WO2014188381A1

WO2014188381A1 - Pressure sensor for a domestic appliance and domestic appliance provided with said pressure sensor

Info

Publication number: WO2014188381A1
Application number: PCT/IB2014/061647
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leila MOSCATO; Luigi Salerno; Gabriele SORRENTINO; Salvatore TOMARCHIO; Giovanni Cerizza
Original assignee: Eliwell Controls S.R.L. Con Unico Socio
Priority date: 2013-05-23
Filing date: 2014-05-23
Publication date: 2014-11-27
Also published as: ITUD20130071A1

Abstract

Digital pressure sensor of the capacitive type to measure at least a pressure (P) in a domestic appliance (1 1) using a pressure detection unit (36) with a conductive plate (28) and a conductive membrane (31) provided with a zone (33) deformable due to the effect of the pressure (P), said conductive plate (28) and conductive membrane (31) being disposed parallel to each other and distanced by a spacer (37). The conductive plate (28) and the conductive membrane (31) define a variable capacity capacitor. The conductive membrane (31) and the spacer (37) are made in a single body as parts of a single sensitive element (30).

Description

PRESSURE SENSOR FOR A DOMESTIC APPLIANCE AND DOMESTIC APPLIANCE PROVIDED WITH SAID PRESSURE SENSOR

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a digital pressure sensor of the capacitive type, suitable for application in domestic appliances, such as for example, but not only, washing machines or dishwashers, in order to detect pressure values with the purpose of conditioning the activation of pre- determined functions and cycles of the electric appliance.

The invention also concerns a domestic appliance provided with the sensor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Capacitive sensors are known, which are normally provided with a flexible conductive membrane kept by a spacer at a determinate distance from a conductive plate connected to a printed circuit, or PCB (Printed Circuit Board). The conductive membrane and the conductive plate make up the two plates of a capacitor.

External disturbances cause flections of the conductive membrane and consequent reductions in the distance between the membrane and the conductive plate of the PCB. These reductions in distance give rise to increases in the capacity of the capacitor, which are recorded by a micro-controller integrated in the PCB and converted into an output signal coherent with the quantity to be measured.

Capacitive sensors can be used in various fields in the state of the art, to measure different quantities, such as for example pressure, displacements, chemical composition, electric or magnetic field, acceleration, level or composition of a fluid.

The sensors can also be of micrometric sizes and have very high sensitivity and resolution, and operate with variations in capacity even in the order of 5 aF.

Currently, such sensors are generally used as components of miniaturized electro-mechanical systems, also known as MEMS (Micro Electro-mechanical Systems), normally provided with electrical, electronic and mechanical devices integrated into the same silicon substrate. Other applications of capacitive sensors provide them to be used as high- resolution proximity sensors.

It is known that in some domestic appliances, such as for example a washer machine, such as a washing machine or dishwasher, or in a drier or washer-drier, or in a refrigerator, or in a freezer, or in a boiler or in other domestic appliances used for treating and/or cooking foods or drinks, one or more pressure sensors are used in order to detect particular and defined values of a pressure and to determine the activation or de-activation of a particular function or functioning cycle of the appliance, based on the commands of an electronic or electro- mechanical programmer.

Various types of pressure sensors are known for this purpose, and comprise for example pressure switches of the electro-mechanical type, which can be activated when the pressure reaches a predetermined level.

One disadvantage of known pressure sensors used in domestic appliances is that they are bulky, often due to the large number of components and accessories needed for functioning, and they are not very reliable and accurate, due to the limited duration over time of the mechanical components with successive operating cycles.

Furthermore, known pressure switches have the further disadvantage that they are not very versatile, since they are generally calibrated only to detect a predetermined pressure and do not perform any measuring of the quantity.

Another disadvantage of known pressure sensors is that they are not very flexible in use.

The need is therefore known, to obtain a digital pressure sensor which is not bulky, is reliable, inexpensive and able to measure with great accuracy at least a pressure in a domestic appliance, for example that of a column of water, to allow the automatic management of a plurality of functioning programs.

Furthermore, known capacitive sensors have a disadvantage due to a possible measurement hysteresis that can affect the precision and accuracy thereof.

The hysteresis is mainly due to the fact that the coupling of the conductive membrane and the spacer can cause a reciprocal movement between these two components of the sensor, which movement can be added to or subtracted from the flection of the conductive membrane, affecting the repeatability of the measurement. In fact, this reciprocal movement can recur with every measurement, but with a random amplitude, or it can be partly or completely recoverable or can be permanent, giving rise to a residual displacement.

Therefore, the reciprocal movement introduces a dependency of one measurement on the previous ones, based on its amplitude or the residual displacement that the corresponding stresses have induced between the membrane and the spacer.

All this is in contrast with the need to obtain pressure sensors with increasingly greater precision, accuracy and reliability in order to meet the requirements of the field where domestic appliances are applied, where a growing operating flexibility is required, together with an increasingly greater variety of functioning programs, and the need to manage the functioning programs in a precise, reliable and completely automated manner, with an ever greater quickness in responding to variations in pressure. A greater optimization of consumption is also required, for example of electricity or water.

Another problem is to satisfy different requirements in terms of output signal with the same sensor, in order to be able to install the same sensor, possibly modifying only its programming, in applications that manage different output signals.

The prior art documents JP 2007 225344 A and JP 201 1 007499 A describe solutions where a membrane is applied on a support body in a position opposite to a conductor plate. JP 2005 283354 A describes a pressure sensor in which a flexible membrane is made on a support body, an insulating layer and a layer of monocrystalline silicon being interposed between the support body and the vitreous substrate in which the conductor plate is disposed.

One purpose of the present invention is to obtain a digital pressure sensor which is precise and inexpensive but not bulky, and is also able to measure at least a pressure in a domestic appliance, with maximum resolution, also accurate and able to quickly supply repeated measurements, and not affected by hysteresis.

Another purpose of the invention is to obtain a digital pressure sensor where the measurement of the pressure is independent from the connection constraint between the conductive membrane and the spacer. The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claim, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea.

In accordance with the above purposes, a digital pressure sensor according to the present invention is configured to measure at least a pressure in a domestic appliance and, according to a characteristic feature of the invention, it is of the capacitive type and comprises at least a pressure detection unit with a conductive plate of a printed circuit and a conductive membrane provided with a deformable zone disposed parallel to each other and distanced by a spacer. The conductive plate and the conductive membrane define in this way the plates of a variable capacity capacitor. Moreover, the conductive membrane and the spacer are made in a single body as parts of a single sensitive element.

In this way, the advantage is obtained of zeroing the reciprocal movement of the conductive membrane and the spacer after the deformations of the former due to the application of a pressure on its deformable zone.

Indeed, as these components are made in a single body, the entity of the flection due to the pressure exerted on the conductive membrane has no effect on the hold of the constraint.

Since any possible reciprocal movement of the conductive membrane and the spacer would cause hysteresis of the measurement of the pressure sensor, by eliminating this possibility, in practice the possibility of the hysteresis occurring is also eliminated.

Furthermore, the present invention also has the advantage that it makes the measurement more precise, accurate and fast, and therefore more reliable compared to known capacitive sensors where the conductive membrane and the spacer are separate bodies.

According to some forms of embodiment, in a direction orthogonal to the conductive membrane, the spacer defines an end part of the sensitive element and the conductive membrane is positioned at the opposite end of the sensitive element, in said direction, with respect to that defined by the spacer.

In other forms of embodiment, in a direction orthogonal to the conductive membrane, said membrane is made substantially at the center of the sensitive element, and the spacer is essentially symmetrical with respect to the conductive membrane and in the same direction.

According to some aspects of the present invention, the spacer has a shape defined by a profile with a continuous development, disposed externally with respect to the plan bulk of the deformable zone of the conductive membrane and configured to peripherally surround an interspace comprised between the conductive membrane and the conductive plate.

According to other aspects, the spacer has a shape defined by a discontinuous profile formed by a plurality of spacer bodies disposed symmetrically, in order, or according to any disposition whatsoever that is suitable to guarantee the parallelism of the conductive membrane and the conductive plate, outside the plan bulk of the deformable zone of the conductive membrane and around an interspace comprised between the conductive membrane and the conductive plate.

The present invention also comprises a domestic appliance provided with a capacitive digital pressure sensor made as described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of some forms of embodiment, given as a non- restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

- figs. 1 and 2 are schematic representations of a washing machine provided with a digital pressure sensor according to the present invention;

- figs. 3 and 4 are schematic views, in section, of forms of embodiment of a digital pressure sensor according to the present invention;

- figs. 5 and 6 are three-dimensional views of forms of embodiment of a component of the digital sensor in fig. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME FORMS OF EMBODIMENT

With reference to fig. 1, a digital pressure sensor is indicated in its entirety by the reference number 10 and is shown schematically, assembled on a domestic appliance, such as for example a washing machine 1 1. The present description is referred by way of example to a washing machine 1 1 , but can easily be adapted to any domestic appliance in which it is necessary to measure one or more internal pressures.

Fig. 1 is used to describe by way of example a washing machine 1 1 of the known type and its corresponding functioning.

The washing machine 1 1 is provided with at least a drum 12 in which the garments to be washed are contained and with an electric motor 13 configured to supply the desired rotatory motion to the drum 12.

During the washing cycles, clean water is introduced on each occasion into the drum 12 by means of an electrovalve 15 connected to the water supply and dirty water is removed by a discharge pump 16 connected to a discharge pipe 17. The operations to introduce and discharge the water can occur even several times within a washing cycle.

The digital pressure sensor 10 is connected to the drum 12 through a measuring pipe 18 that allows it to measure the pressure of the water contained in the drum 12 in an indirect way. The measuring pipe 18, initially full of air at atmospheric pressure when the washing machine 11 is idle and the drum 12 is empty, progressively fills with water as water is introduced into the drum 12 through the electrovalve 15. This introduction causes the compression of the air inside the measuring pipe 18, which air acts on the digital pressure sensor 10 determining the measurement of the pressure of the column of water contained in the drum 12, as will be clear hereafter in the description.

The measuring causes some steps of the washing cycle, which depend on the amount of water in the drum 12, to start and/or stop.

The washing cycles are managed by a command and control unit 19 to which the digital pressure sensor 10, the electric motor 13, the electrovalve 15 and the discharge pump 16 are connected, for example by means of electric feed and signal transmission cables.

The command and control unit 19 can include a memorization module 20, in which programs containing all the operations connected to the execution of each of the steps of the washing cycles can be memorized, and an electronic processor 21, configured to execute such programs. The memorization module 20 and the electronic processor 21 can both be integrated into a programmable card, or motherboard 22.

Moreover, the command and control unit 19 can also include a user interface 23, by means of which a user can select the desired washing cycle and the desired functions of the washing machine 1 1 , or control the progress of the cycle.

The digital pressure sensor 10 measures the pressure of the water contained in the drum 12, which causes some steps in the washing cycle to start and stop, for example the start of the filling of the drum 12 at the beginning of the cycle, the stop of said filling and the start of the washing step, the start of the partial discharge step and the subsequent further filling of the drum 12 during the washing cycle and the start of the spinning step.

In particular, for starting the steps of introducing the water into the drum 12, the digital pressure sensor 10 sends a signal relating to the pressure of the water in the drum 12 to the command and control unit 19. The electronic processor 21 processes the signal in order to obtain the value of the pressure and to compare it to a threshold value contained in the program to be executed and memorized in the memorization module 20. Based on this comparison, the command and control unit 19 selectively commands the electrovalve 15 to open or close. The digital pressure sensor 10 can be configured to send the signal corresponding to the pressure measurement to the command and control unit 19 continuously, in order to optimize and accelerate the response times of the command and control unit 19.

Similarly, by continuously controlling the measuring of the pressure of the water contained in the drum 12, it is possible to optimize the interventions of the command and control unit 19 and make them precise, in order to drive and stop the discharge pump 16.

It is therefore important that the digital pressure sensor 10 is provided with great precision and sensitivity, and also great accuracy and reliability, indispensable for making the washing conditions of each washing cycle repeatable and to optimize consumption, in particular of water.

This optimization of consumption, both of water and electricity, which can be obtained thanks to the accuracy and the reliability of the digital pressure sensor 10, allows to obtain better performances and higher energy certification of the domestic appliance, in this case the washing machine 1 1. A greater resolution of the digital pressure sensor 10, if supported by said precision and accuracy, can also make it possible to increase the washing programs of a washing machine 1 1, thus further contributing to its optimization and rendering the washing machine 1 1 versatile and flexible, meeting the different needs of the user. Accuracy and precision in particular are fundamental conditions for the reliable automation of the washing processes of the washing machine 1 1.

Moreover, since the components of the digital pressure sensor 10 can be miniaturized, it is possible that the overall volumetric bulk of the digital pressure sensor 10 can also be in the order of a few millimeters. Forms of embodiment, shown for example in fig. 2, are therefore possible in which the digital pressure sensor 10 is integrated in the motherboard 22 of the command and control unit 19.

This solution gives the advantage of reducing the internal bulk of the washing machine 1 1 and the advantage of simplifying the production process thereof, thus reducing the number of independent components.

Indeed, the digital pressure sensor 10 can be made in the same production cycle as the command and control unit 19.

On the basis of the above, figs. 3 and 4 are used to describe preferential forms of embodiment of a digital pressure sensor 10, in which it is the capacitive type.

According to these solutions, the digital pressure sensor 10 comprises a container 24, in this case with a box-like shape defined by a first part, or lid 25, and by a second part, or closing body 26, said parts 25, 26 being attached to each other for example by means of gluing, welding or joining means.

On the closing body 26 a printed circuit or PCB 27 rests, on one surface of which a conductive plate 28 is made, which can also be a few microns thick, for example if defined by a metal coating of the PCB 27 surface itself, or by part of it.

The lid 25 can be provided, in example forms of embodiments, with housing seatings 29 in which peripheral ends of the PCB 27 can be housed, in order to keep the latter firmly in position after the assembly of the container 24.

The digital pressure sensor 10 also includes a sensitive element 30, made of a conductor material such as metal, for example copper, aluminum or steel, contained inside the lid 25.

The shape of the sensitive element 30 is defined by a flexible central part consisting of a conductive membrane 31 and a peripheral part that functions as a support for the conductive membrane 31, and that consists of a spacer 37.

The spacer 37 is configured to keep the conductive membrane 31 at a desired distance from the conductive plate 28 of the PCB 27.

Furthermore, the shape of the sensitive element 30 is such that, once the digital pressure sensor 10 is assembled, the conductive membrane 31 is parallel to the conductive plate 28, so that between conductive membrane 31 and conductive plate 28 an interspace I is created, of a known value, and defined, in the absence of external stresses. When a desired difference in potential is set between the conductive membrane 31 and the conductive plate 28, and in the interspace I there is a dielectric material, normally air, they define the plates of a capacitor.

The distance between the conductive membrane 31 and the conductive plate 28 can even be a few hundredths of a millimeter, in order to obtain a desired value of sensitivity of the digital pressure sensor 10 that can be also extremely low.

In some forms of embodiment, such as those shown by way of example in figs. 3 and 4, the conductive membrane 31 is provided, substantially at the center of its plan bulk, with a deformable zone 33 which is less thick than the rest of the conductive membrane 31. The deformable zone 33 is configured to bend if subjected to a pressure P (figs. 3 and 4) due to the presence of water in the drum 12 of the washing machine 11, thus increasing the capacity of the capacitor formed by the conductive membrane 31 and the conductive plate 28.

In the solutions shown in figs. 3 and 4, in correspondence with the central zone 33 of the conductive membrane 31, the lid 25 is provided with an aperture 35 communicating with the measuring pipe 18 and with the function of transmitting the pressure P of the water contained in the drum 12 to the deformable zone 33 of the conductive membrane 31, deforming it.

This deformation, due to the pressure P, causes the central zone 33 and the conductive plate 28 to approach each other, which causes an increase in the capacity of the capacitor of which they are the plates. This increase in capacity, like other possible reductions in capacity which occur, for example, following the increase in said pressure P, are detected by a micro-controller 34, for example a microchip.

In preferential forms of embodiment, the microcontroller 34 is integrated in the PCB 27.

The micro-controller 34 is configured to process the measurement of the capacity variations and provide an output signal to the command and control unit 19 with which it is electronically connected.

Based on the processing of this signal by the command and control unit 19, functions of the washing machine 1 1 are activated or de-activated, as described above, to perform the washing cycles.

On the basis of the above, the PCB 27 and the sensitive element 30 define a pressure detection unit 36.

In some implementations, the measuring pipe 18 can be connected to the lid 25 by means of a removable type connection, for example jointed or threaded, or the irremovable type, such as gluing or welding. In alternative implementations, the measuring pipe 18 can be integrated in the lid 25 and made for example by molding, in a single body therewith.

The entity of the flectional deformation of the deformable zone 33 of the conductive membrane 31 depends, as is known, on factors such as the geometry and properties of the material of the conductive membrane 31, the type of constraint that connects it to the spacer 37 and the compressibility of the dielectric material present in the interspace I.

If all the other factors are equal, then the less solid the constraint that connects conductive membrane 31 and spacer 37, the greater the possibility that, for example over time, a reciprocal movement is created between said components. This reciprocal movement could give rise to random displacements during the washing cycles, or a residual displacement, which translates into a hysteresis of the measurement of the digital pressure sensor 10.

As a function of this, figs. 3 to 6 are used to describe example forms of embodiment in which the sensitive element 30 includes the conductive membrane 31 and the spacer 37 in a single body. In this way in practice we eliminate the possibility of reciprocal movements being created between the conductive membrane 31 and the spacer 37, other than the flection of the deformable zone 33.

In particular, compared with known digital sensors, the need to connect and constrain the conductive membrane 31 and the spacer 37 is eliminated, since these two components, as we said, are parts of a single sensitive element 30 and not two separate elements.

Therefore, the flection of the deformable zone 33 and consequently the measurement made by the digital pressure sensor 10, depends only on the physical and geometrical characteristics of the conductive membrane 31, and is independent of the conditions of constraint with the spacer 37.

In the example shown in fig. 3, the spacer 37 defines one end of the sensitive element 30, that is, the end which, when the digital pressure sensor 10 is assembled, is closest to the conductive plate 28. The membrane 31 is positioned in a direction orthogonal to it and to the conductive plate 28, at the opposite end of the sensitive element 30 with respect to the one defined by the spacer 37.

In the case shown by way of example in fig. 3, moreover, the spacer 37 is in contact with, and in this case rests on, the PCB 27, but in other implementations it may be provided that it rests on the closing body 26 of the container 24.

Other implementations, which can be combined with the solutions described above, can also provide to interpose a layer of insulating material between the spacer 37 and the component of the digital pressure sensor 10 with which it is in contact, especially when the latter is the PCB 27.

In some forms of embodiment of the digital pressure sensor 10 of the type that can be integrated in the motherboard 22 of the washing machine 1 1 (fig. 2), the closing body 26 may not be provided and the PCB 27 can be defined by an area of the motherboard 22 itself. In these cases, the motherboard 22 can perform the function of the closing body 26.

Fig. 4 can be used to describe forms of embodiment in which the conductive membrane 31 is made in a direction orthogonal thereto, substantially at the center of the sensitive element 30, and the spacer 37 is essentially symmetrical with respect to the conductive membrane 31 in the same direction.

Variants of the present invention can provide to position the conductive membrane 31 in an intermediate part of the sensitive element 30 and an asymmetrical conformation of the spacer 37 with respect to the conductive membrane 31 in the direction orthogonal thereto.

In forms of embodiment that can be combined with the forms of embodiment described above, given by way of example with reference to fig. 5, the detection unit 36 includes a spacer 37 having a shape defined by a profile with a continuous development. The continuous profile is external with respect to the plan bulk of the deformable zone 33 of the conductive membrane 31 and is configured to surround the interspace I between the conductive membrane 31 and the conductive plate 28.

According to other forms of embodiment, for example described with reference to fig. 6, the spacer 37 of the detection unit 36 has a shape defined by a discontinuous profile and includes a plurality of spacer bodies 137 disposed externally with respect to the plan bulk of the deformable zone 33 of the conductive membrane 31.

In some solutions, such as the one in fig. 6, the spacer bodies 137 can be disposed symmetrically with respect to the center of the sensitive element 30 around the interspace I; while in other solutions they can have any disposition whatsoever in the sensitive element 30, provided that they must remain outside the plan bulk of the deformable zone 33 of the conductive membrane 31.

In the examples shown in figs. 5 and 6, the sensitive element 30 is shown, to simplify the drawings, with a substantially cylindrical shape; nevertheless it is also possible to make sensitive elements 30 with any three-dimensional shape, for example polyhedral, regular or irregular, without departing from the field of the present invention.

The solutions shown in figs 5 and 6 differ substantially in that the spacer 37 with the continuous profile (fig. 5) can allow to insulate the interspace I, while the spacer 37 with the discontinuous profile (fig. 6), that is, with separate spacer bodies 137, can allow the dielectric contained in the interspace I to flow toward the outside of the digital pressure sensor 10 due to the effect of the thrust that the deformable part 33 of the conductive membrane 31 exerts on it when it bends. In particular, in a completely innovative way compared with the capacitive sensors used to measure a pressure inside a domestic appliance, such as the washing machine 1 1, the digital pressure sensor equipped with a sensitive element 30 that comprises, in a single body, conductive membrane 31 and spacer 37, can reach a hysteresis value that is substantially zero, or in any case less than the resolution of the digital pressure sensor 10 itself.

Applicant has found that the hysteresis value of the digital pressure sensor 10 can also be advantageously less than 8 Pa.

It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the digital pressure sensor 10 as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.

It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to some specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of digital pressure sensor, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.

Claims

1. Digital pressure sensor to measure at least a pressure (P) in a domestic appliance (1 1) using a pressure detection unit (36), characterized in that said digital pressure sensor is the capacitive type, said pressure detection unit (36) comprising a conductive plate (28) made on a PCB (27) and a conductive membrane (31) provided with a zone (33) deformable due to the effect of said pressure (P), said conductive plate (28) and said conductive membrane (31) being disposed parallel to each other and distanced by a spacer (37), and defining a variable capacity capacitor, and in that said conductive membrane (31) and said spacer (37) are made in a single body as parts of a single sensitive element (30), said spacer (37) defining a desired distance between said conductive membrane (31) and said conductive plate (28) of the PCB (27).

2. Sensor as in claim 1, characterized in that, substantially at the center of its plan bulk, said conductive membrane (31) is provided with a deformable zone (33) which is less thick than the rest of the conductive membrane (31).

3. Sensor as in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, in an orthogonal direction with respect to said conductive membrane (3 1), the spacer (37) defines at least one end part of said sensitive element (30) and the conductive membrane (31) defines the opposite end part of the sensitive element (30), along said orthogonal direction, with respect to the end part defined by the spacer (37).

4. Sensor as in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, in an orthogonal direction with respect to said conductive membrane (31), the latter is substantially made at the center of said sensitive element (30), and the spacer (37) is disposed essentially symmetrical with respect to said conductive membrane (31) in said orthogonal direction.

5. Sensor as in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, in an orthogonal direction with respect to said conductive membrane (31), the latter is made in an intermediate zone of said sensitive element (30), and the spacer (37) has an asymmetrical conformation with respect to said conductive membrane (31) in said orthogonal direction.

6. Sensor as in any claim from 1 to 5, characterized in that said spacer (37) has a shape defined by a profile with a continuous development, disposed externally with respect to the plan bulk of said defomiable zone (33) of the conductive membrane (31) and configured to peripherally surround an interspace (I) comprised between said conductive membrane (31) and said conductive plate (28).

7. Sensor as in any claim from 1 to 5, characterized in that said spacer (37) has a shape defined by a discontinuous profile formed by a plurality of spacer bodies (137) disposed externally with respect to the plan bulk of the deformable zone (33) of said conductive membrane (31) and configured to surround an interspace (I) comprised between the conductive membrane (31) and the conductive plate (28).

8. Domestic appliance provided with a digital pressure sensor made according to any of the claims from 1 to 7.