The present invention relates to a cathode assembly of plasma generating devices and a method of generating plasma, and more particularly to pulsed plasma.
Generation of pulsed plasma with pulses and off-periods of relatively short duration presents a unique set of challenges. There are several limitations of the presently known plasma generating devices that make their use for generating pulsed plasma impracticable.
Generally, a plasma generating device comprises a cathode and an anode. A plasma generating gas, which is typically a noble gas, flows in a channel extending longitudinally between the cathode and through the anode. As the plasma generating gas traverses the plasma channel it is heated and converted to plasma by an electric arc established between the cathode and the anode. Portions of the plasma channel may be formed by one or more intermediate electrodes.
Generation of plasma occurs in three phases. The first phase, called a spark discharge, occurs when an electric spark is established between the cathode and the anode. The second phase, called a glow discharge, occurs when positively charged ions, formed as a result of the motion of negatively charged electrons in the electric spark, bombard the cathode. The third phase, called an arc discharge, occurs after a portion of the cathode is sufficiently heated by the ion bombardment that it begins to emit a sufficient number of electrons to sustain the current between the cathode and the anode for heating the plasma generating gas. The electric arc heats the plasma generating gas, which forms plasma. Each time high temperature plasma is generated, the plasma generating gas has to go through all three phases.
In the prior art devices, at startup, the current passing between the cathode and the anode is simply raised to the desired operational level. This rapid increase in the current, however, cannot be sustained during the spark discharge and glow discharge phases. Only once the arc discharge phase is reached and the cathode begins thermionically emitting electrons with a rate sufficient to support such a current, the applied operational level current begins to flow between the cathode and the anode. Attempting to pass a high, operational level, current through the cathode before it begins to thermionically emit electrons with sufficiently high rate to sustain such current exerts stress on the cathode, which ultimately causes its destruction after a relatively low number of startups.
Generation of pulsed plasma requires frequent startups of the plasma generating device in a rapid succession. For example, in skin treatment, a single session of treatment with pulsed plasma may require thousands of pulses and consequently thousands of startups. The prior art methods of starting up plasma-generating devices are unsuitable for pulsed plasma generation because the cathode may be damaged during the session.
Presently, two types of devices may be used for generation of pulses of ionized gas. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,974 is an example of the first type. In devices of this type, a corona discharge is generated by passing plasma generating gas, such as nitrogen, through an alternating electric field. The alternating electric field creates a rapid motion of the free electrons in the gas. The rapidly moving electrons strike out other electrons from the gas atoms, forming what is known as an electron avalanche, which in turn creates a corona discharge. By applying the electric field in pulses, pulsed corona discharge is generated. Among the advantages of this method for generating pulsed corona discharge is (1) the absence of impurities in the flow and (2) short start times that enable generation of a truly pulsed flow. For the purposes of this disclosure, a truly pulsed flow refers to a flow that completely ceases during the off period of the pulse.
A drawback of devices and methods of the first type is that the generated corona discharge has a fixed maximum temperature of approximately 2000° C. The corona discharge formed in the device never becomes high temperature plasma because it is not heated by an electric arc. Therefore, devices that generate pulsed corona discharge cannot be used for some applications that require a temperature above 2000° C. Accordingly, applications of devices of the first type are limited by the nature of the electrical discharge process, that is capable of producing a corona discharge, but not high temperature plasma.
Devices of the second type generate plasma by heating the flow of plasma generating gas passing through a plasma channel by an electric arc that is established between a cathode and an anode that forms the plasma channel. An example of a device of the second type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,215. According to the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,215, as the plasma generating gas, preferably argon, traverses the plasma channel, a pulsed DC voltage is applied between the anode and the cathode. A predetermined constant bias voltage may or may not be added to the pulsed DC voltage. During a voltage pulse, the number of free electrons in the plasma generating gas increases, resulting in a decrease in the resistance of the plasma and an exponential increase of the electric current flowing through the plasma. During the off period, the number of free electrons in the plasma generating gas decreases, resulting in an increase in resistance of the plasma and an exponential decrease in the current flowing through the plasma. Although the current is relatively low during the off period, it never completely ceases. This low current, referred to as the standby current, is undesirable because a truly pulsed plasma flow is not generated. During the off period a continuous low-power plasma flow is maintained. In essence, the device does not generate pulsed plasma, but rather a continuous plasma flow with power spikes, called pulses, thus simulating pulsed plasma. Because the off-period is substantially longer than a pulse, the device outputs a significant amount of energy during the off period and, therefore, it cannot be utilized effectively for applications that require a truly pulsed plasma flow. For example, if the device is used for skin treatment, it may have to be removed from the skin surface after each pulse, so that the skin is not exposed to the low power plasma during the off period. This impairs the usability and safety of the device.
Dropping the current flow through the plasma to zero between pulses and restarting the device for each pulse of plasma is not practicable when using the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,215. Restarting the device for each pulse would result in the rapid destruction of the cathode, as a result of passing a high current through the cathode without ensuring that it emits enough electrons for the plasma flow to support this current. Attempting to pass a high current through the cathode before it begins to emit electrons with sufficiently high rate to sustain such current exerts stress on the cathode, which ultimately causes its destruction. Alternatively, it is possible to increase slowly both the voltage between the cathode and the anode and the current passing through the plasma. This alternative is not practical either because the startup of the device for each pulse would be impermissibly long.
The inability of the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,215, and other devices of this type presently known in the art, to generate a truly pulsed plasma flow is due to the structure of the device. When devices of this type startup there is some erosion of electrodes due to sputtering. This erosion results in separated electrode materials, such as metal particles, flowing in the plasma. When a continuous plasma flow is used, the startup impurities are a relatively minor drawback, because the startup, and the impurities associated with it, occur only once per treatment. It is therefore possible to wait a few seconds after the startup for the electrode particles to exit the device before beginning the actual treatment. However, waiting for impurities to exit the device when using a pulsed plasma flow is impractical because particles separate from electrodes for each pulse.
When the plasma flow has been previously created it takes just a few microseconds to increase or decrease the current in the plasma flow. Additionally, because there are no startups during treatment, impurities do not enter the plasma flow, and there is no stress on the cathode. However, sustaining even a low electrical current through the plasma continuously renders the device suboptimal for some applications that require a truly pulsed plasma flow, as discussed above.
Difficulties in generating a truly pulsed plasma flow by the means of heating the plasma generating gas with an electric arc are primarily due to the nature of the processes occurring on the cathode and the anode. In general, and for medical applications especially, it is critical to ensure operation free from the erosion of the anode and the cathode when the current rapidly increases. During the rapid current increase the temperature of the cathode may be low and not easily controlled during subsequent repetitions of the pulse. During the generation of an electric arc between the cathode and the anode, the area of attachment of the arc to the cathode strongly depends on the initial temperature of the cathode. When the cathode is cold, the area of attachment is relatively small. After several pulses the temperature of the cathode increases, so that during a rapid current increase the area of attachment expands over the entire surface area of the cathode and even over a cathode holder. Under these circumstances, the cathode fall begins to fluctuate and the cathode erosion begins. Furthermore, if the area of attachment of the electric arc reaches the cathode holder it begins to melt thus introducing undesirable impurities into the plasma flow. For the proper cathode functionality, it is necessary to control the exact location and the size of the area of attachment of the electric arc to the cathode surface during rapid current increases in each pulse of plasma.
An electric arc tends to attach to surface imperfections (also called irregularities) on the cathode. In the prior art, such surface imperfections were created by altering the shape of a cylindrical cathode. A typical surface imperfection used in the prior art is cathode tapering. Cathode tapering creates a tip to which the arc tends to attach. Another way to create an imperfection is by cutting a cylindrical cathode at an angle. This too creates an imperfection to which the arc tends to attach. Although these methods control the location of the electric arc attachment between continuous plasma flow sessions, they are not sufficient for controlling the size of that area for the pulsed plasma operation due to the gradual expansion of the area of the arc attachment, as described above.
Independently from these attempts of controlling the location and size of the area of the arc attachment, some prior art devices used multiple cathodes for various purposes. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,661,579 multiple cathodes were used in a plasma-based light bulb for generating a spark between them. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,615,137 a plurality of cathodes are divided in three groups. Three-phase power is distributed between the cathodes so that one group is used during a phase for providing a pseudo-continuous mode of operation. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,185 a pair of cathodes is used for sputtering of metallic traces from the cathodes by using particles isolated between the cathodes by a magnetic field. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,220 multiple cathodes are provided in a revolving drum such that the cathodes may be interchanged without breaking the vacuum seal of a vacuum chamber in which electric discharges occur. U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,170 discloses a water purifying system in which multiple cathodes are spaced around an anode. This multi-cathode configuration is used for decreasing the disturbance on the flow of water passing through the purifier. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,707, a multiple cathode assembly of electrically insulated cathodes are used for extending the life of an ion beam apparatus by alternating a cathode involved in the electric arc generation. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,625 multiple parallel cathodes, spaced from each other, are used in a plasma spray device for expanding the cross section of the plasma flow to prevent clogging of a plasma channel with powder particles. In general, prior art references disclosing multiple cathodes are not concerned with problems associated with generation of pulsed plasma.
Accordingly, there is presently a need for a cathode assembly and a method of operating of a device using the cathode assembly that would overcome limitations of the prior art for truly pulsed plasma generation.
A cathode assembly for pulsed plasma generation comprises a cathode holder connected to a plurality of longitudinally aligned cathodes. Preferably the cathodes in the assembly are clustered as close together as possible. The cathodes are preferably made of tungsten containing lanthanum. The cathodes preferably have the same diameter but different lengths. Optimally the length difference between the two cathodes closest in length approximately equals to the diameter of a cathode in the assembly, which is preferably 0.5 mm. The cathode assembly according to embodiments of this invention is used in devices for generating pulsed plasma based on the heating of a plasma generating gas by an electric arc established between one of the cathodes and an anode. In particular, the cathode assembly comprises (a) a cathode holder; and (b) a cluster of a plurality of longitudinally aligned cathodes connected to the cathode holder, with each cathode in physical contact with at least one other cathode.
In operation, in the preferred embodiment, a plasma generating gas is passed between the cathodes and the anode, preferably through a plasma channel. By applying a high frequency, high amplitude voltage wave between the anode and the cathodes, a large number of free electrons is produced. These electrons form a spark discharge. The spark ionizes the plasma generating gas, which enters the glow discharge phase. During the glow discharge, positive ions that are formed due to the ionization of the gas atoms bombard the cathodes, thus heating it. Once the ends of the cathodes toward the anode reach the temperature of therminonic electron emission, the plasma generating gas enters the arc discharge phase, and the arc is established between the cathodes and the anode. The arc attaches to all cathodes in the assembly.
After the arc is established between the cathodes and the anode, the current is reduced to the magnitude sufficient to sustain the arc or a slightly greater magnitude. This causes the area of the arc attachment to decrease. The area of attachment decreases so that the arc attaches to a single cathode. After this low current is maintained for a period of time, the current is raised to the operational level of the pulse. The area of attachment does not increase significantly, and electron emission occurs only from the single cathode. After the operational current is maintained for a desired duration, the device enters the off-period with no current and no voltage applied.
This method of operation avoids the problems of unstable operation associated with prior art methods. If a multi-cathode assembly is operated according to this method, the cathodes do not overheat and the area of attachment does not expand to the cathode holder. This ensures a stable operation of the plasma generating device. The method of operation also provides certain benefits when used in the cathode assemblies having a single cathode.
The method of generating a pulse of plasma comprises (a) passing a first current through one or more cathodes and an anode; (b) passing a second current through the one or more cathodes and the anode, the magnitude of the second current being less than the magnitude of the first current; (c) passing a third current through the one or more cathodes and the anode, the magnitude of the third current being greater than the magnitude of the first current; and (d) ceasing the third current passing through the one or more cathodes and the anode.
In an exemplary embodiment, a cathode assembly having multiple cathodes is a part of a plasma generating device. There is no theoretical limit on the number of cathodes in the assembly, as long as there are at least two.
In terms of geometry, the cathodes must be clustered. By clustered it is meant that all of the cathodes are arranged as a single group with every cathode longitudinally touching at least one other cathode and none of the cathodes separate from the group. The cathodes preferably are clustered as close together as possible. However, it is sufficient that each cathode in the assembly is in physical contact with at least one other cathode in the cluster. Theoretically, the cathodes in the assembly may have different diameters. In the preferred embodiment, however, cathodes 10, 20, 30 have the same diameter, preferably 0.5 mm. In some embodiments, at least one cathode in the assembly has a length which is different from the length of at least one other cathode. In the preferred embodiment, all cathodes in the assembly have different lengths. Preferably the smallest difference in length between two cathodes is approximately equal to the diameter of a cathode, which is 0.5 mm in the preferred embodiment of the assembly.
In some embodiments, the device hosting the cathode assembly also comprises plasma channel 6 extending between cathodes 10, 20, 30 and through anode 4. In some embodiments, the plasma channel is formed by one or more intermediate electrodes. In some embodiments, the anode ends of cathodes 10, 20, 30 are located in a plasma chamber connected to the plasma channel. The cathode assembly may be used in other devices, such as for example pulsed plasma generating device shown in
Devices that may host the cathode assembly are not limited to plasma generating devices, however. In some embodiments, the cathode assembly may be used in a light source or as a part of a communication device. In general, the cathode assembly may be used in any device that requires establishing electric arcs of short duration between cathodes and an anode.
For the purposes of describing methods of operation, an embodiment of the device shown in
In some embodiments, an extension nozzle is affixed at the anode end of the device. The extension nozzle forms an extension channel connected to the plasma channel. A tubular insulator element covers a longitudinal portion of the inside surface of the extension channel. Additionally, in some embodiments, the extension nozzle has one or more oxygen carrying gas inlets.
A plasma generating device, such as the one shown in
As a brief overview, the process of plasma generation includes three phases: (1) a spark discharge, (2) a glow discharge, and (3) an arc discharge. An electric arc in the arc discharge phase heats the plasma generating gas flowing through plasma channel 6, forming plasma. Generation of each plasma pulse requires the plasma generating gas to go through all three phases. Prior to generation of a pulse, the resistance of the plasma generating gas is close to infinity. A small number of free electrons are present in the plasma generating gas due to ionization of atoms by cosmic rays.
To create a spark discharge a high amplitude, high frequency voltage wave is applied between anode 4 and cathodes 10, 20, 30. This wave increases the number of free electrons in plasma channel 6, between cathodes 10, 20, 30 and anode 4. Once a sufficient number of free electrons has been formed, a DC voltage is applied between anode 4 and cathodes 10, 20, 30 and a DC current is passed through cathodes 10, 20, 30, plasma generating gas, and anode 4, forming a spark discharge between cathodes 10, 20, 30 and anode 4.
After the spark discharge, the resistance of the plasma generating gas drops, and the glow discharge phase begins. During the glow discharge phase, positively charged ions are attracted to cathodes 10, 20, 30 under the influence of the electric field created by the voltage between the cathodes and anode 4. As cathodes 10, 20, 30 are being bombarded with ions, the temperature of the anode ends of the cathodes increases. Once the temperature reaches the temperature of thermionic electron emission, the arc discharge phase begins. Initially, the arc attaches to all cathodes in the assembly. The current passing through the plasma generating gas is then reduced, so the area of attachment decreases to almost the minimum area of attachment capable of sustaining the arc. Because the area of the arc attachment is small, the area of attachment is confined to a single cathode in the assembly. Therefore, the current required to sustain the arc discharge, which depends on a cathode's diameter, is relatively low. After the current has been reduced and maintained at that level for a period of time, it is increased rapidly to the operational level of a pulse. The area of the arc attachment increases insignificantly, and only a single cathode continues to emit electrons for the rest of the pulse. Decreasing the area of the arc attachment, and then maintaining that small area, so that only a single cathode emits electrons from a controlled area is critical to the operation of a truly pulsed plasma devices.
In greater detail, the following discussion of the method of pulsed plasma generation refers to
At time t1, a high frequency, high amplitude voltage wave 204, is applied between anode 4 and cathodes 10, 20, 30. The amplitude of the wave is at least 1 kV, but is preferably around 5 kV. In some embodiments the high frequency, high amplitude voltage wave 204 is damped, with exponentially decreasing amplitude, as shown in
The high frequency, high amplitude voltage wave 204 creates a rapid alternating motion of the free electrons in the plasma generating gas inside plasma channel 6. The rapidly moving free electrons strike out electrons from atoms of the plasma generating gas flowing through plasma channel 6. This process is known as electron avalanche. As a result of the electron avalanche, the quantity of free electrons reaches the number sufficient for creation of a spark discharge between cathodes 10, 20, 30 and anode 4, as shown in
In embodiments that have plasma channel 6 formed by one or more intermediate electrodes, such as the one shown in
The spark discharge ionizes a number of atoms in the plasma generating gas, thus, increasing the conductivity of the plasma generating gas and lowering its resistance, preferably to 200-1,000Ω. The free electrons that are created as a result of ionization are confined to a relatively small volume 302 shown in
At time t2, after the high frequency, high amplitude voltage wave 204 terminates, voltage 206 in the range of 100-1,000 Volts, but preferably around 400-500 Volts, is applied between anode 4 and cathodes 10, 20, 30. In some embodiments the voltage applied at time t2 is equal to bias voltage 202 of the high frequency, high amplitude voltage wave 204. In some embodiments, voltage 206 is exponentially decreasing with time, as shown in
At time t2, the plasma generating gas has enough free electrons to conduct electricity. However, cathodes 10, 20, 30 have not been sufficiently heated to achieve thermionic electron emission that would enable a sustainable electric arc that would maintain generation of the plasma flow with characteristics required for a particular application, such as, for example, skin treatment. The discharge voltage 206 begins the glow discharge phase. For cathodes 10, 20, 30 to begin emitting electrons thermionically, their surfaces 12, 22, and 32 have to reach a certain temperature specific to the cathode material, referred to as thermionic electron emission temperature or temperature of thermionic electron emission. For example, for a cathode made of tungsten containing lanthanum, such as the one used in the preferred embodiment, the temperature of electron emission is approximately 2,800°-3,200° K. Under the influence of the electric field created by the voltage between anode 4 and cathodes 10, 20, 30, free electrons present in plasma channel 6 are attracted toward anode 4 and ions are attracted toward cathodes 10, 20, 30. The glow discharge shown in
At time t3, when the voltage between anode 4 and cathodes 10, 20, 30 drops to a predetermined value, the current passing through cathodes 10, 20, 30, the plasma generating gas in plasma channel 6, and anode 4, increases from 0 A to a predetermined first current preferably in the range of 4-6 A. Preferably, this current is maintained for 1-10 ms. The predetermined voltage when the current begins to increase is between e−0.5-e−1.5 times the voltage at time t2, but preferably it is approximately e−1 times the voltage at time t2. (Note that e is a base of the natural logarithm, which approximately equals to 2.718.) For example, in one embodiment, the voltage applied between anode 4 and cathodes 10, 20, 30 at time t2 is approximately 400 Volts. When the voltage drops to approximately 150 Volts, the current through the plasma generating gas is increased to approximately 5 A. In some embodiments the current increase is a ramp 208 with duration of 300-500 microseconds between t3 and t4.
At some time after t4, the cathodes begin to emit electrons thermionically from their surfaces 12, 22, and 32 as shown in
As the arc attaches to cathode holder 2, the cathode holder becomes heated to the point that it begins to sputter and emit electrons along with electrode materials. This introduces impurities in the plasma flow, which for some applications, especially medical applications, is unacceptable. Furthermore, the cathode holder, which has a melting point significantly lower than that of the cathodes, begins to melt. As the portions of the cathode holder that come in contact with one or more cathodes begin the melt, those cathodes are damaged. This damage results in an imperfection, to which the electric arc could attach during subsequent pulses. Attachment of the arc to this imperfection at the base of one or more cathodes may also result in the electric arc terminating outside of the plasma channel. This results in the inability to control whether the plasma is formed in the plasma channel. Additionally, the uncontrolled surface of attachment leads to fluctuations of electric potential on the cathodes. In general, uncontrolled expansion of the area of the arc attachment, leads to unstable operation of the device.
Extending the length of the cathodes, and thus distancing cathode holder 2 from the anode ends of cathodes 10, 20, 30, where arc attaches initially, proved to be a suboptimal solution. Experiments have shown that lengthening the cathodes does not eliminate but only insignificantly delays the undesirable processes described above.
According to the preferred methods at time t5 the current is decreased to the second current. In some embodiments, the current decrease is a ramp 209 with duration of 300-500 microseconds. The current is preferably decreased to a level between the minimal current required to sustain the arc discharge and approximately three times that current. For some embodiments this current is in the range of 0.33-1.0 A. Preferably the second current is maintained 5-20 ms. The current drop results in a decrease of the cross section of the electric arc between cathodes 10, 20, 30 and anode 4 as well as in a decreased area of the arc attachment. Although it is not necessary to decrease the attachment area to the minimum required for sustaining the arc, the decreased current reduces the area of attachment to the size that does not significantly exceed the minimum area. As shown in
It has been experimentally found that the cathode diameter has the most significant effect on the minimum sustainable current that may be passed through the cathode while still maintaining an electric arc between the cathode and the anode. For example, the minimum current for the cathode with diameter of 1.0 mm and length of 5 mm is approximately 1 A. The minimum current for the cathode with diameter of 0.5 mm and length of 5 mm is approximately 0.5 A. The minimum current for the cathode with diameter of 0.5 mm and length of 35 mm is approximately 0.3 A. Because during the period of the second, decreased, current, between t6 to t7, the plasma attaches to only one cathode, it is possible to sustain the electric arc with a relatively small current, compared to the current required for sustaining the arc if it attached to all cathodes in the assembly, as for example between t4 to t5. Turning to the preferred embodiment of the cathode assembly, because the diameter of a single cathode in the assembly is approximately a half of the total diameter of all cathodes in the assembly, when the arc attaches to a single cathode, the current required to sustain the arc is approximately a half of what it would have been if the arc attached to all three cathodes.
At time t7 the current is increased to the third current, the operational level required for a particular application, preferably in the range of 10-80 A. In some embodiments, the current increase is a ramp 211 with duration of 300-500 microseconds between t7 and t8. The rate of increase is 1,000-10,000 A/s. By time t8, operational voltage, preferably in the range of 30-90 Volts remains between anode 4 and cathodes 10, 20, 30 as a result of the geometry of the device and the current passing between one of cathodes 10, 20, and anode 4.
At time t8, the current reaches the operational level, and the fully developed plasma flow is maintained at the operational current level 214 and the operational voltage level 216, which are preferably 10-80 A and 30-90 Volts, respectively. These operational levels are maintained for the desired duration for a particular application. For example, for skin treatment, the preferred duration t7-t8 is 5-100 ms.
At time t9, when the plasma flow has been sustained for the desired duration, the current flowing through the plasma generating gas in plasma channel 6 is turned off and consequently the voltage between anode 4 and cathodes 10, 20, 30 ceases to be applied, and the device enters the off period, shown in
Using the method described above avoids a gradually expanding area of arc attachment as described above. The glow discharge that takes place from t2 to t4, when plasma may attach to the entire exposed surface area of the cathodes lasts up to 10 ms in the preferred embodiment. Any temperature increase that is gained during the glow discharge is lost during the remainder of the pulse and the off period. As a consequence, by the time the new pulse has to be generated, the cathodes have cooled down.
It has been experimentally discovered that for the cathode assembly shown in
Once this happens, the arc begins to attach to the shortest cathode again. The arc attaches to cathode 10 for a few thousands of pulses, until the anode further loses the definition of its edge 14. At this point, the arc begins to attach to the second shortest cathode, cathode 20, that has the anode end with a better defined edge 22 than edge 12 In a few thousand pulses, the arc attaches to the next shortest cathode, etc.
For the cathode assembly shown in
Although the method disclosed above provides the best results when used with a multi-cathode assembly, using the method can also be beneficial for a single cathode assembly.
The foregoing description of the embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive nor to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention. Various embodiments and modifications that are suited to a particular use are contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the accompanying claims and their equivalents.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20090039789 A1 | Feb 2009 | US |