U.S. patent application number 14/175851 was filed with the patent office on 2014-12-18 for air distribution method.
The applicant listed for this patent is Adel Al ANSARI. Invention is credited to Adel Al ANSARI.
Application Number | 20140370800 14/175851 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 52019622 |
Filed Date | 2014-12-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140370800 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
ANSARI; Adel Al |
December 18, 2014 |
AIR DISTRIBUTION METHOD
Abstract
The present invention relates to an improved method of
distributing fresh air into a building. The method comprises the
steps of providing the fresh air; subjecting the fresh air to
pre-cooling; channeling the pre-cooled fresh air into an air
conditioning unit; and transferring the fresh air into the
building's rooms. The fresh air displaces air within the rooms,
which is exhausted out of the building without being channeled back
to the cycle. The present invention aims to distribute fresh air
into the building using an open air cycle to improve the indoor air
quality (IAQ) at less energy consumption.
Inventors: |
ANSARI; Adel Al; (Kuala
Lumpur, MY) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ANSARI; Adel Al |
Kuala Lumpur |
|
MY |
|
|
Family ID: |
52019622 |
Appl. No.: |
14/175851 |
Filed: |
February 7, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
454/284 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F24F 3/044 20130101;
F24F 13/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
454/284 |
International
Class: |
F24F 13/02 20060101
F24F013/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 14, 2013 |
MY |
PI2013002225 |
Claims
1. A method of distributing fresh air into a building using an open
air cycle, comprising the steps of: providing the fresh air;
subjecting the fresh air to pre-cooling; channeling the pre-cooled
fresh air into an air conditioning unit; and transferring the fresh
air into a room inside the building; wherein the fresh air
displaces air within the rooms, the displaced air being exhausted
out of the building without being channeled back to the cycle.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the fresh air reduces
carbon dioxide level in the room to improve indoor air quality
(IAQ).
3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the fresh air increases
pressure in the room due to offset of more of the fresh air than
the displaced air which reduces energy across an air-conditioning
cooling coil.
4. A method according to claim 1, wherein an increase of pressure
in the room increases temperature of the fresh air supplied to the
room, wherein the increase of temperature reduces temperature drop
required for the pre-cooling.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a method of distributing
air. More particularly, the present invention relates to an
improved method of distributing fresh air into a building.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In the past few years, many systems have been developed to
circulate air in the building. It is also found that, in the prior
art, a wide variety of systems are made available for the purpose
of improving air distribution within the buildings. In order to
comply with some international or national regulations and
guidelines, a minimum amount of fresh air is required to make-up in
the building such that it reduces accumulation of carbon dioxide
CO.sub.2 in stale air or constituents which may causes inhalation
difficulties incur a mishap and spread contagious diseases.
CO.sub.2 produced when people breath may accumulate in the building
to an unacceptable level if the amount of outdoor air brought into
and distributed throughout the building is insufficient. Basically,
a chain of processes that includes bringing in outdoor air,
conditioning and mixing the outdoor air with indoor air,
distributing and exhausting some portion of the indoor air to
outside, is important and no deterioration is tolerable at any
situation. A process that does not consider the minimum requirement
of ventilation as per standard such as an indoor AC unit which
circulates the room air without any make-up of an outdoor air is a
disadvantage.
[0003] As such, adequate ventilation for a healthy environment is
crucial and must be provided and maintained in buildings where
people live and work. However, in some cases, particularly in the
case of a conventional variable air volume (VAV) system when it is
in shutoff position, it is difficult to maintain a flow of fresh
air into the building. In the design of effective ventilation
system for buildings, the objective is normally to attain a steady
state condition. Accordingly, fresh air should be controlled during
the process of volumetric air flow to satisfy desired rooms and
zones' setting conditions while keeping minimum required flow of
fresh air for proper ventilation.
[0004] A heating, ventilating and air conditioning system, or HVAC
as it is sometime referred to, for example, provides solutions for
some of the problems in the prior art. The HVAC comprises, to
condition air for cooling, an air conditioning (AC) unit which
forces conditioned air to building so as to satisfy demands called
by thermostat switch in rooms. It is found that the AC unit suffers
from many drawbacks such as an increase in utility billing rate at
this stage of minimum air flow where at least 30% air flow is
required for all rooms to maintain the required flow of fresh air.
In the case of buildings with many rooms for mix use, i.e.
hospitals, hotels and any shared room's buildings, the HVAC
standards & regulations require the installation multiple AC
unit equivalent to the number of rooms and zones to prevent mixing
of room air which results in high maintenance and an increase in
utility bill charges. Despite compliance with the international
American Society of Heating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
(ASHRAE), the conventional design of HVAC system for buildings
still delivers poor indoor air quality and increases utility
demand.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,583 describes an optimized conditioning
system which is useful in a variable volume air conditioning system
where assures a predetermined amount of fresh air taken into a
building. Also, described in the patent is an air property sensor
adapted for regulating a damper means to maintain the minimum
outdoor air at a predetermined value.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,982, on the other hand, describes
optimal ventilation control strategy for multi zones ventilation
systems which integrates flow rate standards with the concept of
age of air. The later patent also describes the strategy to
minimize the amount of outdoor air required to maintain the age of
the zone air.
[0007] Taking into consideration of the above, the present
invention aims to improve indoor air quality (IAQ) provided by the
conventional AC unit for public buildings such as hospitals,
schools and hotels with less energy consumption and which complies
with international standards. The present invention aims to provide
a solution to improve the indoor air quality (IAQ) by way of
providing fresh air intake while exhausting accumulated carbon
dioxide in the building with lesser energy consumption. It is
important to note that the solution provided by the present
invention is contradicted to the conventional art which describes a
ventilation system with more fresh air but higher energy
consumption.
[0008] Accordingly, it is desired to provide an improved method of
distributing fresh air supplied into a building that involves less
energy and provides efficient heat recovery. Although the teachings
of the prior art disclose methods of distributing air into
buildings, none specifically relates to an improved method of
distributing fresh air as claimed in the present invention.
Therefore, a need for the aforementioned features of the present
invention is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention
in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the
invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the
invention. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of
the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the
invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed
description that is presented later.
[0010] It is an object of the present invention is to provide a
method of distributing air for comfort conditioning by way of
introducing absolute fresh air into a building.
[0011] It is another object of the present invention to provide a
method of distributing fresh air that is capable of reducing the
energy required to operate an air conditioning unit.
[0012] Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of
distributing fresh air into a building that utilizes an open air
cycle. The method comprises the steps of providing the fresh air;
subjecting the fresh air to pre-cooling; channeling the pre-cooled
fresh air into an air conditioning unit; and transferring the fresh
air into the building's rooms. The fresh air displaces air within
the rooms, which is exhausted out of the building without being
channeled back to the cycle.
[0013] The fresh air increases the pressure in the room due to
offset of more fresh air than the displaced air which reduces
energy across the air-conditioning cooling coil. The increase of
pressure in the room increases the temperature of the fresh air
supplied to the room, wherein the increase of temperature reduces
the temperature drop required for the pre-cooling.
[0014] It is an advantage of the present invention to provide an
improved indoor air quality (IAQ) for ventilation of a building.
The present invention is adapted to supply fresh air into the
building and no recirculated air or return air will be channeled
back to the cycle. It is an advantage that the present invention
consumes less energy although the recirculated air is not utilized,
and it is completed by way of engaging an improved heat recovery
strategy to the cycle.
[0015] It is another advantage of the present invention to provide
a uniformly air supply distribution in the building. The method
involves an induction variable air volume valve damper which
operates in accordance with the desired temperature and fan blow
configured by a user. The induction variable air volume valve
damper is configured to supply air flow comprises at least about
30% room air present in the building and eliminates cold air
damping as well as regularly flushes the room air to cause comfort
conditioning.
[0016] It is yet another advantage of the present invention to
provide an improved method of distributing air which involves less
number of unit operations such as air conditioning unit compared to
conventional ventilation system. As a result, reliability of the
unit upon installation and maintenance is substantially increased.
It is also an advantage of the present invention to significantly
reduce operation and installation costs, maintenance costs and
utility billing rates to as higher as about 90% margin.
[0017] The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and
advantages of the present invention will become better understood
from a careful reading of a detailed description provided herein
below with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of
the attendant advantages thereof will be readily as the same
becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed
description when considered in connection with the accompanying
drawings, wherein:
[0019] FIG. 1A is a diagram of a conventional system of close air
cycle taught by the prior art.
[0020] FIG. 1B is a diagram of a preferred embodiment of a system
with air distribution method using open air cycle according to the
present invention.
[0021] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the preferred embodiment of the
system for ventilation which comprises three energy recovery
devices, including an organic cooling filter, an energy box unit
and an air conditioning unit.
[0022] It is noted that the drawings may not be to scale. The
drawings are intended to depict only typical aspects of the
invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the
scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numberings represent
like elements between the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0023] The invention and its various embodiments can now be better
understood by turning to the following detailed description wherein
illustrated embodiments are described. It is to be expressly
understood that the illustrated embodiments are set forth as
examples and not by way of limitations on the invention as
ultimately defined in the claims.
[0024] As used herein, the following terms carry the indicated
meanings:
[0025] "Air conditioning unit" is the device that changes humidity
levels, temperature or quality of air.
[0026] "Cubic Feet per Minute" is the measurement of airflow
volume.
[0027] "Damper" is the device which can be found at the exit point
of ductwork, this plate usually contains grates that can be opened
or closed to control the flow of air into a zone.
[0028] "Heat Exchanger" is the device through which heat is
transferred to a cold area or surface.
[0029] "Conditioned Air" is the air that has been heated, cooled,
humidified, or dehumidified to maintain an interior space within
the "comfort zone."
[0030] "Heating Load" is the rate of heat flow required to maintain
a specific indoor temperature; usually measured in Btu per
hour.
[0031] "IAP" is the indoor air pollution. "IAQ" is the indoor air
quality.
[0032] "Outdoor Air" is the air taken from the external atmosphere
and, therefore, not previously circulated through the system,
sometimes referred to as "fresh air".
[0033] "Return Air" is the air that is returned to a heating or
cooling appliance from a heated or cooled space.
[0034] "Thermostat" is the sensors that monitor and control the
output of an HVAC system.
[0035] "Ton (Air Conditioning)" is the unit of air cooling
capacity; 12,000 Btu per hour.
[0036] "Variable Air Volume System (VAV)" is the air handling
system that conditions the air to constant temperature and varies
the outside airflow to ensure thermal comfort.
[0037] "Zoning" is the system that divides a home, office or space
into different regions in order to better control the temperature
and effectiveness of a heating and cooling system.
[0038] The present invention is also known as Less Energy All Fresh
Air-Cold Air Distribution or "LEAFA-CAD" (registered trademarks).
"LEAFA-BCS" is the abbreviation formed for Less Energy All Fresh
Air--Building Cooling System.
[0039] ASHRAE, or American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and
Air Conditioning Engineers introduce ASHRAE Standard 62 which
provides specific guidelines for minimum acceptable ventilation
parameter. On the other hand, one is required to specify a minimum
ventilation rates and indoor air quality (IAQ) that will be
acceptable to human occupants and are intended to minimize the
potential for adverse health effects. If local building codes
reference ASHRAE Standard 62 the requirements of the standard
become an integral part of the code. The minimum acceptable
ventilation parameter includes in terms of outdoor air flow rates.
The standard applies to all types of facilities, including dry
cleaners, laundries, hotels, dormitories, retails stores, sports
and amusement facilities, and teaching, convalescent and
correctional facilities. The specified rates at which outdoor air
must be supplied to each room within the facility range from 25 to
100 cubic meter per hour per person, depending on the activities
that normally occur in that room.
[0040] The inventor with his about 25 years experiences in
designing & commissioning heating, ventilating and
air-conditioning (HVAC) systems for more than hundreds of buildings
and projects specifically related to air distribution for cooling,
has recognized that by changing the air cycle between the air
conditioning unit and the building is the secret for the solution.
The air cycle in the prior art in FIG. 1a is where the air
conditioning unit will cool down the air across its coil and send
it as supply air to the building and the same air will return back
to the air conditioning unit. Thus, such cycle is considered to
known as a close air cycle (CAC).
[0041] It is the idea and thought of the inventor that if such CAC
is interchanged to an open air cycle (OAC) as illustrated in FIG.
1b, then the indoor air quality (IAQ) problem in the prior art will
be totally solved and being capable to control the amount of fresh
air entering the building as it will be 100% fresh air which is the
best ever choice for the IAQ in the building. Such new approach
will be a roadmap to get out of the box and overcome the big
challenge. Energy consumption is one of the main concerns in the
present invention. Thus, it is preferred that the energy is
controlled to be at par such that no consumption increment is
implemented to make the new approach is the ultimate solution.
[0042] It is one of the drawbacks in the close air cycle (CAC)
where the air conditioning (AC) unit designed for public buildings
such as hotels, hospitals and schools never allow the mixing of the
fresh air and room air from different rooms via one air
conditioning unit as per standard by the ASHRAE and other local
regulations. As a result, calculated actual peak load is increased
by minimum of about 10% due to the different between the building
block load and zone load as well as due to air conditioning
selection according to the manufactures range of size. For example,
a bigger building with multiple rooms has capacities which are
higher than the actual peak load by at least 15%.
[0043] Accordingly, the concept of this invention is to provide a
method of distributing fresh air into a building which is less
energy all fresh air. The amount of fresh air in the close air
cycle (prior art) is at the minimum percentage of about 10% (+) as
recommended by ASHRAE standard or local regulations for any related
building application. Meanwhile, in the present invention, the
inventor has provided a new approach using the open air cycle which
is predicted to provide 100% fresh air into the building.
[0044] The present invention with the open air cycle (OAC) allows
such mixing rooms in one HVAC system. As for bigger building/rooms,
an engineer could reduce the capacity of the units by about 15% due
to the gain from the zones and block load plus the use of diversity
factor. Surprisingly, the interchanged from the close air cycle
(CAC) to the open air cycle (OAC) is proven to save energy of about
25-30%, and add credits to the system for ventilation according the
present invention which is using the open air cycle while
introducing all 100% fresh air into the building.
[0045] Considerable attention has been made on the method of
distributing and introducing more fresh air into the building at a
very less energy consumption as well as at reduced number of unit
operations utilized in the OAC. The OAC of the present invention
practices no return or circulated air being channeled back into the
building's rooms. Furthermore, it is surprisingly to note that the
present invention which adapted the abovementioned OAC harvests
significant increased IAQ, increased reliability and availability,
while consumes lesser energy of about 30-50%, reduced operation and
maintenance costs up to 90%, and involves lesser number of unit
operations.
[0046] The present invention will now be described with referring
to the drawings with specific numberings.
[0047] In FIG. 1A, a conventional system of close air cycle taught
by the prior art is designated by a reference numeral 100. Outdoor
fresh air 112 initially enters into a building 110 and subsequently
an HVAC assembly 190 which cools down the fresh air 112 across its
coil. The HVAC assembly 190 then delivers the cooled fresh air 112
into a room 118 inside the building 110 in a direction 120. The
cooled fresh air 112 then circulates in the room 118 and displaces
room air 116, while keeping the room air 116 inside the building
110. The displaced room air 116 then returns back to the HVAC
assembly 190 in a direction 122. As shown, the conventional system
100 recycles the displaced room air 116 back into the system,
resulting in only 10% distribution of the fresh air 112 into the
room 118.
[0048] FIG. 1B illustrates a preferred embodiment of a system with
air distribution method using open air cycle according to the
present application, designated by a reference numeral 300. As
shown, in the preferred embodiment 300, fresh air 212 enters into a
building 210 and subsequently an HVAC assembly 290, which
subsequently cools down the fresh air 212. The cooled fresh air 212
then enters a room 218 inside the building 210 in a direction 220,
circulates in the room 218 and displaces room air 216. However,
instead of recycling the room air 216 back into the HVAC assembly
290, the room air 216 exits the room 218 to the outside of the
building 210 in a direction 224. Therefore, as illustrated, the
preferred embodiment 300 allows for 100% distribution of the fresh
air 212 into the room 218.
[0049] FIG. 2 illustrates in greater detail the preferred
embodiment of the open air cycle system 300. Preferably, the
building 210 is being conditioned by way of introducing and
distributing all the fresh air 212 than the conventional system
100. More preferably, the distribution of the fresh air 212 into
the building 210 consumes less energy compared to the prior art.
The preferred system 300 comprises the HVAC assembly 290, which
further comprises a pre-cooling unit 200 and an air conditioning
unit 201. It is preferred that the arrangement of the devices in
the system 300 is as shown in FIG. 2. The pre-cooling unit 200 is
configured to pre-cooling the fresh air 212 supplied into the
system 300. Preferably, the pre-cooling unit 200 is configured to
filter, clean and reduce temperature of the fresh air 212 supplied
into the system 300. According to a preferred embodiment, the
pre-cooling unit 200 may be an air-to-air heat exchanger or energy
wheel. Also, according to another preferred embodiment, the
pre-cooling unit 200 may be a water-to-air heat exchanger.
According to yet another preferred embodiment, the pre-cooling unit
200 also may be combinations of the air-to-air heat exchanger,
energy wheel, water-to-air heat exchanger, and the like. It is
preferred that temperature of the fresh air 212 upon exiting the
pre-cooling unit 200 is reduced by about 14 degree Celsius.
[0050] It is the concept of the present invention that the room air
216 is exhausted out of the building 210 without being channeled
back into a ventilation system (not illustrated). The exhausted or
displaced room air 216 may be used for some other specific
purposes.
[0051] In one preferred embodiment according to the present
invention, as for the building 210 which requires cooling, an
increased amount of the fresh air 212 will be introduced into the
building 210 with lesser exhaust air being ejected outside of the
building 210. As the desired cooling temperature of the building
210 is met, the fresh air 212 intake is reduced to a lower flow
rate. It is understood that various options and scenarios can be
implemented by designer(s) in order to optimize usage of energy
through air distribution of cooling fresh air 212 supplied by the
AC unit 201 while in the conventional system 100 the same is not
possible. The use of different offsets can be implemented which
include providing rooms with, but not limited to, 3 pulses, 2
pulses, 1 pulse and zero, i.e. 300 cfm, 200 cfm, and 100 cfm.
[0052] In another preferred embodiment according to the present
invention, the method of distributing the fresh air 212 into the
building 210 using the preferred system 300 comprises the steps of:
[0053] i. providing the fresh air 212; [0054] ii. subjecting the
fresh air 212 to pre-cooling; [0055] iii. channeling the pre-cooled
fresh air 212 into the air conditioning unit 201; and [0056] iv.
transferring the fresh air 212 into the building 210's room
218.
[0057] The fresh air 212 displaces the room air 216 within the room
218, which is exhausted out of the building 210 without being
channeled back to the cycle of the preferred system 300. The fresh
air 212 reduces carbon dioxide level in the room 218 to improve the
IAQ. The fresh air 212 increases pressure in the room 212 due to
offset of more of the fresh air 212 than the displaced air 216
which reduces energy across the air-conditioning cooling coil of
the unit 201. The increase of pressure in the room 218 increases
the temperature of the fresh air 212 supplied to the room 218,
wherein the increase of temperature reduces temperature drop
required for the pre-cooling.
EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE
[0058] The following specific embodiments are to be construed as
merely illustrative, and not limitative of the remainder of the
disclosure in any way whatsoever. The preferred embodiment will now
be described in further detail by way of an experimental
example.
[0059] The experimental example is done with an existing 5 ton DX
package unit (12 years old) with additional changes made to the
unit as follows: [0060] Return line is cut and being connected to
an exhaust fan (not illustrated) for exhausting all return air to
outside of the building 210 through a roof; and [0061] The outdoor
fresh air 212 is supplied to the AC system 201 through the
pre-cooling unit 200 prior to be supplied to the AC unit 201's
cooling coil and denoted as ECT.
[0062] If the conventional system with close air cycle (CAC) 10
circulates 2000 CFM to the room/zone 218 for cooling the air 212
down to 72.5.degree. F. or 22.5.degree. C., then the comparison of
energy consumption calculations is:
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Sample calculation Present Invention with
Close Air Cycle Open Air Cycle Room temperature, RT = 72.5.degree.
F. Room temperature, RT = 72.5.degree. F. Outdoor air temp. =
90.5.degree. F. Outdoor air temp. = 90.5.degree. F. on March
14.sup.th, 2013 @ 4:40 pm Return air temp. entering coiling coil:
All (100%) fresh outdoor air temp.: .fwdarw.ECT = 76.1.degree. F.
.fwdarw.ECT = 73.0.degree. F. Air Leaving the cooling coil temp.:
Air leaving the cooling coil temp.: LCT = ? (unknown) .fwdarw.LCT =
56.12.degree. F. (Q)coil = 1.1 .times. (CFM) .times. (ECT - LCT),
then LCT = ECT - (Q)coil/1.1 .times. (CFM) LCT = 76.1 - 37136/1.1
.times. 2000 .fwdarw.LCT = 59.2.degree. F. Cooling Coil System
Sensible Energy: Cooling Coil System Sensible Energy: (Q)coil = 1.1
.times. CFM .times. (ECT - LCT) (Q)coil = 1.1 .times. CFM .times.
(ECT - LCT) (Q)coil = 1.1 .times. 2000 .times. (76.1 - 59.2)
(Q)coil = 1.1 .times. 2000 (72.5 - 56.12) .fwdarw.(Q)coil = 37180
BTUH .fwdarw. (Q)coil = 37136 BTUH .fwdarw.Higher with 0.12% Room
Grille Supply Temp. with Room Grille Supply Temp. with increase
increase of 3.degree. F.: of 3.degree. F.: .fwdarw.GST =
62.2.degree. F. .fwdarw.GST = 59.12.degree. F. Room Energy equals
to (Q)room: Room Energy equals to (Q)room: (Q)room = 1.1 .times.
(CFM) .times. (Room (Q)room = 1.1 .times. (CFM) .times. (GST - Room
Temp. - GST) = Temp.) = 1.1 .times. 2000 .times. (72.5 - 62.2) 1.1
.times. 2000 .times. (72.5 - 59.12) .fwdarw.(Q)room2 = 22660 BTUH
.fwdarw.(Q)room1 = 29436 BTUH .fwdarw.Higher with 30%
[0063] Based on Table 1, the distribution of the fresh air 212 into
the building 210 has increased the pressure in the room 218 due to
offset of more of the fresh air 212 than the displaced air 216. The
increase of pressure in the room 218 increases the temperature
(refer LCT) of the fresh air 212 supplied to the room 218, i.e.
temperature of air leaving the cooling coil. The increase of the
temperature (see LCT) reduces the temperature drop required for the
pre-cooling. Thus, such temperature drop reduces energy required
across the air-conditioning cooling coil.
[0064] The preferred embodiment 300 distributes 100% of the fresh
outdoor air 212 into the building 210 with higher efficiency of
performance that is equivalent to reduction in energy consumption
of about 30%.
[0065] Many alterations and modifications may be made by those
having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit
and scope of the invention. Therefore, it must be understood that
the illustrated embodiments have been set forth only for the
purposes of examples and that they should not be taken as limiting
the invention as defined by the following claims. For example,
notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth
below in a certain combination, it must be expressly understood
that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, more or
different elements, which are disclosed in above even when not
initially claimed in such combinations.
[0066] The words used in this specification to describe the
invention and its various embodiments are to be understood not only
in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by
special definition in this specification the generic structure,
material or acts of which they represent a single species.
[0067] The definitions of the words or elements of the following
claims are, therefore, defined in this specification to not only
include the combination of elements which are literally set forth.
In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent
substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the
elements in the claims below or that a single element may be
substituted for two or more elements in a claim. Although elements
may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even
initially claimed as such, it is to be expressly understood that
one or more elements from a claimed combination can in some cases
be excised from the combination and that the claimed combination
may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a
subcombination.
[0068] Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as
viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or
later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalently
within the scope of the claims. Therefore, obvious substitutions
now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are
defined to be within the scope of the defined elements.
[0069] The claims are thus to be understood to include what is
specifically illustrated and described above, what is
conceptionally equivalent, what can be obviously substituted and
also what incorporates the essential idea of the invention.
* * * * *