Author: claimsbot

We claim:

1. A method of preventing adhesion formation between tissues in an animal comprising placing a sterile adhesion prevention barrier between the tissues of the animal where the adhesion to be prevented wherein the sterile adhesion prevention barrier is formed from a polyoxaester having a first divalent repeating unit of formula IA:
OC(O)C(R1)(R2)OR3OC(R1)(R2)C(O)IA
and a second repeating unit selected from the group of formulas consisting of:
OR4A,II OR5C(O)B,III OR5C(O)PO)LGXI
and combinations thereof wherein R1, R1, R2 and R2 are independently hydrogen or an alkyl group containing 1 to 8 carbon atoms; R3 is an alkylene unit containing from 2 to 12 carbon atoms or is an oxyalkylene group of the following formula:
(CH2)COD(CH2)IV
wherein C is an integer in the range of from 2 to about 5, D is an integer in the range of from about 0 to about 2,000, and E is an integer in the range of from about 2 to about 5, except when D is zero, in which case E will be an integer from 2 to 12; R4 is an alkylene unit containing from 2 to 8 carbon atoms ; A is an integer in the range of from 1 to 2,000; R5 is selected from the group consisting of C(R6)(R7), (CH2)3O, CH2CH2OCH2, CR8HCH2, (CH2)5, (CH2)FOC(O) and (CH2)FC(O)CH2; R6 and R7 are independently hydrogen or an alkyl containing from 1 to 8 carbon atoms; R8 is hydrogen or methyl; F is an integer in the range of from 2 to 6; B is an integer in the range of from 1 to n such that the number average molecular weight of formula III is less than about 200,000; P is an integer in the range of from 1 to m such that the number average molecular weight of formula XI is less than about 1,000,000; G represents the residue minus from 1 to L hydrogen atoms from the hydroxyl groups of an alcohol previously containing from 1 to about 200 hydroxyl groups; and L is an integer from about 1 to about 200.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein additionally present is a third divalent repeating unit of the formula:
OC(O)R30C(O)IB
wherein R30 is an alkylene, arylene, arylalkylene, substituted alkylene, substituted arylene and substituted alkylarylene provided that R30 cannot be C(R1)(R2)1 2O(R3)OC (R1)(R2)1-2.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the number average molecular weight of formula III contained in the polyoxaester is less than 100,000.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the aliphatic polyoxaester has the following repeating units:
OC(O)C(R1)(R2)O(R3)OC(R1)(R2)C(O) and (OR4)A.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the aliphatic polyoxaester has the following repeating units:
OC(O)C(R1) (R2)OR3OC(R1) (R2)C(O);
OR4A; and
OR5C(O)B.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein R3 is an oxyalkylene group.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the first repeating unit is derived from a dicarboxylic acid selected from the group consisting of 3,6-dioxaoctanedioic acid, 3,6,9-trioxaundecanedioic acid and combinations thereof.
8. The method of claim 5 wherein the second repeating unit is derived from a diol selected from the group consisting of 1,2-ethandiol, 1,2-propandiol, 1,3-propandiol and combinations thereof.
9. The method of claim 5 wherein at least one of the second repeating unit is derived from ethylene glycol.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the second repeating unit is derived from a lactone selected from the group consisting of glycolide, lactide, -caprolactone and combinations thereof.
11. The method of claim 7 wherein the polyoxaester has two second repeating units wherein one of the second repeating units is a diol selected from the group consisting of 1,2-ethandiol, 1,2-propandiol, 1,3-propandiol and combinations thereof and the other repeating unit is a lactone selected from the group consisting of glycolide, lactide, -caprolactone and combinations thereof.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein the aliphatic polyoxaester has the following repeating units:
OC(O)C(R1) (R2)OR3OC(R1) (R2)C(O) OR4A; and
(OR5C(O)PO)LG.
13. The method of claim 2 wherein the polyoxaester has the following repeating units:
OC(O)R30C(O),
OR4A,
OC(O)C(R1) (R2)OR3OC(R1) (R2)C(O),
OR4A, and
OR5C(O)
wherein R4 and R4 are independently selected from alkylene groups containing from 2 to 8 carbon atoms; A and A are independently integers in the range of from 1 to about 2,000.
14. The method of claim 2 wherein the polyoxaester copolymer has the formula:
OC(O)R30C(O)
OR4A,
OC(O)C(R1) (R2)OR3OC(R1) (R2)C(O)
OR4A
(OR5C(O)PO)LG
wherein R4 and R4 are independently selected from alkylene groups containing from 2 to 8 carbon atoms; A and A are independently integers in the range of from 1 to about 2,000.
15. The method of claim 1 wherein the polyoxaester copolymer is linked to one or more polymerizable regions.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein the polyoxaester copolymer has been crosslinked.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the polyoxaester copolymer has been crosslinked by the addition of a coupling agent.
18. The method of claim 16 wherein the crosslinked polyoxaester copolymer has been contacted with water to form a hydrogel.
19. The method of claim 2 wherein the barrier is a film.
20. The method of claim 2 wherein the barrier is a foam.
21. The method of claim 2 wherein the barrier is a felt.
22. The method of claim 2 wherein the barrier is a gel.
23. The method of claim 2 wherein the barrier is a liquid.
24. The method of claim 1 wherein the polyoxaester is blended with a second polymer selected from the group consisting of homopolymer and copolymer of lactone type polymers with the repeating units described by formulas III and XI, aliphatic polyurethanes, polyether polyurethanes, polyester polyurethanes, polyethylene copolymers, polyamides, polyvinyl alcohols, poly(ethylene oxide), polypropylene oxide, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, polytetramethylene oxide, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyacrylamide, poly(hydroxy ethyl acrylate), poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate), absorbable polyoxalates, absorbable polyanhydrides and combinations thereof.
25. A aliphatic polyoxaester having a first repeating unit of the formula:
OC(O)C(R1)(R2)OR3OC(R1)(R2)C(O)
and a second repeating units are
OR4A; and
OR5C(O)B.
wherein R1, R1,, R2 and R2 are independently hydrogen or an alkyl group containing 1 to 8 carbon atoms; R3 is an alkylene unit containing from 2 to 12 carbon atoms or is an oxyalkylene group of the following formula:
(CH2)COD(CH2)EIV
wherein C is an integer in the range of from 2 to about 5, D is an integer in the range of from about 0 to about 2,000, and E is an integer in the range of from about 2 to about 5, except when D is zero, in which case E will be an integer from 2 to 12; R4 is an alkylene unit containing from 2 to 8 carbon atoms ; A is an integer in the range of from 1 to 2,000; R5 is selected from the group consisting of C(R6) (R7), (CH2)3O, CH2CH2OCH2, CR8HCH2, (CH2)5, (CH2)FOC(O) and (CH2)FC(O)CH2; R6 and R7 are independently hydrogen or an alkyl containing from 1 to 8 carbon atoms; R8 is hydrogen or methyl; F is an integer in the range of from 2 to 6; B is an integer in the range of from 1 to n such that the number average molecular weight of formula III is less than about 200,000.
26. The aliphatic polyoxaester of claim 25 wherein R3 is an oxyalkylene group.
27. The aliphatic polyoxaester of claim 26 wherein the first repeating unit is derived from a dicarboxylic acid selected from the group consisting of 3,6-dioxaoctanedioic acid, 3,6,9-trioxaundecanedioic acid and combinations thereof.
28. The aliphatic polyoxaester of claim 25 wherein the second repeating unit is derived from a diol selected from the group consisting of 1,2-ethandiol, 1,2-propandiol, 1,3-propandiol and combinations thereof.
29. The aliphatic polyoxaester of claim 25 wherein the second repeating unit is derived from ethylene glycol.
30. The aliphatic polyoxaester of claim 25 wherein the second repeating unit is derived from a lactone selected from the group consisting of glycolide, lactide, -caprolactone and combinations thereof.
31. The aliphatic polyoxaester of claim 27 wherein the aliphatic polyoxaester has two second repeating units wherein one of the second repeating units is a diol selected from the group consisting of 1,2-ethandiol, 1,2-propandiol, 1,3-propandiol and combinations thereof and the other repeating unit is a lactone selected from the group consisting of glycolide, lactide, -caprolactone and combinations thereof.

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 method for reducing noise in a noisy input signal, the method comprising:
converting a frame of the noisy input signal into an input feature vector;
obtaining a static-based prediction for a noise-reduced feature vector using a prior model of static aspects of clean signals;
obtaining a dynamic-based prediction for the noise-reduced feature vector using a prior model of dynamic aspects of clean signals;
combining the static-based prediction and the dynamic-based prediction to form at least part of a combined prediction; and
multiplying the combined prediction by a measure of the probability of the input feature vector occurring to produce at least one component of the noise-reduced feature vector.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
performing the steps of obtaining a static-based prediction, obtaining a dynamic-based prediction, determining a measure of the probability of the input feature vector occurring, combining the static-based prediction and the dynamic-based prediction, and multiplying the combined prediction by the measure of the probability for each of a set of mixture components, each mixture component providing a component of the reduced-noise feature vector; and
combining each component of the reduced-noise feature vector together to form the reduced-noise feature vector.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining a static-based prediction comprises using a mean of a distribution of the prior model of static aspects of clean signals as the static-based prediction.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining a dynamic-based prediction comprises adding a noise-reduced feature vector from a preceding frame to a mean of a distribution of the prior model of dynamic aspects of clean signals.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein combining the static-based prediction and the dynamic-based prediction comprises:
multiplying the static-based prediction by a static-specific weighting value to produce a weighted static-based prediction;
multiplying the dynamic-based prediction by a dynamic-specific weighting value to produce a weighted dynamic-based prediction;
adding the weighted static-based prediction to the weighted dynamic-based prediction to form at least part of the combined prediction.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the static-specific weighting value is a function of a variance of a distribution in the prior model of dynamic aspects of clean signals.
7. The method of claim 5 wherein the dynamic-specific weighting value is a function of a variance of a distribution in the prior model of static aspects of clean signals.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising obtaining an acoustic environment-based prediction of the noise-reduced feature vector and wherein combining the static-based prediction and the dynamic-based prediction further comprises combining the static-based prediction, the dynamic-based prediction and the acoustic environment-based prediction to form at least part of the combined prediction.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein obtaining an acoustic environment-based prediction comprises:
estimating noise in a frame of the noisy input signal; and
using the noise estimate in a function to determine the acoustic environment-based prediction.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein using the noise estimate in a function comprises using the noise estimate in a function that includes a Taylor Series approximation.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the Taylor series approximation is a zero-th order Taylor series expansion.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein using the noise estimate in a function further comprises also using the input feature vector in the function.
13. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising:
using a prior model of static aspects of clean speech to produce a static-based predicted value;
using a prior model of dynamic aspects of clean speech to produce a dynamic-based predicted value;
applying a noisy feature vector representing a frame of noisy speech and an estimate of the noise in the frame to an acoustic environment model to produce an acoustic environment-based predicted value wherein the acoustic environment model is based on a non-linear function that describes a relationship between a noisy feature vector, a clean feature vector, and a noise feature vector; and
combining the static-based predicted value, the dynamic-based predicted value and the acoustic environment-based predicted value to form at least one component of a noise-reduced feature vector.
14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 wherein using a prior model of static aspects of clean speech comprises selecting a mean of a distribution in the prior model of static aspects of clean speech as the static-based predicted value.
15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 wherein using a prior model of dynamic aspects of clean speech comprises adding a noise-reduced feature vector to a mean of a distribution in the prior model of dynamic aspects of clean speech to produce the dynamic-based predicted value.
16. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 wherein the acoustic environment model is formed from a Taylor series approximation to the non-linear function.
17. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 wherein combining the static-based predicted value, the dynamic-based predicted value and the acoustic environment-based predicted value comprises:
applying separate weights to each of the static-based predicted value, the dynamic-based predicted value and the acoustic environment-based predicted value to form a weighted static-based value, a weighted dynamic-based value and a weighted acoustic environment-based value; and
summing the weighted static-based value, the weighted dynamic-based value and the weighted acoustic environment -based value.
18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the weight applied to the static-based predicted value is a function of a variance for a distribution in the prior model of the dynamic aspects of clean speech.
19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the weight applied to the dynamic-based predicted value is a function of a variance for a distribution in the prior model of the static aspects of clean speech.
20. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 further comprising:
repeating the steps to produce a static-based predicted value, to produce a dynamic-based predicted value, to produce an acoustic environment-based predicted value, and to combine the static-based predicted value, the dynamic-based predicted value and the acoustic environment-based predicted value for each mixture component in a set of mixture components to thereby produce a set of components for the noise-reduced feature vector; and
combining the components in the set of components for the noise-reduced feature vector to produce the noise-reduced feature vector.
21. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising:
using a prior model of static aspects of clean speech to produce a static-based predicted value;
using a prior model of dynamic aspects of clean speech to produce a dynamic-based predicted value;
applying a noisy feature vector representing a frame of noisy speech to an acoustic environment model to produce an acoustic environment-based predicted value; and
combining the static-based predicted value, the dynamic-based predicted value and the acoustic environment-based predicted value to form at least one component of a noise-reduced feature vector through steps comprising:
applying separate weights to each of the static-based predicted value, the dynamic-based predicted value and the acoustic environment-based predicted value to form a weighted static-based value, a weighted dynamic-based value and a weighted acoustic environment-based value; and
summing the weighted static-based value, the weighted dynamic-based value and the weighted acoustic environment-based value.
22. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein using a prior model of static aspects of clean speech comprises selecting a mean of a distribution in the prior model of static aspects of clean speech as the static-based predicted value.
23. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein using a prior model of dynamic aspects of clean speech comprises adding a noise-reduced feature vector to a mean of a distribution in the prior model of dynamic aspects of clean speech to produce the dynamic-based predicted value.
24. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein applying a noisy feature vector to an acoustic environment model further comprises applying an estimate of the noise in the frame to the acoustic environment model.
25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24 wherein the acoustic environment model is based on a non-linear function that describes a relationship between a noisy feature vector, a clean feature vector, and a noise feature vector.
26. The computer-readable medium of claim 25 wherein the acoustic environment model is formed from a Taylor series approximation to the non-linear function.
27. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the weight applied to the static-based predicted value is a function of a variance for a distribution in the prior model of the dynamic aspects of clean speech.
28. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the weight applied to the dynamic-based predicted value is a function of a variance for a distribution in the prior model of the static aspects of clean speech.
29. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 further comprising:
repeating the steps to produce a static-based predicted value, to produce a dynamic-based predicted value, to produce an acoustic environment-based predicted value, and to combine the static-based predicted value, the dynamic-based predicted value and the acoustic environment-based predicted value for each mixture component in a set of mixture components to thereby produce a set of components for the noise-reduced feature vector; and
combining the components in the set of components for the noise-reduced feature vector to produce the noise-reduced feature vector.

1. An electrode material, wherein raw materials for preparing the electrode material comprise polyvinylidene fluoride and an additive, the additive can be reacted with the polyvinylidene fluoride to generate a conductive active substance; and the amount of the polyvinylidene fluoride is 50 to 99 mass percentage, and the amount of the additive is 1 to 50 mass percentage.
2. The electrode material according to claim 1, wherein the additive is one selected from potassium salt, potassium hydroxide and a strong oxidizing substance.
3. A preparation method for an electrode material, wherein the preparation method comprises the following steps:
(1) dissolving polyvinylidene fluoride and an additive to obtain a mixed solution by virtue of an organic solvent, the additive can be reacted with the polyvinylidene fluoride to generate a conductive active substance, wherein the amount of the polyvinylidene fluoride is 50 to 99 mass percentage, and the amount of the additive is 1 to 50 mass percentage;
(2) coating a substrate with the mixed solution obtained in the step (1), and drying the mixed solution to prepare a PVDF-based composite film; and
(3) performing an activating treatment on the PVDF-based composite film obtained in the step (2) to obtain the electrode material.
4. The preparation method according to claim 3, wherein the step (1) comprises: uniformly mixing the polyvinylidene fluoride and the additive to obtain a mixed powder, and dissolving the mixed powder to obtain the mixed solution by virtue of the organic solvent.
5. The preparation method according to claim 3, wherein the additive is one or more selected from potassium salt, potassium hydroxide and strong oxidizing substance.
6. The preparation method according to claim 3, wherein the organic solvent is one selected from N,N-dimethyl formamide, dimethyl sulfoxide and N-methyl pyrrolidone.
7. The preparation method according to claim 3, wherein the activating treatment comprises the following steps: performing a heat treatment on the PVDF-based composite film for 1 to 120 minutes at 80\xb0 C. to 250\xb0 C., then impregnating the PVDF-based composite film in an aqueous solution or alcoholic solution for 1 to 600 minutes, the aqueous solution or alcoholic solution is a solution of potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide or potassium permanganate, and finally performing a heat treatment on the PVDF-based composite film for 1 to 120 minutes at 80\xb0 C. to 250\xb0 C.
8. The preparation method according to claim 7, wherein the aqueous solution or alcoholic solution of potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide or potassium permanganate is at a concentration of 0.5 to 17.5 molL.
9. The preparation method according to claim 3, wherein the activating treatment comprises the following step of: depositing one or more metal selected from Au, Ag, Al, Fe and Ni on the PVDF-based composite film.
10. The preparation method according to claim 9, wherein a film sputtering deposition method is used for depositing one or more metal selected from Au, Ag, Al and Fe on the PVDF-based composite film; or an electroplating method is used for depositing one or more metal selected from Ag, Ni, Fe and Cu on the PVDF-based composite film.
11. The preparation method according to claim 3, wherein a material of the substrate is one selected from graphite paper, carbon paper, conductive fibre cloth, aluminium foil, nickel foam, copper foil and glass.
12. A supercapacitor, comprising an electrode, wherein the electrode is prepared from the electrode material according to claim 1.
13. The supercapacitor according to claim 12, wherein the supercapacitor is a flexible supercapacitor, and the flexible supercapacitor further comprises: current collector and electrolyte, wherein the current collector is a substrate for preparing the electrode material, or a layer of conductive metal material arranged on the electrode material; and the electrolyte is a solid electrolyte functioning in conduction and bonding among the electrode.
14. The supercapacitor according to claim 13, wherein the conductive metal material is Au, Al or Ag.
15. The supercapacitor according to claim 13, wherein the solid electrolyte is a mixture of polyvinyl alcohol and an ionic compound, or is a polyvinyl-alcohol-based solid electrolyte.
16. The supercapacitor according to claim 12, wherein the supercapacitor is a button supercapacitor, and the button supercapacitor further comprises separator, electrolyte solution, negative battery shell cover and positive battery shell cover, the separator and the electrode are arranged in the negative battery shell cover in a sequence of electrodeseparatorelectrode; the electrolyte solution is filled in the negative battery shell cover; and the positive battery shell cover is buckled to the negative battery shell cover.
17. The supercapacitor according to claim 12, wherein the supercapacitor is a wound supercapacitor, and the wound supercapacitor further comprises separator, columnar conductive rod, packaging shell and electrolyte solution, the separator and the electrode are arranged and wound on the two columnar conductive rods to form a blank product in a sequence of electrodeseparatorelectrode; and the blank product is arranged in the packaging shell filled with the electrolyte solution.
18. A preparation method for a button polyvinylidene fluoride based supercapacitor, wherein the preparation method comprises the following steps:
(1) preparing a polyvinylidene fluoride mixed solution,
namely uniformly mixing and drying the polyvinylidene fluoride and an additive, to obtain mixed powder, the additive can be reacted with the polyvinylidene fluoride to generate a conductive active substance, and dissolving the mixed powder to obtain the mixed solution by virtue of an organic solvent;
(2) preparing PVDF-based composite film,
namely coating substrate with the mixed solution, obtained in the step (1), of the polyvinylidene fluoride and the additive which can be reacted with the polyvinylidene fluoride to generate the conductive active substance, or pouring the mixed solution onto substrate, and drying the mixed solution to obtain the PVDF-based composite films;
(3) performing an activating treatment on the PVDF-based composite film to obtain electrode material,
namely performing the activating treatment on the PVDF-based composite film obtained in the step (2) by virtue of a physico-chemical process, thereby obtaining the electrode material for the button supercapacitor; and
(4) preparing the button supercapacitor,
namely adopting the PVDF-based composite film as the electrode material, arranging the electrode material and separator in a negative button battery shell cover in a sequence of electrode materialseparatorelectrode material, filling electrolyte solution into the negative battery shell cover, then buckling positive battery shell cover to the negative battery shell cover, and finally packaging the button device on a battery packaging machine to obtain the button supercapacitor.
19. The preparation method according to claim 18, wherein conductive flexible substrate which is graphite paper, carbon paper, nickel foam, aluminium foil or conductive fibre cloth is adopted as current collector, and the electrolyte solution filled in the negative button battery shell cover is inorganic electrolyte solution, organic electrolyte solution or ionic electrolyte solution.
20. A preparation method for a wound polyvinylidene fluoride based supercapacitor, wherein the preparation method comprises the following steps:
(1) preparing a polyvinylidene fluoride mixed solution,
namely uniformly mixing and drying the polyvinylidene fluoride and an additive, to obtain mixed powder, the additive can be reacted with the polyvinylidene fluoride to generate a conductive active substance according to a mass proportion, and dissolving the mixed powder to obtain the mixed solution by virtue of an organic solvent;
(2) preparing PVDF-based composite film,
namely coating substrate with the mixed solution, obtained in step (1), of the polyvinylidene fluoride and the additive which can be reacted with the polyvinylidene fluoride to generate the conductive active substance, or pouring the mixed solution onto substrate, and drying the mixed solution to obtain the PVDF-based composite film;
(3) performing an activating treatment on the PVDF-based composite film to obtain electrode material,
namely performing the activating treatment on the PVDF-based composite films obtained in the step (2) by virtue of a physico-chemical process, thereby obtaining the electrode material for the wound supercapacitor;
(4) obtaining a wound supercapacitor blank product,
namely adopting the PVDF-based composite film as the electrode material, arranging the electrode material and separator between two columnar conductive rods in a sequence of electrode materialseparatorelectrode material, and performing winding to obtain the blank product in a way that the electrode material are closely attached to the columnar conductive rods; and
(5) preparing the wound supercapacitor,
namely placing the wound blank product in a packaging shell with an upper inner cover and a lower inner cover, and performing packaging to obtain the wound supercapacitor after inorganic electrolyte solution, organic electrolyte solution or ionic electrolyte solution is filled.

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 signaling system for mounting to an exterior surface of an emergency vehicle opposite an interior surface of the vehicle to which objects are mounted, the signaling system comprising:
a light bar comprising a plurality of signaling devices supported on and distributed along a base member and enclosed by a cover;
a plate secured to the exterior surface of the emergency vehicle by one or more fasteners of a first type, which pass through the vehicle into its interior, the plate including a surface engaging the base member of the light bar such that the light bar is suspended from the plate with substantially the entire plate sandwiched between the light bar and the exterior surface of the emergency vehicle; and
one or more fasteners of a second type that do not pass through the surface of the vehicle into its interior for securing the light bar to the plate and thereby the exterior surface of the emergency vehicle such that the light bar can be removed from the exterior surface of the vehicle without removing the fasteners of the first type, which hold the plate to the vehicle.
2. The signaling system of claim 1 wherein the plate includes an opening for communicating electrical wiring to the light bar.
3. The signaling system of claim 1 wherein the one or more first type of fasteners comprise one or more bolts and mating nuts.
4. The signaling system of claim 1 wherein the one or more second type of fasteners comprise one or more set screws supported on the light bar and engageable with the plate.
5. The signaling system of claim 4 wherein the one or more set screws engage a surface on the plate which is configured such that the light bar is drawn towards the plate as the set screws are moved into engagement with the plate.
6. The signaling system of claim 1 wherein the one or more second type of fasteners comprise bolts that extend through the light bar and are received in corresponding recesses in the plate.
7. The signaling system of claim 1 wherein the base member is further configured to receive fasteners of a third type that can be used to secure the light bar directly to the exterior surface of the emergency vehicle.
8. The signaling system of claim 1 wherein the one or more first type of fasteners comprise one or more bolts and mating nuts.
9. The signaling system of claim 1 wherein the one or more second type of fasteners comprise one or more set screws supported on the light bar and engageable with the plate.
10. The signaling system of claim 1 wherein the base member is further configured to receive fasteners of a third type that can be used to secure the light bar directly to the exterior surface of the emergency vehicle.
11. The signaling system of claim 1 wherein the base member is further configured to receive fasteners of a third type that can be used to secure the light bar directly to the exterior surface of the emergency vehicle.
12. A method for mounting a signaling system to a substantially vertical exterior surface of an emergency vehicle comprising, in any appropriate order, the steps of:
securing a plate to the exterior surface of the emergency vehicle using one or more fasteners of a first type that pass through the vehicle into its interior;
suspending a light bar on the substantially vertical exterior surface of the emergency vehicle by engaging the light bar with a support surface on the plate such that the light bar is held in position on the substantially vertical exterior surface without any fasteners, the light bar comprising a plurality of signaling devices supported on and distributed along a base member and enclosed by a cover; and
securing the light bar to the plate using one or more fasteners of a second type which do not pass through the surface of the vehicle into its interior such that the light bar can be removed from the exterior surface of the vehicle without removing the fasteners of the first type.
13. The method of claim 12 further including the step of feeding electrical wiring associated with the light bar through an opening in the plate.
14. The method of claim 12 wherein the one or more first type of fasteners comprise one or more bolts and mating nuts.
15. The method of claim 12 wherein the one or more second type of fasteners comprise one or more set screws supported on the light bar and engageable with the plate.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the one or more set screws engage a surface on the plate which is configured such that the light bar is drawn towards the plate as the set screws are moved into engagement with the plate.
17. A signaling system for mounting to an exterior surface of an emergency vehicle opposite an interior surface of the vehicle to which objects are mounted, the signaling system comprising:
a light bar comprising a plurality of signaling devices supported on and distributed along a base member and enclosed by a cover;
a plate secured to the exterior surface of the emergency vehicle by one or more fasteners of a first type, which pass through the vehicle into its interior, the plate including a surface engaging the base member of the light bar such that the light bar is suspended from the plate with the base member of the light bar engaging the exterior surface of the motor vehicle; and
one or more fasteners of a second type that do not pass through the surface of the vehicle into its interior for securing the light bar to the plate and thereby the exterior surface of the emergency vehicle such that the light bar can be removed from the exterior surface of the vehicle without removing the fasteners of the first type, which hold the plate to the vehicle.
18. The signaling system of claim 17 wherein the plate includes an opening for communicating electrical wiring to the light bar.
19. The signaling system of claim 17 wherein the plate includes an opening for communicating electrical wiring to the light bar.
20. A signaling system for mounting to an exterior surface of an emergency vehicle opposite an interior surface of the vehicle to which objects are mounted, the signaling system comprising:
a light bar comprising a plurality of signaling devices supported on and distributed along a base member and enclosed by a cover;
a plate secured to the exterior surface of the emergency vehicle by one or more fasteners of a first type, which pass through the vehicle into its interior, the plate including a surface engaging the base member of the light bar such that as the light bar is suspended from the plate the light bar is drawn towards the exterior surface of the emergency vehicle; and
one or more fasteners of a second type that do not pass through the surface of the vehicle into its interior for securing the light bar to the plate and thereby the exterior surface of the emergency vehicle such that the light bar can be removed from the exterior surface of the vehicle without removing the fasteners of the first type, which hold the plate to the vehicle.