1. A method of operating liquid in a vacuum or low-pressure environment and observing the operation, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) preparing a housing, said housing having a plurality of spacers partitioning off an interior space of the housing into a liquid chamber, at least one vapor chamber formed outside said liquid chamber, and at least one buffer chamber formed outside said vapor chamber, said liquid chamber containing a liquid specimen, each of said spacers located respectively above and below said liquid chamber having a vapor aperture, each of said spacers located respectively above and below said vapor chamber having an inner aperture, the inner apertures being located respectively above and below said vapor apertures, said housing having two outer apertures formed respectively on its top and bottom sides, said vapor apertures are coaxial with said inner and outer apertures, and said housing has a gas inlet corresponding to said vapor chamber and a pumping port corresponding to said buffer chamber;
(b) putting said housing in the vacuum or low-pressure environment and controlling said liquid, vapor, and buffer chambers under the same temperature;
(c) infusing vapor through said gas inlet into said vapor chamber and controlling the vapor pressure inside said vapor chamber to equal the saturated vapor pressure of said liquid specimen inside said liquid chamber under the same temperature to prevent the liquid inside said liquid chamber from volatilization out of said vapor apertures and to keep the liquid in a specific amount in said liquid chamber without loss; meanwhile, the vapor inside said vapor chamber slowly exhausting through said inner apertures into said buffer chamber; and
(d) evacuating said buffer chamber through said pumping ports at a predetermined rate to pump out the vapor exhausted through said inner apertures into said buffer chamber and to prevent the vapor from leaking through said outer apertures out of said housing;
whereby operating liquid in the vacuum or low-pressure environment is achieved.
2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the vapor infused into said vapor chamber in the step (c) is equal to or smaller than that of said vapor chamber in temperature.
3. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the vapor infused into said vapor chamber in the step (c) can be a specific gas or vapor or a mixture of the vapor and the specific gas.
4. The method as defined in claim 3, wherein the temperature of said vapor is equal to or smaller than that of said specific gas.
5. The method as defined in claim 3, wherein said specific gas is nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, other inert gas, or a mixture of aforesaid gases.
6. A device for operating liquid in the vacuum or low-pressure environment and observing the operation, comprising:
a housing having a plurality of spacers partitioning off an interior space of the housing into a liquid chamber, at least one vapor chamber formed outside said liquid chamber, and at least one buffer chamber formed outside said vapor chamber, said liquid chamber containing a liquid specimen, each of said spacers respectively above and below said liquid chamber having a vapor aperture, each of said spacers located respectively above and below said vapor chamber having an inner aperture, the inner apertures being located respectively above and below said two vapor apertures, said housing having two outer apertures formed respectively on its top and bottom sides, said vapor apertures being coaxial with said inner and outer apertures, said housing having a gas inlet corresponding to said vapor chamber and a pumping port corresponding to said buffer chamber.
7. The device as defined in claim 6, wherein said housing comprises two inclined spacers mounted in said buffer chamber and located respectively above and below said two inner apertures for partitioning off said buffer chamber into two auxiliary buffer chambers, each of said two inclined spacers having a buffer aperture coaxial with said inner and outer apertures, each of said auxiliary buffer chambers corresponding to said pumping port of said housing.
8. The device as defined in claim 7, wherein said two auxiliary buffer chambers communicate with said two outer apertures; said buffer chamber communicates with said two auxiliary buffer chambers through said two buffer apertures, each of said two auxiliary buffer chambers being larger in pumping rate than said buffer chamber.
9. A method for using the device of claim 7 for operating liquid in a vacuum or low-pressure environment and observing the operation, said method comprising the steps of:
maintaining a gas within said vapor chamber at a pressure over 760 torrs;
pumping said buffer chamber at a rate over than 160 Lsec; and
pumping each of said auxiliary buffer chambers at a rate over 240 Lsec.
10. The device as defined in claim 7, wherein each of said buffer apertures has a diameter of 10-400 \u03bcm between those of said inner and outer apertures.
11. The device as defined in claim 6 further comprising a hollow specimen holder, wherein said specimen holder has a box at its distal end, said box having an opening in communication with said specimen holder; said vapor chamber being located in said box; said gas inlet being located in said specimen holder and in communication with said vapor chamber; said liquid chamber being located in said box; said inner apertures are located respectively on a top sidewall and a bottom sidewall of said box; said buffer chamber being located outside said specimen holder; said spacers further partition off the inside of said housing into an upper additional buffer chamber and a lower additional buffer chamber located respectively above and below said buffer chamber, said housing having a plurality of pumping ports, each of said buffer chambers and said upper and lower additional buffer chambers corresponding to one of said pumping ports, each of said spacers located between said buffer chamber and said upper and lower additional buffer chambers having a buffer aperture, said buffer apertures being coaxial with said outer, inner, and vapor apertures.
12. The device as defined in claim 6, wherein each of said vapor apertures is taper-shaped whereby the thickness of each sidewall is smallest at the center of the sidewall surrounding said vapor aperture.
13. The device as defined in claim 6, wherein each of said outer apertures is larger in diameter than said inner apertures.
14. The device as defined in claim 6, wherein each of said vapor apertures comprises a diameter of 5-100 \u03bcm; each of said inner apertures comprises a diameter of 10-200 \u03bcm; each of said outer apertures comprises a diameter of 20-800 \u03bcm.
15. The device as defined in claim 6, wherein said liquid specimen in said liquid chamber is smaller in thickness than 30 \u03bcm.
16. The device as defined in claim 6, wherein said housing comprises a height overall of less than about 1 cm.
17. A device for operating liquid in the vacuum or low-pressure environment and observing the operation, comprising:
a housing having a plurality of spacers partitioning off an interior space of the housing into a vapor chamber and at least one buffer chamber formed outside said vapor chamber, each of said spacers located respectively above and below said vapor chamber having an inner aperture, said housing having two outer apertures formed on its top and bottom sides, a gas inlet corresponding to said vapor chamber, and a pumping port corresponding to said buffer chamber;
a specimen holder having a target stage, said target stage having an opening, said housing having an insertion slot in communication with said vapor chamber, said specimen holder being inserted through said insertion slot into said vapor chamber to enable said inner apertures to be coaxial with said opening; and
a liquid box placed on said target stage and containing a liquid specimen inside, said liquid box having two vapor apertures formed respectively on its top and bottom sides, said vapor apertures being coaxial with said inner and outer apertures.
18. The device as defined in claim 17, wherein each of said vapor apertures is taper-shaped whereby the thickness of each sidewall is smallest at the center of the sidewall surrounding said vapor aperture.
19. The device as defined in claim 17, wherein said housing comprises a thinner part at its one side; said inner and outer apertures are located on said thinner part.
20. The device as defined in claim 17, wherein said target stage comprises a retaining wall surrounding said liquid box.
21. The device as defined in claim 17, wherein said liquid box and said target stage are connected with each other by an adhesive.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A system for wirelessly controlling multiple environmental zones, comprising:
a plurality of zone controllers, each zone controller being associated with one of the environmental zones and being configured to:
monitor an environmental condition of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller;
detect an occupancy state of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller indicative of whether the environmental zone is occupied or unoccupied; and
control actuation of a register vent specific to the environmental zone associated with the zone controller to modify the environmental condition of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller; and
a central controller configured to:
communicate, wirelessly, with the plurality of zone controllers;
for a zone controller of the plurality of zone controllers:
determine a first desired environmental condition for use when occupancy is determined to be present; and
determine a second desired environmental condition for use when occupancy is determined to not be present, the second desired environmental condition differing from the first desired environmental condition;
receive occupancy data from the plurality of zone controllers; and
via wireless communication with a zone controller of the plurality of zone controllers, control actuation of the register vent associated with the zone controller of the plurality of zone controllers based on the occupancy state received by the central controller from at least two zone controllers of the plurality of zone controllers, the first desired environmental condition, and the second desired environmental condition.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein each zone controller comprises an occupancy sensor for detecting the occupancy state of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller, the occupancy sensor being selected from the group consisting of:
an infrared sensor;
a motion sensor; and
an ultrasonic sensor.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein each zone controller is further configured to:
receive a first instruction indicating the first desired environmental condition of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller for when the environmental zone is occupied;
receive a second instruction indicating the second desired environmental condition of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller for when the environmental zone is unoccupied; and
control actuation of the register vent specific to the environmental zone to modify the environmental condition based at least in part on the first and second instructions and the occupancy state of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the central controller is further configured to:
receive, from one of the zone controllers, an occupancy indicator that indicates whether the environmental zone associated with the zone controller is occupied or unoccupied;
receive first instructions indicating the first desired environmental condition for when the environmental zone associated with the zone controller is occupied;
receive second instructions indicating the second desired environmental condition for when the environmental zone associated with the zone controller is unoccupied; and
communicate, to the zone controller:
the first desired environmental condition when the occupancy indicator indicates that the environmental zone associated with the zone controller is occupied; and
the second desired environmental condition when the occupancy indicator indicates that the environmental zone associated with the zone controller is unoccupied.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the central controller is further configured to:
receive, from each of the zone controllers, an occupancy indicator that indicates whether the environmental zone associated with the zone controller is occupied or unoccupied;
receive first instructions indicating the first desired environmental condition for when any of the environmental zones associated with the plurality of zone controllers is occupied;
receive second instructions indicating the second desired environmental condition for when all of the environmental zones associated with the plurality of zone controllers are unoccupied; and
communicate, to the zone controllers, the first desired environmental condition when any of the occupancy indicators indicate that the environmental zone associated therewith is occupied and the second desired environmental condition when all of the occupancy indicators indicate that the environmental zones associated therewith are unoccupied.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein each zone controller includes:
a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller;
an occupancy sensor for detecting the occupancy state of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller;
a communication module for communicating with the central controller; and
a processor for controlling the register vent to alter the temperature of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor controls the register vent to alter the temperature of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller based at least in part on the temperature of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller, the occupancy state of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller, and one or more instructions received from the central controller via the communication module.
8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a remote control operable to communicate instructions to the zone controller, the instructions including instructing the zone controller to control the register vent respectively associated with the zone controller to modify the environmental condition of the environmental zone respectively associated with the zone controller to satisfy a desired environmental condition set by a user via the remote control.
9. A method for wirelessly controlling multiple environmental zones, comprising:
monitoring, by a plurality of zone controllers associated with a respective plurality of environmental zones, an environmental condition of each of the environmental zones;
detecting, by each zone controller, an occupancy state of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller indicative of whether the environmental zone is occupied or unoccupied;
controlling, by at least one of the zone controllers, a register vent specific to the environmental zone associated with the at least one zone controller to modify the environmental condition of the environmental zone;
communicating, wirelessly, between the plurality of zone controllers and a central controller;
determining, by the central controller, a first desired environmental condition for use when occupancy is determined to be present;
determining, by the central controller, a second desired environmental condition for use when occupancy is determined to not be present, the second desired environmental condition differing from the first desired environmental condition; and
via wireless communication with a zone controller of the plurality of zone controllers, controlling, with the central controller, actuation of the register vent associated with the zone controller of the plurality of zone controllers based at least in part on the occupancy state detected by each of the zone controllers based on the occupancy state received by the central controller from at least two zone controllers of the plurality of zone controllers, the first desired environmental condition, and the second desired environmental condition.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
receiving first instructions indicating the first desired environmental condition for when a particular environmental zone is occupied; and
receiving second instructions indicating the second desired environmental condition for when the particular environmental zone is unoccupied.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first and second desired environmental conditions comprise temperatures.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein:
receiving first and second instructions includes receiving the first and second instructions at a particular zone controller associated with the particular environmental zone; and
controlling a register vent includes controlling the register vent associated with the particular environmental zone to modify the environmental condition of the particular environmental zone based at least in part on the received first and second instructions and the detected occupancy state of the particular environmental zone.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein:
receiving first and second instructions includes receiving the first and second instructions at the central controller; and
controlling, with the central controller, the plurality of zone controllers, includes instructing a particular zone controller associated with the particular environmental zone to control the register vent associated with the particular environmental zone based at least in part on the received first and second instructions and the detected occupancy state of the particular environmental zone.
14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
receiving from a user, at the central controller, instructions indicating the first desired environmental condition for when any of the environmental zones is occupied; and
in response to receiving the instructions indicating the desired environmental condition for when any of the environmental zones is occupied, wirelessly communicating, from the central controller to the zone controllers, instructions for causing the zone controllers to control the register vents associated with the zone controllers based at least in part on the desired environmental condition.
15. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
receiving from a user, at the central controller, instructions indicating the second desired environmental condition for when all of the environmental zones are unoccupied; and
in response to receiving the instructions indicating the desired environmental condition for when all of the environmental zones are unoccupied, wirelessly communicating, from the central controller to the zone controllers, instructions for causing the zone controllers to control the register vents associated with the zone controllers based at least in part on the desired environmental condition.
16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
receiving at one of the zone controllers from a user, via a remote control in wireless communication with the zone controller, an instruction indicating a third desired environmental condition of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller; and
in response the zone controller receiving the instruction indicating the desired environmental condition of the environmental zone associated with the zone controller, the zone controller controlling the register vent specific to the environmental zone associated with the zone controller to modify the environmental condition of the environmental zone based at least in part on the desired environmental condition.
17. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
receiving at one of the zone controllers from a user, via a remote control in wireless communication with the zone controller, an instruction indicating a desired environmental condition of the environmental zone associated with a different one of the zone controllers; and
in response the zone controller receiving the instruction indicating the desired environmental condition of the environmental zone associated with the different one of the zone controllers, the different one of the zone controllers controlling the register vent specific to the environmental zone associated with the different one of the zone controllers to modify the environmental condition of the environmental zone based at least in part on the desired environmental condition.