Patent Grant
8556041
1. Field
The present invention relates to an elevator, as discussed below.
2. Description of Related Art
One of the objectives in elevator development work is to achieve an efficient and economical utilization of building space. In recent years, this development work has produced various elevator solutions without machine room, among other things. Good examples of elevators without machine room are disclosed in specifications EP 0 631 967 (A1) and EP 0 631 968. The elevators described in these specifications are fairly efficient in respect of space utilization as they have made it possible to eliminate the space required by the elevator machine room in the building without a need to enlarge the elevator shaft. In the elevators disclosed in these specifications, the machine is compact at least in one direction, but in other directions it may have much larger dimensions than a conventional elevator machine.
In these basically good elevator solutions, the space required by the hoisting machine limits the freedom of choice in elevator lay-out solutions. Some space is needed to provide for the passage of the hoisting ropes. It is difficult to reduce the space required by the elevator car itself on its track and likewise the space required by the counterweight, at least at a reasonable cost and without impairing elevator performance and operational quality. In a traction sheave elevator without machine room, mounting the hoisting machine in the elevator shaft is difficult, especially in a solution with machine above, because the hoisting machine is a sizeable body of considerable weight. Especially in the case of larger loads, speeds and/or hoisting heights, the size and weight of the machine are a problem regarding installation, even so much so that the required machine size and weight have in practice limited the sphere of application of the concept of elevator without machine room or at least retarded the introduction of said concept in larger elevators. If the size of the machine and the traction sheave of the elevator is reduced, then a further problem is often the question of how to ensure a sufficient grip between the hoisting ropes and the traction sheave.
Specification WO 99/43589 discloses an elevator suspended using flat belts in which relatively small diversion diameters on the traction sheave and diverting pulleys are achieved. However, the problem with this solution is the limitations regarding layout solutions, the disposition of components in the elevator shaft and the alignment of diverting pulleys. Also, the alignment of polyurethane-coated belts having a load-bearing steel component inside is problematic e.g. in a situation where the car is tilted. To avoid undesirable vibrations, an elevator so implemented needs to be rather robustly constructed at least as regards the machine and/or the structures supporting it. The massive construction of other parts of the elevator needed to maintain alignment between the traction sheave and diverting pulleys also increases the weight and cost of the elevator. In addition, installing and adjusting such a system is a difficult task requiring great precision. In this case, too, there is the problem of how to ensure sufficient grip between the traction sheave and the hoisting ropes.
On the other hand, to achieve a small rope diversion diameter, rope structures have been used in which the load-bearing part is made of artificial fiber. Such a solution is exotic and the ropes thus achieved are lighter than steel wire ropes, but at least in the case of elevators designed for the commonest hoisting heights, artificial-fiber ropes do not provide any substantial advantage, particularly because they are remarkably expensive as compared with steel wire ropes.
The object of the invention is to achieve at least one of the following objectives. On the one hand, it is an aim the invention to develop the elevator without machine room further so as to allow more effective space utilization in the building and elevator shaft than before. This means that the elevator must be so constructed that it can be installed in a fairly narrow elevator shaft if necessary. On the other hand, it is an aim of the invention to reduce the size and/or weight of the elevator or at least those of its machine. A third objective is to achieve an elevator with a thin hoisting rope and/or small traction sheave in which the hoisting rope has a good grip/contact on the traction sheave.
The object of the invention should be achieved without impairing the possibility of varying the basic elevator layout.
The elevator of the invention is discussed below. Some embodiments of the elevator are characterized by what is presented in the claims. Other embodiments are also discussed in the description section of the present application. The inventive content of the application can also be defined differently than in the claims presented below. The inventive content may also consist of several separate inventions, especially if the invention is considered in the light of explicit or implicit sub-tasks or from the point of view of advantages or categories of advantages achieved. In this case, some of the definitions contained in the claims below may be superfluous from the point view of separate inventive concepts.
By applying the invention, one or more of the following advantages, among others, can be achieved:
The primary area of application of the invention is elevators designed for transporting people and/or freight. In addition, the invention is primarily intended for use in elevators whose speed range, in the case of passenger elevators, is normally about or above 1.0 m/s but may also be e.g. only about 0.5 m/s. In the case of freight elevators, too, the speed is preferably at least about 0.5 m/s, although slower speeds can also be used with large loads.
In both passenger and freight elevators, many of the advantages achieved through the invention are pronouncedly brought out even in elevators for only 3-4 people, and distinctly already in elevators for 6-8 people (500-630 kg).
The elevator of the invention can be provided with elevator hoisting ropes twisted e.g. from round and strong wires. From round wires, the rope can be twisted in many ways using wires of different or equal thickness. In ropes applicable with the invention, the wire thickness is below 0.4 mm on an average. Well applicable ropes made from strong wires are those in which the average wire thickness is below 0.3 mm or even below 0.2 mm. For instance, thin-wired and strong 4 mm ropes can be twisted relatively economically from wires such that the mean wire thickness in the finished rope is in the range of 0.15 . . . 0.25 mm, while the thinnest wires may have a thickness as small as only about 0.1 mm. Thin rope wires can easily be made very strong. The invention employs rope wires having a strength of over 2000 N/mm2. A suitable range of rope wire strength is 2300-2700 N/mm2. In principle, it is possible to use rope wires as strong as about 3000 N/mm2 or even more.
By increasing the contact angle using a diverting pulley, the grip between the traction sheave and the hoisting ropes can be improved. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the weight of the car and counterweight and their size can be reduced as well, thus increasing the space saving potential of the elevator. Alternatively or at the same time, it is possible to reduce the weight of the elevator car in relation to the weight of the counterweight. A contact angle of over 180° between the traction sheave and the hoisting rope is achieved by using one or more auxiliary diverting pulleys.
A preferred embodiment of the elevator of the invention is an elevator with machine above without machine room, the drive machine of which comprises a coated traction sheave and which uses thin hoisting ropes of substantially round cross-section. The contact angle between the hoisting ropes of the elevator and the traction sheave is larger than 180°. The elevator comprises a unit comprising a drive machine, a traction sheave and a diverting pulley fitted at a correct angle relative to the traction sheave, all this equipment being fitted on a mounting base. The unit is secured to the elevator guide rails.
In the following, the invention will be described in detail by the aid of a few examples of its embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, wherein
a presents a steel wire rope used in the invention,
b presents another steel wire rope used in the invention,
c presents a third steel wire rope used in the invention, and
The drive machine 6 placed in the elevator shaft is preferably of a flat construction, in other words, the machine has a small thickness dimension as compared with its width and/or height, or at least the machine is slim enough to be accommodated between the elevator car and a wall of the elevator shaft. The machine may also be placed differently, e.g. by disposing the slim machine partly or completely between an imaginary extension of the elevator car and a shaft wall. The elevator shaft is advantageously provided with equipment required for the supply of power to the motor driving the traction sheave 7 as well as equipment for elevator control, both of which can be placed in a common instrument panel 8 or mounted separately from each other or integrated partly or wholly with the drive machine 6. The drive machine may be of a geared or gearless type. A preferable solution is a gearless machine comprising a permanent magnet motor. Another advantageous solution is to build a complete unit comprising both an elevator drive machine with a traction sheave and one or more diverting pulleys with bearings in a correct operating angle relative to the traction sheave. The operating angle is determined by the roping used between the traction sheave an the diverting pulley/pulleys, which defines the way in which the mutual positions and angle between the traction sheave and diverting pulley/diverting pulleys relative to each other are fitted in the unit. This unit can be mounted in place as a unitary aggregate in the same way as a drive machine. The drive machine may be fixed to a wall of the elevator shaft, to the ceiling, to a guide rail or guide rails or to some other structure, such as a beam or frame. In the case of an elevator with machine below, a further possibility is to mount the machine on the bottom of the elevator shaft.
The elevator car 101 and the counterweight 102 move in the elevator shaft along elevator and counterweight guide rails 110,111 guiding them.
In
The weight of the elevator machine and its supporting elements used to hold the machine in place in the elevator shaft is at most about ⅕ of the nominal load. If the machine is exclusively or almost exclusively supported by one or more elevator and/or counterweight guide rails, then the total weight of the machine and its supporting elements may be less than about ⅙ or even less than ⅛ of the nominal load. Nominal load of an elevator means a load defined for elevators of a given size. The supporting elements of the elevator machine may include, e.g., a beam, carriage, or suspension bracket used to support or suspend the machine on/from a wall structure or ceiling of the elevator shaft or on the elevator or counterweight guide rails, or clamps used to hold the machine fastened to the sides of the elevator guide rails. It will be easy to achieve an elevator in which the machine deadweight without supporting elements is below 1/7 of the nominal load or even about 1/10 of the nominal load or still less. Basically, the ratio of machine weight to nominal load is given for a conventional elevator in which the counterweight has a weight substantially equal to the weight of an empty car plus half the nominal load. As an example of machine weight in the case of an elevator of a given nominal weight when the fairly common 2:1 suspension ratio is used with a nominal load of 630 kg, the combined weight of the machine and its supporting elements may be only 75 kg when the traction sheave diameter is 160 mm and hoisting ropes having a diameter of 4 mm are used, in other words, the total weight of the machine and its supporting elements is about ⅛ of the nominal load of the elevator. As another example, using the same 2:1 suspension ratio, the same 160 mm traction sheave diameter and the same 4 mm hoisting rope diameter, in the case of an elevator for a nominal load of about 1000 kg, the total weight of the machine and its supporting elements is about 150 kg, so in this case the machine and its supporting elements have a total weight equaling about ⅙ of the nominal load. As a third example, let us consider an elevator designed for a nominal load of 1600 kg. In this case, when the suspension ratio is 2:1, the traction sheave diameter 240 mm and the hoisting rope diameter 6 mm, the total weight of the machine and its supporting elements will be about 300 kg, i.e., about ⅕ of the nominal load. By varying the hoisting rope suspension arrangements, it is possible to reach a still lower total weight of the machine and its supporting elements. For example, when a 4:1 suspension ratio, a 160 mm traction sheave diameter and a 4 mm hoisting rope diameter are used in an elevator designed for a nominal load of 500 kg, a total weight of the hoisting machine and its supporting elements of about 50 kg will be achieved. In this case, the total weight of the machine and its supporting elements is as small as only about 1/10 of the nominal load.
By making the coating thinner at the sides of the groove than at its bottom, the strain imposed by the rope on the bottom of the rope groove while sinking into the groove is avoided or at least reduced. As the pressure cannot be discharged laterally but is directed by the combined effect of the shape of the basic groove 320 and the thickness variation of the coating 302 to support the rope in the rope groove 301, lower maximum surface pressures acting on the rope and the coating are also achieved. One method of making a grooved coating 302 like this is to fill the round-bottomed basic groove 320 with coating material and then form a half-round rope groove 301 in this coating material in the basic groove. The shape of the rope grooves is well supported and the load-bearing surface layer under the rope provides a better resistance against lateral propagation of the compression stress produced by the ropes. The lateral spreading or rather adjustment of the coating caused by the pressure is promoted by thickness and elasticity of the coating and reduced by hardness and eventual reinforcements of the coating. The coating thickness on the bottom of the rope groove can be made large, even as large as half the rope thickness, in which case a hard and inelastic coating is needed. On the other hand, if a coating thickness corresponding to only about one tenth of the rope thickness is used, then the coating material may be clearly softer. An elevator for eight persons could be implemented using a coating thickness at the bottom of the groove equal to about one fifth of the rope thickness if the ropes and the rope load are chosen appropriately. The coating thickness should equal at least 2-3 times the depth of the rope surface texture formed by the surface wires of the rope. Such a very thin coating, having a thickness even less than the thickness of the surface wire of the rope, will not necessarily endure the strain imposed on it. In practice, the coating must have a thickness larger than this minimum thickness because the coating will also have to receive rope surface variations rougher than the surface texture. Such a rougher area is formed e.g. where the level differences between rope strands are larger than those between wires. In practice, a suitable minimum coating thickness is about 1-3 times the surface wire thickness. In the case of the ropes normally used in elevators, which have been designed for a contact with a metallic rope groove and which have a thickness of 8-10 mm, this thickness definition leads to a coating at least about 1 mm thick. Since a coating on the traction sheave, which causes more rope wear than the other rope pulleys of the elevator, will reduce rope wear and therefore also the need to provide the rope with thick surface wires, the rope can be made smoother. Rope smoothness can naturally be improved by coating the rope with a material suited for this purpose, such as e.g. polyurethane or equivalent. The use of thin wires allows the rope itself to be made thinner, because thin steel wires can be manufactured from a stronger material than thicker wires. For instance, using 0.2 mm wires, a 4 mm thick elevator hoisting rope of a fairly good construction can be produced. Depending on the thickness of the hoisting rope used and/or on other reasons, the wires in the steel wire rope may preferably have a thickness between 0.15 mm and 0.5 mm, in which range there are readily available steel wires with good strength properties in which even an individual wire has a sufficient wear resistance and a sufficiently low susceptibility to damage. In the above, ropes made of round steel wires have been discussed. Applying the same principles, the ropes can be wholly or partly twisted from non-round profiled wires. In this case, the cross-sectional areas of the wires are preferably substantially the same as for round wires, i.e. in the range of 0.015 mm2-0.2 mm2. Using wires in this thickness range, it will be easy to produce steel wire ropes having a wire strength above about 2000 N/mm2 and a wire cross-section of 0.015 mm2-0.2 mm2 and comprising a large cross-sectional area of steel material in relation to the cross-sectional area of the rope, as is achieved e.g. by using the Warrington construction. For the implementation of the invention, particularly well suited are ropes having a wire strength in the range of 2300 N/m2-2700 N/mm2, because such ropes have a very large bearing capacity in relation to rope thickness while the high hardness of the strong wires involves no substantial difficulties in the use of the rope in elevators. A traction sheave coating well suited for such a rope is already clearly below 1 mm thick. However, the coating should be thick enough to ensure that it will not be very easily scratched away or pierced e.g. by an occasional sand grain or similar particle that may have got between the rope groove and the hoisting rope. Thus, a desirable minimum coating thickness, even when thin-wire hoisting ropes are used, would be about 0.5 . . . 1 mm. For hoisting ropes having small surface wires and an otherwise relatively smooth surface, a coating having a thickness of the form A+Bcosa is well suited. However, such a coating is also applicable to ropes whose surface strands meet the rope groove at a distance from each other, because if the coating material is sufficiently hard, each strand meeting the rope groove is in a way separately supported and the supporting force is the same and/or as desired. In the formula A+Bcosa, A and B are constants so that A+B is the coating thickness at the bottom of the rope groove 301 and the angle a is the angular, distance from the bottom of the rope groove as measured from the center of curvature of the rope groove cross-section. Constant A is larger than or equal to zero, and constant B is always larger than zero. The thickness of the coating growing thinner towards the edges can also be defined in other ways besides using the formula A+Bcosa so that the elasticity decreases towards the edges of the rope groove. The elasticity in the central part of the rope groove can also be increased by making an undercut rope groove and/or by adding to the coating on the bottom of the rope groove a portion of different material of special elasticity, where the elasticity has been increased, in addition to increasing the material thickness, by the use of a material that is softer than the rest of the coating.
a, 5b and 5c present longitudinal cross-sections of steel wire ropes used in the invention. The ropes in these figures contain thin steel wires 403, a coating 402 on the steel wires and/or partly between the steel wires, and in
The drive machine 706 placed in the elevator shaft is preferably of flat construction, in other words, the drive machine 706 has a small thickness dimension as compared with its width and/or height, or at least the drive machine 706 is slim enough to be accommodated between the elevator car 701 and a wall of the elevator shaft. The drive machine 706 may also be placed differently, e.g., by disposing the slim machine 706 partly or completely between an imaginary extension of the elevator car 701 and a shaft wall. The elevator shaft is advantageously provided with equipment required for the supply of power to the motor driving the traction sheave 707 as well as equipment needed for elevator control, both of which can be placed in a common instrument panel 708 or mounted separately from each other or integrated partly or wholly with the drive machine 706. The drive machine 706 may be of geared or gearless type. A preferable solution is a gearless machine comprising a permanent magnet motor. Another advantageous solution is to build a complete unit comprising both the elevator drive machine 706 and the diverting pulley 712 and its bearings, which is used to increase the contact angle, in a correct operating angle relative to the traction sheave 707, which unit can be mounted in place as a unitary aggregate in the same way as a drive machine 706. The drive machine 706 may be fixed to a wall of the elevator shaft, to the ceiling, to a guide rail or guide rails or to some other structure, such as a beam or frame. The diverting pulley/diverting pulleys to be placed near the drive machine 706 to increase the operating angle can be mounted in the same way. In the case of an elevator with machine below, a further possibility is to mount the above-mentioned components on the bottom of the elevator shaft. In DW roping, when diverting pulley 712 is of substantially equal size with the traction sheave 707, diverting pulley 712 can also function as a damping wheel. In this case, the ropes 703 going from the traction sheave 707 to the counterweight 702 and to the elevator car 701 are passed via the rope grooves of the diverting pulley 712 and the rope deflection caused by the diverting pulley 712 is very small. It could be said that the ropes 703 coming from the traction sheave only touch the diverting pulley 712 tangentially. Such tangential contact serves as a solution damping the vibrations of outgoing ropes 703 and it can applied in other roping solutions as well. An example of these other roping solutions is Single Wrap (“SW”) roping, where the diverting pulley is of substantially equal size with the traction sheave 707 of the drive machine 706 and where a diverting pulley 712 is used for tangential rope contact as described above. In SW roping according to the example, the ropes 703 wrap around the traction sheave 707 only once, with a contact angle of about 180° between the rope 703 and the traction sheave 707, the diverting pulley 712 is only used as a means of producing a tangential contact as described above and the diverting pulley 712 functions as a rope guide and as a damping wheel for the damping of vibrations. The suspension ratio of the elevator is of no importance with respect to the application of SW roping described in the example; instead, it can be used in connection with any suspension ratio. The embodiment using SW roping as described in the example may have an inventive value in itself, at least in regard of damping. The diverting pulley 712 may also be of substantially different size than the traction sheave 707, in which case it functions as a diverting pulley 712 increasing the contact angle and not as a damping wheel.
The drive machine 806 placed in the elevator shaft is preferably of flat construction, in other words, the machine has a small thickness dimension as compared with its width and/or height, or at least the machine is slim enough to be accommodated between the elevator car and a wall of the elevator shaft. The machine may also be placed differently, e.g. by disposing the slim machine partly or completely between an imaginary extension of the elevator car and a shaft wall. The elevator shaft is advantageously provided with equipment required for the supply of power to the motor driving the traction sheave 807 as well as equipment needed for elevator control, both of which can be placed in a common instrument panel 808 or mounted separately from each other or integrated partly or wholly with the drive machine 806. The drive machine may be of geared or gearless type. A preferable solution is a gearless machine comprising a permanent magnet motor. Another advantageous solution is to build a complete unit comprising both the elevator drive machine 806 and the diverting pulley 815 and its bearings, which is used to increase the contact angle, in a correct operating angle relative to the traction sheave 807, which unit can be mounted in place as a unitary aggregate in the same way as a drive machine. Using a complete unit means less need for rigging during installation. X Wrap roping can also be implemented by mounting a diverting pulley directly on the drive machine. The drive machine may be fixed to a wall of the elevator shaft, to the ceiling, to a guide rail or guide rails or to some other structure, such as a beam or frame. The diverting pulley to be placed near the drive machine to increase the operating angle can be mounted in the same way. In the case of an elevator with machine below, a further possibility is to mount the above-mentioned components on the bottom of the elevator shaft.
a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e, 10f and 10g present some variations of the roping arrangements according to the invention that can be used between the traction sheave 1007 and the diverting pulley 1015 to increase the contact angle between the ropes 1003 and the traction sheave 1007, in which arrangements the ropes 1003 go downwards from the drive machine 1006 towards the elevator car and counterweight. These roping arrangements make it possible to increase the contact angle between the hoisting rope 1003 and the traction sheave 1007. In the invention, contact angle α refers to the length of the arc of contact between the traction sheave and the hoisting rope. The magnitude of the contact angle α may be expressed e.g. in degrees, as is done in the invention, but it is also possible to express the magnitude of the contact angle in other terms, e.g. in radians or equivalent. The contact angle α is presented in greater detail in
The roping arrangements presented in
The roping arrangements presented in
f presents an embodiment of the invention applying Extended Single Wrap roping as mentioned above. In the roping arrangement presented in the figure, the ropes 1003 run to the traction sheave 1007 of the drive machine 1006, wrapping around it along the rope grooves of the traction sheave. From the traction sheave 1007, the ropes 1003 go further downwards, running crosswise relative to the upwards going ropes and further to diverting pulley 1015, passing over it along the rope grooves of the diverting pulley 1015. From the diverting pulley 1015, the ropes 1003 run further on. In Extended Single Wrap roping, by using a diverting pulley, the hoisting ropes are caused to wrap around the traction sheave with a larger contact angle than in ordinary Single Wrap roping. For example, in the case illustrated in
a,b,c,d,f and g present different variations of roping arrangements between the traction sheave and the diverting pulley/diverting pulleys, in which the ropes go downwards from the drive machine towards the counterweight and the elevator car. In the case of an elevator embodiment according to the invention with machine below, these roping arrangements can be inverted and implemented in a corresponding manner so that the ropes go upwards from the elevator drive machine towards the counterweight and the elevator car.
It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that different embodiments of the invention are not limited to the examples described above, but that they may be varied within the scope of the following claims. For instance, the number of times the hoisting ropes are passed between the upper part of the elevator shaft and the counterweight or elevator car is not a very decisive question as regards the basic advantages of the invention, although it is possible to achieve some additional advantages by using multiple rope passages. In general, embodiments should be so implemented that the ropes go to the elevator car at most as many times as to the counterweight. It is also obvious that the hoisting ropes need not necessarily be passed under the car; instead, they may also be passed over or sideways past the elevator car. In accordance with the examples described above, the skilled person can vary the embodiment of the invention, while the traction sheaves and rope pulleys, instead of being coated metal pulleys, may also be uncoated metal pulleys or uncoated pulleys made of some other material suited to the purpose.
It is further obvious to the person skilled in the art that the metallic traction sheaves and rope pulleys used in the invention, which are coated with a non-metallic material at least in the area of their grooves, may be implemented using a coating material consisting of e.g. rubber, polyurethane or some other material suited to the purpose.
It is also obvious to the person skilled in the art that the elevator car, the counterweight and the machine unit may be laid out in the cross-section of the elevator shaft in a manner differing from the lay-out described in the examples. Such a different lay-out might be e.g. one in which the machine and the counterweight are located behind the car as seen from the shaft door and the ropes are passed under the car diagonally relative to the bottom of the car. Passing the ropes under the car in a diagonal or otherwise oblique direction relative to the form of the bottom provides an advantage when the suspension of the car on the ropes is to be made symmetrical relative to the center of mass of the elevator in other types of suspension lay-out as well.
It is further obvious to the person skilled in the art that the equipment required for the supply of power to the motor and the equipment needed for elevator control can be placed elsewhere than in connection with the machine unit, e.g. in a separate instrument panel. It is also possible to fit pieces of equipment needed for control into separate units which can then be disposed in different places in the elevator shaft and/or in other parts of the building. It is likewise obvious to the skilled person that an elevator applying the invention may be equipped differently from the examples described above. It is further obvious to the skilled person that the suspension solutions according to the invention can also be implemented using some other type of flexible hoisting means as hoisting ropes than the means described here, to achieve small deflection diameters of the hoisting means, for example by using flexible rope of one or more strands, flat belt, cogged belt, trapezoidal belt or some other type of belt applicable to the purpose, or even using different types of chains.
It is also obvious to the skilled person that, instead of using ropes with a filler as illustrated in
It is also obvious to the person skilled in the art that the elevator of the invention can be implemented using different roping arrangements for increasing the contact angle α between the traction sheave and the diverting pulley/diverting pulleys than those described as examples. For example, it is possible to dispose the diverting pulley/diverting pulleys, the traction sheave and the hoisting ropes in other ways than in the roping arrangements described in the examples.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20020043 | Jan 2002 | FI | national |
This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/863,292, filed on Jun. 9, 2004 (published as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0006180 A1 on Jan. 13, 2005), and claims the associated benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120 and 35 U.S.C. §121. The entire contents of parent U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/863,292, entitled “ELEVATOR”, are incorporated herein by reference. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/863,292 is a continuation of and claims priority to Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) International Application No. PCT/FI03/00012, filed on Jan. 9, 2003, which designated the United States of America. PCT International Application No. PCT/FI03/00012 claims priority to Finnish patent application No. 20020043, filed on Jan. 9, 2002.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Child | 12662353 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/FI03/00012 | Jan 2003 | US |
| Child | 10863292 | US |
