1. A method of making a graded electrode, the method comprising:
depositing a first electrode ink on a substrate to form a first electrode layer having a first ionomer to carbon ratio, wherein the substrate is a gas diffusion media or a polymer electrolyte membrane;
passing the substrate with the first electrode layer under a first blade having a first height at one end applied adjacent to a first side of the substrate and a second height at an opposite end applied adjacent to a second side of the substrate across from the first side, the first height of the first blade being less than the second height of the first blade, to remove a portion of the first electrode layer such that the thickness of the first electrode layer increases across the width of the substrate from the first side of the substrate to the second side of the substrate;
depositing a second electrode ink adjacent to the first electrode layer to form a second electrode layer having a second ionomer to carbon ratio different from the first ionomer to carbon ratio; and
passing the substrate with the first and second electrode layers under a second blade having a first height at one end applied adjacent to the first side of the substrate and a second height at an opposite end applied adjacent to the second side of the substrate, the first height of the second blade being greater than the second height of the second blade, to remove a portion of the second layer such that the thickness of the second electrode layer decreases across the width of the substrate from the first side of the substrate to the second side of the substrate, a combined electrode layer formed from the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer having an average ionomer to carbon ratio that varies across the width of the substrate from the first side to the second side.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the combined electrode layer is constant across the width of the substrate from the first side to the second side.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein:
the first height of the first blade is substantially the same as the second height of the second blade;
the second height of the first blade is substantially the same as the first height of the second blade; and
a thickness of the combined electrode layer is substantially constant across the width of the substrate from the first side to the second side.
4. A method of making a graded electrode, the method comprising:
depositing a first electrode ink on a substrate to form a first electrode layer having a first ionomer to carbon ratio and a thickness that is uniform across a width of the substrate, wherein the substrate is a gas diffusion media or a polymer electrolyte membrane;
removing a portion of the first electrode layer such that the thickness of the first electrode layer increases across the width of the substrate from a first side of the substrate to a second side of the substrate across from the first side of the substrate;
wherein the portion of the first electrode layer is removed by passing the substrate with the first electrode layer under a first slanted blade having a first height at one end applied adjacent to the first side of the substrate and a second height at an opposite end applied adjacent to the second side of the substrate, the first height of the first slanted blade being less than the second height of the first slanted blade;
depositing a second electrode ink over the first electrode layer after the portion of the first electrode layer is removed to form a second electrode layer having a second ionomer to carbon ratio different from the first ionomer to carbon ratio;
removing a portion of the second electrode layer to form an even upper surface of the second electrode layer, such that the thickness of the second electrode layer decreases across the width of the substrate from the first side of the substrate to the second side of the substrate;
wherein the portion of the second electrode layer is removed by passing the substrate with the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer under a second slanted blade having a first height at one end applied adjacent to the first side of the substrate and a second height at an opposite end applied adjacent to the second side of the substrate, the first height of the second slanted blade being greater than the second height of the second slanted blade;
whereby a combined electrode layer formed from the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer has an average ionomer to carbon ratio that varies across the width of the substrate from the first side of the substrate to the second side of the substrate.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising drying the first electrode layer before depositing the second electrode ink.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein:
the first height of the first slanted blade is substantially the same as the second height of the second slanted blade;
the second height of the first slanted blade is substantially the same as the first height of the second slanted blade; and
a thickness of the combined electrode layer is substantially constant across the width of the substrate from the first side to the second side.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein the substrate is a gas diffusion media that is wound on a roll and the method further comprises:
unwinding the substrate from the roll to cause the substrate to passed under the first blade and then under the second blade.
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 test system for testing transaction processing equipment, the test system comprising:
a probe,
a test controller, and
a controller interface for capturing monitored data, wherein, the probe comprises:
a card reader for reading a card presented for a test and for routing card data to a terminal of said transaction processing equipment,
an interface to the transaction terminal, said interface being connected to the card reader,
a monitoring circuit to passively monitor data transmitted from the terminal to a card and data transmitted from the card to the terminal, wherein the monitoring circuit monitors signals via an opto-isolator, and
a switch connected to the opto-isolator for switching between card signal frequencies to choose an appropriate frequency;
the system comprises a database for storing monitored data and transaction conformance data;
the system comprises a transaction conformance verifier for verifying operations of the transaction processing equipment
under test by comparing monitored data and the conformance data.
2. The test system as claim in claim 1, wherein the probe routes the card data to the controller interface.
3. The test system as claim in claim 1, wherein the probe routes the card data on a hard-wired link to contact pads on the interface to the transaction terminal.
4. The test system as claim in claim 3, wherein the interface has at its extremity a configuration identical to that of a card, but is longer than a card to accommodate different terminal physical configurations.
5. The test system as claim in claim 1, wherein the probe comprises a control unit for generating probe status outputs.
6. The test system as claim in claim 5, wherein the outputs indicate if the probe is transmitting monitored data to the controller interface.
7. The test system as claim in claim 5, wherein
the outputs indicate if a card is correctly inserted into the probe.
8. The test system as claim in claim 5, wherein the outputs indicate if the probe is correctly connected to the terminal.
9. The test system as claim in claim 1, wherein the probe converts the monitored data to a test controller format, and routes it in that format to the test controller.
10. The test system as claim in claim 1, wherein the test controller comprises an interface to the terminal and an interface to an external transaction processing system.
11. The test system as claim in claim 10, wherein the test controller performs bi-directional routing between the terminal and the external system.
12. The test system as claim in claim 1, wherein the test controller comprises parsers for parsing monitored data and converting it into normalized format for the database.
13. The test system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the test controller comprises a switch engine for reading normalized data from the database and routing normalized data according to rules in the database.
14. The test system as claim in claim 12, wherein the test controller comprises a switch engine for reading normalized data from the database and routing normalized data according to rules in the database; and wherein the switch engine uses elements of normalized data to execute said rules.
15. The test system as claim in claim 12, wherein the test controller comprises a switch engine for reading normalized data from the database and routing normalized data according to rules in the database; and wherein the switch engine uses elements of normalized data to execute said rules; and wherein the routing decisions may be to reject traffic, authorise data and return it to its source, or route data to a different communications parser.
16. The test system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the test controller comprises a switch engine for reading normalized data from the database and routing normalized data according to rules in the database; and wherein the switch engine routes data to the conformance verifier for verification according to rules in the database.
17. The test system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the verifier is configured to perform conformance verification in a mode having the following data monitoring points:
a first point between the card and the terminal;
a second point between the terminal and the card;
a third point between the terminaL and the test system;
a fourth point between the test system and the terminal;
a fifth point between the external transaction processing system and the test system; and
a sixth point between the test system and the external transaction processing system.
18. The test system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the verifier is configured to perform conformance verification in a mode having only the first, second, third, and fourth points.
19. The test system as claim in claim 17, wherein the verifier is configured to perform conformance verification in a mode having only the first, second, third, and fourth points; and wherein the test controller comprises a simulator for simulating an external transaction processing system as seen by the terminal.
20. The test system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the verifier is configured to perform conformance verification with data from only the first and second points.
21. The test system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the verifier is configured to perform conformance verification with data from only the fifth and sixth points.
22. The test system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the verifier is configured to perform conformance verification with data from only the fifth and sixth points; and wherein the test system comprises a simulator for simulating a terminal as seen by an external transaction processing system.