (dc) electric motors and the respective motor drive signals 2524a-2524e may comprise a pulse-width-modulated (pwm) signal provided to one or more stator windings of the motors 2504a-2504e. also, in some examples, the motor controllers 2508a-2508e may be omitted and the control circuit 2510 may generate the motor drive signals 2524a-2524e directly. in one aspect, the control circuit 2510 may initially operate each of the motors 2504a-2504e in an open-loop configuration for a first open-loop portion of a stroke of the displacement member. based on a response of the instrument 2500 during the open-loop portion of the stroke, the control circuit 2510 may select a firing control program in a closed-loop configuration. the response of the instrument may include, a translation distance of the displacement member during the open-loop portion, a time elapsed during the open-loop portion, energy provided to the motor 2504 during the open-loop portion, a sum of pulse widths of a motor drive signal, etc. after the open-loop portion, the control circuit 2510 may implement the selected firing control program for a second portion of the displacement member stroke. for example, during a closed loop portion of the stroke, the control circuit 2510 may modulate the motor 2504 based on translation data describing a position of the displacement member in a closed-loop manner to translate the displacement member at a constant velocity. in one aspect, the motors 2504a-2504e may receive power from an energy source 2512. the energy source 2512 may be a dc power supply driven by a main ac power source, a battery, a super capacitor, or any other suitable energy source 2512. the motors 2504a-2504e may be mechanically coupled to individual movable mechanical elements such as the i-beam 2514, anvil 2516, shaft 2540, articulation 2542a, articulation 2542b via respective transmissions 2506a-2506e. the transmissions 2506a-2506e may include one or more gears or other linkage components to couple the motors 2504a-2504e to movable mechanical elements. a position sensor 2534 may sense a position of the i-beam 2514. the position sensor 2534 may be or include any type of sensor that is capable of generating position data that indicates a position of the i-beam 2514. in some examples, the position sensor 2534 may include an encoder configured to provide a series of pulses to the control circuit 2510 as the i-beam 2514 translates distally and proximally. the control circuit 2510 may track the pulses to determine the position of the i-beam 2514. other suitable position sensor may be used, including, for example, a proximity sensor. other types of position sensors may provide other signals indicating motion of the i-beam 2514. also, in some examples, the position sensor 2534 may be omitted. where any of the motors 2504a-2504e is a stepper motor, the control circuit 2510 may track the position of the i-beam 2514 by aggregating the number and direction of steps that the motor 2504 has been instructed to execute. the position sensor 2534 may be located in the end effector 2502 or at any other portion of the instrument. the outputs of each of the motors 2504a-2504e includes a torque sensor 2544a-2544e to sense force and has an encoder to sense rotation of the drive shaft. in one aspect, the control circuit 2510 is configured to drive a firing member such as the i-beam 2514 portion of the end effector 2502. the control circuit 2510 provides a motor set point to a motor control 2508a, which provides a drive signal to the motor 2504a. the output shaft of the motor 2504a is coupled to a torque sensor 2544a and a transmission 2506a which is coupled to the i-beam 2514. the transmission 2506a comprises movable mechanical elements such as rotating elements and a firing member to control the movement of the i-beam 2514 distally and proximally along a longitudinal axis of the end effector 2502. in one aspect, the motor 2504a may be coupled to the knife gear assembly 1220, which includes a knife gear reduction set 1224 that includes a first knife drive gear 1226 and a second knife drive gear 1228. as can be seen in figs. 9 and 10 , the knife gear reduction set 1224 is rotatably mounted to the tool mounting plate 302 such that the first knife drive gear 1226 is in meshing engagement with the knife spur gear 1222. likewise, the second knife drive gear 1228 is in meshing engagement with a third knife drive gear 1230 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 302 in meshing engagement with the knife rack gear 1206. a torque sensor 2544a provides a firing force feedback signal to the control circuit 2510. the firing force signal represents the force required to fire or displace the i-beam 2514. a positon sensor 2534 may be configured to provide the positon of the i-beam 2514 along the firing stroke or the position of the firing member as a feedback signal to the control circuit 2510. the end effector 2502 may include additional sensors 2538 configured to provide feedback signals to the control circuit 2510. when ready to use, the control circuit 2510 may provide a firing signal to the motor control 2508a. in response to the firing signal, the motor 2504a may drive the firing member distally along the longitudinal axis of the end effector 2502 from a proximal stroke begin position to a stroke end position distal of the stroke begin position. as the firing member translates distally, an i-beam 2514 with a cutting element positioned at a distal end, advances distally to cut tissue located between the staple cartridge 2518 and the anvil 2516. in one aspect, the control circuit 2510 is configured to drive a closure member such as the anvil 2516 portion of the end effector 2502. the control circuit 2510 provides a motor set point to a motor control 2508b, which provides a drive signal to the motor 2504b. the output shaft of the motor 2504b is coupled to a torque sensor 2544b and a transmission 2506b which is coupled to the anvil 2516. the transmission 2506b comprises movable mechanical elements such as rotating elements and a closure member to control the movement of the anvil 2516 from open and closed positions. in one aspect, the motor 2504b is coupled to the closure gear assembly 1110, which includes a closure reduction gear set 1114 that is supported in meshing engagement with the closure spur gear 1112. as can be seen in figs. 9 and 10 , the closure reduction gear set 1114 includes a driven gear 1116 that is rotatably supported in meshing engagement with the closure spur gear 1112. the closure reduction gear set 1114 further includes a first closure drive gear 1118 that is in meshing engagement with a second closure drive gear 1120 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 302 in meshing engagement with the closure rack gear 1106. the torque sensor 2544b provides a closure force feedback signal to the control circuit 2510. the closure force feedback signal represents the closure force applied to the anvil 2516. the positon sensor 2534 may be configured to provide the positon of the closure member as a feedback signal to the control circuit 2510. additional sensors 2538 in the end effector 2502 may provide the closure force feedback signal to the control circuit 2510. the pivotable anvil 2516 is positioned opposite the staple cartridge 2518. when ready to use, the control circuit 2510 may provide a closure signal to the motor control 2508b. in response to the closure signal, the motor 2504b advances a closure member to grasp tissue between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518. in one aspect, the control circuit 2510 is configured to rotate a shaft member such as the shaft 2540 to rotate the end effector 2502. the control circuit 2510 provides a motor set point to a motor control 2508c, which provides a drive signal to the motor 2504c. the output shaft of the motor 2504c is coupled to a torque sensor 2544c and a transmission 2506c which is coupled to the shaft 2540. the transmission 2506c comprises movable mechanical elements such as rotating elements to control the rotation of the shaft 2540 clockwise or counterclockwise up to and over 360°. in one aspect, the motor 2504c is coupled to the rotational transmission assembly 1069, which includes a tube gear segment 1062 that is formed on (or attached to) the proximal end 1060 of the proximal closure tube 1040 for operable engagement by a rotational gear assembly 1070 that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate 302. as shown in fig. 8 , the rotational gear assembly 1070, in at least one aspect, comprises a rotation drive gear 1072 that is coupled to a corresponding first one of the driven discs or elements 304 on the adapter side 307 of the tool mounting plate 302 when the tool mounting portion 300 is coupled to the tool drive assembly 101. see fig. 6 . the rotational gear assembly 1070 further comprises a rotary driven gear 1074 that is rotatably supported on the tool mounting plate 302 in meshing engagement with the tube gear segment 1062 and the rotation drive gear 1072. the torque sensor 2544c provides a rotation force feedback signal to the control circuit 2510. the rotation force feedback signal represents the rotation force applied to the shaft 2540. the positon sensor 2534 may be configured to provide the position of the closure member as a feedback signal to the control circuit 2510. additional sensors 2538 such as a shaft encoder may provide the rotational position of the shaft 2540 to the control circuit 2510. in one aspect, the control circuit 2510 is configured to articulate the end effector 2502. the control circuit 2510 provides a motor set point to a motor control 2508d, which provides a drive signal to the motor 2504d. the output shaft of the motor 2504d is coupled to a torque sensor 2544d and a transmission 2506d which is coupled to an articulation member 2542a. the transmission 2506d comprises movable mechanical elements such as articulation elements to control the articulation of the end effector 2502 ±65°. in one aspect, the motor 2504d is coupled to the articulation nut 1260, which is rotatably journaled on the proximal end portion of the distal spine portion 1050 and is rotatably driven thereon by an articulation gear assembly 1270. more specifically and with reference to fig. 8 , in at least one aspect, the articulation gear assembly 1270 includes an articulation spur gear 1272 that is coupled to a corresponding fourth one of the driven discs or elements 304 on the adapter side 307 of the tool mounting plate 302. the torque sensor 2544d provides an articulation force feedback signal to the control circuit 2510. the articulation force feedback signal represents the articulation force applied to the end effector 2502. sensors 2538 such as an articulation encoder may provide the articulation position of the end effector 2502 to the control circuit 2510. in another aspect, the articulation function of the robotic surgical system 10 may comprise two drive members 2542a, 2542b or links. these drive members 2542a, 2542b are driven by separate disks on the robot interface (the rack) which are driven by the two motors 2508d, 2508e. when the separate firing motor 2504a is provided, each articulation link 2542a, 2542b can be antagonistically driven with respect to the other link in order to provide resistive holding motion and load to the head when it is not moving and to provide articulation motion as the head is articulated. the drive members 2542a, 2542b or links attach to the head at a fixed radius as the head is rotated. accordingly, the mechanical advantage of the push and pull link changes as the head is rotated. this change in the mechanical advantage may be more pronounced with other articulation link drive systems. in one aspect, the end effector 2502 may be implemented as the surgical end effector 1012, 3000, 5650, 6460, 6470 shown and described in connection with figs. 4 , 6 , 8-12 , 15a , 15b , 19 , 20, and 21 . in one aspect, the i-beam 2514 portion of the end effector 2502 may be implemented as the knife member 1032, 3005, 2514 shown and described in connection with figs. 11a , 12 , 29 . the i-beam 2514 comprises a knife body that operably supports a tissue cutting blade 2509 ( fig. 29 ) thereon. in one aspect, the anvil 2516 portion of the end effector 2502 may be implemented as the anvil 1024, 3002, 5502, 5602, 6472 shown and described in connection with figs. 4 , 6-14 , 20, and 21 . in one aspect, the one or more motors 2504a-2504e may comprise a brushed dc motor with gearbox and mechanical links to a firing member, closure member, or articulation member. another example are electric motors 2504a-2504e that operate the movable mechanical elements such as the displacement member, articulation links, closure tube, and shaft. an outside influence is an unmeasured, unpredictable influence of things like tissue, surrounding bodies and friction on the physical system. such outside influence can be referred to as drag which acts in opposition to an electric motor 2504a-2504e. the outside influence, such as drag, may cause the operation of the physical system to deviate from a desired operation of the physical system. in one aspect, the position sensor 2534 may be implemented as an absolute positioning system as shown and described in connection with figs. 27 and 28 . in one aspect, the position sensor 2534 may comprise a magnetic rotary absolute positioning system implemented as an as5055eqft single-chip magnetic rotary position sensor available from austria microsystems, ag. the position sensor 2534 may interface with the control circuit 2510 to provide an absolute positioning system. the position may include multiple hall-effect elements located above a magnet and coupled to a cordic processor (for coordinate rotation digital computer), also known as the digit-by-digit method and volder's algorithm, is provided to implement a simple and efficient algorithm to calculate hyperbolic and trigonometric functions that require only addition, subtraction, bitshift, and table lookup operations. in one aspect, the control circuit 2510 may be in communication with one or more sensors 2538. the sensors 2538 may be positioned on the end effector 2502 and adapted to operate with the surgical instrument 2500 to measure the various derived parameters such as gap distance versus time, tissue compression versus time, and anvil strain versus time. the sensors 2538 may comprise a magnetic sensor, a magnetic field sensor, a strain gauge, a load cell, a pressure sensor, a force sensor, a torque sensor, an inductive sensor such as an eddy current sensor, a resistive sensor, a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor, and/or any other suitable sensor for measuring one or more parameters of the end effector 2502. the sensors 2538 may include one or more sensors. the sensors 2538 may be located on the staple cartridge 2518 deck to determine tissue location using segmented electrodes. the torque sensors 2544a-2544e may be configured to sense force such as firing force, closure force, articulation force, among others. accordingly, the control circuit 26510 can sense: (1) the closure load experienced by the distal closure tube and its position; (2) the firing member at the rack and its position; (3) what portion of the staple cartridge 2518 has tissue on it; and (4) sense the load and positon on both articulation rods. in one aspect, the one or more sensors 2538 may comprise a strain gauge, such as a micro-strain gauge, configured to measure the magnitude of the strain in the anvil 2516 during a clamped condition. the strain gauge provides an electrical signal whose amplitude varies with the magnitude of the strain. the sensors 2538 may comprise a pressure sensor configured to detect a pressure generated by the presence of compressed tissue between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518. the sensors 2538 may be configured to detect impedance of a tissue section located between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518 that is indicative of the thickness and/or fullness of tissue located therebetween. in one aspect, the sensors 2538 may be implemented as one or more limit switches, electromechanical devices, solid state switches, hall-effect devices, magneto-resistive (mr) devices, giant magneto-resistive (gmr) devices, magnetometers, among others. in other implementations, the sensors 2538 may be implemented as solid state switches that operate under the influence of light, such as optical sensors, infrared sensors, ultraviolet sensors, among others. still, the switches may be solid state devices such as transistors (e.g., fet, junction-fet, metal-oxide semiconductor-fet (mosfet), bipolar, and the like). in other implementations, the sensors 2538 may include electrical conductorless switches, ultrasonic switches, accelerometers, inertial sensors, among others. in one aspect, the sensors 2538 may be configured to measure forces exerted on the anvil 2516 by the closure drive system. for example, one or more sensors 2538 can be at an interaction point between the closure tube and the anvil 2516 to detect the closure forces applied by the closure tube to the anvil 2516. the forces exerted on the anvil 2516 can be representative of the tissue compression experienced by the tissue section captured between the anvil 2516 and the staple cartridge 2518. the one or more sensors 2538 can be positioned at various interaction points along the closure drive system to detect the closure forces applied to the anvil 2516 by the closure drive system. the one or more sensors 2538 may be sampled in real time during a clamping operation by the processor of the control circuit 2510. the control circuit 2510 receives real-time sample measurements to provide analyze time based information and assess, in real time, closure forces applied to the anvil 2516. in one aspect, a current sensor 2536 can be employed to measure the current drawn by each of the motors 2504a-2504e. the force required to advance any of the movable mechanical elements such as the i-beam 2514 corresponds to the current drawn by a motor 2504a-2504e. the force is converted to a digital signal and provided to the control circuit 2510. the control circuit 2510 can be configured to simulate the response of the actual system of the instrument in the software of the controller. a displacement member can be actuated to move an i-beam 2514 in the end effector 2502 at or near a target velocity. the robotic surgical instrument 2500 can include a feedback controller, which can be one of any feedback controllers, including, but not limited to a pid, a state feedback, lqr, and/or an adaptive controller, for example. the robotic surgical instrument 2500 can include a power source to convert the signal from the feedback controller into a physical input such as case voltage, pulse width modulated (pwm) voltage, frequency modulated voltage, current, torque, and/or force, for example. in some aspects, a control algorithm is provided for manipulating a pair of articulation arms configured to control an articulation angle of an end effector of the robotic surgical instrument. other aspects of the present disclosure focus on the robotic arm system, including the pair of articulation arms coupled to the end effector and guided by independent motors, e.g., motors 2504d and 2504e. the two articulation arms are designed to exert antagonistic forces competing against one another and whose magnitudes are apportioned according to a ratio specified in the control algorithm. the ratio of the antagonistic forces may be used to determine the articulation angle of the head or end effector of the robotic surgical arm. in one aspect the present disclosure provides control algorithms to reliably govern the movements of two or more of these components when there is an interrelationship. referring to fig. 31 , illustration 13500 shows an example structural portion of a robotic surgical arm including two articulation arms connected to an end effector, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. here, the end effector includes an anvil 13502 connected to right articulation arm 13504 and left articulation arm 13506. the right articulation arm 13504 includes a right articulation link 13508 and a right articulation bar 13510. these two components are connected via a hinge as shown. similarly, the left articulation arm 13506 includes a left articulation link 13512 and a left articulation bar 13514. as shown, the left and right articulation arms cross and are connected to the end effector via hinges next to the channel 13520. pulling or pushing forces of the left and right articulation arms can cause the end effector to articulate about the articulation pivots 13518. the off-center pivot link 13516 helps to stabilize the end effector as it articulates, due to the off-center pivot link 13516 being stably positioned into the shaft where the articulation arms reside, which is not shown here for illustration purposes. the anvil 13502 is coupled to the articulation joints via the anvil retainer 13522. referring to figs. 32 - 34 , examples are shown of how movements of the articulation arms cause the end effector to articulate, according to some aspects. in fig. 32 , the anvil 13502 is in a neutral or straight position relative to the articulation arms 13504 and 13506. in fig. 33 , the left articulation arm 13506 is moved up along direction b, while simultaneously the right articulation arm 13504 is moved down along direction c. because the hinges of the articulation arms that connect to the end effector are positioned on opposite sides of the articulation pivot 13518, these described motions cause the anvil 13502 to articulate in the counterclockwise direction a, as shown. this is consistent when noticing the fact that the hinge of the left articulation arm 13506 is to the right of the pivot 13518, and therefore an upward movement in direction b is consistent with causing a counterclockwise motion. similarly, because the hinge connecting the right articulation arm 13504 is positioned to the left of the pivot 13518, a downward movement in direction c is consistent with causing a counterclockwise motion. in contrast, as shown in fig. 34 , reverse movements by the articulation arms cause the anvil 13502 to move in the reverse, i.e., clockwise, direction. that is, a movement by the right articulation arm 13504 in the upward direction b, and any simultaneous movement by the left articulation arm 13506 in the downward direction c, create a clockwise motion of the anvil 13502 about the pivot 13518. referring to fig. 35 , according to some aspects, the pivot moment of the end effector is actually off from the centerline of the shaft structure. shown here is the centerline 13528 of the shaft 13524, which represents the point equidistant to opposite sides of the channel retainer 13526. the left and right articulation bars 13514 and 13510 are positioned within the channel retainer 13526 at spacing equidistant to the centerline 13528. however, the articulation pivot 13518 is positioned slightly off-center, such as at a distance 13530 from the centerline 13528. this in turn has the left articulation link 13512 positioned further away from the centerline 13528 in order to connect to the channel 13520, compared to where the right articulation link 13508 is connected to the channel 13520. the asymmetry of this design may have several purposes. for example, the asymmetric design may create a more stable configuration when the articulation arms are oriented one on top of the other, e.g., the right articulation bar 13510 is above the left articulation bar 13514, as opposed to the shaft being rotated 90° such that the articulation arms are side-by-side to one another. the effects of gravity create a need for greater stability over the top of the end effector, suggesting an imbalance of forces needed to be applied to the articulation arms. second, the asymmetric design also creates a control algorithm with asymmetric properties. this creates a set of forced ratios between the two articulation arms that is unique at every point, in that the ratio of forces between the two articulation arms is always going to be different. this design may help to diagnose problems and debug issues between the interplay of the two articulation arms because it is known that the force ratio profile is unique at every point. referring to fig. 36 , illustration 13600 shows an example graph representing an amount of force applied by both of the articulation arms as a function of a degree of articulation of the head from a horizontal centerline, according to some aspects. as shown, the graph 13600 shows force as the y axis 13602, and a degree of articulation from a horizontal centerline represents the x axis 13604. a maximum value 13606 represents the maximum amount of force that the motors may apply to the articulation arms. in this example, the curve 13608 represents an amount of force that should be applied to the left articulation arm 13506 as a function of the desired articulation angle according to the x axis 13604, and the curve 13610 represents an amount of force that should be applied to the right articulation arm 13504 as a function of the same desired articulation angle. in this example, the maximum range of articulation is +/-60° from the centerline. in some aspects, causing articulation of the head/end effector involves applying forces to both of the articulation arms in an antagonistic relationship. for example, each motor coupled to the articulation arms may exert pulling forces on both of the articulation arms at the same time. the ratio of the amount of pulling force between the two articulation arms may determine the angle at which the head/end effector articulates. this ratio of forces may be mapped or represented by the graph 13600. for example, in order to cause the head/end effector to articulate 45° from the centerline, a pulling force in the magnitude of length e should be applied to the right articulation arm, according to the curve 13610. simultaneously, a pulling force in the magnitude of length f should be applied to the left articulation arm, according to the curve 13608. in general, the ratio between the magnitudes e and f may dictate what articulation angle is achieved, rather than the absolute magnitude of the forces themselves. as another example, because the articulation pivot 13518 is located off-center, the amount of counterbalancing or antagonistic forces required to stabilize the head/end effector at an even 0° is not equal between the two articulation arms. this is exemplified by the forces e' and f', which are different amounts of force applied to the two articulation arms at the 0° point in the graph 13600. referring to fig. 37 , shown is an example of how antagonistic forces may be applied to the two articulation arms in order to cause the head/end effector to articulate 60° from the centerline, according to some aspects. here, a motor coupled to the right articulation arm 13504 may apply a pulling force substantially greater than a pulling force applied by a second motor to the left articulation arm 13506. the exact ratio of forces between the two articulation arms may be determined by the example control algorithm graph 13600 in fig. 36 , according to the amounts of forces illustrated at the 60° line in the graph. the larger amount of pulling force applied to the right articulation arm 13504 in comparison to the left articulation arm 13506 results in the right articulation arm 13504 being pulled to the right in fig. 37 . accordingly, this ratio of forces results in the left articulation arm 13506 moving to the left or being pushed toward the head/end effector. however, because there is still some amount of pulling force being applied to the left articulation arm 13506, the antagonistic forces effectively balance out or equilibrate at a point such that the head/end effector articulates 60° from the centerline, as shown. referring to fig. 38 , shown is another example of how forces may be applied to the two articulation arms in order to cause the head/end effector to articulate 30° from the centerline, according to some aspects. here, the motor coupled to the right articulation arm 13504 may apply a pulling force greater than the pulling force applied to the left articulation arm 13506 by the second motor. in this case, the difference in the forces is not as substantial as the ones described in fig. 37 . as an example, the exact ratio of forces between the two articulation arms may be determined by the example control algorithm graph 13600 in fig. 36 , according to the amount of forces illustrated at the 30° point in the graph. it can be seen therefore that the ratio of the two forces is smaller, meaning the smaller, countervailing force applied to the left articulation arm 13506 is closer in magnitude to the prevailing force applied to the right articulation arm 13504. starting from the position of articulation in the illustration of fig. 37 , the change in forces applied to the two articulation arms in fig. 38 results in an effective force f e 13706 applied to the head/end effector in fig. 38 . the arrows 13702 and 13704 represent the changes in force applied to their respective articulation arms relative to the forces illustrated in previous fig. 37 . referring to fig. 39 , shown is a third example of how forces may be applied to the two articulation arms in order to cause the head/end effector to articulate back to the center or neutral position, according to some aspects. here, the motor coupled to the right articulation arm 13504 may apply a pulling force less than a pulling force applied to the left articulation arm 13506 by the second motor. as shown in the graph 13600 of fig. 36 , the antagonistic pulling force of the left articulation arm 13506 is actually greater then the force applied to the right articulation arm 13504 at the 0° point. this makes sense when considering that the articulation pivot 13518 is off-center and closer to the hinge of the left articulation arm 13506. this requires the left articulation arm 13506 to deliver more torque relative to the right articulation arm 13504 in order to balance the forces. in this example, the change in the amount of forces applied to both of the articulation arms compared to fig. 38 results in an effective force f e 13806 being applied to the center of mass of the head/end effector. referring to fig. 40 , a logic flow diagram depicting a process 13900 illustrates an example methodology for causing articulation of an end effector of a robotic surgical system based on controlling two independent articulation arms, according to some aspects. as shown in fig. 30 , the control circuit 2510 may be configured to command motor control 2508d and motor control 2508e. these may be coupled to respective motors 2504d and 2504e. these motors may ultimately respectively create a pulling or pushing force applied to the articulation arms 13504 and 13506. the independent nature of the two motors, while ultimately being used to control the articulation of a single end effector, allows for a clean design that is easier to program in a precise manner and also diagnose for problems and replacement parts. the control circuit, e.g., control circuit 2510, may be configured to cause 13902 the first articulation motor, e.g., motor 2504d, to apply first force to the first articulation arm, e.g., articulation arm 2542a or either of articulation arms 13504 and 13506. in some aspects, the first force may be a pulling force configured to draw the first articulation arm proximally toward the motor, while in other cases the force may be a pushing force in the opposite direction relative to the end effector. the control circuit may be configured to cause 13904 a second articulation motor, e.g., motor 2504e, to apply a second force to a second articulation arm, e.g., articulation arm 2542b or the other of articulation arms 13504 and 13506. the second force applied is antagonistic to the first force, meaning the second force results in a counterbalancing or countervailing force in the opposite direction of the first force. as shown in the previous figures, this antagonistic force may be a pulling force that causes a torque to be applied in the opposite direction about the articulation pivot of the end effector. in other aspects, if the first force is a pushing force, then the second force may also be a pushing force but applied in an opposite direction relative to the end effector. the end effector that is coupled to the first and second articulation arms articulates 13906 about a pivot, where the degree of articulation is based on a ratio of the first and second forces. if the pivot about which the end effector articulates is positioned in between the hinges that link the end effector to the two articulation arms, then the antagonistic second force should be the same type of force as the first force, e.g., both are pulling forces, or both are pushing forces. on the other hand, if both of the hinges connecting the two articulation arms to the end effector are located on the same side of the articulation pivot, then the antagonistic second force should be of the opposite type of force as the first force, e.g., one is a pulling force and the other is a pushing force. as shown in the previous examples, the articulation pivot may be located off-center from the centerline, allowing for a unique ratio of forces at all articulation angles. the functions or processes 13900 described herein may be executed by any of the processing circuits described herein, such as the control circuit 961 ( fig. 22 ), 800 ( fig. 23 ), 810 ( fig. 24 ), 820 ( fig. 25 ), 4420 ( fig. 26 ), and/or control circuit 2510 ( fig. 30 ). aspects of the motorized surgical instrument may be practiced without the specific details disclosed herein. some aspects have been shown as block diagrams rather than detail. parts of this disclosure may be presented in terms of instructions that operate on data stored in a computer memory. an algorithm refers to a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result, where a "step" refers to a manipulation of physical quantities which may take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. these signals may be referred to as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers. these and similar terms may be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. generally, aspects described herein which can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various types of "electrical circuitry." consequently, "electrical circuitry" includes electrical circuitry having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one application specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g., a general purpose computer or processor configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein, electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of random access memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electrical equipment). these aspects may be implemented in analog or digital form, or combinations thereof. the foregoing description has set forth aspects of devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples, which may contain one or more functions and/or operation. each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. in one aspect, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via application specific integrated circuits (asics), field programmable gate arrays (fpgas), digital signal processors (dsps), programmable logic devices (plds), circuits, registers and/or software components, e.g., programs, subroutines, logic and/or combinations of hardware and software components. logic gates, or other integrated formats. some aspects disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. the mechanisms of the disclosed subject matter are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative aspect of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. examples of a signal bearing medium include the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a compact disc (cd), a digital video disk (dvd), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and a transmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link (e.g., transmitter, receiver, transmission logic, reception logic, etc.). the foregoing description of these aspects has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. it is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting to the precise form disclosed. modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. these aspects were chosen and described in order to illustrate principles and practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the aspects and with modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. it is intended that the claims submitted herewith define the overall scope.
105-359-130-834-184	US	[ "US" ]	B65H54/40,F28G15/00	1981-10-26T00:00:00	1981	[ "B65", "F28" ]	fluid ejected and retracted tube clearance tester	a tube blockage tester or a blockage eliminator is provided which includes a manifold which has a forward end and a rearward end. a nozzle is provided at each end of the manifold with one of the nozzles being directed forwardly and the other nozzle being directed rearwardly. the manifold is adapted to receive a fluid pressure supply line. a valve is mounted in the manifold for selectively controlling pressurized fluid to the nozzles. a reel, which has a line reeled thereon, has a plurality of vanes around its circumference. the reel is mounted on the manifold aft thereof with the vanes of the reel in the path of the rearward nozzle so that when fluid is ejected from the rearward nozzle the reel will wind the line thereon. a probe is provided which is capable of slipping into the tube and the line is connected to the probe. with this arrangement the forward nozzle can be operated by the valve to force the probe through the tube and the rearward nozzle can be operated to retract the probe by winding the line on the reel.	1. a tube blockage tester or blockage eliminator comprising: a manifold having a forward end and a rearward end; a nozzle at each end of the manifold, one of the nozzles being directed forwardly and the other nozzle being directed rearwardly; the manifold being adapted to receive a fluid pressure supply line; valve means mounted in the manifold for selectively controlling pressurized fluid to the nozzles; a reel with a line reeled thereon, said reel having vanes; means mounting the reel on the manifold aft of the manifold with the vanes of the reel in the path of the rearward nozzle so that when fluid is ejected from the rearward nozzle the reel will wind the line thereon; a probe which is capable of slipping into the tube; and the line being connected to the probe; and a resilient hose connected to the forward nozzle, said hose being capable of sliding into said tube after the probe is inserted therein so that the line can be projected into or withdrawn from the tube past said resilient hose when fluid is ejected into the tube or ejected onto the vanes of the reel, respectively; whereby, upon connecting the fluid pressure line to the manifold, the forward nozzle can be operated by the valve means to force the probe through the tube and the rearward nozzle can be operated to retract the probe by winding the line on the reel. 2. a combination as claimed in claim 1 including: said line having a cross-section which is smaller than the cross-section of the probe; a plate mounted to the manifold and extending therefrom; said plate having an opening which receives said line therethrough; and the plate opening being smaller thereacross than the probe. 3. a tube blockage tester or blockage eliminator comprising: a manifold having a forward end and a rearward end; a nozzle at each end of the manifold, one of the nozzles being directed forwardly and the other nozzle being directed rearwardly; the manifold being adapted to receive a fluid pressure supply line; valve means mounted in the manifold for selectively controlling pressurized fluid to the nozzles; a reel with a line reeled thereon, said reel having vanes; means mounting the reel on the manifold aft of the manifold with the vanes of the reel in the path of the rearward nozzle so that when fluid is ejected from the rearward nozzle the reel will wind the line thereon; a probe which is capable of slipping into the tube; and the line being connected to the probe; the fluid pressure line being connected to the manifold intermediate the nozzles; the valve means including a forward on-off valve connected in the manifold between the fluid pressure line and the forward nozzle and a rearward on-off valve connected in the manifold between the fluid pressure line and the rearward nozzle; the manifold being elongated with the nozzles extending along the longitudinal axis of the manifold; a handle mounted to a bottom portion of the manifold and extending downwardly therefrom perpendicularly to said longitudinal axis; and the fluid pressure line extending longitudinally through the handle and being communicatively connected to the manifold through its bottom portion; whereby, upon connecting the fluid pressure line to the manifold, the forward nozzle can be operated by the valve means to force the probe through the tube and the rearward nozzle can be operated to retract the probe by winding the line on the reel. 4. a combination as claimed in claim 3 including: said line having a cross-section which is smaller than the cross-section of the probe; a plate mounted to the manifold forward of the forward valve and extending transversely therefrom beyond the width of the manifold; said plate having an opening which receives said line therethrough; the plate opening being smaller thereacross than the probe; and the plate opening being substantially aligned with the reel so that line coming off the reel passes to one side of the handle. 5. a combination as claimed in claim 4 including: a resilient hose connected to the forward nozzle, said hose being capable of sliding into said tube after the probe is inserted therein so that the line can be projected into or withdrawn from the tube past said resilient hose when fluid is ejected into the tube or ejected onto the vanes of the reel respectively. 6. a combination comprising: an elongated manifold having a forward end and a rearward end; a nozzle at each end of the manifold, one of the nozzles being directed forwardly and the other nozzle being directed rearwardly; the manifold being adapted to receive a fluid pressure supply line; valve means mounted in the manifold for selectively controlling pressurized fluid to the nozzles; a reel for receiving a line thereon, said reel having vanes; means mounting the reel on the manifold aft of the manifold with the vanes of the reel in the path of the rearward nozzle so that when fluid is ejected from the rearward nozzle the reel is capable of winding line thereon; a probe which is capable of slipping into the tube; and the line being connected to the probe; and a resilient hose connected to the forward nozzle, said hose being capable of sliding into said tube after the probe is inserted therein so that the line can be projected into or withdrawn from the tube past said resilient hose when fluid is ejected into the tube or ejected onto the vanes of the reel, respectively. 7. a combination as claimed in claim 6 including: a plate mounted to the manifold and extending therefrom; and said plate having an opening for receiving said line.	background of the invention the invention relates to a device for testing the blockage of a tube, or alternately eliminating the blockage within the tube. one of the major areas of ship repair is the cleaning of condenser tubes which become blocked from seawater growth. after a few months, and sometimes as short as one month, sea growth in the inside of the tubes starts to affect the performance of the main condenser by narrowing the tubes and constricting the flow of water therethrough. this causes the condenser to become less and less efficient in cooling steam coming from the main turbines of the ship. the most thorough method used to clean out main condenser tubes is a hydro-blast method. this method uses a high pressure gun which directs a stream of water into each tube. after the hydro-blast is completed the tubes are checked one at a time to see which tubes are still clogged. the present method of checking for a clogged tube is to pneumatically force a probe attached to a cable into the tube. if the probe runs the entire length of the tube the tube is considered clear of any blockage. the probe is then pulled back by hand using the attached cable. this process is repeated for each of the many tubes, such as two thousand tubes in a main condenser for a large ship or submarine. the problems with the present method of checking blockage within a tube are that the probe must be pulled out by hand each time, the cable connected to the probe invariably becomes tangled as it is laid on the deck, and kinks in the cable prevent air from pushing the probe through smoothly. because of the voluminous number of tubes which must be checked in any main condenser there has been a long existing need for a more efficient way of checking tube blockage. statement of the invention the present invention provides a significantly improved method of checking tube blockage. this has been accomplished by providing a manifold which has a forward end and a rearward end. a nozzle is provided at each end of the manifold with one of the nozzles being directed forwardly and the other nozzle being directed rearwardly. the manifold is adapted to receive a fluid pressure supply line. a valve is mounted in the manifold for selectively controlling pressurized fluid to the nozzles. a reel, which has a line reeled thereon, is provided with vanes around its circumference. the reel is mounted on the manifold aft thereof with the vanes of the reel in the path of the rearward nozzle so that when fluid is ejected from the rearward nozzle the reel will wind the line thereon. a probe is provided which is capable of slipping into the tube, and the line is connected to the probe. with this arrangement the forward nozzle can be operated by the valve to force the probe through the tube and the rearward nozzle can be operated to retract the probe by winding the line on the reel. the blockage tester device can be operated at a very fast rate, thus saving a considerable amount of manhours and down time of the ship or submarine. objects of the invention an object of the present invention is to provide a more efficient device for fluid driving a probe into a tube and withdrawing the probe therefrom with the probe readied for efficient operation on subsequent tubes. another object is to provide a tube blockage tester which is faster to operate and more efficient than prior art tube blockage testers. a further object is to provide a hand held tube blockage tester which pneumatically operated through a valve device to quickly extend and retract a probe from the tube, and which is readied for efficient checking of subsequent tubes. still another object is to provide a tube blockage tester which utilizes a cable connected probe wherein the tester is faster to operate and the cable is prevented from kinking. these and other objects of the invention will become more readily apparent from the ensuing specification when taken together with the drawings. description of the drawings fig. 1 is an isometric view illustrating a main condenser with its head removed so as to show its series of tubes therethrough. fig. 2 is an isometric view of a workman holding the present tube blockage tester in his hand with the tester readied to drive a probe into a condenser tube. fig. 3 is an isometric view of the present tube blockage tester. fig. 4 is an isometric view of the reel portion of the present tube blockage tester with a portion cut away to illustrate details thereof. description of the preferred embodiment referring now to the drawings where like reference numerals designate like or similar parts throughout the several views there is illustrated in fig. 1 a main condenser 10 which has an inlet 12 for receiving steam to be cooled, such as from a main turbine, and an outlet 14 which is utilized for discharging cooled fresh water. the left end of the main condenser has its head removed so as to show the plurality of tubes 16 which extend along the condenser from end to end. each of these tubes 16 carry seawater from one end to the other so as to provide cooling for the steam entering the inlet 12. because of the sea life in seawater these tubes periodically become blocked, sometimes as short as one month, thus rendering the main condenser ineffective. the main condensers for large ships or submarines have as many as 2,000 tubes which must be individually checked for blockage. the present invention provides an efficient device for checking a plurality of tubes in a short period of time. the present invention is a tube blockage tester 18 which is illustrated in figs. 2 through 4. as illustrated in fig. 3, the tube blockage tester includes a manifold 20 which has a forward end and a rearward end. a nozzle is located at each end of the manifold, one of the nozzles 22 being directed forwardly, and the other nozzle 24 being directed rearwardly. in the preferred embodiment the manifold 20 is elongated and the nozzles 22 and 24 extend along the longitudinal axis of the manifold. further, a resilient hose 26 may be connected to the forward nozzle 22 with the hose sized to just snugly slide into one of the condenser tubes 16. this will enable the tester 18 to be operated successfully at various angles to the condenser tube, such as where the tester is being utilized in a confined space. the manifold 20 is adapted to receive a fluid pressure supply line, such as a high pressure air line 28. the air line 28 may be connected to a bottom portion of the manifold and may extend downwardly therefrom perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the manifold. the connection may be made by any suitable means, such as a fitting (not shown). a handle 30 may be provided around the upper portion of the air hose 28 so that an operator may grasp the tube blockage tester 18 for hand operation. a valve arrangement is mounted in or to the manifold for selectively controlling pressurized air to the nozzles 22 and 24. the valve arrangement may include an on-off valve 32 which is connected between the manifold 20 and the forward nozzle 22 and another on-off valve 34 which is connected between the manifold 20 and the rearward nozzle 24. the connection of these valves to the manifold 20 may be accomplished by any suitable means, such as fittings. other valve arrangements would be suitable as long as they provide for alternate operation of discharging pressurized air through the forward nozzle 22 or the rearward nozzle 24. one such nozzle arrangement may include a trigger valve for the operator's hand to alternately supply pressurized air to one or the other of the nozzles 22 or 24. the tube blockage tester 18 further includes a reel 36 which has a cable or line 38 reeled thereon. as best illustrated in fig. 4, the reel has a plurality of vanes 40 which are located at one side thereof, and that side may be provided with a cowling 42 with an opening 44 for partially encompassing the vanes 40 and directing high pressurized air thereon. means are provided for mounting the reel 36 on the manifold 20 aft thereof with the vanes 40 of the reel in the path of the rearward nozzle 24 so that when air is ejected from the rearward nozzle the reel will wind the line 38 thereon. as shown in figs. 3 and 4 the nozzle 24 is directed through the opening 44, and the reel is rotated by the impingement of ejected air on the vanes 40. the means for mounting the reel 36 on the manifold may include a bar 46 which is connected at one end to the manifold 20 and at the other end to the reel 36. a probe 48 is provided which is capable of slipping into one of the tubes 16. the line 38 from the reel 36 is connected to a rearward end of the probe 48. as illustrated in the drawings the line 38 has a smaller cross-section than the probe 48. a plate 50 is mounted to the manifold 20 and extends laterally therefrom. the plate has an opening, such as aperture 52, which is sized to slidably receive the line 38, but is too small to allow the passage of the probe 48 therethrough. the plate 50 will thereby prevent the probe 48 from movement past its location on the tester device. operation of the invention as illustrated in fig. 2 the invention is operated by placing the probe 48 into one of the tubes 16. the resilient hose 26 of the tester is then inserted into the tube 16 immediately behind the probe 48. because of the resiliency of the hose 26 the line 38 can be easily moved in either direction, and yet a good seal is maintained between the hose 26 and the tube 16. alternatively, the end of the hose 26 can merely be placed near the opening of the tube 16 to direct pressurized air into the tube. with the tester device held in one hand by the operator the operator uses his other hand to turn on the forward valve 32 causing high pressurized air to force the probe 48 into the tube. the length of the line 38 may be such that if its full length is utilized the operator will know that the probe 48 has passed all the way through the tube. the bitter end of the line 38 is of course connected to the reel 36 so that it will not be freed therefrom. if the probe 48 stops too soon in the tube there is an indication of blockage therein and measures must be taken to remove this blockage. to withdraw the probe the operator closes the valve 32 and opens the valve 34 which causes pressurized air to impinge on the vanes 40 and wind the line 38 back on the reel 36, thereby withdrawing the probe 48 from the tube. after the probe 48 comes out of the tube it is stopped by the laterally extending plate 50, after which the operator may close the valve 34. the tube blockage tester is then completely ready for a repeat operation within another tube 16, and so on until all 2,000 of the tubes in a large main condenser have been checked out. it should be realized that the present invention can be utilized for other purposes such as checking the clearance within a tube or even removing blockage within the tube by increasing the pressure of the air sufficiently. obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.
105-953-923-230-200	KR	[ "KR", "US" ]	H01L21/336,H01L21/316,H01L29/78,H01L21/28,H01L21/3105,H01L21/762	2014-04-10T00:00:00	2014	[ "H01" ]	smiconductor device and method of fabricating the same	provided are a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof. the manufacturing method of a semiconductor device comprises the following steps of: forming a trench on a substrate; forming a first oxide film in the trench; forming a second oxide film on the first oxide film wherein the second oxide film is denser than the first oxide film; forming a third oxide film on the second oxide film; and providing an insulating pattern provided to the third oxide film wherein the trench is filled with the insulating pattern.	1 . a method of fabricating a semiconductor device, the method comprising: forming a trench in a substrate; forming a first oxide layer in the trench; forming a second oxide layer on the first oxide layer, wherein a first density of the second oxide layer is higher than a second density of the first oxide layer; forming a third oxide layer on the second oxide layer; and forming an insulating pattern on the third oxide layer such that the insulating pattern fills the trench. 2 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the third oxide layer is thicker than the first oxide layer, after forming the third oxide layer. 3 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the second oxide layer includes a same material as the first and third oxide layers. 4 . the method of claim 1 , wherein forming the second oxide layer comprises: performing a thermal oxidation process to increase a density of an upper portion of the first oxide layer. 5 . the method of claim 1 , wherein a wet etch rate of the second oxide layer is lower than respective wet etch rates of the first and third oxide layers. 6 . the method of claim 1 , wherein forming the second oxide layer comprises: removing a dangling bond between the substrate and the first oxide layer. 7 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the trench comprises a first trench and a second trench, wherein a first width of the first trench is different from a second width of the second trench, and wherein a thickness of the first oxide layer on a bottom surface of the first trench is substantially equal to a thickness of the first oxide layer on a bottom surface of the second trench, after forming the third oxide layer. 8 . the method of claim 1 , wherein forming the second oxide layer comprises forming the second oxide layer using a first temperature in a range of about 900° c. to about 1100° c., and wherein forming the first oxide layer comprises forming the first oxide layer using a second temperature lower than the first temperature. 9 . the method of claim 1 , wherein forming the first oxide layer comprises conformally forming the first oxide layer on a bottom surface and a sidewall of the trench. 10 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the first oxide layer comprises a thickness in a range of about 30 å to about 50 å, after forming the third oxide layer. 11 . the method of claim 1 , further comprising: planarizing the third oxide layer, the second oxide layer, and the first oxide layer to form a first oxide pattern, a second oxide pattern, and a third oxide pattern that are sequentially stacked, the first through third oxide patterns exposing at least a portion of the substrate outside of the trench; forming a gate insulating pattern on the portion of the substrate exposed by the first through third oxide patterns; and forming a gate electrode pattern on the gate insulating pattern. 12 . a method of forming a semiconductor device, the method comprising: forming a first oxide layer in first and second trenches of a substrate; forming a second oxide layer on the first oxide layer in the first and second trenches; and forming a third oxide layer on the second oxide layer in the first and second trenches, wherein a thickness of the first oxide layer is substantially uniform in the first and second trenches, after forming the third oxide layer. 13 . the method of claim 12 , wherein, after forming the third oxide layer, the thickness of the first oxide layer comprises a first thickness that is thinner than a second thickness of the third oxide layer. 14 . the method of claim 13 , wherein the first trench comprises a first width that is narrower than a second width of the second trench, and wherein forming the first oxide layer comprises forming the first oxide layer in the second trench and in the first trench that comprises the first width that is narrower than the second width of the second trench. 15 . the method of claim 13 , wherein, after forming the third oxide layer, a ratio of the first thickness of the first oxide layer to the second thickness of the third oxide layer is about 1:4. 16 . the method of claim 13 , wherein, after forming the third oxide layer, the first thickness of the first oxide layer is in a range of about 30 å to about 50 å. 17 . the method of claim 12 , wherein forming the second oxide layer comprises performing a thermal oxidation process, after forming the first oxide layer, to increase a density of an upper portion of the first oxide layer. 18 . a method of forming a semiconductor device, the method comprising: forming a first oxide layer in first and second trenches of a substrate; forming a second oxide layer on the first oxide layer in the first and second trenches; and forming a third oxide layer on the second oxide layer in the first and second trenches, the first trench comprising a first width that is narrower than a second width of the second trench, wherein a first thickness of the first oxide layer is substantially uniform in the first and second trenches, after forming the third oxide layer, and wherein the first thickness of the first oxide layer is thinner than a second thickness of the third oxide layer, after forming the third oxide layer. 19 . the method of claim 18 , wherein, after forming the third oxide layer, the second thickness of the third oxide layer is thicker than a third thickness of the second oxide layer. 20 . the method of claim 19 , further comprising: forming an insulating layer on the third oxide layer; planarizing the insulating layer, the third oxide layer, the second oxide layer, and the first oxide layer until a surface of the substrate outside of the first and second trenches is exposed; and forming a gate electrode pattern on the surface of the substrate after planarizing the insulating layer, the third oxide layer, the second oxide layer, and the first oxide layer.	cross-reference to related application this u.s. non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35 u.s.c. §119 to korean patent application no. 10-2014-0043151, filed on apr. 10, 2014, in the korean intellectual property office, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. background the present disclosure relates to methods of forming semiconductor devices. semiconductor devices are becoming more highly integrated to provide high performance and low costs. because the integration density of semiconductor devices may directly affect the costs of the semiconductor devices, highly integrated semiconductor devices may be increasingly demanded. as the integration density of the semiconductor devices increases, critical dimensions (cd) of gate electrodes are being reduced. thus, an interference phenomenon between neighboring cells may occur by a coupling effect, thereby causing problems such as a soft program problem. summary according to various embodiments of present inventive concepts, a method of fabricating a semiconductor device may include forming a trench in a substrate, forming a first oxide layer in the trench, forming a second oxide layer on the first oxide layer, forming a third oxide layer on the second oxide layer, and forming an insulating pattern on the third oxide layer such that the insulating pattern fills the trench. moreover, a first density of the second oxide layer may be higher than a second density of the first oxide layer. in various embodiments, the third oxide layer may be thicker than the first oxide layer, after forming the third oxide layer. in some embodiments, the second oxide layer may include the same material as the first and third oxide layers. in some embodiments, forming the second oxide layer may include performing a thermal oxidation process to increase a density of an upper portion of the first oxide layer. in some embodiments, a wet etch rate of the second oxide layer may be lower than respective wet etch rates of the first and third oxide layers. moreover, forming the second oxide layer may include removing a dangling bond between the substrate and the first oxide layer. according to various embodiments, the trench may include a first trench and a second trench, a first width of the first trench may be different from a second width of the second trench, and, after forming the third oxide layer, a thickness of the first oxide layer on a bottom surface of the first trench may be substantially equal to a thickness of the first oxide layer on a bottom surface of the second trench. in some embodiments, forming the second oxide layer may include forming the second oxide layer using a first temperature in a range of about 900° c. to about 1100° c., and forming the first oxide layer may include forming the first oxide layer using a second temperature lower than the first temperature. in various embodiments, forming the first oxide layer may include conformally forming the first oxide layer on a bottom surface and a sidewall of the trench. in some embodiments, the first oxide layer may have a thickness in a range of about 30 å to about 50 å, after forming the third oxide layer. moreover, the method of forming the semiconductor device may include planarizing the third oxide layer, the second oxide layer, and the first oxide layer to form a first oxide pattern, a second oxide pattern, and a third oxide pattern that are sequentially stacked, the first through third oxide patterns exposing at least a portion of the substrate outside of the trench; forming a gate insulating pattern on the portion of the substrate exposed by the first through third oxide patterns; and forming a gate electrode pattern on the gate insulating pattern. a method of forming a semiconductor device, according to various embodiments, may include forming a first oxide layer in first and second trenches of a substrate, forming a second oxide layer on the first oxide layer in the first and second trenches, and forming a third oxide layer on the second oxide layer in the first and second trenches. a thickness of the first oxide layer may be substantially uniform in the first and second trenches, after forming the third oxide layer. moreover, after forming the third oxide layer, the thickness of the first oxide layer may be a first thickness that is thinner than a second thickness of the third oxide layer. in various embodiments, the first trench may include a first width that is narrower than a second width of the second trench, and forming the first oxide layer may include forming the first oxide layer in the second trench and in the first trench that includes the first width that is narrower than the second width of the second trench. additionally or alternatively, after forming the third oxide layer, a ratio of the first thickness of the first oxide layer to the second thickness of the third oxide layer may be about 1:4. moreover, after forming the third oxide layer, the first thickness of the first oxide layer may be in a range of about 30 å to about 50 å. in some embodiments, forming the second oxide layer may include performing a thermal oxidation process, after forming the first oxide layer, to increase a density of an upper portion of the first oxide layer. a method of forming a semiconductor device, according to various embodiments, may include forming a first oxide layer in first and second trenches of a substrate, and forming a second oxide layer on the first oxide layer in the first and second trenches. moreover, the method may include forming a third oxide layer on the second oxide layer in the first and second trenches, the first trench having a first width that is narrower than a second width of the second trench. a first thickness of the first oxide layer may be substantially uniform in the first and second trenches, after forming the third oxide layer, and the first thickness of the first oxide layer may be thinner than a second thickness of the third oxide layer, after forming the third oxide layer. in various embodiments, after forming the third oxide layer, the second thickness of the third oxide layer may be thicker than a third thickness of the second oxide layer. moreover, the method may include forming an insulating layer on the third oxide layer; planarizing the insulating layer, the third oxide layer, the second oxide layer, and the first oxide layer until a surface of the substrate outside of the first and second trenches is exposed; and forming a gate electrode pattern on the surface of the substrate after planarizing the insulating layer, the third oxide layer, the second oxide layer, and the first oxide layer. brief description of the drawings example embodiments will be more clearly understood from the following brief description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting, example embodiments as described herein. figs. 1 to 5 and 7 are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts; fig. 6a is a plan view illustrating an example of a device isolation pattern included in a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts; fig. 6b is a plan view illustrating an example of a device isolation pattern included in a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts; figs. 8 to 12 are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts; fig. 13 is a graph illustrating a cumulative fail bit probability according to a data retention time of each of a comparison example and an experimental example; fig. 14 is a plan view illustrating an example of a semiconductor device including a device isolation pattern according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts; fig. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines i-i′ and ii-ii′ of fig. 14 to illustrate an example of a semiconductor device including a device isolation pattern according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts; fig. 16 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a semiconductor device including a device isolation pattern according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts; fig. 17 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of an electronic system including a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts; and fig. 18 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of a memory card including a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts. detailed description example embodiments are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. many different forms and embodiments are possible without deviating from the spirit and teachings of this disclosure and so the disclosure should not be construed as limited to the example embodiments set forth herein. rather, these example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. in the drawings, the sizes and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity. like reference numbers refer to like elements throughout the description. the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the embodiments. as used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. it will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and/or “including,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of the stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. it will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “coupled,” “connected,” or “responsive” to, or “on,” another element, it can be directly coupled, connected, or responsive to, or on, the other element, or intervening elements may also be present. in contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly coupled,” “directly connected,” or “directly responsive” to, or “directly on,” another element, there are no intervening elements present. as used herein the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. it will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. for example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. thus, the term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. the device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein may be interpreted accordingly. example embodiments of the inventive concepts are described herein with reference to cross-sectional illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments (and intermediate structures) of example embodiments. as such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. thus, example embodiments of the inventive concepts should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. accordingly, the regions illustrated in the figures are schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the actual shape of a region of a device and are not intended to limit the scope of example embodiments. it will be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. these terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. thus, a “first” element could be termed a “second” element without departing from the teachings of the present embodiments. unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this inventive concept belongs. it will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and/or the present specification and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. as appreciated by the present inventive entity, devices and methods of forming devices according to various embodiments described herein may be embodied in microelectronic devices such as integrated circuits, wherein a plurality of devices according to various embodiments described herein are integrated in the same microelectronic device. accordingly, the cross-sectional view(s) illustrated herein may be replicated in two different directions, which need not be orthogonal, in the microelectronic device. thus, a plan view of the microelectronic device that embodies devices according to various embodiments described herein may include a plurality of the devices in an array and/or in a two-dimensional pattern that is based on the functionality of the microelectronic device. the devices according to various embodiments described herein may be interspersed among other devices depending on the functionality of the microelectronic device. moreover, microelectronic devices according to various embodiments described herein may be replicated in a third direction that may be orthogonal to the two different directions, to provide three-dimensional integrated circuits. accordingly, the cross-sectional view(s) illustrated herein provide support for a plurality of devices according to various embodiments described herein that extend along two different directions in a plan view and/or in three different directions in a perspective view. for example, when a single active region is illustrated in a cross-sectional view of a device/structure, the device/structure may include a plurality of active regions and transistor structures (or memory cell structures, gate structures, etc., as appropriate to the case) thereon, as would be illustrated by a plan view of the device/structure. figs. 1 to 5 and 7 are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts. referring to fig. 1 , a substrate 100 having trenches 110 may be provided. the substrate 100 may be formed of a semiconductor material. for example, the substrate 100 may be a silicon substrate, a germanium substrate, or a silicon-germanium substrate. a mask pattern 120 may be formed on the substrate 100 . the substrate 100 may be etched using the mask pattern 120 as an etch mask to form the trenches 110 . bottom surfaces 110 b and sidewalls 110 s of the trenches 110 may be damaged by the etching process used for the formation of the trenches 110 . for example, dangling bonds may be generated on the bottom surfaces 110 b and sidewalls 110 s of the trenches 110 . an active region act may be defined between adjacent ones of the trenches 110 . the active region act may be a portion of the substrate 100 surrounded by the trenches 110 . the trenches 110 may include a first trench 111 and a second trench 112 . the first trench 111 and the second trench 112 may have widths different from each other. for example, the first trench 111 may have a first width w 1 , and the second trench 112 may have a second width w 2 greater than the first width w 1 . here, the widths w 1 and w 2 of the first and second trenches 111 and 112 may be defined as widths of the bottom surfaces 110 b of the first and second trenches 111 and 112 , respectively. the mask pattern 120 may be removed after the formation of the trenches 110 . referring to fig. 2 , a first oxide layer 210 may be formed on the substrate 100 . the first oxide layer 210 may include an insulating oxide such as silicon oxide. the first oxide layer 210 may be formed by an atomic layer deposition method. thus, the first oxide layer 210 may conformally cover the bottom surface 110 b and the sidewall(s) 110 s of each of the trenches 110 . for example, a thickness of the first oxide layer 210 disposed on the bottom surface 110 b of the trench 110 may be substantially equal or similar to a thickness of the first oxide layer 210 disposed on the sidewall(s) 110 s of the trench 110 . the thickness of the first oxide layer 210 may be in a range of 30 å to 50 å. if the first oxide layer 210 has a non-uniform thickness or a relatively large thickness (e.g., a thickness greater than 50 å), a defect such as a void or a seam may be formed in the first oxide layer 210 formed in the trench 110 having a narrow width during the process of depositing the first oxide layer 210 . according to some embodiments, the first oxide layer 210 may have a uniform and relatively thin thickness, and thus, the defect (e.g., the void or seam) may not be formed in the first oxide layer 210 in the trench having a narrow width (e.g., the first trench 111 ). the first oxide layer 210 may function as a liner layer. a process temperature of the formation process of the first oxide layer 210 may be in a range of about 550° c. to about 700° c. if the first oxide layer 210 is formed at a temperature higher than 700° c., a surface of the active region act may be damaged. thus, a width of the active region act may be excessively reduced. according to some embodiments, since the first oxide layer 210 is formed at the proper temperature in the range of about 550° c. to about 700° c., the first oxide layer 210 may not be excessively reduced. referring to fig. 3 , a second oxide layer 220 may be formed on the first oxide layer 210 . the second oxide layer 220 may be provided on the bottom surface 110 b and the sidewall(s) 110 s of each of the trenches 110 . the second oxide layer 220 may be formed by performing a thermal oxidation process on the first oxide layer 210 . in some embodiments, an upper portion of the first oxide layer 210 may become denser by the thermal oxidation process to form the second oxide layer 220 . the second oxide layer 220 may include the same material as the first oxide layer 210 . for example, the second oxide layer 220 may include silicon oxide. a density of the second oxide layer 220 may be higher than a density of the first oxide layer 210 . an atomic ratio of oxygen in the silicon oxide of the second oxide layer 220 may be different from an atomic ratio of oxygen in the silicon oxide of the first oxide layer 210 . an etch rate of the second oxide layer 220 may be different from an etch rate of the first oxide layer 210 . for example, the etch rate of the second oxide layer 220 may be lower than that of the first oxide layer 210 during a wet etching process using hydrofluoric acid. in some embodiments, the second oxide layer 220 may be deposited on the first oxide layer 210 by a thermal oxidation process. the second oxide layer 220 may be a liner layer. gases such as an oxygen source gas may be used during the formation process of the second oxide layer 220 . the gases may penetrate the first oxide layer 210 to reach the sidewalls 110 s and the bottom surfaces 110 b of the trenches 110 . the gases may react with the dangling bonds formed on the sidewalls 110 s and the bottom surfaces 110 b of the trenches 110 , and thus, the dangling bonds may be reduced/cured. as a result, an interface trap characteristic between active region act and the first oxide layer 210 may be improved. the thickness and the structure of the first oxide layer 210 may affect the number of the dangling bonds removed during the formation process of the second oxide layer 220 . for example, since the first oxide layer 210 has the small thickness (e.g., a thickness of 50 å or less), the gases may penetrate the first oxide layer 210 . however, if the first oxide layer 210 has too small of a thickness (e.g., a thickness smaller than 30 å), the gases may remove the dangling bonds and may also react with the active region act and the substrate 100 adjacent to the bottom surface 110 b of the trench 110 . thus, the active region act may be damaged to reduce the width of the active region act. if the first oxide layer 210 has a non-uniform thickness, the dangling bonds formed on inner surfaces of the trenches 110 may not be sufficiently removed, or the width of the active region act may be reduced. for example, if the first oxide layer 210 disposed on the bottom surface 110 b of the first trench 111 is thicker than the first oxide layer 210 disposed on the sidewall(s) 110 s of the first trench 111 , the dangling bonds of the sidewall(s) 110 s may be reduced/cured but the dangling bonds of the bottom surface 110 b may be difficult to reduce/cure. alternatively, the dangling bonds of the bottom surface 110 b of the first trench 111 may be removed but the sidewall(s) 110 s of the first trench 111 may be damaged by the gases. according to some embodiments, since the first oxide layer 210 in the first trench 111 has the uniform thickness, the dangling bonds of the sidewall(s) 110 s and the bottom surface 110 b of the first trench 111 may be removed without reduction of the thickness of the active region act. the thickness of the first oxide layer 210 disposed on the bottom surface 110 b of the first trench 111 may be substantially equal to the thickness of the first oxide layer 210 disposed on the bottom surface 110 b of the second trench 112 . thus, the dangling bonds formed on inner surfaces of the first and second trenches 111 and 112 may be reduced/cured regardless of the widths w 1 and w 2 of the first and second trenches 111 and 112 . a process temperature of the formation process of the second oxide layer 220 may be higher than that of the formation process of the first oxide layer 210 . for example, the process temperature of the second oxide layer 220 may be in a range of about 900° c. to about 1100° c. if the process temperature of the second oxide layer 220 is lower than 900° c., the dangling bonds between the first oxide layer 210 and the sidewall(s) 110 s of the trench 110 may not be sufficiently removed. in some embodiments, the second oxide layer 220 may be formed by a radical oxidation process. referring to fig. 4 , a third oxide layer 230 and a nitride layer 240 may be sequentially formed on the second oxide layer 220 . the third oxide layer 230 may include the same material (e.g., silicon oxide) as the first and second oxide layers 210 and 220 . however, an atomic ratio of oxygen in the silicon oxide of the third oxide layer 230 may be different from an atomic ratio of the oxygen in the silicon oxide of the second oxide layer 220 . the third oxide layer 230 may be formed by an atomic layer deposition method. here, a process condition of the atomic layer deposition method used for the formation of the third oxide layer 230 may be the same as that of the atomic layer deposition method used for the formation of the first oxide layer 210 . for example, the third oxide layer 230 may be formed at a process temperature in a range of about 550° c. to about 700° c. the second oxide layer 220 may be denser than the third oxide layer 230 . in other words, the second oxide layer 220 may include the same material as the third oxide layer 230 but the density of the second oxide layer 220 may be higher than that of the third oxide layer 230 . an etch rate of the third oxide layer 230 may be different from that of the second oxide layer 220 . for example, the etch rate of the third oxide layer 230 may be higher than that of the second oxide layer 220 in a wet etching process using hydrofluoric acid. interface traps between the substrate 100 and the first oxide layer 210 may be further reduced by the third oxide layer 230 . in some embodiments, a ratio of the thickness of the first oxide layer 210 to a thickness of the third oxide layer 230 may be about 2:8 (i.e., 1:4). a sum of the thicknesses of the first, second and third oxide layers 210 , 220 and 230 may be uniform. due to the third oxide layer 230 , the first oxide layer 210 may have the thickness in the range of 30 å to 50 å. interface traps (i.e., the dangling bonds) between the first oxide layer 210 and the active region act may be reduced as a ratio of the thickness of the second oxide layer 220 to the sum of the thicknesses of the first to third oxide layers 210 , 220 , and 230 increases. the third oxide layer 230 may act as a liner layer. the nitride layer 240 may be formed on the third oxide layer 230 . the nitride layer 240 may be provided on the bottom surfaces 110 b and the sidewalls 110 s of the trenches 110 . the nitride layer 240 may include silicon nitride. the nitride layer 240 may act as a liner layer. an insulating layer 250 may be formed on the substrate 100 . the insulating layer 250 may be disposed on the nitride layer 240 to fill the trenches 110 . in some embodiments, the insulating layer 250 may include silazane (e.g., “tonen silazene (tosz)”). referring to fig. 5 , a device isolation pattern dip may be formed in each of the trenches 110 to define the active region act. the device isolation pattern dip may include a first oxide pattern 211 , a second oxide pattern 221 , a third oxide pattern 231 , a nitride pattern 241 , and an insulating pattern 251 . for example, the insulating layer 250 , the nitride layer 240 , and the oxide layers 230 , 220 , and 210 may be planarized until a top surface of the active region act is reached/exposed. thus, the insulating layer 250 , the nitride layer 240 , and the oxide layers 230 , 220 , and 210 disposed on the top surface of the active region act may be removed to form the first oxide pattern 211 , the second oxide pattern 221 , the third oxide pattern 231 , the nitride pattern 241 , and the insulating pattern 251 in each of the trenches 110 . as a result, the device isolation pattern dip according to some embodiments may be completed. the device isolation pattern dip may have one of various shapes when viewed from a plan view. this is described further with reference to figs. 6a and 6b . fig. 6a is a plan view illustrating an example of a device isolation pattern included in a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts. referring to fig. 6a , a device isolation pattern dipa may extend in a first direction d 1 . the device isolation pattern dipa may be the device isolation pattern dip described with reference to fig. 5 . the device isolation pattern dipa may be provided in plurality. the plurality of device isolation patterns dipa may be spaced apart from each other and may extend parallel to each other in the first direction d 1 . an active region acta may be defined between adjacent/parallel ones of the device isolation patterns dipa. the active region acta may be the active region act described with reference to fig. 5 . a plurality of active regions acta may be spaced apart from each other when viewed from a plan view. the plurality of active regions acta may extend in the first direction d 1 . fig. 6b is a plan view illustrating an example of a device isolation pattern included in a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts. referring to fig. 6b , a plurality of active regions actb may be defined by a device isolation pattern dipb. when viewed from a plan view, the plurality of active regions actb may be spaced apart from each other. each of the active regions actb may have an island shape. the active regions actb may correspond to portions of the substrate 100 surrounded by the device isolation pattern dipb. the device isolation pattern dipb and the active region actb may be the device isolation pattern dip and the active region act of fig. 5 , respectively. referring to fig. 7 , a gate insulating pattern 300 and a gate electrode pattern 310 may be sequentially formed on the active region act. in some embodiments, the gate insulating pattern 300 may include at least one of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, silicon oxynitride, or silicon carbonitride. in some embodiments, the gate insulating pattern 300 may include a high-k dielectric material such as hafnium oxide. the gate electrode pattern 310 may be disposed on the gate insulating pattern 300 . in some embodiments, the gate electrode pattern 310 may be a memory element. for example, the gate electrode pattern 310 may be a medium that stores a single-bit or a multi-bit by a charge storing method, a resistance varying method, or another method. in some embodiments, the gate electrode pattern 310 may be a peripheral circuit element. as a result, a semiconductor device 1 may be fabricated/formed. figs. 8 to 12 are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts. repeated descriptions with respect to figs. 1-7 may be omitted or mentioned briefly for the purpose of ease and convenience in explanation. referring to fig. 8 , a substrate 100 having trenches 110 may be provided. in some embodiments, the substrate 100 may be etched using a mask pattern 120 as an etch mask to form the trenches 110 . the trenches 110 may include a first trench 111 and a second trench 112 . a width w 1 of the first trench 111 may be different from a width w 2 of the second trench 112 . an active region act may be defined between adjacent ones of the trenches 110 . in some embodiments, the mask pattern 120 may remain rather than being removed. referring to fig. 9 , a first oxide layer 210 may be formed on the substrate 100 . the first oxide layer 210 may include an insulating oxide such as silicon oxide. the first oxide layer 210 may be formed at a process temperature of about 550° c. to about 700° c. by an atomic layer deposition method. thus, the first oxide layer 210 may conformally cover a bottom surface 110 b and sidewall(s) 110 s of each of the trenches 110 and a top surface of the mask pattern 120 . the first oxide layer 210 may have a thickness of 30 å to 50 å. according to some embodiments, a void or a seam may not be formed in the first oxide layer 210 which is formed in a narrow trench such as the first trench 111 . referring to fig. 10 , a second oxide layer 220 may be formed on the first oxide layer 210 . the second oxide layer 220 may be provided on the bottom surface 110 b and the sidewall(s) 110 s of each of the trenches 110 . in some embodiments, the second oxide layer 220 may be formed by performing a thermal oxidation process on the first oxide layer 210 . an upper portion of the first oxide layer 210 may become denser by the thermal oxidation process to form the second oxide layer 220 . in some embodiments, the second oxide layer 220 may be deposited on the first oxide layer 210 by the thermal oxidation process. the second oxide layer 220 may include the same material (e.g., silicon oxide) as the first oxide layer 210 . at this time, a density of the second oxide layer 220 may be higher than a density of the first oxide layer 210 . a wet etch rate of the second oxide layer 220 may be lower than a wet etch rate of the first oxide layer 210 . a process temperature of the formation process of the second oxide layer 220 may be higher than that of the formation process of the first oxide layer 210 . for example, the process temperature of the second oxide layer 220 may be in a range of about 900° c. to about 1100° c. dangling bonds formed on the sidewalls 110 s and the bottom surfaces 110 b of the trenches 110 may be reduced/cured by an oxygen source gas during the formation process of the second oxide layer 220 , thereby improving an interface trap characteristic between the active region act and the first oxide layer 210 . the interface trap characteristic may be controlled by controlling the thickness of the first oxide layer 210 and/or conditions of the thermal oxidation process. a third oxide layer 230 and a nitride layer 240 may be sequentially formed on the second oxide layer 220 . the third oxide layer 230 may include the same material (e.g., silicon oxide) as the first oxide layer 210 . the third oxide layer 230 may be formed at a process temperature ranging from about 550° c. to about 700° c. by an atomic layer deposition method. the second oxide layer 220 may be denser than the third oxide layer 230 . the wet etch rate of the second oxide layer 220 may be lower than a wet etch rate of the third oxide layer 230 . for example, the second oxide layer 220 may include the same material as the third oxide layer 230 but an atomic ratio of the second oxide layer 220 may be different from an atomic ratio of the third oxide layer 230 . the third oxide layer 230 may be thicker than the first oxide layer 210 . interface traps (i.e., the dangling bonds) between the first oxide layer 210 and the active region act may be reduced as a ratio of the thickness of the second oxide layer 220 to a sum of the thicknesses of the first to third oxide layers 210 , 220 , and 230 increases. the nitride layer 240 may be formed on the third oxide layer 230 . the nitride layer 240 may be provided on the bottom surface 110 b and the sidewall(s) 110 s of each of the trenches 110 . the nitride layer 240 may include silicon nitride. an insulating layer 250 may be formed on the nitride layer 240 to fill the trenches 110 . referring to fig. 11 , a first oxide pattern 211 , a second oxide pattern 221 , a third oxide pattern 231 , a nitride pattern 241 , and an insulating pattern 251 may be formed in each of the trenches 110 . for example, a planarization process may be performed to remove the mask pattern 120 , the insulating layer 250 , the nitride layer 240 , and the oxide layers 230 , 220 and 210 disposed on the top surface of the active region act. thus, the top surface of the active region act may be exposed. as a result, the device isolation pattern dip according to some embodiments may be fabricated/formed. referring to fig. 12 , a gate insulating pattern 300 and a gate electrode pattern 310 may be sequentially formed on the active region act. in other words, the gate electrode pattern 310 may be disposed on the gate insulating pattern 300 . the gate electrode pattern 310 may be a memory element or a peripheral circuit element. as a result, the semiconductor device 1 may be fabricated. fig. 13 is a graph illustrating a cumulative fail bit probability according to a data retention time of each of a comparison example and an experimental example. a cumulative fail bit probability according to a data retention time was evaluated for each of a comparison example and an experimental example. the semiconductor device 1 of the experimental example e included the device isolation pattern dip having the first to third oxide patterns 211 , 221 and 231 , the nitride pattern 241 , and the insulating pattern 251 , as illustrated in fig. 12 . a device isolation pattern of a semiconductor device of the comparison example c did not include the third oxide pattern 231 and included a first oxide pattern thicker than the first oxide pattern 211 illustrated in fig. 12 . other elements of the device isolation pattern of the comparison example c were the same as corresponding ones of the device isolation pattern dip of the experimental example e, respectively. hereinafter, repeated descriptions with respect to figs. 1-12 may be omitted or mentioned briefly for the purpose of ease and convenience in explanation. referring to figs. 12 and 13 , the cumulative fail bit probability of the experimental example e is lower than that of the comparison example c at the same data retention time. since the experimental example e includes the third oxide layer 230 , the first oxide layer 210 of the experimental example e can be thinner than the first oxide layer of the comparison example c and can be uniform (e.g., can have a uniform thickness), in contrast with the first oxide layer of the comparison example c. thus, the number of interface traps between the substrate 100 and the oxide patterns 211 , 221 and 231 of the experimental example e may be smaller than the number of interface traps between a substrate and oxide patterns of the comparison example c. as a result, a gate induced drain leakage (gidl) of the experimental example e may be lower than that of the comparison example c, thereby improving performance of the semiconductor device 1 of the experimental example e. a semiconductor device including the device isolation pattern fabricated according to some embodiments described with respect to any of figs. 1-12 may be provided. the semiconductor device may include at least one of a highly integrated semiconductor memory device (e.g., a dynamic random access memory (dram) device, a static random access memory (sram) device, a phase change random access memory (pram) device, a resistance random access memory (rram) device, a magnetic random access memory (mram) device, and/or a ferroelectric random access memory (fram) device), a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (cmos) image sensor (cis), a micro electro mechanical system (mems), an optoelectronic device, a central processing unit (cpu), or a digital signal processor (dsp). in addition, the semiconductor device may include the same kind of semiconductor devices or a single-chip data processing device such as a system-on-chip (soc) that consists of different kinds of semiconductor devices required for providing one complete function. a semiconductor memory device including the device isolation pattern according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts is described herein with reference to figs. 14 and 15 . fig. 14 is a plan view illustrating an example of a semiconductor device including a device isolation pattern according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts. fig. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines i-i′ and ii-ii′ of fig. 14 to illustrate an example of a semiconductor device including a device isolation pattern according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts. referring to figs. 14 and 15 , a semiconductor device 2 includes word lines wl, bit lines bl intersecting the word lines wl, and memory cells respectively disposed at intersecting points of the word lines wl and bit lines bl. the bit lines bl may be perpendicular to the word lines wl. in more detail, a device isolation pattern dip 1 is provided in a substrate 100 to define active regions act 1 . the device isolation pattern dip 1 may be formed as described with reference to figs. 1 to 5 or 8 to 11 . for example, the device isolation pattern dip 1 may be provided in each of the trenches 110 of the substrate 100 and may include the first oxide pattern 211 , the second oxide pattern 221 , the third oxide pattern 231 , the nitride pattern 241 , and the insulating pattern 251 , which are sequentially stacked, as illustrated in fig. 5 or 11 . thus, interface traps between the active region act 1 and the device isolation pattern dip 1 may be reduced. when viewed from a plan view, the active region act 1 and the device isolation pattern dip 1 may have the shapes described with reference to fig. 6b . the active region act 1 may have a bar shape extending in one direction when viewed from a plan view. a long axis of the active region act 1 may be in a diagonal direction with respect to the word lines wl and the bit lines bl. the word lines wl may intersect the active regions act 1 . in some embodiments, the word lines wl may be disposed in recess regions that are recessed by a predetermined depth from a top surface of the substrate 100 . a gate insulating layer may be disposed between each of the word lines wl and an inner surface of each of the recess regions. in addition, a top surface of a word line wl may be lower than the top surface of the substrate 100 , and an insulating material may be disposed on the word line wl to fill the recess region. source/drain regions sd may be formed in the active region act 1 at both sides of each of the word lines wl. the source/drain regions sd may be dopant regions doped with dopants. a plurality of metal-oxide-semiconductor (mos) transistors may be realized by the word lines wl and the source/drain regions sd described herein. the bit lines bl may be disposed on the substrate 100 to cross over the word lines wl. a first interlayer insulating layer 411 may be disposed between the substrate 100 and the bit lines bl. bit line contact plugs dc may be formed in the first interlayer insulating layer 411 to electrically connect the bit lines bl to some of the source/drain regions sd. a second interlayer insulating layer 412 may cover the bit lines bl. contact plugs bc may be formed in the second interlayer insulating layer 412 to electrically connect ones of the source/drain regions sd to data storage elements. in some embodiments, the contact plugs bc may be disposed on the active region act 1 at both sides of the bit line bl. a forming process of the contact plugs bc may include forming contact holes exposing ones of the source/drain regions sd in the second interlayer insulating layer 412 , depositing a conductive layer filling the contact holes, and planarizing the conductive layer. the contact plugs bc may be formed of at least one of a poly-silicon layer doped with dopants, a metal layer, a metal nitride layer, or a metal silicide layer. in some embodiments, contact pads cp may be formed on respective ones of the contact plugs bc. the contact pads cp may be two-dimensionally arranged on the second interlayer insulating layer 412 . a contact pad cp may increase a contact area between a contact plug bc and a lower electrode of a capacitor formed on the contact pad cp. for example, two contact pads cp that are adjacent to each other with the bit line bl therebetween in a plan view may extend in opposite directions to each other. an etch stop layer 421 may be formed on a third interlayer insulating layer 413 , in which the contact pads cp are provided. a thickness of the etch stop layer 421 may be changed depending on a thickness of lower electrodes 491 of a cylindrical capacitor or a desired capacitance of the capacitor. the lower electrodes 491 may be disposed on respective ones of the contact pads cp. the lower electrodes 491 may be electrically connected to respective ones of the contact pads cp. each of the lower electrodes 491 may have a pillar shape or a cylindrical shape. the lower electrodes 491 may be arranged in a zigzag form or a honeycomb form. a dielectric layer 493 may be provided to conformally cover surfaces of the lower electrodes 491 , and an upper electrode 495 may be formed on the dielectric layer 493 . the lower electrode 491 , the upper electrode 495 , and the dielectric layer 493 therebetween may constitute a capacitor 490 . in some embodiments, a supporting pattern 425 may be disposed between upper portions of the lower electrodes 491 . in this case, the dielectric layer 493 may also cover a surface of the supporting pattern 425 . the supporting pattern 425 may have an opening penetrated by a lower electrode 491 . fig. 16 is a perspective view illustrating a variable resistance memory device including a device isolation pattern according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts. referring to fig. 16 , a substrate 100 including a device isolation pattern dip 2 and an active region act 2 may be provided. the device isolation pattern dip 2 may be fabricated as described with reference to figs. 1 , to 5 or 8 to 11 . for example, the device isolation pattern dip 2 may be provided in each of the trenches 110 of the substrate 100 and may include the first oxide pattern 211 , the second oxide pattern 221 , the third oxide pattern 231 , the nitride pattern 241 , and the insulating pattern 251 which are sequentially stacked, as illustrated in fig. 5 or 11 . thus, interface traps between the active region act 2 and the device isolation pattern dip 2 may be reduced. the active region act 2 and the device isolation pattern dip 2 may have the shapes described with reference to fig. 6a when viewed from a plan view. a semiconductor device 3 may include the substrate 100 , lower interconnections (e.g., word lines) wl 1 and wl 2 disposed in the substrate 100 , upper interconnections bl intersecting the lower interconnections wl 1 and wl 2 , selection elements respectively disposed at intersecting points of the upper interconnections (e.g., bit lines) bl and the lower interconnections wl 1 and wl 2 , and memory elements ds disposed between the selection elements and the upper interconnections bl. the selection elements may be two-dimensionally arranged on the substrate 100 . a selection element may control a current flow penetrating a memory element. in more detail, each of the lower interconnections wl 1 and wl 2 may have a linear shape extending in a y-axis direction in each of the active regions act 2 . in some embodiments, the lower interconnections wl 1 and wl 2 may be dopant regions that are formed by heavily doping the active regions act 2 with dopants. here, a conductivity type of the lower interconnections wl 1 and wl 2 may be opposite to that of the substrate 100 . the selection elements may include semiconductor patterns p 1 and p 2 . each of first and second semiconductor patterns p 1 and p 2 may include an upper dopant region dp and a lower dopant region dn. a conductivity type of the upper dopant region dp may be opposite to a conductivity type of the lower dopant region dn. for example, the lower dopant region dn may have the same conductivity type as the lower interconnections wl 1 and wl 2 , and the upper dopant region dp may have the conductivity type opposite to the conductivity type of the lower interconnections wl 1 and wl 2 . thus, a pn junction may be generated in each of the first and second semiconductor patterns p 1 and p 2 . alternatively, an intrinsic region may be disposed between the upper dopant region dp and the lower dopant region dn, so a pin junction may be generated in each of the first and second semiconductor patterns p 1 and p 2 . meanwhile, a pnp or npn bipolar transistor may be realized by the substrate 100 , the lower interconnection wl 1 or wl 2 , and the first or second semiconductor pattern p 1 or p 2 . lower electrodes bec, the memory elements ds, and the upper interconnections bl may be disposed on the first and second semiconductor patterns p 1 and p 2 . the upper interconnections bl may cross over the lower interconnections wl 1 and wl 2 and may be disposed on the memory elements ds. the upper interconnections bl may be electrically connected to the memory elements ds. according to some embodiments, each of the memory elements ds may be formed to be parallel to the upper interconnections bl and may be connected to a plurality of lower electrodes bec. alternatively, the memory elements ds may be two-dimensionally arranged. in other words, the memory elements ds may be disposed on the first and second semiconductor patterns p 1 and p 2 in one-to-one correspondence. a memory element ds may be a variable resistance pattern that is switchable between two resistance states by an electrical pulse applied to the memory element ds. in some embodiments, the memory element ds may include a phase-change material of which a phase is changeable between a crystalline state and an amorphous state according to an amount of current. in some embodiments, a memory element ds may include at least one of a perovskite compound, a transition metal oxide, a magnetic material, a ferromagnetic material, or an antiferromagnetic material. each of the lower electrodes bec may be disposed between each of the first and second semiconductor patterns p 1 and p 2 and one of the memory elements ds. a planar area of the lower electrode bec may be smaller than a planar area of each of the first and second semiconductor patterns p 1 and p 2 and/or a planar area of the memory element ds. in some embodiments, the lower electrode bec may have a pillar shape. alternatively, the shape of the lower electrode bec may be variously modified to reduce its cross-sectional area. for example, the lower electrode bec may have a three-dimensional structure such as a u-shaped structure, an l-shaped structure, a hollow cylindrical shape, a ring structure, or a cup structure. in addition, an ohmic layer for reducing a contact resistance may be disposed between each of the lower electrodes bec and each of the first and second semiconductor patterns p 1 and p 2 . for example, the ohmic layer may include a metal silicide layer such as titanium silicide, cobalt silicide, tantalum silicide, or tungsten silicide. fig. 17 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of an electronic system including a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts. referring to fig. 17 , an electronic system 1100 according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts may include a controller 1110 , an input/output (i/o) unit 1120 , a memory device 1130 , an interface unit 1140 , and a data bus 1150 . at least two of the controller 1110 , the i/o unit 1120 , the memory device 1130 , and the interface unit 1140 may communicate with each other through the data bus 1150 . the data bus 1150 may correspond to a path through which electrical signals are transmitted. the controller 1110 may include at least one of a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, a microcontroller, or other logic devices. the other logic devices may have a similar function to any one of the microprocessor, the digital signal processor and the microcontroller. the i/o unit 1120 may include a keypad, a keyboard and/or a display device. the memory device 1130 may store data and/or commands. the memory device 1130 may include at least one of the semiconductor devices described herein with respect to figs. 1-16 . the interface unit 1140 may transmit electrical data to a communication network or may receive electrical data from a communication network. the interface unit 1140 may operate wirelessly or by cable. for example, the interface unit 1140 may include an antenna or a wireless/cable transceiver. the electronic system 1100 may further include a fast dram device and/or a fast sram device which acts as a cache memory for improving an operation of the controller 1110 . the fast dram device and/or the fast sram device may include a device isolation pattern according to embodiments described herein with respect to figs. 1-16 . the electronic system 1100 may be applied to a personal digital assistant (pda), a portable computer, a web tablet, a wireless phone, a mobile phone, a digital music player, a memory card or other electronic products. the other electronic products may receive or transmit information data wirelessly. fig. 18 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of a memory card including a semiconductor device according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts (e.g., as described herein with respect to figs. 1-16 ). referring to fig. 18 , a memory card 1200 according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts may include a memory device 1210 . the memory device 1210 may include at least one of the semiconductor devices described herein with respect to figs. 1-16 . the memory card 1200 may also include a memory controller 1220 that controls data communication between a host and the memory device 1210 . the memory controller 1220 may include a central processing unit (cpu) 1222 that controls overall operations of the memory card 1200 . in addition, the memory controller 1220 may include an sram device 1221 used as a working memory of the cpu 1222 . moreover, the memory controller 1220 may further include a host interface (i/f) unit 1223 and a memory interface unit 1225 . the host interface unit 1223 may be configured to include a data communication protocol between the memory card 1200 and the host. the memory interface unit 1225 may connect the memory controller 1220 to the memory device 1210 . the memory controller 1220 may further include an error check and correction (ecc) block 1224 . the ecc block 1224 may detect and correct errors of data read out from the memory device 1210 . the memory card 1200 may further include a read only memory (rom) device that stores code data to interface with the host. the memory card 1200 may be used as a portable data storage card. alternatively, the memory card 1200 may be realized as a solid state disk (ssd) used as a hard disk of a computer system. according to some embodiments of present inventive concepts, a first oxide layer, a second oxide layer, and a third oxide layer may be sequentially formed on a bottom surface and a sidewall of a trench. the first oxide layer may have a uniform and relatively small thickness due to the third oxide layer. the first oxide layer may also be uniformly deposited in a narrow trench, and thus, it may be possible to impede/prevent a defect (e.g., a void or a seam) from being formed in the first oxide layer. dangling bonds formed on the bottom surface and the sidewall of the trench may be removed during formation of the second oxide layer. the dangling bonds (i.e., interface traps) between an active region and the first oxide layer may be removed or reduced to improve the reliability of the semiconductor device. due to the first oxide layer, the width of the active region may not be reduced during the formation of the second oxide layer. the above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall within the true spirit and scope. thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope is to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.
106-558-535-365-732	AU	[ "US", "BR", "CN", "AT", "KR", "SG", "IL", "JP", "CA", "EP", "DE", "WO", "AU", "MX" ]	H04L12/58,B41J3/00,G06F3/03,G06F3/033,G06F3/05,G06F3/12,G06F15/00,G06F15/16,G06F17/00,G06K7/10,G06Q30/00,G06V30/224,H04N1/047,H04N1/107,G09G5/00,H04N1/00,G06K1/00,G06F3/00,H04B1/38,H04M1/00,G08C21/00,G06K15/00,H04N1/04,H04N1/40	1999-05-25T00:00:00	1999	[ "H04", "B41", "G06", "G09", "G08" ]	method and system for composition and delivery of electronic mail	a method for composition and transmission of an electronic mail message including: printing a document to facilitate composition and transmission of the electronic mail message; composing the electronic mail message on the document utilizing a sensing device adapted to read coded data in the document; transmitting interaction data from the sensing device to a computer system, the interaction data representing interaction of the sensing device with the coded data to allow the message to be electronically captured in the computer system; and transmitting the message to at least one recipient address.	1. a method for composition and transmission of an electronic mail message including: 2. a method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the address of the recipient is converted from hand-written indicia on the document to an electronic form of the address to facilitate transmission. 3. a method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least part of the message as applied to the document is converted from hand-written indicia or alpha-numerals to electronic equivalents. 4. a method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least part of the electronic mail message as applied to the document is converted from hand-written indicia, alpha-numerals, diagrams, figures, or the like, to an electronic form which substantially preserves the format and appearance of the relevant part of the message. 5. a method as claimed in claim 3 or 4 , wherein electronically capturing the message includes receiving, in the computer system, movement data regarding movement of the sensing device relative to the document. 6. a method as claimed in claim 5 , including the sensing device sensing its movement relative to the form using the coded data. 7. a method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least part of the electronic mail message is transmitted to the recipient address as digital ink. 8. a method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the message is delivered at the address in the form of a second document containing the electronic mail message. 9. a method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the second document has at least one user interactive element which enables a recipient to indicate a response to associated information in the second document by interacting with the user interactive element using a sensing device which is adapted to transmit response data to a computer. 10. a method as claimed in either claim 8 or 9 , wherein the second document is automatically printed. 11. a method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein only an electronic mail message from an approved sender is accepted at the recipient address, the approved sender being entered in a customizable electronic list or database. 12. a method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a user addresses the electronic mail message to the recipient address by selecting a name from a list on the document using the sensing device. 13. a method as claimed in claim 1 , including receiving, in the computer system, indicating data derived from the coded data, regarding the identity of the document and a position of the sensing device relative to the document in order to identify the document and determine when the sensing device is used to interact with the document. 14. a method as claimed in claim 13 , including receiving, in the computer system, movement data regarding movement of the sensing device relative to the document. 15. a method as claimed in claim 1 , including the sensing device sensing its movement relative to the document using the coded data. 16. a method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the sensing device includes an identification code specific to a particular user and the method includes monitoring use of the sensing device in the computer system. 17. a method as claimed in claim 1 , including printing the document on demand. 18. a method as claimed in claim 13 , including printing the document on a surface of a surface-defining structure and, at the same time, printing the coded data on the surface. 19. a method as claimed in claim 18 which includes printing the coded data to be substantially invisible in the visible spectrum. 20. a method as claimed in claim 13 , including retaining a retrievable record of the printed document, the document being retrievable using the identity data as contained in the coded data. 21. a system for composition and transmission of an electronic mail message including: 22. a system as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the computer system is adopted to transmit the electronic mail message to an electronic mail server. 23. a system as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the computer system is provided with means so that the address of the recipient is converted from hand-written indicia on the document to an electronic form of the address. 24. a system as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the computer system is provided with means so that at least part of the electronic mail message as applied to the document is converted from electronically captured hand-written indicia or alpha-numerals to electronic equivalents. 25. a system as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the computer system is provided with means so that at least part of the electronic mail message as applied to the document is converted from electronically captured hand-written indicia, alpha-numerals, diagrams, figures, or the like, to an electronic form which substantially preserves the format and appearance of the relevant part of the electronic mail message. 26. a system as claimed in claim 24 or 25 , wherein the computer system is adapted to receive movement data regarding movement of the sensing device relative to the coded data, in order to electronically capture the message. 27. a system as claimed in claim 26 , wherein the sensing device senses its own movement relative to the document using the coded data. 28. a system as claimed in claim 21 , further including a printer at the recipient address for producing a second document containing the electronic mail message. 29. a system as claimed in claim 28 , wherein the second document has at least one user interactive element which enables a recipient to indicate a response to associated information in the second document by interacting with the user interactive element using a sensing device which is adapted to transmit response data to a computer. 30. a system as claimed in claim 28 , wherein the printer only accepts an electronic mail message from an approved sender, the approved sender being entered in a customisable electronic list or database. 31. a system as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the coded data serves to identify the document and a position of the sensing device relative to the document. 32. a system as claimed in claim 22 , wherein the computer system is adapted to receive movement data regarding movement of the sensing device relative to coded data, in order to capture the message. 33. a system as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the sensing device sensing its movement relative to the document using the coded data. 34. a system as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the sensing device includes a marking nib. 35. a system as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the document is printed on a surface of a surface-defining structure and wherein the printer prints the document on demand. 36. a system as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the printer is arranged to print the coded data at the same time as printing the document on a surface-defining structure. 37. a system as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the coded data is substantially invisible in the visible spectrum. 38. the system as claimed in claim 21 , including a database for keeping a retrievable record of each document generated, each document being retrievable by using its identity, as included in its coded data.	field of invention the present invention relates generally to methods, systems and apparatus for interacting with computers. more particularly, the invention relates to composition and delivery of electronic mail, utilizing such devices, systems and methods. the invention has been developed primarily to allow a large number of distributed users to interact with networked information via printed matter and optical sensors, thereby to obtain interactive printed matter on demand via high-speed networked color printers. although the invention will largely be described herein with reference to this use, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to use in this field. co-pending applications various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending applications/granted patents filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention simultaneously with the present application: 09/575,197, 09/575,132, 09/575,130, 09/575,118, 09/575,144, u.s. pat. no. 6,681,045, 09/575,192, 09/575,156, 09/575,150, u.s. pat. no. 6,502,614, u.s. pat. no. 6,549,935, u.s. pat. no. 6,591,884, 09/575,198, 09/575,146, 09/575,168, 09/575,124, 09/575,162, 09/575,171, u.s. pat. no. 6,526,658, u.s. pat. no. 6,540,319, 09/575,127, u.s. pat. no. 6,409,323, u.s. pat. no. 6,318,920, 09/575,195, 09/575,159, 09/575,123, 09/575,165, 09/575,131, 09/575,139, 09/575,191, 09/575,181, 09/575,183, 09/575,169, u.s. pat. no. 6,644,642, u.s. pat. no. 6,622,999, 09/575,187, u.s. pat. no. 6,439,706, u.s. pat. no. 6,290,349, 09/575,163, 09/575,154, 09/575,188, 09/575,172, 09/575,161, u.s. pat. no. 6.428,133, u.s. pat. no. 6,315,399, u.s. pat. no. 6,328,431, u.s. pat. no. 6,383,833, u.s. pat. no. 6,390,591, u.s. pat. no. 6,328,417, u.s. pat. no. 6,281,912, u.s. pat. no. 6,488,422, 09/575,148, 09/575,153, 09/575,116, 09/575,186, 09/575,145, 09/575,193, 09/575,160, u.s. pat. no. 6,669,385, 09/575,155, 09/575,196, u.s. pat. no. 6,428,155, 09/575,174, 09/575,129, 09/575,189, 09/575,170, u.s. pat. no. 6,338,548, u.s. pat. no. 6,328,425, u.s. pat. no. 6,464,332, 09/575,152, u.s. pat. no. 6,604,810, 09/575,108, 09/575,109 the disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated herein by cross-reference. each application is temporarily identified by its docket number. this will be replaced by the corresponding ussn when available. background electronic mail (e-mail) systems are widely used to transmit personal and business-related messages. e-mail systems can provide almost instant delivery world-wide, and provide other advantages associated with online information handling such as support for archiving and searching of messages. messages are typically both composed and read on screen-based computer systems such as personal computers which provide a keyboard and mouse for inputting data. although hand-drawing and handwriting afford greater richness of expression than input via a keyboard and mouse, the required digitizing tablets can be cumbersome and expensive, and e-mail systems typically don't provide direct support for hand-drawn input in the form of digital ink. recognizing that printed paper can present information in a more readable and portable form than can a computer screen, many e-mail users choose to print their e-mail before reading it. object it is an object of the invention to combine advantages of conventional printed information and hand-written messages with digital ink and online electronic mail delivery. summary of invention in accordance with the invention, there is provided a method for composition and transmission of an electronic mail message including: printing a document to facilitate composition and transmission of the electronic mail message; composing the electronic mail message on the document utilising a sensing device adapted to read coded data in the document; transmitting interaction data from the sensing device to a computer system, the interaction data representing interaction of the sensing device with the coded data to allow the message to be electronically captured in the computer system; and transmitting the message to at least one recipient address. preferably, the address of the recipient is converted from hand-written indicia on the document to an electronic form of the address to facilitate transmission. preferably, at least part of the message as applied to the document is converted from hand-written indicia or alpha-numerals to electronic equivalents. more preferably, at least part of the message as applied to the document is converted from hand-written indicia or alpha-numerals to electronic equivalents. the step of electronically capturing the message preferably includes receiving, in the computer system, movement data regarding movement of the sensing device relative to the document, with the sensing device preferably sensing its movement relative to the form using the coded data. following electronic capture, at least part of the electronic mail message is transmitted to the recipient address as digital ink and the second document preferably has at least one user interactive element which enables a recipient to indicate a response to associated information in the second document by interacting with the user interactive element using a sensing device which is adapted to transmit response data to a computer. preferably also, only an electronic mail message from an approved sender is accepted at the recipient address, the approved sender being entered in a customizable electronic list or database. preferably, a user addresses the electronic mail message to the recipient address by selecting a name from a list on the document using the sensing device. preferably, the method further includes receiving, in the computer system, indicating data derived from the coded data, regarding the identity of the document and a position of the sensing device relative to the document in order to identify the document and determine when the sensing device is used to interact with the document. preferably, the sensing device includes an identification code specific to a particular user and the method includes monitoring use of the sensing device in the computer system. the method may further include printing the document on a surface of a surface-defining structure and, at the same time, printing the coded data on the surface, with the coded data preferably being substantially invisible in the visible spectrum. preferably, the method includes retaining a retrievable record of the printed document, the document being retrievable using the identity data as contained in the coded data. in another aspect, there is provided a system for composition and transmission of an electronic mail message including: a printer for printing a document with coded data, to facilitate composition and transmission of the electronic mail message; a sensing device for reading the coded data and transmitting interaction data, representing interaction of the sensing device with the coded data to allow for electronic capture of the message, generated by moving the device relative to the document; and a computer system for receiving the interaction data from the device and transmitting the message to a recipient address. preferably, the computer system is adopted to transmit the electronic mail message to an electronic mail server. preferably, the computer system is provided with means so that the address of the recipient is converted from hand-written indicia on the document to an electronic form of the address. preferably, the computer system is provided with means so that at least part of the electronic mail message as applied to the document is converted from electronically captured hand-written indicia or alpha-numerals to electronic equivalents. more preferably, the computer system is provided with means so that at least part of the electronic mail message as applied to the document is converted from electronically captured hand-written indicia, alpha-numerals, diagrams, figures, or the like, to an electronic form which substantially preserves the format and appearance of the relevant part of the electronic mail message. in order to electronically capture the message, the computer system is preferably, adapted to receive movement data regarding movement of the sensing device relative to the coded data, in order to electronically capture the message, and the sensing device preferably, senses its own movement relative to the document using the coded data. the system may further include a printer at the recipient address for producing a second document containing the electronic mail message and the second document preferably has at least one user interactive element which enables a recipient to indicate a response to associated information in the second document by interacting with the user interactive element using a sensing device which is adapted to transmit response data to a computer. preferably, the printer only accepts an electronic mail message from an approved sender, the approved sender being entered in a customisable electronic list or database. preferably, the coded data serves to identify the document and a position of the sensing device relative to the document. the sensing device preferably also includes a marking nib. the printer is preferably arranged to print the coded data on demand, at the same time as printing the document on the surface-defining structure, with the coded data preferably being substantially invisible in the visible spectrum. the system preferably includes a database for keeping a retrievable record of each document generated, each document being retrievable by using its identity, as included in its coded data. brief description of drawings preferred and other embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: fig. 1 is a schematic of a the relationship between a sample printed netpage and its online page description; fig. 2 is a schematic view of a interaction between a netpage pen, a netpage printer, a netpage page server, and a netpage application server; fig. 3 illustrates a collection of netpage servers and printers interconnected via a network; fig. 4 is a schematic view of a high-level structure of a printed netpage and its online page description; fig. 5 is a plan view showing a structure of a netpage tag; fig. 6 is a plan view showing a relationship between a set of the tags shown in fig.5 and a field of view of a netpage sensing device in the form of a netpage pen; fig. 7 is a flowchart of a tag image processing and decoding algorithm; fig. 8 is a perspective view of a netpage pen and its associated tag-sensing field-of-view cone; fig. 9 is a perspective exploded view of the netpage pen shown in fig. 8 ; fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a pen controller for the netpage pen shown in figs. 8 and 9 ; fig. 11 is a perspective view of a wall-mounted netpage printer; fig. 12 is a section through the length of the netpage printer of fig. 11 ; fig. 12 a is an enlarged portion of fig. 12 showing a section of the duplexed print engines and glue wheel assembly; fig. 13 is a detailed view of the ink cartridge, ink, air and glue paths, and print engines of the netpage printer of figs. 11 and 12 ; fig. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a printer controller for the netpage printer shown in figs. 11 and 12 ; fig. 15 is a schematic block diagram of duplexed print engine controllers and memjet printheads associated with the printer controller shown in fig. 14 ; fig. 16 is a schematic block diagram of the print engine controller shown in figs. 14 and 15 ; fig. 17 is a perspective view of a single memjet printing element, as used in, for example, the netpage printer of figs. 10 to 12 ; fig. 18 is a perspective view of a small part of an array of memjet printing elements; fig. 19 is a series of perspective views illustrating the operating cycle of the memjet printing element shown in fig. 13 ; fig. 20 is a perspective view of a short segment of a pagewidth memjet printhead; fig. 21 is a schematic view of a user class diagram; fig. 22 is a schematic view of a printer class diagram; fig. 23 is a schematic view of a pen class diagram; fig. 24 is a schematic view of an application class diagram; fig. 25 is a schematic view of a document and page description class diagram; fig. 26 is a schematic view of a document and page ownership class diagram; fig. 27 is a schematic view of a terminal element specialization class diagram; fig. 28 is a schematic view of a static element specialization class diagram; fig. 29 is a schematic view of a hyperlink element class diagram; fig. 30 is a schematic view of a hyperlink element specialization class diagram; fig. 31 is a schematic view of a hyperlinked group class diagram; fig. 32 is a schematic view of a form class diagram; fig. 33 is a schematic view of a digital ink class diagram; fig. 34 is a schematic view of a field element specialization class diagram; fig. 35 is a schematic view of a checkbox field class diagram; fig. 36 is a schematic view of a text field class diagram; fig. 37 is a schematic view of a signature field class diagram; fig. 38 is a flowchart of an input processing algorithm; fig. 38 a is a detailed flowchart of one step of the flowchart of fig. 38 ; fig. 39 is a schematic view of a page server command element class diagram; fig. 40 is a schematic view of a resource description class diagram; fig. 41 is a schematic view of a favorites list class diagram; fig. 42 is a schematic view of a history list class diagram; fig. 43 is a schematic view of a subscription delivery protocol; fig. 44 is a schematic view of a hyperlink request class diagram; fig. 45 is a schematic view of a hyperlink activation protocol; fig. 46 is a schematic view of a form submission protocol; fig. 47 is a schematic view of a commission payment protocol; fig. 48 is a schematic view of a set of user interface flow document icons; fig. 49 is a schematic view of a set of user interface page layout element icons; fig. 50 is a schematic view of a indexed directory class diagram; fig. 51 is a schematic view of a generic directory index page; fig. 52 is a schematic view of a directory navigation user interface flow; fig. 53 is a schematic view of an e-mail user class diagram; fig. 54 is a schematic view of an e-mail class diagram; fig. 55 is a schematic view of a mailbox class diagram; fig. 56 is a schematic view of a contact list class diagram; fig. 57 is a schematic view of a barred user list class diagram; fig. 58 is a schematic view of a user interface flow for e-mail; fig. 59 is a schematic view of a user interface flow for an e-mail recipient exception; fig. 60 is a schematic view of an outgoing e-mail firs t page; fig. 61 is a schematic view of an outgoing e-mail second or subsequent page; fig. 62 is a schematic view of an add recipients page; fig. 63 is a schematic view of an incoming e-mail first page; fig. 64 is a schematic view of an incoming e-mail second or subsequent page; fig. 65 is a schematic view of a user interface flow for editing a contact; fig. 66 is a schematic view of an edit contacts page; fig. 67 is a schematic view of a copy contact first page; fig. 68 is a schematic view of a set e-mail folder first page; fig. 69 is a schematic view of a user interface flow for a mailbox listing; fig. 70 is a schematic view of a mailbox page; fig. 71 is a schematic view of an e-mail folder page; fig. 72 is a schematic view of a copy e-mail first page; fig. 73 is a schematic view of a user interface flow for editing a barred user list; fig. 74 is a schematic view of an edit barred user list page; fig. 75 is a schematic view of a user interface flow for a global user directory; fig. 76 is a schematic view of a global user directory page; fig. 77 is a schematic view of a user information page; fig. 78 is a schematic view of a user interface flow for internet contact registration; and fig. 79 is a schematic view of an internet contact registration page. detailed description of preferred and other embodiments note: memjet is a trade mark of silverbrook research pty ltd, australia. in the preferred embodiment, the invention is configured to work with the netpage networked computer system, a detailed overview of which follows. it will be appreciated that not every implementation will necessarily embody all or even most of the specific details and extensions discussed below in relation to the basic system. however, the system is described in its most complete form to reduce the need for external reference when attempting to understand the context in which the preferred embodiments and aspects of the present invention operate. in brief summary, the preferred form of the netpage system employs a computer interface in the form of a mapped surface, that is, a physical surface which contains references to a map of the surface maintained in a computer system. the map references can be queried by an appropriate sensing device. depending upon the specific implementation, the map references may be encoded visibly or invisibly, and defined in such a way that a local query on the mapped surface yields an unambiguous map reference both within the map and among different maps. the computer system can contain information about features on the mapped surface, and such information can be retrieved based on map references supplied by a sensing device used with the mapped surface. the information thus retrieved can take the form of actions which are initiated by the computer system on behalf of the operator in response to the operator's interaction with the surface features. in its preferred form, the netpage system relies on the production of, and human interaction with, netpages. these are pages of text, graphics and images printed on ordinary paper, but which work like interactive web pages. information is encoded on each page using ink which is substantially invisible to the unaided human eye. the ink, however, and thereby the coded data, can be sensed by an optically imaging pen and transmitted to the netpage system. in the preferred form, active buttons and hyperlinks on each page can be clicked with the pen to request information from the network or to signal preferences to a network server. in one embodiment, text written by hand on a netpage is automatically recognized and converted to computer text in the netpage system, allowing forms to be filled in. in other embodiments, signatures recorded on a netpage are automatically verified, allowing e-commerce transactions to be securely authorized. as illustrated in fig. 1 , a printed netpage 1 can represent a interactive form which can be filled in by the user both physically, on the printed page, and electronically, via communication between the pen and the netpage system. the example shows a request form containing name and address fields and a submit button. the netpage consists of graphic data 2 printed using visible ink, and coded data 3 printed as a collection of tags 4 using invisible ink. the corresponding page description 5 , stored on the netpage network, describes the individual elements of the netpage. in particular it describes the type and spatial extent (zone) of each interactive element (i.e. text field or button in the example), to allow the netpage system to correctly interpret input via the netpage. the submit button 6 , for example, has a zone 7 which corresponds to the spatial extent of the corresponding graphic 8 . as illustrated in fig. 2 , the netpage pen 101 , a preferred form of which is shown in figs. 8 and 9 and described in more detail below, works in conjunction with a netpage printer 601 , an internet-connected printing appliance for home, office or mobile use. the pen is wireless and communicates securely with the netpage printer via a short-range radio link 9 . the netpage printer 601 , a preferred form of which is shown in figs. 11 to 13 and described in more detail below, is able to deliver, periodically or on demand, personalized newspapers, magazines, catalogs, brochures and other publications, all printed at high quality as interactive netpages. unlike a personal computer, the netpage printer is an appliance which can be, for example, wall-mounted adjacent to an area where the morning news is first consumed, such as in a user's kitchen, near a breakfast table, or near the household's point of departure for the day. it also comes in tabletop, desktop, portable and miniature versions. netpages printed at their point of consumption combine the ease-of-use of paper with the timeliness and interactivity of an interactive medium. as shown in fig. 2 , the netpage pen 101 interacts with the coded data on a printed netpage 1 and communicates, via a short-range radio link 9 , the interaction to a netpage printer. the printer 601 sends the interaction to the relevant netpage page server for interpretation. in appropriate circumstances, the page server sends a corresponding message to application computer software running on a netpage application server 13 . the application server may in turn send a response which is printed on the originating printer. the netpage system is made considerably more convenient in the preferred embodiment by being used in conjunction with high-speed microelectromechanical system (mems) based inkjet (memjet) printers. in the preferred form of this technology, relatively high-speed and high-quality printing is made more affordable to consumers. in its preferred form, a netpage publication has the physical characteristics of a traditional newsmagazine, such as a set of letter-size glossy pages printed in full color on both sides, bound together for easy navigation and comfortable handling. the netpage printer exploits the growing availability of broadband internet access. cable service is available to 95% of households in the united states, and cable modem service offering broadband internet access is already available to 20% of these. the netpage printer can also operate with slower connections, but with longer delivery times and lower image quality. indeed, the netpage system can be enabled using existing consumer inkjet and laser printers, although the system will operate more slowly and will therefore be less acceptable from a consumer's point of view. in other embodiments, the netpage system is hosted on a private intranet. in still other embodiments, the netpage system is hosted on a single computer or computer-enabled device, such as a printer. netpage publication servers 14 on the netpage network are configured to deliver print-quality publications to netpage printers. periodical publications are delivered automatically to subscribing netpage printers via pointcasting and multicasting internet protocols. personalized publications are filtered and formatted according to individual user profiles. a netpage printer can be configured to support any number of pens, and a pen can work with any number of netpage printers. in the preferred implementation, each netpage pen has a unique identifier. a household may have a collection of colored netpage pens, one assigned to each member of the family. this allows each user to maintain a distinct profile with respect to a netpage publication server or application server. a netpage pen can also be registered with a netpage registration server 11 and linked to one or more payment card accounts. this allows e-commerce payments to be securely authorized using the netpage pen. the netpage registration server compares the signature captured by the netpage pen with a previously registered signature, allowing it to authenticate the user's identity to an e-commerce server. other biometrics can also be used to verify identity. a version of the netpage pen includes fingerprint scanning, verified in a similar way by the netpage registration server. although a netpage printer may deliver periodicals such as the morning newspaper without user intervention, it can be configured never to deliver unsolicited junk mail. in its preferred form, it only delivers periodicals from subscribed or otherwise authorized sources. in this respect, the netpage printer is unlike a fax machine or e-mail account which is visible to any junk mailer who knows the telephone number or email address. 1 netpage system architecture each object model in the system is described using a unified modeling language (uml) class diagram. a class diagram consists of a set of object classes connected by relationships, and two kinds of relationships are of interest here: associations and generalizations. an association represents some kind of relationship between objects, i.e. between instances of classes. a generalization relates actual classes, and can be understood in the following way: if a class is thought of as the set of all objects of that class, and class a is a generalization of class b, then b is simply a subset of a. the uml does not directly support second-order modellingi.e. classes of classes. each class is drawn as a rectangle labelled with the name of the class. it contains a list of the attributes of the class, separated from the name by a horizontal line, and a list of the operations of the class, separated from the attribute list by a horizontal line. in the class diagrams which follow, however, operations are never modelled. an association is drawn as a line joining two classes, optionally labelled at either end with the multiplicity of the association. the default multiplicity is one. an asterisk (*) indicates a multiplicity of many, i.e. zero or more. each association is optionally labelled with its name, and is also optionally labelled at either end with the role of the corresponding class. an open diamond indicates an aggregation association (is-part-of), and is drawn at the aggregator end of the association line. a generalization relationship (is-a) is drawn as a solid line joining two classes, with an arrow (in the form of an open triangle) at the generalization end. when a class diagram is broken up into multiple diagrams, any class which is duplicated is shown with a dashed outline in all but the main diagram which defines it. it is shown with attributes only where it is defined. 1.1 netpages netpages are the foundation on which a netpage network is built. they provide a paper-based user interface to published information and interactive services. a netpage consists of a printed page (or other surface region) invisibly tagged with references to an online description of the page. the online page description is maintained persistently by a netpage page server. the page description describes the visible layout and content of the page, including text, graphics and images. it also describes the input elements on the page, including buttons, hyperlinks, and input fields. a netpage allows markings made with a netpage pen on its surface to be simultaneously captured and processed by the netpage system. multiple netpages can share the same page description. however, to allow input through otherwise identical pages to be distinguished, each netpage is assigned a unique page identifier. this page id has sufficient precision to distinguish between a very large number of netpages. each reference to the page description is encoded in a printed tag. the tag identifies the unique page on which it appears, and thereby indirectly identifies the page description. the tag also identifies its own position on the page. characteristics of the tags are described in more detail below. tags are printed in infrared-absorptive ink on any substrate which is infrared-reflective, such as ordinary paper. near-infrared wavelengths are invisible to the human eye but are easily sensed by a solid-state image sensor with an appropriate filter. a tag is sensed by an area image sensor in the netpage pen, and the tag data is transmitted to the netpage system via the nearest netpage printer. the pen is wireless and communicates with the netpage printer via a short-range radio link. tags are sufficiently small and densely arranged that the pen can reliably image at least one tag even on a single click on the page. it is important that the pen recognize the page id and position on every interaction with the page, since the interaction is stateless. tags are error-correctably encoded to make them partially tolerant to surface damage. the netpage page server maintains a unique page instance for each printed netpage, allowing it to maintain a distinct set of user-supplied values for input fields in the page description for each printed netpage. the relationship between the page description, the page instance, and the printed netpage is shown in fig. 4 . the page instance is associated with both the netpage printer which printed it and, if known, the netpage user who requested it. 1.2 netpage tags 1.2.1 tag data content in a preferred form, each tag identifies the region in which it appears, and the location of that tag within the region. a tag may also contain flags which relate to the region as a whole or to the tag. one or more flag bits may, for example, signal a tag sensing device to provide feedback indicative of a function associated with the immediate area of the tag, without the sensing device having to refer to a description of the region. a netpage pen may, for example, illuminate an active area led when in the zone of a hyperlink. as will be more clearly explained below, in a preferred embodiment, each tag contains an easily recognized invariant structure which aids initial detection, and which assists in minimizing the effect of any warp induced by the surface or by the sensing process. the tags preferably tile the entire page, and are sufficiently small and densely arranged that the pen can reliably image at least one tag even on a single click on the page. it is important that the pen recognize the page id and position on every interaction with the page, since the interaction is stateless. in a preferred embodiment, the region to which a tag refers coincides with an entire page, and the region id encoded in the tag is therefore synonymous with the page id of the page on which the tag appears. in other embodiments, the region to which a tag refers can be an arbitrary subregion of a page or other surface. for example, it can coincide with the zone of an interactive element, in which case the region id can directly identify the interactive element. table 1 tag data field precision (bits) region id 100 tag id 16 flags 4 total 120 each tag contains 120 bits of information, typically allocated as shown in table 1. assuming a maximum tag density of 64 per square inch, a 16-bit tag id supports a region size of up to 1024 square inches. larger regions can be mapped continuously without increasing the tag id precision simply by using abutting regions and maps. the 100-bit region id allows 2 ^{ 100 } (10 ^{ 30 } or a million trillion trillion) different regions to be uniquely identified. 1.2.2 tag data encoding the 120 bits of tag data are redundantly encoded using a (15, 5) reed-solomon code. this yields 360 encoded bits consisting of 6 codewords of 15 4-bit symbols each. the (15, 5) code allows up to 5 symbol errors to be corrected per codeword, i.e. it is tolerant of a symbol error rate of up to 33% per codeword. each 4-bit symbol is represented in a spatially coherent way in the tag, and the symbols of the six codewords are interleaved spatially within the tag. this ensures that a burst error (an error affecting multiple spatially adjacent bits) damages a minimum number of symbols overall and a minimum number of symbols in any one codeword, thus maximising the likelihood that the burst error can be fully corrected. 1.2.3 physical tag structure the physical representation of the tag, shown in fig. 5 , includes fixed target structures 15 , 16 , 17 and variable data areas 18 . the fixed target structures allow a sensing device such as the netpage pen to detect the tag and infer its three-dimensional orientation relative to the sensor. the data areas contain representations of the individual bits of the encoded tag data. to achieve proper tag reproduction, the tag is rendered at a resolution of 256256 dots. when printed at 1600 dots per inch this yields a tag with a diameter of about 4 mm. at this resolution the tag is designed to be surrounded by a quiet area of radius 16 dots. since the quiet area is also contributed by adjacent tags, it only adds 16 dots to the effective diameter of the tag. the tag includes six target structures. a detection ring 15 allows the sensing device to initially detect the tag. the ring is easy to detect because it is rotationally invariant and because a simple correction of its aspect ratio removes most of the effects of perspective distortion. an orientation axis 16 allows the sensing device to determine the approximate planar orientation of the tag due to the yaw of the sensor. the orientation axis is skewed to yield a unique orientation. four perspective targets 17 allow the sensing device to infer an accurate two-dimensional perspective transform of the tag and hence an accurate three-dimensional position and orientation of the tag relative to the sensor. all target structures are redundantly large to improve their immunity to noise. the overall tag shape is circular. this supports, amongst other things, optimal tag packing on an irregular triangular grid. in combination with the circular detection ring, this makes a circular arrangement of data bits within the tag optimal. to maximise its size, each data bit is represented by a radial wedge in the form of an area bounded by two radial lines and two concentric circular arcs. each wedge has a minimum dimension of 8 dots at 1600 dpi and is designed so that its base (its inner arc), is at least equal to this minimum dimension. the height of the wedge in the radial direction is always equal to the minimum dimension. each 4-bit data symbol is represented by an array of 22 wedges. the 15 4-bit data symbols of each of the six codewords are allocated to the four concentric symbol rings 18 a to 18 d in interleaved fashion. symbols are allocated alternately in circular progression around the tag. the interleaving is designed to maximise the average spatial distance between any two symbols of the same codeword. in order to support single-click interaction with a tagged region via a sensing device, the sensing device must be able to see at least one entire tag in its field of view no matter where in the region or at what orientation it is positioned. the required diameter of the field of view of the sensing device is therefore a function of the size and spacing of the tags. assuming a circular tag shape, the minimum diameter of the sensor field of view is obtained when the tags are tiled on a equilateral triangular grid, as shown in fig. 6 . 1.2.4 tag image processing and decoding the tag image processing and decoding performed by a sensing device such as the netpage pen is shown in fig. 7 . while a captured image is being acquired from the image sensor, the dynamic range of the image is determined (at 20 ). the center of the range is then chosen as the binary threshold for the image 21 . the image is then thresholded and segmented into connected pixel regions (i.e. shapes 23 ) (at 22 ). shapes which are too small to represent tag target structures are discarded. the size and centroid of each shape is also computed. binary shape moments 25 are then computed (at 24 ) for each shape, and these provide the basis for subsequently locating target structures. central shape moments are by their nature invariant of position, and can be easily made invariant of scale, aspect ratio and rotation. the ring target structure 15 is the first to be located (at 26 ). a ring has the advantage of being very well behaved when perspective-distorted. matching proceeds by aspect-normalizing and rotation-normalizing each shape's moments. once its second-order moments are normalized the ring is easy to recognize even if the perspective distortion was significant. the ring's original aspect and rotation 27 together provide a useful approximation of the perspective transform. the axis target structure 16 is the next to be located (at 28 ). matching proceeds by applying the ring's normalizations to each shape's moments, and rotation-normalizing the resulting moments. once its second-order moments are normalized the axis target is easily recognized. note that one third order moment is required to disambiguate the two possible orientations of the axis. the shape is deliberately skewed to one side to make this possible. note also that it is only possible to rotation-normalize the axis target after it has had the ring's normalizations applied, since the perspective distortion can hide the axis target's axis. the axis target's original rotation provides a useful approximation of the tag's rotation due to pen yaw 29 . the four perspective target structures 17 are the last to be located (at 30 ). good estimates of their positions are computed based on their known spatial relationships to the ring and axis targets, the aspect and rotation of the ring, and the rotation of the axis. matching proceeds by applying the ring's normalizations to each shape's moments. once their second-order moments are normalized the circular perspective targets are easy to recognize, and the target closest to each estimated position is taken as a match. the original centroids of the four perspective targets are then taken to be the perspective-distorted corners 31 of a square of known size in tag space, and an eight-degree-of-freedom perspective transform 33 is inferred (at 32 ) based on solving the well-understood equations relating the four tag-space and image-space point pairs. the inferred tag-space to image-space perspective transform is used to project (at 36 ) each known data bit position in tag space into image space where the real-valued position is used to bilinearly interpolate (at 36 ) the four relevant adjacent pixels in the input image. the previously computed image threshold 21 is used to threshold the result to produce the final bit value 37 . once all 360 data bits 37 have been obtained in this way, each of the six 60-bit reed-solomon codewords is decoded (at 38 ) to yield 20 decoded bits 39 , or 120 decoded bits in total. note that the codeword symbols are sampled in codeword order, so that codewords are implicitly de-interleaved during the sampling process. the ring target 15 is only sought in a subarea of the image whose relationship to the image guarantees that the ring, if found, is part of a complete tag. if a complete tag is not found and successfully decoded, then no pen position is recorded for the current frame. given adequate processing power and ideally a non-minimal field of view 193 , an alternative strategy involves seeking another tag in the current image. the obtained tag data indicates the identity of the region containing the tag and the position of the tag within the region. an accurate position 35 of the pen nib in the region, as well as the overall orientation 35 of the pen, is then inferred (at 34 ) from the perspective transform 33 observed on the tag and the known spatial relationship between the pen's physical axis and the pen's optical axis. 1.2.5 tag map decoding a tag results in a region id, a tag id, and a tag-relative pen transform. before the tag id and the tag-relative pen location can be translated into an absolute location within the tagged region, the location of the tag within the region must be known. this is given by a tag map, a function which maps each tag id in a tagged region to a corresponding location. the tag map class diagram is shown in fig. 22 , as part of the netpage printer class diagram. a tag map reflects the scheme used to tile the surface region with tags, and this can vary according to surface type. when multiple tagged regions share the same tiling scheme and the same tag numbering scheme, they can also share the same tag map. the tag map for a region must be retrievable via the region id. thus, given a region id, a tag id and a pen transform, the tag map can be retrieved, the tag id can be translated into an absolute tag location within the region, and the tag-relative pen location can be added to the tag location to yield an absolute pen location within the region. 1.2.6 tagging schemes two distinct surface coding schemes are of interest, both of which use the tag structure described earlier in this section. the preferred coding scheme uses location-indicating tags as already discussed. an alternative coding scheme uses object-indicating tags. a location-indicating tag contains a tag id which, when translated through the tag map associated with the tagged region, yields a unique tag location within the region. the tag-relative location of the pen is added to this tag location to yield the location of the pen within the region. this in turn is used to determine the location of the pen relative to a user interface element in the page description associated with the region. not only is the user interface element itself identified, but a location relative to the user interface element is identified. location-indicating tags therefore trivially support the capture of an absolute pen path in the zone of a particular user interface element. an object-indicating tag contains a tag id which directly identifies a user interface element in the page description associated with the region. all the tags in the zone of the user interface element identify the user interface element, making them all identical and therefore indistinguishable. object-indicating tags do not, therefore, support the capture of an absolute pen path. they do, however, support the capture of a relative pen path. so long as the position sampling frequency exceeds twice the encountered tag frequency, the displacement from one sampled pen position to the next within a stroke can be unambiguously determined. with either tagging scheme, the tags function in cooperation with associated visual elements on the netpage as user interactive elements in that a user can interact with the printed page using an appropriate sensing device in order for tag data to be read by the sensing device and for an appropriate response to be generated in the netpage system. 1.3 document and page description a preferred embodiment of a document and page description class diagram is shown in figs. 25 and 26 . in the netpage system a document is described at three levels. at the most abstract level the document 836 has a hierarchical structure whose terminal elements 839 are associated with content objects 840 such as text objects, text style objects, image objects, etc. once the document is printed on a printer with a particular page size and according to a particular user's scale factor preference, the document is paginated and otherwise formatted. formatted terminal elements 835 will in some cases be associated with content objects which are different from those associated with their corresponding terminal elements, particularly where the content objects are style-related. each printed instance of a document and page is also described separately, to allow input captured through a particular page instance 830 to be recorded separately from input captured through other instances of the same page description. the presence of the most abstract document description on the page server allows a user to request a copy of a document without being forced to accept the source document's specific format. the user may be requesting a copy through a printer with a different page size, for example. conversely, the presence of the formatted document description on the page server allows the page server to efficiently interpret user actions on a particular printed page. a formatted document 834 consists of a set of formatted page descriptions 5 , each of which consists of a set of formatted terminal elements 835 . each formatted element has a spatial extent or zone 58 on the page. this defines the active area of input elements such as hyperlinks and input fields. a document instance 831 corresponds to a formatted document 834 . it consists of a set of page instances 830 , each of which corresponds to a page description 5 of the formatted document. each page instance 830 describes a single unique printed netpage 1 , and records the page id 50 of the netpage. a page instance is not part of a document instance if it represents a copy of a page requested in isolation. a page instance consists of a set of terminal element instances 832 . an element instance only exists if it records instance-specific information. thus, a hyperlink instance exists for a hyperlink element because it records a transaction id 55 which is specific to the page instance, and a field instance exists for a field element because it records input specific to the page instance. an element instance does not exist, however, for static elements such as textflows. a terminal element can be a static element 843 , a hyperlink element 844 , a field element 845 or a page server command element 846 , as shown in fig. 27. a static element 843 can be a style element 847 with an associated style object 854 , a textflow element 848 with an associated styled text object 855 , an image element 849 with an associated image element 856 , a graphic element 850 with an associated graphic object 857 , a video clip element 851 with an associated video clip object 858 , an audio clip element 852 with an associated audio clip object 859 , or a script element 853 with an associated script object 860 , as shown in fig. 28 . a page instance has a background field 833 which is used to record any digital ink captured on the page which does not apply to a specific input element. in the preferred form of the invention, a tag map 811 is associated with each page instance to allow tags on the page to be translated into locations on the page. 1.4 the network in a preferred embodiment, a netpage network consists of a distributed set of netpage page servers 10 , netpage registration servers 11 , netpage id servers 12 , netpage application servers 13 , netpage publication servers 14 , and netpage printers 601 connected via a network 19 such as the internet, as shown in fig. 3 . the netpage registration server 11 is a server which records relationships between users, pens, printers, applications and publications, and thereby authorizes various network activities. it authenticates users and acts as a signing proxy on behalf of authenticated users in application transactions. it also provides handwriting recognition services. as described above, a netpage page server 10 maintains persistent information about page descriptions and page instances. the netpage network includes any number of page servers, each handling a subset of page instances. since a page server also maintains user input values for each page instance, clients such as netpage printers send netpage input directly to the appropriate page server. the page server interprets any such input relative to the description of the corresponding page. a netpage id server 12 allocates document ids 51 on demand, and provides load-balancing of page servers via its id allocation scheme. a netpage printer uses the internet distributed name system (dns), or similar, to resolve a netpage page id 50 into the network address of the netpage page server handling the corresponding page instance. a netpage application server 13 is a server which hosts interactive netpage applications. a netpage publication server 14 is an application server which publishes netpage documents to netpage printers. they are described in detail in section 2. netpage servers can be hosted on a variety of network server platforms from manufacturers such as ibm, hewlett-packard, and sun. multiple netpage servers can run concurrently on a single host, and a single server can be distributed over a number of hosts. some or all of the functionality provided by netpage servers, and in particular the functionality provided by the id server and the page server, can also be provided directly in a netpage appliance such as a netpage printer, in a computer workstation, or on a local network. 1.5 the netpage printer the netpage printer 601 is an appliance which is registered with the netpage system and prints netpage documents on demand and via subscription. each printer has a unique printer id 62 , and is connected to the netpage network via a network such as the internet, ideally via a broadband connection. apart from identity and security settings in non-volatile memory, the netpage printer contains no persistent storage. as far as a user is concerned, the network is the computer. netpages function interactively across space and time with the help of the distributed netpage page servers 10 , independently of particular netpage printers. the netpage printer receives subscribed netpage documents from netpage publication servers 14 . each document is distributed in two parts: the page layouts, and the actual text and image objects which populate the pages. because of personalization, page layouts are typically specific to a particular subscriber and so are pointcast to the subscriber's printer via the appropriate page server. text and image objects, on the other hand, are typically shared with other subscribers, and so are multicast to all subscribers' printers and the appropriate page servers. the netpage publication server optimizes the segmentation of document content into pointcasts and multicasts. after receiving the pointcast of a document's page layouts, the printer knows which multicasts, if any, to listen to. once the printer has received the complete page layouts and objects that define the document to be printed, it can print the document. the printer rasterizes and prints odd and even pages simultaneously on both sides of the sheet. it contains duplexed print engine controllers 760 and print engines utilizing memjet printheads 350 for this purpose. the printing process consists of two decoupled stages: rasterization of page descriptions, and expansion and printing of page images. the raster image processor (rip) consists of one or more standard dsps 757 running in parallel. the duplexed print engine controllers consist of custom processors which expand, dither and print page images in real time, synchronized with the operation of the printheads in the print engines. printers not enabled for ir printing have the option to print tags using ir-absorptive black ink, although this restricts tags to otherwise empty areas of the page. although such pages have more limited functionality than ir-printed pages, they are still classed as netpages. a normal netpage printer prints netpages on sheets of paper. more specialised netpage printers may print onto more specialised surfaces, such as globes. each printer supports at least one surface type, and supports at least one tag tiling scheme, and hence tag map, for each surface type. the tag map 811 which describes the tag tiling scheme actually used to print a document becomes associated with that document so that the document's tags can be correctly interpreted. fig. 2 shows the netpage printer class diagram, reflecting printer-related information maintained by a registration server 11 on the netpage network. a preferred embodiment of the netpage printer is described in greater detail in section 6 below, with reference to figs. 11 to 16 . 1.5.1 memjet printheads the netpage system can operate using printers made with a wide range of digital printing technologies, including thermal inkjet, piezoelectric inkjet, laser electrophotographic, and others. however, for wide consumer acceptance, it is desirable that a netpage printer have the following characteristics: photographic quality color printing high quality text printing high reliability low printer cost low ink cost low paper cost simple operation nearly silent printing high printing speed simultaneous double sided printing compact form factor low power consumption no commercially available printing technology has all of these characteristics. to enable to production of printers with these characteristics, the present applicant has invented a new print technology, referred to as memjet technology. memjet is a drop-on-demand inkjet technology that incorporates pagewidth printheads fabricated using microelectromechanical systems (mems) technology. fig. 17 shows a single printing element 300 of a memjet printhead. the netpage wallprinter incorporates 168960 printing elements 300 to form a 1600 dpi pagewidth duplex printer. this printer simultaneously prints cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and infrared inks as well as paper conditioner and ink fixative. the printing element 300 is approximately 110 microns long by 32 microns wide. arrays of these printing elements are formed on a silicon substrate 301 that incorporates cmos logic, data transfer, timing, and drive circuits (not shown). major elements of the printing element 300 are the nozzle 302 , the nozzle rim 303 , the nozzle chamber 304 , the fluidic seal 305 , the ink channel rim 306 , the lever arm 307 , the active actuator beam pair 308 , the passive actuator beam pair 309 , the active actuator anchor 310 , the passive actuator anchor 311 , and the ink inlet 312 . the active actuator beam pair 308 is mechanically joined to the passive actuator beam pair 309 at the join 319 . both beams pairs are anchored at their respective anchor points 310 and 311 . the combination of elements 308 , 309 , 310 , 311 , and 319 form a cantilevered electrothermal bend actuator 320 . fig. 18 shows a small part of an array of printing elements 300 , including a cross section 315 of a printing element 300 . the cross section 315 is shown without ink, to clearly show the ink inlet 312 that passes through the silicon wafer 301 . figs. 19 ( a ), 19 ( b ) and 19 ( c ) show the operating cycle of a memjet printing element 300 . fig. 19 ( a ) shows the quiescent position of the ink meniscus 316 prior to printing an ink droplet. ink is retained in the nozzle chamber by surface tension at the ink meniscus 316 and at the fluidic seal 305 formed between the nozzle chamber 304 and the ink channel rim 306 . while printing, the printhead cmos circuitry distributes data from the print engine controller to the correct printing element, latches the data, and buffers the data to drive the electrodes 318 of the active actuator beam pair 308 . this causes an electrical current to pass through the beam pair 308 for about one microsecond, resulting in joule heating. the temperature increase resulting from joule heating causes the beam pair 308 to expand. as the passive actuator beam pair 309 is not heated, it does not expand, resulting in a stress difference between the two beam pairs. this stress difference is partially resolved by the cantilevered end of the electrothermal bend actuator 320 bending towards the substrate 301 . the lever arm 307 transmits this movement to the nozzle chamber 304 . the nozzle chamber 304 moves about two microns to the position shown in fig. 19 ( b ). this increases the ink pressure, forcing ink 321 out of the nozzle 302 , and causing the ink meniscus 316 to bulge. the nozzle rim 303 prevents the ink meniscus 316 from spreading across the surface of the nozzle chamber 304 . as the temperature of the beam pairs 308 and 309 equalizes, the actuator 320 returns to its original position. this aids in the break-off of the ink droplet 317 from the ink 321 in the nozzle chamber, as shown in fig. 19 ( c ). the nozzle chamber is refilled by the action of the surface tension at the meniscus 316 . fig. 20 shows a segment of a printhead 350 . in a netpage printer, the length of the printhead is the full width of the paper (typically 210 mm) in the direction 351 . the segment shown is 0.4 mm long (about 0.2% of a complete printhead). when printing, the paper is moved past the fixed printhead in the direction 352 . the printhead has 6 rows of interdigitated printing elements 300 , printing the six colors or types of ink supplied by the ink inlets 312 . to protect the fragile surface of the printhead during operation, a nozzle guard wafer 330 is attached to the printhead substrate 301 . for each nozzle 302 there is a corresponding nozzle guard hole 331 through which the ink droplets are fired. to prevent the nozzle guard holes 331 from becoming blocked by paper fibers or other debris, filtered air is pumped through the air inlets 332 and out of the nozzle guard holes during printing. to prevent ink 321 from drying, the nozzle guard is sealed while the printer is idle. 1.6 the netpage pen the active sensing device of the netpage system is typically a pen 101 , which, using its embedded controller 134 , is able to capture and decode ir position tags from a page via an image sensor. the image sensor is a solid-state device provided with an appropriate filter to permit sensing at only near-infrared wavelengths. as described in more detail below, the system is able to sense when the nib is in contact with the surface, and the pen is able to sense tags at a sufficient rate to capture human handwriting (i.e. at 200 dpi or greater and 100 hz or faster). information captured by the pen is encrypted and wirelessly transmitted to the printer (or base station), the printer or base station interpreting the data with respect to the (known) page structure. the preferred embodiment of the netpage pen operates both as a normal marking ink pen and as a non-marking stylus. the marking aspect, however, is not necessary for using the netpage system as a browsing system, such as when it is used as an internet interface. each netpage pen is registered with the netpage system and has a unique pen id 61 . fig. 23 shows the netpage pen class diagram, reflecting pen-related information maintained by a registration server 11 on the netpage network. when either nib is in contact with a netpage, the pen determines its position and orientation relative to the page. the nib is attached to a force sensor, and the force on the nib is interpreted relative to a threshold to indicate whether the pen is up or down. this allows a interactive element on the page to be clicked by pressing with the pen nib, in order to request, say, information from a network. furthermore, the force is captured as a continuous value to allow, say, the full dynamics of a signature to be verified. the pen determines the position and orientation of its nib on the netpage by imaging, in the infrared spectrum, an area 193 of the page in the vicinity of the nib. it decodes the nearest tag and computes the position of the nib relative to the tag from the observed perspective distortion on the imaged tag and the known geometry of the pen optics. although the position resolution of the tag may be low, because the tag density on the page is inversely proportional to the tag size, the adjusted position resolution is quite high, exceeding the minimum resolution required for accurate handwriting recognition. pen actions relative to a netpage are captured as a series of strokes. a stroke consists of a sequence of time-stamped pen positions on the page, initiated by a pen-down event and completed by the subsequent pen-up event. a stroke is also tagged with the page id 50 of the netpage whenever the page id changes, which, under normal circumstances, is at the commencement of the stroke. each netpage pen has a current selection 826 associated with it, allowing the user to perform copy and paste operations etc. the selection is timestamped to allow the system to discard it after a defined time period. the current selection describes a region of a page instance. it consists of the most recent digital ink stroke captured through the pen relative to the background area of the page. it is interpreted in an application-specific manner once it is submitted to an application via a selection hyperlink activation. each pen has a current nib 824 . this is the nib last notified by the pen to the system. in the case of the default netpage pen described above, either the marking black ink nib or the non-marking stylus nib is current. each pen also has a current nib style 825 . this is the nib style last associated with the pen by an application, e.g. in response to the user selecting a color from a palette. the default nib style is the nib style associated with the current nib. strokes captured through a pen are tagged with the current nib style. when the strokes are subsequently reproduced, they are reproduced in the nib style with which they are tagged. whenever the pen is within range of a printer with which it can communicate, the pen slowly flashes its online led. when the pen fails to decode a stroke relative to the page, it momentarily activates its error led. when the pen succeeds in decoding a stroke relative to the page, it momentarily activates its ok led. a sequence of captured strokes is referred to as digital ink. digital ink forms the basis for the digital exchange of drawings and handwriting, for online recognition of handwriting, and for online verification of signatures. the pen is wireless and transmits digital ink to the netpage printer via a short-range radio link. the transmitted digital ink is encrypted for privacy and security and packetized for efficient transmission, but is always flushed on a pen-up event to ensure timely handling in the printer. when the pen is out-of-range of a printer it buffers digital ink in internal memory, which has a capacity of over ten minutes of continuous handwriting. when the pen is once again within range of a printer, it transfers any buffered digital ink. a pen can be registered with any number of printers, but because all state data resides in netpages both on paper and on the network, it is largely immaterial which printer a pen is communicating with at any particular time. a preferred embodiment of the pen is described in greater detail in section 6 below, with reference to figs. 8 to 10 . 1.7 netpage interaction the netpage printer 601 receives data relating to a stroke from the pen 101 when the pen is used to interact with a netpage 1 . the coded data 3 of the tags 4 is read by the pen when it is used to execute a movement, such as a stroke. the data allows the identity of the particular page and associated interactive element to be determined and an indication of the relative positioning of the pen relative to the page to be obtained. the indicating data is transmitted to the printer, where it resolves, via the dns, the page id 50 of the stroke into the network address of the netpage page server 10 which maintains the corresponding page instance 830 . it then transmits the stroke to the page server. if the page was recently identified in an earlier stroke, then the printer may already have the address of the relevant page server in its cache. each netpage consists of a compact page layout maintained persistently by a netpage page server (see below). the page layout refers to objects such as images, fonts and pieces of text, typically stored elsewhere on the netpage network. when the page server receives the stroke from the pen, it retrieves the page description to which the stroke applies, and determines which element of the page description the stroke intersects. it is then able to interpret the stroke in the context of the type of the relevant element. a click is a stroke where the distance and time between the pen down position and the subsequent pen up position are both less than some small maximum. an object which is activated by a click typically requires a click to be activated, and accordingly, a longer stroke is ignored. the failure of a pen action, such as a sloppy click, to register is indicated by the lack of response from the pen's ok led. there are two kinds of input elements in a netpage page description: hyperlinks and form fields. input through a form field can also trigger the activation of an associated hyperlink. 1.7.1 hyperlinks a hyperlink is a means of sending a message to a remote application, and typically elicits a printed response in the netpage system. a hyperlink element 844 identifies the application 71 which handles activation of the hyperlink, a link id 54 which identifies the hyperlink to the application, an alias required,flag which asks the system to include the user's application alias id 65 in the hyperlink activation, and a description which is used when the hyperlink is recorded as a favorite or appears in the user's history. the hyperlink element class diagram is shown in fig. 29 . when a hyperlink is activated, the page server sends a request to an application somewhere on the network. the application is identified by an application id 64 , and the application id is resolved in the normal way via the dns. there are three types of hyperlinks: general hyperlinks 863 , form hyperlinks 865 , and selection hyperlinks 864 , as shown in fig. 30. a general hyperlink can implement a request for a linked document, or may simply signal a preference to a server. a form hyperlink submits the corresponding form to the application. a selection hyperlink submits the current selection to the application. if the current selection contains a single-word piece of text, for example, the application may return a single-page document giving the word's meaning within the context in which it appears, or a translation into a different language. each hyperlink type is characterized by what information is submitted to the application. the corresponding hyperlink instance 862 records a transaction id 55 which can be specific to the page instance on which the hyperlink instance appears. the transaction id can identify user-specific data to the application, for example a shopping cart of pending purchases maintained by a purchasing application on behalf of the user. the system includes the pen's current selection 826 in a selection hyperlink activation. the system includes the content of the associated form instance 868 in a form hyperlink activation, although if the hyperlink has its submit delta attribute set, only input since the last form submission is included. the system includes an effective return path in all hyperlink activations. a hyperlinked group 866 is a group element 838 which has an associated hyperlink, as shown in fig. 31 . when input occurs through any field element in the group, the hyperlink 844 associated with the group is activated. a hyperlinked group can be used to associate hyperlink behavior with a field such as a checkbox. it can also be used, in conjunction with the submit delta attribute of a form hyperlink, to provide continuous input to an application. it can therefore be used to support a blackboard interaction model, i.e. where input is captured and therefore shared as soon as it occurs. 1.7.2 forms a form defines a collection of related input fields used to capture a related set of inputs through a printed netpage. a form allows a user to submit one or more parameters to an application software program running on a server. a form 867 is a group element 838 in the document hierarchy. it ultimately contains a set of terminal field elements 839 . a form instance 868 represents a printed instance of a form. it consists of a set of field instances 870 which correspond to the field elements 845 of the form. each field instance has an associated value 871 , whose type depends on the type of the corresponding field element. each field value records input through a particular printed form instance, i.e. through one or more printed netpages. the form class diagram is shown in fig. 32 . each form instance has a status 872 which indicates whether the form is active, frozen, submitted, void or expired. a form is active when first printed. a form becomes frozen once it is signed. a form becomes submitted once one of its submission hyperlinks has been activated, unless the hyperlink has its submit delta attribute set. a form becomes void when the user invokes a void form, reset form or duplicate form page command. a form expires when the time the form has been active exceeds the form's specified lifetime. while the form is active, form input is allowed. input through a form which is not active is instead captured in the background field 833 of the relevant page instance. when the form is active or frozen, form submission is allowed. any attempt to submit a form when the form is not active or frozen is rejected, and instead elicits an form status report. each form instance is associated (at 59 ) with any form instances derived from it, thus providing a version history. this allows all but the latest version of a form in a particular time period to be excluded from a search. all input is captured as digital ink. digital ink 873 consists of a set of timestamped stroke groups 874 , each of which consists of a set of styled strokes 875 . each stroke consists of a set of timestamped pen positions 876 , each of which also includes pen orientation and nib force. the digital ink class diagram is shown in fig. 33 . a field element 845 can be a checkbox field 877 , a text field 878 , a drawing field 879 , or a signature field 880 . the field element class diagram is shown in fig. 34 . any digital ink captured in a field's zone 58 is assigned to the field. a checkbox field has an associated boolean value 881 , as shown in fig. 35 . any mark (a tick, a cross, a stroke, a fill zigzag, etc.) captured in a checkbox field's zone causes a true value to be assigned to the field's value. a text field has an associated text value 882 , as shown in fig. 36 . any digital ink captured in a text field's zone is automatically converted to text via online handwriting recognition, and the text is assigned to the field's value. online handwriting recognition is well-understood (see for example tappert, c., c. y. suen and t. wakahara, the state of the art in on-line handwriting recognition, ieee transactions on pattern analysis and machine intelligence, vol.12, no.8, august 1990). a signature field has an associated digital signature value 883 , as shown in fig. 37 . any digital ink captured in a signature field's zone is automatically verified with respect to the identity of the owner of the pen, and a digital signature of the content of the form of which the field is part is generated and assigned to the field's value. the digital signature is generated using the pen user's private signature key specific to the application which owns the form. online signature verification is well-understood (see for example plamondon, r. and g. lorette, automatic signature verification and writer identificationthe state of the art, pattern recognition, vol.22, no.2, 1989). a field element is hidden if its hidden attribute is set. a hidden field element does not have an input zone on a page and does not accept input. it can have an associated field value which is included in the form data when the form containing the field is submitted. editing commands, such as strike-throughs indicating deletion, can also be recognized in form fields. because the handwriting recognition algorithm works online (i.e. with access to the dynamics of the pen movement), rather than offline (i.e. with access only to a bitmap of pen markings), it can recognize run-on discretely-written characters with relatively high accuracy, without a writer-dependent training phase. a writer-dependent model of handwriting is automatically generated over time, however, and can be generated up-front if necessary, digital ink, as already stated, consists of a sequence of strokes. any stroke which starts in a particular element's zone is appended to that element's digital ink stream, ready for interpretation. any stroke not appended to an object's digital ink stream is appended to the background field's digital ink stream. digital ink captured in the background field is interpreted as a selection gesture. circumscription of one or more objects is generally interpreted as a selection of the circumscribed objects, although the actual interpretation is application-specific. table 2 summarises these various pen interactions with a netpage. table 2 summary of pen interactions with a netpage object type pen input action hyperlink general click submit action to application form click submit form to application selection click submit selection to application form field checkbox any mark assign true to field text handwriting convert digital ink to text; assign text to field drawing digital ink assign digital ink to field signature signature verify digital ink signature; generate digital signature of form; assign digital signature to field none circumscription assign digital ink to current selection the system maintains a current selection for each pen. the selection consists simply of the most recent stroke captured in the background field. the selection is cleared after an inactivity timeout to ensure predictable behavior. the raw digital ink captured in every field is retained on the netpage page server and is optionally transmitted with the form data when the form is submitted to the application. this allows the application to interrogate the raw digital ink should it suspect the original conversion, such as the conversion of handwritten text. this can, for example, involve human intervention at the application level for forms which fail certain application-specific consistency checks. as an extension to this, the entire background area of a form can be designated as a drawing field. the application can then decide, on the basis of the presence of digital ink outside the explicit fields of the form, to route the form to a human operator, on the assumption that the user may have indicated amendments to the filled-in fields outside of those fields. fig. 38 shows a flowchart of the process of handling pen input relative to a netpage. the process consists of receiving (at 884 ) a stroke from the pen; identifying (at 885 ) the page instance 830 to which the page id 50 in the stroke refers; retrieving (at 886 ) the page description 5 ; identifying (at 887 ) a formatted element 839 whose zone 58 the stroke intersects; determining (at 888 ) whether the formatted element corresponds to a field element, and if so appending (at 892 ) the received stroke to the digital ink of the field value 871 , interpreting (at 893 ) the accumulated digital ink of the field, and determining (at 894 ) whether the field is part of a hyperlinked group 866 and if so activating (at 895 ) the associated hyperlink; alternatively determining (at 889 ) whether the formatted element corresponds to a hyperlink element and if so activating (at 895 ) the corresponding hyperlink; alternatively, in the absence of an input field or hyperlink, appending (at 890 ) the received stroke to the digital ink of the background field 833 ; and copying (at 891 ) the received stroke to the current selection 826 of the current pen, as maintained by the registration server. fig. 38 a shows a detailed flowchart of step 893 in the process shown in fig. 38 , where the accumulated digital ink of a field is interpreted according to the type of the field. the process consists of determining (at 896 ) whether the field is a checkbox and (at 897 ) whether the digital ink represents a checkmark, and if so assigning (at 898 ) a true value to the field value; alternatively determining (at 899 ) whether the field is a text field and if so converting (at 900 ) the digital ink to computer text, with the help of the appropriate registration server, and assigning (at 901 ) the converted computer text to the field value; alternatively determining (at 902 ) whether the field is a signature field and if so verifying (at 903 ) the digital ink as the signature of the pen's owner, with the help of the appropriate registration server, creating (at 904 ) a digital signature of the contents of the corresponding form, also with the help of the registration server and using the pen owner's private signature key relating to the corresponding application, and assigning (at 905 ) the digital signature to the field value. 1.7.3 page server commands a page server command is a command which is handled locally by the page server. it operates directly on form, page and document instances. a page server command 907 can be a void form command 908 , a duplicate form command 909 , a reset form command 910 , a get form status command 911 , a duplicate page command 912 , a reset page command 913 , a get page status command 914 , a duplicate document command 915 , a reset document command 916 , or a get document status command 917 , as shown in fig. 39 . a void form command voids the corresponding form instance. a duplicate form command voids the corresponding form instance and then produces an active printed copy of the current form instance with field values preserved. the copy contains the same hyperlink transaction ids as the original, and so is indistinguishable from the original to an application. a reset form command voids the corresponding form instance and then produces an active printed copy of the form instance with field values discarded. a get form status command produces a printed report on the status of the corresponding form instance, including who published it, when it was printed, for whom it was printed, and the form status of the form instance. since a form hyperlink instance contains a transaction id, the application has to be involved in producing a new form instance. a button requesting a new form instance is therefore typically implemented as a hyperlink. a duplicate page command produces a printed copy of the corresponding page instance with the background field value preserved. if the page contains a form or is part of a form, then the duplicate page command is interpreted as a duplicate form command. a reset page command produces a printed copy of the corresponding page instance with the background field value discarded. if the page contains a form or is part of a form, then the reset page command is interpreted as a reset form command. a get page status command produces a printed report on the status of the corresponding page instance, including who published it, when it was printed, for whom it was printed, and the status of any forms it contains or is part of. the netpage logo which appears on every netpage is usually associated with a duplicate page element. when a page instance is duplicated with field values preserved, field values are printed in their native form, i.e. a checkmark appears as a standard checkmark graphic, and text appears as typeset text. only drawings and signatures appear in their original form, with a signature accompanied by a standard graphic indicating successful signature verification. a duplicate document command produces a printed copy of the corresponding document instance with background field values preserved. if the document contains any forms, then the duplicate document command duplicates the forms in the same way a duplicate form command does. a reset document command produces a printed copy of the corresponding document instance with background field values discarded. if the document contains any forms, then the reset document command resets the forms in the same way a reset form command does. a get document status command produces a printed report on the status of the corresponding document instance, including who published it, when it was printed, for whom it was printed, and the status of any forms it contains. if the page server command's on selected attribute is set, then the command operates on the page identified by the pen's current selection rather than on the page containing the command. this allows a menu of page server commands to be printed. if the target page doesn't contain a page server command element for the designated page server command, then the command is ignored. an application can provide application-specific handling by embedding the relevant page server command element in a hyperlinked group. the page server activates the hyperlink associated with the hyperlinked group rather than executing the page server command. a page server command element is hidden if its hidden attribute is set. a hidden command element does not have an input zone on a page and so cannot be activated directly by a user. it can, however, be activated via a page server command embedded in a different page, if that page server command has its on selected attribute set. 1.8 standard features of netpages in the preferred form, each netpage is printed with the netpage logo at the bottom to indicate that it is a netpage and therefore has interactive properties. the logo also acts as a copy button. in most cases pressing the logo produces a copy of the page. in the case of a form, the button produces a copy of the entire form. and in the case of a secure document, such as a ticket or coupon, the button elicits an explanatory note or advertising page. the default single-page copy function is handled directly by the relevant netpage page server. special copy functions are handled by linking the logo button to an application. 1.9 user help system in a preferred embodiment, the netpage printer has a single button labelled help. when pressed it elicits a single page of information, including: status of printer connection status of printer consumables top-level help menu document function menu top-level netpage network directory the help menu provides a hierarchical manual on how to use the netpage system. the document function menu includes the following functions: print a copy of a document print a clean copy of a form print the status of a document a document function is initiated by simply pressing the button and then touching any page of the document. the status of a document indicates who published it and when, to whom it was delivered, and to whom and when it was subsequently submitted as a form. the netpage network directory allows the user to navigate the hierarchy of publications and services on the network. as an alternative, the user can call the netpage network 900 number yellow pages and speak to a human operator. the operator can locate the desired document and route it to the user's printer. depending on the document type, the publisher or the user pays the small yellow pages service fee. the help page is obviously unavailable if the printer is unable to print. in this case the error light is lit and the user can request remote diagnosis over the network. 2 personalized publication model in the following description, news is used as a canonical publication example to illustrate personalization mechanisms in the netpage system. although news is often used in the limited sense of newspaper and newsmagazine news, the intended scope in the present context is wider. in the netpage system, the editorial content and the advertising content of a news publication are personalized using different mechanisms. the editorial content is personalized according to the reader's explicitly stated and implicitly captured interest profile. the advertising content is personalized according to the reader's locality and demographic. 2.1 editorial personalization a subscriber can draw on two kinds of news sources: those that deliver news publications, and those that deliver news streams. while news publications are aggregated and edited by the publisher, news streams are aggregated either by a news publisher or by a specialized news aggregator. news publications typically correspond to traditional newspapers and newsmagazines, while news streams can be many and varied: a raw news feed from a news service, a cartoon strip, a freelance writer's column, a friend's bulletin board, or the reader's own e-mail. the netpage publication server supports the publication of edited news publications as well as the aggregation of multiple news streams. by handling the aggregation and hence the formatting of news streams selected directly by the reader, the server is able to place advertising on pages over which it otherwise has no editorial control. the subscriber builds a daily newspaper by selecting one or more contributing news publications, and creating a personalized version of each. the resulting daily editions are printed and bound together into a single newspaper. the various members of a household typically express their different interests and tastes by selecting different daily publications and then customizing them. for each publication, the reader optionally selects specific sections. some sections appear daily, while others appear weekly. the daily sections available from the new york times online, for example, include page one plus, national, international, opinion, business, arts/living, technology, and sports. the set of available sections is specific to a publication, as is the default subset. the reader can extend the daily newspaper by creating custom sections, each one drawing on any number of news streams. custom sections might be created for e-mail and friends' announcements (personal), or for monitoring news feeds for specific topics (alerts or clippings). for each section, the reader optionally specifies its size, either qualitatively (e.g. short, medium, or long), or numerically (i.e. as a limit on its number of pages), and the desired proportion of advertising, either qualitatively (e.g. high, normal, low, none), or numerically (i.e. as a percentage). the reader also optionally expresses a preference for a large number of shorter articles or a small number of longer articles. each article is ideally written (or edited) in both short and long forms to support this preference. an article may also be written (or edited) in different versions to match the expected sophistication of the reader, for example to provide children's and adults' versions. the appropriate version is selected according to the reader's age. the reader can specify a reading age which takes precedence over their biological age. the articles which make up each section are selected and prioritized by the editors, and each is assigned a useful lifetime. by default they are delivered to all relevant subscribers, in priority order, subject to space constraints in the subscribers' editions. in sections where it is appropriate, the reader may optionally enable collaborative filtering. this is then applied to articles which have a sufficiently long lifetime. each article which qualifies for collaborative filtering is printed with rating buttons at the end of the article. the buttons can provide an easy choice (e.g. liked and disliked), making it more likely that readers will bother to rate the article. articles with high priorities and short lifetimes are therefore effectively considered essential reading by the editors and are delivered to most relevant subscribers. the reader optionally specifies a serendipity factor, either qualitatively (e.g. do or don't surprise me), or numerically. a high serendipity factor lowers the threshold used for matching during collaborative filtering. a high factor makes it more likely that the corresponding section will be filled to the reader's specified capacity. a different serendipity factor can be specified for different days of the week. the reader also optionally specifies topics of particular interest within a section, and this modifies the priorities assigned by the editors. the speed of the reader's internet connection affects the quality at which images can be delivered. the reader optionally specifies a preference for fewer images or smaller images or both. if the number or size of images is not reduced, then images may be delivered at lower quality (i.e. at lower resolution or with greater compression). at a global level, the reader specifies how quantities, dates, times and monetary values are localized. this involves specifying whether units are imperial or metric, a local timezone and time format, and a local currency, and whether the localization consist of in situ translation or annotation. these preferences are derived from the reader's locality by default. to reduce reading difficulties caused by poor eyesight, the reader optionally specifies a global preference for a larger presentation. both text and images are scaled accordingly, and less information is accommodated on each page. the language in which a news publication is published, and its corresponding text encoding, is a property of the publication and not a preference expressed by the user. however, the netpage system can be configured to provide automatic translation services in various guises. 2.2 advertising localization and targeting the personalization of the editorial content directly affects the advertising content, because advertising is typically placed to exploit the editorial context. travel ads, for example, are more likely to appear in a travel section than elsewhere. the value of the editorial content to an advertiser (and therefore to the publisher) lies in its ability to attract large numbers of readers with the right demographics. effective advertising is placed on the basis of locality and demographics. locality determines proximity to particular services, retailers etc., and particular interests and concerns associated with the local community and environment. demographics determine general interests and preoccupations as well as likely spending patterns. a news publisher's most profitable product is advertising space, a multi-dimensional entity determined by the publication's geographic coverage, the size of its readership, its readership demographics, and the page area available for advertising. in the netpage system, the netpage publication server computes the approximate multi-dimensional size of a publication's saleable advertising space on a per-section basis, taking into account the publication's geographic coverage, the section's readership, the size of each reader's section edition, each reader's advertising proportion, and each reader's demographic. in comparison with other media, the netpage system allows the advertising space to be defined in greater detail, and allows smaller pieces of it to be sold separately. it therefore allows it to be sold at closer to its true value. for example, the same advertising slot can be sold in varying proportions to several advertisers, with individual readers' pages randomly receiving the advertisement of one advertiser or another, overall preserving the proportion of space sold to each advertiser. the netpage system allows advertising to be linked directly to detailed product information and online purchasing. it therefore raises the intrinsic value of the advertising space. because personalization and localization are handled automatically by netpage publication servers, an advertising aggregator can provide arbitrarily broad coverage of both geography and demographics. the subsequent disaggregation is efficient because it is automatic. this makes it more cost-effective for publishers to deal with advertising aggregators than to directly capture advertising. even though the advertising aggregator is taking a proportion of advertising revenue, publishers may find the change profit-neutral because of the greater efficiency of aggregation. the advertising aggregator acts as an intermediary between advertisers and publishers, and may place the same advertisement in multiple publications. it is worth noting that ad placement in a netpage publication can be more complex than ad placement in the publication's traditional counterpart, because the publication's advertising space is more complex. while ignoring the full complexities of negotiations between advertisers, advertising aggregators and publishers, the preferred form of the netpage system provides some automated support for these negotiations, including support for automated auctions of advertising space. automation is particularly desirable for the placement of advertisements which generate small amounts of income, such as small or highly localized advertisements. once placement has been negotiated, the aggregator captures and edits the advertisement and records it on a netpage ad server. correspondingly, the publisher records the ad placement on the relevant netpage publication server. when the netpage publication server lays out each user's personalized publication, it picks the relevant advertisements from the netpage ad server. accordingly, a user may be provided with netpages, which may more generally be referred to as a printed document with user interactive elements, formatted in accordance with their own preferences, with additional content targeted specifically to demographics of the user. the interactive element(s) relating to the targeted content allow the user to request further information relating to that content. the targeted content may relate to advertising material and the further information may be provided in the form of an advertising brochure. the manner in which the interactive element(s) are printed in the document and with which the sensing device is used to interact with the element(s), to indicate a request for further information, are as described above. 2.3 uses profiles 2.3.1 information filtering the personalization of news and other publications relies on an assortment of user-specific profile information, including: publication customizations collaborative filtering vectors contact details presentation preferences the customization of a publication is typically publication-specific, and so the customization information is maintained by the relevant netpage publication server. a collaborative filtering vector consists of the user's ratings of a number of news items. it is used to correlate different users' interests for the purposes of making recommendations. although there are benefits to maintaining a single collaborative filtering vector independently of any particular publication, there are two reasons why it is more practical to maintain a separate vector for each publication: there is likely to be more overlap between the vectors of subscribers to the same publication than between those of subscribers to different publications; and a publication is likely to want to present its users' collaborative filtering vectors as part of the value of its brand, not to be found elsewhere. collaborative filtering vectors are therefore also maintained by the relevant netpage publication server. contact details, including name, street address, zip code, state, country, telephone numbers, are global by nature, and are maintained by a netpage registration server. presentation preferences, including those for quantities, dates and times, are likewise global and maintained in the same way. the localization of advertising relies on the locality indicated in the user's contact details, while the targeting of advertising relies on personal information such as date of birth, gender, marital status, income, profession, education, or qualitative derivatives such as age range and income range. for those users who choose to reveal personal information for advertising purposes, the information is maintained by the relevant netpage registration server. in the absence of such information, advertising can be targeted on the basis of the demographic associated with the user's zip or zip4 code. each user, pen, printer, application provider and application is assigned its own unique identifier, and the netpage registration server maintains the relationships between them, as shown in figs. 21 , 22 , 23 and 24 . for registration purposes, a publisher is a special kind of application provider, and a publication is a special kind of application. each user 800 may be authorized to use any number of printers 802 , and each printer may allow any number of users to use it. each user has a single default printer (at 66 ), to which periodical publications are delivered by default, whilst pages printed on demand are delivered to the printer through which the user is interacting. the server keeps track of which publishers a user has authorized to print to the user's default printer. a publisher does not record the id of any particular printer, but instead resolves the id when it is required. when a user subscribes 808 to a publication 807 , the publisher 806 (i.e. application provider 803 ) is authorized to print to a specified printer or the user's default printer. this authorization can be revoked at any time by the user. each user may have several pens 801 , but a pen is specific to a single user. if a user is authorized to use a particular printer, then that printer recognizes any of the user's pens. the pen id is used to locate the corresponding user profile maintained by a particular netpage registration server, via the dns in the usual way. a web terminal 809 can be authorized to print on a particular netpage printer, allowing web pages and netpage documents encountered during web browsing to be conveniently printed on the nearest netpage printer. the netpage system can collect, on behalf of a printer provider, fees and commissions on income earned through publications printed on the provider's printers. such income can include advertising fees, click-through fees, e-commerce commissions, and transaction fees. if the printer is owned by the user, then the user is the printer provider. each user also has a netpage account 820 which is used to accumulate micro-debits and credits (such as those described in the preceding paragraph); contact details 815 , including name, address and telephone numbers; global preferences 816 , including privacy, delivery and localization settings; any number of biometric records 817 , containing the user's encoded signature 818 , fingerprint 819 etc; a handwriting model 819 automatically maintained by the system; and set payment card accounts 821 with which e-commerce payments can be made. 2.3.2 favorites list a netpage user can maintain a list 922 of favoriteslinks to useful documents etc. on the netpage network. the list is maintained by the system on the user's behalf. it is organized as a hierarchy of folders 924 , a preferred embodiment of which is shown in the class diagram in fig. 41 . 2.3.3 history list the system maintains a history list 929 on each user's behalf, containing links to documents etc. accessed by the user through the netpage system. it is organized as a date-ordered list, a preferred embodiment of which is shown in the class diagram in fig. 42 . 2.4 intelligent page layout the netpage publication server automatically lays out the pages of each user's personalized publication on a section-by-section basis. since most advertisements are in the form of pre-formatted rectangles, they are placed on the page before the editorial content. the advertising ratio for a section can be achieved with wildly varying advertising ratios on individual pages within the section, and the ad layout algorithm exploits this. the algorithm is configured to attempt to co-locate closely tied editorial and advertising content, such as placing ads for roofing material specifically within the publication because of a special feature on do-it-yourself roofing repairs. the editorial content selected for the user, including text and associated images and graphics, is then laid out according to various aesthetic rules. the entire process, including the selection of ads and the selection of editorial content, must be iterated once the layout has converged, to attempt to more closely achieve the user's stated section size preference. the section size preference can, however, be matched on average over time, allowing significant day-to-day variations. 2.5 document format once the document is laid out, it is encoded for efficient distribution and persistent storage on the netpage network. the primary efficiency mechanism is the separation of information specific to a single user's edition and information shared between multiple users' editions. the specific information consists of the page layout. the shared information consists of the objects to which the page layout refers, including images, graphics, and pieces of text. a text object contains fully-formatted text represented in the extensible markup language (xml) using the extensible stylesheet language (xsl). xsl provides precise control over text formatting independently of the region into which the text is being set, which in this case is being provided by the layout. the text object contains embedded language codes to enable automatic translation, and embedded hyphenation hints to aid with paragraph formatting. an image object encodes an image in the jpeg 2000 wavelet-based compressed image format. a graphic object encodes a 2d graphic in scalable vector graphics (svg) format. the layout itself consists of a series of placed image and graphic objects, linked textflow objects through which text objects flow, hyperlinks and input fields as described above, and watermark regions. these layout objects are summarized in table 3. the layout uses a compact format suitable for efficient distribution and storage. table 3 netpage layout objects layout format of object attribute linked object image position image object id jpeg 2000 graphic position graphic object id svg textflow textflow id zone optional text object id xml/xsl hyperlink type zone application id, etc. field type meaning zone watermark zone 2.6 document distribution as described above, for purposes of efficient distribution and persistent storage on the netpage network, a user-specific page layout is separated from the shared objects to which it refers. when a subscribed publication is ready to be distributed, the netpage publication server allocates, with the help of the netpage id server 12 , a unique id for each page, page instance, document, and document instance. the server computes a set of optimized subsets of the shared content and creates a multicast channel for each subset, and then tags each user-specific layout with the names of the multicast channels which will carry the shared content used by that layout. the server then pointcasts each user's layouts to that user's printer via the appropriate page server, and when the pointcasting is complete, multicasts the shared content on the specified channels. after receiving its pointcast, each page server and printer subscribes to the multicast channels specified in the page layouts. during the multicasts, each page server and printer extracts from the multicast streams those objects referred to by its page layouts. the page servers persistently archive the received page layouts and shared content. once a printer has received all the objects to which its page layouts refer, the printer re-creates the fully-populated layout and then rasterizes and prints it. under normal circumstances, the printer prints pages faster than they can be delivered. assuming a quarter of each page is covered with images, the average page has a size of less than 400 kb. the printer can therefore hold in excess of 100 such pages in its internal 64 mb memory, allowing for temporary buffers etc. the printer prints at a rate of one page per second. this is equivalent to 400 kb or about 3 mbit of page data per second, which is similar to the highest expected rate of page data delivery over a broadband network. even under abnormal circumstances, such as when the printer runs out of paper, it is likely that the user will be able to replenish the paper supply before the printer's 100-page internal storage capacity is exhausted. however, if the printer's internal memory does fill up, then the printer will be unable to make use of a multicast when it first occurs. the netpage publication server therefore allows printers to submit requests for re-multicasts. when a critical number of requests is received or a timeout occurs, the server re-multicasts the corresponding shared objects. once a document is printed, a printer can produce an exact duplicate at any time by retrieving its page layouts and contents from the relevant page server. 2.7 on-demand documents when a netpage document is requested on demand, it can be personalized and delivered in much the same way as a periodical. however, since there is no shared content, delivery is made directly to the requesting printer without the use of multicast. when a non-netpage document is requested on demand, it is not personalized, and it is delivered via a designated netpage formatting server which reformats it as a netpage document. a netpage formatting server is a special instance of a netpage publication server. the netpage formatting server has knowledge of various internet document formats, including adobe's portable document format (pdf), and hypertext markup language (html). in the case of html, it can make use of the higher resolution of the printed page to present web pages in a multi-column format, with a table of contents. it can automatically include all web pages directly linked to the requested page. the user can tune this behavior via a preference. the netpage formatting server makes standard netpage behavior, including interactivity and persistence, available on any internet document, no matter what its origin and format. it hides knowledge of different document formats from both the netpage printer and the netpage page server, and hides knowledge of the netpage system from web servers. 3 security 3.1 cryptography cryptography is used to protect sensitive information, both in storage and in transit, and to authenticate parties to a transaction. there are two classes of cryptography in widespread use: secret-key cryptography and public-key cryptography. the netpage network uses both classes of cryptography. secret-key cryptography, also referred to as symmetric cryptography, uses the same key to encrypt and decrypt a message. two parties wishing to exchange messages must first arrange to securely exchange the secret key. public-key cryptography, also referred to as asymmetric cryptography, uses two encryption keys. the two keys are mathematically related in such a way that any message encrypted using one key can only be decrypted using the other key. one of these keys is then published, while the other is kept private. the public key is used to encrypt any message intended for the holder of the private key. once encrypted using the public key, a message can only be decrypted using the private key. thus two parties can securely exchange messages without first having to exchange a secret key. to ensure that the private key is secure, it is normal for the holder of the private key to generate the key pair. public-key cryptography can be used to create a digital signature. the holder of the private key can create a known hash of a message and then encrypt the hash using the private key. anyone can then verify that the encrypted hash constitutes the signature of the holder of the private key with respect to that particular message by decrypting the encrypted hash using the public key and verifying the hash against the message. if the signature is appended to the message, then the recipient of the message can verify both that the message is genuine and that it has not been altered in transit. to make public-key cryptography work, there has to be a way to distribute public keys which prevents impersonation. this is normally done using certificates and certificate authorities. a certificate authority is a trusted third party which authenticates the connection between a public key and someone's identity. the certificate authority verifies the person's identity by examining identity documents, and then creates and signs a digital certificate containing the person's identity details and public key. anyone who trusts the certificate authority can use the public key in the certificate with a high degree of certainty that it is genuine. they just have to verify that the certificate has indeed been signed by the certificate authority, whose public key is well-known. in most transaction environments, public-key cryptography is only used to create digital signatures and to securely exchange secret session keys. secret-key cryptography is used for all other purposes. in the following discussion, when reference is made to the secure transmission of information between a netpage printer and a server, what actually happens is that the printer obtains the server's certificate, authenticates it with reference to the certificate authority, uses the public key-exchange key in the certificate to exchange a secret session key with the server, and then uses the secret session key to encrypt the message data. a session key, by definition, can have an arbitrarily short lifetime. 3.2 netpage printer security each netpage printer is assigned a pair of unique identifiers at time of manufacture which are stored in read-only memory in the printer and in the netpage registration server database. the first id 62 is public and uniquely identifies the printer on the netpage network. the second id is secret and is used when the printer is first registered on the network. when the printer connects to the netpage network for the first time after installation, it creates a signature public/private key pair. it transmits the secret id and the public key securely to the netpage registration server. the server compares the secret id against the printer's secret id recorded in its database, and accepts the registration if the ids match. it then creates and signs a certificate containing the printer's public id and public signature key, and stores the certificate in the registration database. the netpage registration server acts as a certificate authority for netpage printers, since it has access to secret information allowing it to verify printer identity. when a user subscribes to a publication, a record is created in the netpage registration server database authorizing the publisher to print the publication to the user's default printer or a specified printer. every document sent to a printer via a page server is addressed to a particular user and is signed by the publisher using the publisher's private signature key. the page server verifies, via the registration database, that the publisher is authorized to deliver the publication to the specified user. the page server verifies the signature using the publisher's public key, obtained from the publisher's certificate stored in the registration database. the netpage registration server accepts requests to add printing authorizations to the database, so long as those requests are initiated via a pen registered to the printer. 3.3 netpage pen security each netpage pen is assigned a unique identifier at time of manufacture which is stored in read-only memory in the pen and in the netpage registration server database. the pen id 61 uniquely identifies the pen on the netpage network. a netpage pen can know a number of netpage printers, and a printer can know a number of pens. a pen communicates with a printer via a radio frequency signal whenever it is within range of the printer. once a pen and printer are registered, they regularly exchange session keys. whenever the pen transmits digital ink to the printer, the digital ink is always encrypted using the appropriate session key. digital ink is never transmitted in the clear. a pen stores a session key for every printer it knows, indexed by printer id, and a printer stores a session key for every pen it knows, indexed by pen id. both have a large but finite storage capacity for session keys, and will forget a session key on a least-recently-used basis if necessary. when a pen comes within range of a printer, the pen and printer discover whether they know each other. if they don't know each other, then the printer determines whether it is supposed to know the pen. this might be, for example, because the pen belongs to a user who is registered to use the printer. if the printer is meant to know the pen but doesn't, then it initiates the automatic pen registration procedure. if the printer isn't meant to know the pen, then it agrees with the pen to ignore it until the pen is placed in a charging cup, at which time it initiates the registration procedure. in addition to its public id, the pen contains a secret key-exchange key. the key-exchange key is also recorded in the netpage registration server database at time of manufacture. during registration, the pen transmits its pen id to the printer, and the printer transmits the pen id to the netpage registration server. the server generates a session key for the printer and pen to use, and securely transmits the session key to the printer. it also transmits a copy of the session key encrypted with the pen's key-exchange key. the printer stores the session key internally, indexed by the pen id, and transmits the encrypted session key to the pen. the pen stores the session key internally, indexed by the printer id. although a fake pen can impersonate a pen in the pen registration protocol, only a real pen can decrypt the session key transmitted by the printer. when a previously unregistered pen is first registered, it is of limited use until it is linked to a user. a registered but un-owned pen is only allowed to be used to request and fill in netpage user and pen registration forms, to register a new user to which the new pen is automatically linked, or to add a new pen to an existing user. the pen uses secret-key rather than public-key encryption because of hardware performance constraints in the pen. 3.4 secure documents the netpage system supports the delivery of secure documents such as tickets and coupons. the netpage printer includes a facility to print watermarks, but will only do so on request from publishers who are suitably authorized. the publisher indicates its authority to print watermarks in its certificate, which the printer is able to authenticate. the watermark printing process uses an alternative dither matrix in specified watermark regions of the page. back-to-back pages contain mirror-image watermark regions which coincide when printed. the dither matrices used in odd and even pages' watermark regions are designed to produce an interference effect when the regions are viewed together, achieved by looking through the printed sheet. the effect is similar to a watermark in that it is not visible when looking at only one side of the page, and is lost when the page is copied by normal means. pages of secure documents cannot be copied using the built-in netpage copy mechanism described in section 1.9 above. this extends to copying netpages on netpage-aware photocopiers. secure documents are typically generated as part of e-commerce transactions. they can therefore include the user's photograph which was captured when the user registered biometric information with the netpage registration server, as described in section 2. when presented with a secure netpage document, the recipient can verify its authenticity by requesting its status in the usual way. the unique id of a secure document is only valid for the lifetime of the document, and secure document ids are allocated non-contiguously to prevent their prediction by opportunistic forgers. a secure document verification pen can be developed with built-in feedback on verification failure, to support easy point-of-presentation document verification. clearly neither the watermark nor the user's photograph are secure in a cryptographic sense. they simply provide a significant obstacle to casual forgery. online document verification, particularly using a verification pen, provides an added level of security where it is needed, but is still not entirely immune to forgeries. 3.5 non-repudiation in the netpage system, forms submitted by users are delivered reliably to forms handlers and are persistently archived on netpage page servers. it is therefore impossible for recipients to repudiate delivery. e-commerce payments made through the system, as described in section 4, are also impossible for the payee to repudiate. 4 electronic commerce model 4.1 secure electronic transaction (set) the netpage system uses the secure electronic transaction (set) system as one of its payment systems. set, having been developed by mastercard and visa, is organized around payment cards, and this is reflected in the terminology. however, much of the system is independent of the type of accounts being used. in set, cardholders and merchants register with a certificate authority and are issued with certificates containing their public signature keys. the certificate authority verifies a cardholder's registration details with the card issuer as appropriate, and verifies a merchant's registration details with the acquirer as appropriate. cardholders and merchants store their respective private signature keys securely on their computers. during the payment process, these certificates are used to mutually authenticate a merchant and cardholder, and to authenticate them both to the payment gateway. set has not yet been adopted widely, partly because cardholder maintenance of keys and certificates is considered burdensome. interim solutions which maintain cardholder keys and certificates on a server and give the cardholder access via a password have met with some success. 4.2 set payments in the netpage system the netpage registration server acts as a proxy for the netpage user (i.e. the cardholder) in set payment transactions. the netpage system uses biometrics to authenticate the user and authorize set payments. because the system is pen-based, the biometric used is the user's on-line signature, consisting of time-varying pen position and pressure. a fingerprint biometric can also be used by designing a fingerprint sensor into the pen, although at a higher cost. the type of biometric used only affects the capture of the biometric, not the authorization aspects of the system. the first step to being able to make set payments is to register the user's biometric with the netpage registration server. this is done in a controlled environment, for example a bank, where the biometric can be captured at the same time as the user's identity is verified. the biometric is captured and stored in the registration database, linked to the user's record. the user's photograph is also optionally captured and linked to the record. the set cardholder registration process is completed, and the resulting private signature key and certificate are stored in the database. the user's payment card information is also stored, giving the netpage registration server enough information to act as the user's proxy in any set payment transaction. when the user eventually supplies the biometric to complete a payment, for example by signing a netpage order form, the printer securely transmits the order information, the pen id and the biometric data to the netpage registration server. the server verifies the biometric with respect to the user identified by the pen id, and from then on acts as the user's proxy in completing the set payment transaction. 4.3 micro-payments the netpage system includes a mechanism for micro-payments, to allow the user to be conveniently charged for printing low-cost documents on demand and for copying copyright documents, and possibly also to allow the user to be reimbursed for expenses incurred in printing advertising material. the latter depends on the level of subsidy already provided to the user. when the user registers for e-commerce, a network account is established which aggregates micro-payments. the user receives a statement on a regular basis, and can settle any outstanding debit balance using the standard payment mechanism. the network account can be extended to aggregate subscription fees for periodicals, which would also otherwise be presented to the user in the form of individual statements. 4.4 transactions when a user requests a netpage in a particular application context, the application is able to embed a user-specific transaction id 55 in the page. subsequent input through the page is tagged with the transaction id, and the application is thereby able to establish an appropriate context for the user's input. when input occurs through a page which is not user-specific, however, the application must use the user's unique identity to establish a context. a typical example involves adding items from a pre-printed catalog page to the user's virtual shopping cart. to protect the user's privacy, however, the unique user id 60 known to the netpage system is not divulged to applications. this is to prevent different application providers from easily correlating independently accumulated behavioral data. the netpage registration server instead maintains an anonymous relationship between a user and an application via a unique alias id 65 , as shown in fig. 24 . whenever the user activates a hyperlink tagged with the registered attribute, the netpage page server asks the netpage registration server to translate the associated application id 64 , together with the pen id 61 , into an alias id 65 . the alias id is then submitted to the hyperlink's application. the application maintains state information indexed by alias id, and is able to retrieve user-specific state information without knowledge of the global identity of the user. the system also maintains an independent certificate and private signature key for each of a user's applications, to allow it to sign application transactions on behalf of the user using only application-specific information. to assist the system in routing product bar code (upc) hyperlink activations, the system records a favorite application on behalf of the user for any number of product types. each application is associated with an application provider, and the system maintains an account on behalf of each application provider, to allow it to credit and debit the provider for click-through fees etc. an application provider can be a publisher of periodical subscribed content. the system records the user's willingness to receive the subscribed publication, as well as the expected frequency of publication. 4.5 resource descriptions and copyright a preferred embodiment of a resource description class diagram is shown in fig. 40 . each document and content object may be described by one or more resource descriptions 842 . resource descriptions use the dublin core metadata element set, which is designed to facilitate discovery of electronic resources. dublin core metadata conforms to the world wide web consortium (w3c) resource description framework (rdf). a resource description may identify rights holders 920 . the netpage system automatically transfers copyright fees from users to rights holders when users print copyright content. 5 communications protocols a communications protocol defines an ordered exchange of messages between entities. in the netpage system, entities such as pens, printers and servers utilise a set of defined protocols to cooperatively handle user interaction with the netpage system. each protocol is illustrated by way of a sequence diagram in which the horizontal dimension is used to represent message flow and the vertical dimension is used to represent time. each entity is represented by a rectangle containing the name of the entity and a vertical column representing the lifeline of the entity. during the time an entity exists, the lifeline is shown as a dashed line. during the time an entity is active, the lifeline is shown as a double line. because the protocols considered here do not create or destroy entities, lifelines are generally cut short as soon as an entity ceases to participate in a protocol. 5.1 subscription delivery protocol a preferred embodiment of a subscription delivery protocol is shown in fig. 43 . a large number of users may subscribe to a periodical publication. each user's edition may be laid out differently, but many users' editions will share common content such as text objects and image objects. the subscription delivery protocol therefore delivers document structures to individual printers via pointcast, but delivers shared content objects via multicast. the application (i.e. publisher) first obtains a document id 51 for each document from an id server 12 . it then sends each document structure, including its document id and page descriptions, to the page server 10 responsible for the document's newly allocated id. it includes its own application id 64 , the subscriber's alias id 65 , and the relevant set of multicast channel names. it signs the message using its private signature key. the page server uses the application id and alias id to obtain from the registration server the corresponding user id 60 , the user's selected printer id 62 (which may be explicitly selected for the application, or may be the user's default printer), and the application's certificate. the application's certificate allows the page server to verify the message signature. the page server's request to the registration server fails if the application id and alias id don't together identify a subscription 808 . the page server then allocates document and page instance ids and forwards the page descriptions, including page ids 50 , to the printer. it includes the relevant set of multicast channel names for the printer to listen to. it then returns the newly allocated page ids to the application for future reference. once the application has distributed all of the document structures to the subscribers' selected printers via the relevant page servers, it multicasts the various subsets of the shared objects on the previously selected multicast channels. both page servers and printers monitor the appropriate multicast channels and receive their required content objects. they are then able to populate the previously pointcast document structures. this allows the page servers to add complete documents to their databases, and it allows the printers to print the documents. 5.2 hyperlink activation protocol a preferred embodiment of a hyperlink activation protocol is shown in fig. 45 . when a user clicks on a netpage with a netpage pen, the pen communicates the click to the nearest netpage printer 601 . the click identifies the page and a location on the page. the printer already knows the id 61 of the pen from the pen connection protocol. the printer determines, via the dns, the network address of the page server 10 a handling the particular page id 50 . the address may already be in its cache if the user has recently interacted with the same page. the printer then forwards the pen id, its own printer id 62 , the page id and click location to the page server. the page server loads the page description 5 identified by the page id and determines which input element's zone 58 , if any, the click lies in. assuming the relevant input element is a hyperlink element 844 , the page server then obtains the associated application id 64 and link id 54 , and determines, via the dns, the network address of the application server hosting the application 71 . the page server uses the pen id 61 to obtain the corresponding user id 60 from the registration server 11 , and then allocates a globally unique hyperlink request id 52 and builds a hyperlink request 934 . the hyperlink request class diagram is shown in fig. 44 . the hyperlink request records the ids of the requesting user and printer, and identifies the clicked hyperlink instance 862 . the page server then sends its own server id 53 , the hyperlink request id, and the link id to the application. the application produces a response document according to application-specific logic, and obtains a document id 51 from an id server 12 . it then sends the document to the page server 10 b responsible for the document's newly allocated id, together with the requesting page server's id and the hyperlink request id. the second page server sends the hyperlink request id and application id to the first page server to obtain the corresponding user id and printer id 62 . the first page server rejects the request if the hyperlink request has expired or is for a different application. the second page server allocates document instance and page ids 50 , returns the newly allocated page ids to the application, adds the complete document to its own database, and finally sends the page descriptions to the requesting printer. the hyperlink instance may include a meaningful transaction id 55 , in which case the first page server includes the transaction id in the message sent to the application. this allows the application to establish a transaction-specific context for the hyperlink activation. if the hyperlink requires a user alias, i.e. its alias required attribute is set, then the first page server sends both the pen id 61 and the hyperlink's application id 64 to the registration server 11 to obtain not just the user id corresponding to the pen id but also the alias id 65 corresponding to the application id and the user id. it includes the alias id in the message sent to the application, allowing the application to establish a user-specific context for the hyperlink activation. 5.3 handwriting recognition protocol when a user draws a stroke on a netpage with a netpage pen, the pen communicates the stroke to the nearest netpage printer. the stroke identifies the page and a path on the page. the printer forwards the pen id 61 , its own printer id 62 , the page id 50 and stroke path to the page server 10 in the usual way. the page server loads the page description 5 identified by the page id and determines which input element's zone 58 , if any, the stroke intersects. assuming the relevant input element is a text field 878 , the page server appends the stroke to the text field's digital ink. after a period of inactivity in the zone of the text field, the page server sends the pen id and the pending strokes to the registration server 11 for interpretation. the registration server identifies the user corresponding to the pen, and uses the user's accumulated handwriting model 822 to interpret the strokes as handwritten text. once it has converted the strokes to text, the registration server returns the text to the requesting page server. the page server appends the text to the text value of the text field. 5.4 signature verification protocol assuming the input element whose zone the stroke intersects is a signature field 880 , the page server 10 appends the stroke to the signature field's digital ink. after a period of inactivity in the zone of the signature field, the page server sends the pen id 61 and the pending strokes to the registration server 11 for verification. it also sends the application id 64 associated with the form of which the signature field is part, as well as the form id 56 and the current data content of the form. the registration server identifies the user corresponding to the pen, and uses the user's dynamic signature biometric 818 to verify the strokes as the user's signature. once it has verified the signature, the registration server uses the application id 64 and user id 60 to identify the user's application-specific private signature key. it then uses the key to generate a digital signature of the form data, and returns the digital signature to the requesting page server. the page server assigns the digital signature to the signature field and sets the associated form's status to frozen. the digital signature includes the alias id 65 of the corresponding user. this allows a single form to capture multiple users' signatures. 5.5 form submission protocol a preferred embodiment of a form submission protocol is shown in fig. 46 . form submission occurs via a form hyperlink activation. it thus follows the protocol defined in section 5.2, with some form-specific additions. in the case of a form hyperlink, the hyperlink activation message sent by the page server 10 to the application 71 also contains the form id 56 and the current data content of the form. if the form contains any signature fields, then the application verifies each one by extracting the alias id 65 associated with the corresponding digital signature and obtaining the corresponding certificate from the registration server 11 . 5.6 commission payment protocol a preferred embodiment of a commission payment protocol is shown in fig. 47 . in an e-commerce environment, fees and commissions may be payable from an application provider to a publisher on click-throughs, transactions and sales. commissions on fees and commissions on commissions may also be payable from the publisher to the provider of the printer. the hyperlink request id 52 is used to route a fee or commission credit from the target application provider 70 a (e.g. merchant) to the source application provider 70 b (i.e. publisher), and from the source application provider 70 b to the printer provider 72 . the target application receives the hyperlink request id from the page server 10 when the hyperlink is first activated, as described in section 5.2. when the target application needs to credit the source application provider, it sends the application provider credit to the original page server together with the hyperlink request id. the page server uses the hyperlink request id to identify the source application, and sends the credit on to the relevant registration server 11 together with the source application id 64 , its own server id 53 , and the hyperlink request id. the registration server credits the corresponding application provider's account 827 . it also notifies the application provider. if the application provider needs to credit the printer provider, it sends the printer provider credit to the original page server together with the hyperlink request id. the page server uses the hyperlink request id to identify the printer, and sends the credit on to the relevant registration server together with the printer id. the registration server credits the corresponding printer provider account 814 . the source application provider is optionally notified of the identity of the target application provider, and the printer provider of the identity of the source application provider. 6. netpage pen description 6.1 pen mechanics referring to figs. 8 and 9 , the pen, generally designated by reference numeral 101 , includes a housing 102 in the form of a plastics moulding having walls 103 defining an interior space 104 for mounting the pen components. the pen top 105 is in operation rotatably mounted at one end 106 of the housing 102 . a semi-transparent cover 107 is secured to the opposite end 108 of the housing 102 . the cover 107 is also of moulded plastics, and is formed from semi-transparent material in order to enable the user to view the status of the led mounted within the housing 102 . the cover 107 includes a main part 109 which substantially surrounds the end 108 of the housing 102 and a projecting portion 110 which projects back from the main part 109 and fits within a corresponding slot 111 formed in the walls 103 of the housing 102 . a radio antenna 112 is mounted behind the projecting portion 110 , within the housing 102 . screw threads 113 surrounding an aperture 11 3 a on the cover 107 are arranged to receive a metal end piece 114 , including corresponding screw threads 115 . the metal end piece 114 is removable to enable ink cartridge replacement. also mounted within the cover 107 is a tri-color status led 116 on a flex pcb 117 . the antenna 112 is also mounted on the flex pcb 117 . the status led 116 is mounted at the top of the pen 101 for good all-around visibility. the pen can operate both as a normal marking ink pen and as a non-marking stylus. an ink pen cartridge 118 with nib 119 and a stylus 120 with stylus nib 121 are mounted side by side within the housing 102 . either the ink cartridge nib 119 or the stylus nib 121 can be brought forward through open end 122 of the metal end piece 114 , by rotation of the pen top 105 . respective slider blocks 123 and 124 are mounted to the ink cartridge 118 and stylus 120 , respectively. a rotatable cam barrel 125 is secured to the pen top 105 in operation and arranged to rotate therewith. the cam barrel 125 includes a cam 126 in the form of a slot within the walls 181 of the cam barrel. cam followers 127 and 128 projecting from slider blocks 123 and 124 fit within the cam slot 126 . on rotation of the cam barrel 125 , the slider blocks 123 or 124 move relative to each other to project either the pen nib 119 or stylus nib 121 out through the hole 122 in the metal end piece 114 . the pen 101 has three states of operation. by turning the top 105 through 90 steps, the three states are: stylus 120 nib 121 out; ink cartridge 118 nib 119 out; and neither ink cartridge 118 nib 119 out nor stylus 120 nib 121 out. a second flex pcb 129 , is mounted on an electronics chassis 130 which sits within the housing 102 . the second flex pcb 129 mounts an infrared led 131 for providing infrared radiation for projection onto the surface. an image sensor 132 is provided mounted on the second flex pcb 129 for receiving reflected radiation from the surface. the second flex pcb 129 also mounts a radio frequency chip 133 , which includes an rf transmitter and rf receiver, and a controller chip 134 for controlling operation of the pen 101 . an optics block 135 (formed from moulded clear plastics) sits within the cover 107 and projects an infrared beam onto the surface and receives images onto the image sensor 132 . power supply wires 136 connect the components on the second flex pcb 129 to battery contacts 137 which are mounted within the cam barrel 125 . a terminal 138 connects to the battery contacts 137 and the cam barrel 125 . a three volt rechargeable battery 139 sits within the cam barrel 125 in contact with the battery contacts. an induction charging coil 140 is mounted about the second flex pcb 129 to enable recharging of the battery 139 via induction. the second flex pcb 129 also mounts an infrared led 143 and infrared photodiode 144 for detecting displacement in the cam barrel 125 when either the stylus 120 or the ink cartridge 118 is used for writing, in order to enable a determination of the force being applied to the surface by the pen nib 119 or stylus nib 121 . the ir photodiode 144 detects light from the ir led 143 via reflectors (not shown) mounted on the slider blocks 123 and 124 . rubber grip pads 141 and 142 are provided towards the end 108 of the housing 102 to assist gripping the pen 101 , and top 105 also includes a clip 142 for clipping the pen 101 to a pocket. 6.2 pen controller the pen 101 is arranged to determine the position of its nib (stylus nib 121 or ink cartridge nib 119 ) by imaging, in the infrared spectrum, an area of the surface in the vicinity of the nib. it records the location data from the nearest location tag, and is arranged to calculate the distance of the nib 121 or 119 from the location tab utilising optics 135 and controller chip 134 . the controller chip 134 calculates the orientation of the pen and the nib-to-tag distance from the perspective distortion observed on the imaged tag. utilising the rf chip 133 and antenna 112 the pen 101 can transmit the digital ink data (which is encrypted for security and packaged for efficient transmission) to the computing system. when the pen is in range of a receiver, the digital ink data is transmitted as it is formed. when the pen 101 moves out of range, digital ink data is buffered within the pen 101 (the pen 101 circuitry includes a buffer arranged to store digital ink data for approximately 12 minutes of the pen motion on the surface) and can be transmitted later. the controller chip 134 is mounted on the second flex pcb 129 in the pen 101 . fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating in more detail the architecture of the controller chip 134 . fig. 10 also shows representations of the rf chip 133 , the image sensor 132 , the tri-color status led 116 , the ir illumination led 131 , the ir force sensor led 143 , and the force sensor photodiode 144 . the pen controller chip 134 includes a controlling processor 145 . bus 146 enables the exchange of data between components of the controller chip 134 . flash memory 147 and a 512 kb dram 148 are also included. an analog-to-digital converter 149 is arranged to convert the analog signal from the force sensor photodiode 144 to a digital signal. an image sensor interface 152 interfaces with the image sensor 132 . a transceiver controller 153 and base band circuit 154 are also included to interface with the rf chip 133 which includes an rf circuit 155 and rf resonators and inductors 156 connected to the antenna 112 . the controlling processor 145 captures and decodes location data from tags from the surface via the image sensor 132 , monitors the force sensor photodiode 144 , controls the leds 116 , 131 and 143 , and handles short-range radio communication via the radio transceiver 153 . it is a medium-performance (40 mhz) general-purpose risc processor. the processor 145 , digital transceiver components (transceiver controller 153 and baseband circuit 154 ), image sensor interface 152 , flash memory 147 and 512 kb dram 148 are integrated in a single controller asic. analog rf components (rf circuit 155 and rf resonators and inductors 156 ) are provided in the separate rf chip. the image sensor is a 215215 pixel ccd (such a sensor is produced by matsushita electronic corporation, and is described in a paper by itakura, k t nobusada, n okusenya, r nagayoshi, and m ozaki, a 1 mm 50 k-pixel it ccd image sensor for miniature camera system, ieee transactions on electronic devices, volt 47, number 1, january 2000, which is incorporated herein by reference) with an ir filter. the controller asic 134 enters a quiescent state after a period of inactivity when the pen 101 is not in contact with a surface. it incorporates a dedicated circuit 150 which monitors the force sensor photodiode 144 and wakes up the controller 134 via the power manager 151 on a pen-down event. the radio transceiver communicates in the unlicensed 900 mhz band normally used by cordless telephones, or alternatively in the unlicensed 2.4 ghz industrial, scientific and medical (ism) band, and uses frequency hopping and collision detection to provide interference-free communication. in an alternative embodiment, the pen incorporates an infrared data association (irda) interface for short-range communication with a base station or netpage printer. in a further embodiment, the pen 101 includes a pair of orthogonal accelerometers mounted in the normal plane of the pen 101 axis. the accelerometers 190 are shown in figs. 9 and 10 in ghost outline. the provision of the accelerometers enables this embodiment of the pen 101 to sense motion without reference to surface location tags, allowing the location tags to be sampled at a lower rate. each location tag id can then identify an object of interest rather than a position on the surface. for example, if the object is a user interface input element (e.g. a command button), then the tag id of each location tag within the area of the input element can directly identify the input element. the acceleration measured by the accelerometers in each of the x and y directions is integrated with respect to time to produce an instantaneous velocity and position. since the starting position of the stroke is not known, only relative positions within a stroke are calculated. although position integration accumulates errors in the sensed acceleration, accelerometers typically have high resolution, and the time duration of a stroke, over which errors accumulate, is short. 7. netpage printer description 7.1 printer mechanics the vertically-mounted netpage wallprinter 601 is shown fully assembled in fig. 11 . it prints netpages on letter/a 4 sized media using duplexed 8 memjet print engines 602 and 603 , as shown in figs. 12 and 12 a . it uses a straight paper path with the paper 604 passing through the duplexed print engines 602 and 603 which print both sides of a sheet simultaneously, in full color and with full bleed. an integral binding assembly 605 applies a strip of glue along one edge of each printed sheet, allowing it to adhere to the previous sheet when pressed against it. this creates a final bound document 618 which can range in thickness from one sheet to several hundred sheets. the replaceable ink cartridge 627 , shown in fig. 13 coupled with the duplexed print engines, has bladders or chambers for storing fixative, adhesive, and cyan, magenta, yellow, black and infrared inks. the cartridge also contains a micro air filter in a base molding. the micro air filter interfaces with an air pump 638 inside the printer via a hose 639 . this provides filtered air to the printheads to prevent ingress of micro particles into the memjet printheads 350 which might otherwise clog the printhead nozzles. by incorporating the air filter within the cartridge, the operational life of the filter is effectively linked to the life of the cartridge. the ink cartridge is a fully recyclable product with a capacity for printing and gluing 3000 pages (1500 sheets). referring to fig. 12 , the motorized media pick-up roller assembly 626 pushes the top sheet directly from the media tray past a paper sensor on the first print engine 602 into the duplexed memjet printhead assembly. the two memjet print engines 602 and 603 are mounted in an opposing in-line sequential configuration along the straight paper path. the paper 604 is drawn into the first print engine 602 by integral, powered pick-up rollers 626 . the position and size of the paper 604 is sensed and full bleed printing commences. fixative is printed simultaneously to aid drying in the shortest possible time. the paper exits the first memjet print engine 602 through a set of powered exit spike wheels (aligned along the straight paper path), which act against a rubberized roller. these spike wheels contact the wet printed surface and continue to feed the sheet 604 into the second memjet print engine 603 . referring to figs. 12 and 12 a , the paper 604 passes from the duplexed print engines 602 and 603 into the binder assembly 605 . the printed page passes between a powered spike wheel axle 670 with a fibrous support roller and another movable axle with spike wheels and a momentary action glue wheel. the movable axle/glue assembly 673 is mounted to a metal support bracket and it is transported forward to interface with the powered axle 670 via gears by action of a camshaft. a separate motor powers this camshaft. the glue wheel assembly 673 consists of a partially hollow axle 679 with a rotating coupling for the glue supply hose 641 from the ink cartridge 627 . this axle 679 connects to a glue wheel, which absorbs adhesive by capillary action through radial holes. a molded housing 682 surrounds the glue wheel, with an opening at the front. pivoting side moldings and sprung outer doors are attached to the metal bracket and hinge out sideways when the rest of the assembly 673 is thrust forward. this action exposes the glue wheel through the front of the molded housing 682 . tension springs close the assembly and effectively cap the glue wheel during periods of inactivity. as the sheet 604 passes into the glue wheel assembly 673 , adhesive is applied to one vertical edge on the front side (apart from the first sheet of a document) as it is transported down into the binding assembly 605 . 7.2 printer controller architecture the netpage printer controller consists of a controlling processor 750 , a factory-installed or field-installed network interface module 625 , a radio transceiver (transceiver controller 753 , baseband circuit 754 , rf circuit 755 , and rf resonators and inductors 756 ), dual raster image processor (rip) dsps 757 , duplexed print engine controllers 760 a and 760 b , flash memory 658 , and 64 mb of dram 657 , as illustrated in fig. 14 . the controlling processor handles communication with the network 19 and with local wireless netpage pens 101 , senses the help button 617 , controls the user interface leds 613 - 616 , and feeds and synchronizes the rip dsps 757 and print engine controllers 760 . it consists of a medium-performance general-purpose microprocessor. the controlling processor 750 communicates with the print engine controllers 760 via a high-speed serial bus 659 . the rip dsps rasterize and compress page descriptions to the netpage printer's compressed page format. each print engine controller expands, dithers and prints page images to its associated memjet printhead 350 in real time (i.e. at over 30 pages per minute). the duplexed print engine controllers print both sides of a sheet simultaneously. the master print engine controller 760 a controls the paper transport and monitors ink usage in conjunction with the master qa chip 665 and the ink cartridge qa chip 761 . the printer controller's flash memory 658 holds the software for both the processor 750 and the dsps 757 , as well as configuration data. this is copied to main memory 657 at boot time. the processor 750 , dsps 757 , and digital transceiver components (transceiver controller 753 and baseband circuit 754 ) are integrated in a single controller asic 656 . analog rf components (rf circuit 755 and rf resonators and inductors 756 ) are provided in a separate rf chip 762 . the network interface module 625 is separate, since netpage printers allow the network connection to be factory-selected or field-selected. flash memory 658 and the 2256 mbit (64 mb) dram 657 is also off-chip. the print engine controllers 760 are provided in separate asics. a variety of network interface modules 625 are provided, each providing a netpage network interface 751 and optionally a local computer or network interface 752 . netpage network internet interfaces include pots modems, hybrid fiber-coax (hfc) cable modems, isdn modems, dsl modems, satellite transceivers, current and next-generation cellular telephone transceivers, and wireless local loop (wll) transceivers. local interfaces include ieee 1284 (parallel port), 10 base-t and 100 base-t ethernet, usb and usb 2.0, ieee 1394 (firewire), and various emerging home networking interfaces. if an internet connection is available on the local network, then the local network interface can be used as the netpage network interface. the radio transceiver 753 communicates in the unlicensed 900 mhz band normally used by cordless telephones, or alternatively in the unlicensed 2.4 ghz industrial, scientific and medical (ism) band, and uses frequency hopping and collision detection to provide interference-free communication. the printer controller optionally incorporates an infrared data association (irda) interface for receiving data squirted from devices such as netpage cameras. in an alternative embodiment, the printer uses the irda interface for short-range communication with suitably configured netpage pens. 7.2.1 rasterization and printing once the main processor 750 has received and verified the document's page layouts and page objects, it runs the appropriate rip software on the dsps 757 . the dsps 757 rasterize each page description and compress the rasterized page image. the main processor stores each compressed page image in memory. the simplest way to load-balance multiple dsps is to let each dsp rasterize a separate page. the dsps can always be kept busy since an arbitrary number of rasterized pages can, in general, be stored in memory. this strategy only leads to potentially poor dsp utilization when rasterizing short documents. watermark regions in the page description are rasterized to a contone-resolution bi-level bitmap which is losslessly compressed to negligible size and which forms part of the compressed page image. the infrared (ir) layer of the printed page contains coded netpage tags at a density of about six per inch. each tag encodes the page id, tag id, and control bits, and the data content of each tag is generated during rasterization and stored in the compressed page image. the main processor 750 passes back-to-back page images to the duplexed print engine controllers 760 . each print engine controller 760 stores the compressed page image in its local memory, and starts the page expansion and printing pipeline. page expansion and printing is pipelined because it is impractical to store an entire 114 mb bi-level cmykir page image in memory. 7.2.2 print engine controller the page expansion and printing pipeline of the print engine controller 760 consists of a high speed ieee 1394 serial interface 659 , a standard jpeg decoder 763 , a standard group 4 fax decoder 764 , a custom halftoner/compositor unit 765 , a custom tag encoder 766 , a line loader/formatter unit 767 , and a custom interface 768 to the memjet printhead 350 . the print engine controller 360 operates in a double buffered manner. while one page is loaded into dram 769 via the high speed serial interface 659 , the previously loaded page is read from dram 769 and passed through the print engine controller pipeline. once the page has finished printing, the page just loaded is printed while another page is loaded. the first stage of the pipeline expands (at 763 ) the jpeg-compressed contone cmyk layer, expands (at 764 ) the group 4 fax-compressed bi-level black layer, and renders (at 766 ) the bi-level netpage tag layer according to the tag format defined in section 1.2, all in parallel. the second stage dithers (at 765 ) the contone cmyk layer and composites (at 765 ) the bi-level black layer over the resulting bi-level cmyk layer. the resultant bi-level cmykir dot data is buffered and formatted (at 767 ) for printing on the memjet printhead 350 via a set of line buffers. most of these line buffers are stored in the off-chip dram. the final stage prints the six channels of bi-level dot data (including fixative) to the memjet printhead 350 via the printhead interface 768 . when several print engine controllers 760 are used in unison, such as in a duplexed configuration, they are synchronized via a shared line sync signal 770 . only one print engine 760 , selected via the external master/slave pin 771 , generates the line sync signal 770 onto the shared line. the print engine controller 760 contains a low-speed processor 772 for synchronizing the page expansion and rendering pipeline, configuring the printhead 350 via a low-speed serial bus 773 , and controlling the stepper motors 675 , 676 . in the 8 versions of the netpage printer, the two print engines each prints 30 letter pages per minute along the long dimension of the page (11), giving a line rate of 8.8 khz at 1600 dpi. in the 12 versions of the netpage printer, the two print engines each prints 45 letter pages per minute along the short dimension of the page (8), giving a line rate of 10.2 khz. these line rates are well within the operating frequency of the memjet printhead, which in the current design exceeds 30 khz. 8 directory navigation a directory is an organized list of named objects. it may be presented in many ways: sorted alphabetically, arranged into named groups or topics, etc. the default presentation is specific to each kind of directory. a directory may also be searched. for the purposes of navigation using a netpage, an n-ary index tree is built above the directory, with each node containing enough index entries to fill two printed pages (i.e. a double-sided sheet). if two pages hold k entries, and the entire directory contains m entries, then the number of levels in the index is log _{ k } m. for example, if two pages hold 200 entries, and the entire directory represents a global telephone directory containing six billion entries, then the number of levels in the index is five, and a user can locate a desired entry in the directory by printing five sheets. 8.1 application drawing notation an application user interface flow is illustrated as a collection of documents linked by command arrows. a command arrow indicates that the target document is printed as a result of the user pressing the corresponding command button on the source page. some command arrows are labelled with multiple commands separated by slashes (/s), indicating that any one of the specified commands causes the target document to be printed. although multiple commands may label the same command arrow, they typically have different side-effects. in application terms, it is important to distinguish between netpage documents and netpage forms. documents contain printed information, as well as command buttons which can be pressed by the user to request further information or some other action. forms, in addition to behaving like normal documents, also contain input fields which can be filled in by the user. they provide the system with a data input mechanism. it is also useful to distinguish between documents which contain generic information and documents which contain information specific to a particular interaction between the user and an application. generic documents may be pre-printed publications such as magazines sold at news stands or advertising posters encountered in public places. forms may also be pre-printed, including, for example, subscription forms encountered in pre-printed publications. they may, of course, also be generated on-the-fly by a netpage printer in response to user requests. user-specific documents and forms are normally generated on the fly by a netpage printer in response to user requests. fig. 48 shows a generic document 990 , a generic form 991 , a user-specific document 992 , and a user-specific form 993 . netpages which participate in a user interface flow are further described by abstract page layouts. a page layout may contain various kinds of elements, each of which has a unique style to differentiate it from the others. as shown in fig. 49 , these include fixed information 994 , variable information 995 , input fields 996 , command buttons 997 , and draggable commands 998 . when a user interface flow is broken up into multiple diagrams, any document which is duplicated is shown with dashed outlines in all but the main diagram which defines it. 8.2 directory navigation an indexed directory class diagram is shown in fig. 50 , by way of example. each index entry 500 is either an index node entry 501 or a directory entry 502 representing a directory object 503 , with the index entry 500 itself representing one of a possible number of entries of a higher-level index node 504 . the layout of the generic directory index page 520 is shown in fig. 51 . each index node 504 is described by an entry 518 on the index page which specifies the starting and ending names on the double-sided page it is linked to, separated by to, e.g. aardvark to axolotl, ayatollah to bernoulli, etc. each entry 518 acts as a hyperlink to the corresponding lower-level index page 520 representing the lower-level index node 504 . if the entire directory fits on two pages, then it is presented directly without an intervening index tree. the presentation of the index entries of a terminal (bottom-level) index node in a terminal index page 521 , i.e. a node which refers to actual named objects, is specific to each kind of directory. each page contains a <top> button 511 which prints the root node of the index, an <up> button 512 which prints the page's parent node in the index and <first>, <previous>, <next> and <last> buttons 513 to 516 which print the first, previous, next and last nodes, respectively, of the page's index level. particular navigation buttons don't appear if they have no meaning for the current page, e.g. the page for the first index node in an index level doesn't have <first> and <previous> buttons. each page also contains a <search> button 517 which generates a search from which allows the directory to be searched. the contents of the search form are specific to each kind of directory. the directory navigation user interface flow is illustrated in fig. 52 , where the navigation functions of buttons 511 to 516 are illustrated in relation to a directory index 520 and a terminal directory index 521 . the navigation may result in a specific directory object 522 being printed. a similar result may be achieved by conducting a search 523 , using the search button 517 . of course, if the search results are ambiguous a list of matches 524 is provided for the user to select an appropriate result. 9 electronic mail netpage electronic mail (e-mail) provides a messaging service between netpage users. it also supports message exchange with internet e-mail users, and by extension, users of other e-mail systems interconnected with the internet, such as corporate e-mail systems. each netpage user has a unique id within the netpage system, and is also known to the system by their name, which may or may not be unique. netpage e-mail is usually addressed by selecting a name from a list, for example from the global list of netpage users or from a particular user's list of contacts. the user's nickname or alias helps disambiguate similar names. a netpage user usually doesn't have to know or specify another netpage user's unique id. when a netpage user wants to send e-mail to an internet user, they must specify an internet e-mail address. similarly, when an internet user wants to send e-mail to a netpage user, they must specify a netpage internet e-mail address. the netpage network is known by one or more domain names on the internet. netpage mail gateway servers exchange e-mail with mail servers on the internet, and in particular receive internet e-mail addressed to a netpage domain name. each netpage user is given an e-mail alias id by which they are identified within a netpage internet domain. a user's netpage internet address therefore takes the form <e-mail alias id><netpage domain name>. e-mail is a core service of the netpage system. 9.1 e-mail object model 9.1.1 e-mail user the e-mail object model revolves around an e-mail user 1000 , as shown in the class diagram of fig. 53 . an e-mail user 1000 is either a netpage user 800 or an internet user 1002 . 9 . 1 . 2 e-mail as illustrated in the e-mail class diagram of fig. 54 , the e-mail 1003 itself consists of a number of pages 1004 . each page corresponds to a netpage. the page structure is logical because the e-mail is delivered in the same form that it is composed, and it is composed by the sender page by page. each page contains digital ink 873 (fig. 33 ), together with any number of attachments 1005 . an attachment is printed at its point of insertion, and may overflow onto the following page(s). the sender 1006 of the e-mail is an e-mail user 1000 , as are any number of recipients 1007 and copy recipients (ccs) 1008 . blind copy recipients (bccs) are not modelled here for clarity, but can obviously be trivially accommodated. the e-mail has an explicit subject which is always converted from digital ink to text to support interoperation with e-mail systems which don't directly support digital ink, such as e-mail systems on the internet, and to streamline the presentation of mailbox contents within the netpage system itself. the e-mail has a high priority flag 1009 which allows both the sender and the recipients to control the timeliness of its delivery. 9.1.3 mailbox incoming e-mails may be accumulated in the user's mailbox 1010 , illustrated in the mailbox class diagram of fig. 55 , printed on the user's default printer, incorporated into the user's daily newspaper, or any combination of these. the user can select, for example, to print high-priority e-mails immediately on receipt but to hold low-priority e-mails. the user may create any number of named folders 1011 within the mailbox 1010 , and either manually copy and move received e-mails 1003 between folders, or associate a folder with one or more e-mail contacts (including e-mail groups) to have e-mail received from those contacts automatically placed in the folder. e-mail received from contacts not associated with a folder is placed in a predefined inbox folder. all e-mail sent by the user is placed in a predefined sent e-mail folder for future reference. each folder has three delivery options: print all e-mail, print high-priority e-mail, and delete e-mail once printed. if a print option is selected, e-mail messages with the corresponding priority are printed on the user's default printer immediately on receipt. if the delete option is selected, e-mail messages are deleted from the e-mail folder once printed. otherwise e-mail messages are held indefinitely in the e-mail folder, i.e. until manually deleted by the user. 9.1.4 contact list each user has a list 1012 of contacts 1013 . the contact list 1012 , as illustrated in fig. 56 , provides a more convenient basis for selecting e-mail recipients than the global list of users, particularly since most user's contact lists will fit on a single double-sided printed page. the contact list also provides a basis for ignoring unsolicited e-mail. a privacy option allows a user to ignore e-mail not sent by a member of the contact list. a user may create any number of contact groups 1014 within the contact list, and treat a group as a single contact 1015 for the purposes of addressing outgoing e-mail and controlling the delivery of incoming e-mail. groups may themselves contain groups, and both individual contacts and groups may be members of multiple groups as well as of the top-level contact list itself. 9.1.5 barred user list rather than accepting e-mail only from known contacts, a user 800 may choose to bar individual users 1016 . the barred user list 1017 , shown in fig. 57 , records individuals from which the user refuses to accept e-mail. 9.2 e-mail user interface 9.2.1 send e-mail e-mail is sent using the outgoing e-mail form 1020 (see figs. 60 and 61 ). the e-mail form is always printed with the sender's name already specified at 1021 , since the sender's identity is known from the pen used to request the e-mail form. if the e-mail form is requested by pressing a user-specific <e-mail> button on some page, then the e-mail form is printed with the recipient's name 1007 already specified. on the other hand, if the e-mail form is requested from the help page, then the recipient is unknown and is left blank on the form. the user must specify at least one recipient before the e-mail can be sent. the user can also pre-address an e-mail form by pressing the <e-mail to contacts> button on the help page. this elicits an add recipients form (fig. 62 ), which lists the user's contacts 1013 . each contact has a <to> and a <cc> checkbox 1022 , 1023 as well as an <e-mail> button 1024 . the e-mail button elicits an e-mail form addressed to that user. the <e-mail selected> button 1025 at the bottom of the page elicits an e-mail addressed to all the users whose <to> or <cc> checkboxes have been checked. the e-mail form initially consists of a double-sided page. the front ( fig. 60 ) contains fields 1026 , 1027 for the names of recipients and copy recipients, for the subject 1028 , and for the body of the e-mail 1029 . the back ( fig. 61 ) contains a field 1030 for continuing the body of the e-mail. any recipient names (or addresses) written by hand are converted from digital ink to text for lookup purposes. the subject is also converted, for presentation purposes, as discussed earlier. the body is retained as digital ink, to allow handwritten text and diagrams etc. to be delivered in a uniform and expressive manner. the <add page> button 1031 at the bottom of every page of the e-mail form adds another double-sided page to the e-mail form. only the additional page is printed, not the entire form, but the additional page is logically linked to the original e-mail. the <discard page> button 1032 at the bottom of every page discards the corresponding page from the e-mail (but not both sides of the double-sided page). the entire e-mail is reprinted with the discarded page removed and subsequent pages, if any, moved to close the gap. a blank page is added to make the page count even, if necessary. each printed e-mail form corresponds to a separate e-mail instance, the uniqueness of which is indicated by the sender's name, date and time printed at the top of every page. once an e-mail has been sent, it can't be sent again. a copy, however, can be easily made, edited, and sent. the standard <print> button on every page of the e-mail form prints another copy of the e-mail form, corresponding to a new e-mail instance. both the original and the copy can be edited further and sent independently. text in the <recipients>, <copy recipients> and <subject> fields can be struck out with the pen to remove recipients, subject text, etc. the <print> button produces a copy of the e-mail form with the struck-out text removed. the <attach> button 1033 at the bottom of every page attaches the current selection at the current end of the e-mail body. the entire e-mail is reprinted with the attachment included. additional pages are automatically added to the e-mail to accommodate the attachment. the attachment can consist of anything which can be selected on any netpage. the <add recipients> button 1034 adjacent to the <recipients> and <copy recipients> fields 1026 , 1027 at the top of the first page of the e-mail form elicits an add recipients form 1036 (fig. 62 ), with the <subject> field 1028 reflecting the subject of the e-mail form. the <e-mail> and <e-mail selected> buttons 1024 , 1025 on the add recipients form elicits a copy of the e-mail form with the additional recipients and copy recipients added. the <send> button 1035 at the bottom of every page sends the entire e-mail. if the name of any recipient is unknown to the system, then the e-mail form is reprinted with the offending name printed in red, together with an error message indicating the problem. if the name of any recipient is ambiguous, then a list of matching users is printed, each with a checkbox allowing it to be selected. the <e-mail> button at the bottom of the form reprints the e-mail form with the recipient names suitably updated. the overall e-mail user interface flow is illustrated in fig. 58 . the e-mail recipient exception user interface flow is illustrated in fig. 59 . 9.2.2 receive e-mail e-mail is received in the form of an incoming e-mail document 1040 (figs. 63 and 64 ), which has the same page structure and content as the corresponding outgoing e-mail form. the <reply> button 1041 at the bottom of every page of the e-mail document produces an outgoing e-mail form ( figs. 60 and 61 ) addressed to the sender of the incoming e-mail, and with the subject reflecting the subject of the incoming e-mail, but with in reply to: added as a prefix. the <reply to all> button 1042 produces an outgoing e-mail form addressed to the sender of the incoming e-mail, as well as to all of its recipients and copy recipients. the <forward> button 1043 produces an outgoing e-mail form with no recipient, and with the subject reflecting the subject of the incoming e-mail, but with forwarded: added as a prefix. the body of the incoming e-mail is also copied to the body of the outgoing e-mail. the <forward to contacts> button 1044 creates, but doesn't print, an outgoing e-mail in the same way as the <forward> button, and then implicitly invokes the <add recipients> command on it. this elicits an add recipients form in the usual way (fig. 62 ), with the <subject> field reflecting the subject of the forwarded e-mail. the <add to contacts> button 1045 adds the sender to the recipient's list of contacts and produces an edit contacts form reflecting the updated contact list. contact list editing is described in more detail in section 9.2.3. the <bar> button 1046 adds the sender to the recipient's list of barred users and produces an edit barred users form reflecting the updated barred user list. barred user list editing is described in more detail in section 9.2.5. 9.2.3 edit contact list the contact list is edited using the edit contacts form 1050 (fig. 66 ). because the structure of an individual contact group is the same as the structure of the top-level contact list, the same form is used to edit a contact group. the form is obtained by pressing the <edit contact list> button on the help page. it is also printed whenever a contact is added to the contact list, for example when the <add to contacts> button 1045 is pressed on an incoming e-mail 1040 to add the sender to the contact list. each entry 1051 on the contact list form shows the name on the contact 1052 , and the current e-mail folder 1053 in which e-mail from the contact is placed. each entry has a checkbox 1054 which allows the contact to be selected, an <info> button 1055 which elicits a page of information about the user (fig. 77 ), and a <set e-mail folder> button 1056 which allows the e-mail folder associated with the contact to be changed via the set e-mail folder form (fig. 68 ). the <delete selected> button 1057 at the bottom of the form deletes the selected contacts from the contact list (or contact group). the form is reprinted with the deleted contacts removed. the <copy to group> and <move to group> buttons 1058 , 1059 at the bottom of the form allows the selected contacts to be copied and moved to a particular group via the copy contacts form 1060 (fig. 67 ). the contact list editing user interface flow is illustrated in fig. 65 . the copy (move) contacts form lists all of the groups in the user's contact list, each with a <copy to> (<move to>) button which copies (moves) the selected contacts to the specified group. when a <copy to> (<move to>) button is pressed, an edit contacts form is printed which shows the updated membership of the destination group. the copy (move) contacts form 1060 provides a <new group name> field 1061 with an associated <copy to new> (<move to new>) button 1062 . this allows a new group to be simultaneously created and selected as the destination for the copy or move. the set e-mail folder form 1070 ( fig. 68 ) lists all of the folders in the user's mailbox, each with a <set> button 1071 which sets the folder as the contact's e-mail folder. when the <set> button is pressed, the edit contacts form is re-printed to reflect the new folder associated with the contact. the set e-mail folder form 1070 provides a <new e-mail folder name> field 1072 with an associated <set new> button 1073 . this allows a new folder to be simultaneously created and selected as the contact's e-mail folder. the new folder has an associated set of checkboxes 1074 which allow the folder's e-mail delivery options to be specified. 9.2.4 list mailbox the contents of the user's mailbox are listed using the mailbox form 1080 ( fig. 70 ) and the e-mail folder form 1090 (fig. 71 ). the mailbox form lists all of the user's e-mail folders 1011 , each with a set of checkboxes 1081 which reflect the folder's e-mail delivery options and allow the delivery options to be changed. each folder entry also has a checkbox 1082 which allows it to be selected. the <count> button 1083 next to each folder name indicates the number of un-printed (i.e. un-read) e-mails in the folder. the <delete selected> button 1084 at the bottom of the form deletes all selected folders from the mailbox. the mailbox form is re-printed with the deleted folders removed. the <update options> button 1085 at the bottom of the form applies any changes made via the checkboxes to the folder's delivery options. each folder entry also has a <list> button 1086 which lists the contents of the folder via the e-mail folder form 1090 (fig. 71 ). the mailbox listing user interface flow is illustrated in fig. 69 . the e-mail folder form 1090 lists all of the e-mails in the folder. each single-line e-mail entry 1091 shows the sender of the e-mail 1092 , the subject of the e-mail 1093 , and the date and time 1094 the e-mail was received. the list can be sorted by sender, subject, or date and time. each column which is not the current sort column has a <sort> button 1095 which allows the list to be sorted by that column. when a <sort> button is pressed the e-mail folder is sorted by the selected column and the form is re-printed. where an e-mail is a reply to another e-mail, the subject of the replying e-mails is indented relative to the subject of the e-mail to which it is replying. thus each thread of a discussion is clearly visible. entries for e-mails which have never been printed are printed in bold to draw the user's attention. each e-mail entry has a checkbox 1096 which allows it to be selected, as well as a print button 1097 which allows the entire e-mail to be printed in the form of an incoming e-mail (fig. 63 and 64 ). the <delete selected> button 1098 at the bottom of the form deletes the currently selected e-mails. the e-mail folder form is reprinted with the deleted e-mails removed. the <copy selected> and <move selected> buttons 1099 , 1100 at the bottom of the e-mail folder form allow the currently selected e-mails to be copied or moved to a different e-mail folder via the copy e-mail form 1110 (fig. 72 ). the copy (move) e-mail 1110 form lists all of the folders 1011 in the user's mailbox, each with a <copy to> (<move to>) button 1111 which copies (moves) the selected e-mails to the specified folder. when a <copy to> (<move to>) button is pressed, an e-mail folder form is printed which shows the updated contents of the destination folder. the copy (move) e-mail form 1110 provides a <new e-mail folder name> field 1112 with an associated <copy to new> (<move to new>) button 1113 . this allows a new folder to be simultaneously created and selected as the destination for the copy or move. the new folder has an associated set of checkboxes 1114 which allow the folder's e-mail delivery options to be specified. 9.2.5 edit barred user list the barred user list is edited via the edit barred users form 1120 (fig. 74 ). the form 1120 is obtained by pressing the <edit barred user list> button on the help page. it is also printed whenever a user is barred, for example when the <bar> button 1046 is pressed on an incoming e-mail 1040 to add the sender to the barred user list. the form lists all of the users 1121 in the user's barred user list 1017 . each has a checkbox 1122 which allows it to be selected. the <unbar selected> button 1123 at the bottom of the form deletes the selected users from the barred user list. the form is re-printed with the deleted users removed. when a user is deleted from the list that user is no longer barred. the barred user editing user interface flow is illustrated in fig. 73 . 9.2.6 global user directory the global user directory, since it is large, is navigated via a directory index (as described previously in section 8 ). it is obtained by pressing the <global user directory> button on the help page. the global user directory page 1130 ( fig. 76 ) contains an alphabetical list, by family name, of users in the name range covered by the page. each entry has three associated buttons. the <info> button 1133 produces a user information page (fig. 77 ), the <e-mail> button 1134 generates an outgoing e-mail form 1020 ( figs. 60 and 61 ) addressed to the corresponding user, and the <add to contacts> button 1135 adds the user to the user's contact list and prints the updated contact list 1050 (fig. 66 ). the global user directory page 1130 also contains the standard index navigation buttons 1136 . the global user directory user interface flow is illustrated in fig. 75 . the index user interface flow and associated page layouts are as described previously. the user information page 1140 ( fig. 77 ) contains the user's contact details as provided during user registration, subject to the user's privacy preferences. it also contains e-mail> and <add to contacts> buttons 1141 , 1142 which work in the usual way. the <internet e-mail address> field 1143 is only included if the user information page is printed via the contact list for an internet contact (as opposed to a netpage contact). 9.2.7 add internet contact an internet e-mail user can be added to a user's contact list using the internet contact registration form 1170 (fig. 79 ). since an internet user is not otherwise known to the netpage system, the form allows full name details 1171 to be specified, in addition to the internet user's e-mail address 1172 . the internet contact registration user interface flow is illustrated in fig. 78 . conclusion the present invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment and number of specific alternative embodiments. however, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant fields that a number of other embodiments, differing from those specifically described, will also fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention. accordingly, it will be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments described in the present specification, including documents incorporated by cross-reference as appropriate. the scope of the invention is only limited by the attached claims.
108-517-629-504-475	NL	[ "BE", "DE", "US", "FR", "GB", "NL" ]	E04G1/36	1974-08-29T00:00:00	1974	[ "E04" ]	scaffold	a scaffold for carrying out activities inside a tank having a substantially cylindrical side wall and a roof with centrally provided therein a manhole, comprising a central mast and, movable therearound, a section for carrying operating platforms rotatably connected to said mast, all scaffold members being coupled for mutual pivotal movement and having such a cross-section that they can be lowered into the tank via the manhole.	1. a free standing scaffold for carrying out activities inside a tank having a substantially cylindrical side wall and a roof with a manhole centrally provided therein, comprising a central mast supported only on the bottom of the tank, a scaffold section for carrying operating platforms rotatably connected to said central mast for movement therearound and composed of a pair of upwardly converging columns forming the upright sides of a triangle, a laterally extending beam pivotally connected at one end to the tops of said pair of columns and rotatably and pivotally connected at the other end to said central mast, and a pair of radially extending legs respectively pivotally connected at one end to the bottom portions of said pair of columns and rotatably and pivotally connected at the other end to said central mast, means connected to the bottom portions of said pair of columns movably supporting said scaffold section on the bottom of the tank and stabilizing said central mast, all of said scaffold members being connected together for mutual pivotal movement and each having cross-sectional dimensions less than the diameter of the manhole, whereby the scaffold members can be lowered into the tank via the manhole and assembled into the free standing scaffold inside the tank. 2. a free standing scaffold as set forth in claim 1, including a spacer member extending between and pivotally connected to the bottom portions of said pair of columns, said pair of radial legs and said spacer member connected to form a substantially horizontally disposed triangle. 3. a scaffold as set forth in claim 1, in which said laterally extending beam extends approximately parallel to the roof of the tank and is designed as a work platform. 4. a scaffold as set forth in claim 1, in which said laterally extending beam and the pair of radial legs are connected to the mast by means of ball bearing rings. 5. a free standing scaffold as set forth in claim 1 in which said means connected to the bottom portions of said pair of columns comprise roller supports having roller axes respectively parallel with the longitudinal axes of the corresponding pair of radial legs. 6. a free standing scaffold as set forth in claim 5 including motor drive means connected to drive at least one of said roller supports.	the invention relates to a scaffold destined to be erected inside a tank, e.g. an oil storage tank, for carrying out activities, such as painting, cleaning and the like, at the inside of the side wall and of the roof. such oil storage tanks often have a substantially circular-cylindrical side wall and a sloping, or conical or dome-shaped, roof with a manhole in the middle of the roof. for this purpose there are known several scaffolds. the most widely employed embodiment is the one in which loose pipes and clamps are lowered into the tank via the manhole and from these parts are built scaffolds, which are first arranged along the wall and subsequently, for the treatment of the roof, moved towards the centre of the tank. in particular in larger tanks the scaffold has to be moved a great number of times, which is very time-consuming. when of larger dimensions, the scaffolds must be broad and heavy in order to be stable, so that they can only be moved with difficulty. in general, if the roof of the tank is sloping, the height of the scaffold will have to be adjusted each time it is moved. from the literature there is furthermore known a proposal, according to which a hanging scaffold folded to a flat assembly is lowered through the manhole and unfolded inside the tank in such a way that the hanging scaffold approximately follows the inner contours of the tank. this hanging scaffold could then be rotated, so that the entire inner wall of the tank can be treated successively in circumferential direction. it will be clear that this construction is complicated and expensive, because for the rotation special provisions will have to be made at the manhole and, moreover, the roof of the tank will have to be designed to carry such a construction. furthermore, such collapsible constructions are mostly adapted to one tank size only. it is the object of the invention to avoid the above drawbacks. for this purpose there is provided a scaffold for carrying out activities inside a tank having a substantially cylindrical side wall and a roof with centrally provided therein a manhole, which scaffold according to the invention is characterized by a central mast and, movable therearound, a section for carrying operating platforms rotatably connected to said mast, all scaffold members being coupled for mutual pivotal movement and having such a cross-section that they can be lowered into the tank via the manhole. the central mast provides for the centration of the rotating scaffold movement, and the entire scaffold structure rests, respectively moves, on the tank bottom, so that no special requirements are set to the roof of the tank and the scaffold can be mounted inside any existing tank. owing to the fact that the scaffold members are coupled for mutual pivotal movement irregularities in the tank bottom or errors in alignment can be smoothed without problems via changes of angle at the pivot points. a stable scaffold structure consisting of a minimum of members can be obtained if according to the invention the section rotatable about the central mast is composed of columns forming the upright sides of a triangle, which at the top are connected to the mast by means of a beam and at the base by means of substantially horizontal legs. seen in projection on the tank bottom, the centre of gravity of this scaffold lies always within the triangle formed by a spacer positioned between the bottom ends of the columns and the two legs connecting the bottom ends of the columns to the central mast. this ensures a high stability. a special aspect of the invention is that the beam connecting the tops of the two columns to the central mast can be placed at such an angle that it extends approximately parallel to the roof of the tank and is designed as a platform. when the scaffold is rotated about the central mast, persons present on this platform beam can successively treat the inner surface of the roof. as a matter of fact, it will be clear that preferably the plane, in which the two columns extend, is vertical if the tank wall is vertical, so that at the scaffold section formed by these columns there may be attached at desired levels operating platforms, from where the entire inside of the side wall of the tank can be treated. in an embodiment shown to be effective in practice the platform beam and the horizontal legs may be connected to the mast by means of ball bearing rings. for the rotation of the scaffold there may be provided roller supports at the bottom ends of the columns, so that upon rotation about the central mast the scaffold can be rolled over the tank bottom, while the ends of the legs and of the platform beam facing the mast rotate about their respective ball bearing rings. it is possible to have at least one of the roller supports driven, e.g. by means of a pneumatic motor. in case there lie obstacles on the tank bottom, such as heating pipes for controlling the temperature of the stored oil, there may be provided above these obstacles a roller path, along which the rollers at the bottom ends of the columns can move. one embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings. fig. 1 is a perspective view of the scaffold mounted inside a storage tank, part of which has been cut away; fig. 2 is a detail side view of the connection of the platform beam to the mast; fig. 3 is a view of the connection on line iii--iii in fig. 2; fig. 4 is a detail side view of the connection of the legs to the mast; fig. 5 is a top view of the connection, substantially on line v--v; fig. 6 is a detail view of the connection of the columns to the platform beam, substantially according to arrow p in fig. 1, and fig. 7 is a side view of the connection according to fig. 6. as is shown in the drawing, the scaffold is mounted inside a tank, e.g. an oil storage tank, having a substantially circular-cylindrical side wall 1 and a conical roof 2 with centrally provided therein a manhole 3. by 4 is indicated the tank bottom. in the preferred embodiment drawn the scaffold consists of a central mast 5 and a substantially triangular section formed by columns 6 and 7, which at the base are connected by a spacer 8, the apex of the triangle formed by members 6, 7 and 8 being connected to central mast 5 by means of a platform beam 9 and the bottom ends of columns 6 and 7 by means of horizontal legs 10 and 11. at the bottom ends of legs 6 and 7 are provided roller supports 12 and 13 for rollers 12' and 13', respectively, by means of which the scaffold can be rolled around central mast 5 over tank floor 4. the ends of horizontal legs 10 and 11 remote from columns 6 and 7 are connected to the central mast by means of a ball bearing ring 14 and the platform beam by means of a ball bearing ring 15. central mast 5, columns 6 and 7, legs 10 and 11, and platform beam 9 can be designed as members having such a cross-section that they can be lowered into the tank via manhole 3, e.g. by means of a crane erected outside the tank, where the scaffold can be assembled. members 5-11 may be designed as lattice members, the largest cross-sectional size of which (e.g. 400 mm) is smaller than the diameter of the manhole (e.g. 600 mm). furthermore it is possible to compose members 5-11 each of shorter lattice members, for example having a unit size (e.g. 1.20 mm), which are combined to the desired length. to members 6 and 7 there may be attached at desired levels operating platforms 16 to accommodate employees for treating the tank side wall, while platform beam 9 itself may be designed as an operating platform. detail description of the connection of platform beam 9 to mast 5 (see figs. 2 and 3). mast 5, composed of lattice members, is interrupted at the connection of beam 9. between the facing ends of the lattice members there is attached axially a length of pipe 16 by means of end flanges 17 and 18. to flange 18 is attached by means of bolts a half shell 19, which is part of ball bearing ring 15. the other half shell 20 is attached by means of bolts to a flat ring 21 having an inner edge 22, the diameter of which is larger than that of length of pipe 16. between half shells 19 and 20 there is enclosed a plurality of balls 23. on flange 21 are welded, at either side of the opening of ring 21, cheeks 24 and 25. in cheeks 24 and 25 there are provided holes for passing bolts 26 and 27. by means of these bolts the side plates 28 and 29 of a substantially u-shaped bracket, composed of side plates 28, 29 and a base plate 30, can be so attached that the bracket can swing about a horizontal axis through bolts 26 and 27. to base plate 30 is attached beam 9 by means of lips welded at the base plate and at said beam end and bolts 31, while including an end plate 32 at the end of beam 9. detail description of the bearing at the bottom end of mast 5 and connection thereto of legs 10 and 11 (see figs. 4 and 5). for centring the bottom end of central mast 5 there is fixed a ring 33 on the bottom of tank 1. by means of bolts 34 a length of pipe 35 can be centred inside ring 33. on the upper end of length of pipe 35, which forms the real foot of mast 5, is welded a flange 36. by means of bolts 37 there is attached a flange 38, with thereon a half shell 39, to flange 36. flange 38 is welded onto a length of pipe 40, which at the other end is attached by means of an end flange 41 and bolts 42 to the connecting lattice portion of mast 5. to a flat ring 43 having a diameter larger than that of length of pipe 40 there is attached by means of bolts 44 a half shell 45. half shells 39 and 45 together enclose a plurality of balls 46 with formation of ball bearing ring 14. flat ring 43 is provided with a radially extending lip portion 47 having two holes for receiving swivel bolts 48 and 49. since the following part of the specification relating to the connection of leg 11 with swivel bolt 48 would be identical to that in respect of the connection of leg 10 with swivel bolt 49, only the former connection will be described. leg 11 is provided with an end plate 50, at the upper and lower edges of which are attached by means of bolts 51 base plates 52 of substantially triangular brackets, the upright sides of which are formed by angle sections 53, which at the top merge into a strip 54 common to the two brackets. at right angles to strip 54 there is formed a lug 55 having a hole, through which extends swivel bolt 48. swivel bolt 48 is provided with a groove 56 for receiving a snap ring 57, which prevents the loosening of the bolt. detail description of the connection of columns 6 and 7 to platform beam 9 (see figs. 6 and 7). beam 9 is connected to the top of columns 6 and 7 by means of a coupling piece 58 substantially consisting of an assembly of plates 59 and 60 welded at right angles to each other, and stiffened by stays 61 and 62 welded at the two plates 59 and 60 at right angles therewith and positioned at either side of the middle thereof. at the bottom of plate 59 there are welded two parallel strips 63 and 64. each of strips 63 and 64 is provided with two holes for receiving bolts 65 and 66, respectively. column 6 is provided with an end plate 67 with welded thereon two pairs of lugs 68, 68' and 69, 69', respectively. in each pair of the spacing between the lugs is wider than the thickness of strips 63 and 64. lugs 68, 68' are attached to strip 63 by means of a bolt 65 and lugs 69, 69' to strip 64 by means of a bolt 66. since a description of the connection of leg 7 to coupling piece 58 would mean a repetition of the preceding, it is not given. in plate 60 coupling piece 58 is provided with a hole for attaching thereto a lug 71 by means of a bolt 70. through the lug extends a swivel bolt 72 which connects two lips 73, 74 to lug 71. lips 73, 74 are attached to an end plate 75, which is connected to the end of beam 9 facing coupling piece 58 by means of bolts. from the above description of the connections of mast 5 to platform beam 9 and to legs 10 and 11, and of the connection of the lugs of legs 6 and 7 to beam 9, it will be clear that the scaffold members are so flexibly interconnected that with preservation of sufficient stability upon rotation of the scaffold about mast 5 rollers 12' and 13' can move conveniently over irregularities on tank bottom 4. rollers 12' and 13' are mounted in blocks 12 and 13, respectively, which are rigidly attached to legs 10 and 11, respectively. the axes of rotation of rollers 12' and 13' lie substantially according to the centre lines of legs 10 and 11, respectively, so that the rollers can move along a substantially circular path about the ball bearing ring as the centre. blocks 12 and 13 are connected by means of spacer 8, which for that purpose at each end is provided with a lug 76. each of blocks 12 and 13 is also provided with a lug 77. through lugs 76 and 77 extends a bolt 78. all parts of the scaffold have such dimensions that, either separately or already partly assembled outside the tank, they can be lowered into the tank via manhole 3. by means of bolt connections the various scaffold components can be assembled inside the tank and, after completion of the activities, such as painting, blasting and the like, the scaffold can be disassembled to members having a size sufficiently small to be hoisted up via the manhole. by composing mast 5, columns 6 and 7, legs 10 and 11, spacer 8 and beam 9 of lattice members having a specific unit size, e.g. 1.20 m, the scaffold dimensions can be adapted to different tank sizes in a simple manner. it will be clear that within the scope of the invention several modifications are possible. for example, in particular in tanks having a larger diameter there can be mounted two or more rotatable sections about the central mast, so that the activities can be carried out at a number of places simultaneously.
111-222-213-256-332	CN	[ "WO", "CN", "EP", "US", "JP" ]	C22C45/02,C22C33/04,H01F1/153,H01F41/02,C22C33/00,C21D6/00,C22C38/00	2021-03-01T00:00:00	2021	[ "C22", "H01", "C21" ]	fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy and preparation method therefor	the present description relates to the technical field of magnetic materials, and in particular to a fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy and a preparation method therefor. the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy comprises the components of which elements have an atomic percent as shown in formula fe (100-a-b-c-d-e-f) b a si b p c c d cu e nb f , wherein 8≤a≤12, 0.2≤b≤6, 2.0≤c≤6.0, 0.5≤d≤4, 0.6≤e≤1.3, 0.6≤f≤0.9, and 1≤e/f≤1.4. the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy has good magnetic performance, high thermal performance and a wide crystallization temperature range, and is convenient for industrial production.	an fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy, comprising elements, atomic percentages of which are as shown by formula (1): fe (100-a-b-c-d-e-f) b a si b p c c d cu e nb f (1); where 8≤a≤12, 0.2≤b≤6, 2.0≤c≤6.0, 0.5≤d≤4, 0.6≤e≤1.3, 0.6≤f≤0.9, and 1≤e/f≤1.4. the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy according to claim 1, wherein the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy is in a continuous thin strip shape, and a strip thickness of the thin strip is greater than or equal to 30 µm. the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy according to claim 1, wherein a temperature difference between a second crystallization start temperature and a first crystallization start temperature of the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy is greater than 120°c. the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy according to claim 3, wherein a ratio of the temperature difference to first heat is greater than or equal to 1.38, the first heat is heat released by the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy during first crystallization, the unit of the temperature difference is celsius, and the unit of the first heat is j/g. the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the saturation magnetic induction of the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy is greater than or equal to 1.75 t, the iron-loss per unit weight of the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy is less than 0.30 w/kg under an excitation condition of 50 hz-1.5 t, and in the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy, a size of nanocrystalline grains is 20-30 nm. a preparation method of the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy according to any one of claims 1-5, comprising the following steps: (a) blending according to the atomic percentages of elements shown by formula (1), and then smelting to obtain molten steel; (b) performing single-roll rapid quenching on the molten steel to obtain an initial strip; (c) heating the initial strip to a first preset temperature which is 20-30°c higher than a first crystallization start temperature of the initial strip; (d) holding the temperature for 30-40 min; and (e) cooling the initial strip to obtain the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy; wherein fe (100-a-b-c-d-e-f) b a si b p c c d cu e nb f (1); where 8≤a≤12, 0.2≤b≤6, 2.0≤c≤6.0, 0.5≤d≤4, 0.6≤e≤1.3, 0.6≤f≤0.9, and 1≤e/f≤1.4. the preparation method according to claim 6, wherein heating the initial strip to a first preset temperature comprises: heating the initial strip to a second preset temperature, and holding the temperature for a preset time, the second preset temperature being lower than the first preset temperature; and heating the initial strip from the second preset temperature to the first preset temperature at a first preset heating rate. the preparation method according to claim 7, wherein the second preset temperature is 280°c, the preset time is 2 h, and the first preset heating rate is 30°c/min. the preparation method according to any one of claims 6-8, wherein in step (e), the initial strip is cooled at a cooling rate of 50°c/s. a magnetic component composed of the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy according to any one of claims 1-5.	this application claims priority from chinese patent application no. 202110224190.5 titled as "fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy and preparation method thereof' and filed on march 1st, 2021 before state intellectual property office, content of which is incorporated herewith by reference. technical field the specification relates to the technical field of magnetic materials, in particular to an fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy and a preparation method thereof. background art at present, soft magnetic materials used in transformers, motors or generators, current sensors, magnetic sensors and pulse power magnetic components include silicon steel, ferrite, co-based amorphous alloys and nanocrystalline alloys. among these soft magnetic materials, silicon steel is cheap and high in magnetic flux density and machinability, but is subjected to high loss under high frequency. ferrite has limited applications in high-power and high-saturation magnetic induction scenarios due to low saturation flux density. co-based amorphous alloys are not only expensive, but also low in saturation magnetic flux density, so when used as a high-power device, co-based amorphous alloys are unstable in thermodynamics and subjected to high loss in use. fe-based amorphous alloys have the advantages of high saturation magnetic flux density and low loss under high power, thus being an ideal magnetic material. at present, fe-based amorphous/nanocrystalline alloys have developed into three major systems, namely, finemet (fe 73.5 si1 3.5 b 9 cu 1 nb 3 ) alloys, nanoperm (fe-m-b, m=zr, hf, nb, etc.) alloys and hitperm (fe-co-m-b, m=zr, hf, nb, etc.) alloys. among them, finemet alloys have been widely used in many fields because of their good soft magnetic properties and low cost. however, the saturation magnetic induction of finemet alloys is low (only about 1.25 t). compared with silicon steel with high saturation magnetic induction, the application of finemet alloys requires a larger volume under the same conditions, which seriously limits the application of finemet alloys. in addition, compared with silicon steel, finemet alloys are higher in cost due to the presence of precious metal nb, which is not conducive to the development of society. summary of the invention embodiments of the specification provide an fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy and a preparation method thereof. the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy has excellent soft magnetic properties and is suitable for industrial production. in a first aspect, an embodiment of the specification provides an fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy, which comprises elements, the atomic percentages of which are shown by formula (1): fe (100-a-b-c-d-e-f) b a si b p c c d cu e nb f (1); where 8≤a≤12, 0.2≤b≤6, 2.0≤c≤6.0, 0.5≤d≤4, 0.6≤e≤1.3, 0.6≤f≤0.9, and 1≤e/f≤1.4. in some embodiments, the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy is in a continuous thin strip shape, and a strip thickness of the thin strip is greater than or equal to 30 µm. in some embodiments, a temperature difference between a second crystallization start temperature and a first crystallization start temperature of the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy is greater than 120°c. in some embodiments, a ratio of the temperature difference to first heat is greater than or equal to 1.38, the first heat is heat released by the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy during first crystallization, the unit of the temperature difference is celsius, and the unit of the first heat is j/g. in some embodiments, the saturation magnetic induction of the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy is greater than or equal to 1.75 t, the iron-loss per unit weight of the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy is less than 0.30 w/kg under an excitation condition of 50 hz-1.5 t, and in the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy, a size of nanocrystalline grains is 20-30 nm. in a second aspect, a preparation method of the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy as described in the first aspect comprises the following steps: (a) blending according to the atomic percentages of elements shown in the formula (1), and then smelting to obtain molten steel; (b) performing single-roll rapid quenching on the molten steel to obtain an initial strip; (c) heating the initial strip to a first preset temperature which is 20-30°c higher than a first crystallization start temperature of the initial strip; (d) holding the temperature for 30-40 min; and (e) cooling the initial strip to obtain the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy; wherein fe (100-a-b-c-d-e-f) b a si b p c c d cu e nb f (1); where 8≤a≤12, 0.2≤b≤6, 2.0≤c≤6.0, 0.5≤d≤4, 0.6≤e≤1.3, 0.6≤f≤0.9, and 1≤e/f≤1.4. in some embodiments, heating the initial strip to a first preset temperature comprises: heating the initial strip to a second preset temperature, and holding the temperature for a preset time, the second preset temperature being lower than the first preset temperature; and heating the initial strip from the second preset temperature to the first preset temperature at a first preset heating rate. in some embodiments, the second preset temperature is 280°c, the preset time is 2 h, and the first preset heating rate is 30°c/min. in some embodiments, in step (e), the initial strip is cooled at a cooling rate of 50°c/s. in a fourth aspect, a magnetic component composed of the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy as described in the first aspect is provided. the fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy provided by the embodiment of this specification has good magnetic properties, excellent thermal properties, and a wide crystallization temperature zone, thus being suitable for industrial production. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 shows a process flow of an fe-based amorphous nanocrystalline alloy provided by an embodiment of this specification; fig. 2 shows xrd patterns of embodiments 1, 2 and 3, where 1 represents embodiment 1, 2 represents embodiment 2 and 3 represents embodiment 3; fig. 3 shows xrd patterns of embodiments 6, 7 and 8, where 6 represents embodiment 6, 7 represents embodiment 7 and 8 represents embodiment 8; fig. 4 shows xrd patterns of embodiments 12, 13 and 14, where 12 represents embodiment 12, 13 represents embodiment 13 and 14 represents embodiment 14; fig. 5 shows dsc patterns of embodiments 1, 3 and 6, where 1 represents embodiment 1, 3 represents embodiment 3 and 6 represents embodiment 6; and fig. 6 shows dsc patterns in embodiments 2, 8, 12 and 14, where 2 represents embodiment 2, 8 represents embodiment 8, 12 represents embodiment 12 and 14 represents embodiment 14. detailed description of the invention the technical schemes in the embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to attached drawings. it is obvious that the described embodiments are only illustrative ones, and are not all possible ones of the specification. one scheme provides an fe-based amorphous alloy fe a b b si c p x c y cu z , where 79≤a≤86at%, 5≤b≤13at%, 0<c<8at%, 1≤x≤8at%, 0≤y≤5at%, 0.4≤z≤1.4at% and 0.08≤z/x≤0.8. by taking the fe-based amorphous alloy as an initial component, an fe-based nanocrystalline alloy with both high saturation magnetic induction and high magnetic permeability can be obtained. in order to crystallize and refine the fe-based amorphous alloy to nano-scale, the fe-based amorphous alloy needs to be heated at a high heating rate of 100°c/min, and the temperature obtained after heating must be kept within a narrow temperature range of 30-40°c. therefore, it is extremely difficult to prepare nanocrystalline alloys based on the fe-based amorphous alloy for the industrial field. in addition, near a set temperature, a large amount of heat is generated instantly due to crystallization, which leads to a sharp rise in the temperature of large components, resulting in continuous temperature increase and even melting. according to the embodiment of this specification, the range of a difference between a second crystallization start temperature (t x2 ) and a first crystallization start temperature (t x1 ) of the fe-based amorphous alloy is widened through composition control, the heat treatment process window of crystallization is enlarged, and the problem that the heat treatment temperature of a strip exceeds a second crystallization temperature due to the excessive heat release q 1 of the alloy during first crystallization, resulting in the burning of the strip due to continuous temperature increase is solved. the embodiment of this specification sets a heat treatment characterization parameter κ, where . the relationship between κ and alloy composition can be used to explore for better alloy composition, and the heat treatment process of alloy crystallization can be controlled by controlling the value of κ. through the above exploration, an embodiment of this specification provides an fe-based amorphous alloy fe (100-a-b-c-d-e-f) b a si b p c c d cu e nb f , where a, b, c, d and e respectively represent the atomic percentages of corresponding components, 8≤a≤12, 0.2≤b≤6, 2.0≤c≤6.0, 0.5≤d≤4, 0.6≤e≤1.3, 0.6≤f≤0.9, and 1≤e/f≤1.4. as an essential element, fe can improve saturation magnetic induction and reduce material cost. if the content of fe is lower than 78at%, desired saturation magnetic induction cannot be obtained. if the content of fe is higher than 86at%, it is difficult to form an amorphous phase and coarse α-fe grains will be formed by a quenching method. as a result, a uniform nanocrystalline structure cannot be obtained, leading to the decline of soft magnetic properties. as an essential element, b can improve the amorphous forming ability. if the content of b is lower than 5at%, it is difficult to form an amorphous phase by a quenching method. if the content of b is higher than 12at%, the difference between t x2 and t x1 (δt=t x2 -t x1 ) will decrease, which is not conducive to the formation of a uniform nanocrystalline structure, resulting in the decline of soft magnetic properties. si can inhibit the precipitation of fe and b compounds in a crystallized nanocrystalline structure, thus stabilizing the nanocrystalline structure. when the content of si is greater than 8at%, the saturation magnetic induction and amorphous forming ability will decrease, resulting in the decline of soft magnetic properties. in particular, when the content of si is above 0 .8at%, the amorphous forming ability will be improved, and thin strips can be produced stably and continuously. in addition, due to the increase of δt, a uniform nanocrystalline structure can be obtained. as an essential element, p can improve the amorphous forming ability. if the content of p is lower than 1at%, it is difficult to form an amorphous phase by a quenching method. if the content of p is greater than 8at%, the saturation magnetic induction and soft magnetic properties will decrease. in particular, if the content of p is 2-5at%, the amorphous forming ability can be improved. c can increase the amorphous forming ability, and the addition of c can reduce the content of metalloid and reduce the material cost. when the content of c exceeds 5at%, embrittlement will be caused, resulting in the decline of soft magnetic properties. in particular, when the content of c is below 3at%, segregation caused by c volatilization can be suppressed. cu is conducive to the formation of a large number of fcc-cu clusters and bcc-(fe) crystal nuclei in a quenching process, and also promotes the precipitation of bcc-(fe) crystal nuclei in a heat treatment process, so as to improve the saturation magnetic induction. when the content of cu is lower than 0 .6at%, it is unfavorable for nanocrystallization. when the content of cu is greater than 1 .4at%, the amorphous phase will be uneven, which is not conducive to the formation of a uniform nanocrystalline structure, resulting in the decline of soft magnetic properties. it should be noted that if the embrittlement of the nanocrystalline alloy is considered, the content of cu should be controlled below 1.3at%. besides, in order to make the alloy form a nanocrystalline structure with a small grain size and uniform distribution in a wider crystallization temperature zone (i.e. the temperature range between t x2 and t x1 ), it is necessary to add certain large atomic elements to inhibit abnormal growth of grains. the ratio of cu atoms to nb atoms, i.e., the value of e/f, can be denoted as λ. the inventor of the present invention has verified through a large number of experiments that when 1≤λ≤1.4, a nanocrystalline alloy with a wide heat treatment range (κ≥1.38) and a stable grain size can be obtained. as a large atomic element, nb improves the amorphous forming ability of the alloy, inhibits the precipitation of a primary crystal phase in an amorphous precursor, and can inhibit excessive growth of atoms and control the grain size during heat treatment. the addition of nb improves the thermal stability of the amorphous phase, thus increasing the nucleation activation energy and growth activation energy of the primary crystal phase α-fe. the atomic content of nb is controlled to be 0.6-0.9at%. referring to fig. 1 , the scheme provided by the embodiment of this specification may comprise the following steps. 1. blending blending can be performed according to the composition shown in fe ( 100-a-b-c-d-e-f ) b a si b p c c d cu e nb f . the required industrial raw materials are pure fe, pure cu, elemental si, pure c and fe-b and fe-p alloys, and the purity of the raw materials is shown in table 1. table-tabl0001 table 1 raw materials and purity table raw materials fe cu si c b-fe (wt%-b) p-fe (wt%-p) purity% 99.95 99.99 99.6 99.95 17.94 24.32 2. smelting the raw materials can be weighed according to a mass ratio, and then added into a heating furnace (specifically, an intermediate frequency induction heating furnace) for melting. during the melting process, an inert gas (such as argon) is introduced as a protective gas, and after melting, the materials stand for 30 min to ensure that the composition of molten steel is uniform without segregation. 3. single-roll rapid quenching for strip preparation an amorphous alloy thin strip can be prepared by a copper roll rapid quenching method, that is, the molten steel is poured at 1400-1500°c, an amorphous nanocrystalline strip is obtained by the copper roll rapid quenching method, and the prepared amorphous nanocrystalline strip is wound into loops. as an example, an inner diameter of the loops may be 65 mm, and an outer diameter may be 70 mm. in the embodiment of this specification, the thin strip may also be called strip. 4. heat treatment the amorphous alloy thin strip prepared above can be subjected to heat treatment. heat treatment may also be called crystallization annealing treatment, which is to promote the amorphous alloy to produce nano-scale grains, so as to prepare the amorphous nanocrystalline alloy. specifically, during heat treatment or crystallization annealing, a temperature 20-30°c higher than a first crystallization start temperature of the amorphous alloy is set as a heating target temperature. for example, the heating target temperature may be 420°c. as an example, in order to ensure the uniformity of temperature rise, the heat treatment process of the amorphous alloy is divided into two stages. in a first stage, the temperature of the amorphous alloy thin strip is increased to 280°c, and the temperature is kept for 2 h. in a second stage, the temperature of the amorphous alloy thin strip is increased to the heating target temperature at a rate of 30°c/min, and the temperature is kept for 30-40 min. finally, the temperature is reduced at a rate of 50°c/s, and after cooling to room temperature, the amorphous nanocrystalline alloy thin strip can be obtained. to prevent oxidation during heat treatment, the above heat treatment process is performed in an inert gas (such as argon) atmosphere. 5. performance testing, specifically, performance evaluation and analysis of the obtained amorphous nanocrystalline alloy thin strip. (1) measurement of saturation magnetic induction and coercivity. a vibrating sample magnetometer (vsm) is used to measure the saturation magnetization intensity bs of the amorphous nanocrystalline alloy thin strip. the coercivity of the amorphous nanocrystalline alloy thin strip is measured by a soft magnetic dc tester. based on the principle of electromagnetic induction, the vsm obtains the curvilinear relationship between a magnetic moment of a sample and an external magnetic field, and the range of a test magnetic field is -12500 to 12500 oe. before testing, equipment is calibrated with a prepared ni mark, then the magnetic sample to be tested is crushed, and then about 0.032 g of the sample is obtained, wrapped tightly with tin foil, and put in a copper mold for measurement. (2) measurement of loss power and excitation power. a b-h tester is used for measurement. by setting sample parameters (effective magnetic circuit length, effective cross-sectional area, number of windings, etc.) and test conditions (test frequency, magnetic field intensity, maximum magnetic flux density, maximum induced voltage, etc.), a b-h curve is output, and various magnetic characteristic parameters are tested. loss power (ps) and excitation power (ss) are the most important among all the parameters. 6. xrd/dsc analysis, specifically, detection and analysis of the amorphous alloy thin strip before heat treatment. (1) diffraction of x-rays (xrd) is used to verify whether the prepared amorphous alloy thin strip is a completely amorphous structure. in order to ensure that the alloy strip is a completely amorphous structure, xrd patterns of all samples come from the free surface of the alloy strip (opposite to the copper roll surface). related test conditions and parameters are: a graphite monochromator with x-ray wavelength is used for filtering, the tube voltage is 40 kv, the tube current is 30 ma, the test range is 20-90°, the step length is 0.02°, and the scanning speed is 8°/min. the amorphous alloy strip in this application can be determined by xrd patterns. if a characteristic spectrum shows a broad diffraction peak (also called "steamed bread peak"), it can be concluded that the strip is a completely amorphous structure. (2) thermal analysis of the amorphous alloy thin strip is performed with a differential scanning calorimeter (dsc), so as to test the crystallization behavior and thermal stability of the alloy thin strip. before testing, the thin strip is cut into small pieces with an area of less than 1 mm×1 mm, and then about 20 mg of the thin strip pieces are obtained, put into a sample table in an alumina crucible, and heated at a heating rate of 20°c/min under the protection of n 2 from room temperature to 300-800°c, preferably to 800°c. by analyzing a dsc curve of the sample, the phase transition of each sample during heating can be obtained, and thermal characteristic temperature parameters, such as curie temperature tc, glass transition temperature tg and crystallization start temperature tx of the alloy strip, can be obtained. according to a characteristic temperature value of the dsc curve of the alloy strip, the thermal stability of the alloy strip can be reflected, providing a reference for the determination of the heat treatment process of the amorphous strip. an approximate annealing temperature range is determined. a first-stage initial crystallization temperature of the alloy strip is marked as t x1 (i.e. a temperature point at which α-fe (si) begins to separate out), and a second-stage initial crystallization temperature is marked as t x2 (i.e. a temperature point at which fe-(b, p) compounds begin to separate out), and a difference between the two initial crystallization temperatures is marked as δt x (δt x =t x2 -t x1 ). next, the scheme provided in this specification will be illustrated with specific embodiments. i. verify the role and control range of cu in different embodiments, different amounts of cu were added to verify the effect of cu and its influence on heat treatment characteristic parameters κ and t max , so as to control the content of cu in the alloy. the alloy composition of each embodiment and comparative example (the content of each component is represented by atomic percentage) is shown in table 2. an amorphous alloy strip can be prepared and subjected to heat treatment according to the scheme shown in fig. 1 , which comprises the following steps. 11. blending blending was performed according to the composition of each embodiment and comparative example shown in table 2. the required industrial raw materials were pure fe, pure cu, elemental si, pure c and fe-b and fe-p alloys, and the purity of the raw materials is shown in table 1. 12. smelting the raw materials were weighed according to a mass ratio, and then added into a heating furnace (specifically, an intermediate frequency induction heating furnace) for melting. during the melting process, an inert gas (such as argon) was introduced as a protective gas, and after melting, the materials stood for 30 min to ensure that the composition of molten steel was uniform without segregation. in one example, the total mass of raw materials was 200 kg. 13. single-roll rapid quenching for strip preparation an amorphous alloy thin strip was prepared by a copper roll rapid quenching method, that is, the molten steel was poured at 1400-1500°c, an amorphous nanocrystalline strip was obtained by the copper roll rapid quenching method, and the prepared amorphous nanocrystalline strip was wound into loops. as an example, an inner diameter of the loops may be 65 mm, and an outer diameter may be 70 mm. in the embodiments of this specification, the thin strip may also be called strip. 14. heat treatment the amorphous alloy thin strip prepared above was subjected to heat treatment. heat treatment may also be called crystallization annealing treatment, which is to promote the amorphous alloy to produce nano-scale grains, so as to prepare the amorphous nanocrystalline alloy. specifically, during heat treatment or crystallization annealing, a temperature 20-30°c higher than a first crystallization start temperature of the amorphous alloy was set as a heating target temperature. for example, the heating target temperature may be 420°c. as an example, in order to ensure the uniformity of temperature rise, the heat treatment process of the amorphous alloy was divided into two stages. in a first stage, the temperature of the amorphous alloy thin strip was increased to 280°c, and the temperature was kept for 2 h. in a second stage, the temperature of the amorphous alloy thin strip was increased to the heating target temperature at a rate of 30°c/min, and the temperature was kept for 30-40 min. finally, the temperature was reduced at a rate of 50°c/s, and after cooling to room temperature, the amorphous nanocrystalline alloy thin strip can be obtained. to prevent oxidation during heat treatment, the above heat treatment process was performed in an inert gas (such as argon) atmosphere. thus, the strips in each embodiment or comparative example in table 2 were prepared. the above-mentioned xrd analysis was used to verify whether the prepared amorphous alloy strip was a completely amorphous structure. verification results are shown in fig. 2 , from which it can be seen that only a broadened diffuse scattering peak appeared at about 45°, which indicates that the alloy sample was a completely amorphous structure. dsc analysis results are shown in table 2. two obvious exothermic peaks appeared in the dsc curves of the samples, and a start temperature of a first exothermic peak and a start temperature of a second exothermic peak were t x1 and t x2 respectively, based on which δt x was obtained. an area of the first exothermic peak can be calculated, so that the heat release q 1 of the alloy during first crystallization can be calculated, and then the heat treatment characteristic parameter κ can be obtained. table-tabl0002 table 2 thermal properties and heat treatment process no. alloy composition λ t x1 (°c) tx2 (°c) δt x (°c) q1 j/g k t max °c embodiment 1 fe 83.8 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.6 nb 0.6 1.00 405 525 120 81 1.39 513 embodiment 2 fe 83.2 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.8 1.25 389 521 131 86 1.57 519 embodiment 3 fe 82.8 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.3 nb 0.9 1.40 397 539 142 82 1.38 511 embodiment 4 fe 82.9 b 9.5 si 1.0 p 2.6 c 1.2 cu 1.1 nb 0.9 1.22 410 533 123 79 1.55 509 embodiment 5 fe 82.8 b 9.6 si 0.5 p 4.2 c 0.8 cu 1.2 nb 0.9 1.33 391 527 136 85 1.6 511 comparative example 1 fe 83.7 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.5 nb 0.8 0.63 415 495 90 95 0.95 562 comparative example 2 fe 82.8 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.4 nb 0.8 1.75 426 513 87 91 0.95 546 comparative example 3 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.5 nb 1.2 1.25 413 515 102 92 1.11 555 comparative example 4 fe 79.6 b 13 si 1.3 p 2.8 c 1.1 cu 1.0 nb 1.2 0.83 394 506 112 91 1.23 529 the influence of different contents of cu on δt x can be seen from table 2. in the range of 0.6-1.3at%, δt x gradually increased (from 120°c to 142°c) with the increase of the content of cu, that is, the heat treatment window obviously increased. based on the heat q 1 released from the first crystallization peak, the heat treatment characterization parameter κ was calculated, and the minimum value of κ was 1.38. after stacking ten strips, a highest temperature after continuous temperature increase t max of the first crystallization of each embodiment was measured. it can be seen that t max of each embodiment did not exceed the second crystallization temperature t x2 . the highest temperature after continuous temperature increase t max of the first crystallization refers to the highest temperature of the alloy under the action of the heat released during the first crystallization (i.e. q 1 ). embodiments 4 and 5 show the influence of different contents of b, si, p and c on the thermal properties of the amorphous alloy. as shown in table 2, the content of b, si, p and c has little influence on the thermal properties, and the thermal properties of the amorphous alloy are mainly affected by the content of cu. it can be seen from the comparative examples that when the content of cu was lower than 0.6at% or higher than 1.3at%, the values of λ were 0.5, 1.87 and 1.25 respectively. in this case, the maximum value of δt x was 102°c, and the heat treatment characterization parameter κ was smaller than or equal to 1.11. t max of the comparative examples all exceeded the second crystallization start temperature, because the first crystallization gave off a lot of heat, and the released heat triggered the second crystallization peak, which led to continuous temperature increase till the sample burned down. the amorphous alloy strip was subjected to heat treatment and performance testing, and for the specific process, the above introduction can be used as a reference. performance testing results are shown in table 3. after heat treatment, the saturation magnetic induction and coercivity were measured, and then the magnetic properties of the loops (under the excitation condition of 1.5 t/50 hz) were measured with a b-h tester: iron-loss per unit weight ps and unit excitation power ss. the grain size was calculated with xrd analysis software. table-tabl0003 table 3 magnetic properties and grain size no. alloy composition λ bs (t) he (a/m) ps (w/kg) ss (va/kg) grain size (nm) embodiment 1 fe 83.8 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.6 nb 0.6 1.00 1.803 7.3 0.273 0.831 27 embodiment 2 fe 83.2 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.8 1.25 1.812 6.2 0.245 0.628 23 embodiment 3 fe 82.8 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.3 nb 0.9 1.40 1.795 7.2 0.267 0.759 25 embodiment 4 fe 82.9 b 9.5 si 1.0 p 2.6 c 1.2 cu 1.1 nb 0.9 1.22 1.771 8.3 0.300 0.812 26 embodiment 5 fe 82.8 b 9.6 si 0.5 p 4.2 c 0.8 cu 1.2 nb 0.9 1.33 1.784 6.9 0.294 0.771 27 comparative example 1 fe 83.7 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.5 nb 0.8 0.63 1.802 8.9 0.456 0.952 39 comparative example 2 fe 82.8 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.4 nb 0.8 1.75 1.763 10.3 0.596 1.216 42 comparative example 3 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.5 nb 1.2 1.25 1.753 12.5 0.661 1.512 36 comparative example 4 fe 79.6 b 13 si 1.3 p 2.8 c 1.1 cu 1.0 nb 1.2 0.83 1.732 9.6 0.781 1.254 41 it can be seen from table 3 that the saturation magnetic induction bs of embodiment 1-5 was greater than or equal to 1.75 t. when the content of cu was in the range of 0.6-1.3at%, the iron-loss per unit weight ps of the embodiments after heat treatment was obviously lower than that of the comparative examples, and the unit excitation power ss of the embodiments was also lower than that of the comparative examples. xrd analysis showed that the grain size of the alloy was 23-27 nm when the content of cu was 0.6-1.3at%. through the comparative examples, it can be seen that when the content of cu was beyond this range, abnormal growth of grains cannot be restrained because of relatively few macro-atoms, and the grain size was greater than 35 nm, and the abnormal growth of grains is also a factor affecting the magnetic properties of materials. combined with thermal properties such as κ and λ and magnetic properties such as ps, ss and grain size, the preferred range of the content of cu was 0.6-1.3at%. ii. verify the role and control range of nb the alloy composition of each embodiment and comparative example are shown in table 4. among the alloy components, the content of each element is atomic percentage. amorphous alloy strips of each embodiment and comparative example in table 4 can be prepared and subjected to heat treatment according to the scheme shown in fig. 1 , which comprises the following steps. 21. blending blending was performed according to the composition of each embodiment and comparative example shown in table 2. the required industrial raw materials were pure fe, pure cu, elemental si, pure c and fe-b and fe-p alloys, and the purity of the raw materials is shown in table 1. 22. smelting the raw materials were weighed according to a mass ratio, and then added into a heating furnace (specifically, an intermediate frequency induction heating furnace) for melting. during the melting process, an inert gas (such as argon) was introduced as a protective gas, and after melting, the materials stood for 30 min to ensure that the composition of molten steel was uniform without segregation. in one example, the total mass of raw materials was 200 kg. 23. single-roll rapid quenching for strip preparation an amorphous alloy thin strip was prepared by a copper roll rapid quenching method, that is, the molten steel was poured at 1400-1500°c, an amorphous nanocrystalline strip was obtained by the copper roll rapid quenching method, and the prepared amorphous nanocrystalline strip was wound into loops. as an example, an inner diameter of the loops may be 65 mm, and an outer diameter may be 70 mm. in the embodiments of this specification, the thin strip may also be called strip. 24. heat treatment the amorphous alloy thin strip prepared above was subjected to heat treatment. heat treatment may also be called crystallization annealing treatment, which is to promote the amorphous alloy to produce nano-scale grains, so as to prepare the amorphous nanocrystalline alloy. specifically, during heat treatment or crystallization annealing, a temperature 20-30°c higher than a first crystallization start temperature of the amorphous alloy was set as a heating target temperature. for example, the heating target temperature may be 420°c. as an example, in order to ensure the uniformity of temperature rise, the heat treatment process of the amorphous alloy was divided into two stages. in a first stage, the temperature of the amorphous alloy thin strip was increased to 280°c, and the temperature was kept for 2 h. in a second stage, the temperature of the amorphous alloy thin strip was increased to the heating target temperature at a rate of 30°c/min, and the temperature was kept for 30-40 min. finally, the temperature was reduced at a rate of 50°c/s, and after cooling to room temperature, the amorphous nanocrystalline alloy thin strip can be obtained. to prevent oxidation during heat treatment, the above heat treatment process was performed in an inert gas (such as argon) atmosphere. thus, the strips in each embodiment or comparative example in table 4 were prepared. the above-mentioned xrd analysis was used to verify whether the prepared amorphous alloy strip was a completely amorphous structure. verification results are shown in fig. 3 , from which it can be seen that only a broadened diffuse scattering peak appeared at about 45°, which indicates that the alloy sample was a completely amorphous structure. dsc analysis results are shown in table 4. two obvious exothermic peaks appeared in the dsc curves of the samples, and a start temperature of a first exothermic peak and a start temperature of a second exothermic peak were t x1 and t x2 respectively, based on which δtx was obtained. an area of the first exothermic peak can be calculated, so that the heat release q 1 of the alloy during first crystallization can be calculated, and then the heat treatment characteristic parameter κ can be obtained. table-tabl0004 table 4 thermal properties and heat treatment process no. alloy composition λ t x1 (°c) t x2 (°c) δt x (°c) q1 j/g k t max °c embodiment 6 fe 83.7 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 0.6 1.33 403 523 120 79 1.39 509 embodiment 7 fe 83.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.75 1.33 389 531 142 65 2.18 518 embodiment 8 fe 83.2 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.8 1.25 389 521 131 86 1.57 519 embodiment 9 fe 83 b 9.5 si 0.5 p 4.2 c 1.2 cu 0.8 nb 0.8 1.00 399 524 125 82 1.52 505 embodiment 10 fe 82.1 b 11.2 si 0.9 p 3.0 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.8 1.25 386 520 134 79 1.69 512 embodiment 11 fe 83.4 b 10.6 si 0.5 p 2.8 c 0.8 cu 1.0 nb 0.9 1.11 378 521 143 86 1.66 501 comparative example 5 fe8 3.7 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.3 3.33 396 487 91 99 0.92 561 comparative example 6 fe 82.8 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 1.2 0.83 385 470 85 105 0.81 549 comparative example 7 fe 82.8 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.6 nb 0.8 0.75 401 498 97 91 1.07 548 comparative example 8 fe 80.2 b 13 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.8 1.25 409 511 102 88 1.16 536 table 4 shows the influence of different contents of nb on δt x . in the range of 0.6-0.9at%, with the increase of nb, δt x showed no obvious linear relationship, but δt x was above 120°c. when the content of nb was lower than 0.6at% or greater than 0.9at%, the heat treatment window δtx was obviously smaller. based on the heat q 1 released from the first crystallization peak, the heat treatment characterization parameter κ was calculated, and the minimum value of κ was 1.39. after stacking ten strips, a highest temperature after continuous temperature increase t max of the first crystallization of each embodiment was measured. it can be seen that t max of each embodiment did not exceed the second crystallization temperature t x2 . it can be seen from the comparative examples that when the content of nb was lower than 0.6at% or higher than 0.9at%, the values of λ were 3.33, 0.83 and 0.75 respectively. in this case, the maximum value of δt x was 105°c, and the heat treatment characterization parameter κ was smaller than or equal to 1.07. t max all exceeded the second crystallization start temperature, because the first crystallization gave off a lot of heat, and the released heat triggered the second crystallization peak, which led to continuous temperature increase till the sample burned down. the amorphous alloy strip was subjected to heat treatment and performance testing, and for the specific process, the above introduction can be used as a reference. performance testing results are shown in table 5. after heat treatment, the saturation magnetic induction and coercivity were measured, and then the magnetic properties of the loops (under the excitation condition of 1.5 t/50 hz) were measured with a b-h tester: iron-loss per unit weight ps and unit excitation power ss. the grain size was calculated with xrd analysis software. table-tabl0005 table 5 magnetic properties and grain size no. alloy composition λ bs (t) he (a/m) ps (w/kg) ss (va/kg) grain size (nm) embodiment 6 fe 83.7 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 0.6 1.33 1.834 7.8 0.286 0.756 30 embodiment 7 fe 83.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.75 1.33 1.814 6.2 0.248 0.622 23 embodiment 8 fe 83.2 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.8 1.25 1.812 6.2 0.245 0.628 23 embodiment 9 fe 83 b 9.5 si 0.5 p 4.2 c 1.2 cu 0.8 nb 0.8 1.00 1.781 7.3 0.268 0.802 26 embodiment 10 fe 82.1 b 11.2 si 0.9 p 3.0 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.8 1.25 1.756 6.9 0.275 0.658 27 embodiment 11 fe 83.4 b 10.6 si 0.5 p 2.8 c 0.8 cu 1.0 nb 0.9 1.11 1.821 8.1 0.255 0.743 29 comparative example 5 fe8 3.7 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.3 3.33 1.816 9.5 0.569 0.962 33 comparative example 6 fe 82.8 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 1.2 0.83 1.786 8.3 0.741 1.221 43 comparative example 7 fe 82.8 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.6 nb 0.8 0.75 1.765 10.6 0.911 1.051 39 comparative example 8 fe 80.2 b 13 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.8 1.25 1.429 15.6 0.861 1.102 36 it can be seen from table 5 that the saturation magnetic induction bs of the each embodiment was greater than or equal to 1.75 t. when the content of nb was in the range of 0.6-0.9at%, the iron-loss per unit weight ps of each embodiment was lower than that of the comparative examples, and the unit excitation power ss of each embodiments was also lower than that of the comparative examples. xrd analysis showed that when the content of nb was in the range of 0.6-0.9at%, the grain size was 23-30 nm. the addition of nb improved the thermal stability of the amorphous phase. when the content of nb in the alloy exceeded 0.6-0.9at%, grains grew abnormally during the heat treatment of the alloy. combined with thermal properties such as κ and λ and magnetic properties such as ps, ss and grain size, the preferred range of the content of nb was 0.6-0.9at%. iii. verify the influence and control range of the ratio of cu to nb the alloy composition of each embodiment and comparative example is shown in table 6. among the alloy components, the content of each element is atomic percentage. the preparation and heat treatment of the amorphous alloy strip can be performed as described above, which will not be repeated here. the above-mentioned xrd analysis was used to verify whether the prepared amorphous alloy strip was a completely amorphous structure. verification results are shown in fig. 4 , from which it can be seen that only a broadened diffuse scattering peak appeared at about 45°, which indicates that the alloy sample was a completely amorphous structure. dsc analysis results are shown in table 6. two obvious exothermic peaks appeared in the dsc curves of the samples, and a start temperature of a first exothermic peak and a start temperature of a second exothermic peak were t x1 and t x2 respectively, based on which δt x was obtained. an area of the first exothermic peak can be calculated, so that the heat release q 1 of the alloy during first crystallization can be calculated, and then the heat treatment characteristic parameter κ can be obtained. table-tabl0006 table 6 thermal properties and heat treatment process no. alloy composition λ t x1 (°c) t x2 (°c) δt x (°c) q1 j/g k t max °c embodiment 12 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.7 nb 0.61 1.15 393 519 126 90 1.40 516 embodiment 13 fe 83.4 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 0.8 1.00 389 531 142 84 1.69 520 embodiment 14 fe 83.6 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 0.6 1.33 401 521 120 79 1.52 511 embodiment 15 fe 83.3 b 9.5 si 0.6 p 4.3 c 0.9 cu 0.84 nb 0.6 1.40 411 534 123 76 1.62 521 embodiment 16 fe 83.4 b 9.1 si 0.9 p 3.9 c 1.1 cu 0.8 nb 0.8 1.00 399 529 130 83 1.57 516 embodiment 17 fe 83.8 b 9.6 ssi 0.5 p 3.6 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 0.64 1.25 390 519 129 91 1.42 511 comparative example 9 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 1.2 0.67 390 505 105 96 1.09 569 comparative example 10 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.6 nb 0.9 0.67 401 499 98 87 1.13 541 comparative example 11 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.3 nb 0.75 1.73 410 501 91 81 1.12 532 comparative example 12 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 0.9 0.90 408 510 102 76 1.34 546 it can be seen from table 6 that the ratio of cu to nb affected λ and δt x , where λ represents the ratio of the number of cu atoms to the number of nb atoms. in the range of 1≤λ≤1.4, with the increase of nb, δt x showed no obvious linear relationship, but δt x was greater than 120°c in all cases. when λ was less than 1 or greater than 1.4, δt x decreased obviously. according to the heat release q 1 of the first crystallization, the heat treatment characterization parameter κ was calculated, and the minimum value of κ was 1.40. after stacking ten strips, the highest temperature after continuous temperature increase t max of the first crystallization of each embodiment was measured. it can be seen that t max of each embodiment did not exceed the second crystallization temperature t x2 . it can be seen from the comparative examples that when the values of λ were 0.67, 0.67 and 1.73 respectively, the maximum value of δt x was 105°c, and the heat treatment characterization parameter κ was smaller than or equal to 1.09. t max all exceeded the second crystallization start temperature, because the first crystallization gave off a lot of heat, and the released heat triggered the second crystallization peak, which led to continuous temperature increase till the sample burned down. the amorphous alloy strip was subjected to heat treatment and performance testing, and for the specific process, the above introduction can be used as a reference. performance testing results are shown in table 7. after heat treatment, the saturation magnetic induction and coercivity were measured, and then the magnetic properties of the loops (under the excitation condition of 1.5 t/50 hz) were measured with a b-h tester: iron-loss per unit weight ps and unit excitation power ss. the grain size was calculated with xrd analysis software. table-tabl0007 table 7 magnetic properties and grain size no. alloy composition λ bs (t) hc (a/m) ps (w/kg) ss (va/kg) grain size (nm) embodiment 12 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.7 nb 0.61 1.15 1.798 7.2 0.266 0.685 29 embodiment 13 fe 83.4 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 0.8 1.00 1.815 6.2 0.249 0.627 23 embodiment 14 fe 83.6 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 0.6 1.33 1.806 6.5 0.278 0.667 29 embodiment 15 fe 83.3 b 9.5 si 0.6 p 4.3 c 0.9 cu 0.84 nb 0.6 1.40 1.832 8.6 0.254 0.753 25 embodiment 16 fe 83.4 b 9.1 si 0.9 p 3.9 c 1.1 cu 0.8 nb 0.8 1.00 1.802 7.6 0.268 0.654 28 embodiment 17 fe 83.8 b 9.6 si 0.5 p 3.6 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 0.64 1.25 1.786 5.8 0.287 0.801 22 comparative example 9 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 c 0.8 nb 1.2 0.67 1.795 8.8 0.356 0.991 39 comparative example 10 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.6 nb 0.9 0.67 1.809 10.3 0.664 0.897 40 comparative example 11 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.3 nb 0.75 1.73 1.761 15.2 0.766 1.211 38 comparative example 12 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 0.9 0.90 1.763 9.6 0.436 0.930 32 it can be seen from table 7 that the saturation magnetic induction bs of each embodiment was greater than or equal to 1.75 t. when λ was in the range of 1-1.4, the iron-loss per unit weight ps of each embodiments was lower than that of the comparative examples, and the unit excitation power ss of each embodiments was also lower than that of the comparative examples. xrd analysis showed that when λ was in the range of 1-1.4, the grain size of each embodiment was 22-29 nm. when λ was not in the range of 1-1.4, the grain size was larger. combined with thermal properties and magnetic properties of the alloy, the preferred range of λ was 1-1.4. iv. observe the amorphous forming ability of different types of alloy composition the thickness of the strip was used to characterize the amorphous forming ability of corresponding alloy composition of the strip. table 8 shows the amorphous forming ability of different types of alloy composition. table-tabl0008 table 8 comparison of amorphous forming ability no. alloy composition thickness characterization of amorphous forming ability notes embodiment 1 fe 83.4 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 0.8 32 ○ comparative example 1 fe 83.7 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.5 nb 0.8 28 δ comparative example 2 fe 82.8 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.4 nb 0.8 27 δ embodiment 6 fe 83.7 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 0.6 33 ○ comparative example 5 fe 83.7 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 0.3 26 δ comparative example 6 fe 82.8 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 1.0 nb 1.2 24 ϕ embodiment 12 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.7 nb 0.61 33 ○ comparative example 9 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.8 nb 1.2 23 ϕ comparative example 10 fe 82.3 b 10 si 0.5 p 3.5 c 1.0 cu 0.6 nb 0.9 26 δ note: "o" indicates that the amorphous forming ability is great, and the thickness of the prepared strip or thin strip is greater than or equal to 30 µm; "ϕ" indicates that the amorphous forming ability is good, and the thickness of the prepared strip or thin strip is 25-30 µm; and "δ" indicates that the amorphous forming ability is the poorest, and the thickness of the prepared strip or thin strip is smaller than or equal to 25 µm. as shown in fig. 8, the amorphous forming ability of each embodiments was obviously better than that of the comparative examples, and the maximum thickness reached 33 µm, which indicates that the amorphous forming ability of the strip made according to the alloy composition with κ and λ being limited was obviously better than that of other types of composition. in the above experiments, through verification based on different contents of cu, it can be seen that with the increase of the content of cu, the range of δt x gradually increased, and the broadness of the heat treatment window increased, which can prevent continuous temperature increase. by controlling the content of cu to be 0.6-1.3at%, δt x can be guaranteed to be higher than 120°c. when the content of cu was not in this range, δt x decreased obviously. when the heat treatment characterization parameter κ was greater than or equal to 1.38, the heat treatment window obviously increased, and t max ≤t x2 can be guaranteed. nb is a large atom element, which can inhibit the precipitation of a primary crystal phase in an amorphous precursor, and inhibit excessive growth of atoms and control the grain size during heat treatment. the addition of nb improves the thermal stability of the amorphous phase. by controlling the content of nb, it is verified that when the atomic fraction of nb in an alloy system containing p ranges from 0.6 to 0.9at%, δt x is greater than 110°c, which can meet the requirements of heat treatment. in addition, by configuring different ratios of cu atoms to nb atoms, it is verified that the ratio of cu atoms to nb atoms should be 1-1.4 in order to ensure a wide heat treatment window δt x greater than 120°c. when the ratio of cu atoms to nb atoms was between 1 and 1.4, the heat treatment interval (i.e., δt x ) increased, which is beneficial to industrial heat treatment. in other words, in order to make the alloy form a nanocrystalline structure with a small grain size and uniform distribution in a wider crystallization temperature zone (i.e., δt x ), different ratios of the macro-atomic element nb to other elements were configured, and it is verified that when the ratio of cu atoms to nb atoms was 1≤λ≤1.4, the minimum grain size was 23 nm. in addition, the saturation magnetic induction bs of the above-mentioned each embodiment was greater than 1.75 t. by controlling the content of main elements such as cu and nb, the grain size after heat treatment can be controlled, and the grain size was 20-30 nm. to sum up, in the embodiments of this specification, element composition was limited and the composition range of the alloy was determined by means of the heat treatment characterization parameters κ≤1.38 and 1≤λ≤1.4. the maximum amorphous forming ability of the prepared strip was 33 µm, the heat treatment window was greater than or equal to 120°c, the bs of the heat-treated strip was greater than or equal to 1.75 t, and the grain size of nanocrystals was controlled to be 20-30 nm. besides, the iron core loss of the fe-based amorphous alloy was less than 0.30 w/kg under the condition of 50 hz and 1.5 t. it can be understood that the various numerical symbols involved in the embodiments of this specification are only for convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of this specification.
114-383-107-026-88X	US	[ "KR", "US", "TW" ]	H01L21/02,C23C16/22,C23C16/56,H01L21/3065,H01L21/311,H01L29/167	2019-09-04T00:00:00	2019	[ "H01", "C23" ]	methods for selective deposition using a sacrificial capping layer	disclosed are a method and a system for selectively depositing a p-type doped silicon germanium layer, and a device including a p-type doped silicon germanium layer. an exemplary method includes the steps of: providing a substrate including a surface including a first region including a first material and a second region including a second material in a reaction chamber; depositing a p-type doped silicon germanium layer containing gallium and overlying the surface; and depositing a cap layer overlying the p-type doped silicon germanium layer. the method may further include an etching step to remove the p-type doped silicon germanium layer and the cap layer overlying the second material.	1. a selective deposition method comprising the steps of: providing a substrate, comprising a surface comprising a first area comprising a first material and a second area comprising a second material, within a reaction chamber; depositing a p-type doped silicon germanium layer overlying the surface, the p-type doped silicon germanium layer comprising at least one of boron or gallium; depositing a cap layer overlying the p-type doped silicon germanium layer, the cap layer comprising silicon; and, etching the cap layer and the p-type doped silicon germanium layer overlying the second material; wherein the steps of depositing the p-type doped silicon germanium layer, depositing the cap layer and the etching are performed in the same reaction chamber; and, wherein the steps of depositing the p-type doped silicon germanium layer, depositing the cap layer, and the etching are repeated 1 to about 500 times; thereby selectively depositing the p-type doped silicon germanium layer on the first area. 2. the method of claim 1 , wherein the step of etching comprises providing a halide gas to the reaction chamber. 3. the method of claim 2 , wherein the halide gas is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen chloride and chlorine. 4. the method of claim 1 , wherein the first material comprises semiconductor material. 5. the method of claim 1 , wherein the first material comprises silicon. 6. the method of claim 1 , wherein the second material comprises a dielectric material. 7. the method of claim 6 , wherein the dielectric material is selected from the group consisting of oxides, nitrides, and oxynitrides. 8. the method of claim 1 , wherein the step of depositing a p-type doped silicon germanium layer does not include exposing the surface to a gas comprising a halide. 9. the method of claim 1 , wherein the steps of depositing a p-type doped silicon germanium layer and depositing a cap layer are performed in the same reaction chamber.	cross-reference to related applications this application claims priority to u.s. provisional patent application ser. no. 62/895,819 filed sep. 4, 2019 titled methods for selective deposition using a sacrificial capping layer, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. field of invention the present disclosure generally relates to methods and systems suitable for forming electronic devices. more particularly, the disclosure relates to methods and systems that can be used for selectively depositing a doped silicon germanium film on a surface of a substrate. background of the disclosure because of their relatively high electron and/or hole mobility, high-mobility semiconductors, such as silicon germanium, may be desirable to use in the fabrication of electronic devices, such as semiconductor devices. devices formed with high-mobility semiconductor materials may exhibit better performance, faster speeds, reduced power consumption, and have higher breakdown fields, compared to similar devices formed with lower-mobility semiconductor materials, such as silicon. monocrystalline silicon germanium (si 1-x ge x ) semiconductor materials may be deposited or grown using a variety of techniques. for example, gas-phase processes, including molecular beam epitaxy and chemical vapor deposition, may be used to epitaxially grow or deposit monocrystalline silicon germanium films on a substrate. in some semiconductor device applications, the silicon germanium film may include one or more dopants to obtain a desired carrier concentration. for example, the silicon germanium film may include a p-type dopant, such as boron, to increase the carrier concentration of the material. while boron-doped silicon germanium films may work well in some applications, the contact resistance of the boron-doped silicon germanium films may be undesirably high, particularly for use as source/drain regions in field effect transistors (fet). attempts to lower the contact resistance include the addition of another dopant and a high-temperature anneal process. such techniques may be problematic because the use of the relatively high temperatures during the anneal process can lead to clustering of one or more of the dopants of the doped silicon germanium films. in many applications, it may be desirable to selectively deposit the silicon germanium material on a first material relative to a second material. for example, it may be desirable to selectively deposit the silicon germanium material overlying semiconductor material relative to dielectric or insulating material. however, attempts to selectively deposit a p-type doped silicon germanium layer that has relatively low contact resistance have been challenging. accordingly, improved methods and systems for selectively depositing layers of p-type doped silicon germanium with relatively low contact resistance are desired. any discussion, including discussion of problems and solutions, set forth in this section has been included in this disclosure solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present disclosure. such discussion should not be taken as an admission that any or all of the information was known at the time the invention was made or otherwise constitutes prior art. summary of the disclosure various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to selective deposition methods, to structures and devices formed using such methods, and to apparatus for performing the methods and/or for forming the structure and/or devices. while the ways in which various embodiments of the present disclosure address drawbacks of prior methods and systems are discussed in more detail below, in general, various embodiments of the disclosure provide improved methods of selectively depositing a p-type doped silicon germanium layer. the p-type doped silicon germanium layer can exhibit relatively low contact resistance. additionally or alternatively, the p-type doped silicon germanium layer can be formed at relatively low temperatures—e.g., 350° c. to 600° c., without the use of a step of annealing the p-type doped silicon germanium layer to improve the contact resistance of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer. in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, a selective deposition method is disclosed. the selective deposition method includes providing a substrate within a reaction chamber, depositing a p-type doped silicon germanium layer overlying a surface of the substrate, and depositing a cap layer overlying the p-type doped silicon germanium layer. the surface of the substrate can include a first area comprising a first material and a second area comprising a second material. the p-type doped silicon germanium layer can include gallium. the incorporation of gallium in the p-type doped silicon germanium layer can reduce contact resistance of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer comprising gallium. as discussed in more detail below, use of the cap layer facilitates selective deposition of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer comprising gallium over the first material relative to the deposition of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer comprising gallium over the second material. exemplary methods further include a step of etching the cap layer and the p-type doped silicon germanium layer overlying the second material. the etching can be performed using a halide-containing gas, such as hydrogen chloride, chlorine or the like. the first material can include, for example, semiconductor material, such as silicon, silicon germanium, germanium tin, silicon germanium tin, germanium, or the like. the second material can include, for example, a dielectric material, such as an oxide, a nitride, an oxynitride and/or the like, such as silicon nitride, silicon oxide (sio 2 ), silicon carbide and mixtures thereof, such as sioc, siocn, sion. as set forth in more detail below, various steps of exemplary methods described herein can be performed in the same reaction chamber or in different reaction chambers of the same cluster tool. in accordance with further exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, a structure is formed using a method as described herein. the structure can include a substrate and a p-type doped silicon germanium layer. the p-type doped silicon germanium layer can include about 1×10 17 at/cm 3 to about 5×10 21 at/cm 3 , or about 1×10 17 at/cm 3 to about 3×10 21 at/cm 3 , or about 1×10 18 at/cm 3 to about 2×10 21 at/cm 3 , or about 8×10 18 at/cm 3 to about 1×10 21 at/cm 3 , or greater than 1×10 19 at/cm 3 boron. additionally or alternatively, the p-type doped silicon germanium layer can include about 1×10 17 at/cm 3 to about 5×10 21 at/cm 3 , or 1×10 17 at/cm 3 to about 3×10 21 at/cm 3 , or about 1×10 17 at/cm 3 to about 1×10 21 at/cm 3 , or about 1×10 18 at/cm 3 to about 8×10 20 at/cm 3 , or about 1×10 19 at/cm 3 to about 1×10 20 at/cm 3 gallium. additionally or alternatively, the p-type doped silicon germanium layer can include about 30% to about 90%, or about 35% to about 70%, or about 40% to about 50% silicon and/or about 10% to about 70%, or about 65% to about 30%, or about 60% to about 50% germanium. a thickness of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer can be between about 1 nm and about 20 nm, between about 5 nm and 15 nm, or between about 7 nm and 10 nm. the structure can also include a cap layer. the cap layer can comprise silicon, such as p-type (e.g., boron) doped silicon. a concentration of the dopant in the silicon can be between 0 and about 1×10 21 at/cm 3 , between about 8×10 18 at/cm 3 and about 5×10 20 at/cm 3 , or between about 1×10 19 at/cm 3 and about 9×10 19 at/cm 3 . a thickness of the cap layer can be between about 1 nm and about 10 nm, between about 2 nm and about 8 nm, or between about 4 nm and about 6 nm. in accordance with yet additional embodiments of the disclosure, a device or portion thereof can be formed using a method as described herein. the device can include a substrate, a p-type doped silicon germanium layer, and a conducting layer overlying the p-type doped silicon germanium layer. the p-type doped silicon germanium layer can be used to form a source or drain region of the device, such as a field effect transistor (fet) (e.g., a finfet). in accordance with yet additional examples of the disclosure, a system to perform a method as described herein and/or to form a structure, device, or portion of either, is disclosed. these and other embodiments will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of certain embodiments having reference to the attached figures. the invention is not being limited to any particular embodiments disclosed. brief description of the drawing figures a more complete understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure may be derived by referring to the detailed description and claims when considered in connection with the following illustrative figures. fig. 1 illustrates a method in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. fig. 2 illustrates a substrate for use in accordance with examples of the disclosure. figs. 3-5 illustrate structures in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. fig. 6 illustrates a portion of a device in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. fig. 7 illustrates a reactor system in accordance with additional exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. fig. 8 shows total reflection transmission x-ray fluorescence (txrf) data that demonstrate the efficacy of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. fig. 9 shows secondary ion mass spectroscopy (sims) data that demonstrate the efficacy of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. it will be appreciated that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. for example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of illustrated embodiments of the present disclosure. detailed description of exemplary embodiments the description of exemplary embodiments of methods, structures, devices and systems provided below is merely exemplary and is intended for purposes of illustration only; the following description is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure or the claims. moreover, recitation of multiple embodiments having stated features is not intended to exclude other embodiments having additional features or other embodiments incorporating different combinations of the stated features. as set forth in more detail below, various embodiments of the disclosure provide methods for selectively depositing a p-type doped silicon germanium layer including gallium. exemplary methods can be used to, for example, form source or drain regions of semiconductor devices that exhibit relatively low contact resistance and that maintain the structure and composition of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer including gallium. typical solutions to deposit p-type doped silicon germanium layers with relatively low contact resistance include growing silicon germanium layers with relatively high concentrations of boron (e.g., higher than 1×10 20 at/cm 3 ). however, high concentrations of boron in the silicon germanium films can be difficult to achieve, particularly for silicon germanium films having a relatively high (e.g., greater than 40%) germanium concentration. this is thought to be due to the low solubility of boron in germanium. therefore, increasing the boron concentration in the silicon germanium layers alone may not be suitable to obtain the desired contact resistance. to further decrease the contact resistance of the silicon germanium layers, gallium can be added to the p-type doped silicon germanium layers. gallium has a higher solubility in germanium than does boron. moreover, the heavier atomic mass of gallium, compared to boron, may be advantageous in the formation of shallow junctions by reducing the channeling effects, compared to films with only boron doping. and, materials at an interface of a film (e.g., between the p-type doped silicon germanium layer comprising gallium and an overlying conducting layer) can greatly affect the contact resistance of the film. gallium is thought to reduce contact resistance in p-type doped silicon germanium layers that include gallium by reducing a barrier height with higher gallium concentration near the interface. however, selective deposition of p-type doped silicon germanium layers including gallium has been challenging. gallium tends to segregate to a surface of the p-type doped silicon germanium layers, and typical etchants used in selective deposition processes can react with the gallium at or near the surface to produce gallium byproducts, thereby reducing the gallium concentration in the p-type doped silicon germanium layers, particularly at or near the surface of the layers. the reduced gallium concentration generally leads to p-type doped silicon germanium layers having higher contact resistance. exemplary methods described herein use a cap layer during a selective deposition method to reduce an amount of gallium that would otherwise be lost from the p-type doped silicon germanium layer including gallium. the cap layer can act as a sacrificial layer that is removed during an etch step. use of the cap layer can mitigate gallium segregation, and maintain desired gallium concentrations in the p-type doped silicon germanium layers, since the gallium solubility is higher in germanium (about 5×10 20 cm −3 ) than in silicon (about 1×10 19 cm −3 ). thus, the p-type doped silicon germanium layer including gallium can remain substantially intact and maintain its original properties and characteristics. in this disclosure, “gas” can include material that is a gas at normal temperature and pressure (ntp), a vaporized solid and/or a vaporized liquid, and can be constituted by a single gas or a mixture of gases, depending on the context. a gas other than the process gas, i.e., a gas introduced without passing through a gas distribution assembly, a multi-port injection system, other gas distribution device, or the like, can be used for, e.g., sealing the reaction space, and can include a seal gas, such as a rare gas. in some cases, the term “precursor” can refer to a compound that participates in the chemical reaction that produces another compound, and particularly to a compound that constitutes a film matrix or a main skeleton of a film; the term “reactant” can be used interchangeably with the term precursor. the term “inert gas” can refer to a gas that does not take part in a chemical reaction and/or does not become a part of a film matrix to an appreciable extent. exemplary inert gases include he, ar, n 2 , and any combination thereof. as used herein, the term “substrate” can refer to any underlying material or materials that can be used to form, or upon which, a device, a circuit, or a film can be formed. a substrate can include a bulk material, such as silicon (e.g., single-crystal silicon), other group iv materials, such as germanium, or compound semiconductor materials, such as a group ii-vi or group iii-v semiconductor, and can include one or more layers overlying or underlying the bulk material. further, the substrate can include various features, such as recesses, protrusions, and the like formed within or on at least a portion of a layer of the substrate. as set forth in more detail below, a surface of a substrate can include two of more areas, wherein each of the two or more areas comprise different material. as used herein, the term “epitaxial layer” can refer to a substantially single crystalline layer upon an underlying substantially single crystalline substrate or layer. as used herein, the term “chemical vapor deposition” can refer to any process wherein a substrate is exposed to one or more volatile precursors, which react and/or decompose on a substrate surface to produce a desired deposition. as used herein, the term “silicon germanium” can refer to a semiconductor material comprising silicon and/or germanium and can be represented as si 1-x ge x wherein 1≥x≥0, or 0.2≥x≥0.8, or 0.4≥x≥0.6. as used herein, the term “film” and/or “layer” can refer to any continuous or non-continuous structures and material, such as material deposited by the methods disclosed herein. for example, film and/or layer can include two-dimensional materials, three-dimensional materials, nanoparticles or even partial or full molecular layers or partial or full atomic layers or clusters of atoms and/or molecules. a film or layer may comprise material or a layer with pinholes, which may be at least partially continuous. as used herein, a “structure” can include a substrate as described herein. structures can include one or more layers overlying the substrate, such as one or more layers formed according to a method as described herein. further, in this disclosure, any two numbers of a variable can constitute a workable range of the variable, and any ranges indicated may include or exclude the endpoints. additionally, any values of variables indicated (regardless of whether they are indicated with “about” or not) may refer to precise values or approximate values and include equivalents, and may refer to average, median, representative, majority, or the like. further, in this disclosure, the terms “including,” “constituted by” and “having” refer independently to “typically or broadly comprising,” “comprising,” “consisting essentially of,” or “consisting of” in some embodiments. in this disclosure, any defined meanings do not necessarily exclude ordinary and customary meanings in some embodiments. turning now to the figures, fig. 1 illustrates a (e.g., selective deposition) method 100 . figs. 2-5 illustrate structures 200 , 300 , 400 , and 500 that can correspond to steps of method 100 . method 100 includes the steps of providing a substrate within a reaction chamber (step 102 ), depositing a p-type doped silicon germanium layer (step 104 ), depositing a cap layer (step 106 ), etching (step 108 ), optionally repeating steps 104 - 108 (loop 110 ), and ending (step 112 ). with reference to fig. 2 , a structure/substrate 200 can include a first area 206 comprising a first material and a second area 208 comprising a second material. the first material can include a monocrystalline surface 210 ; second area can include a non-monocrystalline surface 212 , such as a polycrystalline surface or an amorphous surface. monocrystalline surface 210 may comprise, for example, one or more of: silicon (si), silicon germanium (sige), germanium tin (gesn), silicon germanium tin (sigesn), or germanium (ge). non-monocrystalline surface 212 may include dielectric materials, such as oxides, oxynitrides, or nitrides, including, for example, silicon oxides, silicon nitrides, and silicon oxynitrides. in the illustrated example, substrate/structure 200 includes a monocrystalline layer of bulk material 202 and non-monocrystalline material (e.g., polycrystalline or amorphous material) 204 , such as dielectric or insulating material. as a non-limiting example, the reaction chamber may comprise a reaction chamber of a chemical vapor deposition system. however, it is also contemplated that other reaction chambers and alternative chemical vapor deposition systems may also be utilized to perform the embodiments of the present disclosure. the reaction chamber can be a stand-alone reaction chamber or part of a cluster tool. step 102 can include heating the substrate to a desired deposition temperature within the reaction chamber. in some embodiments of the disclosure, step 102 includes heating the substrate to a temperature of less than approximately 700° c., or to a temperature of less than approximately 650° c., or to a temperature of less than approximately 600° c., or to a temperature of less than approximately 550° c., or to a temperature of less than approximately 500° c., or to a temperature of less than approximately 450° c., or even to a temperature of less than approximately 400° c. for example, in some embodiments of the disclosure, heating the substrate to a deposition temperature may comprise heating the substrate to a temperature between approximately 400° c. and approximately 700° c. in addition to controlling the temperature of the substrate, a pressure within the reaction chamber may also be regulated. for example, in some embodiments of the disclosure, the pressure within the reaction chamber during step 102 may be less than 200 torr, or less than 100 torr, or less than 50 torr, or less than 25 torr, or even less than 10 torr. in some embodiments, the pressure in the reaction chamber may be between 10 torr and 100 torr. during step 104 , a layer of p-type doped silicon germanium including gallium is deposited on a layer overlying the surface of the substrate. the layer of p-type doped silicon germanium may form as a (e.g., mono) crystalline material overlying the first area/surface (e.g., area 206 /surface 210 ) and as a polycrystalline or amorphous material over the second, non-monocrystalline area/surface (e.g., area 208 /surface 212 ). a nucleation delay of the deposited layer of p-type doped silicon germanium may be greater on the second/non-monocrystalline surface 212 relative to the first surface 210 . fig. 3 illustrates structure 300 , including a p-type doped silicon germanium layer 306 including a first portion 302 formed over first area 206 and a second portion 304 formed over second area 208 . first portion 302 can form as a monocrystalline layer overlying the first area/material and second portion 304 can form as a non-monocrystalline (e.g., polycrystalline or amorphous) layer overlying the second area/material. during step 104 , a silicon precursor, a germanium precursor, a p-type dopant (e.g., boron), and a gallium precursor are flowed into the reaction chamber—e.g., through one or more gas injectors, such as multi-port injectors (mpis) including a plurality of individual port injectors for providing a gas mixture into the reaction chamber. various combinations of the precursors can be supplied to one or more of the individual port injectors to fine tune concentration profiles as desired. to mitigate reaction with the gallium in the film as the film deposits, the silicon precursor, germanium precursor, p-type dopant, and/or gallium precursor (e.g., all the precursors) may desirably be halide (e.g., chlorine) free. in other words, a chemical formula of a precursor, or component thereof, may not include cl. the gallium dopant precursor can comprise, for example, at least one of trimethylgallium (tmg) or triethylgallium (teg), tritertiarybutylgallium (ttbga), galliumtrichlorine (gacl 3 ), ga(bh 4 ) 3 , rgacl 2 , gar 3 , gah x , wherein r can be, for example, an ethyl, butyl, or propyl, group. the silicon precursor may comprise one or more hydrogenated silicon precursors selected from the group comprising: silane (sih 4 ), disilane (si 2 h 6 ), trisilane (si 3 h 8 ), or tetrasilane (si 4 h 10 ). the germanium precursor may comprise at least one of germane (geh 4 ), digermane (ge 2 h 6 ), trigermane (ge 3 h 8 ), or germylsilane (geh 6 si). the p-type (e.g., boron) dopant precursor can include, for example, at least one of diborane (b 2 h 6 ) or deuterium-diborane (b 2 d 6 ), or one or more borohydrides. exemplary borohydrides include gallium borohydride (ga(bh 4 ) 3 ), aluminum borohydride (al(bh 4 ) 3 ), and indium borohydride (in(bh 4 ) 3 ). in alternative embodiments of the disclosure, the p-type dopant precursor may comprise a borohydride having the formula y x m(bh 4 ) 3-x , wherein y is independently chosen from hydrogen, deuterium, chlorine, bromine, and iodine; m is a group iiia metal independently chosen from gallium, aluminum, and indium; and x is an integer from 0-2. in some embodiments of the disclosure, the p-type dopant precursor, e.g., the boron dopant precursor, may be replaced by an alternative p-type dopant precursor. for example, the p-type dopant precursor may comprise an aluminum (al) containing dopant precursor, such as, for example, a borohydride (e.g., al(bh 4 ) 3 ). in some embodiments, the silicon precursor can be provided into the reaction chamber at a flow rate of less than 500 sccm, or less than 250 sccm, or even less than 50 sccm. for example, the silicon precursor may flow into the reaction chamber at a silicon precursor flow rate between approximately 1 sccm and approximately 500 sccm. in some embodiments, the germanium precursor is provided into the reaction chamber at a flow rate of less than 1000 sccm, or less than 300 sccm, or even less than 10 sccm. for example, the germanium precursor may flow into the reaction chamber at a germanium precursor flow rate between approximately 1 sccm and approximately 1000 sccm. in some embodiments, the germanium precursor may be provided in diluted form and the diluted form may comprise approximately 5% germanium precursor, such as, geh 4 , for example, in a carrier gas. in some embodiments, the p-type (e.g., boron) dopant precursor is provided into the reaction chamber at a flow rate of less than 500 sccm, or less than 250 sccm, or even less than 50 sccm. for example, the boron dopant precursor may flow into the reaction chamber at a boron dopant precursor flow rate between approximately 1 sccm and approximately 500 sccm. in some embodiments, the boron dopant precursor may be provided in diluted form and the diluted form may comprise approximately 1% p-type dopant precursor, such as diborane, for example, in a carrier gas. in some embodiments, the gallium precursor is provided into the reaction chamber at a flow rate of less than 500 sccm, or less than 250 sccm, or even less than 50 sccm. for example, the gallium precursor may flow into the reaction chamber at a flow rate between approximately 1 sccm and approximately 500 sccm. in some embodiments, the gallium precursor may be provided in diluted form and the diluted form may comprise approximately 1% gallium precursor, such as, triethylgallium, for example, in a carrier gas. a thickness of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer formed during step 104 in area 206 and/or area 208 can be between about 1 nm and about 20 nm, between about 5 nm and about 15 nm, or between about 7 nm and about 10 nm. a concentration of p-type dopant (e.g., boron) in the p-type doped silicon germanium layer in area 206 and/or area 208 can range from about 1×10 17 at/cm 3 to about 5×10 21 at/cm 3 , or from about 1×10 17 at/cm 3 to about 3×10 21 at/cm 3 , or about 1×10 18 at/cm 3 to about 2×10 21 at/cm 3 , or about 8×10 18 at/cm 3 to about 1×10 21 at/cm 3 or greater than 1×10 19 at/cm 3 boron. the p-type doped silicon germanium layer in area 206 and/or area 208 can include about 1×10 17 at/cm 3 to about 5×10 21 at/cm 3 , or about 1×10 17 at/cm 3 to about 3×10 21 at/cm 3 , or about 1×10 17 at/cm 3 to about 1×10 21 at/cm 3 , or about 1×10 18 at/cm 3 to about 8×10 20 at/cm 3 , or about 1×10 19 at/cm 3 to about 1×10 20 at/cm 3 gallium. additionally or alternatively, the p-type doped silicon germanium layer in area 206 and/or area 208 can include about 30% to about 90%, or about 35% to about 70%, or about 40% to about 50% silicon and/or about 10% to about 70%, or about 65% to about 30%, or about 60% to about 50% germanium. in some embodiments, the germanium (and/or other component) content within the p-type doped silicon germanium layer in area 206 and/or area 208 may not be constant, but rather may be varied, such that the germanium content (and/or other component) may have a graded composition within the p-type doped silicon germanium layer. during step 106 , a cap layer is formed overlying the p-type doped silicon germanium layer. the cap layer can comprise or consist essentially of silicon. in some cases, the cap layer can include doped silicon, such as a p-type (e.g., boron and/or gallium) doped silicon. a concentration of the p-type dopant in the silicon layer can be up to 5×1×10 21 at/cm 3 , or up to 3×10 21 at/cm 3 , e.g., it can range from 0 and about 1×10 21 at/cm 3 , between about 8×10 18 at/cm 3 and about 5×10 20 at/cm 3 , or between about 1×10 19 at/cm 3 and about 9×10 19 at/cm 3 . in some embodiments, the cap layer comprises or essentially consists of a silicon germanium alloy. in other words, in some embodiments, the silicon germanium is for example, the cap layer may comprise 10 mol % silicon, or 20 mol % silicon, or 30 mol % silicon, or 40 mol % silicon, or 50 mol % silicon, or 60 mol % silicon, or 70 mol % silicon, or 80 mol % silicon, or 90 mol % silicon. for example, the cap layer may comprise 10 mol % germanium, or 20 mol % germanium, or 30 mol % germanium, or 40 mol % germanium, or 50 mol % germanium, or 60 mol % germanium, or 70 mol % germanium, or 80 mol % germanium, or 90 mol % germanium. in some embodiments, the silicon germanium-containing cap layer is doped with a p-type dopant, e.g., boron and/or gallium. a concentration of the p-type dopant in the silicon germanium cap layer can range from 0 and about 1×10 21 at/cm 3 , between about 8×10 18 at/cm 3 and about 5×10 20 at/cm 3 , or between about 1×10 19 at/cm 3 and about 9×10 19 at/cm 3 . in some embodiments, the cap layer is grown by means of precursors that do not contain a halogen. in some embodiments, the cap layer is grown by means of precursors that do not contain chlorine. the cap layer may be grown, for example, using one or more of the following precursors. as a silicon precursor, silane or disilane may be used. as a germanium precursor, germane or digermane may be used. as a boron precursor, diborane may be used. as a gallium precursor, triethylgallium may be used. fig. 4 illustrates structure 400 , which includes a cap layer 406 . cap layer 406 can include a first portion 402 formed in first area 206 and a second portion 404 formed in second area 208 . first portion 402 can be monocrystalline and second portion 404 can be non-monocrystalline—e.g., amorphous or polycrystalline. a nucleation delay of the cap layer may be greater in second area 208 relative to first area 206 . a thickness of cap layer 406 over area 206 and/or 208 formed during step 106 can be between about 1 nm and about 10 nm, between about 2 nm and about 8 nm, or between about 4 nm and about 6 nm. a concentration of p-type dopant (e.g., boron) in the p-type doped silicon germanium layer over area 206 and/or 208 can range from about 1×10 17 at/cm 3 to about 5×10 21 at/cm 3 , or from about 1×10 17 at/cm 3 to about 3×10 21 at/cm 3 , or about 1×10 18 at/cm 3 to about 2×10 21 at/cm 3 , or about 8×10 18 at/cm 3 to about 1×10 21 at/cm 3 or greater than 1×10 19 at/cm 3 boron. including a dopant, such as boron, in the cap layer may be desirable to increase an etch rate of cap layer 406 (portion 402 and/or portion 404 ) during step 108 . returning to fig. 1 , step 106 can be performed in the same reaction chamber used during step 104 . alternatively, step 106 can be performed in another reaction chamber, such as another reaction chamber in the same cluster tool as the reaction chamber used during step 104 . the cap layer can be formed by flowing silicon and optionally a dopant precursor to a reaction chamber. the silicon precursor and the dopant precursor (e.g., p-type dopant precursor) can be the same or similar to those described above. further, the flowrates of the precursors, the reaction chamber pressures, and/or the temperatures can be the same or similar to those described above in connection with step 104 . sims analysis of structures including a cap layer overlying a p-type doped silicon germanium layer including gallium showed no gallium segregation towards the cap layer. during step 108 , an etch is performed to at least partially remove the cap layer over the first area and remove the cap layer over the second area. additionally, the p-type doped silicon germanium layer overlying the second area/material is removed, to thereby form a selectively deposited p-type doped silicon germanium layer overlying the first material/area relative to the second material/area. a selective deposition process can involve a greater amount of material remaining on a first surface relative to a second surface. for example, the selective process may result in a greater amount of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer remaining in the first area formed over monocrystalline material relative to any p-type doped silicon germanium layer remaining in the second area over non-monocrystalline material. in some embodiments of the disclosure, the selectivity of the deposition process can be expressed as the ratio of material formed on the first surface (or in the first area) relative to the amount of material formed on the first and second surfaces (or areas) combined. for example, if 10 nm of p-type doped silicon germanium layer remains in the first area and 1 nm of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer remains in the second area, the selective deposition process will be considered to have 91% selectivity. in some embodiments, the selectivity of the methods disclosed herein may be above about 80%, above about 90%, above about 95%, 99.5%, 98%, 99%, or even about 100%. additionally or alternatively, a ratio of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer remaining in the first area relative to p-type doped silicon germanium layer remaining in the second area can be greater than, for example, 10, 5, or 2. the cap layer and/or the p-type doped silicon germanium layer over the second area may have a higher etch rate—e.g., due to the amorphous or polycrystalline structure, than the respective layers over the first area—which can include monocrystalline materials. thus, the non-crystalline material can be easily removed, while maintaining portion 302 substantially intact. in some cases, a small portion of cap layer 406 can remain over portion 302 after one or more etch steps 108 . step 108 can be performed in the same reaction chamber used during step 104 and/or step 106 . alternatively, step 108 can be performed in another reaction chamber, such as another reaction chamber of the same cluster tool. in some embodiments, a halide gas is used as an etchant during step 108 . the halide gas can include, for example, one or more of hydrogen chloride, chlorine, or the like. during step 108 , the halide gas can be flowed into the reaction chamber at a flow rate of less than 500 sccm, or less than 250 sccm, or even less than 100 sccm. for example, the halide gas may flow into the reaction chamber at a halide gas flow rate between approximately 1 sccm and approximately 500 sccm. as illustrated, steps 104 - 108 can be repeated (loop 110 ) as desired until a desired thickness of the p-type doped silicon germanium is formed overlying the first area/material on the substrate. for example, steps 104 - 108 can be repeated about 1 to about 500 times, about 2 to about 100 times, about 2 to about 50 times, about 2 to about 30 times, or about 2 to about 20 times. further, one or more (e.g., each) of steps 104 - 108 can be repeated one or more times prior to proceeding to the next step. once a desired layer thickness of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer is obtained, method 100 can end (step 112 ). methods described herein can enlarge a selectivity window of p-type doped silicon germanium layer deposition that might otherwise arise, for example, where the deposition has a longer nucleation delay on surface 212 , compared to surface 210 . a thickness of the cap layer 406 can thus be less in cases where the nucleation delay is greater for p-type doped silicon germanium layer deposition over surface 212 , compared to surface 210 . fig. 5 illustrates structure 500 after the cap layer has been removed over second area 208 and the p-type doped silicon germanium layer has been removed in second area 208 . as illustrated, a portion 502 of cap layer 406 can remain over first portion 302 . portion 502 may be relatively thin and might not be detrimental to the device performance, since this thin layer can be doped, and therefore minimal impact on the full device performance is expected. alternatively, all of layer 406 can be removed from first area 206 . first portion 302 of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer can include relatively high gallium concentrations levels, as set forth herein, which allows for relatively low resistance of the layer and relatively low contact resistance. for example, an electrical resistivity of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer in area 206 can be less than 0.8 mω•cm, or less than 0.6 mω•cm, or less than 0.4 mω•cm, or even less than 0.3 mω•cm. in some embodiments, the p-type doped silicon germanium layer has an electrical resistivity between approximately 0.3 mω•cm and approximately 0.8 mω•cm. fig. 6 illustrates a portion of a device 600 in accordance with additional examples of the disclosure. portion of a device 600 includes a substrate 602 , a p-type doped silicon germanium layer 604 , and a conducting layer 606 . substrate 602 can be or include any of the substrate material described herein. for example, substrate 602 can be the same as substrate 202 and/or structure 200 . p-type doped silicon germanium layer 604 can be the same or similar to first portion 302 of the p-type doped silicon germanium layer described above. p-type doped silicon germanium layer 604 can be used to form or be a source or drain region of a field effect transistor (fet), such as a source or drain region of a finfet or other fet device. conducting layer 606 can include, for example, metal, such as titanium, nickel, cobalt, nickel platinum alloy, or the like. a contact resistance of p-type doped silicon germanium layer 604 can be lower than 10 −9 ω·cm 2 to about 5×10 −19 ω·cm 2 , about 5×10 −10 ω·cm 2 to about 2×10 −19 ω·cm 2 , or about 2×10 −19 ω·cm 2 to about 1×10 −19 ω·cm 2 without annealing. fig. 7 illustrates a system 700 in accordance with yet additional exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. system 700 can be used to perform a method as described herein and/or form a structure or device portion as described herein. in the illustrated example, system 700 includes an optional substrate handling system 702 , one or more reaction chambers 704 , a gas injection system 706 , and optionally a wall 708 disposed between reaction chamber(s) 704 and substrate handling system 702 . system 700 can also include a first gas source 710 , a second gas source 712 , a third gas source 714 , a fourth gas source 716 , an exhaust source 726 , and a controller 728 . although illustrated with four gas sources 710 - 716 , system 700 can include any suitable number of gas sources. gas sources 710 - 716 can each include, for example, a precursor gas, such as a precursor (e.g., silicon precursor, germanium precursor, p-type dopant precursor, and/or gallium precursor) as described above, including mixtures of such precursors and/or mixtures of one or more precursors with a carrier gas, such as hydrogen, nitrogen, argon, helium or the like. additionally or alternatively, one of gas sources 710 - 716 or another gas source can include an etchant, such as a halide—e.g., a chlorine-containing gas, such as hydrogen chloride and/or chlorine. gas sources 710 - 716 can be coupled to reaction chamber 704 via lines 718 - 724 , which can each include flow controllers, valves, heaters, and the like. system 700 can include any suitable number of reaction chambers 704 and substrate handling systems 702 . further, one or more reaction chambers 704 can be or include a cross-flow, cold wall epitaxial reaction chamber. vacuum source 720 can include one or more vacuum pumps. controller 728 can be configured to perform various functions and/or steps as described herein. controller 728 can include one or more microprocessors, memory elements, and/or switching elements to perform the various functions. although illustrated as a single unit, controller 728 can alternatively comprise multiple devices. by way of examples, controller 728 can be used to control gas flow (e.g., by monitoring flow rates of precursors and/or other gases from sources 710 - 716 and/or controlling valves, motors, heaters, and the like). further, when system 700 includes two or more reaction chambers, the two or more reaction chambers can be coupled to the same/shared controller. during operation of reactor system 700 , substrates, such as semiconductor wafers (not illustrated), are transferred from, e.g., substrate handling system 702 , to reaction chamber 704 . once substrate(s) are transferred to reaction chamber 704 , one or more gases from gas sources 710 - 716 , such as precursors, dopants, carrier gases, and/or purge gases, are introduced into reaction chamber 704 via gas injection system 706 . gas injection system 706 can be used to meter and control gas flow of one or more gases (e.g., from one or more gas sources 710 - 716 ) during substrate processing and to provide desired flows of such gas(es) to multiple sites within reaction chamber 704 . fig. 8 shows total reflection transmission x-ray fluorescence (txrf) data that demonstrate the efficacy of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. in particular, a substrate comprising uncapped sige:b:ga ( 810 ) loses much of its ga after an hf dip ( 820 ). when the sige:b:ga is capped with silicon, fig. 8 ( 830 , 840 , 850 ) shows that the ga surface concentration is maintained at a much higher level after an hf dip. in particular, data point 830 shows this for a sige:b:ga layer capped with 3 nm of si and exposed to an hf dip, data point 840 shows this for a sige:b:ga layer capped with 3 nm boron-doped si and exposed to an hf dip, and data point 850 shows this for a sige:b:ga layer capped with 5 nm boron-doped si and exposed to an hf dip. fig. 9 shows secondary ion mass spectroscopy (sims) data that demonstrate the efficacy of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. in particular, panel a) shows sims data for two sige:b:ga layer, without any cap, both without and with an hf dip. it is clear that an hf dip strongly reduces the gallium concentration in the sige:b:ga layer. panel b) shows sims data for a sige:b:ga layer capped with 3 nm si and exposed to an hf dip, panel c) shows sims data for a sige:b:ga layer capped with 3 nm si and exposed to an hf dip, and panel d) shows sims data for a sige:b:ga layer capped with 5 nm si and exposed to an hf dip. the sims data show that the cap layer can help to maintain the gallium concentration in the sige:b:ga and/or at the interface between the cap layer and the sige:b:ga layer, even after an hf dip. without the present invention being bound to a particular theory or mode of operation, it is believed that gallium segregates at the surface of boron- and gallium-doped silicon germanium layers. also, it is believed that the capping layer effectively prevents or at least reduces gallium segregation at an exposed surface. when a thusly capped surface is then exposed to a chemical that preferentially etches gallium, the capping layer may prevent, or at least reduce, gallium removal from the sige:b:ga layer. exemplary chemicals which can preferentially remove gallium, and that the capping layer protects against, include aqueous hf and halogen-containing gasses such as hcl. thus, a high surface concentration of p-type dopants such as ga and b can be maintained. when a contact is then formed on the sige:b:ga layer, a low contact resistance can be obtained. note that even the presence of a few nanometers of cap layer on top of the sige:b:ga layer does not have to be detrimental because of silicide formation on the one hand, and because the sims profiles show that any drop in boron concentration near the surface may be compensated for by an increase in gallium concentration near the surface. thus, the present methods allow the formation of contacts having a very low contact resistance on p-type silicon germanium. the example embodiments of the disclosure described above do not limit the scope of the invention, since these embodiments are merely examples of the embodiments of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents. any equivalent embodiments are intended to be within the scope of this invention. indeed, various modifications of the disclosure, in addition to those shown and described herein, such as alternative useful combinations of the elements described, may become apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. such modifications and embodiments are also intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.
115-741-515-981-273	US	[ "US" ]	H04N5/217,H04N7/18,H04N5/33	2010-12-31T00:00:00	2010	[ "H04" ]	thermal imager with non-uniformity correction	infrared cameras are susceptible to fixed-pattern noise artifacts. these artifacts are due to numerous sources and typically show up as non-uniformities in an ir image of a uniform scene. devices for and methods of refining non-uniformity corrections in an infrared (ir) camera are provided that correct for remaining fixed pattern noise.	1. a method of correcting for residual fixed pattern noise in a radiometric infrared (ir) camera, the method comprising: pointing the camera at a first scene external to the camera; generating sets of ir image data, while pointing the camera at the first scene, said sets of ir image data representative of ir energy received on a focal plane array (fpa) within the camera, the fpa including a plurality of ir detector elements; initiating a non-uniformity correction (nuc) routine, the nuc routing including: generating a first set of ir image data representative of the ir energy received on the fpa, and generating nuc data from the first set of ir image data, the nuc data for correcting fixed pattern noise in the first set of ir image data; pointing the camera at a second scene external to the camera to produce a scene that effectively is of uniform ir energy; triggering the camera, while pointing the camera at the second scene, and initiating an nuc refinement routine including; generating a second set of ir image data representative of ir energy received on the fpa from the second scene, generating nuc refinement data from the second set of ir image data, and generating normalized nuc refinement data by normalizing the nuc refinement data relative to ir image data in the second set of ir image data associated with at least one of a generally centrally positioned ir detector element from the plurality of ir detector elements; generating adjusted nuc data by adjusting the nuc data with the normalized nuc refinement data; adjusting at least one set of the ir image data with the adjusted nuc data to minimize fixed pattern noise in the at least one set of the ir image data; and calculating radiometric scene temperature data associated with at least a portion of the first scene based on at least a portion of at least one set of the ir image data, the nuc data, and the normalized nuc refinement data. 2. the method of claim 1 , wherein the nuc correction routine includes blocking ir energy from the first scene from reaching the fpa before generating the nuc data. 3. the method of claim 2 , wherein the blocking is performed using a shutter located inside the radiometric ir camera. 4. the method of claim 1 , wherein the nuc correction routine is performed without the use of a shutter located inside the radiometric ir camera. 5. the method of claim 1 , wherein pointing the camera at a second scene external to the camera to produce a scene that effectively is of uniform ir energy includes pointing the camera at a uniform ir energy scene. 6. the method of claim 1 , wherein pointing the camera at a second scene external to the camera to produce a scene that effectively is of uniform ir energy includes pointing the camera at an external scene located outside of the focus range of the lens. 7. the method of claim 6 , wherein the external scene located outside of the focus range of the lens is located in close proximity to a lens of the radiometric ir camera. 8. the method of claim 1 , further comprising validating the normalized nuc refinement data to determine whether it varies too widely. 9. the method of claim 8 , wherein the normalized nuc refinement data is rejected if it varies too widely. 10. the method of claim 1 , further comprising canceling the nuc refinement by removing the normalized nuc refinement data from the adjusted nuc data. 11. the method of claim 10 , wherein the canceling the nuc refinement is occurs based on the amount of time lapsed since the prior nuc refinement, based on a threshold temperature change to some component of the radiometric ir camera, based on a change in position of a lens of the radiometric ir camera, or based on receipt of a manual input. 12. the method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the generally centrally positioned ir detector elements is only one generally centrally positioned ir detector elements. 13. the method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying on a display of the radiometric ir camera an ir image of the first scene as represented by the adjusted at least one set of the ir image data. 14. the method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying the radiometric scene temperature data associated with at least a portion of the first scene. 15. a method of tracking temperature profile changes in a scene using an infrared (ir) camera, the method comprising: pointing the camera at a first scene external to the camera, the first scene being of generally non-uniform ir energy; generating sets of ir image data, while pointing the camera at the first scene, said sets of ir image data representative of ir energy received from the first scene on a focal plane array (fpa) within the camera, the fpa including a plurality of ir detector elements; initiating a non-uniformity correction (nuc) routine, the nuc routing including: generating a first set of ir image data representative of the ir energy received on the fpa from the first scene, and generating nuc data from the first set of ir image data, the nuc data for correcting fixed pattern noise in the first set of ir image data; triggering the camera, while pointing the camera at the first scene, and initiating an nuc refinement routine including; generating a second set of ir image data representative of ir energy received on the fpa from the first scene, generating nuc refinement data from the second set of ir image data, and generating normalized nuc refinement data by normalizing the nuc refinement data relative to ir image data in the second set of ir image data associated with at least one of a generally centrally positioned ir detector element from the plurality of ir detector elements; generating adjusted nuc data by adjusting the nuc data with the normalized nuc refinement data; adjusting at least one set of the ir image data with the adjusted nuc data to minimize fixed pattern noise in the at least one set of the ir image data; displaying on a display of the ir camera a generally uniform ir image of the first scene as represented by the adjusted at least one set of the ir image data. 16. the method of claim 15 , further comprising analyzing the displayed ir image for changes to the temperature profile in the first scene. 17. a radiometric infrared (ir) camera for correcting for residual fixed pattern noise, comprising: a housing; a focal plane array (fpa) mounted within the housing and adapted to receive ir energy, the fpa comprising a plurality of ir detector elements and generating sets of ir image data representing ir energy received on the fpa; a lens mounted on the housing for directing ir energy from a target scene onto the fpa; a shutter disposed within the housing, the shutter movable between open and closed positions, the closed position being such that the shutter is positioned between the lens and the fpa to prevent ir energy from the target scene from reaching the fpa, the open position permitting ir energy from the scene to reach the fpa; a switch supported by the housing, the switch, when triggered, initiating a non-uniformity correction (nuc) refinement routine during which the shutter remains in the open position and a first set of ir image data is generated representing ir energy levels received on the fpa from a scene external to the camera; a processor operatively coupled to the fpa for receiving and processing the sets of ir image data, the processor for initiating a nuc routine during which the shutter is temporarily moved to the closed position and a second set of ir image data is generated representing ir energy received on the fpa while the shutter is in the closed position, the processor generating offset data from the second set of ir image data, the processor generating nuc refinement data from the first set of ir image data, the processor generating adjusted nuc data by adjusting the nuc data with the nuc refinement data, the adjusted nuc data for use by the camera to provide fixed-pattern noise correction; and a display supported by the housing and operatively connected to the processor for displaying an adjusted ir image of the target scene based on the adjusted nuc data.	the present application claims priority to u.s. provisional patent application no. 61/429,079, filed dec. 31, 2010, the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference herein. technical field the present disclosure pertains to thermal imaging cameras with non-uniformity correction. background handheld thermal imaging cameras, for example, including microbolometer detectors to generate infrared (ir) images, are used in a variety of applications, which include the inspection of buildings and industrial equipment. many state-of-the-art thermal imaging cameras, or ir cameras, have a relatively large amount of built-in functionality allowing a user to select a display from among a host of display options, so that the user may maximize his ‘real time’, or on-site, comprehension of the thermal information collected by the camera. as is known, ir cameras generally employ a lens assembly working with a corresponding infrared focal plane array (fpa) to provide an image of a view in a particular axis. the operation of such cameras is generally as follows. infrared energy is accepted via infrared optics, including the lens assembly, and directed onto the fpa of microbolometer infrared detector elements or pixels. each pixel responds to the heat energy received by changing its resistance value. an infrared (or thermal) image can be formed by measuring the pixels' resistances—via applying a voltage to the pixels and measuring the resulting currents or applying current to the pixels and measuring the resulting voltages. a frame of image data may, for example, be generated by scanning all the rows and columns of the fpa. a dynamic thermal image (i.e., a video representation) can be generated by repeatedly scanning the fpa to form successive frames of data. successive frames of thermal image data are generated by repeatedly scanning the rows of the fpa; such frames are produced at a rate sufficient to generate a video representation of the thermal image data. ir images typically show fixed pattern noise resulting from certain non-uniformities. the non-uniformities often come from physical variations between the pixels in the fpa and from stray energy detected by the fpa. temperature changes within or surrounding an infrared camera are found to result in the individual pixels further exhibiting their unique response characteristics. in particular, the change in temperature of the camera's internal components, e.g., due to self-heating or as the result of changes to the surrounding ambient temperature, leads to the individual pixels exhibiting fixed pattern noise over extended lengths of time. non-uniformity correction (nuc) functionality is found in most conventional infrared cameras because it leads to improved imaging capabilities. examples of nuc methods are disclosed, for instance, in u.s. pat. nos. 6,690,013 and 7,417,230 and u.s. patent application publication no. 2006/0279632, which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and all of which are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference. “offset compensation” is one approach to nuc, which can also include ‘two-point’ (gain/offset) correction. nuc methods, can utilize a shutter or be shutterless. nuc methods using a shutter can be an inconvenience to the user as it necessitates activation of the camera shutter, thereby “freezing” the camera image for a short period of time when the shutter is closed. for example, during initial powering of an infrared camera, the internal components can be found to continue to rise in temperature for a period of time before the camera becomes thermally stable. because of this, offset compensation is often performed at an increased frequency during such period so as to maintain good image quality from the camera. such increased frequency of offset compensation correspondingly results in an increased frequency of shutter actuation. consequently, there is further inconvenience for the user as the shutter is closed more often during such period. therefore, it is desirable to keep the period between offset compensations lengthy so as to limit the general inconvenience to the user of the camera, while still maintaining good image quality. even with known nuc methods, whether or not a shutter is employed, non-uniformities often remain that produce various levels of fixed-pattern noise artifacts. these artifacts are due to numerous sources and typically show up as non-uniformities in an image of a uniform scene (e.g., halos, blobs, clouds, etc.). some of these non-uniformities can be further compensated for by operating the internal shutter as described herein above. however, since the shutter is typically located between the lens and the fpa, the result is less than ideal because there can be sources of stray, i.e., non-scene, radiation that is not seen when the shutter is closed and therefore not adequately compensated for. non-uniformities resulting from non-scene radiation, including internal stray radiation and stray radiation emitted by lens assembly and/or the lens itself, can be compensated for by using an external shutter placed over the lens outside the camera. however, external shutters usually need to be large, are costly, and are less rugged than internal shutters. shutter temperature is needed if one wishes to perform radiometric calculations to compute the actual temperature of the scene or target. radiometry and radiometric imaging are known and are disclosed, for instance, in u.s. pat. no. 7,304,297, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and all of which is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference. accordingly, what is needed are an apparatus and systematic methods to address or overcome one or more of the limitations briefly described above with respect to non-uniformities resulting from fixed-pattern noise artifacts in infrared imaging systems and in such imaging systems employing radiometry. brief description of the drawings the following drawings are illustrative of particular embodiments of the invention and therefore do not limit the scope of the invention. the drawings are not necessarily to scale (unless so stated) and are intended for use in conjunction with the explanations in the following detailed description. embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like numerals denote like elements. fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an infrared camera, according to some embodiments of the present invention; fig. 2 is a flow chart for a method of correcting for fixed-pattern noise in an ir camera in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and fig. 3 is a flow chart for a method of correcting for fixed-pattern noise in an ir camera in accordance with an alternate embodiment of the present invention. detailed description the following detailed description is exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. rather, the following description provides practical illustrations for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. like numerals in the appended drawings denote like elements. fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of ir camera 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. camera 100 includes camera housing 102 . housing 102 holds several components including ir lens 104 within lens assembly 106 , processor 108 , switch 110 operatively coupled to processor 108 through user interface 112 , an infrared sensor such as focal plane array (fpa) 114 , display 116 , internal shutter 118 , and one or more sensors of which sensors 120 , 122 , and 124 are shown in fig. 1 . as illustrated, fpa 114 , display 116 , shutter 118 , and sensors 120 , 122 , and 124 are also operatively coupled to processor 108 . display 116 is used for displaying infrared images and other information to the user. in an embodiment of the invention, the one or more sensors are temperature sensors, ir lens position sensors, distance to target sensors, current sensors, voltage sensors, or any combination thereof. in an embodiment of the invention, user interface 112 includes one or more mechanical components and/or control mechanism (not shown) with which the user operates and controls camera 100 . for example, camera 100 includes one or more knobs or buttons for adjusting the focus or for triggering shutter 118 . in an alternate embodiment, user interface 112 is integrated with and displayed on display 116 whereat the user enters operating and control commands directly on display 116 , e.g., via a conventional touch screen. in another embodiment, switch 110 is integrated with and displayed on display 116 whereat the user enters the command for triggering shutter 118 . in an embodiment of the present invention, camera 100 further includes additional electronic, mechanical, and electro-mechanical components and systems, as are well known in the art and not explicitly shown in fig. 1 , that are necessary for operating camera 100 . for example, housing 102 includes within it means for positioning and re-positioning shutter 118 . the functioning of camera 100 comprising all such components and systems operating cooperatively with the elements described herein above with reference to fig. 1 are disclosed in the following u.s. patents and u.s. patent applications all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and all of which are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference: u.s. pat. no. 7,535,002 entitled “camera with visible light and infrared blending”, u.s. pat. no. 7,538,326 entitled “visible light and ir combined image camera with a laser pointer”, u.s. pat. no. 7,772,557 entitled “offset compensation scheduling algorithm for infrared imagers”, u.s. patent application publication no. 2006/0279632 entitled “method for fixed pattern noise reduction in infrared imaging cameras”. within housing 102 , shutter 118 , operatively coupled to processor 108 and typically located relative to lens 104 and fpa 114 , operates to open or block the path between lens 104 and fpa 114 . as previously described, camera 100 receives image information in the form of infrared energy through lens 104 . as such, while shutter 118 is in open position 118 ′, the ir energy from lens 104 is directed onto fpa 114 ; and while shutter 118 is in closed position 118 ″, the ir energy from lens 104 is blocked from being directed onto fpa 114 . as is known in the art, shutter 118 is mechanically positionable such as by actuation of an electro-mechanical device (not shown) such as a dc motor or solenoid. as can be seen, with shutter 118 in open position 118 ′, the ir energy directed onto fpa 114 comprises ir energy from all objects and surfaces within the line of sight (or field of view) of fpa 114 including objects external to camera 100 , lens 104 , and components within housing 102 . and, with shutter 118 in closed position 118 ″, fpa 114 is exposed to the ir energy emitted by one or more surfaces within the line of sight of fpa 114 including components within housing 102 and the surface of shutter 118 facing fpa 114 . since the ir energy directed onto fpa 114 while shutter 118 is in open position 118 ′ also includes the ir energy from the components within housing 102 , devices for and methods of compensating for or minimizing the impact of the ir energy from components within housing 102 have been developed and are well known in the art. even using known nuc methods, such as those described above that may or may not use a shutter, fixed pattern noise may still remain. for instance, devices and methods known in the art may not adequately compensate for the stray ir energy emitted from the components of camera 100 , such as lens 104 , lens assembly 106 , and other objects within housing 102 , that are blocked from the field of view of fpa 114 when shutter 118 is in closed position 118 ″. embodiments of the present invention provide methods and devices to minimize or eliminate this residual fixed pattern noise. in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 is a flow chart for a method of correcting for non-uniformities in the ir image that retains the ability to provide radiometric data. if a shutter 118 is used in the nuc, the method also compensates for the ir energy emitted from lens 104 and other components within housing 102 of camera 100 that are blocked or partially blocked from the field of view of fpa 114 when shutter 188 is in closed position 118 ″. as shown in fig. 2 , the user of ir camera 100 initiates the operation at block 202 by energizing camera 100 and pointing lens 104 to a first scene external to camera 100 . ir energy from the first scene enters camera 100 through lens 104 and is directed onto fpa 114 . under control of processor 108 , the ir energy from the first scene is processed into a set of ir image data at block 204 . to the extent any nuc data has been generated, refined, and/or not canceled (as will be further explained below), the ir energy from the first scene is adjusted with the existing nuc data to provide adjusted or corrected ir image data at block 204 , which may be shown on the display. next, at block 206 , processor 108 determines whether or not the ir image data should be subjected to a nuc. as is well known in the art, nuc is often necessary to produce a usable ir image because of physical variations in the fpa 114 pixels themselves and from need to separate stray from scene energy. in an embodiment of the invention, processor 108 determines whether a nuc is appropriate. in some embodiments of the invention, processor 108 determines that nuc is appropriate in response to one or more of the lapse of a fixed or varying time interval, a change in the lens temperature, a change in the shutter temperature, a change in a position of the lens, length of time since last initiation of the first compensation routine, a change in temperature within the housing, a change in temperature of the housing, a change in temperature outside the housing, a change in a temperature as measured by one or more temperature sensors within the housing, a change in one or more current and/or voltage of a component such as an ir detector element on fpa 114 . in an alternate embodiment of the invention, processor 108 determines that nuc is necessary in response to the rate of change in the one or more temperatures. nuc may also be appropriate because it is initiated manually by a user command to the processor 108 made via user interface 112 . any nuc may be performed in block 208 by methods well known in the art such as those described above. upon completion of the nuc at block 208 , the processing returns to block 204 and the method is cycled through again. if at block 206 processor 108 determines that nuc is not appropriate, then the method continues at block 210 . at block 210 , processor 108 determines whether or not any nuc refinement (aka “fine offset”) applied previously in the method should be canceled. in the initial operation of the method described in fig. 2 , no nuc refinement exists. nuc refinement is described and defined below in conjunction with later steps in the method of fig. 2 . at block 214 , processor 108 determines whether a refinement of the nuc data is appropriate because of continuing fixed-pattern noise. even with known nuc methods, whether or not a shutter is employed, non-uniformities often remain that produce various levels of fixed-pattern noise artifacts. these artifacts are due to numerous sources and typically show up as non-uniformities in an image of a uniform scene (e.g., halos, blobs, clouds, etc.). in certain embodiments, the user can initiate a process to refine the nuc data. the user, upon observing such fixed-pattern noise and desiring correction therefor, can command processor 108 to apply such corrections by proceeding to block 216 . if the user has not requested a correction for fixed-pattern noise, then processing is returned to block 204 and the method is cycled through again. of course, it is possible that the processor 108 could automatically determine in block 214 whether a nuc refinement is appropriate instead of or in addition to the user requesting the nuc refinement. in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, if it is determined in block 214 that a nuc refinement is appropriate or desirable, the method moves to block 216 where the user is directed (via, e.g., display, user interface, past instructions, or user knowledge) to point camera 100 at a second external scene to produce a scene that effectively is of uniform ir energy. production of an external scene that effectively is of uniform ir energy may be accomplished in several different ways, including pointing the camera at a uniform ir energy scene (e.g., a cloudless sky, some floors, ceilings, or walls, or other bodies of uniform temperature and emissivity), pointing the camera at an external scene located outside of the focus range of the lens (e.g., in close proximity, at a far distance, or on either side of the depth of field of the current focus setting), or pointing the camera at any scene but defocusing the scene by changing the focus setting until the scene is defocused. once the user points the camera to produce an external scene that effectively is of uniform ir energy, the method proceeds to block 218 . at block 218 , the user triggers switch 110 . the camera 100 may or may not first prompt the user to trigger switch 110 . after triggering switch 110 , processor 108 generates an ir image data of the ir energy reaching fpa 114 from the second scene external to camera 100 . in certain embodiments of the invention that include a shutter 118 , processor 108 retains shutter 118 in open position 118 ′ while camera 100 is being triggered and as such prevents shutter 118 from moving to closed position 118 ″. in certain embodiments of the invention, processor 108 disables any and all lens focusing related functions and operations while camera 100 is being triggered. next, at block 220 , processor 108 captures the ir image data representing the ir energy from the second scene external to camera 100 and reaching fpa 114 while shutter 118 is retained in open position 118 ′. also at block 220 processor 108 executes a nuc refinement routine. in an embodiment of the invention, the algorithms executed by the nuc refinement routine are substantially similar to those used at block 208 for the nuc and as are well known in the art as described herein above. however, unlike the nuc routine executed at block 208 , the temperature of the uniform ir scene typically cannot be provided to the processor 108 via a temperature sensor. that is, in the nuc routine at block 208 , a sensor 122 can provide the temperature of the uniform ir scene, which is merely the shutter temperature. such temperature information is important when the camera also functions as a radiometer, as described above, providing absolute temperature data of the infrared scene. however, in the nuc refinement routine at block 220 , the actual temperature of the scene external to the camera, whether the scene is unfocused or is of uniform temperature, may not be known. it is known that the fixed pattern noise remaining following a nuc routine often presents itself in certain patterns, such as a halo around the edges of an ir image. other patterns may also be present. in such patterns, the centrally located pixels or detector elements are less likely to be subject to the remaining fixed pattern noise. accordingly, since the temperature of the external scene may not be known at block 222 , the results from the nuc refinement routine are normalized at block 222 . in an embodiment of the invention, the normalization is relative to an ir image data associated with at least one of the generally centrally positioned ir detector elements (or average or median from more than one of such pixels) from the plurality of ir detector elements on fpa 114 . such a centrally positioned ir detector element is less likely to have received fixed pattern noise and therefore provides a valuable reference against which the remaining fine offset data may be normalized. the normalization performed may be multiplicative, additive, or other mathematical operation that leaves the central pixel(s) comparatively unchanged and adjusts all the neighboring pixels relative to the difference from central pixel(s) (the difference being the residual fixed pattern noise) as needed to ultimately create a uniform ir image. further, a particular advantage of this approach is that it causes the radiometric (temperature) calculations for the central pixel(s) to remain unaffected by the fine offset operation and adjusts the radiometric values of the neighboring pixels. since the nuc refinement routine does not require the use of a shutter or additional components, it can be performed with different types of known nuc routines, as described above, whether or not a shutter is used. next, the normalized data from block 222 is validated by processor 108 at block 224 . for instance, if the normalized data varies too widely, it may indicate that the nuc refinement data is not reliable or that the second scene was not sufficiently uniform ir imagery. in an embodiment of the invention, processor 108 computes an arithmetic difference between the maximum value and the minimum value associated with the normalized data. if the difference between these maximum and minimum values exceeds a predetermined threshold, then processor 108 discards the normalized data from block 222 . in an alternate embodiment of the invention, processor 108 computes an arithmetic average of the normalized data. if the difference between any one of the data comprising the normalized data and the average of the normalized data exceeds a predetermined threshold, then processor 108 also discards the normalized data from block 222 . in another embodiment of the invention, processor 108 discards the normalized data from block 222 if the time elapsed since the last triggering exceeds a predetermined threshold. other known statistical analyses, such as standard deviation analyses, may be performed at block 224 on the normalized data to determine if it is valid. in an embodiment of the invention wherein the second scene external to camera 100 emits generally uniform ir energy and the normalized data is determined as being valid by block 224 , the normalized data from block 222 generally represents the residual non-uniformities resulting in fixed-pattern noise artifacts. the effect of such non-uniformities is then eliminated at block 226 by adjusting the nuc data with the normalized nuc refinement data from block 222 . the routine then loops back to block 204 , where under control of processor 108 , the ir energy from the first scene is processed into a set of ir image. the processor adjusts the image based on any existing nuc data, such as that provided in block 208 , or the adjusted nuc data, provided in block 226 . by adjusting the nuc data with refinement data, the radiometric information for each pixel calculated with the nuc routine in block 208 is retained and merely adjusted. even without the use of a scene temperature sensor, such as those used in typical radiometric calculations, the nuc refinement routine maintains radiometric calculations for each pixel. the radiometric value for the central pixel(s) (or other reference pixel(s)) remain unchanged and the neighboring pixels or adjusted based on the normalized nuc refinement data. thus, the processor may calculate radiometric scene temperature data associated with at least a portion of the first scene based on the ir image data, the nuc data, and the normalized nuc refinement data. the radiometric calculation may be based on the ir image data, and then the resulting radiometric scene data may be adjusted using the nuc data and the normalized nuc refinement data. alternatively, the radiometric calculation may be based on the ir image data that has been corrected by the nuc data, and then the resulting radiometric scene data may be adjusted using the normalized nuc refinement data. in another embodiment, the radiometric calculation may be based on the ir image data after it has been adjusted with the nuc data after it has been refined by the nuc refinement data. in addition, the radiometric calculation need not be for the entire first scene. that is, the radiometric calculation may be limited to portions of the scene (one or more pixels). the radiometric data may be selectively displayed on the display, as is known in the art. the routine continues as described above such that the routine returns to block 204 . in an embodiment of the invention, the processor determines in block 210 whether to cancel the adjustment of the nuc data via the nuc refinement data. in such an instance, the nuc refinement data is cancelled at block 212 , such that only the nuc data (unadjusted) remains. this decision at block 210 may be based on the amount of time lapsed since the prior nuc refinement was applied at block 214 . if processor 108 determines that nuc must be cancelled, then this is accomplished in block 212 and the method continues at block 214 . in some embodiments, the decision to cancel the fine nuc may also be or instead be based on a threshold temperature change to some camera component, sensed via one of the aforementioned temperature sensors. in some embodiments the decision to cancel the fine nuc may also be or instead be based on a change in lens position, sensed via the aforementioned lens position sensor. in some embodiments, the decision to cancel may be triggered by a user input via the display or other interface. fig. 3 is a flow chart of an alternate embodiment for a method of nuc refinement of an ir image. as can be seen, the steps comprising the method illustrated in fig. 3 , are substantially similar to the steps for the method shown in fig. 2 , wherein like elements are represented by like numerals. accordingly, detailed descriptions for the steps that are identical between the embodiments of the method, which have been previously described in the foregoing with reference to fig. 2 , will not be repeated herein below with reference to fig. 3 . the nuc refinement process may also be used to analyze or track temperature changes in a scene over time, for instance, when the ir camera is mounted in a stationary position. the nuc refinement may be used to “zero out” the temperature profile of the scene to create a blank (uniform) ir image. thereafter, any temperature changes in the scene following the nuc refinement are easily noticeable since they will contrast clearly with the blank ir image created by the nuc refinement. thus, under certain embodiments of this method, the camera is pointed at the same non-uniform ir scene in step 204 and in step 216 . accordingly, the above described differences between the embodiments of the methods illustrated in figs. 2 and 3 are implemented as follows. at block 216 ′ in fig. 3 , which block replaces block 216 in fig. 2 , the user is continues pointing camera 100 at a scene external to camera 100 . as stated, the scene external to camera 100 may be of generally non-uniform ir energy representing a generally non-uniform temperature distribution. the method continues through blocks 218 , 220 , 222 , and 226 as described in the foregoing with reference to fig. 2 . the nuc refinement process associated with these steps removes the “non-uniformities” of the observed scene and adjusts the observed ir image data to the temperature of the central or other reference pixel(s) used in the normalization process of step 222 . thus, while observing a non-uniform ir scene, the observed ir image appears uniform from the nuc refinement process. since the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 3 is for determining and displaying a differential ir image of the scene external to camera 100 , block 224 as implemented in reference to the method of fig. 2 , is not necessary. as will be appreciated, inclusion of the step(s) associated with block 224 of fig. 2 in fig. 3 will be counter-productive to the generation of a differential ir image as envisioned by the embodiment of the inventive method illustrated in fig. 3 . as can be seen, except for the change from block 216 in fig. 2 to block 216 ′ in fig. 3 , and the exclusion of block 224 from fig. 3 , all other steps associated with the embodiments of the methods shown in figs. 2 and 3 are substantially the same. in the foregoing detailed description, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments. however, it may be appreciated that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
116-063-899-062-298	US	[ "US" ]	A01M7/00,A01M19/00,A01M25/00,B64C39/02,G05D1/00	2016-02-17T00:00:00	2016	[ "A01", "B64", "G05" ]	pest abatement utilizing an aerial drone	an aerial drone includes a pest sensor, an environmental sensor, a drone on-board computer, and a pest abatement mechanism. the pest sensor senses a pest based on emissions from the pest. the environmental sensor detects an environment of the pest. the drone on-board computer identifies a pest type of the pest based on the emission from the pest, and establishes a risk level posed by the presence of the pest based on the pest type and the environment of the pest. the pest abatement mechanism performs a pest abatement of the pest based on the pest type and the risk level posed by the presence of the pest.	1 . an aerial drone-based method of pest abatement, the aerial drone-based method comprising: sensing, by a pest sensor on an aerial drone, a pest, wherein the pest sensor detects an emission from the pest; determining, by one or more processors and based on sensor readings from environmental sensors on the aerial drone, an environment of the pest; identifying, by one or more processors, a pest type of the pest based on the emission from the pest; establishing, by one or more processors, a risk level posed by a presence of the pest based on the pest type and the environment of the pest; and initiating, via the aerial drone, a pest abatement of the pest based on the pest type and the risk level posed by the presence of the pest. 2 . the aerial drone-based method of claim 1 , wherein the pest sensor is a camera, wherein the emission from the pest is a visual image of the pest, and the visual image of the pest is captured by the camera. 3 . the aerial drone-based method of claim 2 , further comprising: transmitting, from the aerial drone to a display used by a user, the visual image of the pest. 4 . the aerial drone-based method of claim 3 , further comprising: receiving, by the aerial drone, an authorization from the user to complete the pest abatement; and in response to receiving the authorization from the user, completing the pest abatement. 5 . the aerial drone-based method of claim 1 , wherein the pest sensor is a chemical sensor, wherein the emission from the pest is a pheromone indicative of a state of the pest, and wherein the aerial drone-based method further comprises: detecting, by the chemical sensor on the aerial drone, the pheromone being emitted from the pest; and adjusting, by the aerial drone, the pest abatement based on the pheromone being emitted from the pest. 6 . the aerial drone-based method of claim 1 , wherein the pest sensor is a microphone, wherein the emission from the pest is a sound generated by the pest, and wherein the aerial drone-based method further comprises: classifying, by one or more processors, a sound type of the sound, wherein the sound type is associated with a particular type of pest behavior; and adjusting, by one or more processors, the pest abatement of the pest based on the sound type of the sound generated by the pest. 7 . the aerial drone-based method of claim 1 , further comprising: detecting, by a camera on the aerial drone, a pest nest of the pest; and in response to detecting the pest nest, destroying, by the pest abatement mechanism, the pest nest. 8 . the aerial drone-based method of claim 1 , further comprising: performing, by a pesticide dispenser, the pest abatement by applying pesticide to the pest. 9 . the aerial drone-based method of claim 1 , further comprising: performing, by a chemical lure dispenser, the pest abatement by applying a trail of chemical lure to a pest trap. 10 . the aerial drone-based method of claim 1 , wherein the pest is one or more insects from a group of insects consisting of wasps, hornets, scorpions, locusts, carpenter ants, termites, cockroaches, ticks, and yellow jackets. 11 . the aerial drone-based method of claim 1 , wherein the pest is one or more mammals from a group of mammals consisting of mice, rats, opossums, and skunks. 12 . the aerial drone-based method of claim 1 , wherein the pest is a reptile. 13 . the aerial drone-based method of claim 1 , wherein the pest is an insect that is part of an insect swarm, and wherein the aerial drone-based method further comprises: detecting, by the aerial drone, a behavioral pattern of the insect swarm, wherein the behavioral pattern includes insect swarming movement indicative of aggressive behavior, insect swarm density changes, and flight patterns of the insect swarm towards a pest nest; and adjusting, by the aerial drone, the pest abatement according to the behavioral pattern of the insect swarm. 14 . a computer program product for abating pests by an aerial drone, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code readable and executable by a processor to perform a method comprising: sensing, by a pest sensor on an aerial drone, a pest, wherein the pest sensor detects an emission from the pest; determining, by a drone on-board computer and based on sensor readings from environmental sensors on the aerial drone, an environment of the pest; identifying, by the drone on-board computer, a pest type of the pest based on the emission from the pest; establishing a risk level posed by a presence of the pest based on the pest type and the environment of the pest; and initiating, via the aerial drone, a pest abatement of the pest based on the pest type and the risk level posed by the presence of the pest. 15 . the computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the pest sensor is a chemical sensor, wherein the emission from the pest is a pheromone indicative of a state of the pest, and wherein the method further comprises: detecting, by the chemical sensor on the aerial drone, the pheromone being emitted from the pest; and adjusting, by the aerial drone, the pest abatement based on the pheromone being emitted from the pest. 16 . the computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises: detecting, by a camera on the aerial drone, a pest nest of the pest; and in response to detecting the pest nest, destroying, by the pest abatement mechanism, the pest nest. 17 . the computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises: performing, by a chemical lure dispenser, the pest abatement by applying a trail of chemical lure to a pest trap. 18 . the computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the pest is an insect that is part of an insect swarm, and wherein the method further comprises: detecting, by the aerial drone, a behavioral pattern of the insect swarm, wherein the behavioral pattern includes insect swarming movement indicative of aggressive behavior, insect swarm density changes, and flight patterns of the insect swarm towards a pest nest; and adjusting, by the aerial drone, the pest abatement according to the behavioral pattern of the insect swarm. 19 . an aerial drone comprising: a pest sensor, wherein the pest sensor senses a pest, wherein the pest sensor detects an emission from the pest; an environmental sensor, wherein the environmental sensor detects an environment of the pest; a drone on-board computer, wherein the drone on-board computer: identifies a pest type of the pest based on the emission from the pest; and establishes a risk level posed by a presence of the pest based on the pest type and the environment of the pest; and a pest abatement mechanism, wherein the pest abatement mechanism performs a pest abatement of the pest based on the pest type and the risk level posed by the presence of the pest. 20 . the aerial drone of claim 19 , wherein the pest sensor is a chemical sensor, wherein the emission from the pest is a pheromone indicative of a state of the pest, and wherein the pest abatement mechanism performs a particular pest abatement specifically designed for the state of the pest.	background the present disclosure relates to the field of aerial drones, and specifically to aerial drones that are capable of tracking pests. more specifically, the present disclosure relates to the user of an aerial drone to abate pests. an aerial drone is an unmanned aircraft, also known as an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav). that is, an aerial drone is an airborne vehicle that is capable of being piloted without an on-board human pilot. if autonomously controlled using an on-board computer and pre-programmed instructions, a uav is called an autonomous drone. if remotely piloted by a human pilot, the uav is called a remotely piloted aircraft (rpa). summary in an embodiment of the present invention, an aerial drone-based method and/or computer program product abates a pest problem. a pest sensor on an aerial drone senses a pest, where the pest sensor detects an emission from the pest. one or more processors determine, based on sensor readings from environmental sensors on the aerial drone, an environment of the pest and identify a pest type of the pest based on the emission from the pest. the processor(s) establish a risk level posed by the presence of the pest based on the pest type and the environment of the pest. the aerial drone then initiates a pest abatement of the pest based on the pest type and the risk level posed by the presence of the pest. in an embodiment of the present invention, an aerial drone includes a pest sensor, an environmental sensor, a drone on-board computer, and a pest abatement mechanism. the pest sensor senses a pest based on emissions from the pest. the environmental sensor detects an environment of the pest. the drone on-board computer identifies a pest type of the pest based on the emission from the pest, and establishes a risk level posed by the presence of the pest based on the pest type and the environment of the pest. the pest abatement mechanism performs a pest abatement of the pest based on the pest type and the risk level posed by the presence of the pest. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 depicts an exemplary system and network in which the present disclosure may be implemented; fig. 2 depicts additional detail of an exemplary aerial drone in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention; fig. 3 illustrates control hardware and other hardware features of an exemplary aerial drone in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention; fig. 4 depicts an aerial drone being utilized to control biological pests in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention; fig. 5 is a high-level flow chart of one or more steps performed by one or more computing and/or other hardware devices to ameliorate a pest problem in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention; fig. 6 depicts a cloud computing environment according to an embodiment of the present invention; and fig. 7 depicts abstraction model layers of a cloud computer environment according to an embodiment of the present invention. detailed description the present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. the computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention. the computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. the computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. a non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (ram), a read-only memory (rom), an erasable programmable read-only memory (eprom or flash memory), a static random access memory (sram), a portable compact disc read-only memory (cd-rom), a digital versatile disk (dvd), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. a computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire. computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. the network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. a network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device. computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (isa) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as java, smalltalk, c++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “c” programming language or similar programming languages. the computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. in the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (lan) or a wide area network (wan), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the internet using an internet service provider). in some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (fpga), or programmable logic arrays (pla) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention. aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. it will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions. these computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. these computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. the computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. the flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. in this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. for example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. it will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. with reference now to the figures, and in particular to fig. 1 , there is depicted a block diagram of an exemplary system and network that may be utilized by and/or in the implementation of the present invention. some or all of the exemplary architecture, including both depicted hardware and software, shown for and within computer 101 may be utilized by drone on-board computer 123 and/or software deploying server 149 and/or positioning system 151 shown in fig. 1 , and/or drone on-board computer 223 shown in fig. 2 , and/or drone on-board computer 323 shown in fig. 3 , and/or drone on-board computer 423 shown in fig. 4 . exemplary computer 101 includes a processor 103 that is coupled to a system bus 105 . processor 103 may utilize one or more processors, each of which has one or more processor cores. a video adapter 107 , which drives/supports a display 109 , is also coupled to system bus 105 . system bus 105 is coupled via a bus bridge 111 to an input/output (i/o) bus 113 . an i/o interface 115 is coupled to i/o bus 113 . i/o interface 115 affords communication with various i/o devices, including a keyboard 117 , a camera 119 (i.e., a digital camera capable of capturing still and moving images), a media tray 121 (which may include storage devices such as cd-rom drives, multi-media interfaces, etc.), and external usb port(s) 125 . while the format of the ports connected to i/o interface 115 may be any known to those skilled in the art of computer architecture, in one embodiment some or all of these ports are universal serial bus (usb) ports. also coupled to i/o interface 115 is a positioning system 151 , which determines a position of computer 101 and/or other devices using positioning sensors 153 . positioning sensors 153 , may be any type of sensors that are able to determine a position of a device, including computer 101 , an aerial drone 200 shown in fig. 2 , etc. positioning sensors 153 may utilize, without limitation, satellite based positioning devices (e.g., global positioning system—gps based devices), accelerometers (to measure change in movement), barometers (to measure changes in altitude), etc. as depicted, computer 101 is able to communicate with a software deploying server 149 and/or other devices/systems (e.g., drone on-board computer 123 ) using a network interface 129 . network interface 129 is a hardware network interface, such as a network interface card (nic), etc. network 127 may be an external network such as the internet, or an internal network such as an ethernet or a virtual private network (vpn). in one or more embodiments, network 127 is a wireless network, such as a wi-fi network, a cellular network, etc. a hard drive interface 131 is also coupled to system bus 105 . hard drive interface 131 interfaces with a hard drive 133 . in one embodiment, hard drive 133 populates a system memory 135 , which is also coupled to system bus 105 . system memory is defined as a lowest level of volatile memory in computer 101 . this volatile memory includes additional higher levels of volatile memory (not shown), including, but not limited to, cache memory, registers and buffers. data that populates system memory 135 includes computer 101 's operating system (os) 137 and application programs 143 . os 137 includes a shell 139 , for providing transparent user access to resources such as application programs 143 . generally, shell 139 is a program that provides an interpreter and an interface between the user and the operating system. more specifically, shell 139 executes commands that are entered into a command line user interface or from a file. thus, shell 139 , also called a command processor, is generally the highest level of the operating system software hierarchy and serves as a command interpreter. the shell provides a system prompt, interprets commands entered by keyboard, mouse, or other user input media, and sends the interpreted command(s) to the appropriate lower levels of the operating system (e.g., a kernel 141 ) for processing. while shell 139 is a text-based, line-oriented user interface, the present invention will equally well support other user interface modes, such as graphical, voice, gestural, etc. as depicted, os 137 also includes kernel 141 , which includes lower levels of functionality for os 137 , including providing essential services required by other parts of os 137 and application programs 143 , including memory management, process and task management, disk management, and mouse and keyboard management. application programs 143 include a renderer, shown in exemplary manner as a browser 145 . browser 145 includes program modules and instructions enabling a world wide web (www) client (i.e., computer 101 ) to send and receive network messages to the internet using hypertext transfer protocol (http) messaging, thus enabling communication with software deploying server 149 and other systems. application programs 143 in computer 101 's system memory also include logic for drone-based pest abatement operations (ldbpao) 147 . ldbpao 147 includes code for implementing the processes described below, including those described in figs. 2-5 . in one embodiment, computer 101 is able to download ldbpao 147 from software deploying server 149 , including in an on-demand basis, wherein the code in ldbpao 147 is not downloaded until needed for execution. in one embodiment of the present invention, software deploying server 149 performs all of the functions associated with the present invention (including execution of ldbpao 147 ), thus freeing computer 101 from having to use its own internal computing resources to execute ldbpao 147 . the hardware elements depicted in computer 101 are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather are representative to highlight essential components required by the present invention. for instance, computer 101 may include alternate memory storage devices such as magnetic cassettes, digital versatile disks (dvds), bernoulli cartridges, and the like. these and other variations are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary aerial drone 200 in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. the terms “aerial drone”, “drone”, and “unmanned aerial vehicle” (“uav”) are used interchangeably herein to identify and describe an airborne vehicle that is capable of pilot-less flight and abating a pest problem as described herein. as shown in fig. 2 , aerial drone 200 includes a body 202 , which is attached to supports such as support 204 . supports such as support 204 support stanchions such as stanchion 206 . such stanchions provide a housing for a driveshaft within each of the stanchions, such as the depicted driveshaft 208 within stanchion 206 . these driveshafts are connected to propellers. for example, driveshaft 208 within stanchion 206 is connected to propeller 210 . a power transfer mechanism 212 (e.g., a chain, a primary driveshaft, etc.) transfers power from a geared transmission 214 to the driveshafts within the stanchions (e.g., from geared transmission 214 to the driveshaft 208 inside stanchion 206 ), such that propeller 210 is turned, thus providing lift and steering to the aerial drone 200 . geared transmission 214 preferably contains a plurality of gears, such that a gear ratio inside geared transmission 214 can be selectively changed. power to the geared transmission 214 is preferably provided by an electric motor 216 , which is quieter than an internal combustion engine, and thus is better suited to the present invention. affixed to the bottom of body 202 is a camera controller 224 , which is logic that controls movement of a camera 226 via a camera support 228 (which includes actuators, not shown, for movement of camera 226 ). the camera controller 224 is able to focus, as well as aim camera 226 , while under the control of a drone on-board computer 223 (analogous to drone on-board computer 123 shown in fig. 1 ). in a preferred embodiment, drone on-board computer 223 controls all components of aerial drone 200 depicted in fig. 2 , and/or performs all or some of the analytics described herein (i.e., identifying a pest and/or pest type, abating a pest, etc.). also affixed to the body 202 of aerial drone 200 is a nozzle 230 , which receives pumped material (by a pump 232 ) from a reservoir 234 . in various embodiments of the present invention, the material stored in reservoir 234 is a powder, a liquid, or a slurry (i.e., a combination of liquid and powder). while aerial drone 200 is depicted in fig. 2 as having multiple propellers, in another embodiment a single propeller elevates and adjusts pitch and roll of the aerial drone while a rotor adjusts yaw of the aerial drone using a set of positioning sensors (e.g., gyroscopes) that cause the propeller and rotor to change attitude. similar positioning sensors can likewise adjust the attitude of multiple propellers. in an embodiment of the present invention, aerial drone 200 is “miniaturized”, thus allowing it to be flown in confined spaces, such as between walls, in attics, within silos, pressure vessels, and other storage structures, etc. that is, in this embodiment a maximum dimension of aerial drone 200 may be less than 6 inches, or even less than one inch, based on the level of available miniaturized components. with reference now to fig. 3 , exemplary control hardware and other hardware components within the aerial drone 200 presented in fig. 2 are depicted. a drone on-board computer 323 (analogous to drone on-board computer 223 shown in fig. 2 ) controls a drone mechanism controller 301 , which is a computing device that controls a set of drone physical control mechanisms 303 . the set of drone physical control mechanisms 303 include, but are not limited to, throttles for electric motor 216 , selectors for selecting gear ratios within the geared transmission 214 , controls for adjusting the pitch, roll, and angle of attack of propellers such as propeller 210 and other controls used to control the operation and movement of the aerial drone 200 depicted in fig. 2 . whether in autonomous mode or remotely-piloted mode (based on control signals sent via computer 101 to the drone on-board computer 123 shown in fig. 1 ), the drone on-board computer 323 controls the operation of aerial drone 200 . this control includes the use of outputs from navigation and control sensors 305 to control the aerial drone 200 . navigation and control sensors 305 include hardware sensors that (1) determine the location of the aerial drone 200 ; (2) sense pests and/or other aerial drones and/or obstacles and/or physical structures around aerial drone 200 ; (3) measure the speed and direction of the aerial drone 200 ; and (4) provide any other inputs needed to safely control the movement of the aerial drone 200 . with respect to the feature of (1) determining the location of the aerial drone 200 , this is achieved in one or more embodiments of the present invention through the use of a positioning system such as positioning system 151 (shown in fig. 1 ), which may be part of the drone on-board computer 323 , combined with positioning sensor 353 . positioning system 151 may use a global positioning system (gps), which uses space-based satellites that provide positioning signals that are triangulated by a gps receiver to determine a 3-d geophysical position of the aerial drone 200 . positioning system 151 may also use, either alone or in conjunction with a gps system, physical movement sensors such as accelerometers (which measure changes in direction and/or speed by an aerial drone in any direction in any of three dimensions), speedometers (which measure the instantaneous speed of an aerial drone), air-flow meters (which measure the flow of air around an aerial drone), barometers (which measure altitude changes by the aerial drone), etc. such physical movement sensors may incorporate the use of semiconductor strain gauges, electromechanical gauges that take readings from drivetrain rotations, barometric sensors, etc. with respect to the feature of (2) sensing pests and/or other aerial drones and/or obstacles and/or physical structures around aerial drone 200 , the drone on-board computer 323 may utilize radar or other electromagnetic energy that is emitted from an electromagnetic radiation transmitter (e.g., transceiver 307 shown in fig. 3 ), bounced off a physical structure (e.g., a pest, a swarm of pests, a building, bridge, another aerial drone, etc.), and then received by an electromagnetic radiation receiver (e.g., transceiver 307 ). by measuring the time it takes to receive back the emitted electromagnetic radiation, and/or evaluate a doppler shift (i.e., a change in frequency to the electromagnetic radiation that is caused by the relative movement of the aerial drone 200 to objects being interrogated by the electromagnetic radiation) in the received electromagnetic radiation from when it was transmitted, the presence and location of other physical objects can be ascertained by the drone on-board computer 323 . with respect to the feature of (3) measuring the speed and direction of the aerial drone 200 , this is accomplished in one or more embodiments of the present invention by taking readings from an on-board airspeed indicator (not depicted) on the aerial drone 200 and/or detecting movements to the control mechanisms (depicted in fig. 2 ) on the aerial drone 200 and/or the positioning system 151 discussed above. with respect to the feature of (4) providing any other inputs needed to safely control the movement of the aerial drone 200 , such inputs include, but are not limited to, control signals to fly the aerial drone 200 to land aerial drone 200 (e.g., to make an emergency landing), etc. also on aerial drone 200 in one or more embodiments of the present invention is a camera 326 , which is capable of sending still or moving visible light digital photographic images (and/or infrared light digital photographic images) to the drone on-board computer 323 . besides capturing images of pests as described herein, camera 326 is able to capture images of physical objects. these images can be used to determine the location of the aerial drone 200 (e.g., by matching to known landmarks), to sense other drones/obstacles, and/or to determine speed (by tracking changes to images passing by), as well as to receive visual images of pests as described herein. also on aerial drone 200 in one or more embodiments of the present invention are sensors 315 . examples of sensors 315 include, but are not limited to, air pressure gauges, microphones, barometers, chemical sensors, vibration sensors, etc., which detect a real-time operational condition of aerial drone 200 and/or an environment around aerial drone 200 . another example of a sensor from sensors 315 is a light sensor, which is able to detect light from other drones, street lights, home lights, etc., in order to ascertain the environment in which the aerial drone 200 is operating. also on aerial drone 200 in one or more embodiments of the present invention are lights 309 . lights 309 are activated by drone on-board computer 323 to provide visual warnings, alerts, etc. that is, once the aerial drone 200 detects a certain type of pest(s), an alert light (e.g., an intense flashing light) may be displayed by lights 309 , warning persons of the proximity of the pest(s). also on aerial drone 200 in one or more embodiments of the present invention is a speaker 311 . speaker 311 is used by drone on-board computer 323 to provide aural warnings, alerts, etc. that is, once the aerial drone 200 detects a certain type of pest(s), an aural alert (e.g., an intense warning sound broadcast by speaker 311 on the aerial drone 200 ) may be sounded, warning persons of the proximity of the pest(s). also on aerial drone 200 in one or more embodiments of the present invention are environmental sensors 317 , which sense an environment around a pest being monitored. examples of environmental sensors 317 include, but are not limited to, cameras (that capture a visual image of an environment around a pest being tracked), chemical sensors (that capture ambient scents around the pest being tracked), microphones (that capture ambient sounds around the pest being tracked), positioning sensors (e.g., gps-based devices that determine a geophysical location of the pest being tracked), etc. with reference now to fig. 4 , an exemplary aerial drone 400 (analogous to aerial drone 200 shown in fig. 2 and fig. 3 ) is depicted in use according to one or more embodiments of the present invention. aerial drone 400 has a pest sensor, an environmental sensor, a drone on-board computer, and a pest abatement mechanism. as described herein, the pest sensor and the environmental sensor may be a same sensor, or may utilize different embodiments of a same depicted sensor. for example, the pest sensor may be a combination of one or more of the camera 326 , the chemical sensor 404 (i.e., a sensor hardware device capable of detecting airborne chemicals), and the microphone 406 depicted in fig. 4 . as such, this pest sensor is directed to a particular pest, such as airborne pests 408 (e.g., a swarm of wasps), or a terrestrial pest 412 (e.g., one or more rats or other rodents), and detects emissions from the pest. examples of such emissions include, but are not limited to, light reflections (i.e., a visual image of the pest, pests spoor such as fecal droppings, broken foliage, trails, etc.), chemical emissions (i.e., pheromones, urine and feces odors), and/or sound emissions (vocalizations, movement sounds, etc.) similarly, the environmental sensor may be a combination of one or more of the camera 326 , the chemical sensor 404 , the microphone 406 , and the positioning sensor 353 depicted in fig. 4 . as such, this environmental sensor is directed to an environment (i.e., the space surrounding the pest being monitored/tracked by the pest sensor) around the particular pest or a home of the pest, such as pest nest 410 . the drone on-board computer 423 identifies a pest type of the pest based on the emission from the pest, and also establishes a risk level posed by the presence of the pest based on the pest type and the environment of the pest. examples of pest abatement mechanism 402 include mechanical, chemical, aural, light, and other abatement mechanisms. for example, pest abatement mechanism 402 may be the combination of reservoir 234 , pump 232 , and nozzle 230 shown in fig. 2 for spraying water, pesticide, etc. on the pest in order to disturb or kill the pest (e.g., airborne pests 408 or terrestrial pest 412 ). in another embodiment, pest abatement mechanism 402 is a mechanical probe (not shown in the figures) or merely the body 202 or propeller 210 or camera support 228 shown in fig. 2 that can mechanically damage, knock off of an eave (in the case of a wasps' nest), etc. the pest nest 410 . in another embodiment, the pest abatement mechanism 402 may be the propeller 210 shown in fig. 2 , which generates sufficient wind to blow a flying pest (e.g., airborne pests 408 ) out of an area. in another embodiment, the pest abatement mechanism 402 may be the lights 309 shown in fig. 3 , which can strobe brightly enough to cause pests (for example, bats) to vacate the area. in another embodiment, the pest abatement mechanism 402 may be the speaker 311 shown in fig. 3 , which emits a high pitched (e.g., above human hearing range) sound that causes the pest to leave the area. for example, assume that the drone on-board computer 423 , based on pest sensors, determines that the pest being monitored is a venomous insect having no useful agricultural purpose (e.g., a wasp but not a bee). assume further that the wasp is identified as being next to a children's playground (and not in the middle of uninhabited woods). as such, the drone on-board computer 423 will determine that this wasp (or swarm of wasps) poses a threat to the children on the playground, and will take steps to abate (i.e., remove) the threat posed by the wasp(s). thus, the drone on-board computer 423 will initiate a pest abatement of the pest based on the pest type and the risk level posed by the presence of the pest. examples of such pest abatement include killing the wasp(s) (e.g., by spraying a pesticide stored in the reservoir 234 shown in fig. 2 ); physically forcing the wasp(s) to leave the area (e.g., by maneuvering the aerial drone 400 so close to the wasp(s) that they are encouraged to leave the area); spraying a non-toxic irritant at the wasp(s) (e.g., water from reservoir 234 that will annoy, but not kill, the wasp(s), thus encouraging them to leave the area); luring the wasp(s) to a trap (e.g., by applying a trail of attractive pheromones from reservoir 234 to a trap 414 that captures the wasp(s)); etc. while the pests depicted in fig. 4 represent terrestrial pests (e.g., wasps, rats, etc.), the present invention can also be utilized in abating aquatic pests, such as algae blooms, invasive species of fish, etc. for example, if aerial drone 400 detects an algae bloom (by camera 326 detecting a change to water color), then remedial steps can be implemented. exemplary remedial steps include, but are not limited to, notifying a local environmental agency, applying (from pest abatement mechanism 402 ) a product that suppresses the algae bloom to the water, etc. with reference now to fig. 5 , a high level flow chart of one or more steps performed by one or more processors and/or other hardware devices to abate the presence of a pest is presented. a pest is defined as any non-human biological creature predetermined to be unduly harmful (beyond a standard set by the entity making the predetermination) to persons, to domesticated animals, and/or to the environment. such pests include, but are not limited to, venomous insects, rats, snakes, etc. after initiator block 501 , a pest sensor (e.g., camera 326 , chemical sensor 404 , microphone 406 , etc. shown in fig. 4 ) on an aerial drone (e.g., aerial drone 400 shown in fig. 4 ) senses a pest (e.g., insect(s) such as airborne pests 408 , vermin such as rats depicted in fig. 4 as terrestrial pest 412 , etc.), as described in block 503 . as described in block 505 , a drone on-board computer (e.g., drone on-board computer 423 shown in fig. 4 ), based on sensor readings from environmental sensors (e.g., camera 326 , chemical sensor 404 , microphone 406 , positioning sensor 353 shown in fig. 4 ) on the aerial drone determines an environment of the pest. this environment includes, but is not limited to, the geophysical location of the pest, organisms (e.g., crops, persons, pets, etc.) near the pest, designed purpose of the area around the pest (e.g., a playground versus a factory versus an isolated forest), a specific part of a house (e.g., the attic, backyard, garage, etc.), etc. as described in block 507 , the drone on-board computer identifies a pest type of the pest based on the emission from the pest. this emission may be visual (i.e., light reflected off the pest—i.e., a visual image), chemical (e.g., scents of pheromones, urea, feces, etc. coming off the pest), auditory (e.g., vocalizations or movement sounds generated by the pest), etc. the drone on-board computer digitizes such sensor readings of the pest emissions, and compares the digitized sensor readings with a database of known types of pests in order to identify the pest currently being tracked. as described in block 509 , the drone on-board computer establishes a risk level posed by the presence of the pest based on the pest type and the environment of the pest. that is, the drone on-board computer may enter keywords such as “wasp” and “playground” into a lookup table. the lookup table would then return a value of “high risk level” based on these inputs. as described in block 511 , the aerial drone utilizes the pest abatement mechanism 402 shown in fig. 4 to initiate a pest abatement of the pest based on the pest type and the risk level posed by the presence of the pest. this pest abatement may be to kill the pest, to force the pest to move to another location, to lure the pest to a trap, etc. as described herein. the flow chart ends at terminator block 513 . thus, in an embodiment of the present invention, the pest sensor is a camera (e.g., camera 326 ), and the emission from the pest is a visual image of the pest (i.e., light being reflected off the pest and captured by the camera), such that the visual image of the pest is captured by the camera. in an embodiment of the present invention, the visual image of the pest captured by the camera is transmitted from the aerial drone to a display used by a user. for example, a user may be using computer 101 shown in fig. 1 . the drone on-board computer 123 shown in fig. 1 will transmit (e.g., stream in real time) images of the pest to the user, thus allowing the user to be part of the abatement process. for example, in an embodiment of the present invention, authorization from the user to complete the pest abatement must be received by the aerial drone before completing the pest abatement. thus, the user will send an authorization code from the computer 101 to the drone on-board computer 123 1) to authorize the pest abatement mechanism 402 to abate the pest problem (e.g., by killing the pest, chasing the pest away, luring the pest to a trap, etc.), and/or 2) to select which type of pest abatement is used (kill, chase, lure, etc.). in an embodiment of the present invention, the pest sensor is a chemical sensor, and the emission from the pest is a pheromone indicative of a state of the pest. for example, certain types of wasps emit a first type of pheromone when they are merely foraging for food, and a second type of pheromone when they are prompted to aggression. as such, different types of abatement are appropriate. that is, if the wasps are merely foraging for food, then they could be sprayed with water from reservoir 234 (shown in fig. 2 ) in order to encourage them to leave the area. however, if they are already in an aggressive and thus dangerous state, then they would be killed by spraying insecticide from reservoir 234 . thus, the chemical sensor on the aerial drone detects the pheromone being emitted from the pest, and the aerial drone adjusts the type of pest abatement performed by the pest abatement mechanism based on the pheromone being emitted from the pest. in an embodiment of the present invention, the pest sensor is a microphone (e.g., microphone 406 shown in fig. 4 ), and the emission from the pest is a sound generated by the pest (e.g., a vocalization such as squeaking by a rat, noise movement such as the buzz of wasps' wings, etc.). in such an embodiment, the drone on-board computer classifies a sound type of the sound being picked up. the sound type is associated with a particular type of pest behavior. for example, one type of rat vocalization may indicate normal foraging, while another type of rat vocalization may indicate intense aggression. as such, the drone on-board computer will direct the pest abatement mechanism to adjust the pest abatement of the pest based on the sound type of the sound generated by the pest. in an embodiment of the present invention, a camera (e.g., camera 326 shown in fig. 3 ) on the aerial drone detects a pest nest (e.g., pest nest 410 shown in fig. 4 ) of the pest. in response to detecting the pest nest, the pest abatement mechanism (pest abatement mechanism 402 ) destroys the pest nest using mechanical or chemical means (described above). in an embodiment of the present invention, a pesticide dispenser (e.g., a combination of reservoir 234 , pump 232 , and nozzle 230 shown in fig. 2 ) performs the pest abatement by applying pesticide to the pest. in an embodiment of the present invention, a chemical lure dispenser (e.g., a combination of reservoir 234 , pump 232 , and nozzle 230 shown in fig. 2 ) performs the pest abatement by applying a trail of chemical lure to a pest trap. in an embodiment of the present invention, the pest is one or more insects from a group of insects consisting of wasps, hornets, scorpions, locusts, carpenter ants, termites, cockroaches, ticks, and yellow jackets. in an embodiment of the present invention, the pest is one or more mammals from a group of mammals consisting of mice, rats, opossums, and skunks. in an embodiment of the present invention, the pest is one or more reptiles from a group of reptiles consisting of snakes, lizards, venomous toads, etc. in an embodiment of the present invention, the pest is an insect that is part of an insect swarm (e.g., the depicted airborne pests 408 shown in fig. 4 ). in this embodiment, the aerial drone-based method may further detect, by the aerial drone, a behavioral pattern of insect swarm, where the behavioral pattern includes insect swarming movement indicative of aggressive behavior, insect swarm density changes, and flight patterns of the insect swarm towards a pest nest. the aerial drone will then adjust the pest abatement according to the behavioral pattern of the insect swarm. that is rather than just comparing the movement, pheromones, etc. of a single flying insect, this embodiment evaluates the movement, pheromones, etc. of an entire swarm of flying insects. such swarms have characteristic shapes, movement, etc. that are compared to known swarm traits, in order to determine if the swarm if in an aggressive attack mode, is merely flying back to their hive, is merely foraging for food, etc. based on this determination, the type of pest abatement is adjusted accordingly. thus, described in various embodiments herein is a method and system that includes and/or utilizes a smart flying drone with image capture and analysis capabilities and a means for insect identification (id) estimation (i.e. insect identification, insect behavior identification, and/or hive identification). based on these means of id estimation and risk estimation, a pest abatement mechanism for pest extermination or amelioration is triggered. one benefit of the invention presented herein is that a human is less likely to be stung or otherwise be adversely affected, as may be the case if a human must climb a ladder to reach a pest nest (e.g., a wasp nest). also, the present invention allows insect extermination in hard-to-reach places, such as crawl spaces, between walls, in tight attics, in confined spaces such as storage silos and storage tanks, etc. the smart drone presented herein can also ensure that a pesticide residue or application does not exceed a standard. therefore, the environment is less likely to be polluted, and an operator is less likely to be poisoned. furthermore, in one embodiment, the smart flying drone is a tiny drone with a camera that can scout for insects and hives within the wall of a home or business. the images taken by the aerial/flying drone optionally may be relayed to a drone operator and/or stored for historical information or other purposes. as described herein, a means of risk r determination may be employed (e.g., possible danger to home, humans, or pets). for example, some insects are more dangerous than others. asian giant hornets have one of the most venomous stings recorded, and like other types of hornets/wasps, they can sting multiple times, thus making them particularly dangerous. thus, when the presently described system detects such dangerous pests, special care (e.g., immediate spraying with a pesticide) is taken. the risk r determination can also include an estimate of the type and numbers of insects, a size of a nest (indicating how many pests are in the area), a time of day (e.g., most insects tend to be more docile at night than in the daytime, and thus, different abatement procedures are implemented at night as compared to the daytime), swarming behavior, etc. the means of extermination may include insecticide (e.g. spray), mechanical destruction, trapping, or luring to a trap using an insect attractant, etc. as described herein. in an embodiment of the present invention, before a drone takes an extermination action, it must wait for confirmation from a human operator and/or enlist other drones to increase confidence levels and when such other drones have appropriate extermination features. for example, assume that a particular aerial drone has a 70% confidence level that a pest swarm being observed warrants being sprayed with a pesticide from that aerial drone, and that there is a 50% chance that the particular aerial drone spraying the swarm will eradicate it. in order to increase these confidence levels, this first aerial drone will call for (i.e., send a message to other aerial drones in the area) other aerial drones to come to where the first aerial drone is in order to 1) confirm the type and state of insects in the swarm, and 2) assist the first aerial drone in the spraying operations, in order to wipe out the swarm. in an embodiment of the present invention, the aerial drone has a means of tracking (e.g., following) insects, in order to find a nest or area of ingress to a home through a hole. for example, the aerial drone may wait until dusk, when many types of inspects return to their nests, and then follow the insects as they fly to a hole in a building, a tree or the ground (e.g., for ground wasps). alternately, the aerial drone may wait until daybreak to track the return of nocturnal animals to attics or eaves (e.g., for bats) or other locations such as trees or burrows. the aerial drone may also be programmed to follow a concentration gradient of insects towards areas of highest concentration (e.g., the nest). in some cases, the drone may seek to identify helpful insects (e.g., honeybees needed for pollination). in such cases, the drone may take a helpful action such as “doing no harm”, providing food or water, discouraging predators and parasites, etc. that is, many pests feed on the bees themselves, bee brood (for protein), sugar/corn syrup or pollen patties. the chances of these pests attacking hives are higher when food is scarce or when there are large apiaries of 40 or more hives. thus, the drone may spray food for the pests, in order to remove the motivation to attack the bee hives. when the drone finds and/or exterminates a pest nest (e.g., a wasp nest), it may optionally convey a signal to neighbors, farmers, etc. about possible dangers, to be alert for possible reoccurrence, and/or to inform them the job is done. that is, if the drone is spraying pesticide, a signal may be sent to cell phones within a certain area warning the users of the cell phones that pesticide spraying is occurring in the area. in an embodiment of the present invention, the use of the aerial drone reduces the possibility of polluting certain locations, like a nearby water supply. in this embodiment, the drone's sensors detect pests and/or pest nests near an environmentally sensitive area (e.g., a reservoir, or the location of an endangered animal/plant species). before a drone takes an extermination action near an environmentally sensitive area, it must request confirmation from a human operator, or refer to data regarding the environmentally sensitive area to discover whether pest abatement is allowed. if it is predetermined that certain levels of pesticide will have no adverse effects on the environmentally sensitive area, the drone may move forward with the extermination action. if it is determined that a higher level of pesticide is needed, but cannot be allowed, the drone may employ an alternate, non-polluting form of pest abatement. a high-definition camera, an image processor, and a main controller may be employed for insect analysis, hive analysis, etc. the image processor may be connected with the high-definition camera and used for performing picture processing on the potential insect/hive/swarming pictures to obtain pest types. if desired, according to this pest detecting system, the pest types can be automatically obtained to provide convenience for relevant agricultural management departments (or homeowners or exterminators) to invoke during returning of the unmanned aerial vehicle, so that pointed pest prevention and control measurements can be made. alternatively, the drone can be smart and take action. in some embodiments, an attractant (referred to as a “lure” herein) is used to attract pests. as just one example, the composition may include a volatile insect attractant chemical blend comprising acetic acid and one or more compounds selected from the short chain alcohol group chosen from among methyl-1-butanol, isobutanol, and 2-methyl-2-propanol; and one or more homo- or mono-terpene herbivore-induced plant volatiles chosen from among (e)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene, (z)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene, 4,8,12-trimethyl-1,3e,7e,11-tridecatetraene, trans-β-ocimene, ds-p-ocimene, iraws-a-ocimene, ds-a-ocimene, and any combination thereof. the composition may be useful to attract one or more insect species, including, but not limited to, wasps, hornets, and yellowjackets, to a location or trap. insect identification can be performed by one or more means. for example, insects may be identified by digital image progressing, pattern recognition and the theory of taxonomy. artificial neural networks (anns) and a support vector machine (svm) are used as pattern recognition methods for the identifications. similarly, other input parameters may be considered such as body shape and pattern characteristics, body eccentricity, color complexity, center of gravity of insect silhouette, etc. for example, a sample image (taken in real time of a pest) and a recognition image (of a known pest) may be input into a preprocess image, which contains common features of both images (e.g., size, color, shape, etc. of the pest). the common features are extracted in order to 1) recognize the type of pest, and 2) train the system to look for certain features in future pests, in order to recognize future presences of the pest. also, for some insect groups, wing outline can be used species identification. thus the drone presented herein may employ a program as the integral part of an automated system to identify insects based on wing outlines. this program includes two main functions: 1) outline digitization and elliptic fourier transformation, and 2) classifier model training by pattern recognition of support vector machines and model validation. the present invention may be implemented in one or more embodiments using cloud computer. nonetheless, it is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes a detailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachings recited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. rather, embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented in conjunction with any other type of computing environment now known or later developed. cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or interaction with a provider of the service. this cloud model may include at least five characteristics, at least three service models, and at least four deployment models. characteristics are as follows: on-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with the service's provider. broad network access: capabilities are available over a network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and pdas). resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to demand. there is a sense of location independence in that the consumer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter). rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elastically provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out and rapidly released to quickly scale in. to the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time. measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service. software as a service (saas): the capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure. the applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail). the consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings. platform as a service (paas): the capability provided to the consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages and tools supported by the provider. the consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting environment configurations. infrastructure as a service (iaas): the capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. the consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls). deployment models are as follows: private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for an organization. it may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises. community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations). it may be managed by the organizations or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises. public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services. hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between clouds). a cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus on statelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability. at the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising a network of interconnected nodes. referring now to fig. 6 , illustrative cloud computing environment 50 is depicted. as shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or more cloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used by cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (pda) or cellular telephone 54 a, desktop computer 54 b, laptop computer 54 c, and/or automobile computer system 54 n may communicate. nodes 10 may communicate with one another. they may be grouped (not shown) physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such as private, community, public, or hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combination thereof. this allows cloud computing environment 50 to offer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computing device. it is understood that the types of computing devices 54 a- 54 n shown in fig. 6 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes 10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type of computerized device over any type of network and/or network addressable connection (e.g., using a web browser). referring now to fig. 7 , a set of functional abstraction layers provided by cloud computing environment 50 ( fig. 6 ) is shown. it should be understood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shown in fig. 7 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of the invention are not limited thereto. as depicted, the following layers and corresponding functions are provided: hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and software components. examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61 ; risc (reduced instruction set computer) architecture based servers 62 ; servers 63 ; blade servers 64 ; storage devices 65 ; and networks and networking components 66 . in some embodiments, software components include network application server software 67 and database software 68 . virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which the following examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers 71 ; virtual storage 72 ; virtual networks 73 , including virtual private networks; virtual applications and operating systems 74 ; and virtual clients 75 . in one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions described below. resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement of computing resources and other resources that are utilized to perform tasks within the cloud computing environment. metering and pricing 82 provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloud computing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of these resources. in one example, these resources may comprise application software licenses. security provides identity verification for cloud consumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources. user portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment for consumers and system administrators. service level management 84 provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such that required service levels are met. service level agreement (sla) planning and fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated in accordance with an sla. workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which the cloud computing environment may be utilized. examples of workloads and functions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping and navigation 91 ; software development and lifecycle management 92 ; virtual classroom education delivery 93 ; data analytics processing 94 ; transaction processing 95 ; and drone control processing 96 . the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. as used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. it will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. the corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. the description of various embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the present invention in the form disclosed. many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. the embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the present invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. any methods described in the present disclosure may be implemented through the use of a vhdl (vhsic hardware description language) program and a vhdl chip. vhdl is an exemplary design-entry language for field programmable gate arrays (fpgas), application specific integrated circuits (asics), and other similar electronic devices. thus, any software-implemented method described herein may be emulated by a hardware-based vhdl program, which is then applied to a vhdl chip, such as a fpga. having thus described embodiments of the present invention of the present application in detail and by reference to illustrative embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention defined in the appended claims.
116-108-184-768-816	US	[ "US" ]	A63B69/00,A63B63/00	2018-06-13T00:00:00	2018	[ "A63" ]	portable baseball pitching target	a portable baseball/softball pitching target is disclosed. the portable baseball/softball pitching target has a single solitary exact target at which a baseball pitcher throws. the target can be adjusted left or right and/or in a height wise direction so that it can be moved to an exact spot allowing a pitcher to throw to an exact location. the target can be optionally moved remotely allowing the pitcher to practice pitching without having to approach the portable baseball pitching target. the target on the portable baseball pitching target can be moved using mechanical means or electrical means. the target dimensions can be adjusted to make the target smaller or larger. other optional features include a radar that allows a pitcher to track his/her speed, a remote control device that allows the target to be moved, and a baseball/softball home plate. the portable pitching target may be a part of a kit.	1 . a portable baseball/softball pitching target comprising one or more horizontal tracts, a telescoping vertical arm comprising at least two arms, and a target, said one or more horizontal tracts having a proximal side and a distal side, wherein said one or more horizontal tracts are perpendicular to said telescoping vertical arm, said one or more horizontal tracts operationally connected to a bottom of said telescoping vertical arm and said target connected to a top of said telescoping vertical arm, said telescoping vertical arm being able to move in a direction from the proximal side to the distal side or from the distal side to the proximal side of the one or more horizontal tracts, and said telescoping vertical arm being able to extend or contract in a direction along a length of said telescoping vertical arm and wherein said portable baseball/softball pitching target comprises a rope, chain or cable, said rope, chain or cable providing the means of moving the telescoping vertical arm in a direction from the proximal side of the one or more horizontal tracts to the distal side of the one or more horizontal tracts, or in a direction from the distal side of the one or more horizontal tracts to the proximal side of the one or more horizontal tracts, and wherein said rope, chain or cable being sufficiently long so that a pitcher does not have to move from where the pitcher pitches in order to move the target. 2 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 1 , further comprising a proximate stand that is attached to the proximate side of the one or more horizontal tracts, and a distal stand that is attached to the distal side of the one or more horizontal tracts. 3 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 1 , wherein the target further comprises flaps, said flaps being connected to an inside of said target and said flaps having an electronic system associated with the flaps that allows a recording and a storage of data related to a baseball or a softball that passes through said flaps. 4 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 2 , wherein the target further comprises flaps, said flaps being connected to an inside of said target and said flaps having an electronic system associated with the flaps that allows a recording and a storage of data related to a baseball or a softball that passes through said flaps. 5 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 1 , wherein the telescoping vertical arm contracts and extends to a height that is slightly below about 12″ to a height that is slightly above about 36″. 6 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 1 , wherein the portable baseball/softball pitching target comprises two horizontal tracts. 7 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 6 , wherein the portable baseball/softball pitching target further comprises a platform, said platform being a plane that accommodates the bottom of the telescoping vertical arm. 8 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 7 , wherein the platform slides along notches that run the length of the two horizontal tracts thereby moving the telescoping vertical arm in a direction from the proximal sides of the horizontal tracts to the distal sides of the horizontal tracts, or in a direction from the distal side of the horizontal tracts to the proximal side of the horizontal tracts. 9 . (canceled) 10 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 9 , wherein the portable baseball/softball pitching target comprises a chain and further comprising one or more sprockets, said one or more sprockets designed to accommodate said chain allowing the telescoping vertical arm to move in a direction from the proximal side of the one or more horizontal tracts to the distal side of the one or more horizontal tracts, or in a direction from the distal side of the one or more horizontal tracts to the proximal side of the one or more horizontal tracts. 11 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 1 , further comprising a motor, said motor configured to contract and extend the telescoping vertical arm. 12 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 11 , wherein the motor is remotely controlled. 13 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 1 , wherein the portable baseball/softball pitching target is a part of a kit. 14 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 1 , wherein the target can be removed from the top of said telescoping vertical arm and replaced by a second target. 15 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 1 , wherein the target is about a size of a catcher's mitt. 16 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 3 , wherein the recording and storage of data is on a computer, wherein said data can be accessed to evaluate a performance of a pitcher. 17 . a kit comprising a portable baseball/softball pitching target that comprises one or more horizontal tracts, a telescoping vertical arm that comprises at least two arms, and a target, said one or more horizontal tracts having a proximal side and a distal side, wherein said one or more horizontal tracts are perpendicular to said telescoping vertical arm, said one or more horizontal tracts operationally connected to a bottom of said telescoping vertical arm and said target connected to a top of said telescoping vertical arm, said telescoping vertical arm being able to move in a direction from the proximal side to the distal side or from the distal side to the proximal side of the one or more horizontal tracts, and said telescoping vertical arm being able to extend or contract in a direction along a length of said telescoping vertical arm, and wherein said portable baseball/softball pitching target comprises a rope, chain or cable, said rope, chain or cable providing the means of moving the telescoping vertical arm in a direction from the proximal side of the one or more horizontal tracts to the distal side of the one or more horizontal tracts, or in a direction from the distal side of the one or more horizontal tracts to the proximal side of the one or more horizontal tracts, and wherein said rope, chain or cable being sufficiently long so that a pitcher does not have to move from where the pitcher pitches in order to move the target wherein the kit further comprises one or more of a home plate, a netting catcher, and additional targets. 18 . the kit of claim 17 , further comprising one or more stand parts that can be attached to the proximal side and the distal side of the one or more horizontal tracts. 19 . the kit of claim 17 , further comprising one or more of a motor, a computer, stand parts, one or more sprockets, or a platform. 20 . a method of improving location of pitches of a pitcher comprising using the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 1 . 21 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target of claim 1 , wherein if the pitcher pulls on a left rope and releases a right rope, the target moves in a direction leftward and if the pitcher pulls on the right rope and releases the left rope, the target moves in a direction rightward.	background of the invention abner doubleday was reputed to have invented the game of baseball in cooperstown, n.y. in 1839. the rules of baseball, as they are currently known, were established by new yorkers in the 1840s. through the years, although the fundamental aspect of the game has remained largely the same, the advent of various technologies and physical changes have changed some aspects of the game. there have been some back and forth between rules that favor the offensive aspects of the game (e.g., hitting) versus those rules that favor the defensive aspects of the game (e.g., pitching and fielding). in the late 1800s players may have needed as many as nine balls to garner a walk (with the understanding that the batter could request where the pitcher pitch the ball). later, a strike zone was established so that a batter struck out if three pitches (untouched by the bat) were in the strike zone or a walk was garnered if four balls fell outside the strike zone. the strike zone or other change has taken place through the years depending on whether the offensive aspects or defensive aspects of the game were dominating. as an example, in 1961, roger maris famously broke babe ruth's season home run record of 60 (maris hit 61). baseball reacted to this offensive display by a rule change that increased the size of the strike zone. however, by the 1968 season, pitchers were able to use this change to their advantage in such a way that the defensive aspects of the game were now dominating the game. in 1968, there were 339 shutouts by pitchers in the major leagues, pitcher bob gibson had an era of 1.12 runs per game, and don drysdale pitched 58 straight innings of scoreless ball. thus, baseball again made a change to the game reducing the height of the pitching mound from a height of 15 inches to the height (and still current height) of 10 inches to once again aid the offensive aspects of the game. although the strike zone is laid out in the rules of baseball, the strike zone to a large extent relies on the judgment of umpires. one change that took place in baseball that many believe affected the size of the strike zone was a contract that major league baseball signed with the questec company in 2001 that pioneered virtual replay from real-time measurements in baseball. the use of the this technology allowed the league to more accurately evaluate umpires performance in baseball to determine their abilities to accurately and repetitively call balls and strikes based upon the strike zone. however, many also believe that the strike zone in 2002-2006 was larger and kept changing because umpires used the technology to adjust their strike zones. in any event, the strike zone on the whole was larger than in the previous five years because of the evaluation of officials using this technology. in 2009, a new system was instituted by major league baseball. this system was called the “zone evaluation” and the rule makers in baseball still believe that this new system will be a better way of grading umpires on their accuracy and ability to call games consistently and repetitively. although the rules of baseball change and the size of the strike zone has varied throughout time to either give advantages to the offense or the defense, it should be apparent that there is value to a pitcher that can throw a pitch with good velocity and to a given exact location. greg maddux, a pitcher who pitched from the 1980s to the 2000s, and is currently in the baseball hall of fame in cooperstown was known to have only mediocre velocity on his fastball but was known for his ability to throw to a location. he was one of the best pitchers from the late 20 th century amassing 366 wins, over 3000 strike outs and fewer than 1000 walks in his career. it was reported that a few of the reasons why he had such control over being able to throw the ball to an exact location was his work throwing a whiffle ball to his brother (thus learning how to throw a curve) and his work at throwing at an exact target in his childhood (thus learning location control). even after he became a pro, maddux continued to work on his ability to throw off speed pitches to a location. it is with greg maddux in mind that the present invention was developed. although there are available portable targets allowing one to practice throwing a baseball to a particular location, these portable targets tend to have other distractions in addition to the target to which one is to throw. having an exact and defined target that is approximately the size of a catcher's mitt (or possibly smaller) without additional distractions would be ideal and is one of the reasons the present invention was developed. brief summary of the invention the present invention relates to a portable baseball/softball pitching target. in one variation, the portable baseball/softball pitching target has a single solitary exact target at which a baseball pitcher throws. in an embodiment, the portable baseball pitching target can be adjusted in a width wise direction and/or a height wise direction so that it can be moved to an exact spot allowing a pitcher to throw to an exact location for height and an exact location in a leftward or rightward direction. in one embodiment, the target on the portable baseball pitching target can be moved remotely meaning that the pitcher can practice pitching without having to approach the portable baseball pitching target. the target on the portable baseball pitching target in one embodiment can be moved in a manner that uses mechanical means or in a manner that combines a mechanical means with an electrical means. in an embodiment, the target dimensions can be adjusted to make the target smaller or larger. other embodiments of the present invention may include a radar that allows a pitcher to track his/her speed, remote control device that allows the target to be moved, a baseball/softball home plate (or baseball/softball home plate mimic). the present invention also relates to methods of improving a pitchers control by using the portable baseball pitching target of the present invention. brief description of the several views of the drawings fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the portable baseball pitching target as a pitcher would view it. fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the telescoping vertical arm, the horizontal tract, and the chain in one embodiment of the invention. fig. 3 shows another perspective view of an embodiment of the portable baseball pitching target as a pitcher would view it. fig. 4 shows a cross sectional area of the embodiment of fig. 3 . detailed description of the invention the present invention relates to a portable baseball/softball pitching target. in one variation, the portable baseball/softball pitching target has a single solitary exact target at which a baseball pitcher throws. in an embodiment, the portable baseball pitching target can be adjusted in a width wise direction and/or a height wise direction so that it can be moved to an exact spot allowing a pitcher to throw to an exact location for height and an exact location in a leftward or rightward direction. in one embodiment, the target on the portable baseball pitching target can be moved remotely meaning that the pitcher can practice pitching without having to approach the portable baseball pitching target. the target on the portable baseball pitching target in one embodiment can be moved in a manner that uses mechanical means or in a manner that combines a mechanical means with an electrical means. in an embodiment, the target dimensions can be adjusted to make the target smaller or larger. other embodiments of the present invention may include a radar that allows a pitcher to track his/her speed, remote control device that allows the target to be moved, a baseball/softball home plate (or baseball/softball home plate mimic). the present invention also relates to methods of improving a pitchers control by using the portable baseball pitching target of the present invention. the invention will now be described in reference to the figures. it should be understood that the embodiments that are shown are for illustrative purposes only and they are not meant to limit the invention. as shown in fig. 1 , the portable baseball/softball pitching target 1 is shown that has a horizontal tract 2 and a chain 3 . the portable baseball/softball pitching target 1 also has a motor 4 and telescoping vertical arm 5 comprising a lower telescoping vertical arm 5 b and an upper telescoping vertical arm 5 a . in the embodiment that is shown, at the top of upper telescoping vertical arm 5 a is attached to target 8 , which comprises flaps 9 and central target area 10 . it should be noted that although the upper telescoping vertical arm is shown with a smaller diameter of the cylindrically shaped arm so that it fits inside the lower telescoping vertical arm, it should be understood that the opposite is contemplated and therefore within the scope of the invention (i.e., the lower telescoping vertical arm has a smaller diameter than the upper telescoping vertical arm). it is also contemplated that there may be more than two telescoping vertical arm units. for example, it is contemplated and therefore within the scope of the invention that three arm units are in the telescoping vertical arm (i.e., a lower telescoping vertical arm, an intermediate telescoping vertical arm, and an upper telescoping vertical arm). in an embodiment, the lower telescoping vertical arm 5 b may have a hole in it that allows it to pass along the horizontal tract 2 in a rightward or leftward direction as is shown by horizontal double headed arrow 6 . the telescoping vertical arm 5 allow the target 8 to be lifted to a higher position or lowered to a lower position in a direction that is shown by vertical double headed arrow 7 . in an embodiment, motor 4 has the function of both moving the target in a horizontal direction as shown by horizontal double headed arrow 6 and in a vertical direction as shown by vertical double headed arrow 7 . in an embodiment, the chain may be used to move the telescoping vertical arm 5 using the chain 3 and one or more sprockets (not shown in fig. 1 ) that may allow the position of the target to be moved left or right (as shown by horizontal double headed arrow 6 ). similarly, the motor 4 may have the requisite parts to move (perhaps by hydraulics) the telescoping arms 5 a and 5 b so that the height of target 8 can be adjusted in an upward or downward manner as shown by vertical double headed arrow 7 . it should be noted that one or more sprockets may be present in the telescoping vertical arm or alternatively and/or additionally in the stands that may be associated with the apparatus. it should be understood that motor 4 may have a receiving device associated with it that allows one to remotely control both the leftward and rightward motion as shown by horizontal double headed arrow 6 and the upward and downward motion as shown by vertical double headed arrow 7 . thus, it should be understood that a remote control device may be associated with the portable baseball/softball pitching target 1 that allows the target 8 to be positioned remotely by a pitcher who is at a distance that the pitcher does not have to approach the portable baseball/softball pitching target 1 in order to move the target 8 to the desired position. with the target 8 , there may be flaps 9 associated with the target so that a pitcher that throws a ball at the flaps 9 see them move when the pitcher throws the ball through the flaps. in an embodiment, the central target area 10 may be of a size wherein the diameter is smaller than the ball that is thrown at it. that way, the flaps 9 are always touched (and moved) when a ball hits the target 8 . the flaps 9 may also have electronics associated with them that allow a pitcher to get feedback on the speed of the ball that traverses through the target 8 (and flaps). these electronics may also provide additional information to the pitcher such as the exact location that the pitch hit the flaps 9 . associated with the electronics may be a computer that allows for the storage of the data allowing the pitcher to see how he/she has pitched (e.g., velocity, location, spin) over a series of pitching workouts. the data may be stored temporally and accessed so that the pitcher can ascertain if he/she loses or gains velocity as he/she continues to pitch (for example, determining when the pitcher starts to tire or loosen up). similarly, the pitcher may also be able to ascertain the location of the pitches as he/she tires or loosens up. this data feedback will provide the pitcher with information that will make the pitcher better. for example, if the pitcher knows that he/she starts to throw the ball higher as he/she tires, the pitcher will focus on keeping the ball lower and adjust his/her mechanics accordingly as he/she begins to tire. in an embodiment, the telescoping vertical arm 5 are of a size that allows one to adjust the height of the target 8 so that the height of the target 8 is below or slightly below a typical batter's knees and alternatively the telescoping vertical arm 5 can be adjusted so that the height of the target is above a typical batter's waste. it should be understood that the height of the target should be adjustable to be outside of the strike zone of a batter so that a pitcher can practice throwing to those areas. in that way, the pitcher can practice throwing to an area that is an area where a batter would typically chase a pitch that is out of the strike zone. it should be noted that in one embodiment, the size of target 8 is approximately the size of a catcher's mitt. thus, a pitcher can practice hitting the exact target much as that pitcher would a catcher's mitt when pitching in an actual game. in an alternate embodiment, the target 8 may be larger than a catcher's mitt so that a pitcher may practice hitting the strike zone. it should be understood that with a larger target, the pitcher should be able to get more data available as more of the pitches will pass through the target 8 when practicing pitching. if electronics are associated with the flaps 9 , the pitcher will be able to ascertain a set of data that shows the location of all of his/her pitches. evaluation of the data sets will allow the pitcher to become better as the pitcher can work on different locations. it should be noted that the target 8 is different and superior from many of the other apparatuses of the prior art in that the target 8 is able to mimic the size of a catcher's mitt without having other distractions. for example, there are prior art devices that allow a pitcher to throw through a series of different holes on a given apparatus. these devices have the drawback of providing distractions to a pitcher. in contrast, the present invention has a single solitary target that a pitcher can/will focus on thereby providing an improved pitching apparatus. the pitching apparatus of the instant invention is superior because it has a small target at which a pitcher can throw allowing a pitcher to practice by “aiming small, missing small”. in contrast a pitcher that has a large target to throw at will not be as precise with his/her accuracy because the pitcher will only be concerned with hitting the large target. thus, the pitching device of the present invention will give better and more consistent results. fig. 2 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention. the lower telescoping vertical arm 5 b has three holes associated with it that allow passage of the horizontal tract 2 from one side of the lower telescoping vertical arm 5 b to the other side. the large hole 21 allows the passage of the horizontal tract through this lower telescoping vertical arm 5 b . similarly, there may be smaller holes 23 that allow passage of the chain from one side of the lower telescoping vertical arm 5 b to the other. inside the lower telescoping vertical arm 5 b there may be a sprocket (not shown) that allows the lower telescoping vertical arm 5 b to move along the horizontal tract 2 in one way or the other thereby also allowing target 8 (as shown in fig. 1 ) to move in a horizontal direction in either a leftward or rightward direction. although a motor is not shown in fig. 2 (but is shown in fig. 1 ) it should be understood that a motor may be present in the portable baseball/softball pitching target that facilitates the movement of the lower telescoping vertical arm 5 b in the leftward or rightward direction. the motor may not be present as shown in the location as in fig. 1 but may rather be at one or the other end of the horizontal tract. in an embodiment, the ends of the horizontal tract may have (a) stand(s) associated with it that stabilizes the horizontal tract. fig. 3 shows another embodiment of the portable baseball/softball pitching target 31 of the invention. in this embodiment, there are two horizontal tracts 32 a and 32 b associated with the portable baseball/softball pitching target 31 . the telescoping vertical arms 5 a and 5 b sit on platform 35 . platform 35 is designed so that it can slide along horizontal tracts 32 a and 32 b so that the target 38 can move in a direction towards or away from stand 34 a or stand 34 b . also associated with this embodiment, the portable baseball/softball pitching target 31 may have rope 33 associated with it that allows a pitcher to pull on the rope 33 to move the target. it should be understood that although this embodiment has rope 33 associated with it, the means of moving the target 38 can also be achieved by a chain (as in the embodiment shown in fig. 1 ) or by a motor using a rope or a chain. in an embodiment, the rope 33 may be sufficiently long so that a pitcher does not have to move in order to move the target 38 . as shown in fig. 3 , if the pitcher pulls on rope the left rope 33 a and releases right rope 33 b , the target moves in a direction towards left stand 34 a . similarly, by pulling on right rope 33 b and releasing left rope 33 a , the target 38 moves in a direction towards right stand 34 b . it should be understood that rope 33 is attached to platform 35 allowing platform 35 to move the target 38 and the telescoping vertical arms 5 a and 5 b (collectively, 5 ) that are attached to the platform 35 . in an embodiment there may be one continuous rope that goes from the left side of rope 33 a through the left stand 34 a to and through the platform 35 to the right stand 34 b and to right side of rope 33 b . alternatively, the rope 33 may be comprised of two ropes with both being attached to the platform. in this variation, there is both a left rope that goes from rope 33 a to and through left stand 34 a to platform 35 (where it is attached) and a right rope that goes from rope 33 b to and through right stand 34 b to platform 35 (where it is attached). having two ropes allows the pitcher to pull on either left rope 33 a or right rope 33 b to move target 38 in a side to side direction. stands 34 a and 34 b should be sufficiently long in length so as to stabilize the portable baseball/softball pitching target 31 so it does not fall over when target 38 is hit and/or when rope 33 is pulled by the pitcher. the length should be sufficient so that the torque that results from having the telescoping vertical arms 5 a and 5 b fully extended when a ball hits it does not topple the portable baseball/softball pitching target 31 . stands 34 a and 34 b should also be sufficiently tall in height so that the height of target 38 is set appropriately to go from just outside and below the knees of a strikezone to the shoulders of a batter above a typical strikezone. it should be noted that the telescoping vertical arms 5 a and 5 b are shown with two arms, the lower telescoping vertical arm 5 b and the upper telescoping vertical arm 5 a . it should, however, be noted that more than two telescoping vertical arm units are contemplated as being part of the inventive concept. in the embodiment shown, there are no flaps shown with the target 38 but it should be understood that those flaps may be present. similarly, there is no motor shown in the embodiment but it should be understood that a motor may be present that is able to move the target up and down and side to side. as in the previous embodiment, the target 38 may also have electronics associated with it that allows a pitcher to ascertain relevant data regarding the pitches that the pitcher throws (e.g., velocity, location, spin rate, etc.). a computer or other data storage and processing device may also be associated with the portable baseball/softball pitching target 31 that allows a pitcher access to the stored data and the ability to process said stored data. it should be noted that a “computer” herein may also include a smart phone (with applications), a tablet, or any other electronic device upon which data can typically be stored. fig. 4 shows a cross sectional view of the horizontal tracts 32 a and 32 b and the platform 35 . it should be noted that platform is able to slide along notches 43 a and 43 b that run the length of horizontal tracts 32 a and 32 b . in an embodiment, the platform 35 and the horizontal tracts 32 a and 32 b may be made of metal. to facilitate the sliding of platform 35 from one side of the horizontal tracts 32 a and 32 b to the other, there may be oil or a silicone based lubricant associated with the horizontal tracts 32 a and 32 b that eases sliding of the platform. it should be understood that other means of facilitating the sliding of the platform may be used such as ball bearings and/or other lubricants. in alternate embodiments, the platform may be made of a hard plastic or any other material that demonstrates sufficient structural strength so as to be sufficiently rigid without being prone to breaking. in fig. 4 , there may also be a hole 42 that runs the length of the platform 35 that allows entry of a rope or chain (such as rope 33 as shown in fig. 3 ). it should be noted that although embodiments with a rope and a chain have been shown, a chord or cable are also contemplated and may also be used as potential means of manually being able to move the telescoping arm of the instant apparatus (e.g., using the apparatus which comprises the platform or one that does not). in an embodiment, the portable baseball/softball pitching target 1 may be a part of a kit. the kit may contain additional items such as a computer (or some data storing means) that are able to store data that results from pitches hitting the flaps 9 . the kit may also contain a home plate that allows a pitcher to place it in front of the portable baseball/softball pitching target so that the pitcher even has a more realistic experience when practicing pitching. the kit may also have a netting catcher that is rather large that and is placed behind the portable baseball/softball pitching target 1 that is able to allow the gathering of balls that are thrown at the portable baseball/softball pitching target 1 . this netting catcher device may also have electronics associated with it that allows a pitcher to be able to tally the number of pitches thrown. with this netting catcher device, a pitcher can compare the data of balls that pass through target 8 to the balls that are “caught” in the netting catcher allowing the pitcher to ascertain what percentage of balls thrown pass through the target 8 . the kit may also have a number of replaceable targets 8 that allow a pitcher to vary the size of the target. the targets 8 in all cases may have electronics associated with them (e.g., the flaps 9 ) that allow one to gather data relating to the pitches hitting the target (as discussed herein). in an embodiment, the kit may have additional different targets that can be used for other sports. for example, the apparatus of the present invention may be adapted so that a different target is placed that allows one that plays american football to throw a football at said target. in this instance, the target might be significantly larger to accommodate a quarterback that is practicing throwing to a wide receiver. in this variation, the telescoping vertical arm might be needed to accommodate a higher target area. thus, in this variation, one might need more than two telescoping vertical arms. similarly, because the weight of an american football is more than a baseball, the stand may have to be longer to accommodate greater torque when a football hits the target. thus, in one embodiment, it is contemplated that additional different stands may be present that can be substituted out with the stands that are used with the apparatus when used for baseball or softball pitchers. in an embodiment, a kit may also comprise a different target that may be changed so that it can accommodate a flying disc (e.g., a frisbee™, wham-o) that an ultimate, disc guts, or a disc golf player throws at the target. in an embodiment, the portable baseball/softball pitching target comprises one or more horizontal tracts that comprise a proximate side and a distal side of the one or more horizontal tracts, with each side optionally attached to stands on each side of the horizontal tract. the horizontal tract is operationally connected perpendicularly to a lower telescoping vertical arm which is a part of two or more telescoping vertical arms. the telescoping vertical arm is able to be extended and contracted so that a target attached to the upper telescoping vertical arm is respectively raised and lowered. the telescoping vertical arm that is operationally connected to the one or more horizontal tracts are able to slide along the one or more horizontal tracts thus allowing the telescoping vertical arms to travel in a direction towards either the proximate side or the distal side (or away from the proximate or the distal side) of the one or more horizontal tracts. that is, the telescoping vertical arms are able to slide along the one or more horizontal tracts towards or away from the distal side and towards or away from the proximate side of the one or more horizontal tracts. in an embodiment, a motor may be associated with the portable baseball/softball pitching target that moves the telescoping vertical arm along the one or more horizontal tracts and/or moves the telescoping vertical arm so that it is extended or contracted consequently raising or lowering a target attached to the upper side of the upper telescoping vertical arm. in an embodiment, the motor is able to move the telescoping vertical arm both horizontally (along the one or more horizontal tracts) and vertically (so that the telescoping arm extends and contracts). in an embodiment, the telescoping vertical arm may extend or contract by use of hydraulics. in a variation, the motor may also have associated with it a receiver that allows a pitcher to remotely control the motor. in an embodiment, a motor may not be associated with the portable baseball/softball pitching target but rather the telescoping vertical arms can be moved manually by the pitcher. in an embodiment, the present invention relates to a portable baseball/softball pitching target comprising one or more horizontal tracts, a telescoping vertical arm comprising at least two arms, and a target, said one or more horizontal tracts having a proximal side(s) and a distal side(s), wherein said one or more horizontal tracts are perpendicular to said telescoping vertical arm, said one or more horizontal tracts operationally connected to a bottom of said telescoping vertical arm and said target connected to a top of said telescoping vertical arm, said telescoping vertical arm being able to move in a direction from the proximal side(s) to the distal side(s) or from the distal side(s) to the proximal side(s) of the one or more horizontal tracts, and said telescoping vertical arm being able to extend or contract in a direction along a length of said telescoping vertical arm. in a variation, the portable baseball/softball pitching target further comprises a proximate stand that is attached to the proximate side(s) of the one or more horizontal tracts, and a distal stand that is attached to the distal side(s) of the one or more horizontal tracts. in a variation, the portable baseball/softball pitching target has a target that further comprises flaps, said flaps being connected to an inside of said target and said flaps having an electronic system associated with the flaps that allows a recording and a storage of data related to a baseball or a softball that passes through said flaps. in a variation, the electronic system associated with the flaps that allows a recording and a storage of data related to a baseball or a softball that passes through said flaps allows a pitcher to determine velocity, exact location, and/or spin rate of a baseball of softball. in an embodiment, the portable baseball/softball pitching target comprises a telescoping vertical arm that contracts and extends to a height that is slightly below about 6″ to a height that is slightly above about 60″. alternatively, the telescoping vertical arm that contracts and extends to a height that is slightly below about 10″ to a height that is slightly above about 48″. alternatively, the telescoping vertical arm that contracts and extends to a height that is slightly below about 12″ to a height that is slightly above about 36″. in an embodiment, the portable baseball/softball pitching target comprises two horizontal tracts. in a variation, the portable baseball/softball pitching target further comprises a platform, said platform being a plane that is attached to and accommodates the bottom of the telescoping vertical arm. in a variation, the bottom of the telescoping vertical arm is attached in the middle of the plane. the means of attachment may include nuts and bolts, welding, or soldering, or alternatively, it may have been produced by in a mold (for example, iron casting mold or plastic molding depending on the material that is used). in an embodiment, the portable baseball/softball pitching target is designed to have the platform slide along notches that run the length of the two horizontal tracts thereby moving the telescoping vertical arm in a direction from the proximal sides of the horizontal tracts to the distal sides of the horizontal tracts, or vice versa. in an embodiment, the portable baseball/softball pitching target may further comprise a rope or chain, said rope or chain providing the means of moving the telescoping vertical arm in a direction from the proximal side(s) of the one or more horizontal tracts to the distal side(s) of the one or more horizontal tracts, or vice versa. in an embodiment, the portable baseball/softball pitching target comprises a chain and further comprises one or more sprockets, the one or more sprockets designed to accommodate the chain allowing the telescoping vertical arm to move in a direction from the proximal side(s) of the one or more horizontal tracts to the distal side(s) of the one or more horizontal tracts, or vice versa. in a variation, the portable baseball/softball pitching target further comprises a motor, the motor configured to move the telescoping vertical arm in a direction from the proximal side(s) of the one or more horizontal tracts to the distal side(s) of the one or more horizontal tracts, or vice versa, and/or to contract and extend the telescoping vertical arm thereby moving the target in a left or right direction and an up and down direction. in an embodiment the motor of the portable baseball/softball pitching target is remotely controlled. in an embodiment, the portable baseball/softball pitching target is a part of a kit. in an embodiment, the target in the portable baseball/softball pitching target can be removed from the top of said telescoping vertical arm and replaced by a second target. the second target may be any of the targets mentioned herein. the targets may have electronics associated with the targets. the electronics may record and aid in storing data from a pitch thrown by a pitcher. it is contemplated and therefore within the scope of the invention that data may be stored and recorded locally or remotely by a computer. in an embodiment, the target in the portable baseball/softball pitching target is about the size of a catcher's mitt. the size is between about 29″-36″ in circumference. in a variation, the portable baseball/softball pitching target allows for recording and storage of data on a computer, and the data can be accessed to evaluate a performance of a pitcher. in an embodiment, the present invention relates to methods and kits said method using the portable baseball/softball pitching target comprised herein and said kit(s) that comprises a portable baseball/softball pitching target that has one or more horizontal tracts, a telescoping vertical arm that comprises at least two arms, and a target, the one or more horizontal tracts having a proximal side(s) and a distal side(s), wherein the one or more horizontal tracts are perpendicular to said telescoping vertical arm, said one or more horizontal tracts operationally connected to a bottom of said telescoping vertical arm and said target connected to a top of said telescoping vertical arm, said telescoping vertical arm being able to move in a direction from the proximal side(s) to the distal side(s) or from the distal side(s) to the proximal side(s) of the one or more horizontal tracts, and said telescoping vertical arm being able to extend or contract in a direction along a length of said telescoping vertical arm, wherein the kit further comprises one or more of a home plate, a netting catcher, and additional targets. in an embodiment, the kit may further comprise one or more stand parts that can be attached to the proximal side(s) and the distal side(s) of the one or more horizontal tracts. the stand parts may be of a dimension that provides stability and height allowing the target to attain the appropriate location for practicing pitching. in an embodiment, the kit may further comprise one or more of a motor, a computer, stand parts, a rope, a chain, one or more sprockets, or a platform. in an embodiment, the present invention relates to a method of improving location of pitches of a pitcher comprising using the portable baseball/softball pitching target as described herein. the method may further comprise a method of increasing velocity of a pitch by a pitcher. it should be understood that the present invention is not to be limited by the above description. modifications can be made to the above without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. it is contemplated and therefore within the scope of the present invention that any feature that is described above can be combined with any other feature that is described above (even if those features are not described together). moreover, it should be understood that the present invention contemplates and it is therefore within the scope of the invention that any element that is described can be omitted from the apparatus and/or methods of the present invention. in any event, the scope of protection to be afforded is to be determined by the claims which follow and the breadth of interpretation which the law allows.
117-280-919-689-213	KR	[ "US", "KR", "WO" ]	G08B13/14,B65D90/00,B65D90/22,E05B83/14,G07C9/00,B65D90/54,E05B47/00,B65D90/48,G01M3/32	2013-09-11T00:00:00	2013	[ "G08", "B65", "E05", "G07", "G01" ]	device for sealing container door and method for operating same	a device for sealing a container door are configured for the sake of a container security in such a way that the device for sealing a container door is installed at a locking device of a container door so as to detect if the container door is forcibly opened or closed by an unauthorized person during a container transportation from a freight-loaded place to a freight-unloaded place, and a result of such a detection is wirelessly transmitted to a container security system. the device for sealing a container door includes a main body, a locking member, a fixing unit, a stopper unit, a seal-release authentication unit, a holding unit, a seal-sensing unit, a led state display unit, a battery, and a control board.	1. a device for sealing a container door, comprising: a main body 10 on the upper end of which a guide hole 11 and a locking hole 12 are penetratingly formed; a locking member 20 which is installed on the main body 10 so as to slide vertically along the guide hole 11 , and which is provided on one end with a locking bar 21 that is inserted into a mechanical seal hole 2 a on the container door by moving in and out of the locking hole 12 ; a fixing unit which is installed inside the main body 10 , for fixing the locking member 20 when the locking bar 21 on the locking member 20 is inserted into the inside of the locking hole 12 , and of which one end protrudes out of the main body 10 so that the fixed state of the locking member 20 can be released through an operation by a user; a seal-release authentication unit which is installed on the main body 10 , for wirelessly communicating with a near field communication module carried by an outside user; a holding unit 60 which is installed inside the main body 10 so as to come into contact with or separate from a portion of the fixing unit by means of electrical energy, for fixing the fixing unit by coming into contact with the fixing unit so that a release operation of the fixing unit does not occur when the seal-release authentication is not carried out by the seal-release authentication unit, and for allowing a release operation of the fixing unit by separating from the fixing unit when the seal-release authentication is performed; a seal-sensing unit for sensing a locked and an open state of the locking member 20 , according to the vertical movement of the locking member 20 ; and a telecommunication module for wirelessly communicating, to an external security control server, the locked or the open state sensed by the seal-sensing unit; a stopper unit which is able to fix the locking member 20 with respect to the main body 10 if the locking member 20 moves upward of the main body 10 , and the locking bar 21 positions at a predetermined height of an outer portion of the locking hole 12 ; wherein the stopper unit comprises: a stopper bar 40 which includes at an end portion thereof a stop removing button 41 which is formed protruding outward of one side surface of the main body 10 , and is configured to slide in a lateral direction in response to a user's pressing action, wherein the stopper bar 40 includes a through hole 42 through which the locking member 20 passes, a stopper protrusion 43 which is formed protruding from an inner circumferential surface of the through hole 42 of the stopper bar 40 and is able to support the locking member 20 as it is inserted inside an engaging groove 23 formed concave at the locking member 20 , and a stopper spring 44 which is installed inside the main body 10 and is able to elastically support the stopper bar 40 with respect to the main body 10 . 2. the device of claim 1 , wherein the fixing unit comprises: a fixing bar 30 which includes at an end portion thereof a seal-release button 31 which is formed protruding outward of one side surface of the main body 10 , and is configured to slide in a lateral direction in response to a user's pressing action, wherein the fixing bar 30 includes a through hole 32 through which the locking member 20 passes; a coupling protrusion 33 which is formed at an inner circumferential surface of the through hole 32 of the fixing bar 30 and is able to fix the locking member 20 as it is inserted inside a coupling groove 22 formed at an outer circumferential surface of the locking member 20 ; and a fixing bar spring 34 which is installed inside the main body 10 and is able to elastically support the fixing bar 30 with respect to the main body 10 . 3. the device of claim 2 , wherein the coupling groove 22 and the coupling protrusion 33 are formed in ratchet tooth shapes. 4. the device of claim 1 , wherein the holding unit 60 comprises: a solenoid 61 which is installed inside the main body 10 and around which a coil is wound, wherein electric power is supplied thereto in response to a seal-release authorization; a plunger 62 which is installed in such a way to reciprocate by a predetermined distance with the aid of electromagnetic field generated by the solenoid 61 and is configured to contact with or separate from the fixing unit, thus fixing or unfixing the fixing unit; and a plunger spring 63 which is able to elastically support the plunger 62 with respect to the solenoid 61 . 5. the device of claim 1 , wherein the seal-sensing unit comprises: a sensing bar 51 which is installed horizontally movable at the top of the main body 10 , wherein an end portion thereof is formed protruding inward of the locking hole 12 , and when the locking bar 21 is inserted inside the locking hole 12 , the sensing bar 51 contacts with an outer surface of the locking bar 21 and slides in a horizontal direction; a sensor dog 52 which is installed extending downward at the sensing bar 51 and is configured to move together with the sensing bar 51 ; and a sensing switch 53 which is installed at a portion of the sensor dog 52 and contacts with or separates from the sensor dog 52 in response to the movement of the sensor dog 52 . 6. the device of claim 5 , wherein the sensor dog 52 is formed in a u-shape and is configured to elastically contact with the sensing switch 53 . 7. the device of claim 1 , wherein the seal-release authentication unit comprises: an authorization start button 71 which is installed exposed to the outside at the main body 10 and is configured to start a sealing authorization work in response to a user's operation; and a near field communication antenna 72 which is able to wirelessly communicate with a near field communication module that a user is carrying, when a sealing authorization work starts in response to an operation of the authorization start button 71 . 8. the device of claim 7 , wherein the near field communication module that the user is carrying is either a near field communication (nfc) module mounted at a portable mobile communication terminal or a nfc tag, and the near field communication antenna 72 is a nfc antenna. 9. the device of claim 1 , wherein a lower end portion of the locking hole 12 of the main body 10 is formed communicating with a drainage hole 13 formed passing through outward of the main body 10 . 10. the device of claim 1 , wherein the locking member 20 is formed in an inverted u-shaped bar type. 11. the device of claim 1 , further comprising: a battery 85 which is mounted at the main body 10 and is able to supply electric power; and a non-contact type reed sensor which is installed near the battery 85 and inside the main body 10 and is able to react in response to a magnetic substance provided at the battery 85 and detect if the battery 85 is randomly disassembled in the middle of operation. 12. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 1 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . 13. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 1 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . 14. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 1 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . 15. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 2 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . 16. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 3 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . 17. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 4 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . 18. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 5 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . 19. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 6 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . 20. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 7 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . 21. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 8 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . 22. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 9 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . 23. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 10 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . 24. a method for operating a device for sealing a container door of claim 11 , comprising: a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 .	related applications this application is a national phase of pct patent application no. pct/kr2013/008532 having international filing date of sep. 24, 2013, which claim the benefit of priority of korean patent application no. 10-2013-0109015 filed on sep. 11, 2013. the contents of the above applications are all incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein in their entirety. field and background of the invention the present invention relates to a device for sealing a container door, and in particular to a device for sealing a container and a method for operating the same, which are configured for the sake of a container security in such a way that the device for sealing a container door is installed at a locking device of a container door so as to detect if the container door is forcibly opened or closed by an unauthorized person during a container transportation from a freight-loaded place to a freight-unloaded place, and a result of such a detection is wirelessly transmitted to a container security system. the container is a box-shaped container used to efficiently and economically transport a predetermined freight. the container in general is called a freight container at the iso (international organization for standardization) and is called a cargo container at the ansi (american national standards institute). the freight transportation using a container may take months in terms of a transportation period via multiple stages, for example, a freight loading, a transportation using a truck, a gate-in, a shipping, a sailing, a disembark, a gate-out, a transportation using a truck, a freight unloading, etc. a mechanism for monitoring the safety of the container and its stuff is being considered a very important matter during a freight transportation procedure which is carried out using the container. in recent years, a wireless device is being employed, which is able to detect the opened or closed state of a container door so as to trace a corresponding container and recognize a sealed state and an inner state of the container, thus wirelessly transmitting a result of the detection to a server of the container security system. for an example, the korean patent registration number 1175173 describes a container security device wherein it is detachably attached to the opening and closing bars at both sides of a container, and an opened or closed state of the container is sensed, and a sensed opening and closing information is transmitted to a distant place, whereupon a sealed state of the container can be confirmed in real time, by means of which the container can be safely transported to a destination, and if the current position of the container during the transportation and the container deviate from a designated transportation route, the deviations thereof can be confirmed in real time. since the above-described container security device is designed to operate by only an electrical mechanism, an error may occur with a function for sensing a seal-release or a locking and unlocking operation of a sealing unit which may occur due to moisture or external impact. summary of the invention accordingly, the present invention is made in an effort to resolve the above-mentioned problems. it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for sealing a container door and an operation method for the same, which may allow to minimize any error with a sealing sensing and a locking and unlocking operation by minimizing any influence from moisture or external impact, and may allow to carry out a reliable sealing and security operation together with a simplified component configuration. to achieve the above objects, there is provided a device for sealing a container door, which may include, but is not limited to, a main body on the upper end of which a guide hole and a locking hole are penetratingly formed; a locking member, which is installed on the main body so as to slide vertically along the guide hole, and which is provided on one end with a locking bar that is inserted into a mechanical seal hole on the container door by moving in and out of the locking hole; a fixing unit, which is installed inside the main body, for fixing the locking member when the locking bar on the locking member is inserted into the inside of the locking hole, and of which one end protrudes out of the main body so that the fixed state of the locking member can be released through an operation by a user; a seal-release authentication unit, which is installed on the main body, for wirelessly communicating with a near field communication module carried by an outside user; a holding unit, which is installed inside the main body so as to come into contact with or separate from a portion of the fixing unit by means of electrical energy, for fixing the fixing unit by coming into contact with the fixing unit so that a release operation of the fixing unit does not occur when the seal-release authentication is not carried out by the seal-release authentication unit, and for allowing a release operation of the fixing unit by separating from the fixing unit when the seal-release authentication is performed; a seal-sensing unit for sensing a locked and an open state of the locking member, according to the vertical movement of the locking member; and a telecommunication module for wirelessly communicating, to an external security control server, the locked or the open state sensed by the seal-sensing unit. to achieve the above objects, there is provided a method for operating a device for sealing a container door, which may include, but is not limited to, a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar of a locking member descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole of the container door and a locking hole of a main body, and the locking member is fixed with respect to the main body; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member. the present invention has an effect on enhancing a container security in such a way that a container door is easily sealed, and a sealing state is detected in real time, and a result of the detection is transmitted to a security control server. the device for sealing a container door according to the present invention is able to minimize any influence due to water since water does not flow inside a locking hole as a drainage hole communicates with the locking hole of a main body and is able to prevent any error due to moisture and external impact in such a way that a seal-sensing unit is designed to operate based on a mechanical mechanism. since a main body can be removed from a container in such a way to break a locking member and separate the locking member from the main body without breaking the main body if an emergency situation occurs, whereupon if the locking member is damaged, only the damaged locking member can be changed, and the device of the present invention can be reused. brief description of the several views of the drawings fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a device for sealing a container door according to an embodiment of the present invention. fig. 2 is a partial perspective view illustrating a device for sealing a container door in fig. 1 when it is viewed from the backside of the device. fig. 3 is a plane view illustrating a device for sealing a container door in fig. 1 . fig. 4 is a front view illustrating a device for sealing a container door in fig. 1 . fig. 5 is a side view illustrating a device for sealing a container door in fig. 1 . fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line a-a in fig. 3 . fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along line b-b in fig. 4 . fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken along line c-c in fig. 4 . figs. 9, 10 and 11 are views wherein the cross section views in figs. 6 to 8 are illustrated together so as to continuously illustrate an operation state of a device for sealing a container door. description of specific embodiements of the invention the device for sealing a container door and a method for operating the same according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. figs. 1 to 11 are views illustrating a device for sealing a container door according to an embodiment of the present invention. the device for sealing a container door according to the present invention may include, but is not limited to, a main body 10 , a locking member 20 , a fixing unit, a stopper unit, a seal-release authentication unit, a holding unit 60 , a seal-sensing unit, a led state display unit 81 , a battery 85 , and a control board. the main body 10 is formed in a hollow cylindrical structure wherein a guide hole 11 and a locking hole 12 are formed, passing through an upper end portion of the main body 10 , in order for the locking member 20 to move upward and backward in the guide hole 11 and the locking hole 12 . a drainage hole 13 is formed at a rear portion of the main body 10 , while passing and extending to the outside of the main body 10 , in order for the water inputted inside the locking hole 12 not to gather inside the locking hole 12 as it communicates with a lower end portion of the locking hole 12 . a battery engaging unit 15 at which the battery 85 is engaged, and a card engaging unit (not illustrated) at which a usim (not illustrated) is engaged, are provided at a rear lower end portion of the main body 10 . the locking member 20 is formed in an inverted u-shaped bar structure. if the locking member 20 is formed in a structure wherein a left and right width is wide, it is advantageous to prevent any robbery since cutting the product is not easy. an upper end portion of the locking member 20 is formed bent at a right angle horizontal to the ground, and a locking bar 21 is formed a the end portion thereof, wherein the locking bar 21 is inserted in a sealing hole 2 a of a mechanical seal 2 a of the container door and comes out and goes in the locking hole 12 of the main body 10 . the locking bar 21 has a roughly circular cross section and is formed extending downward by a predetermined length from an upper end portion of the locking member 20 . a coupling groove 22 is formed at an intermediate portion of the locking member 20 inserted inside the main body 10 for the sake of an engagement to the fixing unit. an engaging groove 23 is formed concave at a lower portion of the locking member 20 for the sake of an engagement to the stopper unit. the coupling groove 22 is formed in a ratchet tooth type, and various types of the grooves may be employed. the fixing unit is installed inside the main body 10 , and a sealing can be carried out since the fixing unit fixes the locking member 20 when the locking bar 21 of the locking member 20 is inserted inside the locking hole 12 . when it needs to break the sealing, the fixed state may be removed in response to a user's pressing action. in this embodiment, the fixing unit may include, but is not limited to, a fixing bar 30 which is formed at an end portion thereof and equips with a seal-release button 31 protruding outward from a side surface of the main body and is configured in such a way that it can slide in a lateral direction in response to a user's pressing action, wherein two through holes 32 through which the locking member 20 pass, are passing through the fixing bar 30 ; a coupling protrusion 33 which is formed at an inner circumferential surface of the through hole 32 of the fixing bar 30 and is inserted inside the coupling groove 22 formed at an outer circumferential surface of the locking member 20 , thus fixing the locking member 20 ; and a fixing bar spring 34 which is installed inside the main body 10 and is able to elastically support the fixing bar 30 with respect to the main body 10 . the fixing bar 30 is formed in a long bar shape which is extending in a lateral direction of the main body 10 , and a holding groove 35 is formed at an end portion thereof, wherein a part of the holding unit 60 is inserted inside the holding groove 35 . the coupling protrusion 33 is formed in a ratchet tooth type which may correspond to the coupling groove 22 . if the locking member 20 descends, the coupling protrusion 33 will natural descend without being hooked by the coupling groove 22 , and if an upward movement force is applied to the locking member 20 , the coupling protrusion 33 is hooked by the coupling groove 22 , thus limiting the upward movement of the locking member 20 . the fixing bar spring 34 may be formed of a compression coil spring, and various types of springs can be employed. the stopper unit is configured to fix the locking member 20 with respect to the main body 10 when the locking member 20 moves upward of the main body 10 , and the locking bar 21 positions at a predetermined height of an outer portion of the locking hole 12 . in this embodiment, the stopper unit may include, but is not limited to, a stopper bar 40 which includes at an end portion thereof a stop removing button 41 which is formed protruding outward from a side surface of the main body 10 and is configured in such a way that it slides in a lateral direction in response to a user's pressing action, wherein two through holes 42 through which the locking member 20 pass, are passing through the stopper bar 40 in upward and downward directions; a stopper protrusion 43 which is formed protruding from an inner circumferential surface of the through hole 42 of the stopper bar 40 and is able to support the locking member 20 when it inserts inside the engaging groove 23 formed at a lower portion of the locking member 20 ; and a stopper spring 44 which is installed inside the main body 10 and is able to elastically support the stopper bar 40 with respect to the main body 10 . the seal-release authentication unit will carry out a user authorization in such a way to wirelessly communicate with a near field communication module that an external user is carrying. the seal-release authentication unit may include an authorization start button 71 which is installed exposed to the outside at a front surface of the main body 10 and may allow to start an authorization work in response to a user's action; and a near field communication antenna 72 which may allow to carry out a wireless communication with the near field communication module that the user is carrying, when the sealing authorization work starts in response to an operation of the authorization start button 71 . the near field communication module may be either a near field communication (nfc) module mounted at a portable mobile communication terminal or a nfc tag card. the near field communication antenna 72 may be formed of a nfc antenna. except for the above components, a near field communication module, for example, a rfid or a bluetooth, may be employed. the holding unit 60 is configured to carry out the operations wherein if a sealing authorization is not carried out by the seal-release authentication unit, it will fix the fixing bar 30 so as to interrupt the breaking operation of the fixing bar 30 after contacting with the fixing bar 30 of the fixing unit, and if the seal-release authorization is carried out, it will become spaced apart from the fixing bar 30 and will allow a breaking operation of the fixing bar 30 . in this embodiment, the holding unit 60 may include a solenoid 61 which is installed inside the main body 10 , wherein a coil is wound around, to which electric power is applied in response to a seal-release authorization; a plunger 62 which is installed movable reciprocating by a predetermined distance with the aid of electromagnetic field formed by the solenoid 61 and is able to fix or unfix the fixing bar 30 as it is inserted inside or separates from the holding groove 35 of the fixing bar 30 ; and a plunger spring 63 which is able to elastically support the plunger 62 with respect to the solenoid 61 . the seal-sensing unit is configured to carry out an operation wherein the locking or unlocking state by the locking member 20 as the locking member 20 moves upward or downward can be automatically detected, whereby it is possible to automatically detect if the locked state is removed by forcibly breaking the locking member 20 from the outside. the seal-sensing unit may include, but is not limited to, a sensing bar 51 which is installed horizontally movable at the top of the main body 10 , wherein an end portion thereof is formed protruding toward the inside of the locking groove 12 , whereby the sensing bar 51 can horizontally slide contacting with an outer surface of the locking bar 21 when the locking bar 21 is inserted inside the locking hole 12 ; a sensor dog 52 which is installed extending downward at the sensing bar 51 and is configured to move together with the sensing bar 51 ; and a sensing switch 53 which is installed at a portion of the sensor dog 52 and is configured to contact with or separate from the sensor dog 52 in response to the movement of the sensor dog 52 . the sensor dog 52 is formed in a u-shape, and is able to turn on or off the sensing switch 53 while elastically contacting with the sensing switch 53 . the sensing switch 53 may be formed of a tact switch. not illustrated in the drawings, on the control board are mounted a plurality of electronic components, for example, a telecommunication module (for example, a wcdma communication interface) which is able to wirelessly communicate a locking or open state detected by the seal-sensing unit with an external container security control server, a near field communication module which is connected to the near field communication antenna 72 , and a controller which is able to supply electric power to the led state display unit 81 and the solenoid 61 . the main body 10 may further include a usb (universal serial bus) port (not illustrated) to which a usb terminal can be connected to supply electric power to the battery 85 or connect an external device, for example, a computer, etc. the device for sealing a container door according to the present invention may be configured to collect position information by using a gnss (global navigation satellite system) and transmit an accurate position information to the distant security server in the middle of the operation. if an illegal seal-release occurs during the transportation of the container, the device for sealing a container door according to the present invention will transmit an alarm information including a place information where the sealing has been broken, to an external security control server with the aid of a distant communication function. moreover, a non-contact type magnetic sensor (a reed sensor) may be further installed at the battery engaging unit 15 of the main body 10 wherein the battery 85 is mounted. the non-contact type magnetic sensor is able to detect if the battery 85 is randomly disassembled in the middle of the operation, in such a way to react with a magnetic substance provided at the battery 85 , whereby any problem, for example, with the separation of the battery can be monitored in real time, and the problem can be reported to the external security control server. the operation of the device for sealing a container door according to the present invention will be described below. the method for operating a device for sealing a container door may include, but is not limited to, a step (a) wherein a sealing is carried out in such a way that a locking bar 21 of a locking member 20 descends and is inserted inside a mechanical seal hole 2 a of the container door and a locking hole 12 of a main body 10 , and the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 ; a step (b) wherein an operation where the sealing has been completed by the locking member 20 is wirelessly communicated with an external security control server via a telecommunication module, and an authorization information of a near field communication module, wherein a seal-release authorization is available, is received from an external security control server; a step (c) wherein a sealing state of the container door is wirelessly communicated with the external security control server in real time via the telecommunication module during the transportation of the container; a step (d) wherein the authorization information is confirmed for the sake of a seal-release in such a way to carry out a near field wireless communication between the near field communication module that a user is carrying, and the seal-release authentication unit when the container has arrived at the destination; a step (e) wherein if the authorization information is confirmed, the fixed state of the fixing unit is removed by supplying electric power to a holding unit 60 ; a step (f) wherein the fixed state of the locking member 20 is removed in such a way that the user operates the fixing unit; and a step (g) wherein the sealing is broken by ascending the locking member 20 . the method for operating a device for sealing a container door according to the present invention, which is formed of the above-described steps, will be described below. first, the locking member 20 moves upward of the main body 10 , and a lower end portion of the locking bar 21 is injected outside of the locking hole 12 . in this state, the sealing hole 1 a formed at the handle 1 of the container door is matched with the sealing hole 2 a of the mechanical seal 2 attached to an outer surface of the container door, and a lower end portion of the locking bar 21 is aligned with the upper portions of the sealing holes 1 a and 2 a. since the locking member 20 is being supported by the stopper bar 40 since the stopper protrusion 43 of the stopper bar 40 has been inserted in the engaging groove 23 of the locking member 20 , the locking member 20 may stay stably supported, not falling (refer to fig. 11 ). in this state, if the user presses the stop removing button 41 formed at an end portion of the stopper bar 40 , the stopper protrusion 43 of the stopper bar 40 will separate from the inside of the engaging groove 23 of the locking member 20 , and the locking member 20 will become free, and then the locking member 20 will fall. so, the locking bar 21 of the locking member 20 will insert inside the locking hole 12 formed at the top of the main body 10 via the sealing hole 2 a of the mechanical seal 2 . if the user presses downward the locking member 20 , and the locking bar 21 is inserted complete inside the locking hole 12 , the locking bar 21 will be inserted complete inside the locking hole while pushing the end of the sensing bar 51 of the seal-sensing unit which has been protruding inward of the locking hole 12 . since the locking bar 21 is inserted inside the locking hole 12 , and the sensing bar 51 slides inside the main body 10 , the sensor dog 52 will elastically pressurize the sensing switch 53 and will turn on the sensing switch 53 . if the sensing switch 53 is turned on, the control board will recognize that the locking member 20 has been in the locked state and will transmit an information thereon to the security control server via the telecommunication module. moreover, the controller will receive an authorization information of the near field communication module, which is able to authorize the sealing authorization, from the external security control server via the telecommunication module. if the locking member 20 descends, and the locking bar 21 is inserted complete inside the locking hole 12 , the coupling groove 22 of the locking member 20 will engage with the coupling protrusion 33 of the fixing bar 30 , by means of which the upward movement of the locking member 20 is limited, so the locking member 20 is fixed with respect to the main body 10 . here, the plunger 62 of the holding unit 60 will be elastically inserted inside the holding groove 35 of the fixing bar 30 , whereupon the lateral direction movement of the fixing bar 30 is limited (refer to fig. 9 ). if the locking member 20 is locked inside the main body 10 , and the sealing of the container door is completed, the container will be transported. while the container is being transported, the controller of the control board will transmit in real time a sealing state detected by the seal-sensing unit, to the container security control server with the aid of the telecommunication module. in the middle of the transportation of the container, if the locking member 20 is forcibly broken by a non-authorized person, and the locking bar 21 separates from the inside of the locking hole 12 , and the locked state is removed, the sensing bar 51 of the seal-sensing unit will horizontally move in the outward direction of the main body 10 , which is an opposite direction as compared to the previous operation, so the contact between the sensor dog 52 and the sensing switch 53 is removed, whereupon the controller will recognize that the sealed state has been broken and will report to the container control server. meanwhile, when the container arrives at the destination, and a user having an authorization information wants to break the sealed state, the user will press the authorization start button 71 and approach a portable mobile communication terminal, for example, a smart phone, etc. which is containing the authorization information, or an authorization card toward the main body 10 , a near field communication is made via the near field communication antenna 72 , and the authorization information will be transferred to the controller. if the user authorization information is confirmed using the near field communication, the controller will pull the plunger in such a way to supply electric power to the solenoid 61 . if the plunger 62 is pulled and separates toward the outside of the holding groove 35 of the fixing bar 30 , the fixing bar 30 will become free, so it can move in a lateral direction. in this state, if the user presses the seal-release button 31 of the fixing bar 30 which is protruding outward of the main body 10 , the fixing bar 30 will move in the lateral direction, and the coupling protrusion 33 of the fixing bar 30 and the coupling groove 22 of the locking member 20 will be spaced apart from each other, whereby the fixed state of the locking member 20 can be removed (refer to fig. 10 ). if the user moves upward the locking member 20 with one hand, with the other hand holding the main body 10 , the locking bar 21 comes out of the locking hole 12 , whereby the sealed state is broken (refer to fig. 11 ). the controller will report to the security control server using the telecommunication module that the sealing of the container has been normally broken. the device for sealing a container door according to the present invention is made in a simplified configuration, which makes it possible to easily seal the container door, and the sealing state is accurately detected, and a result of the detection is transmitted in real time to the security control server, by means of which the security of the container can be enhanced. in case of an emergency situation, the main body 10 can be removed from the container in such a way to separate the locking member 20 from the main body 20 after the locking member 20 has been broken, without breaking the main body 10 , and even when the locking member 20 is broken, only the broken locking member 20 can be changed, and the product can be reused. as the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described examples are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the meets and bounds of the claims, or equivalences of such meets and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims. industrial applicability the present invention can be applied to a sealing device or a locking device which is able to detect the opening or closing of a container door.
117-932-072-911-624	US	[ "HK", "US", "CN", "EP", "JP", "WO", "AU", "CA" ]	A61K/,B01D/,B01J/,C12P/,B01D15/16,B01D15/36,B01D15/38,B01J39/26,B01J41/20,C07K1/18,C07K16/00,A61K39/395,A61K39/44,B01J20/282,B01J39/08,C12P21/08,B01J39/18,C07K1/16	2015-04-10T00:00:00	2015	[ "A61", "B01", "C12", "C07" ]	methods for purifying heterodimeric multispecific antibodies from parental homodimeric antibody species	methods for purifying multispecific antibodies on interest (mais) that co-engage at least two different antigens or epitopes (also referred to targets, used interchangeably throughout), from compositions comprising the mai and parental homodimeric antibody species are provided, as well as reagents which may be used to practice such methods.	1. a method of purifying a multi specific antibody of interest (mai), wherein the mai comprises a heterodimer comprising a first heavy chain polypeptide comprising a first heavy chain variable region and a second heavy chain polypeptide comprising a second heavy chain variable region, wherein the first and the second variable regions have different antigen specificities and different isoelectric points, the method comprising: i) obtaining a composition comprising the mai, a first parental homodimeric antibody species comprising either at least one copy of the first heavy chain polypeptide or at least two copies of the first heavy chain polypeptide, and a second parental homodimeric antibody species comprising either at least one copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide or at least two copies of the second heavy chain polypeptide; and ii) performing ion exchange chromatography whereby the mai is separated from the first and the second parental homodimeric antibody species, wherein the performing step ii) comprises: a. contacting the composition with an ion exchange chromatographic material forming a composition-ion exchange chromatographic material complex, and preparing or equilibrating either: ai. the composition; or aii. the composition-ion exchange chromatographic material complex; in a first sample of an eluant at a desired starting ph prior to performing the elution, and b. performing an elution step wherein the ion exchange chromatographic material-composition complex is contacted with a sample of eluant, wherein the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents that each have a different negative log acid dissociation constant (pka), which agents are selected from either: bi. caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid and at least one salt; or bii. methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), hydroxylamine, and at least one salt; and c. flowing a volume of a second sample of the eluant that is prepared at a desired ending ph through the ion exchange chromatographic material-composition complex; wherein the mai, the first parental homodimeric antibody species, and the second parental homodimeric antibody species elute from the ion exchange chromatographic material in distinguishable elution volumes, allowing for the purification of the mai; and further wherein the method provides for the purification and separation of said mai from the first and second parental homodimeric antibody species when the difference in the isoelectric point between the first and the second variable regions is less than 0.5 ph units. 2. the method according to claim 1 , wherein a ph gradient is generated as the eluant flows through the ion exchange chromatographic material-composition complex. 3. the method according to claim 1 , with the proviso that the eluant does not include any of the following: imidazole, piperazine, or tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (tris). 4. the method according to claim 1 , wherein the eluant comprises at least one salt selected from the group consisting of nacl, kcl, and na 2 so 4 . 5. the method according to claim 1 , wherein the different isoelectric points are actual isoelectric points or calculated isoelectric points and either: a. the difference in the actual isoelectric point of the first heavy chain polypeptide and the actual isoelectric point of the second heavy chain polypeptide is less than 0.50 ph unit, less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit; less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values; b. the difference in the actual isoelectric point of the first parental homodimeric antibody species and the actual isoelectric point of the second parental homodimeric antibody species is less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit; less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values; c. the difference in the calculated isoelectric point of the first heavy chain polypeptide and the calculated isoelectric point of the second heavy chain polypeptide is less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit; less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values; or d. the difference in the calculated isoelectric point of the first parental homodimeric antibody species and the calculated isoelectric point of the second parental homodimeric antibody species is less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit; less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values. 6. the method according to claim 1 , wherein (i) the desired starting ph is less than 9.0; less than 8.5; less than 8.0; less than 7.5; less than 7.0; less than 6.5; less than 6.0; less than 5.5; less than 5.0; less than 4.5; less than 4.0; less than 3.5; or less than 3.0; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values; and/or (ii) the desired ending ph is more than 7.0; more than 7.5; more than 8.0; more than 8.5; more than 9.0; more than 9.5; more than 10.0; more than 10.5; more than 11.0; more than 11.5; more than 12.0; more than 12.5; more than 13.0; more than 13.5; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values. 7. the method according to claim 1 , wherein the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents and wherein the acid dissociation constant (pka) of each buffering agent is between about 3 and 11. 8. the method according to claim 1 , wherein the mai further comprises (i) a third polypeptide comprising a first light chain variable region; or (ii) a third polypeptide and a fourth polypeptide, each of which comprises a second light chain variable region. 9. the method according to claim 1 , wherein the first heavy chain polypeptide and the second heavy chain polypeptide each further comprise an fc region selected from: (i) a wild-type fc region; (ii) an igg1 isotype fc region, an igg2 isotype fc region, an igg3 isotype fc region, or an igg4 isotype fc region; and/or (iii) an fc region that has not been engineered in order to alter the isoelectric point of the first parental homodimeric antibody species, the second parental homodimeric antibody species, or the mai. 10. the method according to claim 1 , wherein: (i) the mai is in a native antibody format; at least the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; at least the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format and the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; or the mai is in a native antibody format, the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format, and the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; and/or (ii) the mai is in an igg1 format, an igg2 format, an igg3 format, or an igg4 format; the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in an igg1 format, an igg2 format, an igg3 format, or an igg4 format; the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in an igg1 format, an igg2 format, an igg3 format, or an igg4 format; the first parental homodimeric antibody species and the second parental homodimeric antibody species are in an igg1 format, an igg2 format, an igg3 format, or an igg4 format; or the mai, the first parental homodimeric antibody species and the second parental homodimeric antibody species are in an igg1 format, an igg2 format, an igg3 format, or an igg4 format; or a hybrid format, wherein said native antibody refers to an antibody having a tetrameric structure comprised of two heavy chains and two light chains wherein said heavy chains and lights chains are associated with each other as in an antibody of a particular isotype which is naturally occurring in a particular animal species. 11. the method according to claim 1 , wherein the ionic strength of the eluant remains about the same throughout the elution step. 12. the method according to claim 1 , wherein the composition is obtained from a prokaryotic host cell or a eukaryotic host cell that expresses nucleic acid sequences encoding the first heavy chain polypeptide and the second heavy chain polypeptide. 13. the method according to claim 1 , wherein each sample of the eluant comprises at least one salt at a concentration of about 10 mm. 14. the method according to claim 1 , wherein each sample of the eluant comprises nacl at a concentration of about 10 mm. 15. a method of purifying a multispecific antibody of interest (mai), wherein the mai comprises a heterodimer comprising a first heavy chain polypeptide comprising a first heavy chain variable region and a second heavy chain polypeptide comprising a second heavy chain variable region, wherein the first and the second variable regions have different antigen specificities and different isoelectric points, the method comprising: i) obtaining a composition comprising the mai, a first parental homodimeric antibody species comprising either at least one copy of the first heavy chain polypeptide or at least two copies of the first heavy chain polypeptide, and a second parental homodimeric antibody species comprising either at least one copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide or at least two copies of the second heavy chain polypeptide; and ii) performing ion exchange chromatography whereby the mai is separated from the first and the second parental homodimeric antibody species, wherein the performing step ii) comprises: a. contacting the composition with an ion exchange chromatographic material forming a composition-ion exchange chromatographic material complex, and preparing or equilibrating either: ai. the composition; or aii. the composition-ion exchange chromatographic material complex; in a first sample of an eluant at a desired starting ph prior to performing the elution, and b. performing an elution step wherein the ion exchange chromatographic material-composition complex is contacted with a sample of eluant, wherein the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents that each have a different negative log acid dissociation constant (pka), which agents are selected from either: bi. caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid and at least one salt; or bii. methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), hydroxylamine, and at least one salt; and c. flowing a volume of a second sample of the eluant that is prepared at a desired ending ph through the ion exchange chromatographic material-composition complex; wherein the mai, the first parental homodimeric antibody species, and the second parental homodimeric antibody species elute from the ion exchange chromatographic material in distinguishable elution volumes, allowing for the purification of the mai; wherein the ionic strength of the eluant remains essentially the same throughout the elution step; and further wherein the eluant does not include imidazole. 16. the method according to claim 15 , wherein the eluant comprises at least one salt selected from the group consisting of nacl, kcl, and na 2 so 4 . 17. the method according to claim 15 , wherein each sample of the eluant comprises at least one salt at a concentration of about 10 mm. 18. the method according to claim 15 , wherein each sample of the eluant comprises nacl at a concentration of about 10 mm. 19. the method according to claim 15 , with the proviso that the eluant does not include any of the following: imidazole, piperazine, or tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (tris). 20. a method of purifying a multispecific antibody of interest (mai), wherein the mai comprises a heterodimer comprising a first heavy chain polypeptide comprising a first heavy chain variable region and a second heavy chain polypeptide comprising a second heavy chain variable region, wherein the first and the second variable regions have different antigen specificities and different isoelectric points, the method comprising: i) obtaining a composition comprising the mai, a first parental homodimeric antibody species comprising either at least one copy of the first heavy chain polypeptide or at least two copies of the first heavy chain polypeptide, and a second parental homodimeric antibody species comprising either at least one copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide or at least two copies of the second heavy chain polypeptide; and ii) performing ion exchange chromatography whereby the mai is separated from the first and the second parental homodimeric antibody species, wherein the performing step ii) comprises: a. contacting the composition with an ion exchange chromatographic material forming a composition-ion exchange chromatographic material complex, and preparing or equilibrating either: ai. the composition; or aii. the composition-ion exchange chromatographic material complex; in a first sample of an eluant at a desired starting ph prior to performing the elution, and b. performing an elution step wherein the ion exchange chromatographic material-composition complex is contacted with a sample of eluant, wherein the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents that each have a different negative log acid dissociation constant (pka), which agents are selected from either: bi. caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid and at least one salt; or bii. methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), hydroxylamine, and at least one salt; and c. flowing a volume of a second sample of the eluant that is prepared at a desired ending ph through the ion exchange chromatographic material-composition complex; wherein the mai, the first parental homodimeric antibody species, and the second parental homodimeric antibody species elute from the ion exchange chromatographic material in distinguishable elution volumes, allowing for the purification of the mai; and further wherein the first heavy chain polypeptide and/or the second heavy chain polypeptide of the mai are not engineered or mutated for the purpose of enhancing the separation, resolution, or purification of the mai from the parental homodimeric antibody species prior to purification or expression of the mai. 21. the method according to claim 20 , wherein the first heavy chain polypeptide and the second heavy chain polypeptide each further comprise an fc region selected from: (i) a wild-type fc region; (ii) an igg1 isotype fc region, an igg2 isotype fc region, an igg3 isotype fc region, or an igg4 isotype fc region; and/or (iii) an fc region that has not been engineered in order to alter the isoelectric point of the first parental homodimeric antibody species, the second parental homodimeric antibody species, or the mai. 22. the method according to claim 20 , wherein: (i) the mai is in a native antibody format; at least the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; at least the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format and the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; or the mai is in a native antibody format, the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format, and the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; and/or (ii) the mai is in an igg1 format, an igg2 format, an igg3 format, or an igg4 format; the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in an igg1 format, an igg2 format, an igg3 format, or an igg4 format; the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in an igg1 format, an igg2 format, an igg3 format, or an igg4 format; the first parental homodimeric antibody species and the second parental homodimeric antibody species are in an igg1 format, an igg2 format, an igg3 format, or an igg4 format; or the mai, the first parental homodimeric antibody species and the second parental homodimeric antibody species are in an igg1 format, an igg2 format, an igg3 format, or an igg4 format; or a hybrid format, wherein said native antibody refers to an antibody having a tetrameric structure comprised of two heavy chains and two light chains wherein said heavy chains and lights chains are associated with each other as in an antibody of a particular isotype which is naturally occurring in a particular animal species.	cross reference to related applications the present application is the national stage of international application no. pct/us16/26620, filed apr. 8, 2016, which claims the benefit of u.s. provisional patent application ser. no. 62/146,116, filed apr. 10, 2015, and u.s. provisional patent application ser. no. 62/249,180, filed oct. 30, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. sequence listing the instant application contains a sequence listing which has been submitted electronically in ascii format and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. the ascii copy, created on apr. 7, 2016, is named “2009186_0170_sl.txt” and is 145,072 bytes in size. field of the invention the present invention relates, inter alia, methods of separating and purifying multispecific antibodies from homodimeric species, such as parental homodimeric species, and reagents useful for carrying out the methods. background of the invention all references cited herein, including patents, patent applications, and non-patent publications referenced throughout are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entireties for all purposes. antibodies and antibody-based molecules represent attractive candidates as diagnostic tools and therapeutics. to date more than 30 therapeutic monoclonal antibodies have been approved for and successfully applied in diverse indication areas including cancer, organ transplantation, autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, infectious disease, and cardiovascular disease. however, the majority of these antibodies are monospecific antibodies, which recognize a single epitope and can be selected to either activate or repress the activity of a target molecule through this single epitope. many physiological responses, however, require crosslinking, “cross-talk” or co-engagement of or between two or more different proteins or protein subunits to be triggered. an important example is the activation of heteromeric, cell-surface receptor complexes. for these receptor complexes, activation is normally achieved through ligand interaction with multiple domains on different proteins resulting in proximity-associated activation of one or both receptor components. multispecific antibodies, such as bispecific antibodies, represent attractive molecules as a means to address and therapeutically exploit some of these more complex physiological processes, and disease states associated therewith, as they can co-engage multiple epitopes or antigens. one approach to generating bispecific antibodies has to use antibody fragments to make bispecifics. because the considerable diversity of the antibody variable region (fv) makes it possible to produce an fv that recognizes virtually any antigen or epitope, the typical approach to fragment-based multispecifics generation is the introduction of new variable regions, in the context of, e.g., single-chain variable fragments (scfvs), tandem scfvs, fabs, diabodies, chain diabodies, fab 2 bispecifics and the like; see, e.g., chames et al., br. j. pharmacol , vol. 157(2):220-233 (2009)), or non-native formats including such fragments. because such fragments lack the complex quaternary structure of a full length antibody, variable light and heavy chains can be linked in single genetic constructs. while these formats can often be expressed at high levels in bacteria and may have favorable penetration benefits due to their small size, they clear rapidly in vivo and can present manufacturing obstacles related to their production and stability. a principal cause of these drawbacks is that antibody fragments typically lack the constant region of the antibody with its associated functional properties, including larger size, high stability, and binding to various fc receptors and ligands that maintain long half-life in serum (i.e. the neonatal fc receptor fcrn) or serve as binding sites for purification (i.e. protein a and protein g). more recent work has attempted to address the shortcomings of fragment-based bispecifics by engineering dual binding into full length antibody-like formats (wu et al., 2007, nature biotechnology 25[11]:1290-1297; u.s. ser. no. 12/477,711 (published as us 2009/0311253); michaelson et al., 2009, mabs 1[2]:128-141; pct/us2008/074693 (published as wo 2009/032782); zuo et al., 2000, protein engineering 13[5]:361-367; u.s. ser. no. 09/865,198; shen et al., 2006, j biol chem 281[16]:10706-10714; lu et al., 2005, j biol chem 280[20]:19665-19672; pct/us2005/025472 (published as wo 2006/020258). still others have attempted to generate bispecific antibodies that are in the native igg format (i.e., contain two heavy chains and two light chains that interact in the same orientation as found in native (i.e., “wild-type”) iggs. however, the most straightforward way of producing a bispecific antibody (expressing two antibodies in a single cell) gives rise to multiple species in addition to the species of interest, because the respective heavy chains form both homo- and heterodimers, and the two respective light chains can pair with either heavy chain. significant effort has been devoted to addressing this heterogeneity issue, either by engineering mutations into either one or more of the immunoglobulin chains in order to drive the desired heterodimerization between chains, or to enable purification schemes that facilitate separation of the desired heterodimeric antibody from other undesired antibody species. u.s. pat. nos. 5,731,168, 5,807,706, 5,821,333, 7,642,228, and 7,695,936, and other equivalents describe the generation of heteromultimeric antibodies comprising two different heavy chains having different antigen specificities and a common light chain, wherein each heavy chain has been modified to order to engineer heterodimer interaction interfaces into the fc regions. the modifications comprise engineering targeted mutations into the ch3 domain of each heavy chain, wherein in one heavy chain a cavity is generated and in the other heavy chain a complementary protuberance is generated, such that the protuberance engages and inserts within the cavity, thus driving heterodimerization of the two heavy chains. wo2013/136186 describes the generation of heteromultimeric antibodies comprising two different heavy chains having different antigen specificities, wherein at least one heavy chain has been modified in order reduce or eliminate binding of the ch1 region of the at least one heavy chain to the captureselect® igg-ch1 affinity reagent. however, the end result of this approach is the generation of antibodies containing non-native amino acid sequences, thus greatly increasing the likelihood of generating antibodies possessing a heightened risk of increased immunogenicity, undesirably altered fc effector function, and other untoward liabilities, relative to antibodies that do not contain such non-native amino acid sequences. wo 2007/114325 and corresponding application publication no. us 2009/0263392 teach the purification of certain bispecific antibodies comprising common light chains that have been modified by engineering specific amino acid mutations in each heavy chain constant region of the antibodies for the purpose of increasing the difference in the isoelectric point (pi) between each heavy chain. the engineered heterodimeric bispecific antibodies are then subjected to ion exchange chromatography and separated from homodimeric parental species on the basis of the enhancement in the pi difference resultant from the engineered, pi difference-increasing mutations in the two heavy chains in the heterodimeric species. however, as with the methods disclosed in wo 2013/136186, as the methods disclosed in wo 2007/114325 and us 2009/0263392 require the introduction of non-native amino acid sequence into the fc region, the end result being the generation of antibodies possessing a heightened risk of increased immunogenicity, undesirably altered fc effector function, and other untoward liabilities, relative to antibodies that do not contain such non-native amino acid sequences. wo 2014/078729 teaches that proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies have mostly charged and polar amino acids at the surface in aqueous environments, and that the surface residues can undergo multiple chemical and enzymatic modifications, leading to heterogeneous mixtures of protein variant contaminants characterized by differences on their electrostatic surface. the reference further teaches methods of analyzing single antibody species for the presence of such contaminating variants of the species, such as charge variants, degradation products, etc., by using ph and ionic strength gradients in ion exchange chromatography procedures (see examples therein). the elution buffers used in the exemplified methods include piperazine, tris, and imidazole. the reference does not demonstrate the purification of a multispecific heavy chain-heterodimeric antibody of interest (mai) from a composition comprising the mai and each of the two parental heavy chain-homodimeric antibody species from which the heavy chains of the mai are derived. additionally, hefti et al., anal biochem., vol. 295(2), pages 180-185 (2001) teach that the presence of imidazole in protein compositions often results in the generation of protein aggregates, and thus potentially complicating any chromatographic process in which imidazole is included in either a loading or an elution buffer when trying to separate or purify individual antibody species from a composition comprising multiple antibody species. gramer et al., ( mabs , vol. 5(6), pages 962-973 (2013)) report the production of stable bispecific antibodies in the igg1 format by controlled fab-arm exchange. the method involves introduction of mutations into the ch3 regions of parental heavy chains, which drive heterodimerization of the two different heavy chains after reduction of the two parental species (described below); expression of the mutated parental homodimeric monospecific antibodies; purification of the parental homodimeric antibodies; subjecting the expressed parental homodimeric antibody samples to appropriate reducing conditions, such that inter-heavy chain disulfide bonds are reduced while maintaining disulfide linkage between heavy chains and light chains; subjecting the reduced antibodies to (re)-oxidizing conditions in order to facilitate disulfide linkage formation between the two different parental heavy chains; separation of the heterodimeric antibody species from residual parental homodimeric species (and other impurities). gramer also teach that “because the nature of any homodimeric pair may vary quite significantly, cationic exchange chromatography is not likely to be generally applicable” to the separation or purification of a desired heterodimeric species from parental homodimeric species. there remains, therefore, a need for the provision of methods for preparing and/or purifying multispecific antibodies of interest (mais) from compositions comprising an mai and parental homodimeric antibody species), which do not require engineering the mai (or the parental antibodies) in order to facilitate either the formation of the purification of the heterodimeric antibodies of interest from the parental homodimeric species. this need is particularly great for cases in which the multispecific antibodies of interest are to be in native (i.e., “wild-type”) format, such as a native igg isotype format (e.g., igg1, igg2, igg3, igg4, and hybrids thereof). summary of the invention the present invention provides, inter alia, methods of purifying multispecific antibodies of interest (mais) (referred to interchangeably throughout as “multispecific antibodies”, “heavy chain-heterodimeric antibodies”, “multispecific antibodies of interest”, “multispecific antibody analogs”, “analogs”, or “antibody analogs”), which advantageously co-engage at least two different antigens or epitopes (also referred to “targets”, used interchangeably throughout) comprising a heterodimer comprising a first polypeptide comprising a first heavy chain (hc) variable region and a second polypeptide comprising a second hc variable region, from compositions comprising the mai and at least two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species. in some embodiments a first such parental homodimeric antibody species comprises one copy of the first polypeptide comprising the first hc variable region and a second such parental homodimeric antibody species comprises one copy of the second polypeptide comprising the second hc variable region. in some embodiments, a first such parental homodimeric antibody species comprises two copies of the first polypeptide comprising the first hc variable region and a second such parental homodimeric antibody species comprises two copies of the second polypeptide comprising the second hc variable region. in some embodiments, a first such parental homodimeric antibody species comprises more than two copies (i.e., three or more copies) of the first polypeptide comprising the first hc variable region and a second such parental homodimeric antibody species comprises more than two copies (i.e., three or more copies) of the second polypeptide comprising the second hc variable region. in certain embodiments which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the composition comprising the mai and the at least two corresponding homodimeric species is expressed by a population of host cells, such as prokaryotic host cells or eukaryotic host cells; bacterial host cells; yeast host cells; mammalian host cells; insect host cells; pichia yeast cells; saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast host cells; and the like. in certain embodiments which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the composition comprising the mai and the at least two corresponding homodimeric species is expressed by a population of host cells comprising such host cells that have been transformed with nucleic acid encoding the at least two homodimeric species. in certain embodiments which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the mai comprises an antibody. in certain embodiments which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the mai comprises an immunoglobulin. in certain embodiments which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the mai comprises an igg. in certain embodiments which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the mai comprises an ig isotype hybrid. in certain embodiments which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the mai comprises an igg1/igg2 hybrid, and igg1/igg3 hybrid, or an igg1/igg4 hybrid. in certain embodiments which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the mai comprises an igg1/igg4 hybrid. in certain embodiments which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the invention provides a method of purifying a multispecific antibody of interest (mai), wherein the mai comprises a heterodimer comprising a first heavy chain polypeptide comprising a first heavy chain (hc) variable region and a second heavy chain polypeptide comprising a second hc variable region, wherein the first and the second variable regions have different antigen specificities and different isoelectric points, the method comprising: i) obtaining a composition comprising the mai, a first parental homodimeric antibody species comprising either at least one copy of the first heavy chain polypeptide or at least two copies of the first heavy chain polypeptide, and a second parental homodimeric antibody species comprising either at least one copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide or at least two copies of the second heavy chain polypeptide; and ii) performing chromatography whereby the mai is separated from the first and the second parental homodimeric antibody species; thereby purifying the mai. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the performing step ii) comprises: contacting the composition with a chromatographic material forming a composition-chromatographic material complex; and performing an elution step wherein the chromatographic material-composition complex is contacted with an sample of eluant that is capable of eluting the mai and parental homodimeric antibody species in a ph-dependent manner. in certain embodiments, the different isoelectric points are actual isoelectric points. in certain other embodiments, the different isoelectric points are calculated isoelectric points. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents that each has a different negative log acid dissociation constant (pka). in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the inventive methods further comprise preparing or equilibrating either: the composition; or the composition-chromatographic material complex; in a first sample of the eluant at a desired starting ph prior performing the elution step. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the inventive methods further comprise flowing a volume of a second sample of the eluant that is prepared at a desired ending ph through the chromatographic material-composition complex. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, a ph gradient is generated as the eluant flows through the chromatographic material-composition complex. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the inventive methods comprise a ph gradient that is generated as the eluant flows through the chromatographic material-composition complex, wherein the ph gradient comprises a step ph gradient phase. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, a ph gradient is generated as the eluant flows through the chromatographic material-composition complex, wherein the ph gradient comprises a linear ph gradient phase. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, a ph gradient is generated as the eluant flows through the chromatographic material-composition complex, wherein the ph gradient comprises a step ph gradient phase and linear ph gradient phase. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, a ph gradient is generated as the eluant flows through the chromatographic material-composition complex, wherein the ph gradient each comprises two or more step ph gradient phases and a linear ph gradient phase. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the ph gradient comprises a step ph gradient phase prior to a linear ph gradient phase. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the ph gradient comprises a step ph gradient phase subsequent to a linear ph gradient phase. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the ph gradient comprises an essentially linear ph gradient phase. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the ph gradient is an essentially linear ph gradient phase. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the mai, the first parental homodimeric antibody species, and the second parental homodimeric antibody species each elute from the chromatographic material in essentially distinguishable elution volumes. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the mai, the first parental homodimeric antibody species, and the second parental homodimeric antibody species each elute from the chromatographic material in a ph-dependent manner. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the eluant comprises either: at least two; at least three; at least four; at least five; at least six; at least seven; or eight; of the following buffering agents: ncyclohexyl-3-aminopropanesulfonic acid (caps), n-cyclohexyl-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (ches), n-tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl-3-aminopropanesulfonic acid (taps), n-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine-n′-(2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid) (heppso), 3-morpholino-2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid sodium salt, 3-(n-morpholinyl)-2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid (mopso), 2-(n-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (mes), acetic acid, and formic acid; or at least two; at least three; at least four; at least five; or at least six; of the following buffering agents: methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the eluant comprises either: (i) caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid, and a salt; or (ii) methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine and optionally at least one salt. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the eluant comprises: at least two; at least three; at least four; at least five; at least six; at least seven; or eight;of the following buffering agents: ncyclohexyl-3-aminopropanesulfonic acid (caps), n-cyclohexyl-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (ches), n-tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl-3-aminopropanesulfonic acid (taps), n-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine-n′-(2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid) (heppso), 3-morpholino-2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid sodium salt, 3-(n-morpholinyl)-2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid (mopso), 2-(n-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (mes), acetic acid, and formic acid; with the proviso that the eluant does not include any of the following: imidazole; piperazine, tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (tris). in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the eluant consists essentially of either: (i) caps; ches; taps; heppso; mopso; mes; acetic acid; and formic acid; and optionally at least one salt. or (ii) methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine and optionally at least one salt. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the eluant consists of either: (i) caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid, and a salt; or (ii) methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine and optionally at least one salt. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the eluant comprises at least one salt selected from the group consisting of: nacl, kcl, and na 2 so 4 . in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, each sample of the eluant comprises at least one salt at a concentration range selected from the group consisting of: 0 mm to about 100 mm; 0 mm to about 60 mm; 0 mm to about 50 mm; 0 mm to about 40 mm; 0 mm to about 30 mm; 0 mm to about 20 mm; 0 mm to about 10 mm; 0 mm to about 5 mm; about 10 mm to about 200 mm; about 10 mm to about 100 mm; about 10 mm to about 50 mm; about 10 mm to about 40 mm; about 10 mm to about 30 mm; about 10 mm to about 20 mm; about 20 mm to about 200 mm; about 20 mm to about 100 mm; about 20 mm to about 50 mm; about 20 mm to about 30 mm; about 30 mm to about 200 mm; about 30 mm to about 100 mm; and about 30 mm to about 50 mm; and about 5 mm to about 15 mm. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, each sample of the eluant comprises at least one salt at a concentration of about 10 mm. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, each sample of the eluant comprises nacl at a concentration of about 10 mm. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the difference between the actual isoelectric point of a first heavy chain polypeptide derived from a first heavy chain parental homodimeric antibody species and the actual isoelectric point of the second polypeptide derived from a second heavy chain parental homodimeric antibody species is less than 7.0 ph units; less than 6.5 ph units; less than 6.0 ph units; less than 5.5 ph units; less than 5.0 ph units; less than 4.5 ph units; less than 4.0 units; less than 3.5 ph units; less than 2.5 ph units; less than 2.4 ph units; less than 2.3 ph units; less than 2.2 ph units; less than 2.1 ph units; less than 2.0 ph units; less than 1.9 ph units; less than 1.8 ph units; less than 1.7 ph units; less than 1.6 ph units; less than 1.5 ph units; less than 1.4 ph units; less than 1.3 ph units, less than 1.2 ph units; less than 1.1 ph units; less than 1.0 ph unit; less than 0.95 ph unit; less than 0.90 ph unit; less than 0.85 ph unit; less than 0.80 ph unit; less than 0.75 ph unit; less than 0.70 ph unit; less than 0.65 ph unit; less than 0.60 ph unit; less than 0.55 ph unit; less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values. in certain embodiments, the difference between: the actual isoelectric point of a first antibody, such as a first immunoglobulin, first igg, or first parental homodimeric antibody species; and the actual isoelectric point of a second antibody, such as a second immunoglobulin, second igg, or second parental homodimeric antibody species; is less than 7.0 ph units; less than 6.5 ph units; less than 6.0 ph units; less than 5.5 ph units; less than 5.0 ph units; less than 4.5 ph units; less than 4.0 units; less than 3.5 ph units; less than 2.5 ph units; less than 2.4 ph units; less than 2.3 ph units; less than 2.2 ph units; less than 2.1 ph units; less than 2.0 ph units; less than 1.9 ph units; less than 1.8 ph units; less than 1.7 ph units; less than 1.6 ph units; less than 1.5 ph units; less than 1.4 ph units; less than 1.3 ph units, less than 1.2 ph units; less than 1.1 ph units; less than 1.0 ph unit; less than 0.95 ph unit; less than 0.90 ph unit; less than 0.85 ph unit; less than 0.80 ph unit; less than 0.75 ph unit; less than 0.70 ph unit; less than 0.65 ph unit; less than 0.60 ph unit; less than 0.55 ph unit; less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values. in certain embodiments, the difference between the actual isoelectric point of a first parental homodimeric antibody species and the actual isoelectric point of a second parental homodimeric antibody species is less than 7.0 ph units; less than 6.5 ph units; less than 6.0 ph units; less than 5.5 ph units; less than 5.0 ph units; less than 4.5 ph units; less than 4.0 units; less than 3.5 ph units; less than 2.5 ph units; less than 2.4 ph units; less than 2.3 ph units; less than 2.2 ph units; less than 2.1 ph units; less than 2.0 ph units; less than 1.9 ph units; less than 1.8 ph units; less than 1.7 ph units; less than 1.6 ph units; less than 1.5 ph units; less than 1.4 ph units; less than 1.3 ph units, less than 1.2 ph units; less than 1.1 ph units; less than 1.0 ph unit; less than 0.95 ph unit; less than 0.90 ph unit; less than 0.85 ph unit; less than 0.80 ph unit; less than 0.75 ph unit; less than 0.70 ph unit; less than 0.65 ph unit; less than 0.60 ph unit; less than 0.55 ph unit; less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the difference between the calculated isoelectric point of a first heavy chain polypeptide derived from a first heavy chain parental homodimeric antibody species and the calculated isoelectric point of the second polypeptide derived from a second heavy chain parental homodimeric antibody species is less than 7.0 ph units; less than 6.5 ph units; less than 6.0 ph units; less than 5.5 ph units; less than 5.0 ph units; less than 4.5 ph units; less than 4.0 units; less than 3.5 ph units; less than 2.5 ph units; less than 2.4 ph units; less than 2.3 ph units; less than 2.2 ph units; less than 2.1 ph units; less than 2.0 ph units; less than 1.9 ph units; less than 1.8 ph units; less than 1.7 ph units; less than 1.6 ph units; less than 1.5 ph units; less than 1.4 ph units; less than 1.3 ph units, less than 1.2 ph units; less than 1.1 ph units; less than 1.0 ph unit; less than 0.95 ph unit; less than 0.90 ph unit; less than 0.85 ph unit; less than 0.80 ph unit; less than 0.75 ph unit; less than 0.70 ph unit; less than 0.65 ph unit; less than 0.60 ph unit; less than 0.55 ph unit; less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values. in certain embodiments, the difference between: the calculated isoelectric point of a first antibody, such as a first immunoglobulin, first igg, or first parental homodimeric antibody species; and the calculated isoelectric point of a second antibody, such as a second immunoglobulin, second igg, or second parental homodimeric antibody species; is less than 7.0 ph units; less than 6.5 ph units; less than 6.0 ph units; less than 5.5 ph units; less than 5.0 ph units; less than 4.5 ph units; less than 4.0 units; less than 3.5 ph units; less than 2.5 ph units; less than 2.4 ph units; less than 2.3 ph units; less than 2.2 ph units; less than 2.1 ph units; less than 2.0 ph units; less than 1.9 ph units; less than 1.8 ph units; less than 1.7 ph units; less than 1.6 ph units; less than 1.5 ph units; less than 1.4 ph units; less than 1.3 ph units, less than 1.2 ph units; less than 1.1 ph units; less than 1.0 ph unit; less than 0.95 ph unit; less than 0.90 ph unit; less than 0.85 ph unit; less than 0.80 ph unit; less than 0.75 ph unit; less than 0.70 ph unit; less than 0.65 ph unit; less than 0.60 ph unit; less than 0.55 ph unit; less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values. in certain embodiments, the difference between the calculated isoelectric point of a first parental homodimeric antibody species and the calculated isoelectric point of a second parental homodimeric antibody species is less than 7.0 ph units; less than 6.5 ph units; less than 6.0 ph units; less than 5.5 ph units; less than 5.0 ph units; less than 4.5 ph units; less than 4.0 units; less than 3.5 ph units; less than 2.5 ph units; less than 2.4 ph units; less than 2.3 ph units; less than 2.2 ph units; less than 2.1 ph units; less than 2.0 ph units; less than 1.9 ph units; less than 1.8 ph units; less than 1.7 ph units; less than 1.6 ph units; less than 1.5 ph units; less than 1.4 ph units; less than 1.3 ph units, less than 1.2 ph units; less than 1.1 ph units; less than 1.0 ph unit; less than 0.95 ph unit; less than 0.90 ph unit; less than 0.85 ph unit; less than 0.80 ph unit; less than 0.75 ph unit; less than 0.70 ph unit; less than 0.65 ph unit; less than 0.60 ph unit; less than 0.55 ph unit; less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the desired starting ph is less than 9.0; less than 8.5; less than 8.0; less than 7.5; less than 7.0; less than 6.5; less than 6.0; less than 5.5; less than 5.0; less than 4.5; less than 4.0; less than 3.5; or less than 3.0; or a ph values that is between any of the preceding values. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the desired ending ph is more than 7.0; more than 7.5; more than 8.0; more than 8.5; more than 9.0; more than 9.5; more than 10.0; more than 10.5; or more than 11.0; more than 11.5; more than 12.0; more than 12.5; more than 13.0; more than 13.5; or a ph values that is between any of the preceding values. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents and wherein the acid dissociation constant (pka) of each buffering agent is between about 3 and 11. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents wherein the acid dissociation constant (pka) of each buffering agent is in a range selected from the group consisting of: about 3.25 to about 3.85; about 4.5 to about 4.85; about 6.0 to about 6.45; about 6.60 to about 7.0; about 7.5 to about 8.15; about 8.35 to about 8.55; about 9.25 to about 9.65; and about 10.00 to about 11.5. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents wherein the acid dissociation constant (pka) of each buffering agent is in a different range that is selected from the group consisting of: about 3.25 to about 3.85; about 4.5 to about 4.85; about 6.0 to about 6.45; about 6.60 to about 7.0; about 7.5 to about 8.15; about 8.35 to about 8.55; about 9.25 to about 9.65; and about 10.00 to about 11.5. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents wherein the acid dissociation constant (pka) of each buffering agent is selected from the group consisting of about 3.75; about 4.76; about 6.10; about 6.90; about 8.04; about 8.44; about 9.39; and about 10.50. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the mai further comprises a third polypeptide comprising a first light chain variable region. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the mai further comprises a third polypeptide and a fourth polypeptide, wherein each of the third polypeptide and the fourth polypeptide comprises a second light chain variable region. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the first light chain variable region and the second light chain variable region are identical. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the third polypeptide and the fourth polypeptide are identical. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide each further comprise an fc region. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide each further comprise a wild-type fc region. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide each further comprise an igg1 isotype fc region, an igg3 isotype fc region, an igg3 isotype fc region, or an igg4 isotype fc region. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide each further comprise an igg1 isotype fc region. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide each further comprise an fc region that has not been engineered in order to alter the pi of the first parental homodimeric antibody species, the second parental homodimeric species, or the mai. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide each further comprise an igg1 isotype fc region that has not been engineered in order to alter the pi of the first parental homodimeric antibody species, the second parental homodimeric species, or the mai. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, either: the mai is in a native antibody format; at least the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; at least the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format and the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; or the mai is in a native antibody format, the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format, and the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, wherein either: the mai; the first parental homodimeric antibody species; the second parental homodimeric antibody species; the first parental homodimeric antibody species and the second parental homodimeric antibody species; or the mai, the first parental homodimeric antibody species and the second parental homodimeric antibody species; is in an igg1 format, and igg2 format, and igg3 format, or an igg4 format, or a hybrid format. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the chromatography performed at essentially the same ionic strength. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the ionic strength of the eluant remains essentially the same throughout the elution step. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the first sample of the eluant and the second sample of the eluant each have essentially the same ionic strength. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the chromatography is ion exchange chromatography. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the chromatography is selected from the group consisting of: cation exchange chromatography; anion exchange chromatography; multimodal chromatography; and mixed-mode chromatography. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of: an anion exchanger and a cation exchanger. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of: a strong cation exchanger; a strong anion exchanger; a multimodal exchanger; and a mixed-mode exchanger. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of a strong cation exchanger and a strong anion exchanger. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the chromatography further comprises using a chromatographic material selected from the group consisting mustang s, sartobind s, s03 monolith, s ceramic hyperd, poros xs, poros hs50, poros hs20, hs20, spsff, porors gopure hs, poros gopure xs, sp-sepharose xl (spxl), cm sepharose fast flow, capto q impres, capto sp impres, capto s, capto mmc, fractogel se hicap, fractogel s03, fractogel coo, poros hq 50, poros pi 50, poros d, mustang q, q sepharose ff, sp sepharose ff, unoshere s, macro-prep high s, deae, mono s, mono s 5/50 gl, mono q, mono q 5/50 gl, mono s 10/100 gl, sp sepharose hp, source 30s, poros xq, poros hq, q hp, and source 30q. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the chromatography further comprises using a chromatographic material selected from mono s, mono s 5/50 gl, mono q, mono q 5/50 gl, sp sepharose hp, source 30s, poros xq, poros hq, q hp, and source 30q, and mono s 10/100 gl. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the chromatographic material is an ion exchange chromatographic material. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of: a cation exchange chromatographic material; an anion exchange chromatographic material; a multimodal chromatographic material; and a mixed-mode chromatographic material. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the ion exchange chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of mustang s, sartobind s, s03 monolith, s ceramic hyperd, poros xs, poros hs50, poros hs20, hs20, spsff, porors gopure hs, poros gopure xs, sp-sepharose xl (spxl), cm sepharose fast flow, capto q impres, capto sp impres, capto s, capto mmc, fractogel se hicap, fractogel s03, fractogel coo, poros hq 50, poros pi 50, poros d, mustang q, q sepharose ff, sp sepharose ff, unoshere s, macro-prep high s, deae, mono s, mono s 5/50 gl, mono q, mono q 5/50 gl, mono s 10/100 gl, sp sepharose hp, source 30s, poros xq, poros hq, q hp, and source 30q. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the ion exchange chromatographic material selected from mono s, mono s 5/50 gl, mono q, mono q 5/50 gl, sp sepharose hp, source 30s, poros xq, poros hq, q hp, and source 30q, and mono s 10/100 gl. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, either the first heavy chain variable region or the second heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a first selection against a first antigen from a first library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the first heavy chain variable region and the second heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a first selection against a first antigen from a first library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the first heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a first selection against a first antigen from a first library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions and the second heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a second selection against a second antigen from a second library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the first heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a first selection against a first antigen from a first library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions and the second heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a second selection against a second antigen from a second library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, at least one of the libraries further comprises at least one light chain. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the composition is expressed by prokaryotic host cells or eukaryotic host cells, into which nucleic acid sequences encoding the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide have each been introduced. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the composition is expressed by prokaryotic host cells or eukaryotic host cells into which nucleic acid sequences encoding the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide have each been introduced. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the composition is expressed by prokaryotic host cells or eukaryotic host cells into which nucleic acid sequences encoding the first polypeptide, the second polypeptide, the third polypeptide, and the fourth polypeptide have each been introduced. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, each encoded polypeptide is expressed by the host cells. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the composition is expressed by the host cells. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, essentially each host cell has been transformed or transfected with the first polypeptide, the second polypeptide, the third polypeptide, and the fourth polypeptide. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, essentially each host cell expresses the mai, the first parental antibody species, and the second parental antibody species. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the host cells are selected from the group consisting of: eukaryotic cells; fungal cells; yeast cells; insect cells; mammalian cells; saccharomyces cerevisiae cells; pichia pastoris cells; mammalian cells; cos cells; human embryonic kidney (hek) cells; and cho cells. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the ion exchange eluant comprises a cation exchange eluant or an anion exchange eluant for use in separating an mai from parental homodimeric species. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the invention provides an ion exchange eluant comprising caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid, and a salt for use in separating an mai from parental homodimeric species. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the invention provides an ion exchange eluant comprising caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid, and nacl for use in separating an mai from parental homodimeric species. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the invention provides an ion exchange eluant comprising an anion exchange eluant for use in separating an mai from parental homodimeric species. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the invention provides an anion exchange eluant comprising methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine and optionally at least one salt for use in separating an mai from parental homodimeric species. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the invention provides a cation exchange eluant comprising caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid, and nacl for use in separating an mai from parental homodimeric species. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the invention provides an ion exchange eluant comprising an anion exchange eluant for use in separating an mai from parental homodimeric species. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the cation exchange eluant does not include tris, piperazine, or imidazole. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the invention provides an ion exchange eluant consisting essentially of caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid, and a salt. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the invention provides an ion exchange eluant consisting of caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid, and a salt. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the salt is selected from the group consisting of nacl, kcl, or na 2 so 4 . in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the invention provides the ion exchange eluant according to any one of above, wherein the eluant is used for purifying an mai from a composition comprising the mai and parental homodimeric antibody species. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the eluant comprises at least one salt at a concentration range selected from the group consisting of: 0 mm to about 100 mm; 0 mm to about 60 mm; 0 mm to about 50 mm; 0 mm to about 40 mm; 0 mm to about 30 mm; 0 mm to about 20 mm; 0 mm to about 10 mm; 0 mm to about 5 mm; about 10 mm to about 200 mm; about 10 mm to about 100 mm; about 10 mm to about 50 mm; about 10 mm to about 40 mm; about 10 mm to about 30 mm; about 10 mm to about 20 mm; about 20 mm to about 200 mm; about 20 mm to about 100 mm; about 20 mm to about 50 mm; about 20 mm to about 30 mm; about 30 mm to about 200 mm; about 30 mm to about 100 mm; and about 30 mm to about 50 mm; and about 5 mm to about 15 mm. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, each sample of the eluant comprises at least one salt at a concentration of about 10 mm. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, the salt is nacl. in certain embodiments, which may be used alone or in combination with any other embodiments disclosed herein, each sample of the eluant comprises nacl at a concentration of about 10 mm. as the artisan will understand, any and all of the embodiments disclosed above and throughout may be practiced in any combination and, accordingly, all such combinations are contemplated, and are hereby disclosed and encompassed within the scope of the invention. brief description of the figures figs. 1a and 1b provide the composition of exemplary eluants (buffering agents and salt) as described in the examples. the final concentration of each listed component (buffering agent and salt) in the exemplary eluant is provided, as well as the acid dissociation constant (pka) of each listed buffering agent. fig. 1a provides an exemplary eluant composition designed for cation exchange procedures (but as described in the examples, was also used for certain anion exchanged procedures. fig. 1b provides an exemplary anion exchange eluant composition as used in some of the examples. fig. 2 provides a schematic representation of a cation exchange chromatography experiment as described in example 1, in which a mono s 5/50 gl column was used to separate a multispecific antibody of interest comprising a two different heavy chain polypeptides (heavy chain “a” and heavy chain “b”) from the two corresponding heavy chain homodimeric antibody species and two copies of an identical light chain (i.e., a “common light chain”). the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two different heavy chains differed by 0.68 ph units (“hc δpi: 0.68”). the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species (“mab a homodimer” and “mab b homodimer”, respectively) differ by 1.33 ph units (“mab δpi: 1.33”). a280=absorbance units measured at a wavelength of 280 nm; δpi=difference in calculated isoelectric point between the two different heavy chains; ml=elution volume in milliliters. all antibodies (mai and parental homodimeric species) were in the igg1 format. fig. 3 provides a comparison of the ability of salt gradient (i.e., ionic strength gradient) cation exchange chromatography and ph gradient cationic exchange chromatography to separate four different multispecific antibodies of interest (mais), each mai comprising: two different heavy chain polypeptides from one of four sets of two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species; and two copies of an identical light chain (i.e., a “common light chain”). the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 1.33, 0.26, 0.11, and 0.1 ph units, respectively as indicated in the figure and as described in example 5. the resin and buffer compositions employed in the experiments are provided in the top table of fig. 3 . figs. 4a through 4c provide schematic representations of independent cation exchange chromatography experiments as described in example 2, in which either a mono s 5/50 gl column ( fig. 4a and fig. 4b ) or a mono s 10/100 gl column ( fig. 4c ) was used to separate a multispecific antibody comprising a two different heavy chain polypeptides (heavy chain “a” and heavy chain “b”) and two copies of an identical light chain (i.e., a “common light chain”) from the two corresponding heavy chain parental homodimeric species. the calculated pis of the two different heavy chains differed by 0.25 ph units; the calculated pis the two corresponding parental homodimeric species differed by 0.59 ph units. a280=absorbance units measured at a wavelength of 280 nm; δpi=difference in calculated isoelectric point (pi) between the two different heavy chains; ml=elution volume in milliliters. fig. 4a depicts the separation of 0.228 milligram (mg) of total protein material over a linear gradient across the indicated ph range (approximately ph 6.6-ph 8.2; see y axis). fig. 4b depicts the separation of 1.57 mg of total protein material over a linear gradient across the indicated ph range (approximately ph 6.9-ph 7.9; see y axis). fig. 4c depicts the separation of 8.88 mg of total protein material over a linear gradient across the indicated ph range (approximately ph 6.9-ph 7.9; see y axis). all antibodies (mai and parental homodimeric antibody species) were in the native igg1 format. figs. 5a through 5e provide schematic representations of independent cation exchange chromatography experiments as described in example 3, in which a mono s 10/100 column was used to separate a multispecific antibody comprising a two different heavy chain polypeptides (heavy chain “a” and heavy chain “b”) and two copies of an identical light chain (i.e., a “common light chain”) from the two corresponding heavy chain homodimeric species. fig. 5a depicts the separation of heterodimeric and parental; species in which the difference in calculated pi between the two heavy chains is 0.68 ph units; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 1.33 ph units. fig. 5b depicts the separation of heterodimeric and parental species in which the difference in calculated pi between the two heavy chains is 0.43 ph units; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.48 ph units. fig. 5c depicts the separation of heterodimeric and parental species in which the difference in calculated pi between the two heavy chains is 0.25 ph units; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.59 ph units. fig. 5d depicts the separation of heterodimeric and parental species in which the difference in calculated pi between the two heavy chains is 0.24; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.26 ph units. fig. 5e depicts the separation of heterodimeric and parental species in which the difference in calculated pi between the two heavy chains is 0.21; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.38 ph units. a280=absorbance units measured at a wavelength of 280 nm; δpi=difference in calculated isoelectric point between the two different heavy chains; run duration=elution volume in milliliters (ml). all antibodies (mai and parental homodimeric antibody species) were in the native igg1 format. figs. 6a through 6g provide schematic representations of independent cation exchange chromatography experiments ( figs. 6a through 6g ) as described in example 6. a280=absorbance units measured at a wavelength of 280 nm; δpi=difference in calculated isoelectric point between the two different heavy chains; run duration=elution volume in milliliters (ml). all antibodies (mai and parental homodimeric antibody species) were in the native igg1 format. sequences disclosed as seq id nos 40-43, respectively, in order of appearance. fig. 7 illustrates that the methods disclosed herein provide the ability to separate mais from compositions comprising the mai and its parental homodimeric antibody species when such species differ in their heavy chains vh regions by as little as one amino acid. iaey is seq id no: 40; iaqy is seq id no: 41; isky is seq id no: 42; vakh is seq id no: 43. figs. 8a through 8c provide schematic representations of independent cation exchange chromatography experiments as described in example 4, in which the degrees of purification of antibody species in the igg1 format with heavy chain calculated pi difference of 0.09 (calculated isoelectric point (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.10 ph units) using each of the strong cationic exchangers mono s 5/50 gl or mono s 10/100 gl were compared. chromatography conditions were as described in example 4. all antibodies (mai and parental homodimeric antibody species) were in the native igg1 format. fig. 8a depicts the separation of heterodimeric and parental species in which the exchanger used was mono s 5/50 gl (column volume was 1 ml), and the ph gradient was run from ph 4.0 to ph 11.0 (ph gradient range=7.0 ph units). fig. 8b depicts the separation of heterodimeric and parental species in which the exchanger used was mono s 10/100 gl (column volume was 8 ml), and the ph gradient was run from ph 6.65 to 7.65 (ph gradient range=1.0 ph units). fig. 8c depicts the separation of heterodimeric and parental species in which the exchanger used was mono s 10/100 gl (column volume was 8 ml), and the ph gradient was run from ph 6.87 to 7.27 (ph gradient range=0.4 ph unit). figs. 9a through 9f depict the results of the experiments described in example 7. figs. 10a and 10b depict the results of the experiments described in example 8. figs. 11a and 11b, 12a and 12b, 13a and 13b, 14a and 14b, 15a and 15b, 16a and 16b, and 17a and 17b depict the results of the experiments described in example 9. figs. 18a through 18d provide schematic representations of independent cation exchange chromatography experiments as described in example 10. a280=absorbance units measured at a wavelength of 280 nm; δpi=difference in calculated isoelectric point between the two different heavy chains; run duration=elution volume in milliliters (ml). all antibodies (mai and parental homodimeric antibody species) were in the native igg4 format. figs. 19a and 19b schematic representations of independent cation exchange chromatography experiments as described in example 11. a280=absorbance units measured at a wavelength of 280 nm; δpi=difference in calculated isoelectric point between the two different heavy chains; run duration=elution volume in milliliters (ml). the mai was in the hybrid native igg1/native igg4 format, the first parental homodimeric antibody species was in the native igg1 format and the second parental homodimeric antibody species was in the native igg4 format. figs. 20a and 20b, 21a and 21b, and 22a and 22b depict the results of the experiments described in example 13. fig. 23 depicts the results of the experiments described in example 13. fig. 24 depicts the results of the experiments described in example 14. figs. 25a and 25b depict the results of the experiments described in example 15. figs. 26a and 26b collectively provide a list of exemplary chromatographic materials (“resin” and “matrix”) amenable for use in accordance with the disclosed and claimed methods and certain of their characteristics. detailed description of the invention the invention provides, inter alia, methods for separating, resolving, and purifying multispecific antibodies of interest (mais) (referred to interchangeably herein and throughout as “heterodimeric antibody species” or “heavy chain-heterodimeric antibodies”, alternative singular and plural forms of such terms, and the like) from at least two different parental homodimeric antibody species (referred to interchangeably herein and throughout as “parental antibody species”, “homodimeric parental antibody species”, “heavy chain-homodimeric parental antibody species”, “heavy chain-homodimeric parental species, and the like). advantageously, the disclosed methods do not require the engineering or introduction of mutations into any of the homodimeric parental antibody species for the purpose of enhancing the separation, resolution, or purification of the mai from such parental antibody species. the methods comprise, inter alia, obtaining a composition comprising each of the aforementioned species and performing chromatography, for example, ion exchange chromatography, with the composition, whereby the mai is separated from each of a first parental antibody species and a second parental antibody species. in certain embodiments, the mai comprises a first polypeptide comprising a first heavy chain (hc) variable region and a second heavy chain variable region, wherein the first and the second variable regions have different antigen specificities and different isoelectric points (pis). in certain embodiments, the different isoelectric points are different actual isoelectric points. in certain other embodiments, the different isoelectric points are different calculated isoelectric points. in certain other embodiments, the mai further comprises a third polypeptide comprising a first light chain variable region. in certain other embodiments, the mai further comprises a third polypeptide and a fourth polypeptide, wherein each of the third polypeptide and the fourth polypeptide comprises a second light chain variable region. in certain other embodiments, the first light chain variable region and the second light chain variable region are identical. in certain other embodiments, the third polypeptide and the fourth polypeptide are identical (i.e., they constitute a “common light chain”). as will be understood by the artisan and as disclosed throughout, “specificity” refers to the property of an antibody which enables to react with one or more antigenic determinants, such as one or more epitopes, of an antigen of interest, and not with other epitopes of the antigen of interest or with other antigens of interest. as understood in the art, antibody specificity is dependent on chemical composition, physical forces, energetic favorability, steric hindrance, and molecular structure or topology of the binding site of the epitope and/or the antibody. as will be understood by the artisan and as disclosed throughout, “affinity” refers to the strength, or stability of an antibody-epitope interaction. antibodies with better affinity for an epitope bind relatively tightly and/or stably with the epitope, whereas antibodies with poorer affinity for an epitope bind relatively weakly and or less stably. as will be understood by the artisan and as disclosed throughout, “collecting” or “collected” antibodies having specificity for (an) epitope(s) of an antigen of interest refers to distinguishing (or distinguished) antibodies that have such specificity from those antibodies that do not have such specificity. collecting antibodies or collected antibodies having specificity for (an) epitope(s) of an antigen of interest need not require physical separation of antibodies from those antibodies that do not have such specificity in order for them to be distinguished. however, in certain embodiments, collecting antibodies having specificity for (an) epitope(s) of an antigen of interest comprises physically separating such antibodies from those antibodies that do not have such specificity. exemplary methods and means for collecting antibodies are known in the art, and include, for example, flow cytometry, florescence activated cell sorting (facs), magnetic activated cell sorting (macs), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa), and the like, and combinations thereof. any means for determining such specificity in the art may be employed for determining such specificity in accordance with the methods disclosed throughout, and include, for example, labelling such antibodies with a detectable label; detecting a detectable label; detecting a functional consequence of antibody binding to (an) epitope of an antigen, such as competition with another antibody known to have specificity for such epitope(s); modulation of protein-protein or protein-ligand interaction between the antigen of interest and a known protein interaction partner or ligand. as used herein and throughout, a “common light chain” comprises polypeptide comprising a light chain variable region that is able to stably pair independently with at least two different heavy chain polypeptides and thereby generate, in each independent case, an antigen binding domain comprising the heavy chain variable region of each heavy chain polypeptide and the light chain variable region. accordingly, each of two copies of a common light chain is able to stably pair with a first heavy chain polypeptide and a second heavy chain polypeptide, such that a multispecific (e.g., a bispecific) heterodimeric antibody mai in the native format, such as an igg isotype format, such as an igg1 format, and igg2 format, an igg3 format, and/or an igg4 format, wherein the mai has specificity for two different antigens. as used herein and throughout, “stable pair” means that a native or native-like interaction between a heavy chain polypeptide and a light chain polypeptide, such as a common light chain, is generated, wherein an mai in a chemically and functionally relevant and stable manner. as used herein and throughout, “stable” means relatively fixed and or permanent. accordingly, a “stable” mai or a “stable” pair of associated polypeptides, for example, is one that may be collected and/or isolated in the stable form such that that form is essentially preserved such that the chemical and/or functional properties of the stable form can be observed. as used herein and throughout, “native”, “wild-type”, describe structures or entities, such as molecules, polypeptides, antibodies, formats, immunoglobulins, immunoglobulin constant regions, fc regions, heavy chains, light chains, iggs, igms, igas, igds, iges, igg1, igg2s, igg3s, igg4s, mais, parental homodimeric antibody species, heavy chains from parental homodimeric antibody species, and the like that are in a format that exists in a natural setting, such as in an animal or animal species, such as a human or a human species. such “native” or “wild-type” structures or entities do not possess or contain mutations that have been engineered into such structure or entities for the purpose, for example, of increasing or enhancing the ability to resolve, separate, or purify such engineered structures or entities from non-engineered structures or entities. for example, “native” or “wild-type” mais, parental homodimeric antibody species, heavy chains from parental homodimeric antibody species, and the like, have not been engineered to possess mutations that increase or enhance the difference in either the actual isoelectric point or the calculated isoelectric point between different forms of such mais, parental homodimeric antibody species, heavy chains from parental homodimeric antibody species, in order to increase or enhance the ability of such different forms to be separated, resolved, or purified by performing chromatography in accordance with the methods disclosed herein and throughout. as used herein and throughout, “native-like” describes structures or entities that possess a substantially large amount of properties of a native form of such a structure or entity, or is designed to physically and/or functionally resemble or mimic a corresponding native structure or entity to a substantial degree. in certain embodiments is provided a method of purifying a multispecific antibody of interest (mai), wherein the mai comprises a heterodimer comprising a first polypeptide comprising a first heavy chain (hc) variable region and a second polypeptide comprising a second hc variable region, wherein the first and the second variable regions have different antigen specificities and different isoelectric points, the method comprising: i) obtaining a composition comprising the mai, a first parental antibody species comprising one copy of the first polypeptide, and a second parental antibody species comprising one copy of the second polypeptide; and ii) performing chromatography whereby the mai is separated from the first and the second parental antibody species; thereby purifying the mai. in certain embodiments, the different isoelectric points are different actual isoelectric points. in certain other embodiments, the different isoelectric points are different calculated isoelectric points. in certain embodiments, the performing step ii) comprises a. contacting the composition with a chromatographic material forming a composition-chromatographic material complex; and b. performing an elution step wherein the chromatographic material-composition complex is contacted with an sample of eluant that is capable of eluting the mai and parental antibody species in a ph-dependent manner. in certain embodiments is provided a method of purifying a multispecific antibody of interest (mai), wherein the mai comprises a heterodimer comprising a first polypeptide comprising a first heavy chain (hc) variable region and a second polypeptide comprising a second hc variable region, wherein the first and the second variable regions have different antigen specificities and different isoelectric points, the method comprising: i) obtaining a composition comprising the mai, a first parental antibody species comprising two copies of the first polypeptide, and a second parental antibody species comprising two copies of the second polypeptide; and ii) performing chromatography whereby the mai is separated from the first and the second parental antibody species; thereby purifying the mai. in certain embodiments, the different isoelectric points are different actual isoelectric points. in certain other embodiments, the different isoelectric points are different calculated isoelectric points. in certain embodiments, the performing step ii) comprises a. contacting the composition with a chromatographic material forming a composition-chromatographic material complex; and b. performing an elution step wherein the chromatographic material-composition complex is contacted with an sample of eluant that is capable of eluting the mai and parental antibody species in a ph-dependent manner. in connection with the development of the inventive methods, applicants have surprisingly discovered that, contrary to many prior methods, the successful practice of the inventive methods does not require that the fc region (or any other portion, for that matter) of the mai (or parental antibody species) to be engineered, mutagenized, substituted, or otherwise altered in a manner that is designed or purposed for enhancing either affinity- or ion exchange-mediated resolution, separation, or purification of heterodimeric mai from corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species. the disclosed and claimed methods thus advantageously afford the preparation and purification of mais that do not carry with them many of the immunogenicity, pk, and other liabilities associated with mais into which such non-native mutations have been engineered. accordingly, in certain embodiments is provided a method of purifying a multispecific antibody of interest (mai), wherein the mai comprises a heterodimer comprising a first polypeptide comprising a first heavy chain (hc) variable region and a second polypeptide comprising a second hc variable region, wherein the first and the second variable regions have different antigen specificities and different isoelectric points, the method comprising: i) obtaining a composition comprising the mai, a first parental antibody species comprising one copy of the first polypeptide, and a second parental antibody species comprising one copy of the second polypeptide; and ii) performing chromatography whereby the mai is separated from the first and the second parental antibody species; thereby purifying the mai, wherein at least one of the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide are in a native format, such as a native igg format, such as a native igg1 format, native igg2 format, a native igg3 format, a native igg4 format, a native igg1/igg2 hybrid format, a native igg1/igg3 hybrid format, or a native igg1/igg4 hybrid format. in certain embodiments, the different isoelectric points are different actual isoelectric points. in certain other embodiments, the different isoelectric points are different calculated isoelectric points. in certain embodiments, the performing step ii) comprises a. contacting the composition with a chromatographic material forming a composition-chromatographic material complex; and b. performing an elution step wherein the chromatographic material-composition complex is contacted with an sample of eluant that is capable of eluting the mai and parental antibody species in a ph-dependent manner. accordingly, in certain embodiments is provided a method of purifying a multispecific antibody of interest (mai), wherein the mai comprises a heterodimer comprising a first polypeptide comprising a first heavy chain (hc) variable region and a second polypeptide comprising a second hc variable region, wherein the first and the second variable regions have different antigen specificities and different isoelectric points, the method comprising: i) obtaining a composition comprising the mai, a first parental antibody species comprising two copies of the first polypeptide, and a second parental antibody species comprising two copies of the second polypeptide; and ii) performing chromatography whereby the mai is separated from the first and the second parental antibody species; thereby purifying the mai, wherein at least one of the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide are in a native format, such as a native igg format, such as a native igg1 format, native igg2 format, a native igg3 format, a native igg4 format, a native igg1/igg2 hybrid format, a native igg1/igg3 hybrid format, or a native igg1/igg4 hybrid format. in certain embodiments, the different isoelectric points are different actual isoelectric points. in certain other embodiments, the different isoelectric points are different calculated isoelectric points. in certain embodiments, the performing step ii) comprises a. contacting the composition with a chromatographic material forming a composition-chromatographic material complex; and b. performing an elution step wherein the chromatographic material-composition complex is contacted with an sample of eluant that is capable of eluting the mai and parental antibody species in a ph-dependent manner. as used herein and throughout, “purifying” means separating one species, such as a heterodimeric mai, from other species, such as one or more parental homodimeric species, such that an essentially homogenous sample is generated with regard to the mai from a heterogeneous composition comprising the mai and the one or more parental homodimeric species. as used herein and throughout, “obtaining” means discovering, receiving, or otherwise coming into the possession of a material, such as an mai, a parental homodimeric antibody species, a heavy chain variable region, an light chain variable region, a heavy chain polypeptide comprising a heavy chain variable region, a light chain polypeptide comprising a light chain variable region, an mai comprising any of the aforementioned, a parental homodimeric antibody species comprising any of the aforementioned, a composition comprising any of the aforementioned, and/or a chromatographic material-composition complex comprising any of the aforementioned. furthermore, obtaining may refer to discovering such materials by interrogating a library comprising variants of such materials through the use of an antigen in order to identify such materials having specificity for the antigen. obtaining may also or alternatively comprise receiving such a material from another source or person, such as another previously identified or characterized antibody or antibody sequence. as used herein and throughout, a “composition” means a fluid, such as a liquid, containing a collection of species, such as a heterodimeric mai and the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species. such compositions are generated by expressing the first and second polypeptides, and optionally the third and fourth polypeptides (which may comprise identical light chain variable regions). a heterodimeric multimeric antibody of interest (used interchangeably throughout with “hetero mai” or “mai”) means an antibody species of interest that comprises a first polypeptide comprising a first heavy chain (hc) variable region and a second polypeptide comprising a second hc variable region, wherein the first and the second heavy chain variable regions are different in amino acid sequence and have different antigen specificities. the first and second polypeptides are, in some embodiments, contained in and/or derived from the heavy chain polypeptides of two different parental homodimeric antibody species. in certain embodiments, the mai further comprises a third polypeptide comprising a first light chain variable region. in further embodiments, the mai further comprises a fourth polypeptide comprising a second light chain variable region. in certain embodiments, the first and second light chain variable regions are identical. in yet further embodiments, the third and fourth polypeptides are identical (i.e., they constitute a “common light chain”). a “parental homodimeric antibody species” (used interchangeably throughout with “homodimeric parental antibody species”, “parental antibody species”, “homodimeric parental species”, “homodimeric antibody species”, and the like) means an antibody species that comprises: at least one copy of a heavy chain having one of two antigen specificities from which the specificities of the mai are obtained or derived, and from which the mai is generated; are at least two copies copy of a heavy chain having one of two antigen specificities from which the specificities of the mai are obtained or derived, and from which the mai is generated. in certain embodiments, the polypeptides of each parental homodimeric antibody species that comprise the first and the second heavy chain variable regions are expressed in host cells along with a third and fourth polypeptide comprising a first and a second light chain variable region. in some embodiments, the first and second light chain variable regions are identical in amino acid sequence. in certain embodiments the third and fourth polypeptides are identical in amino acid sequence (i.e., the third and fourth polypeptides constitute a “common light chain”). in certain embodiments a parental homodimeric species comprises two copies copy of a heavy chain having one of two antigen specificities from which the specificities of the mai are obtained or derived, and from which the mai is generated. as used herein and throughout, “chromatography” means, in its broadest sense, the set of laboratory available in the art for the separation or purification of species of interest from compositions comprising the species of interest as well as other species. the composition is contacted with the chromatographic material, such that the various constituents of the composition may adsorb onto the chromatographic material thus forming the chromatographic material-composition complex. subsequently, an eluant is contacted with the chromatographic material-composition complex, and differential removal, or “elution”, of adsorbed species occurs as a function of differences in affinity for each species for the chromatographic material in the presence of the eluant. chromatography may be preparative or analytical. the purpose of preparative chromatography is to separate the components of a mixture for more advanced use (and is thus a form of purification). analytical chromatography is done normally with smaller amounts of material and is for measuring the relative proportions of analytes in a mixture. the two are not mutually exclusive. as used herein and throughout, “contacting” means physically interacting, such as by covalent or non-covalent interactions. non-covalent interactions include, hydrophobic, hydrophilic, ionic, cationic anionic, polar, dipolar, van der waals forces, and the like. materials that have or have been “contacted” have physically touched each other. in certain embodiments, contacting a material, such as a chromatographic material, with a composition comprising antibody species, such as an mai and corresponding homodimeric parental antibody species, etc. results in the generation of a chromatographic material-composition complex, wherein at least two, perhaps three or perhaps more, of all of the antibody species in the composition physically interact with and remain attached to the chromatographic material. a “chromatographic material-composition complex” means a multi-component material that is generated a physical interaction between two materials or more materials that have not previously come into contact or interacted. the physical interaction can be a physiochemical interaction, such as a covalent or non-covalent interaction between two types of molecular entities, and/or between certain functional groups or moieties found on each of the respective interacting materials. a chromatographic material-composition complex may comprise one or more antibody species of a composition, which are adsorbed onto/into a chromatographic material upon or subsequent to contacting the composition with the chromatographic material, such adsorption resulting from attractive physiochemical forces or interactions between functional groups on the chromatographic material and certain regions or portions of the antibody species. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the chromatographic material is a cation exchange material. in some embodiments, the cation exchange material is a solid phase that is negatively charged and has free cations for exchange with cations in an aqueous solution passed over or through the solid phase. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the cation exchange material may be a membrane, a monolith, or resin. in some embodiments, the cation exchange material may be a resin. the cation exchange material may comprise a carboxylic acid functional group or a sulfonic acid functional group such as, but not limited to, sulfonate, carboxylic, carboxymethyl sulfonic acid, sulfoisobutyl, sulfoethyl, carboxyl, sulphopropyl, sulphonyl, sulphoxyethyl, or orthophosphate. in some embodiments of the above, the cation exchange chromatographic material is a cation exchange chromatography column. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the chromatographic material is an anion exchange material. in some embodiments, the anion exchange chromatographic material is a solid phase that is positively charged and has free anions for exchange with anions in an aqueous solution passed over or through the solid phase. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the anion exchange material may be a membrane, a monolith, or resin. in an embodiment, the anion exchange material may be a resin. in some embodiments, the anion exchange material may comprise a primary amine, a secondary amine, a tertiary amine or a quaternary ammonium ion functional group, a polyamine functional group, or a diethylaminoethyl functional group. in some embodiments of the above, the anion exchange chromatographic material is an anion exchange chromatography column. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the ion exchange material may utilize a conventional chromatographic material or a convective chromatographic material. the conventional chromatographic materials include, for example, perfusive materials (e.g., poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) resin) and diffusive materials (e.g., cross-linked agarose resin). in some embodiments, the poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) resin can be poros resin. in some embodiments, the cross-linked agarose resin may be sulphopropyl-sepharose fast flow (“spsff”) resin. the convective chromatographic material may be a membrane (e.g., polyethersulfone) or monolith material (e.g. cross-linked polymer). the polyethersulfone membrane may be mustang. the cross-linked polymer monolith material may be cross-linked poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate). in some embodiments of any of the methods of the invention, the chromatographic material is in a chromatography column; for example a cation exchange chromatography column or an anion exchange chromatography column. in some embodiments, the chromatography column is used for liquid chromatography. in some embodiments, the chromatography column is used for high performance liquid chromatography (hplc). in some embodiments, the chromatography column is an hplc chromatography column; for example, a cation exchange hplc column or an anion exchange hplc column. examples of cation exchange chromatographic materials are known in the art and include, but are not limited to, mono s, poros hs, source 30s, mustang s, sartobind s, s03 monolith, s ceramic hyperd, poros xs, poros hs50, poros hs20, poros gopure xs, poros gopure hs, sp sepharose ff, sp sepharose hp, sp-sepharose xl (spxl), cm sepharose fast flow, capto s, unosphere s, macro-prep high s, capto sp impres, fractogel se hicap, fractogel s03, fractogel coo, propac wcx-10 and propac wcx-10ht. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the cation exchange material is poros hs50. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the poros hs resin may be poros hs 50 μm or poros hs 20 μm particles. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the cation exchange chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of mono s, sp sepharose ff, macro-prep high s, poros gopure xs, poros gopure hs, capto sp impres, sp sepharose hp, and sourse 30s. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the cation exchange chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of mono s, poros hs, sp sepharose hp, and source 30s. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the cation exchange chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of mono s, sp sepharose hp, and source 30s. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the cation exchange chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of mono s, poros hs, and source 30s. examples of anion exchange chromatographic materials are known in the art and include, but are not limited to, mono q, poros hq 50, poros pi 50, poros d, poros xq, poros hq, capto q impres, q hp, source 30q, mustang q, q sepharose ff, dionex propac 10 sax and tosoh gskgel q stat 7 μm wax and deae sepharose. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the anion exchange chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of mono q, poros xq, poros hq, capto q impres, q hp, and source 30q. in some embodiments of any of the methods described herein, the anion exchange chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of mono q, sourse 30q, and q hp. an example of a multimodal ion exchange chromatographic material is capto mmc. as used herein and throughout, an “eluant” (used interchangeably with “eluent”) comprises a fluid, such as a liquid solution that is used to remove a species that has adsorbed onto a chromatographic material. an eluant for use in accordance with the disclosed and claimed methods comprises at least two, at least three, at least four, at least five, at least six, at least seven, or at least eight different buffering agents. the choice of the number and chemical identity may be made based on the desired ph range through which the artisan desires to generate the essentially linear ph gradient. the choice of this ph range may, in turn, as disclosed herein and throughout, be made based on a determination of the difference in the actual isoelectric points or the calculated, or theoretical, isoelectric points (“δpi”) of the first heavy chain polypeptide and the second heavy chain polypeptide. alternatively, if desired, the artisan may, in turn, as disclosed herein and throughout, choose based on a determination of the difference in the actual isoelectric points or the calculated, or theoretical, isoelectric points (“δpi”) of a first parental homodimeric antibody species and a second parental homodimeric antibody species. accordingly, the artisan may choose to select buffering agents that have pkas that sufficiently cover the ph range that is associated with the pis of the polypeptides (as well as the difference in their pis). as used herein and throughout, an “isoelectric point” (also referred to herein and throughout as “pi”) is the ph at which a polypeptide or protein, such as a heavy chain polypeptide, a parental homodimeric antibody species, an mai, an antibody, an immunoglobulin, an igg, or the like, possesses no net electrical charge, and is generally expressed as a ph value. an isoelectric point may be a “calculated (or theoretical) isoelectric point” or an “actual” (empirically determined) isoelectric point. as used herein and throughout, a “calculated isoelectric point” (or “theoretical isoelectric point”) is an isoelectric point value that is reported or determined by subjecting the primary sequence of the polypeptide or protein to an algorithm, program, code, etc. that is designed to provide a predictive or theoretical pi value based on certain defined parameters of assumptions concerning the chemical and physical properties of the polypeptide or protein (or its constituent amino acids) and/or the solvent components or other chemical species to which it may be exposed; predicted secondary structural features and topology; predicted solvent exposure of certain ionizable groups; and the like. non-limiting examples of tools and methods for calculating pi include those disclosed in: bas et al, protein, vol. 72(3), pp. 765-783 (2008); stothard p, biotechniques, vol. 28(6), pp. 1102-1104 (2000); and the sequence manipulation site (sms), for example, on the world wide web at hypertext protocol transfer bioinformatics.org/sms2/. in any case, without wishing to be bound by any theory and as the artisan will understand, when calculating pi for a heavy chain polypeptide, a parental homodimeric antibody species, mai, an antibody, an immunoglobulin, an igg, or the like, it may be preferable to, for instance consider certain cysteine residues, such as those that may participate in disulfide bridges, as non-ionizable, and/or to consider suspected n-terminal glycosylation sites as non-ionizable. as used herein and throughout, an “actual isoelectric point” (or “actual isoelectric point”) is an isoelectric point value that is reported or determined by measuring the pi of a physical sample of a polypeptide or protein, such as a heavy chain polypeptide, a parental homodimeric antibody species, an mai, an antibody, an immunoglobulin, an igg, or the like (or a composition, such as a solution, containing such sample), using methods and tool that are available in the art. as used herein and throughout, a “buffering agent” is an acid or base, usually a weak acid or weak base, which is used to maintain the acidity (ph) of a solution, such as an eluant near a chosen value after the addition of another acid or base. that is, the function of a buffering agent is to prevent a rapid change in ph when acids or bases are added to the solution. buffering agents have variable properties—some are more soluble than others; some are acidic while others are basic. the effective ph around which a given buffering agent is best able to buffer a solution is approximately around the negative log of the acid dissociation constant (“pka”) of that buffering agent. the (negative log of an) acid association constant is a quantitative measure of the strength of an acid in solution. each acid has a different pka. it is the equilibrium constant for a chemical reaction known as dissociation in the context of acid-base reactions. the larger the ka value, the more dissociation of the molecules in solution and thus the stronger the acid. thus, a strong acid tends to deprotonate more readily than a weak acid. in certain embodiments, the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents wherein the pka of each buffering agent is between about 3 and about 11. in certain embodiments, the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents wherein the pka of each buffering agent is in a range selected from the group consisting of: about 3.25 to about 3.85; about 4.5 to about 4.85; about 6.0 to about 6.45; about 6.60 to about 7.0; about 7.5 to about 8.15; about 8.35 to about 8.55; about 9.25 to about 9.65; and about 10.00 to about 11.5. in certain embodiments, the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents, wherein the acid dissociation constant (pka) of each buffering agent is selected from the group consisting of about 3.75; about 4.76; about 6.10; about 6.90; about 8.04; about 8.44; about 9.39; and about 10.50. as used herein and throughout, “ph-dependent manner” means behaving in a way that varies with a change in ph. for example, species with different pis will elute from a column in different and distinguishable times and volumes of eluant if that eluant is capable of generating a ph gradient. such ph gradients are generated, in certain embodiments, by preparing a sample of the eluant at a desired starting ph and preparing another sample of the eluant at a desired ending ph. in certain embodiments, the desired starting ph is less than 7.0; less than 6.5; less than 6.0; less than 5.5; less than 5.0; less than 4.5; less than 4.0; less than 3.5; or less than 3.0; or a ph values that is between any of the preceding values. in certain embodiments, the desired ending ph is more than 7.0; more than 7.5; more than 8.0; more than 8.5; more than 9.0; more than 9.5; more than 10.0; more than 10.5; or more than 11.0; more than 11.5; more than 12.0; or a ph values that is between any of the preceding values. in certain embodiments, difference between the calculated isoelectric point of the first polypeptide and the calculated isoelectric point of the second polypeptide of an mai is a less than 7.0 ph units; less than 6.5 ph units; less than 6.0 ph units; less than 5.5 ph units; less than 5.0 ph units; less than 4.5 ph units; less than 4.0 units; less than 3.5 ph units; less than 2.5 ph units; less than 2.0 ph units; less than 1.0 ph unit; less than 0.95 ph unit; less than 0.90 ph unit; less than 0.85 ph unit; less than 0.80 ph unit; less than 0.75 ph unit; less than 0.70 ph unit; less than 0.65 ph unit; less than 0.60 ph unit; less than 0.55 ph unit; less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; 0.05 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values. in certain embodiments, difference between: the calculated isoelectric point of a first antibody, such as a first immunoglobulin, first igg, or first parental homodimeric antibody species; and the calculated isoelectric point of a second antibody, such as a second immunoglobulin, second igg, or second homodimeric antibody species; is less than 7.0 ph units; less than 6.5 ph units; less than 6.0 ph units; less than 5.5 ph units; less than 5.0 ph units; less than 4.5 ph units; less than 4.0 units; less than 3.5 ph units; less than 2.5 ph units; less than 2.0 ph units; less than 1.0 ph unit; less than 0.95 ph unit; less than 0.90 ph unit; less than 0.85 ph unit; less than 0.80 ph unit; less than 0.75 ph unit; less than 0.70 ph unit; less than 0.65 ph unit; less than 0.60 ph unit; less than 0.55 ph unit; less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; 0.05 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values. in accordance with the herein disclosed and claimed methods, the eluant is flowed through the chromatographic material-composition complex in order to elute the mai and/or parental homodimeric antibody species from the chromatographic material. in certain embodiments, the eluted species are eluted as individual solutions of essentially homogeneous samples, wherein each sample contains one species, such as an mai, and is essentially devoid of appreciable amounts of the other species, such as a parental homodimeric antibody species. in other embodiments the species are eluted from the chromatographic material such that one species, such as an mai, is eluted in a series of solution volumes, some of which comprise essentially homogeneous samples of an mai, and some of which comprise as the major species the mai, along with varying minor amounts of one or more parental homodimeric antibody species. in such embodiments, the artisan may routinely select to retain those volumes that comprise the essentially homogeneous sample of the mai and discard other volumes. accordingly, as the artisan will understand, the inventive methods allow for the mai and parental homodimeric antibody species to elute from chromatographic material such that these species are essentially distinguishable from one another. as used herein and throughout, “essentially distinguishable” means that such species are sufficiently separated chromatographically such that samples of each species may be collected essentially free from other species. such separation may be visualized in chromatographic traces which allow for visualization of other means of monitoring, for example, the concentration of proteinaceous material that elutes from a column as a function of time, eluant volume, and the like. such distinguishable separation may comprise elutions in which essentially all of each species are separated from one another, or elutions in which a certain amount of overlap between two or more species elution volumes occurs. in embodiments in which some overlap occurs, as the artisan will understand, as described above, one may collect eluant volumes that are observed to comprise no or essentially no overlap, and thus achieve separation in accordance with the claimed methods. as used herein and throughout, “flowing” (and alternatively, “flowed”) means applying and/or passing a sufficient amount of an eluant through a chromatographic material and/or chromatographic material-composition complex, such that the material and/or complex is contacted with eluant. as the art may understand, one may flow several or multiple column volumes' worth of such a fluid/solution in order to equilibrate the material or matrix prior to the elution step, as well as multiple volumes' worth when performing the elution step. this can be varied in order to increase or decrease the slope of the ph gradient and thus the total elution volume required to elute the various species adsorbed onto the column. advantageously, however, it has additionally been discovered that one may prepare eluants comprising a large number of buffering agents at appropriate concentrations as disclosed herein, such that the eluant may be used to prepare ph gradients comprising: a linear ph gradient phase; at least one step ph gradient phase prior to a linear ph gradient phase; at least one step ph gradient phase subsequent to a linear ph gradient phase; a linear ph gradient phase only; an essentially linear ph gradient phase; and the like, throughout the majority of the ph scale as the artisan may desire and as described herein and throughout, such that a majority of mais may be purified from compositions comprising such mais and parental homodimeric antibody species without regard to the pi of the heavy chain polypeptides or the pi difference. for example, one exemplary eluant that has been found to elute certain model proteins in single-protein mixtures (see kroner et al, j. chromatog., vol. 1285, pages 78-87 (2013)), effectively buffers from approximately ph 3 through approximately ph 11, such that an essentially linear ph gradient may be generated throughout this range, contains ncyclohexyl-3-aminopropanesulfonic acid (caps), n-cyclohexyl-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (ches), n-tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl-3-aminopropanesulfonic acid (taps), n-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine-n′-(2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid) (heppso), 3-morpholino-2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid sodium salt, 3-(n-morpholinyl)-2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid (mopso), 2-(n-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (mes), acetic acid, formic acid, and nacl. an additional eluant that has been surprisingly discovered to be particularly amenable to certain embodiments of the disclosed and claimed methods comprises methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine and optionally at least one salt. it has been discovered, as disclosed herein and throughout, that these eluants are also effective in purifying a variety of mais from compositions comprising the mai and parental homodimeric antibody species as provided in the disclosed and claimed methods throughout. as these eluants are effective at generating essentially linear ph gradients through a ph range of approximately 3 through approximately 11, the invention provides in certain embodiments, methods for purifying an mai from a composition comprising the mai and parental homodimeric antibody species compositions without regard, or prior knowledge of, the pi of the first and second heavy chain polypeptides of the mai (and thus of the heavy chains in the corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species). as used herein and throughout, a “linear ph gradient phase”, or a “linear ph gradient”, used interchangeably throughout, means a ph gradient that exhibits a largely, or essentially, a smooth, constant rate of change per unit volume of eluate that flows or is flowed through a chromatographic material and/or chromatographic material-composition complex over a relatively large eluant volume or a relatively large number of contiguous column eluant fractions. as used herein and throughout, a “step ph gradient phase”, or a “step ph gradient”, used interchangeably throughout, means a ph gradient that exhibits an relatively abrupt change ph such that a large ph change in the eluant occurs as it flows or is flowed through a chromatographic material and/or chromatographic material-composition complex over in a relatively small volume of the eluant or a relatively small number of contiguous column eluant fractions. although such step ph gradient phases, as a practical matter, do exhibit an observable rate of change per unit eluant volume, such step ph gradient phases are nonetheless distinguishable from linear ph gradient phases as used herein and throughout. in certain embodiments, such step ph gradient phases are considered to exhibit essentially instantaneous rates of change of ph per unit eluant volume relative to linear ph gradient phases. additionally, however, it has been surprisingly discovered that step ph gradient phases may also be employed using the eluants described herein and throughout in circumstances in which such step ph gradient phases may be desirable and useful for inclusion in a chromatographic procedure aimed at separating certain mais from mai-parental homodimeric parental species mixtures. in certain embodiments, the eluant does not include the following agents: imidazole; piperazine, tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (tris). in certain embodiments, the eluant consists essentially of: caps; ches; taps; heppso; mopso; mes; acetic acid; and formic acid; and optionally at least one salt. in other embodiments, the eluant consists of caps; ches; taps; heppso; mopso; mes; acetic acid; and formic acid; and at least one salt. the inventive methods afford the ability to modify or manipulate the ionic strength of the eluant as may be desired by selecting a variety of salt concentrations. accordingly, in certain embodiments, a salt concentration may be selected from the group consisting of: 0 mm to about 100 mm; 0 mm to about 60 mm; 0 mm to about 50 mm; 0 mm to about 40 mm; 0 mm to about 30 mm; 0 mm to about 20 mm; 0 mm to about 10 mm; 0 mm to about 5 mm; about 10 mm to about 200 mm; about 10 mm to about 100 mm; about 10 mm to about 50 mm; about 10 mm to about 40 mm; about 10 mm to about 30 mm; about 10 mm to about 20 mm; about 20 mm to about 200 mm; about 20 mm to about 100 mm; about 20 mm to about 50 mm; about 20 mm to about 30 mm; about 30 mm to about 200 mm; about 30 mm to about 100 mm; and about 30 mm to about 50 mm; and about 5 mm to about 15 mm. in certain embodiments, the eluant comprises at least one salt selected from the group consisting of: nacl, kcl, and na 2 so 4 . in certain embodiments, the eluant nacl at a concentration of approximately 10 mm. in accordance with the inventive methods disclosed and claimed herein and throughout, applicants have further discovered both loading buffer and eluant compositions that facilitate the facile purification of mais from such compositions, and have further discovered that one may conveniently employ the same buffer composition (herein and throughout termed an “eluant”) as both a loading buffer and an elution buffer—one need only to prepare a first sample of the buffer composition at a first ph (the “loading ph”) and a second sample of the buffer composition at a second ph (the “eluting ph”), in which the loading ph and eluting ph are chosen by the artisan order to generate an essentially linear ph gradient through the elution step of the inventive methods. the determination of the desired ph range through which the essentially liner ph gradient should be applied may be arrived at based on, for example, a calculation of the expected pis of each heavy chain to be included in the mai. similarly, the determination of the slope of the gradient to be applied may be informed by determining the difference in pi units (δpi) between each heavy chain to be included in the mai. as disclosed herein and throughout, the inventive methods afford the purification of mais, and reagents, such as buffering agents, eluants, and the like, for performing the methods. the term “antibody” is used herein in the broadest sense and specifically encompasses at least monoclonal antibodies, polyclonal antibodies, multi-specific antibodies (e.g., bispecific antibodies), chimeric antibodies, humanized antibodies, human antibodies, and antibody fragments. an antibody is a protein comprising one or more polypeptides substantially or partially encoded by immunoglobulin genes or fragments of immunoglobulin genes. the recognized immunoglobulin genes include the kappa, lambda, alpha, gamma, delta, epsilon and mu constant region genes, as well as myriad immunoglobulin variable region genes. an “antibody” also refers to an immunoglobulin molecule, a fragment of an immunoglobulin molecule, or a derivative thereof, which has the ability to specifically bind to an antigen, which may be, for example: a protein; a polypeptide; peptide; a hormone; a cytokine; a chemokine; a growth factor; a neurotransmitter; a carbohydrate-containing biological molecule; a lipid or fatty acid-containing biological molecule; or other biological molecule; via an epitope present on such antigen. “antibodies” as used herein and throughout also refer to polypeptides comprising one or more variable regions or variable domains of an antibody, wherein such variable regions(s) or variable domain(s) are capable of engaging and binding to one or more epitopes of one or more antigens. by “polypeptide” or “protein as used herein is meant at least two covalently attached amino acids, which includes proteins, polypeptides, oligopeptides and peptides. the protein may be made up of naturally occurring amino acids and peptide bonds, or synthetic peptidomimetic structures, i.e. “analogs”, such as peptides. antibodies (used interchangeably with “immunoglobulins”, or “immunoglobulin molecules”) can be monomeric, dimeric, trimeric, tetrameric, pentameric, etc., and may comprise a class of structurally related proteins consisting of two pairs of polypeptide chains: one pair of light chains (lc) and one pair of heavy chains (hc), all of which are inter-connected by disulfide bonds. the structure of immunoglobulins has been well characterized. see for instance fundamental immunology ch. 7 (paul, w., ed., 2nd ed. raven press, n.y. (1989)). traditional natural antibody structural units typically comprise a tetramer. each tetramer is typically composed of two identical pairs of polypeptide chains, each pair having one “light” (typically having a molecular weight of about 25 kda) and one “heavy” chain (typically having a molecular weight of about 50-70 kda). human light chains are classified as kappa and lambda light chains. heavy chains are classified as mu, delta, gamma, alpha, or epsilon, and define the antibody's isotype as igm, igd, igg, iga, and ige, respectively. igg has several subclasses, including, but not limited to igg1, igg2, igg3, and igg4. igm has subclasses, including, but not limited to, igm1 and igm2. iga has several subclasses, including but not limited to iga1 and iga2. thus, “isotype” as used herein is meant any of the classes and subclasses of immunoglobulins defined by the chemical and antigenic characteristics of their constant regions. the known human immunoglobulin isotypes are igg1, igg2, igg3, igg4, iga1, iga2, igm1, igm2, igd, and ige. the distinguishing features between these antibody classes are their constant regions, although subtler differences may exist in the variable region. each of the light and heavy chains is made up of two distinct regions, referred to as the variable and constant regions. the igg heavy chain is composed of four immunoglobulin domains linked from n- to c-terminus in the order vh-ch1-ch2-ch3, referring to the “variable heavy domain” (also referred to as a “heavy chain variable domain”, used interchangeably throughout), heavy chain constant domain 1, heavy chain constant domain 2, and heavy chain constant domain 3 respectively (also referred to as vh-cγ1-cγ2-cγ3, referring to the variable heavy domain, constant gamma 1 domain, constant gamma 2 domain, and constant gamma 3 domain respectively). the igg light chain is composed of two immunoglobulin domains linked from n- to c-terminus in the order vl-cl, referring to the “variable light domain” (also referred to as a “light chain variable domain”, used interchangeably throughout) and the light chain constant domain respectively. the constant regions show less sequence diversity, and are responsible for binding a number of natural proteins to elicit important biochemical events. the structure that constitutes the natural biological form of an antibody, including the variable and constant regions, is referred to herein as a “full length antibody”. in most mammals, including humans and mice, the full length antibody of the igg isotype is a tetramer and consists of two identical pairs of two immunoglobulin chains, each pair having one light chain and one heavy chain, each light chain comprising a vl and a cl, and each heavy chain comprising a vh, ch1, a ch2, and a ch3. in some mammals, for example in camels and llamas, igg antibodies may consist of only two heavy chains, each heavy chain comprising a variable domain attached to the fc region. the heavy chain constant region typically is comprised of three domains, ch1, ch2, and ch3, and the ch1 and ch2 domains are connected by a hinge region. each light chain typically is comprised of a light chain variable domain (abbreviated herein as “v l ” or “vl”) and a light chain constant domain. the v h and v l domains may be further subdivided into regions of hypervariability (or hypervariable regions which may be hypervariable in sequence and/or form of structurally defined loops), also termed complementarity determining regions (cdrs), interspersed with regions that are more conserved, termed framework regions (frs). each v h and v l is typically composed of three cdrs and four frs, arranged from amino-terminus to carboxy-terminus in the following order: fr1, cdr1, fr2, cdr2, fr3, cdr3, fr4. typically, the numbering of amino acid residues in this region is performed by the method described in kabat (see, e.g., kabat et al, in “sequences of proteins of immunological interest,” 5 th edition, u.s. department of health and human services, 1992). using this numbering system, the actual linear amino acid sequence of a peptide may contain fewer or additional amino acids corresponding to a shortening of, or insertion into, a fr or cdr of the variable domain. for example, a heavy chain variable domain may include a single amino acid insert (residue 52a according to kabat) after residue 52 of v h cdr2 and inserted residues (for instance residues 82a, 82b, and 82c, etc. according to kabat) after heavy chain fr residue 82. the kabat numbering of residues may be determined for a given antibody by alignment at regions of homology of the sequence of the antibody with a “standard” kabat numbered sequence. the term “variable”, “variable domain”, or “variable region” each interchangeably refers to the portions of the immunoglobulin domains that exhibit variability in their sequence and that are involved in determining the specificity and binding affinity of a particular antibody (i.e., the “variable domain(s)”). variability is not evenly distributed throughout the variable domains of antibodies; it is concentrated in sub-domains of each of the heavy and light chain variable regions. these sub-domains are called “hypervariable” regions or “complementarity determining regions” (cdrs). the more conserved (i.e., non-hypervariable) portions of the variable domains are called the “framework” regions (frm). the variable domains of naturally occurring heavy and light chains each comprise four frm regions, largely adopting a β-sheet configuration, connected by three hypervariable regions, which form loops connecting, and in some cases forming part of, the β-sheet structure. the hypervariable regions in each chain are held together in close proximity by the frm and, with the hypervariable regions from the other chain, contribute to the formation of the antigen-binding site (see kabat et al. sequences of proteins of immunological interest, 5th ed. public health service, national institutes of health, bethesda, md., 1991, incorporated by reference in its entirety). the constant domains are not directly involved in antigen binding, but exhibit various effector functions, such as, for example, antibody-dependent, cell-mediated cytotoxicity and complement activation. the term “framework region” refers to the art-recognized portions of an antibody variable region that exist between the more divergent (i.e., hypervariable) cdrs. such framework regions are typically referred to as frameworks 1 through 4 (frm1, frm2, frm3, and frm4) and provide a scaffold for the presentation of the six cdrs (three from the heavy chain and three from the light chain) in three dimensional space, to form an antigen-binding surface. the term “canonical structure” refers to the main chain conformation that is adopted by the antigen binding (cdr) loops. from comparative structural studies, it has been found that five of the six antigen binding loops have only a limited repertoire of available conformations. each canonical structure can be characterized by the torsion angles of the polypeptide backbone. correspondent loops between antibodies may, therefore, have very similar three dimensional structures, despite high amino acid sequence variability in most parts of the loops (chothia and lesk, j. moi. biol., 1987, 196: 901; chothia et al, nature, 1989, 342: 877; martin and thornton, j. moi. biol, 1996, 263: 800. furthermore, there is a relationship between the adopted loop structure and the amino acid sequences surrounding it. the conformation of a particular canonical class is determined by the length of the loop and the amino acid residues residing at key positions within the loop, as well as within the conserved framework (i.e., outside of the loop). assignment to a particular canonical class can therefore be made based on the presence of these key amino acid residues. by “position” as used herein is meant a location in the sequence of a protein or nucleic acid. protein positions may be numbered sequentially, or according to an established format, for example the kabat index for antibody variable regions or the eu index for antibody constant regions. for example, position 297 is a position in the human antibody igg1. corresponding positions are determined as outlined above, generally through alignment with other parent sequences. by “residue” as used herein is meant a position in a protein and its associated amino acid identity. for example, asparagine 297 (also referred to as asn297, also referred to as n297) is a residue in the human antibody igg1. in some embodiments it can also refer to nucleic acid bases. the term “canonical structure” may also include considerations as to the linear sequence of the antibody, for example, as catalogued by kabat (kabat et al, in “sequences of proteins of immunological interest,” 5 th edition, u.s. department of health and human services, 1992). the kabat numbering scheme is a widely adopted standard for numbering the amino acid residues of an antibody variable domain in a consistent manner. additional structural considerations can also be used to determine the canonical structure of an antibody. for example, those differences not fully reflected by kabat numbering can be described by the numbering system of chothia et al and/or revealed by other techniques, for example, crystallography and two or three-dimensional computational modeling. accordingly, a given antibody sequence may be placed into a canonical class which allows for, among other things, identifying appropriate chassis sequences (e.g., based on a desire to include a variety of canonical structures in a library). kabat numbering of antibody amino acid sequences and structural considerations as described by chothia et al., and their implications for construing canonical aspects of antibody structure, are described in the literature. by “fc” or “fc region”, as used herein is meant the polypeptide comprising the constant region of an antibody excluding the first constant region immunoglobulin domain. thus “fc region” refers to the last two constant region immunoglobulin domains of iga, igd, and igg, and the last three constant region immunoglobulin domains of ige and igm, and the flexible hinge n-terminal to these domains. for iga and igm, fc may include the j chain. for igg, fc comprises immunoglobulin domains cgamma2 and cgamma3 (cγ2 and cγ3) and the hinge between cgamma1 (cγ1) and cgamma2 (cγ2). accordingly, and without departing from the above, “fc region” may also be defined as comprising a “ch2 domain or a variant thereof” and a “ch3 domain or a variant thereof”. although the boundaries of the fc region may vary, the human igg heavy chain fc region is usually defined to comprise residues c226 or p230 to its carboxyl-terminus, wherein the numbering is according to the eu index as in kabat. fc may refer to this region in isolation, or this region in the context of an fc polypeptide, for example an antibody. by “fc polypeptide” as used herein is meant a polypeptide that comprises all or part of an fc region. fc polypeptides include antibodies, fc fusions, isolated fcs, and fc fragments. a variable light chain (vl) and corresponding variable heavy domain (vh) of the inventive multivalent antibody analogs comprise a binding domain, also referred to interchangeably throughout as an “antigen binding site” that interacts with an antigen. thus, a “first variable light domain” and a “first variable heavy domain” of the inventive multivalent antibody analogs together form a “first antigen binding site”. similarly, a “second variable light domain” and a “second variable heavy domain” of the inventive multivalent antibody analogs together form a “second antigen binding site”. a “third variable light domain” and a “third variable heavy domain” of the inventive multivalent antibody analogs together form a “third antigen binding site”, and so on. the antigen binding sites for use in accordance with the invention, including the vhs, vls, and/or cdrs that comprise such, may be obtained or derived from any source of such, as will be understood by the artisan. accordingly, such antigen binding sites, vhs, vls, and/or cdrs may be obtained or derived from hybridoma cells that express antibodies against a target recognized by such; from b cells from immunized donors, which express antibodies against a target recognized by such; from b-cells that have been stimulated to express antibodies against a target recognized by such; and or from identification of antibodies or antibody fragments that have been identified by screening a library comprising a plurality of polynucleotides or polypeptides for antigen binding antibodies (or antigen binding fragments thereof). “antibody fragments” comprise a portion of an intact antibody, for example, one or more portions of the antigen-binding region thereof. examples of antibody fragments include fab, fab′, f(ab′)2, and fv fragments, scfvs, diabodies, linear antibodies, single-chain antibodies, and multi-specific antibodies formed from intact antibodies and antibody fragments. by “scfv” as used herein is meant a polypeptide consisting of two variable regions connected by a linker sequence; e.g., “linkers” (also referred to a “linker moieties”, used interchangeably throughout), are described in more detail below. by “fab” or “fab region” as used herein is meant the polypeptides that comprise the vh, ch1, vl, and cl immunoglobulin domains. typically, the vh and ch1 domains comprise one polypeptide and the vl and cl domains comprise another polypeptide, wherein the two polypeptides are linked to one another via at least one inter-polypeptide disulfide bond. fab may refer to this region in isolation, or this region in the context of a full length antibody or antibody fragment. “humanized antibodies” generally refer to non-human antibodies that have had the variable-domain framework regions swapped for sequences found in human antibodies. generally in a humanized antibody the entire antibody, except the cdrs, is encoded by a polynucleotide of human origin or is identical to such an antibody except within its cdrs. the cdrs, one, some, or all of which are encoded by nucleic acids originating in a non-human organism, are grafted into the framework of a human antibody variable region to create an antibody, the specificity of which is determined by the engrafted cdrs. the creation of such antibodies is described in, e.g., wo 92/11018, jones, 1986, nature 321:522-525, verhoeyen et al., 1988, science 239:1534-1536. “back mutation” of selected acceptor framework residues to the corresponding donor residues is often required to regain affinity that is lost in the initial grafted construct (see, e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,693,762). the humanized antibody optimally also will comprise at least a portion of an immunoglobulin constant region, typically that of a human immunoglobulin, and thus will typically comprise a human fc region. a variety of techniques and methods for humanizing, reshaping, and resurfacing non-human antibodies are well known in the art (see tsurushita & vasquez, 2004, humanization of monoclonal antibodies, molecular biology of b cells, 533-545, elsevier science (usa), and references cited therein). in certain variations, the immunogenicity of the antibody is reduced using a method described in lazar et al., 2007, mol immunol 44:1986-1998 and u.s. ser. no. 11/004,590, entitled “methods of generating variant proteins with increased host string content and compositions thereof”, filed on dec. 3, 2004. an “intact antibody” is one comprising full-length heavy- and light-chains and an fc region. an intact antibody is also referred to as a “full-length, heterodimeric” antibody or immunoglobulin. the term “variable” refers to the portions of the immunoglobulin domains that exhibit variability in their sequence and that are involved in determining the specificity and binding affinity of a particular antibody (i.e., the “variable domain(s)”). variability is not evenly distributed throughout the variable domains of antibodies; it is concentrated in sub-domains of each of the heavy and light chain variable regions. these sub-domains are called “hypervariable” regions or “complementarity determining regions” (cdrs). the more conserved (i.e., non-hypervariable) portions of the variable domains are called the “framework” regions (frm). the variable domains of naturally occurring heavy and light chains each comprise four frm regions, largely adopting a β-sheet configuration, connected by three hypervariable regions, which form loops connecting, and in some cases forming part of, the β-sheet structure. the hypervariable regions in each chain are held together in close proximity by the frm and, with the hypervariable regions from the other chain, contribute to the formation of the antigen-binding site (see kabat et al. sequences of proteins of immunological interest, 5th ed. public health service, national institutes of health, bethesda, md., 1991, incorporated by reference in its entirety). the constant domains are not directly involved in antigen binding, but exhibit various effector functions, such as, for example, antibody-dependent, cell-mediated cytotoxicity and complement activation. the “chassis” of the invention represent a portion of the antibody heavy chain variable (ighv) or light chain variable (iglv) domains that are not part of cdrh3 or cdrl3, respectively. the chassis of the invention is defined as the portion of the variable region of an antibody beginning with the first amino acid of frm1 and ending with the last amino acid of frm3. in the case of the heavy chain, the chassis includes the amino acids including from about kabat position 1 to about kabat position 94. in the case of the light chains (kappa and lambda), the chassis are defined as including from about kabat position 1 to about kabat position 88. the chassis of the invention may contain certain modifications relative to the corresponding germline variable domain sequences presented herein or available in public databases. these modifications may be engineered (e.g., to remove n-linked glycosylation sites) or naturally occurring (e.g., to account for allelic variation). for example, it is known in the art that the immunoglobulin gene repertoire is polymorphic (wang et al., immunol. cell. biol, 2008, 86: 111; collins et al, immunogenetics, 2008, doi 10.1007/s00251-008-0325-z, published online, each incorporated by reference in its entirety); chassis, cdrs (e.g., cdrh3) and constant regions representative of these allelic variants are also encompassed by the invention. in some embodiments, the allelic variant(s) used in a particular embodiment of the invention may be selected based on the allelic variation present in different patient populations, for example, to identify antibodies that are non-immunogenic in these patient populations. in certain embodiments, the immunogenicity of an antibody of the invention may depend on allelic variation in the major histocompatibility complex (mhc) genes of a patient population. such allelic variation may also be considered in the design of libraries of the invention. in certain embodiments of the invention, the chassis and constant regions are contained on a vector, and a cdr3 region is introduced between them via homologous recombination. in some embodiments, one, two or three nucleotides may follow the heavy chain chassis, forming either a partial (if one or two) or a complete (if three) codon. when a full codon is present, these nucleotides encode an amino acid residue that is referred to as the “tail,” and occupies position 95. in certain embodiments, one or more of: the first heavy chain variable region; the second heavy chain variable region; the first light chain variable region; the second light chain variable region; one or more cdrs contained in a variable region; the first polypeptide; the second polypeptide; the third polypeptide; the fourth polypeptide; one or more parental homodimeric antibody species; and/or the mai are obtained by performing one or more selections against a one or more antigens from one or more libraries comprising unique members of any of the aforementioned antibody components or regions. in certain embodiments, either the first heavy chain variable region or the second heavy chain variable region of an antibody, such as an mai, is obtained by performing a first selection against a first antigen from a first library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions. in certain embodiments, the first heavy chain variable region and the second heavy chain variable region of an antibody, such as an mai, is obtained by performing a first selection against a first antigen from a first library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions. in certain embodiments, the first heavy chain variable region of an antibody, such as an mai, is obtained by performing a first selection against a first antigen from a first library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions and the second heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a second selection against a second antigen from a second library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions. in certain embodiments, the first heavy chain variable region of an antibody, such as an mai, is obtained by performing a first selection against a first antigen from a first library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions and the second heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a second selection against a second antigen from a second library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions. in certain embodiments, at least one of the libraries further comprises at least one light chain. as will be appreciated by the artisan, the terms “library” and “plurality” (and “libraries” and “pluralities”) may be readily used interchangeably. however, in the context of the inventions disclosed throughout, whereas a “plurality” of items, such as antibodies, nucleic acid encoding antibodies, or host cells, may comprise many or most members that are essentially identical, a “library” of items, such as antibodies, nucleic acid encoding antibodies, or host cells comprise members many or most members that are unique. in certain embodiments, one or more naïve libraries are employed in selections in accordance with the claimed methods. a “naïve library” refers to a library of polynucleotides (or polypeptides encoded by such polynucleotides) that has not been interrogated for the presence of antibodies having specificity a particular antigen. a “naïve library” also refers to a library that is not restricted to, or otherwise biased or enriched for, antibody sequences having specificity for any group of antigens, or for a particular antigen. a naïve library is thus distinct from a “restricted library” and “maturation library” (such as, for example, an “affinity maturation library”), both of which are described below. a naïve library may also comprise a “preimmune” library, which refers to a library that has sequence diversity and length diversity similar to naturally occurring antibody sequences, such as human antibody sequences, before such naturally occurring sequences have undergone negative selection and/or somatic hypermutation. such preimmune libraries may be designed and prepared so as to reflect or mimic the pre-immune repertoire, and/or may be designed and prepared based on rational design informed by the collection of human v, d, and j genes, and other large databases of human heavy and light chain sequences (e.g., publicly known germline sequences; sequences from jackson et al, j. immunol methods, 2007, 324: 26, incorporated by reference in its entirety; sequences from lee et al., immunogenetics, 2006, 57: 917, incorporated by reference in its entirety; and sequences compiled for rearranged vk and vλ. additional information may be found, for example, in scaviner et al., exp. clin. immunogenet., 1999, 16: 234; tomlinson et al, j. mol. biol, 1992, 227: 799; and matsuda et al, j. exp. med., 1998, 188: 2151 each incorporated by reference in its entirety. in certain embodiments of the invention, cassettes representing the possible v, d, and j diversity found in the human repertoire, as well as junctional diversity (i.e., n1 and n2), are synthesized de novo as single or double-stranded dna oligonucleotides. exemplary such preimmune libraries, and the design and composition of polynucleotide sequences (and polypeptide sequences encoded by them) comprising them, are further described in, for example, lee et al. (immunogenetics, 2006, 57: 917); martin et al., proteins, 1996, 25:130; wo 2009/036379; and wo 2012/09568. in the context of antibodies that are employed in practicing the disclosed inventions, a library (or plurality) of such antibodies will comprise many or most members that each possess a unique primary acid sequence; however, such libraries (or pluralities) may also include members that have identical amino acid sequences. in certain embodiments, the variable regions of such members will comprise many of the differences in amino acid sequence between such members. in the context of host cells that are employed in practicing the disclosed inventions, a plurality (or library) of such host cells will comprise host cell members, many of which that each express a unique antibody; however, such host cell pluralities (or libraries) may also include members that express identical antibody sequences. in certain embodiments, such host cells will also harbor nucleic acid that collectively encodes the antibody libraries that are collectively expressed by the host cells. as will be understood by the artisan and as disclosed throughout, “diversity” refers to a variety or a noticeable heterogeneity. the term “sequence diversity” refers to a variety of sequences which are collectively representative of several possibilities of sequences, for example, those found in natural human antibodies. for example, heavy chain cdr3 (cdrh3) sequence diversity may refer to a variety of possibilities of combining the known human dh and h3-jh segments, including the n1 and n2 regions, to form heavy chain cdr3 sequences. the light chain cdr3 (cdrl3) sequence diversity may refer to a variety of possibilities of combining the naturally occurring light chain variable region contributing to cdrl3 (i.e., l3-vl) and joining (i.e., l3-jl) segments, to form light chain cdr3 sequences. as used herein, h3-jh refers to the portion of the ighj gene contributing to cdrh3. as used herein, l3-vl and l3-jl refer to the portions of the iglv and iglj genes (kappa or lambda) contributing to cdrl3, respectively. as used herein, the term “expression” includes any step involved in the production of a polypeptide including, but not limited to, transcription, post-transcriptional modification, translation, post-translational modification, and secretion. in certain embodiments of the invention, antibody libraries are designed to be small enough to chemically synthesize and physically realize, but large enough to encode antibodies with the potential to recognize any antigen. in certain embodiments, an antibody library comprises about 10 7 to about 10 20 different antibodies and/or polynucleotide sequences encoding the antibodies of the library. in some embodiments, the libraries are designed to include 10 3 , 10 4 , 10 5 , 10 6 , 10 7 , 10 8 , 10 9 , 10 10 , 10 11 , 10 12 , 10 13 , 10 14 , 10 15 , 10 16 , 10 17 , 10 18 , 10 19 , or 10 20 different antibodies and/or polynucleotide sequences encoding the antibodies. in certain embodiments, the libraries may comprise or encode about 10 3 to about 10 5 , about 10 5 to about 10 7 , about 10 7 to about 10 9 , about 10 9 to about 10 11 , about 10 11 to about 10 13 , about 10 13 to about 10 15 , about 10 15 to about 10 17 , or about 10 17 to about 10 20 different antibodies. in certain embodiments, the diversity of the libraries may be characterized as being greater than or less than one or more of the diversities enumerated above, for example greater than about 10 3 , 10 4 , 10 5 , 10 6 , 10 7 , 10 8 , 10 9 , 10 10 , 10 11 , 10 12 , 10 13 , 10 14 , 10 15 , 10 16 , 10 17 , 10 18 , 10 19 , or 10 20 or less than about 10 3 , 10 4 , 10 5 , 10 6 , 10 7 , 10 8 , 10 9 , 10 10 , 10 11 , 10 12 , 10 13 , 10 14 , 10 15 , 10 16 , 10 17 , 10 18 , 10 19 , or 10 20 . in certain other embodiments of the invention, the probability of an antibody of interest being present in a physical realization of a library with a size as enumerated above is at least about 0.0001%, 0.001%, 0.01%, 0.1%, 1%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 99%, 99.5%, or 99.9% (see library sampling, in the detailed description, for more information on the probability of a particular sequence being present in a physical realization of a library). as will be understood by the artisan and as disclosed throughout antibody libraries suitable for use in accordance with the disclosed methods may be designed and prepared by any method available in the art as disclosed, for example, in wo2009036379; wo2012009568; wo2010105256; u.s. pat. nos. 8,258,082; 6,300,064; 6,696,248; 6,165,718; 6,500,644; 6,291,158; 6,291,159; 6,096,551; 6,368,805; 6,500,644; and the like. for instance, libraries may be designed and prepared so as to reflect or mimic the pre-immune repertoire, and/or may be designed and prepared based on rational design informed by the collection of human v, d, and j genes, and other large databases of human heavy and light chain sequences (e.g., publicly known germline sequences; sequences from jackson et al, j. immunol methods, 2007, 324: 26, incorporated by reference in its entirety; sequences from lee et al., immunogenetics, 2006, 57: 917, incorporated by reference in its entirety; and sequences compiled for rearranged vk and vλ—see appendices a and b filed herewith). additional information may be found, for example, in scaviner et al., exp. clin. immunogenet., 1999, 16: 234; tomlinson et al, j. moi. biol, 1992, 227: 799; and matsuda et al, j. exp. med., 1998, 188: 2151 each incorporated by reference in its entirety. in certain embodiments of the invention, cassettes representing the possible v, d, and j diversity found in the human repertoire, as well as junctional diversity (i.e., n1 and n2), are synthesized de novo as single or double-stranded dna oligonucleotides. in certain embodiments of the invention, oligonucleotide cassettes encoding cdr sequences are introduced into yeast along with one or more acceptor vectors containing heavy or light chain chassis sequences. no primer-based pcr amplification or template-directed cloning steps from mammalian cdna or mrna are employed. through standard homologous recombination, the recipient yeast recombines the cassettes (e.g., cdr3s) with the acceptor vector(s) containing the chassis sequence(s) and constant regions, to create a properly ordered synthetic, full-length human heavy chain and/or light chain immunoglobulin library that can be genetically propagated, expressed, displayed, and screened. one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the chassis contained in the acceptor vector can be designed so as to produce constructs other than full-length human heavy chains and/or light chains. for example, in certain embodiments of the invention, the chassis may be designed to encode portions of a polypeptide encoding an antibody fragment or subunit of an antibody fragment, so that a sequence encoding an antibody fragment, or subunit thereof, is produced when the oligonucleotide cassette containing the cdr is recombined with the acceptor vector. in certain embodiments, the invention provides a synthetic, preimmune human antibody repertoire comprising about 10 7 to about 10 20 antibody members, wherein the repertoire comprises: (a) selected human antibody heavy chain chassis (i.e., amino acids 1 to 94 of the heavy chain variable region, using kabat's definition); (b) a cdrh3 repertoire, designed based on the human ighd and ighj germline sequences, the cdrh3 repertoire comprising the following: (i) optionally, one or more tail regions;(ii) one or more n1 regions, comprising about 0 to about 10 amino acids selected from the group consisting of fewer than 20 of the amino acid types preferentially encoded by the action of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (tdt) and functionally expressed by human b cells;(iii) one or dh segments, based on one or more selected ighd segments, and one or more n- or c-terminal truncations thereof;(iv) one or more n2 regions, comprising about 0 to about 10 amino acids selected from the group consisting of fewer than 20 of the amino acids preferentially encoded by the activity of tdt and functionally expressed by human b cells; and(v) one or more h3-jh segments, based on one or more ighj segments, and one or more n-terminal truncations thereof (e.g., down to xxwg); (c) one or more selected human antibody kappa and/or lambda light chain chassis; and(b) a cdrl3 repertoire designed based on the human iglv and iglj germline sequences, wherein “l” may be a kappa or lambda light chain. the means and methods for preparing such libraries are disclosed, for example, in wo2009036379; wo2012009568; wo2010105256. as will be understood by the artisan and as disclosed throughout, “specificity” refers to the property of an antibody which enables to react with one or more antigenic determinants, such as one or more epitopes, of an antigen of interest, and not with other epitopes of the antigen of interest or with other antigens of interest. as understood in the art, antibody specificity is dependent on chemical composition, physical forces, energetic favorability, steric hindrance, and molecular structure or topology of the binding site of the epitope and/or the antibody. as will be understood by the artisan and as disclosed throughout, “affinity” refers to the strength, or stability of an antibody-epitope interaction. antibodies with better affinity for an epitope bind relatively tightly and/or stably with the epitope, whereas antibodies with poorer affinity for an epitope bind relatively weakly and or less stably. as will be understood by the artisan and as disclosed throughout, “collecting” or “collected” antibodies having specificity for (an) epitope(s) of an antigen of interest refers to distinguishing (or distinguished) antibodies that have such specificity from those antibodies that do not have such specificity. collecting antibodies or collected antibodies having specificity for (an) epitope(s) of an antigen of interest need not require physical separation of antibodies from those antibodies that do not have such specificity in order for them to be distinguished. however, in certain embodiments, collecting antibodies having specificity for (an) epitope(s) of an antigen of interest comprises physically separating such antibodies from those antibodies that do not have such specificity. exemplary methods and means for collecting antibodies are known in the art, and include, for example, flow cytometry, florescence activated cell sorting (facs), magnetic activated cell sorting (macs), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa), and the like, and combinations thereof. any means for determining such specificity in the art may be employed for determining such specificity in accordance with the methods disclosed throughout, and include, for example, labelling such antibodies with a detectable label; detecting a detectable label; detecting a functional consequence of antibody binding to (an) epitope of an antigen, such as competition with another antibody known to have specificity for such epitope(s); modulation of protein-protein or protein-ligand interaction between the antigen of interest and a known protein interaction partner or ligand. it is often desirable to include one more maturation library selections as part of an antibody discovery process. such maturation library selections, such as affinity maturation library selections, may be advantageously incorporated into the methods disclosed herein. a “maturation library” refers to a library that is designed to enhance or improve at least one characteristic of an antibody sequence that is identified upon interrogation of a library, such as a naïve library or a preimmune library, for the presence of antibody sequences having specificity for the antigen. such maturation libraries may be generated by incorporating nucleic acid sequences corresponding to: one or more cdrs; one or more antigen binding regions; one or more vh or vl regions; and/or one or more heavy chains or light chains; obtained from or identified in an interrogation of a naïve library (herein referred to as “antibody leads”) into libraries designed to further mutagenize in vitro or in vivo to generate libraries with diversity introduced in the context of the initial antibody leads. such maturation libraries and methods of making them are provided in, for example, wo 2009/036379 (for example, at pages 75 through 77); and wo 2012/09568 (for example pages 69 to 72), and include: maturation libraries in which variegation is performed in which a cdrh3 of interest remains unaltered, and heavy chain framework regions, chrh1, and/or chdh2 regions are variegated; libraries in which a cdrl3 of interest remains unaltered, and light chain framework regions, chrl1, and/or chdl2 regions are variegated; libraries in which premade, diverse, light chains are combined with one or more heavy chains of interest. a “restricted library” refers to a library that comprises: one or more unique heavy chains, one or more unique light chains, or one or more unique heavy chains and one or more unique light chains; that have been obtained or identified by performing a selection from, for example, a naive library for antigen binding regions having specificity for one antigen of interest; and is used to obtain or identify antigen binding regions having specificity for another antigen of interest. such restricted libraries typically comprise a number of either heavy chains or light chains that is in far excess of the number of light chains or heavy chains, respectively. in certain embodiments, the number of unique heavy chains is at least 10 5 , at least 10 6 , at least 10 7 , 10 8 , or at least 10 9 or greater and the number of unique light chains is one, two, three, four, five, ten, 15, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, or 1000. in certain embodiments, the number of unique heavy chains is between 10 7 and 108, and the number of unique light chains is less than 10, preferably approximately 5. in certain embodiments, the methods disclosed throughout may comprise the use of pluralities of host cells, members of which collectively harbor nucleic acids that collectively encode the libraries of antibodies, wherein such host cells collectively express the libraries of antibodies that are interrogated for binders to the antigen of interest. when such pluralities of host cells are prepared and employed in accordance with the methods disclosed throughout, either: those host cells that express antibodies with specificity toward an antigen of interest are be collected from amongst the plurality of host cells host cells that are interrogated; or the antibodies that are encoded by such host cells may be collected. in certain embodiments, the antibodies are collected after the host cells express and secrete them. in accordance with the use of host cells in the methods disclosed throughout libraries of polynucleotides generated by any of the techniques described herein, or other suitable techniques, may be introduced into such host cells and thereby expressed and screened to identify antibodies having desired structure and/or activity. expression of the antibodies can be carried out, for example, using cell-free extracts (and e.g., ribosome display), phage display, prokaryotic host cells (e.g., bacterial display), or eukaryotic host cells (e.g., yeast display, mammalian cell display). in certain embodiments of the invention, the antibody libraries are expressed and/or encoded by yeast. in certain embodiments, the yeast are saccharomyces cerevesaie . in other embodiments, the yeast are pichia pastoris. in other embodiments, the polynucleotides are engineered to serve as templates that can be expressed in a cell-free extract. vectors and extracts as described, for example in u.s. pat. nos. 5,324,637; 5,492,817; 5,665,563, (each incorporated by reference in its entirety) can be used and many are commercially available. ribosome display and other cell-free techniques for linking a polynucleotide (i.e., a genotype) to a polypeptide (i.e., a phenotype) can be used, e.g., profusion™ (see, e.g., u.s. pat. nos. 6,348,315; 6,261,804; 6,258,558; and 6,214,553, each incorporated by reference in its entirety). alternatively, the polynucleotides of the invention can be expressed in an e. coli expression system, such as that described by pluckthun and skerra. (meth. enzymol., 1989, 178: 476; biotechnology, 1991, 9: 273, each incorporated by reference in its entirety). the mutant proteins can be expressed for secretion in the medium and/or in the cytoplasm of the bacteria, as described by better and horwitz, meth. enzymol., 1989, 178: 476, incorporated by reference in its entirety. in some embodiments, the single domains encoding vh and vl are each attached to the 3′ end of a sequence encoding a signal sequence, such as the ompa, phoa or pelb signal sequence (lei et al, j. bacteriol, 1987, 169: 4379, incorporated by reference in its entirety). these gene fusions are assembled in a dicistronic construct, so that they can be expressed from a single vector, and secreted into the periplasmic space of e. coli where they will refold and can be recovered in active form. (skerra et al, biotechnology, 1991, 9: 273, incorporated by reference in its entirety). for example, antibody heavy chain genes can be concurrently expressed with antibody light chain genes to produce antibodies or antibody fragments. in other embodiments of the invention, the antibody sequences are expressed on the membrane surface of a prokaryote, e.g., e. coli , using a secretion signal and lipidation moiety as described, e.g., in us20040072740; us20030100023; and us20030036092 (each incorporated by reference in its entirety). higher eukaryotic cells, such as mammalian cells, for example myeloma cells (e.g., ns/0 cells), hybridoma cells, chinese hamster ovary (cho), and human embryonic kidney (hek) cells, can also be used for expression of the antibodies of the invention. typically, antibodies expressed in mammalian cells are designed to be secreted into the culture medium, or expressed on the surface of the cell. the antibody or antibody fragments can be produced, for example, as intact antibody molecules or as individual vh and vl fragments, fab fragments, single domains, or as single chains (scfv) (huston et al, pnas, 1988, 85: 5879, incorporated by reference in its entirety). alternatively, antibodies can be expressed and screened by anchored periplasmic expression (apex 2-hybrid surface display), as described, for example, in jeong et al, pnas, 2007, 104: 8247 (incorporated by reference in its entirety) or by other anchoring methods as described, for example, in mazor et al., nature biotechnology, 2007, 25: 563 (incorporated by reference in its entirety). in other embodiments of the invention, antibodies can be selected using mammalian cell display (ho et al, pnas, 2006, 103: 9637, incorporated by reference in its entirety). the screening of the antibodies derived from the libraries of the invention can be carried out by any appropriate means. for example, binding activity can be evaluated by standard immunoassay and/or affinity chromatography. screening of the antibodies of the invention for catalytic function, e.g., proteolytic function can be accomplished using a standard assays, e.g., the hemoglobin plaque assay as described in u.s. pat. no. 5,798,208 (incorporated by reference in its entirety). determining the ability of candidate antibodies to bind therapeutic targets can be assayed in vitro using, e.g., a biacore™ instrument, which measures binding rates of an antibody to a given target or antigen based on surface plasmon resonance. in vivo assays can be conducted using any of a number of animal models and then subsequently tested, as appropriate, in humans. cell-based biological assays are also contemplated. as mentioned above, the inventive methods do not require the design or engineering of heterodimerization motifs in order to obtain meaningful quantities and purities of the desired mai. however, the inventive methods are amenable to the inclusion of such motifs. interaction between heterodimeric pairs or disclosed multispecific antibody analogs comprising such heterodimeric pairs may be promoted at the heterodimeric pair interface by the formation of protuberance-into-cavity complementary regions at such interfaces; the formation of non-naturally occurring disulfide bonds at such interfaces; leucine zipper at such interfaces; hydrophobic regions at such interfaces; and/or hydrophilic regions at such interfaces. “protuberances” are constructed by replacing small amino acid side chains from the interface of the first polypeptide with larger side chains (e.g. tyrosine or tryptophan). compensatory “cavities” of identical or similar size to the protuberances are optionally created on the interface of the second polypeptide by replacing large amino acid side chains with smaller ones (e.g. alanine or threonine). where a suitably positioned and dimensioned protuberance or cavity exists at the interface of either the first or second polypeptide, it is only necessary to engineer a corresponding cavity or protuberance, respectively, at the adjacent interface. non-naturally occurring disulfide bonds are constructed by replacing on the first polypeptide a naturally occurring amino acid with a free thiol-containing residue, such as cysteine, such that the free thiol interacts with another free thiol-containing residue on the second polypeptide such that a disulfide bond is formed between the first and second polypeptides exemplary heterodimerization pairs and methods for making such in accordance with the present invention are available in the art, and are disclosed, for example, in us 2011/0054151; us 2007/0098712; and the like. in certain embodiments, the heterodimeric pairs are contained within the fc region of the inventive multispecific antibody analogs. fc regions that contain such heterodimeric pairs are referred to as “heterodimeric fc regions”. accordingly, in certain embodiments, multispecific antibody analogs comprise a ch2 and/or a ch3 domain variant, wherein either: a) the ch2 domain variant and the ch3 domain variant each independently comprises a at least one protuberance in either the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the first polypeptide and at least one corresponding cavity in the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the second; or the ch2 domain variant and the ch3 domain variant each independently comprises at least one cavity in either the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the first polypeptide and at least one corresponding protuberance in the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the second polypeptide. in certain other embodiments, the multispecific antibody analogs comprise a ch2 and/or a ch3 domain variant, wherein either: a) the ch2 domain variant and the ch3 domain variant each independently comprises at least one substituted negatively-charged amino acid in either the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the first polypeptide and at least one corresponding positively-charged amino acid in either the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the second polypeptide; or b) the ch2 domain variant and the ch3 domain variant each independently comprises at least one substituted positively-charged amino acid in either the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the first polypeptide and at least one corresponding substituted negatively-charged substituted amino acid in either the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the second polypeptide. with regard to fc function in “natural” antibodies (i.e., those antibodies generated in vivo via native biological antibody synthesis by native b-cells), the fc region of an antibody interacts with a number of fc receptors and ligands, imparting an array of important functional capabilities referred to as effector functions. for igg the fc region, fc comprises ig domains cγ2 and cγ3 and the n-terminal hinge leading into cγ2. an important family of fc receptors for the igg class is the fc gamma receptors (fcγrs). these receptors mediate communication between antibodies and the cellular arm of the immune system (raghavan et al., 1996, annu rev cell dev biol 12:181-220; ravetch et al., 2001, annu rev immunol 19:275-290). in humans this protein family includes fcγri (cd64), including isoforms fcγria, fcγrib, and fcγric; fcγrii (cd32), including isoforms fcγriia (including allotypes h131 and r131), fcγriib (including fcγriib-1 and fcγriib-2), and fcγriic; and fcγriii (cd16), including isoforms fcγriiia (including allotypes v158 and f158) and fcγriiib (including allotypes fcγriiib-na1 and fcγriiib-na2) (jefferis et al., 2002, immunol lett 82:57-65). these receptors typically have an extracellular domain that mediates binding to fc, a membrane spanning region, and an intracellular domain that may mediate some signaling event within the cell. these receptors are expressed in a variety of immune cells including monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells, eosinophils, mast cells, platelets, b cells, large granular lymphocytes, langerhans' cells, natural killer (nk) cells, and 75 t cells. formation of the fc/fcγr complex recruits these effector cells to sites of bound antigen, typically resulting in signaling events within the cells and important subsequent immune responses such as release of inflammation mediators, b cell activation, endocytosis, phagocytosis, and cytotoxic attack. the ability to mediate cytotoxic and phagocytic effector functions is a potential mechanism by which antibodies destroy targeted cells. the cell-mediated reaction wherein nonspecific cytotoxic cells that express fcγrs recognize bound antibody on a target cell and subsequently cause lysis of the target cell is referred to as antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (adcc) (raghavan et al., 1996, annu rev cell dev biol 12:181-220; ghetie et al., 2000, annu rev immunol 18:739-766; ravetch et al., 2001, annu rev immunol 19:275-290). the cell-mediated reaction wherein nonspecific cytotoxic cells that express fcγrs recognize bound antibody on a target cell and subsequently cause phagocytosis of the target cell is referred to as antibody dependent cell-mediated phagocytosis (adcp). a particular feature of the fc region of “natural” antibodies is the conserved n-linked glycosylation that occurs at n297. this carbohydrate, or oligosaccharide as it is sometimes referred, plays a critical structural and functional role for the antibody, and is one of the principle reasons that antibodies must be produced using mammalian expression systems. efficient fc binding to fcγr and c1q requires this modification, and alterations in the composition of the n297 carbohydrate or its elimination affect binding to these proteins in some embodiments, the inventive multispecific antibody analogs disclosed herein comprise an fc variant. an fc variant comprises one or more amino acid modifications relative to a parent fc polypeptide, wherein the amino acid modification(s) provide one or more optimized properties. fc variants further comprise either a ch2 domain variant, a ch3 domain variant, or both a ch2 domain variant and a ch3 domain variant. by “modification” herein is meant an alteration in the physical, chemical, or sequence properties of a protein, polypeptide, antibody, inventive multispecific antibody analog, or immunoglobulin. an amino acid modification can be an amino acid substitution, insertion, and/or deletion in a polypeptide sequence. by “amino acid substitution” or “substitution” herein is meant the replacement of an amino acid at a particular position in a parent polypeptide sequence with another amino acid. for example, the substitution y349t refers to a variant polypeptide, in this case a constant heavy chain variant, in which the tyrosine at position 349 is replaced with threonine. by “amino acid insertion” or “insertion” as used herein is meant the addition of an amino acid at a particular position in a parent polypeptide sequence. by “amino acid deletion” or “deletion” as used herein is meant the removal of an amino acid at a particular position in a parent polypeptide sequence. an fc variant disclosed herein differs in amino acid sequence from its parent by virtue of at least one amino acid modification. the inventive multispecific antibody analogs disclosed herein may have more than one amino acid modification as compared to the parent, for example from about one to fifty amino acid modifications, e.g., from about one to ten amino acid modifications, from about one to about five amino acid modifications, etc. compared to the parent. thus the sequences of the fc variants and those of the parent fc polypeptide are substantially homologous. for example, the variant fc variant sequences herein will possess about 80% homology with the parent fc variant sequence, e.g., at least about 90% homology, at least about 95% homology, at least about 98% homology, at least about 99% homology, etc. modifications disclosed herein also include glycoform modifications. modifications may be made genetically using molecular biology, or may be made enzymatically or chemically. fc variants disclosed herein are defined according to the amino acid modifications that compose them. thus, for example, the substitution y349t refers to a variant polypeptide, in this case a constant heavy chain variant, in which the tyrosine at position 349 is replaced with threonine. likewise, y349t/t394f defines an fc variant with the substitutions y349t and t394f relative to the parent fc polypeptide. the identity of the wt amino acid may be unspecified, in which case the aforementioned variant is referred to as 349t/394f. it is noted that the order in which substitutions are provided is arbitrary, that is to say that, for example, 349t/394f is the same fc variant as 394f/349t. unless otherwise noted, constant region and fc positions discussed herein are numbered according to the eu index or eu numbering scheme (kabat et al., 1991, sequences of proteins of immunological interest, 5th ed., united states public health service, national institutes of health, bethesda). the eu index or eu index as in kabat or eu numbering scheme refers to the numbering of the eu antibody (edelman et al., 1969, proc natl acad sci usa 63:78-85). in certain embodiments, the fc variants disclosed herein are based on human igg sequences, and thus human igg sequences are used as the “base” sequences against which other sequences are compared, including but not limited to sequences from other organisms, for example rodent and primate sequences. immunoglobulins may also comprise sequences from other immunoglobulin classes such as iga, ige, igd, igm, and the like. it is contemplated that, although the fc variants disclosed herein are engineered in the context of one parent igg, the variants may be engineered in or “transferred” to the context of another, second parent igg. this is done by determining the “equivalent” or “corresponding” residues and substitutions between the first and second igg, typically based on sequence or structural homology between the sequences of the first and second iggs. in order to establish homology, the amino acid sequence of a first igg outlined herein is directly compared to the sequence of a second igg. after aligning the sequences, using one or more of the homology alignment programs known in the art (for example using conserved residues as between species), allowing for necessary insertions and deletions in order to maintain alignment (i.e., avoiding the elimination of conserved residues through arbitrary deletion and insertion), the residues equivalent to particular amino acids in the primary sequence of the first immunoglobulin are defined. alignment of conserved residues may conserve 100% of such residues. however, alignment of greater than 75% or as little as 50% of conserved residues is also adequate to define equivalent residues. equivalent residues may also be defined by determining structural homology between a first and second igg that is at the level of tertiary structure for iggs whose structures have been determined. in this case, equivalent residues are defined as those for which the atomic coordinates of two or more of the main chain atoms of a particular amino acid residue of the parent or precursor (n on n, ca on ca, c on c and o on o) are within about 0.13 nm, after alignment. in another embodiment, equivalent residues are within about 0.1 nm after alignment. alignment is achieved after the best model has been oriented and positioned to give the maximum overlap of atomic coordinates of non-hydrogen protein atoms of the proteins. regardless of how equivalent or corresponding residues are determined, and regardless of the identity of the parent igg in which the iggs are made, what is meant to be conveyed is that the fc variants discovered as disclosed herein may be engineered into any second parent igg that has significant sequence or structural homology with the fc variant. thus for example, if a variant antibody is generated wherein the parent antibody is human igg1, by using the methods described above or other methods for determining equivalent residues, the variant antibody may be engineered in another igg1 parent antibody that binds a different antigen, a human igg2 parent antibody, a human iga parent antibody, a mouse igg2a or igg2b parent antibody, and the like. again, as described above, the context of the parent fc variant does not affect the ability to transfer the fc variants disclosed herein to other parent iggs. fc variants that comprise or are ch3 domain variants as described above may comprise at least one substitution at a position in a ch3 domain selected from the group consisting of 349, 351, 354, 356, 357, 364, 366, 368, 370, 392, 394, 395, 396, 397, 399, 401, 405, 407, 409, 411, and 439, wherein numbering is according to the eu index as in kabat. in a preferred embodiment, ch3 domain variants comprise at least one ch3 domain substitution per heavy chain selected from the group consisting of 349a, 349c, 349e, 349i, 349k, 349s, 349t, 349w, 351 e, 351k, 354c, 356k, 357k, 364c, 364d, 364e, 364f, 364g, 364h, 364r, 364t, 364y, 366d, 366k, 366s, 366w, 366y, 368a, 368e, 368k, 368s, 370c, 370d, 370e, 370g, 370r, 370s, 370v, 392d, 392e, 394f, 394s, 394w, 394y, 395t, 395v, 396t, 397e, 397s, 397t, 399k, 401 k, 405a, 405s, 407t, 407v, 409d, 409e, 411d, 411 e, 411k, and 439d. each of these variants can be used individually or in any combination for each heavy chain fc region. as will be appreciated by those in the art, each heavy chain can comprise different numbers of substitutions. for example, both heavy chains that make up the fc region may comprise a single substitution, one chain may comprise a single substitution and the other two substitutions, both can contain two substitutions (although each chain will contain different substitutions), etc. in some embodiments, the ch2 and/or ch3 domain variants are made in combinations, that is, two or more variants per heavy chain fc domain, selected from the group outlined above. other ch2 and/or ch3 domain variants that favor heterodimerization that may be employed in the design and preparation of the inventive multispecific antibody analogs of the invention are provided in, for example, ridgeway et al., 1996, protein engineering 9[7]:617-621; u.s. pat. no. 5,731,168; xie et al., 2005, j immunol methods 296:95-101; davis et al., 2010, protein engineering, design & selection 23[4]:195-202; gunasekaran et al., 2010, j biol chem 285[25]:1937-19646; and pct/us2009/000071 (published as wo 2009/089004). the fc variants disclosed herein may be optimized for improved or reduced binding to fc receptors or fc ligands. by “fc receptor” or “fc ligand” as used herein is meant a molecule, preferably a polypeptide, from any organism that binds to the fc region of an antibody to form an fc-ligand complex. fc ligands include but are not limited to fcγrs, (as described above, including but not limited to fcγriiia, fcγriia, fcγriib, fcγri and fcrn), c1q, c3, mannan binding lectin, mannose receptor, staphylococcal protein a, streptococcal protein g, and viral fcγr. fc ligands also include fc receptor homologs (fcrh), which are a family of fc receptors that are homologous to the fcγrs. fc ligands may include undiscovered molecules that bind fc. the inventive multispecific antibody analogs may be designed to optimize properties, including but are not limited to enhanced or reduced affinity for an fc receptor. by “greater affinity” or “improved affinity” or “enhanced affinity” or “better affinity” than a parent fc polypeptide, as used herein, is meant that an fc variant binds to an fc receptor with a significantly higher equilibrium constant of association (ka or k a ) or lower equilibrium constant of dissociation (kd or k d ) than the parent fc polypeptide when the amounts of variant and parent polypeptide in the binding assay are essentially the same. for example, the fc variant with improved fc receptor binding affinity may display from about 5 fold to about 1000 fold, e.g. from about 10 fold to about 500 fold improvement in fc receptor binding affinity compared to the parent fc polypeptide, where fc receptor binding affinity is determined, for example, by the binding methods disclosed herein, including but not limited to biacore, by one skilled in the art. accordingly, by “reduced affinity” as compared to a parent fc polypeptide as used herein is meant that an fc variant binds an fc receptor with significantly lower ka or higher kd than the parent fc polypeptide. greater or reduced affinity can also be defined relative to an absolute level of affinity. as would be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, the term “antibody” is used herein in the broadest sense and specifically encompasses at least monoclonal antibodies, polyclonal antibodies, multi-specific antibodies (e.g., bispecific antibodies), chimeric antibodies, humanized antibodies, human antibodies, antibody fragments, and derivatives thereof. an antibody is a protein comprising one or more polypeptides substantially or partially encoded by immunoglobulin genes or fragments of immunoglobulin genes. the recognized immunoglobulin genes include the kappa, lambda, alpha, gamma, delta, epsilon and mu constant region genes, as well as myriad immunoglobulin variable region genes. an “antibody” also refers to an immunoglobulin molecule, a fragment of an immunoglobulin molecule, or a derivative thereof, which has the ability to specifically bind to an antigen, which may be, for example: a protein; a polypeptide; peptide; a hormone; a cytokine; a chemokine; a growth factor; a neurotransmitter; a carbohydrate-containing biological molecule; a lipid or fatty acid-containing biological molecule; or other biological molecule; via an epitope present on such antigen. antibodies (used interchangeably with “immunoglobulins”, or “immunoglobulin molecules”) can be monomeric, dimeric, trimeric, tetrameric, pentameric, etc., and comprise a class of structurally related proteins consisting of two pairs of polypeptide chains: one pair of light chains (lc) and one pair of heavy chains (hc), all of which are inter-connected by disulfide bonds. the structure of immunoglobulins has been well characterized. see for instance fundamental immunology ch. 7 (paul, w., ed., 2nd ed. raven press, n.y. (1989)). traditional natural antibody structural formats typically comprise a tetramer. each tetramer is typically composed of two identical pairs of polypeptide chains, each pair having one “light” (typically having a molecular weight of about 25 kda) and one “heavy” chain (typically having a molecular weight of about 50-70 kda). human light chains are classified as kappa and lambda light chains. heavy chains are classified as mu, delta, gamma, alpha, or epsilon, and define the antibody's isotype as igm, igd, igg, iga, and ige, respectively. igg has several subclasses, including, but not limited to igg1, igg2, igg3, and igg4. igm has subclasses, including, but not limited to, igm1 and igm2. iga has several subclasses, including but not limited to iga1 and iga2. thus, “isotype” as used herein is meant any of the classes and subclasses of immunoglobulins defined by the chemical and antigenic characteristics of their constant regions. the known human immunoglobulin isotypes are igg1, igg2, igg3, igg4, iga1, iga2, igm1, igm2, igd, and ige. the distinguishing features between these antibody classes are their constant regions, although subtler differences may exist in the variable region. each of the light and heavy chains is made up of two distinct regions, referred to as the variable and constant regions. the igg heavy chain is composed of four immunoglobulin domains linked from n- to c-terminus in the order vh-ch1-ch2-ch3, referring to the “variable heavy domain” (also referred to as a “heavy chain variable domain”, used interchangeably throughout), heavy chain constant domain 1, heavy chain constant domain 2, and heavy chain constant domain 3 respectively (also referred to as vh-cγ1-cγ2-cγ3, referring to the variable heavy domain, constant gamma 1 domain, constant gamma 2 domain, and constant gamma 3 domain respectively). the igg light chain is composed of two immunoglobulin domains linked from n- to c-terminus in the order vl-cl, referring to the “variable light domain” (also referred to as a “light chain variable domain”, used interchangeably throughout) and the light chain constant domain respectively. the constant regions show less sequence diversity, and are responsible for binding a number of natural proteins to elicit important biochemical events. the structure that constitutes the natural biological form of an antibody, including the variable and constant regions, is referred to herein as a “full length antibody”. in most mammals, including humans and mice, the full length antibody of the igg isotype is a tetramer and consists of two identical pairs of two immunoglobulin chains, each pair having one light chain and one heavy chain, each light chain comprising a vl and a cl, and each heavy chain comprising a vh, ch1, a ch2, and a ch3. in some mammals, for example in camels and llamas, igg antibodies may consist of only two heavy chains, each heavy chain comprising a variable domain attached to the fc region. the heavy chain constant region typically is comprised of three domains, ch1, ch2, and ch3, and the ch1 and ch2 domains are connected by a hinge region. each light chain typically is comprised of a light chain variable domain (abbreviated herein as “v l ” or “vl”) and a light chain constant domain. the v h and v l domains may be further subdivided into regions of hypervariability (or hypervariable regions which may be hypervariable in sequence and/or form of structurally defined loops), also termed complementarity determining regions (cdrs), interspersed with regions that are more conserved, termed framework regions (frs). each v h and vl is typically composed of three cdrs and four frs, arranged from amino-terminus to carboxy-terminus in the following order: fr1, cdr1, fr2, cdr2, fr3, cdr3, fr4. typically, the numbering of amino acid residues in this region is performed by the method described in kabat (see, e.g., kabat et al, in “sequences of proteins of immunological interest,” 5 th edition, u.s. department of health and human services, 1992). using this numbering system, the actual linear amino acid sequence of a peptide may contain fewer or additional amino acids corresponding to a shortening of, or insertion into, a fr or cdr of the variable domain. for example, a heavy chain variable domain may include a single amino acid insert (residue 52a according to kabat) after residue 52 of v h cdr2 and inserted residues (for instance residues 82a, 82b, and 82c, etc. according to kabat) after heavy chain fr residue 82. the kabat numbering of residues may be determined for a given antibody by alignment at regions of homology of the sequence of the antibody with a “standard” kabat numbered sequence. the term “variable”, “variable domain”, or “variable region” each interchangeably refers to the portions of the immunoglobulin domains that exhibit variability in their sequence and that are involved in determining the specificity and binding affinity of a particular antibody (i.e., the “variable domain(s)”). variability is not evenly distributed throughout the variable domains of antibodies; it is concentrated in sub-domains of each of the heavy and light chain variable regions. these sub-domains are called “hypervariable” regions or “complementarity determining regions” (cdrs). the more conserved (i.e., non-hypervariable) portions of the variable domains are called the “framework” regions (frm). the variable domains of naturally occurring heavy and light chains each comprise four frm regions, largely adopting a β-sheet configuration, connected by three hypervariable regions, which form loops connecting, and in some cases forming part of, the β-sheet structure. the hypervariable regions in each chain are held together in close proximity by the frm and, with the hypervariable regions from the other chain, contribute to the formation of the antigen-binding site (see kabat et al. sequences of proteins of immunological interest, 5th ed. public health service, national institutes of health, bethesda, md., 1991, incorporated by reference in its entirety). the constant domains are not directly involved in antigen binding, but exhibit various effector functions, such as, for example, antibody-dependent, cell-mediated cytotoxicity and complement activation. the term “framework region” refers to the art-recognized portions of an antibody variable region that exist between the more divergent (i.e., hypervariable) cdrs. such framework regions are typically referred to as frameworks 1 through 4 (frm1, frm2, frm3, and frm4) and provide a scaffold for the presentation of the six cdrs (three from the heavy chain and three from the light chain) in three dimensional space, to form an antigen-binding surface. the term “canonical structure” refers to the main chain conformation that is adopted by the antigen binding (cdr) loops. from comparative structural studies, it has been found that five of the six antigen binding loops have only a limited repertoire of available conformations. each canonical structure can be characterized by the torsion angles of the polypeptide backbone. correspondent loops between antibodies may, therefore, have very similar three dimensional structures, despite high amino acid sequence variability in most parts of the loops (chothia and lesk, j. moi. biol., 1987, 196: 901; chothia et al, nature, 1989, 342: 877; martin and thornton, j. moi. biol, 1996, 263: 800. furthermore, there is a relationship between the adopted loop structure and the amino acid sequences surrounding it. the conformation of a particular canonical class is determined by the length of the loop and the amino acid residues residing at key positions within the loop, as well as within the conserved framework (i.e., outside of the loop). assignment to a particular canonical class can therefore be made based on the presence of these key amino acid residues. the term “canonical structure” may also include considerations as to the linear sequence of the antibody, for example, as catalogued by kabat (kabat et al, in “sequences of proteins of immunological interest,” 5 th edition, u.s. department of health and human services, 1992). the kabat numbering scheme is a widely adopted standard for numbering the amino acid residues of an antibody variable domain in a consistent manner. additional structural considerations can also be used to determine the canonical structure of an antibody. for example, those differences not fully reflected by kabat numbering can be described by the numbering system of chothia et al and/or revealed by other techniques, for example, crystallography and two or three-dimensional computational modeling. accordingly, a given antibody sequence may be placed into a canonical class which allows for, among other things, identifying appropriate chassis sequences (e.g., based on a desire to include a variety of canonical structures in a library). kabat numbering of antibody amino acid sequences and structural considerations as described by chothia et al., and their implications for construing canonical aspects of antibody structure, are described in the literature. by “fc” or “fc region”, as used herein is meant the polypeptide comprising the constant region of an antibody excluding the first constant region immunoglobulin domain. thus “fc region” refers to the last two constant region immunoglobulin domains of iga, igd, and igg, and the last three constant region immunoglobulin domains of ige and igm, and the flexible hinge n-terminal to these domains. for iga and igm, fc may include the j chain. for igg, fc comprises immunoglobulin domains cgamma2 and cgamma3 (cγ2 and cγ3) and the hinge between cgamma1 (cγ1) and cgamma2 (cγ2). accordingly, and without departing from the above, “fc region” may also be defined as comprising a “ch2 domain or a variant thereof” and a “ch3 domain or a variant thereof”. although the boundaries of the fc region may vary, the human igg heavy chain fc region is usually defined to comprise residues c226 or p230 to its carboxyl-terminus, wherein the numbering is according to the eu index as in kabat. fc may refer to this region in isolation, or this region in the context of an fc polypeptide, for example an antibody. by “fc polypeptide” as used herein is meant a polypeptide that comprises all or part of an fc region. fc polypeptides include antibodies, fc fusions, isolated fcs, and fc fragments. a variable light chain (vl) and corresponding variable heavy domain (vh) of the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest comprise a binding domain, also referred to interchangeably throughout as an “antigen binding site” that interacts with an antigen. thus, a “first variable light domain” and a “first variable heavy domain” of the inventive multispecific antibody of interest together form a “first antigen binding site”. similarly, a “second variable light domain” and a “second variable heavy domain” of the inventive multispecific antibody of interest together form a “second antigen binding site”. a “third variable light domain” and a “third variable heavy domain” of the inventive multispecific antibody of interest together form a “third antigen binding site”, and so on. the antigen binding sites for use in accordance with the invention, including the vhs, vls, and/or cdrs that comprise such, may be obtained or derived from any source of such, as will be understood by the artisan. accordingly, such antigen binding sites, vhs, vls, and/or cdrs may be obtained or derived from hybridoma cells that express antibodies against a target recognized by such; from b cells from immunized donors, which express antibodies against a target recognized by such; from b-cells that have been stimulated to express antibodies against a target recognized by such; and or from identification of antibodies or antibody fragments that have been identified by screening a library comprising a plurality of polynucleotides or polypeptides for antigen binding antibodies (or antigen binding fragments thereof). with regard to the design, preparation, display, and implementation of such libraries for use in identifying and obtaining antigen binding sites for use in accordance with the invention, see, e.g., wo 2009/036379; wo2012009568; wo2010105256; u.s. pat. nos. 8,258,082; 6,300,064; 6,696,248; 6,165,718; 6,500,644; 6,291,158; 6,291,159; 6,096,551; 6,368,805; 6,500,644; and the like. any one or more of the antigen binding sites, vhs, vls, or cdrs, and combinations thereof, of the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest, may comprise sequences from a variety of species. in some embodiments, such antigen binding sites, vhs, vls, or cdrs, and combinations thereof may be obtained from a nonhuman source, including but not limited to mice, rats, rabbits, camels, llamas, and monkeys. in some embodiments, the scaffold and/or framework regions can be a mixture from different species. as such, a multispecific antibody of interest in accordance with the invention may comprise a chimeric antibody and/or a humanized antibody. in general, both “chimeric antibodies” and “humanized antibodies” refer to antibodies in which regions from more than one species have been combined. for example, “chimeric antibodies” traditionally comprise variable region(s) from a mouse or other nonhuman species and the constant region(s) from a human. “humanized antibodies” generally refer to non-human antibodies that have had the variable-domain framework regions swapped for sequences found in human antibodies. generally in a humanized antibody the entire antibody, except the cdrs, is encoded by a polynucleotide of human origin or is identical to such an antibody except within its cdrs. the cdrs, one, some, or all of which are encoded by nucleic acids originating in a non-human organism, are grafted into the framework of a human antibody variable region to create an antibody, the specificity of which is determined by the engrafted cdrs. the creation of such antibodies is described in, e.g., wo 92/11018, jones, 1986, nature 321:522-525, verhoeyen et al., 1988, science 239:1534-1536. “backmutation” of selected acceptor framework residues to the corresponding donor residues is often required to regain affinity that is lost in the initial grafted construct (see, e.g., u.s. pat. no. 5,693,762). the humanized antibody optimally also will comprise at least a portion of an immunoglobulin constant region, typically that of a human immunoglobulin, and thus will typically comprise a human fc region. a variety of techniques and methods for humanizing, reshaping, and resurfacing non-human antibodies are well known in the art (see tsurushita & vasquez, 2004, humanization of monoclonal antibodies, molecular biology of b cells, 533-545, elsevier science (usa), and references cited therein). in certain variations, the immunogenicity of the antibody is reduced using a method described in lazar et al., 2007, mol immunol 44:1986-1998 and u.s. ser. no. 11/004,590, entitled “methods of generating variant proteins with increased host string content and compositions thereof”, filed on dec. 3, 2004. accordingly, any one or more of the antigen binding sites, or one or more vhs, vls, cdrs, or combinations thereof, which comprise the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein may be derived from a non-human species and/or result from humanization of a non-human antibody or antibody fragment. such vhs, vls, and/or cdrs obtained or derived from non-human species, when included in the inventive multispecific analogs disclosed herein, are referred to as “humanized” such regions and/or domains. the inventive antibody analogs disclosed herein preferably comprise first and second polypeptides that each comprise a hinge region, wherein each hinge region comprises at least one thiol group that is capable of participating in an intermolecular disulfide bond such that the first and the second polypeptide are covalently linked as a result of formation of the disulfide bond. as is understood in the art, chemical modification may be introduced into (or onto) certain residues within such hinge regions which effect the introduction of such thiol groups for disulfide bond formation. alternatively, the thiol groups may be provided by a cysteine residue that is present within the hinge region. such cysteines may be provided by native hinge polypeptide sequence, or may be introduced by mutagenesis into nucleic acid encoding the hinge region. as used herein, whereas a “hinge” or a “hinge region” of the inventive antibody analogs may comprise or constitute a natural or native hinge region as found in, for example, immunoglobulins such as iggs, igms, igas, iges, and the like, such a hinge or hinge region may also comprise or constitute a substitutes form thereof. further, such a hinge or hinge region may, in certain embodiments comprise or constitute a “linker moiety” as disclosed throughout. in other embodiments, a hinge or hinge region may comprise both a natural or native hinge region as disclosed above and a linker moiety as disclosed throughout. in certain embodiments, the inventive antibody analogs disclosed herein comprise one or more linkers or linker moieties. such linkers or linker moieties may comprise a peptidic linker moiety or a non-peptidic linker moiety. the terms “linker” and “linker moiety” and the like, means a divalent species (-l-) covalently bonded in turn to a polypeptide having a valency available for bonding and to an amino acid that comprises the inventive multispecific antibody of interest, which amino acid has a valency available for bonding. the available bonding site may conveniently comprise a side chain of an amino acid (e.g., a lysine, cysteine, or aspartic acid side chain, and homologs thereof). in some embodiments, the available bonding site in the analog is the side chain of a lysine or a cysteine residue. in some embodiments, the available bonding site in the analog is the n-terminal amine of a polypeptide comprising the analog. in some embodiments, the available bonding site in the analog is the c-terminal carboxyl of a polypeptide comprising the analog. in some embodiments, the available bonding site in the analog is a backbone atom (e.g., a c-alpha carbon atom) of a polypeptide comprising the analog. preferably, a linker moiety is employed to covalently attach a vh or a vl to the c-terminus of a ch3 domain of an antibody analog. a linker moiety may also be employed to covalently attach a first vh or a first vl to a second vh or a second vl, respectively. a linker moiety may also be employed to covalently attach a first vh or a first vl to a second vl or a second vh, respectively. a linker moiety may also be employed to covalently attach a vh of a single chain antigen binding site, such as an scfv, to the vl of such a single chain antigen binding site, and vice versa. a linker moiety may also be employed to attach the vh or the vl of such a single chain antigen binding site, such as an scfv, to a c-terminus of a ch3 domain or variant thereof. a linker moiety may also be employed to attach a vh to the n-terminus of a cl domain or to the n-terminus of a ch2. a linker moiety may also be employed to attach a vl to the n-terminus of a cl domain or to the n-terminus of a ch2 domain. as will be appreciated, combinations and/or multiples of the foregoing may be employed in order to prepare any of the multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein, such that a plurality of antigen binding sites may be included in such analogs, optionally with a multiple of specificities. accordingly, a multispecific antibody of interest may be generated by employing one or more linkers to covalently attach one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, or more vls, vhs, and/or single chain antigen binding sites, such as scfvs to the first polypeptide, the second polypeptide, a vh, or a vl attached to the first polypeptide or the second polypeptide, and the like, so as to generate an antibody analog having bi-, tri-, tetra-, pent-, hexa-, hepta-, or octa-valency, and so on, and/or bi-, tri-, tetra-, pent-, hexa-, hepta-, or octa-specificity, and so on. accordingly, in certain embodiments, the multispecific antibody of interest comprises a first vl that is covalently attached to the ch3 domain, or variant thereof, of the first heavy chain of the analog via a linker moiety, forming the second antigen binding site. in additional embodiments, the multispecific antibody of interest comprises a first vh that is covalently attached to the ch3 domain, or variant thereof, of the fc region of the analog via a linker moiety, thereby forming the second antigen binding site. in further embodiments, the multispecific antibody of interest comprises a third antigen binding site, wherein the third antigen binding site is covalently attached via a linker moiety to either the first vl or the first vh. in still further embodiments, the third antigen binding site comprises a single chain antigen binding site, such single chain variable region (scfv), wherein the scfv comprises a second vl that is covalently attached to a second vh via a linker moiety or wherein the second vl is covalently attached to the second vh via a linker moiety. in further embodiments, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest further comprise additional binding sites, such as a fourth antigen binding site, a fifth antigen binding site, a sixth antigen binding site, and so on, wherein one or more of which may comprise a single chain antigen binding site, such as an scfv, which are attached via linker moieties to the other vls and/or vhs of the multispecific antibody of interest. in certain embodiments the linker moieties comprise amino acids that are selected from glycine, alanine, proline, asparagine, glutamine, lysine, aspartate, and glutamate. in a further embodiment the linker moiety is made up of a majority of amino acids that are sterically unhindered, such as glycine, alanine and/or serine. in certain embodiments the linker moiety is comprises a sequence selected from the group [gly-ser] n (seq id no: 1); [gly-gly-ser] n (seq id no: 2); [gly-gly-gly-ser] n (seq id no: 3); [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser] n (seq id no: 4); [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly] n (seq id no: 5); [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly] n (seq id no: 6); [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly] n (seq id no: 7); [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly] n (seq id no: 8); [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly] n (seq id no: 9); [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly] n (seq id no: 10); and combinations thereof; where n is an integer selected from the group consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75. such linkers may comprise: an acidic linker, a basic linker, and a structural motif, or combinations thereof; a polyglycine, a polyalanine, poly(gly-ala), or poly(gly-ser); (gly)3, (gly)4 (seq id no: 11), or (gly)5 (seq id no: 12); (gly) 3 lys(gly) 4 (seq id no: 13), (gly) 3 asnglyser(gly) 2 (seq id no: 14), (gly) 3 cys(gly) 4 (seq id no: 15), or glyproasnglygly (seq id no: 16), [gly-ser] n (seq id no: 1), [gly-gly-ser] n (seq id no: 2), [gly-gly-gly-ser] n (seq id no: 3), [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser] n (seq id no: 4), [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly] n (seq id no: 5), [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly] n (seq id no: 6), [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly] n (seq id no: 7), [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly] n (seq id no: 8), [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly] n (seq id no: 9), or [gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly-ser-gly-gly-gly-gly] n (seq id no: 10); [gly-glu] n (seq id no: 17), [gly-gly-glu] n (seq id no: 18), [gly-gly-gly-glu] n (seq id no: 19), [gly-gly-gly-gly-glu] n (seq id no: 20), [gly-asp]n (seq id no: 21); [gly-gly-asp] n (seq id no: 22), [gly-gly-gly-asp] n (seq id no: 23), [gly-gly-gly-gly-asp] n (seq id no: 24); where n is an integer selected from the group consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75. in certain embodiments, charged linker moieties are employed. such charges linker moieties may contain a significant number of acidic residues (e.g., asp, glu, and the like), or may contain a significant number of basis residues (e.g., lys, arg, and the like), such that the linker moiety has a pi lower than 7 or greater than 7, respectively. as understood by the artisan, and all other things being equal, the greater the relative amount of acidic or basic residues in a given linker moiety, the lower or higher, respectively, the pi of the linker moiety will be. such linker moieties may impart advantages to the multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein, such as improving solubility and/or stability characteristics of such polypeptides at a particular ph, such as a physiological ph (e.g., between h 7.2 and ph 7.6, inclusive), or a ph of a pharmaceutical composition comprising such analogs, as well as allowing for optimization of characteristics such as rotational and translational flexibility of the domains and/or regions of the analog that are attached via the linker moiety. such characteristics may advantageously be optimized and tailored for any given multispecific analog by the artisan. for example, an “acidic linker” is a linker moiety that has a pi of less than 7; between 6 and 7, inclusive; between 5 and 6, inclusive; between 4 and 5, inclusive; between 3 and 4, inclusive; between 2 and 3, inclusive; or between 1 and 2, inclusive. similarly, a “basic linker” is a linker moiety that has a pi of greater than 7; between 7 and 8, inclusive; between 8 and 9, inclusive; between 9 and 10, inclusive; between 10 and 11, inclusive; between 11 and 12 inclusive, or between 12 and 13, inclusive. in certain embodiments, an acidic linker will contain a sequence that is selected from the group consisting of [gly-glu] n (seq id no: 17); [gly-gly-glu] n (seq id no: 18); [gly-gly-gly-glu] n (seq id no: 19); [gly-gly-gly-gly-glu] n (seq id no: 20); [gly-asp]n (seq id no: 21); [gly-gly-asp] n (seq id no: 22); [gly-gly-gly-asp] n (seq id no: 23); [gly-gly-gly-gly-asp] n (seq id no: 24); and combinations thereof; where n is an integer selected from the group consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75. in certain embodiments, a basic linker will contain a sequence that is selected from the group consisting of [gly-lys] n (seq id no: 25); [gly-gly-lys] n (seq id no: 26); [gly-gly-gly-lys] n (seq id no: 27); [gly-gly-gly-gly-lys] n (seq id no: 28); [gly-arg] n (seq id no: 29); [gly-gly-arg] n (seq id no: 30); [gly-gly-gly-arg] n (seq id no: 31); [gly-gly-gly-gly-arg] n (seq id no: 32); and combinations thereof; where n is an integer selected from the group consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75. additionally, linker moieties may be employed which possess certain structural motifs or characteristics, such as an alpha helix. for example, such a linker moiety may contain a sequence that is selected from the group consisting of [glu-ala-ala-ala-lys] n (seq id no: 33), where n is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75: for example, [glu-ala-ala-ala-lys] 3 (seq id no: 34), [glu-ala-ala-ala-lys] 4 (seq id no: 35), or [glu-ala-ala-ala-lys] 5 (seq id no: 36), and so on. in still further embodiments the each linker moiety employed in the disclosed multispecific antibody of interest independently comprises: polyglycine, polyalanine, poly(gly-ala), or poly(gly-ser), (gly)3, (gly)4 (seq id no: 11), and (gly)5 (seq id no: 12), (gly) 3 lys(gly) 4 (seq id no: 13), (gly) 3 asnglyser(gly) 2 (seq id no: 14), (gly) 3 cys(gly) 4 (seq id no: 15), and glyproasnglygly (seq id no: 16), a combination of gly and ala, a combination of gly and ser, a combination of, gly and glu, a combination of gly and asp, a combination of gly and lys, or combinations thereof. in certain embodiments, the inventive multispecific antibody of interest comprises, for example, a ch2 domain variant and/or a ch3 domain variant, wherein such variants each independently comprise at least one different amino acid substitution such that a heterodimeric domain pair is generated such that heterodimerization of the first and second polypeptides of the inventive multispecific antibody of interest is favored over homodimerization. with regard to a “variant” of a domain or region of a multispecific antibody of interest as used herein throughout, such a variant refers a polypeptide sequence that comprises such a domain or region, and that differs from that of a parent polypeptide sequence by virtue of at least one amino acid modification. the parent polypeptide sequence may be a naturally occurring or wild-type (wt) polypeptide sequence, or may be a modified version of a wt sequence. preferably, the variant has at least one amino acid modification compared to the parent polypeptide, region, or domain, e.g. from about one to about ten amino acid modifications, and preferably from about one to about five amino acid modifications compared to the parent. the variant polypeptide sequence herein will preferably possess at least about 80% homology with a parent sequence, and most preferably at least about 90% homology, more preferably at least about 95% homology. by “parent polypeptide”, “parent polypeptide sequence”, “parent protein”, “precursor polypeptide”, or “precursor protein” as used herein is meant an unmodified polypeptide or polypeptide sequence that is subsequently modified to generate a variant polypeptide or polypeptide sequence. said parent polypeptide may be a naturally occurring polypeptide, or a variant or engineered version of a naturally occurring polypeptide. parent polypeptide may refer to the polypeptide itself, compositions that comprise the parent polypeptide, or the amino acid sequence that encodes it. by “fc variant” or “variant fc” as used herein is meant an fc sequence that differs from that of a parent fc sequence by virtue of at least one amino acid modification. an fc variant may only encompass an fc region, or may exist in the context of an antibody, fc fusion, isolated fc, fc fragment, or other polypeptide that is substantially encoded by fc. fc variant may refer to the fc polypeptide itself, compositions comprising the fc variant polypeptide, or the amino acid sequence that encodes it. by “fc polypeptide variant” or “variant fc polypeptide” as used herein is meant an fc polypeptide that differs from a parent fc polypeptide by virtue of at least one amino acid modification. by “fc variant antibody” or “antibody fc variant” as used herein is meant an antibody that differs from a parent antibody by virtue of at least one amino acid modification in the fc region. by “protein variant” or “variant protein” as used herein is meant a protein that differs from a parent protein by virtue of at least one amino acid modification. by “antibody variant” or “variant antibody” as used herein is meant an antibody that differs from a parent antibody by virtue of at least one amino acid modification. by “igg variant” or “variant igg” as used herein is meant an antibody that differs from a parent igg by virtue of at least one amino acid modification. by “immunoglobulin variant” or “variant immunoglobulin” as used herein is meant an immunoglobulin sequence that differs from that of a parent immunoglobulin sequence by virtue of at least one amino acid modification. interaction between heterodimeric pairs or disclosed multispecific antibodies of interest comprising such heterodimeric pairs may be promoted at the heterodimeric pair interface by the formation of protuberance-into-cavity complementary regions at such interfaces; the formation of non-naturally occurring disulfide bonds at such interfaces; leucine zipper at such interfaces; hydrophobic regions at such interfaces; and/or hydrophilic regions at such interfaces. “protuberances” are constructed by replacing small amino acid side chains from the interface of the first polypeptide with larger side chains (e.g. tyrosine or tryptophan). compensatory “cavities” of identical or similar size to the protuberances are optionally created on the interface of the second polypeptide by replacing large amino acid side chains with smaller ones (e.g. alanine or threonine). where a suitably positioned and dimensioned protuberance or cavity exists at the interface of either the first or second polypeptide, it is only necessary to engineer a corresponding cavity or protuberance, respectively, at the adjacent interface. non-naturally occurring disulfide bonds are constructed by replacing on the first polypeptide a naturally occurring amino acid with a free thiol-containing residue, such as cysteine, such that the free thiol interacts with another free thiol-containing residue on the second polypeptide such that a disulfide bond is formed between the first and second polypeptides exemplary heterodimerization pairs and methods for making such in accordance with the present invention are available in the art, and are disclosed, for example, in us 2011/0054151; us 2007/0098712; and the like. in certain embodiments, the heterodimeric pairs are contained within the fc region of the inventive multispecific antibody of interest. fc regions that contain such heterodimeric pairs are referred to as “heterodimeric fc regions”. accordingly, in certain embodiments, multispecific antibodies of interest comprise a ch2 and/or a ch3 domain variant, wherein either: a) the ch2 domain variant and the ch3 domain variant each independently comprises a at least one protuberance in either the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the first polypeptide and at least one corresponding cavity in the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the second; or the ch2 domain variant and the ch3 domain variant each independently comprises at least one cavity in either the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the first polypeptide and at least one corresponding protuberance in the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the second polypeptide. in certain other embodiments, the multispecific antibodies of interest comprise a ch2 and/or a ch3 domain variant, wherein either: a) the ch2 domain variant and the ch3 domain variant each independently comprises at least one substituted negatively-charged amino acid in either the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the first polypeptide and at least one corresponding positively-charged amino acid in either the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the second polypeptide; or b) the ch2 domain variant and the ch3 domain variant each independently comprises at least one substituted positively-charged amino acid in either the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the first polypeptide and at least one corresponding substituted negatively-charged substituted amino acid in either the ch2 domain or the ch3 domain of the second polypeptide. with regard to fc function in “natural” antibodies (i.e., those antibodies generated in vivo via native biological antibody synthesis by native b-cells), the fc region of an antibody interacts with a number of fc receptors and ligands, imparting an array of important functional capabilities referred to as effector functions. for igg the fc region, fc comprises ig domains cγ2 and cγ3 and the n-terminal hinge leading into cγ2. an important family of fc receptors for the igg class is the fc gamma receptors (fcγrs). these receptors mediate communication between antibodies and the cellular arm of the immune system (raghavan et al., 1996, annu rev cell dev biol 12:181-220; ravetch et al., 2001, annu rev immunol 19:275-290). in humans this protein family includes fcγri (cd64), including isoforms fcγria, fcγrib, and fcγric; fcγrii (cd32), including isoforms fcγriia (including allotypes h131 and r131), fcγriib (including fcγriib-1 and fcγriib-2), and fcγriic; and fcγriii (cd16), including isoforms fcγriiia (including allotypes v158 and f158) and fcγriiib (including allotypes fcγriiib-na1 and fcγriiib-na2) (jefferis et al., 2002, immunol lett 82:57-65). these receptors typically have an extracellular domain that mediates binding to fc, a membrane spanning region, and an intracellular domain that may mediate some signaling event within the cell. these receptors are expressed in a variety of immune cells including monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells, eosinophils, mast cells, platelets, b cells, large granular lymphocytes, langerhans' cells, natural killer (nk) cells, and γδ t cells. formation of the fc/fcγr complex recruits these effector cells to sites of bound antigen, typically resulting in signaling events within the cells and important subsequent immune responses such as release of inflammation mediators, b cell activation, endocytosis, phagocytosis, and cytotoxic attack. the ability to mediate cytotoxic and phagocytic effector functions is a potential mechanism by which antibodies destroy targeted cells. the cell-mediated reaction wherein nonspecific cytotoxic cells that express fcγrs recognize bound antibody on a target cell and subsequently cause lysis of the target cell is referred to as antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (adcc) (raghavan et al., 1996, annu rev cell dev biol 12:181-220; ghetie et al., 2000, annu rev immunol 18:739-766; ravetch et al., 2001, annu rev immunol 19:275-290). the cell-mediated reaction wherein nonspecific cytotoxic cells that express fcγrs recognize bound antibody on a target cell and subsequently cause phagocytosis of the target cell is referred to as antibody dependent cell-mediated phagocytosis (adcp). the different igg subclasses have different affinities for the fcγrs, with igg1 and igg3 typically binding substantially better to the receptors than igg2 and igg4 (jefferis et al., 2002, immunol lett 82:57-65). the fcγrs bind the igg fc region with different affinities. the extracellular domains of fcγriiia and fcγriiib are 96% identical; however fcγriiib does not have an intracellular signaling domain. furthermore, whereas fcγri, fcγriia/c, and fcγriiia are positive regulators of immune complex-triggered activation, characterized by having an intracellular domain that has an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (itam), fcγriib has an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motif (itim) and is therefore inhibitory. thus the former are referred to as activation receptors, and fcγriib is referred to as an inhibitory receptor. despite these differences in affinities and activities, all fcγrs bind the same region on fc, at the n-terminal end of the cγ2 domain and the preceding hinge. an overlapping but separate site on fc serves as the interface for the complement protein c1q. in the same way that fc/fcγr binding mediates adcc, fc/c1q binding mediates complement dependent cytotoxicity (cdc). a site on fc between the cγ2 and cγ3 domains mediates interaction with the neonatal receptor fcrn, the binding of which recycles endocytosed antibody from the endosome back to the bloodstream (raghavan et al., 1996, annu rev cell dev biol 12:181-220; ghetie et al., 2000, annu rev immunol 18:739-76). this process, coupled with preclusion of kidney filtration due to the large size of the full length molecule, results in favorable antibody serum half-lives ranging from one to three weeks. binding of fc to fcrn also plays a key role in antibody transport. the binding site for fcrn on fc is also the site at which the bacterial proteins a and g bind. the tight binding by these proteins is typically exploited as a means to purify antibodies by employing protein a or protein g affinity chromatography during protein purification. the fidelity of these regions, the complement and fcrn/protein a binding regions are important for both the clinical properties of antibodies and their development. a particular feature of the fc region of “natural” antibodies is the conserved n-linked glycosylation that occurs at n297. this carbohydrate, or oligosaccharide as it is sometimes referred, plays a critical structural and functional role for the antibody, and is one of the principle reasons that antibodies must be produced using mammalian expression systems. efficient fc binding to fcγr and c1q requires this modification, and alterations in the composition of the n297 carbohydrate or its elimination affect binding to these proteins. in some embodiments, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein comprise an fc variant. an fc variant comprises one or more amino acid modifications relative to a parent fc polypeptide, wherein the amino acid modification(s) provide one or more optimized properties. fc variants further comprise either a ch2 domain variant, a ch3 domain variant, or both a ch2 domain variant and a ch3 domain variant. by “modification” herein is meant an alteration in the physical, chemical, or sequence properties of a protein, polypeptide, antibody, inventive multispecific antibody of interest, or immunoglobulin. an amino acid modification can be an amino acid substitution, insertion, and/or deletion in a polypeptide sequence. by “amino acid substitution” or “substitution” herein is meant the replacement of an amino acid at a particular position in a parent polypeptide sequence with another amino acid. for example, the substitution y349t refers to a variant polypeptide, in this case a constant heavy chain variant, in which the tyrosine at position 349 is replaced with threonine. by “amino acid insertion” or “insertion” as used herein is meant the addition of an amino acid at a particular position in a parent polypeptide sequence. by “amino acid deletion” or “deletion” as used herein is meant the removal of an amino acid at a particular position in a parent polypeptide sequence. an fc variant disclosed herein differs in amino acid sequence from its parent by virtue of at least one amino acid modification. the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein may have more than one amino acid modification as compared to the parent, for example from about one to fifty amino acid modifications, e.g., from about one to ten amino acid modifications, from about one to about five amino acid modifications, etc. compared to the parent. thus the sequences of the fc variants and those of the parent fc polypeptide are substantially homologous. for example, the variant fc variant sequences herein will possess about 80% homology with the parent fc variant sequence, e.g., at least about 90% homology, at least about 95% homology, at least about 98% homology, at least about 99% homology, etc. modifications disclosed herein also include glycoform modifications. modifications may be made genetically using molecular biology, or may be made enzymatically or chemically. fc variants disclosed herein are defined according to the amino acid modifications that compose them. thus, for example, the substitution y349t refers to a variant polypeptide, in this case a constant heavy chain variant, in which the tyrosine at position 349 is replaced with threonine. likewise, y349t/t394f defines an fc variant with the substitutions y349t and t394f relative to the parent fc polypeptide. the identity of the wt amino acid may be unspecified, in which case the aforementioned variant is referred to as 349t/394f. it is noted that the order in which substitutions are provided is arbitrary, that is to say that, for example, 349t/394f is the same fc variant as 394f/349t. unless otherwise noted, constant region and fc positions discussed herein are numbered according to the eu index or eu numbering scheme (kabat et al., 1991, sequences of proteins of immunological interest, 5th ed., united states public health service, national institutes of health, bethesda). the eu index or eu index as in kabat or eu numbering scheme refers to the numbering of the eu antibody (edelman et al., 1969, proc natl acad sci usa 63:78-85). in certain embodiments, the fc variants disclosed herein are based on human igg sequences, and thus human igg sequences are used as the “base” sequences against which other sequences are compared, including but not limited to sequences from other organisms, for example rodent and primate sequences. immunoglobulins may also comprise sequences from other immunoglobulin classes such as iga, ige, iggd, iggm, and the like. it is contemplated that, although the fc variants disclosed herein are engineered in the context of one parent igg, the variants may be engineered in or “transferred” to the context of another, second parent igg. this is done by determining the “equivalent” or “corresponding” residues and substitutions between the first and second igg, typically based on sequence or structural homology between the sequences of the first and second iggs. in order to establish homology, the amino acid sequence of a first igg outlined herein is directly compared to the sequence of a second igg. after aligning the sequences, using one or more of the homology alignment programs known in the art (for example using conserved residues as between species), allowing for necessary insertions and deletions in order to maintain alignment (i.e., avoiding the elimination of conserved residues through arbitrary deletion and insertion), the residues equivalent to particular amino acids in the primary sequence of the first immunoglobulin are defined. alignment of conserved residues may conserve 100% of such residues. however, alignment of greater than 75% or as little as 50% of conserved residues is also adequate to define equivalent residues. equivalent residues may also be defined by determining structural homology between a first and second igg that is at the level of tertiary structure for iggs whose structures have been determined. in this case, equivalent residues are defined as those for which the atomic coordinates of two or more of the main chain atoms of a particular amino acid residue of the parent or precursor (n on n, ca on ca, c on c and o on o) are within about 0.13 nm, after alignment. in another embodiment, equivalent residues are within about 0.1 nm after alignment. alignment is achieved after the best model has been oriented and positioned to give the maximum overlap of atomic coordinates of non-hydrogen protein atoms of the proteins. regardless of how equivalent or corresponding residues are determined, and regardless of the identity of the parent igg in which the iggs are made, what is meant to be conveyed is that the fc variants discovered as disclosed herein may be engineered into any second parent igg that has significant sequence or structural homology with the fc variant. thus for example, if a variant antibody is generated wherein the parent antibody is human igg1, by using the methods described above or other methods for determining equivalent residues, the variant antibody may be engineered in another igg1 parent antibody that binds a different antigen, a human igg2 parent antibody, a human iga parent antibody, a mouse igg2a or igg2b parent antibody, and the like. again, as described above, the context of the parent fc variant does not affect the ability to transfer the fc variants disclosed herein to other parent iggs. fc variants that comprise or are ch3 domain variants as described above may comprise at least one substitution at a position in a ch3 domain selected from the group consisting of 349, 351, 354, 356, 357, 364, 366, 368, 370, 392, 394, 395, 396, 397, 399, 401, 405, 407, 409, 411, and 439, wherein numbering is according to the eu index as in kabat. in a preferred embodiment, ch3 domain variants comprise at least one ch3 domain substitution per heavy chain selected from the group consisting of 349a, 349c, 349e, 349i, 349k, 349s, 349t, 349w, 351 e, 351k, 354c, 356k, 357k, 364c, 364d, 364e, 364f, 364g, 364h, 364r, 364t, 364y, 366d, 366k, 366s, 366w, 366y, 368a, 368e, 368k, 368s, 370c, 370d, 370e, 370g, 370r, 370s, 370v, 392d, 392e, 394f, 394s, 394w, 394y, 395t, 395v, 396t, 397e, 397s, 397t, 399k, 401 k, 405a, 405s, 407t, 407v, 409d, 409e, 411d, 411 e, 411k, and 439d. each of these variants can be used individually or in any combination for each heavy chain fc region. as will be appreciated by those in the art, each heavy chain can comprise different numbers of substitutions. for example, both heavy chains that make up the fc region may comprise a single substitution, one chain may comprise a single substitution and the other two substitutions, both can contain two substitutions (although each chain will contain different substitutions), etc. in some embodiments, the ch2 and/or ch3 domain variants are made in combinations, that is, two or more variants per heavy chain fc domain, selected from the group outlined above. other ch2 and/or ch3 domain variants that favor heterodimerization that may be employed in the design and preparation of the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest of the invention are provided in, for example, ridgeway et al., 1996, protein engineering 9[7]:617-621; u.s. pat. no. 5,731,168; xie et al., 2005, j immunol methods 296:95-101; davis et al., 2010, protein engineering, design & selection 23[4]:195-202; gunasekaran et al., 2010, j biol chem 285[25]:1937-19646; and pct/us2009/000071 (published as wo 2009/089004). the fc variants disclosed herein may be optimized for improved or reduced binding to fc receptors or fc ligands. by “fc receptor” or “fc ligand” as used herein is meant a molecule, preferably a polypeptide, from any organism that binds to the fc region of an antibody to form an fc-ligand complex. fc ligands include but are not limited to fcγrs, (as described above, including but not limited to fcγriiia, fcγriia, fcγriib, fcγri and fcrn), c1q, c3, mannan binding lectin, mannose receptor, staphylococcal protein a, streptococcal protein g, and viral fcγr. fc ligands also include fc receptor homologs (fcrh), which are a family of fc receptors that are homologous to the fcγrs. fc ligands may include undiscovered molecules that bind fc. the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest may be designed to optimize properties, including but are not limited to enhanced or reduced affinity for an fc receptor. by “greater affinity” or “improved affinity” or “enhanced affinity” or “better affinity” than a parent fc polypeptide, as used herein, is meant that an fc variant binds to an fc receptor with a significantly higher equilibrium constant of association (ka or k a ) or lower equilibrium constant of dissociation (kd or k d ) than the parent fc polypeptide when the amounts of variant and parent polypeptide in the binding assay are essentially the same. for example, the fc variant with improved fc receptor binding affinity may display from about 5 fold to about 1000 fold, e.g. from about 10 fold to about 500 fold improvement in fc receptor binding affinity compared to the parent fc polypeptide, where fc receptor binding affinity is determined, for example, by the binding methods disclosed herein, including but not limited to biacore, by one skilled in the art. accordingly, by “reduced affinity” as compared to a parent fc polypeptide as used herein is meant that an fc variant binds an fc receptor with significantly lower ka or higher kd than the parent fc polypeptide. greater or reduced affinity can also be defined relative to an absolute level of affinity. in one embodiment, particularly useful fc modifications for the present invention are variants that reduce or ablate binding to one or more fcγrs and/or complement proteins, thereby reducing or ablating fc-mediated effector functions such as adcc, adcp, and cdc. such variants are also referred to herein as “knockout variants” or “ko variants”. variants that reduce binding to fcγrs and complement are useful for reducing unwanted interactions mediated by the fc region and for tuning the selectivity of the inventive multispecific antibody of interest. preferred knockout variants are described in u.s. ser. no. 11/981,606, filed oct. 31, 2007, entitled “fc variants with optimized properties”. preferred modifications include but are not limited substitutions, insertions, and deletions at positions 234, 235, 236, 237, 267, 269, 325, and 328, wherein numbering is according to the eu index. preferred substitutions include but are not limited to 234g, 235g, 236r, 237k, 267r, 269r, 325l, and 328r, wherein numbering is according to the eu index. a preferred variant comprises 236r/328r. variants may be used in the context of any igg isotype or igg isotype fc region, including but not limited to human igg1, igg2, igg3, and/or igg4 and combinations thereof. preferred igg fc regions for reducing fcγr and complement binding and reducing fc-mediated effector functions are igg2 and igg4 fc regions. hybrid isotypes may also be useful, for example hybrid igg1/igg2 isotypes as described in us 2006-0134105. other modifications for reducing fcγr and complement interactions include but are not limited to substitutions 297a, 234a, 235a, 237a, 318a, 228p, 236e, 268q, 309l, 330s, 331s, 220s, 226s, 229s, 238s, 233p, and 234v, as well as removal of the glycosylation at position 297 by mutational or enzymatic means or by production in organisms such as bacteria that do not glycosylate proteins. these and other modifications are reviewed in strohl, 2009, current opinion in biotechnology 20:685-691. fc modifications that improve binding to fcγrs and/or complement are also amenable to incorporation in the design and preparation of the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein. such fc variants may enhance fc-mediated effector functions such as adcc, adcp, and/or cdc. preferred modifications for improving fcγr and complement binding are described in, e.g., u.s. pat. no. 8,188,231 and us 2006-0235208. preferred modifications comprise a substitution at a position selected from the group consisting of 236, 239, 268, 324, and 332, wherein numbering is according to the eu index. preferred substitutions include but are not limited to 236a, 239d, 239e, 268d, 267e, 268e, 268f, 324t, 332d, and 332e. preferred variants include but are not limited to 239d/332e, 236a/332e, 236a/239d/332e, 268f/324t, 267e/268f, 267e/324t, and 267e/268f/324t. other modifications for enhancing fcγr and complement interactions include but are not limited to substitutions 298a, 333a, 334a, 326a, 2471, 339d, 339q, 280h, 290s, 298d, 298v, 243l, 292p, 300l, 396l, 3051, and 396l. these and other modifications are reviewed in strohl, 2009, ibid. in one embodiment, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein may incorporate fc variants that enhance affinity for an inhibitory receptor fcγriib. such variants may provide the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest herein with immunomodulatory activities related to fcγriib + cells, including for example b cells and monocytes. in one embodiment, the fc variants provide selectively enhanced affinity to fcγriib relative to one or more activating receptors. modifications for altering binding to fcγriib are described in u.s. pat. no. 8,063,187, filed may 30, 2008, entitled “methods and compositions for inhibiting cd32b expressing cells”. in particular, fc variants that improve binding to fcγriib may include one or more modifications at a position selected from the group consisting of 234, 235, 236, 237, 239, 266, 267, 268, 325, 326, 327, 328, and 332, according to the eu index. preferable substitutions for enhancing fcγriib affinity include but are not limited to 234d, 234e, 234w, 235d, 235f, 235r, 235y, 236d, 236n, 237d, 237n, 239d, 239e, 266m, 267d, 267e, 268d, 268e, 327d, 327e, 328f, 328w, 328y, and 332e. more preferably, substitutions include but are not limited to 235y, 236d, 239d, 266m, 267e, 268d, 268e, 328f, 328w, and 328y. preferred fc variants for enhancing binding to fcγriib include but are not limited to 235y/267e, 236d/267e, 239d/268d, 239d/267e, 267e/268d, 267e/268e, and 267e/328f. in some embodiments, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein may incorporate fc variants that improve fcrn binding. such variants may enhance the in vivo pharmacokinetic properties of the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest. preferred variants that increase binding to fcrn and/or improve pharmacokinetic properties include but are not limited to substitutions at positions 259, 308, 428, and 434, including but not limited to for example 2591, 308f, 428l, 428m, 434s, 434h, 434f, 434y, 434m, 428l/434s, 2591/308f and 2591/308f/428l (and others described in u.s. ser. no. 12/341,769, filed dec. 22, 2008, entitled “fc variants with altered binding to fcrn”). other variants that increase fc binding to fcrn include but are not limited to: 250e, 250q, 428l, 428f, 250q/428l (hinton et al., 2004, j. biol. chem. 279(8): 6213-6216, hinton et al. 2006 journal of immunology 176:346-356), 256a, 272a, 286a, 305a, 307a, 307q, 311a, 312a, 376a, 378q, 380a, 382a, 434a (shields et al, journal of biological chemistry, 2001, 276(9):6591-6604), 252f, 252t, 252y, 252w, 254t, 256s, 256r, 256q, 256e, 256d, 256t, 309p, 311s, 433r, 433s, 4331, 433p, 433q, 434h, 434f, 434y, 252y/254t/256e, 433k/434f/436h, 308t/309p/311s (dall'acqua et al. journal of immunology, 2002, 169:5171-5180, dall'acqua et al., 2006, journal of biological chemistry 281:23514-23524). other modifications for modulating fcrn binding are described in yeung et al., 2010, j immunol, 182:7663-7671. the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein can incorporate fc modifications in the context of any igg isotype or igg isotype fc region, including but not limited to human igg1, igg2, igg3, and/or igg4. the igg isotype may be selected such as to alter fcγr- and/or complement-mediated effector function(s). hybrid igg isotypes may also be useful. for example, us patent publication no. 2006-0134105 describes a number of hybrid igg1/igg2 constant regions that may find use in the particular invention. in some embodiments of the invention, inventive multispecific antibodies of interest may comprise means for isotypic modifications, that is, modifications in a parent igg to the amino acid type in an alternate igg. for example, an igg1/igg3 hybrid variant may be constructed by a substitutional means for substituting igg1 positions in the ch2 and/or ch3 region with the amino acids from igg3 at positions where the two isotypes differ. thus a hybrid variant igg antibody may be constructed that comprises one or more substitutional means, e.g., 274q, 276k, 300f, 339t, 356e, 358m, 384s, 392n, 397m, 4221, 435r, and 436f. in other embodiments of the invention, an igg1/igg2 hybrid variant may be constructed by a substitutional means for substituting igg2 positions in the ch2 and/or ch3 region with amino acids from igg1 at positions where the two isotypes differ. thus a hybrid variant igg antibody may be constructed that comprises one or more substitutional means, e.g., one or more of the following amino acid substations: 233e, 234l, 235l, −236g (referring to an insertion of a glycine at position 236), and 327a. all antibodies contain carbohydrate at conserved positions in the constant regions of the heavy chain. each antibody isotype has a distinct variety of n-linked carbohydrate structures. aside from the carbohydrate attached to the heavy chain, up to 30% of human iggs have a glycosylated fab region. igg has a single n-linked biantennary carbohydrate at asn297 of the ch2 domain. for igg from either serum or produced ex vivo in hybridomas or engineered cells, the igg are heterogeneous with respect to the asn297 linked carbohydrate. for human igg, the core oligosaccharide normally consists of glcnac2man3glcnac, with differing numbers of outer residues. the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest herein may also comprise carbohydrate moieties, which moieties will be described with reference to commonly used nomenclature for the description of oligosaccharides. a review of carbohydrate chemistry which uses this nomenclature is found in hubbard et al. 1981, ann. rev. biochem. 50:555-583. this nomenclature includes, for instance, man, which represents mannose; glcnac, which represents 2-n-acetylglucosamine; gal which represents galactose; fuc for fucose; and glc, which represents glucose. sialic acids are described by the shorthand notation neunac, for 5-n-acetylneuraminic acid, and neungc for 5-glycolylneuraminic. the term “glycosylation” means the attachment of oligosaccharides (carbohydrates containing two or more simple sugars linked together e.g. from two to about twelve simple sugars linked together) to a glycoprotein. the oligosaccharide side chains are typically linked to the backbone of the glycoprotein through either n- or o-linkages. the oligosaccharides of inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein occur generally are attached to a ch2 domain of an fc region as n-linked oligosaccharides. “n-linked glycosylation” refers to the attachment of the carbohydrate moiety to an asparagine residue in a glycoprotein chain. the skilled artisan will recognize that, for example, each of murine igg1, igg2a, igg2b and igg3 as well as human igg1, igg2, igg3, igg4, iga and igd ch2 domains have a single site for n-linked glycosylation at residue 297. for the purposes herein, a “mature core carbohydrate structure” refers to a processed core carbohydrate structure attached to an fc region which generally consists of the following carbohydrate structure glcnac(fucose)-glcnac-man-(man-glcnac) 2 typical of biantennary oligosaccharides. the mature core carbohydrate structure is attached to the fc region of the glycoprotein, generally via n-linkage to asn297 of a ch2 domain of the fc region. a “bisecting glcnac” is a glcnac residue attached to the α1,4 mannose of the mature core carbohydrate structure. the bisecting glcnac can be enzymatically attached to the mature core carbohydrate structure by a α(1,4)-n-acetylglucosaminyltransferase iii enzyme (gntiii). cho cells do not normally express gntiii (stanley et al., 1984, j. biol. chem. 261:13370-13378), but may be engineered to do so (umana et al., 1999, nature biotech. 17:176-180). described herein are multispecific antibodies of interest that comprise modified glycoforms or engineered glycoforms. by “modified glycoform” or “engineered glycoform” as used herein is meant a carbohydrate composition that is covalently attached to a protein, for example an antibody, wherein said carbohydrate composition differs chemically from that of a parent protein. engineered glycoforms may be useful for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to enhancing or reducing fcγr-mediated effector function. in one embodiment, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein are modified to control the level of fucosylated and/or bisecting oligosaccharides that are covalently attached to the fc region. a variety of methods are well known in the art for generating modified glycoforms (umana et al., 1999, nat biotechnol 17:176-180; davies et al., 2001, biotechnol bioeng 74:288-294; shields et al., 2002, j biol chem 277:26733-26740; shinkawa et al., 2003, j biol chem 278:3466-3473; u.s. ser. no. 12/434,533). these techniques control the level of fucosylated and/or bisecting oligosaccharides that are covalently attached to the fc region, for example by expressing an igg in various organisms or cell lines, engineered or otherwise (for example lec-13 cho cells or rat hybridoma yb2/0 cells), by regulating enzymes involved in the glycosylation pathway (for example fut8 [α-1,6-fucosyltranserase] and/or β1-4-n-acetylglucosaminyltransferase iii [gntiii]), by modifying carbohydrate(s) after the igg has been expressed, or by expressing antibody in the presence of fucose analogs as enzymatic inhibitors. other methods for modifying glycoforms of the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein include using glycoengineered strains of yeast (li et al., 2006, nature biotechnology 24(2):210-215), moss (nechansky et al., 2007, mol immunol 44(7):1826-8), and plants (cox et al., 2006, nat biotechnol 24(12):1591-7). the use of a particular method to generate a modified glycoform is not meant to constrain embodiments to that method. rather, embodiments disclosed herein encompass inventive multispecific antibodies of interest with modified glycoforms irrespective of how they are produced. in one embodiment, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein are glycoengineered to alter the level of sialylation. higher levels of sialylated fc glycans in immunoglobulin g molecules can adversely impact functionality (scallon et al., 2007, mol. immunol. 44(7): 1524-34), and differences in levels of fc sialylation can result in modified anti-inflammatory activity (kaneko et al., 2006, science 313:670-673). because antibodies may acquire anti-inflammatory properties upon sialylation of fc core polysaccharide, it may be advantageous to glycoengineer the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein for greater or reduced fc sialic acid content. “engineered glycoform” typically refers to the different carbohydrate or oligosaccharide; thus for example an immunoglobulin may comprise an engineered glycoform. in one embodiment, a composition disclosed herein comprises a glycosylated inventive multispecific antibody of interest having an fc region, wherein about 51-100% of the glycosylated antibody, e.g., 80-100%, 90-100%, 95-100%, etc. of the antibody in the composition comprises a mature core carbohydrate structure which lacks fucose. in another embodiment, the antibody in the composition both comprises a mature core carbohydrate structure that lacks fucose and additionally comprises at least one amino acid modification in the fc region. in an alternative embodiment, a composition comprises a glycosylated inventive multispecific antibody of interest having an fc region, wherein about 51-100% of the glycosylated antibody, 80-100%, or 90-100%, of the antibody in the composition comprises a mature core carbohydrate structure which lacks sialic acid. in another embodiment, the antibody in the composition both comprises a mature core carbohydrate structure that lacks sialic acid and additionally comprises at least one amino acid modification in the fc region. in yet another embodiment, a composition comprises a glycosylated inventive multispecific antibody of interest having an fc region, wherein about 51-100% of the glycosylated antibody, 80-100%, or 90-100%, of the antibody in the composition comprises a mature core carbohydrate structure which contains sialic acid. in another embodiment, the antibody in the composition both comprises a mature core carbohydrate structure that contains sialic acid and additionally comprises at least one amino acid modification in the fc region. in another embodiment, the combination of engineered glycoform and amino acid modification provides optimal fc receptor binding properties to the antibody. the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein may comprise one or more modifications that provide additional optimized properties. said modifications may be amino acid modifications, or may be modifications that are made enzymatically or chemically. such modification(s) likely provide some improvement in the inventive multispecific antibody of interest, for example an enhancement in its stability, solubility, function, or clinical use. disclosed herein are a variety of improvements that may be made by coupling the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein with additional modifications. in one embodiment, at least one variable region of multispecific antibody of interest disclosed herein may be affinity matured, that is to say that amino acid modifications have been made in the vh and/or vl domains to enhance binding of the antibody to its target antigen. such types of modifications may improve the association and/or the dissociation kinetics for binding to the target antigen. other modifications include those that improve selectivity for target antigen vs. alternative targets. these include modifications that improve selectivity for antigen expressed on target vs. non-target cells. inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein may comprise one or more modifications that provide reduced or enhanced internalization of an inventive multispecific antibody of interest. in other embodiments, modifications are made to improve biophysical properties of the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein, including but not limited to stability, solubility, and oligomeric state. modifications can include, for example, substitutions that provide more favorable intramolecular interactions in the inventive multispecific antibody of interest such as to provide greater stability, or substitution of exposed nonpolar amino acids with polar amino acids for higher solubility. other modifications to the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein include those that enable the specific formation or homodimeric or homomultimeric molecules. such modifications include but are not limited to engineered disulfides, as well as chemical modifications or aggregation methods. in further embodiments, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein comprise modifications that remove proteolytic degradation sites. these may include, for example, protease sites that reduce production yields, as well as protease sites that degrade the administered protein in vivo. in one embodiment, additional modifications are made to remove covalent degradation sites such as deamidation (i.e. deamidation of glutaminyl and asparaginyl residues to the corresponding glutamyl and aspartyl residues), oxidation, and proteolytic degradation sites. deamidation sites that are particular useful to remove are those that have enhance propensity for deamidation, including, but not limited to asparaginyl and glutamyl residues followed by glycines (ng and qg motifs, respectively). in such cases, substitution of either residue can significantly reduce the tendency for deamidation. common oxidation sites include methionine and cysteine residues. other covalent modifications, that can either be introduced or removed, include hydroxylation of proline and lysine, phosphorylation of hydroxyl groups of seryl or threonyl residues, methylation of the “-amino groups of lysine, arginine, and histidine side chains, acetylation of the n-terminal amine, and amidation of any c-terminal carboxyl group. additional modifications also may include but are not limited to posttranslational modifications such as n-linked or o-linked glycosylation and phosphorylation. modifications may include those that improve expression and/or purification yields from hosts or host cells commonly used for production of biologics. these include, but are not limited to various mammalian cell lines (e.g. cho, hek, cos, nih lt3, saos, and the like), yeast cells, bacterial cells, and plant cells. additional modifications include modifications that remove or reduce the ability of heavy chains to form inter-chain disulfide linkages. additional modifications include modifications that remove or reduce the ability of heavy chains to form intra-chain disulfide linkages. the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein may comprise modifications that include the use of unnatural amino acids incorporated using, including but not limited to methods described in liu & schultz, 2010, annu rev biochem 79:413-444. in some embodiments, these modifications enable manipulation of various functional, biophysical, immunological, or manufacturing properties discussed above. in additional embodiments, these modifications enable additional chemical modification for other purposes. other modifications are contemplated herein. for example, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest may be linked to one of a variety of nonproteinaceous polymers, e.g., polyethylene glycol (peg), polypropylene glycol, polyoxyalkylenes, or copolymers of polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol. additional amino acid modifications may be made to enable specific or non-specific chemical or posttranslational modification of the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest. such modifications, include, but are not limited to pegylation and glycosylation. specific substitutions that can be utilized to enable pegylation include, but are not limited to, introduction of novel cysteine residues or unnatural amino acids such that efficient and specific coupling chemistries can be used to attach a peg or otherwise polymeric moiety. introduction of specific glycosylation sites can be achieved by introducing novel n-x-t/s sequences into the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein. modifications to reduce immunogenicity may include modifications that reduce binding of processed peptides derived from the parent sequence to mhc proteins. for example, amino acid modifications would be engineered such that there are no or a minimal number of immune epitopes that are predicted to bind, with high affinity, to any prevalent mhc alleles. several methods of identifying mhc-binding epitopes in protein sequences are known in the art and may be used to score epitopes in an antibody disclosed herein. covalent modifications are included within the scope of inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein, and are generally, but not always, done post-translationally. for example, several types of covalent modifications can be introduced into the molecule by reacting specific amino acid residues with an organic derivatizing agent that is capable of reacting with selected side chains or the n- or c-terminal residues. in some embodiments, the covalent modification of the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein comprises the addition of one or more labels. the term “labeling group” means any detectable label. in some embodiments, the labeling group is coupled to the inventive multispecific antibody of interest via spacer arms of various lengths to reduce potential steric hindrance. various methods for labeling proteins are known in the art and may be used in generating inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein. in certain embodiments, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein comprise “fusion proteins”, also referred to herein as “conjugates”. the fusion partner or conjugate partner can be proteinaceous or non-proteinaceous; the latter generally being generated using functional groups on the inventive multispecific antibody of interest and on the conjugate partner. conjugate and fusion partners may be any molecule, including small molecule chemical compounds and polypeptides. for example, a variety of conjugates and methods are described in trail et al., 1999, curr. opin. immunol. 11:584-588. possible conjugate partners include but are not limited to cytokines, cytotoxic agents, toxins, radioisotopes, chemotherapeutic agent, anti-angiogenic agents, a tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and other therapeutically active agents. in some embodiments, conjugate partners may be thought of more as payloads, that is to say that the goal of a conjugate is targeted delivery of the conjugate partner to a targeted cell, for example a cancer cell or immune cell, by the multispecific antibodies of interest. thus, for example, the conjugation of a toxin to a multispecific antibody of interest targets the delivery of said toxin to cells expressing the target antigen. as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, in reality the concepts and definitions of fusion and conjugate are overlapping. the designation of a fusion or conjugate is not meant to constrain it to any particular embodiment disclosed herein. rather, these terms are used to convey the broad concept that any multispecific antibody of interest disclosed herein may be linked genetically, chemically, or otherwise, to one or more polypeptides or molecules to provide some desirable property. suitable conjugates include, but are not limited to, labels as described below, drugs and cytotoxic agents including, but not limited to, cytotoxic drugs (e.g., chemotherapeutic agents) or toxins or active fragments of such toxins. suitable toxins and their corresponding fragments include diphtheria a chain, exotoxin a chain, ricin a chain, abrin a chain, curcin, crotin, phenomycin, enomycin and the like. cytotoxic agents also include radiochemicals made by conjugating radioisotopes to inventive multispecific antibody of interest, or binding of a radionuclide to a chelating agent that has been covalently attached to the inventive multispecific antibody of interest. additional embodiments utilize calicheamicin, auristatins, geldanamycin, maytansine, and duocarmycins and analogs. antibody-drug conjugates are described in alley et al., 2010, curr opin chem biol 14[4]:529-37. in certain embodiments, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein are fused or conjugated to a cytokine. by “cytokine” as used herein is meant a generic term for proteins released by one cell population that act on another cell as intercellular mediators. for example, as described in penichet et al., 2001, j. immunol. methods 248:91-101, cytokines may be fused to an inventive multispecific antibody of interest to provide an array of desirable properties. examples of such cytokines are lymphokines, monokines, and traditional polypeptide hormones. included among the cytokines are growth hormone such as human growth hormone, n-methionyl human growth hormone, and bovine growth hormone; parathyroid hormone; thyroxine; insulin; proinsulin; relaxin; prorelaxin; glycoprotein hormones such as follicle stimulating hormone (fsh), thyroid stimulating hormone (tsh), and luteinizing hormone (lh); hepatic growth factor; fibroblast growth factor; prolactin; placental lactogen; tumor necrosis factor-alpha and -beta; mullerian-inhibiting substance; mouse gonadotropin-associated peptide; inhibin; activin; vascular endothelial growth factor; integrin; thrombopoietin (tpo); nerve growth factors such as ngf-beta; platelet-growth factor; transforming growth factors (tgfs) such as tgf-alpha and tgf-beta; insulin-like growth factor-i and -ii; erythropoietin (epo); osteoinductive factors; interferons such as interferon-alpha, beta, and -gamma; colony stimulating factors (csfs) such as macrophage-csf (m-csf); granulocyte-macrophage-csf (gm-csf); and granulocyte-csf (g-csf); interleukins (ils) such as il-1, il-1alpha, il-2, il-3, il-4, il-5, il-6, il-7, il-8, il-9, il-10, il-11, il-12; il-15, a tumor necrosis factor such as tnf-alpha or tnf-beta; c5a; and other polypeptide factors including lif and kit ligand (kl). as used herein, the term cytokine includes proteins from natural sources or from recombinant cell culture, and biologically active equivalents of the native sequence cytokines. in further embodiments, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein may be conjugated to a “receptor” (such streptavidin) for utilization in tumor pretargeting wherein the analog-receptor conjugate is administered to the patient, followed by removal of unbound conjugate from the circulation using a clearing agent and then administration of a “ligand” (e.g. avidin) which is conjugated to a cytotoxic agent (e.g. a radionucleotide). in an alternate embodiment, the inventive multispecific antibody of interest is conjugated or operably linked to an enzyme in order to employ antibody dependent enzyme mediated prodrug therapy (adept). adept may be used by conjugating or operably linking the inventive multispecific antibody of interest to a prodrug-activating enzyme that converts a prodrug (e.g. a peptidyl chemotherapeutic agent. also disclosed herein are methods for producing and experimentally testing the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest. the disclosed methods are not meant to constrain embodiments to any particular application or theory of operation. rather, the provided methods are meant to illustrate generally that one or more multispecific antibodies of interest of the invention may be produced and experimentally tested to obtain inventive multispecific antibodies of interest. general methods for antibody molecular biology, expression, purification, and screening are described in antibody engineering, edited by kontermann & dubel, springer, heidelberg, 2001; and hayhurst & georgiou, 2001, curr opin chem biol 5:683-689; maynard & georgiou, 2000, annu rev biomed eng 2:339-76. in one embodiment disclosed herein, nucleic acids are created that encode the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest, and that may then be cloned into host cells, such as yeast cells or mammalian cells, expressed and assayed, if desired. thus, nucleic acids, and particularly dna, may be made that encode each protein sequence. these practices are carried out using well-known procedures. for example, a variety of methods that may find use in generating inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein are described in molecular cloning—a laboratory manual, 3rd ed. (maniatis, cold spring harbor laboratory press, new york, 2001), and current protocols in molecular biology (john wiley & sons). there are a variety of techniques that may be used to efficiently generate dna encoding inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein. such methods include but are not limited to gene assembly methods, pcr-based method and methods which use variations of pcr, ligase chain reaction-based methods, pooled oligo methods such as those used in synthetic shuffling, error-prone amplification methods and methods which use oligos with random mutations, classical site-directed mutagenesis methods, cassette mutagenesis, and other amplification and gene synthesis methods. as is known in the art, there are a variety of commercially available kits and methods for gene assembly, mutagenesis, vector subcloning, and the like, and such commercial products find use in for generating nucleic acids that encode inventive multispecific antibodies of interest. the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein may be produced by culturing a host cell transformed with nucleic acid, e.g., expression vectors containing nucleic acid encoding the first and second polypeptides of inventive multispecific antibodies of interest, under the appropriate conditions to induce or cause expression of the polypeptides. the conditions appropriate for expression will vary with the choice of the expression vector and the host cell, and will be easily ascertained by one skilled in the art through routine experimentation. a wide variety of appropriate host cells may be used, including but not limited to mammalian cells, bacteria, insect cells, yeast cells, and plant cells. for example, a variety of cell lines that may find use in generating inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein are described in the atcc® cell line catalog, available from the american type culture collection. in certain embodiments, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest are expressed in mammalian expression systems, including systems in which the expression constructs are introduced into the mammalian cells using virus such as retrovirus or adenovirus. any mammalian cells may be used, e.g., human, mouse, rat, hamster, and primate cells. suitable cells also include known research cells, including but not limited to jurkat t cells, nih3t3, cho, bhk, cos, hek293, per c.6, hela, sp2/0, ns0 cells and variants thereof. in an alternative embodiment, library proteins are expressed in bacterial cells. bacterial expression systems are well known in the art, and include escherichia coli ( e. coli ), bacillus subtilis, streptococcus cremoris , and streptococcus lividans . in alternate embodiments, inventive multispecific antibodies of interest are produced in insect cells (e.g. sf21/sf9, trichoplusia ni bti-tn5b1-4) or yeast cells (e.g. s. cerevisiae, pichia , etc.). in an alternate embodiment, inventive multispecific antibodies of interest are expressed in vitro using cell free translation systems. in vitro translation systems derived from both prokaryotic (e.g. e. coli ) and eukaryotic (e.g. wheat germ, rabbit reticulocytes) cells are available and may be chosen based on the expression levels and functional properties of the protein of interest. for example, as appreciated by those skilled in the art, in vitro translation is required for some display technologies, for example ribosome display. in addition, the inventive multispecific antibodies of interest may be produced by chemical synthesis methods. also transgenic expression systems both animal (e.g. cow, sheep or goat milk, embryonated hen's eggs, whole insect larvae, etc.) and plant (e.g. corn, tobacco, duckweed, etc.) the nucleic acids that encode the first and second polypeptides of inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein may be incorporated into one or more expression vectors, as appropriate, in order to express the encoded polypeptides. a variety of expression vectors may be utilized for protein expression. expression vectors may comprise self-replicating extra-chromosomal vectors or vectors which integrate into a host genome. expression vectors are constructed to be compatible with the host cell type. thus expression vectors which find use in generating inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein include but are not limited to those which enable protein expression in mammalian cells, bacteria, insect cells, yeast cells, and in vitro systems. as is known in the art, a variety of expression vectors are available, commercially or otherwise, that may find use for expressing inventive multispecific antibodies of interest disclosed herein. expression vectors typically comprise a protein or polypeptide to be expressed, which is operably linked with control or regulatory sequences, selectable markers, any fusion partners, and/or additional elements. by “operably linked” herein is meant that the nucleic acid is placed into a functional relationship with another nucleic acid sequence. generally, these expression vectors include transcriptional and translational regulatory nucleic acid operably linked to the nucleic acid encoding the inventive multispecific antibody of interest, and are typically appropriate to the host cell used to express the protein. in general, the transcriptional and translational regulatory sequences may include promoter sequences, ribosomal binding sites, transcriptional start and stop sequences, translational start and stop sequences, and enhancer or activator sequences. as is also known in the art, expression vectors typically contain a selection gene or marker to allow the selection of transformed host cells containing the expression vector. selection genes are well known in the art and will vary with the host cell used. the first and second polypeptides of the invention may each be independently operably linked to a fusion partner to enable targeting of the expressed polypeptide and/or multispecific antibody of interest, purification, screening, display, and the like. fusion partners may be linked to the inventive multispecific antibody of interest sequence via a linker sequences. the linker sequence will generally comprise a small number of amino acids, typically less than ten, although longer linkers may also be used. typically, linker sequences are selected to be flexible and resistant to degradation. as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, any of a wide variety of sequences may be used as linkers. for example, a common linker sequence comprises the amino acid sequence ggggs (seq id no: 37). a fusion partner may be a targeting or signal sequence that directs inventive multispecific antibody of interest and any associated fusion partners to a desired cellular location or to the extracellular media. as is known in the art, certain signaling sequences may target a protein to be either secreted into the growth media, or into the periplasmic space, located between the inner and outer membrane of the cell. a fusion partner may also be a sequence that encodes a peptide or protein that enables purification and/or screening. such fusion partners include but are not limited to polyhistidine tags (his-tags) (for example h6 (seq id no: 38) and h10 (seq id no: 39) or other tags for use with immobilized metal affinity chromatography (imac) systems (e.g. ni+2 affinity columns)), gst fusions, mbp fusions, strep-tag, the bsp biotinylation target sequence of the bacterial enzyme bira, and epitope tags which are targeted by antibodies (for example c-myc tags, flag-tags, and the like). as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, such tags may be useful for purification, for screening, or both. for example, an inventive multispecific antibody of interest may be purified using a his-tag by immobilizing it to a ni+2 affinity column, and then after purification the same his-tag may be used to immobilize the antibody to a ni+2 coated plate to perform an elisa or other binding assay (as described below). a fusion partner may enable the use of a selection method to screen inventive multispecific antibodies of interest (see below). fusion partners that enable a variety of selection methods are well-known in the art. for example, by fusing the members of an inventive multispecific antibody of interest library to the gene iii protein, phage display can be employed. fusion partners may enable inventive multispecific antibodies of interest to be labeled. alternatively, a fusion partner may bind to a specific sequence on the expression vector, enabling the fusion partner and associated inventive multispecific antibody of interest to be linked covalently or noncovalently with the nucleic acid that encodes them. the methods of introducing exogenous nucleic acid into host cells are well known in the art, and will vary with the host cell used. techniques include but are not limited to dextran-mediated transfection, calcium phosphate precipitation, calcium chloride treatment, polybrene mediated transfection, protoplast fusion, electroporation, viral or phage infection, encapsulation of the polynucleotide(s) in liposomes, and direct microinjection of the dna into nuclei. in the case of mammalian cells, transfection may be either transient or stable. additional non-limiting, exemplary embodiments are as follows: embodiment 1 a method of purifying a multispecific antibody of interest (mai), wherein the mai comprises a heterodimer comprising a first heavy chain polypeptide comprising a first heavy chain (hc) variable region and a second heavy chain polypeptide comprising a second hc variable region, wherein the first and the second variable regions have different antigen specificities and different isoelectric points, the method comprising: i) obtaining a composition comprising the mai, a first parental homodimeric antibody species comprising either at least one copy of the first heavy chain polypeptide or at least two copies of the first heavy chain polypeptide, and a second parental homodimeric antibody species comprising either at least one copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide or at least two copies of the second heavy chain polypeptide; and ii) performing chromatography whereby the mai is separated from the first and the second parental homodimeric antibody species; thereby purifying the mai. embodiment 2 the method of embodiment 1, wherein the performing step ii) comprises: contacting the composition with a chromatographic material forming a composition-chromatographic material complex; andperforming an elution step wherein the chromatographic material-composition complex is contacted with a sample of eluant that is capable of eluting the mai and parental homodimeric antibody species in a ph-dependent manner. embodiment 3 the method of embodiment 2, wherein the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents that each have a different negative log acid dissociation constant (pka). embodiment 4 the method according to embodiment 2 or embodiment 3, further comprising preparing or equilibrating either: the composition; or the composition-chromatographic material complex; in a first sample of the eluant at a desired starting ph prior performing the elution step. embodiment 5 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 4, further comprising flowing a volume of a second sample of the eluant that is prepared at a desired ending ph through the chromatographic material-composition complex. embodiment 6 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 5, wherein a ph gradient is generated as the eluant flows through the chromatographic material-composition complex. embodiment 7 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 6, wherein a ph gradient is generated as the eluant flows through the chromatographic material-composition complex, and wherein the ph gradient comprises: (i) a step ph gradient phase prior to a linear ph gradient phase; (ii) a step ph gradient subsequent to a linear gradient phase; (iii) a linear ph gradient phase with no step ph gradient phase.at least one linear ph gradient phase; or (iv) an essentially linear ph gradient phase. embodiment 8 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 7, wherein the mai, the first parental homodimeric antibody species, and the second parental homodimeric antibody species elute from the chromatographic material in essentially distinguishable elution volumes. embodiment 9 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 8, wherein the eluant comprises either: at least two; at least three; at least four; at least five; at least six; at least seven; or eight; of the following buffering agents: ncyclohexyl-3-aminopropanesulfonic acid (caps), n-cyclohexyl-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (ches), n-tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl-3-aminopropanesulfonic acid (taps), n-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine-n′-(2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid) (heppso), 3-morpholino-2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid sodium salt, 3-(n-morpholinyl)-2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid (mopso), 2-(n-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (mes), acetic acid, and formic acid; or at least two; at least three; at least four; at least five; or at least six; of the following buffering agents: methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine. embodiment 10 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 9, wherein the eluant comprises either: (i) caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, and formic acid; or (ii) methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine. embodiment 11 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 10, wherein the eluant comprises: at least two;at least three;at least four;at least five;at least six;at least seven; oreight;of the following buffering agents: ncyclohexyl-3-aminopropanesulfonic acid (caps), n-cyclohexyl-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (ches), n-tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl-3-aminopropanesulfonic acid (taps), n-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine-n′-(2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid) (heppso), 3-morpholino-2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid sodium salt, 3-(n-morpholinyl)-2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid (mopso), 2-(n-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (mes), acetic acid, and formic acid;with the proviso that the eluant does not include any of the following: imidazole; piperazine, tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (tris). embodiment 12 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 11, wherein the eluant consists essentially of: (i) caps; ches; taps; heppso; mopso; mes; acetic acid; and formic acid; and optionally at least one salt; or (ii) methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine and optionally at least one salt. embodiment 13 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 12, wherein the eluant consists of: (i) caps; ches; taps; heppso; mopso; mes; acetic acid; and formic acid; and at least one salt; or (ii) methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine and optionally at least one salt and optionally at least one salt. embodiment 14 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 13, wherein the eluant comprises at least one salt selected from the group consisting of: nacl, kcl, and na 2 so 4 . embodiment 15 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 14, wherein each sample of the eluant comprises at least one salt at a concentration range selected from the group consisting of: 0 mm to about 100 mm; 0 mm to about 60 mm; 0 mm to about 50 mm; 0 mm to about 40 mm; 0 mm to about 30 mm; 0 mm to about 20 mm; 0 mm to about 10 mm; 0 mm to about 5 mm; about 10 mm to about 200 mm; about 10 mm to about 100 mm; about 10 mm to about 50 mm; about 10 mm to about 40 mm; about 10 mm to about 30 mm; about 10 mm to about 20 mm; about 20 mm to about 200 mm; about 20 mm to about 100 mm; about 20 mm to about 50 mm; about 20 mm to about 30 mm; about 30 mm to about 200 mm; about 30 mm to about 100 mm; and about 30 mm to about 50 mm; and about 5 mm to about 15 mm. embodiment 16 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 15, wherein each sample of the eluant comprises at least one salt at a concentration of about 10 mm. embodiment 17 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 16, wherein each sample of the eluant comprises nacl at a concentration of about 10 mm. embodiment 18 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 17, wherein either: a. the difference in the actual isoelectric point of the first heavy chain polypeptide and the actual isoelectric point of the second heavy chain polypeptide is less than 7.0 ph units; less than 6.5 ph units; less than 6.0 ph units; less than 5.5 ph units; less than 5.0 ph units; less than 4.5 ph units; less than 4.0 units; less than 3.5 ph units; less than 2.5 ph units; less than 2.4 ph units; less than 2.3 ph units; less than 2.2 ph units; less than 2.1 ph units; less than 2.0 ph units; less than 1.9 ph units; less than 1.8 ph units; less than 1.7 ph units; less than 1.6 ph units; less than 1.5 ph units; less than 1.4 ph units; less than 1.3 ph units, less than 1.2 ph units; less than 1.1 ph units; less than 1.0 ph unit; less than 0.95 ph unit; less than 0.90 ph unit; less than 0.85 ph unit; less than 0.80 ph unit; less than 0.75 ph unit; less than 0.70 ph unit; less than 0.65 ph unit; less than 0.60 ph unit; less than 0.55 ph unit; less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values; b. the difference in the actual isoelectric point of the first parental homodimeric species and the actual isoelectric point of the second parental homodimeric species is less than 7.0 ph units; less than 6.5 ph units; less than 6.0 ph units; less than 5.5 ph units; less than 5.0 ph units; less than 4.5 ph units; less than 4.0 units; less than 3.5 ph units; less than 2.5 ph units; less than 2.4 ph units; less than 2.3 ph units; less than 2.2 ph units; less than 2.1 ph units; less than 2.0 ph units; less than 1.9 ph units; less than 1.8 ph units; less than 1.7 ph units; less than 1.6 ph units; less than 1.5 ph units; less than 1.4 ph units; less than 1.3 ph units, less than 1.2 ph units; less than 1.1 ph units; less than 1.0 ph unit; less than 0.95 ph unit; less than 0.90 ph unit; less than 0.85 ph unit; less than 0.80 ph unit; less than 0.75 ph unit; less than 0.70 ph unit; less than 0.65 ph unit; less than 0.60 ph unit; less than 0.55 ph unit; less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values; c. the difference in the calculated isoelectric point of the first heavy chain polypeptide and the calculated isoelectric point of the second heavy chain polypeptide is less than 7.0 ph units; less than 6.5 ph units; less than 6.0 ph units; less than 5.5 ph units; less than 5.0 ph units; less than 4.5 ph units; less than 4.0 units; less than 3.5 ph units; less than 2.5 ph units; less than 2.4 ph units; less than 2.3 ph units; less than 2.2 ph units; less than 2.1 ph units; less than 2.0 ph units; less than 1.9 ph units; less than 1.8 ph units; less than 1.7 ph units; less than 1.6 ph units; less than 1.5 ph units; less than 1.4 ph units; less than 1.3 ph units, less than 1.2 ph units; less than 1.1 ph units; less than 1.0 ph unit; less than 0.95 ph unit; less than 0.90 ph unit; less than 0.85 ph unit; less than 0.80 ph unit; less than 0.75 ph unit; less than 0.70 ph unit; less than 0.65 ph unit; less than 0.60 ph unit; less than 0.55 ph unit; less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values; or d. the difference in the calculated isoelectric point of the first parental homodimeric species and the calculated isoelectric point of the second parental homodimeric species is less than 7.0 ph units; less than 6.5 ph units; less than 6.0 ph units; less than 5.5 ph units; less than 5.0 ph units; less than 4.5 ph units; less than 4.0 units; less than 3.5 ph units; less than 2.5 ph units; less than 2.4 ph units; less than 2.3 ph units; less than 2.2 ph units; less than 2.1 ph units; less than 2.0 ph units; less than 1.9 ph units; less than 1.8 ph units; less than 1.7 ph units; less than 1.6 ph units; less than 1.5 ph units; less than 1.4 ph units; less than 1.3 ph units, less than 1.2 ph units; less than 1.1 ph units; less than 1.0 ph unit; less than 0.95 ph unit; less than 0.90 ph unit; less than 0.85 ph unit; less than 0.80 ph unit; less than 0.75 ph unit; less than 0.70 ph unit; less than 0.65 ph unit; less than 0.60 ph unit; less than 0.55 ph unit; less than 0.50 ph unit; less than 0.45 ph unit; less than 0.40 ph unit; less than 0.35 ph unit; less than 0.30 ph unit; less than 0.25 ph unit; less than 0.20 ph unit; less than 0.15 ph unit; less than 0.14 ph unit; less than 0.13 ph unit; less than 0.12 ph unit; less than 0.11 ph unit; less than 0.10 ph unit; less than 0.09 ph unit; less than 0.08 ph unit; less than 0.07 ph unit; less than 0.06 ph unit less than 0.04 ph unit; less than 0.03 ph unit; less than 0.025 ph unit; less than 0.02 ph unit; or ph values that are between any of the preceding values. embodiment 19 the method according to any one of embodiments 4 through 18, wherein the desired starting ph is less than 9.0; less than 8.5; less than 8.0; less than 7.5; less than 7.0; less than 6.5; less than 6.0; less than 5.5; less than 5.0; less than 4.5; less than 4.0; less than 3.5; or less than 3.0; or a ph values that is between any of the preceding values. embodiment 20 the method according to any one of embodiments 5 through 19, wherein the desired ending ph is more than 7.0; more than 7.5; more than 8.0; more than 8.5; more than 9.0; more than 9.5; more than 10.0; more than 10.5; or more than 11.0; more than 11.5; more than 12.0; more than 12.5; more than 13.0; more than 13.5; or a ph values that is between any of the preceding values. embodiment 21 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 20, wherein the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents and wherein the acid dissociation constant (pka) of each buffering agent is between about 3 and 11. embodiment 22 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 21, wherein the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents wherein the acid dissociation constant (pka) of each buffering agent is in a range selected from the group consisting of: about 3.25 to about 3.85; about 4.5 to about 4.85; about 6.0 to about 6.45; about 6.60 to about 7.0; about 7.5 to about 8.15; about 8.35 to about 8.55; about 9.25 to about 9.65; and about 10.00 to about 11.5. embodiment 23 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 22, wherein the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents wherein the acid dissociation constant (pka) of each buffering agent is in a different range that is selected from the group consisting of: about 3.25 to about 3.85; about 4.5 to about 4.85; about 6.0 to about 6.45; about 6.60 to about 7.0; about 7.5 to about 8.15; about 8.35 to about 8.55; about 9.25 to about 9.65; and about 10.00 to about 11.5. embodiment 24 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 23, wherein the eluant comprises at least two buffering agents wherein the acid dissociation constant (pka) of each buffering agent is selected from the group consisting of about 3.75; about 4.76; about 6.10; about 6.90; about 8.04; about 8.44; about 9.39; and about 10.50. embodiment 25 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 24, wherein the mai further comprises a third polypeptide comprising a first light chain variable region. embodiment 26 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 25, wherein the mai further comprises a third polypeptide and a fourth polypeptide, wherein each of the third polypeptide and the fourth polypeptide comprises a second light chain variable region. embodiment 27 the method according to embodiment 26, wherein the first light chain variable region and the second light chain variable region are identical. embodiment 28 the method according to embodiment 26 or embodiment 27, wherein the third polypeptide and the fourth polypeptide are identical. embodiment 29 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 28, wherein the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide each further comprise an fc region. embodiment 30 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 29, wherein the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide each further comprise a wild-type fc region. embodiment 31 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 30, wherein the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide each further comprise an igg1 isotype fc region, an igg3 isotype fc region, an igg3 isotype fc region, or an igg4 isotype fc region. embodiment 32 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 31, wherein the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide each further comprise an igg1 isotype fc region. embodiment 33 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 32, wherein the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide each further comprise an fc region that has not been engineered in order to alter the pi of the first parental homodimeric antibody species, the second parental homodimeric species, or the mai. embodiment 34 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 33, wherein the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide each further comprise an igg1 isotype fc region that has not been engineered in order to alter the pi of the first parental homodimeric antibody species, the second parental homodimeric species, or the mai. embodiment 35 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 34, wherein either: mai is in a native antibody format; at least the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; at least the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format and the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format; or the mai is in a native antibody format, the first parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format, and the second parental homodimeric antibody species is in a native format. embodiment 36 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 35, wherein either: the mai; the first parental homodimeric antibody species; the second parental homodimeric antibody species; the first parental homodimeric antibody species and the second parental homodimeric antibody species; or the mai, the first parental homodimeric antibody species and the second parental homodimeric antibody species; is in an igg1 format, and igg2 format, and igg3 format, or an igg4 format, or a hybrid format. embodiment 37 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 36, wherein the chromatography performed at essentially the same ionic strength. embodiment 38 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 37, wherein the ionic strength of the eluant remains essentially the same throughout the elution step. embodiment 39 the method according to any one of embodiments 4 through 38, wherein first sample of the eluant and the second sample of the eluant each have essentially the same ionic strength. embodiment 40 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 39, wherein the chromatography is ion exchange chromatography. embodiment 41 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 40, wherein the chromatography is selected from the group consisting of: cation exchange chromatography; anion exchange chromatography; multimodal chromatography; and mixed-mode chromatography. embodiment 42 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 41, wherein the chromatography further comprises using a chromatographic material selected from the group consisting of mustang s, sartobind s, s03 monolith, s ceramic hyperd, poros xs, poros hs50, poros hs20, hs20, spsff, porors gopure hs, poros gopure xs, sp-sepharose xl (spxl), cm sepharose fast flow, capto q impres, capto sp impres, capto s, capto mmc, fractogel se hicap, fractogel s03, fractogel coo, poros hq 50, poros pi 50, poros d, mustang q, q sepharose ff, sp sepharose ff, unoshere s, macro-prep high s, deae, mono s, mono s 5/50 gl, mono q, mono q 5/50 gl, mono s 10/100 gl, sp sepharose hp, source 30s, poros xq, poros hq, q hp, and source 30q. embodiment 43 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 42, wherein the chromatography further comprises using a chromatographic material selected from the group consisting of mono s, mono s 5/50 gl, mono q, mono q 5/50 gl, sp sepharose hp, source 30s, poros xq, poros hq, q hp, and source 30q, and mono s 10/100 gl. embodiment 44 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 43, wherein the chromatographic material is an ion exchange chromatographic material. embodiment 45 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 44, wherein the chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of: a cation exchange chromatographic material; an anion exchange chromatographic material; a multimodal chromatographic material; and a mixed-mode chromatographic material. embodiment 46 the method according to any one of embodiments 2 through 45, wherein the ion exchange chromatographic material is selected from the group consisting of mustang s, sartobind s, s03 monolith, s ceramic hyperd, poros xs, poros hs50, poros hs20, hs20, spsff, porors gopure hs, poros gopure xs, sp-sepharose xl (spxl), cm sepharose fast flow, capto q impres, capto sp impres, capto s, capto mmc, fractogel se hicap, fractogel s03, fractogel coo, poros hq 50, poros pi 50, poros d, mustang q, q sepharose ff, sp sepharose ff, unoshere s, macro-prep high s, deae, mono s, mono s 5/50 gl, mono q, mono q 5/50 gl, mono s 10/100 gl, sp sepharose hp, source 30s, poros xq, poros hq, q hp, and source 30q; or is selected from the group consisting of mono s, mono s 5/50 gl, mono q, mono q 5/50 gl, sp sepharose hp, source 30s, poros xq, poros hq, q hp, and source 30q, and mono s 10/100 gl. embodiment 47 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 46, wherein either the first heavy chain variable region or the second heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a first selection against a first antigen from a first library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions. embodiment 48 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 47, wherein the first heavy chain variable region and the second heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a first selection against a first antigen from a first library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions. embodiment 49 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 48, wherein the first heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a first selection against a first antigen from a first library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions and the second heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a second selection against a second antigen from a second library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions. embodiment 50 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 49, wherein the first heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a first selection against a first antigen from a first library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions and the second heavy chain variable region is obtained by performing a second selection against a second antigen from a second library comprising unique heavy chain variable regions. embodiment 51 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 50, wherein at least one of the libraries further comprises at least one light chain. embodiment 52 the method according to any one of embodiments 1 through 51, the composition is expressed by prokaryotic host cells or eukaryotic host cells, into which nucleic acid sequences encoding the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide have each been introduced. embodiment 53 the method according to any one of embodiments 25 through 23, the composition is expressed by prokaryotic host cells or eukaryotic host cells into which nucleic acid sequences encoding the first polypeptide and the second polypeptide have each been introduced. embodiment 54 the method according to any one of embodiments 26 through 53, the composition is expressed by prokaryotic host cells or eukaryotic host cells into which nucleic acid sequences encoding the first polypeptide, the second polypeptide, the third polypeptide, and the fourth polypeptide have each been introduced. embodiment 55 the method according to any one of embodiments 52 through 54, wherein each encoded polypeptide is expressed by the host cells. embodiment 56 the method according to any one of embodiments 52 through 55, wherein the composition is expressed by the host cells. embodiment 57 the method according to any one of embodiments 52 through 56, wherein essentially each host cell has been transformed or transfected with the first polypeptide, the second polypeptide, the third polypeptide, and the fourth polypeptide. embodiment 58 the method according to any one of embodiments 52 through 57, wherein essentially each host cell expresses the mai, the first parental antibody species, and the second parental antibody species. embodiment 59 the method to any one of embodiments 52 through 58, wherein the host cells are selected from the group consisting of: eukaryotic cells; fungal cells; yeast cells; insect cells; mammalian cells; saccharomyces cerevisiae cells; pichia pastoris cells; mammalian cells; cos cells; human embryonic kidney (hek) cells; and cho cells. embodiment 60 an ion exchange eluant comprising either: (i) caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid, and a salt; or (ii) methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine and optionally at least one salt. embodiment 61 an ion exchange eluant comprising caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid, and nacl. embodiment 62 the ion exchange eluant according to embodiment 60 or embodiment 61, with the proviso that the eluant does not include tris, piperazine, or imidazole. embodiment 63 an ion exchange eluant consisting essentially of either: (i) caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid, and a salt; or (ii) methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine and optionally at least one salt. embodiment 64 an ion exchange eluant consisting of either: (i) caps, ches, taps, heppso, mopso, mes, acetic acid, formic acid, and a salt; or (ii) methylamine, 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol (bis-tris), and hydroxylamine and optionally at least one salt. embodiment 65 the ion exchange eluant according to any one of embodiments 61 through 64, wherein the salt is selected from the group consisting of nacl, kcl, or na 2 so 4 . embodiment 66 the ion exchange eluant according to any one of embodiments 60 through 65, wherein the eluant is used for purifying an mai from a composition comprising the mai and parental homodimeric antibody species. embodiment 67 the ion exchange eluant according to any one of embodiments 61 through 66, wherein the eluant comprises at least one salt at a concentration range selected from the group consisting of: 0 mm to about 100 mm; 0 mm to about 60 mm; 0 mm to about 50 mm; 0 mm to about 40 mm; 0 mm to about 30 mm; 0 mm to about 20 mm; 0 mm to about 10 mm; 0 mm to about 5 mm; about 10 mm to about 200 mm; about 10 mm to about 100 mm; about 10 mm to about 50 mm; about 10 mm to about 40 mm; about 10 mm to about 30 mm; about 10 mm to about 20 mm; about 20 mm to about 200 mm; about 20 mm to about 100 mm; about 20 mm to about 50 mm; about 20 mm to about 30 mm; about 30 mm to about 200 mm; about 30 mm to about 100 mm; and about 30 mm to about 50 mm; and about 5 mm to about 15 mm. embodiment 68 the ion exchange eluant according to any one of embodiments 61 through 67, wherein each sample of the eluant comprises at least one salt at a concentration of about 10 mm. embodiment 69 the ion exchange eluant according to any one of embodiments 61 through 68, wherein the salt is nacl. embodiment 70 the ionic exchange eluant according to any one of embodiments 61 through 69, wherein each sample of the eluant comprises nacl at a concentration of about 10 mm. examples materials and methods all chromatographic separations presented in the examples were carried out on a computer controlled äkta avant 150 preparative chromatography system (ge healthcare life sciences) equipped with an integrated ph electrode, enabling in-line ph monitoring during each chromatography experiment. the mono s 5/50 gl, mono q 5/50 gl, and mono s 10/100 gl columns were purchased each purchased from ge healthcare life sciences. all other columns were purchased from the providers as listed in the column titled “resin” each of in figs. 26a and 26b . acetic acid and sodium chloride were from vwr, caps, mopso, and taps were from sigma, ches and formic acid were from emd, heppso was from mp biomedicals, and mes was from calbiochem. methylamine (40% in h 2 o), 1,2-ethanediamine, 1-methylpiperazine, 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, and hydroxylamine (50% in h 2 o) were purchased from sigma, bis-tris was purchased from affymetrix, and sodium chloride was purchased from vwr. the ph gradient-forming solutions were freshly prepared before each experiment by dissolving the buffering agents in water and dividing the solution into two equal parts. unless otherwise noted, the eluant composition was as listed in fig. 1 . one half was then adjusted to ph 4 (buffer a) using sodium hydroxide, while the other half was adjusted to ph 11 (buffer b) also using sodium hydroxide. unless otherwise indicated, the following procedure was used to perform all purifications described in the examples. approximately 0.2 mg to 2 mg (for the mono s 5/50 gl, mono q 5/50 gl, and all other similarly sized columns utilized in the examples below) or approximately 5 mg to 10 mg (for the mono s 10/100 column and all other similarly sized columns utilized in the examples below) of the mai-parental homodimeric antibody species composition to be separated were buffer exchanged into the starting ph buffer and filtered through a 0.2 μm filter. before each separation, the column was equilibrated with 10 column volumes of starting buffer (either buffer a, buffer b, or the appropriate mixture of buffer a and buffer b). the protein composition was then loaded onto the column via a capillary loop, and the column was washed with another 10 column volumes of starting buffer to remove the unbound material. subsequently a linear ph gradient of 20 column volumes made up of the appropriate mixtures of buffer a and buffer b was used for separation of the common light chain bispecific antibody mixture. alternatively, 15 column volumes of a step elution were performed before a shallower gradient of buffers a and b was used to elute. common-light-chain antibodies (i.e., parental homodimeric antibody species) were isolated from a full-length human igg antibody library using an in vitro yeast selection system and associated methods (see, e.g., wo 2009/036379; wo 2010/105256; and wo 2012/009568). target-binding mabs were enriched by incubating biotin labeled antigens with antibody expressing yeast cells at different concentrations followed by magnetic bead selection (miltenyi, biotec) and fluorescence-activated cell sorting on a facsaria ii cell sorter (bd biosciences) employing streptavidin secondary reagents in several successive selection rounds. after the last round of enrichment, yeast cells were sorted and plated onto agar plates, clones were analyzed by dna sequencing and used for igg production. optimization of antibodies for higher affinity was performed in successive cycles of selection rounds using lower concentrations of antigen baits with sub-libraries generated by light chain shuffling, targeted mutagenesis of cdr1 and cdr2 of heavy chains and epcr of the variable region of the heavy or light chain. for examples in which an igg isotype format other than the igg1 isotype format was employed, the variable domains isolated from the libraries as described above were reformatted into the indicated alternative igg isotype format (e.g., igg4, etc.). the compositions comprising each antibody (heavy chain-heterodimeric mai and two parental heavy-chain homodimeric species) described and tested in each the examples were obtained from mammalian host cells (hek cells) harboring and transiently expressing nucleic acid sequences encoding each of a first heavy chain polypeptide, a second heavy chain polypeptide, and a third light chain polypeptide. the transfected cells were cultured under standard conditions known in the art, and the supernatants comprising the antibodies were collected and subjected to protein a-based affinity purification in order to obtain compositions comprising all antibody species present in the supernatant. depending on the isotype format of the antibodies encoded by the nucleic acid for each example as described below, such antibody species (mai and/or parental homodimeric antibodies) were either in the igg1 format (described in, e.g., examples 1 through 9 and examples 14 and 15), igg4 format (described in, e.g., examples 10 through 13) or a hybrid igg1/igg4 isotype format (described in, e.g., example 11). compositions and formats tested in the examples the compositions tested in examples 1 through 9 and example 14 comprised the following antibody species: scheme a: an mai in the native human igg1 isotype format, comprising a first heavy chain polypeptide in the igg1 isotype format, a second heavy chain polypeptide in the igg1 isotype format, and two copies of a light chain polypeptide that were identical in amino acid sequence, wherein the variable regions of the first heavy chain polypeptide and the second heavy chain polypeptide had different amino acid sequences and different antigen specificities (and thus the antigen binding regions formed by each pairing of each of the first and the second heavy chain polypeptide variable regions with one of the two copies of the light chain polypeptide (i.e., “common light chain”) had two different antigen specificities); a first parental heavy chain-homodimeric antibody species in the native human igg1 isotype format, comprising two copies of the first heavy chain polypeptide and two copies of the light chain polypeptide as in 1) above, wherein the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of one copy of the first heavy chain polypeptide and one copy of the light chain polypeptide has a single antigen specificity (and thus the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of each copy of the heavy chain polypeptide with each copy of the light chain polypeptide each had the same single antigen specificity); and a second parental heavy chain-homodimeric antibody species in the native human igg1 isotype format, comprising two copies of the second heavy chain polypeptide and two copies of the light chain polypeptide as in 1) above, wherein the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of one copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide and one copy of the light chain polypeptide has a single antigen specificity (and thus the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of each copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide with each copy of the light chain polypeptide each had the same single antigen specificity). the compositions tested in example 10 comprised the following antibody species: scheme b: an mai in the native human igg4 isotype format, comprising a first heavy chain polypeptide in the igg4 isotype format, a second heavy chain polypeptide in the igg4 isotype format, and two copies of a light chain polypeptide that were identical in amino acid sequence, wherein the variable regions of the first heavy chain polypeptide and the second heavy chain polypeptide had different amino acid sequences and different antigen specificities (and thus the antigen binding regions formed by each pairing of each of the first and the second heavy chain polypeptide variable regions with one of the two copies of the light chain polypeptide (i.e., “common light chain”) had two different antigen specificities); a first parental heavy chain-homodimeric antibody species in the native human igg4 isotype format, comprising two copies of the first heavy chain polypeptide and two copies of the light chain polypeptide as in 1) above, wherein the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of one copy of the first heavy chain polypeptide and one copy of the light chain polypeptide has a single antigen specificity (and thus the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of each copy of the heavy chain polypeptide with each copy of the light chain polypeptide each had the same single antigen specificity); and a second parental heavy chain-homodimeric antibody species in the native human igg4 isotype format, comprising two copies of the second heavy chain polypeptide and two copies of the light chain polypeptide as in 1) above, wherein the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of one copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide and one copy of the light chain polypeptide has a single antigen specificity (and thus the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of each copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide with each copy of the light chain polypeptide each had the same single antigen specificity). the compositions tested in example 11 comprised the following antibody species: scheme c: an mai in the hybrid igg1/igg4 isotype format (native human igg1 isotype format/human native igg4 isotype format), comprising a first heavy chain polypeptide in the igg1 isotype format, a second heavy chain polypeptide in the igg4 isotype format, and two copies of a light chain polypeptide that were identical in amino acid sequence, wherein the variable regions of the first heavy chain polypeptide and the second heavy chain polypeptide had different amino acid sequences and different antigen specificities (and thus the antigen binding regions formed by each pairing of each of the first and the second heavy chain polypeptide heavy chain variable regions with one of the two copies of the light chain polypeptide (i.e., “common light chain”) had two different antigen specificities); a first parental heavy chain-homodimeric antibody species in the native human igg1 isotype format, comprising two copies of the first heavy chain polypeptide and two copies of the light chain polypeptide as in 1) above, wherein the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of one copy of the first heavy chain polypeptide and one copy of the light chain polypeptide has a single antigen specificity (and thus the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of each copy of the heavy chain polypeptide with each copy of the light chain polypeptide each had the same single antigen specificity); and a second parental heavy chain-homodimeric antibody species in the native human igg4 isotype format, comprising two copies of the second heavy chain polypeptide and two copies of the light chain polypeptide as in 1) above, wherein the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of one copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide and one copy of the light chain polypeptide has a single antigen specificity (and thus the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of each copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide with each copy of the light chain polypeptide each had the same single antigen specificity). the compositions tested in example 12 and example 13 comprised the following antibody species: scheme d: an mai in the native human igg4 isotype format, comprising a first heavy chain polypeptide in the igg4 isotype format, a second heavy chain polypeptide in the igg4 isotype format, one copy of a first light chain polypeptide amino acid sequence in which a first engineered heterodimerization motif was introduced in order to help favor preferential dimerization with the first heavy chain polypeptide relative to dimerization with the second heavy chain polypeptide, and one copy of a second light chain polypeptide amino acid sequence in which a second engineered heterodimerization motif was introduced in order to help favor preferential dimerization with the second heavy chain polypeptide relative to dimerization with the first heavy chain polypeptide, wherein the variable regions of the first heavy polypeptide and the second heavy polypeptide had different amino acid sequences and different antigen specificities (and thus the antigen binding region formed by each pairing of the first heavy chain polypeptide heavy chain variable region with the first light chain polypeptide had a different specificity than the antigen binding region formed by the pairing of the second heavy chain polypeptide heavy chain variable region with the second light chain polypeptide; a first parental heavy chain-homodimeric antibody species in the native human igg4 isotype format, comprising two copies of the first heavy chain polypeptide and two copies of the light chain polypeptide as in 1) above, wherein the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of one copy of the heavy chain polypeptide and one copy of the light chain polypeptide has a single antigen specificity (and thus the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of each copy of the heavy chain polypeptide with each copy of the light chain polypeptide each had the same single antigen specificity); and a second parental heavy chain-homodimeric antibody species in the native human igg4 isotype format, comprising two copies of the second heavy chain polypeptide and two copies of the light chain polypeptide as in 1) above, wherein the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of one copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide and one copy of the light chain polypeptide has a single antigen specificity (and thus the antigen binding regions formed by pairing of each copy of the second heavy chain polypeptide with each copy of the light chain polypeptide each had the same single antigen specificity). example 1 linear ph gradient separation of a composition comprising common-light-chain igg1 bispecific heterodimer (the “mai”) and each of two different parental homodimeric antibody species (formats as described in scheme a of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above) with a calculated difference in heavy chain pi of 0.68 ph unit (the calculated pi of hc1=9.73; calculated pi of hc2=9.05; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 1.33 ph unit) using a linear ph gradient on a strong cation exchanger mono s 5/50 gl column. starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0. final buffer b: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph11.0 flow rate 1 ml/min, length of linear gradient formation from 0% b to 100% b 20 column volumes. the results depicted in fig. 2 demonstrate that despite the relatively steep ph gradient and the small scale column, the difference in pi of the two heavy chains (as well as the difference in pi of the two corresponding parental homodimeric species from which the two different heavy chains of the mai were derived) is sufficient to yield baseline resolution between the two homodimer species and the desired heterodimer, and thus purification of the heterodimer (the mai) ( fig. 2 ). example 2 linear ph gradient separation of a composition comprising common-light-chain igg1 bispecific heterodimer (the “mai”) and each of two different parental homodimeric antibody species (formats as described in scheme a of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above) with a calculated difference in heavy chain pi of 0.25 ph unit (calculated pi of hc1=9.46; calculated pi of hc2=9.21; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.59 ph unit) using various linear ph gradients on a strong cation exchanger mono s 5/50 gl column or a strong cation exchanger mono s 10/100 gl column. fig. 4a : separation of 0.228 mg of total material on a mono s 5/50 gl column (column volume: 1 ml): starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0. final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph11.0. flow rate 1 ml/min, length of linear gradient formation from 0% b to 100% b 20 column volumes. fig. 4b : separation of 1.57 mg of total material on a mono s 5/50 gl column (column size: 1 ml): starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0. final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph11.0. flow rate 1 ml/min, length of linear gradient formation from 32.5% b to 55% b 20 column volumes. fig. 4c : separation of 8.88 mg of total material on a mono s 10/100 gl column (column size: 8 ml): starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0. final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph11.0. flow rate 1 ml/min, length of linear gradient formation from 32.5% b to 55% b 20 column volumes. the elution diagrams in figs. 4a through 4c demonstrate that both making the linear gradient shallower (i.e., generating a ph gradient range that encompasses a narrower ph range as illustrated in figs. 4b and 4c ) relative to that generated as illustrated in fig. 4a , as well as increasing the sample material mount (mass) and with it the residence time of the sample on the column, lead to increased resolution. furthermore, the sample that showed only partial resolution on the 1 ml mono s 5/50 gl column with the full gradient from 0% b to 100% b over 20 column volumes was resolved by increasing the column volume to 8 ml for the mono s 10/100 gl column and making the gradient shallower (32.5% b to 55% b over 20 column volumes). accordingly, the results demonstrate that mais were purified from two different parental homodimeric antibody species for which the calculated pi difference was approximately 0.59 ph unit. additionally, the results demonstrate that mais were purified from two different parental homodimeric antibody species for which the calculated pi difference of the heavy chains of such parental homodimeric species was approximately 0.25 ph unit. example 3 linear ph gradient separation of a composition comprising common-light-chain igg1 bispecific heterodimer (the “mai”) and each of two different parental homodimeric antibody species (formats as described in scheme a of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above) with varying calculated differences in heavy chain pi using a strong cation exchanger mono s 10/100 gl column and a linear ph gradient with starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0 and final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph11.0. flow rate 1 ml/min, length of linear gradient formation from 32.5% b to 55% b 20 column volumes. fig. 5a : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.68 unit (calculated pi of hc1=9.73; calculated pi of hc2=9.05; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 1.33 ph unit). fig. 5b : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.43 ph unit (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated pi of hc2=9.00; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 1.33 ph unit). fig. 5c : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.25 unit (calculated 1 pi of hc1=9.46; calculated t pi of hc2=9.21; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.59 ph unit). fig. 5d : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.24 (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated theoretical pi of hc2=9.18; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.26 ph unit). fig. 5e : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated theoretical differences in heavy chain pi of 0.21 (calculated pi of hc1=9.54; calculated pi of hc2=9.33; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.38 ph unit). baseline resolution on the strong cation exchanger mono s 10/100 gl column and a relatively shallow linear ph gradient is achieved for mixtures of common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with differences the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.26 ph unit accordingly, the results demonstrate that mais were purified from two different parental homodimeric antibody species for which the calculated pi difference was approximately 1.33 to as small as approximately 0.26 ph unit. additionally the results demonstrate that mais were purified from two different parental homodimeric antibody species for which the calculated pi difference of the heavy chains of such parental homodimeric species was from approximately 0.7 ph unit to as low as approximately 0.26 ph unit. example 4 linear ph gradient separation of a composition comprising common-light-chain igg1 bispecific heterodimer (the “mai”) and each of two different parental homodimeric antibody species (formats as described in scheme a of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above) with a calculated difference in heavy chain pi of 0.09 (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated 1 pi of hc2=9.33; calculated isoelectric point(pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.10 ph unit); using various linear ph gradients on a strong cation exchanger mono s 5/50 gl column or a strong cation exchanger mono s 10/100 gl column. fig. 8a : separation of 0.421 mg of total material on a mono s 5/50 gl column: starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0. final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph1.0. flow rate 1 ml/min, length of linear gradient formation from 0% b to 100% b 20 column volumes. fig. 8b : separation of 7.57 mg of total material on a mono s 10/100 gl column: starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0. final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph11.0. flow rate 1 ml/min, length of linear gradient formation from 35% b to 53% b 20 column volumes. fig. 8c : separation of 6.69 mg of total material on a mono s 10/100 gl column: starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0. final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl. ph11.0. flow rate 1 ml/min, length of linear gradient formation from 37% b to 43% b 20 column volumes. the recovery of mai recovery observed in the experiment illustrated in fig. 8c was 64% increased relative to the recovery observed in fig. 8b . the results demonstrate that mais were purified from two different parental homodimeric antibody species for which the calculated pi differences as low as approximately 0.10 ph unit to an acceptable degree (i.e., such that fraction volumes can be selected such that the mai is purified essentially to homogeneity, albeit with modest loss of yield). additionally the results demonstrate that mais were purified from two different parental homodimeric antibody species for which the calculated pi difference of the heavy chains of such parental homodimeric species was approximately 0.9 ph unit. furthermore, the results demonstrate that employing a shallower ph gradient (ii., narrowing the ph range of the ph gradient) as well as increasing the column volume (and hence, the residence time of the protein composition that is applied to the column) can increase both the degree of separation of the mai from the parental homodimeric species and increase the percent recovery of the mai. example 5 linear ph gradient separations of compositions comprising common-light-chain igg1 bispecific heterodimers (the “mais”) and each of two different parental homodimeric antibody species (formats as described in scheme a of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above) were compared to separations of the same compositions using linear salt gradients, using the mono s 10/100 gl strong cation exchanger resin and the buffer compositions as outlined in the table in the top portion of fig. 3 . briefly, starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0. final buffer b: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph 11.0 flow rate 1 ml/min, length of linear gradient formation from 0% b to 100% b 20 column volumes. for both ph gradient experiments and salt gradient experiments, common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with the following calculated differences were compared: calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.68 unit (calculated pi of hc1=9.73; calculated pi of hc2=9.05; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 1.33 ph unit); calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.24 unit (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated pi of hc2=9.18; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.26 ph unit); the calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.11 (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated pi of hc2=9.32; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.11 ph unit); and the calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.09 (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated pi of hc2=9.34; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.1 ph unit). the results demonstrate that the mais were better separated from the corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species tested compositions when subjected to ph gradient elution when compared to salt gradient elution. example 6 it was desirable to further explore the extent to which differences in calculated pi of different parental homodimeric antibody species affected the ability to separate mais from compositions comprising the mais and the two different parental homodimeric antibody species. linear ph gradient separation of a composition comprising common-light-chain igg bispecific heterodimer (the “mai”) and each of two different parental homodimeric antibody species (formats as described in scheme a of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above) with varying calculated differences in heavy chain pi using a strong cation exchanger mono s 5/50 gl column and a linear ph gradient with starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0 and final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph11.0. flow rate 1 ml/min, length of linear gradient formation from 0% b to 100% b 20 column volumes. fig. 6a : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.68 unit (calculated pi of hc1=9.73; calculated pi of hc2=9.05; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 1.33 ph unit). fig. 6b : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.43 ph unit (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated pi of hc2=9.00; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.48 ph unit). fig. 6c : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.25 unit (calculated pi of hc1=9.46; calculated pi of hc2=9.21; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.59 ph unit). fig. 6d : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.21 (calculated pi of hc1=9.54; calculated theoretical pi of hc2=9.33; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.38 ph unit). fig. 6e : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated theoretical differences in heavy chain pi of 0.24 (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated pi of hc2=9.18: the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.26 ph unit). fig. 6f : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated theoretical differences in heavy chain pi of 0.11 (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated pi of hc2=9.32; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.11 ph unit). fig. 6g : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated theoretical differences in heavy chain pi of 0.09 (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated pi of hc2=9.33; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.10 ph unit). the results indicate that successful separation of each of the mais contained in compositions comprising the mai and its parental homodimeric antibody species correlates well with calculated difference in pi of the such parental homodimeric antibody species, and correlates fairly well with calculated difference in pi of the heavy chain polypeptides contained in the parental homodimeric antibody species from which the heavy chain polypeptides of the mai are derived. the results also demonstrate, as illustrated in fig. 7 , that the methods performed herein are suitable to separate mais from corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species at an acceptable degree when the heavy chain sequences of the different parental homodimeric species differ from one another by as little as one amino acid. example 7 it was desirable to explore the ability of anion exchange resins to effect separation of mais from compositions comprising the mais and the two different parental homodimeric antibody species. accordingly, separations were performed as described below, in which the performance of an exemplary cation exchange resin was compared with the performance of an exemplary anion exchange resin. linear ph gradient separation of a composition comprising common-light-chain igg1 bispecific heterodimer (the “mai”) and each of two different parental homodimeric antibody species (formats as described in scheme a of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above) with varying calculated differences in heavy chain pi using a strong cation exchanger mono s 5/50 gl column and a linear ph gradient with starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0 and final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph11.0, or using a strong anion exchanger mono q 5/50 gl column and a linear ph gradient with starting buffer b: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph11.0 and final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0. fig. 9a : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.68 (calculated pi of hc1=9.73; calculated theoretical pi of hc2=9.05; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 1.33 ph unit) separated on mono s 5/50 gl. fig. 9b : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated theoretical differences in heavy chain pi of 0.24 (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated pi of hc2=9.18; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.26 ph unit) separated on mono s 5/50 gl. fig. 9c : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated theoretical differences in heavy chain pi of 0.11 (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated pi of hc2=9.32; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.11 ph unit) separated on mono s 5/50 gl. fig. 9d : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.68 (calculated theoretical pi of hc1=9.73; calculated pi of hc2=9.05; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 1.33 ph unit) separated on mono q 5/50 gl. fig. 9e : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.24 (calculated theoretical pi of hc1=9.43; calculated pi of hc2=9.18; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.26 ph unit) separated on mono q 5/50 gl. fig. 9f : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated differences in heavy chain pi of 0.11 (calculated pi of hc1=9.43; calculated pi of hc2=9.32; the calculated isoelectric points (pis) of the two corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species differed by 0.11 ph unit) separated on mono q 5/50 gl. the results demonstrate that the strong anion exchanger mono q 5/50 gl column was able to purify mai from parental homodimeric antibody species to an acceptable level (i.e., such that fraction volumes can be selected such that the mai is purified essentially to homogeneity, albeit with modest loss of yield) in instances in which the similarly sized strong cation exchanger mono s 5/50 gl column provided no resolution. example 8 it was desirable to further compare the performance of cation exchange resins with anion exchange resins in the ability to separate mais from compositions comprising a given mai and its parental homodimeric antibody species with a larger sample of differences in calculated pi of the parental homodimeric antibody species. in this case, however, the ph gradients were prepared as described in the above examples, but were generated so as to be more shallow (span a narrower ph range), as indicated in fig. 10a and fig. 10 b. accordingly, 8 ml mono s columns were used in fig. 10a and 8 ml mono q columns were used in fig. 10b , and the mai-parental homodimeric antibody species compositions in which the difference in calculate pi of the parental homodimeric antibody species was 1.33, 0.26, 0.11, and 0.1, respectively, prepared and characterized as described in example 6, were each tested using the two resins. the results, depicted in figs. 10a and 10b , demonstrate that the monoq anion exchange resin effected the separation of each mai from its corresponding parental homodimeric antibody species to a greater degree than the cation mono s exchange resin for all compositions tested. example 9 it was desirable to determine whether the disclosed methods could be applied with process scale resins. accordingly, in a first phase experiment, a series of small scale (1 ml column) scouting experiments were conducted in which a series of cation and anion exchange resins were tested for their ability to effect separation of compositions in which the difference in calculate pi of the parental homodimeric antibody species was 1.33 and 0.26, using a full ph gradient (i.e., ph 4 to ph 11) respectively, prepared and characterized as described in example 6. in a second phase of experiments, the three best performing anion exchange resins and cation exchange resins from the first phase were then employed using larger columns (8 ml and shallower gradients to assess the ability of these best-performing resins to separate compositions in which the difference in calculate pi of the parental homodimeric antibody species was as low as approximately 0.1 ph unit. the results of the first phase cation exchange experiments for the compositions containing the 1.33 ph unit pi difference between parental homodimeric antibody species, depicted in figs. 11a and 11b , indicated that the mono s, source 30s, and sp hp cation exchange resins effected the best separation of the tested composition (i.e., the “1.33” composition). the results of the first phase anion exchange experiments for the compositions containing the 1.33 ph unit pi difference and the 0.26 ph unit difference, respectively, between parental homodimeric antibody species, depicted in figs. 12a, 12b, 13a, and 13b indicated that the mono q, source 30q, and q hp anion exchange resins effected the best separation of the tested compositions (i.e., the “1.33” composition and the “0.26” composition). however, in order to achieve better resolution using each of the best performing cation resins and anion resins, a series of further scouting experiments were performed, but using shallower ph gradients (i.e., narrower ph range). as depicted in figs. 14a and 14b , the cation resins and anion resins, respectively, were tested in small columns (1 ml) with the depicted shallower gradients, for their ability to separate mais from compositions containing the 1.33 ph unit pi difference between parental homodimeric antibody species. thus, for the second phase of experiments, shallower gradients were used with large columns (8 ml) and tested for their ability to separate mais from compositions in which the difference in calculated pi of the parental homodimeric antibody species was 0.26, 0.11, and 0.10 ph unit, respectively. as depicted in figs. 15a and 15b , the cation resins and anion resins, respectively, were tested in large columns (8 ml) with the depicted shallower gradients, for their ability to separate mais from compositions containing the 0.26 ph unit pi difference between parental homodimeric antibody species. as depicted in figs. 16a and 16b , the cation resins and anion resins, respectively, were tested in large columns (8 ml) with the depicted shallower gradients, for their ability to separate mais from compositions containing the 0.11 ph unit pi difference between parental homodimeric antibody species. as depicted in figs. 17a and 17b , the cation resins and anion resins, respectively, were tested in large columns (8 ml) with the depicted shallower gradients, for their ability to separate mais from compositions containing the 0.1 ph unit pi difference between parental homodimeric antibody species. the results demonstrate that both sets of the best-performing cation and anion resins separate most of the compositions to adequate to exceptional degrees, with better separations occurring with greater parental homodimeric antibody species pi differences. generally, the anion exchange resins achieved mai separation that was better than that achieved by the cation resins. example 10 linear ph gradient separation of mixtures of common-light-chain igg4 bispecific heterodimer and parental homodimeric antibody species (formats as described in scheme b of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above) with varying theoretical differences in heavy chain pi using a strong cation exchanger mono s 10/100 gl column and a linear ph gradient with starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0 and final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph11.0. flow rate 4 ml/min. fig. 18a : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated theoretical differences in heavy chain pi of 1.68 (calculated theoretical pi hc1=7.05; calculated theoretical pi hc2=8.73) were purified using a 15 column volume step gradient of 32% b, followed by a 20 column volume linear gradient from 32% b to 71% b, followed by a 15 column volume hold of 71% b. fig. 18b : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated theoretical differences in heavy chain pi of 1.99 (calculated theoretical pi hc1=6.74; calculated theoretical pi hc2=8.73) were purified using a 15 column volume step gradient of 22% b, followed by a 20 column volume linear gradient from 22% b to 75% b, followed by a 15 column volume hold of 75% b. fig. 18c : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated theoretical differences in heavy chain pi of 1.77 (calculated theoretical pi hc1=7.27; calculated theoretical pi hc2=9.04) were purified using a 15 column volume step gradient of 25% b, followed by a 20 column volume linear gradient from 25% b to 83% b, followed by a 15 column volume hold of 83% b. fig. 18d : common-light-chain bispecific homodimers and heterodimer with calculated theoretical differences in heavy chain pi of 1.94 (calculated theoretical pi hc1=6.74; calculated theoretical pi hc2=8.68) were purified using a 15 column volume step gradient of 21% b, followed by a 20 column volume linear gradient from 21% b to 75% b, followed by a 15 column volume hold of 75% b. the results demonstrate that mais of the igg4 isotype format were readily purified from parental homodimeric igg4 isotype species at all pi differences tested. example 11 linear ph gradient separation of mixtures of common-light-chain bispecific igg1/igg4 hybrid heterodimer, and igg1 and igg4 homodimeric antibody species (formats as described in scheme c of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above) with varying theoretical differences in heavy chain pi using a strong cation exchanger mono s 10/100 gl column and a linear ph gradient with starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0 and final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl. ph11.0. flow rate 4 ml/min. fig. 19a : common-light-chain bispecific igg1 and igg4 homodimers and igg1/igg4 heterodimer with calculated theoretical differences in heavy chain pi of 2.2 (calculated theoretical pi hc1 (igg4)=7.05; calculated theoretical pi hc2 (igg1)=9.22) were purified using a 15 column volume step gradient of 24.5% b, followed by a 20 column volume linear gradient from 24.5% b to 51% b, followed by a 15 column volume hold of 51% b. fig. 19b : common-light-chain bispecific igg1 and igg4 homodimers and igg1/igg4 heterodimer with calculated theoretical differences in heavy chain pi of 2.4 (calculated theoretical pi hc1 (igg4)=7.05; calculated theoretical pi hc2 (igg1)=9.46) were purified using a 15 column volume step gradient of 24.5% b, followed by a 20 column volume linear gradient from 24.5% b to 58% b, followed by a 15 column volume hold of 58% b. the large difference in pi between igg1 and igg4 backbones leads to excellent separation of the igg1 and igg4 homodimers from the heterodimer. the results demonstrate that mais of the hybrid igg1/igg4 isotype format were readily purified from parental homodimeric igg4 isotype species at all pi differences tested. example 12 in certain instances, very broad elution profiles had been observed, as illustrated in figs. 20a and 20b , which depict the elution profiles of each of two different mixtures of parental homodimeric species and the corresponding mai (formats as described in scheme d of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above). the gradients and eluant compositions were as described in examples 1 through 9. in the experiment depicted in fig. 20a , two different igg4 homodimers (homodimeric parental species) with calculated theoretical differences in full igg pi of 1.81 (calculated theoretical pi of igg4 homodimeric parental species a=7.41; calculated theoretical pi of igg4 homodimeric parental species b=9.22) and the corresponding mai with a calculated whole igg4 pi of 8.87, were subjected to cation exchange chromatography using a strong cation exchanger mono s 5/50 gl column and a linear ph gradient with starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph4.0 and final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph11.0. the observed ph at which each various species in the first mixture eluted as in fig. 20a was 7.30 (homodimeric parental species a), 9.73 (homodimeric parental species b), and 9.14 (the mai (heterodimeric parental species)). fig. 20b depicts the results of a similar experiment using different igg4 homodimeric parental species a and b (but which, coincidentally, had the same calculated theoretical pis as calculated for the parental species depicted in fig. 20a ). the mai depicted in fig. 20b had a calculated pi=8.76. the observed ph at which each various species in the first mixture eluted as in fig. 20b was 7.43 (homodimeric parental species a), 9.77 (homodimeric parental species b), and 9.18 (the mai (heterodimeric parental species)). as in the previous examples, all samples and columns used in the studies depicted in figs. 20a and 20b were prepared and equilibrated at ph 4. it was thus desirable to determine if certain modified elution conditions and components might better resolve or separate species in mixtures for which such broad elution profiles are observed or anticipated based on the nature of the species in a given mixture. accordingly, experiments were undertaken using the same homodimeric parental species and mais used to generate the data depicted in figs. 20a and 20b , except that a step ph gradient phase was included in the elution portion, in which the ph of the eluant was increased from about ph 4 to about ph 6.5 within a very small eluant volume (i.e., within very few elution fraction). additionally, the sample mixture containing both homodimeric parental species and the heterodimeric mai (formats as described in scheme d of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above) was prepared and equilibrated on the column at ph 6 prior to generating the step gradient, which eluted the lowest pi homodimeric species. this then allowed for the resolving and separation of the remaining mai from the second homodimeric species by using a shallow linear gradient phase (from ph 7.8 through ph 9.65 as in fig. 21a , and from ph 7.94 through ph 9.68 as in fig. 21b ). as depicted in figs. 22a and 22b the same two sample mixtures used to generate the data in fig. 21a and fig. 21b were employed in two similar dual phase (i.e., step ph gradient then linear ph gradient schemes) elution experiments; one beginning at ph 4, the other beginning at ph 6. the results, depicted in figs. 22a and 22b , demonstrate that elutions which begin at milder ph (e.g., ph 6 versus ph 4), resolution, separation, and elution of the mais from their respective corresponding homodimeric parental species is enhanced relative to elutions beginning at more extreme ph (i.e., beginning at ph 4 versus ph 6). example 13 it was desirable to next determine if employing milder beginning phs of sample mixtures (e.g., ph 6 versus lower ph's) and shallow linear ph gradients (i.e., gradients applied over relatively large eluant volumes (large numbers of fractions/fraction volumes), would result in the resolution and separation of mais from corresponding homodimeric parental species that have calculated and/or experimental pis that are very close in value to one another. accordingly, a sample mixture containing both homodimeric parental species and the heterodimeric mai (formats as described in scheme d of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above), wherein calculated theoretical whole igg4 pi of each homodimeric parental species was 8.97 and 8.99, respectively, and the calculated theoretical whole igg4 pi of the mai was 8.98, were prepared and the column equilibrated at ph 6.0, and then subjected to cation exchange chromatography using a strong cation exchanger mono s 10/100 gl column and a linear ph gradient with starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph8.34 and final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph9.86. the observed ph at which each various species in the first mixture eluted as in fig. 20a was 7.30 (homodimeric parental species a), 9.73 (homodimeric parental species b), and 9.14 (the mai (heterodimeric parental species was subjected to the elution conditions depicted in fig. 23 . the results indicate that an mai with a pi as little as 0.01 ph units different from each corresponding parental homodimeric species can be resolved and separated from both such homodimeric parental species using the disclosed methods. example 14 it had been observed that, for certain sample mixtures, neither cation exchange nor anion exchange, alone, was sufficient to separate certain mais from their homodimeric parental species to satisfactory purity. it was then desirable to assess whether the resolution and purification of such mais could be improved to satisfaction by subjecting a set of pooled fractions corresponding to the mai-eluting peak of a cation exchange procedure to a subsequent anion exchange procedure, each procedure as described above in examples 1-9 and as indicated in fig. 24 . more specifically, two different 10 milligram sample aliquots of an mai/homodimeric parental species mixture of the format as described in scheme a of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above, were injected into the cation exchange column in order to generate sufficient eluate for the subsequence anion exchange procedure. the calculated theoretical whole igg pi of each homodimeric parental species was 9.19 and 9.09, respectively, and the calculated theoretical whole igg1 pi of the mai was 9.09. the sample mixture was prepared and the column equilibrated at ph 6.0, and then subjected to cation exchange chromatography using a strong cation exchanger mono s 10/100 gl column and a linear ph gradient with starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph 6.87 and final buffer: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph 7.27. the pools containing the presumptive heterodimer (mai)-containing middle peak as depicted in the left portion of fig. 24 were collected, pooled, and then injected into the anion exchange column and eluted using a linear ph gradient with starting buffer a: 9.8 mm methylamine, 9.1 mm 1,2-ethanediamine, 6.4 mm 1-methylpiperazine, 13.7 mm 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 5.8 mm bis-tris, 7.7 mm hydroxylamine, and 10 mm sodium chloride at ph=9.57; and final buffer b: 9.8 mm methylamine, 9.1 mm 1,2-ethanediamine, 6.4 mm 1-methylpiperazine, 13.7 mm 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 5.8 mm bis-tris, 7.7 mm hydroxylamine, and 10 mm sodium chloride at ph=8.07. mass spectroscopy analysis of a specimen of the presumptive mai-containing pool from the initial cation exchange procedure revealed that the peak contained significant amounts of one of the homodimeric parental species. mass spectroscopy analysis of the presumptive mai-containing peak that eluted from the subsequent anion exchange column revealed that the pooled fractions corresponding to this peak were contained the mai and were essentially devoid of either homodimeric parental species. the results demonstrate that, for certain mixtures, using both cation exchange and anion exchange sequentially can enhance resolution and separation of mais from their corresponding homodimeric parental species. example 15 it was next desirable to determine whether, for certain mai and corresponding homodimeric parental species mixtures, it might be advantageous to employ different buffer systems or eluants, which are designed more specifically for use with anion exchange resins. accordingly, an experiment was designed in which an mai/homodimeric parental species mixture of the format as described in scheme a of compositions and formats tested in the examples, above, was subjected to anion exchange chromatography using the following cation exchange buffer system: starting buffer a: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph 9.20 and final buffer b: 15.6 mm caps, 9.4 mm ches, 4.6 mm taps, 9.9 mm heppso, 8.7 mm mopso, 11 mm mes, 13 mm acetic acid, 9.9 mm formic acid, 10 mm nacl, ph 8.20, under conditions as indicated in fig. 25a . all three of the peaks illustrated in fig. 25a were analyzed by mass spectroscopy to determine peak composition, which was observed to be as indicated in fig. 25a . a separate aliquot of the same mai/homodimeric parental species mixture was then subjected to anion exchange chromatography using the following anion exchange buffer system: starting buffer a: 9.8 mm methylamine, 9.1 mm 1,2-ethanediamine, 6.4 mm 1-methylpiperazine, 13.7 mm 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 5.8 mm bis-tris, 7.7 mm hydroxylamine, and 10 mm sodium chloride at ph=9.34; and final buffer b: 9.8 mm methylamine, 9.1 mm 1,2-ethanediamine, 6.4 mm 1-methylpiperazine, 13.7 mm 1,4-dimethylpiperazine, 5.8 mm bis-tris, 7.7 mm hydroxylamine, and 10 mm sodium chloride at ph=7.53 under conditions as indicated in fig. 25b . all three of the peaks illustrated in fig. 25b were analyzed by mass spectroscopy to determine peak composition, which was observed to be as indicated in fig. 25b . the results indicate that, for certain mai/homodimeric parental species mixtures, using anion exchange buffer systems or eluants when employing anion exchange chromatographic procedures may resolve and separate mais from the homodimeric parental species to levels of purity that markedly improved relative to that observed when using cation exchange buffer systems or eluants when employing anion exchange chromatographic procedures. other chromatographic materials that may be employed with similar results to that demonstrated in the examples above are provided in fig. 26a and fig. 26b . whereas particular embodiments of the invention have been described above for purposes of illustration, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that numerous variations of the details may be made without departing from the invention as described in the appended claims.
118-048-005-341-202	US	[ "JP", "EP", "US" ]	G01L3/10,B62D1/16	2004-10-15T00:00:00	2004	[ "G01", "B62" ]	sensor assembly, sensor system, and method of linearizing torque sensor output to compensate temperature	<p>problem to be solved: to provide a sensor assembly having an angular position sensor unit stored in a single package, and a torque sensor unit therein. <p>solution: the angular position sensor unit generates the first multibit output expressing a degree of rotation of a shaft assembly having the first shaft and the second shaft. the first shaft and the second shaft are substantially coaxial each other, and are coupled each other via a torsion rod. the torque sensor unit generates the second multibit output expressing a torque applied between the first shaft and the second shaft. the second multibit output is linearized to be temperature-compensated, using the first multibit output and a measured temperature, so as to generate a linearized and temperature-compensated torque sensor output. <p>copyright: (c)2006,jpo&ncipi	a sensor assembly comprising: an angular position sensor unit for generating a first multi-bit output indicative of a degree of rotation of a shaft assembly having a first shaft and a second shaft that are substantially co-axial to each other and coupled to each other via a torsion rod; a torque sensor unit for generating a second multi-bit output indicative of a torque exerted between the first shaft and the second shaft; and a housing for enclosing both the angular position sensor unit and the torque sensor unit in a single package. the sensor assembly of claim 1, further comprising processing circuitry for receiving the first multi-bit output and the second multi-bit output, and using the first multi-bit output and the second multi-bit output to generate a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. the sensor assembly of claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry comprises a look-up table having a plurality of entries representing linearized torque sensor output values that are selected using a combination of the first and second multi-bit outputs as an address. the sensor assembly of claim 3, wherein the processing circuitry further comprises a temperature sensor block for measuring temperature to generate a digital temperature output, and a temperature compensation block for receiving a selected one of the entries representing the linearized torque sensor output values and the digital temperature output, and using them to generate the linearized'and temperature compensated torque sensor output. the sensor assembly of claim 4, wherein the temperature sensor block includes a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature to generate a temperature output and an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing the temperature output to generate the digital temperature output. the sensor assembly of claim 4, wherein the temperature compensation block comprises a look-up table having a plurality of entries representing linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output values that are selected using a combination of the selected one of the entries representing the linearized torque sensor output values and the digital temperature output as an address. the sensor assembly of claim 3, wherein the processing circuitry further comprises a temperature sensor for measuring temperature to generate a temperature output, a scaling amplifier for receiving the temperature output and generating an offset voltage therefrom, and a digital-to-analog converter for converting a selected one of the entries using the offset voltage to generate the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. the sensor assembly of claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry further comprises a temperature sensor block for measuring temperature to generate a digital temperature output, and a look-up table having a plurality of entries representing linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output values that are selected using a combination of the first and second multi-bit outputs and the digital temperature output as an address. the sensor assembly of claim 8, wherein the temperature sensor block includes a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature to generate a temperature output and an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing the temperature output to generate the digital temperature output. a steering shaft assembly comprising the sensor assembly of claim 1 mounted on the shaft assembly for controlling steering of a vehicle. a sensor system for generating a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output comprising: an angular position sensor block for generating a first multi-bit output indicative of a degree of rotation of a shaft assembly having a first shaft and a second shaft that are substantially co-axial to each other and coupled to each other via a torsion rod; a torque sensor block for generating a second multi-bit output indicative of a torque exerted between the first shaft and the second shaft; a linearization block for receiving the first and second multi-bit outputs and using them to generate a linearized torque sensor output; and a temperature compensation block for receiving the linearized torque sensor output and using it to generate the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. the sensor system of claim 11 wherein the angular position sensor block includes an angular position sensor for generating a signal indicative of the degree of rotation of the shaft assembly, and a counter for generating the first multi-bit output using the signal indicative of the degree of rotation of the shaft assembly. the sensor system of claim 12, where the signal indicative of the degree of rotation of the shaft assembly is a pulse width modulated signal, and a magnitude of the first multi-bit output corresponds to a width of the pulse width modulated signal. the sensor system of claim 11, wherein the linearization block includes a look-up table having a plurality of entries representing linearized torque sensor output values that are selected using a combination of the first and second multi-bit outputs as an address to generate the linearized torque sensor output. the sensor system of claim 11, further comprising a temperature sensor block for measuring temperature to generate a digital temperature output, wherein the temperature compensation block receives the linearized torque sensor output and the digital temperature output and uses them to generate the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. the sensory system of claim 15, wherein the temperature compensation block comprises a look-up table having a plurality of entries representing linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output values that are selected using a combination of the linearized torque sensor output and the digital temperature output as an address. the sensor system of claim 11, wherein the temperature compensation block includes a temperature sensor for measuring temperature to generate a temperature output, a scaling amplifier for receiving the temperature output and converting it to an offset voltage, and a digital-to-analog converter for converting the linearized torque sensor output using the offset voltage to generate the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. a sensor system for generating a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output comprising: an angular position sensor block for generating a first multi-bit output indicative of a degree of rotation of a shaft assembly having a first shaft and a second shaft that are substantially co-axial to each other and coupled to each other via a torsion rod; a torque sensor block for generating a second multi-bit output indicative of a torque exerted between the first shaft and the second shaft; and a linearization and temperature compensation block for receiving the first and second multi-bit outputs and using them to generate the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. the sensor system of claim 18, further comprising a temperature sensor block for generating a digital temperature output, which is used together with the first and second multi-bit outputs to generate the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. the sensor assembly of claim 19, wherein the linearization and temperature compensation block includes a look-up table having a plurality of linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output values as entries, wherein the digital temperature output and the first and second multi-bit outputs are used in combination to address the look-up table to select one of the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output values to output it as the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. a method of linearizing and temperature compensating a torque sensor output indicative of a torque exerted between a first shaft and a second shaft of a shaft assembly that are substantially co-axial to each other and coupled together via a torsion rod, the method comprising: generating an angular position signal indicative of a degree of rotation of the shaft assembly; converting the angular position signal to a first multi-bit signal; generating the torque sensor output; converting the torque sensor output to a second multi-bit signal; and generating a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output using the first and second multi-bit signals. the method of claim 21, wherein said generating a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output comprises combining the first and second multi-bit signals as an address for selecting one of a plurality of entries of a first look-up table to generate a linearized torque sensor output. the method of claim 22, wherein said generating a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output further comprises measuring temperature to generate a digital temperature output and using a combination of the digital temperature output and the linearized torque sensor output as an address for selecting one of a plurality of entries of a second look-up table to generate the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. the method of claim 22, wherein said generating a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output further comprises measuring temperature to generate a temperature output, scaling the temperature output to generate an offset voltage, and converting the linearized torque sensor output to an analog signal using the offset voltage to generate the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. the method of claim 21, further comprising measuring temperature to generate a digital temperature output, and combining the digital temperature output and the first and second multi-bit signals as an address for selecting one of a plurality of entries of a look-up table to generate the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output.	field of the invention the present invention relates to sensors for automotive applications, and more particularly, to a sensor package and method for sensing angular information and torque of a steering shaft, and for providing a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. background in electronic steering systems for automotive applications, angular information and torque experienced by a steering wheel are measured to accurately determine speed, direction and angle of rotation of the steering wheel as well as the effort (i.e., torque) being applied by the driver. the sensors for measuring the angular information and torque must meet demanding automotive requirements of relatively long sensor life under hostile environmental conditions for stability control and e-steering applications. angular position sensors have been used to provide angular information of the rotation of a steering shaft. a non-contact angular position sensor (ncaps) disclosed in u.s. patent no. 6,304,076 entitled "angular position sensor with inductive attenuating coupler," has a non-contact structure and can provide angular information of the rotation of a steering shaft in analog and pulse width modulation (pwm) format with analog resolution (i.e., without step size). capacitive torque sensors, such as the capacitive torque sensor disclosed in u.s. patent no. 6,564,654 ("the '654 patent") entitled "vertical movement capacitive torque sensor," have been used to measure the torque of a torsion rod that is embedded within the split shaft of a steering column. the torque sensing technology disclosed in the '654 patent may be referred to as non-contacting differential capacitive torque sensing (ncdcts). use of multiple sensors for the measurement of angular information and torque using technologies such as ncaps and ncdcts results in a use of multiple sensor packages, thereby increasing the total cost and size. further, the output of the torque sensor may be non-linear, and the torque sensor performance is affected by temperature, thereby degrading the sensor performance. therefore, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus for implementing the functions and components of an angular information sensor and a torque sensor in a single package, i.e., within the same housing. further, it is desirable to provide linearization and temperature compensation of the torque sensor output. summary in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a sensor assembly including an angular position sensor unit and a torque sensor unit is provided. the angular position sensor unit generates a first multi-bit output indicative of a degree of rotation of a shaft assembly having a first shaft and a second shaft that are substantially co-axial to each other and coupled to each other via a torsion rod. the torque sensor unit generates a second multi-bit output indicative of a torque exerted between the first shaft and the second shaft. a housing encloses both the angular position sensor unit and the torque sensor unit in a single package. a steering shaft assembly may include the above sensor assembly mounted on the shaft assembly for controlling steering of a vehicle. in another exemplary embodiment according to the present invention, a sensor system for generating a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output is provided. the sensor system includes an angular position sensor block, a torque sensor block, a linearization block, and a temperature compensation block. the angular position sensor block generates a first multi-bit output indicative of a degree of rotation of a shaft assembly having a first shaft and a second shaft that are substantially co-axial to each other and coupled to each other via a torsion rod. the torque sensor block generates a second multi-bit output indicative of a torque exerted between the first shaft and the second shaft. the linearization block receives the first and second multi-bit outputs and uses them to generate a linearized torque sensor output. the temperature compensation block receives the linearized torque sensor output and uses it to generate the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. in yet another exemplary embodiment according to the present invention, a sensor system for generating a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output is provided. the sensor system includes angular position sensor block, a torque sensor block and a linearization and temperature compensation block. the angular position sensor block generates a first multi-bit output indicative of a degree of rotation of a shaft assembly having a first shaft and a second shaft that are substantially co-axial to each other and coupled to each other via a torsion rod. the torque sensor block generates a second multi-bit output indicative of a torque exerted between the first shaft and the second shaft. the linearization and temperature compensation block receives the first and second multi-bit outputs and uses them to generate the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. in yet another exemplary embodiment according to the present invention, is provided a method of linearizing and temperature compensating a torque sensor output indicative of a torque exerted between a first shaft and a second shaft of a shaft assembly that are substantially co-axial to each other and coupled together via a torsion rod. the method includes: generating an angular position signal indicative of a degree of rotation of the shaft assembly; converting the angular position signal to a first multi-bit signal; generating the torque sensor output; converting the torque sensor output to a second multi-bit signal; and generating a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output using the first and second multi-bit signals. these and other aspects of the invention will be more readily comprehended in view of the discussion herein and accompanying drawings. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an angular position sensor, which may be used to implement exemplary embodiments of the present invention; fig. 2 is a plan view of both transmitter and receiver portions of fig. 1; fig. 3 is a plan view of a coupler disk of fig. 1; fig. 4 is a functional block diagram of an angular position sensor, which may be used to implement angular information sensing function in exemplary embodiments of the present invention; fig. 5 is a conceptual diagram of a differential capacitive sensor structure, which may be used to implement torque sensing function in exemplary embodiments of the present invention; fig. 6 is a mechanical structure of a dielectric paddle assembly, which may be used to implement torque sensing function in exemplary embodiments of the present invention; fig. 7 is a partial sectional view of a dielectric paddle assembly of fig. 6. fig. 8 is a circuit diagram of a typical asic capacitive sensor signal conditioning circuit; fig. 9 is a functional block diagram of an angular-torque sensor according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention; fig. 10 is a partial sectional view of an angular-torque sensor using angular position sensor (e.g., ncaps) and torque sensor (e.g., ncdcts) technologies; fig. 11 is an exploded view of the mechanical packaging of an angular-torque sensor, which is enclosed in a single package; fig. 12 is a functional block diagram of a linearization/temperature compensation portion of an angular-torque sensor according to a secondary exemplary embodiment of the present invention; fig. 13 is a functional block diagram of a linearization/temperature compensation portion of an angular-torque sensor according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and fig. 14 is a functional block diagram of a linearization/temperature compensation portion of an angular-torque sensor according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention. detailed description in exemplary embodiments according to the present invention, an angular position sensor (e.g., ncaps) and a torque sensor (e.g., ncdcts) are packaged in a single package (i.e., within the same housing) such that it results in a smaller total size and less cost as compared with implementing them in multiple separate packages. further, the torque sensor output is linearized and temperature compensated for better accuracy over a range of temperatures using an angular position sensor output and temperature measurements. ncaps is disclosed in u.s. patent no. 6,304,076, the entire content of which is incorporated by reference herein. further, ncdcts is disclosed in u.s. patent no. 6,564,654, the entire content of which is incorporated by reference herein. by way of example, when ncaps and ncdcts are used, such combination of an angular position and torque information sensor having a non-contact structure results in a single package for lower cost, improved performance, and increased life span. such sensor assembly including both the angular position sensing and torque sensing in addition to having capabilities to linearize and temperature compensate the torque sensor output may be referred herein as an angular-torque sensor. the angular-torque sensor may also output the angular position information and/or uncompensated torque sensor output as separate outputs. referring now to fig. 1, an angular position sensor 10 includes a transmitter 12 and a receiver 16 having a coupler disk 14 interposed therebetween. as can be seen in fig. 2, both the transmitter 12 and the receiver 16 each have formed thereon a plurality of loop antennas 22. the loop antennas are formed from independent spiral conductive coils that are sequentially arranged in a circular pattern around the respective disk of the transmitter and the receiver. by way of example, six antennas 22 of fig..2 completely encircle the 360 degrees of the disk. the transmitter 12 and the receiver 16 are substantially fixed with respect to one another. the coupler disk 14 turns in accordance with the mechanical turning of a device (e.g., a steering shaft) on which the angular sensor is mounted. each loop antenna 22 in the transmitter 12 is used to transmit a signal that is received by a corresponding loop antenna 22 in the receiver. when there is no interfering (attenuating) object in the signal path, the amplitude of the received signal is maximum. however, if an attenuating object is used to cause interference in this path, the amplitude of the received signal is attenuated. the received signal is attenuated proportionally to the amount of interference provided by the interfering object. fig. 3 illustrates the coupler disk 14 having a disk 32 on which a coupler pattern 34 is formed. the coupler pattern 34 provides the variable attenuation in the angular position sensor 10 as an interfering (attenuating) object. the disk 32, for example, is made of an insulating material such as plastic. the coupler pattern 34 is made of metal such as copper. a multi-channel system with an amplitude to phase conversion technique is used in the angular position sensor to convert the amplitude information into phase information. the phase separation in degrees between adjacent channels is determined by δθ= 2n/n, where n is the number of channels. therefore, in the angular position sensor illustrated in fig. 2, δθ = n/3 since n = 6. in an angular position sensor functional block diagram 100 of fig. 4, the angular position sensor 10 receives a frequency fc generated by a crystal oscillator 102. the frequency fc, for example, may be 1 mhz. the frequency used may be different in other embodiments. the frequency fc is also provided to a digital signal generator 104, which generates a plurality of local oscillator signals lo 1 through lo n . the digital signal generator 104 also generates a reference signal s, which represents a zero degree intermediate frequency (if) signal. the reference signal s may have a frequency of 2.22 khz, for example, or any other suitable frequency. the local oscillator signals are approximately the same in frequency as the frequency fc. however, they are offset in phase from each other by δθ, which is 60 degrees (i.e., n/3) for the case where n = 6. each of the local oscillator signals, for example, may be represented by lo i = cos ω c t - cos[ω 0 t+2π(i/n)], where ω c is the transmitted signal frequency, and ω 0 is a predetermined if. meanwhile, n received signals r 1 through r n are generated by the angular position sensor 10. since the coupler pattern 34 interferes with and attenuates the transmission of signal between the loop antennas 22 of the transmitter 12 and the receiver 16, the received signals have different amplitude based on the angular position of the coupler disk 14. the signal amplitude at each receiver (r i ), for example, is defined by ri (t) - a i cos((o,t), where a i = a cos [θ + 2n (i/n)]. in other words, while a is the magnitude of the signal transmitted by each of the loop antennas 22 in the transmitter 12, due to variable attenuation provided by the coupler disk 14, the magnitude of the signal received by the loop antennas 22 in the receiver 16 are different from one another and are given by a i = a cos [θ + 2n (i/n)] , and depends on the angular position (θ) of the coupler disk 14. the received signals r 1 through r n are mixed with the local oscillator signals lo 1 through lo n . first, the received signals are multiplied by the corresponding local oscillator signals by multipliers 106, 108 and 110, respectively, to generate if signals if 1 through if n . based on the mixer down conversion process, the relationship between lo, if and rf (transmitted frequency) is defined by if = rf - lo. assuming a lossless mixer, each of the if signals may be represented by if i = a i cos[ω 0 t + 2n (i/n)]. the if signals are then converted into a single sinusoidal signal using a summing amplifier 112 such that the phase shift changes of the signal depend on the angular position of the coupler disk. since the signals received by each of the channels are ratiometric with respect to each other, variations in the transmitted signal amplitude have no effect on the resulting phase information. the signal at the output of the amplifier 112 is given by if = ½acos (ω 0 t - θ) . from this equation, it can be seen that the output signal of the amplifier 112 is a phase relationship representing the angular position of the coupler disk 14 and is not dependent on the transmitted signal amplitude variation. the signal output of the summing amplifier 112 is passed through a low pass filter/amplifier 114 and a comparator 116 to generate a combined received signal r (which may also be referred to hereafter as a "received signal"). the pwm output of the angular position sensor is generated by comparing the received signal r to the reference signal s in a pwm generator 118 as shown in fig. 4. the pwm generator may simply be a flip flop, such as an rs flip flop. as can be seen in fig. 5, a differential capacitive structure of a torque sensor includes two parallel plates, one with two concentric rings 202' and 204' and the other with a single ring 206' to form two capacitors c1 and c2 that are connected in series. a dielectric material 208' having a dielectric constant k is placed between the parallel plates and is moved in at least a radial direction between the two plates to change capacitance values of the capacitors c1 and c2. in one configuration of a differential capacitive torque sensor as shown in figs. 6 and 7, a paddle assembly 200 includes one or more movable dielectric paddles 208. the paddle assembly 200 is coupled to a first rotor 212 and a second rotor 214 such that the paddles move in a radial direction depending on the torque exerted between the first rotor 212 and the second rotor 214, which are substantially co-axial to each other. as the dielectric paddles move in and out between these two substantially concentric rotors, the values of c1 and c2 change accordingly. by way of example, when the dielectric paddles move into the c1 area, the capacitance of c1 increases and c2 decreases. on the other hand, when the dielectric paddles move away from the c1 area and toward the c2 area, the capacitance of c1 decreases and the capacitance of c2 increases. the output of the torque sensor can be expressed, for example, as vout = gain x (c1-c2) + voffset where gain is signal conditioning amplifier gain and voffset is voltage compensation for zero torque position. in practice, the first rotor 212 would be mounted on a first shaft (not shown), and the second rotor 214 would be mounted on a second shaft (not shown), wherein the first and second shafts are coupled via a torsion rod which is embedded therebetween. when the first rotor 212 is rotated with respect to the second rotor 214 due to the exerted torque, the paddles move in the direction and by distance corresponding to the torque experienced by the torsion rod. a typical "off-the-shelf", application specific integrated circuit (asic), capacitive sensor driver as shown in fig. 8 is readily available and provides a suitable signal conditioning circuit. this circuit is based on a charge compensation feedback loop, and converts the difference of two capacitances, relative to their sum, into an analog voltage. any other suitable circuitry known to those skilled in the art may be used to generate the torque sensor output as well. the differential capacitive technique of figs. 5-8 is a relatively simple approach for measuring the narrow angular displacement of the torsion rod, which is embedded within the steering shaft, during the ± 2.5 turns of rotation of the steering from lock-to-lock position. however, the parallel plate structure of the capacitor is very sensitive to the mechanical tolerance and temperature variation effects of the spacing between the plates. the relationship may be expressed, for example, as: c = (k.a) / d, where c is the capacitance in farads, a is the area, d is the distance (spacing) between the parallel plates and k is the equivalent dielectric constant of the elements that fill in spacing d. any change in d will vary the capacitance value. for example, capacitance increases when d is decreased and capacitance decreases when d is increased. typical linearity and tracking error of such torque sensor is better than 1% fs (full scale). if a better than 0.5% fs linearity, or an absolute error is desired, a linearization circuit should be used to improve the sensor performance. by way of example, as ncaps provides an absolute angular position of the coupler as a pwm signal that can be digitized into 360 different digital codes (each corresponding to 1° of angular rotation) for one full rotation of the sensor (360° of angular rotation), each code can also be used as a reference angular position address corresponding to one degree of rotation of the torque sensor. as shown in fig. 9, an angular-torque sensor 300 according to a first exemplary embodiment includes an angular position sensor block ("angular position sensor unit") 302, a torque sensor block ("torque senor unit") 304, a linearization block 306 and a temperature compensation block 308. the angular position sensor block 302' includes an angular position sensor (e.g., ncaps) 310 and a counter 312. the angular position sensor block 302 provides a 360° absolute angular position with 9-bit digital output which also serves as a reference for the torque sensor. the angular position sensor 310, for example, generates a pwm signal indicative of the angular position (e.g., of a steering wheel). the counter 312, which is a 9-bit counter in the described embodiment, receives the pwm signal as an input, and generates a multi-bit (i.e., 9 bits) counter output which corresponds to the width of the pwm signal. in other embodiments, of course, the counter may have different number of bits in its output to represent the width of the pwm signal. further, in still other embodiments, the angular position sensor may output different types (i.e., other than pwm) of signals indicative of the angular position. the torque sensor block 304 includes a torque sensor 314 and an analog-to-digital converter (adc) 316. the torque sensor 314 has an analog output indicative of an effort (i.e., torque) exerted by a user (e.g., such as on a steering wheel) . the adc 316 converts the analog output into a 10-bit digital output, and provides it as the output of the torque sensor block 304. here and elsewhere in the specification, the term "digital" may be used to refer to a signal or output generated by digitizing a corresponding analog signal or output, and may be used interchangeably with the term "digitized." in other embodiments, the adc may have an output having a number of bits different from 10. the linearization block 306 is used to linearize the torque sensor output generated by the torque sensor block 304. in the described embodiment, since the angular position sensor block 302 and the torque sensor block 304 have a 9-bit output and a 10-bit output, respectively, the linearization block 306 receives a 19-bit input. however, the number of input bits may be different in other embodiments, provided that the angular position sensor block output has at least 9 bits if representation of 360° with 1° resolution is desired. the linearization block 306 may include a look-up table implemented in memory and having linearized torque sensor output values (i.e., linearization compensation values) as entries. these entries are selected by the input bits (i.e., 19 bits from the angular position sensor output and the torque sensor output) to be output as linearized torque sensor outputs corresponding to the multi-bit outputs (i.e., the angular position sensor and torque sensor outputs) from the angular position sensor block 302 and the torque sensor block 304 that are combined to form an address for such selection. by way of example, when implemented in a look-up table, the linearization block 306 is basically a data memory that contains the compensation data for the linearization of the torque sensor output. when the 9-bit output from the angular position sensor 310 is connected to the higher address bits of the look-up table and the 10-bit output from the torque sensor is connected to the lower address bits of the look-up table, linearization values can be selected from one of the 360 sets of lk data memory, for example. combining the higher and lower address bits to select entries in the look-up table will provide a 10-bit linearization value (i.e., code) for compensating the output of the torque sensor corresponding to each degree of the rotation. the linearization block 306 may alternatively include logic circuitry for linearizing the digitized torque sensor output using the output of the angular position sensor block 302. the logic circuitry may be implemented using a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (dsp), an asic, or any suitable combination thereof. the logic used for performing such linearization is known to those skilled in the art. the temperature compensation block 308 receives the linearized torque sensor output from the linearization block 306, and provides a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. the temperature compensation block 308 includes a temperature compensation circuit 318 for generating a multi-bit (i.e., 10-bit) output and a digital-to-analog converter 320 for converting the multi-bit output to generate a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output, which is an analog voltage signal v o . the temperature compensation circuit 318 also includes a temperature sensor block/circuit 319 for measuring temperature and providing it in an analog or digital form. in other embodiments, the temperature compensation block 308 may include a temperature sensor which is external to the temperature compensation circuit 318 (similar to the temperature sensor 504 and the analog-to-digital converter 506 of fig. 12, for example). in more detail, the temperature compensation circuit 318 compensates the digitized and linearized torque sensor output based on temperature to generate a 10-bit output of a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. the temperature compensation circuit 318 may be implemented in memory as a look-up table, for example, or as logic circuitry (e.g., implemented using microprocessor, dsp and/or asic). the logic used for such temperature compensation is known to those skilled in the art. also, the number of output bits may be different in other embodiments. the dac 320 receives the 10-bit output from the temperature compensation circuit 318 and converts it into an analog voltage signal v o , which is the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. the temperature compensation block 308, therefore, provides an analog output that is a linear function of the external temperature. in the described embodiment, it is composed of a look-up table and a temperature sensor which together provide a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output that is corrected for external temperature variation. each table address contains a digital code (i.e., temperature compensation value) that is used with the corresponding linearized value from the linearization look-up table to generate the linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. in other words, the entries of the look up table are linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output values that are addressed by a combination of the multi-bit output from the angular position sensor block 302 and the multi-bit output from the torque sensor block 304. the ncaps and the ncdcts torque sensor, which may be used respectively as the angular position sensor and the torque sensor in the exemplary embodiments, are based on two different theories. ncaps is based on a transceiver/down converter technology, where the transmitted frequency, for example, is 1 mhz, the receiver local oscillator frequency is 1 mhz plus 2.22 khz with 60 degree phase shift and the if is 2.22 khz with a phase that varies proportional to the angular position of the coupler. the ncdcts is based on a passive parallel plate differential capacitor technology, where there is a 10 khz signal, for example, from the signal condition input c1 and c2, and the output of the signal conditioning circuit is based on the detection of the differential amplitude of the 10 khz signal after coupling through c1 and c2. hence, the combination of these two types of sensors into one package using a single housing will not be susceptible to significant cross talk and interference problems. fig. 10 is a partial sectional view of an angular-torque sensor 400 in exemplary embodiments according to the present invention. the angular-torque sensor 400 includes both an angular position sensor and a torque sensor for performing both the angular position sensor and torque sensor functions. the angular position sensor includes a transmitter 332, a receiver 336 and a coupler 334 disposed between the transmitter 332 and the receiver 336, and operates in substantially the same manner as the angular position sensor of figs. 1-4. while the transmitter 332 and the receiver 336 are substantially fixed with respect to each other and to the housing (e.g., shown in fig. 11), the coupler 334 rotates between the receiver and transmitter pair as a first rotor 412 rotates, where the first rotor 412 is substantially fixed to and rotates together with an upper shaft 422. for the torque sensor, which operates in substantially the same manner as the torque sensor of figs. 6-8, a plate having ring patterns 402 and 404 disposed thereon and a plate having a ring pattern 406 are substantially fixed to the same housing as the transmitter 332 and the receiver 336. a paddle assembly having paddles 408 is mounted on the second rotor 414 in such a manner that the paddles 408 move in at least a radial direction between the ring plates. since the upper and lower shafts 422 and 424 are coupled together via a torsion rod 416, and the location of the paddles are determined by the degree of rotation between the rotors 412 and 414, the torque sensor measures torque exerted on the steering column (i.e., shaft assembly) having the upper and lower shafts 422 and 424. the angular-torque sensor 400 also includes a printed circuit board (pcb) 338, which is used to carry circuitry for performing one or more signal processing functions such as, but not limited to, that required for analog position sensing and output and torque sensing and output as well as linearization and temperature compensation of the torque sensor output. while the first rotor 412 and the coupler disk 334 are shown as two separate pieces in fig. 10, in practice, they may be formed as a single integrated piece. alternatively, the coupler disk 334 may be mounted directly on the upper shaft 422 rather than being mounted on the first rotor 412. the first rotor 412 and the coupler disk 334, whether they are formed as a single integrated piece or as two separate pieces, should be substantially fixed to the upper shaft 422 and rotated together therewith. an exploded view of an angular-torque sensor 400' is illustrated in fig. 11. the angular-torque sensor 400' may be substantially the same as the angular-torque sensor 400 of fig. 10, except that the coupler disk 334' may be mounted on an upper shaft (e.g., the upper shaft 422 of fig. 10) rather than on a first rotor 412'. as can be seen in fig. 11, the transmitter 332, a coupler disk 334', and the receiver 336 for forming an angular position sensor as well as the ring plates having rings 402, 404 and 406, respectively, and a paddle assembly 401 are packaged in the same housing formed by right and left end plates 452 and 454. the end plates have a number of holes 456 for fastening them to each other using fasteners 458 (e.g., screws or bolts). in other embodiments, any other suitable fastening method may be used instead of or in addition to the holes and fasteners. each of the end plates 452 and 454 includes a generally rectangular extended portion. the extended portion is used to enclose the pcb 338 on which signal processing circuitry is formed/mounted. the transmitter and receiver 332 and 336, and the ring plates are substantially fixed to the housing such that they do not rotate together with either the upper shaft or the lower shaft. fig. 12 is a functional block diagram of a signal processing portion 500 of the angular-torque sensor in a second exemplary embodiment according to the present invention. the signal processing portion 500 includes a linearization block 502 for receiving outputs of the angular position sensor and the torque sensor, respectively, and for generating a 10-bit linearized torque sensor output ("linearized torque output code") 507. the linearized torque sensor output 507 is provided to a temperature compensation block 508. the temperature compensation block 508 also receives a digitized temperature signal generated by an adc 506 using a temperature output of a temperature sensor 504. using the linearized torque sensor output 507 and the digitized temperature signal, the temperature compensation block 508 generates and outputs a linearized and temperature compensated digital torque sensor output 509 to a dac 510. the torque outputs in fig. 12 are 10 bits each in width. in other embodiments, the torque sensor output may have a number of bits that is different from 10. the dac 510 converts the linearized and temperature compensated digital torque sensor output 509 to an analog voltage signal v o and outputs it as a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. in practice, the linearization block 502 may be implemented as a look-up table in memory. the entries of the look-up table may represent linearized torque sensor output values for mapping the torque sensor output to a linearized torque sensor output for each angle between 0 and 359 degrees in one degree increment. in the described embodiment of fig. 12, a combination of the 9-bit angular position sensor output and the 10-bit torque sensor output is used as a 19-bit address to select one of the entries of the look-up table. this way, a corresponding 10-bit linearized torque sensor output can be selected for each 10-bit torque sensor output which is input to the look-up table, depending on the angular position indicated by the 9-bit angular position sensor output. similarly, the temperature compensation block 508 may also be implemented as a look-up table in memory. the entries of the look-up table may represent linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output values for mapping the linearized torque sensor output to a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output based on the temperature measured by the temperature sensor 504. the adc 506 generates a multi-bit (e.g., 10) output corresponding to the temperature measurement. in the described embodiment of fig. 12, a combination of the multi-bit digitized temperature measurement and the 10-bit torque sensor output is used as an address to select one of the entries of the look-up table. this way, a corresponding 10-bit linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output can be selected for each 10-bit linearized torque sensor output which is input to the look-up table, depending on the temperature measured by the temperature sensor 504. fig. 13 is a functional block diagram of a signal processing portion 600 of the angular-torque sensor in a third exemplary embodiment according to the present invention. the signal processing portion 600 includes a linearization block 602 for receiving outputs of the angular position sensor and the torque sensor, respectively, and generating a 10-bit linearized torque sensor output 607. the linearized torque sensor output 607 is provided to a 10-bit dac 610. during the conversion of the linearized torque sensor output 607 to an analog torque sensor output, the dac 610 receives an offset voltage from a scaling amplifier 606 corresponding to a temperature signal generated by a temperature sensor 604. the torque outputs in fig. 13 are 10 bits in width. in other embodiments, the torque sensor output may have a number of bits that is different from 10. the dac 610 converts the linearized torque sensor output 607 to an analog voltage signal v o and outputs it as a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. in substantially the same manner as the linearization block 502 in the second exemplary embodiment of fig. 12, the linearization block 602 may be implemented as a look-up table in memory. fig. 14 is a functional block diagram of a signal processing portion 700 in a fourth exemplary embodiment according to the present invention. the signal processing portion 700 includes a temperature sensor 702 for generating temperature data, which is converted by an adc 704 as a digitized temperature data having n bits. the signal processing portion 700 also includes a linearization and temperature compensation block 706 for receiving outputs of the angular position sensor, the torque sensor, and the digitized temperature data, and generating a 10-bit linearized and temperature compensated digital torque sensor output 707. the linearization and temperature compensation block 706, for example, may include a look-up table implemented in memory. for example, the 9-bit angular position sensor output, the 10-bit torque sensor output and the n-bit digitized temperature data may be combined as a 19+n bit address for selecting one of the entries in the look-up table, which represent linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output values. in other words, the look-up table maps each (uncompensated) torque sensor output to a corresponding linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output based on the angular position output (e.g., 0 to 359 degrees in one degree increment) and depending on the temperature measured by the temperature sensor 702. the look-up table, for example, may have the size of (19 + n) x 1k for storing all the entries. in other embodiments, the linearization and temperature compensation block 706 may include logic circuitry for providing such temperature compensation. the linearized and temperature compensated digital torque sensor output 707 is provided to a 10-bit dac 710. the torque outputs in fig. 14 are 10 bits in width. in other embodiments, the torque sensor output may have a number of bits that is different from 10. the dac 710 converts the linearized and temperature compensated digital torque sensor output 707 to an analog voltage signal v o and outputs it as a linearized and temperature compensated torque sensor output. while certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described above in detail and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive of the broad invention. it will thus be recognized that various modifications may be made to the illustrated and other embodiments of the invention described above, without departing from the broad inventive scope thereof. in view of the above it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments or arrangements disclosed, but is rather intended to cover any changes, adaptations or modifications which are within the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the appended claims, and equivalents thereof.
118-587-270-337-282	US	[ "US" ]	A47G9/00,A47C20/02,A47D13/08	2015-09-03T00:00:00	2015	[ "A47" ]	reconfigurable pillow with dual infant support pillows	a support pillow with dual infant support pillows that can be configured in a face-to-face or opposing position and, alternately, in a side-by-side flanking position. two c-shaped pillow segments are joined on one side by a hinge or joint. when the joint is open, the adjoining arms are generally co-linear. when the support pillow is folded at the joint, the two adjoining arms of the c-shaped pillow segments are adjacent and generally parallel. a supportive body wrap may be included for one or both pillow segments. the support pillow may also serve as a body or maternity pillow for a single adult. additionally, the joint allows the pillow to be folded for use as a study or lounging pillow for an adult or older child. still further, the pillow can be used as a nursing pillow with attached back support for mothers and caregivers.	1. a support pillow comprising: a first c-shaped segment comprising a center section with first and second ends, a first arm extending from the first end of the center section, and a second arm extending from the second end of the center section, wherein the first arm has a free end opposite the center section, wherein the second arm has an end opposite the center section, wherein the c-shaped segment forms a central well sized to receive an infant, and wherein the free end of the first arm and the end of the second arm form a frontal opening to the well; a second c-shaped segment comprising a center section with first and second ends, a first arm extending from the first end of the center section, and a second arm extending from the second end of the center section, wherein the first arm has a free end opposite the center section, wherein the second arm has an end opposite the center section, wherein the c-shaped segment forms a central well sized to receive an infant, and wherein the free end of the first arm and the end of the second arm form a frontal opening to the well; a joint connecting the end of the second arm of the first c-shaped segment and the end of the second arm of the second c-shaped segment; wherein each of the first and second c-shaped segments is comprised of compressible, resilient material; wherein, when the support pillow is in a first, opposing position with the joint open so that the second arm of the first c-shaped segment and the second arm of the second c-shaped segment are generally co-linear, the first and second c-shaped segments are arranged face-to-face with the frontal opening of the well of the first c-shaped segment opposite the frontal opening of the well of the second c-shaped segment; and wherein, when the support pillow is positionable in a second, flanking position, with the joint closed so that the second arm of the first c-shaped segment and the second arm of the second c-shaped segment are adjacent and generally parallel, the first and second c-shaped segments are arranged side-by-side with the frontal opening of the well of the first c-shaped segment and the frontal opening of the well of the second c-shaped segment facing in the same direction. 2. the support pillow of claim 1 wherein the first and second c-shaped segments are about the same size. 3. the support pillow of claim 1 comprising an outer removable cover and wherein the compressible, resilient material is contained in at least one pillow insert. 4. the support pillow of claim 3 wherein the cover is unitary. 5. the support pillow of claim 4 wherein the at least one pillow insert comprises two c-shaped inserts. 6. the support pillow of claim 5 further comprising a connector assembly for securing the pillow in the second flanking position. 7. the support pillow of claim 6 wherein the connector assembly comprises a first connector on the second arm of the first c-shaped segment and a second connector on the second arm of the second c-shaped segment, the first and second connectors being connectable to each other. 8. the support pillow of claim 7 wherein the first and second connectors comprise hook-and-loop type fasteners. 9. the support pillow of claim 1 further comprising a connector assembly for securing the pillow in the second flanking position. 10. the support pillow of claim 9 wherein the connector assembly comprises a first connector on the second arm of the first c-shaped segment and a second connector on the second arm of the second c-shaped segment, the first and second connectors being connectable to each other. 11. the support pillow of claim 10 wherein the first and second connectors comprise hook-and-loop type fasteners. 12. the support pillow of claim 1 wherein each of the first and second c-shaped segments further comprises a body wrap assembly, each body wrap assembly comprising a fabric body wrap and a connector assembly. 13. the support pillow of claim 12 wherein each of the first and second c-shaped segments includes a pocket sized to enclose the fabric body wrap in a rolled or folded condition. 14. the support pillow of claim 12 wherein the center section of each of the first and second c-shaped segments includes an inner perimeter, wherein the fabric body wrap comprises a transverse strap and a longitudinal strap, wherein the transverse strap is configured to extend transversely across the torso of an infant positioned in the central well, and wherein the longitudinal strap is configured to extend longitudinally from the center of the transverse strap to the inner perimeter of the center section passing between the legs of an infant positioned in the central well. 15. the support pillow of claim 1 wherein the support pillow comprises an outer, removable, unitary cover, wherein the compressible, resilient material is contained in first and second similarly sized c-shaped pillow inserts, wherein each of the first and second pillow inserts comprises a center section and first and second arms generally corresponding to the center section and first and second arms of the respective first and second c-shaped pillow segments, wherein each of the second arms of the first and second pillow inserts terminates in a free end, and wherein the free ends of the second arms of the first and second pillow inserts, when positioned inside the cover, are spaced a distance apart forming the joint. 16. a method for supporting two infants, the method comprising: providing a support pillow that comprises: a first c-shaped pillow segment comprising a center section with first and second ends, a first arm extending from the first end of the center section, and a second arm extending from the second end of the center section, wherein the first arm has a first end opposite the center section, wherein the second arm has an end opposite the center section, wherein the c-shaped segment forms a central well sized to receive an infant, and wherein the free end of the first arm and end of the second arm form a frontal opening to the well; a second c-shaped pillow segment comprising a center section with first and second ends, a first arm extending from the first end of the center section, and a second arm extending from the second end of the center section, wherein the first arm has a free end opposite the center section, wherein the second arm has an end opposite the center section, wherein the c-shaped segment forms a central well sized to receive an infant, and wherein the free end of the first arm and the end of the second arm form a frontal opening to the well; a joint connecting the end of the second arm of the first c-shaped segment and the end of the second arm of the second c-shaped segment; wherein each of the first and second c-shaped segments is comprised of compressible, resilient material; wherein, when the support pillow is in a first, opposing position with the joint open so that the second arm of the first c-shaped segment and the second arm of the second c-shaped segment are generally co-linear, the first and second c-shaped segments are arranged face-to-face with the frontal opening of the well of the first c-shaped segment opposite the frontal opening of the well of the second c-shaped segment; and wherein, when the support pillow is positionable in a second, flanking position, with the joint closed so that the second arm of the first c-shaped segment and the second arm of the second c-shaped segment are adjacent and generally parallel, the first and second c-shaped segments are arranged side-by-side with the frontal opening of the well of the first c-shaped segment and the frontal opening of the well of the second c-shaped segment facing in the same direction; while the support pillow is configured in the first, opposing position, placing an infant in the central well of each of the first and second c-shaped segments; and while the support pillow is configured in the second, flanking position, placing an infant in the central well of each of the first and second c-shaped segments. 17. the method of claim 16 further comprising, after placing the infants in the c-shaped segments, supporting each infant with a fabric body wrap. 18. a cover for a support pillow, wherein the cover comprises: a first c-shaped segment shaped to conform to a first c-shaped support pillow comprising a center section with first and second ends, a first arm extending from the first end of the center section, and a second arm extending from the second end of the center section, wherein the first arm has a free end opposite the center section, wherein the second arm has an end opposite the center section, wherein the c-shaped support pillow forms a central well sized to receive an infant, and wherein the free end of the first arm and the end of the second arm form a frontal opening to the well; a second c-shaped segment shaped to conform to a second c-shaped support pillow comprising a center section with first and second ends, a first arm extending from the first end of the center section, and a second arm extending from the second end of the center section, wherein the first arm has a free end opposite the center section, wherein the second arm has an end opposite the center section, wherein the c-shaped support pillow forms a central well sized to receive an infant, and wherein the free end of the first arm and the end of the second arm form a frontal opening to the well; a joint connecting the end of the second arm of the first c-shaped segment and the end of the second arm of the second c-shaped segment; wherein, when the support pillow cover is in a first, opposing position with the joint open so that the second arm of the first c-shaped segment and the second arm of the second c-shaped segment are generally co-linear, the first and second c-shaped segments are arranged face-to-face with the frontal opening of the well of the first c-shaped segment opposite the frontal opening of the well of the second c-shaped segment; and wherein, when the support pillow cover is positionable in a second, flanking position, with the joint closed so that the second arm of the first c-shaped segment and the second arm of the second c-shaped segment are adjacent and generally parallel, the first and second c-shaped segments are arranged side-by-side with the frontal opening of the well of the first c-shaped segment and the frontal opening of the well of the second c-shaped segment facing in the same direction. 19. the support pillow cover of claim 18 wherein the first and second c-shaped segments are about the same size. 20. the support pillow cover of claim 18 wherein the cover is unitary. 21. the support pillow cover of claim 18 further comprising a connector assembly for securing the pillow cover in the second flanking position. 22. the support pillow cover of claim 21 wherein the connector assembly comprises a first connector on the second arm of the first c-shaped segment and a second connector on the second arm of the second c-shaped segment, the first and second connectors being connectable to each other. 23. the support pillow cover of claim 22 wherein the first and second connectors comprise hook-and-loop type fasteners. 24. the support pillow cover of claim 18 wherein each of the first and second c-shaped segments further comprises a body wrap assembly, each body wrap assembly comprising a fabric body wrap and a connector assembly. 25. the support pillow cover of claim 24 wherein each of the first and second c-shaped segments includes a pocket sized to enclose the fabric body wrap in a rolled or folded condition. 26. the support pillow cover of claim 24 wherein the center section of each of the first and second c-shaped segments includes an inner perimeter, wherein the fabric body wrap comprises a transverse strap and a longitudinal strap, wherein the transverse strap is configured to extend transversely across the torso of an infant positioned in the central well, and wherein the longitudinal strap is configured to extend longitudinally from the center of the transverse strap to the inner perimeter of the center section passing between the legs of an infant positioned in the central well.	field of the invention the present invention relates generally to pillows and more particularly, but without limitation, to support pillows for infants and toddlers. background of the invention infant support pillows have become an important infant care accessory. they are lightweight, washable and serve many functions. conventional c-shaped pillows allow an infant to be supported on its back in a reclining position or on its tummy for play time. support pillows for multiple infants, such as twins or triplets, are also commercially available. there remains a need, however, for infant support pillows with more versatility. specifically, there is a need for a support pillow that will accommodate two infants in different positions. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a frontal perspective view of a support pillow made with dual infant support pillow segments in accordance with the present invention. the pillow is shown in a first, opposing position. an infant is shown reclining in each well so that they face each other. fig. 2 is a frontal perspective view of the pillow shown in fig. 1 , without the infants. fig. 3 is a bottom view of the pillow shown in fig. 2 . fig. 4 is a rear view of the pillow shown in fig. 2 . fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmented view of the outer periphery of one of the two c-shaped pillows showing the connector tab extending from the side seam. fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmented view of the bottom of the center section of one of the two c-shaped pillow segments showing the zipper partially opened to reveal the pillow insert inside. fig. 7 is a plan view of the pillow of fig. 2 with the tabs connected to secure the two c-shaped pillow segments in a second, side-by-side or flanking configuration. fig. 8 is a bottom view of the pillow shown in fig. 7 . fig. 9 is an enlarged, fragmented view of the connected tabs at the adjacent sides of the two c-shaped pillow segments in a side-by-side configuration. fig. 10 is a frontal perspective view of a support pillow shown in fig. 7 with an infant seated in each well. fig. 11 is a frontal perspective view of a support shown in its resting position with an infant reclining in each well so that they face each other. each infant is supported with a body wrap. fig. 12 is an enlarged, fragmented view of the bottom of one of the c-shaped pillow segments showing the pocket for containing the folded body wrap. fig. 13 is an enlarged, fragmented view of the body wrap pocket showing the pocket opened and the hook-and-loop connector on the back side of the body wrap as it starts to be removed from the pocket. the arms of the pillow are omitted to simplify the illustration. fig. 14 is a fragmented view of the bottom of the pillow segment showing the body wrap partially unfurled. the arms of the pillow are omitted to simplify the illustration. fig. 15 is a fragmented view of the bottom of the pillow segment, as seen in fig. 14 , showing the body wrap completely unfurled. the arms of the pillow segment are omitted to simplify the illustration. fig. 16 is a fragmented view of the top of the pillow segment, as seen in fig. 14 , showing the body wrap completely unfurled. the arms of the pillow are omitted to simplify the illustration. fig. 17 is a fragmented view of the top of the pillow segment shown in fig. 14 showing the body wrap unfurled and laid across the central well. the arms of the pillow segment are omitted to simplify the illustration. fig. 18 is a bottom view of the bottom of the support pillow shown in fig. 11 . the infants are not shown to simplify the illustration. fig. 19 is a front view of a woman seated using the support pillow as a nursing pillow; one pillow segment supports her back, and one supports the infant on her lap. fig. 20 is a rear view of the woman shown in fig. 19 . the chair is omitted to simplify the illustration. fig. 21 is a side view of a woman lying on her right side using the support pillow as a full body pillow. fig. 22 is a front view of a woman seated using the support pillow as a study or reading pillow; the folded portion of the pillow is behind her back and the two pillow segments are overlapping on her lap. fig. 23 is a rear view of the woman shown in fig. 22 . the chair is omitted to simplify the illustration. fig. 24 is a side view of a woman using the support pillow, one segment folded over the other, as a back support pillow or study pillow. fig. 25 is a back view of the woman shown in fig. 24 . detailed description of the preferred embodiments the present invention provides a support pillow especially suited for use with two babies. the inventive support pillow comprises two c-shaped infant support pillows joined by a hinge or joint between the ends of one of the two arms on each pillow. the two c-shaped pillow segments can support two babies separate from but adjacent to one another, each secure in its own well. the joint allows the two pillows to be arranged face-to-face in an opposing configuration or side-by-side in a flanking configuration. additionally, this pillow has alternate configurations useful for older children and adults. turning now to the drawings in general and to figs. 1-4 in particular, there is shown therein a support pillow made in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention and designated generally by the reference numeral 10 . the pillow 10 generally comprises first and second c-shaped pillow segments 12 and 14 . the first c-shaped pillow segment 12 comprises a center section 16 with first and second ends generally at 18 and 20 . a first arm 22 extends from the first end 18 of the center section 16 , and a second arm 24 extends from the second end 20 of the center section. the first arm 22 has a free end 26 generally opposite the center section 16 , and the second arm 24 has an end 28 opposite the center section. the c-shaped segment 12 forms a central well 30 , and the ends 26 and 28 of the first and second arms 22 and 24 form a frontal opening 32 to the well. the second c-shaped pillow segment 14 comprises a center section 40 with first and second ends generally at 42 and 44 . a first arm 46 extends from the first end 42 of the center section 40 , and a second arm 48 extends from the second end 44 of the center section. the first arm 46 has a free end 50 generally opposite the center section 40 , and the second arm 48 has an end 52 opposite the center section. the c-shaped segment 14 forms a central well 56 , and the ends 50 and 52 of the first and second arms 46 and 48 form a frontal opening 58 to the well. as shown herein, the size and shape of the c-shaped segments 12 and 14 are about the same. however, the sizes of the two segments could be different. for example, one pillow segment could be sized for a larger or older infant, while the other is sized for a smaller, younger, or premature infant. as used herein, “c-shaped” denotes any configuration that defines a central well that is at least partially enclosed. as shown herein, each of the pillow segments 12 and 14 is a generally continuous curve with the ends of the arms being inwardly curved toward each other. however, the pillow segments could be angular. for example, the pillow segments could be a u-shape, either squared or curved. additionally, the term “frontal opening” refers to an access point for the central well and does require that the ends of the arms be spaced apart any distance. indeed, in the preferred embodiment shown, the ends of the arms extend inwardly so that they touch or almost touch when in a resting state. the parts of the pillow segments 12 and 14 are designated only generally. the terms “center section” and “ends” denoting only general regions are not precisely delineated. each of the first and second c-shaped segments 12 and 14 is comprised of compressible, resilient material so that each of the pillow segments provides good cushioning and returns to its original shape or resting position after being deformed. as used herein, “resting position” refers to the position and shape the pillow 10 or pillow segment 12 or 14 naturally assumes when no tension or pressure is exerted on any part of it. as best seen in fig. 2 , the pillow 10 preferably comprises a continuous or unitary fabric cover 62 that contains two c-shaped pillow inserts 64 and 66 , each such insert typically comprising a fabric enclosure filled with a compressible, resilient material. the fabric cover 62 as well as the fabric enclosures of the pillow inserts 64 and 66 may be any suitable fabric, including but not limited to waterproof nylon, flannel, or elastic fabrics, such as spandex or cotton-spandex blends. however, presently a polyester/cotton blend is preferred. the compressible, resilient material may be solid or loose. for example, a preferred loose filler is polyester fiberfill. other suitable fillers include down feathers, memory foam, or polystyrene pellets. in some instances, the pillow inserts 64 and 66 may be inflatable. as indicated, the fabric cover 62 may be removable for easy cleaning. to that end, each end of the cover 62 may be provided with a zipper 70 and 72 along the outer back of the center sections 16 and 40 , as best seen in fig. 3 . alternately, the closure for the fabric cover 62 may include but is not limited to buttons, snaps, ties, hook and loop connectors, or simply overlapping edges (not shown). although the fabric of which the cover 62 is made may vary widely, a soft cotton fabric is highly preferred in most instances. in the preferred embodiment, a hinge or joint 78 connects the end 28 of the second arm 24 of the first c-shaped segment 12 and the end 52 of the second arm 48 of the second c-shaped segment 14 . as used herein, “joint” refers to a natural break or fold line between the pillow segments 12 and 14 . now it will be appreciated that the inserts 64 and 66 are sized so that the ends 28 a and 52 a of the arms 24 a and 48 a ( fig. 2 ) generally correspond to the ends 26 and 28 of the second arm 24 of the first c-shaped segment 12 and the end 52 of the second arm 48 of the second c-shaped segment 14 , respectively. more preferably, the ends 28 a and 52 a of the insert are sized, relative to the size and shape of the cover 62 , so that there is a slight distance between them. in this way, the joint 78 is conveniently formed by the unfilled space inside the cover 62 between the ends 28 a and 52 a. it will now be apparent, however, that the joint 78 may be formed in several other ways. for example, one or more lines of stitching or a seam made across the tubular section of the cover 62 would form a natural fold line. alternately, the pillow 10 could be formed with two separable pillow segments—each with its own cover and pillow insert—that attach to each other along the joint line by hook-and-loop strips, a zipper or some other form of attachment. now it will be appreciated that, as shown and described, the pillow 10 in its resting state, assumes a first opposing position with the joint 78 open so that the second arm 24 of the first c-shaped segment 12 and the second arm 48 of the second c-shaped segment 14 are generally co-linear. this is indicated by the dashed lines l 1 and l 2 in fig. 2 . in this position, the first and second c-shaped segments 12 and 14 are arranged face-to-face with the frontal opening 32 of the well 30 of the first c-shaped segment 12 opposite the frontal opening 58 of the well 56 of the second c-shaped segment 14 . in this configuration, as seen best in fig. 1 , infants seated or reclining in the pillow segments 12 and 14 can interact with each other verbally and visually. with reference now to figs. 5-10 , the purpose and use of the joint 78 will be explained. there are times when it is desirable to position the infants so that they are facing the same direction, that is, sitting or reclining side-by-side in a flanking position. for example, the two infants may be positioned to face other children in a larger group or to face in the direction of some other activity or form of entertainment. to accommodate this need, the pillow 10 may be folded back upon itself in the same plane along the joint 78 , as depicted in figs. 7 and 8 . although not essential, it is advantageous to include a connector assembly 80 for securing the pillow 10 in the second flanking position. the connector assembly may take the form of buttons, snaps, ties, hooks or other suitable device. however, in the preferred practice of the invention, the connector assembly 80 comprises first and second hook-and-loop fasteners in the form of overlapping tabs 84 and 86 , one on each of the pillow segments 12 and 14 . in a most preferred embodiment, the tabs 84 and 86 are flaps of fabric sewn into a seam s ( figs. 5&9 ), which may be formed along the outer perimeter of the pillow cover 62 . the location of the tabs 84 and 86 may vary, but a particularly preferred position is on the second arms 24 and 48 near the center sections 16 and 40 . it is to be understood, that the number, size, and configuration of the connectors 84 and 86 may vary. for example, there could two or more sets of connectors, such as several snaps or ties spaced along the length of the second arms 24 and 48 . still further, the connector assembly could be one long fastener extending along the length of the arms 24 and 48 , such a length of hook-and-loop fastener or even a zipper. with the pillow 10 folded, as shown in figs. 7, 8, and 10 , the pillow takes a second, flanking position, with the joint closed. in this way, the second arm 24 of the first c-shaped segment 12 and the second arm 48 of the second c-shaped segment 14 are adjacent and generally parallel. this is indicated by the parallel dashed lines p 1 and p 2 in fig. 7 . in this position, the first and second c-shaped segments 12 and 14 are arranged side-by-side with the frontal opening 32 of the well 30 of the first c-shaped segment 12 and the frontal opening 58 of the well 56 of the second c-shaped segment 14 facing in the same direction. the support pillow 10 may include body wrap assemblies 90 and 92 on each of the c-shaped pillow segments 12 and 14 , as shown in figs. 11-18 , to which attention now is directed. the body wrap assemblies 90 and 92 may be similar to that shown and described in u.s. pat. no. 6,553,590, entitled “infant support pillow with body wrap,” issued apr. 29, 2003, and the contents of that patent are incorporated herein by reference. as the body wrap assemblies 90 and 92 preferably are similarly formed, only the body wrap assembly 90 on the pillow segment 12 will be described in detail. the preferred body wrap assembly 90 generally comprises a fabric body wrap 94 and a connector assembly 96 for securing the body wrap in position around the infant. the fabric body wrap 94 preferably is a t-shaped member comprising a transverse strap 100 and a longitudinal strap 102 . the transverse strap 100 is configured to extend transversely across the torso of an infant positioned in the central well 30 , as shown in figs. 11 and 17 . the longitudinal strap 102 is configured to extend longitudinally from the center of the transverse strap 100 to the inner periphery 104 ( figs. 14-16 ) of the center section passing between the legs of an infant positioned in the central well ( fig. 11 ). in most instances, it is desirable to store the body wrap 94 when it is not in use. to that end, the pillow segments 12 and 14 are provided with pockets 108 and 110 ( fig. 3 ) to receive the rolled or folded body wrap 94 . an ideal location for the pocket 108 is on the bottom of the center section 16 adjacent the inner periphery, as seen best in figs. 3 and 12-15 . a closure of some sort will secure the body wrap 94 inside the pocket. a simple and effective closure comprises hook-and loop fasteners 112 and 114 on the back of the longitudinal strap 102 near the inner periphery 104 and on the inside of the pocket 108 near the opening. thus, as illustrated in figs. 13-16 , the body wrap 94 can be easily folded or rolled up into a compact bundle ( fig. 14 ) and then pushed into the pocket 108 , which is then closed with the fasteners 112 and 114 (shown in broken lines in figs. 12-15 . hook-and-loop fasteners also are ideal for the connector assembly 96 . strips 120 and 122 of the fastener may be provided on the ends 124 and 126 of the transverse strap 100 , as seen in fig. 16 . mating strips 128 and 130 then may be affixed to the underside of the pillow segment 12 near the juncture of the arms 22 and 24 and the center section 16 , as seen in figs. 14 and 15 . the hook-and-loop fasteners 120 , 122 , and 128 , 130 allow for adjusting the snugness of the body wrap 94 around the infant. the ideal cross-sectional shape for the pillow 10 is generally cylindrical, that is, generally circular in cross-section. the width or diameter of the arms 22 , 24 and 46 , 48 usually will be in the range of about 4 to about 10 inches. the width or diameter of the center sections 16 and 40 preferably is slightly larger and may be about 8 to about 18 inches. the overall length of the pillow 10 in the resting position ( figs. 1&2 ) is about 36 to about 60 inches from the outer edge of the center section 16 to the outer edge of the center section 40 . the overall width of each of the pillow segments 12 and 14 from the outer edge of the first arm to the outer edge of the second arm may be about 30 to about 50 inches. however, all of these dimensions are variable. having described a preferred structure for the support pillow 10 of the present invention, its use now will be explained. as previously described, one use for the pillow 10 in its resting position is shown in fig. 1 . two infants may sit or recline in the pillow segments 12 and 14 in a face-to-face opposing position. as is also previously described, the pillow 10 can be folded at the joint 78 so that the infants are positioned side-by-side in a flanking arrangement. in either position, the infants may or may not be supported with a body wrap, as illustrated in fig. 11 . also, in either position, the infants may be positioned on their tummies for play time. with reference now to figs. 19-25 , several alternate uses for the support pillow 10 will be shown and described. in figs. 19 and 20 , the pillow 10 is in use by a mother or care giver to nurse and/or cradle an infant in her lap. one pillow segment 14 is curled across her lap, and the other pillow segment 12 supports her back. fig. 21 illustrates how the support pillow 10 in the resting or unfolded position serves well as a full body pillow or maternity pillow for a woman shown resting on one side. of course, the user could lie on either side. figs. 22 and 23 show how the pillow 10 may serve as a combination back and lap pillow. with the joint 78 closed and the connectors 84 and 86 attached to each other, the arms 24 and 48 form a vertical back support, as seen in fig. 23 . the arms 22 and 46 are overlapped across the woman's lap to service as a support for a meal tray or other work surface. by folding one c-shaped pillow segment 12 over the other segment 14 , a comfortable lounging or study pillow is formed, as seen in figs. 24 and 25 . the pillow 10 creates a deep, c-shaped, double-thickness arrangement that is open in the front but has some support on the sides for the user's arms. now it will be appreciated that the pillow 10 of the present invention has many desirable features and advantages. it is ideal for use with twins or two babies of any size or age, but has uses for adults and older children as well. these and other uses and configurations will be readily apparent from the unique structure of this inventive pillow. the support pillow shown and described herein has some features in common with the pillow shown and described in u.s. pat. no. 7,562,406, entitled “reconfigurable support pillow with tandem wells,” issued jul. 21, 2009, and the contents of that patent are incorporated herein by reference. the embodiments shown and described above are exemplary. many details are often found in the art and, therefore, many such details are neither shown nor described. it is not claimed that all of the details, parts, elements, or steps described and shown were invented herein. even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present inventions have been described in the drawings and accompanying text, the description is illustrative only. changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of the parts within the principles of the inventions to the full extent indicated by the broad meaning of the terms of the attached claims. the description and drawings of the specific embodiments herein do not point out what an infringement of this patent would be, but rather provide an example of how to use and make the invention. the limits of the invention and the bounds of the patent protection are measured by and defined in the following claims.
119-021-861-807-809	US	[ "US" ]	G03B15/05,G03B15/14	1978-10-27T00:00:00	1978	[ "G03" ]	photographic apparatus for selectively actuating a pulsable electronic strobe	photographic apparatus is provided for use with a pulsable type strobe light and automatic cameras of the type which, upon actuation, undergo a predetermined time delay, which varies from camera to camera within select limits, prior to their initiating an exposure cycle. the apparatus is responsive to camera actuation to provide a sequence of equally timed strobe firing signals beginning before the shortest expected time delay of these type cameras and terminating after the exposure cycle of a camera of this type which has the longest expected time delay. operating in this manner, the apparatus assures that at least part of one strobe pulse occurs during the exposure interval of cameras of this type.	1. photographic apparatus for use with an electronic strobe of the type which produces a light pulse of given intensity and duration in response to receiving a predetermined input switching signal and has a recharge time which is substantially shorter than the light pulse's duration and with automatic cameras of the type which, upon actuation, begin a photographic cycle during which film exposure commences after a predetermined delay upon the opening of an electro-mechanical shutter and thereafter is automatically terminated by a light sensing circuit which measures scene brightness and commands the shutter to close upon detection of a predetermined exposure value and wherein the predetermined delay time to initiation of film exposure varies from camera to camera within select limits, said apparatus comprising: means responsive to camera actuation for providing an electrical output signal at the instant the camera is actuated; means, responsive to said electrical output signal, for presenting to the camera's light sensing circuit at least one predetermined level of illumination equivalent to a predetermined scene brightness by which the camera's shutter is caused, via its light sensing circuit, to remain open for a select time; electrically actuable means connectable to the strobe for providing to the strobe, upon actuation, the predetermined input switching signal by which the strobe is fired; and control means, electrically coupled with said electrically actuable means and responsive to said electrical output signal, for actuating said electrically actuable means such that a plurality of strobe input switching signals are provided in a sequence of equal intervals which begins at a predetermined time before the shortest possible camera delay time and terminates after the exposure interval following the longest possible delay time so that whenever a camera of the type is used with the strobe type and said apparatus at least a portion of a strobe pulse will occur during the select exposure interval of this type camera. 2. the apparatus of claim 1 further including means for selectively adjusting said illumination presenting means so that the equivalent brightness presented to the camera's light sensing circuit, and consequently the camera shutter open time, can be changed over a select range of values. 3. the apparatus of claim 1 wherein said electrically actuable means comprises an electromagnetic relay which is arranged to provide the input switching signal for firing the strobe. 4. the apparatus of claim 3 wherein said control means comprises: (a) an astable multivibrator connected with said electromagnetic relay and arranged to be responsive to an input signal to produce an output pulse train of predetermined frequency, said pulse train operating to actuate said electromagnetic relay; and (b) a monostable multivibrator connected with said astable multivibrator and arranged to provide said astable multivibrator's input signal at said predetermined time before the shortest possible camera delay time in response to receiving said electrical output signal and to automatically remove said astable multivibrator's input signal in the exposure interval following the longest possible camera delay time. 5. the apparatus of claim 1 further including means for remotely actuating the camera. 6. the apparatus of claim 5 wherein said remote camera actuating means comprises a manually actuable foot switch. 7. photographic apparatus for use with an electronic strobe of the type which produces a light pulse of given intensity and duration in response to receiving a predetermined input switching signal and has a recharge time which is substantially shorter than the light pulse's duration and with automatic cameras of the type which, upon actuation, begin a photographic cycle during which film exposure commences after a predetermined delay upon the opening of an electro-mechanical shutter and thereafter is automatically terminated by a light sensing circuit which measures scene brightness and commands the shutter to close upon detection of a predetermined exposure value and wherein the predetermined delay time to initiation of film exposure varies from camera to camera within select limits, and which also include means for facilitating the receipt of a battery for powering the camera's electrical components, a manually operable actuator including a switch for connecting the camera's electrical components with the battery to initiate the camera's photographic cycle, and specially configured socket means by which the camera's photographic cycle can be initiated independently of its actuator and by which electrical connection can be made with the battery from the exterior of the camera at least when the camera is actuated, said apparatus comprising: means structured for mating with the camera's socket means so that the battery voltage can be supplied at the instant the camera is actuated; means connectable with said mating means and responsive to the battery voltage for presenting to the camera's light sensing circuit at least one predetermined level of illumination equivalent to a predetermined scene brightness by which the camera's shutter is caused, via its light sensing circuit, to remain open for a selected time; electrically actuable means connectable to the strobe for providing to the strobe, upon actuation, the predetermined input switching signal by which the strobe is fired; and control means electrically coupled with said electrically actuable means and said mating means and responsive to battery voltage for actuating said electrically actuable means such that a plurality of strobe input switching signals are provided in a sequence of equal intervals which begins at a predetermined time before the shortest possible camera delay time and terminates the exposure interval of the longest possible camera delay time so that whenever a camera of the type is used with the strobe type and said apparatus at least a portion of a strobe pulse will occur during the select exposure interval of this type camera. 8. the apparatus of claim 7 wherein said mating means includes means for remotely actuating the camera. 9. the apparatus of claim 7 further including means for selectively adjusting said illumination presenting means so that the equivalent brightness presented to the camera's light sensing circuit, and consequently the camera's shutter open time, can be changed over a select range of values. 10. the apparatus of claims 7 or 9 further including means connectable with said mating means for automatically regulating the voltage delivered from the battery. 11. the apparatus of claim 7 wherein said electrically actuable means comprises an electromagnetic relay which is arranged to provide the input switching signal for firing the strobe. 12. the apparatus of claim 11 wherein said control means comprises: (a) an astable multivibrator coupled with said electromagnetic relay and arranged to be responsive to an input signal to produce an output pulse train of predetermined frequency, said pulse train operating to actuate said electromagnetic relay; and (b) a monostable multivibrator coupled with said astable multivibrator and arranged to provide said astable multivibrator's input signal at said predetermined time before the shortest possible camera delay time in response to receiving said electrical output signal and to automatically remove said astable multivibrator's input signal after the exposure interval following the longest possible camera delay time.	cross reference to related applications the present application is related to u.s. patent application ser. no. 955,338 filed concurrently herewith in the name of edward a. yobaccio and entitled "rotatable adapter for use in optically coupling a viewing device with a photographic camera" and to u.s. patent application ser. no. 955,381 filed concurrently herewith in the name of william t. plummer and entitled "optical adapter having film contrast control means". background of the invention 1. field of the invention this invention relates generally to apparatus for use in endoscopic photography but, more particularly, to apparatus by which a rapidly pulsable strobe, when used in combination with a particular type of automatic camera, can be successively fired a plurality of times over a predetermined interval so that when any camera of the type is used with the strobe at least part of at least one strobe pulse will occur during the camera's exposure cycle. 2. description of the prior art endoscopes are optical viewing devices well known to the medical profession for their usefulness in diagnosing disease. with an endoscope, a physician, typically a surgical consultant, visually examines the interior of a patient's body organs for pathological processes whose presence is suspected or indicated by clinical and laboratory findings. once detected, a pathology is then carefully studied to determine its precise nature and extent so that the proper course of treatment can be decided upon and recommended to the patient. for a variety of reasons, it is often advantageous for the surgical consultant to have a permanent photographic record of the endoscopic findings. such records are useful, for example, for their educational value. also, they can form part of the patient's permanent medical file or can be used as a basis for evaluating changes in the pathology. additionally, endoscopic photographs serve as a powerful tool for promoting communication between the examining physician and others involved or interested in the diagnosis and as a means for informing the patient about the nature of his illness. although endoscopic photographs have their beneficial uses, they are somewhat difficult to obtain because the clinical form of most endoscopes generally is unsuitable for photography, because of the requirements of medically sound and safe practice, and because of the overriding concern for patient safety and comfort. photographic and optical principles, for instance, demand that any camera chosen for use with an endoscope must be able to be focused on the image provided by the endoscope's eyepiece, that adequate lighting be provided to assure acceptably exposed photographs, and that the examining physician, and sometimes more than one, be able to see an image of the field under examination immediately before and after a picture is taken in case of stills and continuously in the case of motion pictures. and all of this must be accomplished by apparatus which ideally shares the endoscope's single optical path. sound clinical procedure, on the other hand, imposes certain design constraints which make it difficult to satisfy the photographic and optical requirements for endoscopic apparatus. one major obstacle, for example, is the clinical desirability of using only one endoscope for both the visual clinical examination and the photographic work. it is neither convenient for the examining physician nor fair to the patient to have to withdraw the clinical endoscope once a pathology has been located, insert the photographic endoscope, photograph the field of interest, withdraw the photographic endoscope and reinsert the clinical endoscope. a process like this would obviously complicate an endoscopic examination by adding additional risk and discomfort to what is inherently an uncomfortable ordeal to begin with. also, since the endoscope must be manipulated quite a bit throughout the examination, any photographic apparatus designed for use with the clinical endoscope should not hamper the physician's freedom of movement or require extensive operations involving attachment and detachment of the photographic apparatus with the endoscope. consequently, apparatus used for endoscopic photography must be easy to use, e.g. manipulate, must not unduly prolong the endoscopic examination, ideally should be mechanically and optically compatible with an existing form of clinical endoscope and, as well, must be capable of reliably reducing photographs which are acceptably exposed while containing adequate detail. finally, such apparatus must be absolutely safe and must, in particular, be free from any danger of causing electrical shock or creating unduly high temperatures which may come into contact with the patient. given the above general considerations, it is evident that the problems associated with providing apparatus for use in endoscopic photography are varied--involving both technical and humane considerations. in the past, these problems have been dealt with in a variety of ways by providing either specially designed photographic systems whose use is limited to endoscopic photography or by providing adapters by which existing cameras can be used with an existing endoscope. for examples reference may be had to u.s. pat. no. 3,368,643 issued to john e. hotchkiss on feb. 1, 1972 and entitled "endoscope for photograpic recording"; u.s. pat. no. 3,918,072 issued to toshihiro imai et. al. on nov. 4, 1975 and entitled "single-lens reflex optical system for an endoscope"; u.s. pat. no. 3,995,287 issued to karl storz on nov. 30, 1976 and entitled "endoscopic camera"; u.s. pat. no. 3,900,021 issued to anthony peter walter makepeace et. al. on aug. 19, 1975 and entitled "coupling for endoscopes and instruments particularly cameras"; u.s. pat. no. 3,994,288 issued to joseph g. stumpf on nov. 30, 1976 and entitled "colposcope", and an article by brian stanford which appears in the journal of photographic science, volume 3, 1955, and is entitled "theoretical first principles of endoscopic photography". however, none of the foregoing publications appear to deal directly with the specific problem with which the present invention is concerned. in particular, the primary object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for use in endoscopic photographic work by which a well-known type of rapidly pulsable strobe when used in combination with a well-known type of automatic camera is successively fired a plurality of times over a predetermined interval so that, when the strobe is used with any one of the cameras from the well-known type to provide illumination of an endoscopic object field, at least part of one of the strobe pulses will occur during the camera's exposure cycle to assure adequate film exposure. the prior art contains descriptions of apparatus by which an electronic flash unit can successively and repetitively be triggered to discharge either a plurality of capacitors or to discharge a single capacitor incrementally to provide adequate illumination in synchronization with the exposure cycle of a single camera. for examples of such apparatus reference may be had to u.s. pat. no. 3,725,734 issued to arthur schneider on apr. 30, 1973 and entitled "electronic flash device"; u.s. pat. no. 3,748,989 issued to itsuki ban on july 31, 1973 and entitled "electronic flash system"; and u.s. pat. no. 3,438,766 issued to conrad h. biber on apr. 15, 1969 and entitled "electronic flash apparatus having variable output". however, the apparatus of these disclosures appear to be responsive during a flash mode of operation of the camera to receiving a flash firing signal which occurs in synchronization with the opening of the camera shutter with which they are employed. for reasons which will become apparent in the description of the invention to follow, the type of camera with which the present invention is particularly useful provides no such signal in its ambient mode of operation which is the mode in which it is required to operate in its present application and therefore the above prior art apparatus would not provide the solution to the problem which is solved by the present invention. it is also well known to operate the camera with which the present invention is used in its ambient mode of operation in combination with an electronic strobe such that the strobe is fired at a predetermined delay after the commencement of the camera photographic cycle. however, this operation provides no means of controlling the duration of the camera's exposure interval during its ambient exposure mode of operation while at the same time repetitively and successively firing an electronic strobe, all of which is a further object of the present invention. other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter. the invention accordingly comprises the apparatus possessing the construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure. summary of the invention this invention relates generally to photography but, more specifically, to photographic apparatus for use with an electronic strobe of a well-known type which produces a light pulse of given intensity and duration in response to receiving a predetermined input switching signal and has a recharge time which is substantially shorter than the light pulse's duration and automatic cameras of a well-known type which, upon actuation, begin a photographic cycle during which film exposure commences after a predetermined delay upon the opening of an electro-mechanical shutter and thereafter is automatically terminated by a light sensing circuit which measures scene brightness and commands the shutter to close upon detection of a predetermined exposure value and wherein the predetermined delay time to initiation of film exposure varies from camera to camera. the apparatus of the invention comprises means responsive to camera actuation for providing an electrical output signal at the instant the camera is actuated. also provided are means, responsive to the electrical output signal, for presenting to the camera's light sensing circuit at least one predetermined level of illumination equivalent to a predetermined scene brightness by which the camera's shutter is caused, via its light sensing circuit, to remain open for a select time. additionally included are electrically actuable means connectable to the strobe for providing to the strobe, upon actuation, the predetermined input switching signal by which the strobe is fired. the apparatus also includes control means, electrically coupled with the electrically actuable means and responsive to the electrical output signal, for actuating the electrically actuable means such that a plurality of strobe input switching signals are provided in a sequence of equal intervals which begins at a predetermined time before the shortest possible camera delay time and terminates after the exposure interval following the longest possible delay time so that whenever a camera of the type is used with the strobe type and the apparatus at least a portion of a strobe pulse will occur during the select exposure interval of this type camera. in the preferred embodiment of the apparatus, the control means comprises an astable multivibrator connected with an electromagnetic relay and arranged to be responsive to an input signal to produce an output pulse train of predetermined frequency. the pulse train operates to actuate the electromagnetic relay. a monostable multivibrator is connected with the astable multivibrator and is arranged to provide the astable multivibrator's input signal at the predetermined time before the shortest possible camera delay time in response to receiving the electrical output signal and to automatically remove the astable multivibrator's input signal after the exposure interval following the longest possible camera delay time. description of the drawings the novel features that are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. the invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation together with other objects and advantages thereof will best be understood from the following description of the illustrated embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numbers have been employed in the different figures to denote the same parts and wherein: fig. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the invention shown in combination with a photographic camera, an endoscope, an optical adapter, and an artificial light source; fig. 2 is an enlarged top view of the adapter shown in fig. 1 partially sectioned along line 2--2 of fig. 1; fig. 3 is a rear elevational view of a part of the adapter shown in fig. 1 with parts shown in section; fig. 4 is a circuit diagram of the apparatus of the invention shown in combination with a diagrammatic circuit of the electronics of the camera of fig. 1; fig. 5 is a timing diagram for the circuitry of fig. 4; and fig. 6 is a graph diagrammatically illustrating sensitometric characteristics of a film which the camera of fig. 1 is adapted to use. description of the preferred embodiment referring now to fig. 1, there is shown generally at 18 an electronic control device which is the preferred embodiment of the present invention and which is shown in combination with a clinical endoscope 12, an automatic camera 14, an electronic artificial light source 16 and an adapter 10. the adapter 10, the photographic camera 14, the electronic light source 16, and the electronic control device 18 of the invention collectively form a photographic system for practicing endoscopic photography in a manner which will be more readily apparent as this description proceeds. the clinical endoscope 12 constitutes an optical viewing device of the type which has a field of view that is larger than the diameter through which the field can be viewed and wherein the field is located several diameters away from the aperture through it is viewed. as best shown in fig. 1, the endoscope 12 comprises an elongated flexible fiber optic bundle 20 which has an objective lens system (not shown) located at its distal end for forming on the distal end of the fiber optic bundle 20 a real image of the object or field being explored by an examining physician. the image formed on the distal end of the fiber optic bundle 20 is then transferred in a well-known manner via the fiber optic bundle 20 to the proximal end of the endoscope 12 where it is then reimaged by an eyepiece 22 which forms a collimated-to-nearly-collimated image of the object which is located at the distal end of the endoscope 12. the object under examination is illuminated via another fiber optic bundle 24 which receives light at its proximal end from a lamp assembly generally designated at 28 and located in the light source 16. the lamp assembly 28 can be operated in a well-known manner in a steady state mode to provide a continuous source of illumination which is optically coupled in a well-known manner with the fiber optic bundle 24 via an adapter 26. the adapter 26 may include a condenser lens system for providing even illumination of the field under investigation and may also include a heat absorbing filter which cools the light thereby keeping the distal end of the endoscope 12 at a safe operating temperature so as not to endanger a patient. in addition to its continuous mode of operation, the light source 16 also operates in a strobe mode in which it produces a light pulse of given intensity and duration (see fig. 5) in response to receiving an input switching signal via a socket 59 thereof. immediately after receiving an input switching signal, the light source 16 automatically recharges in preparation for firing another light pulse, and the time it takes to recharge is substantially shorter than the duration of the light pulse so that it can produce a series of successive light pulses so long as the appropriate input switching signals are provided to it via the socket 59. as is well known, the physician conducting the endoscopic examination views the interior of the patient's body organ that is suspected of having a pathology through the eyepiece 22 of the endoscope 12 until he locates the particular pathology. the purpose of the adapter 10 is to optically and mechanically couple the photographic camera 14 with the eyepiece 22 of the endoscope 12 so that the image of the field or object formed by the endoscope 12 can be simultaneously viewed and photographed. the camera 14 may be any of a number of well-known types but, as illustrated, represents polaroid corporation`s sx-70 land camera which is fully automatic having an automatic exposure control system and is adapted to accept the well-known self-processable sx-70 color film which is processed by the camera in a well-known manner immediately after it has been exposed. the camera 14 can be operated in an ambient exposure mode in which available light provides the source for illuminating the scene or in a flash mode in which the source for illuminating the scene can either be a well-known linear photoflash array or an electronic strobe. included in the camera 14 is a base housing member 30 which is adapted in a well-known manner to releasably hold film cassettes (not shown) of the aforementioned type of film. such film cassettes, as is also well-known, include a stacked array of self-processable film units unerneath which is positioned a flat, thin battery which is used to supply power to operate the various electrical components of the camera 14. an example of such film cassettes is described in considerable detail in u.s. pat. no. 3,872,487 issued to nicholas gold on mar. 18, 1975 and entitled "photographic film assemblage and apparatus" and of such film units in, for example, u.s. pat. nos. 3,415,644; 3,594,165; and 3,761,268. camera 14 also includes a forward housing section 32 in which is disposed an objective taking lens 34 which can be focused in a well-known manner via a focus control wheel 36. additionally included in the camera 14 is a through-the-lens viewing system by which an object to be photographed can be observed through the objective taking lens 34 via a reflex arrangement (not shown) and a viewing device 38 located on the uppermost part of the camera 14. in practice, a photographer, while looking through the viewing device 38, aims the camera 14 at the object he wishes to photograph and rotates the focusing wheel 36 to adjust the focus of the objective lens 34 until the image of the object to be photographed is sharp. the focusing range over which this may be accomplished covers distances as near as 10.4 inches and as far as infinity. once the camera 14 has been focused, a photographic cycle is initiated by depressing a camera start button or switch 42 which is also located in the forward housing section 32 and which couples the film cassette's battery with the various electrical components of the camera 14. during the photographic cycle film exposure commences after a predetermined delay upon the opening of an electromechanical shutter (not shown) and thereafter is automatically terminated after a light sensing circuit, including a light sensing element 40, measures scene brightness and commands the shutter to close upon detection of a predetermined exposure value. for a more detailed description of the camera 14, reference may be had, for example, to u.s. pat. no. 3,714,879 issued to edwin h. land et al. on feb. 6, 1973 and entitled "reflex camera". referring now to figs. 1 and 2, the structure and operation of the various components which make up the adapter 10 will now be described. in those figures, it can be seen that the adapter 10 comprises a generally cube-shaped housing section 68 which includes (see fig. 2) a forward wall 70, a rear wall 72 spaced from the forward wall 70, and a right side wall 74 and a left side wall 76 which interconnect the forward wall 70 and the rear wall 72. located in each of the walls, 70, 72, 74 and 76, of the housing section 68 are apertures 78, 80, 82 and 84 respectively. the apertures, 78 through 84, function to permit light to enter and leave the housing section 68. surrounding the forward wall's aperture 78 and aligned therewith is an apertured collar 86 that is selectively shaped to receive the eyepiece 22 of the endoscope 12. the eyepiece 22 is fixedly retained with the collar 86 via a thumb screw 88. when the eyepiece 22 of the endoscope 12 is inserted in the collar 86 and the thumb screw 88 tightened, its optical axis is automatically aligned with the centerline of the forward wall's aperture 78. in this manner, means are provided for forming a releasable, generally light-tight mechanical connection with the eyepiece 22 which is located at the proximal end of the endoscope 12. the rear wall's aperture 80 is formed in the rear wall 72 so that its center is also aligned along the optical axis of the endoscope's eyepiece 22. surrounding the rear wall's aperture 80 and concentric therewith is an apertured eyecup 90 through which the collimated image formed by the endoscope's eyepiece 22 can be viewed. overlying the left side wall's aperture 84 is a diffuser 96 behind which is located a lamp assembly 94, including a lamp 95, which is retained in a well-known manner to the left side wall 76 via a lamp housing 92. in general, the purpose of the diffuser 96 and the lamp 95, which also derives its power from the camera's battery via the electronic device 18, is to provide means by which the contrast of the film with which the camera 14 is used can be improved so that more of the detail of the field being photographed can be captured than would otherwise be possible absent the diffuser 96 and the lamp 95. a more detailed description regarding how this is accomplished follows and is also provided in u.s. patent application ser. no. 955,381 filed concurrently herewith in the name of william t. plummer and entitled "optical adapter having film contrast control means". provided in the housing 68 is a beamsplitter 98 which diagonally extends between the forward wall 70 and the rear wall 72 at an angle of 45.degree. to the optical axis of the endoscope's eyepiece 22. in this manner, optical means are provided which are disposed within the housing section 68 for establishing a folded light path which has one axis, aligned with the optical axis of the endoscope's eyepiece 22, along which the collimated or viewable image formed by the endoscope 12 can be directly viewed. the other axis or branch of the folded light path thus provided and designated at 99 is disposed at 90.degree. with respect to the first axis. as is readily apparent, light rays which form the endoscope's viewable image are directed along the second branch 99 of the folded light path by the beamsplitter 98 where they pass through the right side wall's aperture 82. the adapter 10 also includes a generally prismatic shaped housing section 108 that is triangular in cross-section and includes a wall 110 having an aperture 116 therein, a wall 112 at right angles to the wall 110 and having an aperture 120 therein, and a wall 114 which has an aperture 118 therein and is arranged at an angle of 45.degree. with respect to both the walls 110 and 112. the housing 108 is rotatably connected with the housing 68 via a tubular arrangement which comprises an elongated cylindrical tube section 100 that is rigidly fastened with the right side wall 74 of the housing section 68 via a flange 101 and is concentric with the right side wall's aperture 82, a cylindrical sleeve 102 that is structured for slidable engagement with the tubular section 100, another cylindrical tubular section 106 that is fixedly attached to the forward wall 110 of the housing section 108 via a flange 107 and which is concentric with the aperture 116 of the forward wall 110, and a collar 104 structured to slide over the outside surfaces of the sleeve 102 and the tubular section 106 to fixedly couple one to the other. in the foregoing manner, the housing section 108 is rotatably coupled with the housing section 68 so that the center of the aperture 116 is colinear with the folded axis 99 of the folded light path formed by the beamsplitter 98 in the first housing section 68 and so that the light rays which form the viewable image provided by the endoscope's eyepiece 22 are directed along the folded axis 99 of the folded light path of the housing section 68 towards the aperture 116. a first relay lens 126 is provided within the interconnecting tubular arrangement which rotatably couples the housing section 68 to the housing section 108 for the purpose of intercepting light rays which are reflected from the beamsplitter 98 as they travel along the folded optical axis 99 of the housing section 68. the relay lens 126 is structured to form at a predetermined spatial location within the adapter 10 an aerial image of the object being viewed by the endoscope's optical system. the relay lens 126 has an outside diameter which is substantially the same as the inside diameter of the collar 104 and its rear peripheral surface is retained against the annular edge of the cylindrical tubular section 106 by a lens retaining ring 128 which snaps into a groove 129 provided on the interior surface of the collar 104 for this purpose. overlying the aperture 118 of the diagonal wall 114 of the housing section 108 is a mirror 122 that is retained in overlying relationship with respect to the aperture 118 by a suitable mirror retainer such as that designated at 124. the mirror 122 operates in a well-known manner to intercept light rays which emerge from the relay lens 126 to redirect them along a second folded light path of the adapter 10 whose folded branch or axis designated at 121, as can best be seen from fig. 2, is parallel with the optical axis of the endoscope's eyepiece 22. a lens housing 138 threadably mounts within the aperture 120 of the rear wall 112 of the housing section 108 such that the center of an exit aperture 140 thereof is colinear with the folded branch 121 of the adapter's second folded optical path provided by the mirror 122. mounted within the lens housing 138 is a second relay lens (134 and 130 taken together) that are retained therein by a pair of retainers 136 and 132 respectively and is structured in a well-known manner to allow the camera's objective taking lens 34 to be focused on the aerial image formed by the first relay lens 126. lens 126 and lenses 130 and 134 also are placed to act jointly in a well-known manner to form an image of the exit pupil of the endoscope's eyepiece 22 onto the entrance pupil of the camera's objective taking lens 34 as seen through the second relay lens 134. structured in this manner, substantially all of the rays from the aerial image pass through the entrance pupil of the camera's objective taking lens 34. it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the optical arts how to structure the various optical elements of the adapter 10 to provide the various functions as herein described. structured in the foregoing manner, the relay lens 126, the mirror 122, the field lens 130, and the relay lens 134 collectively define a rotationally symmetric optical system which is fixedly associated with the housing section 108 to establish a folded light path between its entrance aperture 116 and its exit aperture 120, to intercept the image forming light rays which are directed along the folded branch 99 of the folded optical path of the housing section 68 and form in a predetermined spatial location within the adapter 10 an aerial image of the object viewed via the endoscope's eyepiece 22 and for facilitating focusing of the camera's objective taking lens 34 on the aerial image by way of the aperture 140 located in the lens housing 138. means for releasably attaching the camera 14 to the adapter 10 are provided in the form of a bracket assembly designated generally at 142. the bracket assembly 142 comprises an elongated, generally triangular shaped, frame member 141 having one end fixedly mounted in a well-known manner to the collar 104 and portions of the tubular section 106. the frame member 141 has a hollowed out central triangular section 143 by which its weight is reduced. as best seen in fig. 1, the frame member 141 along one edge thereof has an upwardly extending flange 144, a locating stop 148 (fig. 2) which is located near its fixed end. also attached to the flange 144 is a centrally located camera support tab 146 and a camera supporting platform 150 which is located at its free end and extends outwardly in a direction generally perpendicular to the elongated dimension of the frame member 141. the platform 150 also has an apertured central portion 153 to reduce its weight and, as well, includes an elongated slot 152 for slidably receiving a thumb screw which fits into a tripod mount located, but not shown, in the base 30 of the camera 14. as seen in fig. 1, the camera 14 is slid alongside the locating flange 144 with the right side of its base 30 guided by the flange 144 until the right side of the forward wall of its front housing section 32 butts up against the forward surface of the stop 148. in this manner, the stop 148 and the flange 144 cooperate to align the objective taking lens 34 of the camera 14 in a predetermined manner with the exit aperture 140 of the lens housing 138. once the camera 14 is located, the thumb screw, which extends through the slot 152 into the camera's tripod mount, is tightened to secure the camera 14 in place. in the foregoing manner, means have been provided for releasably attaching the camera 14 to the adapter 10 so that the camera's objective lens 34 is aligned with the aperture 140 so that the viewable image formed by the endoscope's eyepiece 22 can be viewed through the aperture 140 via the camera's viewing system for purposes of focusing the camera 14 thereon and afterwards for photographing the aerial image formed by the optical system of the adapter 10 as previously described. referring now to fig. 3, it can be seen that the sleeve 102 is provided with a pair of holes 162 and 164 respectively which are spaced apart by 180.degree.. also, mounted atop the housing section 68 is a support bracket 154 having a lever 156 pivotally mounted thereto. the forward end of the lever 156 has a pin 158 attached to it while its rear end has a compression spring 160 which is configured to bias the pin 158 downwardly toward the holes, 162 and 164, located in the collar 102. in this manner the portion of the adapter 10 which is fixedly attached to the endoscope's eyepiece 22 (i.e. housing 68 and tubular section 100) and the rotatable portion of the adapter 10 (i.e. the housing 108, the sleeve 102, the collar 104, the tubular section 106, and the bracket 142) include complementary configured portions for releasably locking one to the other so that when the rotating portion is placed in either of its angular positions with respect to the fixed portion, the sleeve 102 cannot be displaced away from the housing section 68 along the axis 99 thereby keeping the combined length of the optical path of the adaper 10 fixed regardless of the angular position of the rotatable portion of the adapter 10. in the foregoing manner, the adapter 10 is structured to permit the viewable image of the object formed by the endoscope 12 to be directly viewed along the optical axis of the endoscope's eyepiece 22 via the exit aperture 80 of the housing section 68 or to be viewed through the camera's viewing system via the exit aperture 140 of the lens housing 138 for purposes of focusing or alternate viewing, to be photographed along the folded optical path of the housing section 108, and also structured for rotating the housing section 108, including the camera 14, with respect to the housing section 68 so that the camera 14 can be moved to a plurality of angular positions with respect to the housing section 68. after the camera is focused, the viewable image formed by the endoscope's eyepiece 22 can be photographed from any of the camera's angular positions. the availability of the plurality of angular positions of the camera thus provides the photographer with the option of placing the camera in a comfortable position for his purposes without introducing any reversals in the image as observed directly through the exit aperture 80 of the housing section 68. the electronic control device 18 of the invention will now be discussed. as best shown in fig. 1, the electronic control device 18 electrically mates with the adapter 10 via a cable and connector arrangement, 52 and 54 respectively; with the light source 16 via another cable 56 and a plug 58 which inserts into the complementary configured socket 59 in the light source 16; and with the camera 14 via a cable 60, a connector 62, a foot switch 64, and a plug 66 which inserts into a complementary configured socket comprising a pair of female type receptacles or terminals shown schematically in fig. 4 at 65 and 67 located in a left side wall 61 of the camera's forward housing section 32, and via a blade 48 which depends downwardly from a housing 46 and inserts into a well-known socket assembly 44 located in the top wall of the camera's forward housing section 32. as is more fully described in u.s. pat. no. 4,064,519, issued to richard c. kee on dec. 20, 1977, and entitled "regulated strobe for camera with sixth flash inhibit", the electronic device 18 can derive power from the camera's battery by selectively mating a conducting strip 47 located on the blade 48 with a corresponding terminal (not shown) located in the flash socket 44 and by inserting the plug 66 into its corresponding socket previously mentioned. in this manner, the electronic device 18 can derive power from the camera's battery and operates in a manner which is more fully described herein to actuate the light source 16 in a predetermined manner during a photographic cycle of the camera 14 to insure that adequate lighting is provided while a picture is being taken. referring now to fig. 4, there is shown generally at 165 an electronic control circuit which represents the circuitry for the electronic device 18. the circuit 165 of the control device 18 is shown in combination with the electronics for the camera 14 which are shown diagrammatically and designated generally at 163. as previously mentioned, the camera 14 is of the fully automatic type and can be operated in either an ambient or a flash exposure mode of operation. the camera's electronic circuit 163 comprises a well-known camera logic and exposure control circuit 170 which includes the light sensing element 40. the circuit 170 has one terminal labeled vcc which is connected to one terminal of the camera's actuator switch 42 while the other terminal of the camera's actuator switch 42 is connected to a battery connect terminal designated at 61. another terminal of the circuit 170 that is labeled gnd is connected to a second battery connect terminal designated at 63. connected in parallel with the camera's actuator switch 42 is a well-known electronic latching circuit 168. when a film cassette is loaded into the base 30 of the camera 14, the battery contained in the film cassette and designated at 166 automatically engages the camera's battery connect terminals, 61 and 63, in a well-known manner to make power available to the camera's electronic circuit 170. for purposes which will become more readily apparent, the camera 14 is operated in its ambient exposure mode of operation in which its electromechanical shutter arrangement (not shown) is controlled by the output of the light sensing element 40 in such a way that its aperture and/or shutter speed are automatically set in accordance with the film's given asa speed rating and the scene light actually detected by the light sensing element 40. more particularly, when the camera's actuator switch 42 is closed, the vcc terminal of the circuit 172 is automatically coupled to the positive terminal of the battery 166 and its terminal labeled gnd to the battery's negative terminal. the latching circuit 168, which is arranged in parallel with the camera's actuating switch 42, automatically operates in a well-known manner to assure that the battery's voltage is kept supplied to the camera circuit 170 even if the actuator switch 42 opens during the camera's photographic cycle. once actuated, the camera 14 begins a photographic cycle during which film exposure commences after a predetermined delay upon the opening of its electromechanical shutter (not shown) and thereafter is automatically terminated by a well-known light sensing circuit which includes the light sensing element 40 which measures the scene brightness and commands the shutter to close upon detection of a predetermined exposure value. the predetermined delay time prior to the opening of the camera's electromechanical shutter is necessary so that other camera operations can be completed in a predetermined sequence in readiness for the exposure portion of the camera's photographic cycle. as an example of such a camera logic and exposure control circuit reference may be had to u.s. pat. no. 3,744,385 issued to john p. burgarella et. al. on july 10, 1973 and entitled "control system for photographic apparatus". as best illustrated in fig. 5, the predetermined delay time prior to the initiation of film exposure for camera's of the type represented by the camera 14 varies from camera to camera within select limits typically being from 260 milliseconds for a short time delay camera to 320 milliseconds for a long time delay camera. because of the camera-to-camera variation in the predetermined delay time prior to the initiation of the camera's exposure cycle or exposure interval and the absence of a strobe fire pulse while the camera 14 is operated in its ambient exposure mode of operation, there is no means provided by which the electronic strobe 16 can be fired in synchronization with the opening of the camera's electromechanical shutter arrangement. moreover, to operate the camera 14 in its flash or artificial illumination mode of operation where a flash firing pulse is available to synchronously fire the strobe 16 with the opening of the camera's electromechanical shutter arrangement is unsatisfactory because inadequate illumination is provided in this mode of operation as a result of a limitation on the length of the camera's exposure interval. consequently, the preferred mode of operation for endoscopic photography is the ambient mode of operation where the camera's exposure interval can be made sufficiently long to admit the minimum light from the light pulse or pulses produced by the light source 16 to assure an adequate exposure. the circuit 165 functions as a means by which any camera representative of the type of camera 14 can be used in combination with light sources of the type 16 such that the camera can be operated in its ambient exposure mode of operation in a manner whereby the exposure interval of the camera is selectively controlled and the light source 16 actuated such that a plurality of strobe pulses are provided in a sequence of equal intervals which begins at a predetermined time before the shortest possible camera delay time and terminates after the exposure interval following the longest possible delay time so that whenever any one of the type of cameras 14 is used with the light source 16, at least a portion of a strobe pulse will occur during the select exposure interval of this type camera. the manner in which the circuit 165 accomplishes this will be made readily apparent from the following description of its various components and their functions with reference to figs. 1, 4 and 5. as previously discussed, the pair of spaced apart terminals designated at 65 and 67 respectively in fig. 4 receive the prongs of the plug 66. when the plug 66 is inserted into the terminals 65 and 67, the foot switch 64 is placed in parallel connection with the camera's actuator switch 42. the electronic device blade 48 inserts into the camera socket 44 so that a terminal 47 (see fig. 1) engages a correspondingly configured terminal located in the socket 44 and designated diagrammatically in fig. 4 at 45. the terminal 45 is connected to the negative terminal of the battery 166 via the camera's battery connect terminal 63. in this manner, when the foot switch 64 is depressed, the camera's photographic cycle is automatically initiated and at the same time the battery 166 is connected to the circuit 165 and the camera control circuit 170. a resistor 172 and a zener diode 174 are arranged in series across the positive and negative terminal of the battery 166 to regulate the voltage supplied to the circuit 165. the resistor 172 and the zener diode 174 operate in a conventional manner to maintain the voltage across a pair of lines 155 and 157 of the circuit 165 at a constant value should variations in the voltage of the battery 166 occur. in this manner, line 155 of the circuit 165 is maintained at a regulated positive potential with respect to line 157. a rheostat 176 and a small lamp 180 are connected in series across lines 155 and 157. the lamp 180 has a light output characteristic which varies in a known manner in accordance with the voltage applied across its terminals. lamp 180 is disposed in a well-known manner in a lamp housing 50 of the electronic device 18 (see fig. 1) such that it covers the camera light sensing element 40 when the electronic device 18 is attached to the camera 14 by inserting its blade 48 into the camera socket 44. in this manner, when the camera 14 is actuated by either depressing the foot switch 64 or the camera actuator switch 42, the lamp 180 operates to present to the camera light sensing element 40 at least one predetermined level of illumination that is equivalent to a predetermined scene brightness by which the camera shutter is caused, via its light sensing circuit, to remain open for a select time. the voltage impressed across the terminals of the lamp 180 can be changed by adjusting the resistance value of the rheostat 176 which operates as a means for selectively adjusting the level of illumination presented to the camera light sensing element 40. consequently the equivalent brightness can be presented to the camera light sensing element 40 and thus the camera shutter open time can be changed over a select range of values. in this manner, the exposure interval of the camera 14 can be either lengthened or shortened for purposes of obtaining the level of illumination that is necessary to adequately expose the film. also connected across the positive line 155 and the negative line 157 are a second rheostat 178 and the lamp 95 (see fig. 2). in this manner, when the camera 14 is actuated by either depressing the foot switch 64 or the camera actuator switch 42, at least one predetermined level of uniformly diffuse illumination (i.e., non-image forming), which is independent of the illumination provided by the light source 16, is provided in the optical system of the adapter 10 prior to the camera shutter opening and thus adds to any exposure which is delivered to the film by the output of the light source 16. this additional exposure provided by the lamp 95 in combination with the diffuser 96 operates in a manner to be explained to improve the film's contrast to render more detail in darker regions of a picture without sacrificing any detail in the highlights. the rheostat 178 is used to change the voltage applied across the lamp 95 in a well-known manner and thus constitutes a means for continuously varying over a select range, the level of non-image forming uniform illumination provided in the optical system of the adapter 10. the circuit 165 also includes a conventional operational amplifier 182 having one terminal vcc connected to the line 155 and another terminal gnd connected to the line 157. power to operate the operational amplifier 182 is derived from the lines 155 and 157 via the operational amplifier terminals labeled + and - respectively. the operational amplifier 182 is arranged to provide an output signal which is the inverse of the signal received at its input terminals, vcc and gnd. a positive terminal of a capacitor 184 is connected to the output of the operational amplifier 182 while a negative terminal of the capacitor 184 is connected in common at a junction 185 with a voltage dividing network comprising a pair of series connected resistors 186 and 188 which are, in turn, connected across the lines 155 and 157 respectively. junction 185 is also connected to a terminal trig of a well-known monostable multivibrator 194. the multivibrator 194 has a first terminal vcc connected to the line 155 and a second terminal reset connected in common with the terminal vcc. other terminals of the multivibrator 194 include a third terminal dis connected to the line 155 via a resistor 190, a fourth terminal thres connected in common with the terminal dis, a fifth terminal cont connected to the negative ground line 157 via a capacitor 196, a sixth terminal gnd connected to negative line 157, and a seventh terminal out connected to the input of a conventional inverting amplifier 198. connected in series with the resistor 190 is a capacitor 192 which has its positive terminal connected to one end of the resistor 190 and its negative terminal connected to the negative line 157. connected in this manner, the multivibrator 194 operates as a conventional "one-shot". the external capacitor 192 is initially held discharged by a transistor (not shown) in the multivibrator 194. upon the application of a negative trigger pulse at the terminal trig, an internal flip flop (not shown) is set which releases the short circuit across the external capacitor 192 and drives the output from the multivibrator 194 high resulting in a logic 1 signal at the output terminal out. the voltage across the capacitor 192 now increases exponentially with an rc time constant t equal to the product of the resistance of the resistor 190 and the capacitance of the capacitor 192. when the voltage across the capacitor 192 equals 2/3vcc, an internal comparator (not shown) of the multivibrator 194 resets its internal flip flop (not shown) which, in turn, rapidly discharges the capacitor 192 and drives the output to a logic 0 state. the output of the inverting amplifier 198 is connected to a terminal reset of a well-known astable multivibrator 204. the multivibrator 204 has a first terminal vcc connected to the positive line 155, a second terminal gnd connected to the negative line 157, a third terminal cont connected to the line 157 via a capacitor 206, and a fourth terminal out connected to the input of another conventional inverting amplifier 207. an rc timing network comprising a resistor 200, a resistor 201, and a capacitor 202 is serially connected across the lines 155 and 157. connected in common with the resistors 200 and 201 is a fifth terminal dis of the multivibrator 204, and in common connection with one end of the resistor 201 and the positive end of the capacitor 202 is a sixth terminal thres of the multivibrator 204. the terminal thres and a seventh terminal trig are connected in common with one another. when the multivibrator 204 receives a logic 1 signal at its terminal reset, it will trigger and free run as a multivibrator in an astable mode of operation. the external capacitor 202 charges through the resistors 200 and 201 and discharges through the resistor 201 only. the duty cycle for the multivibrator 204 is precisely set by the ratio of the resistors 200 and 201. thus, when a logic 1 signal is received at the terminal reset of the multivibrator 204, it provides a plurality of output pulses at its terminal out which terminate whenever a logic 0 signal is received at its terminal reset. a conventional electromagnetic relay 208 is also provided in the circuit 165. the relay 208 has one terminal vcc connected to the positive line 155 and another terminal switch connected to the output of the inverting amplifier 207. the relay 208 also has one terminal labeled + connected to the switch 58 (see fig. 1) and another terminal labeled - which is also connected to the switch 58. the relay 208 is arranged so that whenever the output of the amplifier 207 goes low, the switch 58 closes. closure of the switch 58, in turn, operates to fire the light source 16 in a manner previously described. having described the nature and function of each of the components of the circuit 165 with reference to how they operate individually and how the circuit 165 interfaces with the camera 14, the operation of the photographic system comprising the endoscope 12, the adapter 10, the camera 14, the light source 16 and the electronic device 18 of the invention will now be discussed with reference to figs. 1, 4 and 5. it will first be assumed that the physician who is conducting an endoscopic examination has found a pathology or pathological process which he wishes to photograph and that the camera 14 has been properly loaded with a film cassette containing a battery. the adapter 10 is then coupled with the endoscope 12 in a manner previously described or could already be coupled with the endoscope since it will be recalled that the adapter 10 can be used to directly view the image provided by the endoscope eyepiece 22 via the adapter eyecup 90. in either event, the camera 14 is then attached to the endoscopic adapter 10 in a manner previously described. the electronic device 18 is attached to the camera 14 by inserting its blade 48 into the camera socket 44. the plug 66 is inserted into the remote camera actuating receptacles to connect with the terminals 65 and 67, and the plug 58 is inserted into the receptacle 59 of the light souce 16. the camera 14, via its viewing device 38, is then focused in a manner previously described. after focusing the camera 14, the examining physician may then elect to rotate the camera from its focusing position in the manner previously described if he finds another camera position more comfortable or optionally may want to allow the camera to remain where it is so that another physician can simultaneously view what the endoscope 12 is imaged on. once the physician is ready to photograph what interests him, he depresses the foot switch 64 which operates in a manner previously described to provide a regulated voltage at lines 155 and 157 of the circuit 165. this action initiates the photographic cycle of the camera 14 simultaneously turning on the lamp 95 and the lamp 180. at this instant, the delay period prior to the initiation of the camera's exposure interval commences and, as was previously discussed, will vary from camera to camera (see fig. 5). thus, at the initiation of the camera photographic cycle, an electrical output signal in the form of the regulated voltage across lines 155 and 157 is provided at the instant the camera is actuated. at the instant the camera is actuated, the inverting amplifier 182 immediately produces a low voltage output signal which is presented to the capacitor 184. the capacitor 184, in turn, provides a negative going trigger signal at the terminal trig of the monostable multivibrator 194. this, in turn, causes a logic 1 signal to appear at the terminal out of the multivibrator 194. the logic 1 signal at the output terminal of the multivibrator 194 remains high for a period of time that is shorter than the shortest possible delay time that is expected for any one of the type of camera 14. the logic 1 output signal of the multivibrator 194 is inverted by the amplifier 198 and therefore provides a logic 0 signal at the terminal reset of the astable multivibrator 204. in this manner, the astable multivibrator 204 is prohibited from free running in its astable mode of operation so long as the signal applied to its terminal reset remains at a logic 0 state, and therefore, the switch 58 remains open and consequently the light source 16 remains unfired. after a predetermined time which is related to the rc time constant of the resistor 190 and the capacitor 192, the output of the multivibrator 194 produces a logic 0 signal at its terminal out. this logic 0 signal in turn is then inverted by the amplifier 198 to produce a logic 1 signal at the reset terminal of the astable multivibrator 204. when this happens, the output of the multivibrator 204 goes high and is immediately inverted by the amplifier 207 thus causing the terminal switch of the relay 208 to assume a low state. this condition immediately causes the switch 58 to close and fire the strobe to produce a first light pulse whose intensity and duration are known (see fig. 5). the values of the resistances 200 and 201 and of the capacitor 202 are intentionally chosen so that the logic 1 signal at the output of the multivibrator 204 remains high for a period of time that is sufficiently long enough to permit the full output of the light pulse of the light source 16 to expire and also to allow the light source 16 to recharge. the duration of the logic 0 signal at the output terminal (out) of the multivibrator 204 is intentionally made extremely short compared to the duration of its logic 1 signal by selecting appropriate values for the resistor 201 and the capacitor 202 since the light source 16 will have recharged and be in readiness to be immediately fired again after the light pulse has expired. therefore, the logic 0 output signal of the multivibrator 204 is made extremely small, say on the order of a fraction of a millisecond, so that no time is lost in firing another strobe pulse. after the set time of the monostable multivibrator 194 elapses, its output terminal out automatically assumes a logic 1 state again which automatically terminates operation of the astable multivibrator 204. in practice, the set time of the monostable multivibrator 194 is selected so that the astable multivibrator 204 operates in its astable mode of operation for a period of time which begins just prior to the shortest delay expected for the camera 14 and terminates after the exposure interval following the longest expected delay for cameras of the aforementioned type. in the foregoing manner, control means have been provided which are electrically coupled with the means for actuating the camera 14 and are responsive to actuation of camera 14 to provide a plurality of input switching signals to the light source 16 in a sequence of equal intervals which begins at a predetermined time before the shortest possible camera delay time and terminates after the exposure interval following the longest possible delay time so that whenever a camera of the type of camera 14 is used with the light source 16 in combination with the electronic device 18, at least a portion of a light pulse will occur during the select exposure interval of the camera. obviously, the circuit values for the circuit 165 and the duration of the camera's exposure interval may be selected so that more than one light pulse from the strobe 16 can occur during the camera's exposure interval. thus a number of strobe pulses can be provided during the exposure interval of the camera 14 to provide enough light sufficient for proper exposure of the film. however, it should be noted that the exposure interval of the camera 14 should not be made so long where conditions indicate that camera motion may become a problem. the influence that the diffused light, which is created by the lamp 95 in combination with the diffuser 96, has on the film will now be discussed. as was previously discussed, the lamp 95 is turned on at the initiation of the camera photographic cycle and remains on until after the camera exposure interval is terminated. as a result of the lamp 95 being on during the exposure interval, a diffused non-image forming light of predetermined value is introduced into the optical system of the adapter 10 (see fig. 2) by way of the beamsplitter 98 where it is added to the image forming illumination traveling to the film during the camera's exposure interval. thus the exposure of the film consists of two parts; one which is image forming and the other which does not form an image but produces an overall fogging of the film which in general reduces the characteristic slope and thereby contrast with which the film responds to the variously luminous parts of a field being investigated. this will be more readily apparent by referring to fig. 6 which diagrammatically illustrates in graphic form a curve 210 that represents the given sensitometric characteristics of the film that is used in the camera 14. the curve 210 shows how the density response of the film varies in correspondence with the logarithm of the exposure to which the film is subjected. as shown by the curve 210, there is a minimum density region (d-min) where the density does not appreciably change for a large change in exposure. where the log of the exposure is approximately 10 percent of the maximum value (the log of the maximum exposure is equal to 0), a transition region begins where the density begins to show significant changes with changing exposure. following this transition region there is a straight line portion of the curve 210 where the density uniformly changes with corresponding changes in the log of the exposure. this linear region is then followed by another transition region where the density continues to change with changing exposure except at a lower rate than it did within the linear region. the second transition region is followed by a region (d-max) where the density again no longer changes, or changes little, with changes in exposure. so long as the field under investigation has no regions whose luminances would cause exposures which would produce densities falling outside the linear transitional regions of the film and the exposure is optimized generally about the midpoint of the linear portion of the curve 210, the photographer can be reasonably sure that all of the detail of the field will be captured in the photograph. however, if the luminances of certain parts of the field under investigation fall outside the transitional regions of the curve 210 and these parts of the field are equally as important as other parts of the field which fall within the linear and transitional regions of the curve 210, the detail contained in those parts outside the linear region of the curve 210 would be lost since, in one extreme situation, they could fall in the d-max region of the curve 210 where they would be too dark to see, while in the other extreme, they could fall in the d-min region of the curve 210 where they would be washed out. by adding the diffused non-image forming exposure to that attributed by the output of light source 16 during the camera exposure interval, the characteristic curve of the film changes and assumes a shape which is diagrammatically illustrated in fig. 6 in graphic form by the curve 212. it can be seen from the curve 212 that the additional non-image forming illumination operates to produce a film characteristic curve whose slope compared with that of the curve 210 is reduced thereby improving the film's contrast properties. this reduction in the rate of density change with respect to changes in the log of the exposure operates to render more detail in darker regions of the picture without sacrificing any detail in the highlights because of the large disparity in the level of exposure between the 0 and 3.0 points on the log exposure coordinate scale. obviously, the addition of a small level of illumination to the exposure at the 3.0 position on the log exposure scale is much more significant than the density change that occurs by adding that same exposure in a region on the log exposure scale which is close to the 0 value (maxium exposure). in the foregoing manner, means responsive to the actuation of the camera 14 have been provided for providing in the optical means of the adpater 10, at least while the camera shutter is open, at least one predetermined level of uniform illumination which is independent of the illumination provided by the light source 16, is non-image forming, and adds to the exposure delivered to the film by the strobe's output. certain changes may be made in the above-described embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention, and those skilled in the art may make still other changes according to the teachings of the disclosure. therefore, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
119-140-476-474-712	US	[ "US", "JP", "WO", "EP" ]	G03G13/00,B29C67/00,G03G15/16,G03G15/22	1994-03-31T00:00:00	1994	[ "G03", "B29" ]	apparatus of fabricating 3 dimensional objects by means of electrophotography, ionography or a similar process	freeform fabrication apparatus for rapid prototyping. in one embodiment, the apparatus includes ion-generating equipment for sequentially creating latent ion images of layers of an object to be fabricated. developing apparatus is provided for adhering at least one object building substance to the sequential latent ion images to create a series of laminae. thereafter, the series of laminae are assembled to fabricate the object.	1. freeform fabrication apparatus comprising: ion generating apparatus for sequentially creating latent ion images of layers of an object to be fabricated; developing apparatus for adhering at least one object building substance to the sequential latent ion images to create a series of laminae; and apparatus for assembling the series of laminae to fabricate the object. 2. the apparatus of claim 1 wherein the latent image is created on a conductive drum coated with a dielectric layer. 3. the apparatus of claim 1 wherein the ion generating apparatus is a linear array of controlled ion discharge elements. 4. the apparatus of claim 1 wherein the object building substance is a powder. 5. the apparatus of claim 1 further including means for making the object building substances tacky. 6. the apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus for assembling the series of lamina comprises: a platen; and actuators for moving the platen into contact with the lamina. 7. the apparatus of the claim 6 wherein the actuators are solenoids. 8. the apparatus of claim 1 further including a movable plate including heated and cooled portions alternately placed into thermal contact with a lamina. 9. freeform fabrication apparatus comprising: a first latent image forming apparatus for forming a first portion of a latent image of a layer of an object to be fabricated; a first development apparatus for adhering a first object building substance to the first portion of the latent image; at least a second image-forming-apparatus for forming a second portion of the latent image of the layer of the object to be fabricated; a second developing apparatus for adhering a second object building substance to the second portion of the latent image; and apparatus for assembling the first and second object building substances to create the layer. 10. the apparatus from claim 9 wherein one of the image-forming apparatuses employs electrophotography. 11. the apparatus of claim 9 wherein at least one of the image-forming apparatuses is an ion generating apparatus. 12. freeform fabrication apparatus comprising: apparatus for sequentially electrostatically propelling particles of an object building substance toward a support to create sequential particle images on the support of layers of an object to be fabricated; and apparatus for assembling the sequential particle images to fabricate the object.	background of the invention numerous systems for the freeform fabrication of three dimensional objects under computer control have been proposed. this field has become known by the general terms "rapid prototyping" and "desktop manufacturing" over the last several years. while existing or proposed three dimensional freeform fabrication systems differ from each other in the materials used to build objects in the specific process, the form or state of these materials, and the particulars of the mechanics to form objects and the properties of the resulting objects themselves, almost all of the methods are based upon the layerwise superposition and bonding of materials to form the object. the numerical information required to control a freeform fabrication apparatus and thus to form and bond together each such layer of an object is commonly obtained by performing additional mathematical processing upon the data file which defines the desired object from a three dimensional computer aided design (cad) system. these additional mathematical steps define the layers of the object as required to perform a freeform fabrication process. it is also possible to use as a starting point a physical object, digitize the spatial coordinates of the object and in a similar fashion perform additional mathematical processing on this data to define layers of the object for a freeform fabrication process. thus, a second object can be generated that may be different in scale, materials or design from the first. the uses for three dimensional freeform fabrication systems include, but are not limited to: the rapid fabrication of prototype parts for use as engineering or design models, both for functional and visual design verification; the rapid fabrication of investment and other types of casting patterns; fabrication of unique objects to be used as casting patterns or even functional objects, as for example from cat scan or nmr data for prosthetic and other medical uses; the fabrication of objects of geometries that would be difficult or impossible to realize using typical subtractive machining processes such as milling or turning on a lathe. such systems in addition possess the virtue of allowing rapid realization of a three dimensional object from data supplied by a computer aided design (cad) system without the preparation of intervening tooling and thereby lower the time for the overall design cycle in many cases from months to a few days or hours. this results in great savings in tooling costs, especially in cases where several iterations may be required to be performed until an acceptable final design or tool is realized, and also results in a highly-desirable, more timely introduction of the so-designed products to market. among the processes that have been proposed are those which use layerwise hardening of a photopolymer as the object medium such as stereolithography, u.s. pat. no. 4,575,330, solid ground curing, u.s. pat. no. 4,961,154, and design controlled automatic fabrication, u.s. pat. no. 4,752,498, and others. another group of proposed technologies is based on layerwise material deposition and includes ballistic particle manufacturing, u.s. pat. no. 4,665,492, fused deposition modeling, u.s. pat. no. 5,121,329, inkjet methods, u.s. pat. no. 5,059,266, weld metal deposition, u.s. pat. no. 5,207,371, masked plasma spray, u.s. pat. no. 5,126,529, and others. the object materials in these techniques include melt extruded plastics and waxes, photopolymers, ballistically jetted waxes and metals, and other materials. still other methods have been proposed based upon the bonding of powders. selective laser sintering, u.s. pat. no. 4,863,538, uses the energy of a laser to layerwise bond particles of plastic, wax, or metal together until the desired object is formed. three dimensional printing, u.s. pat. no. 5,204,055, is similar, but replaces the laser with a high speed inkjet system which ejects bonding material layerwise into a bed of ceramic powder. the object so formed may subsequently be sintered and may be used to produce a metal article by means of an investment casting-like process without the requirement for an intervening wax or other material pattern. additional three dimensional freeform fabrication methods are based on the cutting out of cross sections of the desired object from sheet or web fed material and subsequent lamination of these cross sections to form the object. the most commercially successful of these techniques to date is laminated object manufacturing, u.s. pat. no. 4,752,352. paper, plastic films of various kinds and metal foils may be used in this process to form the desired object. while there are, as described above, many proposed methods for three dimensional freeform fabrication, and indeed some of these have reached a significant level of commercialization, there are many disadvantages to the existing and proposed methods. examination of these methods and their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, permits the desirable properties of an improved freeform three dimensional object fabrication method to be listed: a. it is desirable that an improved method of freeform fabrication be a slice-based technology. this allows the rate of construction of the object to be independent of the geometry of the object and shortens fabrication time by eliminating the need for calculating and individually positioning vectors as is required for stereolithography or fused deposition modeling. it would be a further advantage if the layers did not require the fabrication of an intervening mask as required by solid ground curing or design controlled automatic fabrication. b. a solid support material is desirable in an improved method of freeform fabrication in order to produce desired objects with the most generalized geometric capability, to minimize built in stress and to improve accuracy by preventing wandering and swelling of the fabricated object as occurs with some methods that use liquid photopolymers. a solid support also dispenses with the need to design a support structure for overhanging or other geometrically awkward volumes of the desired object as is required in stereolithography or fused deposition modeling. c. it is desirable in an improved method of freeform fabrication that the support material be subjected to the same physical processes as the build or object material in order to result in minimum differences in physical properties between the support and the object materials. the reasons are similar to those set forth above. note that in the case of selective laser sintering, while a solid support structure is provided by the powder which remains unsintered, the difference in density between this unsintered support and the sintered object powders can lead to inaccuracies in object geometry. d. an improved method of freeform fabrication should be capable of providing high resolution and accuracy. high resolution will result in better surface finish. e. high speed operation should be possible with an improved method of freeform fabrication. it is very desirable to be able to build objects much more quickly than previously known methods are capable. f. object materials used in an improved method of freeform fabrication should be safe, non-toxic and inexpensive. unlike the situation with some existing methods, it is highly desirable to be able to build objects in materials which are suitable for the actual application envisioned for the object. it is further desirable that there results no emission of smoke or vapors requiring venting as with some methods such as laminated object manufacturing which uses a carbon dioxide laser for material cutting. many photopolymers used in present methods can irritate the skin or respiratory tract and are suspected carcinogens. it is thus desirable to avoid the use of these materials. g. an improved method of freeform fabrication should utilize existing technology and not require expensive or exotic components. many present methods such as stereolithography require expensive and/or limited-life lasers, expensive laser beam positioning and modulating means or other costly components. the use of less expensive components will result in lower prices for the equipment and wider adoption. h. an improved method of freeform fabrication should evolve from technology with a record of reliability. i. the post-processing operations of an improved method of freeform fabrication, if any, should be clean and simple. some present methods such as stereolithography require post-curing of fabricated objects in an oven or uv light box after removal of excess material by solvent-bathing and manual wiping. other methods offer much easier post-processing such as a warm water rinsing, or brushing off of excess powder, and there are some methods where no post-processing is required at all. these cleaner techniques of post processing are highly desirable. j. an improved method of freeform fabrication should be adaptable to many market segments: for example, low-cost, high-speed, multi-material, etc. the cost of components in many technologies, precludes low-cost versions of such equipment from being developed, and the nature of many of the processes is such that they may not be adaptable to a wide array of such markets. k. the size and other mechanical characteristics of the machinery used in an improved method of freeform fabrication should be appropriate for an office or laboratory environment. some present systems such as solid ground curing weigh several tons and occupy a complete room. thus, it can be seen that in spite of the existence of numerous proposed and current methods for the fabrication of freeform three dimensional objects, there still exists a need for a method which combines the desirable characteristics described above. u.s. pat. no. 5,088,047 teaches a prior art method of freeform fabrication based on electrophotography that answers the requirements described above. see, for example, schein, l. b., "electrophotography and development physics," springer-verlag, berlin 1988, for a general review of the field. in this patent, a powder image representing a thin laminar cross section of a desired object is formed on a conductive drum having its exterior surface coated with a photoconductor in the usual manner of electrophotography. a uniform charge is placed on the drum by a corona or other discharge element and this charge is subsequently dissipated imagewise by an exposure element. the exposure element according to this patent may be any of several known optical devices including, but not limited to, a scanned laser, light emitting diode arrays and liquid crystal gated linear light sources. the latent image so formed corresponds to a single cross section of a desired object. this latent image subsequently rotates through one or more developing stations where various object building substances in powder form are deposited by electrostatic attraction to the latent image on the drum. the drum rotates in synchronism with and in close proximity to or in contact with a dielectric transfer belt. charge of a correct sign and magnitude deposited on the belt by a second corona or other discharge element electrostatically attracts the deposited object building powders imagewise to the belt. subsequently, the lamina are moved to a build area where the object is assembled from the series of lamina. while all the desirable criteria listed above are met by the prior art there still exist several shortcomings when the prior art is used for three dimensional freeform fabrication: first, owing to the photoconductive nature of the processes involved in electrophotography, all machine operations must be conducted in the dark and a machine which utilizes this process must be made light-tight. in addition to the expense of providing the additional machine elements to accomplish this end, it is highly desirable that the progression of the fabrication of objects be viewable by an operator. since in many cases such an apparatus will be constructing never before made objects, it is desirable to be able to continuously monitor the progress and to be able to stop or modify operation in the event of error. second, the development of object building powders to be used in an electrophotographically based three dimensional freeform fabrication process is complicated by the requirements for simultaneous compatibility of a wide range of properties for each such material: object building powders must be compatible for use with the chosen photoconductor material, and must simultaneously possess compatible and desirable dielectric, thermal, chemical, fusing and mechanical properties. a means that decreases the number of properties that must be required simultaneously of object building powders is highly desirable and will result in both a greater number and range of useful materials, and in fewer restrictions on each material thus used. third, a method of three dimensional freeform fabrication which is based upon electrophotography is capable of making very thin object layers and providing very high resolution along the thickness or object building axis. indeed, electrophotographic processes inherently produce thin layers. in a freeform object fabrication application, this results in the requirement for a very large number of machine operations. for example, a 10 inch high object made from 0.00033 inch thick layers results in a total of 30,000 layers. photoconductors experience both mechanical wear as well as degradation in charge trapping characteristics with such prolonged use and thus a method which provides a large number of cycles of operation of the latent imaging member is highly desirable. while there are available photoconductors such as amorphous silicon that are guaranteed by manufacturers for 500,000 operations, and have been tested to 1,000,000, this latter figure would only represent 330 height inches of object using the example above. this result can also be thought of as only 33 ten inch high objects. use of such photoconductors may also require significant additional limitations on object building powders. for example, kyocera corp. of japan has recently introduced the use of amorphous silicon photoconductors on a commercial basis in low cost laser printers. the toner used with this latent imaging member requires the addition of abrasive particles to keep the photoconductive drum polished and thereby achieve a long service life. while techniques known in the art as have been applied to high volume copiers and printers may be utilized to increase the available number of electrophotographic operations, such means result in added mechanical complexity and cost. as an example, a photoconductive belt may be mounted inside a purely mechanical drum whose external surface is covered by the belt, which, as it is unwound exposes a fresh photoconductive surface. see schein, supra. thus it can be seen that a method of three dimensional freeform fabrication which allows for a larger number of operations without significant degradation of the latent imaging member will result in fewer requirements for the object building powders, mechanical simplification, and lower costs. summary of the invention the freeform fabrication apparatus according to the present invention includes ion generating apparatus for sequentially creating latent ion images of layers of an object to be fabricated. developing apparatus is provided for adhering at least one object building substance to the sequential latent ion images to create a series of laminae. thereafter, apparatus is provided for assembling the series of laminae to fabricate the object. in a preferred embodiment, e is placed on a thin dielectric coating on a conductive drum. charge is placed on the drum imagewise by a linear array of controlled ion discharge elements. in this embodiment, the drum bearing the latent image rotates through one or more developing stations where various object-building substances in powder form are deposited by electrostatic action to the latent image on the drum. the now developed image is transferred to a transfer belt after which the developed image is made tacky by application of heat, solvent, radiation, or other techniques known in the art. subsequently, the tackified lamina is moved by the transfer belt to a build area. in this embodiment, solenoids apply pressure to the lamina on the belt against a back-up plate fixedly positioned at the rear of the belt resulting in transferral of the lamina to either the surface of a platen or to the top of a stack of previously deposited cross sections of the object to be fabricated. in yet another embodiment of the invention at least two image-forming elements are provided for forming separate portions of a latent image. different object-building powders are then used by the separate image-forming devices for creating a developed image. in a further embodiment of the invention, apparatus is provided for sequentially electrostatically propelling particles of an object-building substance toward a support to create sequential particle images on the support of layers of an object to be fabricated and thereafter the sequential particle images are assembled to fabricate the object. the ionography aspect of the invention meets all of the desirable features listed above and overcomes the limitations of prior art devices using electrophotography. in particular, the present invention can be operated in sufficient light so that its operation may be observed by an operator. further, the elimination of a photoconductive drum decreases the number of properties simultaneously required of object-building powders. finally, the present invention permits a large number of latent imaging operations without significant degradation of the latent imaging member. brief description of the drawing fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. fig. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the apparatus of the embodiment of fig. 1. fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention. fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the invention utilizing at least two image-forming elements. fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the invention utilizing direct electrostatic transfer. fig. 6 is a cross-section view of an embodiment of the invention utilizing electrographic charge deposition. description of the preferred embodiment with reference to fig. 1, a powder image representing a thin laminar cross section of a desired object is formed on a conductive drum 10 having its exterior surface coated with a thin dielectric 17 in the usual manner of ionography. see schein, supra. a charge is placed on the drum imagewise by a linear array of controlled ion discharge elements 19, or other techniques known in the ionographic arts, u.s. pat. no. 4,409,604. these techniques include, but are not limited to corjets, u.s. pat. no. 5,153,618, synchronized motion aperture devices, u.s. pat. no. 4,839,670, and laser addressed ionographic devices, u.s. pat. no. 4,804,980. the latent image so formed corresponds to a single cross section of a desired object. this latent image subsequently rotates through one or more developing stations 14 where various object building substances in powder form (not shown) are deposited by electrostatic attraction to the latent image on the drum 10. the powder object building substances may differ from one another in various properties, including but not limited to coloration, differential solubility, etc. as an example, if the powders possess differential solubility, this property would allow one material to be used to create the desired object and the second to form a supporting matrix for this object which can easily be separated from it in a secondary operation by exposure, for example, to a suitable solvent. in this case, the support material is deposited by the corresponding developing element in the areas of the cross-sectional lamina, both surrounding and not otherwise occupied by the cross-section of the object itself. the drum 10 rotates in synchronism with and in close proximity to or in contact with a dielectric transfer belt 20. this belt may be supported by rollers 30 and may be made of a thermally resistant substance such as teflon.rtm.. charge of a correct sign and magnitude deposited on the belt by a corona or other discharge element 21 electrostatically attracts the deposited object building powders imagewise to the belt. after transfer of the object building powders to the belt 20 from the drum 10, the surface of the drum 10 rotates past a cleaning brush or other cleaning device 15 and is fully discharged by an ac corotron 18 or other device in preparation to repeat the ionographic drum cycle. the powder cross-sectional lamina transferred to the belt 20 which may be a composite lamina made of one or more substances as described above, is moved by the belt into a station 22 where it is made tacky by application of heat, solvent, radiation or other techniques known in the art. subsequently the tackified lamina is moved by the belt to a build area 23. solenoids 31 apply pressure to the lamina on the belt against a backup plate 32 fixedly positioned at the rear of the belt 20, resulting in transferral of the lamina to either the surface of a platen 33, if the lamina represents the first cross section of the object, or to the top of the stack of previously deposited cross sections if it is the second or greater cross section of the object. the object under construction 34 is shown in fig. 1 by the dashed lines generally located within a matrix of another material 35 which may possess, for example, differential solubility as previously mentioned. the belt subsequently moves past a cleaning brush or other cleaning element 24 and a conductive discharge roller or similar element 25 in preparation to repeat the transfer belt 20 cycle. the method described in fig. 1 is based upon geometric slices of the object rather than requiring the calculation and use of vectors. it has the capability to use solid support material which is subjected to the same physical processes as the object building substance itself. high resolution and rapid operation are possible as are known in the art of ionography and it is adaptable to use with a wide range of safe materials. no fumes or smoke are generated and with proper choice of materials, post-processing operations are straightforward. lonography is a well-known, reliable technology requiring no exotic or expensive components. the size and mechanical characteristics of an ionographic apparatus are appropriate for either an office or laboratory environment. in addition, because photoconductors are not utilized in most forms of ionography, it is possible to operate the apparatus in the light thus allowing its operation to be observed visually and avoiding the added costs associated with making such an apparatus light-tight. further, materials used with an ionographic process need not be compatible with a photoconductor and thereby the tasks of material selection and development are eased. yet further, ionographic processes are known in the art to possess the ability to provide very large numbers of latent imaging cycles. the thin, relatively mechanically delicate photoconductor used in the electrophotography of the prior art is replaced with a generally thicker and mechanically more durable dielectric layer. the additional degradation in charge trapping that photoconductors experience with use is also avoided. it will be obvious to those practiced in the art that many modifications to the method and apparatus described in fig. 1 may be made without departure from the spirit and the scope of the invention. for example the imaging member 10 may take forms other than a drum such as a belt or a plate. other modifications may include fusing or otherwise tackifying and bonding the powder laminae of the object directly to previous formed layers of the object within the build area 23 itself as shown in fig. 2. as shown in this figure, apparatus may be provided to more rapidly cool and thus harden and bond each layer as it is formed. the fusing and cooling platen 36 moves perpendicularly to the direction of travel of the transfer belt 20 and in contact with its driven surface, to first fuse then rapidly solidify each layer of the object 34. one end 37 of this platen 36 is heated and the other end 38 is thermally isolated from this heated portion and is provided with cooling apparatus to lower its temperature. the powder laminae 35 are positioned by the transfer belt 20 above the platen 33 or the previously formed layers of the object 34 within the build areas 23. the solenoids 31 apply pressure to the lamina 35, first against the heated end of the platen 37 to fuse the powder object building material. the solenoids 31 maintain pressure while the platen 36 is moved to the cooling position with end 38 positioned above the stacked layers of the object under construction. after the lamina is hardened, the solenoids 31 release the pressure, the transfer belt 20 moves the next lamina into position and the cycle is repeated. yet other modifications to the method and apparatus are shown in fig. 3 wherein an ionographic imaging member such as the linear array of ion discharge elements 19, or other ion projection elements described above, forms a latent charge image directly on a transfer belt 26, thus combining the functions of imaging and transfer and reducing the number of required parts. as shown in fig. 3, the belt 26 is formed of a thin conductive base layer generally in contact with the drive rollers 30 and a dielectric upper layer. the dielectric surface of the belt passes beneath the ion imaging member 19 where a latent charge image is formed. the belt then travels past developing stations 14 where object building powders are attracted to the latent image electrostatically to form a powder lamina of the object. the belt subsequently passes through a station where the powder lamina is made tacky by any various means as aforesaid 22 and thence to a building area 23 where the lamina is bonded to the previously formed layers of the object under construction as also previously described in figs. 1 and 2. as final steps, the belt 26 travels past a cleaning brush or other cleaning element 15 and is fully discharged by the ac corotron or other neutralizing element 18 and the cycle is repeated. of course, it will be obvious to those practiced in the art that variations from this description may be made not departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. fig. 4 shows still another form of the method and apparatus wherein a separate electrophotographic or ionographic imaging member and related components are used with each object building powder. this configuration offers the additional advantage of optimization of the choice of photoconductor in the case of electrophotography or ionographic imaging dielectric for each corresponding object building powder, and thus also further simplifies the problem of material property compatibility. in fig. 4 a configuration with ionography is shown, but the same advantages are conferred on electrophotography, as well. if a single electrophotographic or ionographic cycle is utilized to form a powder object lamina of two or more materials, provision must be made to provide two or more levels of charge in the latent image, or a latent image having bi-polar charge, or other means, so that object building powders will only be developed on the drum 10 in the specific areas where they are desired. this result can be most easily accomplished for the case of two materials and examples from the field of multi-color printing using electrophotographic or ionographic means are instructive by analogy: when ionography is used, a bi-polar latent charge image may be formed on the drum and toners may be utilized that are only attracted to a single charge polarity. when electrophotography is used an intermediate voltage may be chosen as a reference value for the latent charge image and toners are utilized that are attracted exclusively to charges either higher or lower than this level. while these and other methods are known in the art, u.s. pat. nos. 5,200,285; 5,121,172; 5,204,697, a significant burden is thus placed on the toner material requirements in the case of printing, but more especially on powder materials to be used for object building in a freeform fabrication method since many additional requirements as previously indicated also exist. also, as the number of object building powders increases beyond two, the requirements become more stringent yet. if multiple electrophotographic or ionographic cycles are utilized to form an object lamina of two or more materials, much of the burden is removed from the simultaneous property requirements of the object building powders. each material may operate using the same or a similar level of voltage for the latent image charge, for example. however, in this case the transfer belt 20 must be reversed in direction, or cycled completely around its loop, for each individual electrophotographic or ionographic cycle. this complicates control somewhat, but more particularly because of the multiple operations provides opportunity for misregistration among the different material portions of the composite laminae and slows the operation of the apparatus. operation of the apparatus in fig. 4 is similar to that described for fig. 1, except in this case two, or more, electrophotographic or ionographic latent imaging and developing systems are utilized. in this figure, only two such systems 50 and 51 are shown for clarity, but any number may be utilized depending on the particular requirements. also, while an ionographic drum based system is shown for illustrative purpose, it's clear that either electrophotography and/or other machine elements may be utilized. the first latent imaging and developing system 51 transfers a powder lamina of a first object building material to the transfer belt at location 52 as the belt passes this location with motion synchronous to that of the ionographic drum. the second electrophotographic or ionographic system 50 transfers a corresponding powder lamina to the same area of the transfer belt 20 as it carries the first deposited powder lamina past location 53. thus a lamina consisting of two or more object building powders may be formed on the transfer belt. as an example, and as aforesaid, the object building powders thus deposited may be of different colors, or may possess differential solubility, so that the second may act as a support material for the first in the construction of the desired object, or they may possess other properties different from one another. it is further obvious to those practiced in the art that modifications may be made to this variation of the first embodiment, some of which have been previously described, without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention. fig. 5 shows another embodiment of the invention. this embodiment of the invention utilizes direct electrostatic transfer of object building powders to a transfer belt as taught by u.s. pat. no. 5,038,159 and others. in the figure the dielectric transfer belt 20 having similar mechanical and thermal properties to that used in fig. 1 passes in close proximity to a thin aperture plate 60 while held taught against a conductive backing shoe 61. these elements are shown in cross section and greatly enlarged for clarity. the numerous small apertures in the aperture plate extend over the width of the belt 20 and are arranged in a pattern to provide full coverage to it. each aperture is surrounded by a control electrode 63 and in some implementations a shield electrode (not shown). an object building powder is presented in close proximity to the rear of the aperture plate by means such as rollers, brushes, an electrostatically generated wave of the object building powder itself, u.s. pat. no. 4,949,103, or any of various other techniques known in the art 64. the application of appropriate voltage signals to the control electrodes and conductive backing electrodes causes particles of object building powder to be propelled electrostatically through the apertures imagewise to form a powder lamina of the desired object on the transfer belt 20. the subsequent steps of tackification, bonding and cleaning of the transfer belt may be carried out as described above for fig. 1. it will be obvious to those practiced in the art that variations may be made in this description without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, several of which have previously been described for the first embodiment. as further examples, more than one direct electrostatic transfer mechanism and additional object building powders may be utilized to form composite laminae as previously described. in addition, instead of electrostatically propelling the object building powders directly to the transfer belt, a conductive dielectrically coated drum, or other powder lamina retaining element, and a subsequent transfer of the powder laminae to a belt or other transfer member may be utilized. yet in further addition, apertureless direct electrostatic transfer, u.s. pat. no. 5,148,204, of object building powders, or other means of direct electrostatic transfer of powder particles known in the art may be utilized. fig. 6 shows yet another embodiment of the invention. this embodiment of the invention utilizes electrographic charge deposition to an intermediary belt as taught by u.s. pat. nos. 4,638,339; 4,264,912 and others. as shown in fig. 6, electrostatic charges are placed imagewise on an intermediary belt 70 supported by rollers 30, by an array of conductive electrodes 71 in close proximity to the belt. the electrodes extend over the width of the belt and are arranged in a pattern to provide full coverage to it. the belt 70 is preferably formed of a dielectric upper layer proximate to the electrodes 71 and a conductive layer below in contact with the driver rollers 30 although entirely dielectric constructions are also known in the art. the spacing between the electrodes and dielectric layer of the belt is maintained at the paschen spacing and control voltages impressed on the electrodes cause ions to be propelled imagewise to the belt by means of the paschen effect. the latent charge image so formed corresponds to a single cross section of a desired object. this latent image on the intermediary belt 70 subsequently is moved through one or more developing stations 14 where various object building substances in powder form are deposited by electrostatic attraction to it. the powder object building substances may differ from one another in various properties as previously described. the belt travels in synchronism with and in close proximity to or in contact with a dielectric transfer belt 20. this belt may be supported by rollers 30 and may be made of a thermally resistant substance such as teflon.rtm.. charge of a correct sign and magnitude deposited on the transfer belt 20 by a corona or other discharge element 21 electrostatically attracts the deposited object building powders imagewise from the intermediary belt 70 to the transfer belt 20. after transfer of the object building powder lamina to the transfer belt from the intermediary belt, the intermediary belt travels past a cleaning brush or other cleaning element 72 and the latent charge image is erased and the surface of the belt and preconditioned by ac and dc corona discharge or other techniques known in the art 73 in preparation to repeat the intermediary belt cycle. the subsequent steps of tackification and bonding of the powder laminae may be carried out as described above for fig. 1. the transfer belt 20 subsequently moves past a cleaning brush or other cleaning means 24 and is discharged by the conductive roller, or similar device 25 in preparation to repeat the transfer belt cycle. it will be obvious to those practiced in the art that variations may be made in this description without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, several of which have previously been described for the other embodiments. as further examples, more than one electrographic charge deposition mechanism and additional object building powders may be utilized to form composite laminae as previously described. in addition, instead of utilizing separate intermediary and transfer belts, tackification and transfer of the powder laminae to the object under construction may be accomplished using the intermediary belt exclusively in an analogous fashion to fig. 3.
121-484-573-621-922	US	[ "US" ]	B60W30/16,G05D1/00,G05D1/02	2018-11-13T00:00:00	2018	[ "B60", "G05" ]	using discomfort for speed planning in responding to tailgating vehicles for autonomous vehicles	aspects of the disclosure relate to controlling a first vehicle in an autonomous driving mode. while doing so, a second vehicle may be identified. this vehicle may be determined to be a tailgating vehicle. an initial allowable discomfort value representing expected discomfort of an occupant of the first vehicle and expected discomfort of an occupant of the second vehicle may be identified. determining a speed profile for a future trajectory of the first vehicle that meets the value may be attempted based on a set of factors corresponding to a reaction of the tailgating vehicle. when a speed profile that meets the value cannot be determined, the value may be adjusted until a speed profile that meets the value is determined. the speed profile that meets an adjusted value is used to control the first vehicle in the autonomous driving mode.	1. a method of controlling a first vehicle, the method comprising: while maneuvering the first vehicle in an autonomous driving mode, identifying, by one or more processors, a second vehicle; determining, by the one or more processors, that the second vehicle is a tailgating vehicle; identifying, by the one or more processors, an initial allowable discomfort value representing expected discomfort of an occupant of the first vehicle and expected discomfort of an occupant of the second vehicle; attempting, by the one or more processors, to determine a speed profile for a future trajectory of the first vehicle that meets the initial allowable discomfort value based on a set of factors corresponding to a reaction of the tailgating vehicle; when a speed profile that meets the initial allowable discomfort value cannot be determined, adjusting, by the one or more processors, the initial allowable discomfort value until a speed profile that meets an adjusted allowable discomfort value is determined; and using, by the one or more processors, the speed profile that meets the adjusted allowable discomfort value to control the first vehicle in the autonomous driving mode. 2. the method of claim 1 , wherein the set of factors includes a maximum allowed deceleration for the second vehicle. 3. the method of claim 2 , further comprising, when the initial allowable discomfort value is adjusted, the maximum allowed deceleration for the second vehicle is also adjusted. 4. the method of claim 3 , wherein adjusting the maximum allowed deceleration includes increasing a limit on expected deceleration for the second vehicle. 5. the method of claim 1 , wherein the set of factors includes a reaction time for the second vehicle. 6. the method of claim 5 , further comprising, when the initial allowable discomfort value is adjusted, the reaction time for the second vehicle is also adjusted. 7. the method of claim 6 , wherein adjusting the reaction time includes decreasing the reaction time. 8. the method of claim 1 , wherein the set of factors further includes a constraint for stopping the first vehicle at an intersection. 9. the method of claim 8 , wherein when the initial allowable discomfort value is adjusted, the constraint for stopping the first vehicle at an intersection is adjusted. 10. the method of claim 8 , wherein when the initial allowable discomfort value is adjusted, the constraint for stopping the first vehicle at an intersection is ignored. 11. the method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the second vehicle is a tailgating vehicle is based on a location of the second vehicle with respect to the first vehicle. 12. the method of claim 11 , wherein determining that the second vehicle is a tailgating vehicle is based on a speed of the second vehicle. 13. the method of claim 1 , further comprising, periodically updating the determination of whether the second vehicle is a tailgating vehicle. 14. the method of claim 1 , further comprising: while maneuvering the first vehicle in an autonomous driving mode, identifying, by one or more processors, a third vehicle; and determine, by the one or more processors, that the third vehicle is not a tailgating vehicle, and wherein attempting to determine the speed profile for the future trajectory that meets the initial allowable discomfort value is further based on a second set of factors relating to the third vehicle. 15. the method of claim 14 , wherein the set of factors includes a first value for a maximum allowed deceleration for the second vehicle, and the second set of factors includes a second value for the maximum allowed deceleration for the third vehicle, and the second value is different from the first value. 16. the method of claim 15 , wherein the first value allows for a first limit on expected deceleration for the second vehicle, the second value allows for a second limit on expected deceleration for the third vehicle, and the first limit is less than the second limit. 17. the method of claim 14 , wherein the set of factors includes a first value for a reaction time for the second vehicle, and the second set of factors includes a second value for the reaction time for the third vehicle, and the second value is different from the first value. 18. the method of claim 17 , wherein the first value is less than the second value, such that the reaction time of the second vehicle is less than the reaction time of the third vehicle. 19. a system for controlling a first vehicle, the system comprising one or more processors configured to: while maneuvering the first vehicle in an autonomous driving mode, identify a second vehicle; determine that the second vehicle is a tailgating vehicle; identify an initial allowable discomfort value representing expected discomfort of an occupant of the first vehicle and expected discomfort of an occupant of the second vehicle; attempt to determine a speed profile for a future trajectory of the first vehicle that meets the initial allowable discomfort value based on a set of factors corresponding to a reaction of the tailgating vehicle; when a speed profile that meets the initial allowable discomfort value cannot be determined, adjust the initial allowable discomfort value until a speed profile that meets an adjusted allowable discomfort value is determined; and use the speed profile that meets the adjusted allowable discomfort value to control the first vehicle in the autonomous driving mode. 20. the system of claim 19 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: while maneuvering the first vehicle in an autonomous driving mode, identify a third vehicle; and determining that the third vehicle is not a tailgating vehicle, and wherein attempting to determine the speed profile for the future trajectory that meets the initial allowable discomfort value is further based on a second set of factors relating to the third vehicle, the set of factors includes a first value for a maximum allowed deceleration for the second vehicle, the second set of factors includes a second value for the maximum allowed deceleration for the third vehicle, and the second value is different from the first value. 21. the system of claim 19 , further comprising the first vehicle.	cross-reference to related applications the present application is related to u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/820,757, filed nov. 22, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. background autonomous vehicles, for instance, vehicles that do not require a human driver, can be used to aid in the transport of passengers or items from one location to another. such vehicles may operate in a fully autonomous mode where passengers may provide some initial input, such as a pickup or destination location, and the vehicle maneuvers itself to that location, for instance, by determining and following a route which may require the vehicle to respond to and interact with other road users such as vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, etc. brief summary aspects of the disclosure provide a method of controlling a first vehicle. the method includes while maneuvering the first vehicle in an autonomous driving mode, identifying, by one or more processors, a second vehicle; determining, by the one or more processors, that the second vehicle is a tailgating vehicle; identifying, by the one or more processors, an initial allowable discomfort value representing expected discomfort of an occupant of the first vehicle and expected discomfort of an occupant of the second vehicle; attempting, by the one or more processors, to determine a speed profile for a future trajectory of the first vehicle that meets the initial allowable discomfort value based on a set of factors corresponding to a reaction of the tailgating vehicle; when a speed profile that meets the initial allowable discomfort value cannot be determined, adjusting, by the one or more processors, the initial allowable discomfort value until a speed profile that meets an adjusted allowable discomfort value is determined; and using, by the one or more processors, the speed profile that meets the adjusted allowable discomfort value to control the first vehicle in the autonomous driving mode. in one example, the set of factors includes a maximum allowed deceleration for the second vehicle. in another example, the method also includes, when the initial allowable discomfort value is adjusted, the maximum allowed deceleration for the second vehicle is also adjusted. in this example, adjusting the maximum allowed deceleration includes increasing a limit on expected deceleration for the second vehicle. in another example, the set of factors includes a reaction time for the second vehicle. in this example, when the initial allowable discomfort value is adjusted, the reaction time for the second vehicle is also adjusted. in addition, adjusting the reaction time includes decreasing the reaction time. in another example, the set of factors further includes a constraint for stopping the first vehicle at an intersection. in this example, when the initial allowable discomfort value is adjusted, the constraint for stopping the first vehicle at an intersection is adjusted. in another example, when the initial allowable discomfort value is adjusted, the constraint for stopping the first vehicle at an intersection is ignored. in another example, determining that the second vehicle is a tailgating vehicle is based on a location of the second vehicle with respect to the first vehicle. in this example, determining that the second vehicle is a tailgating vehicle is based on a speed of the second vehicle. in another example, the method also includes periodically updating the determination of whether the second vehicle is a tailgating vehicle. in another example, the method also includes while maneuvering the first vehicle in an autonomous driving mode, identifying, by one or more processors, a third vehicle; determining, by the one or more processors, that the third vehicle is not a tailgating vehicle, and attempting to determine the speed profile for the geometry that meets the initial allowable discomfort value is further based on a second set of factors relating to the third vehicle. in this example, the set of factors includes a first value for a maximum allowed deceleration for the second vehicle, and the second set of factors includes a second value for the maximum allowed deceleration for the third vehicle, and the second value is different from the first value. in addition, the first value allows for a first limit on expected deceleration for the second vehicle, the second value allows for a second limit on expected deceleration for the third vehicle, and the first limit is less than the second limit. in addition or alternatively, the set of factors includes a first value for a reaction time for the second vehicle, and the second set of factors includes a second value for the reaction time for the third vehicle, and the second value is different from the first value. in addition, the first value is less than the second value, such that the reaction time of the second vehicle is less than the reaction time of the third vehicle. another aspect of the disclosure provides a system for controlling a first vehicle. the system comprising one or more processors configured to, while maneuvering the first vehicle in an autonomous driving mode, identify a second vehicle; determine that the second vehicle is a tailgating vehicle; identify an initial allowable discomfort value representing expected discomfort of an occupant of the first vehicle and expected discomfort of an occupant of the second vehicle; attempt to determine a speed profile for a future trajectory of the first vehicle that meets the initial allowable discomfort value based on a set of factors corresponding to a reaction of the tailgating vehicle; when a speed profile that meets the initial allowable discomfort value cannot be determined, adjust the initial allowable discomfort value until a speed profile that meets an adjusted allowable discomfort value is determined; and use the speed profile that meets the adjusted allowable discomfort value to control the first vehicle in the autonomous driving mode. in one example, the one or more processors are further configured to, while maneuvering the first vehicle in an autonomous driving mode, identify a third vehicle; and determine that the third vehicle is not a tailgating vehicle. in this example, attempting to determine the speed profile for the geometry that meets the initial allowable discomfort value is further based on a second set of factors relating to the third vehicle, the set of factors includes a first value for a maximum allowed deceleration for the second vehicle, the second set of factors includes a second value for the maximum allowed deceleration for the third vehicle, and the second value is different from the first value. in another example, the system also includes the vehicle. brief description of the drawings fig. 1 is a functional diagram of an example vehicle in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. fig. 2 is an example of map information in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. fig. 3 is an example external view of a vehicle in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. fig. 4 is a pictorial diagram of an example system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. fig. 5 is a functional diagram of the system of fig. 4 in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. fig. 6 is an example bird's eye view of a geographic area in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. fig. 7 is an example bird's eye view of a geographic area in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. fig. 8 is an example bird's eye view of a geographic area in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. fig. 9 is an example bird's eye view of a geographic area in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. fig. 10 is an example bird's eye view of a geographic area in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. fig. 11 is an example flow diagram in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. fig. 12 is an example flow diagram in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. detailed description overview the technology relates to using a discomfort value to determine how to control an autonomous vehicle's speed. when generating a vehicle's trajectory, the geometry of the autonomous vehicle's path may be determined before determining a speed profile for that trajectory. in some instances, the autonomous vehicle's computing devices may detect an object, such as another road user, behind the vehicle. in some instances, these objects may be tailgating vehicles, as such, it can be important to consider how the vehicle's behavior will affect these tailgating vehicles. in order to do so, a discomfort value which suggests discomfort for the vehicle as well as road users in the vehicle's environment, for instance, other vehicles, bicyclists, or pedestrians, may be used. in order for the vehicle's computing devices to maneuver the vehicle autonomously, the computing devices must generate trajectories, or future paths for the vehicle to follow over some brief period into the future. these future paths may include a geometry component and a speed component or speed profile. the speed profile may be generated after the geometry component. in this regard, for any given geometry, a number of different possible speed profiles may be generated, including for instance, those that require the vehicle to speed up or to slow down. again, deciding which of these speed profiles to use can be a challenge. when determining a speed profile, the computing devices may generate a plurality of constraints. these constraints may be generated based on objects in the vehicle's environment as well as their predicted behaviors or trajectories. in some instances, the constraints may be generated based only on objects that are in front of and/or alongside of the vehicle. in that regard, objects behind the vehicle may be ignored. however, in some instances, when an object located behind the vehicle is determined to be a tailgating vehicle, a constraint may also be generated for that object. the computing devices may also attempt to determine a speed profile for a given geometry that minimizes a discomfort value for the autonomous vehicle as well as the other vehicle to identify a speed profile. a discomfort value may be determined based on a combination of factors relating to expected discomfort experienced by a passenger of the autonomous vehicle (whether or not the autonomous vehicle actually includes a passenger) and a passenger or occupant of another vehicle (whether or not the another vehicle actually includes a passenger), pedestrian, or bicyclist, etc. in other words, the computing devices may determine whether there is a solution (i.e. a speed profile) with an associated discomfort value that will satisfy or meet a maximum allowable discomfort value. for instance, for a given maximum allowable discomfort value, the computing devices may return a speed profile for that maximum allowable discomfort value or a failure if within the limits of that maximum allowable discomfort value no solution can be found. this results in the computing devices choosing a speed plan with the lowest feasible maximum allowable discomfort value. the computing devices may search for speed profiles iteratively using different maximum allowable discomfort values. for instance, the computing devices start with an initial or lowest maximum allowable discomfort value. if the computing devices are unable to find a speed profile at that maximum allowable discomfort value, the computing devices may increase the maximum allowable discomfort value until a solution, or speed profile that meets the current maximum allowable speed discomfort value, is found. for a given maximum allowable discomfort value, the vehicle's computing devices may start with a speed profile that moves as fast as possible given limits on velocity, such as road speed limits and lateral acceleration limits in turns, and slow regions (defined by map information). this initial profile may not necessarily satisfy the constraints, including any constraint generated for an object determined to be tailgating vehicle. those constraints are resolved one by one. if the computing devices can't satisfy the constraints even when braking as hard and as early as possible for the maximum allowable discomfort value, the given maximum allowable discomfort value may be increased and new speed profiles generated. however, if the speed profile can both pass or yield to another vehicle at the given maximum allowable discomfort value, the computing devices may select a default action, such as speeding up to pass the other object. in addition, as the maximum allowable discomfort value is increased, certain constraints may even be ignored. the computing device may then control the vehicle according to the speed profile that meets the smallest maximum allowable discomfort value. the discomfort value may be used when generating all speed profiles, but can be especially useful when the autonomous is in certain types of situation which requires that the autonomous vehicle either speed up or slow down while interacting with another vehicle. the features described herein may allow an autonomous vehicle to determine a speed profile while considering how that speed profile will affect both any passengers of the autonomous vehicle (even if there are currently none in the vehicle) as well as any passenger or occupants of another vehicle with which the autonomous vehicle is interacting. in addition, by generating constraints based on tailgating vehicles, the vehicle's computing devices are able to make driving decisions which also consider how the vehicle's behavior will affect those tailgating vehicles. this also increases safety. in other words, using more conservative estimates for predicting the behavior of other objects and using larger safety margins at lower maximum allowable discomfort values results in a safer solution. example systems as shown in fig. 1 , a vehicle 100 in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure includes various components. while certain aspects of the disclosure are particularly useful in connection with specific types of vehicles, the vehicle may be any type of vehicle including, but not limited to, cars, trucks, motorcycles, buses, recreational vehicles, etc. the vehicle may have one or more computing devices, such as computing devices 110 containing one or more processors 120 , memory 130 and other components typically present in general purpose computing devices. the memory 130 stores information accessible by the one or more processors 120 , including instructions 134 and data 132 that may be executed or otherwise used by the processor 120 . the memory 130 may be of any type capable of storing information accessible by the processor, including a computing device-readable medium, or other medium that stores data that may be read with the aid of an electronic device, such as a hard-drive, memory card, rom, ram, dvd or other optical disks, as well as other write-capable and read-only memories. systems and methods may include different combinations of the foregoing, whereby different portions of the instructions and data are stored on different types of media. the instructions 134 may be any set of instructions to be executed directly (such as machine code) or indirectly (such as scripts) by the processor. for example, the instructions may be stored as computing device code on the computing device-readable medium. in that regard, the terms “instructions” and “programs” may be used interchangeably herein. the instructions may be stored in object code format for direct processing by the processor, or in any other computing device language including scripts or collections of independent source code modules that are interpreted on demand or compiled in advance. functions, methods and routines of the instructions are explained in more detail below. the data 132 may be retrieved, stored or modified by processor 120 in accordance with the instructions 134 . for instance, although the claimed subject matter is not limited by any particular data structure, the data may be stored in computing device registers, in a relational database as a table having a plurality of different fields and records, xml documents or flat files. the data may also be formatted in any computing device-readable format. the one or more processor 120 may be any conventional processors, such as commercially available cpus. alternatively, the one or more processors may be a dedicated device such as an asic or other hardware-based processor. although fig. 1 functionally illustrates the processor, memory, and other elements of computing devices 110 as being within the same block, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the processor, computing device, or memory may actually include multiple processors, computing devices, or memories that may or may not be stored within the same physical housing. for example, memory may be a hard drive or other storage media located in a housing different from that of computing devices 110 . accordingly, references to a processor or computing device will be understood to include references to a collection of processors or computing devices or memories that may or may not operate in parallel. computing devices 110 may all of the components normally used in connection with a computing device such as the processor and memory described above as well as a user input 150 (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, touch screen and/or microphone) and various electronic displays (e.g., a monitor having a screen or any other electrical device that is operable to display information). in this example, the vehicle includes an internal electronic display 152 as well as one or more speakers 154 to provide information or audio visual experiences. in this regard, internal electronic display 152 may be located within a cabin of vehicle 100 and may be used by computing devices 110 to provide information to passengers within the vehicle 100 . computing devices 110 may also include one or more wireless network connections 156 to facilitate communication with other computing devices, such as the client computing devices and server computing devices described in detail below. the wireless network connections may include short range communication protocols such as bluetooth, bluetooth low energy (le), cellular connections, as well as various configurations and protocols including the internet, world wide web, intranets, virtual private networks, wide area networks, local networks, private networks using communication protocols proprietary to one or more companies, ethernet, wifi and http, and various combinations of the foregoing. in one example, computing devices 110 may be control computing devices of an autonomous driving computing system or incorporated into vehicle 100 . the autonomous driving computing system may capable of communicating with various components of the vehicle in order to control the movement of vehicle 100 according to primary vehicle control code of memory 130 . for example, returning to fig. 1 , computing devices 110 may be in communication with various systems of vehicle 100 , such as deceleration system 160 , acceleration system 162 , steering system 164 , signaling system 166 , routing system 168 , positioning system 170 , perception system 172 , and power system 174 (i.e. the vehicle's engine or motor) in order to control the movement, speed, etc. of vehicle 100 in accordance with the instructions 134 of memory 130 . again, although these systems are shown as external to computing devices 110 , in actuality, these systems may also be incorporated into computing devices 110 , again as an autonomous driving computing system for controlling vehicle 100 . as an example, computing devices 110 may interact with one or more actuators of the deceleration system 160 and/or acceleration system 162 , such as brakes, accelerator pedal, and/or the engine or motor of the vehicle, in order to control the speed of the vehicle. similarly, one or more actuators of the steering system 164 , such as a steering wheel, steering shaft, and/or pinion and rack in a rack and pinion system, may be used by computing devices 110 in order to control the direction of vehicle 100 . for example, if vehicle 100 is configured for use on a road, such as a car or truck, the steering system may include one or more actuators to control the angle of wheels to turn the vehicle. signaling system 166 may be used by computing devices 110 in order to signal the vehicle's intent to other drivers or vehicles, for example, by lighting turn signals or brake lights when needed. routing system 168 may be used by computing devices 110 in order to determine and follow a route to a location. in this regard, the routing system 168 and/or data 132 may store detailed map information, e.g., highly detailed maps identifying the shape and elevation of roadways, lane lines, intersections, crosswalks, speed limits, traffic signals, buildings, signs, real time traffic information, vegetation, or other such objects and information. fig. 2 is an example of map information 200 for a section of roadway including intersections 202 and 204 . in this example, the map information 200 includes information identifying the shape, location, and other characteristics of lane lines 210 , 212 , 214 , traffic signal lights 220 , 222 , crosswalk 230 , sidewalks 240 , stop signs 250 , 252 , yield sign 260 , and stop line 262 . although the map information is depicted herein as an image-based map, the map information need not be entirely image based (for example, raster). for example, the map information may include one or more roadgraphs or graph networks of information such as roads, lanes, intersections, and the connections between these features. each feature may be stored as graph data and may be associated with information such as a geographic location and whether or not it is linked to other related features, for example, a stop sign may be linked to a road and an intersection, etc. in some examples, the associated data may include grid-based indices of a roadgraph to allow for efficient lookup of certain roadgraph features. positioning system 170 may be used by computing devices 110 in order to determine the vehicle's relative or absolute position on a map or on the earth. for example, the position system 170 may include a gps receiver to determine the device's latitude, longitude and/or altitude position. other location systems such as laser-based localization systems, inertial-aided gps, or camera-based localization may also be used to identify the location of the vehicle. the location of the vehicle may include an absolute geographical location, such as latitude, longitude, and altitude as well as relative location information, such as location relative to other cars immediately around it which can often be determined with less noise that absolute geographical location. the positioning system 170 may also include other devices in communication with computing devices 110 , such as an accelerometer, gyroscope or another direction/speed detection device to determine the direction and speed of the vehicle or changes thereto. by way of example only, an acceleration device may determine its pitch, yaw or roll (or changes thereto) relative to the direction of gravity or a plane perpendicular thereto. the device may also track increases or decreases in speed and the direction of such changes. the device's provision of location and orientation data as set forth herein may be provided automatically to the computing devices 110 , other computing devices and combinations of the foregoing. the perception system 172 also includes one or more components for detecting objects external to the vehicle such as other vehicles, obstacles in the roadway, traffic signals, signs, trees, etc. for example, the perception system 172 may include lasers, sonar, radar, cameras and/or any other detection devices that record data which may be processed by computing device 110 . in the case where the vehicle is a passenger vehicle such as a minivan, the minivan may include a laser or other sensors mounted on the roof or other convenient location. for instance, fig. 3 is an example external view of vehicle 100 . in this example, roof-top housing 310 and dome housing 312 may include a lidar sensor as well as various cameras and radar units. in addition, housing 320 located at the front end of vehicle 100 and housings 330 , 332 on the driver's and passenger's sides of the vehicle may each store a lidar sensor. for example, housing 330 is located in front of driver door 360 . vehicle 100 also includes housings 340 , 342 for radar units and/or cameras also located on the roof of vehicle 100 . additional radar units and cameras (not shown) may be located at the front and rear ends of vehicle 100 and/or on other positions along the roof or roof-top housing 310 . the computing devices 110 may control the direction and speed of the vehicle by controlling various components. by way of example, computing devices 110 may navigate the vehicle to a destination location completely autonomously using data from the detailed map information and routing system 168 . computing devices 110 may use the positioning system 170 to determine the vehicle's location and perception system 172 to detect and respond to objects when needed to reach the location safely. in order to do so, computing devices 110 may cause the vehicle to accelerate (e.g., by increasing fuel or other energy provided to the engine by acceleration system 162 ), decelerate (e.g., by decreasing the fuel supplied to the engine, changing gears, and/or by applying brakes by deceleration system 160 ), change direction (e.g., by turning the front or rear wheels of vehicle 100 by steering system 164 ), and signal such changes (e.g., by lighting turn signals of signaling system 166 ). thus, the acceleration system 162 and deceleration system 160 may be a part of a drivetrain that includes various components between an engine of the vehicle and the wheels of the vehicle. again, by controlling these systems, computing devices 110 may also control the drivetrain of the vehicle in order to maneuver the vehicle autonomously. computing device 110 of vehicle 100 may also receive or transfer information to and from other computing devices, such as those computing devices that are a part of the transportation service as well as other computing devices. figs. 4 and 5 are pictorial and functional diagrams, respectively, of an example system 400 that includes a plurality of computing devices 410 , 420 , 430 , 440 and a storage system 450 connected via a network 460 . system 400 also includes vehicle 100 , and vehicles 100 a, 100 b which may be configured the same as or similarly to vehicle 100 . although only a few vehicles and computing devices are depicted for simplicity, a typical system may include significantly more. as shown in fig. 4 , each of computing devices 410 , 420 , 430 , 440 may include one or more processors, memory, data and instructions. such processors, memories, data and instructions may be configured similarly to one or more processors 120 , memory 130 , data 132 , and instructions 134 of computing device 110 . the network 460 , and intervening nodes, may include various configurations and protocols including short range communication protocols such as bluetooth, bluetooth le, the internet, world wide web, intranets, virtual private networks, wide area networks, local networks, private networks using communication protocols proprietary to one or more companies, ethernet, wifi and http, and various combinations of the foregoing. such communication may be facilitated by any device capable of transmitting data to and from other computing devices, such as modems and wireless interfaces. in one example, one or more computing devices 110 may include one or more server computing devices having a plurality of computing devices, e.g., a load balanced server farm, that exchange information with different nodes of a network for the purpose of receiving, processing and transmitting the data to and from other computing devices. for instance, one or more computing devices 410 may include one or more server computing devices that are capable of communicating with computing device 110 of vehicle 100 or a similar computing device of vehicle 100 a as well as computing devices 420 , 430 , 440 via the network 460 . for example, vehicles 100 , 100 a, may be a part of a fleet of vehicles that can be dispatched by server computing devices to various locations. in this regard, the server computing devices 410 may function as a dispatching system. in addition, the vehicles of the fleet may periodically send the server computing devices location information provided by the vehicle's respective positioning systems as well as other information relating to the status of the vehicles discussed further below, and the one or more server computing devices may track the locations and status of each of the vehicles of the fleet. in addition, server computing devices 410 may use network 460 to transmit and present information to a user, such as user 422 , 432 , 442 on a display, such as displays 424 , 434 , 444 of computing devices 420 , 430 , 440 . in this regard, computing devices 420 , 430 , 440 may be considered client computing devices. as shown in fig. 4 , each client computing device 420 , 430 , 440 may be a personal computing device intended for use by a user 422 , 432 , 442 , and have all of the components normally used in connection with a personal computing device including a one or more processors (e.g., a central processing unit (cpu)), memory (e.g., ram and internal hard drives) storing data and instructions, a display such as displays 424 , 434 , 444 (e.g., a monitor having a screen, a touch-screen, a projector, a television, or other device that is operable to display information), and user input devices 426 , 436 , 446 (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, touchscreen or microphone). the client computing devices may also include a camera for recording video streams, speakers, a network interface device, and all of the components used for connecting these elements to one another. although the client computing devices 420 , 430 , and 440 may each comprise a full-sized personal computing device, they may alternatively comprise mobile computing devices capable of wirelessly exchanging data with a server over a network such as the internet. by way of example only, client computing device 420 may be a mobile phone or a device such as a wireless-enabled pda, a tablet pc, a wearable computing device or system, or a netbook that is capable of obtaining information via the internet or other networks. in another example, client computing device 430 may be a wearable computing system, shown as a wristwatch as shown in fig. 4 . as an example the user may input information using a small keyboard, a keypad, microphone, using visual signals with a camera, or a touch screen. in some examples, client computing device 440 may be a concierge work station used by an administrator or operator of a depot to provide depot services for the vehicles of the fleet. although only a single depot work station 440 is shown in figs. 4 and 5 , any number of such work stations may be included in a typical system. as with memory 130 , storage system 450 can be of any type of computerized storage capable of storing information accessible by the server computing devices 410 , such as a hard-drive, memory card, rom, ram, dvd, cd-rom, write-capable, and read-only memories. in addition, storage system 450 may include a distributed storage system where data is stored on a plurality of different storage devices which may be physically located at the same or different geographic locations. storage system 450 may be connected to the computing devices via the network 460 as shown in figs. 4 and 5 , and/or may be directly connected to or incorporated into any of the computing devices 110 , 410 , 420 , 430 , 440 , etc. storage system 450 may store various types of information as described in more detail below. this information may be retrieved or otherwise accessed by a server computing device, such as one or more server computing devices 410 , in order to perform some or all of the features described herein. in order to provide transportation services to users, the information of storage system 450 may include user account information such as credentials (e.g., a user name and password as in the case of a traditional single-factor authentication as well as other types of credentials typically used in multi-factor authentications such as random identifiers, biometrics, etc.) that can be used to identify a user to the one or more server computing devices. the user account information may also include personal information such as the user's name, contact information, identifying information of the user's client computing device (or devices if multiple devices are used with the same user account), one or more unique signals for the user as well as other user preference or settings data. the storage system 450 may also store information which can be provided to client computing devices for display to a user. for instance, the storage system 450 may store predetermined distance information for determining an area at which a vehicle is likely to stop for a given pickup or destination location. the storage system 450 may also store graphics, icons, and other items which may be displayed to a user as discussed below. example methods in addition to the operations described above and illustrated in the figures, various operations will now be described. it should be understood that the following operations do not have to be performed in the precise order described below. rather, various steps can be handled in a different order or simultaneously, and steps may also be added or omitted. the vehicle's computing devices may control the vehicle in order to follow a route. this may include generating a plurality of short term trajectories for the vehicle. these trajectories may be essentially future paths for the vehicle to follow over some brief period into the future, such as 2 seconds, 10 seconds, 16 seconds or more or less, in order to follow the route to the destination. these future paths may include a geometry component and a speed component or speed profile. the speed profile may be generated after the geometry component. in this regard, for any given geometry, a number of different possible speed profiles may be generated, including for instance, those that require the vehicle to speed up or to slow down. again, deciding which of these speed profiles to use can be a challenge. fig. 6 is an example view of vehicle 100 being maneuvered on a section of roadway corresponding to the section of roadway defined in the map information of fig. 2 . for instance, fig. 6 depicts vehicle 100 being maneuvered on a section of roadway 600 including intersections 602 and 604 . in this example, intersections 602 and 604 correspond to intersections 202 and 204 of the map information 200 , respectively. in this example, lane lines 610 , 612 , and 614 correspond to the shape, location, and other characteristics of lane lines 210 , 212 , and 214 , respectively. similarly, crosswalk 630 corresponds to the shape, location, and other characteristics of crosswalk 230 , respectively; sidewalks 640 correspond to sidewalks 240 ; traffic signal lights 620 , 622 correspond to traffic signal lights 220 , 222 , respectively; stop signs 650 , 652 correspond to stop signs 250 , 252 , respectively; yield sign 660 corresponds to yield sign 260 ; and stop line 662 corresponds to stop line 262 . in this example, the computing devices 110 have used map information 200 to determine a trajectory 670 for vehicle 100 to follow in order to reach a destination (not shown). trajectory 670 includes a speed component and geometry component (same as what is shown in fig. 6 for trajectory 670 ) that will require that vehicle 100 make a left turn at intersection 604 . the computing devices 100 may then attempt to determine a speed profile for a given geometry, such as the geometry trajectory 670 , that minimizes a discomfort value for passengers or occupants of the autonomous vehicle as well as other road users in the vehicle's environment, including any objects identified as tailgating vehicles. a discomfort value may be determined based on a combination of factors relating to expected discomfort experienced by a passenger or occupant of the autonomous vehicle (whether or not the autonomous vehicle actually includes a passenger) and a passenger or occupant of another vehicle (whether or not the another vehicle actually includes any occupant), pedestrian, or bicyclist, etc. this discomfort value may be determined based on a combination of factors including, for instance, maximum deceleration, maximum acceleration, maximum jerk, maximum lateral acceleration, maximum lateral jerk, maximum amount that autonomous vehicle will exceed a speed limit whether the autonomous vehicle will have to enter a crosswalk, whether the vehicle will have to enter an occluded crosswalk, whether the vehicle's speed will surpass a proximity speed limit, minimum distance between the vehicle and any other objects (for instance, how close together the two vehicles will come), etc. with regard to the proximity speed limit, this may correspond to limiting the speed of the vehicle as a function of the distance to a nearby object. this limit may correspond to a limit on an absolute speed, a relative speed, a percentage of the speed limit for the roadway on which the vehicle is currently driving, etc. in addition to these factors, for another road user, such as another vehicle, bicyclist or pedestrian, the factors may also include a reaction time for the other road user to react to the vehicle 100 , how much the other object will have to decelerate, when the other road user will be able to see or detect the vehicle 100 , how much the other road user will have to shift its position (move to the right or left), a headway time which corresponds to an estimated reaction time for the other road user, whether another vehicle will have to enter a crosswalk, whether another road user will have to enter an occluded crosswalk, maximum amount that any other road user will need to exceed the speed limit, as well as an uncertainty value for how confident the computing devices are in the prediction of the other road user's position and speed. each of these factors may be evaluated using a specific scale for that value. for instance, the minimum acceleration (or the maximum allowed deceleration) may range from −2 m/s2 to −8 m/s2 or more or less, maximum acceleration may range from 2 m/s2 to 3 m/s2, jerk may range from 2 m/s2 to 8 m/s2 or more or less, lateral acceleration may range from 3 m/s2 to 4 m/s2, exceeding the speed limit may range from 0% to 12% or more or less, proximity speed limit may range from 0% to 12% or more or less, headway may range from 0.75 seconds to 0 seconds or more or less, uncertainty may range from a standard deviation of 0.8 to a standard deviation of 0 or more or less. in addition, these scales may be adjusted under certain circumstances. for instance, when two vehicles are interacting, the vehicle which has precedence (i.e. the right of way) may be allowed or expected to behave more assertively, whereas the vehicle which does not have precedence (i.e. does not have the right of way) may be allowed or expected to behave more cooperatively. in that regard, the scales may be adjusted accordingly to precedence. in this regard, the scale for the maximum allowed deceleration may be increased for a vehicle which does not have precedence, for instance the scale may then range from −2 m/s2 to −10 m/s2 or more or less. similarly, the scale for the maximum acceleration may increase for a vehicle which does have precedence, for instance, the scale may then range from 2 m/s2 to 10 m/s2 or more or less. in order to determine a speed profile for a given discomfort value, the computing devices may generate a plurality of constraints based on the aforementioned factors and corresponding values. for instance, these constraints may be generated based on objects in the vehicle's environment as well as their predicted behaviors or trajectories. for instance, constraints may include limits on velocity, such as road speed limits and lateral acceleration limits in turns, minimum distances to other objects, slow regions (defined by map information), etc. for example, the computing devices 110 and/or the perception system 172 may identify objects such as vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, debris, etc. and estimate one or more future predicted trajectories for those objects. the constraints may be generated in order to prevent the vehicle's computing devices from determining a speed profile that would cause the geometry component of the trajectory (i.e. where the vehicle 100 is expected to be) with the predicted trajectories of those objects. in some instances, areas corresponding to the predicted trajectories for an object may be used to determine a constraint for that object. for example, if a pedestrian is predicted to cross the vehicle's trajectory at a given location, then that location and the time the pedestrian is expected to enter and leave the vehicle's trajectory may define a speed constraint. in some instances, the constraints may be generated based only on objects that are in front of and/or alongside of the vehicle. this may include, for instance, only those vehicles that are in front of and/or alongside of the vehicle and that also have predicted trajectories that are likely to cross with the trajectory of the vehicle. in that regard, objects behind the vehicle may be ignored. however, in some instances, objects behind the vehicle, such as tailgating vehicles, may actually be relevant to determining a speed plan for the vehicle. as such, the computing devices 110 may determine that an object is a tailgating vehicle if that object meets a plurality of requirements. for instance, these plurality of requirements may include that the object is identified as a vehicle that the object is located behind the vehicle and in the same lane as the vehicle, that the object is traveling a certain speed relative to the speed of the vehicle 100 , that the object is within a certain distance behind the vehicle, etc. in this regard, for any object located in a lane behind the vehicle 100 , the computing devices 110 may determine whether that object is a tailgating vehicle. this assessment may be updated periodically, for instance, such as every time the computing devices 110 receive updated sensor data from the perception system 172 . similarly, when an object located behind the vehicle is determined to be a tailgating vehicle, a constraint may also be generated for that object. however, the values used for a constraint for a tailgating vehicle may be different than those for a typical vehicle. for instance, for a tailgating vehicle, the computing devices 110 may assume a greater, in terms of more braking and/or less reaction time, response to the actions of the vehicle 100 than for other types of vehicles. in other words, a tailgating vehicle is more likely to slow down for the vehicle 100 than other vehicles as the vehicle 100 would be unlikely to be expected to react strongly to a tailgating vehicle behind the vehicle 100 as the tailgating vehicle would be expected to react for the vehicle 100 . the computing devices may determine whether there is a solution (i.e. a speed profile) that will satisfy or meet a maximum allowable discomfort value and satisfy the values for all of the constraints. for instance, for a given maximum allowable discomfort value, the computing devices 110 may return a speed profile for that maximum allowable discomfort value or a failure if within the limits of that maximum allowable discomfort value no solution can be found. this results in the computing devices choosing a speed plan with the lowest feasible maximum allowable discomfort value. for situations with no constraints to consider, for instance, such as the example of fig. 6 , the computing devices may be able to find a speed profile at the lowest maximum allowable discomfort value and therefore would not need to evaluate higher maximum allowable discomfort values. in other words, where there are no other road users such as vehicles, bicyclists, or pedestrians proximate to the vehicle 100 , the computing devices 110 will typically be able to find a speed profile that meets an initial or the lowest maximum allowable discomfort value, for instance zero discomfort. when the vehicle 100 's trajectory comes close to other such road users, such as vehicles or pedestrians, the vehicle should be controlled at slower speeds for safety reasons. accordingly, the desired speed may be a function of the type of other road user (for instance, vehicle, bicyclist, or pedestrian) and how close the vehicle 100 can get to that other object. by increasing the maximum allowable discomfort values, the vehicle 100 may even be allowed to exceed the desired speed slightly to avoid a collision with such other road users. the computing devices may search for speed profiles iteratively using different maximum allowable discomfort values. for instance, the computing devices start with a first and lowest maximum allowable discomfort value, such as zero. if the computing devices are unable to find a speed profile at that maximum allowable discomfort value, the computing devices may increase the maximum allowable discomfort value until a solution is found. for instance, the maximum allowable discomfort value may be increased from 0 by increments of 0.1, 0.2, 0.25, 0.5, or more or less, until the maximum allowable discomfort value reaches some absolute maximum value, such as 0.5, 1, 2, 10 or more or less. in the example of increments of 0.25 and a maximum value of 1, there would be 5 discrete levels, although additional or different levels, increments, and absolute maximum values may also be used. each time the maximum allowable discomfort is increased, so too, the values for the various factors of each constraint may be adjusted. for instance, for a typical vehicle, the reaction delay at 0 discomfort may be expected to be 2 seconds, whereas for a tailgating vehicle, the reaction delay may be expected to be 1.5 seconds. at a discomfort value of 1, for a typical vehicle, the reaction delay may be expected to be 1.5 seconds and for a tailgating vehicle, the reaction delay may be expected to be 0 seconds. as another example, at a discomfort value of 0, the maximum allowed deceleration for a tailgating vehicle may be −2 m/s/s, and at a discomfort value of 1, the maximum allowed deceleration for a tailgating vehicle may be −8 m/s/s. for a typical vehicle, at a discomfort value of 0 the maximum allowed deceleration may be −1 m/s/s, and at a discomfort value of 1, the maximum allowed deceleration may be −6 m/s/s. in the event that the typical vehicle has precedence (as discussed above), at a discomfort value of 1, the maximum allowed deceleration may be −4 m/s/s. for each given maximum allowable discomfort value, the vehicle's computing devices may start with an initial speed profile that moves as fast as possible given one or more constraints. this initial profile may not necessarily satisfy all of the constraints for all of the other objects, including tailgating vehicles. those constraints are resolved one by one. if the computing devices determine one of the constraints is violated, the computing devices attempt to yield to the object relating to that constraint by slowing the speed profile down. when slowing the speed profile down, the computing devices may make the vehicle deceleration (or brake) as late as possible and speed up again as soon as possible after the constraint. thus, the speed profile is still moving as fast as possible while satisfying the constraint. this is important because as long as computing devices understand that the speed profiles are always moving as fast as possible, slowing the speed profile down is the only option to make the profile satisfy a violated constraint. if the computing devices are able to slow down the speed profile and satisfy the constraint, the computing devices repeat the process with the next violated constraint until all constraints are satisfied. if the computing devices can't satisfy the constraints even when braking as hard and as early as possible, the maximum allowable discomfort value may be increased and new speed profiles generated. however, if the speed profile can either pass or yield to another vehicle at the given maximum allowable discomfort value, the computing devices may select a default action, such as speeding up to pass the other object. the computing device may then control the vehicle according to the speed profile that meets the smallest maximum allowable discomfort value. if for a given maximum allowable discomfort value the vehicle may use speed profiles for either passing or yielding, the vehicle's computing devices may choose the speed profile for passing with the highest speed. this speed profile may then be used in combination with the geometry component to control the vehicle. the discomfort value may be used when generating all speed profiles, but can be especially useful when the autonomous vehicle in certain types of situation which requires that the autonomous vehicle either speed up or slow down while interacting with another vehicle. these situations may include making a right turn in front of or behind another vehicle, merging in front of or behind another vehicle, crossing the path of a another vehicle in front of or behind the other vehicle, and so on. again, by using the discomfort values, such decisions may be made automatically rather than by requiring the computing devices to make a specific choice and thereafter determining a speed plan. in the example of the right turn, the computing devices may need to decide between a speed profile that includes speeding up to allow the vehicle to turn in front of the other vehicle and a speed profile that includes decreasing speed to allow the vehicle yield to the other vehicle. for instance, turning to fig. 7 , vehicle 100 must make a right turn at intersection 604 in order to follow trajectory 710 . different speed profiles may cause vehicle 100 to pass in front of or behind vehicle 720 . for instance, if the speed profile causes the vehicle to move along the trajectory immediately, for example, increasing its speed, the vehicle 100 may pass in front of vehicle 720 . similarly, if the speed profile causes the vehicle to wait or move very slowly, the vehicle 100 may pass behind the vehicle 720 . by using a maximum allowable discomfort value as described above, such decisions may be made automatically, by considering discomfort to passenger or occupants of both vehicle 100 and vehicle 720 , rather than by requiring the computing devices to make a specific choice and thereafter determining a speed plan. similarly in the example of a merge, the computing devices may need to decide between a speed profile that includes increasing speed to get over in front of the other vehicle and a speed profile that includes decreasing speed to get over behind the other vehicle. for instance, turning to fig. 8 , vehicle 100 must merge into traffic in order to follow trajectory 810 . different speed profiles may cause vehicle 100 to merge in front of or behind vehicle 820 . for instance, if the speed profile causes the vehicle to move along the trajectory immediately, for example, increasing its speed, the vehicle 100 may merge in front of vehicle 820 . similarly, if the speed profile causes the vehicle to wait or move very slowly, the vehicle 100 may merge behind the vehicle 820 . again, by using a maximum allowable discomfort value as described above, such decisions may be made automatically, by considering discomfort to passenger or occupants of both vehicle 100 and vehicle 820 , rather than by requiring the computing devices to make a specific choice and thereafter determining a speed plan. and again, in the example of crossing the path of another vehicle, the computing devices may need to decide between a speed profile that includes increasing speed to cross over the path of the other vehicle before the in front of that vehicle and a speed profile that includes decreasing speed to cross the path of the other vehicle after the vehicle behind the other vehicle. for instance, turning to fig. 9 , vehicle 100 must proceed straight through intersection 604 in order to follow trajectory 910 . different speed profiles may cause vehicle 100 to pass in front of or behind vehicle 920 . for instance, if the speed profile causes the vehicle to move along the trajectory immediately, for example, increasing its speed, the vehicle 100 may cross the path of vehicle 920 in front of vehicle 920 . similarly, if the speed profile causes the vehicle to wait or move very slowly, the vehicle 100 may cross the path of vehicle 920 behind the vehicle 920 . again, by using a maximum allowable discomfort value as described above, such decisions may be made automatically, by considering discomfort to passenger or occupants of both vehicle 100 and vehicle 920 , rather than by requiring the computing devices to make a specific choice and thereafter determining a speed plan. as the discomfort value increases, certain constraints may be “phased out” or their values may be such that they do not affect the speed profile in order to allow the vehicle to disregard or ignore the constraint. this behavior may enable the computing devices 110 to essentially make tradeoffs between which constraints are more important than others. as such, tailgating vehicles may also affect the behavior of the vehicle, for instance, by causing the computing devices 110 to adjust or even ignore some constraints. for instance, if the vehicle 100 is approaching an intersection, a tailgating vehicle may indirectly cause the computing devices 110 to adjust a constraint related to stopping at a stop line for the intersection because the tailgater is not decelerating fast enough or at all. for example, turning to fig. 10 , vehicle 100 is approaching intersection 602 and following trajectory 1010 through intersection 602 . at this point, a traffic light controlling the lane in which vehicle 100 is located is red or is yellow (i.e. is about to turn red). as such, computing devices 110 may need to stop vehicle 100 at the intersection 602 . in addition, vehicle 1020 is behind vehicle 100 and in the same lane as vehicle 100 . in this example, the computing devices 110 may determine that vehicle 1020 is a tailgating vehicle as discussed above. as such, the computing devices 110 may adjust the constraint for stopping at the stop line 662 , for instance, by moving a location of the constraint to a few feet beyond the stop line. alternatively, the computing devices 110 may simply ignore the constraint completely. by adjusting or ignoring, the computing devices 110 may cause the vehicle 100 to stop a few feet past the stop line 662 or to move forward a few feet into intersection 602 in order to avoid being hit (i.e. rear-ended) by the tailgating vehicle 1020 . of course, the vehicle 100 may not necessary disregard its own safety or that of others by running a stop sign or passing through an intersection while traffic light controlling the lane in which vehicle 100 is located is red or about to turn red. for instance, to ensure safety with respect to cross-traffic, moving into the intersection may only be allowed while a traffic light controlling the lane in which vehicle 100 is located is still yellow (i.e. the light has not yet turned red). with regard to the uncertainty factor, in some circumstances for lower maximum allowable discomfort values, the vehicle's computing devices may adjust the vehicle's behavior to proceed more cautiously. for instance, at lower maximum allowable discomfort values, the computing devices may apply a “buffer” constraint around other objects future states that represents an uncertainty about their future trajectory. as an example, this buffer constraint may be generated such that there is a 60% or more or less likelihood that the other object will stay within the inflated constraint. for higher maximum allowable discomfort values, this buffer constraint may be reduced. fig. 11 includes an example flow diagram 1100 of some of the examples for controlling a first vehicle, such as vehicle 100 , which may be performed by one or more processors such as processors 120 of computing devices 110 . for instance, at block 1110 , while maneuvering the first vehicle in an autonomous driving mode, a second vehicle is identified. at block 1120 , geometry for a future trajectory of the first vehicle is received. at block 1130 , an initial allowable discomfort value is identified. at block 1140 , determining a speed profile for the geometry that meets the initial allowable discomfort value is attempted based on a set of factors relating to at least discomfort of a passenger or occupant of the first vehicle and discomfort of a passenger or occupant of the second vehicle. at block 1150 , when a speed profile that meets the initial allowable discomfort value cannot be determined, the initial allowable discomfort value is adjusted until a speed profile that meets an adjusted allowable discomfort value is determined. at block 1160 , the speed profile that meets the adjusted allowable discomfort value is used to control the vehicle in the autonomous driving mode. fig. 12 includes an example flow diagram 1200 of some of the examples for controlling a first vehicle, such as vehicle 100 , which may be performed by one or more processors such as processors 120 of computing devices 110 . at block 1210 , while the vehicle is maneuvered in the autonomous driving mode, a second vehicle is identified. at block 1220 , the second vehicle is determined to be a tailgating vehicle. an initial allowable discomfort value representing expected discomfort of an occupant of the first vehicle and expected discomfort of an occupant of the second vehicle is determined at block 1230 . at block 1240 , determining a speed profile that meets the initial allowable discomfort value is attempted based on a set of factors corresponding to a reaction of the second vehicle. at block 1250 , when a speed profile that meets the initial allowable discomfort value cannot be determined, the initial allowable discomfort value is adjusted until a speed profile that meets an adjusted allowable discomfort value is determined. at block 1260 , the speed profile that meets the adjusted allowable discomfort value is used to control the first vehicle in the autonomous driving mode. unless otherwise stated, the foregoing alternative examples are not mutually exclusive, but may be implemented in various combinations to achieve unique advantages. as these and other variations and combinations of the features discussed above can be utilized without departing from the subject matter defined by the claims, the foregoing description of the embodiments should be taken by way of illustration rather than by way of limitation of the subject matter defined by the claims. in addition, the provision of the examples described herein, as well as clauses phrased as “such as,” “including” and the like, should not be interpreted as limiting the subject matter of the claims to the specific examples; rather, the examples are intended to illustrate only one of many possible embodiments. further, the same reference numbers in different drawings can identify the same or similar elements.
121-991-040-597-938	FI	[ "FI", "EP" ]	B08B1/04,B08B9/04,B08B9/045	1993-10-13T00:00:00	1993	[ "B08" ]	procedure and apparatus for the cleaning of air ducts.	the invention relates to a procedure and an apparatus for the cleaning of air ducts. the brushing device of the invention, supported by supporting and friction brushes (2), is moved in an air duct in the transverse direction of the duct. the direction of rotation of the drive motor (1) of the apparatus is reversed by means of a pneumatic control system, enabling the brush to move back and forth in the duct so as to produce an efficient brushing result.	procedure for the cleaning of air ducts, in which procedure a motor-driven brushing device provided with a cleaning brush (3) is moved in the air duct to be cleaned, characterized in that the brushing device is equipped with supporting and friction brushes (2) supporting the cleaning brush (3) and that, during the brushing, the brushing device is driven, if necessary, in the transverse direction of the duct by means of a driving motor (1), the brushing device being supported by the brushes (2, 3), procedure for the cleaning of air ducts according to claim 1, characterized in that, by reversing the direction of rotation of the drive motor (1), the brushing device is driven in the duct back and forth in the widthwise direction of the duct during brushing. apparatus for the cleaning of air ducts, comprising a pneumatic motor (1), a cleaning brush (3) mounted on a rotatable shaft at its front end and a flexible working arm (6) attached to the rear end of the motor and enabling the brushing device to be moved in the direction of the motor shaft, characterized in that the apparatus is provided with at least one supporting and friction brush (2) fitted to support the soft cleaning brush (3). apparatus for the cleaning of air ducts according to claim 3, characterized in that it has on either side of the cleaning brush, directly at each end of the cleaning brush (3), a supporting and friction brush (2) having a diameter smaller than that of the cleaning brush.	the present invention relates to a procedure as defined in the preamble of claim 1 and an apparatus as defined in the preamble of claim 3 for the cleaning of air ducts. previously known is e.g. the procedure and apparatus for the cleaning of air ducts presented in finnish patent application 902078. in this known solution, a suction fan is connected to a desired point in the piping and the connections close to the suction fan are temporarily closed. when a cleaning brush is then inserted into the duct at a point at a distance from the fan, the dust and dirt loosened by the brush are carried by the suction into the container of the suction fan. the brushing device used in this solution comprises a motor-driven brush which is supported by wheels running along the duct walls. a drawback with this known solution is that each brushing device can only be fitted for one pipe or duct size. therefore, in ducts larger than the designed size, the brush moves along the bottom or the duct but leaves the upper part uncleaned. the object or the present invention is to correct the drawbacks mentioned above and to achieve a new type of procedure and apparatus for the cleaning of air ducts which is cheap and reliable in operation. the procedure of the invention is characterized by what is said in the characterization part of claim 1. similarly, the apparatus of the invention is characterized by what is said in the characterization part of claim 3. in addition, different embodiments of the invention are characterized by what is said in the characterization parts of the subclaims. the solution or the invention has the advantage that it allows easy cleaning or ducts having a rectangular, square, elliptical or circular cross section. moreover, the solution of the invention is applicable for the cleaning of ducts of various cross-sectional sizes. since the brushing device also moves in the widthwise direction, it can be used to clean even ducts having a large width and a rectangular or ellipctical cross-sectional form by making use of an automatic feature for the change of the direction of rotation. in addition, a flexible spiral shaft coupler can be fitted between the shaft of the pneumatic motor and the brush fixture. this coupler enhances the sideways movement of the brushing device when required, making it easier for the brushing device to move in the corner areas of the ducts. in the following, the invention is described in detail by the aid of an example of its embodiments by referring to the attached drawings, in which fig. 1 presents the brushing device in side view and partially sectioned, fig. 2 presents the brushing device in a rectangular air duct, seen in perspective view from above, fig. 3 visualizes the effect of a reversal of the direction of rotation of the pneumatic motor on the brushing action in a rectangular duct, showing the brush from behind, fig. 4 presents a diagram of the pneumatic control of the pneumatic motor. to give an understanding or the procedure, the brushing device and its parts will be described first. fig. 1 depicts the structure of the brushing device in a simplified form and partly sectioned. the device comprises a cylindrical pneumatic motor 1 rotatable in two directions. the motor imparts a rotating motion to a cleaning brush 3, the ends of which are provided with supporting and friction brushes 2 which bear and support the soft cleaning brush. the supporting and friction brushes are narrower and more rigid than the cleaning brush 3 and their diameter is smaller than that of the cleaning brush. the cleaning brush is soft and has a large diameter so as to enable it to be used for the cleaning of ducts of various sizes. the brushes are coupled by means of a rigid coupler 4 or a flexible spiral shaft coupler 5 to the front end of the pneumatic motor. the brushes are attached to the coupler by means of a dome-capped screw 10. to prevent the screw 10 from being unscrewed as a result of a change of direction of rotation of the brushes, the brushes 2, 3 and the coupler 4, 5 are connected together by means of cylindrical pins 11. spring washers 12 prevent the screw from being loosened due to vibration. connected to the rear end of the pneumatic motor 1 via a flexible crosspiece is a flexible working arm 6. the crosspiece has inside it a knuckle joint 13 transferring the torque and outside it a spring 7 which provides flexibility and effects a return motion. connected to this end of the pneumatic motor 1 are also the pressure air delivery pipes 8. these as well as the working arm 6 are placed inside a protective plastic pipe 9. fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the brushing device in a rectangular duct. the figure visualizes the sideways motion of the brushes 2, 3 in a wide air duct. fig. 3 illustrates the motion of the brushing device in a rectangular duct as seen from the direction of the rear end of the pneumatic motor 1. the supporting and friction brushes 2 act as friction increasing elements to produce a sideways motion and, placed on either side of the cleaning brush 3, they support the brushing device as it is brushing the duct. the use a brush oversized with respect to the height of the duct makes it possible far the brush to reach even the corners of a rectangular or square duct. reversing the direction of rotation allows both edges of a wide duct to be reached while the intermediate area is also brushed as the brushing device moves alternately from side to side. when the direction of rotation of the brushes is changed, the brushing device always moves in the direction of rotation due to the friction generated by the brushes. fig. 4 shows a diagram of the pneumatic control of a reversal of direction of rotation of the pneumatic motor 1. valve 14 is a reversing valve controlled by an auxiliary valve 15. valves 18 and 19 are manual valves used in manual control mode, and valves 16 and 17 are timer valves regulating the duration of the working period in each direction of rotation. the pressure is supplied to the auxiliary valve via a pressure regulator 20, ensuring that variations in the pressure of the supplying pneumatic network will not affect the time settings of the timer valves. when manual valve 18 is open and manual valve 19 closed, the motor rotates in the clockwise direction, and when these valves are set vice versa, the motor rotates in the anticlockwise direction. when both manual valves are open, reversal of the direction of rotation is controlled automatically by the timer valves. timer valve 17 is used to adjust the duration of clockwise rotation and timer valve 16 to adjust the duration of anticlockwise rotation. both valves have a knurled-head screw for adjustment of the period. the brushing device is moved by pushing or pulling it by the flexible working arm in the direction of the shaft of the pneumatic motor. transverse movement is produced by reversing the direction or rotation of the motor via the pneumatic control system. the soft cleaning brush 3, supported by the supporting and friction brushes 2, moves in the air duct. the brushing device moves in the transverse direction in the duct according to the direction of rotation of the brushes, always moving towards the direction of rotation, while the cleaning device brushes the duct. it is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention is not restricted to the example described above, but the invention may be varied within the scope of the claims presented below.
123-813-195-000-375	KR	[ "EP", "WO", "CN", "US", "KR", "JP" ]	A61N5/06	2019-10-22T00:00:00	2019	[ "A61" ]	stomatitis treatment device	the present invention relates to a stomatitis treatment device which is equipped with a light emitting means inside a housing to enable inflammations on the roof of the mouth and the upper side of the tongue to be treated, and to which a coupling module is attached to allow inflammations occurring on the lower side of the bottom of the mouth, etc. to be treated. the stomatitis treatment device comprises: the housing, which is inserted into the oral cavity and rests on the roof of the mouth and the upper side of the tongue; a main body including the housing and a connection part; a cell regeneration lamp which is provided inside the housing and outputs near infrared rays; an external device for supplying power to the cell regeneration lamp; and the coupling module which is coupled to the housing, rests on the lower side of the tongue and the bottom of the mouth, and includes a light carrier. the stomatitis treatment device allows the roof of the mouth, the tongue, and the bottom of the mouth to be simultaneously irradiated with light for treatment by attaching and detaching the coupling module to and from the housing having the cell regeneration lamp therein, and thus can be used by patients having severe stomatitis with multiple lesions.	a stomatitis treatment device comprising: a housing inserted into an oral cavity and mounted on a palate and a top side of a tongue; a body comprising the housing and a connection portion; a cell restoration lamp provided inside the housing and configured to output a near-infrared ray; an external device configured to supply power to the cell restoration lamp; and a coupling module coupled to the housing, mounted on a bottom side of the tongue and a floor of a mouth, and comprising a light transfer body, wherein it is possible to output near-infrared rays to the palate, the top side of the tongue, the bottom side of the tongue, and the floor of the mouth at the same time. the stomatitis treatment device of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a first upper portion formed to be convex to be mounted on the palate and a first lower portion formed to be concave to be mounted on the top side of the tongue, and wherein the first lower portion comprises a plurality of coupling grooves formed at a distance of 5 mm to 10 mm from an apex of the tongue mounted thereon. the stomatitis treatment device of claim 2, wherein the light transfer body is embedded in and protrudes from the coupling module, and wherein the coupling module comprises a second upper portion formed to have a gradient decreased in a direction from a surface coupled to and coming in contact with the housing toward a frenum of the tongue to allow the bottom side of the tongue to be mounted thereon and a second lower portion having a flat bottom side to be mounted on the floor of the mouth. the stomatitis treatment device of claim 3, wherein the housing further comprises a transfer lamp configured to output the near-infrared rays, wherein a protruding part of the light transfer body is coupled to the coupling groove, wherein an embedded part of the light transfer body comprises a plurality of ends and transfers light emitted from the transfer lamp to the plurality of ends, and wherein a plurality of light-inducing grooves are formed outside the coupling module and the housing. the stomatitis treatment device of claim 1, wherein the connection portion comprises a terminal formed of a silicone material and provided to be connected to the external device, a plurality of separation prevention portions protruding from an outside of the terminal to increase a coupling force of the terminal connected to the external device, and an oral secretion prevention portion provided on one side of the terminal to prevent an oral secretion from flowing into the terminal. the stomatitis treatment device of claim 5, wherein the oral secretion prevention portion is formed to be concave toward the terminal so that the oral secretion is collected therein.	[technical field] the present invention relates to a stomatitis treatment device, and more particularly, to a stomatitis treatment device configured not only to treat inflammations at a palate and a top side of a tongue using a light emission device provided inside a housing but also to treat inflammations at a bottom side of the tongue and a floor of a mouth by attaching a coupling module thereto. [background art] generally, stomatitis refers to overall inflammatory diseases occurring on a tongue, a palate, a floor of a mouth, buccal mucosa, and the like. generally, when slight stomatitis occurs, medicine is directly applied to an inside of an oral cavity. when serious stomatitis occurs, medicine is directly applied to an inside of an oral cavity and medicine for internal use is taken at the same time. however, when medicine is directly applied to an inside of an oral cavity, the medicine is quickly washed away by saliva, and a treatment effect is not continued. accordingly, a therapeutic period increases. also, there is a problem in which it is difficult to prescribe medicines for internal use for children, some patients, pregnant women, and the like. to solve the above problems, an oral remedy device including a mouthpiece set including an upper mouthpiece with a first insertion hole in front thereof and a lower mouthpiece with a second insertion hole in front thereof and a light emission portion disposed between the upper mouthpiece and the lower mouthpiece and configured to emit light toward an inside of an oral cavity and in which an adequate distance from a part to be treated may be maintained and an oral curer may be stably supported in the oral cavity has been developed, which is disclosed in detail in korean patent registration no. 10-1858657 (registered on may 10, 2018 ). also, korean patent publication no. 10-2013-0057692 (published on june 3, 2013 ) discloses an oral remedy mouthpiece including a body inserted into an oral cavity, a biting portion extending from the body and bitten by at least one of lips and teeth of a patient, and configured to support the body against the oral cavity, a beam forming portion disposed inside the body and configured to generate a beam for treatment, and a beam extension portion disposed between the beam forming portion and an open area of the body and configured to uniformly extend the beam generated by the beam forming portion toward an inside of the oral cavity so as to have a structure including the body and the biting portion which is easily bitten by the patient and to uniformly emit the beam for treatment toward the inside of the oral cavity and an oral remedy device including the same. also, korean patent registration no. 10-0777438 (registered on november 12, 2007 ) discloses an optical periodontal disease treatment device including a mouthpiece member including an insertion furrow to be inserted into a mouth and to surround teeth and a part of the gums, a light source array in which a plurality of light sources are arranged in the mouthpiece member to emit light toward the teeth and the gums, and a controller configured to control driving of the light sources. however, in the case of related arts including the above documents, since a mouthpiece in which the light sources are inserted has a fixed size, there is still a problem of the related arts in which it is difficult for a variety of patients having oral cavities having different sizes such as children, adults, and the like to use the related arts. also, in the related arts including the above documents, it is difficult to emit light in the case of stomatitis formed on a palate, buccal mucosa, and the like in addition to teeth and gums. also, in the case of related arts including the above documents, it is difficult to prevent trouble occurring due to an oral secretion flowing into a device even in an electronic device to which a mouthpiece, in which a controller and a light source array are installed, is connected through a driving wire. [disclosure] [technical problem] the present invention is directed to providing a stomatitis treatment device in which a coupling module is detachably attached to a housing including a cell restoration lamp so as to emit light toward a palate, a tongue, a floor of a mouth, and buccal mucosa at the same time so that not only a serious stomatitis patient may be treated but also an oral secretion prevention hole, an oral secretion prevention portion is provided so as to prevent a failure of an electronic device caused by an oral secretion of a patient. [technical solution] one aspect of the present invention provides a stomatitis treatment device including a housing inserted into an oral cavity and mounted on a palate and a top side of a tongue, a body including the housing and a connection portion, a cell restoration lamp provided inside the housing and configured to output a near-infrared ray, an external device configured to supply power to the cell restoration lamp, and a coupling module coupled to the housing, mounted on a bottom side of the tongue and a floor of a mouth, and including a light transfer body. here, it is possible to output near-infrared rays to the palate, the top side of the tongue, the bottom side of the tongue, and the floor of the mouth at the same time. the housing may include a first upper portion formed to be convex to be mounted on the palate and a first lower portion formed to be concave to be mounted on the top side of the tongue. also, the first lower portion may include a plurality of coupling grooves formed at a distance of 5 mm to 10 mm from an apex of the tongue mounted thereon. the light transfer body may be embedded in and protrude from the coupling module. also, the coupling module may include a second upper portion formed to have a gradient decreased in a direction from a surface coupled to and coming in contact with the housing toward a frenum of the tongue to allow the bottom side of the tongue to be mounted thereon and a second lower portion having a flat bottom side to be mounted on the floor of the mouth. the housing may further include a transfer lamp configured to output the near-infrared rays. here, a protruding part of the light transfer body may be coupled to the coupling groove. an embedded part of the light transfer body may include a plurality of ends and transfer light emitted from the transfer lamp to the plurality of ends. a plurality of light-inducing grooves may be formed outside the coupling module and the housing. the connection portion may include a terminal formed of a silicone material and provided to be connected to the external device, a plurality of separation prevention portions protruding from an outside of the terminal to increase a coupling force of the terminal connected to the external device, and an oral secretion prevention portion provided on one side of the terminal to prevent an oral secretion from flowing into the terminal. the oral secretion prevention portion may be formed to be concave toward the terminal so that the oral secretion is collected therein. [advantageous effects] according to the present invention, a stomatitis treatment device in which a coupling module is detachably attached to a housing including a cell restoration lamp thereinside so as to emit light for treatment toward a palate, a floor of a mouth, and buccal mucosa at the same time may be used by serious stomatitis patients having multiple lesions. also, according to the present invention, the stomatitis treatment device may include an oral secretion prevention portion formed on one side of a terminal so as to prevent an oral secretion of a patient who wears a housing from flowing into a body or an external device. [description of drawings] fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a stomatitis treatment device according to an embodiment of the present invention. fig. 2 is a side cross-sectional view according to the embodiment of the present invention. fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the side cross-sectional view according to the embodiment of the present invention. fig. 4 is an exemplary view of using the stomatitis treatment device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [modes of the invention] hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a stomatitis treatment device according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 is a side cross-sectional view according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the side cross-sectional view according to the embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 4 is an exemplary view of using the stomatitis treatment device according to the embodiment of the present invention. a stomatitis treatment device 1 according to the present invention may include a body 10, a coupling module 20 coupled to one side of the body 10, and an external device 30 coupled to one end of the body 10. the body 10 includes a housing 110 which is inserted into an oral cavity, a substrate portion 120 formed inside the housing 110 to emit light, and a connection portion 130 configured to electrically connect the substrate portion 120 to an outside and has an exterior formed by molding with transparent silicone. a method of manufacturing the body 10 is not limited thereto and any manufacturing processes in which the substrate portion 120 is insertable and installable inside the body 10 may be applied. as shown in figs. 2 to 4 , the housing 110 includes a first upper portion 111 formed to have a shape insertable into an oral cavity of a patient and be convex upward to be mounted on a palate, a first lower portion 112 formed to be concave downward to be mounted on a top side of a tongue, a plurality of coupling grooves 114 formed at a distance of 5 mm to 10 mm from an apex of the tongue mounted on the first lower portion 112, and a uvula evasion portion 115 formed to have a concave center so as not to allow a uvula to come into contact therewith. the substrate portion 120 includes a substrate 121, a cell restoration lamp 122, and a transfer lamp 123 as shown in fig. 2 . the substrate 121 includes a flexible material like the housing 110, and the substrate 121 is embedded in an intermediate plane between the first upper portion 111 and the first lower portion 112. such cell restoration lamps 122 connected to the substrate 121 are built in the first upper portion 111 and the first lower portion 112. the cell restoration lamp 122 is formed of a laser or a light emitting diode (led) configured to output a near-infrared ray wavelength including 675 nm or 808 nm and which is emittable outward through the silicone of the housing 110. since the cell restoration lamp 122 is able to output near-infrared rays, cell energy may be increased by activating an adenosine triphosphoric acid reaction of cells of an inflamed part. due to the increased cell energy, cell restoration becomes vigorous so that it is possible to effectively treat stomatitis. although the near-infrared lamp is used as the cell restoration lamp 122 in the above description, the present invention is not limited thereto, and any light sources which are effective in cell restoration such as an ultraviolet lamp or the like which is able to activate cell restoration by sterilizing harmful bacteria in the inflamed part through emission of ultraviolet rays may be applied. light output from the cell restoration lamp 122 may be emitted outward from the first upper portion 111 so as to treat inflammations occurring at the palate and buccal mucosa, may be emitted outward from the second lower portion 121 so as to treat inflammations occurring the top side of the tongue and buccal mucosa, and may be emitted outward from the uvula evasion portion 115 so as to treat inflammations occurring at the uvula and tonsils. as shown in fig. 2 , the transfer lamp 123, like the cell restoration lamp, is embedded in the coupling groove 114. as shown in fig. 4 , the coupling module 20 includes a light transfer body 24 embedded to protrude to be coupled to the coupling groove 114, a second upper portion 21 formed to have a lower gradient in a direction from a surface coming into contact with the housing toward a frenum of the tongue to allow a bottom side of the tongue to be mounted thereon, a second lower portion 22 having a flat bottom side to be mounted on a floor of a mouth, and a support portion 25 having both ends concave inward to be stably supported by the floor of the mouth and side surfaces of the lower gums and includes a transparent silicone material like the housing 110. a protruding part of the light transfer body 24 may be forcibly inserted into the coupling groove 114 and the light transfer body 24 may be formed of a light-guiding member such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (pmma) or include an optical fiber cable embedded therein so as to transmit light output from the transfer lamp 123. as shown in figs. 2 and 3 , a first end 241 and a second end 242 formed at an embedded part of the light transfer body 24 may transfer light output from the transfer lamp 123 to the second upper portion 21 so as to treat an inflammation occurring on the bottom side of the tongue. a third end 243 and a fourth end 244 formed at the embedded part of the light transfer body 24 may transfer light output from the transfer lamp 123 to the second lower portion 22 so as to treat an inflammation occurring on the floor of the mouth. also, a plurality of light-inducing grooves 113 may be formed outside the housing 110 so as to emit light toward not only the palate and the top side of the tongue but also a rear of the gums, the buccal mucosa, and the tonsils. a plurality of light-inducing grooves 23 may be formed outside the coupling module 20 so as to emit light toward not only the bottom side of the tongue and the floor of the mouth but also the buccal mucosa when coupled to the housing 110. as described above, in the present invention, light may be emitted toward not only the palate, the top side of the tongue, the bottom side of the tongue, and the floor of the mouth but also the rear of gums, the buccal mucosa, and tonsils at the same time so as to treat a serious stomatitis patient having multiple lesions. the connection portion 130 includes a terminal 131, a separation prevention portion 132, and an oral secretion prevention portion 133 as shown in fig. 2 . the terminal 131 is electrically connected to the substrate 121. the terminal 131 may be connected to a terminal opening 31 of the external device 30, and power supply, light output intensity, an output time, wavelength, and the like of the cell restoration lamp 122 may be adjusted by manipulating a control panel 32. a plurality of such separation prevention portions 132 protruding to increase a contact force with the terminal opening 31 are formed outside the terminal 131. a fastening force may be maintained by the separation prevention portions 132 in spite of a slight tremor of the patient who receives light treatment. since the patient who wears the housing 110 has a difficulty in smooth swallowing of the oral secretion, when the oral secretion flows outward from the housing and into the terminal 131 or the terminal opening 31, the stomatitis treatment device 1 may be broken due to a short circuit. to prevent this, the oral secretion prevention portion 133 having a rectangularly protruding shape is provided on one side of the terminal 131. as shown in fig. 1 , the oral secretion prevention portion 133 has one concave surface so that lips may be mounted thereon or a certain amount of oral secretion may be temporarily collected.
126-343-284-460-539	US	[ "US" ]	G06T13/00	2007-09-20T00:00:00	2007	[ "G06" ]	displaying animation of graphic object in environments lacking 3d redndering capability	three dimensional (3d) animations of an avatar graphic object are displayed in an environment that lacks high quality real-time 3d animation rendering capability. before the animation is displayed in the environment at runtime, corresponding 3d and 2d reference models are created for the avatar. the 2d reference model is provided in a plurality of different views or reference angles. a 3d animation rendering program is used to produce 3d motion data for each animation. the 3d motion data define a position and rotation of parts of the 3d reference model. image files are prepared for art assets drawn on associated parts of the 2d reference model in all views. at runtime in the environment, the position, rotation, and layer of each avatar part in 3d space is mapped to 2d space for each successive frame of an animation, with selected art assets applied to the associated parts of the avatar.	1 . a method for enabling animations of a graphic object, which can have multiple different visual appearances, to be displayed in a two-dimensional (2d) form in an environment lacking support for a high quality real-time three-dimensional (3d) rendering of an animation of the graphic object, the graphic object comprising a plurality of associated parts to which different art assets can be selectively applied to change the appearance of the graphic object, the method comprising the steps of: (a) prior to displaying any animations in the environment lacking support for high quality real-time 3d animation rendering: (i) creating a 3d reference model for the graphic object; (ii) creating a 2d reference model for the graphic object corresponding to the 3d reference model, in multiple views, each of the multiple views of the 2d reference model being from a different direction; (iii) aligning the 2d reference model and the 3d reference model with each other; (iv) creating 3d motion data for each animation of the graphic object desired, using the 3d reference model, each animation comprising a plurality of frames; and (v) for each art asset that might be displayed on the graphic object, providing 2d image files for all of the multiple views of the associated parts of the 2d reference model, with the art assets appearing on the associated parts on which they might be displayed; and (b) when displaying an animation selected from the desired animations for which the 3d motion data were created in the environment: (i) mapping the 3d motion data for each associated part of the graphic object in each frame of the animation, to a corresponding 2d location in the frame; and (ii) rendering successive frames of the animation selected, so that for each frame of the animation selected, the associated parts of the 2d reference model of the graphic object are displayed with the art assets applied, at a mapped position and at a mapped rotation for the frame. 2 . the method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of enabling a user to select different portions of the art assets to be displayed on specific associated parts of the 2d reference model of the graphic object, each selection of different portions of the art assets customizing an appearance of the graphic object when the animation is displayed in the environment. 3 . the method of claim 2 , wherein the art assets are displayed on the associated parts in different layers, further comprising the step of hiding an area of one art asset on one layer with an art asset that is displayed on a different layer that is closer to a view point of the animation selected than the one layer. 4 . the method of claim 3 , further comprising the step of applying the art assets to an associated part of the graphic object in different layers, the different layers being ordered in regard to the view point, so that the art asset applied to an associated part on a layer closer to the view point hides at least part of an art asset applied to the associated part on a layer further from the view point. 5 . the method of claim 1 , wherein for each frame of the animation being displayed, the step of displaying further comprises the steps of: (a) identifying a view point for the animation selected in 3d space; (b) determining a position of the graphic object in 3d space; (c) for each associated part of the graphic object in succession: (i) inputting the location and the rotation of the associated part from the 3d motion data; (ii) projecting coordinates in 3d space for the associated part into 2d space, to determine a layer in which the associated part should be displayed in the environment; (iii) using the rotation for the associated part to determine a closest view of the multiple views, for the associated part; and (iv) determining an affine transformation matrix from the position and the rotation for the associated part; (d) sorting the associated parts and the layers in which the associated parts are disposed, based on a distance between the associated parts and the view point; and (e) for each layer in succession, displaying the associated parts of the graphic object in the layer with selected art assets applied starting with the layer that is furthest from the view point, using the affine transformation matrix to determine the position and the rotation of each associated part in the layers. 6 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the graphic object comprises an avatar, and wherein the art assets include a plurality of types and articles of clothing that are different in appearance and which can be selected to customize an appearance of the avatar when rendered and displayed as the 2d graphic object in the environment. 7 . the method of claim 6 , wherein the art assets further include a plurality of different facial features from one or more can be selected to further customize the appearance of the avatar. 8 . the method of claim 6 , further comprising the step of enabling a new article of clothing to be added to the art assets for use in displaying any animation selected from the desired animations, without modifying the 3d motion data. 9 . the method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of enabling new animations to be employed to create additional 3d motion data for use with any of the art assets. 10 . the method of claim 1 , wherein the environment lacking support for high quality real-time 3d rendering comprises a browser program. 11 . a memory medium on which are stored machine instructions for enabling animations of a graphic object, which can have multiple different visual appearances, to be displayed in a two-dimensional (2d) form in an environment lacking support for high quality real-time three-dimensional (3d) rendering of an animation of the graphic object, the graphic object comprising a plurality of associated parts to which different art assets can be selectively applied to change the appearance of the graphic object, the machine executable instructions being executable to carry out a plurality of functions, including: (a) accessing 3d motion data that were previously generated for each of a plurality of associated parts of the graphic object in regard to each of a plurality of frames of the animation; (b) accessing art assets that were selected for application to the associated parts of the graphic object when displayed as a 2d graphic object in the environment; (c) mapping the 3d motion data for each associated part of the graphic object in each frame of the animation, to a corresponding 2d location in the frame within the environment; and (d) rendering successive frames of the animation in rapid succession to produce a perceived movement of the graphic object in the animation, so that for each frame, the associated parts of the graphic object are displayed in a 2d form in the environment, with the art assets selected applied to the associated parts of the graphic object, at a mapped position and at a mapped rotation for the frame. 12 . the memory medium of claim 11 , wherein for each frame of the animation, the machine instructions are further executable to carry out the functions of: (a) identifying a view point for the animation in 3d space; (b) determining a position of the graphic object in 3d space; (c) for each associated part of the graphic object in succession: (i) accessing the location and the rotation of the associated part in the 3d motion data; (ii) projecting coordinates in 3d space for the associated part into 2d space, to determine a layer in which the associated part should be displayed in the environment; (iii) using the rotation to determine a closest reference angle of view for the associated part; and (iv) determining an affine transformation matrix from the position and the rotation for the associated part; (d) sorting the associated parts and the layers in which the associated parts are disposed, based on a distance between the associated parts and the view point; and (e) for each layer in succession, displaying the associated parts of the graphic object in the layer, using the affine transformation matrix to determine the position and the rotation of each associated part in the layer, with the art assets applied to the associated parts. 13 . the memory medium of claim 11 , wherein the graphic object comprises an avatar, and wherein the art assets include a plurality of types and articles of clothing that are different in appearance, the machine instructions being executable to further enable a user to select different specific articles of clothing from among the art assets to customize an appearance of the avatar when rendering and displaying the avatar in the environment as the 2d graphic object. 14 . the memory medium of claim 11 , wherein the art assets further include a plurality of different facial features, the machine instructions being executable to further cause the processor to enable a user to select one or more facial features that can be applied to the avatar from among the plurality of different facial features, to further customize the appearance of the avatar when displayed in the environment as the 2d graphic object. 15 . the memory medium of claim 11 , wherein the environment lacking support for high quality real-time 3d rendering of an animation comprises a browser software program with which the machine instructions interact, so that the animation is displayed using the browser program. 16 . a system for use in enabling animations of a graphic object, which can have multiple different visual appearances, to be displayed in a two-dimensional (2d) form in an environment lacking support for high quality real-time three-dimensional (3d) rendering of the graphic object, the graphic object comprising a plurality of associated parts to which different art assets can be selectively applied to change the appearance of the graphic object, the system comprising: (a) a memory in which are stored machine instructions and data; (b) a display for displaying graphics and text; (c) an input device for providing an input for controlling the system; and (d) a processor that is coupled to the memory, the display, and the input device, the processor executing the machine instructions to carry out a plurality of functions, including: (i) creating a 3d reference model for the graphic object; (ii) creating a 2d reference model for the graphic object corresponding to the 3d reference model, in multiple views, each of the multiple views of the 2d reference model being from a different direction; (iii) aligning the 2d reference model and the 3d reference model with each other; (iv) creating 3d motion data for each frame of each animation of the graphic object desired, using the 3d reference model, each animation comprising a plurality of frames; (v) for each art asset that might be displayed on the graphic object, providing 2d image files for all of the multiple views of the associated parts of the 2d reference model, with the art assets appearing on the associated parts on which they might be displayed in the 2d image files; and (vi) storing the 3d motion data and the image files of the art assets in the memory for subsequent use in rendering the animation in the 2d form in the environment. 17 . the system of claim 16 , wherein the processor executes a separate software program to create the 3d motion data for each frame of each animation of the graphic object desired. 18 . a system for enabling animations of a graphic object, which can have multiple different visual appearances, to be displayed in a two-dimensional (2d) form in an environment lacking support for high quality real-time three-dimensional (3d) rendering of the graphic object, the graphic object comprising a plurality of associated parts to which different art assets can be selectively applied to change the appearance of the graphic object, the system comprising: (a) a memory in which are stored machine instructions and data; (b) a display for displaying graphics and text; (c) an input device for providing an input for controlling the system; and (d) a processor that is coupled to the memory, the display, and the input device, the processor executing the machine instructions to carry out a plurality of functions, including: (i) for each frame of the animation, identifying a view point for the animation in 3d space; (ii) for each frame of the animation, determining a position of the graphic object in 3d space; (iii) in each frame of the animation, for each associated part of the graphic object of the frame in succession: (a) accessing 3d motion data that have been previously determined for the graphic object, to determine a location and a rotation of the associated part in 3d space; (b) projecting coordinates in 3d space that were obtained from the 3d motion data for the associated part into 2d space, to determine a layer in which the associated part should be displayed in the environment; (c) using the rotation of the associated part to determine a closest reference angle of view for the associated part; and (d) determining an affine transformation matrix from the position and the rotation for the associated part; (iv) for each frame of the animation, sorting the associated parts and the layers in which the associated parts are disposed, based on a distance between the associated parts and the view point; (v) for each frame of the animation and for each layer in succession, displaying the associated parts of the graphic object in the layer with selected art assets applied, using the affine transformation matrix to determine the position and the rotation of each associated part in the layer; and (vi) displaying the frames of the animation in rapid succession, to display the animation in the environment. 19 . the system of claim 18 , wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to enable a user to select specific art assets to be applied to the associated parts of the graphic object that will be displayed during the animation in the environment. 20 . the system of claim 18 , wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to display the selected art assets in different layers and to hide an area of one art asset on one layer with an art asset that is displayed on a different layer that is closer to the view point of the animation. 21 . the system of claim 20 , wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to apply the art assets to an associated part of the graphic object in different layers, the different layers being ordered in regard to the view point, so that the art asset applied to an associated part in a layer closer to the view point hides at least part of an art asset applied to the associated part on a layer further from the view point. 22 . the system of claim 18 , wherein for each frame of the animation being displayed, the machine instructions further cause the processor to: (a) identify the view point for the animation in 3d space; (b) determine a position of the graphic object in 3d space; (c) for each associated part of the graphic object in succession: (i) access the location and the rotation of the associated part from the 3d motion data; (ii) project coordinates in 3d space for the associated part into 2d space, to determine a layer in which the associated part should be displayed in the environment; (iii) use the rotation for the associated part to determine a closest reference angle of view for the associated part; and (iv) determine the affine transformation matrix from the position and the rotation for the associated part; (d) sort the associated parts and the layers in which the associated parts are disposed, based on a distance between the associated parts and the view point in 3d space; and (e) for each layer in succession, display the associated parts of the graphic object in the layer with selected art assets applied, using the affine transformation matrix to determine the position and the rotation of each associated part in the layer. 23 . the system of claim 18 , wherein the graphic object comprises an avatar, and wherein the art assets include a plurality of types and articles of clothing that are different in appearance, the machine instructions further causing the processor to enable a user to select different specific articles of clothing from among the art assets to customize an appearance of the avatar when rendering and displaying the avatar in the environment. 24 . the system of claim 23 , wherein the art assets further include a plurality of different hair styles, the machine instructions being executable to further enable a user to select a hairstyle to be applied to the avatar from among the plurality of different hair styles, to further customize the appearance of the avatar when rendering and displaying the avatar in the environment as the 2d graphic object. 25 . the system of claim 18 , wherein the environment lacking support for high quality real-time 3d rendering of an animation comprises a browser program defined by machine instructions that are executed by the processor, so that the animation is displayed using the browser program.	background browser programs such as apple corporation's safari™, mozilla's firefox™, and microsoft corporation's internet explorer™ enable users to readily access information and other content available on the internet. virtually every personal computer user who frequently accesses the internet is very comfortable using such programs. thus, it is not surprising that most people would prefer to participate in social interactions, for example, within a virtual environment, and play online games from within a browser program rather than installing and running separate software applications for this purpose. however, although web pages that include extended markup language (xml) content can provide a remarkably interactive experience for users, there are still limitations inherent in the browser program paradigm that can impact on the quality of graphic displays. for example, computer graphics used in games that run as standalone programs on the personal computer or game machines can be remarkably lifelike in the way that they enable the display of three-dimensional (3d) animation characters and other graphic objects within the games. in 3d virtual environment games, it is common to enable a user to select one of several different characters to represent the user in the game, and these characters are then rendered in 3d format as they move in selected animations within a virtual environment of the game. characters representing players in games or in other types of virtual environments are referred to as “avatars.” generally, avatars displayed in 3d animations are limited to use in dedicated software programs and are not employed in web pages accessed by a web browser program, because the 3d animation of avatars in a browser program would be difficult to achieve in the same manner and with the same quality as in dedicated programs that have built-in rendering engines. in contrast, avatars appearing in web pages accessed with a browser program typically appear only in two-dimensional (2d) animations and only in one or two orientations (e.g., in a front view and/or a side view). a character can be animated by creating and displaying a plurality of successive frames in rapid sequence, like the frames of a movie. once the frames have been created for an animation of an avatar, the prepared frames showing the avatar in successive different positions can be displayed at run time to create an animated effect. for display in 2d environments such as in a browser program, the process of creating multiple frames for a given animation must be redone for each avatar that appears different in appearance, for example, for each different type of avatar including male and female avatars, and for each different clothing/hairstyle that is selectively used for the avatars. each outfit (or set of clothes) that the character can wear and each hairstyle must be individually rendered in each frame of an animation. the effort required to create animations in this manner is proportional to the number of outfits/hairstyles multiplied by the number of animations. in a system that enables a player to select an arbitrary combination of clothes (e.g., a combination of a hat, a shirt, pants, a pair of shoes, and a jacket), a catalog of just 10 hats, 10 shirts, 10 pants, 10 shoes and 10 jackets provides 10̂5 or 100,000 possible different clothing combinations. if there are 20 possible animations, it would be necessary to create 20*100,000 or 2,000,000 sets of animated frames, which is clearly impractical. therefore this approach is generally only used in applications where either there is little animation of the avatars, or there are very few possible outfits/hairstyles that an avatar can wear. otherwise, the labor costs required for creating each of the frames used in the animations would be prohibitively expensive. the second common solution to this problem, which is typically used in games played on a computing device, is to render each animated frame at runtime using a full 3d rendering engine running within the game software. this approach draws each element of the avatar's clothes in the correct position in response to a set of 3d animation data. each piece of clothing is created as part of a 3d model and rendered at runtime to produce the animation. while this approach is very effective, it requires a powerful graphical engine. at the present time, 3d engines that are able to run in real-time inside a web browser can only render one or two hundred polygons in 3d animations. in contrast, a high quality 3d animation for a single avatar might require real-time rendering of more than 5,000 polygons and this number would increase linearly for each additional avatar appearing on the screen at the same time. thus, currently available 3d rendering engines for the browser program environment are unable to produce such high quality rendered images for 3d animations and are therefore impractical for this purpose. clearly, it would be desirable to provide an approach that greatly simplifies the task of enabling a number of different 3d animations for avatars or other graphic objects within a browser program or other environment, where each graphic object or avatar can have many different appearances. further, it would be desirable to provide a higher quality and more realistic 3d appearance for avatars animated within a 2d display of a virtual environment or in an online game accessed within a browser program or other type of environment with limited capability for displaying animations. the same approach should also be useful in displaying other types of graphic objects that represent similar problems due to the variety of display options and number of animations of the graphic objects that are available. summary accordingly, a novel method has been developed that addresses the problem discussed above. the method enables animations of a graphic object, which can have multiple different visual appearances, to be displayed in a 2d form in an environment lacking support for high quality real-time 3d rendering of the graphic object. in this method, the graphic object includes a plurality of associated parts to which different art assets can be selectively applied to change the appearance of the graphic object. prior to displaying an animation in the environment lacking support for high quality real-time 3d rendering, a 3d reference model for the graphic object is created. similarly, multiple views of a 2d reference model are created for the graphic object. each of the multiple views of the 2d reference model illustrate the 2d model when viewed from a different direction (e.g., front, rear, left and right sides, and left and right ¾ views). the 2d reference model and the 3d reference model are then exactly aligned with each other. next, 3d motion data are created for each animation of the graphic object desired, using the 3d reference model. this step can be carried out with readily available 3d animation software. generally, each animation that is created will include a plurality of frames in which specific associated parts of the 3d reference model assume different positions and orientations or rotations. for each art asset that might be displayed on the graphic object at runtime, 2d image files are provided for all of the multiple views of the associated parts of the 2d reference model. these 2d image files illustrate each of the art assets on the associated parts of the 2d reference model, as they will appear when the graphic object is displayed at runtime. subsequently, the 3d motion data and 2d image files are used when displaying an animation selected from the desired animations in the environment that lacks 3d rendering capability. the method further provides for mapping the 3d motion data for each associated part of the graphic object in each frame of the animation, to a corresponding 2d location for the 2d reference model in the frame. successive frames of the animation selected are rendered in the environment, so that for each frame of the animation selected, the associated parts of the graphic object are displayed as the 2d reference model with the art assets applied. each associated part is displayed at a mapped position and at a mapped rotation for the frame determined from the 3d motion data. the successive frames are displayed in rapid succession to produce the animation. in at least one exemplary embodiment of the method, a user can select different portions of the art assets to be displayed on specific associated parts of the graphic object. the art assets that are selected can thus be employed to customize an appearance of the graphic object when the animation of the graphic object is displayed in the environment. further, the art assets that are selected can be displayed in different layers on the associated parts of the graphic object. also, an area of one art asset displayed on one layer that is further from a view point can be hidden with an art asset that is displayed on a different layer that is closer to the view point. in addition, the method enables the art assets to be applied to an associated part of the graphic object in different layers that are ordered in regard to the view point. thus, an art asset applied to an associated part on a layer that is closer to the view point hides at least part of an art asset applied to that part on a layer that is further from the view point. for each frame of the animation that is being displayed, an exemplary embodiment of the method includes several steps. these steps include identifying a view point for the animation selected in 3d space, and determining a position of the graphic object in 3d space. for each associated part of the graphic object taken in succession, the location and the rotation of the associated part are input or obtained from the 3d motion data. coordinates in 3d space for the associated part are then projected into 2d space, to determine a layer in which the associated part should be displayed in the environment. using the rotation for the associated part, a closest reference angle is determined for the associated part. an affine transformation matrix then determines how the associated part is drawn on the display screen. the associated parts and the layers in which the associated parts are disposed can be sorted, based on a distance between the associated parts and the view point. for each layer in succession, the associated parts of the graphic object are displayed in the layer with selected art assets applied, art assets on a layer that is further from the view point can be hidden by art assets on a layer that is closer to the view point. the affine transformation matrix can be employed to determine the position and the rotation of each associated part in each layer when the associated part is drawn on the display screen. while it is not intended that this exemplary method be limited to a specific type of graphic object, in an initial application of the novel approach, the graphic object can be an avatar. further, the environment in which the animation is displayed can comprise a browser software program. in one exemplary application of this novel approach, the art assets include a plurality of different types and articles of clothing that can be different in appearance and style. various types and different articles of clothing included in the art assets enable a user to selectively customize an appearance of the avatar when the avatar is rendered and displayed in the environment as a 2d graphic object. for example, a user can select a specific style of shirt, pants or skirt, a style of shoes, and a hat to be applied to the avatar. the avatars that are used for the animations can be male or female (each type requires a corresponding set of 3d motion data, since different 3d and 2d reference models are used for each sex/type of avatar). there can thus be many different possible combinations of articles of clothing/types of avatars, but the present novel approach readily enables an avatar that appears to be wearing selected articles of clothing and a selected hairstyle to be animated in a 2d space without the need for real-time 3d rendering, or drawing the avatar with each possible combination of clothing. also, the art assets can further include a plurality of different facial features, such as hair styles, which can be selected to further customize the appearance of the avatar. other facial features include noses, eyes, head shapes, skin color, etc. this novel approach is very extensible, since it enables new articles of clothing to be added to the art assets for use in displaying any animation selected from the desired animations without modifying the 3d motion data that have been created, since the 3d motion data are independent of the art assets. similarly, the novel method also enables new animations to be employed to create additional 3d motion data for use with any of the art assets. another aspect of this novel approach is directed to a memory medium on which are stored machine instructions for enabling functions generally consistent with the steps of the method to be carried out, given that creation of the 3d model data and multiple views of the 2d reference model, with the art assets drawn on the parts of the graphic object in all of the multiple views have already been done. other aspects of the techniques are directed to a system including a memory in which machine instructions and data are stored, a display for displaying graphics and text, an input device for providing an input for controlling the system, and a processor that is coupled to the memory, the display, and the input device. in at least one such exemplary system, the processor executes the machine instructions to carry out a plurality of functions that are generally consistent with the steps of the method that are carried out before the animations are to be displayed in the environment that lacks the capability for 3d rendering, while in at least another exemplary system, the machine instructions cause the processor to carry out the steps that are consistent with displaying the animations in the environment at runtime. this summary has been provided to introduce a few concepts in a simplified form that are further described in detail below in the description. however, this summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. drawings various aspects and attendant advantages of one or more exemplary embodiments and modifications thereto will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: fig. 1 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary logical steps for enabling an animation to be displayed in an environment that lacks 3d rendering capability, in accord with the present novel approach; fig. 2 is an exemplary 3d reference model for a female avatar; fig. 3 is a front view of an exemplary 2d reference model exactly corresponding to the 3d reference model of fig. 2 ; figs. 4a-4f illustrate six exemplary difference views or reference angles for the 2d reference model of fig. 3 ; fig. 5 illustrates the alignment of pivot points in the exemplary 3d and 2d reference models of figs. 2 and 3 (but only showing the front view of the 2d reference model); fig. 6 illustrates two initial frames of an animation of the 3d reference model, showing an exemplary approach for creating 3d motion data; fig. 7 illustrates a blouse that represents one article of clothing that can be selected for the avatar of fig. 3 , showing how a plurality of image files are created for different parts of the avatar when wearing the blouse; figs. 8a-8f illustrate how the blouse of fig. 7 is drawn on the avatar for each of the six different views or reference angles; fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps employed in the runtime rendering of a graphic object 3d animation in the environment lacking high quality real-time 3d animation rendering capability, according to the present novel approach; fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary network showing how a server communicates data with a user's computer to enable the user's computer to render an animation of a graphic object in an environment such as a browser program, which does not support 3d animation rendering; and fig. 11 is functional block diagram of a computing device that is usable for either a server that provides the 3d motion data and art asset files, or for a personal computer of a user that is used for rendering the 3d animation in a 2d environment, at runtime. description figures and disclosed embodiments are not limiting exemplary embodiments are illustrated in referenced figures of the drawings. it is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. no limitation on the scope of the technology and of the claims that follow is to be imputed to the examples shown in the drawings and discussed herein. overview of the procedure for creating a 3d animation of a graphic object a core concept of the present novel approach is that a graphic object, such as an avatar, is modeled in both 2d and 3d, and that both models exactly correspond to each other. one application of this approach animates avatars in a virtual environment that is accessed over the internet using a conventional browser program. as more generally noted above, an avatar is a virtual character that typically represents a user within a virtual world, usually has a humanoid form, wears clothes, and moves about in the virtual world. however, it must be emphasized that the present approach is not intended to be limited only for use in animating avatars in a virtual environment, since the approach can readily be beneficially applied to enabling a 3d animation of almost any type of graphic object that may have a plurality of different appearances. for example, the same approach might be used in connection with vehicles employed in a computer game or other virtual environment that is presented in an environment lacking high quality real-time 3d animation rendering capability. furthermore, although the initial application of the technique was intended to enable a 3d animation to be rendered and displayed within a browser program lacking a high quality real-time 3d animation rendering engine, the specific environment in which such an animation is displayed is not intended to be limited to browser programs. instead, a 3d animation of a graphic object might be rendered and displayed in almost any program that can display graphic objects in 2d space, but lacks a sufficiently powerful 3d animation rendering engine (i.e., in what is sometimes referred to herein as a “limited environment”). another key concept in the present approach is that several steps of the process are carried out before there is a need to render and display the 3d animation in a limited environment. thus, in one exemplary approach, the preliminary steps include animating a 3d model of the graphic object using an appropriate 3d animation tool. the maya™ program of autodesk, inc. was used for this purpose in an initial exemplary embodiment of the present approach, but there are several other software 3d animation tools that can alternatively be employed for this purpose. for each different animation desired, the motion of each body part (or more generally—of each movable portion of the graphic object) produced by the animation tool is captured in a data file. the resulting data are referred to herein as the “3d motion data” of an animation. the 3d motion data are subsequently used when the animation is implemented at runtime in the limited environment, to move the body part of the 2d reference model on which a selected art asset is applied (i.e., using the art asset image files). the 2d part that is moved corresponds to the same body part of the 3d reference model, and the appropriate view or reference angle of the 2d reference model is used for each frame of the animation displayed at runtime. art assets the term “art asset” as used herein refers to one or more graphical images or features that can be applied to one or more parts of a 2d reference model to change its appearance, e.g., by drawing a portion of an article of clothing on one or more parts of the 2d reference model. the images are stored in art asset image data files (one for each associated part of a graphic object) for each art asset that may be rendered in an animation at runtime. the position and orientation of each part of the 2d reference model having an art asset is computed from the 3d coordinate data stored in the 3d motion data file for a specific animation that is to run. each such part will be rendered on a display screen during the runtime display within the limited environment. this approach enables the 3d motion data for each desired animation to be kept separate from the 2d image data for each different art asset. any number of different art assets can be used with each animation, since the 3d motion data are independent of the art asset image data. the art assets can comprise specific articles of clothing for an avatar, or different hair styles that can be selected by a user for changing an appearance of the avatar when it is animated in a limited environment. more generally, the art assets can comprise sets of almost any feature that changes the appearance of a graphic object when drawn on one or more parts of the 2d reference model for the graphic object with which the art asset is associated. this separate relationship between the 3d motion data for each animation and the art assets that are applied to the different views of the 2d reference model means, for example, that many different articles of clothing (e.g., many different styles and appearances of shirts, pants, coats, shoes, etc.) can be selectively applied to the 2d reference model when the avatar is animated in the limited environment, and each selected article of clothing will animate correctly at runtime without having to create animation frames for each different shirt, or other articles of clothing applied. the present novel approach thus avoids the scaling problems of the conventional approach described above in the background section that might require millions of different frames to be prepared to cover all possible combinations of articles of clothing, types of avatars, and for all animations. in the present novel approach, the runtime playback of a selected animation in a limited environment only requires mapping a single 3d point into 2d space for each body part (i.e., for each separate portion of a graphic object), drawing a 2d image at that location using existing 2d image files for the selected art assets, and applying an affine transformation to rotate and scale the 2d image. this novel approach vastly reduces the computational power required and enables each selected 3d animation to play back inside web browsers or other limited environments that do not include a 3d animation rendering capability. further details of the novel process fig. 1 illustrates a flowchart 20 showing the steps carried out in an exemplary embodiment of the present approach. in this flowchart, all of the steps except a step 32 are carried out prior to rendering and displaying a 3d animation of a graphic object in an environment lacking a high quality real-time 3d animation rendering capability. the details of step 32 are discussed below, in connection with fig. 9 . after starting the preliminary portion of the process, a step 22 creates a 3d reference model 24 for each type of avatar or graphic object for which an animation will be displayed. for example, a separate 3d reference model would be created for each of a male avatar and a female avatar, since they are different in form. alternatively, it would be possible to create a single unisex avatar, but the results would be less realistic. as a further option to enhance reality, multiple 3d reference models can be created for each gender, each different 3d reference model for a gender having a different physique. for example, a male avatar 3d reference model might created having broad shoulders and a thin waist, another with average shoulders and waist, and still another that appears overweight. a step 26 provides for running a 3d animation tool to animate the 3d reference model for each animation that is desired. as noted above, the commercially available maya™ 3d animation tool was used in an exemplary embodiment. in a step 28 , the motion of each body part (or separately movable portion of a graphic object) that moves in a 3d animation is exported to create 3d motion data 30 for each desired animation. a parallel logic path that follows step 22 includes a step 34 for creating a 2d reference model 36 for each type of avatar, and for each of multiple view or reference angles. the 2d reference model that is initially created, like the 3d reference model, does not include any art assets on any of its multiple views. a step 38 then aligns the 2d and 3d reference models exactly, so that corresponding pivot points in each are aligned. then, for each specific art asset (e.g., for each pants, skirt, blouse, shoes, hairstyle, etc.), a step 40 provides for drawing the art asset over the appropriate parts of the 2d reference model in all of the views and for the type of avatar for which the art asset is intended to be used. for an avatar, the art assets include different types and styles of clothing and different facial features, such as different hairstyles, noses, eyes, head shape, etc. thus, each of the articles of clothing for a female would be drawn over the associated body parts of the 2d reference model for the female avatar. the result of this step is a plurality of 2d image files 42 , including one image file for each body part of the avatar and for each article of clothing or outfit, hairstyle, or other type of art asset. finally, step 32 provides for using the 2d reference models, the 2d image files, and the 3d motion data at runtime. the 3d motion data for each body part are then mapped to the 2d image data for the mapped position, rotation, and layer. the concept of layers applies particularly to art assets comprising articles of clothing, which are typically worn in layers. for example, a coat that is worn will cover much of a blouse or shirt, and part of a skirt or pants. similarly, when a body part moves during the animation so that the moving body part overlaps another body part, the body part (and the art asset drawn on the body part) that is closer to a view point of the user can hide a portion of another body part that is further from the view point. thus, when an arm is moved in front of an avatar, the clothing drawn on the arm and the portion of the arm that is visible will hide portions of the avatar and clothing drawn thereon that are further from the viewpoint of a user. examples illustrating the steps of the novel approach fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary 3d model 50 of a female avatar. this 3d model is a simple wire-frame and has a number of body parts, including a head 52 , a neck 54 , an upper chest or torso 56 , upper right and left arms 58 and 60 , lower right and left arms 62 and 64 , right and left hands 66 and 68 , an abdomen 70 , a pelvis 72 , upper right and left legs 74 and 76 , lower right and left legs 78 and 80 , and right and left feet 82 and 84 . each of the body parts is joined to one or more other body parts at pivot points, such as a pivot point 86 , where head 52 is pivotally connected to neck 54 . each body part in the 3d reference model is assigned one of the pivot points, which is the point about which that body part is allowed to rotate. a given body part position in space is defined by knowing where its pivot point is located and how that body part is rotated (either in 2d or 3d space depending on the model type). these pivot points thus indicate where movement of each body part can occur during an animation of the avatar represented by 3d reference model 50 . a front view 90 a of a 2d reference model corresponding to 3d reference model 90 is illustrated in fig. 3 . all of the same body parts in the 3d reference model are also included in the 2d reference model, but the 2d reference model is rendered so that the body parts appear continuously joined together, i.e., in a more natural appearance. also, in this exemplary 2d reference model, a halter top 96 a and panties 96 b are included as some of the articles of clothing that might be provided. the skin of the 2d reference model can be considered a base layer. this exemplary 2d reference model is also shown wearing an optional bracelet 92 and shoes 94 , which are examples of other articles that can be selected to customize an avatar. as an option (for the sake of modesty), every animation of this exemplary female avatar might include at a minimum, halter 96 a, and panties 96 b, but these articles of clothing are not required and might be replaced with alternative similar types of clothing. it should be clearly understood that any of a number of different art assets comprising articles of clothing and various facial features can be selectively applied to the 2d reference model to change its appearance and customize it as the user prefers. when rendering a shirt with long sleeves the skin layer for the arms can be removed, i.e., a portion of the upper arm on which skin is not visible can be removed. the skin on the lower arm from the elbow to the wrist could also be removed and replaced by a shirt sleeve with only a part of the wrist showing—i.e., this part of the wrist can actually be drawn at the end of the shirt sleeve when rendering the shirt on the avatar. the bracelet is also treated as an item of clothing and is drawn in a separate layer (attached to the wrist) so it can be overlaid over different arms/different color of skins/shirts. alternatively, when the avatar is rendered in the limited environment, it would be possible to continue drawing the underlying skin layer; however, it the skin layer is going to be completely covered, it is generally more efficient to remove it. figs. 4a-4f respectively illustrate the six different views or reference angles of the exemplary 2d reference model, including front view 90 a ( fig. 4a ), a ¾ left view 90 b ( fig. 4b ), a left side view 90 c ( fig. 4c ), a rear view 90 d ( fig. 4d ), a right side view 90 e ( fig. 4e ), and a ¾ right view 90 f ( fig. 4f ). it should be understood that if more views are included, the animations of the 2d reference model will appear smoother, since successive frames can then show the 2d reference model with greater resolution as it rotates about a vertical axis extending through the center of the 2d reference model. accordingly, it is not intended that the present novel approach be limited to six different views of the 2d reference model, but instead, either more or fewer different views can be employed for the 2d reference model. when art assets are drawn on the appropriate body parts of the avatar, they are drawn on each of these different views, so that as the 2d model is shown in different orientations or rotational positions in the frames of an animation, the appearance of each art asset applied to the body parts is visible for that orientation of the 2d reference model. accordingly, as the number of different views is increased, the burden of drawing the different art assets on the appropriate associated body parts for each view increases. there must be an exact correspondence between the 3d reference model and the 2d reference model for a specific type of avatar or graphic object. this requirement is visually evident in fig. 5 , which shows that each pivot point 86 in the 3d reference model (only two pivot points are indicated with reference numbers) is vertically aligned with a corresponding pivot point 94 in front view 90 a of the 2d reference model (and similarly, in all of the other different views of the 2d reference model). it is essential that each pivot point correspond exactly between the 2d and 3d models, so that when the 3d model is projected onto a 2d plane for a corresponding view of the 2d reference model, the pivot points overlap exactly. accordingly, it will be apparent that any pivotal movement of one of the body parts that is implemented in the 3d reference model can be carried out in precisely the same manner by that body part of the 2d reference model (and in the appropriate view of the multiple views of the 2d reference model). one of the readily available 3d animation software programs is used to animate the 3d reference model for each desired animation, as noted above. the 3d animation software tool is able to produce very high quality and realistic animations. modeling constraints are applied (e.g., a requirement that arms bend at the elbow and shoulder but not in between), and the 3d animation software tool computes realistic motion paths (e.g., by using an inverse kinematic algorithm to determine how to move a knee such that when the avatar is walking, each foot is placed correctly on the floor). the resulting animation is represented as a successive series of key frames that define the location of each body part at specific points in time during an animation. the resulting animation is exported from the 3d animation software tool as a stream of 3d data defining exactly how each part of the avatar's body moved during the animation. this data stream is limited to essentially one data point (a 3d location) and a rotation per body part per each frame of a given animation, e.g., one data point indicating where the right wrist is located in each frame during the animation. each of the desired animations implemented by the 3d animation tool thus produces a 3d motion data file that includes a series of 3d data points, each comprising x,y,z coordinates for one of the pivot points, together with information about how the corresponding body part is rotated in 3d space in each of the frames. fig. 6 illustrates the first two frames of an exemplary animation in which the avatar simply raises its right arm from an initial position where the hand is next to the right hip in frame 0 , to an outstretched position in frame 1 , with the arm extending outwardly from the shoulder. for example, if the animation involves the avatar waving goodbye, several more frames that are not shown would be required to complete the animation. the movement in the first two frames is represented by the motion of upper right arm 58 , which pivots about a pivot point 86 a where the upper arm connects to the upper torso, but also involves the movement of lower right arm 62 and right wrist 66 , neither of which move about their pivot points between frames 0 and 1 . accordingly the change in position of pivot point 86 b from (−10, 80, 0) to (−25, 95, 0) between frame 0 and frame 1 , and the rotation of upper arm 58 from an orientation (0, 90, 0) to an orientation (0, 180, 0) are sufficient data to define this movement occurring in the first two frames of the animation. the resulting motion data shown in block 100 for position and rotation thus represent the first portion of the 3d motion data file for this animation. one of the advantages of the present approach is that it enables a user to customize the appearance of a graphic object such as an avatar, by selecting among a plurality of many different art assets that change the appearance of the graphic object. in regard to an avatar, for example, a user can choose from among many different types and styles of articles of clothing to change the appearance of the user's avatar. thus, a user might be presented with an option to choose among a number of different styles of hats, shirts or blouses, pants or skirts, coats, etc. since it is not necessary to draw each frame of the animation showing the avatar wearing each possible combination of these different articles of clothing, the tremendous overhead used in that conventional approach is avoided. instead, the present approach only requires that art asset images be prepared before runtime, in which each article of clothing in the available options is drawn on the appropriate body part(s) of the 2d reference model of the avatar, for each of the plurality of views of the 2d reference model. some articles of clothing only change the appearance of a few body parts, and only need to be drawn on the body parts affected when that article of clothing is selected to be worn by the avatar. for example, a hat or a hairstyle, which changes the appearance of the avatar's head, is drawn to position it on the head, for all of the plurality of different views of the 2d reference model. thus, in the rear view, the rear view of the hairstyle would be drawn on the 2d reference model, and similarly, for each of the other views. fig. 7 illustrates clothing parts 110 for a blouse 112 that might be selected by a user as an article of clothing to be worn by a female avatar. blouse 112 is applied to (i.e., drawn on) several different body parts to change their appearance. right and left sleeves 118 and 120 of the blouse change the appearance of the right and left upper arms of the avatar, while a main body 114 of the blouse changes the appearance of the upper torso of the avatar, and a lower portion 116 of the blouse changes the appearance of the avatar's abdomen. clothing parts 110 are thus aligned to match the corresponding body parts of the 2d reference model that they at least partially cover. the image file for each body part on which the blouse appears is then saved as a series of separate 2d image files, one per body part, for that particular blouse art asset. the crosses on fig. 7 show the location of the pivot points for each body part. also, as shown in figs. 8a-8f , the blouse must be drawn with all of its parts aligned with the corresponding body parts of the avatar in each of the different views of the 2d reference model. these figures show an assembled collection of image files for each, since the image files each correspond to a body part rather than the entire blouse. thus, the blouse is drawn on the body parts of the avatar in a front view 130 a ( fig. 8a ), a ¾ left view 130 b ( fig. 8b ), a left side view 130 c ( fig. 8c ), a rear view 130 d ( fig. 8d ), a right side view 130 e ( fig. 8e ), and a ¾ right view 130 f ( fig. 8f ). rendering and displaying an animation in 2d space at runtime the preparation of the 3d motion data for each desired animation and of the 2d art asset image files for the various articles of clothing or other art assets that can optionally be applied to customize the appearance of the avatar is completed before the animation is to be rendered and displayed in the 2d environment that lacks 3d animation rendering capability. when a user has connected to a website that provides access to the 3d motion data and art asset image files, the user can make selections from among all of the available art assets to customize the appearance of the avatar. the selections of the user can cause the images files for those specific articles of clothing to then be downloaded to the limited environment, such as to the web browser program that the user is employing to connect to the website. also downloaded will be the 3d motion data files for each animation the avatar might perform, as well as xml or script files that define how the browser program will use the 3d motion data and art asset files to display a 3d animation. one of the available animations can be selected by a user and played back within the browser program display using the 3d motion data for the type of avatar of the user and the image files for the various articles of clothing (all of the different views) selected by the user to customize the user's avatar. the playback of the animation is accomplished by interpreting the 3d motion data and computing where each body part should be drawn in 2d. the 3d motion data also indicate how a body part is rotated, and that information is used to determine the view or reference angle that should be used for that particular body part. for example, the 3d motion data determines whether the front of the right arm or the back of the right arm should be rendered and displayed with the appropriate clothing (i.e., selected art asset image) appearing on the arm (it will be understood that this determination can change during an animation as the arm moves). the appropriate piece of clothing for that body part from the art asset image files is displayed at the computed 2d location indicated by the 3d motion data for each successive frame of the animation, which are displayed in rapid sequence to produce the perceived movement of the avatar. the choice of the particular article of clothing to render (e.g., which shirt or pants will be worn by the avatar) is completely independent of the task of determining how to render a particular image of the avatar, other than as a way of determining the art asset files that will be used to change the appearance of the body parts of the avatar. thus, new articles of clothing can be created to increase the number of articles of clothing from which users can choose, and art asset image files can then be drawn for each new article of clothing. the new article of clothing selected by a user for an avatar will automatically render in the correct locations to produce the desired animation defined by the 3d motion data. this playback of the animation frames in 2d space only requires computing where in 2d space each body part will be rendered (i.e., translating each single point from 3d to 2d for each body part) and then rotating and drawing the original 2d image of the selected art asset as applied to that body part. this approach makes the process of displaying the animations computationally feasible in limited environments, such as inside a web browser program. details of exemplary steps for displaying an animation of an avatar or other graphic object at runtime are provided in a flowchart 140 shown in fig. 9 . the procedure starts at a step 142 in which a “local camera position,” focal point, and focal length are selected in 3d space. a step 144 determines the avatar's position in 3d space before it can be rendered in the limited environment. this position represents the difference between the position of the avatar and the position of the camera or view point at which the animation is viewed and defines how the projection from 3d to 2d space will occur. next, a step 146 selects each animation frame to be drawn in sequence to provide the animation. typically, successive frames are drawn with about 1/30 or 1/15 second elapsing between frames, depending on the frame rate of the animation rendering in 2d space. it should be understood that the frame rate at which the 3d motion data for the animation was created by the 3d animation software tool is generally independent of the frame rate at which the animation is rendered within the limited environment. if a higher frame rate was used when the 3d motion data were created, frames can be skipped to achieve a lower frame rate in the 2d space rendering, which might occur, for example, if the 2d rendering cannot keep up with the frame rate at which the 3d motion data were created. conversely, in the 2d space, it is possible to interpolate between frames created by the 3d animation rendering software tool when producing the 3d motion data, to create intermediate frames that are displayed in the 2d space. a step 148 provides for selecting each body part of a frame in turn and calculating the position and rotation of the body part, so that each body part can move and rotate independently of any other body parts of the avatar. a step 150 provides for reading the location (a,b,c) and rotation (u,v,w) of the pivot point for each body part from the 3d motion data file for the current animation. next, a step 152 projects from the positions (a,b,c) in 3d space to (x,y) in 2d screen coordinates and determines in which layer the body part should be drawn, i.e., in a layer closer to the camera or view point of the user or in a layer further from the camera/view point. similarly, a step 154 uses the rotation information for each body part that is included in the 3d motion data file, together with the angle from the camera/view point position to the body part to determine the closest one of the multiple views or reference angles of the 2d reference model to draw. for example, if the body part is directly facing the camera position, then the front view of the 2d reference model is used. if the body part is partially turned to the right of the camera position, then the right 3 / 4 view of the 2d reference model is used, etc. this step enables an animation to start by showing one side of a body part (e.g., the front of an arm) and then as the animation progresses, showing a different side of that same body part (e.g., the back of the arm). a step 156 computes an affine transformation matrix from the position and rotation information for the current body part that is applied to the 2d body part image. the distance from the camera point or view point to the body part can also be used to scale the body part, if desired, to produce a sense of depth, if different avatars are rendered in 2d at different distances from the camera point. as those of ordinary skill in computer graphics will understand, an affine transformation is a linear set of transformations (rotations, scaling, shearing, and linear translation) that can be described by a matrix. many graphics libraries support using affine transformations for rapid image manipulation. affine transformations are used when drawing 2d image files to efficiently in the present novel procedure, to more readily rotate, scale and translate the 2d image files (for the art assets applied to each body part) on the display screen. a decision step 158 determines if all affine transformations have been computed for all of the body parts of the avatar for the current frame. if not, the logic returns to step 148 to process the next body part in the current frame. otherwise, the logic proceeds with a step 160 , which provides for sorting all of the body parts based upon the distance from the camera position or view point to the pivot points of the body parts, which is determined in a single calculation for each body part in the current frame. a step 162 selectively renders the body parts in the frame, in order from the furthest body part (i.e., the body part that is further away from the camera position) to the nearest. this step ensures that body parts that are nearer to the camera position or view point are drawn in front of any body part that is further from the camera position. a step 164 draws the 2d image for the current body part and view or reference angle of the 2d reference model that was selected in step 154 , with the body part rotated and positioned as defined by the affine transformation matrix. the resulting image is thus at the correct location on the display and rotated to match the 3d motion data for the current frame. a decision step 166 determines if all body parts for the current layer have been drawn, and if not returns to step 162 to process the next body part in the current layer. an affirmative response to decision step 166 leads to a decision step 168 , which determines if all layers in the current frame have been drawn, and if not, loops back to step 146 . if the response is in the affirmative, the logic proceeds with a decision step 170 , which determines if all frames of the current animation have been drawn. if not, the logic also loops back to step 146 to process the next successive frame of the automation. otherwise, the logic is complete, and the animation will have been rendered and displayed in the 2d space of the limited environment. exemplary computing system for implementing the procedure an initial application of the present novel procedure will enable a user to access a web site where the prepared 3d motion data and image files for the art assets (e.g., image files for different articles of clothing and hairstyles) are available for use in rendering an animation of an avatar customized by the user to appear with selected articles of clothing and hairstyle within the browser program. accordingly, fig. 10 illustrates a diagram showing a system 180 that includes a user laptop computer 182 (or other personal computing device, such as a personal data assistant, smart telephone, or desktop computer system) connected to a remote server 184 through internet 188 , using wired and/or wireless connection 190 . this connection can be through a cable modem, dial-up connection, dsl connection, wi-fi connection, wimax connection, satellite connection, or through any other available communication link that enables data to be passed between the server and the user computer. alternatively, on a local or wide area network, the server might be coupled by an ethernet connection 192 or other suitable communication link, in data communication with the user computer. server 184 provides a web page and the prepared 3d motion data for each desired animation to be run on the user computer and the image files for each selected art asset to be used in the animation, when the user connects the user's computing device to the server for this purpose, for example, by using a browser software program that couples to a uniform resource location (url) of the server over the internet. the user's computer then runs the animation with the 3d motion data and the image files for the selected art asset for each animation that is to be displayed in the browser software program in a display screen 194 on the user's computer. fig. 11 illustrates a functional block diagram 200 showing the components of the server or of a typical computing device that might be employed by a user to connect to a server, as described above. a computing device 202 is coupled to a display 204 and includes a processor 206 , a memory (read only memory (rom) and random access memory (ram)) 208 , and a non-volatile data store 210 (such as a hard drive, or other non-volatile memory). a bus is provided to interconnect internal components such as the non-volatile data storage, and the memory to processor 206 . optionally, a cd or other optical disc drive may be included for input of programs and data that are stored on an optical memory medium 218 , or for writing data to the writable optical medium with the optical drive. an interface 214 couples computing device 202 through a communication link 220 to the internet or other network. bus 212 also couples a keyboard 222 and a mouse (or other pointing device) 224 with processor 206 , and the keyboard and pointing device are used to control the computing device and provide user input, as will be well known by those of ordinary skill in the art. non-volatile data storage 210 can be used to store machine executable instructions that are executable by processor 206 to carry out various functions. for example, if computing device 202 comprises server 184 ( fig. 10 ), then the machine instructions might cause processor 206 to carry out the steps necessary to prepare the 3d motion data files and the art asset image files, which can then be stored on the non-volatile data storage, or on an external data storage 186 (as shown in fig. 10 ). the 3d animation software tool might also be stored as machine instructions on non-volatile data storage 210 . if computing device 202 comprises the user's computer, then non-volatile data storage will store machine instructions corresponding to the browser program that is used to access the web page and download the 3d motion data and art asset image files for the selected articles of clothing and hairstyle of the user's avatar. the web page that is downloaded from the server can include xml, or script files that control the display and rendering of the avatar in an animation within the browser program. in a current exemplary embodiment, flash action scripts are used to control the display and rendering of animations in the browser program, but is not intended to be limiting, since other techniques can clearly be used. as a further alternative, other types of limited environments can provide the machine instructions for rendering and display of animations, as discussed above. although the concepts disclosed herein have been described in connection with the preferred form of practicing them and modifications thereto, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that many other modifications can be made thereto within the scope of the claims that follow. accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of these concepts in any way be limited by the above description, but instead be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.
126-577-141-169-172	US	[ "US", "JP", "SG", "EP", "WO" ]	G02B6/26,G02B6/34,G02B26/08,G02F1/31,G02F1/295,G02B6/12,G02B26/00,G01S7/481,G02B6/10,G02B6/42,G02B27/00	2018-08-08T00:00:00	2018	[ "G02", "G01" ]	planar optical head for free space optical communications, coherent lidar, and other applications	a multi-aperture optical system includes a photonic integrated circuit, a spacer substrate coupled to the photonic integrated circuit, a plurality of optical cells, a beam combiner, and a photodetector coupled to the beam combiner. the photonic integrated circuit, the spacer substrate, the plurality of optical cells, the beam combiner, and the photodetector are integrated as a single monolithically formed optical head. each optical cell includes a focusing optical element formed on the spacer substrate and configured to focus the light through the substrate and onto a folding element. the folding element is integrated into the photonic integrated circuit to couple light incident on the optical cell into a waveguide. the waveguide is coupled to the phase shifter to transport the light reflected by the folding element through a phase shifter. the phase shifter is coupled to the focusing optical element to shift a phase of an optical signal received by the focusing optical element.	1. a multi-aperture optical system, comprising: a photonic integrated circuit; a spacer substrate coupled to the photonic integrated circuit; a plurality of optical cells, each optical cell including: a focusing optical element formed on the spacer substrate and configured to receive a light incident on the optical cell, and focus the light through the photonic integrated circuit and onto a folding element the folding element being integrated into the photonic integrated circuit to couple light incident on the optical cell into a waveguide, wherein: the waveguide is integrated into the photonic integrated circuit, coupled to a phase shifter, and configured to transport the light reflected by the folding element through a phase shifter, and the phase shifter is coupled to the focusing optical element, and configured to shift a phase of an optical signal received by the focusing optical element; a beam combiner coupled to the phase shifters, and configured to combine light output from the phase shifters; and a photodetector coupled to the beam combiner to receive the combined light output from the beam combiner and output a corresponding signal, wherein the photonic integrated circuit, the spacer substrate, the plurality of optical cells, the beam combiner, and the photodetector are integrated as a single monolithically formed optical head. 2. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , further comprising a controller coupled to the photodetector and the phase shifters to control phase shifting of each phase shifter based on the signal output from the photodetector. 3. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide comprises a waveguide free of optical fibers. 4. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of optical cells, the beam combiner, and the photodetector are lithographically formed on the photonic integrated circuit. 5. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein the focusing optical element is selected from the group consisting of a micro-lens, a lithographically defined lens, a gradient-index lens, a holographically formed lens, a refractive lens, diffractive optics, and a meta materials lens. 6. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein the focusing optical element converts an input transverse mode shape to a different output transverse mode shape. 7. the focusing optical element of claim 6 , wherein the input transverse mode shape is substantially gaussian and the output mode shape is substantially super-gaussian. 8. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein the focusing optical element has a diameter raging from about 10 μm to about 10 mm. 9. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein the folding element comprises a micro-mirror or a grating coupler. 10. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein the folding element is configured to fold the light incident from the focusing optical element by a value ranging between about 75 degrees and 90 degrees. 11. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide is lithographically formed on or in the photonic integrated circuit. 12. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide is formed on the photonic integrated circuit using ultrafast laser inscription (uli). 13. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein the phase shifter is selected from the group consisting of a thermal phase shifter, a semiconductor phase shifter, or an electro-optic phase shifter. 14. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of optical cells are positioned in a one dimensional or two dimensional array in a single plane. 15. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein: the plurality of optical cells are placed in a substantially single plane; and the spacer substrate and each of the focusing optical elements form a first layer, and each of the folding elements, waveguides, and phase shifters, and the beam combiner form a second layer. 16. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , wherein each optical cell further comprises an optical amplifier disposed in series with the phase shifter. 17. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 16 , wherein the optical amplifier comprises a semiconductor optical amplifier (soa) or an optically pumped doped crystalline or ceramic or glass. 18. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 1 , further comprising a coarse beam steering element positioned in front of the plurality of optical cells. 19. the multi-aperture optical system of claim 18 , wherein the coarse beam steering element comprises a liquid crystal beam steering device or a mechanically steered mirror. 20. a method of manufacturing a multi-aperture optical system, the method comprising: fabricating a plurality of optical cells onto a photonic integrated circuit, each optical cell including a folding element, a focusing optical element, a phase shifter, and a waveguide coupled to the phase shifter, the fabricating comprising, for each optical cell: integrating a folding element into the photonic integrated circuit; embedding the phase shifter in the photonic integrated circuit; fabricating the waveguide on or in the photonic integrated circuit and coupling the waveguide to the phase shifter; and fabricating the focusing optical element on a spacer substrate coupled to the photonic integrated circuit above the folding element; and fabricating a beam combiner and a photodetector on the photonic integrated circuit, the photodetector being coupled to the beam combiner and the beam combiner coupled to each phase shifter, wherein the photonic integrated circuit, the spacer substrate, the plurality of optical cells, the beam combiner, and the photodetector are integrated as a single monolithically formed optical head. 21. the method of claim 20 , further comprising coupling a controller to the photodetector and to each phase shifter to control phase shifts of each phase shifter based on a signal output from the photodetector. 22. the method of claim 20 , further comprising fabricating an optical amplifier on the photonic integrated circuit in series with each phase shifter. 23. the method of claim 20 , wherein the plurality of optical cells, the beam combiner, and the photodetector are lithographically formed on the photonic integrated circuit.	cross-reference to related applications this application claims priority under 35 u.s.c. § 119 to provisional application no. 62/716,288 filed on aug. 8, 2018, in the united states patent and trademark office. statement regarding federally sponsored research or development not applicable. technical field the present description relates in general to coherent free space optical communications (fsoc) and remote sensing coherent lidar, and more particularly to, for example, without limitation, a monolithically or nearly monolithically formed multi-aperture optical system (“optical head”) for high speed fsoc and coherent lidar. background a primary use of the subject technology is free space optical communications (fsoc) and the descriptions will primarily relate to this application. however, the technology can also be applied to coherent lidar as well as to other optical system types, such as optical illuminators or designators. fsoc systems can enable high-speed wireless communications over a sizable range (e.g., many kilometers). in terrestrial applications, such systems can achieve very high (e.g., more than 10 gigabits per second-gbps) data rates. multiplexing several (n) optical frequencies in a single system enables the data rate of the system to be multiplied by n. unlike communications over fiber-optic transmission lines, fsoc must deal with atmospheric turbulence. this can significantly degrade performance by creating optical phase variations across the optical aperture used to transmit and receive light. conventional fsoc systems have a single optical aperture (“monostatic” configuration) or may have separate transmit and receive apertures (“bistatic” configuration) through which light is transmitted and received. when turbulence effects are substantial enough that the transverse scale of the phase fluctuations (typically measured by the so-called fried parameter r 0 ) become comparable to or smaller than the aperture diameter d then the system performance begins to degrade, resulting in signal fluctuations (fades) and/or data drop-outs. conventional fsoc systems also typically need mechanical beam steering assemblies for coarse beam pointing as well as to mitigate pointing errors due to, for example, jitter of the platform to which it is attached. these mechanical assemblies add considerable weight, are frequently bulky, and often consume high electrical power. the description provided in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely because it is mentioned in or associated with the background section. the background section may include information that describes one or more aspects of the subject technology. summary in one or more implementations, a multi-aperture optical system is provided that includes a photonic integrated circuit, a spacer substrate coupled to the photonic integrated circuit, a plurality of optical cells, a beam combiner, and a photodetector coupled to the beam combiner. the photonic integrated circuit, the spacer substrate, the plurality of optical cells, the beam combiner, and the photodetector are integrated as a single monolithically formed optical head. each optical cell includes a focusing optical element formed on the spacer substrate and configured to focus the light through the photonic integrated circuit and onto a folding element. the folding element is integrated into the photonic integrated circuit to couple light incident on the optical cell into a waveguide. the waveguide is integrated into the photonic integrated circuit and coupled to the phase shifter to transport the light reflected by the folding element through a phase shifter. the phase shifter is coupled to the focusing optical element to shift a phase of an optical signal received by the focusing optical element. the beam combiner is coupled to the phase shifters to combine light output from the phase shifters. the photodetector receives the combined light output from the beam combiner and outputs a corresponding signal. in one or more implementations, a method of manufacturing a multi-aperture optical system is provided that includes fabricating a plurality of optical cells on the photonic integrated circuit, where each optical cell includes a folding element, a focusing optical element, a phase shifter, and a waveguide coupled to the phase shifter. the fabricating includes, for each optical cell, integrating a folding element into the photonic integrated circuit, embedding the phase shifter in the photonic integrated circuit, fabricating the waveguide on the photonic integrated circuit, coupling the waveguide to the phase shifter, and fabricating the focusing optical element on a spacer substrate coupled to the photonic integrated circuit above the folding element. the method further includes fabricating a beam combiner and a photodetector on the photonic integrated circuit, and coupling a controller to the photodetector to control phase shifts of each phase shifter based on a signal output from the photodetector. the photodetector is coupled to the beam combiner and the beam combiner coupled to each phase shifter. the photonic integrated circuit, the spacer substrate, the plurality of optical cells, the beam combiner, the photodetector, and the controller are monolithically formed as a single photonic integrated circuit. it is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the subject technology as claimed. it is also to be understood that other aspects may be utilized, and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the subject technology. brief description of the drawings the following figures are included to illustrate certain aspects of the present disclosure and should not be viewed as exclusive embodiments. the subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modifications, alterations, combinations, and equivalents in form and function, without departing from the scope of this disclosure. fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a multi-aperture optical system for free-space optical communication (fsoc), according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the multi-aperture optical system of fig. 1 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of three optical cells of the multi-aperture optical system of fig. 2 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating light incident on one of the optical cells of the multi-aperture optical system of fig. 2 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 5a is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of the optical cell of fig. 4 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 5b is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of the optical cell of fig. 4 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 5c is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of the optical cell of fig. 4 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a focusing element incorporating mode conversion using printed grin technology. fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating light incident on one of the optical cells of the multi-aperture optical system of fig. 2 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. detailed description the detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of various implementations and is not intended to represent the only implementations in which the subject technology may be practiced. as those skilled in the art would realize, the described implementations may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive. in an effort to address the deficiencies associated with the conventional fsoc systems described above, alternative fsoc systems have been proposed, such as that described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/217,833. the alternative fsoc systems described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/217,833 replace the single aperture of the conventional fsoc systems with multiple smaller apertures (“sub-apertures”). by making the sub-apertures smaller than the anticipated worst-case fried parameter each sub-aperture sees a linear phase across it. by incorporating optical phase shifters in each sub-aperture “channel” and a means to measure phase variations it is possible to counter the phase variability across the set of sub-apertures and reduce or eliminate turbulence impact. the alternative fsoc systems described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/217,833 includes an array of lenslets for transmitting or receiving light. each lenslet is optically coupled to a single-mode optical fiber. a drawback associated with optical fibers is that they are susceptible to environmental effect, including pathlength changes due to mechanical and thermal disturbances. unless the thermal and mechanical environment is controlled carefully these pathlength changes may add to the problem of controlling phases across the channels. furthermore, coupling light from free space into single-mode fibers necessitates high alignment precision, which can make large arrays costly to fabricate. various aspects of the present disclosure are directed to addressing the deficiencies of the alternative fsoc systems described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/217,833 and the conventional single aperture architectures by constructing a substantially monolithic optical system (head) that does not require a multitude of discrete optical components and complex construction techniques. the various embodiments of the present disclosure described herein enable construction of systems far smaller and lightweight than is possible prior architectures. the system can furthermore incorporate non-mechanical beam steering to enable continuous beam steering, or pointing, over large angular ranges, such as +/−45 degrees or more. various aspects of the present disclosure described herein are directed to an optical phased array assembly (opaa) and a beam steering assembly (bsa). in some embodiments, the opaa is a multi-aperture optical system (head) that may include a photonic integrated circuit (pic), a spacer substrate, and an array of optical cells. the pic incorporates waveguides for transporting light, light beam folding elements, optical phase shifters, a beam combiner, and may incorporate a beam splitter. the pic may also incorporate a photodetector coupled to the beam combiner. however, the various embodiments described herein are not limited to the aforementioned configuration. alternatively, in other embodiments the photodetector may be positioned external to the pic, in which case light may be coupled to it using, for example, an optical fiber. similarly, the pic may contain a laser for transmitting light through the structure and into free space or the laser may also be positioned external to the pic and an optical fiber used to couple light into the pic. the pic may also incorporate an optical amplifier, for example, a semiconductor optical amplifier (soa). a controller may also be connected electrically to the photodetector and used to control the optical phase shifters based on the detected photodetector signal. as shall be described in further detail below, the substrate, the pic, and the lensing elements may be constructed as a single monolithic assembly. in accordance with some embodiments, the opaa as described above may be optically coupled to one or more beam steering devices to enable beam steering over much greater ranges than is possible with just the opaa. the beam steering device may be a mechanical mirror assembly, or it could alternatively be a non-mechanical beam steerer. as an example, a polarization grating liquid crystal (pglc) beam steerer could be used to steer in discrete steps. for example, such a device could steer over +/−45 degrees or more with a step size of 1 degree. in cases where the pglc step angle is greater than the opaa steering angle a third steering mechanism could be inserted between the opaa and the pglc. this enables continuous steering from small angles to large angles. such a third steering mechanism could be, for example, a mechanical mirror or it could be a liquid crystal opa or a liquid crystal spatial light modulator (slm). the monolithically formed multi-aperture optical system is designed to enable minimization of the adverse effects of atmospheric turbulence which can significantly degrade performance of the system, as described above. in addition, the optical phased array nature of the system allows for fine angle beam steering. in particular, the planar fsoc optical head of the various embodiments described herein combines a monolithically formed opaa with solid state, wide-angle beam steering which reduces the complexity of the mechanical structure as compared with conventional fsoc optical heads. the multi-aperture optical system of the various embodiments described herein allows for many improvements across the fsoc portfolio. for example, the alternative fsoc systems described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/217,833 are generally configured with a plurality of sub-apertures which use discrete lenses to focus light onto corresponding single-mode fibers, whereby each of the optical fibers needs to be separately and precisely aligned with and coupled to corresponding phase shifters. in these embodiments, the optical fibers are used as waveguides to couple each of the sub-apertures to the phase shifters, and to guide light from the sub-apertures to the phase shifters. this configuration is disadvantageous in that optical fibers are traditionally extremely sensitive to thermal and mechanical disturbances. this type of optical head is generally complex to construct and requires greater control to minimize the impact of disturbances. in contrast, a multi-aperture optical system whose components are fabricated in a substantially monolithic form, as described herein, eliminates the need for incorporating optical fibers to couple the focusing optical elements to phase shifters in order to perform the phase correction. further, the monolithic nature of the described systems allows for more complexity in a single substrate and results in a solid-state system that is more jitter resistant and geometrically conformal than conventional fsoc systems. additionally, since the multi-aperture optical system of the various embodiments described herein is entirely solid state, unlike conventional fsoc systems, mechanical actuators are not necessary to perform the phase correction. therefore, the disclosed multi-aperture optical systems can run at a significantly higher bandwidth and may be substantially more robust as compared with conventional fsoc systems. further, the multi-aperture optical system of the various embodiments described herein is substantially smaller and lighter and offers substantial size, weight, and power (swap), as well as cost saving features over conventional configurations. for example, for a fixed light collection area, the disclosed multi-aperture optical system has a fraction of a depth of the traditional fsoc systems, thereby resulting in a substantial volume and weight savings, e.g., by an order of magnitude or more. moreover, the entire disclosed beam combiner can be integrated into the pic. furthermore, contrary to the alternative fsoc systems described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/217,833 in which high precision alignment of the individual components of the system (e.g., alignment of the phased array) needs to be carried out, the multi-aperture optical system of the various embodiments described herein may be fabricated using lithographically defined chips which may eliminate the need for performing high precision alignment of individual components. thus, the assembly/manufacturing process of the multi-aperture optical system of the various embodiments described herein is significantly easier and can be done reliably and repeatedly without spending extensive expert labor hours. additionally, since potential complexity occurring during assembly are kept at the lithographically manufactured stage, labor costs, issues with reliability, and other similar problems associated with conventional or alternative fsoc assembly/manufacturing processes are substantially reduced. further advantageously, cost may be reduced as high volume multi-aperture optical systems can be fabricated at low cost using existing chip foundries. fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a multi-aperture optical system for free-space optical communication (fsoc), according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. as depicted, the multi-aperture optical system 100 includes a pic 10 , a spacer substrate 32 (illustrated in fig. 2 ), and a plurality of optical cells 12 monolithically formed with the pic 10 . in accordance with some embodiments, a plurality of multi-aperture optical systems 100 may optically communicate with one another through open space. to this effect, each multi-aperture optical system 100 may be coupled to an fso modem (not shown), which in turn is in communication with a network (not shown) via, for example, a network switch (not shown). examples of the network include the internet, a local area network (lan), an ethernet network, or other networks). in some embodiments, each multi-aperture optical system 100 receives optical signals from the fso modem and transmits electrical signals to the fso modem. communications between the fso modem and the switch and between the switch and the network is through electrical signals. in this manner, each multi-aperture optical system 100 is able to correct the phase of the received signal to compensate for atmospheric disturbance. in some embodiments, each cell includes a focusing optical element 16 formed on the spacer substrate 32 (illustrated in figs. 2 and 3 ), a phase shifter 18 , and a waveguide 20 , all monolithically integrated onto the pic 10 . the focusing optical element 16 may be configured to receive light and focus the light through the pic 10 and onto the folding element 14 . the phase shifter 18 may be embedded in the pic, and the waveguide 20 may be coupled to the phase shifter 18 to transport the light through the phase shifter 18 . as depicted, the multi-aperture optical system may further include a beam combiner 22 coupled to the phase shifters 18 , and configured to combine light output from the phase shifters 18 . a photodetector 26 may be coupled to the beam combiner 22 to receive the combined light output from the beam combiner 22 and output a corresponding signal. in some embodiments, the multi-aperture optical system 100 may optionally include a beam splitter for splitting the signal output from the beam combiner 22 into first and second portions. as further depicted, the multi-aperture optical system 100 may further include a controller 30 coupled or otherwise connected to the photodetector 26 and each of the phase shifters 18 to control phase shifting of each phase shifter 18 based on the signal output from the photodetector 26 . in some embodiments, the controller may be a general-purpose microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (dsp), an application specific integrated circuit (asic), a field programmable gate array (fpga), a programmable logic device (pld), a state machine, gated logic, discrete hardware components, or any other suitable device that can perform calculations or other manipulations of information as shall be described in further detail below, the pic 10 , the spacer substrate 32 , the plurality of optical cells 12 , the beam combiner 22 , and the photodetector 26 may be integrated as a single monolithically formed optical head. in particular, in some embodiments, the folding elements 14 , the phase shifters 18 , the waveguides 20 , the optional amplifier 28 , the beam combiner 22 , and the photodetector 26 may be lithographically formed on the pic as a single monolithic unit. a laser input port 36 may further be provided for coupling an optical source such as a laser (not shown herein for simplicity), or an on-chip laser may be used. in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, the multi-aperture optical system 100 may be operated in either receiving or transmitting modes. in receiving mode light is captured by each optical cell 12 , and focused by the focusing optical element 16 onto the folding element 14 . the folding element 14 may redirect the light at substantially 90 degrees to fold it into the pic 10 . light may then be transported by the waveguides 20 through the phase shifter 18 and, if present, through the amplifier 28 , and then to the beam combiner 22 . in some embodiments, the relative positions of the phase shifter 18 and the amplifier 28 may be reversed. in transmission mode light may propagate in the opposite direction from the beam combiner 22 to the focusing optical element 16 and into free space. the beam combiner 22 may coherently combine the light from all optical cells 12 and couple the combined light to the photodetector 26 which may then output a corresponding signal. in operation, the controller 30 may be coupled or connected to the photodetector 26 and to the phase shifters 18 to control the phase of each phase shifter 18 based on the signal output from the photodetector 26 . in particular, in some embodiments, the controller may execute various instructions in the form of algorithms to maximize the signal output by the photodetector, or may be used to impose specific phase shifts in each optical cell 12 . for example, in some embodiments, the controller may be used to impose linear phase shifts across the array of optical cells 12 to effect optical phased array (opa) beam steering over an angular range a, whose magnitude may be proportional to the transverse dimension of the optical beam at each sub-aperture. in some embodiments, smaller beams provide larger opa angular range and vice versa. fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the multi-aperture optical system of fig. 1 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. as depicted in figs. 1 and 2 , the multi-aperture optical system 100 may further include a coarse beam steering element 34 positioned in front of, or depending on orientation, directly above the plurality of optical cells 12 . the coarse beam steering element 34 may be a non-mechanically steered beam steering device, or a mechanically steered beam steering device. in some embodiments, the non-mechanically steered beam steering device may be a liquid crystal beam steering device including a plurality of liquid crystal polarization gratings (lcpgs). the lcpgs may, for example be thin birefringent films that steer light to one of two deflection angles, depending on the polarization of the input light. advantageously, the plurality of lcpgs may be stacked against each other to create a wide-angle non-mechanical beam control system with significant improvements over mechanically steered systems in size, weight, and power (swap), beam agility, and pointing stability. in operation, the lcpgs use polarization modulation instead of phase or amplitude modulation (as done with traditional diffraction gratings), resulting in increased first-order efficiencies, for example, exceeding 99.8%. beams are diffracted into a positive or a negative order with a pass-through zero (undeflected) order possible. because each lcpg of the plurality of lcpgs can be switched, deflection angles can be added or subtracted as light propagates through the plurality of lcpgs. a relatively small number of lcpgs can provide a large set of deflection angles, enabling a wide range of angles in two dimensions to be achieved with a small number of lcpgs. the high efficiency and compact size advantageously yields a multi-aperture optical system 100 having size and weight savings. in some embodiments, the mechanically steered beam steering device may be a mechanically steered mirror, e.g., a mechanical mirror-based gimbal or a mirror steered by a galvanometer mechanism, or any other form of microelectromechanical systems (mems). fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of three optical cells 12 of the multi-aperture optical system 100 of fig. 2 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. as depicted in fig. 3 , with continued reference to fig. 1 , the plurality of optical cells 12 , the beam combiner 22 , and the photodetector 26 may be integrated as a single monolithically formed optical head. to this effect, the folding elements 14 , phase shifters 18 , and waveguides 20 of each of the optical cells 12 may be lithographically fabricated or grown onto the pic 10 , and coupled to the beam combiner 22 , and the photodetector 26 —each of which may be fabricated directly on the pic 10 . each folding element 14 may be integrated into the pic 10 , and optically coupled with the respective waveguide 20 . each optical waveguide 20 may be fabricated on the pic 10 and coupled to the corresponding phase shifter 18 which may be embedded in the pic 10 . each focusing optical element 16 may be fabricated or grown onto the spacer substrate 32 , which is coupled to the pic above the corresponding folding element 14 . for example, the focusing optical elements 16 may be lithographically formed on the spacer substrate 32 (illustrated in figs. 5a-5c ) as a layer above the folding elements 14 . in some embodiments, the monolithically formed multi-aperture optical system 100 is a compact assembly, for example, with a depth, d, of less than 1 cm, as compared to the aperture of conventional fsoc systems that may have a depth of about 50 cm. in operation, each phase shifter 18 imposes a phase shift on an optical signal received by the corresponding focusing optical element 16 . in accordance with some embodiments, each phase shifter 18 may be an electro-optical (eo) phase shifter such as a lithium niobate crystal shifter. in other embodiments, each phase shifter 18 may be another type of phase shifter, such as a thermal phase shifter or a phase shifter fabricated using silicon (si) or other materials, including indium phosphide (inp). each phase shifter 18 may receive a control signal (e.g., a phase command signal) from the controller 30 , and shift a phase of a respective input optical signal received from a respective focusing element 16 based on the control signal. in some embodiments, the phase-shifted optical signals from each of the phase shifters 18 are coherently combined by the beam combiner 22 and output to the photodetector 26 . the processing of the phase of a respective optical signal input to each phase shifter 18 results in correcting the phase of the respective input optical signal to remove adverse effects of atmospheric turbulence on the optical signal. the atmospheric turbulence disturbs, for example, the phase of the optical signal while traveling in open space. the processed phase of a respective optical signal input to each phase shifter 18 may also be used to steer the beam over small angles. in accordance with some embodiments, the controller 30 receives the output signal from the photodetector 26 , and generates control signals that are used by the phase shifters 18 to shift the phase of each respective input optical signal received from the respective focusing optical elements 16 , based on the control signal. in some embodiments the control signals to the phase shifters may be dithered in order to maximize the photo-detector signal, indicating the contributions from all subapertures are mutually coherent. additional phase shifts may be applied to the individual channels, for example to impose linear phase gradients across the full aperture. fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating light incident on one of the optical cells of the multi-aperture optical system of fig. 2 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. as briefly described above, each optical cell 12 may include a focusing optical element 16 , a folding element 14 , a phase shifter 18 , and a waveguide 20 , all monolithically integrated onto the pic 10 . as depicted, each focusing optical element 16 may be configured to receive an incident beam of light 15 and to focus the light 15 through the pic 10 , and onto the folding element 14 . as such, each of the focusing optical elements 16 may be a micro-lens, a lithographically defined lens, a gradient-index lens, a holographically formed lens, a refractive lens, or diffractive optics. in some embodiments, however, the focusing optical elements 16 may be meta materials lenses, thereby providing the advantage of reduced reliance on traditional lenslets. since the meta materials lenses are printed directly onto the substrate surface they advantageously provide a thinner and more compact configuration as compared with traditional lenslets. further advantageously, the meta materials lenses may be printed onto the substrate using a lithographic process, thereby eliminating the need for labor-intensive alignment commonly used with traditional lenslets. each focusing optical element 16 is aligned to a corresponding waveguide 20 (e.g., via the spacer substrate 32 (illustrated in figs. 5a-5c )) to maintain a fixed relative position thereto. to this effect, a method of manufacture may include fusing each focusing optical element 16 to the spacer substrate 32 , and optically coupling each focusing optical element to the corresponding waveguide 20 on the pic 10 to form a monolithic structure. as previously discussed, each focusing optical element 16 may be fabricated or grown onto the spacer substrate 32 above the corresponding folding element 14 . for example, the focusing optical elements 16 may be lithographically formed on the spacer substrate 32 as a layer above the folding elements 14 and on top of the pic 10 . in some embodiments, the focusing optical elements 16 can be positioned within a common plane. each focusing optical element 16 may be formed with a common focal length and a distance from each of the focusing optical elements 16 to the substrate may be equal. the focusing optical element 16 of the various embodiments described herein may advantageously be more compact in size as compared to focusing elements or apertures of conventional fsoc systems. in particular, the focusing element 16 may have a diameter raging from about 10 μm to about 10 mm, as compared to focusing elements of prior art systems which typically have diameters of 50 mm or greater. advantageously, the compact size of the focusing elements described herein allows for a greater number of focusing elements 16 to be monolithically formed on the spacer substrate. a greater number of focusing elements yields a corresponding increase in the number of channels through which light may propagate through the multi-aperture optical system. for example, the multi-aperture optical system 100 of the various embodiments described herein may incorporate 256 or more focusing elements 16 based on the compact size of the focusing elements, as compared to prior art systems having larger focusing elements/apertures. additionally, due to the increased number of focusing elements, the multi-aperture optical system 100 of the various embodiments described herein may be capable of compensating for more severe turbulence and may be more fade resistant with respect to the optical signal as compared to conventional fsoc systems. in some embodiments, each folding element 14 is a boundary surface (e.g., a mirror or grating coupler) defined in the pic 10 , and configured to receive and reflect the incident beam of light 15 within the pic 10 . for example, each folding element 14 can reflect light transmitted from a corresponding focusing optical element 16 to a corresponding waveguide 20 . by further example, where the waveguides 20 is oriented in a direction that is orthogonal to an orientation of the focusing optical element 16 , the folding element 14 can be formed at an angle of 45θ within the pic 10 in order to reflect the light at a right angle. thus, the reflected beam may exit the folding element 14 at a 90° angle with respect to the incident light beam. it will be recognized that other angles can be used to reflect light transmitted from each of the focusing optical elements 16 to the corresponding waveguides 20 . accordingly, the folding elements 14 can act as prisms to direct light from the focusing optical elements 16 to the corresponding waveguides 20 which may be oriented in a transverse (e.g., orthogonal) direction with respect to the direction of incident light. advantageously, this enables construction of a flat, thin monolithic fsoc system, in the form of a pic device, with the focusing optical elements 16 overlaying the rest of the elements/components of the multi-aperture optical system 100 . in some embodiments, each waveguide 20 is coupled to a phase shifter 18 , and configured to transport the light reflected by the folding element 14 through the corresponding phase shifter 18 . the alternative fsoc systems described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/217,833 employ waveguides in the form of optical fibers, however as discussed above, the multi-aperture optical system of the various embodiments described herein obviates the need to use optical fibers to couple the focusing element to the phase shifters. in some embodiments, the waveguide 20 is lithographically formed on the pic 10 . alternatively, the waveguide 20 may be fabricated on the pic 10 using ultrafast laser inscription (uli). thus, the waveguide 20 may be fabricated directly on the pic 10 in the desired position, as opposed to the alternative fsoc systems described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/217,833, in which the waveguide is in the form of optical fibers which need to be individually aligned precisely. accordingly, the aforementioned configuration yields a monolithic, pre-aligned (based on location of fiducial indicators) multi-aperture optical system which eliminates the tedious process of manual alignment of separate focusing optical elements and optical fiber waveguides. further, the aforementioned configuration provides a product with improved thermal stability and jitter resistance, as compared to conventional fsoc systems. the alternative fsoc systems described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/217,833 employ a mechanical array of lenslets coupled into single-mode optical fiber, thereby necessitating meticulous single micron alignment of separate focusing optical elements and optical fiber waveguides. in contrast, the multi-aperture optical system of the various embodiments described herein may be fabricated using lithographically defined chips, thereby eliminating the need for high precision alignment of the individual components and drastically reducing manufacturing costs. in some embodiments, each phase shifter 18 processes a phase of an optical signal received by the corresponding focusing optical element 16 . each phase shifter 18 may receive a control signal (e.g., a phase command signal) from the controller 30 , and process (e.g., shift) the phase of a respective input optical signal received from a respective focusing element 16 based on the control signal. in accordance with some embodiments, each phase shifter 18 may be a thermal phase shifter, a semiconductor phase shifter, or an electro-optic phase shifter. each optical cell 12 may further include an optical amplifier 28 disposed in series with the phase shifter 18 . due to insertion losses in the optical components fabricated on the pic 10 , particularly at points of their coupling, the optical amplifier 28 may be included in each optical path to boost output channel signals from the respective phase shifter 18 . the optical amplifier 28 may be a semiconductor optical amplifier (soa) or an optically pumped doped crystalline or ceramic or glass amplifier. fig. 5a is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of the optical cell of fig. 4 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 5b is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of the optical cell of fig. 4 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. fig. 5c is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of the optical cell of fig. 4 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. as briefly described above, each of the focusing optical elements 16 may be a micro-lens, a lithographically defined lens, a gradient-index lens, a holographically formed lens, a refractive lens, diffractive optics, or a grating coupler. fig. 5a depicts a configuration in which the focusing optical element 16 is a micro-lens. in these embodiments, the micro-lens may be fabricated on the substrate 32 , for example, using ink-jet printing or laser direct writing in order to produce a spherical micro-lens. fig. 5b depicts a configuration in which the focusing optical element 16 is a lithographically defined lens. in these embodiments, each focusing optical element 16 may be fabricated on the substrate 32 by etching multiple layers on top of each other to produce a roughly spherical lens. lithographically forming the focusing optical elements 16 on the substrate 32 is advantageous in that the focusing optical elements 16 can be created in extremely small patterns (for example sizes in the magnitude of 10 μm). further, since lithographic formation of the focusing optical elements 16 on the substrate 32 affords exact control over the shape and size of the focusing optical elements, the focusing optical elements may be fabricated on the entire substrate 32 cost-effectively. fig. 5c depicts a configuration in which the focusing optical element 16 is a gradient-index (grin) lens. fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a focusing element incorporating mode conversion using printed grin technology. using closely spaced conventional lens elements may, in transmission, produce an intensity profile across the full aperture that is not uniform. this results from the transverse mode profile exiting waveguides being non-uniform, frequently having an approximately gaussian shape. as this shape propagates to the lens element the gaussian shape is retained. if the construction of the subaperture array is such that the mode is smaller than the subaperture then there will be non-uniformities in intensity across the array. if the mode is made much larger than the subaperture to minimize intensity variations then there will be losses associated with clipping of the mode. one method to avoid this problem is to fabricate a mode converter that converts the gaussian mode near the waveguide exit (input transverse mode) to a top-hat or super-gaussian shape at the focusing element plane (output transverse mode). this produces a much more uniform intensity profile across the array while not incurring high losses. this approach can be implemented as illustrated in fig. 6 . here the focusing element is fabricated using printed-grin technology, such as available from voxel, inc., which enables fabrication of largely arbitrary refractive index profiles in three dimensions. this in turn enables fabrication of mode converters that transforms a small gaussian input beam to a nearly flat-topped beam at the output that approximately fills the subaperture and optimizes efficiency. fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating light incident on one of the optical cells of the multi-aperture optical system of fig. 2 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. as illustrated in fig. 6 , the folding element may be a grating coupler 70 . in these embodiments, the grating coupler 70 may be formed directly in the pic. grating couplers are commonly used to efficiently couple light between free-space or optical fibers and optical waveguides. light propagated in a waveguide 20 transmits into the grating coupler 70 and is diffracted out at nearly normal incidence to the waveguide plane. very high efficiency devices have been demonstrated, such as >90% coupling efficiency from waveguides to single-mode fibers. advantages of fiber couplers over fold mirrors include simple fabrication as well as enabling tailoring of the emitted beam diameter to meet specific needs. in the case of mirrors the beam diameter is determined by the native waveguide mode, which may be only a few hundred nm in diameter. this means that the beam diverges rapidly and makes the spacing to the lens very sensitive to manufacturing and positioning errors. grating couplers allow creation of larger modes, such as several micrometers in diameter. this reduces the focusing tolerances by a large factor, such as a factor of ten or more. methods and systems of the present disclosure can be utilized to provide an array of optical cells 12 that are monolithically fabricated on a pic 10 to inject light into the pic 10 without the use of optical fibers as a waveguide. in accordance with some embodiments, the optical cells 12 each include a focusing optical element 16 which is optically coupled to a folding element 14 embedded in the pic 10 to reflect the injected light at substantially right angles. in other embodiments however, as discussed above where grating couplers are used to couple light between free-space the optical waveguides, the injected light may be reflected at angles ranging between 75 to 80 degrees. in accordance with some embodiments, a method of manufacturing a multi-aperture optical system 100 may include providing a pic 10 and monolithically fabricating a plurality of optical cells 12 on the pic 10 , where each optical cell 12 includes a folding element 14 , a focusing optical element 16 , a phase shifter 18 , and a waveguide 20 coupled to the phase shifter 18 . monolithically fabricating the plurality of optical cells 12 on the pic 10 may include, for each optical cell 12 , integrating a folding element 14 into the pic 10 , embedding the phase shifter 18 in the pic 10 , fabricating the waveguide 20 on the pic 10 , coupling the optical fiber-free waveguide to the phase shifter 18 , and lithographically forming the focusing optical element 16 on a spacer substrate 32 coupled to the pic 10 above the folding element 14 . the method may further include fabricating a beam combiner 22 and a photodetector 26 on the pic 10 . the photodetector 26 may be coupled to the beam combiner 22 , and the beam combiner 22 may be coupled to each phase shifter 18 . the method may further include coupling the controller 30 to the photodetector 26 and each phase shifter 18 to control phase shifting of each phase shifter 18 based on a signal output from the photodetector 26 . the pic 10 , the spacer substrate 32 , the plurality of optical cells 12 , the beam combiner 22 , and the photodetector 26 are integrated as a single monolithically formed optical head. in particular, the focusing optical elements 16 may be lithographically formed on a first side of the substrate 32 , the folding elements, the phase shifters, the waveguides, the beam combiner, and the photodetector may be lithographically formed on the pic 10 , and the pic 10 may be coupled to a second side of the substrate 32 to form a single monolithic structure. in accordance with some embodiments, the method may further include positioning the plurality of optical cells 12 in a one dimensional or two dimensional array in a single plane. the plurality of optical cells 12 may be placed in a single plane, and the substrate and each of the focusing elements may form a first layer, and each of the folding elements, waveguides, and phase shifters, and the beam combiner may form a second layer. accordingly, the methods of manufacturing yield a monolithic, pre-aligned and optical fiber-free multi-aperture optical system which eliminates the tedious process of manual alignment of separate focusing optical elements and optical fiber waveguides. because optical fibers are traditionally extremely sensitive to vibration, fsoc systems which employ optical fibers for example in the form of waveguides, are generally unstable and difficult to employ on moving platforms. further, fsoc systems which employ optical fibers may generally be susceptible to failure upon exposure to a certain degree of temperature change. in contrast, the methods and systems of the various embodiments described herein provide an fsoc system with improved thermal stability and jitter resistance, as compared to conventional fsoc systems. additionally, alternative fsoc systems such as those described in u.s. patent application ser. no. 15/217,833 employ a mechanical array of lenslets coupled into single-mode optical fiber, thereby necessitating performance of meticulous single micron alignment of separate focusing optical elements and optical fiber waveguides. in contrast, the monolithically formed multi-aperture optical system of the various embodiments described herein may be fabricated using lithographically defined chips, thereby eliminating the need for high precision alignment of the individual components, and drastically reducing manufacturing costs. the preceding description has discussed use of a multi-aperture optical system 100 for fsoc. in accordance with some embodiments, the multi-aperture optical system 100 described herein may be applied to or used in conjunction with coherent lidar systems. as can be appreciated, coherent lidar systems typically incorporate similar functional elements as those used with fsoc. consequently, the same technology may be used to fabricate coherent lidar systems. various aspects of the present disclosure enable transmitting of a beam of light in a controlled angular direction. such capability is desired for additional applications, for example including but not limited to optical illuminators, where light is directed to a remote area, and optical designators, where light is directed to a remote area and the intensity of the light is varied according to a pre-determined temporal code. a reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean one and only one unless specifically so stated, but rather one or more. for example, “a” module may refer to one or more modules. an element proceeded by “a,” “an,” “the,” or “said” does not, without further constraints, preclude the existence of additional same elements. headings and subheadings, if any, are used for convenience only and do not limit the disclosure. the word exemplary is used to mean serving as an example or illustration. to the extent that the term include(s), have, or the like is used, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term comprise as comprise is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. relational terms such as first and second and the like may be used to distinguish one entity or action from another without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. phrases such as an aspect, the aspect, another aspect, some aspects, one or more aspects, an implementation, the implementation, another implementation, some implementations, one or more implementations, an embodiment, the embodiment, another embodiment, some embodiments, one or more embodiments, a configuration, the configuration, another configuration, some configurations, one or more configurations, the subject technology, the disclosure, the present disclosure, other variations thereof and alike are for convenience and do not imply that a disclosure relating to such phrase(s) is essential to the subject technology or that such disclosure applies to all configurations of the subject technology. a disclosure relating to such phrase(s) may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations. a disclosure relating to such phrase(s) may provide one or more examples. a phrase such as an aspect or some aspects may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa, and this applies similarly to other foregoing phrases. a phrase “at least one of” preceding a series of items, with the terms “and” or “or” to separate any of the items, modifies the list as a whole, rather than each member of the list. the phrase “at least one of” does not require selection of at least one item; rather, the phrase allows a meaning that includes at least one of any one of the items, and/or at least one of any combination of the items, and/or at least one of each of the items. by way of example, each of the phrases “at least one of a, b, and c” or “at least one of a, b, or c” refers to only a, only b, or only c; any combination of a, b, and c; and/or at least one of each of a, b, and c. it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps, operations, or processes disclosed is an illustration of exemplary approaches. unless explicitly stated otherwise, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps, operations, or processes may be performed in different order. some of the steps, operations, or processes may be performed simultaneously. the accompanying method claims, if any, present elements of the various steps, operations or processes in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented. these may be performed in serial, linearly, in parallel or in different order. it should be understood that the described instructions, operations, and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software/hardware product or packaged into multiple software/hardware products. in one aspect, a term coupled or the like may refer to being directly coupled. in another aspect, a term coupled or the like may refer to being indirectly coupled. terms such as top, bottom, front, rear, side, horizontal, vertical, and the like refer to an arbitrary frame of reference, rather than to the ordinary gravitational frame of reference. thus, such a term may extend upwardly, downwardly, diagonally, or horizontally in a gravitational frame of reference. the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. in some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the subject technology. the disclosure provides various examples of the subject technology, and the subject technology is not limited to these examples. various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the principles described herein may be applied to other aspects. all structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout the disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. no claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 u.s.c. § 11, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.” the title, background, brief description of the drawings, abstract, and drawings are hereby incorporated into the disclosure and are provided as illustrative examples of the disclosure, not as restrictive descriptions. it is submitted with the understanding that they will not be used to limit the scope or meaning of the claims. in addition, in the detailed description, it can be seen that the description provides illustrative examples and the various features are grouped together in various implementations for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. the method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed subject matter requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. rather, as the claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed configuration or operation. the claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter. the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects described herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims and to encompass all legal equivalents. notwithstanding, none of the claims are intended to embrace subject matter that fails to satisfy the requirements of the applicable patent law, nor should they be interpreted in such a way.
129-006-688-666-375	US	[ "BR", "WO", "US" ]	F04F1/06,F04F1/10,F04F99/00	2001-08-23T00:00:00	2001	[ "F04" ]	method and apparatus for filling a storage vessel with compressed gas	a storage vessel (63) is filled with compressed gas (20) by filling a first tank (11) with gas from a low pressure gas source (54). hydraulic fluid (24) is drawn from a reservoir (47) and pumped into the first tank (11) in contact with the gas (20). this causes the gas (20) in the first tank (11) to flow into the storage vessel (63) as it fills with hydraulic fluid (24). at the same time, gas (20) is supplied from the gas source (54) to a second tank (13). hydraulic fluid (24) previously introduced into the second tank (13) flows out to the reservoir (47) as the second tank (13) fills with gas (20). when the first tank (11) is full of hydraulic fluid (24), a valve (33) switches the cycle so that the hydraulic pump (39) begins pumping hydraulic fluid (24) back into the second tank (13) while the first tank (11) drains. the cycle is repeated until the storage vessel (63) is filled with gas (20) to a desired pressure.	i claim: 1. a method for filling a storage vessel with compressed gas, comprising: (a) substantially filling a first tank assembly with gas from a gas source; then (b) drawing hydraulic fluid from a reservoir and pumping the hydraulic fluid into the first tank assembly into contact with the gas contained therein, causing the gas in the first tank assembly to flow into a storage vessel as the first tank assembly fills with hydraulic fluid; (c) while step (b) is occurring, supplying gas from the gas source to the second tank assembly, the gas in the second tank assembly causing any hydraulic fluid in the second tank assembly to flow into the reservoir; then (d) when the first tank assembly is substantially filled with hydraulic fluid and the second tank assembly substantially filled with gas and emptied of any hydraulic fluid, performing step (b) for the second tank assembly and step (c) for the first tank assembly; and (e) repeating step (d) until the storage vessel is filled with gas to a selected pressure. 2. the method according to claim 1, wherein the pressure of the gas in the gas source is less than the selected pressure of gas in the storage vessel. 3. the method according to claim 1, further comprising providing each of the tanks with a hydraulic fluid port on one end for ingress and egress of the hydraulic fluid and providing each of the tanks with a gas port on an opposite end for ingress and egress of the gas. 4. the method according to claim 3, further comprising orienting the tank assemblies with the gas ports at a higher elevation than the hydraulic fluid ports. 5. the method according to claim 1, wherein steps (d) and (e) are performed by operating a valve to alternately connect a pump to one of the tank assemblies and the reservoir to the other. 6. the method according to claim 1, further comprising: orienting the tank assemblies vertically and connecting upper ends of the tank assemblies to the storage vessel and also to the gas source; and connecting lower ends of the tank assemblies to a valve, the valve alternately connecting a pump to one of the tank assemblies and the reservoir to the other. 7. the method according to claim 1, wherein the pumping of step (b) is performed by a variable displacement pump that reduces displacement as the pressure in the storage vessel increases. 8. the method according to claim 1, wherein: step (a) comprises pumping hydraulic fluid into a plurality of first tanks connected together in parallel, defining the first tank assembly; and step (c) comprises filling with gas a plurality of second tanks connected together in parallel, defining the second tank assembly. 9. the method according to claim 1, wherein the pumping of step (b) is performed by two pumps, one having a larger displacement than the other until the pressure of the gas in the storage vessel reaches a set level, and by the pump with the smaller displacement afterward until reaching the selected pressure in the storage vessel. * 10. an apparatus for filling a storage vessel with a gas, comprising: first and second tank assemblies, each of the tank assemblies adapted to be connected to a gas source for receiving gas and to a storage vessel for delivering gas at a higher pressure than the pressure of the gas of the gas source; a reservoir for containing hydraulic fluid, the reservoir being connected to the tank assemblies; a pump having an intake connected to the reservoir for receiving the hydraulic fluid and an outlet leading to the tank assemblies; and a position valve connected between the reservoir and the tank assemblies and between the pump and the tank assemblies for alternately supplying hydraulic fluid to one of the tank assemblies and draining hydraulic fluid from the other of the tank assemblies to the reservoir, the hydraulic fluid being pumped coming into contact with the gas contained within each of the tank assemblies for forcing the gas therefrom into the storage vessel. 11. the apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the tank assemblies are vertically mounted with their upper ends connected to the storage vessel and also to the gas source and their lower ends connected to the position valve. 12. the apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising at least one check valve that prevents flow from the tank assemblies to the gas source. 13. the apparatus according to claim 10, wherein each of the tank assemblies comprises a plurality of tanks connected together in parallel. 14. the apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising: a pair of sensors for each of the tank assemblies, one of the sensors in each pair sensing when the hydraulic fluid reaches a selected maximum level in the tank assemblies and providing a signal, and the other of the sensors in each pair sensing when the hydraulic fluid reaches a selected minimum level in the tank assemblies and providing a signal; and a controller that receives the signals from the sensors and controls the position of the position valve in response thereto. 15. the apparatus according to claim 10, wherein: each of the pumps has two ends and are free of barriers between the ends. 16. a system for filling a storage vessel with a gas, comprising: a gas source; first and second tank assemblies, each of the tank assemblies having a gas port on one end and a hydraulic fluid port on the other end, the tank assemblies being free of any barriers between the ends; a gas source line leading from the gas source to each of the gas ports for supplying gas to the first and second tank assemblies; a check valve in the gas source line to prevent flow from the first and second tank assemblies back to the gas source; a storage vessel; a storage vessel line leading from each of the gas outlets to the storage vessel for delivering gas from the first and second tank assemblies to the storage vessel; a check valve in the storage vessel line to prevent flow from the storage vessel back to the first and second tank assemblies; a position valve connected to the hydraulic fluid ports of the tank assemblies; a reservoir for containing hydraulic fluid, the reservoir having a receiving line connected to the position valve for receiving hydraulic fluid from each of the tank assemblies depending upon the position of the position valve; a pump having an intake in fluid communication with the reservoir and an outlet line leading to the position valve for pumping hydraulic fluid into each of the tank assemblies depending upon the position of the position valve; and a controller having a sensor that senses when the first tank assembly has reached a maximum level of hydraulic fluid, and shifts the position valve to supply hydraulic fluid from the pump to the second tank assembly and to drain hydraulic fluid from the first tank assembly to the reservoir, the entry of the hydraulic fluid into the second tank assembly forcing the gas to flow from the second tank assembly to the storage vessel, the draining of hydraulic fluid from the first tank assembly allowing gas from the gas source to flow into the first tank assembly. 17. the system according to claim 16, wherein the tank assemblies are mounted with their gas ports at a higher elevation than their hydraulic fluid ports for draining hydraulic fluid from the tank assemblies with the assistance of gravity. 18. the system according to claim 16, wherein each of the tank assemblies comprises a plurality of tanks connected together in parallel. 19. the system according to claim 16, wherein the pump is a variable displacement pump. 20. the system according to claim 16, wherein the pump comprises a pair of fixed displacement pumps connected in parallel with each other, one having a larger displacement than the other.	method and apparatus for fllling a storage vessel with compressed gas technical field this invention relates in general to equipment for compressing gas, and in particular to a system for compressing gas from a low pressure source into a storage vessel at a higher pressure. background of the invention compressed natural gas is used for supplying fuel for vehicles as well as for heating and other purposes. the gas is stored by the user in a tank at initial pressure of about 3,000 to 5,000 psi., typically 3600 psi. when the compressed natural gas is substantially depleted, the user proceeds to a dispensing station where compressed natural gas is stored in large dispensing tanks at pressures from 3,000 to 5,000 psi. the dispensing station refills the user's tank from its dispensing tank. if the station is located near a gas pipeline, when the station's storage vessels become depleted, they can be refilled from the natural gas pipeline. for safety purposes, the pipeline would be at a much lower pressure, such as about 5 to 100 psi. this requires a compressor to fill the dispensing tank by compressing the gas from the gas source into the dispensing tank. compressors are typically rotary piston types, they require several stages to compress gas from the low to the high pressure used for natural gas vehicle applications. these compressors generate significant amounts of heat which must be dissipated in an inner cooling systems between the compression stages. these compressors may be expensive to maintain. also, in certain parts of the world, natural gas pipelines are not readily available. the dispensing stations in areas far from a pipeline or gas field rely on trucks to transport replacement dispensing tanks that have been filled by a compressor system at a pipeline. the same compressors are used at the pipeline to fill the dispensing tanks. hydraulic fluid pumps are used in some instances to deliver hydraulic fluid under pressure to a tank that contains gas under pressure. a floating piston separates the hydraulic fluid from the gas. the hydraulic fluid maintains the pressure of the gas to avoid a large pressure drop as the gas is being dispensed. summary of the invention in this invention, gas is compressed from a gas source into a storage tank by an apparatus other than a conventional compressor. in this method, a first tank assembly is filled with gas from the gas source. hydraulic fluid is drawn from a reservoir and pumped into the first tank assembly into physical contact with the gas contained therein. this causes the gas in the first tank assembly to flow into the storage reservoir as the first tank assembly fills with hydraulic fluid. the second tank assembly, which was previously filled with hydraulic fluid, simultaneously causes the hydraulic fluid within it to flow into a reservoir. the hydraulic fluid is in direct contact with the gas as there are no pistons that seal between the hydraulic fluid and the gas. when the first tank assembly is substantially filled with hydraulic fluid and the second tank assembly substantially emptied of hydraulic fluid, a valve switches the sequence. the hydraulic fluid flows out of the first tank assembly while gas is being drawn in, and hydraulic fluid is pumped into the second tank assembly, pushing gas out into the storage vessel. this cycle is repeated until the storage vessel reaches a desired pressure. brief description of the drawings figure 1 is a schematic representation of a system constructed in accordance with this invention. figure 2 is a schematic of an alternate embodiment of the system of figure 1. detailed description of the invention referring to figure 1, first and second tanks 11, 13 are shown mounted side-by-side. each tank is a cylindrical member with rounded upper and lower ends. fins 15 optionally may be located on the exteriors of tanks 11, 13 for dissipating heat generated while their contents are being compressed. tanks 11, 13 have gas ports 17, 19, respectively, on one end for the entry and exit of gas 20, such as compressed natural gas. hydraulic fluid ports 21, 23 are located on the opposite ends of tanks 11, 13 in the preferred embodiment for the entry and exit of hydraulic fluid 24. hydraulic fluid 24 may be of various incompressible liquids, but is preferably a low vapor pressure oil such as is used in vacuum pumps. preferably tanks 11, 13 are mounted vertically to reduce the footprint and also to facilitate draining of hydraulic fluid 24 out of hydraulic ports 21, 23. however vertical orientation is not essential, although it is preferred that tanks 11, 13 at least be inclined so that their gas ports 17, 19 are at a higher elevation than their hydraulic fluid ports. fluid level sensors 25, 27 are located adjacent gas ports 17, 19. sensors 25, 27 sense when hydraulic fluid 24 reaches a maximum level and provide a signal corresponding thereto. very little gas will be left in tank 11 or 13 when the hydraulic fluid 24 reaches the maximum level. minimum fluid level sensors 29, 31 are located near hydraulic fluid ports 21, 23. sensors 29, 31 sense when the hydraulic fluid 24 has drained down to a minimum level and provide a signal corresponding thereto. fluid level sensors 25, 27, 29 and 31 may be of a variety of conventional types such as float, ultrasonic, or magnetic types. a solenoid actuated position valve 33 is connected to hydraulic fluid ports 21, 23. position valve 33 is shown in a neutral position, blocking any hydraulic fluid flow to or from hydraulic fluid ports 21, 23. when moved to the positions 33a or 33b, fluid flow through hydraulic fluid ports 21 or 23 is allowed. position valve 33 is also connected to a fluid supply line 35 and a drain line 37. fluid supply line 35 is connected to a hydraulic fluid pump 39 that is driven by motor 41. a check valve 43 prevents re-entry of hydraulic fluid 24 into pump 39 from supply line 35. a conventional pressure relief valve 45 is connected between supply line 35 and drain line 37 to relieve any excess pressure from pump 39, if such occurs. in this embodiment, pump 39 is a conventional variable displacement type. as the pressure increases, its displacement automatically decreases. a reservoir 47 is connected to drain line 37 for receiving hydraulic fluid 24 drained from tanks 11, 13. reservoir 47 is open to atmospheric pressure and has a line 49 that leads to the intake of pump 39. a splash or deflector plate 48 is located within reservoir 47 for receiving the flow of hydraulic fluid 24 discharged into reservoir 47. the hydraulic fluid 24 impinges on splash plate 48 as it is discharged. this tends to free up entrained gas bubbles, which then dissipate to atmosphere above reservoir 47. when position valve 33 is in position 33a, pump 39 will pump hydraulic fluid 24 through hydraulic fluid port 21 into first tank 11. simultaneously, hydraulic fluid 24 contained in second pump 13 is allowed to flow out hydraulic fluid port 23 and into reservoir 47. a control system 51 receives signals from sensors 25, 27, 29 and 31 and shifts valve 33 between the positions 33a and 33b in response to those signals. a gas supply line 53 extends from a gas source 54 to gas port 17 of first tank 11. gas source 54 is normally a gas pipeline or gas field that supplies a fairly low pressure of gas, such as between about 5 and 100 psi. a gas line 55 leads from gas supply line 53 to gas port 19 of second tank 13, connecting gas ports 17, 19 in parallel with gas source 54. gas ports 17, 19 are continuously in communication with gas source 54 because valves 59 located between gas source 54 and gas port 17, 19 are normally in open positions. a storage vessel line 61 extends from each of the gas ports 17, 19 to a storage vessel 63. check valves 57 in lines 53 and 55 prevent any flow from tank 11 or 13 back into gas source 54. check valves 64 mounted between storage vessel line 61 and gas ports 17, 19 prevent any flow from storage vessel 63 back into tanks 11, 13. also, check valves 64 will not allow any flow from gas ports 17, 19 unless the pressure in gas ports 17, 19 is greater than the pressure in storage vessel line 61. storage vessel 63 is capable of holding pressure at a higher level than the pressure of gas in gas source 54, such as 3,000 to 5,000 psi. storage vessel 63 may be stationary, or it may be mounted on a trailer so that it may be moved to a remote dispensing site. storage vessel 63 is typically a dispensing tank for dispensing compressed gas 20 into a user's tank. in operation, one of the tanks 11, 13 will be discharging gas 20 into storage vessel 63 while the other is receiving gas 20 from gas source 54. assuming that first tank 11 is discharging gas 20 into storage vessel 63, valve 33 would be in position 33a. pump 39 will be supplying hydraulic fluid 24 through supply line 35 and hydraulic fluid port 21 into tank 11. gas 20 would previously have been received in first tank 11 from gas source 54 during the preceding cycle. hydraulic fluid 24 physically contacts gas 20 as there is no piston or movable barrier separating them. in order for gas 20 to flow to storage vessel 63, the hydraulic fluid pressure must be increased to a level so that the gas pressure in tank 11 is greater than the gas pressure in storage vessel 63. gas 20 then flows through check valve 64 and line 61 into storage vessel 63. simultaneously, hydraulic fluid port 23 is opened to allow hydraulic fluid 24 to flow through drain line 37 into reservoir 47. the draining is preferably assisted by gravity, either by orienting tanks 11, 13 vertically or inclined. also, the pressure of any gas 20 within second tank 13 assists in causing hydraulic fluid 24 to flow out hydraulic fluid port 23. when the pressure within tank 13 drops below the pressure of gas source 54, gas from gas source 54 will flow past check valve 57 into tank 13. pump 39 continues pumping hydraulic fluid 24 until maximum fluid level sensor 25 senses and signals controller 51 that hydraulic fluid 24 in tank 11 has reached the maximum level. the maximum level is substantially at gas port 17, although a small residual amount of gas 20 may remain. at approximately the same time, minimum level sensor 31 will sense that hydraulic fluid 24 in tank 13 has reached its minimum. once both signals are received by control system 51, it then switches valve 33 to position 33b. the cycle is repeated, with pump 39 continuously operating, and now pumping through fluid port 23 into second tank 13. once the pressure of gas 20 exceeds the pressure of gas in storage vessel 63, check valve 64 allows gas 20 to flow into storage vessel 63. at the same time, hydraulic fluid 24 drains out fluid line 21 from first tank 11 into reservoir 47. these cycles are continuously repeated until the pressure in storage vessel 63 reaches the desired amount. ideally, the signals from one of the maximum level sensors 25 or 27 and one of the minimum level sensors 29 or 31 will be received simultaneously by controller 51, although it is not required. both signals must be received, however, before controller 51 will switch valve 33. if a maximum level sensor 25 or 27 provides a signal before a minimum level sensor 27 or 29, this indicates that there is excess hydraulic fluid 24 in the system and some should be drained. if one of the minimum level sensors 29 or 31 provides a signal and the maximum level sensor 25, or 27 does not, this indicates that there is a leak in the system or that some of the fluid was carried out by gas flow. hydraulic fluid should be added once the leak or malfunction is repaired. a small amount of gas 20 will dissolve in hydraulic fluid 24 at high pressures. once absorbed, the gas does not release quickly. it may take two or three days for gas absorbed in the hydraulic fluid to dissipate, especially at low temperatures when the hydraulic fluid viscosity increases. even a small amount of gas in the hydraulic fluid 24 makes pump 39 cavitate and the hydraulic system to perform sluggishly. if excess gas absorption is a problem at particular location, the release of absorbed gas 20 from the hydraulic fluid 24 can be sped up by reducing the molecular tension within the fluid. this may occur by heating the hydraulic fluid in reservoir 47 in cold weather. also, the hydraulic fluid could be vibrated in reservoir 47 with an internal pneumatic or electrical vibrator. splash plate 48 could be vibrated. a section of drain pipe 37 could be vibrated. heat could be applied in addition to the vibration. furthermore, ultrasound vibration from an external source could be utilized to increase the release of gas 20 from the hydraulic fluid 24. of course, two reservoirs 47 in series would also allow more time for the gas 20 within the returned hydraulic fluid 24 to release. figure 2 shows an alternate embodiment with two features that differ from that of the embodiment of figure 1. the remaining components are the same and are not numbered or mentioned. in this embodiment, rather than a variable displacement pump 39, two fixed displacement pumps 67, 69 are utilized. pumps 67, 69 are both driven by motor 65, and pump 67 has a larger displacement than pump 69. pumps 67, 69 are conventionally connected so that large displacement pump 67 will cease to operate once the pressure increases to a selected amount. small displacement pump 69 continuously operates. controller 71 operates in the same manner as controller 51 of figure 1. the two pump arrangement of figure 2 is particularly useful for large displacement systems. the second difference in figure 2 is that rather than a single tank 11 or 13 as shown in figure 1, a plurality of first tanks 73 are connected together, and a plurality of second tanks 75 are connected together. the term "first tank assembly" used herein refers to one (as in figure 1) or more first tanks 11 or 73, and the term "second tank assembly" refers to one (as in figure 1) or more second tanks 75. first tank assembly 73 comprises a plurality of individual tanks connected in parallel. also, each of the tanks of second tank assembly 75 are connected in parallel. each tank assembly 73, 75 has a gas port header 74 that connects all of the gas ports together. each tank assembly 73, 75 has a hydraulic fluid head 76 that joins all of the lower ports. consequently, each of the tanks within first tank assembly 73 or within second tank assembly 75 will fill and drain simultaneously. a single minimum fluid level sensor 77 is used for the first tank assembly 73, and a single minimum level sensor 77 is used for the second tank assembly 75. only a single maximum level sensor 79 is needed for each of the tank assemblies, as well. the embodiment of figure 3 operates in the same manner as the embodiment of figure 1 except that multiple tanks are filling and emptying of hydraulic fluid at the same time. tank assemblies 73, 75 could be used with a variable displacement pump such as pump 39 in figure 1. similarly, the two- pump system of figure 2 could be used with the single tank system of figure 1. the invention has significant advantages. it allows compression of gas from a low pressure to a high pressure with a single stage. less heat should be generated and less expenses are required. while the invention has been shown in only two of its forms, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but susceptible to various changes without departing from the scope of the invention.
131-580-256-005-360	US	[ "US" ]	G01N15/14	1979-01-24T00:00:00	1979	[ "G01" ]	reflector for the laser beam of a particle analyzer	an apparatus and method for illuminating particles, wherein a source of illumination provides a beam of illuminating radiation which perpendicularly intersects a stream of liquid having the particles suspended therein. the illuminator apparatus comprises a concave reflector surface having a center of curvature and an optical axis which is disposed perpendicularly relative to the stream and with the beam being positioned thereon. the stream of liquid defines a cylindrical lens having a focus positioned at the center of curvature. in operation, the illuminating radiation illuminates the particles, is refracted by the stream so as to converge to a focus, passes from that focus to a concave reflector surface, and reflects from the concave reflector surface back to the focus, so as to impinge upon the stream for a second time, to further illuminate the particles.	1. in an apparatus for analyzing particles suspended in a liquid of the type having means for providing a substantially cylindrical stream of the liquid and means for impinging the stream with a beam of illuminating radiation to create detectable signals from the particles, the improvement comprising: a reflector having a concave reflector surface with an optical axis and a center of curvature; said concave reflector surface being arranged to have said optical axis disposed in intersecting relationship with the stream of liquid and to have the beam of illuminating radiation positioned on said optical axis; said concave reflector surface being arranged to have said center of curvature positioned substantially at a focus of the stream of liquid, whereby the stream of liquid defines a cylindrical lens having the focus. 2. in the apparatus of claim 1, said concave reflector surface comprising a substantially spherical reflector surface; said center of curvature substantially comprising a point positioned on said optical axis. 3. in the apparatus of claim 1, said concave reflector surface having a configuration of a relatively narrow partial slice of a sphere dimensioned and aligned to receive the illuminating radiation after the illuminating radiation passes through the stream of liquid; whereby the illuminating radiation scattered forward after impinging upon the particles may be collected. 4. in the apparatus of claim 1, said concave reflector surface comprising a substantially spherical reflector surface; the beam of illuminating radiation having a slit-like cross-sectional configuration in the proximity of the stream of liquid, with a substantially smaller width dimension than a length dimension, the width dimension being substantially parallel to the stream of liquid and the length dimension being substantially perpendicular to the stream of liquid; said concave reflector surface having a width dimension parallel to the stream of liquid and a length dimension perpendicular to the stream of liquid. 5. in the apparatus of claim 1, said concave reflector surface comprising a substantially cylindrical reflector surface; said center of curvature substantially comprising a line passing through said optical axis in parallel relationship with the stream of liquid. 6. in the apparatus of claim 1, said concave reflector surface having a configuration of a relatively narrow partial slice of a cylinder dimensioned and aligned to receive the illuminating radiation after the illuminating radiation passes through the stream of liquid; whereby the illuminating radiation scattered forward after impinging upon the particles may be collected. 7. in the apparatus of claim 1, said concave reflector surface comprising a substantially cylindrical reflector surface; said concave reflector surface having a width dimension parallel to the stream of liquid and a length dimension perpendicular to the stream of liquid; said concave reflector surface having said optical axis substantially positioned in bisecting relationship with respect to said width dimension of said concave reflector surface; the beam of illuminating radiation comprising essentially collimated radiation in the proximity of the stream of liquid prior to reaching the same. 8. in a method of analyzing particles wherein the particles suspended in a substantially cylindrical stream of liquid are illuminated by a beam of illuminating radiation to produce detectable optical signals and the illuminating radiation which passes through the stream substantially converges to a focus created by the stream of liquid, the improvement comprising the steps of: reflecting the illuminating radiation, passing through the focus from the stream of liquid, off a concave reflector surface, having a center of curvature positioned substantially at the focus, so that the illuminating radiation passes through the focus a second time and diverges to impinge upon the stream of liquid for a second time to further illuminate the particles. 9. in the method of claim 8, narrowly confining the configuration of the concave reflector surface in the direction of flow of the stream of liquid, and collecting illuminating radiation scattered forward after impinging upon the particles. 10. in the method of claim 8, collecting fluorescent radiation stimulated to emission by the illuminating radiation.	field of the invention the present invention relates to the illumination of individually isolated particles and more specifically, to the illumination by a substantially collimated laser beam of biological cells suspended in a liquid stream for the purpose of studying such cells. background of the invention in the field of cytology, individual cells can be differentiated on the basis of quantitative and qualitative characteristics, one of these characteristics being the cell's staining behavior. in techniques which evaluate staining behavior, the cell constituents to be measured, for example, dna, rna, and protein, are tagged with fluorescent dyes which fluoresce when illuminated, while the rest of the cell remains relatively dark at the wavelength of the fluorescence. the intensity of the fluorescent light and the amount or type of cell constituent are correlated so as to provide a basis for analysis of collected data. consequently, it is important that the collected fluorescent signal corresponds to the amount of non-homogeneously or homogeneously distributed fluorescent material contained within the cell and not be dependent upon the cell's orientation and/or position in the illuminating radiation. therefore, it readily may be seen that uniformity of illumination of the fluorescent material within a given cell is essential to obtaining accurate and reliable results. as has recently become appreciated, illumination of cells with relatively narrow beams of illuminating radiation, such as laser light, creates "hot spots", i.e., regions of relatively large energy density as compared to neighboring regions within the cell. in other words, regions of non-uniform radiation or "hot spots" represent uneven illumination so that all parts of a cell are not exposed to the same amount of energy. these "hot spots" are due to optical effects at cell and organelle boundaries. this is particularily true of cells being irradiated by collimated radiation. moreover, it is known in the art that converging beams, e.g., laser radiation, with a gaussian intensity profile, become collimated in the focal region due to diffraction and therefore create the "hot spots" in the same manner. the problem with these "hot spots" is that if they coincide in location with the regions of fluorescent material within the cell, then that fluorescent material gives off a high intensity fluorescent signal relative to a low intensity fluorescent signal that the same fluorescent material would have produced if it had not been in the "hot spot". in short, if the "hot spot" is coincident with the fluorescent material, an inaccurate fluorescent reading is obtained. the flow cytometers of the prior art, upon which the hereinafter described invention improves generally provide multi-parameter detection of stimulated fluorescent light and low-angle forward scatter light. a laser beam normally is used for fluorescence and scatter measurements, with the laser excitation beam being compressed in the direction of the fluid flow by beam shaping optics to achieve a desired thickness at the point of intersection with the particles. these particles are transported in suspension in a jet or flow stream through a measurement region in which the individually isolated particles are illuminated by the line focused or "slit-like" laser beam. the "slit-like" laser beam is used to minimize cell coincidence and to increase laser intensity. these systems use laminar sheath flow techniques for achieving a sequential flow of primarily single cells. generally, two cylindrical lenses are utilized to create the "slit-like" laser beam, which comprises near-collimated light when impinging upon the particles. consequently, it has been discovered that the "hot spot" problem previously described is inherent in this prior art design. in the previously described prior art cytometers, less powerful laser beams lead to cost savings. hence, it is desirable to provide a cytometer which efficiently uses the near-collimated laser beams commonly found in the prior art cytometers. it readily can be seen that there is a need in the industry for an improved flow cytometer which more efficiently utilizes the laser beam and which has increased illumination from multiple directions without interfering with the fluorescence and forward scatter light collection. summary of the invention the present invention is directed toward an illuminator apparatus and method wherein a source of illumination provides a beam of illuminating radiation which intersects a stream of liquid disposed in a gaseous environment so as to illuminate particles suspended in the stream of liquid. the illuminator apparatus comprises a concave reflector surface having a center of curvature and an optical axis. the optical axis of the concave reflector surface is perpendicularily disposed relative to the stream of liquid and has positioned thereon the beam of illuminating radiation. the stream of liquid defines a cylindrical lens having a focused region of illuminating radiation at the center of curvature of the concave reflector surface. by virtue of this structure, collimated or near-collimated illuminating radiation impinges upon one side of the stream of liquid, undergoes refraction due to the gaseous-liquid interface of the stream, converges to a focus, and thereupon diverges toward the concave reflector surface, reflects from the reflector surface so as to return to the focus, and thereby illuminates the other side of the stream and would illuminate a particle in the stream by both incident and reflected radiation. brief description of the drawings further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: fig. 1 is a front plan view of a first embodiment of the present invention, having a spherical reflector surface; fig. 2 is a side plan view of the embodiment shown in fig. 1; fig. 3 is an enlarged partial top view of the embodiment of fig. 1, as viewed from a horizontal plane; fig. 4 is an enlarged partial view of the embodiment of fig. 1 taken along section line 4--4 of fig. 3; fig. 5 is an enlarged partial view of the embodiment of fig. 1, as viewed from a vertical plane; and fig. 6 is an enlarged partial side view of a second embodiment of the present invention, having a cylindrical reflector surface. detailed description of the preferred embodiment there is disclosed apparatus means and a method for fluorescent analysis, wherein particles are illuminated from multiple directions, so as to produce resultant fluorescent light, which is subsequently collected. when particles are illuminated by a relatively narrow beam, particle to particle variations cause a spurious spread in the fluorescence measurements which is a function of particle orientation and position and the distribution of the fluorescent materials within the particle and not a function of the amount of fluorescent material within the particle. consequently, the present invention contemplates providing apparatus means and a method for minimizing the spurious effects of particle-to-particle variations. there is illustrated in figs. 1 and 2 a first embodiment of an illuminator apparatus, generally identified by numeral 10. in this embodiment, the apparatus 10 comprises a reflector 12 having a concave reflector surface 14. the concave reflector surface 14 has the configuration of a partial slice of a sphere. this concave spherical reflector 14 has a focus 16 and a center of curvature 18, both being positioned on an optical axis 20. the apparatus 10 has a particle source (not shown), which provides particles to a jet nozzle 24. the individually isolated particles are entrained in a stream 22 from the jet nozzle 24 through a measurement region 26. the stream 22 comprises a jet or flow stream of liquid having particles, such as biological cells, suspended therein. hence, this stream 22 provides for the fluid transport of the cells through the measurement region 26, such measurement region being positioned on the optical axis 20 near the center of curvature 18. ideally, well known laminar sheath flow techniques can be used to confine the particles to the center of the stream 22. more specifically, the particles proceed along the jet stream 22 which is surrounded by sheath liquid. it is important to note that this jet stream 22 has an essentially cylindrical configuration, with a relatively uniform cross sectional configuration in the measurement region 26. the specific construction of the means for transporting the particles through the measurement region 26, in a sequential flow of primarily single cells confined to the center portion of the cylindrically shaped jet stream 22, is of a conventional design well known in the art of flow cytometry. referring to fig. 3, the concave spherical reflector surface 14 is illustrated in an enlarged, top view. the well known geometrical characteristics of spherical reflectors will be herein described. a ray of light which is parallel to the optical axis 20 reflects from the reflector surface 14 so as to be convergent on and pass through the focus 16. any given ray which impinges upon the reflector surface 14 is reflected so that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. where the oncoming light ray originates from the center of curvature 18, the ray strikes the reflector surface 12 normally and is reflected back along itself so as to return to the focus 16. as illustrated in fig. 3, the stream 22, with its cylindrical configuration, acts as a cylindrical lens for illuminating radiation which impinges thereon. the stream 22, in acting as a cylindrical lens, presupposes that the stream 22 is surrounded by a gas so as to define a gaseous-liquid interface. more specifically, the particles are illuminated by illuminating radiation which is ideally laser light. as shown in fig. 3, the illuminating radiation is nearly parallel or collimated in the plane of the drawing, and could in fact be collimated if desirable. however, merely for the purposes of illustration, a first cylindrical lens 32 is included to make the illuminating radiation slightly convergent, but such a lens is not necessary for the present invention. the illuminating radiation, which strikes the stream 22, passes through the stream, with the exception of that which is reflected, and is refracted so as to converge substantially at a lens focus 34. it should be noted that the more convergent the beam is, the more diffused the light at the focus 34 becomes. also, imperfections in the configuration of the stream 22 lead to further diffusion of the light at the focus 34. consequently, it should be appreciated that the focus 34 is not a theoretical point, but is a focal zone. also, although the illuminating radiation is shown as perpendicularily intersecting the stream 22, some variation from this perpendicular relationship is tolerable. the illuminating radiation passing through the stream 22 substantially converges on this focus 34, so as to pass through the same to diverge. as depicted in fig. 3, the illuminating radiation diverges from the focus 34 and reflects from the concave spherical reflector surface 14. the lens focus 34 is positioned to be substantially coincident with the center of curvature 18, as depicted in fig. 3. by virtue of this coincident relationship, the rays of illuminating radiation diverging from the focus 34 reflect from the spherical reflector surface 14 back along themselves. it should be noted that, as the focus 34 deviates from the position of the center of curvature 18, the diverging illuminating radiation no longer is perfectly normal to the reflector surface 14 when striking the same and consequently the rays do not reflect exactly back along the incoming rays. the greater the deviation the less illuminating radiation that intersects the stream 22 for a second time. the lens focus was created by refraction of the stream 22. it is this refraction that primarily contributes to the illuminating radiation reflected back on the stream 22. of lesser importance is the fact that reflection within the stream 22 of the illuminating radiation produces another focus for that illuminating radiation which is reflected. this focus (not shown) is in the vicinity of the lens focus 34, but is more diffuse and does not contribute much to the illumination of the particles. also, it should be noted that the incident illuminating radiation, which passes the stream 22 without intersecting the same, reflects from the reflector surface 14, and due to being slightly convergent prior to striking the reflector surface 14, converges in a diffused area just short of the focus 16. if only reflection was involved, the illuminating radiation diverging from this diffused area would not intersect with the stream 22. however, this illuminating radiation is sufficiently diffracted inward toward the stream 22 that some of the illuminating radiation makes a minimal contribution to the illumination of the particles. the object of reflecting the illuminating radiation back on the stream is to further illuminate the particles to eliminate the heretofor described "hot spots" in illumination that create spurious spreads in fluorescence measurement. consequently, the particles are further illuminated on the side opposite to the side impinged upon by the incident illuminating radiation. furthermore, this side of the stream 22 is irradiated by divergent radiation, which is better for uniform illumination than collimated radiation. up to this point, the illuminating radiation and its reflection from the reflector surface 14 has been described only with respect to the horizontal plane illustrated in fig. 3. in the embodiment illustrated in figs. 3, 4, and 5, the incident illuminating radiation is focused in the vertical plane as illustrated by the cross sectional slit-like configuration 36 of the illuminating radiation in the measurement region 26. this focusing in a vertical plane is accomplished by conventional means, such as a second cylindrical lens 38 shown in figs. 3 and 5. as will be discussed hereinafter, the present invention is not limited to focusing the illuminating radiation into the slit-like configuration at the point of intersecting the measurement region 26. however, in this first embodiment of the present invention, the use of a spherical mirror presupposes focusing the illuminating radiation so as to converge the same in the vertical plane illustrated in figs. 4 and 5. in other words, the curvature of the reflector surface 14 in the vertical plane compensates for the convergence of the illuminating radiation in the vertical plane of fig. 5, so as to reflect the illuminating radiation back along the same paths, but in the reverse direction, as the rays of the incoming illuminating radiation. consequently, the illuminating radiation is reflected back to the focus 34 by the spherical reflector surface 14 both in the horizontal plane as illustrated in fig. 3 and in the vertical plane as illustrated in fig. 5. moreover, this illuminating radiation, upon passing through the region of the focus 34, impinges upon the stream 22 in substantially the same area as the illuminating radiation left the stream 22. the above description presupposes that the cylindrical lens 38 has its focus disposed in coincident relationship with the lens focus 34 and that there is a tolerable amount of refraction of the illuminating radiation in the vertical plane of fig. 5 as the same passes through the stream 22. a second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig. 6, in which the reflector 12 has a concave cylindrical reflector surface 40 with the illuminating radiation being collimated in the vertical plane illustrated in fig. 6. in general, this embodiment differs from the first embodiment previously described in that the cylindrical lens 38 is not used to converge the illuminating radiation in the vertical plane; hence, the reflector surface 40 does not need any curvature in the vertical plane, as illustrated in fig. 6. in the first embodiment having the spherical reflector surface 14, the center of curvature 18 was a point. in this second embodiment, the center of curvature, identified by numeral 41, is a line. the difference being that in this second embodiment, the cylindrical reflector surface 40 has no curvature in the vertical plane shown in fig. 6. also, it should be noted that in the first embodiment the optical axis 20 is fixed in spacial relationship both in the vertical plane, as shown in fig. 5, and in the horizontal plane, as shown in fig. 3. however, from a geometric standpoint, the cylindrical reflector surface 40 has no axial limitation in the vertical plane. however, the optical axis of this second embodiment, identified by numeral 43, is preferably, but not necessarily, centered in bisecting relationship to the reflector surface 40 in the vertical plane as illustrated in fig. 6. this symmetry of positioning allows for minimizing the width dimension of the reflector surface 40, which results in benefits to be described hereinafter. for the purpose of this description, the width dimension of the reflector surface 14 or 40 is parallel to the flow of stream 22, while the length dimension is perpendicular to the same. in both of the previously described embodiments, the illuminating radiation, when comprising laser light, has a guassian profile, so that although the stream 22 intersects only a portion of the width of the laser light, as illustrated in fig. 3, the greater amount of the laser light is contained in the intersecting portion. also in both embodiments, the illumination of the particles stimulates emission of fluorescent radiation, including light, which is collected by conventional first detector means 42 shown in fig. 1. as previously described, the beam of radiation in the first embodiment is line focused, so as to have a "slit-like" cross section configuration at the point of intersection with the stream 22 of liquid, thereby dictating the spherical reflector surface 14. on the other hand, in the second embodiment, the beam of illuminating radiation is not line focused and therefore comprises essentially collimated radiation at the stream 22 of liquid, just prior to reaching the same. the cross section configuration of this collimated radiation could take any configuration, although it preferably should be circular, ellipsoidal, or another uniform shape in that such shape will in part determine the width and length dimensions of the reflector surface 40. in both embodiments of the reflector surface 14 or 40, the length dimension is substantially greater than the width dimension. the minimizing of the width dimension is of importance in decreasing the blockage of scattered light, as will be described hereinafter. consequently, it is desirable that the spherical reflector surface 14 has the configuration of a relatively narrow partial slice of a sphere dimensioned and aligned so as to minimize its size, while being large enough to reflect the illuminating radiation passing through and being refracted by the stream 22 of liquid. for the same reasons, it is desirable that the cylindrical reflector surface 40 has the configuration of a relatively narrow partial slice of a cylinder. the design of the present invention is particularily advantageous when studying small-angle forward light scattering of cells in flow. objects in flow scatter light as they intersect the laser beam. a second detector means 44, shown in fig. 2, normally positioned in back of the reflector 12 relative to the stream 22, typically collects the forward light scatter in the 1.0 degree to 19.0 degree range. in that the signal produced is dependent primarily upon the size of the cell, the small angle measurements can be used for size determination or gating. as is apparent from figs. 1 and 2, the reflector 12 has a sufficiently small width that the reflector 12 does not significantly interfere with the scattered light. in general, the width dimension of the reflector 12 is approximately equal to the width of the laser beam in the vertical plane as illustrated in fig. 6, or is less than the width of the incident laser beam, as illustrated in fig. 5. although not illustrated in the drawings, the stream 22 of liquid could be enclosed in a hollow tube having a cylindrical configuration, such tube being preferably, but not necessarily, constructed of glass. as a result, a gas-glass interface and a glass-liquid interface would jointly combine to provide a cylindrical lens. for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments, the stream 22 of liquid is greatly enlarged relative to the other elements of apparatus 10. typical horizontal width values of the elements as viewed in the cross section shown in fig. 4 could be 10 micrometers for the particle diameters, 76 micrometers for the stream 22, 500 micrometers for the laser beam, and 19,000 micrometers for the longitudinal dimension of the reflector surface 14 or 40. these dimensional values are merely illustrative values presented herein only to approximately show the relative dimensional relationships between the elements of the apparatus 10 in one exemplary system in actual use. it should be noted that by using the same illuminating radiation twice to illuminate the particles, a more efficient utilization of the radiation is accomplished. this more efficient utilization could lead to less expensive laser systems to achieve the same results previously obtainable without the reflector 12. although particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described herein, there is no intention to thereby limit the invention to the details of such embodiments. on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternatives, embodiments, usages and equivalents of the subject invention as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention, specification and the appended claims.
133-697-969-497-213	EP	[ "EP", "AT", "US", "JP", "HK", "CA", "WO", "DK", "ES" ]	C12Q1/68,C07H21/04,A61P35/00,C12N15/09,C12Q1/02,G01N33/53,G01N33/574,C12Q/	2005-03-16T00:00:00	2005	[ "C12", "C07", "A61", "G01" ]	method of predicting the clinical response to cisplatin or carboplatin chemotherapeutic treatment	the present invention relates to a method for classifying non-small-cell lung cancer (nsclc) patients, for selecting an effective chemotherapy and for predicting survival of those nsclc patients, based on the determination of the trnetlxylation level of the 14-3-3 sigma gene. the methylation status of the 34-3-3 sigma gene can be easily determined in a serum sample.	a method for classifying patients suffering from non-small-cell lung cancer comprising: a) isolating nucleic acids from a body fluid, serum or tissue sample of the patient; b) determining the methylation state of a nucleic acid encoding 14-3-3 sigma in the sample; c) and classifying the patients in 2 groups defined as methylation-positive or methylation-negative according to the results. an in vitro method for determining the prognosis of a patient suffering from non-small-cell lung cancer (nsclc) comprising the steps: a) isolating nucleic acids from a body fluid, serum or tissue sample of a patient; b) establishing the methylation state of the nucleic acid encoding 14-3-3 sigma in the sample, c) and classifying the patients in 2 groups defined as methylation-positive or methylation-negative according to the results, wherein to each group a prognosis relating to survival is established. a method according to claims 1 or 2 wherein the state of methylation of the nucleic acid is determined in the regulatory region of the nucleic acid. the method of claim 3, wherein the regulatory region is the promoter region, preferably exon 1 of the 14-3-3 sigma gene. a method according to any of claims 1-4 wherein the nucleic acid is isolated from a tumor sample of the patient. a method accoding to any of claims 1-4 wherein the nucleic acid is isolated from a serum sample of the patient. use of a chemotherapeutic agent selected from cisplatin or carboplatin as single agents, or a combination selected from cisplatin/paclitaxel, cisplatin/gemcitabine, eisplatin/docetaxel and carboplatin/paclitaxel, in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of a nsclc patient having a methylation-positive state of the gene 14-3-3 sigma. a kit for predicting the survival to chemotherapeutic treatment of a nsclc patient comprising a first container containing a reagent which modifies unmethylated cytosine and a second container containing primers for amplification of a cpg-containing nucleic acid of the 14-3-3 gene, wherein the primers distinguish between modified methylated and nonmethylated nucleic acid. a kit according to claim 8, wherein the primers belong to the promoter region of the 14-3-3 σ, preferably to the region between cpg dinucleotides 3 and 9 within the 14-3-3σ gene. a kit according to claims 8 or 9 wherein the reagent that modifies unmethylated cytosine is bisulfite.	field of the invention the present invention relates to the field of diagnostics, in particular to a method for predicting the survival of non small cell lung carcinoma (nsclc) patients, based on the methylation pattern of the gene 14-3-3 sigma. it also relates to the use of chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of nsclc patients. background of the invention non-small-cell lung cancer (nsclc) accounts for approximately 80% of all lung cancers, with 1.2 million new cases worldwide each year. nsclc resulted in more than one million deaths worldwide in 2001 and is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in both men and women (31% and 25%, respectively). the prognosis of advanced nsclc is dismal. a recent eastern cooperative oncology group trial of 1155 patients showed no differences among the chemotherapies used: cisplatin/paclitaxel, cisplatin/gemcitabine, cisplatin/docetaxel and carboplatin/paclitaxel. overall median time to progression was 3,6 months, and median survival was 7,9 months, a 1-year survival rate of 33% and a 2-year survival rate of 11 percent. a more recent randomized study of 1218 patients reported a median survival of 11 months in stage iiib-iv patients. however, no clinical parameters can completely account for the striking differences in survival among patients with advanced disease, with some surviving years and others only a few months. the overall five-year survival of patients with nsclc has remained at less than 15% for the past 20 years. stage grouping of tnm subsets (t = primary tumor; n = regional lymph nodes; m = distant metastases) permits the identification of patient groups with similar prognosis and treatment options. five-year survival is around 25% for pathologic stage iib (t1-2n1m0, t3n0m0), 13% for stage iiia (t3n1m0, t1-2-3n2m0), and a low 7% for stage iiib (t4n0-1-2m0). currently, cisplatin (ddp) and carboplatin are among the most widely used cytotoxic anticancer drugs. however, resistance to these drugs through de novo or induced mechanisms undermines their curative potential. these drugs disrupt dna structure through formation of intrastrand adducts. resistance to platinum agents such as ddp has been attributed to enhanced tolerance to platinum adducts, decreased drug accumulation, or enhanced dna repair. 14-3-3σ is a member of the 14-3-3 superfamily that is responsible for g 2 cell cycle checkpoint control in response to dna damage in human cells. its function has been analyzed in the human colorectal cancer cell line hct116 (expressing 14-3-3σ and wild-type p53). following ionizing irradiation, 14-3-3σ sequestered cdc2/cyclin b1 complexes in the cytoplasm, thus arresting cells in g 2 and preventing them from initiating mitosis before repair to their damaged dna. colon carcinoma cells lacking 14-3-3σ treated with adriamycin can still initiate -but do not maintain- g2 arrest, leading to mitotic catastrophe and cell death. the expression of 14-3-3σ is reduced by p53 gene inactivation and by silencing of 14-3-3σ gene via methylation of cpg islands. by proteomic analysis, 14-3-3σ was undetectable in breast cancer samples, and hypermcthylation of normally unmethylated cpg islands in the promoter region of 14-3-3σ was involved in gene silencing at the transcriptional level in breast cancers ( ferguson at, evron e, umbricht cb, et al.: high frequency of hypermethylation at the 14-3-3 sigma locus leads to gene silencing in breast cancer. proc natl acad sci usa 2000;97:6049-54 ). similar effects of 14-3-3σ hypermethylation have been reported in many tumors, including lung, gastric, ovarian, prostate, and hepatocellular carcinomas. it is known that double-stranded dna fragments frequently occur in considerable quantities in the serum of cancer patients, with significantly higher levels found in the serum of patients with metastases. in head and neck, small-cell lung and non-small-cell lung cancers, the same microsatellite alterations detected in the tumor were also found in plasma or serum dna ( sanchez-cespedes m, monzo m, rosell r, et al. detection of chromosome 3p alterations in serum dna of non-small-cell lung cancer patients. ann oncol 1998;9:113-6 ; sozzi g, musso k, ratcliffe c, goldstraw p, pierotti ma, pastorino u. detection of microsatellite alterations in plasma dna of non-small cell lung cancer patients: a prospect for early diagnosis. clin cancer res 1999;5:2689-92 ). furthermore, the detection of hypermethylation in the promoter regions of tumor suppressor genes was first reported in the serum of non-small-cell lung cancer patients. hypermethylation can be analyzed by the sensitive methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction assay, which can identify one methylated allele in 1000 unmethylated alleles ( herman jg, graff jr, myohanen s, nelkin bd, baylin sb. methylation-specific pcr: a novel pcr assay for methylation status of cpg islands. proc natl acad sci usa 1996;93:9821-6 ). 14-3-3σ was found to be methylated in 43 percent of 60 gastric cancers and the 14-3-3σ methylation-positive human gastric cell lines mkn74 (with wild-type p53) and mkn28 (with mutated p53) were both highly sensitive to adriamycin, while 14-3-3σ methylation-negative cell lines (either with wild-type or mutated p53) were resistant. while no major overall impact can be attained with traditional chemotherapy in nsclc, as explained before, it is clear that chemosensitivity and thus survival is individually predetermined. nevertheless, in spite of the growing list of genetic abnormalities identified as being involved in dna repair pathways and altered chemosensitivity in nsclc patients, translational assays have not yet been developed for use in individualized chemotherapy. it is an object of the present invention to provide predictors of response to chemotherapy, which can be a valuable clinical tool for use in the selection of optimal treatment modes, in particular for patients like those suffering from nsclc, having such a poor survival rate and unpredictable chemosensitivity. summary of the invention the present invention provides a tool for use in predicting differential chemosensitivity and tailoring chemotherapy in nsclc. drug resistance is a complex and multifactorial event involving activation/repression of multiple biochemical pathways. we used a proteomic approach to study cisplatin resistance and drug response. starting from the assumption that defects in the cell cycle checkpoint may contribute to chemosensitivity, we investigated whether patients with 14-3-3σ methylation-positive tumors could derive greater benefit from cisplatin- or carboplatin-based chemotherapy. surprisingly, we found that 14-3-3σ is methylated in the sera of one-third of non-small-cell lung cancer patients and is related to significantly better median survival for these patients overall. furthermore, 14-3-3σ methylation had an even greater influence on survival in responders. the risk of death for 14-3-3σ methylation-negative responders was almost five times that of methylation-positive responders. in one aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for classifying patients suffering from non-small-cell lung cancer comprising: a) isolating nucleic acids from a body fluid, serum or tissue sample of the patient; b) determining the methylation state of a nucleic acid encoding 14-3-3 sigma in the sample; c) and classifying the patients in 2 groups defined as methylation-positive or methylation-negative according to the results. in another aspect, the invention is directed to an in vitro method for determining the prognosis of a patient suffering from non-small-cell lung cancer (nsclc) comprising the steps: a) isolating nucleic acids from a body fluid, serum or tissue sample of a patient; b) establishing the methylation state of the nucleic acid encoding 14-3-3 sigma in the sample, c) and classifying the patients in 2 groups defined as methylation-positive or methylation-negative according to the results, wherein to each group a prognosis relating to survival is established. in a further aspect, the invention relates to the use of a chemotherapeutic agent selected from cisplatin or carboplatin as single agent, or any of the combinations cisplatin/paclitaxel, cisplatin/gemeitabine, cisplatin/docetaxel and carboplatin/paclitaxel, in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of a nsclc patient with methylation-positive status of the gene 14-3-3 sigma. the invention also relates to a kit for predicting the survival to chemotherapeutic treatment of a nsclc patient comprising a first container containing a reagent which modifies unmethylated cytosine and a second container containing primers for amplification of a cpg-containing nucleic acid of the 14-3-3 sigma gene, wherein the primers distinguish between modified methylated and nonmethylated nucleic acid. it is important to note that in one embodiment of the invention the methylation of 14-3-3σ can be detected in pre-treatment body fluids of non-small-cell lung cancer patients, obviating the need for tumor tissue and offering a novel and accurate method to to select patients for cisplatin-based chemotherapy and to predict survival after treatment with platinum-based doublets. preferably the body fluid is serum. thus in another aspect the invention is directed to the determination of the methylation status of the 14-3-3 sigma gene in a sample from a mammal, characterised in that the sample is a serum sample. brief description of the figures figure 1. 14-3-3σ gene structure and dna sequence from exon 1. cpg sites containing are highlighted and cpg dinucleotides tested for methylation by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction are indicated by boxes (cpg dinucleotides 3 and 4 in the forward primer and cpg diunucleotides 8 and 9 in the reverse primer). figure 2. methylation specific polymerase chain reaction for 14-3-3σ. methylation was detected in dna extracted from serum using the qiamp blood mini kit (qiagen, valencia, ca, usa), according to the manufacturer's protocol. sodium bisulfite modification was performed, and 5 µl of the resulting dna was subjected to polymerase chain reaction amplification using primers specific for either unmethylated (u) or methylated (m) 14-3-3σ. bisulfite-modified human colorectal cancer cell line (ht29 [american type culture collection, manassas, va, usa]) (u) was used as normal unmethylated control, while in vitro sssi bisulfite-modified placental dna (m) used as positive methylated control. no template controls (c-) were also subjected to polymerase chain reaction as contamination controls. samples were scored as methylation-positive when methylated alleles were present, visualized as bands in the methylated dna lane (patients 2, 4, 7, 10) and as methylation-negative when bands were seen only in the unmethylated dna lane (patients 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9). figure 3. a shows the kaplan-meier probability of survival for all patients. for the methylation-negative group, estimated percent survival rates are: at 6 months, 50 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 60-81 percent); at 12 months, 36 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 26-49 percent); at 18 months, 20 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 12-32 percent). for the methylation-positive group, estimated percent survival rates are: at 6 months, 87 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 77-98 percent); at 12 months, 62 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 48-80 percent); at 18 months, 41 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 27-63 percent). b shows the kaplan-meier probability of survival for responders. for the methylation-negative group, estimated percent survival rates are: at 6 months, 93 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 83-100 percent); at 12 months, 44 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 28-69 percent); at 18 months, 21 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 9-47 percent). for the methylation-positive group, estimated percent survival rates are: at 6 months, 95 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 87-100 percent); at 12 months, 85 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 70-100 percent); at 18 months, 64 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 44-94 percent). ci=confidence interval. detailed description of the invention cisplatin is still the scaffolding of combination chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer (nsclc). results tend to be similar whether the partner drug is paclitaxel, docetaxel, or gemcitabine. similar results are generally obtained with carboplatin, although in a randomized study, median survival was 8.2 months in the paclitaxel/carboplatin arm and 9.8 months in the paclitaxel/cisplatin arm. many citotoxic drugs induce dna damage similar to that caused by carcinogens. covalent binding of the carcinogen or cytotoxic drug results in the formation of a chemically altered base in dna that is termed an "adduct". cisplatin has a rigid structure with two labile chloro and two stable amine ligands in a cis configuration. like some alkylating agents, the neutral drug molecule needs to be converted to a reactive form. this occurs nonenzymatically in solution, where displacement rections result in stepwise exchange of the labile chloro ligands with water molecules. the charged aquated species are highly reactive, but the chloro-monoaquo species is the most significant from the perspective of interaction with dna at physiological ph. in the case of carboplatin, which is a more stable bidentate cyclobutanedicarboxylate ligand, the aquation reaction is much slower. this reduces drug potency, which thereby requires a greater dose for an equivalent antitumor effect. as soon as the monoaquated species of cisplatin is formed, it reacts immediately with a dna base (preferentially n7 of guanine) to form a monofunctional adduct. the remaining chloride ligand linked to platinum in the monoadduct is then hydrolyzed, and the resulting aquated species interacts with a second nucleophilic site to form dna cross-links. both 1,2- and 1,3-intrastrand dna cross-links are formed. 1,2-interstrand cross-links between opposite guanine bases are formed preferentially in 5'g-c3' sequences od both strands. however, mounting evidence indicates that intrastrand adducts provide the strongest basis for the cytotoxic action of cisplatin. cisplatin generally is formulated as a sterile solution for injection, and is routinely administered at a dose of about 50 to 100 mg/m 2 , given intravenously. this cycle can be repeated for about every 4 to 8 weeks. although cisplatin and carboplatin are widely used for nsclc patients, resistance to these drugs through de novo or induced mechanisms undermines their curative potential. in general, the genetic mechanisms of cancer chemoresistance are difficult to understand. during the past 30 years medical oncologists have focused to optimise the outcome of cancer patients and it is just now that the new technologies available are allowing to investigate polymorphisms, gene expression levels and gene mutations aimed to predict the impact of a given therapy in different groups of cancer patients to tailor chemotherapy. to further improve the survival rate in patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (nsclc), their prognostic classification based on molecular alterations is crucial. such classification will provide more accurate and useful diagnostic tools and, eventually, more effective therapeutic options. one of the most important alterations involved in carcinogenesis is aberrant promoter methylation. the interest in this field has grown due to the implementation of the methylaton specific pcr (msp) assay. dna methylation occurs when cytosine is methylated at position 5, this only appears when direcly followed by the base guanine in the cpg dinucleotide. this modification has important regulatory effects on gene expression predominantly whn it involves cpg rich areas (cpg islands). methylated cytosines in the promoter regions of a gene lead to its inactivation. in one aspect the invention provides a novel and accurate method to predict survival of nsclc patients following cisplatin or carboplatin based chemotherapy, based on the methylation status of nucleic acids of the 14-3-3 sigma gene, particularly those of the promoter sequences. in an embodiment, the methylation status is determined by studying the methylation pattern of the cpg islands in the exon 1 of the 14-3-3 sigma dna sequence. the 14-3-3 proteins are a family of highly conserved phosphoserinc /phosphothreonine-binding molecules that control the function of a wide array of cellular proteins. they play important roles in a wide range of vital regulatory processes, including signal transduction, apoptosis, cell cycle progression and dna replication. in mammalian cells, seven 14-3-3 isoforms (beta, gamma, epsilon, eta, sigma, theta and zeta) have been identified and each of these seems to have distinct tissue localizations and isoform-specific functions. 14-3-3s expression is restricted to epithelial cells. previous studies have shown that 14-3-3 protein levels are higher in human lung cancers as compared to normal tissues. of all the 14-3-3 genes, 14-3-3s has been most directly linked to cancer ( hermeking h., the 14-3-3 cancer connection. nature rev cancer 2003;3:931-43 ). it is thought to function as a tumour suppressor by inhibiting cell-cycle progression and by causing cells to leave the stem-cell compartment and undergo differentiation. inactivation of 14-3-3s occurs at many levels, and the high frequency of 14-3-3s inactivation indicates that it has a crucial role in tumour formation. surprisingly, we found that patients presenting hypermethylation (and therefore silencing) of the 14-3-3 sigma gene are more sensitive to cisplatin or carboplatin chemotherapy and show significantly better survival. this difference in survival is even more pronunciated in patients responding o the chemotherapy. the method of the invention in its different embodiments will be described now in detail. first a sample tissue or body fluid of a patient suffering from nsclc is taken. the present method can be applied to any type of tissue or body fluid from a patient. in one embodiment it is preferable to examine tumor tissue. preferably this is done prior to the chemotherapy. tumors or portions thereof are surgically resected from the patient or obtained by routine biopsy. to simplify conservation and handling of the samples, these can be formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded. however, from the clinical point of view, the obtention of tissue samples is limited because of the scarcity of tumor tissue obtained by bronchoscopy in stage iv nsclc patients. in early stages, sometimes we can benefit from the resected tumor specimens that provide tumor tissue for rna extraction. but a much better alternative is to use body fluids, in particular serum, as the sample. genetic analysis has shown that cell-free circulating dna in plasma or serum of cancer patients shares similar genetic alterations to those described in the corresponding tumor. on one study, a high correlation between methylation of some genes in tumor and serum in glioblastoma patient samples and a good correlation in nsclc patient samples was found ( ramirez, jl, tarón, m, et al. serum dna as a tool for cancer patient management, rocz akad med bialymst. 2003;48:34-41 ). therefore, in another aspect of the invention it is preferred that the sample is a body fluid from the nsclc patient selected from blood, plasma or serum. more preferably it is serum. serum is easily and immediately available from the patient, it suffices to take a blood sample and separate the cells by centrifugation. the nucleic acids, preferably dna, are extracted from the sample by procedures known to the skilled person and commercially available such as the qiamp blood mini kit of qiagen. once the nucleic acid is isoated, the method of the invention includes determining the state of methylation of one or more of those nucleic acids encoding the gene 14-3-3 sigma and isolated from the subject. the expressions "nucleic acid"or "nucleic acid sequence"as used herein refer to an oligonucleotide, nucleotide, polynucleotide, or to a fragment of any of these, to dna or rna of genomic or synthetic origin which may be single-stranded or double-stranded and may represent a sense or antisense strand, peptidc nucleic acid (pna), or to any dna-like or rna-like material, natural or synthetic in origin. as will be understood by those of skill in the art, when the nucleic acid is rna, the deoxynucleotides a, g, c, and t arc replaced by ribonucleotidcs a, g, c, and u, respectively. any method for determining the methylation state of the nucleic acids can be used, such as those described in wo 02/27019 , us 6,017,704 , us 6,331,393 and us5,786,146 , each of which is incorporated herein in its entirety. determining the methylation state of the nucleic acid includes amplifying the nucleic acid by means of oligonucleotide primers that distinguishes between methylated and unmethylated nucleic acids. one of such methods is described in detail in the examples. preferably the method for detecting a methylated cpg-containing nucleic acid includes contacting a nucleic acid-containing specimen with an agent that modifies unmethylated cytosine, amplifying the cpg-containing nucleic acid in the specimen by means of cpg-specific oligonucleotide primers, wherein the oligonucleotide primers distinguish between modified methylated and non-methylated nucleic acid and detecting the methylated nucleic acid. the amplification step is optional and although desirable, is not essential. the method relies on the pcr reaction itself to distinguish between modified (e. g., chemically modified) methylated and unmethylated dna. the term"modifies"as used herein means the conversion of an unmethylated cytosine to another nucleotide which will facilitate methods to distinguish the unmethylated from the methylated cytosine. preferably, the agent modifies unmethylated cytosine to uracil. preferably, the agent used for modifying unmethylated cytosine is sodium bisulfite, however, other agents that similarly modify unmethylated cytosine, but not methylated cytosine can also be used in the method. sodium bisulfite(nahso 3 ) reacts readily with the 5,6-double bond of cytosine, but poorly with methylated cytosine. cytosine reacts with the bisulfite ion to form a sulfonate cytosine reaction intermediate that is susceptible to deamination, giving rise to a sulfonate uracil. the sulfonate group can be removed under alkaline conditions, resulting in the formation of uracil. uracil is recognized as a thymine by taq polymerase (c? u? t) and therefore upon pcr, the resultant product contains cytosine only at the position where 5-methylcytosine occurs in the starting template dna(mc? mc? c). the primers used to determine the methylation state of the 14-3-3 sigma gene are preferably from the promoter region, more preferably from exon 1. the region between cpg dinucleotides 3 and 9 within the 14-3-3σ gene is especially preferred because of the accuracy of the results obtained. the methylation state can be detemined qualitatively or qualitatively. well known methods such as fluorescence -based quantitative pcr (using fluorescent primers such as taqman probes) can be used. further details can be found in us6,331,393 . in a preferred embodiment a qualitative detemination is used, it is quicker and simpler to implement in a lab and the results arc accurate. in this embodiment primers able to discriminate between the mctylatcd or unmethylated dna, as explained before, are used for the pcr, and then the resulting dna is purified and its methylation status determined for example by separation through agarose gel electrophoresis. a simple visual examination (needs previous staining) under uv light allows to classify the sample as methylated when bands are present in the methylated lane or unmethylated when bands are present in the unmethylated lane only. synthetically methylated and unmethylated dna are used as controls. once the methylation status from a sample is obtained, survival can be predicted in accordance with the results shown in the examples. patients with methylation status will have improved time to progression and survival if treated with cisplatin or carboplatin chemotherapy. survival time ranges can be predicted to be in average at least 30% longer for methylated patients. following chemotherapy, the prediction can be further improved once it is known if the patient belongs to the "responder" group. if so, the chance of survival after four months can be predicted to be at least five times higher for methylation-positive responders than for methylation-ncgative responders, and survival time ranges in general can be predicted to be in average at least 50% longer for 14-3-3-sigma methylated patients. as used herein,"a clinical response"is the response of the tumor to treatment with a chemotherapeutic agent. criteria for determining a response to therapy are widely accepted and enable comparisons of the efficacy alternative treatments. a complete response (or complete remission) is the disappearance of all detectable malignant disease. a partial response is an approximately 50 percent decrease in the product of the greatest perpendicular diameters of one or more lesions, no new lesions and no progression of any lession. a responder is a patient giving a complete or partial response to te csplatin or carbopaltin chemotherapy. in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a kit for predicting the survival to chemotherapeutic treatment of nsclc in a subject. invention kits include a first container containing a reagent which modifies unmethylated cytosine and a second container containing primers for amplification of a cpg-containing nucleic acid,of the 14-3-3 gene, wherein the primers distinguish between modified methylated and nonmethylated nucleic acid. preferably, the reagent that modifies unmethylated cytosine is bisulfite. the invention being thus described, practice of the invention is illustrated by the experimental examples provided below. these examples should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the claims. examples a multicenter prospective study to assess 14-3-3σ methylation in the sera of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients and correlate methylation status with survival was carried out. the study was approved by the independent ethics committees of all six participating centers, and all patients gave their signed informed consent. patients patients were considered eligible for the present study if they had stage iv or stage iiib (with malignant pleural effusion) histologically confirmed non-small-cell lung cancer. other criteria for eligibility included an eastern cooperative oncology group (ecog) performance status of 0 (asymptomatic and fully active) or 1 (symptomatic, fully ambulatory, restricted in physically strenuous activity); age of at least 18 years; adequate hematologic function (hemoglobin at least 9 g per deciliter [5.6 mmol per liter], neutrophil count at least 1500 per cubic millimeter, and platelet count at least 100,000 per cubic millimeter); adequate renal function (serum creatinine less than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal); and adequate liver function (bilirubin not more than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase not more than 5 times the upper limit of normal). patients with clinically overt brain metastases and those who had received previous chemotherapy were excluded. patients with ecog performance status of 2 (symptomatic, ambulatory, capable of self-care, more than 50 percent of waking hours spent out of bed) were also excluded, based on results of previous studies where these patients had a high rate of serious adverse events and poor survival. patients received cisplatin at a dose of 75 mg per square meter of body-surface area on day 1 plus gemcitabine at a dose of 1250 mg per square meter on days 1 and 8. the cycle was repeated every 3 weeks for a maximum of six cycles. before the study, all patients underwent staging procedures, including a clinical examination, a two-view chest x-ray, and a computed tomography of the thorax and abdomen. bone scan or computed tomographic scan of the brain was required only for patients with suspected bone or brain metastases. before each administration of chemotherapy, patients underwent a clinical examination consisting of a routine biochemistry workup and blood counts. objective responses were evaluated by clinical investigators after the third and sixth treatment cycles by repeating the staging procedures. a complete response was defined as the disappearance of all known sites of disease; a partial response was defined as a decrease of 50 percent or more in the sum of the products of the largest perpendicular diameters of measurable lesions, no new lesions, and no progression of any lesion; stable disease was defined as a decrease of less than 50 percent or an increase of less than 25 percent in the sum of the products of the largest perpendicular diameters of measurable lesions and no new lesions; and progressive disease was defined as an increase of 25 percent or more in the size of one or more measurable lesions, or a new lesion. for the evaluation of response, patients achieving complete or partial response were considered "responders", and all other patients were considered "non-responders". time to progression was calculated from the date of enrollment to the date of progression. survival was calculated from the date of enrollment to the date of death or last clinical follow-up. methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction analysis of 14-3-3 σ ten milliliters of peripheral blood were collected in clot activator tubes, and serum was separated from cells by centrifugation. samples were sent to our laboratory (catalan institute of oncology, barcelona, spain) for 14-3-3σ methylation analysis. dna was extracted from 800 microliters of serum using qiamp dna mini blood kit (qiagen, valencia, ca, usa) and resuspended in a final volume of 50 microliters. paired tumor and serum dna from an independent group of 28 surgically resected non-small-cell lung cancer patients was used as control. tumor genomic dna was also derived from paraffin-embedded resected tumor tissue obtained by laser capture microdissection (palm, oberlensheim, germany). isolated tumor dna was incubated with proteinase k, and dna was extracted with phenol-chloroform and ethanol precipitation. purified serum or tumor dna was denatured with sodium hydroxide and modified with sodium bisulfite, which converts unmethylated, but not methylated, cytosines to uracil. methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction was performed with primers specific for either methylated or the modified unmethylated dna spanning the region between cpg dinucleotides 3 and 9 within the 14-3-3σ gene (fig. 1). dna samples were then purified with the wizard dna purification resin (promega, madison, wi, usa), again treated with sodium hydroxide, precipitated with ethanol, and resuspended in water. primers specific for methylated dna [5'-gatatggtagtttttatgaaaggcgtcg-3'(sense) and 5'-cctctaaccgcccaccacg-3' (antisense)], and primers specific for unmethylated dna [5'-gatatggtagtttttatgaaaggtgttgtg-3' (sense) and 5'-ccctctaaccacccaccaca-3' (antisense)] yielded a 109 bp polymerase chain reaction product. the polymerase chain reaction conditions were as follows: 1 cycle of 95°c for 12 minutes; 45 cycles of 95°c for 30 seconds, 58°c (unmethylated reaction) or 64°c (methylated reaction) for 30 seconds, 72°c for 30 seconds; and 1 cycle of 72°c for 7 minutes. placental dna treated in vitro with sss i methyltransferase (new england biolabs, beverly, ma, usa) was used as a positive control for methylated alleles of 14-3-3σ, and dna from normal lymphocytes was used as a negative control. ten microliters of each 50-microliter methylation-specific amplified product was loaded directly onto non-denaturing 2 percent agarose gels, stained with ethidium bromide, and examined under ultraviolet illumination. samples were scored as methylation-positive when methylated alleles were present, visualized as bands in the methylated dna lane (fig. 2), and as methylation-negative when bands were seen only in the unmethylated dna lane (fig. 2). statistical analyses survival from the date of enrollment was the main endpoint. assuming a two-sided level of significance of 0.05, an initial sample size of 121 patients was calculated to provide a power of 90 percent to detect a 15 percent increase in survival at one year in the methylation-positive group ( parmar mkb, machin d. sample sizes for survival studies. in parmar mkb, machin d, eds. survival analysis. a practical approach. chichester, uk: john wiley & sons, 1996:196-207 ). analyses were carried out over a total of 115 patients. survival times according to 14-3-3σ methylation status were estimated with the kaplan-meier method and compared with the two-sided log-rank test. baseline characteristics and response according to 14-3-3σ methylation status were compared with either the two-sided fisher's exact test or the chi-square test for categorical variables and with the student's t-test for age. the normality of age was verified with a kolmogorov-smimov test. correlation between response and other variables was assessed with a two-sided fisher's exact test. univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were fitted to obtain crude and adjusted odds ratios for methylation status. the hosmer-lemeshow likelihood test was used to assess the goodness of fit. a univariate cox regression analysis was used to assess the association between each potential prognostic factor and survival and time to progression. factors found to be relatively significant (p < 0.1) in the univariate analysis were included in a multivariate cox proportional-hazards regression model with a stepwise procedure (both forward and backward) to evaluate the independent significance of different variables on survival. the likelihood ratio test was used to assess the goodness of fit, and the wald's test was used to assess the coefficient significance. the relative risk and 95 percent confidence intervals were calculated from the cox model for all significant predictors of the time to event. estimates of the time to event, with associated 95 percent confidence intervals were made according to the cumulative incidence method. a landmark analysis, with a landmark time of four months, was used to evaluate the association of response with survival. multivariate analysis was performed using the cox regression model stratified by response, with 14-3-3σ methylation status adjusted by performance status. for all regression analyses, the assumptions of the cox model were tested and met. statistical significance was set at 0.05. analyses were performed using spss 11.0 for calculations and s-plus 6.1 for plots. results a total of 115 patients were enrolled in this study between august 1, 2001 and june 30, 2002. the median follow-up of patients still alive at the time of analysis was 17 months (range, 1-30.7). median age was 62 years (range, 31-81); male, 108 (93.9 percent); ecog performance status 0, 32 (27.8 percent), 1, 83 (72.2 percent); smokers, 99 (86.1 percent); adenocarcinoma, 51 (44.7 percent), squamous cell carcinoma, 42 (36.8 percent), large cell carcinoma, 21 (18.4 percent). twenty-five patients (21.7 percent) had malignant pleural effusion, and eight (7 percent) had undergone prior surgery of the primary lung tumor. no patient received thoracic radiotherapy. characteristics for all 115 patients are shown in table 1. representative results of the methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction analysis are shown in table 1. thirty-nine patients were 14-3-3σ methylation-positive and 76 were 14-3-3σ methylation-negative. demographic and clinical characteristics were well-balanced between these two groups (table 1). of 28 surgically resected patients used as controls, seven were methylation-positive in both tumor and serum and the remaining 21 were methylation-negative in both tumor and serum. table-tabl0001 table 1 : patient characteristics for all 115 patients and broken down according to 14- 3- 3σ methylation status. total 14-3-3σ methylation-negative 14-3-3σ methylation-positive no. patients 115 76 39 age median 62 63 61 range 31-81 40-81 31-78 sex male 108 (93.95%) 70 (92.1%) 38 (97.4%) female 7 (6.1%) 6 (7.9%) 1 (2.6%) smoking status smoker 99 (86.1%) 64 (84.2%) 35 (89.7%) non-smoker 16 (13.9%) 12 (15.8%) 4 (10.3%) ecog performance status 0 32 (27.3%) 21 (27.6%) 11 (28.2%) 1 83 (72.2%) 55 (72.4%) 28 (71.8%) histology adenocarcinoma 51 (44.3%) 38 (50%) 13 (33.3%) squamous cell carci. 42 (36.5%) 23 (30.3%) 19 (48.7%) large cell carcinoma 22 (19.1%) 15 (19.7%) 7 (17.9%) pleural effusion yes 25 (21.7%) 16 (21.1%) 9 (23.1%) no 90 (78.3%) 60 (78.9%) 30 (76.9%) prior surgery yes 8 (7%) 5 (6.6%) 3 (7.7%) no 107 (93%) 71 (93.4%) 36 (92.3%) response complete response 2 (1.7%) 2 (2.6%) 0 partial response 49 (42.6%) 27 (35.5%) 22 (56.4%) stable response 27 (23.5%) 22 (28.9%) 5 (12.8%) progressive response 37 (32.2%) 25 (32.9%) 12 (30.8%) tumor response one hundred and fifteen patients were assessable for response. two patients (1.7 percent) attained complete response; 49 (42.6 percent) had partial response; 27 (23.5 percent) had stable disease; and 37 (32.2 percent) had progressive disease. the univariate regression model showed that only ecog performance status correlated significantly with response (crude odds ratio: performance status 0, 2.33 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.01-5.36]; p = 0.05). the crude odds ratio for 14-3-3σ methylation-positive status was 2.10 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.96-4.59) (p = 0.06). time to progression overall time to progression for all 115 patients was 6.9 months (95 percent confidence interval, 5.3-8.5). time to progression was 6.3 months (95 percent confidence interval, 4.5-8.2) for the methylation-negative group and 8.0 months (95 percent confidence interval, 5.3-10.7) for the methylation-positive group (p = 0.027 by the two-sided log-rank test). the univariate cox regression model showed that only 14-3-3σ methylation status significantly correlated with time to progression (hazard ratio: 14-3-3σ methylation-negative status, 1.59 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.05-2.40]; p = 0.029). a stepwise multivariate cox proportional-hazards regression model identified only 14-3-3σ methylation status as an independent prognostic factor for time to progression. sixty-four patients (55.7 percent) did not receive second-line chemotherapy. of the 51 remaining patients (44.3 percent) who received second-line chemotherapy, 32 (62.7 percent) were methylation-negative and 19 (37.3 percent) were methylation-positive. survival median survival for all 115 patients was 10.9 months (95 percent confidence interval, 8.6-13.2). median survival was 9.8 months (95 percent confidence interval, 7.3-12.5) for the methylation-negative group, compared to 15.1 months (95 percent confidence interval, 9.7-20.6) for the methylation-positive group (p = 0.004 by the two-sided log-rank test) (fig. 4a). the univariate cox regression model showed that only 14-3-3σ methylation status and ecog performance status significantly correlated with survival (hazard ratios: 14-3-3σ methylation-negative status, 2.07 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.24-3.45; p = 0 .006]; performance status 1, 2.45 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.39-4.32; p = 0.002] (table 2). the stepwise multivariate cox regression model also identified only 14-3-3σ methylation status and ecog performance status as independent prognostic markers for survival. survival according to tumor response and 14-3-3σ methylation status the univariate cox regression model including all 115 patients showed that in addition to 14-3-3σ methylation status and ecog performance status, response also significantly correlated with survival (hazard ratio for non-responders, 2.84 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.75-4.60; p < 0.001) (table 2). table-tabl0002 table 2. correlation of pre-treatment characteristics and response with survival, in patients by univariate analysis. no. patients hazard. ratio p 14-3-3σ status 0.006 methylation-positive 39 1 referent methylation-negative 76 2.07 (1.24-3.45) response <0.001 responders 51 1 referent non-responders 64 2.84 (1.75-4.60) ecog performance status 0.002 0 32 1 referent 1 83 2.45 (1.39-4.32) prior surgery 0.99 no 107 1 referent yes 8 1.01 (0.44-2.33) smoker 0.09 no 16 1 referent yes 99 2.08 (0.90-4.80) pleural effusion 0.97 no 90 1 referent yes 25 0.99 (0.56-1.74) histology adenocarcinoma 56 1 referent squamous cell carcinoma 42 0.90 (0.54-1.50) 0.68 large cell carcinoma 22 1.38 (0.77-2.48) 0.29 sex 0.26 female 7 1 referent male 108 1.96 (0.62-6.21) age 115 0.99 (0.98-1.02) 0.95 further exploratory analyses were thus carried out to investigate the possible influence on survival of tumor response and methylation status. a landmark analysis which excluded 16 patients who had died before the landmark time of four months found that in the remaining 99 patients, response remained significant for improved survival (hazard ratio for non-responders, 2.16 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.29-3.61]; p = 0.03). the univariate cox regression model showed that only 14-3-3σ methylation status, ecog performance status and response significantly correlated with survival in these 99 patients (hazard ratios: 14-3-3σ methylation-negative status, 1.99 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.13-3.51; p = 0 .017]; performance status 1, 2.17 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.19-3.95; p = 0.012]; non-responders, 2.68 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.65-4.37; p < 0.001). moreover, a multivariate cox proportional-hazards regression model that included response, methylation status and performance status and also allowed for their second- order interactions identified 14-3-3σ methylation status, ecog performance status and response at the selected landmark of four months as independent prognostic factors for survival (table 3). table-tabl0003 table 3. multivariate analysis after stepwise procedure (forward and backward) in 99 patients with a landmark time of 4 months. no. patients hazard. ratio p 14-3-3σ status 0.001 methylation-positive 36 1 referent methylation-negative 63 4.66 (1.83-11.84) response 0.001 responders 51 1 referent non-responders 48 5.53 (2.03-15.02) ecog performance status 0.003 0 31 1 referent 1 68 2.54 (1.38-4.70) 14-3-3σ status by response 99 0.21 (0.07-0.67 0.009 patients were then stratified by response and two separate cox regression models were fitted, adjusting 14-3-3σ methylation status by performance status. a significant difference in risk of death was observed only in the responder group, where the risk of death for 14-3-3σ methylation-negative responders was almost five times that of methylation-positive responders (hazard ratio = 4.87 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.88-12.61]; p = 0.001 by the cox model) (table 4). kaplan-meier curves for survival of responders according to 14-3-3σ methylation status showed that median survival for 22 14-3-3σ methylation-positive responders has not been reached, while for 29 14-3-3σ methylation-negative responders, it was 11.3 months (95 percent confidence interval, 9.0-13.5) (p = 0.001 by the two-sided log-rank test) (fig. 3b). the estimated survival rate at 18 months is 64 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 44-94 percent) for methylation-positive responders and 21 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 9-47 percent) (p = 0.017 by the two-sided log-rank test) for methylation-negative responders. methylation-negative responders had a four times greater risk of death than methylation-positive responders (hazard ratio = 3.95 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.57-9.94]; p = 0.004 by the cox model).
134-615-332-979-527	US	[ "NO", "EP", "DE", "JP", "US", "CA" ]	C08F214/00,C08F2/00,C08F2/22,C08F14/00,C08F214/08,C09D127/08	1978-09-15T00:00:00	1978	[ "C08", "C09" ]	vinylidene chloride polymer microgels and use thereof for the preparation of coatings.	discrete, crosslinked vinylidene chloride polymer microgels, having a latex particle size of less than one micron and a gel content of 25 to 99 percent, such microgels being obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 50 to 95 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride, (b) 5 to 50 parts by weight of a copolymerizable ethylenically unsaturated comonomer, and (c) 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer. such microgels have been found to have wide applicability as additives for synthetic foams and fibers, and for the preparation of improved coatings, films, and redispersible latexes.	1. discrete, crosslinked polymer microgels obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 50 to 95 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride, (b) 5 to 50 parts by weight of a copolymerizable ethylenically unsaturated comonomer, and (c) 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer and characterized by having a latex particle size of less than one micron and a gel content of 25 to 99 percent. 2. microgel of claim 1 characterized in that it has a second order transition temperature of at least 30°c and has been obtained by emulsion polymerizing 50 to 90 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride with 10 to 50 parts by weight of an alkyl ester of acrylic or methacrylic acid, a nitrile of an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid or methacrylic acid and 1 to 10 parts by weight of a crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer. 3. microgel of claim 2 characterized in that it consists essentially of (a) 80 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride, (b) 20 parts by weight of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, or methyl methacrylate, and (c) 2 to 4 parts by weight of 1,3-butylene glycol dimethacrylate. 4. microgel of claim 2 characterized in that it consists essentially of (a) 60 to 70 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride (b) 30 to 40 parts by weight of methyl acrylate, and (c) 2 to 4 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer. .5. microgels of claim 1 characterized in that it has been obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 80 to 95 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride; (b) 5 to 20 parts by weight of an alkyl ester of acrylic or methacrylic acids having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms in the ester group, acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, vinyl chloride, vinyl bromide, vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, or vinyl 2-ethylhexanoate; and (c) 1 to 10 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer; and further characterized by having a gel content of 25 to 50 percent. 6. microgel of claim 1 characterized in that it has been obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 85 to 92 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride; (b) 8 to 15 parts by weight of methyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, vinyl chloride, vinyl bromide, or vinyl acetate; and (c) 1 to 10 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer. 7. microgel of claim 6 characterized by consisting essentially of (a) 90 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride, (b) 10 parts by weight methyl methacrylate, and (c) 2 to 4 parts by weight 1,3-butylene glycol dimethacrylate. 8. microgel of claim 1 characterized in that it has been obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 50 to 85 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride; (b) 15 to 50 parts by weight of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, methyl methacrylate, or methyl acrylate; (c) 1 to 10 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer; and (d) 5 to 25 parts by weight of acryalmide, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, hydroxyethyl acrylate, hydroxypropyl acrylate, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, or hydroxypropyl methacrylate; the microgel having a latex particle size of 0.15 to 0.5 micron, a gel content of 25 to 75 percent, and a second order transition temperature of at least 25°c. 9. a coating latex containing discrete, crosslinked vinylidene chloride polymer microgels, comprising the product obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 88 to 92 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride; (b) 6 to 12 parts by weight of methyl acrylate or methyl methacrylate; (c) 1 to 5 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional'comonomer; and (d) 1 to 10 parts by weight of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, itaconic acid, or fumaric acid, the microgel having a particle size of 0.1 to 0.5 micron, a gel content of 25 to 50 percent, and a second order transition temperature less than 30°c. 10. a coating latex containing discrete, crosslinked vinylidene chloride polymer microgels comprising the product obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 90 to 94 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride, (b) 6 to 10 parts by weight of methyl acrylate or methyl methacrylate, and (c) 1 to 5 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer, the microgels having a particle size of 0.1 to 0.5 micron, a gel content of 25 to 50 percent, and a second order transition temperature less than 30°c.	the present invention pertains to novel, discrete, crosslinked vinylidene chloride polymer microgels which are particularly effective as additives for synthetic foams and fibers and for the-preparation of improved coatings, films and redispersible latexes. the present invention provides vinylidene chloride polymer microgels having unexpected applicability as flame--retardants and physical property enhancers for synthetic materials, such as polyurethane foams and acrylic fibers, and for the preparation of coatings, films, and latexes having improved characteristics. more specifically, this invention provides vinylidene chloride polymer microgels which, in powder form, are dispersible in non-solvents for vinylidene chloride polymers, such as, for example, polyols which are conventionally used to prepare urethane foams and elastomers, and which will further provide enhanced strength and flame-retardance to such materials. the invention also provides vinylidene chloride polymer microgels that can be easily introduced in synthetic fibers, such as acrylic fibers, to impart increased flame-retardance thereto with only moderate loss in fiber processability or strength properties. the invention further provides vinylidene chloride polymer microgel powders that are redispersible to a latex in water. the invention also provides vinylidene chloride polymer microgel latexes which can be tailored to provide amorphous coatings having high vinylidene chloride content or crystalline coatings having greater flexibility. the microgels of this invention may be used to provide lacquer coatings for substrates such as cellophane and other plastic films, such coatings providing improved heat seal temperatures and flexibility. more specifically, this invention provides discrete, crosslinked polymer microgels obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 50 to 95 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride, (b) 5 to 50 parts by weight of a copolymerizable ethylenically unsaturated comonomer, and (c) 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer and characterized by having a latex particle size of less than one micron and a gel content 'of 25 to 99 percent. preferably, the particle size is in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 micron. in a specific embodiment, discrete, crosslinked polymer microgels have been found that are readily dispersible in polyols, glycols, and other non-solvents for vinylidene chloride polymers. these polymer microgels are obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 50 to 90 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride; (b) 10 to 50 parts by weight of an alkyl ester of acrylic or methacrylic acids, methacrylic acid, or a nitrile of an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid; and (c) 1 to 10 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer; said polymer microgels having a latex particle size of less than one micron, a gel content of 25 to 99 percent, and a second order transition temperature of at least 30°c. polymer microgels of this type are particularly useful as flame-retardant additives for polyurethane foam and elastomers, epoxy resins, and polyester resins, and are also especially useful as additives for polyols for providing enhanced load-bearing properties to polyurethane foams prepared therefrom. in another embodiment, discrete, crosslinked vinylidene chloride polymer microgel powders are provided which can be incorporated into solid materials such as synthetic fibers. these polymer microgels are obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 80 to 95 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride; (b) 5 to 20 parts by weight of an alkyl ester of acrylic or methacrylic acid having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms in the ester group, acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, vinyl chloride, vinyl bromide, vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, or vinyl 2-ethylhexanoate; and (c) 1 to 10 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer; the polymer microgels having a latex particle size of less than one micron and a gel content of 25 to 50 percent. polymer microgels of this type are particularly useful as flame-retardant additives for acrylic fibers. in still another embodiment, discrete, crosslinked vinylidene chloride polymer microgel powders are provided which readily disperse in solvents for vinylidene chloride polymers, e.g., mixtures of tetrahydrofuran and toluene. these polymer microgels are obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 85 to 92 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride; (b) 8 to 15 parts by weight of methyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, vinyl chloride, vinyl bromide, or vinyl acetate; and (c) 1 to 10 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer; the polymer microgels having a latex particle size of less than one micron and a gel content of 25 to 99 percent. polymer microgels of this type are particularly useful for the preparation of coatings, e.g., as barrier coatings, for substantially water-insoluble substrates, and for the preparation of self-supporting oriented or unoriented film materials. in yet another embodiment, this invention provides discrete, crosslinked vinylidene chloride polymer microgel powders which readily disperse in aqueous media. these polymer microgels are obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 50 to 85 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride; (b) 15 to 50 parts by weight of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, methyl methacrylate, or methyl acrylate; (c) 1 to 10 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer; and (d) 5 to 25 parts by weight of acrylamide, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, hydroxyethyl acrylate, hydroxypropyl acrylate, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, or hydroxypropyl methacrylate; the polymer microgels having a latex particle size of 0.15 to 0.5 micron, a gel content of 25 to 75 percent, and a second order transition temperature of at least 25°c. polymer microgels of this type are particularly useful as a binder in applications where high salt concentration or polyvalent ions are encountered, e.g., in the modification of cement mixtures. in a further embodiment, two species of microgel latexes have been found which are particularly useful for the preparation of coatings and for the preparation of self-supporting film materials. the first species, which provides permanently amorphous coatings having a high vinylidene chloride content, comprises the product obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 88 to 92 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride, (b) 6 to 12 parts by weight of methyl acrylate or methyl methacrylate, (c) 1 to 5 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer, and (d) 1 to 10 parts by weight of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, itaconic acid, or fumaric acid; the microgels having a particle size of 0.1 to 0.5 micron, a gel content of 25 to 50 percent, and a second order transition temperature less than 30°c. the second microgel latex species, which provides crystalline coatings having improved flexibility, comprises the product obtained by emulsion polymerizing (a) 90 to 94 parts by weight of vinylidene chloride, (b) 6 to 10 parts by weight of methyl acrylate or methyl methacrylate, and (c) 1 to 5 parts by weight of a copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomer; the microgels having a particle size of 0.1 to 0.5 micron, a gel content of 25 to 50 percent, and a second order transition temperature less than 30°c. the crosslinked vinylidene chloride polymer microgels of the present invention are prepared by polymerizing the desired monomers in an aqueous emulsion according to processes well known in the art. preferably, the polymerization is carried out by essentially continuous, carefully controlled addition of the requisite polymerization constituents (including polymerization initiator systems if desired) to the aqueous medium. . it is preferred to start the polymerization by adding a small amount of monomeric material to the aqueous medium and then adding the desired polymerization initiator to form a polymeric seed latex to aid in the control of particle size. the aqueous medium in which the seed latex is formed will contain the necessary surfactants to form the emulsion and will generally be adjusted to the desired ph value, as is well known in the art. following the formation of the seed latex, the remaining amount of monomeric material is continuously added under carefully controlled conditions to the aqueous medium. exemplary copolymerizable ethylenically unsaturated comonomers which can be utilized in the present invention include the alkyl esters of acrylic and methacrylic acids such as methyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate; hydroxyalkyl esters of acrylic and methacrylic acids such as hydroxypropyl acrylate, hydroxyethyl acrylate, and hydroxybutyl acrylate; vinyl esters of saturated carboxylic acids such as vinyl acetate; amides of ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids such as acrylamide; nitriles of ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids such as acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile; ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids such as acrylic acid; ethylenically unsaturated alcohols such as allyl alcohol; vinyl halides such as vinyl chloride and vinyl bromide; and other ethylenically unsaturated monomers known to polymerize with vinylidene chloride. exemplary copolymerizable crosslinking polyfunctional comonomers which can be employed include 1,3-butylene glycol diacrylate, 1,4-butane diol diacrylate, allyl acrylate, vinyl acrylate, 1,3-butylene glycol dimethacrylate, 1,4-butane diol dimethacrylate, allyl methacrylate, vinyl methacrylate, and the like. the actual amount of polyfunctional comonomer to be used will depend upon the crosslinking efficiency of the particular polyfunctional comonomer used, the size of the resulting latex particles, and the ethylenically unsaturated comonomer which is included in the polymerization recipe. sufficient polyfunctional comonomer should be used to provide a gel content of 25 to 99 percent. in practice, the optimum gel content to be achieved will vary with the particular end use being contemplated. it has been found ' , for example, that as the gel content is increased, especially above 50 percent, the microgels become increasingly dispersible in solvents for vinylidene chloride polymers and the dispersions become increasingly less viscous. if the gel content is reduced significantly below 50 percent, however, the microgels swell to too great an extent, causing higher viscosity at lower solids content in the dispersions approaching linear copolymer behavior. as used herein "percent gel" is determined by the following technique: add 36.6 ml tetrahydrofuran (thf) and a predetermined amount (w s ), usually about 0.7 to 1.2 g, of the desired microgel to a 50 ml centrifuge tube. cap the tube and then agitate it overnight (usually about 12 hours) on a horizontal agitator. thereafter, centrifuge the tube at 19,000 rpm for one hour at 5°c. extract 10 ml of the resulting supernatant liquid and place it into an evaporating dish. evaporate most of the thf over low heat and then complete the drying by placing the dish in an oven for one hour at 40°c. finally, determine the weight (w f ) of resin in the dish and calculate gel content by the following formula: the second order transition temperature--or-glass transition temperature (tg), as it is often referred to in the art--is varied in the preferred embodiments of this invention to achieve optimum microgel properties for the particular end use being contemplated. for example, in those applications where it is desirable to recover the microgels from the latex in the form of a powder and then mix the powder in a liquid with moderate shear so that substantially all of the original microgels are regenerated in such liquid, it is advantageous to use a greater proportion of crosslinking monomer and/or a greater proportion of an ethylenically unsaturated comonomer which increases tg to prevent sintering of the microgels during recovery. if it is desired to use the crosslinked vinylidene chloride polymer microgels of the present invention in the form of a dried powder, the microgels can be recovered from the latexes by conventional techniques, preferably by coagulating the latex and then washing and drying the coagulum or by spray drying the latex to produce a fine powder. the optimum temperature for coagulation will vary depending upon the type and amount of comonomer employed in preparing the microgels and particularly upon the second order transition temperature of the so-formed microgels. generally, the coagulation temperature will be in the range of 50° to 70°c, preferably from 50° to 60°c. the following examples, wherein all parts and percentages are by weight, will serve-to illustrate the present invention. example 1 a. preparation of vinylidene chloride polymer microgels which are dispersible in non-solvents for vinylidene chloride polymers the following recipe and polymerization technique were used to prepare polymer microgels which are redispersible in a polyol. initial water phase reducing agent initiator 5.0 g of 83 percent t-butyl hydroperoxide (tbhp) in 1000 g aqueous solution feed rate = 10 g/hr monomer for seed latex reaction aqueous emulsifier stream 236 g of 45 percent c 12 h 25 c 12 h 7 o(so 3 na) 2 emulsifier in 1600 g of aqueous solution used 800 g in 20 hours (feed rate = 40 g/hr) monomer mix finishing fed hydrosulfite and tbhp at 10 g/hr for one hour the initial water phase was poured into a 2--gallon (7.6 liter) pfaudler reactor and the reactor pressure tested for leaks at 35 psi (2.46 kg/sq cm gauge) with nitrogen. the nitrogen was then released. the reactor was placed under a vacuum of 25 inches (63.5 cm) hg and the reactor was heated to a temperature of 40°c. the vacuum was then shut off and 150 g of the seed latex monomer was added to the reactor while agitating the contents thereof. immediately thereafter, pumping of the hydrosulfite and tbhp was begun at 10 g/hr for each stream. the seed latex reaction was completed in approximately one hour as indicated by a drop in pressure of 2 psi (0.141 kg/sq cm) from the maximum pressure attained during the seed latex reaction. when the pressure reached such point, introduction of the monomer mix at 125 g/hr and the aqueous emulsifier stream at 40 g/hr were begun and continued for 20 hours, while maintaining the flow of the reducing agent and initiator streams at 10 g/hr for one hour to complete the reaction. the resulting polymer microgels were found to have a gel content above 50 percent and a second order transition temperature of about 34°c. the polymer microgels were collected from the latex by conventional alum coagulation techniques and then air dried. 200 grams of the dry microgel powder was mixed into 800 g of polyol with a spatula and then passed through a colloid mill to break up the powder particles. when adequately mixed, microscopy revealed that many of the original microgels were present. some aggregates of particles were observed, but it was-not apparent that the particles in the aggregates were sintered together, but may have just gathered together during microscopy. all of the aggregates were less than 100 microns in cross section. by way of comparison, a conventionally prepared non-crosslinked copolymer containing essentially the same amount of mma and vdc and coagulated in the same procedure had many solid particles of a size greater than 1000 microns following the same degree of shearing in the polyol, and was further characterized by a gel content of zero percent (hereafter comparative sample no. 3). b. evaluation of the polymer microgels as a means of enhancing the physical properties of a polyurethane foam polyurethane foam samples were prepared by first mixing the desired polymeric additive with the following ingredients: to the above, 70.4 g of toluene diisocyanate was added, with blending. as soon as foaming had started, the mixture was poured into a container and permitted to foam over a period of five minutes. the resulting foamed polyurethane was then heated in a 120°c oven for a period of 10 minutes, compressed to open the cells, and reheated for a period of 15 additional minutes at 120°c. the following table i sets forth the physical properties of such foam samples containing varying amounts and types of polymeric additives: the data set forth in table i above illustrate the advantages obtained by utilizing the polymer microgels of the present invention as an additive for a polyurethane foam. example 2 a. preparation of vinylidene chloride polymer microgels which can be incorporated in synthetic fibers the following recipe was used for preparing polymer microgels which may be easily incorporated in an acrylic fiber: initial water phase reducing agent 9.75 g sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate (hydrosulfite awc) in 1000 g aqueous so-lution feed rate = 10 g/hr initiator 11.7 g of 83 percent tbhp in 1000 g aqueous solution feed rate = 10 g/hr aqueous emulsifier stream 476 g of 16.7 percent nasem (sodium sulfoethylmeth- acrylate) solution in 1600 g of aqueous solution used 800 g in 20 hours (feed rate = 40 g/hr) monomer for seed latex reaction used 150 g of monomer mix (below) monomer mix 'the initial water phase was poured into the 2--gallon (7.6 liter) reactor and the reactor was pressure tested at 25 psi (1.75 kg/sq cm gauge) using nitrogen. the nitrogen was then released and the reactor was put under vacuum and heated to 40°c for 20 minutes. after the vacuum was shut off and the contents of the reactor were at 40°c, agitation was begun at 140 rpm and 150 g of monomer mix was introduced to the reactor for the seed latex reaction. immediately thereafter, addition of the reducing agent and initiator streams were begun at 10 g/hr each. when the seed latex reaction was completed', as indicated by a drop in pressure to approximately 10 inches (25.4 cm) hg vacuum, addition of the monomer mix at 125 g/hr and the aqueous emulsifier stream at 40 g/hr were begun, while continuing to feed reducing agent and initiator at 10 g/hr. after the monomer and emulsifier streams were shut off, the reducing agent and initiator were pumped an additional two hours to complete the reaction. the so-formed polymer microgels were found to have a gel content below 50 percent and a latex particle size less than one micron. the method to recover the polymer microgels from the latex was not critical. coagulation, freeze drying and air drying are all methods that provided powders which are redispersible in a solvent used for spinning acrylic fibers. b. evaluation of the polymeric microgels as flame-retardant additives for acrylic fibers to prepare a spinning solution, the microgel powder of example 2(a) was first thoroughly dispersed in dimethyl formamide (dmf) using a high shear agitator and then polyacrylonitrile resin was added to bring the spinning solution to 25 percent solids. the sequence of addition of the microgel powder is important. if the microgel powder is added alone first to the dmf, it disperses in less than 30 minutes. however, if the polyacrylonitrile is added first, a uniform dispersion of the microgel powder cannot be obtained in a reasonable period of time. spinning solutions containing the polyacrylonitrile and the microgel powder were wet spin into a bath containing 55 weight percent dmf in water at 5°c to form crude fibers. the fibers, having a chlorine content of about 30 percent, were washed thoroughly with water to remove the dmf. if the dmf is not thoroughly removed, the burning tests are rendered meaningless. the fibers were dried in air overnight. all of the fibers were self--extinguishing in a vertical, burning down test in air. a series of fibers were prepared for limiting oxygen index (loi) tests. these fibers are described in the data set forth in the following table ii. the above data illustrate that the polymer microgels contemplated by the present invention may be readily incorporated into acrylic fibers to impart significantly enhanced flame-retardant properties thereto, and that such microgels may be used in combination with other flame--retardant materials. example 3 a. preparation of vinylidene chloride polymer microgels which readily disperse in commonly used solvents for vinylidene chloride polymers two different samples of polymeric microgels were prepared by emulsion polymerization using sodium persulfate thermal initiator and continuous addition of mixed monomers. each emulsion polymerization was conducted in a one-gallon (3.8 liter) reactor with agitator and temperature control. the initial water phase charged to the reactor is listed below: the mixture of monomers for the reactor was as described below: in each of the polymerizations, the initial water phase was charged to the reactor and a vacuum was applied (approximately 25 inches (63.5 cm) hg) for 10 minutes while heating the reactor to 45°c. with the contents of the reactor at 45°c and agitation at 200 rpm, the vacuum was shut off and an initial shot of 90 g of the monomer mixture was added to form a seed latex. when the seed latex reaction had proceeded until there was a pressure drop in the reactor of 2 psi (0.141 kg/sq cm), the monomer mixture was fed at 118 g/hr and continued for 12 hours. the total weight of monomer added, including the seed latex monomer, was 1500 g. when the continuous feeding of monomer was completed, different finishing steps were used to obtain the two different samples of microgels: finishing step no. 1 - in this finishing step, the reaction was completed after the monomer feed is shut off by allowing the reaction to proceed with agitation to level pressure at 45°c, which took about two hours. the latex. was then cooled and removed from the reactor in preparation for polymer recovery. finishing step no. 2 - in this finishing step, 15 minutes before the end of monomer feed, a 0.37 percent solution of sodium bisulfite was added at 100 g/hr for two hours while maintaining the temperature at 45°c. in addition, 3 percent based on the combined weight of vdc and mma used, of methyl acrylate (ma) was added over a 30 minute period after the monomer feed was shut off. after the bisulfite stream had been added for the two-hour period, that stream was then shut off and the latex was removed from the reactor for polymer recovery. the polymer microgels were separately recovered from each of the resulting latexes according to the following cacl 2 coagulation technique: 35 cc of 30 percent cacl 2 was mixed with 1000 cc water and heated to 40°c. then, 300 cc of latex was slowly added to the cac12 solution with vigorous agitation. the temperature of the mixture was then increased to 70°c to bring about crystallization and set the crumb size. the mixture of coagulated microgels, water, and cacl 2 was then rapidly cooled to room temperature with ice and the microgel coagulum was collected in a centrifuge with water washing. the coagulum was dried to less than 2 percent water content for evaluation as a coating material. the so-obtained polymer microgel powders had a gel content above 25 percent. b. evaluation of the polymer microgels in lacquer coating compositions lacquer stability testing for linear copolymer solutions normally emphasizes the haze test using light transmission as a measure of lacquer clarity. however, the microgel lacquers are very turbid right from the start, so haze or light transmission values are not useful in measuring the stability of such lacquers. accordingly, lacquer stability was determined by measuring the viscosity of a 20 weight percent microgel in a solvent mixture. for a lacquer to be satisfactory, the viscosity must not drift up significantly in 24 hours, e.g., if starting at 20 cps, viscosity drift above 30 cps in 24 hours would not be desirable. coating tests were conducted on coated polyester film. the film was coated with a lacquer containing 15 percent polymer solids in a solvent mixture of 65/35 weight ratio tetrahydrofuran (thf)/toluene (tol). the coating weight was adjusted to 4 g/sq m. the coated film was aged 16 hours at 60°c to insure development of crystallinity before testing the coating. moisture vapor transmission rate (mvtr) was measured with a riegel-mocon mode ird-2 infrared diffuso- meter. the data are reported as grams h 2 0 passed per 100 sq inches (645 sq cm) in 24 hours for the coating weight of 4 g/sq m. a robot automatic controlled air operated jaw . sealer was used for measuring the minimum heat-seal temperature (mhst). heat seals were made at 5° intervals between 95° and 135°c using 20 psi (1.4 kg/sq cm) jaw pressure and one second dwell time. the mhst is the temperature at which coating deformation is first observed when the seal is opened. cold peel adhesion (cpa) was evaluated by coating one side of a polyester film with a microgel lacquer containing a small amount of dye. the coating was cured for three minutes at 120°c and then conditioned for 16 hours at 90 percent relative humidity and 37.8°c. the coated film was cut into one inch (2.54 cm) wide strips and a piece of glass fiber-reinforced tape was applied both to the coated side and to the uncoated side of the strips. the tapes were pulled apart to separate the coating from the film using an instron tensile tester. the results are expressed as grams adhesion per inch (2.54 cm) of width. table iii sets forth the composition of the interpolymers and the lacquer stability, mhst, cpa, and mvtr of coatings prepared therefrom. for purposes of identification, the lacquers containing microgels of the present invention are hereinafter identified as samples 13 and 14. for purposes of comparison, a series of lacquers containing different vinylidene chloride polymers were prepared and tested substantially as described above. these interpolymers are identified in table iii as sample numbers 10, 11 and 12. sample polymer identification 10. conventional non-crosslinked, emulsion polymerized polymer of 87 percent vdc, 10 percent methacrylonitrile (man), and 3 percent mma, having a particle size of about 0.15 micron. 11. conventional non-crosslinked, emulsion polymerized polymer of 92 percent vdc, 5.3 percent vcn, and 2.7 percent mma, having a particle size of about 0.15 micron. 12. conventional non-crosslinked, emulsion polymerized polymer of 90 percent vdc and 10 percent mma, having a particle size of about 0.16 micron. 13. polymer microgels obtained in example 3(a) using finishing step no. 1. 14. polymer microgels obtained in example 3(a) using finishing step no. 2. the data set forth above illustrate that the polymer microgels of the present invention are capable of forming highly effective coating materials from solvents normally used to dissolve vinylidene chloride polymers. the coatings are characterized by significantly enhanced adhesion to polyester film substrates as compared to conventional, non-crosslinked vinylidene chloride polymer coating materials. such enhanced adhesion may well be due to the morphology of the prescribed polymer microgel. example 4 a. preparation of vinylidene chloride polymer microgels which readily disperse in aqueous media the polymer microgels were prepared by emulsion polymerization using the following recipe and polymerization techniques: initial water phase ph adjusted to 3.5 with acetic acid reducing agent 18 g sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate (hydrosulfite awc) in 1000 g aqueous solution feed rate = 10 g/hr seed latex monomer used 150 g in seed latex reaction initiator 10 g of 83 percent tbhp in 1000 g aqueous solution feed rate = 10 g/hr mixed monomers used 2500 g in 10 hours (feed rate = 250 g/hr) aqueous emulsifier stream 66.25 g of nasem, 530 g acrylamide, and 5 cc of 10 percent sodium salicylate in 1600 g aqueous solution used 800 g in 10 hours (feed rate = 80 g/hr) the initial water phase was placed in a suitable reactor equipped with agitator and temperature control. the reactor was placed under vacuum for 10 minutes while being heated to 40°c and agitated at 100 rpm. after the contents of the reactor reached 40°c, the vacuum was shut off and 150 grams of seed latex monomer was added. introduction of reducing agent and initiator streams was begun immediately after this shot of monomer at a rate of 10 g/hr for each stream. when the seed latex reaction had proceeded to a pressure drop of about 4 to 6 psi (0.28 to 0.42 kg/sq cm), introduction of the mixed monomer stream at 250 g/hr and the aqueous emulsifier stream at 80 g/hr were begun and continued for 10 hours. after the monomer and emulsifier streams were shut off, the reaction was finished by pumping the initiator and reducing agent for one hour at 10 g/hr. the so-formed latex was then spray-dried to obtain a microgel powder having a gel content of above 25 percent and a second order transition temperature of 30°c. b. evaluation of the polymer microgels for dispersibility in water the microgels of example 4(a) were dispersed in water using an eppenbach homogenizer and the mixture was then placed in a suitable container. after one month, less than one percent by weight of the microgels had settled to the bottom of the container, indicating very good redispersibility in water. example 5 a. preparation of a permanently amorphous vinylidene chloride polymer microgel latex for plastic film coating the microgel latex was prepared by emulsion polymerization using the following recipe: initial water phase 1800 g deionized water 16 g 80 percent active dihexylester of sodium sulfosuccinic acid emulsifier ph adjusted to 3.5 with acetic acid reducing agent 18 g sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate (hydrosulfite awc) in 1000 g aqueous solution feed rate = 10 g/hr seed latex monomer used 150 g in seed latex reaction initiator 10 g of 83 percent tbhp in 1000 g aqueous solution feed rate = 10 g/hr mixed monomers used 2500 g in 10 hours (feed rate = 250 g/hr) aqueous emulsifier stream 53 g nasem and 212 g acrylic acid (aa) in 1600 g aqueous solution used 800 g in 10 hours (feed rate = 80 g/hr) the initial water phase was placed in a suitable reactor equipped with agitator and temperature control. the reactor was placed under a vacuum of about 25 inches (63.5 cm) hg for 10 minutes while being heated to 40°c and agitated at 100 rpm. after the contents of the reactor reached 40°c, the vacuum was shut off and 150 g of seed latex monomer was added. introduction of reducing agent and initiator streams were begun immediately after this shot of monomer and were added at a rate of 10 g/hr for each stream. when the seed latex reaction had proceeded to a pressure drop of about 4 to 6 psi (0.28 to 0.42 kg/sq cm), introduction of the mixed monomer stream at 250 g/hr and the aqueous emulsifier stream at 80 g/hr were begun and continued for 10 hours. after the monomer streams were shut off, the reaction was finished by pumping the reducing agent and initiator for one hour at 10 g/hr for each stream. the so-formed latex contained microgels having a size less than 0.2 micron, a gel content of above 25 percent, and a second order transition temperature below 20°c. b. evaluation of the polymer microgel latex as a coating for substantially water--insoluble film substrates the microgel latex of example 5(a) was coated onto a corona treated polypropylene film to provide a continuous, essentially amorphous coating having good adhesion and a low heat-seal temperature. c. preparation of a vinylidene chloride polymer microgel latex which forms a coating having excellent creased barrier according to the procedure of example 5(a), . except for the following changes in the recipe, a microgel latex was prepared by emulsion polymerization. seed latex monomer initiator 3.0 g 83 percent tbhp in 1000 g aqueous solution feed rate = 10 g/hr aqueous emulsifier stream 53 g nasem in 1600 g aqueous solution used 800 g in 10 hours (feed rate = 80 g/hr) mixed monomers used 2500 g in 10 hours (feed rate = 250 g/hr) coatings of this microgel latex on paper crystallize only slightly, have good barrier properties, low heat-seal temperature, and excellent creased barrier. the heat-seal temperature and creased barrier do not change significantly during aging of the coating.
135-260-432-838-269	EP	[ "EP", "US", "CN", "RU", "WO", "JP", "BR", "KR" ]	A24F40/46,A24F40/20,A24F40/465,A24F40/85,A24F13/00,A24F40/40,A61M11/04,A61M15/06,A24F40/00,H05B6/10,H05B6/36,A24F40/30	2017-12-22T00:00:00	2017	[ "A24", "A61", "H05" ]	aerosol-generating device with easy clean heating chamber	an aerosol-generating device configured to heat an aerosol-forming substrate to form an inhalable aerosol is provided, the aerosol-generating device including a heating chamber configured to heat the aerosol-forming substrate, the heating chamber including a first end having an opening, a second end having a base, and a side wall extending between the opening and the base, a cavity being defined by inner surfaces of the base and the side wall, and a peripheral portion of the base being contoured to provide a chamfered or filleted intersection between the inner surfaces of the base and the side wall; a heating assembly; and a power supply.	an aerosol-generating device for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to form an inhalable aerosol, the aerosol-generating device comprising, a heating chamber (30) for heating an aerosol-forming substrate, the heating chamber (30) comprising a first end (32) having an opening, a second end (34) having a base (35), and a side wall (31) extending between the opening and the base (35), in which a cavity is defined by inner surfaces of the base (35) and side wall (31) and a peripheral portion of the base (35) is contoured to provide a chamfered or filleted intersection (35a) between the inner surfaces of the base (35) and the side wall (31), wherein the device further comprises a heating assembly and a power supply. an aerosol-generating device according to claim 1, wherein the side wall (31) extends substantially in a direction perpendicular to the base (35). an aerosol-generating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the chamfered or filleted intersection (35a) between the inner surfaces of the base (35) and the side wall (31) extends substantially around the circumference of the base (35). an aerosol-generating device according to claim 1, wherein the heating assembly comprises a heater (38) extending into the heating chamber (30) through an inner portion of the base (35), and the inner portion of the base (35) is contoured to provide a chamfered or filleted intersection (35a) between the base (35) and the heater (38). an aerosol-generating device according to claim 4, wherein the heater (38) is a resistive or inductive heater (38). an aerosol-generating device according to claim 4, wherein the heater (38) is a susceptor and the heating assembly further comprises an inductor coil. an aerosol-generating device according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the heater (38) substantially extends into the heating chamber (30) in a direction parallel to the side wall (31). an aerosol-generating device according to claim 1, wherein the heating assembly comprises an external heater. an aerosol-generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the opening of the heating chamber (30) is defined by the side wall (31), the opening configured to oppose the base (35). an aerosol-generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the base (35) is formed integrally to the side wall (31) of the heating chamber (30). an aerosol-generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the base (35) is removable from the device. an aerosol-generating device according to claim 11, wherein the base (35) is removable and insertable through the opening at the first end (32) of the heating chamber (30). an aerosol-generating device according to claim 11, wherein the base (35) is removable and insertable through an opening in a side wall (31) of the heating chamber (30) adjacent to the second end (34) of the heating chamber (30). an aerosol-generating device according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the base (35) has engagement means for engagement with a removal tool.	the present invention relates to aerosol-generating devices for heating aerosol-forming substrate to form an inhalable aerosol. in particular, the invention relates to devices that include a heating chamber that is easy to clean. devices for generating aerosols for inhalation by a user are known in the art. such devices typically include a heating chamber to receive an aerosol-generating article comprising an aerosol-forming substrate. such devices typically also include a heater assembly configured to heat the aerosol-forming substrate within the heating chamber in order to generate the inhalable aerosol. for example, wo 2013/102614 discloses an aerosol-generating device comprising a heating chamber for receiving an aerosol-generating article comprising a solid aerosol-forming substrate. in use, the aerosol-generating article is inserted into the heating chamber and impaled on a heater that is disposed within the chamber. the heater can be activated to heat the aerosol-forming substrate and generate an aerosol. after consumption, the aerosol-generating article is removed from the device and discarded. wo 2013/076098 describes an extractor for an aerosol-generating device. the device is configured to receive a smoking article including an aerosol-forming substrate and comprises a heater for heating the aerosol-forming substrate to form the aerosol. the heater may be an electric heater. some embodiments described therein further comprise a power supply for supplying power to the electric heater. wo 95/27412 describes a tubular heater for use in an electrical smoking article. the tubular heater comprises a cylindrical tube of a mechanically strong and flexible electrical conductor. an electrically insulating layer such as ceramic is applied on the outer surface except for one exposed portion. electrically resistive heaters are then applied to the insulated regions and are electrically connected at one end to the underlying electrical conducting region. us 5 726 421 describes an ejection system which has a mechanism such as a plunger which is positioned to eject at least a portion of a cigarette from a lighter cavity upon actuation by a smoker. us 2003/154991 describes an electrical smoking system comprising a cigarette and an electric lighter. the system comprises a lighter comprising at least one heating blade and a controller adapted to control heating of the heater blade, the lighter arranged to at least partially receive the cigarette such that the heater blade heats a heating zone of the cigarette. wo 2013/022936 describes articles, such as smoking articles, that can provide an inhalable substance in a form suitable for inhalation by a consumer. the article comprises a cartridge with an inhalable substance medium therein, control housing that includes an electrical energy source and an electrical power source, and a heating member. us1074489 describes a tobacco pipe with a pipe head or bowl and branch, into which a slightly tapering metal tube is inserted. the metal tube is closed at the bottom and open at the top and provided at the bottom end with a vertical branch from which branches off a small transmission tube. gb 190137 describes a tobacco pipe with a pipe bowl and a stem. the stem comprises a number of discs or baffles spaced from each other at a uniform distance, the discs or baffles being provided with apertures allowing smoke to pass through them. insertion, removal and heating of aerosol-forming substrates in such an aerosol-generating device typically creates residues, such as loose debris, within the heating chamber. residue from the heating process may accumulate on heaters, in particular on internal heaters that penetrate into the substrate. residue may also accumulate on inner walls of the heating chamber. particles or pieces of aerosol-forming substrate from the aerosol-generating article may come loose and be released into the heating chamber when the aerosol-forming substrate is inserted or removed from the heating chamber. these forms of debris may accumulate within the heating chamber over time and multiple uses of the device. in particular, debris may accumulate around the base or closed end of the heating chamber. if there is an internal heater, debris may also accumulate around the base of the heater. accumulated debris may hinder the effective operation of the device, for example by absorbing some of the heat from the heater that is intended for heating of the aerosol-forming substrate, by affecting airflow through the device, or by inhibiting insertion and removal of aerosol-generating articles. the heating chamber of an aerosol-generating device is typically sized and shaped to closely accommodate a portion of an aerosol-generating article. thus, for example, a heating chamber for accommodating an end of an aerosol-generating article shaped like a traditional cigarette may be a cylindrical heating chamber having dimensions slightly larger than the external dimensions of the end of the article. it is typically desirable to clean the heating chamber of an aerosol-generating device between uses to minimise the build-up of residue and debris. it is known to insert a brush into the heating chamber, between uses, to dislodge and remove accumulated residue. however, due to the typically small size of a heating chamber in an aerosol-generating device, and the presence of sharp angles within the heating chamber, a brush may not be completely effective at removing accumulated residue. it would be desirable to aid the cleaning further to make it more effective. according to the invention, there is provided an aerosol-generating device for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to form an inhalable aerosol, as described in the present claim 1. the aerosol-generating device comprises a heating chamber for heating an aerosol-forming substrate. the heating chamber comprises a first end having an opening, a second end having a base, and a side wall extending between the opening and the base, in which a cavity is defined by inner surfaces of the base and side wall. a peripheral portion of the base is contoured to provide a chamfered or filleted intersection between the inner surfaces of the base and the side wall. as used herein, the term 'intersection' refers to a region where two surfaces meet. for example, an intersection is formed in the heating chamber at the region where the internal surface of the side wall meets the internal surface of the base. in some embodiments, the device may comprise a heater extending into the heating chamber through the base, and an intersection may also be formed at the region where the base meets a surface of the heater. an intersection as used herein typically refers to surfaces that meet at an angle less than 180°. such intersections may be referred to as internal corners. in heating chambers of aerosol-generating devices, such as the aerosol-generating device of the present invention, intersections between surfaces are typically about 90°, as surfaces, such as the internal surfaces of the base and side wall, typically extend substantially perpendicularly to each other. intersections with angles substantially equal to or less than 90° may be difficult to clean, as inserting a tool, such as a brush, into the small spaces created by such sharp angles may be difficult. it is desirable for intersections between surfaces within the heating chamber to have angles greater than 90°, to facilitate cleaning of the heating chamber. intersections or internal corners between surfaces in the heating chamber may have angles greater than 90° and less than 180°. the heating chamber disclosed herein has a base that is contoured, such that the intersection between the internal surfaces of the base and side wall is chamfered or filleted. such a chamfered or filleted intersection may reduce the difficulty of cleaning the intersection between the internal surfaces of the base and side wall in the heating chamber. as used herein, the term 'chamfer' relates to a substantially straight transitional edge between two surfaces. providing a straight transitional edge between two surfaces that would otherwise meet at a sharp internal corner (an intersection with an angle of less than 180°) may replace the sharp angle that would be created at the intersection between the two surfaces with two intersections (a first intersection between the first surface and the transitional edge and a second intersection between the second surface and the transitional edge), each of which has an angle that is larger or less sharp than the angle of the intersection between the two surfaces. for example, a heating chamber may have a base and a sidewall with internal surfaces that extend substantially perpendicularly to each other and meet at an intersection with an angle of 90°. however, if the base is contoured at its periphery to provide a chamfered intersection between the internal surfaces of the base and sidewall, in accordance with the invention, a straight transitional edge is provided between the base and sidewall. if the straight transitional edge at the periphery of the base is angled to the general plane of the base at 135°, the straight transition edge also intersects the sidewall at 135°. thus, the chamfered intersection between the base and sidewall may be considered to comprise two intersections of 135°, replacing a single intersection between the base and sidewall of 90° as used herein, the term 'fillet' relates to a curved transitional edge between two surfaces. providing a curved transitional edge between two surfaces that would otherwise meet at a sharp intersection or internal corner may replace the sharp angle that would be created at the intersection between the two surfaces with a curve having a lower curvature than the sharp intersection between the two surfaces. the chamfer or fillet provided by the contoured base effectively fills in the section of the intersection between the internal surfaces of the base and side wall that may be particularly difficult to clean. the side wall of the heating chamber may extend in a direction substantially perpendicular to the base. as used herein, the term 'perpendicular' relates to a substantially orthogonal relative orientation of two parts of the device or system, such as the relative orientation between the base and the side wall of the heating chamber. typically, the side wall extends away from the base and substantially circumscribes the base to define the cavity of the heating chamber. in some embodiments, the side wall may be physically connected to the base. in some embodiments, the base may be separable from the side wall and movable relative to the side wall. debris may accumulate at intersections or internal corners within the heating chamber, such as where the base at the second, closed end of the heating chamber meets the side wall and where a heater projects upwards from the base. in order to clean debris from the heating chamber, a cleaning tool, such as a brush, may be inserted through the opening of the heating chamber and moved over the internal surfaces to dislodge residue, such as loose debris. in existing devices, some of the internal corners or intersections within the heating chamber may have angles of 90° or less, which are difficult to access with a cleaning tool. thus, it may be difficult to adequately remove accumulated debris from these heating chambers. where a peripheral portion of the base is contoured to provide a chamfered or filleted intersection, in accordance with the present invention, the sharp angled intersection between the base and the side wall may be effectively filled in. by filling in the sharp angle created at intersections between surfaces within the heating chamber, it may be easier for a cleaning tool, such as a brush, to access all portions of the internal surface of the heating chamber, thereby helping to make the cleaning process quicker and more efficient. the peripheral portion of the base is the external or circumferential portion of the base around where the base meets or abuts the side wall. the peripheral portion of the base is radially outwards of an inner portion of the base. the inner portion of the base may be substantially planar and extend substantially in a plane. the plane of the inner portion may be substantially perpendicular to the side wall of the heating chamber. contouring the peripheral portion so that the peripheral portion extends upwards, towards the opening of the heating chamber, from the inner portion of the base in a chamfer with a straight edge, may enable the peripheral portion of the base to meet the side wall of the heating chamber at an angle that is larger than without the contouring. contouring the peripheral portion so that the peripheral portion extends upwards, towards the opening of the heating chamber, from an inner portion of the base in a curve until it is substantially parallel with the side wall (typically perpendicular to the base) may enable the peripheral portion to be parallel with the side wall at the point where the two surfaces meet. both types of contouring may prevent sharp angles from being formed between the internal surfaces of the base and side wall by creating a chamfered or filleted intersection between the internal surfaces of the base and side wall. angels created at a chamfered intersection or a filleted intersection preferably are greater than approximately 90°, greater than about 100°, greater than about 110°, greater than about 120°, or greater than about 135°. in other words, a chamfered or filleted intersection provides angles that are all relatively open, so they are easy to access with a brush in order to be cleaned. a brush can more easily access the chamfered or filleted intersections to dislodge accumulated debris. in particular, a filleted intersection can be configured to have a concave curve with a curvature that matches the curvature of the convex profile of a brush head. for example, a filleted intersection may be shaped to match the profile of a standard rounded brush. this ensures that a brush can reach all parts of the filleted intersection without having to be substantially deformed. this may enable the brush to reach all areas of the heating chamber more easily and thus improve the cleaning efficiency of the brush. the heating chamber of the present invention has at least one side wall. where the heating chamber has a single side wall, the side wall may extend substantially around the circumference of the base. where the heating chamber has more than one side wall, the side walls may be arranged to extend substantially around the circumference of the base. the heating chamber may have any suitable number of side walls. it will be appreciated that references to features of heating chambers having a single side wall apply equally to heating chambers having more than one side wall. the chamfered or filleted intersection between the inner surfaces of the base and the side wall may extend substantially around the circumference of the base. the chamfered or filleted intersection may extend around the full or entire circumference of the base. in this arrangement, the intersections or corners between the internal surfaces the base and the side wall are effectively filled around the full circumference of the base, such that debris accumulating from any part of an aerosol-generating article accumulates on the chamfer or filet. the opening of the heating chamber may be defined by a first end of the side wall. for example, the side wall may extend around the entire periphery of the base and extend away from the base in a substantially perpendicular direction, thereby forming a substantially cylindrical tube. the termination of the side wall at the first end, opposite the base, may provide an opening, with the heating chamber being defined within the tube, between the internal surfaces of the base and side wall. the opening is generally arranged oppose the base. in such an arrangement, the heating chamber may be configured to receive a portion of an aerosol-generating article that resembles a conventional cigarette. the base may be formed integrally with the side wall of the heating chamber. in this configuration there may not be any separation between the base and the side wall. therefore, there are no orifices or openings around the periphery of the base in which debris can fall or accumulate, so the device is easier to clean with a brush. forming elements integrally may also simplify the manufacture and assembly of the device. in some embodiments, the base is removable from the device. in this configuration the base of the heating chamber can be entirely removed from the heating chamber. the majority of debris accumulates on the base. once the base is removed it may be more easily cleaned with a brush by a user as the movement of the brush is not limited within the confines of the heating chamber. in some embodiments, the base may be reusable. a reusable base may be removed and cleaned and the cleaned base may be reinserted in to the heating chamber. in some embodiments, the base may be disposable. in these embodiments, a base may be disposed of once it has been removed from the heating chamber, the base may be removed from the heating chamber and disposed of and a new base may be inserted into the heating chamber. the base may be removable from the heating chamber and insertable into the heating chamber through the opening at the first end of the heating chamber. aerosol-forming substrate may be insertable into the heating chamber through the same opening as the base. this configuration may allow the heating chamber to have a single opening, which may enable the heating chamber to have a simple construction. additionally, for embodiments with heaters extending into the heating chamber, this construction may limit the number of access points for a user to the heating chamber. this may substantially protect the user from contacting the heater when it is still hot. the base may be removable from the heating chamber and insertable into the heating chamber through an opening in a side wall of the heating chamber. the opening in the side wall of the heating chamber may be adjacent to the second end of the heating chamber. providing an opening in the side wall of the heating chamber allows this second opening to be configured specifically for use with the base. positioning the opening adjacent to the second end of the heating chamber may minimise the distance the base must be moved within the heating chamber when it is being inserted or removed. in some embodiments where the base is removable, the base may comprise engagement means for engaging with a removal tool. the tool may be any suitable tool for removal of the base from the heating chamber. the engagement means may be a notch in at least one side of the base. in such embodiments, the tool may include a hook or clip to engage with the notch so that the tool can engage with the base and be used to pull the base from the heating chamber. the engagement means may be a magnetic material arranged at least at a portion of the base. in such embodiments, the removal tool may include a magnetic material at one end for attracting the magnetic material of the base such that the tool may be used to pull the residue collector from the heating chamber. the provision of a removal tool may eliminate the need for a user to directly touch the base during removal or insertion. this may be advantageous during removal when residue, such as debris, is accumulated on the base. the provision of a removal tool may also eliminate the need for the user to wait for the residue collector to cool down before removing it from the heating chamber. the entire peripheral portion of the base may be contoured to provide a chamfered or filleted intersection between the base and the side wall. the base may be formed of any suitable material. in some embodiments, the base may be formed of a metal. a metal base may have a melting point that is significantly higher than the temperatures generated in the device during use. therefore, the heating process should not affect or damage the base over time. additionally, the base may be formed of a metal that has a high thermal conductivity, so that the base may transfer heat to the aerosol-forming substrate as the heating chamber is heated. in some embodiments, debris that accumulates at the base may be less likely to adhere to a heated base. therefore, providing a base with a high thermal conductivity may enable the base to be more easily cleaned. any suitable metal material could be used to form the base. particular examples of suitable metals are aluminium or stainless steel. in some embodiments, the base may be formed of a plastic material. a base formed of a plastic material may be conveniently produced by moulding. this may be an inexpensive and straightforward manufacture technique. any suitable plastic material may be used to form the base. an exemplary suitable plastic material is peek. it is also envisaged that the base may be provided with a coating, such as a low friction coating, to further reduce the adhesion of debris to the base. as used herein, the term 'aerosol-forming substrate' relates to a substrate capable of releasing volatile compounds that can form an aerosol. the volatile compounds may be released by heating the aerosol-forming substrate. a suitable aerosol-forming substrate may comprise nicotine, a plant-based material, a homogenised plant-based material, or at least one aerosol-former or other additives or ingredients, such as flavourants. a suitable substrate may be in solid form, such as a tobacco plug. a tobacco plug may comprise one or more of: powder, granules, pellets, shreds, spaghettis, strips or sheets containing one or more of: tobacco leaf, fragments of tobacco ribs, reconstituted tobacco, homogenised tobacco, extruded tobacco and expanded tobacco. optionally, the tobacco plug may contain additional tobacco or non-tobacco volatile flavour compounds, to be released upon heating of the tobacco plug. where the tobacco plug comprises homogenised tobacco material, the homogenised tobacco material may be formed by agglomerating particulate tobacco. the homogenised tobacco material may be in the form of a sheet. the homogenised tobacco material may have an aerosol-former content of greater than 5 percent on a dry weight basis. the homogenised tobacco material may have an aerosol former content of between 5 percent and 30 percent by weight on a dry weight basis. in some embodiments, sheets of homogenised tobacco material may be formed by agglomerating particulate tobacco obtained by grinding or otherwise comminuting one or both of tobacco leaf lamina and tobacco leaf stems. in some embodiments, sheets of homogenised tobacco material may comprise one or more of tobacco dust, tobacco fines and other particulate tobacco byproducts formed during, for example, the treating, handling and shipping of tobacco. sheets of homogenised tobacco material may comprise one or more intrinsic binders, tobacco endogenous binders, one or more extrinsic binders, tobacco exogenous binders, or a combination thereof to help agglomerate the particulate tobacco. in some embodiments, sheets of homogenised tobacco material may comprise other additives including, but not limited to, tobacco and non-tobacco fibres, aerosol-formers, humectants, plasticisers, flavourants, fillers, aqueous and non-aqueous solvents and combinations thereof. sheets of homogenised tobacco material may be formed by a casting process of the type generally comprising casting a slurry comprising particulate tobacco and one or more binders onto a conveyor belt or other support surface, drying the cast slurry to form a sheet of homogenised tobacco material and removing the sheet of homogenised tobacco material from the support surface. the aerosol-forming substrate may be adsorbed, coated, impregnated or otherwise loaded onto a carrier or support. the aerosol-forming substrate may be provided as part of an aerosol-generating article. as used herein 'aerosol-generating article' relates to an article comprising an aerosol-forming substrate. an aerosol-generating article may be a non-combustible aerosol-generating article. a non-combustible aerosol-generating article is an article comprising an aerosol-forming substrate capable of releasing volatile compounds without combustion of the aerosol-forming substrate, for example by heating the aerosol-forming substrate, by a chemical reaction or by mechanical stimulus of the aerosol-forming substrate. an aerosol-generating article may be a smoking article that generates an aerosol that is directly inhalable into a user's lungs through the user's mouth. an aerosol-generating article may resemble a conventional smoking article, such as a cigarette. an aerosol-generating article may be disposable. an aerosol-generating article may be partially-reusable and may comprise a replenishable or replaceable aerosol-forming substrate. as used herein, 'aerosol-generating device' relates to a device that interacts with an aerosol-forming substrate to generate an aerosol. an aerosol-generating device may comprise one or more components used to supply energy from a power supply to an aerosol-generating means to interact with an aerosol-forming substrate to generate an aerosol that is inhalable by a user. according to the present invention, the device comprises a heating assembly and a power supply. the power supply may be an external power supply or may form part of the device, such as an on-board battery. the aerosol-generating means may be any suitable means for generating an aerosol from an aerosol-forming substrate. for example, the aerosol-generating means may be an electric heater. the aerosol-generating device may comprise aerosol-generating means. the aerosol-generating means may be any suitable aerosol-generating means. for example, the aerosol-generating means may comprise a heater configured to heat an aerosol-forming substrate received within the heating chamber of the device. the heater may be configured to heat the aerosol-forming substrate to generate an aerosol for inhalation by a user. the heater may be any suitable type of heater. the heater may extend into the heating chamber. the heater may extend into the heating chamber through the base. the heater may be arranged centrally within the heating chamber and may extend through a central portion of the base. heaters extending into the heating chamber may be arranged to penetrate aerosol-forming substrate received in the heating chamber. a heater of this sort may be referred to as an internal heater. as used herein, 'internal heater' relates to a heater that is configured to be inserted into an aerosol-forming substrate when the aerosol-forming substrate is received in the heating chamber. internal heaters may be inserted into the aerosol-forming substrate in order to directly contact the aerosol-forming substrate within the aerosol-generating article. an internal heater is configured to heat an aerosol-forming substrate of an aerosol-generating article from within. the use of an internal heater may be advantageous because it may be in direct contact with the aerosol-forming substrate in order to efficiently heat the substrate. the inner portion of the base may be a relatively flat or planar portion. the inner portion of the base is located radially inward of the peripheral portion of the base. in embodiments comprising a heater extending into the heating chamber through the base, the base may be contoured to provide a chamfered intersection or a filleted intersection between the base and at least one surface of the heater. this configuration effectively fills in the intersection between the base and one or more surfaces of the heater as the heater projects outwards from the base. if the heater extends through the base into the heating chamber substantially perpendicularly to the base, the intersections between surfaces of the heater and the base have an angle of 90°. if the heater extends through the base at an angle other than 90°, the intersections between surfaces of the heater and the base may vary between sides of the heater, and on one side at least there will be an acute angle between the heater and the base. in both of these configurations, debris that accumulates in the intersections will be difficult to clean with a cleaning tool, such as a brush. providing a chamfer or fillet at the intersections fills in the sharp angle. the angles of the chamfered or filleted intersection may be relatively open, so they are easy to access with a cleaning tool, such as a brush, in order to be cleaned. in other words, a brush can more easily access the chamfered or filleted intersections to dislodge accumulated debris. the heater may extend into the heating chamber in a direction substantially parallel to the side wall. the heater may extend substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of a tubular or cylindrical heating chamber. the heater may extend along a portion of the length of the heating chamber. in some embodiments, the heater may extend substantially the full length of the heating chamber. when an aerosol-forming substrate is inserted into the heating chamber, the heater may be arranged to be in direct contact with a large proportion of the aerosol-forming substrate. as used herein, 'length' refers to the maximum longitudinal dimension of the device, the substrate or a portion or part of the device or the substrate, such as the distance between the second end of the heating chamber and the first end of the heating chamber (i.e. the distance between the base and the opening). the heater may be located centrally in the heating chamber. in other words, the heater may extend substantially along the central longitudinal axis of the heating chamber. in this configuration the highest temperature generated within the heating chamber, at the heater, may be generated along the central longitudinal axis of the heating chamber. in this configuration, the heater may be arranged to heat aerosol-forming substrate within the heating chamber from a central region outwards, heating all sides of the aerosol-forming substrate evenly. the heater may be arranged substantially at an equal distance from the side wall of the heating chamber, on all sides. in some embodiments, the heater may extend into the heating chamber substantially perpendicularly to the side wall. in such a configuration the heater may extend in a transverse direction across an elongate heating chamber. as used herein, the term 'transverse' relates to a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal dimension of the device, the substrate or a portion or a part of the device or the substrate, such as a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the heating chamber. the heater may be an external heater. as used here, 'external heater' refers to a heater that does not penetrate an aerosol-forming substrate in the heating chamber or any part of an aerosol-generating article received in the heating chamber. an external heater may be positioned at or around an inner surface of the heating chamber. in some embodiments, an external heater may contact the outer surface of an aerosol-generating article received in the heating chamber. in some embodiments, an external heater may not directly or physically contact an aerosol-forming substrate or any part of an aerosol-generating article received in the heating chamber. an external heater may be positioned within the aerosol-generating device but outside of or external to the heating chamber. a heating chamber with an external heater may be referred to as an oven and the external heater may be referred to as an oven heater. the heater may be any suitable type of heater. for example, the heater may be an electrically resistive heating element. such a heating element may be connected directly to a power supply of the device and electrical current from a power supply of the device may be converted directly into heat at the resistive heating element. this type of heater may minimise the number of parts required within the device. the heater may be part of a heating assembly. the heating assembly may be any suitable type of heating assembly. for example, the heating assembly may be an electric heating assembly. where the heating assembly is an electric heating assembly, the aerosol-generating device may also comprise a power supply for providing power to the heating assembly. it will be appreciated that there are many heating assemblies that may be used. for example, the heating assembly may comprise a heater in the form of a susceptor element extending into the heating chamber and the heating assembly may further comprises an inductor arranged at or around the heating chamber that is configured to heat the susceptor. for example, the inductor may comprise a coil arranged outside the heating chamber or surrounding the heating chamber that acts to induce heating currents in the susceptor. particular embodiments will now be discussed in detail and shown by way of example only in the following figures, in which: figure 1a shows a cut-through view of a conventional internally heated heating chamber; figure 1b shows the heating chamber of figure 1a including a brush figure 2a shows a cut-through view of an internally heated heating chamber according to an embodiment of the invention; figure 2b shows the heating chamber of figure 2a including a brush; figure 3a shows a side view of a removable base according to a second embodiment of the present invention, positioned around a heater blade; figure 3b shows a top view of a removable base according to a second embodiment of the present invention; figure 3c shows a perspective view of a removable base according to a second embodiment of the present invention positioned around a heater blade. figure 1a is a schematic illustration of a heating chamber 10 of an aerosol-generating device. the heating chamber 10 is configured to receive and heat an aerosol-forming substrate. the heating chamber 10 comprises a first end 12 having an opening 13, a second end 14 having a base 15, and a side wall 11 extending between the opening 13 and the base 15. the side wall 11 is a circularly cylindrical tube that is substantially closed at the second end 14 by the base 15, which is generally in the form of a planar circular disc. a cavity 17 is defined by inner surfaces of the base 15 and side wall 11. the heating chamber 10 is configured to receive aerosol-forming substrate in the cavity 17 through the opening 13 at the first end 12. the heating chamber 10 includes an internal heater 18 in the form of an elongate, planar, heating blade having opposing first and second faces 18a and terminating at a point 18b. opposing first and second faces 18a of the heater 18 are defined by the width and length of the heater 18. the heater 18 has a length dimension that is greater than its width dimension, which is greater than its thickness dimension. the heater 18 extends into the cavity 17 from the base 15 at the closed second end 14 of the heating chamber 10. the heater 18 is generally aligned along the central longitudinal axis of the heating chamber 10, perpendicular to the base 15, and parallel to the side wall 11. an aerosol-forming substrate (not shown), such as a rod of tobacco, is generally provided as part of an aerosol-generating article, having the aerosol-forming substrate at a distal end and a filter at a proximal end. in use, the aerosol-forming substrate is inserted into the cavity 17 through the open end 12 of the heating chamber 10, such that the tapered point 18b of the heater 18 engages the substrate. by applying a force to the aerosol-generating article, the heater 18 penetrates into the aerosol-forming substrate. when the aerosol-generating article is fully engaged with the aerosol-generating device, the aerosol-forming substrate is substantially received in the cavity 17 and the heater 18 is surrounded by the aerosol-forming substrate. when the heater 18 is actuated, the aerosol-forming substrate is warmed by the heater 18 and volatile substances are generated or evolved from the substrate as vapour. as a user draws on the mouthpiece of the article, air is drawn into the aerosol-generating article and the volatile substances condense to form an inhalable aerosol. this aerosol is entrained in the air being drawn through the aerosol-generating article and passes through the mouthpiece of the aerosol-generating article and into the user's mouth. during insertion of aerosol-forming substrate into the cavity 17 of the heating chamber 10 and during removal of the substrate from the cavity, loose substrate may be released into the chamber 17, forming undesirable debris 22 at the base 15. residue (not shown) from the substrate may also build up on the surfaces 18a of the heater 18. in figures 1a and 1b , debris 22 is shown accumulated in the heating chamber 10 at the intersection 25 between the internal surface of the base 15 and the internal surface of the side wall 11. debris 22 is also shown accumulating at the intersection 27 between the internal surface of the base 15 and the surfaces 18a of the heater 18. a tool, such as a brush, may be provided for cleaning debris 22 from the heating chamber 10 and residue from the heater 18. in figure 1b , there is shown a cleaning brush 28 within the heating chamber 10. the head of the brush 28 has a circular longitudinal cross-section. since the heating chamber has a substantially rectangular cross-section at the second end 14, the bristles (not shown) of the brush 28 do not reach into the corners or intersections 25, 27 of the heating chamber 10. the bristles of the brush 28 may be deformable in order to allow some bristles to reach the intersections 25, 27 of the heating chamber 10. however, deforming the bristles of the brush 28 in order to reach the intersections 25, 27 may unacceptably increase the effort required by the user to clean the heating chamber 10, may damage the brush or may reduce the effectiveness of the brush by requiring the bristles to be softer or more deformable than optimal. in figure 2a , there is shown a heating chamber 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention. the heating chamber 30 is substantially similar to the heating chamber 10 of figure 1a having a side wall 31 identical to the side wall 11, a first end 32 identical to the first end 12, and an identical heater 38 to the heater 18. however, the heating chamber 30 has a base 35 at a second end 34 that is contoured at its periphery to create a chamfer 35a around the outer edge of the base 35 between the internal surface of the base 35 and the side wall 31. the chamfer 35a is a substantially straight edge that extends between the inner surface of the base 35 and the inner surface of the side wall 31 to effectively fill in the intersection between the inner surface of the base 35 and inner surface of the external wall 31. the chamber 35a extends upwards from the general plane of the base 35 at an angle of about 135°. the outer edge of the chamfer 35a abuts the inner surface of the side wall 31 around the entire circumference of the side wall 31 at an angle of about 135°. the base 35 is further contoured at a central region to create an internal chamfer 35b between the internal surface of the base 35 and the surfaces 38a of the heater 38. the internal chamfer 35b extends between the internal surface of the base 35 and the heater blade surfaces 38a to effectively fill the intersection between the inner surface of the base 35 and the heater surfaces 38a. the internal chamfer 35b extends upwards from the general plane of the base at an angle of about 135° and the inner edge of the internal chamfer 35b abuts the heater surfaces 38a around the full circumference of a lower portion of the heater at an angle of about 135°. in figure 2b there is shown the brush 28 within the heating chamber 30. the circular profile of the brush 28 corresponds closely to the profile of the inner surface of the base 35, in particular at the chamfers 35a, 35b. when the brush 28 is inserted into the heating chamber 30, the bristles (not shown) are able to contact the whole surface of the chamfers 35a, 35b. therefore, the brush 28 can dislodge debris and reside from all of the inner surfaces of the heating chamber, including the whole surface of the chamfers 35a, 35b. in the embodiment of figures 2a and 2b , the base 35 is formed integrally with the external wall 31 to define the heating chamber. an alternative embodiment is shown in figures 3a, 3b and 3c , wherein the base 55 is removable from the heating chamber 50. the heating chamber 50 of this embodiment has a closed second end 54 that is defined by an end portion 54a. figure 3a shows the removable base 55 positioned within the heating chamber at the closed second end 55 (with the sidewall removed to show the base in situ). the base 55 is a substantially planar disk-shaped element, with a raised peripheral edge forming an outer filleted edge 55a and a raised central portion around a central slot 55c forming an internal filleted edge 55b. in this embodiment, the base 55 comprises fillets, rather than chamfers, at the outer periphery and at a central region. the fillets 55a, 55b provide a curved edge at the intersections between the internal surface of the base 55 and the side wall (not shown) and the internal surface of the base 55 and the heater 58. the slot 55c is arranged and dimensioned to receive the elongate, planar, heating blade 58, such that the inner edge of the internal fillet 55b abuts the surfaces 58a of a lower portion of the heating element 58. the base 55 includes a circular raised lip 55d that projects downwards from the lower surface of the base 55 to engage with the end portion 54a of the heating chamber 50 to space the lower surface of the base 55 from the end portion 54a. it will be appreciated that in other embodiments the circular lip may be replaced with a plurality of feet elements, for example three or four feet elements spaced evenly around the base. in this embodiment, the internal fillet 55b does not extend around the full periphery of the heater 58. in this embodiment, the base 55 is not raised at the narrow edges 58c of the heater 58 as there is little debris accumulation at the narrow edges 58c. in other words, the height of the internal fillet 55b varies around the periphery of the heater 58. the height of the internal fillet 55b rises gradually from the narrow edges 58c of the heater 58 across the faces 58a of the heater 58 to the centre of each face 58a, providing a curved fillet profile across the faces 58a of the heater 58. it will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the internal fillet 55b may extend around the full periphery of the heater 58 or may have any other suitable profile across the faces 58a of the heater. the removable base 55 is inserted into the heating chamber 50 through the open end (not shown) of the heating chamber 50. the heater 58 is received in the slot 55c and the base 55 is lowered into the cavity of the heating chamber 50 until the base 55 is in position at the closed end 54, with the raised lip 55d abutting the end portion 54a of the heating chamber 50. when the base 55 is positioned in this manner, the device is ready for use. for removal of the base 55 from the heating chamber 50, a removal tool (not shown) may be inserted into the heating chamber 50 and may engage with the base 55 at a removal notch 55e at the periphery of the base 55. the tool may hook underneath the base 55 or attach to the base 55 at the notch 55e, and the user may pull the tool and the base 55 out of the heating chamber 50. the base 55 may be cleaned and replaced in the heating chamber 50, or may be disposed of and a new base 55 inserted into the heating chamber 50, as described above. it will be appreciated that both integral and removable bases may be provided with chamfered or filleted intersections. in some embodiments, the base may comprise a chamfered intersection at one of the outer and inner intersections and a filleted intersection at the other one of the outer and inner intersection.
135-757-224-757-273	US	[ "US" ]	A61K31/445,C07D401/00,A61K31/4439,A61K31/53,A61K31/4709,A61K31/506,C07D413/02,A61K31/416,A61K31/4178,C07D403/02	1999-10-18T00:00:00	1999	[ "A61", "C07" ]	pyrazole derivatives as cannabinoid receptor antagonists	novel cannabimimetic pyrazole derivatives are presented which have preferentially high affinities for both of the cannabinoid cb1 or cb2 receptor sites. the improved receptor affinity makes these analogs useful as experimental tools for cannabinoid receptor studies as well as clinically useful agents in individuals and animals for treatment of memory deficits associated with aging or neurological diseases, as anti-obesity agents, as medications for schizophrenia and treatment of septic shock syndrome.	1. a compound of the formula or a physiologically acceptable salt of the , wherein: r 1 is a branched or unbranched alkyl chain having the structure (ch 2 ) n z where n is an integer from 1 to about 10 and z is selected from h, halogen, n 3 , ncs, cn, oh, och 3 , nh 2 and ch═ch 2 ; r 3 is h or a branched or unbranched alkyl chain having the structure (ch 2 ) n ch 3 where n is an integer from 0 to about 3; r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are each independently selected from h, halogen, n 3 , ncs, och 3 , ch 3 , ch 2 ch 3 , no 2 , nh 2 , phenyl or phenyl with at least one substituent selected from halogen, n 3 , ncs, och 3 , ch 3 , ch 2 ch 3 , no 2 , and nh 2 ; and r 2 is selected from, 2. a method of preferentially binding to the cannabinoid receptors in an individual or animal comprising administering to the individual or animal a therapeutically effective amount of a compound having the formula or a physiologically acceptable salt of the, wherein: r 1 is a branched or unbranched alkyl chain having the structure (ch 2 ) n z where n is an integer from 1 to about 10 and z is selected from h, halogen, n 3 , ncs, cn, oh, och 3 , nh 2 and ch═ch 2 ; r 3 is h or a branched or unbranched alkyl chain having the structure (ch 2 ) n ch 3 where n is an integer from 0 to about 3; r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are each independently selected from h, halogen, n 3 , ncs, och 3 , ch 3 , ch 2 ch 3 , no 2 , nh 2 , phenyl or phenyl with at least one substituent selected from halogen, n 3 , ncs, och 3 , ch 3 , ch 2 ch 3 , no 2 , and nh 2 ; and r 2 is selected from, 3. a pharmaceutical composition containing a therapeutically effective amount of a compound having the formula or a physiologically acceptable salt of the, wherein: r 1 comprises is a branched or unbranched alkyl chain having the structure (ch 2 ) n z where n is an integer from 1 to about 10 and z is selected from h, halogen, n 3 , ncs, cn, oh, och 3 , nh 2 and ch═ch 2 ; r 3 is h or a branched or unbranched alkyl chain having the structure (ch 2 ) n ch 3 where n is an integer from 0 to about 3; r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are each independently selected from h, halogen, n 3 , ncs, och 3 , ch 3 , ch 2 ch 3 , no 2, nh 2 , phenyl or phenyl with at least one substituent selected from halogen, n 3 , ncs, och 3 , ch 3 , ch 2 ch 3 , no 2 , and nh 2 ; and r 2 is selected from, 4. the compound of claim 1 wherein r 2 is 5. the method of claim 2 wherein r 2 is 6. the pharmaceutical composition of claim 3 wherein r 2 is	this application is the national stage of international application no. pct/us00/41239, filed oct. 18, 2000, which claims the benefit of u.s. provisional application no. 60/159,993, filed oct. 18, 1999. field of the invention the present invention relates generally to pyrazole derivatives and is more particularly concerned with new and improved pyrazole derivatives exhibiting high binding affinities for cannabinoid receptors, pharmaceutical preparations employing these analogs and methods of administering therapeutically effective amounts of the preparations to provide a physiological effect. background of the invention classical cannabinoids such as the marijuana derived cannabinoid δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (δ 9 -thc), as well as endogenous ligands (anandamide) produce their pharmacological effects via their agonist properties at specific cannabinoid receptors in the body. so far, two cannabinoid receptors have been characterized: cb1, a central receptor found in the mammalian brain and peripheral tissues and cb2, a peripheral receptor found only in the peripheral tissues. compounds that are agonists or antagonists for one or both of these receptors have been shown to provide a variety of pharmacological effects. see, for example, pertwee, r.g., pharmacology of cannabinoid cb 1 and cb 2 receptors , pharmacol. ther., (1997) 74:129-180 and di marzo, v., melck, d., bisogno, t., depetrocellis, l., endocannabinoids: endogenous cannabinoid receptor ligands with neuromodulatory action , trends neurosci. (1998) 21:521-528. over the last few years, a number of potent synthetic cannabinoid agonists have been developed. these agonist materials have helped in the characterization of cannabinoid receptors and with studies of receptor molecular properties. cannabinoid antagonists are compounds that bind to one of the cb1 or cb2 receptors but have no effect. there is considerable interest in developing cannabinoid antagonists possessing high affinity for one of the cb1 or cb2 receptors. such cannabinoid antagonist materials provide a tool to better understand the mechanisms by which cannabinoid agonists produce their pharmacological effects and for the development of new therapeutic agents. one class of cannabimimetic antagonists encompasses pyrazole derivatives. pyrazole analogs have been found to act as antagonists for the cb1 and cb2 receptors, and occasionally to act as agonists for the cb1 and cb2 receptors. most of the known materials show high receptor affinity for only the cb1 cannabinoid receptor. see for instance, barth, f. et al, pyrazole derivatives, method of preparing them and pharmaceutical compositions in which they are present ; u.s. pat. no. 5,624,941 to barth et al, issued apr. 29, 1997; rinaldi-carmona, m. et al, sr141716a, a potent and selective antagonist of the brain cannabinoid receptor, febs lett. 1994, 350, 240-244; rinaldi-carmona, m. et al, biochemical and pharmacological characterization of sr 14171 6 a, the first potent and selective brain cannabinoid receptor antagonist, life sci. 1995, 56, 1941-1947; and makriyannis, a., structure - activity relationships of pyrazole derivatives as cannabinoid receptor antagonists, j. med. chem. 42, 769-776, 1999. summary of the invention the invention includes several novel pyrazole derivatives and physiologically acceptable salts thereof. the invention includes materials selective for either the cb1 or cb2 receptors. further, some of the analogs have agonistic or antagonistic properties. pyrazole can be represented by the formula: in one aspect of the invention, modifications were made to the pyrazole structure in the 1, 3, 4 and 5 position of the pyrazole ring. the novel pyrazole derivatives can generally be shown by structural formula 1. in formula 1, r 1 is a branched or unbranched alkyl chain having the structure (ch 2 ) n z where n is an integer from 1 to about 10 and z is selected from h, halogen, n 3 , ncs (isothiocyanate), cn, oh, och 3 , nh 2 and ch═ch 2 . r 3 is selected from h or a branched or unbranched chain having the structure (ch 2 ) n ch 3 where n is an integer from 0 to about 3. r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are each independently selected from halogen, n 3 , ncs, och 3 , ch 3 , ch 2 ch 3 , no 2 , nh 2 , phenyl or phenyl with at least one substituent selected from halogen, n 3 , ncs, och 3 , ch 3 , ch 2 ch 3 , no 2 , and nh 2 . r 2 comprises 1 or 2 linked napthyl, where r is selected from h, halogen, n 3 , ncs, cn, oh, och 3 , nh 2 and ch═ch 2 . the novel pyrazole derivatives surprisingly show high binding affinities for either or both of the cb1 and cb2 cannabinoid receptors. some of the novel pyrazole analogs are cannabinoid receptor antagonists that prevent binding of endogenous agonists to the cannabinoid receptors and thereby block the biological actions of such endogenous agonists. other novel analogs are cannabinoid receptor agonists. therefore, the inventive analogs described herein, and physiologically acceptable salts thereof, have high potential when administered in therapeutically effective amounts for providing a physiological effect useful to treat pain, peripheral pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, nausea such as associated with cancer chemotherapy, aids wasting syndrome, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases including multiple sclerosis, parkinson's disease, huntington's chorea and alzheimer's disease, mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression; to suppress appetite; to reduce fertility; to prevent or reduce diseases associated with motor function such as tourette's syndrome; to prevent or reduce inflammation; to provide neuroprotection; to modulate the immune system; to produce vasoconstriction or vasodilation and to effect memory enhancement. thus, another aspect of the invention is the administration of a therapeutically effective amount of an inventive compound, or a physiologically acceptable salt thereof, to an individual or animal to provide a physiological effect. additionally, some of the novel pyrazole derivatives have functional moieties such as halogen, azide and isothiocyanate and are potentially useful diagnostic agents in vivo (pet, spect). other novel pyrazole derivatives are radioligands that are potentially useful experimental tools for cannabinoid receptor studies. description of some preferred embodiments as used herein a “therapeutically effective amount” of a compound, is the quantity of a compound which, when administered to an individual or animal, results in a sufficiently high level of that compound in the individual or animal to cause a discernible increase or decrease in stimulation of cannabinoid receptors. physiological effects that result from cannabinoid receptor stimulation include analgesia, decreased nausea resulting from chemotherapy, sedation and increased appetite. other physiological functions include relieving intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients and suppression of the immune system. typically, a “therapeutically effective amount” of the compound ranges from about 10 mg/day to about 1,000 mg/day. as used herein, an “individual” refers to a human. an “animal” refers to, for example, veterinary animals, such as dogs, cats, horses and the like, and farm animals, such as cows, pigs and the like. the compound of the present invention can be administered by a variety of known methods, including orally, rectally, or by parenteral routes (e.g., intramuscular, intravenous, subcutaneous, nasal or topical). the form in which the compounds are administered will be determined by the route of administration. such forms include, but are not limited to, capsular and tablet formulations (for oral and rectal administration), liquid formulations (for oral, intravenous, intramuscular, or subcutaneous administration) and slow releasing microcarriers (for rectal, intramuscular or intravenous administration). the formulations can also contain a physiologically acceptable vehicle and optional adjuvants, flavorings, colorants and preservatives. suitable physiologically to acceptable vehicles may include, for example, saline, sterile water, ringer's solution, and isotonic sodium chloride solutions. the specific dosage level of active ingredient will depend upon a number of factors, including, for example, biological activity of the particular preparation, age, body weight, sex and general health of the individual being treated. the inventive pyrazole derivatives can generally be described with reference to structural formula 1: and physiologically acceptable salts thereof. with reference to structural formula 1, r 1 is a branched or unbranched chain having the structure (ch 2 ) n z where n is an integer from 1 to about 10 and z is selected from the group consisting of h, halogen, n 3 , ncs, cn, oh, och 3 , nh 2 and ch═ch 2 . r 3 is selected from the group consisting of h and a branched or unbranched chain having the structure (ch 2 ) n ch 3 where n is an integer from 0 to about 3. r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are each selected from the group consisting of halogen, n 3 , ncs, och 3 , ch 3 , ch 2 ch 3 , no 2 , nh 2 , phenyl and phenyl with at least one substituent from the group consisting of halogen, n 3 , ncs, och 3 , ch 3 , ch 2 ch 3 , no 2 , and nh 2 . r 2 is selected from the group consisting of napthyl, where r is selected from the group consisting of h, halogen, n 3 , ncs, cn, oh, och 3 , nh 2 and ch═ch 2 . the following examples are given for purposes of illustration only in order that the present invention may be more fully understood. these examples are not intended to limit in any way the practice of the invention. the above materials were prepared as follows. the prepared cannabimimetic pyrazole derivatives can generally be described with reference to the structures of table 1 below. naturally, the novel pyrazole derivatives are intended to include physiologically acceptable salts thereof. table 1ki (nm)derivativescb 1cb 215.982.5121.420.784314.615.447.648.46519.86.65612.24.7974.732.7681.220.61591.250.682101.341.01113.980.965125.760.507 general flash column chromatography was carried out using whatman active silica gel (230-400 mesh) and eluents were distilled before use. solvents for reactions were dried or purified as required. reactions were carried out under nitrogen atmospheres unless otherwise noted. general procedure for the preparation of compound 1-5 and 7-8 lithium salt of ethyl 2,4-dioxo-3-methyl-4-phenylbutanoate to a magnetically stirred solution of lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide (40 ml, 1.0 m solution in hexane, 40 mmol) in diethyl ether (120 ml) was added a solution of propiophenone (5.37 g, 40 mmol) in diethyl ether (50 ml) at 78° c. the mixture was stirred at the same temperature for an additional 45 min, after which diethyl oxalate (6.4 ml, 47 mmol) was added to the mixture. the reaction mixture was allowed to warm to room temperature and stirred for 16 hours (h). the precipitate was filtered, washed with diethyl ether, and dried under vacuum to afford the lithium salt (7.78 g, 83% yield). 1-(5-chloropentyl)-4-methyl-5-phenyl-1h-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid, ethyl ester to a magnetically stirred solution of the above lithium salt (2.0 mmol) in 10 ml of ethanol was added a solution of 5-chloropentylhydrazine hydrochloride (2.2 mmol) at room temperature. the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for 20 h. the solvent was removed under reduced pressure and the residue was partitioned between ethyl acetate (20 ml) and water (10 ml). the water phase was extracted with ethyl acetate (2×, 15 ml each). the ethyl acetate solution was washed with brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered, and evaporated. the crude product was purified by flash column chromatography on silica gel with a petroleum ether/ethyl acetate mixture to afford the ester as a colorless oil. compounds 1-5 and 7-8. to a magnetically stirred solution of the above ethyl ester (3.4 mmol) in methanol (15 ml) was added a solution of potassium hydroxide (8.6 mmol) in methanol (12 ml). the mixture was heated under reflux for 3 hours. the cooling reaction mixture was then poured into 10 ml of water and acidified with 10% hydrochloric acid. the precipitate was filtered, washed with water, and dried under vacuum to yield the corresponding acid (1.4 g, 100% yield) as a white solid. a solution of the crude acid (3.4 mmol) and thionyl chloride (10.3 mmol) in toluene (15 ml) was refluxed for 3 hours. the solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure. the residue was then redissolved in 40 ml of toluene and evaporated to yield the crude carboxylic chloride as an oil. a solution of the carboxylic chloride (31.5 mmol) in dichloromethane (160 ml) was added dropwise to a solution of an appropriate amine (47.2 mmol) and triethylamine (6.5 ml, 46.7 mmol) in dichloromethane (90 ml) at 0° c. after stirring at room temperature for 3 h, brine was added to the reaction mixture, which was extracted with dichloromethane (3×, 200 ml each). the combined extracts were washed with brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered, and evaporated. flash column chromatography on silica gel with a petroleum ether/acetone (4:1) mixture gave carboxamide 1-5 and 7-8. 5-chloropentylhydrazine hydrochloride a hexane solution of 5-chloropentylaldehyde (10.0 mmol) and tert-butyl carbazate (1.32 g, 10.0 mmol) was refluxed for 20 min. after cooling to the room temperature, the crystallized tert-butyl carbazate derivative was collected by filtration and dried in vacuum. a 1.0 m solution of borane tetrahydrofuran complex in tetrahydrofuran (10.0 ml, 10.0 mmol) was added to the solid tert-butyl carbazate derivative (10.0 mmol), the resulting mixture was allowed to stir at room temperature for 10 min, and then 6 n hydrochloric acid (5.0 ml) was added dropwise. the reaction mixture was refluxed for 10 min and evaporated to dryness under reduced pressure. tetrahydrofuran was added to the residue, after which boric acid was removed by filtration. after removal of the solvent under reduced pressure, the residue was crystallized from a solution of tetrahydrofuran and diethyl ether to give 5-chloropentylhydrazine as its hydrochloride salt (71% yield). preparation of compound 9 to a magnetically stirred solution of compound 2 (0.40 g, 0.91 mmol) in acetonitrile (15 ml) was added a 1.0 m solution of tetrabutylammonium fluoride (4.5 ml, 4.5 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran and the mixture was refluxed overnight. the reaction mixture was then quenched by saturated aqueous ammonium chloride and extracted with diethyl ether (3×, 50 ml each). the combined extracts were washed with brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered and evaporated. purification by flash column chromatography on silica gel with a petroleum ether/acetone (9:1) mixture gave compound 9 as a white solid (0.296 g, 77% yield). preparation of compound 10 to a magnetically stirred solution of compound 2 (1.12 g, 2.6 mmol) in acetone (25 ml) was added sodium iodide (1.72 g, 11.5 mmol). the reaction mixture was refluxed for 25 hours and evaporated to dryness under reduced pressure. the residue was partitioned between diethyl ether (100 ml) and water (40 ml), and the water phase was extracted with diethyl ether (3×, 30 ml each). the combined extracts were washed with brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered, and evaporated. purification by flash column chromatography on silica gel with a methylene chloride/acetone (30:1) mixture gave compound 10 as a white solid (1.27 g, 94% yield). preparation of compound 11 to a magnetically stirred solution of compound 10 (0.675 g, 1.3 mmol) in anhydrous n,n-dimethylformamide (17 ml) was added sodium azide (0.83 g, 12.7 mmol). the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for 40 hours. brine was then added and the reaction mixture was extracted with diethyl ether (3×, 20 ml each). the combined extracts were washed with brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered and evaporated. the residue was purified by flash column chromatography on silica gel with a methylene dichloride/acetone (50:1) mixture to afford compound 11 as a white solid (0.203 g. 35.8 % yield). preparation of compound 12 to a magnetically stirred solution of compound 11 (0.359 g, 0.8 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran (5 ml) was added triphenylphosphine (0.32 g, 1.22 mmol), followed by carbon disulfide (1.44 ml, 24 mmol). the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 70 hours and then evaporated under reduced pressure. the residue was purified by flash column chromatography on silica gel with methylene dichloride to afford compound 12 (0.288 g, 77.6% yield). preparation of compound 6 sodium salt of methyl benzoylpyruvate 1.3 g of sodium was dissolved in 25 ml of anhydrous methanol. a mixture of 5.8 ml of acetophenone and 6.7 ml of diethyl oxalate in 60 ml of methanol was then added, the temperature being kept below 10° c. the reaction mixture was then stirred at room temperature for 3 hours, after which 100 ml of dry ether was added. stirring was continued for 20 min, the mixture was filtered and precipitate was washed with ether and dried under vacuum to give 6.32 g of the expected sodium salt. 1-(5-chloropentyl)-5-1h-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid, methyl ester a suspension of 0.605 g of the sodium salt obtained above and 0.502 g of 5-chloropentylhydrazine hydrochloride in 6.5 ml of acetic acid was refluxed for 4 hours. after cooling, the mixture was poured on to 6.5 g of ice and the crystals obtained were filtered off, washed with water and dried under vacuum to give 0.42 g of ester. compound 6 compound 6 was prepared from the methyl ester according to the procedure described for the compound 1-5 and 7-8. the materials were tested for cb2 receptor binding affinity and for cb1 receptor affinity (to determine selectivity for the cb2 receptor). as used herein, “binding affinity” is represented by the ic 50 value which is the concentration of an analog required to occupy 50% of the total number (bmax) of the receptors. the lower the ic 50 value, the higher the binding affinity. as used herein an analog is said to have “binding selectivity” if it has higher binding affinity for one receptor compared to the other receptor; e.g. a cannabinoid analog which has an ic 50 of 0.1 nm for cb1 and 10 nm for cb2, is 100 times more selective for the cb1 receptor. the binding affinities (k i ) are expressed in nanomoles (nm) and are listed in table 1. for the cb1 receptor binding studies, membranes were prepared from rat forebrain membranes according to the procedure of p. r. dodd et al, a rapid method for preparing synaptosomes: comparison with alternative procedures, brain res., 107-118 (1981). the binding of the novel analogues to the cb1 cannabinoid receptor was assessed as described in w. a. devane et al, determination and characterization of a cannabinoid receptor in a rat brain, mol. pharmacol., 34, 605-613 (1988) and a. charalambous et al, 5′-azido δ 8 thc: a novel photoaffinity label for the cannabinoid receptor, j. med. chem., 35, 3076-3079 (1992) with the following changes. the above articles are incorporated by reference herein. membranes, previously frozen at −80° c., were thawed on ice. to the stirred suspension was added three volumes of tme (25 mm tris-hcl buffer, 5 mm mgcl 2 and 1 mm edta) at ph 7.4. the suspension was incubated at 4° c. for 30 min. at the end of the incubation, the membranes were pelleted and washed three times with tme. the treated membranes were subsequently used in the binding assay described below. approximately 30 μg of membranes were incubated in silanized 96-well microtiter plate with tme containing 0.1% essentially fatty acid-free bovine serum albumin (bsa), 0.8 nm [ 3 h] cp-55,940, and various concentrations of test materials at 30° c. for 1 hour. the samples were filtered using packard filtermate 196 and whatman gf/c filterplates and washed with wash buffer (tme containing 0.5% bsa). radioactivity was detected using microscint 20 scintillation cocktail added directly to the dried filterplates, and the filterplates were counted using a packard instruments top-count. nonspecific binding was assessed using 100 nm cp-55,940. data collected from three independent experiments performed with duplicate determinations was normalized between 100% and 0% specific binding for [ 3 h] cp-55,940, determined using buffer and 100 nm cp-55,940. the normalized data was analyzed using a 4-parameter nonlinear logistic equation to yield ic 50 values. data from at least two independent experiments performed in duplicate was used to calculate ic 50 values which were converted to k i values using the assumptions of cheng et al, relationship between the inhibition constant ( k i ) and the concentration of inhibitor which causes 50% inhibition ( ic 50 ) of an enzymatic reaction , biochem. pharmacol., 22, 3099-3102, (1973), which is incorporated by reference herein. for the cb2 receptor binding studies, membranes were prepared from frozen mouse spleen essentially according to the procedure of p.r. dodd et al, a rapid method for preparing synaptosomes: comparison with alternative procedures, brain res., 226, 107-118 (1981) which is incorporated by reference herein. silanized centrifuge tubes were used throughout to minimize receptor loss due to adsorption. the cb2 binding assay was conducted in the same manner as for the cb1 binding assay. the binding affinities (k i ) were also expressed in nanomoles (nm). compound sr141716a, a known pyrazole derivative, has a cannabinoid receptor affinity (k i ) of 11.5 nm for the cb1 receptor and 1640 nm for the cb2 receptor. as can be seen from the results in table 1, all of the inventive compounds have receptor affinities much higher than compound sr141716a for at least one of the cb1 or cb2 receptors. in fact, most of the inventive pyrazole derivatives have receptor affinities much higher (lower numerically) than compound sr141716a for both of the cb1 and cb2 receptors. the physiological and therapeutic advantages of the inventive materials can be seen from the above disclosure and also with additional reference to the following references, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. arnone m., maruani j., chaperon p, et al, selective inhibition of sucrose and ethanol intake by sr 141716, an antagonist of central cannabinoid ( cb 1) receptors , psychopharmacal, (1997) 132, 104-106. colombo g. agabio r, diaz g. et al: appetite suppression and weight 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(1999) 156-195. muller-vahl k b, kolbe h, schneider u, emrich, h m cannabis in movement disorders . porsch. kompicmentarmed (1999) 6 (suppl. 3) 23-27. consroe p, musty r, rein j, tillery w, pertwee r. the perceived effects of smoked cannabis on patents with multiple sclerosis , eur. neurol. (1997) 38-44-48. pinnegan-ling d, musty r. marinol and phantom limb pain: a case study . proc inv. cannabinoid rea. sec. (1994):53. brenneisen r, pgli a, elsohly m a, henn v. spies y: the effect of orally and rectally administered δ 9 - tetrahydrocannabinol on spasticity, a pilot study with 2 patients . int. j. clin pharmacol ther. (1996) 34:446-452. martyn c n. illis l s, thom j. nabilone in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. lancet (1995) 345:579. maurer m, henn v, dittrich a, hofmann a. delta -9- tetrahydrocannabinol shows antispastic and analgesic effects in a single case double - blind trial . eur. arch. psychiat. clin. neurosci. (1990), z40:1-4. herzberg u, eliav e, bennett g j, kopin i j: the analgesic effects of r (+) win 55,212-2 mesylate, a high affinity cannabinoid agonist in a rare model of neuropathic pain . neurosci. letts. (1997) 221:157-160. richardson j d, kilo s. hargreaves k m, cannabinoids reduce dryperalgesia and inflammation via interaction with peripheral cb 1 receptors . pain (1998) 75:111-119. ricardson j d, aanonsen i, hargreaves k m: antihyperalgesic effects of a spinal cannabinoids , eur. j. pharmacol. (1998) 346:145-153. calignano a, la rana g. diuffrida a, piomelli d: control of pain initiation by endogenous cannabinoids . nature (1998) 394:277-291. wagner j a, varga k, jarai z, kunos g: mesenteric vasodilation mediated by endothelia anandamide receptors . hypertension (1999) 33:429-434. schuel, h., burkman, l. j., picone, r. p., bo, t., makriyannis, a., cannabinoid receptors in human sperm . mol. biol. cell., (1997) (8), 325a. the inventive analogs described herein, and physiologically acceptable salts thereof, have high potential when administered in therapeutically effective amounts for providing a physiological effect useful to treat pain, peripheral pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, nausea such as associated with cancer chemotherapy, aids wasting syndrome, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases including multiple sclerosis, parkinson's disease, huntington's chorea and alzheimer's disease, mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression; to suppress appetite; to reduce fertility; to prevent or reduce diseases associated with motor function such as tourette's syndrome; to prevent or reduce inflammation; to provide neuroprotection; to modulate the immune system; to produce vasoconstriction or vasodilation and to effect memory enhancement. thus, another aspect of the invention is the administration of a therapeutically effective amount of an inventive compound, or a physiologically acceptable salt thereof, to an individual or animal to provide a physiological effect. those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain with no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention disclosed herein. such equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the scope of the invention.
136-604-556-656-056	US	[ "US" ]	A24F40/20,A24F40/46	1989-12-01T00:00:00	1989	[ "A24" ]	electrically-powered heating element	a heating element for use within a smoking device which is intended to be held in the lips of a consumer, and which, without burning, heats a flavor-generating medium within the device to produce an aerosol, vapor, or flavor, which the consumer may inhale. more particularly, an electrically-powered heating element having a plurality of discrete resistive heating segments, only one of which is active at any given time. in a preferred embodiment, the heating element is contained within the device so that the individual heating segments of the element are adjacent to a flavor-generating medium. as each segment of the heating element is provided with power, the flavor-generating medium adjacent to that segment is heated, but is not burned. this heating causes the flavor-generating medium to produce a flavor, aerosol, or vapor, which the consumer of the device may inhale.	1. an electrically-powered heating element, enclosed within a device adapted to be supported by the lips of an individual, comprising: a base member; an electrically-resistive heating member switchably connectable to an electrical power source, said heating member having a resistivity which, when said heating member is connected to said power source, causes the heating member to attain a temperature sufficient to heat, without burning, a flavor-generating medium which is in thermal contact with said heating member; and an insulating member secured between the base member and the heating member, said insulating member having an electrical resistance sufficiently high to electrically isolate the heating member from the base member, said insulating member also having a thermal conductivity sufficiently low to thermally isolate the heating member from the base member. 2. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 1 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member comprises a plurality of electrically-discrete resistive segments, each of which is switchably and independently connectable to an electrical power source. 3. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 1 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member has a resistance of between 0.2 and 2.0 ohms. 4. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 3 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member has a resistance of between about 0.5 and 1.5 ohms. 5. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 4 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member has a resistance of between about 0.8 and 1.2 ohms. 6. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 1 wherein the heating element is of a size which could be contained within a smoking device having an outside diameter of between 6 and 18 millimeters. 7. an electrically-powered heating element, enclosed within a smoking device adapted to be supported by the lips of an individual, comprising: a base member; a pair of electrically-resistive heating members switchably connectable to an electrical power source, each of said heating members having a resistivity which, when each member is connected to said power source, causes each of the heating members to attain a temperature sufficient to heat a flavor-generating medium which is in thermal contact with said heating members without burning; and a pair of insulating members, each disposed along a respective side of the base member and secured to a respective one of the resistive heating members, said insulating members having an electrical resistance sufficiently high to electrically isolate the heating members from the base member, said insulating member also having a thermal conductivity sufficiently low to thermally isolate the heating member from the base member. 8. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 7 wherein each electrically-resistive heating member comprises a plurality of electrically-discrete resistive segments, each of which is switchably connectable to an electrical power source. 9. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 7 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member has a resistance of between 0.2 and 20.0 ohms. 10. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 9 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member has a resistance of between about 0.5 and 1.5 ohms. 11. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 10 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member has a resistance of between about 0.8 and 1.2 ohms. 12. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 7 wherein the heating element is of a size which could be contained within a smoking device having an outside diameter of between 6 and 18 millimeters. 13. the electrically-powered heating element of claims 1 or 7 wherein the base member comprises an element selected from the group consisting of metallic tape, metallic or nonmetallic oxide, carbides, nitrides, silicides, carbonnitrides, inter-metallic compounds, and cermet. 14. an electrically-powered heating element, enclosed within a smoking device adapted to be supported by the lips of an individual, comprising: an electrically-resistive heating member switchably connectable to an electrical power source, said heating member having a resistivity which, when said heating member is connected to said power source, causes the heating member to attain a temperature sufficient to heat a flavor-generating medium which is in thermal contact with said heating member; and a base member secured to said heating member, said base member comprising an electrically-insulating material capable of maintaining its structural integrity and chemical inertness throughout the range of operating temperatures of the heating member. 15. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 14 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member comprises a plurality of electrically-discrete resistive segments, each of which is switchably and independently connectable to an electrical power source. 16. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 14 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member has a resistance of between 0.2 and 20.0 ohms. 17. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 16 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member has a resistance of between about 0.5 and 1.5 ohms. 18. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 17 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member has a resistance of between about 0.8 and 1.2 ohms. 19. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 14 wherein the heating element is of a size which could be contained within a smoking device having an outside diameter of between 6 and 18 millimeters. 20. an electrically-powered heating element, enclosed within a smoking device adapted to be supported by the lips of an individual, comprising; a pair of electrically-resistive heating members switchably connectable to an electrical power source, each of said heating members having a resistivity which, when each member is connected to said power source, causes each of the heating members to attain a temperature sufficient to heat a flavor-generating medium in thermal contact with said heating members; and a base member, secured and interposed between each of said heating members, comprising an electrically-insulating material capable of maintaining its structural integrity and chemical inertness throughout the range operating temperatures of the heating members. 21. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 20 wherein each electrically-resistive heating member comprises a plurality of electrically-discrete resistive segments, each of which is switchably connectable to a power source. 22. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 20 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member has a resistance of between 0.2 and 20.0 ohms. 23. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 22 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member has a resistance of between about 0.5 and 1.5 ohms. 24. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 23 wherein the electrically-resistive heating member has a resistance of between about 0.8 and 1.2 ohms. 25. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 20 wherein the heating element is of a size which could be contained within a smoking device having an outside diameter of between 6 and 18 millimeters. 26. the electrically-powered heating element of claims 1, 7, 14, or 20 wherein the base member comprises a mat of non-woven fibers. 27. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 1, 7, 14, or 20 wherein the base member comprises a mat of woven fibers. 28. the electrically-powered heating element of claim 1, 7, 14, or 20 wherein the heating element is encased in a protective coating, said protective coating providing a physical and chemical barrier between the heating element and its surroundings, and being substantially chemically non-reactive with the other components of the heating element and with the environment in which the heating element is to be used. 29. the electrically-powered heating element of claims 1 or 7 wherein the base member comprises a metallic tape, and wherein the heating element is encased in a protective coating, said protective coating providing a physical and chemical barrier between the heating element and its surroundings, and also being substantially chemically non-reactive with the other components of the heating element and with the environment in which the heating element is to be used.	background of the invention the present invention provides a heating element for use within a smoking device, which is intended to be held in the lips of a consumer, and in which burning does not take place. more particularly, this invention relates to an electrically-powered heating element having a plurality of discrete electrically resistive heating segments, only one of which is active at any given time. the element is intended to heat a flavor-generating medium, which is contained within the device, without burning. as a result of this heating, the flavor-generating medium produces a flavored aerosol or vapor which the consumer may inhale. previously known conventional smoking devices deliver flavor and aroma to the user as a result of combustion. during combustion, a mass of combustible material, primarily tobacco, is oxidized as the result of applied heat (typical combustion temperatures in a conventional cigarette are in excess of 800.degree. c. during puffing). during this heating, inefficient oxidation of the combustible material takes lace and yields various distillation and pyrolysis products. as these products are drawn through the body of the smoking device toward the mouth of the user, they cool and condense to form an aerosol or vapor which gives the consumer the flavor and aroma associated with smoking. such conventional smoking devices have various perceived drawbacks associated with them. among these is the production of sidestream smoke which may be objectionable to non-smokers in the vicinity of the consumer of the device. an alternative to conventional smoking devices are those in which the combustible material itself does not directly provide the flavorants to the aerosol or vapor inhaled by the user. in these devices, a combustible heating element, typically carbonaceous in nature, is ignited and used to heat air which is then drawn through a zone which contains some means for producing a flavored aerosol or vapor upon interaction with the heated air. while this type of smoking device produces little or no sidestream smoke, it still shares some characteristics with conventional cigarettes which are perceived as undesirable. in both the conventional and carbon element heated smoking devices described above combustion takes place during their use. this process naturally gives rise to many by-products as the material supporting the combustion breaks down and interacts with the surrounding atmosphere. additionally, the combustion process which takes place in both of the aforementioned types of smoking devices cannot be easily suspended by the user in order to allow storage of the smoking device for later consumption. obviously a conventional cigarette may be extinguished prior to its being smoked to completion, but if the user wishes to save the remaining portion of the cigarette for later use, the is faced with the problem of storing a relatively small, ash laden paper tube; convenient storage for such an item would most likely not be readily available. users of the carbon element heated combustible smoking devices do not even have the option of extinguishing the device after it has been ignited, as the heating element contained within such devices is typically inaccessible to the user. once lit, such carbon element smoking devices must be smoked to completion or discarded prior to completion while still burning. accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide for an electrically-powered heating element for use within an article, intended to be held in the lips of a consumer, which will heat a flavor-generating medium without burning. this flavor-generating medium, as a result of the heating, would produce a flavored aerosol or vapor which the consumer could then inhale. furthermore, the heating element disclosed is configured so as to allow the consumer to operate the device in a puff by puff manner, with the option of suspending the operation of the device after any given puff, prior to the depletion of the device. the device could then be conveniently stored until some later time at which the consumer wished to resume operation. summary of the invention this invention provides an electrically resistive linear heating element for use in a non-burning device. in a preferred embodiment the element consists of three component parts, namely a base region, an insulating region, and a heating region. each heating region may consist of a single resistive heating segment, or be comprised of a plurality of electrically discrete resistive heating segments. in the former case, a plurality of heating elements would be used within a single device; in the latter, only a single heating element would be required. in operation, the heating element would be contained within a device intended to be held in the lips of a consumer, and the resistive heating segments would be switchably connected to an electrical power source. each element would be positioned within the device so that when power is supplied to a given resistive heating segment the heat produced by that segment would be transferred to a portion of a flavor-generating medium, thus heating the medium. when so heated, this flavor-generating medium would provide a flavored aerosol or vapor which the user of the device could inhale. the supply of electrical power to a given heating segment would be coincident with the user puffing the device. with each puff, a different heating segment within the device would be supplied with power, until all the segments within the device had been supplied with power once; at this point the device would be depleted. this switching of power between segments could be directly controlled by the user or triggered by control circuitry. smoking devices employing heating elements made in accordance with the principles of the present invention have certain advantages over combustion-type smoking devices. for example, such non-burning smoking devices give the user the sensation and flavor of smoking without actually creating some of the smoke components associated with combustion. this may allow the consumers of non-burning devices to enjoy the use of this device in areas where conventional smoking would be prohibited; such areas could include restaurants, offices, and commercial aircraft. in addition, the elimination of burning from the process also prevents the creation of many of the by-products of burning. because the heating element of the present invention never reaches a temperature which is sufficient to induce burning, such by-products are never produced. a further advantage of this electrically-powered heating element is that it is very efficient in its utilization of electrical energy in heating the flavor-generating medium which provides the consumer with a flavored aerosol or vapor. the heating element is intended to receive electrical energy only during those periods when the device is being puffed, and only one heating segment is to be active during any given puff. this economy of energy consumption allows for a reduction in the amount of space which must be occupied by the element's power source, thus enabling a device in which the present invention is employed to be contained in a package which is comparable in size and shape to a conventional cigarette. moreover, the controllable nature of this invention allows the consumer to stop consuming the article prior to operating it to completion, and to continue consuming the article at some later time. also, as only one heating segment within the device is active at any given time, the heat produced by the device at any given time remains relatively low. this low heat level allows the consumer to store a previously active, but unfinished device for later use, without concern as to the device's elevated temperature; the device may be stored almost immediately after it was last puffed. such intermittent use and convenient storage is not practical with burning-type smoking devices. furthermore, the nature of the construction of the heating element lends itself to economical, continuous production using simple manufacturing methods. brief description of the drawings the above and other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent on consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and in which: fig. 1a is a side view of a three component embodiment of the electrically-powered heating element having a plurality of individual heating segments; fig. 1b is a perspective view of the embodiment of the electrically-powered heating element of fig. 1a; fig. 1c is a perspective view of a portion of the heating element of fig. 1a showing the connection of the individual heating segments to an electrical power source and switching means; fig. 2a is a side view of a five component embodiment of the electrically-powered heating element having a plurality of individual heating segments; fig. 2b is a perspective view of the embodiment of the electrically-powered heating element of fig. 2a; fig. 3 is a partial cutaway perspective view of a the embodiment of the electrically-powered heating element of fig. 1a, and an electrical power source and switching means positioned within a device; fig. 4 is a partial cutaway perspective view of the embodiment of the electrically-powered heating element of fig. 2a, and an electrical power source and switching means positioned within a device; fig. 5a is a side view of a three component electrically-powered heating element having a singular heating segment; fig. 5b is a perspective view of the embodiment of the electrically-powered heating element of fig. 5a; fig. 6a is a front view of an alternate embodiment of a three component electrically-powered heating element having a singular heating segment; fig. 6b is a perspective view of the embodiment of the electrically-powered heating element of fig. 6a; fig. 7a is a partial cutaway perspective view of a portion of a smoking device showing the electrically-powered heating element of fig. 6a positioned within; fig. 7b is a front view of the embodiment of the electrically-powered heating element of fig. 6a positioned within a device; fig. 8a is a side view of a two component embodiment of the electrically-powered heating element having a plurality of individual heating segments; and fig. 8b is a perspective view of the embodiment of the electrically-powered heating element of fig. 8a. detailed description of the invention a preferred embodiment of the linear heating element is shown in figs. 1a and 1b. it comprises three planar component regions; namely a base region 1, an insulating region 2, and a heating region 3. in this three component embodiment the base region 1 provides for the physical support of the insulating and heating regions. the base region in this particular embodiment includes a metallic tape, such as aluminum foil tape. the tape, while being rigid enough to physically support the insulating and heating regions, can be flexible enough to facilitate easy handling and resist fracturing during the manufacturing process. the metallic nature of the base region provides for the thermal stability of the heating element as most metals will not substantially deform or become chemically reactive at temperatures such as those encountered when the heating element is active. adjoining the base region, and physically separating it from the heating region, is the insulating region 2. this insulating region must have a sufficiently low electrical conductivity so as to isolate the electrically resistive heating region from the electrically conductive metallic base region. like the base region, the insulating region must be thermally stable at the elevated temperatures which the active heating element would produce. in addition, this region should have a sufficiently high heat capacity so as to sink and buffer undesirable heat pulses which may be inadvertently produced by the heating region. this buffering prevents the flavor-generating medium from burning, which could detrimentally affect flavor and aerosol or vapor delivery. the insulating region can be fabricated using metallic oxides, metallic nitrides metallic carbides, metallic silicides, nonmetalilc oxides, nonmetallic nitrides, nonmetallic carbides, nonmetallic silicides, metallic carbonitride, an inter-metallic compound, a cermet, or an alloy of more than one metal. this region can also be composed of a combination of the elements of the previously mentioned list, to achieve the non-conducting, thermally-insulating, and structural properties needed for operation. such materials maybe fabricated separately and then joined with the base material or applied to the base materials as a fabrication step: by a coating process, a dip, mechanical pressing, slip casting, tape casting, extrusion, chemical vapor deposition, thermal spraying, plasma spraying, or any other method of pyrolytical or chemical deposition. situated adjacent to the insulating region and opposite the base region is the heating region 3. in this particular embodiment the heating region is not continuous in nature, rather it is comprised of a plurality of electrically discrete resistive heating segments 4. each of the heating segments is situated so that it may be switchably connected to a power source in a manner which would allow current from the power source to be directed through a given segment thereby heating it. this switching of power to a particular segment could be directly controlled by the user or triggered by control circuitry. as illustrated in fig. 1c, the connection between the heating segments 4 and an electrical power source and switching means 5 (such means includes any control circuitry) could be facilitated by conventional wires 6 attached to each of the segments. the resistivity of an individual heating segment must be such that when current flows through a given segment a temperature sufficient to induce the flavor-generating medium to produce an aerosol or flavor or vapor is achieved; typically this temperature is between about 100.degree. c. and 600.degree. c., preferably between about 250.degree. -500.degree. c. and most preferably cannot be so high as to impede the heating of the flavor-generating medium, using multiple batteries. nor can it be so low that the power consumption requirement of the segment exceeds the capacity of the source. typically, heating segments having resistances between 0.2 and 20.0 ohms, and preferably between 0.5 and 1.5 ohms, and most preferably between 0.8 and 1.2 ohms, can achieve such operating temperatures when connected across a potential of between 2.4 and 9.6 volts. throughout their range of operating temperatures, the heating segments must be chemically non-reactive with the flavor-generating medium being heated, so as not to adversely affect the flavor or content of the aerosol or vapor produced by the flavor-generating medium. the heating segments may be composed of carbon, graphite, carbon/graphite composites, metallic and non-metallic carbides, nitrides, silicides, inter-metallic compounds, cermets, alloys of metals, or rare earth and refractory metal foils, and may be deposited using any of the methods which were previously specified as being suitable for the deposition of the insulating region. alternatively, they may be fabricated separately and laminated or otherwise assembled. different materials can be mixed to achieve the desired properties of resistivity, mass, thermal conductivity and surface properties. the preferred materials are graphite-carbon composites. an additional preferred embodiment is shown in figs. 2a and 2b. a base region 1 is adjoined on two opposing sides by insulating regions 2, and a heating region 3 is situated adjacent to each of these insulating regions and opposite the base region. as in the previously described embodiment, each of the heating regions is comprised of a plurality of electrically-discrete resistive heating segments 4. each of these component regions is similar in composition, fabrication, and physical characteristics to the like named regions which were disclosed in the description of the first embodiment. the operation of this five component embodiment of the heating element is primarily the same as that of the three component embodiment. the heating segments would be connected to a power source and switching means by conventional wires, as in the previously described three-component embodiment, with the exception that in the instant embodiment the heating segments would be switchably connected to a power source and switching means in a manner where two segments would be active at a given time. during a puff, power would be supplied to a pair of heating segments, one in each of the two heating regions. such a two-sided heating element would increase to an active heating segment during a puff. all of the embodiments of the heating element which have been heretofore described may be situated within a cylindrical device having an outside diameter of between 6 and 18 millimeters. as shown in fig. 3, the heating element 7 is mounted axially within the body 8 of a device in such a manner as to allow the consumer of the device to draw air from the far end 9 of the device, causing the air to pass over the element, and exit at the mouthpiece end 10 of the device. the power source and switching means 5 for the element is shown to be attached to the interior wall of the device in a manner which would not interfere with the flow of air through the device (for the sake of visual clarity, the wiring connecting the power source and switching means and the individual heating segments is not shown). fig. 4 shows a five component segmented heating element 7 similarly situated within a smoking device 8. again the consumer may draw air from the far end 9 of the device, past the power source and switching means 5, over the element 7, and out of the mouthpiece end 10 of the device (as in fig. 3, the wiring connecting the power source and switching means and the individual heating segments is not shown). in an alternative embodiment, air can also enter through the outside wall of the device, pass around the heater array, and then exit the mouth end 10. although all regions have been shown in the figures as being planar and rectangular, they may also be curled or spiral, to achieve the required surface area for heating within the size of the device. yet another preferred embodiment of the linear heating element is shown in figs. 5a and 5b. it includes three planar component regions; namely a base region 1, an insulating region 2, and a heating region 3. in this three-component embodiment, the base region 1, the insulating region 2, and the heating region 3 are similar in composition and function to the like-named regions in the previously described embodiments. however, the heating region is comprised of a singular, continuous, electrically resistive area, as opposed to a plurality of discrete resistive heating segments. figs. 6a and 6b show an alternative preferred embodiment of the heating element, which is identical in all respects to the above described embodiment, except that the component regions are arched rather than planar in nature. the embodiments of the heating element which have a single resistive heating segment may be employed within a device which is similar in size and shape to a conventional cigarette. as pictured in fig. 7a, a plurality of these heating elements 7 are situated radially within the body of device 8 in such a manner as to allow the user of the device to draw air from the far end of the device, or through the exterior wall, into channels 11, which allow the air to pass over the elements before exiting at the mouthpiece end of the device. the power source and switching means for the element could be housed anywhere within the central core 12 of the device, without regard to obstructing the air flow through the device (such flow is facilitated by the channels 11 within the body of the device 8). fig. 7b is cross-sectional view of such a smoking device showing the base region 1, insulating region 2 and heating region 3 of the heating elements 7, which are radially arranged within the body of the device 8. in all of the previously described embodiments, the base region has been a metallic tape; however, in any of the above embodiments, this region could alternately be comprised of a foam mat, or a woven or non-woven fiber mat. materials such as graphite, carbon, a metallic carbonitride, silicon dioxide, silicon carbide, or alumina could be used to fabricate the base region mat. the mat, while being rigid enough to physically support the heating and insulating regions, can be flexible enough to facilitate easy handling and resist fracturing during the manufacturing process. in addition, the base region mat must be thermally stable at high temperatures to ensure that it will not react with the neighboring heating region or decompose at elevated temperatures produced when the heating element is active. when employed as a base region, a mat provides certain advantages over a solid tape. unlike a tape, the mat is comprised of either a large number of individual fibers (with voids existing between those fibers), or a foam having many minute voids located throughout its structure. by impregnating the mat with a flavor-generating medium, thus filling the voids in that mat with the flavor-generating medium, a relatively large amount of the flavor-generating medium may be brought within close proximity of the resistive heating segments of the heating element. such an arrangement would promote the efficient heating of the flavor-generating medium. the fibers or foam structure of the base region would provide an effective means of channeling the heat produced by the resistive heating segments to the flavor-generating medium, while at the same time sinking some of the heat so as to buffer the flavor-generating medium from any undesirable heat pulses, which might otherwise result in the burning of the flavor-generating medium. in any of the above described embodiments, regardless of whether the base region was comprised of a tape or a mat, the insulating region could be eliminated if the base region were to be fabricated from a material which would permit the heating segments to be placed in direct contact with it. that is to say, the base material would have to remain chemically and physically stable when directly exposed to the elevated temperatures of the active heating segments. in addition, such a base material would have to have a low enough electrical conductivity so as to insure that the individual heating segments remained electrically isolated from each other. the base region material would also have to exhibit a sufficiently high heat capacity so as to sink and buffer undesirable heat pulses which may be inadvertently produced by the heating region. however, it must not be so high as to impede the heating of the flavor-generating medium to a temperature sufficient to allow the production of an aerosol or vapor. this buffering would protect the flavor-generating medium from burning, which could detrimentally affect flavor and aerosol or vapor delivery. alumina and other ceramic materials could be used to fabricate such a base region. metallic and nonmetallic carbides, nitrides, silicides, oxides, metallic carbonitrides, inter-metallic compounds, and cermets (ceramic/metallic composites) can also be used to produce the mat material and to tailor the specific properties or resistivities, heat capacity, mass, surface area and texture for optimum performance. an example of such an embodiment is illustrated in figs. 8a and 8b. the heating region 3, composed of a plurality of discrete resistive heating segments 4, is adjacent to the base region 1. furthermore, in any of the above described embodiments, an additional protective region could be deposited which would envelop the heating region. such a region would only be needed when the material which formed the heating region provided to be chemically reactive with the flavor-generating medium to be heated. this protective region would physically isolate the heating region from the flavor-generating medium, and would prevent any undesirable effects upon the flavor or content of the aerosol or vapor produced by the flavor-generating medium during heating. naturally, the protective region must itself be formed of a material which is stable at elevated temperatures and chemically non-reactive with the flavor-generating medium. the protective region must also have a sufficiently low electrical conductivity so as not to compromise the electrical isolation of the discrete resistive heating segments. finally, the thermal conductivity of such a protective region must be high enough to allow a sufficient quantity of heat to be transferred from each heating region to the flavor-generating medium to facilitate the production of an aerosol or vapor by the flavor-generating medium. the protective region could be fabricated from materials such as graphite, silicate glass, high-temperature vitreous enamel, metallic and nonmetallic oxides, carbides, nitrides, silicides, or metallic carbonitride, or cermet. such materials may be applied to the heating element by a coating process, a dip, mechanical pressing, slip casting, tape casting, chemical vapor deposition, extrusion, thermal spraying, plasma spraying, or any other method of low temperature, pyrolytical, or chemical deposition. it will be understood that the particular embodiments described above are only illustrative of the principles of the present invention, and that various modifications could be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention, which is limited only by the claims that follow.
138-095-058-805-274	US	[ "US" ]	H04L29/06,H04L9/08	2009-11-16T00:00:00	2009	[ "H04" ]	method, system, and device of provisioning cryptographic data to electronic devices	system, device, and method of provisioning cryptographic assets to electronic devices. a delegation message is generated at a first provisioning server. the delegation message indicates provisioning rights that are delegated by the first provisioning server to a second provisioning server with regard to subsequent provisioning of cryptographic assets to an electronic device. the delegation message includes an association key unknown to the first provisioning server, encrypted using a public key of the electronic device. the delegation message further includes a public key of the second provisioning server. the electronic device locally generates the association key, which is unknown to the first provisioning server. the delegation message is delivered to the electronic device. based on the delegation message, cryptographic assets are provisioned by the second provisioning server to the electronic device, using the association key.	1. a method of provisioning digital assets, the method comprising: (a) generating a delegation message at a first provisioning apparatus, wherein the delegation message indicates provisioning rights that are delegated by the first provisioning apparatus to a second provisioning apparatus with regard to subsequent provisioning of digital assets to an electronic device, wherein generating the delegation message comprises at least one of: (a) inserting into the delegation message an encrypted association key that was encrypted by the second provisioning apparatus using a public key of said electronic device, wherein said association key is unknown to the first provisioning apparatus, wherein said public key of said electronic device is usable to encrypt data for subsequent decrypting by said electronic device using said private encryption key of said electronic device; (b) inserting into the delegation message a public key of the second provisioning apparatus; enabling the electronic device to locally generate said association key unknown to the first provisioning apparatus; wherein the association key is retrievable by the second provisioning apparatus based on the public key of the second provisioning apparatus; (b) delivering the delegation message from the first provisioning apparatus to the electronic device; (c) at the second provisioning apparatus, and based on said delegation message, provisioning one or more digital assets to the electronic device, using said association key; wherein generating the delegation message comprises: inserting into the delegation message the public key of the second provisioning apparatus, to enable execution of an identification protocol for subsequent personalized provisioning of a digital asset to said electronic device. 2. the method of claim 1 , wherein the first provisioning apparatus, by listening to all communications among the first provisioning apparatus, the second provisioning apparatus, the electronic device, and an authorization apparatus, cannot decipher the contents of one or more digital assets that are provisioned by the second provisioning apparatus to the electronic device, even though said first provisioning apparatus delegated to said second provisioning apparatus one or more provisioning rights to subsequently provision one or more of said digital assets. 3. the method of claim 1 , wherein the first provisioning apparatus, which introduced the second provisioning apparatus to the electronic device for purposes of subsequent provisioning of digital assets, cannot decipher data exchanged between the second provisioning apparatus and the electronic device, even though the second provisioning apparatus and the electronic device did not have any shared secrets and did not have any cryptographic key data usable for secure communication between the second provisioning apparatus and the electronic device prior to said introduction by said first provisioning apparatus. 4. the method of claim 1 , comprising: delegating from the first provisioning apparatus to the second provisioning apparatus, a right to securely send a cryptographic asset from the second provisioning apparatus to the electronic device, wherein the first provisioning cannot decipher any cryptographic asset that is sent from the second provisioning apparatus to the electronic device. 5. the method of claim 1 , wherein generating the delegation message comprises: inserting into the delegation message an association key to be used with the second provisioning apparatus, to enable subsequent execution of provisioning of a digital asset to one or more electronic devices using said association key. 6. the method of claim 1 , wherein delivering the delegation message to the electronic device is performed via a one-pass one-way communication from the first provisioning apparatus to said electronic device. 7. the method of claim 1 , comprising, prior to performing step (a): securely delivering from the second provisioning apparatus to the first provisioning apparatus, via a secure communication channel, (a) a public encryption key of the second provisioning apparatus, and (b) a class-wide association key encrypted with a key that allows the association key to be decrypted by said electronic device. 8. the method of claim 1 , comprising: provisioning from the first provisioning apparatus to the electronic device, via a one-pass one-way provisioning protocol, at least: (i) the public encryption key of the second provisioning apparatus, (ii) the server certificate of the second provisioning apparatus, digitally signed by an authorization apparatus; (iii) an indication of which digital assets the second provisioning apparatus is authorized to subsequently provision to the electronic device. 9. the method of claim 1 , wherein provisioning the cryptographic asset to the electronic device is performed via a one-pass one-way communication from the second provisioning apparatus to said electronic device. 10. a method of provisioning digital assets, the method comprising: (a) generating a delegation message at a first provisioning apparatus, wherein the delegation message indicates provisioning rights that are delegated by the first provisioning apparatus to a second provisioning apparatus with regard to subsequent provisioning of digital assets to an electronic device, wherein generating the delegation message comprises at least one of: (a) inserting into the delegation message an encrypted association key that was encrypted by the second provisioning apparatus using a public key of said electronic device, wherein said association key is unknown to the first provisioning apparatus, wherein said public key of said electronic device is usable to encrypt data for subsequent decrypting by said electronic device using said private encryption key of said electronic device; (b) inserting into the delegation message a public key of the second provisioning apparatus; enabling the electronic device to locally generate said association key unknown to the first provisioning apparatus; wherein the association key is retrievable by the second provisioning apparatus based on the public key of the second provisioning apparatus; (b) delivering the delegation message from the first provisioning apparatus to the electronic device; (c) at the second provisioning apparatus, and based on said delegation message, provisioning one or more digital assets to the electronic device, using said association key; wherein generating the delegation message comprises: inserting into the delegation message one or more flags indicating to the electronic device whether the second provisioning apparatus is authorized to provision: (x) only personalized digital assets, or (y) only class-wide digital assets for a class of multiple electronic devices, or (z) both personalized and class-wide digital assets. 11. a method of provisioning digital assets, the method comprising: (a) generating a delegation message at a first provisioning apparatus, wherein the delegation message indicates provisioning rights that are delegated by the first provisioning apparatus to a second provisioning apparatus with regard to subsequent provisioning of digital assets to an electronic device, wherein generating the delegation message comprises at least one of: (a) inserting into the delegation message an encrypted association key that was encrypted by the second provisioning apparatus using a public key of said electronic device, wherein said association key is unknown to the first provisioning apparatus, wherein said public key of said electronic device is usable to encrypt data for subsequent decrypting by said electronic device using said private encryption key of said electronic device; (b) inserting into the delegation message a public key of the second provisioning apparatus; enabling the electronic device to locally generate said association key unknown to the first provisioning apparatus; wherein the association key is retrievable by the second provisioning apparatus based on the public key of the second provisioning apparatus; (b) delivering the delegation message from the first provisioning apparatus to the electronic device; (c) at the second provisioning apparatus, and based on said delegation message, provisioning one or more digital assets to the electronic device, using said association key; wherein the method comprises: prior to provisioning a particular digital asset from the second provisioning apparatus to the electronic device, performing: acquiring by the second provisioning apparatus an authorization ticket, from an authorization apparatus, indicating that the second provisioning apparatus is authorized to provision the particular digital asset to said electronic device. 12. the method of claim 11 , wherein said acquiring of the authorization ticket is triggered by a flag, indicating that authorization is required for each provisioning event performed by the second provisioning apparatus, wherein the flag is located in a server certificate issued by said authorization apparatus to the second provisioning apparatus. 13. the method of claim 11 , wherein the acquiring comprises: at the second provisioning apparatus, contacting the authorization apparatus to present to the authorization apparatus (a) a server certificate of the second provisioning apparatus, and (b) a hash of the particular digital asset intended to be provisioned by the second provisioning apparatus to the electronic device. 14. the method of claim 13 , wherein the acquiring further comprises: receiving at the second provisioning apparatus, from said authorization apparatus, said authorization ticket which comprises a digital signature by the authorization apparatus on the hash of the particular digital asset intended to be provisioned by the second provisioning apparatus to the electronic device; wherein said digital signature enables said electronic device to verify by the electronic device prior to storing said particular digital asset.	cross-reference to related applications this application is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 14/859,364, filed on sep. 21, 2015, now u.s. pat. no. 9,705,673, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety; which is a continuation of u.s. patent application ser. no. 14/187,275, filed on feb. 23, 2014, now u.s. pat. no. 9,231,758, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety; which is a continuation-in-part of u.s. patent application ser. no. 12/947,381, filed on nov. 16, 2010; now u.s. pat. no. 8,687,813, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety; and which claimed priority and benefit from u.s. provisional patent application no. 61/272,890, filed on nov. 16, 2009; which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. field the present invention relates to the field of security solutions for electronic devices. background key provisioning is a problem common to many cryptographic modules. whenever a cryptographic device is designed to perform operations using internally-stored key material, this key material needs to be available to the cryptographic device. for most key material, provisioning may be performed by means defined at the application level. most applications may support methods to securely communicate keys to the participants of their security protocols. provisioning methods specified by applications may usually rely on pre-existing key material, which may be used to secure a subsequent provisioning process. other applications may perform provisioning without pre-existing key material, for example, if their threat models allow that. summary the present invention may comprise, for example, systems, devices, and methods of provisioning cryptographic materials, or any other data or data items, to one or more electronic devices. the provisioned cryptographic materials may comprise, for example, security key materials, encryption keys, decryption keys, public keys, private keys, passwords, pass-phrases, personal identification number (pin), or other data intended to be securely provisioned. for example, a method of cryptographic material provisioning (cmp) may comprise: (a) generating a delegation message at a first provisioning server, wherein the delegation message indicates provisioning rights that are delegated by the first provisioning server to a second provisioning server with regard to subsequent provisioning of cryptographic assets to an electronic device, wherein generating the delegation message comprises at least one of: (a) inserting into the delegation message an association key unknown to the first provisioning server, encrypted using a public key of said electronic device, wherein said public key of said electronic device is usable to encrypt data for subsequent decrypting by said electronic device using said private encryption key of said electronic device; (b) inserting into the delegation message a public key of the second provisioning server; enabling the electronic device to locally generate said association key unknown to the first provisioning server; wherein the association key is retrievable by the second provisioning server based on the public key of the second provisioning server; (b) delivering the delegation message from the first provisioning server to the electronic device; (c) at the second provisioning server, and based on said delegation message, provisioning one or more cryptographic assets to the electronic device, using said association key. in some embodiments, the first provisioning server, by listening to all communications among the first provisioning server, the second provisioning server, the electronic device, and an authorization server, cannot decipher the contents of one or more cryptographic assets that are provisioned by the second provisioning server to the electronic device, even though said first provisioning server delegated to said second provisioning server one or more provisioning rights to subsequently provision one or more of said cryptographic assets. in some embodiments, the first provisioning server, which introduced the second provisioning server to the electronic device for purposes of subsequent provisioning of cryptographic assets, cannot decipher data exchanged between the second provisioning server and the electronic device, even though the second provisioning server and the electronic device did not have any shared secrets and did not have any cryptographic key data usable for secure communication between the second provisioning server and the electronic device prior to said introduction by said first provisioning server. in some embodiments, the method may comprise: delegating from the first provisioning sever to the second provisioning server, a right to securely send a cryptographic asset from the second provisioning server to the electronic device, wherein the first provisioning server cannot decipher any cryptographic asset that is sent from the second provisioning server to the electronic device. in some embodiments, generating the delegation message comprises: inserting into the delegation message a public key of the second provisioning server, to enable execution of an identification protocol for subsequent personalized provisioning of a cryptographic asset to said electronic device. in some embodiments, generating the delegation message comprises: inserting into the delegation message an association key to be used with the second provisioning server, to enable subsequent execution of provisioning of a cryptographic asset to one or more electronic devices using said association key. in some embodiments, delivering the delegation message to the electronic device is performed via a one-pass one-way communication from the first provisioning server to said electronic device. in some embodiments, the method may comprise, prior to performing step (a): securely delivering from the second provisioning server to the first provisioning server, via a secure communication channel, (a) a public encryption key of the second provisioning server, and (b) a class-wide association key encrypted with a key that allows the association key to be decrypted by said electronic device. in some embodiments, the method may comprise: provisioning from the first provisioning server to the electronic device, via a one-pass one-way provisioning protocol, at least: (i) the public encryption key of the second provisioning server, (ii) the server certificate of the second provisioning server, digitally signed by an authorization server; (iii) an indication of which cryptographic assets the second provisioning server is authorized to subsequently provision to the electronic device. in some embodiments, generating the delegation message comprises: inserting into the delegation message one or more flags indicating to the electronic device whether the second provisioning server is authorized to provision: (x) only personalized cryptographic assets, or (y) only class-wide cryptographic assets for a class of multiple electronic device, or (z) both personalized and class-wide cryptographic assets. in some embodiments, the method may comprise: prior to provisioning a particular cryptographic asset from the second provisioning server to the electronic device, performing: acquiring by the second provisioning server an authorization ticket, from an authorization server, indicating that the second provisioning server is authorized to provision the particular cryptographic asset to said electronic device. in some embodiments, said acquiring of the authorization ticket is triggered by a flag, indicating that authorization is required for each provisioning event performed by the second provisioning server, the flag located in a server certificate issued by said authorization server to the second provisioning server. in some embodiments, the acquiring comprises: at the second provisioning server, contacting the authorization server to present to the authorization server (a) a server certificate of the second provisioning server, and (b) a hash of the particular cryptographic asset intended to be provisioned by the second provisioning server to the electronic device. in some embodiments, the acquiring further comprises: receiving at the second provisioning server, from said authorization server, said authorization ticket which comprises a digital signature by the authorization server on the hash of the particular cryptographic asset intended to be provisioned by the second provisioning server to the electronic device; wherein said digital signature enables said electronic device to verify by the electronic device prior to storing said particular cryptographic asset. in some embodiments, provisioning the cryptographic asset to the electronic device is performed via a one-pass one-way communication from the second provisioning server to said electronic device. in some embodiments, a device or apparatus or system for cryptographic material provisioning (cmp) may comprise: a first provisioning server to generate a delegation message, wherein the delegation message indicates provisioning rights that are delegated by the first provisioning server to a second provisioning server with regard to subsequent provisioning of cryptographic assets to an electronic device, wherein the first provisioning server is to generate the delegation message by performing at least one of: (a) inserting into the delegation message an association key unknown to the first provisioning server, encrypted using a public key of said electronic device, wherein said public key of said electronic device is usable to encrypt data for subsequent decrypting by said electronic device using said private encryption key of said electronic device; (b) inserting into the delegation message a public key of the second provisioning server; enabling the electronic device to locally generate said association key unknown to the first provisioning server; wherein the association key is retrievable by the second provisioning server based on the public key of the second provisioning server; wherein the first provisioning server is to cause delivery of the delegation message from the first provisioning server to the electronic device; wherein the second provisioning server is to provision, and based on said delegation message, one or more cryptographic assets to the electronic device, using said association key. the present invention may provide other and/or additional benefits or advantages. brief description of the drawings for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. for example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity of presentation. furthermore, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. the figures are listed below. fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustration of a provisioning message preamble generator, which may be used by a target device root owner, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments of the present invention; fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustration of a provisioning message generator, which may be used by a first delegate, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments of the present invention; fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustration of a provisioning message preamble generator, which may be used by a first delegate to generate a message second portion for a preamble useable by a second delegate, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments of the present invention; fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustration of a provisioning message generator, which may be used by a second delegate, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments of the present invention; fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram illustration of a target device comprising a cryptographic material provisioning module able to receive a provisioning message, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments of the present invention; fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustration of an electronic device, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments of the present invention; and figs. 7a-7e are schematic block-diagram illustrations of a system and its components, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments of the present invention. detailed description of the present invention in the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of some embodiments. however, it will be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art that some embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. in other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, units and/or circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the discussion. applicants have realized that in some implementations, the entity that installs key material in an electronic device (“the “installer”), while operating on behalf of the owner of the device asset (the “owner”), may not necessarily be entirely trusted by the owner. the provisioning process, if performed without measures against compromise by the installer, may require extremely high levels of trust on behalf of the owner. in some cases, such trust may not be granted, leading to the need to devise a system that protects the provisioning process against compromise also by the installer. applicants have further realized that another source for complexity stems from the possible existence of sub-owners. a sub-owner may be an entity which is not the owner of the device asset, but which owns some of the key material to be placed in it. each sub-owner may have its own one or more installer(s). the same trust issue between the owner and its installer may similarly exist for each sub-owner and any of its respective installer(s). additionally, partial distrust may exist between the owner and its sub-owners. the owner may trust the sub-owner to provide its devices with key material, but the owner may not trust the sub-owner to overwrite other key material, such as that installed by the owner or by any other sub-owner. in many cases, the owner may not accept the ability of one of its sub-owners to obtain key material provisioned by another sub-owner. in other cases, the sub-owner may trust the owner with its secrets. applicants have realized that the problem of key provisioning may be stated as the need to: (a) allow owner to allow installer (one or more) to provide the device with key material on behalf of the owner, without exposing the key material to the installer that performs the physical provisioning operation; (b) allow a similar model for more than one sub-owner, each having associated with it one or more installers; (c) prevent any sub-owner from obtaining key material provisioned by another sub-owner; (d) allow owner to control what key material each sub-owner provisions through its installers, while not having possession of the provisioned material itself. the client-side of an implemented solution for the problem may fit within the capabilities of an embedded chip-set, and may be adapted to be performed in short times, e.g., during fabrication. the present invention includes methods, circuits, devices and systems for provisioning of cryptographic material (e.g., cryptographic keys or data to one or more electronic devices. according to embodiments, a provisioning message preamble for a specific target device and/or for a specific group of devices (e.g., specific make and model of cell-phones) may be generated and provided to a party intending to install or otherwise use a functional cryptographic key (i.e., cryptographic material) on the target device. the provisioning message preamble, operating in concert with a cryptographic material provisioning module (cmp), also referred to as “key provisioning system”, on the target device, may provide for: (1) a multilevel delegation hierarchy/structure for provisioning cryptographic keys to the target device, such that the native (root) key owner of the device (the part with the highest level of unrestricted rights) may delegate complete or partial key provisioning rights to one or more other parties, and some or all of the other parties may further delegate some or all of their respective rights to other parties along a hierarchical chain whose length and/or count has no predefined limit, (2) partial delegation functionality (e.g., based on key types) such that any member in a provisioning rights delegation hierarchy may define which key provisioning rights its delegate or delegates receive, including the right to further delegate or not, as long as those rights do not exceed the rights of the delegating party. the provisioning message preamble may be constructed of one or more message portions or segments, and the first portion or segment may be encrypted and/or signed using the target device's native/root key. the first portion of the preamble may include first cryptographic material and a permissions data vector, which vector may include one or more usage restrictions including: (1) what type of keys may be provisioned to the target device by the user of the preamble (e.g., first delegate), and (2) an indication of whether the user of the preamble may convey key provisioning rights or sub-rights further down a rights delegation hierarchy or chain. in some embodiments, a provisioning message may include a preamble and a payload, such that the preamble may be constructed and utilized in a particular manner in order to indicate or facilitate authorized provisioning and/or delegation of provisioning authorization. in other embodiments, preamble(s) need not be used; and instead, messages may be used in conjunction with suitable protocols (e.g., identification protocol, provisioning protocol, querying protocol) in order to enable provisioning, delegation, and other functionalities as described herein. the provisioning message preamble (i.e., first portion of the provisioning message) may be configured such that a second provisioning message portion, including cryptographic material (e.g., functional key or keys which are the subject of provisioning), may be appended to the preamble (e.g., by the first delegate) to generate a complete first provisioning message. the second portion of the provisioning message may be encrypted and/or signed by the first cryptographic material (e.g., a first cryptographic key provided by or otherwise known by the first delegate) within the preamble. according to embodiments, a cmp on a target device receiving the complete provisioning message may process the preamble by: (1) decrypting the preamble using the devices native/root key, (2) extracting from the preamble the first cryptographic material and the permissions data vector, (3) decrypting the second portion of the message using the extracted first cryptographic material, (4) extracting a functional key or keys (second cryptographic material) within the second portion, (5) checking the extracted functional key or keys (second cryptographic material) against usage permissions defined in the permissions data vector within the preamble to determine whether the extracted key or keys are of a type permitted for provisioning by the permissions data vector, and (6) provisioning the keys to the target device (installing, storing or otherwise using) if the extracted key type(s) are permitted and the preamble is valid. according to further embodiments, the second provisioning message portion may include second cryptographic material which is not a functional key (i.e., a key which is the subject of provisioning to the target device), but rather cryptographic data (e.g., key, link to key, etc.) for decrypting and/or authenticating a third portion (e.g., provided by a second delegate) of the provisioning message, which third portion may be appended (e.g., by the second key provisioning delegate) behind the second portion. according to this embodiment, the second portion may also include a second permissions data vector indicating usage limitations of any cryptographic material (e.g., third cryptographic material or key) to be extracted from the third message portion. in this event, when the third portion includes a functional key, the combined first and second portions may collectively be considered the provisioning message preamble, and the third message portion including the functional key (e.g., provisioned by the second delegate) to be the subject of provisioning on the target device may be considered the message body. according to embodiments where the first portion of the preamble is appended by a second portion which also includes cryptographic material and/or a second permissions data vector, the combined cryptographic material and permission data vectors of the first and second portions may be termed a “delegation structure”, which delegation structure provides the means (cryptographic material for decrypting) and defines allowable usage (types of keys allowed for provisioning on the target device) for one or more functional cryptographic keys to be provisioned by the second delegate to the target device. likewise, a third provisioning message portion may be added by a second delegate with cryptographic material (e.g., key, link to a key, or the like) required for decrypting and/or authenticating a fourth portion of the provisioning message, which fourth portion may be appended (e.g., by a third delegate) behind the third portion. if the fourth portion includes a functional key, the first through third portions of the message may be considered the preamble including the delegation structure required to access and process the functional key of the fourth portion. it should be understood that such a chain of provisioning message portions, where cryptographic material in one portion may be used to decrypt/authenticate and extract data from the next, has no inherent limitation in count. by providing for portions of a provisioning message to be appended to one another according to the methodology described, a length or size of a provisioning rights delegation chain or hierarchy (i.e., delegation structure) may be indefinite, with each provisioning rights delegate being able to provide sub-rights to a sub-delegate, as long as none of the delegated rights exceed or contradict any usage restrictions (e.g., which types of keys may be installed) found in any of the permissions data vectors of any preceding message portions. since data processing at the target device of a provisioning message according to embodiments of the present invention is substantially sequential, according to some embodiments the data processing and/or data processor (e.g., cmp) may be a state-machine. since data processing at the target device of a provisioning message according to embodiments of the present invention is substantially sequential, according to some embodiments the data processing and/or data processor (e.g., cmp) may not require access to a non-constant amount of memory for storage of cryptographic material within the provisioning message to support an infinite number of delegation levels. a “root key”, denoted r, may be the one key in each device that is used as the root trust anchor. this is the first key that may be used when decrypting and authenticating a provisioning message. it is the only key material that is assumed to pre-exist in all provisioned devices. it may be facilitated by the means described below. it is noted that in some embodiments, the root key (r) may optionally have similar or identical functionality to the icv root of trust that is further described herein, or vice versa the root key may either be a single key used in an entire lot (or batch) of devices, or it may be device-specific. having the root key be device-specific may increase security, but may be more difficult to manage and may sometimes be technically infeasible. the root key stored by the device may be made available to the provisioning process requiring it in one of three ways: (a) it may be recalled from internal protected storage, such as eeprom, or other non-volatile memory, where it was stored as part of a root key provisioning; (b) it may be made available as a hard-coded part of the logic implemented in the device or chip; (c) it may be derived from one or more root key components. the length of the root key field (and the key itself) may be 128 bits, 256 bits, 512 bits, 1,024 bits, 2,048 bits, 4,096 bits, or any other suitable length. functional keys may be the subject of provisioning. these may be the pieces of information (e.g., cryptographic material) that may be delivered to the device as part of the provisioning process, and which may be consumed on the device by other processes after the provisioning process concludes. a functional key, denoted herein as k, may not necessarily be a cryptographic key. this “functional key” may be an opaque field which may never be interpreted by the cmp. therefore, it may be a wrapper for any data within reasonable length requirements. each functional key may be a field of a larger structure, which is the key structure. the key structure may be the object maintained by the cmp which may store the functional key and associated metadata. in a demonstrative implementations, the data which consists of the key structure may include: (a) “key value”, which may be the functional key, k; (b) “key id”, which may be an identifier of the key or structure, which is typically unique; (c) “key type”, which may be a string representing the key type of the functional key k; (d) “key slot”, which may be a string representing the key slot of k, within the key type. each functional key that is processed (e.g., received and stored) by the key provisioning system, is associated with a key type. the key type may be a non-unique string representing the usage, purpose, or application of the key. this property may be provided to sub-owners as means for control delegation. the key type may also be used as part of the key metadata which is read by the application that uses the key, e.g., to determine the usage of the key, or to allow an application to detect its own keys in a repository that contains keys of several applications. the namespace of a key type field may be maintained by an owner, and possibly by its one or more sub-owners. in some implementations, the value of key type may be a string, which may be processed only by functions of sub-string concatenation and comparison. as a demonstrative example for the possible uses of the key type field, an owner (and possibly one or more of its respective sub-owners) may use the following values for key type fields: (a) system/firmware update/verification; (b) system/antitheft/attestation; (c) apps/paymentapp/encrypt; (d) apps/paymentapp/sign; (e) apps/drm/scheme1/groupprivate; (f) apps/drm/scheme1/serverparameters a “key slot” may be a field which may be provided for distinguishing between keys that have the same key type. when more than one key of a given key type is provisioned by a key provisioning system, each of those keys may have a different key slot value in its key slot field. the key slot values may repeat among keys of different key types. the value in a key slot may be an integer counter. the value in a key slot may be a short string having any suitable value and which may be treated as an opaque value which may be used for comparison purposes. the combination of values in the key type and key slot fields may be unique on a target device. however, there may be no requirement for the key id field to be unique. it is likely to be unique due to its nature and name, but its uniqueness is not a requirement of the key provisioning system. for the key provisioning system, the value in key id may be an opaque string which is stored so it may be used by client applications. a provisioning structure” may be a data object that is sent in the provisioning message. a single provisioning message may contain one or more instances of a provisioning structure. the client-side of the key provisioning system may accept a provisioning message from an installer, and may act based on each provisioning structure the message may contain. each provisioning structure may contain, or may refer to, a single functional key that may be processed by the key provisioning system. the provisioning structure object may consist of two parts: a preamble and a body. the preamble may contain zero or more instances of a delegation structure; and the body may contain the actual command and data necessary for a key provisioning operation. the provisioning structure may be regarded as consisting of zero or more instances of delegation structures, followed by a body structure. the “delegation structure” object may be an object designed to communicate from an owner or a sub-owner to the key provisioning system on the device, its approval to have a target sub-owner issue the command which appears in the body object of that provisioning structure. the target sub-owner is not identified in the structure, because there is no naming convention and enforcement for sub-owners. rather, the target sub-owner is referenced by a key it possesses. the key that the target sub-owner uses is denoted as p i , with i being an indicator of the position of that delegation structure object in the series of such structures in the provisioning structure. for example, p 1 is the key that is held by the sub-owner who was delegated with authority to provision keys by owner, who is holding on to r; while p 2 is the key that is held by the sub-owner who was delegated with authority to provision keys by the sub-owner that holds p 1 above, and so forth. the preamble structure of the provisioning structure object may contain an ordered set of delegation structure objects, introducing p 1 . . . p n in order. while a limit on n may be specified by particular implementations of the present invention, the design allows n to be arbitrarily large, e.g., by not linking its value to required system resources other than processing time. for example, a provisioning structure causing the insertion of a certain key may start with a delegation structure from owner (holding r) to a sub-owner p 1 , allowing it to provision the key, followed by a delegation structure created by the sub-owner p 1 to another sub-owner holding on to p 2 , allowing this one to provision that key, followed by the actual key insertion command authorized by the sub-owner p 2 . restricting delegation by key types: each delegation may be bound to a group of allowed key types. such groups may be described using a key type prefix (permissions data vector). a delegation may apply to one such prefix. delegation issued for a key type prefix “a” may imply that the target sub-owner of the delegation controls only the part of the key type namespace starting with “a”. the owner of r, who is owner, may control the entire namespace of key type. each sub-owner may be able to only delegate with a key type prefix that is a continuation of the key type prefix by which it was itself delegated. for example, a sub-owner holding on to p 2 and who was delegated (by the sub-owner p 1 ) with the key type prefix “apps/drm/scheme1”, can only delegate to the sub-owner holding on to p 3 based on prefixes such as “apps/drm/scheme1/xytelecom”, or even “apps/drm/scheme1” itself, but not, for example, “apps/mpayment”. the delegation structure object may comprise the following fields: target key: a 128-bit (or other) key that is held by the target sub-owner. this field contains p i in an encrypted form. allowed type segment: the key type prefix of the key types that are allowed to be processed by the sub-owner p i . delegation auth: a mac on the above fields, indicating the approval of the owner of p i-1 to delegate the permission to operate on keys of the above key type prefix, to the sub-owner who is the owner of p i . the target key may contain p i in an encrypted form. encryption may be done by aes ecb, with a key that derives from p i-1 (or r, if i=1). the encryption key, k e , may be computed in accordance to any known method including those described herein, with a cmac prf in accordance to any known methods, including those described below: l may be an encrypted zero block using the effective key, p i-1 . k 1 may be a sub-key in accordance with any known method and/or those described herein. the method may be built so the encrypted block is exactly 128 bits, so that k 2 need not be calculated at all. the tag t, which is the kdf output, may consist of ecb encryption of a “1” bit (indicating rolling block number), a unique constant label used by this specification for encryption keys, a 47-bit zero string which serves formally as a context (constant, to achieve key persistence), and informally to pad the structure, and a binary representation of 128, which may be the required key length. the target key field may then be computed as the aes ecb encryption of p i with the encryption key deriving from p i-1 , as follows: t arget k ey =e ( k e ,p i ) the value of allowed type segment may be the key type prefix that the delegation structure object applies to. the allowed type segment may always be appended in its entirety to the allowed key type derived when processing the earlier delegation structure object in the chain, with the delimiter following it. for example, if the preceding delegation structure object caused the current allowed type to be —system/apps—, and the value in allowed type segment is “drm”, then the resulting allowed type is —system/apps/drm—. the delimiter, ‘/’, is implicitly appended after every insertion of an allowed type segment value. notwithstanding, this symbol may be allowed as part of the allowed type segment. the value of delegation auth may be a cbc-mac computed over p i and the allowed type segment. the cbc-mac may be computed using a key that derives from p i-1 (or r, if i=1). the mac key, k i may be computed in accordance with any known methods and those described herein with a cmac prf in accordance with: reference is also made to earlier explanations about the parameters being used. the value of delegation auth may be computed as follows: delegation auth=cmac( k i ;( p i ∥allowed type segment);128) the body object of the provisioning structure contains the provisioning payload. the payload is a command that carries out one of the following operations: add adds a keydel deletes a keyenu enumerates (i.e., lists) the keys already stored this body object may comprise six fields: c ommand the command, represented by at least three bits, with five remaining combinations reserved for future use.k ey t ype the key type of the key to be added or removed, or a null value, for the enumeration command.k ey s lot the key slot of the key to be added or removed, or a null value, for the enumeration command.k ey v alue the actual key to be added, or a null value for commands that are not ‘add’. if not null, the contents of this field are encrypted.k ey id the id of the key to be added or removed, or a null value for the enumeration command.p ayload a uth a mac on all the above fields. the key value field may be the only field of which content is encrypted. encryption may be done using aes ccm, or any other approved mode, with a key that derives from p i (or r, if there are no delegation structure objects in that provisioning structure). p i may be the key that was introduced by the last delegation structure object preceding the body object. the encryption key, k e , may be computed in accordance with any known method with a cmac prf in accordance with: the key value field may then be computed as the aes ccm encryption of the key to be provisioned, k, with the encryption key deriving from p i , as follows: k ey v alue =e ( k e ,k ) the value of payload auth is a cbc-mac computed over all other fields of the body structure. the cbc-mac may be computed using a key that derives from p i (or r, if i=1). the mac key, k i , is computed in accordance with known methods with a cmac prf in accordance with: refer to earlier explanations about the parameters used. the value of payload auth may be computed as follows: delegation auth=cmac( k i ;(command∥key type∥key value∥key id);128) the following functions may be performed by a key provisioning system according to some embodiments. root key provisioning is the operation in which the value of r is entered into the device. single value insertion—provided that there are no pre-existing secrets on the device which can be employed for secure provisioning of r, it can only be inserted into the device by means that allow only for its setting, never for its unrestricted retrieval. such means can be programmed as part of the key provisioning system, as long as the storage used to keep r is such that, while being run-time programmable, is not readable by logic which is not part of the key provisioning system. in the case of a global r value, this value can be included as part of the rtl (register transfer level) description provided to the chip manufacturer. obfuscation techniques may be used to disguise the value of r so that it is not readily evident to whoever views the rtl description. two exemplary options for inserting the value of r: (a) using a write-only mechanism as part of the key provisioning system, along with exclusive-access storage; (b) using a hard-coded value of r for a group of devices. the value of r may be random, deriving from an approved prng that was fed by an approved (given the existence of one) rng. multiple shares insertion: instead of inserting a single r value, multiple root key components may be inserted. each root key component value is inserted as if it was the single value of r, as detailed above. that is, each root key component can be included in the rtl or received into the device (e.g., using a write-only mechanism). r will be computed from these components (a.k.a., “key shares”) as a combination of them all. owner may have knowledge of all root key components, to be able to exercise its right as the root provisioning entity. however, it does not need to actually store all components. it is enough for owner may compute the value of r that all components convey together and store this value. the provision of the root key, r, as several root key component values rather than as a single root key value has no implication on the perception of r as a root of trust for provisioning, and all operations using r have the same security model. the only implication of provisioning r as a set of components is on the trust it requires of the entities provisioning (or otherwise having access to) these components. in accordance with the trivial secret sharing scheme being used in the key provisioning system, when allowing each one of n entities to provision a single root key component each, none of these entities can determine r with better than pure guessing probability on the entire key space or r. this assertion also applies to any group of i colluding entities, just as long as i<n. the value of each root key component r i shall be random, deriving from an approved prng that was fed by an approved (given the existence of one) rng. no waivers or exemptions apply in spite of the fact this single value cannot itself recover, or assist the recovery of, the root key. root key derivation: if the value of the root key was provided as a single root key value, then its derivation is by reading it. if the value of r was not provisioned explicitly, but is a combination of n root key component values, then the n shares are retrieved as r 1 . . . r n , and the value of r may be computed as follows: r=r 1 ⊕r 2 ⊕ . . . ⊕r n no other use may be made of any of the r 1 . . . r n values, unless explicitly specified and approved. functional key provisioning is the process in which a functional key is inserted into the device. the entity that provisions a functional key of a particular key type is either owner, or a sub-owner who was delegated with authority to provision keys of that key type. authority could have been delegated either from owner or from another sub-owner who is itself authorized to provision keys of the same key type, or of a more general key type prefix. this section assumes that delegation has already been carried out, as specified in section delegation. to insert a functional key k of key type t, into the device, the following steps may be performed: 1. the provisioning entity carries out the following operations, in the order specified: (a) if the provisioning entity is a sub-owner, then it finds a proper chain of d elegation s tructure objects, allowing it to provision a key of type t. if the entity was delegated by owner, then such a chain is likely to have one d elegation s tructure element. if the entity was delegated by another sub-owner, then the chain will include d elegation s tructure objects chaining from owner to the immediately delegating sub-owner, along with a final d elegation s tructure object delegating authority from that sub-owner to the sub-owner to provision the key. the chain is always provided to the provisioning entity in its entirety by the immediately delegating owner/sub-owner—it is never constructed by the provisioning entity. the selected chain shall be one in which all a llowed t ype s egment fields of the d elegation s tructure objects, when concatenated with the d elimiter added between them, and with a d elimiter added at the end, form a prefix of t. for example, a chain of d elegation s tructure objects with the following respective a llowed t ype s egment fields: —system—, —apps/drm—, and —scheme1—, are suitable for provisioning a key where t=—system/apps/drm/scheme1/prkey—.(b) it creates a b ody element containing ‘add’ in the c ommand field, and a k ey t ype field, which holds the value of t, after cutting off the key type prefix generated by the entire chain of d elegation s tructure objects, if such exist. (by the above example, the k ey t ype field will contain —prkey—.)(c) it uses its key, p, to compute both encryption and integrity keys: k e and k i , respectively. if the provisioning entity is owner, then p=r. computation of these keys shall be done as specified in section body.(d) it encrypts k with k e using aes ccm.(e) it appends e(k e ,k), the value of k ey id, t (as the k ey t ype ), and a k ey s lot value, to the b ody structure.(f) it computes a mac using k i as the key, on the entire b ody structure.(g) it forms a p rovisioning s tructure from both the chain of d elegation s tructure objects and the b ody structure. the resulting p rovisioning s tructure forms the provisioning message.(h) it may append to the provisioning message additional p rovisioning s tructure objects in a similar manner. as an implementation decision, it may be permissible to append several b ody structures to the same p reamble , if they all suit the same key type prefix (chain of d elegation s tructure objects).(i) it communicates the provisioning message to the key provisioning system on the device.2. the client of the key provisioning system on the device receives the provisioning message, and performs the following operations:3. it sets: c←r; a←ø4. it follows the chain of d elegation s tructure objects in the preamble; for each such structure carrying out the following actions: (a) parse the d elegation s tructure object: the a llowed t ype s egment into a, the t arget k ey into t, and d elegation a uth into m.(b) compute k i using c and the routine specified in section delegation-format.(c) compute a mac on the d elegation s tructure object.(d) compare the computed mac with m. terminate the process immediately if mac values do not match. indication may include the value of m where failure occurred.(e) compute k e using c and the routine specified in section delegation-format.(f) set: c←d(k e , t)(g) set: a←a∥a∥delimiter5. it parses the b ody structure of the p rovisioning s tructure object: the c ommand , the k ey t ype into t, the k ey s lot into s, the k ey v alue into k, the k ey id, and the payload auth into m. the value of c ommand is add, by the use-case definition.6. it computes k i using c and the routine specified above.7. it computes a mac using k i and the fields of the b ody structure.8. it compares the computed mac with m. it terminates the process immediately if mac values do not match. indication may include the fact that mac of the b ody structure failed.9. it computes: t←a∥t10. it computes k e using c and the routine specified above.11. it computes d(k e ,k) to obtain the key to be added.12. it checks if a key is already stored with both the same key type t and the same key slot s. it reports a suitable error if one does, and terminates the process.13. it files the decrypted key d(k e ,k), along with the computed key type t, key slot s, and the value of k ey id.14. it reports success. the actions carried out by the provisioning entity and the key provisioning system on the device may be interlaced, so not to require the key provisioning system to store large chunks of data, such as the chains of delegation structure objects. for example, structures can be sent to the key provisioning system one by one, with the key provisioning system merely retaining a state throughout the process. enumeration and removal of keys: the process for the removal of keys resembles the process for addition of keys, with the following exceptions: (a) no k ey v alue is provided in the b ody structure; (b) the key with the proper k ey t ype and k ey s lot is removed, if it exists. the process for the enumeration of keys resembles the process for addition of keys, with the following differences: (a) no k ey v alue is provided in the b ody structure. (b) the response from the key provisioning system may consist of the all type of k ey t ype , k ey s lot , and k ey id, for those keys for which the k ey t ype field starts with the value of t as computed above. in other words, the keys listed will be the ones of which the k ey t ype field starts with t, which is conveyed by the combination of the b ody structure and the chain of d elegation s tructure objects that were provided. (c) the k ey t ype field of the b ody structure may be empty. turning to fig. 1 , there is shown a functional block diagram of a provisioning message preamble generator used by a target device root owner according to embodiments of the present invention. fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of a provisioning message generator used by a first delegate according to embodiments of the present invention. fig. 3 is a functional block diagram of a provisioning message preamble generator used by a first delegate to generate a message second portion to a preamble useable by a second delegate in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. fig. 4 is a functional block diagram of a provisioning message generator used by a second delegate according to embodiments of the present invention. fig. 5 is a functional block diagram of a target device including a cryptographic material provisioning module receiving a provisioning message in accordance to some embodiments of the present invention. in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, an electronic device may comprises: a cryptographic material provisioning (cmp) module to perform a method comprising: (a) receiving a cmp message which comprises a preamble and a payload; (b) decrypting the preamble of the cmp message by using a root key of the electronic device; (c) extracting from the decrypted preamble of the cmp message a first cryptographic key; (d) extracting from the decrypted preamble of the cmp message a primary permissions data vector indicating at least one of: (a) a type of keys that are authorized to be provisioned to the electronic device by a user of the preamble, and (b) an indication of whether or not the user of the preamble is authorized to delegate key provisioning rights to other entities; (e) decrypting at least a portion of the payload of the cmp message by using the first cryptographic key that was extracted from the preamble; (f) extracting a functional cryptographic key from the decrypted payload of the cmp message, wherein the extracted functional cryptographic key comprises a cryptographic key associated with at least one of: an application installed on the electronic device, and a process running on the electronic device; (g) checking key metadata, of the extracted functional cryptographic key, against one or more usage permissions indicated by the primary permissions data vector, and determining whether or not the extracted functional cryptographic key is of a type permitted for provisioning; (h) if it is determined that the extracted functional cryptographic key is of a type permitted for provisioning by the permissions data vector, then provisioning the extracted functional cryptographic key to said electronic device, wherein the provisioning comprises at least one of: (x) storing the extracted functional cryptographic key in the electronic device, (y) using the extracted functional cryptographic key in the electronic device, (z) installing the extracted functional cryptographic key in the electronic device; wherein the cmp message comprises a multi-level delegation hierarchy for provisioning one or more cryptographic keys for use by one or more applications of the electronic device; wherein the root key of the electronic device is used to delegate at least partial key provisioning rights to one or more other parties; wherein at least one of said other parties is authorized, based on a respective permissions data vector, to delegate at least part of the key provisioning rights to one or more other parties, wherein the electronic device is implemented by utilizing at least a hardware component. in some embodiments, some or all of the preamble is digitally signed using the root key of the electronic device. in some embodiments, said extracted functional cryptographic key is utilized by the electronic device for a process selected from the group consisting of (1) decrypting data, (2) encrypting data, (3) digital rights management, (4) signature generation, (5) signature verification, and (6) payment application. in some embodiments, said cmp module is to regulate usage of the extracted functional cryptographic key by an application of the electronic device in accordance with usage permissions indicated by key metadata and by the primary permissions data vector. in some embodiments, the method comprises: extracting from the decrypted payload of the cmp message a second cryptographic key usable for decrypting another portion of the cmp message. in some embodiments, the decrypted payload of the cmp message further comprises a second permissions data vector; and said cmp module is to regulate usage of said second cryptographic key in accordance with usage limitations of both the first and second permissions data vectors. in some embodiments, said cmp module is to process a portion of the cmp message using the second cryptographic key. in some embodiments, said cmp module is to regulate usage of the extracted functional cryptographic key, extracted from said cmp message, in accordance with all usage limitations of all permissions data vectors within the cmp message. in some embodiments, the primary permissions data vector defines one or more types of functional cryptographic key which may be included in the cmp message. in some embodiments, said cmp module is not to process cryptographic material in the cmp message associated with functional keys of a type that is different from types defined in the primary permissions data vector. in some embodiments, extracting the functional cryptographic key from the decrypted payload of the cmp message comprises: (a) determining that the decrypted payload comprises a secondary permissions data vector and a second cryptographic key; (b) extracting from the decrypted payload said secondary permissions data vector and said second cryptographic key; (c) regulating usage of the extracted functional cryptographic key in accordance with usage limitations of both the primary permissions data vector and the secondary permissions data vector. in some embodiments, the cmp message comprises a two-part preamble and a payload portion; wherein the two-part preamble comprises: (a) a first preamble portion which stores (i) a first cryptographic key, encrypted by using the root key of the electronic device; and (ii) a first permissions vector associated with the first cryptographic key, wherein the first permissions vector defines provisioning limitations associated with the first cryptographic key; and (b) a second preamble portion which stores (iii) a second cryptographic key, encrypted by using the first cryptographic key; and (iv) a second permissions vector associated with the second cryptographic key, wherein the second permissions vector defines provisioning limitations associated with the second cryptographic key; wherein the payload portion comprises: (v) said functional cryptographic key, encrypted by using the second cryptographic key; wherein provisioning of the functional cryptographic key is regulated by provisioning limitations which correspond to an aggregation of the provisioning limitations of the first and second permission vectors. in some embodiments, the multi-level delegation hierarchy has a non-predefined length. in some embodiments, the cmp message comprises data for partial delegation functionality based on key types; wherein a member in a provisioning rights delegation hierarchy is authorized, by a respective permissions vector, to define which delegated key provisioning rights its delegates receive by delegation. in some embodiments, the cmp message comprises data indicating that delegated key provisioning rights do not exceed key provisioning rights of a member higher in the a multi-level delegation hierarchy. in some embodiments, the preamble of the cmp message is generated for a specific target device and is provided to a party intending to utilize the functional cryptographic key on said target device. in some embodiments, the preamble of the cmp message: (a) is generated for a specific group of multiple target devices, and (b) is provided to a party intending to utilize the functional cryptographic key on said target device. in some embodiments, the specific group of multiple target devices comprises at least one of: a group of multiple electronic devices that have a common maker; a group of multiple electronic devices that have a common model. in some embodiments, a method of cryptographic material provisioning (cmp) may be implementable on an electronic device which comprises at least a hardware component; the method may comprise, for example: (a) receiving a cmp message which comprises a preamble and a payload; (b) decrypting the preamble of the cmp message by using a root key of the electronic device; (c) extracting from the decrypted preamble of the cmp message a first cryptographic key; (d) extracting from the decrypted preamble of the cmp message a primary permissions data vector indicating at least one of: (a) a type of keys that are authorized to be provisioned to the electronic device by a user of the preamble, and (b) an indication of whether or not the user of the preamble is authorized to delegate key provisioning rights to other entities; (e) decrypting at least a portion of the payload of the cmp message by using the first cryptographic key that was extracted from the preamble; (f) extracting a functional cryptographic key from the decrypted payload of the cmp message, wherein the extracted functional cryptographic key comprises a cryptographic key associated with at least one of: an application installed on the electronic device, and a process running on the electronic device; (g) checking the extracted functional cryptographic key against one or more usage permissions indicated by the primary permissions data vector, and determining whether or not the extracted functional cryptographic key is of a type permitted for provisioning; (h) if it is determined that the extracted functional cryptographic key is of a type permitted for provisioning by the permissions data vector, then provisioning the extracted functional cryptographic key to said electronic device, wherein the provisioning comprises at least one of: (x) storing the extracted functional cryptographic key in the electronic device, (y) using the extracted functional cryptographic key in the electronic device, (z) installing the extracted functional cryptographic key in the electronic device; wherein the method is implemented by an electronic device comprising at least a hardware component; wherein the cmp message comprises a multi-level delegation hierarchy for provisioning one or more cryptographic keys for use by one or more applications of the electronic device; wherein the root key of the electronic device is used to delegate at least partial key provisioning rights to one or more other parties; wherein at least one of said other parties is authorized, based on a respective permissions data vector, to delegate at least part of the key provisioning rights to one or more other parties. applicants have realized that a problem exists with regard to asset provisioning or cryptographic key provisioning, and that the problem may be common to many electronic devices that perform operations that should not be cloned by other devices. for cryptographic computations, to be such that can only be performed by a desired device, such device may be required to have access to data assets that are not available outside that device. since the computation algorithm itself may not necessarily be confidential, the availability of such an asset is the only factor preventing a cloned, emulated, or otherwise undesired device, from performing an identical operation (e.g., fraudulently, by an attacker). in a demonstrative example, a digital rights management (drm) agent, such as a playready client or a high-bandwidth digital content protection (hdcp) receiver, may perform digital content decryption using key material that is presumably not available outside the device. applicants have realized that provisioning of protected assets (e.g., cryptographic keys), poses a challenge by being different from the other types of provisioning that a device is typically subject to, at least by three factors. first, the provisioned material should be provisioned securely, in a way that the confidentiality and/or the integrity of the provisioned material is protected. second, the provisioned asset may be unique per device, or per a group (or batch) of devices, as opposed to typical software packages and images. third, the provisioned asset may have monetary value associated with it, such that its acceptance by the device should be uniquely and positively indicated, and such indication may be used for billing purposes, licensing purposes, or other purposes having monetary consequences. applicants have developed a novel asset provisioning system, which may benefit multiple stakeholders, particularly in the field of integrated circuit (ic) manufacturers, device makers, service providers, and users. a first stakeholder may be an ic vendor (icv), which may be a manufacturer of an ic of an electronic device where the system is deployed. a second stakeholder may be an original equipment manufacturer (oem), which may obtain the ic from the icv, and may assemble and ship the electronic device to end-users or to intermediary distributors (e.g., retailers, offline stores, online merchants). a third stakeholder may be a service provider (sp), who may render service to end-users of the device, via the device. in some consumer electronic devices, the sp may provide services to managed devices which may be owned by the sp and may be managed by the sp; or the sp may provide services to non-managed devices, which may be owned and/or managed by a third party (e.g., the end-user itself, or an enterprise). as demonstrated in the following use cases, some embodiments of the present invention may allow to maintain partial mistrust between stakeholders; and may allow secure provisioning of assets, as well as secure delegation of provisioning rights, even among parties that do not have complete trust among themselves, or among parties that may have partial mistrust among themselves. in a first demonstrative use case, the present invention may enable secure provisioning of service keys. for example, the device may include an installed application, which may need to be provisioned with cryptographic material. the application is trusted to access the assets, using any suitable mechanism. the cryptographic material may be provided to each device individually, may be unique per device or per group of devices, and may facilitate the personalization of the secure application. the present invention may allow, for example, secure delivery of hdcp rx key (hdcp device key) by the oem or by the sp to deployed devices; secure delivery of fast identity online (fido) attestation key (a class key) by the oem or sp to deployed devices; secure delivery of playready model key or playready device key by the content service provider to deployed devices; secure delivery of wi-fi protected access (wpa) key (a class key), or other wireless communication cryptographic keys, by the sp or by other entity (e.g., an information technology (it) department of an enterprise or organization) to deployed devices; or the like. in a second demonstrative use case, the present invention may enable deferred personalization as a byproduct of the ability to provision service keys at any point over the device lifetime. for example, the present invention may allow to defer a licensing event, possibly along with its associated transaction, to a subsequent point in time at which the particular device actually requires the service. in a third demonstrative use case, ad-hoc device assignment may be achieved. for example, parameters of the ic or of the device, may differ between instances that are shipped to different geographical regions or provided to different customers. this may require the provider (e.g., the icv or the oem) to configure its product before it is shipped, according to the destination of the shipment. this constraint may imply reduced flexibility in assigning and re-assigning products, as the products have to be tailored to their destination before leaving the premises of the provider. the provisioning mechanism of the present invention may allow the provider to provision configuration data at any time after the product leaves its premises, thereby allowing the provider to regain that flexibility. in a fourth demonstrative use case, the present invention may allow flexibility in feature activation. for example, an icv or oem may sell different versions of the same product based on different sets of features that are enabled or disabled; with pricing determined accordingly. this may require that the parameters that indicate which features are enabled (or disabled) be provisioned to the device securely, and the present invention may enable such secure provisioning. in a fifth demonstrative use case, the present invention may allow enforcement of manufacturing agreements. for example, the ability to “mark” and ic and devices may allow the ic vendor and/or the oem to monitor the destiny of its designs, e.g., in terms of how many of them are manufactured and where they are sold. this may allow mitigating of “gray markets” (which are further discussed herein, in the following use case), as well the phenomenon of “third shifts”. having a secure capability to tag products in the field, along with the ability to control the products based on this tag, allows the stakeholder to monitor and/or enforce what products operate in what region. in a sixth demonstrative use case, the present invention may allow mitigation or elimination of “gray markets” for ics or electronic devices. for example, an ic vendor or oem may ship similar ic designs or similar devices, to different distribution regions, possibly by different distribution channels. the same product may be sold in different regions for different prices. there may often be an incentive to form “gray markets”, where an ic or a device is purchased for a low price at one region, and sold for a higher price in another region which is expected by the ic vendor or oem to be served by another channel that sells the product for a higher price. in a seventh demonstrative use case, the present invention may allow mitigation or elimination of “third shift” problems. an ic vendor may contract an external fabrication house, thereby having a risk that the manufacturer might in practice manufacture more ics than reported, and sell them for its own gain. similarly, an oem may engage an external manufacturing or assembly factory (or an odm, original design manufacturer), and may have a similar risk of the odm manufacturing “clone” devices built on the oem's design. some embodiments of the invention may be used for secure provisioning of various types of data items or digital items. some embodiments may be utilized for secure provisioning of cryptographic assets, encryption keys, decryption keys, passwords, pass-phrases pins, or the like. some embodiments may be utilized for secure provisioning of non-cryptographic assets, or digital assets that may not necessarily include encryption keys and/or decryption keys. some embodiments may be used for secure provisioning of both cryptographic assets and non-cryptographic assets. some embodiments may be used for secure provisioning of licenses, playback licenses, software licenses, drm licenses, multimedia licenses, activation code(s), software keys or product keys, serial numbers, unique identification numbers, or the like. in some embodiments, the terms “cryptographic asset” or “cryptographic key” may optionally include also such activation codes, licenses, playback licenses, software licenses, drm licenses, multimedia licenses, software keys or product keys, serial numbers, unique identification numbers, digital files, or the like; as well as other suitable data items or data objects, for example, which may enable or disable or activate or deactivate one or more features or functionalities of an electronic device. embodiments of the invention may be used in conjunction with secure provisioning of other suitable types of assets or data items. reference is made to fig. 6 , which is a schematic block diagram illustration of an electronic device 600 in accordance with the present invention. device 600 may be or may comprise, for example, a smartphone, a cellular phone, a tablet, a phone-tablet (“phablet”) device, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a portable gaming device, a portable communication device, a portable wireless device, a portable computing device, a handheld device, a vehicular device, an internet-connected device or appliance or environment, an “internet of things” (iot) device or appliance or environment, a device connected to a “cloud” or to a “cloud computing” system or network, a machine to machine (m2m) system or environment, or other suitable electronic device. device 600 may comprise, for example, one or more root of trust (rot) elements 611 - 614 , as well as a secure storage 620 . in a demonstrative example, rot element 611 - 614 are depicted as located in device 600 outside of secure storage 620 ; however, in some embodiments, one or more, or all, of rot elements 611 - 614 may be stored within secure storage 620 . device 600 may optionally comprise other hardware components and/or software modules that may often be included in an electronic device or computing device, for example, a processor, a central processing unit (cpu), a digital signal processor (dsp), a graphics processing unit (gpu), an input unit (e.g., a touch-screen, a keyboard, a physical keyboard, an on-screen keyboard, a keypad, a microphone, a stylus), an output unit (e.g., a screen, a touch-screen, audio speakers), a memory unit and/or storage unit (e.g., ram unit(s), rom unit(s), flash memory, an sd-card, a sim card, short-term memory units, long-term memory units, volatile memory, non-volatile memory), wireless transceiver(s) (e.g., wi-fi transceiver, cellular 4g transceiver, cellular 4g lte transceiver, cellular 3g transceiver), antenna, bluetooth component(s), gps components(s), power source (e.g., rechargeable battery), an operating system (os), drivers, software applications, or the like. icv rot 611 may be or may comprise an asymmetric master key, and may be used to identify ics that are manufactured by the particular icv. the private key may be composed of two key shares: a first key share which may be fixed in register-transfer level (rtl); and a second, non-fixed key share which may be programmed into on-die one-time-programmable (otp) memory during ic manufacture. proper management of the non-fixed (e.g., otp) key share may allow the icv to use different keys for each batch of ics. if these batches also correspond to warehousing or distribution granularity, then the ics used by different oems may have different root keys, thereby allowing to protect the icv's supply chain. icv rot 611 may be the primary secret rot that is also known outside of device 600 . this master key is used to derive two private keys: k icv;e used for encryption and k icv;a used for authentication; and one symmetric association key k a . the corresponding public keys are k icv;e and k icv;a . the public keys are certified by the ic vendor by signing them with an icv server private key k s and storing the certificate on the device: c icv =s[k s ,k icv,a ∥k icv,e ] accordingly, other parties may validate the keys during protocol execution using an icv server public key, k s . to create the signature, the ic vendor deploys a hardware security module (hsm)—that holds k s and the rtl share: given the otp share, the hsm calculates k icv;a and k icv;e and generates c icv (the otp share may be also generated and outputted by the same hsm). the symmetric association key k a is used by ic vendor for provisioning the same way as other provisioning servers use their own association keys (note that all such keys are denoted k a ). some of the protocols described herein may utilize ik a , the identity of k a , to select a specific association key. ik a has a special value to denote the k a used by ic vendor for provisioning; otherwise ik a consists of the identity of the provisioning server i prs , and the type of the association key (“personalized” or “class-wide”). the identity of the provisioning server i prs may be calculated as a hash: k prse,e :i prs =h[k prs,e ]) device local rot 613 may be a symmetric master key, which may be utilized for secure storage on device 600 , as well as for deriving session keys. device local rot 613 may be generated within device 600 by device 600 itself, and may not be available externally to device 600 . authorization rot 614 may be a public authorization key, which may be used to verify the eligibility or identities of communicating entities. these identities may serve a back-end component or sub-system which may be responsible for billing and/or reporting. therefore, authorization rot 614 need not be trusted by the provisioning and delegation mechanisms, and a compromise of authorization rot 614 does not pose a threat to provisioned assets and/or to the delegation mechanism. authorization rot 614 may be hard-coded, and may be functionally equivalent in all devices that utilize the mechanisms of the present invention. the private key that is the counterpart of the public key of authorization rot 614 may be available only in an authorization server, or in back-end components or sub-systems associated with such authorization server. some embodiments may optionally use an oem rot 612 , which may be an asymmetric master key able to identify devices that are manufactured by a specific oem, based on a specific ic. the private key of oem rot 612 may be derived from icv rot 611 and the oem's code-signing public key. oem rot 612 may be generally equivalent in its functional purpose to the icv rot 611 ; but oem rot 612 may be further specific for the oem. the oem rot 612 may be specific for a combination of an oem and the public key used to verify the boot image. in some implementations, the oem rot 612 may be known only to the icv, and may not be known to the particular oem (or to other oems or third parties). for example, the particular oem may use a delegation mechanism (e.g., as described herein) to be introduced with another key that may be used by the oem for provisioning on behalf of the oem. the present invention may utilize suitable cryptographic algorithm(s). for example, some implementations may utilize 128-bit security, symmetric keys and elliptic curve cryptography (ecc) public keys over nist p-256 curve. for derivation of keys from symmetric master keys, the system may utilize a key derivation function such as, for example, “kdf in counter mode” of nist special publication 800-108, “recommendation for key derivation using pseudorandom functions”, with aes-cmac as the pseudorandom function. for symmetric operations, some implementations may utilize 128-bit aes; for example, utilizing cbc mode for encryption, utilizing cmac mode for authentication, and utilizing ccm mode for authenticated encryption. cryptographic hashing may be performed with sha-256. for asymmetric operations, some implementations may utilize ecdsa and ecies. in all communications and storage, ecc public keys are stored in uncompressed format. the following notations may be used for cryptographic operations: e[k,m] denotes encryption of message in using public key k; e[k,m] denotes symmetric authenticated encryption of message in using secret key k; h[m] denotes cryptographic hash of message m; s[k,m] denotes signature of message in using private key k. a provisioning server certificate includes the server's signing public key (also used as an identifier for this server), its encryption public key, and flags assigned by the authorization server; the certificate is signed by private key matching the authorization rot. the flags may indicate, for example, whether this server has to present an authorization ticket with delegation records and with regular asset provisioning records. some implementations of the system need not manage a namespace of provisioning servers. asset provisioning is a main feature provided by the system. the provisioning protocol may need to satisfy all the relevant security requirements, for example: providing assets only to the correct devices, ensuring asset confidentiality and integrity, and ensuring closure with the billing systems. the provisioning protocol may assure that the server initiating the provisioning transaction is an authorized provisioning server. in some implementations, one or more prerequisites should be met before asset provisioning may be performed, for example: enrollment, key availability, and identification. with regard to enrollment, before an asset owner can provision an asset to the device using a provisioning server, the provisioning server must get a provisioning server certificate, e.g. for a public key k prs;e , with the authorization server. this procedure ensures that devices are only approached by authorized servers. additionally, the provisioning server has to be properly delegated by a provisioning server located higher in the hierarchy, referred to as the delegation server. this delegation is expressed in a delegation record which had to be created in the device before asset provisioning can take place. the creation of such delegation record is accomplished using the delegation protocol as detailed herein. with regard to identification, the provisioning may be carried out using a one-pass protocol. this protocol assumes that the device and provisioning server share a symmetric association key k a . the device has the value of k a either derived from the icv root-of-trust, or from a delegation record pertaining to the provisioning server in question. if the value of k a is not yet available to the provisioning server, then an identification protocol (or other suitable discovery protocol) may be performed prior to the one-pass provisioning protocol. for example, the following identification protocol may be used: provisioning server→device: i k a provisioning server←device: e[k prse,e ,k a ∥c icv ∥s[k icv,a ,i k a ∥k a ]] protocol 1: identification protocol the provisioning server initiates the protocol by communicating to device ik a , the identity of the symmetric association key k a to retrieve. if the device is not provisioned (delegated) to communicate using such an association key, then the device replies with a “nonsense” message indistinguishable from a correct response. otherwise, the device has the delegation record corresponding to i prs . in this case device retrieves the association key k a corresponding to ik a , signs ik a and k a using k icv;a , and sends the key together with the certificate c icv and the signature, all encrypted with the public key of the provisioning server, k prs;e . the provisioning server uses its private key k prs;e to decrypt the message, validates the certificate c icv , and stores the association key. the system may utilize a one-pass provisioning protocol, for example: provisioning server→device: i k a ,e[k a ,m] protocol 2: one-pass provisioning protocol the provisioning server sends to the device ik a , the identity of the symmetric association key to use, and a message m encrypted using the selected association key k a . the association key was obtained by the provisioning server either during the identification stage or was known due to the fact that all devices in a class share the same association key (the class provisioning case). the encrypted message m may include: (1) a message identifier i m , to prevent a replay attack; (2) the asset id i a ; (3) the asset payload a; (4) an optional ticket t (from the authorization server), to authorize the process; and (5) other metadata. before processing the message m, the device verifies that this delegation record permits processing this type of asset and that the supplied asset id is properly under the prefix permitted for this entity. if the asset is a hardware feature-activation value, provisioning server sends the asset's activation address and the model-identifier for which this asset is valid, as part of i a . if the asset is a hardware feature-activation value, the device verifies compatibility using the model-identifier and access permissions for the activation address. if the asset id suggests that the provisioned asset is a duplicate of an existing asset, then its value is replaced. the delegation process allows a provisioning server which acts as a delegation server to introduce a new provisioning server. this is the basis for the hierarchical nature of the provisioning scheme. in a delegation process, the delegating provisioning server (which may be referred to as “delegation server”) generates a delegation message including key material of a new provisioning server, and provisioning policy. the delegation message may then be provisioned to devices, enabling the delegated provisioning server to perform its own provisioning (or delegation) processes thereafter. the delegation message is provisioned similarly to regular assets, using the authorized one-pass delegation protocol. after execution of the protocol, the device stores a delegation record corresponding to this provisioning server. for delegation to be performed, the delegation server has to be able to provision the device. therefore, the enrollment and key availability prerequisites stated above need to be met by the delegation server. the delegation server also has to be authorized for delegation by the delegation server which delegated its rights for provisioning, if indeed it was itself delegated by a delegation server. additionally, for the provisioning server (target of delegation) to submit the delegation structure to the device, the enrollment requirement needs to be met by that provisioning server. the delegation may be performed by using the provisioning protocol, except that the asset provisioned, a, is of a special type, a delegation message. the delegation message may comprise: (1) the public key of the delegated provisioning server (essential for execution of the identification protocol; (2) encrypted association key (essential for class provisioning); and (3) the provisioning policy to be applied on the delegated provisioning server. for demonstrative purposes, the delegation process may be described herein as if delegation server communicates with the device prior to any communication between the device and the delegated provisioning server. however, it is possible for the delegated provisioning server to act as an intermediary in this communication, and thus allow the provisioning server to get provisioning rights for a given device while communicating with that device. to delegate provisioning rights to provisioning server, delegation server receives from provisioning server, through a secure channel, its public encryption key k prs;e certified by authorization server in a provisioning server certificate, and the class association key k a encrypted using k icv;e , namely e [k icv;e ; k a ], where the public key k icv;e is a part of the device certificate c icv , which can be made available, e.g. using the identification protocol. using the provisioning process, delegation server sends this information to device, together with the policy for provisioning (the delegation server specifies what assets provisioning server is authorized to provision) as an asset a and the metadata associated with the asset. the asset id in this case may be i prs , namely, the identity of the provisioning server. after verifying that delegation server has rights for delegation and verifying the certificate on k prs;e , the device prepares the delegation record. for example, if the flag for class-wide provisioning is set, the device uses k icv;e to decrypt the class-wide association key k a . if the flag for personalized provisioning is set, then the device randomly generates the personalized association key k a . the device then stores in the secure storage the delegation record that contains policy, k prs;e , and one or two association keys k a . asset management may include common operations on assets, other than provisioning: querying, modification and removal, being carried out using the system by a provisioning server. with regard to querying, a provisioning server that knows an association key of a device, may query the device using a querying protocol, for example: provisioning server→device: i k a ,e[k a ,n∥q] provisioning server←device: e[k a ,n∥r] protocol 3: querying protocol in accordance with the querying protocol, the provisioning server sends to the device ik a , the identity of the symmetric association key to use, and a nonce n together with a query q encrypted using the selected association key k a . if the device has the specified association key k a , then device calculates a response r (the response may also be an error message) and sends it together with the received nonce encrypted with the association key k a ; otherwise device produces a message indistinguishable (without k a ) from a valid one. asset modification may be facilitated by re-provisioning. upon provisioning of an asset with an asset id which is already being used, the new asset replaces the old one. asset removal may be performed by provisioning an asset with a null payload and a deletion flag. the asset id of the null asset corresponds to the asset that shall be removed. assets are provisioned into the device so they may be used or consumed by components or modules on the device. in a demonstrative implementation, assets are consumed only by being read. in the asset obtainment processes, the contents of assets are provided to subjects in response to an api call. in regular cases, the api call may return the actual asset. for feature activation assets, the system may provide the asset value directly to the relevant hardware module, and the api call may only indicate success or failure. a calling application that attempts to use the api is required to provide the asset id identifying the sought asset. in return, the system returns the payload of the required asset (unless the asset is a feature activation that was directly pushed to the hardware). on failure, the api returns a code that indicates one of the following error conditions: (1) “not found”, indicating that there is no asset in the secure storage that carries the specified asset id; (2) “unauthorized”, indicating that the credentials provided are not sufficient to grant access to the asset; (3) “failure”, indicating that another failure occurred, such as when checking the integrity of the secure storage, which prevents the asset from being made available. each asset metadata contains a permission field which indicates what entities are permitted to access the asset. in a demonstrative implementation, the system may not support multiple permission levels. specifically, it provides entities on the device with read access only. assets may be read, but cannot be modified or even deleted by on-device consumers. asset deletion is supported only through the provisioning mechanism itself, i.e., with the help of an authorized provisioning server. the permission field may support the following subjects: “all”, “tee”, “specific-tee”, and “specific-hlos”. the subject “all” indicates all code on the device. the asset will be freely available to any application, either running on the tee (trusted execution environment) or running on the hlos (high level operating system) that runs on the device. the subject “tee” indicates all tee code on the device. the asset will be available to all functions running in the tee of the device. the subject “specific-tee” indicates a specific tee function. the asset will be available to one or more positively identified tee functions on the device. the secure os is responsible for determining and reporting the caller identity to the code implementing the invention for this restriction to be enforced. the subject “specific-hlos” indicates a specific hlos function. the asset will be available to one or more positively identified hlos applications on the device. the hlos application may identify itself using a challenge-response protocol, where the secret value required for responding to the challenges is embedded in an hlos shared library. this hlos shared library may use data obfuscation techniques to protect the challenge-response secret and shall verify the calling application's identity using code integrity verification. some embodiments may enable ticketing and authorized provisioning. for example, in some implementations, a provisioning server operator may be required to acquire an authorization ticket from the authorization server in order to provision assets. in such cases, the provisioning server certificate issued to this provisioning server will include a flag indicating that this provisioning server must present a valid authorization ticket with provisioning events. a provisioning server required to present an a authorization ticket must first obtain such tickets issued for its assets. in order to perform this ticket issuance, the provisioning server may contact the authorization server and present its own provisioning server certificate and a hash digest computed over an asset. the authorization server may log the transaction (for subsequent billing purposes), and may issue an authorization ticket containing a signature on the asset hash. the signature is computed using a ticket signing key which is signed by the authorization rot. the ticket will then be verified by receiving devices as a condition to their storing this asset. in order to authorize delegation records, the delegation server may send the public key of the delegated server (not its hash) to the authorization server. the authorization server may issue an authorization ticket by signing this public key. in order to minimize the number of ticketing transactions, the system may issue a single authorization ticket covering multiple assets. for example, the provisioning server may build a merkle tree containing all the assets as leaves, and request a ticket for the tree's top hash. the ticket request, and the resulting ticket, should indicate the tree size, which should be a power of 2. when the provisioning server then presents the ticket to the device, it will also present a minimal subset of the nodes to permit the device to reconstruct the merkle tree and verify that the top hash matches that stated in the ticket. reference is made to figs. 7a-7e , which are schematic block-diagram illustrations of a system 700 and its components, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments of the present invention. fig. 7a shows a demonstrative implementation of system 700 , which may comprise: an authorization server 701 , provisioning servers 731 - 733 , and electronic devices 771 - 772 . components of system 700 may be able to communicate with each other, directly and/or indirectly, via one or more wired and/or wireless communication links, via local area network (lan), via wide area network (wan), via tcp/ip or internet connection(s), or the like. it is noted that the units or components of figs. 7a-7e may comprise other suitable modules or sub-units, in order to perform or implement one or more of the operations or functionalities or protocols described herein. for example, an identification module may perform the operations associated with identification; an enrollment module may perform the operations associated with enrollment; a provisioning module may perform the operations associated with provisioning; a delegation module may perform the operations associated with delegation; a querying module may perform the operations associated with querying; and so forth. such modules may be server-side, may be client-side or device-side, or may be implemented on a provisioning server and/or delegation server and/or the authorization server and/or the electronic device(s). provisioning server 731 may provision asset(s) to device 771 . provisioning server 732 may have right(s) to provision asset(s) to device 772 . provisioning server 732 may operate as a delegation server; and may delegate some or all of its provisioning rights to “target” or “delegated” provisioning server 733 . the delegated provisioning server 733 , in turn, may provision asset(s) to device 772 , in strict accordance with the provisioning right(s) as previously delegated by delegation server 732 to delegated provisioning server 733 . in accordance with the present invention, delegation server 732 may not reveal the asset(s) that were actually provisioned by the delegated provisioning server 733 to device 772 ; even if delegation server 732 has access to all the communications that take place within system 700 . in accordance with the present invention, delegation server 732 may operate as an “introducing” server, and may “introduce” the delegated provisioning server 733 to device 772 . upon such “introduction” (or, delegation of provisioning rights), the delegated provisioning server 733 may send an encrypted asset (x) to device 772 ; and the delegation server 732 is not capable of deciphering or decrypting the encrypted asset (x), even though the delegation server 732 was the entity that “introduced” the delegated provisioning server 733 to device 772 in the first place, and even though the delegation server 732 may be able to listen on all the communications among components of system 700 . fig. 7b is a more detailed block-diagram illustration of a demonstrative implementation of authorization server 701 . fig. 7c is a block-diagram illustration of a demonstrative implementation of provisioning server 731 . fig. 7d is a block-diagram illustration of a demonstrative implementation of delegation server 732 . fig. 7e is a block-diagram illustration of a demonstrative implementation of device 772 . each one of the units shown in fig. 7a may comprise, for example: a processor 751 able to execute code or programs or applications; a memory unit 752 ; a storage unit 753 ; a wired or wireless communication unit 754 (e.g., transmitter, receiver, transceiver, network interface card (nic), modem, or the like); a key generator 755 able to generate keys, symmetric keys, asymmetric keys, private keys, public keys, encryption keys, decryption keys, key-pair(s), or the like; a random number generator (rng) 756 able to generate random or pseudo-random numbers which may be used by other sub-units or modules (e.g., by key generator 755 ); an encryption unit 757 or encryption module; a decryption unit 758 of decryption module; a signing unit 759 or signing module; a signature verification unit 760 or signature verification module; and other suitable hardware components and/or software modules. it is noted that for demonstrative purposes, and in order to not obscure the invention with excessive amount of components and unique numerals, the various units or modules that are mentioned in this paragraph are shown in figs. 7a-7e as having repeating numerals, even though each of them may be implemented differently across different units of system 700 ; for example, the processor is shown as processor 751 all across figs. 7b-7e , even though the authorization server 701 may comprise a first type of processor, the provisioning server 731 may comprise a second (different) type of processor, device 772 may comprise a third (different) type of processor, and so forth. turning to fig. 7b , the authorization server 701 may further comprise, for example: an authorization module 711 ; a single-asset pre-authorization ticket generator 712 ; and a multiple-asset pre-authorization ticket generator 713 . turning to fig. 7c , the provisioning server 731 may further comprise, for example: a feature activation module 781 ; an enrollment module 784 ; a server-side module 785 able to perform one or more operations as a provisioning server towards the device(s), or other operations or functionalities described herein in relation to the server side; a one-pass provisioning server-side module 786 ; a delegation record acquisition module 787 ; a query message generator 789 ; a pre-authorization ticket obtainer 792 ; and a merkel tree builder 793 . turning to fig. 7d , the delegation server 732 may comprise components 799 which may include some or all of the components of provisioning server 731 ; and may further comprise, for example: a delegation record generator 742 ; a delegation-server-side module 743 ; and a pre-authorization ticket obtainer 744 . turning to fig. 7e , device 772 may further comprise, for example: a secure storage 721 ; a trusted execution environment (tee) 722 ; a secure operating system (secure os) 723 ; a high-level operating system (hlos) 724 ; one or more root of trust (rot) elements 725 ; one or more delegation record(s) 726 ; a device-side module 729 able to implement or perform one or more of the functionalities described herein in relation to device-side operations; a one-pass provisioning device-side module 745 ; a delegation record processing module 746 ; a device-side personalization module 747 ; a query response message generator 748 ; an asset modification module 749 ; an asset removal module 705 ; an asset obtainment module 706 ; an asset consumption module 707 ; a permission field enforcing module 708 ; and a merkle tree reconstructor 709 . portions of the discussion herein may describe, for demonstrative purposes, secure and/or controlled provisioning of cryptographic assets (e.g., encryption key, decryption key, cryptographic key, password, personal identification number (pin), pass-phrase); however, the present invention may be utilized for, or in conjunction with, secure and/or controlled provisioning of other types of assets, for example, non-cryptographic assets, licenses, activation codes, digital rights management (drm) items or drm-related items, or the like. discussions utilizing terms such as “processing”, “computing”, “calculating”, “determining”, or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities within the computing system's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computing system's memories, registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. embodiments of the present invention may include apparatuses for performing the operations herein. this apparatus may be specially constructed for the desired purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, cd-roms, magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (roms), random access memories (rams) electrically programmable read-only memories (eproms), electrically erasable and programmable read only memories (eeproms), magnetic or optical cards, or any other type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and capable of being coupled to a computer system bus. the term “cryptographic operation” as used herein may include, for example, encoding, decoding, signing, authenticating, hashing, and/or performing other suitable operations related to cryptography and/or data security. for example, a “cryptographic operations module” or a “crypto-token module” may include an encoding module and/or a decoding module and/or other suitable modules or units. some embodiments may be implemented by using a suitable combination of hardware components and/or software modules, which may include, for example: a processor, a central processing unit (cpu), a digital signal processor (dsp), a single-core or multiple-core processor, a processing core, an integrated circuit (ic), a logic unit, a controller, buffers, accumulators, registers, memory units, storage units, input units (e.g., keyboard, keypad, touch-screen, stylus, physical buttons, microphone, on-screen interface), output units (e.g., screen, touch-screen, display unit, speakers, earphones), wired and/or wireless transceivers, wired and/or wireless communication links or networks (e.g., in accordance with ieee 802.11 and/or ieee 802.16 and/or other communication standards or protocols), network elements (e.g., network interface card (nic), network adapter, modem, router, hub, switch), power source, operating system (os), drivers, applications, and/or other suitable components. some embodiments may be implemented as an article or storage article (e.g., cd or dvd or “cloud”-based remote storage), which may store code or instructions or programs that, when executed by a computer or computing device or machine, cause such machine to perform a method in accordance with the invention. some embodiments may be implemented by using a software application or “app” or a “widget” which may be downloaded or purchased or obtained from a website or from an application store (or “app store” or an online marketplace). functions, operations, components and/or features described herein with reference to one or more embodiments of the present invention, may be combined with, or may be utilized in combination with, one or more other functions, operations, components and/or features described herein with reference to one or more other embodiments of the present invention. while certain features of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes, and equivalents may occur to those skilled in the art. accordingly, the claims are intended to cover all such modifications, substitutions, changes, and equivalents.
139-739-295-085-343	GB	[ "US", "JP", "EP", "GB", "DE" ]	B01J31/00,C07C45/45,B01J31/02,C07B61/00,C07C45/00,C07C45/72,C07C49/17,C07C67/00	1985-10-15T00:00:00	1985	[ "B01", "C07" ]	condensation of aldehydes	a liquid phase process for preparing alpha-hydroxyketones is provided. the process comprises condensing one or more aldehydes in the presence of a thiazolium salt and a sterically hindered base having a pka value greater than 12.0. the sterically hindered base is preferably either an amidine or a secondary or tertiary alkoxide of an alkali metal.	1. in a process for the production of an alpha-hydroxyketone by condensation of one or more aldehydes in the presence of a thiazolium salt and a base at a temperature in the range 20.degree.-150.degree. c. the improvement which comprises using, as base, a sterically hindered base having a pka value greater than 12.0. 2. a process as claimed in claim 1 wherin the sterically hindered base is an amidine. 3. a process as claimed in claim 2 wherein the amidine is a cyclic amidine. 4. a process as claimed in claim 2 wherein the amidine is a guanidine. 5. a process as claimed in claim 3 wherein the cyclic amidine is a cyclic guanidine. 6. a process as claimed in claim 3 wherein the cyclic amidine has an amidine group which forms part of a fused ring system containing 6 and 5 membered rings, or 6 and 7 membered rings or two six membered rings. 7. a process as claimed in claim 6 wherein the cyclic amidine is selected from the group consisting of 1,5-diazabicyclo[4.3.0]non-5-ene, 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene and 1,5,7-triazabicyclo-[4.4.0]dec-5-ene. 8. a process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the sterically hindered base is a secondary or tertiary alkoxide of an alkali metal. 9. a process as claimed in claim 8 wherein the sterically hindered base is either potassium tertiary butoxide or sodium isopropoxide. 10. a process for the production of 1,3-dihydroxyacetone which comprises self-condensing formaldehyde at a temperature in the 20.degree. to 150.degree. c. in the presence of a thiazolium salt and a sterically hindered base having a pka value grater than 12.0.	the present invention relates to the condensation of aldehydes in the presence of a thiazolium salt and a sterically hindered base, specifically a base having a pka value above 12.0. it is known from j. org. chem., 1985, 30, pp 603 et seq that formaldehyde can be reacted with another aldehyde in the presence of a thiazolium salt and triethylamine. the final product of the reaction is a 1-hydroxy-2-one type of compound. it has now been found that the rate of condensation of aldehydes and the selectivity to the desired product can be significantly improved by the use of a strong, sterically hindered base. accordingly, the present invention provides a process for the production of alpha-hydroxyketones by condensation of one or more aldehydes in the presence of a thiazolium salt and a base characterised in that the base is a sterically hindered base having a pka value greater than 12.0. the base used in the process of the present invention is one which has a pka value of greater than 12.0, as measured in water at 25.degree. c., and is one which is sterically hindered. sterically hindered bases are defined as either those bases which have at least one secondary or tertiary carbon atom directly bonded to one of their sites of basicity or amidines. preferably the sterically hindered base comprises either a secondary or tertiary alkoxide of an alkali metal or an amidine. by the term amidine is meant a compound containing the grouping ##str1## conveniently the free valencies of the nitrogen atom are attached to carbon atoms or hydrogen and the free valency on the carbon to another carbon or nitrogen atoms. in the last mentioned case the structure comprises a guanidine grouping. a preferred class of amidines is the cyclic amidines. cyclic amidines are defined as those amidines wherein at least one of the nitrogen atoms is part of an alicyclic or heterocyclic substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbyl ring. in the case where the amidine is a guanidine then any two of the three nitrogen atoms may be in the same or different rings. those nitrogen atoms which are not part of any such ring may form part of a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbyl group. polymer supported amidines can also be used. a preferred class of cyclic amidines is that in which the amidine group can form part of a fused ring system containing 6 and 5 membered rings or 6 and 7 membered rings or two six membered rings. specific examples of the alkali metal alkoxide include sodium isopropoxide and potassium tertiary butoxide (pka=greater than 16) and those of the amidines include 1,5-diazabicyclo(4.3.0)non-5-ene (pka=ca 12.8) 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (pka=12.8) and 1,5,7-triazabicyclo-[4.4.0]dec-5-ene (pka=13.5). the term alpha-hydroxyketone is defined as meaning any ketone which has one or more hydroxyl groups on a carbon atom adjacent to the carbonyl group of the ketone. included in such a definition are both alpha-monohydroxyketones and alpha-dihydroxyketones. in the case of dihydroxyketones the hydroxyl groups may be on the different carbon atoms. in principle any aldehyde may be condensed. the condensation may either be a self-condensation where one or more molecules of the same aldehyde condense or it may be a cross-condensation involving two or more aldehydes. typical examples include the cross-condensation of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde to generate hydroxyacetone and the self-condensation of three molecules of formaldehyde to produce 1,3-dihydroxyacetone. where the reaction is a cross-condensation it is preferable that one of the aldehyde reactants used is formaldehyde. when formaldehyde is a reactant either the monomeric form or a suitable oligomer or polymer may be used. for cross-condensations the different aldehydes are preferably present in approximately equimolar amounts. irrespective of whether it is a self-condensation or cross-condensation, the molar ratio of the aldehyde reactant(s) to the sterically hindered base is suitably in the range 100:1 to 1:1, preferably 20:1 to 5:1. the thiazolium salt used may be an alkyl, aralkyl, alkaryl or an aryl thiazolium salt. the thiazolium salt is preferably a thiazolium halide, for example 3-ethylbenzothiazolium bromide. the molar ratio of the thiazolium salt to the sterically hindered base is preferably 1:1. the thiazolium salt can be used in supported form i.e. bonded to an inert polymer backbone. the condensation is conveniently carried out in a solvent which is inert under the reaction conditions. examples of solvents are alcohols ethers and amides. the condensation is suitably carried out at a temperature in the range 20.degree.-150.degree. c., preferably in the range 40.degree.-100.degree. c. it is preferable to carry out the condensation under an inert atmosphere such as nitrogen, argon, helium etc. the alpha-hydroxyketones produced by the process of the present invention are useful as solvents, starting materials for organic synthesis or as gasoline supplements. example 1 a solution of acetaldehyde (15.0 mmol), formaldehyde (15.0 mmol), 1,5,7-triazabicyclo-[4.4.0]dec-5-ene, (1.5 mmol), and 3-ethylbenzothiazolium bromide (1.5 mmol) in dry ethanol (14 cm.sup.3) was heated to 60.degree. c. in a sealed tube, with stirring, for one hour then cooled in an ice/water bath. analysis of the liquid product indicated a 43.5% conversion of acetaldehyde with selectivities of 91.0% to hydroxyacetone and 7.4% to 3-hydroxybutanone. example 2 example 1 was repeated except that 1.5 mmol of 1,8-diazabicyclo-[5.4.0]undec-7-ene was used as the base. gas chromatography of the liquid product showed a 40.5% conversion of acetaldehyde with selectivities of 86.0% to hydroxyacetone and 8.2% to hydroxybutanone. example 3 example 1 was repeated except that 1.5 mmol of potassium t-butoxide was used as the base. analysis of the liquid product showed a 41.1% conversion of acetaldehyde with selectivities of 85.2% to hydroxyacetone and 7.4% to hydroxybutanone. example 4 example 1 was repeated in the absence of formaldehyde. analysis of the liquid product showed a 45.9% conversion of acetaldehyde with a selectivity to hydroxybutanone of 52.9%. example 5 example 1 was repeated using 1,3,5-trioxan as the source of formaldehyde. analysis of the liquid product showed a 40.8% conversion of acetaldehyde with selectivities of 27.2% to hydroxyacetone and 34.3% to hydroxybutanone. comparative test a example 1 was repeated except that triethylamine (1.5 mmol) (pka=11) was used instead of the guanidine base. analysis of the liquid product by gas chromatography showed a 24.9% conversion of acetaldehyde with selectivities of 84.5% to hydroxyacetone and 4.8% to hydroxybutanone. comparative example b paraformaldehyde (6.0 mmol), 3-ethylbenzothiazolium bromide (0.3 mmol), triethylamine (0.3 mmol), and 1,4-dioxan (2.0 cm.sup.3) were heated to 90.degree. c. in a sealed tube for 10 minutes then cooled in an ice/water bath. analysis of the liquid product showed a 22.2% conversion of formaldehyde with selectivity to 1,3-dihydroxyacetone of 72.5%. example 6 comparative example b was repeated except that 1, 5, 7-triazabicyclo [4.4.0]-dec-5-ene (0.3 mmol) was used in place of triethylamine. analysis of the liquid product showed a 32.8% conversion of formaldehyde with selectivity of 79.7% to 1,3-dihydroxyacetone. examples 7-10 example 1 was repeated except that the acetaldehyde was replaced by the appropriate aldehyde. the results obtained were as follows: ______________________________________ aldehyde rcho selectivity to example (rcho) conversion rcoch.sub.2 oh ______________________________________ 7 c.sub.2 h.sub.5 cho 17.6 97.9 8 (ch.sub.3).sub.2 chcho 28.2 96.0 9 c.sub.6 h.sub.5 cho 45.7 98.1 10 hoch.sub.2 cho 12.1 89.2 ______________________________________
139-865-448-850-585	EP	[ "US", "JP", "CN", "WO", "EP", "PT", "BR" ]	C08G77/398,C07F7/21,C08G77/388,C08G77/395,B01J31/22	2010-03-01T00:00:00	2010	[ "C08", "C07", "B01" ]	polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss)-linked ligands	polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss) linked ligand of the general formula (i) l[(r 1a ) n-1 (sio 1,5 ) n r 2a ] k [(r 1b ) n-1 sio 1,5 ) n r 2b ] l [(r 1c ) n-1 sio 1,5 ) n r 2c ] m (i) in which (r 1a,b,c ) n-1 (sio 1,5 ) n is a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss) with n=4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 or 18 andr 1a , r 1b , r 1c is each independently selected from the group consisting of same or different branched or linear c 1 -c 20 alkyl chains, cyclo alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, aryl, aryloxy, heteroaryl and arylalkyl groups,k, l, m is 0 or 1 provided that k+l+m≧1,r 2a , r 2b , r 2c is a spacer that binds the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss) to the ligand l and ligand l is an uncharged electron donor.	1. a catalyst comprising a transition metal and a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss)-linked ligand of formula (i): l[(r 1a ) n-1 (sio 1,5 ) n r 2a ] k [(r 1b ) n-1 sio 1,5 ) n r 2b ] l [(r 1c ) n-1 sio 1,5 ) n r 2c ] m (i) wherein: (r 1a,b,c ) n-1 (sio 1,5 ) n is a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss) with n=4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 or 18 and r 1a , r 1b , r 1c are each independently selected from the group consisting of the same or different branched or linear c 1 -c 20 alkyl chains, cyclo alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, aryl, aryloxy, heteroaryl and arylalkyl groups, k, l, and m are 0 or 1, provided that k+l+m≧1, r 2a , r 2b , r 2c are spacers that bind the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss) to the ligand l, and are each independently selected from the group consisting of linear or branched c 1 -c 20 alkyl, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, c 2 -c 20 alkenyl, c 2 -c 20 alkenyloxy, aryloxy, c 1 -c 20 alkylthio, c 1 -c 20 carboxylate, aryl or heteroaryl, c 1 -c 20 alkyl halogenide, annulated aryl or heteroaryl, and c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl groups which, in turn, may each be further substituted with one or more groups selected from: hetero atoms or aryl groups, ether, polyether, polythioether, amino, and aryl bridged alkyl chain where the aryl moiety can be further substituted and ligand l is an n-heterocyclic carbene; wherein said catalyst has a molecular weight of 1500 to 3000 g/mol; and wherein: said poss-linked ligand is optionally part of a bidentate polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-linked ligand of general formula (iii): wherein q is selected from: a branched or linear substituted or unsubstituted alkyl chain with a chain length ranging from c 1 to c 20 and a unsubstituted or substituted cyclic alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl group where the aryl and heteroaryl moieties can be further substituted; and wherein said catalyst is: i) soluble and catalytically active in one or more organic solvents, thereby permitting homogeneous catalysis in said solvents; and ii) filtratable by membrane filtration. 2. the catalyst of claim 1 , wherein said poss-linked ligand is part of a bidentate polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-linked ligand of general formula (iii): wherein q is selected from: a branched or linear substituted or unsubstituted alkyl chain with a chain length ranging from c 1 to c 20 and a unsubstituted or substituted cyclic alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl group where the aryl and heteroaryl moieties can be further substituted. 3. the catalyst of claim 1 , wherein r 1a , r 1b , r 1c are unsubstituted branched c 1 -c 20 alkyl chains and wherein the ligand in said poss-linked ligand exhibits improved solubility in toluene compared to the ligand when not in said poss-linked ligand. 4. the catalyst of claim 1 , wherein r 2a , r 2b , r 2c are each a linear c 1 -c 20 alkyl and wherein the ligand in said poss-linked ligand exhibits improved solubility in toluene compared to the ligand when not in said poss-linked ligand. 5. the catalyst of claim 1 , wherein k=1, l=0, and m=0. 6. the catalyst of claim 1 , wherein said poss-linked ligand is wherein: r 1 is selected from the group consisting of the same or different branched or linear c 1 -c 20 alkyl chains, cyclo alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, aryl, aryloxy, heteroaryl and arylalkyl groups, r 2 is selected from the group consisting of linear or branched c 1 -c 20 alkyl, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, c 2 -c 20 alkenyl, c 2 -c 20 alkenyloxy, aryloxy, c 1 -c 20 alkylthio, c 1 -c 20 carboxylate, aryl or heteroaryl, c 1 -c 20 alkyl halogenide, annulated aryl or heteroaryl, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl groups which, in turn, may each be further substituted with one or more groups selected from: hetero atoms or aryl groups, ether, polyether, polythioether, amino, aryl bridged alkyl chain, where the aryl moiety can be further substituted; r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, linear or branched c 1 -c 20 alkyl, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, c 2 -c 20 alkenyl, c 2 -c 20 alkenyloxy, aryloxy, c 1 -c 20 alkylthio, c 1 -c 20 carboxylate, aryl or heteroaryl, substituted halogen aryl or heteroaryl, c 1 -c 20 alkyl halogenide, annulated aryl or heteroaryl, and c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl groups which in turn may each be further substituted with one or more groups selected from hetero atom or aryl groups. 7. the catalyst of claim 1 , wherein said transition metal is palladium. 8. the catalyst of claim 7 , wherein said poss-linked ligand is part of a bidentate polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-linked ligand of general formula (iii): wherein q is selected from: a branched or linear substituted or unsubstituted alkyl chain with a chain length ranging from c 1 to c 20 and a unsubstituted or substituted cyclic alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl group where the aryl and heteroaryl moieties can be further substituted. 9. the catalyst of claim 7 , wherein r 1a , r 1b , and r 1c in said poss-linked ligand are unsubstituted branched c 1 -c 20 alkyl chains. 10. the catalyst of claim 7 , wherein k=1, l=0, and m=0 in said poss-linked ligand. 11. a transition metal catalyzed reaction, wherein said reaction is performed in the presence of the catalyst of claim 1 . 12. the transition metal catalyzed reaction of claim 11 , wherein said reaction is a c—c or a c—n cross coupling reaction. 13. the transition metal catalyzed reaction of claim 12 , wherein said reaction utilizes a catalyst comprising palladium as the transition metal. 14. the catalyst of claim 1 , wherein said poss-linked ligand is selected from the group consisting of: wherein: each r 1 is independently selected from the group consisting of the same or different branched or linear c 1 -c 20 alkyl chains, cyclo alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, aryl, aryloxy, heteroaryl and arylalkyl groups, each r 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of linear or branched c 1 -c 20 alkyl, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, c 2 -c 20 alkenyl, c 2 -c 20 alkenyloxy, aryloxy, c i -c 20 alkylthio, c 1 -c 20 carboxylate, aryl or heteroaryl, c 10 -c 20 alkyl halogenide, annulated aryl or heteroaryl, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl groups which, in turn, may each be further substituted with one or more groups selected from: hetero atoms or aryl groups, ether, polyether, polythioether, amino, aryl bridged alkyl chain where the aryl moiety can be further substituted, x − is a mono- or polyvalent organic or inorganic anion, r 3 , r 5 , r 6 are each independently selected from the group consisting of: hydrogen, linear or branched c 1 -c 20 alkyl, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, c 2 -c 20 alkenyl, c 2 - c 20 alkenyloxy, aryloxy, c 1 -c 20 alkylthio, c 1 -c 20 carboxylate, aryl or heteroaryl, substituted halogen aryl or heteroaryl, c 1 -c 20 alkyl halogenide, annulated aryl or heteroaryl, and c 3 - c io cyclic alkyl groups, which in turn may each be further substituted with one or more groups selected from hetero atom or aryl groups and r 7 is substituted or unsubstituted linear or branched c 1 -c 10 alkyl chain. 15. the catalyst of claim 1 , wherein said transition metal is ru(iii). 16. the transition metal catalyzed reaction of claim 12 , wherein said transition metal is ru(iii).	the work leading to this invention has been received funding from the european community 7th framework programme under grant agreement no. nmp3-sl-2008-214095. cross reference to related applications the present application is us national stage of international application, pct/ep2011/052885 which had an international filing date of feb. 28, 2011, and which was published in english under pct article 21(2) on sep. 9, 2011. priority is claimed to european application ep 10155081.2, filed on mar. 1, 2010 and to european application ep 10166004.1, filed on jun. 15, 2010. these prior applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. field of the invention the invention relates to polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss)-linked ligands and their salts, synthesis of said polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss)-linked ligands and their application in transition metal catalyzed cross-coupling reactions exemplified by palladium-based catalyst systems. background of the invention homogeneous transition metal catalyzed reactions have been refined into important processes for the synthesis of high-valued organic compounds (a) g. w. parshall, s. d. ittel, homogeneous catalysis: the application and chemistry by soluble transition metal complexes , wiley vch, 1992; b) f. diederich, p. j. stang metal catalyzed cross - coupling reactions ; wiley-vch: weinheim 1998. c) m. beller, c. bolm, transition metals for organic synthesis ; wiley-vch: weinheim 1998). from these, palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions have emerged as one of the most important reactions both in industry and academia. in recent years there have been numerous contributions in this area (a) j. tsuji, palladium reagents and catalysts: innovations in organic synthesis ; wiley: chicester, 1995.). palladium catalysts bearing an n-heterocyclic carbene and sterically demanding phosphine ligands display the most robust and active catalytic systems to date (review on pd-complexes of n-heterocyclic carbenes for cross-coupling reactions: m. g. organ et al. angew. chem. int. ed. 2007, vol 46, 16, 2768-2813, recent examples of applications of phosphine ligands: m. beller, adv. synth. catal. 2008, 350, 2437-2442, m. beller, chem.—eur. j. 2008, 14, 3645-3652; s. l. buchwald acc. chem. res. 2008, vol. 41, 11, 1461-1473 and references cited therein). however, the application of homogeneous transition metal catalysts can result in soluble metal contamination. these soluble metals can be detrimental to product quality and product yield. in the case of active pharmaceutical ingredient (api) development, the metal catalyst must be removed to a regulated level. this can be achieved by e.g. chemical metal scavenging substances or techniques where the metal residues are removed by physical methods such as extraction, distillation or precipitation. from the industrial point of view one attractive physical method constitutes membrane filtration technology in which the organic materials are removed by filtration and the metal catalyst remains within the membrane sphere. methods for removing the catalyst by either chemical or physical methods are usually very complex and thus expensive or in the case of membrane filtration can't be employed because there are no membranes available with the required selectivity. it is thus an object of the present invention to provide ligands and/or their salts as well as metal complexes comprising said ligands for homogeneous catalysed reactions with which the disadvantages of the prior art are at least reduced and that allow simple and cost efficient separation of metal complexes and reaction solution. this object is achieved with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss)-linked ligands according to general formula i and the corresponding salts according to general formula ii as well as bidentate polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss) linked ligands according to general formula iii and the corresponding salts according to general formula iv. the poss linked ligands according to the invention thus do not necessarily have to be monodentate. they could also be used as bidentate or tridentate ligands which are connected by linker molecules e.g. alkyl chains. the poss linked ligands in a bidentate or tridentate molecule can be identical or different from each other. since for the production of metal complexes often the salts of the ligands are used the invention also encompasses the salts of the poss linked ligands. said salts are obtained by the simple reaction of a leaving group containing poss-connected alkyl residue with the corresponding ligand. the leaving group may e.g. be halogen, sulfonate, triflate, acetate or phosphate. in which (r 1a,b,c ) n-1 (sio 1,5 ) n is a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss) with n=4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 or 18 and r 1a , r 1b , r 1c is each independently selected from the group consisting of same or different branched or linear c 1 -c 20 alkyl chains, cyclo alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, aryl, aryloxy, heteroaryl and arylalkyl groups, k, l, m is 0 or 1 provided that k+l+m≧1, r 2a , r 2b , r 2c is a spacer that binds the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss) to the ligand l, r 2a , r 2b , r 2c is each independently selected from the group consisting of linear or branched c 1 -c 20 alkyl, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, c 2 -c 20 alkenyl, c 2 -c 20 alkenyloxy, aryloxy, c 1 -c 20 alkylthio, c 1 -c 20 carboxylate, aryl or heteroaryl, c 1 -c 20 alkyl halogenide, annulated aryl or heteroaryl, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl groups which in turn may each be further substituted with one or more groups selected from hetero atom or aryl groups, ether, polyether polythioether, amino, aryl bridged alkyl chain where the aryl moiety can include further substitution pattern and in structures i and iii ligand l is an uncharged electron donor, whereas in structures ii and iv l + is a protonated species of l, h is hydrogen, q is a branched or linear substituted or unsubstituted alkyl chain with a chain length ranging from c 1 to c 20 . furthermore q may be a unsubstituted or substituted cyclic alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl group where the aryl and heteroaryl moieties can include further substitution pattern. x − is a mono- or polyvalent organic or inorganic anion the phrase “polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss)” as used herein means that the poss molecule can be regarded in a simplified manner as a roughly 3-dimensional geometric structure with flat faces and straight edges in which the si-atoms are located at the corners of the structure. for example for n=6 the poss molecule is a pentahedral structure in the shape of a triangular prism with 6 si atoms located at the corners of the structure. in another example with n=8 the poss molecule is a hexahedral structure in the shape of a cube with 8 si atoms located at the corners of the structure. it should be noted that substituents r in the structure shown above and in the following structures are not all identical. one substituent r is needed as spacer that binds the poss molecule to the ligand l, i.e. one of the substituents r equals substituent r 2 . for n=10 the poss molecule is a heptahedral structure in the shape of a pentagonal prism with 10 si atoms located at the corners of the structure. poss molecules are known to the skilled artisan since the first synthesis by lichtenhan et al. in 1995 (j. d. lichtenhan comments. inorg. chem. 1995, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 115-130; a. m. seifalian, acc. chem. res. 2005, vol 38, no. 11 879-884). the poss molecules which are also referred to as poss-cages display rigid and robust structures due to the strong framework resulting from their shorter bond. the spacer r 2a , r 2b , r 2c bonds to the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss) molecule over a si or o atom of the poss molecule. the spacer r 2a , r 2b , r 2c can bond to the ligand l via all bonds that are known to the skilled artisan preferably via c, o, n or s: surprisingly it was found that polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss) molecules with the generic formula ((r 1 ) n-1 (sio 1,5 ) n r 2 ) can be bonded to ligands and thus be used for enlarging the catalyst structure in order to enable membrane filtration separation. r 1 , r 2 is a generic term that also includes the a, b, c species as previously defined. one drawback of mass dependent membrane-filtration methodology is that a certain mass difference between the used catalyst and the substrates (and products) is required, so that retention of the catalyst is possible while product is transported through the membrane. thus, most filtration techniques are limited to small sized molecules with a much lower molecular mass than the catalyst, since commercially used catalysts are of molecular weight between 400 and 900 g/mol. as a solution to this problem, poss-enlarged ligands for homogeneous catalyst systems are presented in this invention. these catalysts preferably have molecular weights ranging from 1500 to 3000 g/mol. due to the increased mass of the catalyst a mass difference between catalyst and product can be reached that is sufficient to separate catalyst and product by membrane filtration. products of a much larger weight range can thus be separated from a homogeneous catalyst comprising poss enlarged ligands. the increased mass allows retention of the catalyst, passage of the product and final isolation of larger molecules by filtration. with respect to the production processes of intermediates and final products for the pharmaceutical industry, these new catalyst systems are of high-interest. in the context of the present invention ligands are chemical compounds comprising one or several atoms. a coordinate bond is formed when one or several atoms of a ligand contribute their electrons or their orbitals filled with electrons to another atom. the ligand contributing the electrons is designated as the “donor” whereas the atom accepting the free electrons or the electrons from a filled orbital of the donor is designated as the “acceptor”. ligand-atoms contributing the electrons or orbitals for the coordinate bonds, usually, are main-group-elements from groups iii-vii with low oxidation numbers (e.g. c, n) acceptors on the other hand, typically, are metal atoms with high oxidation numbers, e.g. z. b. pd(ii), ru(iii). an uncharged donor, thus, is a ligand without net-charge that contributes electrons or orbitals filled with electrons for a coordinate bond with an acceptor. examples of uncharged donors are (wherein the two dots preceeding the letter depict the electrons participating in the coordinate bond): ph3p:, r 2 n:, ph 3 as:, or: importantly, carbon too can act as an uncharged (electron) donor. mostly found as carbene, the carbon atom bears a pair of electrons in an orbital. these electrons are provided for an uncharged sigma bond with the metal center. this is usually expressed by structures drawn as: charged (electron) donors on the other hand carry a net-charge, i.e. cationic donors bear a positive net-charge and anionic donors bear a negative net-charge. the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss)-linked ligands and their salts according to the invention can be considered as “nanoparticles or nanocomposites” due to the fact that their size ranges several nanometers. even more surprisingly the poss linked ligands and their salts according to the present invention are on the one hand soluble which is a precondition for their use in homogeneous catalysis and on the other hand filtratable by membrane filtration methods which is a precondition for their cost efficient and simple removal out of a reaction solution. the use of poss linked ligands or their salts for homogeneous transition metal catalysts therefore combine in an unexpected manner the advantages of homogeneous catalysis, i.e. high accessibility and high activity with the advantage of a simple removal of the catalyst. the poss linked ligands or their salts therefore allow for the first time the use of homogeneous transition metal catalysts for continuous processes. the poss linked ligands in particular their salts have another advantage over ligands or their salts that are not linked to a poss molecule. ligand salts having very low solubility in common organic solvents e.g. toluene show significantly improved solubility when they are linked to a poss molecule. compared to imidazolium or phosphonium salts which are used for the construction of transition metal catalysts in homogeneous processes, poss enlarged salts thereof show drastically enhanced solubilities. the enhanced solubility will greatly facilitate the construction of the transition metal catalysts with these ligand salts in terms of ease of reaction performance. tests showed that in toluene, which is widely used as solvent in commercial applications, poss-free imidazolium and phosphonium salts are unsoluble whereas the poss-derivatives can be dissolved very well. in preferred embodiments the present invention also pertains the application of novel nanoparticle linked phosphine and n-heterocyclic carbene ligands in cross-coupling reactions, where nanometer sized polysilsesquioxane cubes or other polyhedral shapes as mentioned above serve as nano-anchors. preferred substituents r 1a , r 1b , r 1c of the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss) linked ligands according to the invention are unsubstituted branched alkyl chains. these substituents ensure solubility of the poss architecture in various organic polar and non-polar solvents. it is thus important that the preferred substituents r 1a-c bear no functional groups such as e.g. oh, nh or cooh. otherwise chemical interaction between these functional groups and the catalyst or other reagents that are employed within the application could result especially when l is a n-heterocyclic carbene. finally the said poss-substituents contribute to further enlargement of the poss-moiety. in another preferred embodiment of the invention the spacer molecules r 2a , r 2b , r 2c are linear c 1 -c 20 alkyl, more preferably linear c 3 -c 10 alkyl. in yet another preferred the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss) ligands are of the general formula (ii) l[(r 1a ) n-1 (sio 1,5 ) n r 2a ] k (ii) in which r 1a , n, r 2a have the same meaning as described above and k=1. the ligand l is preferably selected from the group consisting of n-heterocyclic carbene, amine, imine, phosphine, stibine, arsine, carbonyl compound, carboxyl compound, nitrile, alcohol, ether, thiol or thioether. more preferably ligand l of the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss) ligand according to the invention is a n-heterocyclic carbene. n-heterocyclic carbenes are extremely reactive intermediates that are very difficult to isolate. further, many substances destroy the n-heterocyclic carbenes through chemical interaction. it is thus surprising that it is possible to link the oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss) molecules with a n-heterocyclic carbene ligand. most preferably the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss) linked n-heterocyclic carbenes or their salts are of the following structures: additionally preferred are polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss) linked triazole-carbenes or their salts that are of the following structures: wherein: r 1 is the same or different branched or linear c 1 -c 20 alkyl chains, cyclo alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, aryl, aryloxy, arylalkyl groups, substitution pattern also includes further poss fragments having the same or different structure. r 1 may also be multiply substituted halogen alkyl, unsubstituted or substituted aryl groups and substituted alkyl groups, aryloxy, hetaryloxy groups. x − is a mono or polyvalent organic or inorganic anion. the spacer molecule r 2 that binds the poss-molecule and to the n-atom of the n-heterocyclic carbene is selected from the group consisting of c 1 -c 20 linear or branched alkyl chain, ether, polyether polythioether, amino, aryl bridged alkyl chain where the aryl moiety can include further substitution pattern, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, c 2 -c 20 alkenyl, c 2 -c 20 alkenyloxy, aryloxy, c 1 -c 20 alkylthio, c 1 -c 20 carboxylate, aryl or heteroaryl, c 1 -c 20 alkyl halogenide, annulated aryl or heteroaryl, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl groups which in turn may each be further substituted with one or more groups selected from hetero atom or aryl groups. additionally the alkyl chain can contain further complexing moieties like phosphine derivatives. j is preferably 1-5 giving ring sizes of the heterocyclic ligand ranging from 5 to 8. in case of j=1 the most preferred heterocyclic ring moiety is imidazole. in case that j is 2, 3, 4 or 5 the additional substituents have the same meaning as r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 . r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are the same or independent from each other and selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, linear or branched c 1 -c 20 alkyl, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, c 2 -c 20 alkenyl, c 2 -c 20 alkenyloxy, aryloxy, c 1 -c 20 alkylthio, c 1 -c 20 carboxylate, aryl or heteroaryl, multiply substituted halogen aryl or heteroaryl, c 1 -c 20 alkyl halogenide, multiply substituted halogen alkyl, annulated aryl or heteroaryl, c 3 -c 10 cyclic alkyl groups which in turn may each be further substituted with one or more groups selected from hetero atom or aryl groups. in addition, r 5 or r 6 may also depict a poss-molecule with the structure (r 1 ) n-1 (sio 1,5 ) n linked by a spacer molecule r 2 to a carbon atom of the n-heterocyclic carbenes or their salts of the above given structures. preferably the n-heterocyclic carbene contains an additional c 1 -c 20 alkyl chain-bridged poss-moiety leading to a n-heterocyclic carbene ligand with two poss molecules of the structure as depicted in formula vii and viia: r 2 is preferably an alkyl chain. both r 2 alkyl chain lengths can be independently or the same where both r 2 enclose branched and linear c 1 -c 20 (n=1-20) alkyl chains. additionally the poss linked n-heterocyclic carbene may be connected via an alkyl chain r 7 to another poss linked n-heterocyclic carbene, e.g. poss linked imidazole thus leading to a dimeric structure as depicted in formula viii and viiia: wherein r 7 is substituted or unsubstituted linear or branched c 1 -c 10 alkyl chain. moreover, any of the ligands substituents r 3 -r 6 may further include one or more functional groups. examples of suitable functional groups include but are not limited to: hydroxyl, amine, amide, nitrile, thiol, thioether, ketone, aldehyde, ester, ether, imine, nitro, carboxylic acid, disulfide, carbonate and halogen. further preferred embodiments include the following structures: unsymmetrical substituted n-heterocyclic carbenes and the corresponding salts thereof contain one c 1 -c 20 alkyl chain-bridged poss-moiety on one n-atom and a 2,4,6-trimethylbenzene (mesityl) substituent on the other n-atom of the imidazole moiety (formulas ix and ixa). preferred embodiments of poss linked triazole ligands are of following structures: in another preferred embodiment of the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (poss) linked ligands according to the invention ligand l is a phosphine or a salt thereof. the phosphine-based ligands or their salts disclosed in this present patent are preferably of general formula: wherein: r 1 is the same or different branched or linear c 1 -c 20 alkyl chains, cyclo alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, aryl, aryloxy, arylalkyl groups, substitution pattern also includes further poss fragments having the same or different structure. r 1 may also be multiply substituted halogen alkyl, unsubstituted or substituted aryl groups and substituted alkyl groups, aryloxy, hetaryloxy groups. x − is a mono- or polyvalent organic or halide anionic ion. r 8 and r 9 are the same or different branched or linear c 1 -c 20 alkyl chains, cyclo alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, aryl, aryloxy, arylalkyl groups. most preferably r 8 and r 9 are adamantyl radicals xi or xia where the phosphorus atom in xi is bound at the 2-position and in xia at the 1-position. the spacer r 2 between the poss-molecule and the attached phosphorus is selected from the group consisting of c 1 -c 20 linear or branched alkyl chain, ether, polyether polythioether, amino, aryl bridged alkyl chain where the aryl moiety can include further substitution pattern. in another preferred embodiment r 2 , r 8 and r 9 contain aryl groups, where the aryl groups are bonded to the p-atom and the poss moieties is attached via alkyl chains r 10 that are connected to the said aryl groups as depicted in formula xii. alkyl chain r 10 connected to the aryl group thus corresponds to spacer r 2 . wherein: r 10 is the same or different branched or linear c 1 -c 20 alkyl chains, cyclo alkyl, c 1 -c 20 alkoxy, aryl, aryloxy, arylalkyl groups, substitution pattern also includes further poss fragments having the same or different structure. r 10 may also be multiply substituted halogen alkyl, unsubstituted or substituted aryl groups and substituted alkyl groups, aryloxy, hetaryloxy groups. additionally the alkyl chain can contain further complexing moieties like imidazol derivatives (formula xii): due to their size the poss linked ligands according to the present invention can be considered as being nanoparticle anchored ligands. they can be used in metal catalyzed reactions in combination with nanofiltration technology. the nanometer-sized poss-molecule to which the catalyst is linked allows specific filtration of the reaction products and other components where the nano-anchored catalyst remains within the membrane sphere. most importantly high molecular weights of these ligands lead to the corresponding transition metal catalysts with molecular weights ranging from 1500 to 3000, which allows synthesis and filtration of larger sized molecules. this methodology allows not only simplified separation of the metal catalyst from the organic components. furthermore repeated multicycled processes and of course continuous processes are feasible as well. preferred examples of transition metal complexes with different poss linked ligands are given below: the corresponding transition metal complexes, preferably palladium complexes can be obtained and used in cross-coupling reactions in two ways: 1. they can be isolated after reaction of the phosphonium or imidazolium salts with bases and subsequent addition of a particular palladium source or 2. the active catalyst species can be obtained in the reaction mixture containing both catalyst compounds and the cross-coupling reaction partners in situ during the cross-coupling reaction in which a base is used in order to e.g. activate the palladium precatalyst or generate the active boronate species e.g. in the suzuki-miyaura reaction which is essential for the reaction. exemplary synthesis of poss-linked phosphine ligands and or their salts since most alkyl substituted free phosphines are prone to oxidation when exposed to air, it is far better to store these compounds as their phosphonium salts. the phosphonium salts are very stable compounds to moisture and air that can be stored for a very long time. the syntheses of the ligand salts are straightforward by simple reactions of polysilsesquioxane halides and the corresponding imidazole- and phosphine substrates. the poss linked phosphonium salts can be obtained by simple conversion of different poss-halides having different chain lengths (scheme 1) with a phosphine. in this particular example the preferred bisadamantyl substituted phosphine is used since this phosphine substitution pattern is found in benchmark catacxiuma®, which has proven to be a superior ligand in particularly manifold palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. connecting the poss cube with bisadamantylphosphine via an unbranched alkyl chain leads to a ligand structure which is very close to that found in catacxiuma®. this straight forward synthesis enables simple variation in both chain length between the phosphorus atom and the poss cube and the moieties on the p-atom. exemplary synthesis of imidazole-based nhc-ligands or their salts from the group of imidazole-based nhc-type ligands the salts can be obtained simple reactions starting from poss-halides and corresponding imidazole (scheme 2, left). for the synthesis of singly imidazole substituted poss-derivatives, the poss halides were added slowly two a melt of 10-30 fold excess of imidazol. simple take-up of the crude product in water and extraction with ether gave the products in excellent yields and high purity. the syntheses of symmetrically bis-poss functionalized imidazolium salts were achieved by slight modification of the methodology as demonstrated for the syntheses of mono poss-substituted imidazoles. the reaction of only two equivalents of imidazole with poss alkyl halides lead to the clean formation of the corresponding imidazolium salts (scheme 2, right). addition of at least two equivalents of imidazole is required, because the acid hx which results from the first reaction of one equivalent of imidazole needs to be buffered, otherwise incomplete reaction can occur. finally, unsymmetrical mesityl-substituted poss-enlarged imidazolium salts as n-heterocyclic carbene sources can be obtained by the simple protocol as well (scheme 2, top). with the mono poss enlarged imidazoles (from scheme 2) in hands, syntheses of various ligands that bear further poss-substituted imidazole moieties or even mixed phosphine-nhc ligands were realized. thus, starting from the mono poss-substituted imidazole derivatives, in the first step the alkyl bridging moiety was installed (scheme 3, left). to avoid formation of side products, first an excess of the alkylating reagent (1,2-dibromoethane, 1,3-dibromopropane) was heated to 120° c. and the corresponding poss-substituted imidazole derivative was added portionwise giving rise to the imidazolium salts. on the other hand addition of 0.5 eq. of the alkylating reagent to the molten poss-substituted imidazole derivative lead to the formation of the alkyl bridged dimer in very good yields (scheme 3, right). the mixed phosphine-imidazolium-based nhc type of ligands are obtained by conversion of the poss-containing singly alkylated imidazolium salts by treating with phosphines or their mineral salts respectively: the symmetric poss-substituted bis-imidazolium salts can be converted into the corresponding bis-nhc-transition metal complexes by treatment with a base and subsequent addition of an appropriate metal source. as an interesting candidate for general industrial application, palladium was taken as metal of choice for the synthesis of various carbene- and phosphine complexes and their employment in c—c- and c—n-coupling reactions. furthermore new efficient and straightforward synthesis methods were established for the manufacture of these ligands to design new transition metal catalysts. application of the ligands and catalysts in c—c- and c—n cross-coupling reactions the poss-based phosphine ligands were tested in a c—c cross-coupling reaction (heck-mizoroki reaction, scheme 5). scheme 5pph 3catacxiuma these results demonstrate that the poss-enlarged analogues of the benchmark ligand catacxiuma® display also an outstanding performance in cross-coupling reactions. some of the described imidazole derived n-heterocyclic carbene ligands which have been poss enlarged were converted to various palladium catalysts. from these the iodine p-bridged dimeric catalyst showed the highest activity in a c—n cross-coupling reaction (buchwald-hartwig reaction) in combination with poss-enlarged catacxiuma® ligands and were compared with further benchmark phosphine ligands (scheme 6). scheme 6 importantly, the highest catalytic activities were observed when the enlarged catalyst systems were used together with the poss-enlarged catacxiuma® ligands. in conclusion, the enlarged structure properties of poss-based phosphine ligands and imidazole-based nhc-palladium catalysts fulfil all of the requirements which were set for the application in cross-coupling reactions in connection with membrane-filtration technology. examples synthesis off poss-enlarged ligands general. the 31 p- and 1 h-nmr-spectra were measured on bruker drx 500 (500 mhz) spectrometer. for the 1 h-nmr-spectra the chemical shifts were given in ppm from tetramethylsilane as an internal standard (0.00 ppm) or the solvent residue peaks (cdcl 3 : 7.26 ppm, cd 2 cl 2 : 5.26 ppm). the chemical shifts of the 31 p resonances were determined relative to phosphoric acid (h 3 po 4 ) as an internal standard (0.00 ppm). peak multiciplities were abbreviated as: s, singlet; d, dublet, t, triplet, qr, quartet, qn, quintet, sep, septet; m, multiplet. all solvents and chemicals were used as purchased. reagents and solvents were purchased from aldrich. all poss starting materials were purchased from hybrid catalysis. di-(1-adamantyl)phosphine is an in-house product of evonik-degussa gmbh. general procedure for the syntheses of poss-phosphonium salts: slight excess of the poss starting material (1.1 equivalents related to the phosphine) was dissolved in toluene (or xylene) in a round bottomed flask fitted with a stirring bar by heating in an oil bath at 110° c. (130° c. for xylene, which is also the reaction temperature). the reaction mixture was stirred 2-4 hours whereupon the product precipitates as a solid. next the solid was isolated by filtration and was washed with hexane. the products are snow-white solids whereas the iodide salts become yellowish after longer storing. example 1 isobutyl-poss-propyl-3-di-(1-adamantyl)-phosphonium iodide 8.61 g (8.7 mmol) of propyliodoisobutyl poss was dissolved in 80 ml of xylene according to the general procedure. then 2.40 g (7.9 mmol) di(1-adamantyl)phosphine was added. after 12 h reaction time the reaction was accomplished. crude product was purified as described. 7.5 g (73%) of a snow-white product was yielded. 31 p-nmr (162 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ=19.08 ppm. example 2 isobutyl-poss-pentyl-5-di-(1-adamantyl)-phosphonium iodide 5.12 g (5 mmol) of pentyliodoisobutyl poss was dissolved in 60 ml of toluene according to the general procedure. then 1.46 g (4.8 mmol) di(1-adamantyl)phosphine was added. after 12 h reaction time the reaction was accomplished. purification of the crude product afforded 5.86 g (92%) of a snow-white product. 31 p-nmr (162 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ=22.93 ppm. example 3 isobutyl-poss-decyl-10-di-(1-adamantyl)-phosphonium iodide 1.02 g (0.94 mmol) of decyliodoisobutyl poss was dissolved in xylene at 130° c. and 278 mg (0.92 mmol) di(1-adamantyl)phosphine was added. after 12 h reaction time the reaction was accomplished. purification of the crude product afforded 600 mg (49%) of a snow-white to slightly yellow product. 31 p-nmr (162 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ=21.21 ppm. general procedure for the syntheses of poss-imidazolium salts: the procedure is similar to the previous. only variations are: toluene as solvent was used and the reaction temperature is 110° c. the reaction mixture stirred 12-16 hours whereupon the product precipitates as a solid. next toluene was added as much as it is required to keep the reaction mixture liquid and mobile. the purification of the crude product is accomplished on a silica gel column (solvent:mixtures hexane-ethyl acetate 10:1, then methanol. example 4 isobutyl-poss-propyl-3-(1-mesityl)-imidazolium iodide 5.00 g (5.1 mmol) of propyliodoisobutyl poss was dissolved in 60 ml of toluene according to the general procedure at 110° c. then 860 mg (4.6 mmol) of 1-mesitylimidazole was added. after 4 h the reaction was accomplished. work-up and purification according to the general procedure resulted in the isolation of 4.58 g (78%) pure product as a white solid. 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ 0.61, (m, 16h, si—ch 2 — and 7×poss-si—ch 2 —), 0.96 (m, 7×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 1.85 (m, 7h, 7×si—ch 2 —ch—), 2.07 (m, 2h, si—ch 2 —ch 2 —ch 2 —), 2.11 (s, 6h, 2 o-ch 3 -ph), 2.35 (s, 3h, p-ch 3 -ph), 4.76 (bt, 2h, —ch 2 —n lm ), 7.03 (s, 2h, 2 m-ph-h), 7.18 (s, 1h, 5-h lm ), 7.51 (s, 1h, 4-h lm ), 10.18 (s, 1h, 2-h lm ). example 5 isobutyl-poss-pentyl-5-(1-mesityl)-imidazolium iodide 2.00 g (2.1 mmol) of propylbromoisobutyl poss was dissolved in 60 ml of toluene according to the general procedure at 110° c. then 367 mg (1.9 mmol) of 1-mesitylimidazole was added. after 16 h the reaction was accomplished. work-up and purification according to the general procedure resulted in the isolation of 3.05 g (67%) pure product as a white solid. 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ 0.58-0.61, (m, 16h, si—ch 2 — and 7×poss-si—ch 2 —), 0.96, (m, 42h 7×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 1.43 (m, 4h, 2-ch2-), 1.85 (m, 7h, 7×ch), 1.95 (m, 2h, —ch2-), 2.08 (s, 6h, 2 o-ch 3 -ph), 2.35 (s, 3h, 2 m-ph-h), 4.66 (t, j=7.0 hz, 2h, —ch 2 —n), 7.01 (s, 2h, 2 m-ph-h), 6.48 (s, 1h, 5-h lm ), 7.26 (m, 1h, 5-h lm ), 7.70 (m, 1h, 4-h lm ) 10.06 (s, 1h, 2-him). example 6 isobutyl-poss-decyl-10-(1-mesityl)-imidazolium iodide 5.00 g (4.8 mmol) of decylbromoisobutyl poss was dissolved in 60 ml of toluene according to the general procedure at 110° c. then 816 mg (4.4 mmol) of 1-mesitylimidazole was added. after 1 h the reaction was accomplished. work-up and purification according to the general procedure resulted in the isolation of 4.94 g (92%) pure product as a white solid. 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ 0.57-0.61, (m, 16h, si—ch 2 — and 7×poss-si—ch 2 —), 0.96, (m, 42h 7×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 1.25 (m, 8h, 4-ch2-), 1.37 (m, 6h, 3-ch2-), 1.86 (sep, j=6.7 hz, 7h, 7×poss-ch), 1.99 (m, 2h, —ch2-), 2.08 (s, 6h, 2 o-ch 3 -ph), 2.35 (s, 3h, 2 m-ph-h), 4.66 (t, j=7.0 hz, 2h, —ch 2 —n), 7.00 (s, 2h, 2 m-ph-h), 6.48 (s, 1h, 5-h lm ), 7.19 (m, 1h, 5-h lm ), 7.72 (m, 1h, 4-h lm ) 10.50 (s, 1h, 2-h lm ). general procedure for the syntheses of poss-imidazole derivatives 10-40 fold excess of imidazole was dissolved in toluene in a round bottomed flask at 110° c. to this solution the poss compounds were added. the reaction mixture was stirred from 4 h to 24 h at this temperature. then excess imidazole was removed by extraction with water and the product was extracted with diethyl ether. after a short silica-gel column filtration (ethyl acetate) the product was separated from the bis-poss imidazole side product. example 7 isobutyl-poss-propyl-3-imidazole 14.6 g (214 mmol) of imidazole was dissolved in 250 ml of toluene and 5.77 g (5.85 mmol) of isobutyl-poss-propyl-3-iodide was added portionwise to the solution. work-up gave 5.27 g (97%) of pure snow-white product. 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ 0.60 (m, 16h, si—ch 2 — and 7×poss-si—ch 2 —), 0.95, (m, 42h 7×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 1.85 (m, 9h, 7×poss-ch, ch 2 ), 3.91 (t, j=7.1 hz, 2h, ch 2 ), 6.87, 7.06, 7.44 (3 m, 1h each, imidazole-h). example 8 isobutyl-poss-pentyl-5-imidazole 5.37 g (79 mmol) of imidazole were dissolved in 60 ml of toluene at the given temperature. to this solution 2.0 g (3.95 mmol) of isobutyl-poss-pentyl-5-iodide was added. workup gave 3.26 g (87% yield) of the product as a white solid. 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ 0.60 (m, 16h, si—ch 2 — and 7×poss-si—ch 2 —), 0.95, (m, 42h 7×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 1.34 (m, 2h, ch 2 ), 1.44 (m, 2h, ch 2 ), 1.77 (m, 2h, ch 2 ), 1.85 (sep, j=6.7 hz, 7×poss-ch), 3.91 (t, j=7.3 hz, 2h, ch 2 ), 6.89, 7.05, 7.46 (3 m, 1h each, imidazole-h). example 9 isobutyl-poss-decyl-10-imidazole 10.6 g (157 mmol) of imidazole was dissolved in 200 ml of toluene at the given temperature and was treated with 8.5 g (7.85 mmol) of isobutyl-poss-decyl-10-iodide. the workup followed after 12 h reaction time and gave 5.56 g (61% yield) of a white solid. 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ 0.60 (m, 16h, si—ch 2 — and 7×poss-si—ch 2 —), 0.96, (m, 42h 7×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 1.25-1.30 (m, 12h, ch 2 ), 1.38 (m, 2h, ch 2 ), 1.77 (m, 2h, ch 2 ), 1.85 (sep, j=6.7 hz, 7×poss-ch), 3.91 (t, j=7.2 hz, 2h, ch 2 ), 6.89, 7.05, 7.46 (3 m, 1h each, imidazole-h). example 10 1,3-bis(isobutyl-poss-pentyl)-imidazolium iodide 6.0 g (5.92 mmol) of isobutyl-poss-pentyl-5-iodide was dissolved in 70 ml of toluene at 110° c. with stirring. then two equivalents (806 mg, 18.4 mmol) of imidazole which was dissolved in 3 ml hot toluene was added. after 12 h of stirring the reaction was complete. the crude product was treated with water-diethylether. the aqueous phase was discarded and the organic phase was dried using magnesium sulphate. after removal of the solvent 5.17 g (82% yield) of a yellow solid was isolated. 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ 0.60 (m, 32h, 2×si—ch 2 — and 14×poss-si—ch 2 —), 0.95, (m, 84h, 14×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 1.31-1.45 (m, 8h, 4×ch 2 ), 1.75-1.93 (m, 18h, 2ch 2 and 14×poss-ch), 3.91 (t, j=7.2 hz, 2h, ch 2 ), 4.33 (t, j=7.5 hz, 2h, 2ch 2 ), 6.89, 7.05, 10.57 (3 m, 1h each, imidazole-h). example 11 1-(isobutyl-poss-propyl)-3-(bromoetyl)imidazolium bromide 8.59 g (46 mmol) of dibromoethane was heated to 120° c. and 2.18 g (2.3 mmol) of isobutyl-poss-pentyl-3-imidazole was added portionwise with stirring. after 2 h reaction time the crude reaction mixture was purified according to the general procedure and 1.09 (42% yield) of a white solid as product was isolated. 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ 0.59 (m, 16h, si—ch 2 — and 7×poss-si—ch 2 —), 0.95, (m, 42h 7×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 1.35, 1.44 (2 m, 2h each, 2ch 2 ), 1.85 (m, 9h, —ch 2 —, 7×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 3.90 (t, j=5.9 hz, 2h, —ch 2 —), 4.21 (m, 2h, —ch 2 —), 4.71 (t, j=5.8 hz, 2h, —ch 2 —), 7.66, 7.87, 9.58 (3 m, 1h each, imdazole-h). example 12 1-(isobutyl-poss-propyl)-3-(3-brompropyl)imidazolium bromide 13.4 g (66 mmol) of 1,3-dibromopropane was heated to 120° c. then 3.1 g (3.3 mmol) of isobutyl-poss-propyl-3-imidazole portionwise over 1 h. after 6 h reaction time the crude reaction mixture was purified by column chromatography using silica gel (solvents: hexane-ethyl acetate 10:1, then methanol). the product was obtained as a white solid (2.75 g, 74% yield). 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ 0.61 (m, 16h, —si—ch 2 , 7×poss-si—ch 2 —), 0.95, (m, 42h 7×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 1.85 (sep, j=6.7 hz, 7×poss-ch 2.04 (m, 2h, ch 2 , 7×poss-ch), 2.63 (m, 2h, ch 2 ), 3.54 (t, j=6.0 hz, 2h, ch 2 ), 4.36 (t, j=7.1 hz, 2h, ch 2 ), 7.17, 7.46, 10.88 (3 m, 1h each, imidazole-h). example 13 1-(isobutyl-poss-pentyl)-3-(3-brompropyl)imidazolium bromide 6.0 g 30 mmol) of 1,3-dibromopropane was heated to 120° c. then 1.56 g (1.63 mmol) of isobutyl-poss-pentyl-3-imidazole was added. after 6 h reaction time the crude reaction mixture was purified by column chromatography using silica gel (solvents: hexane-ethyl acetate 10:1, then methanol). the product was obtained as a white solid (1.70 g, 90% yield). 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ 0.60 (m, 16h, —si—ch 2 , 7×poss-si—ch 2 —), 0.95, (m, 42h 7×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 1.40-1.46 (m, 4h, 2ch 2 ), 1.82-1.92 (m, 9h, ch 2 , 7×poss-ch), 2.62 (m, 2h, ch 2 ), 3.48 (m, 2h, ch 2 ), 4.30 (m, 2h, ch 2 ), 4.65 (m, 2h, ch 2 ), 7.21, 7.41, 10.81 (3 m, 1h each, imidazole-h). example 14 1,2-bis[(3-isobutyl-poss-pentyl]imidzaloyl-ethane 1.63 g (1.71 mmol, 1.5 eq.) of isobutyl-poss-pentyl-5-imidazole was molten at 130° c. with the assistance of 3 ml toluene. to this melt 227 mg (1.21 mmol) of 1,2-dibromoethane which was dissolved in 0.5 ml of toluene was added via a pipette. the solvent together with excess of 1,2-dibromoethane were removed in vacuo and 1.51 g (77% yield) of the pure product was obtained as a white solid. 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ 0.61 (m, 16h, —si—ch 2 , 7×poss-si—ch 2 —), 0.96, (m, 42h 7×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 1.32-1.47 (m, 4h, 2ch 2 ), 1.78-1.91 (m, 9h, ch 2 , 7×poss-ch), 3.96 (m, 2h, ch 2 ), 4.14 (m, 2h, bridge-ch 2 ), 6.93, 7.69, 10.81 (3 m, 1h each, imidazole-h). example 15 1,3-bis[(3-isobutyl-poss-pentyl]imidzaloyl-propane 2.0 g (2.13 mmol) of isobutyl-poss-pentyl-5-imidazole was molten at 130° c. with the assistance of 3 ml of toluene. to this melt a toluene solution of 215 mg (1.065 mmol) 1,3-dibromopropane was added via pipette. the mixture was stirred 2 h at this temperature. the reaction is completed when the melt becomes ductile. the solvent is removed in vacuo and 2.0 g (81% yield) of the pure product is isolated as a white solid. 1 h-nmr (500 mhz, cdcl 3 ): δ 0.61 (m, 16h, —si—ch 2 , 7×poss-si—ch 2 —), 0.96, (m, 42h 7×(ch 3 ) 2 ch), 1.38-1.45 (m, 8h, 4 ch 2 ), 1.82-1.89 (m, 18h, 2×ch 2 , 14×poss-ch), 2.93 (m, 2h, bridge-ch 2 ), 4.13 (m, 4h, ch 2 ), 4.21 (m, 4h, 2×ch 2 ), 4.77 (m, 4h, 2 bridge-ch 2 ), 7.14, 8.23, 10.25 (3 m, 1h each, imidazole-h).

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