HUP0100304A2 - Hydraulically or pneumatically operated rocking piston machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention is a hydraulically or pneumatically operated rocking piston machine, mainly a rocking piston engine, which has a cylinder (1) equipped with a toroidal track (2). In the toroid track (2), the rocking piston (3) is arranged so that it can be rocked in two opposite directions. The toroid track (2) is shared with the chamber wall (4) at that point, which borders the cylinder chamber (5, 6) on both sides of the swing piston (3). The oscillating piston (3) is connected to an oscillating mass (10), which is connected to the central output crankshaft (13). The swing piston (3) has an operating angle range of 340-355° in both swing directions. The point is that it is equipped with two freewheel connections (14, 15) that operate in opposite directions. There is a unit (17-21) that changes the direction of rotation of the swing piston (3) and thereby reverses the swing direction of the swing mass (10) during one swing direction of the swing piston (3). One of the freewheel connections (14) is connected to the swing mass (10) and the output crankshaft (13). The unit that reverses the swing direction of the lower piston (3) has a rotation converter unit, which is connected between the oscillating mass (10) and the other free wheel connection (15), at the same time - the second wheel connection (15) which is connected to the driving main shaft (13). HE

Description

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92178-393/MJ-dk

HYDRAULIC OR PNEUMATIC OPERATED

PISTON MACHINE

The invention relates to a hydraulically or pneumatically operated reciprocating piston machine, which can be used, for example, as a motor. Such a machine has a cylinder in the shape of a body of rotation 10, provided with a toroidal track. In the toroidal track, a reciprocating piston is arranged to swing in two opposite directions. The toroidal track is divided by the chamber wall at the point where the reciprocating piston delimits a cylinder chamber on both sides. The reciprocating piston is connected to a swinging mass, which is connected to a central output main shaft. The reciprocating piston has an operating angle range of between 34015 and 355° in both swing directions.

In such a machine, the reciprocating piston arranged in the toroidal chamber performs an oscillating movement under the influence of the hydraulic working medium, such as oil, water or other liquid, or the pneumatic working medium, such as air, other gases, steam, exhaust gases, etc. The pressure medium alternately enters the opposite chambers of the engine, and under this influence the piston performs an oscillating movement.

Such reciprocating piston machines or toroidal piston motors are known, e.g. from DE-1750601 or GB-2239053. In the machine described in the above two publications, the output shaft performs an alternating, oscillating movement, and this movement is suitable for certain applications. However, according to practical experience, the use of such alternating movement is quite cumbersome for drive units that require constant drive in the same direction of drive. The motors known from the above publication are therefore not suitable as drive motors for rotating machines, e.g. for vehicles or other devices that require a constant direction of rotation of the drive torque and a nearly constant torque.

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GB-2312248. Patent specification also discloses a rotary actuator, the piston unit of which moves in a toroidal pressure chamber, thereby producing a circular movement of the drive shaft via a flange plate which is connected to the drive shaft via a ratchet. Such an arrangement is suitable for converting pressure signals into rotary movement, and such an arrangement can be operated by pressure signals.

However, none of the known solutions is suitable for rotating the output shaft uniformly in one direction, and for this purpose a reciprocating piston machine is used.

The present invention aims to eliminate the above deficiency, i.e. to create an improved reciprocating piston machine in which the output shaft rotates in the same direction, with a controllable, constant or nearly constant driving force, and all this is ensured by the oscillating movement of the piston.

The task was solved by further developing the reciprocating piston machine of the type described in the introduction, which has a cylinder with a toroidal track. In the toroidal track, the reciprocating piston is arranged to swing in two opposite directions. The toroidal track is divided by a chamber wall at the location that delimits a cylinder chamber on both sides of the reciprocating piston. The reciprocating piston is connected to a swinging mass, which is connected to a central drive main shaft. The reciprocating piston has an operating angle range of 340-355° in both swing directions. The essence of the solution according to the invention is that it is provided with two free wheel connections ensuring operation in opposite directions. It has a unit that changes the direction of rotation of the reciprocating piston and thus reverses the swing direction of the swinging mass during one swing direction of the reciprocating piston. One of the free wheel connections is connected to the swinging mass and the drive main shaft. The unit for reversing the swing direction of the swing piston has a rotation conversion unit which is connected between the swing mass and the second free wheel connection, while the second wheel connection is connected to the output main shaft.

The rotation converter unit is preferably arranged so that it changes the direction of oscillation of the oscillating piston and the oscillating mass in one oscillation direction of the oscillating piston.

-3 be able to reverse, this includes a planetary gear whose ring gear is connected to the swinging mass of the swinging piston. Furthermore, the sun gear of the planetary gear is connected to the output main shaft through the second freewheel connection.

Preferably, the planetary gear ratio is 1:1, thereby ensuring identical speed/power characteristics while the planetary gear is in driving connection with the reciprocating piston, while the reciprocating piston is free to move in the opposite direction.

It is also advantageous if the reciprocating piston is arranged to perform oscillating work under the influence of a working medium under hydraulic pressure, such as oil, water or other liquid, or a working medium under pressure, such as air, gas, steam, combustible gases, etc. The reciprocating piston machine is designed as an engine that is equipped with a pressure-changing valve. This engine is designed to alternately feed pressurized medium into two opposing cylinder chambers. As a result, the reciprocating piston performs an oscillating movement.

In a further preferred embodiment of the reciprocating piston machine according to the invention, the operation of the pressure changing valve is controlled by the movement of the reciprocating piston, whereby the feed pressure can be varied in the position of the reciprocating piston in which it is in one of its end positions close to the chamber wall.

The pressure-changing valve is preferably designed as a rotatable valve plate provided with actuating levers which extend into the cylinder chambers in such a position that they are brought into a hydraulic position cooperating with the swing piston in each direction of swing movement. This allows the operation of the pressure-regulating valve to be controlled.

It preferably has a valve that regulates the pressure and quantity of the hydraulic or pneumatic working medium supplied to the cylinder chambers, thereby allowing the crankshaft speed and torque to be easily controlled.

A further embodiment of the reciprocating piston machine according to the invention comprises two or more interconnected reciprocating piston motor units, which are connected to a common main shaft.

-4It is desirable that the chamber walls of two or more interconnected reciprocating engine units are arranged offset from each other in the direction of the common main axis. Thus, the change in the oscillation direction of the reciprocating engine units occurs at different angular positions relative to the main axis.

The solution according to the invention offers a number of advantages, namely that such a reciprocating piston machine can be manufactured with relatively small dimensions and a lightweight design, the driving force of the engine can be easily adapted to the current application requirements, the machine can be driven by various hydraulic or pneumatic working fluids. Another significant advantage is that it is very efficient in relation to its weight, providing a constant driving force practically throughout the entire operating cycle. The proposed reciprocating piston machine can also be operated with working fluids that do not have exhaust gases that are harmful to the environment, therefore the importance of environmental protection is inestimable.

The proposed reciprocating piston engine can be manufactured significantly cheaper, e.g. as an internal combustion engine, than conventional Otto, diesel or Wankel engines, or any type of conventional piston engine. Another significant advantage of the solution according to the invention is that it performs work in each working cycle, which is therefore much greater than the useful work per working cycle of conventional internal combustion engines; six to ten times greater than that of a conventional four-stroke internal combustion engine and at least four times greater than that of a conventional two-stroke internal combustion engine.

Figure 1 of the attached drawing shows a schematic illustration of the operating principle of a conventional internal combustion engine, in which the reciprocating piston drives the crankshaft via a connecting rod. It is known that in such a conventional engine, the driving force is generated according to a GAUSS curve depending on the type, whereby the force increases slightly starting from 0° in the case of a two-stroke engine, starting from 360° in the case of a four-stroke engine, and the maximum driving force is reached at around 90° and 450° on the output shaft, after which the driving force slowly decreases towards 0 at or near the crankshaft position of 180° and 540°.

During our experiments, we realized that a reciprocating engine can be created in such a way that it provides maximum driving force during its full swing in both directions.

-5force. The output force can be limited by reversing the direction of the working medium supply by the supplied hydraulic or pneumatic working medium, which structural unit can be limited to a range of 10-20° of full rotation. The schematic layout of the reciprocating piston engine is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 3 shows the power of a reciprocating engine for a four-stroke engine, which is similar to the GAUSS curve, which is shown with double hatching in the range between 360° and 540°, i.e. during two complete revolutions of the engine. Figure 4 shows the power output of a reciprocating engine designed as a two-stroke internal combustion engine, also during two crankshaft revolutions. It is clear that the average work of a four-stroke internal combustion engine is at most 1/8 of that of a reciprocating engine, and the average work of a two-stroke internal combustion engine is at most % of that of a reciprocating engine, measured during two revolutions of the output shaft and during the same operating time.

As mentioned above, the traditional reciprocating engine produces a swinging or oscillating motion of the output shaft, and this work cannot be applied to drive equipment or machines where constant rotational drive is required without special additional drive transmission units.

The reciprocating piston machine according to the invention solves this long-standing deficiency, namely it is provided with a unit which ensures the same direction of rotation of the output shaft during the oscillation movement of the reciprocating piston in either direction. This can be achieved, for example, by providing the reciprocating piston machine, especially the motor, with a planetary gear which reverses the direction of rotation in one phase of the oscillation movement of the reciprocating piston. In order to generate the output energy generated from the oscillation movement of the reciprocating piston motor in both directions, the machine according to the invention also has two freewheel couplings; the first freewheel coupling is for the “forward” movement and the other is for the “backward” movement. These two freewheel couplings are arranged to provide opposite directions of operation with respect to each other, thus enabling the drive, and the freewheel connections rotate in opposite directions, but the output shaft is driven in a constant, i.e. the same, direction of rotation.

-6 The gear ratio of the planetary gear according to the invention is preferably 1:1, but for special applications other gear ratios can also be used in the planetary gear, thereby achieving periodic fluctuation of the torque of the output shaft.

The two freewheel couplings enable the output shaft to rotate with very little piston displacement, and depending on the two freewheel couplings operating in opposite directions, a stepless change in the direction of rotation of the output shaft can be ensured.

Depending on the interaction of the two freewheel connections and the planetary gear, the freewheeling function of the output shaft is automatically ensured, which means that an idle speed can be achieved in cases where the device in driving connection with the output shaft rotates faster than the drive motor itself. If the drive shaft of the reciprocating engine is stationary, the device in driving connection with it can rotate in the clockwise direction of the reciprocating engine. Thus, the device according to the invention generates a braking torque in the device in driving connection with it.

The invention is described in more detail on the basis of the attached drawing, which shows an exemplary embodiment of the solution according to the invention. In the drawing:

• Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional internal combustion engine (Otto or diesel type);

• Figure 2 illustrates the operation of a reciprocating engine in schematic cross-section;

• Figure A3 illustrates the work of the reciprocating engine according to the invention (hatched area) and the work of a conventional four-stroke internal combustion engine (double hatching) in a diagram;

• Figure 4 illustrates the operation of the reciprocating engine according to the invention and a conventional two-stroke internal combustion engine in a diagram;

• Figure 5 is a cross-section of a simplified embodiment of the reciprocating piston engine according to the invention, the section being taken in the plane of the output shaft;

• Figure 6 is a section taken along line VI-VI in Figure 5;

• Figure 7 schematically illustrates the operation of the reciprocating piston engine according to the invention;

• Figure 8 shows a cross-section of a double-piston reciprocating engine similar to Figure 5;

• Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the control device for changing the supply of the working fluid of the reciprocating piston engine according to the invention;

• Figure 10 shows a relatively larger-scale detail of the control mechanism of Figure 9 in a different operating state.

A first exemplary embodiment of the reciprocating piston machine according to the invention, designed as a reciprocating piston engine, is described in connection with FIGS. 5-7. The reciprocating piston machine according to the invention has a circular cylinder 1, which is provided with a toroidal path 2 between opposing chamber walls 4, in which a reciprocating piston 3 is arranged so as to be able to perform a reciprocating movement. The space between the chamber walls 4 is designed as a unit for feeding working medium, through which working medium under pressure can therefore be fed into the cylinder chambers 5 and 6, which acts on the opposing sides of the reciprocating piston 3.

The cylinder 1 is in this case of a split design, i.e. consists of cylinder halves 7 and 8, which fit together in a plane perpendicular to the output shaft in a manner known per se. The cylinder halves 7 and 8 are sealed internally and externally with a seal 9 with respect to the toroidal path 2, so that the cylinder chambers 5 and 6 are sealed with respect to each other. The reciprocating piston 3 is provided with a oscillating mass 10 and a piston neck 10a, the latter of which holds the reciprocating piston 3 in its position in the toroidal path 2. The oscillating mass 10 is centrally mounted in the cylinder 1 in bearings 11 and 12, i.e. in the cylinder halves 7 and 8, and is in a cooperative relationship with a main shaft 13 and two free wheel connections 14 and 15 operating in opposite directions.

The wheel connection 14 provides a drive connection in one direction, which is indicated by arrow 16 in Figure 5, while the other free wheel connection 15 provides a drive connection in the opposite direction to the wheel connection 14, which is indicated by arrow 17.

-8 is indicated by arrow. By means of the wheel connections 14 and 15, essentially resistance-free rotation in two opposite directions can be achieved.

In Figure 5, the right-hand wheel connection 15 is connected to the inner sun gear 18 of the planetary gear of the machine according to the invention, while the ring gear 19 of the planetary gear is in this case fixed to the axially extending shoulder 20 of the flywheel 10. The ring gear 19 of the planetary gear is in driving connection with the inner sun gear 18 via three or more planetary gears 21. In order to ensure a uniform and uniform movement in both directions of rotation of the planetary gear, the gear ratio between the planetary gears 21 and the sun gear 18 is preferably 1:1 according to the invention. However, in special applications, other gear ratios can also be used, namely to allow the oscillating piston 3 to move faster or slower in one direction than in the other. In the solution according to the invention, the purpose of the planetary gear is to reverse the direction of rotation of the oscillating piston 3 during its movement in one direction, so that the output crankshaft 13 always rotates in the same direction.

The hydraulic or pneumatic working medium feeds are connected to the cylinder chamber wall 4. These units can be of various designs, but they do not necessarily have to be arranged in such a way that their control is related to the movement geometry of the oscillating piston 3. The pressure medium feeds can therefore change between the cylinder chambers 5 and 6 at a certain prescribed position of the oscillating piston 3.

In order to achieve an optimum performance, this change in supply pressure can occur when the oscillating piston 3 has reached the rear chamber wall or is very close to it. In Figure 7, it is indicated that the supply of the pressure medium can be regulated, e.g. by means of a rotatable valve 22, the operation of which can be regulated by the movement of the oscillating piston 3. Thus, the supply of the pressure medium can also vary between the cylinder chambers 5 and 6. The valve 22 can be operated and regulated mechanically, electronically, hydraulically, or in any other way, in accordance with the movement of the oscillating piston 3 in the toroidal path 2.

In Figure 7, it is shown that the working medium under pressure is fed into the cylinder chamber 5, and this rotates the swing piston 3 in a clockwise direction. The working medium can be removed from the non-operating cylinder chamber 6 by any known discharge device, which is not shown in the drawing. This can be done through a passage provided with a one-way valve in the chamber wall 4 leading to the external environment. Such a one-way valve operates when the opposite cylinder chamber is under pressure. In the case shown in Figure 7, the working medium under pressure is fed into the cylinder chamber 5 through a passage 24 formed in the chamber wall 4, and at the same time the medium present there is removed from the opposite cylinder chamber 6 in a manner not shown.

The supply of the pressure medium can be varied according to the current operating requirements, and the torque and speed measured on the output shaft 13 can be regulated accordingly. The reciprocating piston machine according to the invention can optionally be provided with a throttle valve that is connected to the unit supplying the pressure medium. This allows for a soft start and relatively simple regulation of the output torque and speed.

The above-described reciprocating engine can be used for various purposes, such as, for example, as a drive motor for vehicles or as a drive motor for any machine or equipment. In some cases, such a drive motor does not even need a gearbox, since the torque and speed of the output crankshaft 13 can be easily controlled between zero and maximum values by controlling the pressure of the working medium. Consequently, such devices do not require a slip clutch to achieve a soft start, since this can be easily achieved by controlling the pressure and the amount of working medium flowing into the cylinder chambers with the throttle valve, which can be continuously selected between zero and maximum values. The free running of the vehicle can be achieved by means of the two free wheel connections 14 and 15. The reverse function is achieved by means of a simple mechanical reverse gear.

Figures 9 and 10 show a dual embodiment of the reciprocating piston machine according to the invention, in which both engines work on a common crankshaft 13. The

-10 The working medium under pressure is fed into the cylinder chambers 5 and 6 here by means of the reciprocating piston 3. In the present case, the pressure regulating reciprocating piston 3 is therefore provided with a rotatable valve plate 25, which has operating levers 26. The operating levers 26 extend downwards and are arranged on two opposite sides of the chamber wall 4. The operating levers 26 are pushed by the reciprocating piston 3 when it reaches the end of its stroke, whereby the valve plate 25 switches from the clockwise operating position to the counterclockwise operation of the reciprocating piston 3, and vice versa. The working medium under pressure is fed into one of the cylinder chambers 5 and 6 via a central bore 27 and passages 28, 29, as well as via bores 30 and 31 formed in the valve plate 25.

As can be seen in Figure 9, the valve plate 25 is in a neutral position, in which position there is no working medium supply. In the position shown in Figure 10, however, the swing piston 3 is shown in its clockwise stroke, in which case it displaces the actuating levers 26, and consequently the valve plate 25 is in a position in which working medium under pressure is supplied to the anticlockwise cylinder chamber 6 through the passage 29 and the opening 31 formed in the valve plate 25. As a result, the swing piston 3 begins to swing in an anticlockwise direction.

Since in the machine according to the invention the planetary gear changes the direction of rotation on the ring gear 19 during one oscillation stroke of the oscillating piston 3, the main shaft 13 always rotates in the same direction, and this is due to the two wheel connections 14 and 15 operating in opposite directions.

During the operation of the exemplary embodiments of the above-described reciprocating piston engine, the reciprocating piston 3 can perform an oscillation movement of up to 340-350°. It is evident from the diagrams shown in Figures 3 and 4 that maximum performance is achieved when the pressure medium is fed into the cylinder chamber 5, namely for clockwise rotation, and thus maximum performance is achieved in the angular range between 5° and 350°. After that, the pressurized working medium is fed into the opposite cylinder chamber 6, in which case maximum effect is achieved in the angular rotation range from 365° to around 715°, which corresponds to a complete working cycle in the conventional

-11 During two complete crankshaft revolutions of internal combustion engines of the Otto or Diesel type. It is obvious that in the case of four-stroke engines, the average work available over a suitable period of time is at most 1/8 of the work delivered by the reciprocating piston engine according to the invention, and compared to that of a two-stroke engine, the work delivered by the reciprocating piston engine according to the invention is at most 1/8 of that of a conventional two-stroke engine.

Regarding the possibility of changing the pressurized working medium fed into the cylinder chambers 5 and 6, it is noted that in this case a significant change occurs in the work cycle, this corresponds to the part of the total work between 10° and 20° of the total rotation cycle. This significant work reduction can be essentially eliminated by the oscillating mass 10 of the reciprocating piston engine. The oscillating mass 10 is braked before the pressurized working medium is fed into the opposite cylinder chamber, so that the engine can operate in the opposite direction without disturbance.

When the valve switches and the pressurized working medium is fed from one cylinder chamber to the other, the outlet of the inactive cylinder chamber is naturally closed before the pressure medium is introduced into it, thereby making this previously passive cylinder chamber active. This means that the supply of pressurized working medium to the inactive cylinder chamber is interrupted, which also means that the working medium enclosed in the passive cylinder chamber, e.g. if air is used as the working medium, is compressed. Depending on the compression of the enclosed air, the oscillating piston 3 is braked and stops softly at the end of the stroke. The compressed air can then be removed from the cylinder chamber via a pressure-controlled valve, which opens at a relatively high pressure, e.g. at a pressure of 8 bar. The compressed air can be collected in an air tank 34 (Figure 7) and, if necessary, used as a pressurized working medium for the next work cycle.

However, it should be noted that the interruption of the operating mode can be practically completely eliminated and the operating parameters can be completely balanced by arranging two or more such machines or motors in series. An example of this is the arrangement according to Figure 8, where two reciprocating piston motors with a common output shaft 13 were used. In such a case, the two or more motors drive the main shaft 13 together, whereby the chamber walls 4 of the motors can be divided along the circumference, e.g. an angular range of 180° can be covered by two motors connected to each other, an angular range of 120° can be covered by three motors connected to each other, etc. The motors can therefore be operated in such a manner that the operational interruption between 355° and 5° is offset from each other.

In the arrangement shown in Figure 8, the pressure medium supply units 32 and 33 deliver the pressurized working medium, for which the cylinder walls are rotated 180° relative to the output crankshaft.

Claims (3)

-13· PATENT CLAIMS: 1. A hydraulically or pneumatically operated reciprocating piston machine, in particular a reciprocating piston engine, having a cylinder (1) provided with a toroidal path (2), in which a reciprocating piston (3) is arranged in two opposite directions so as to be able to swing; further, in which the toroidal path (2) is divided by a chamber wall (4) at the point where the cylinder chamber (5, 6) is defined on both sides of the reciprocating piston (3); further, the swing piston (3) is connected to a swing mass (10) which is connected to a central drive main shaft (13), further, the swing piston (3) has an operating angle range of between 340-355° in both swing directions, characterised in that it is provided with two free wheel connections (14, 15) ensuring operation in opposite directions to each other, further, there is a unit (1721) for changing the direction of rotation of the swing piston (3) and thereby reversing the swing direction of the swing mass (10) during one swing direction of the swing piston (3), further, one of the free wheel connections (14) is connected to the swing mass (10) and the drive main shaft (13); the unit reversing the swing direction of the swing piston (3) has a rotation conversion unit, which is connected between the swing mass (10) and the other free wheel connection (15), while the second wheel connection (15) is connected to the output main shaft (13). 2. Reciprocating piston machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the rotation converter unit is arranged so that it can reverse the oscillation direction of the reciprocating piston (3) and the oscillating mass (10) in one oscillation direction of the reciprocating piston (3), this includes a planetary gear, the ring gear (19) of which is connected to the oscillating mass (10, 20) of the reciprocating piston (3), and furthermore the sun gear (16) of the planetary gear is connected to the output main shaft (13) via the second free wheel connection (15). 3. A reciprocating piston machine according to claim 2, characterized in that the planetary gear has a ratio of 1:1, thereby ensuring identical speed/power characteristics, while the planetary gear is in driving connection with the reciprocating piston (3) and during free, opposite movement of the reciprocating piston (3). 4. A reciprocating piston machine according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the reciprocating piston (3) is arranged to perform oscillating work under the influence of a liquid working medium under pressure, such as oil, water or other liquid, or a gaseous working medium under pressure, such as air, gas, steam, combustible gases, etc., and furthermore the reciprocating piston machine is designed as a motor which is provided with a pressure-changing valve (22; 25), this motor is designed to alternately feed a pressurized medium into two opposing cylinder chambers (5, 6), as a result of which the reciprocating piston (3) is in a state of oscillating movement. 5. A reciprocating piston machine according to claim 4, characterized in that the operation of the pressure changing valve (22; 25) is controlled by the movement of the reciprocating piston (3), whereby the feed pressure can be varied in the position of the reciprocating piston (3) in which it is in one of its end positions close to the chamber wall (4). 6. Reciprocating piston machine according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the pressure-changing valve is designed as a rotatable valve plate (25) which is provided with actuating levers (26) which extend into the cylinder chambers (5, 6) in such a position that they come into a position cooperating with the reciprocating piston (3) in each direction of oscillation, whereby the actuation of the pressure-regulating valve can be controlled. 7. A reciprocating piston machine according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that it has a valve for regulating the pressure and quantity of the hydraulic or pneumatic working medium fed into the cylinder chambers (5, 6), thereby allowing the speed and torque of the crankshaft (13) to be regulated. 8. A reciprocating piston machine according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that it comprises two or more interconnected reciprocating piston motor units, which are connected to a common main shaft (13). 5 9. Reciprocating piston machine according to claim 8, characterized in that the chamber walls (4) of two or more interconnected reciprocating piston engine units are arranged offset relative to each other in the direction of the common main shaft (13), so that the change in the oscillation direction of the reciprocating piston engine units occurs at different angular positions relative to the main shaft (13). The authorized person: 3^ ^(/O ^-)