CN111352035A - Electronic device capable of detecting battery expansion and battery expansion - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device capable of detecting battery expansion comprises a membrane switch assembly and an operation assembly. The membrane switch assembly is arranged above one surface of a battery and comprises a first membrane switch. The first membrane switch comprises a first electrode group, and the first electrode group has a first actuating threshold value. When the applied pressure born by the first electrode group exceeds a first actuation threshold, the first electrode group presents a short circuit. The operation component is electrically connected with the membrane switch component. The operation component generates a warning message when the first electrode group is short-circuited for a preset time period. The invention further discloses a battery swelling detection method.

Description

Electronic devices that detect battery swelling and battery swelling

technical field

The present invention relates to an electronic device capable of detecting battery expansion, and a battery expansion detection method implemented by the electronic device, in particular to an electronic device and detection method realized by a membrane switch capable of detecting battery expansion.

Background technique

With the various development of mobile electronic devices, rechargeable batteries have been widely used in daily life. For example, notebook computers, mobile phones and tablet computers have all used rechargeable batteries. When a device with a rechargeable battery is low in power, as long as it is charged in time, the device can continue to be used; however, if the charging method is improper, the volume of the rechargeable battery will expand excessively, resulting in functional decline, or even squeezing other hardware structures and exploding.

In order to avoid excessive expansion of the rechargeable battery, the existing method uses a mechanical switch, which is attached to the surface of the battery. When the battery is squeezed against the mechanical switch due to excessive expansion, the mechanical switch will automatically power off the device to prevent Protect the battery; however, due to the large actuation force of the mechanical switch, and the user is prone to mis-pressing the battery for a long time in daily life, this method has a certain probability of misjudging the degree of battery expansion; and the device detects that the battery is over-expanded If the power is cut off directly after that, it will easily cause damage to the device and inconvenience to the user.

Therefore, there is still a need for a device that can accurately detect battery swelling, and remind the user to replace the battery with a warning message before detecting that the battery is over-expanded and power off.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is to provide an electronic device capable of detecting battery expansion and a battery expansion detection method, so as to detect the degree of battery expansion and avoid misjudgment of the device caused by user's erroneous pressure.

An electronic device capable of detecting battery expansion according to the present invention includes a membrane switch component and an arithmetic component. The membrane switch assembly is disposed above a surface of a battery. The membrane switch assembly includes a first membrane switch. The first membrane switch includes a first electrode set, and the first electrode set has a first actuation threshold. When the applied pressure on the first electrode group exceeds the first actuation threshold, the first electrode group exhibits a short circuit. The computing component is electrically connected to the membrane switch component. The computing component generates a warning message when the first electrode group is short-circuited for a predetermined period of time.

A battery expansion detection method disclosed in the present invention includes the following steps: detecting an applied pressure with a first electrode group of a membrane switch assembly; when the applied pressure exceeds a first actuation threshold of the first electrode group, the The first electrode group is short-circuited, and a computing component is used to determine whether the first electrode group is short-circuited for a predetermined period; and when the computing component determines that the first electrode group is short-circuited for a predetermined period, a warning message is generated.

The electronic device capable of detecting battery expansion and the method for detecting battery expansion disclosed in the present invention can detect battery expansion, avoid misjudgment caused by user's erroneous pressure, and issue notification information or warning according to the degree of battery expansion information, while avoiding problems caused by severe battery swelling and direct power failure of the unit.

The above description of the present disclosure and the following description of the embodiments are used to demonstrate and explain the spirit and principles of the present invention, and provide further explanation of the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a top view of an electronic device capable of detecting battery swelling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A is a cross-sectional view of an electronic device capable of detecting battery expansion according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2B is another cross-sectional view of an electronic device capable of detecting battery swelling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view of the battery according to the embodiment of FIGS. 2A and 2B when the battery is expanded.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for detecting battery swelling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a top view of an electronic device capable of detecting battery swelling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for detecting battery swelling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a top view of an electronic device capable of detecting battery swelling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8A is a cross-sectional view of an electronic device capable of detecting battery swelling according to the embodiment of FIG. 7 of the present invention.

8B is another cross-sectional view of the electronic device capable of detecting battery expansion according to the embodiment of FIG. 7 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method for detecting battery swelling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a top view of an electronic device capable of detecting battery swelling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Description of reference numbers:

1, 2, 3, 4: Electronics

B: battery

BS: Surface

C: shell

10, 10', 10": Membrane switch assembly

101, 101': the first membrane switch

102: Second membrane switch

103: The third membrane switch

E1, E1': the first electrode group

E2, E2': the second electrode group

E3, E3': the third electrode group

20, 20', 20": arithmetic components

201: Processor

202: Latch circuit

203: Transmission circuit

Detailed ways

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are described in detail in the following embodiments, and the content is sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art to understand the technical content of the present invention and implement it accordingly, and according to the content disclosed in this specification, the scope of the patent application and the accompanying drawings , any person skilled in the art can easily understand the related objects and advantages of the present invention. The following examples further illustrate the concept of the present invention in more detail, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

Please refer to FIG. 1 . FIG. 1 is a top view of an electronic device 1 capable of detecting battery swelling according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , the electronic device 1 may be, for example, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, an electronic paper, a handheld game console, or a power bank, etc. that require batteries, and may include a casing C for accommodating a battery. A battery B, which can be used as power supply through the battery B. The electronic device 1 may also include other necessary elements, such as a circuit board, a processor, a screen, a key, or a keyboard, etc., which are determined by the requirements of the device, and are not repeated here.

The electronic device 1 includes a membrane switch component 10 and an arithmetic component 20 . The membrane switch assembly 10 is disposed above a surface BS of the battery B, and includes a first membrane switch 101, and the first membrane switch 101 includes a first electrode group E1. It should be noted that the first electrode group E1 includes two electrodes, for example, two elements made of conductive materials, which are separated from each other to be electrically disconnected. The first electrode set E1 has a first actuation threshold, which can represent a critical pressure value (eg, 5 pounds), when the applied pressure on the first electrode set E1 exceeds the first actuation threshold (eg, greater than 5 pounds) , the two electrodes of the first electrode group E1 will be electrically connected to present a short circuit, for example, the two electrodes are in contact with each other, or the two electrodes are simultaneously contacted with other conductors. In this way, when the battery B expands to a certain extent and squeezes the membrane switch assembly 10, the first electrode group E1 will be short-circuited.

In this embodiment, the computing element 20 includes a processor 201 and is electrically connected to the membrane switch element 10 . The computing component 20 is used to detect the state of the first electrode group E1, such as open circuit or short circuit, and the duration of the short circuit state. When the first electrode group E1 is short-circuited, in order to avoid misjudgment that the short-circuit is caused by the user's erroneous pressure, the computing component 20 will determine whether the short-circuit state has reached a predetermined time period, such as 24 hours. When the short-circuit state reaches a preset time period, the computing component 20 generates a warning message to remind the user that the battery has expanded. In addition, the processor 201 of the computing component 20 may be an embedded controller (Embedded Controller), a microcontroller (Micro Controller) or other processors with computing functions, and of course, it may also be a processor provided by the electronic device 1 itself device or arithmetic unit.

Please refer to FIGS. 2A and 2B . FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device 1 capable of detecting the expansion of the battery B according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is another view of the electronic device 1 capable of detecting the expansion of the battery B according to an embodiment of the present invention. Cutaway view. As shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B , generally speaking, the position where the battery B swells the most often occurs at the center of the surface BS, so the first membrane switch 101 can be arranged at the center of the surface BS (that is, as shown in FIG. 2A ) ), or can be disposed on the surface of the casing C facing the center of the surface BS (ie, as shown in FIG. 2B , the orthographic projection of the first membrane switch 101 will be located at the center of the surface BS). For further explanation, please refer to FIG. 3 , which is a cross-sectional view of the battery B according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B of the present invention when it is expanded. This embodiment defines the degree of swelling of the battery B by the thickness change of the battery B at the center corresponding to the surface BS. For example, when battery B swells after use, its thickness increases by 7%-8% relative to the initial thickness, which is within the normal range (no need to replace battery B), and the thickness increases by 8%-20% relative to the initial thickness. Slight swelling (replacement of battery B can be considered), and when the thickness increases by more than 20% relative to the initial thickness, it is already severe swelling (battery B must be replaced). In the case of severe swelling of battery B, battery B may damage the case or other structures, and even risk explosion. Therefore, before the battery B is seriously expanded, a warning message should be notified to the user in advance through the aforementioned electronic device.

To describe this embodiment in more detail, please refer to FIG. 4 , which is a flowchart of a method for detecting swelling of battery B according to an embodiment of the present invention. As described in step S101 : an applied pressure is detected by the first electrode group E1 of the membrane switch assembly 10 . In addition, the pressure may be caused by the expansion of the battery B, but it may also be caused by human or other factors. Therefore, please refer to step S103: when the applied pressure exceeds the first actuation threshold of the first electrode group E1, the first electrode group E1 presents a short circuit; on the contrary, if the applied pressure does not exceed the first actuation threshold, the first Electrode group E1 does not exhibit a short circuit. When the applied pressure exceeds the first actuation threshold, the process proceeds to step S105 : determining whether the first electrode group E1 is short-circuited for a preset period of time by the computing component 20 . If the first electrode group E1 is short-circuited for a predetermined period of time, it can be determined that the additional pressure is caused by the expansion of the battery B, that is, step S107 is performed: the computing component 20 generates a warning message to remind the user to replace the battery. On the contrary, if the first electrode group E1 is short-circuited for less than the preset time period, it can be determined that the additional pressure is caused by other factors (for example, human error pressure), so as described in step S109: the computing component 20 does not generate an alarm information to avoid unnecessary battery replacement.

As mentioned above, the artificial pressure may be caused by the user leaning on the electronic device 1 or placing an object (such as a thick book or a water bottle) on the electronic device 1, which are all temporary pressing, and the battery Once B swells, it can be regarded as a permanent press until battery B is replaced. Therefore, through this feature, the preset time period can be set according to the usage frequency of the electronic device 1 . For example, generally speaking, the mobile phone will be used several times in a day, so the preset time period can be set as one day, that is, the first electrode group E1 is pressed to show a short circuit state for less than one day, the computing component 20 will not Issue a warning message. On the other hand, after the notebook computer is turned off, other items may be placed on top of it, so the preset period of time may be set to a longer period, such as 30 hours, for example.

Please refer to FIG. 5 , which is a top view of the electronic device 2 capable of detecting the expansion of the battery B according to another embodiment of the present invention. Compared with the electronic device 1 shown in FIG. 1 , the computing element 20 ′ of the electronic device 2 of the present embodiment further includes a latch circuit 202 , and the latch circuit 202 is electrically connected to the membrane switch element 10 ( That is, between the first membrane switch 101 ) and the processor 201 . As mentioned above, when the first electrode group E1 is subjected to an applied pressure exceeding the first actuation threshold, so that the first electrode group E1 is short-circuited, the latch circuit 202 exhibits a triggering state, such as outputting a high voltage level, Of course, it can also be a low voltage level, which is not limited here. To put it simply, when the latch circuit 202 is in a triggered state, it means that the first membrane switch 101 has been actuated by an external force. Moreover, when the processor 201 detects that the trigger state continues for a preset period of time, the processor 201 generates a warning message.

Please refer to FIG. 6 . FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for detecting swelling of battery B according to the structure of the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention. Step S301 is the same as step S101 in FIG. 4 , so it will not be described in detail here. Please refer to step S303 : when the first electrode group E1 is short-circuited, the latch circuit 202 is in a trigger state, wherein the first electrode group E1 is short-circuited, indicating that the first membrane switch 101 has been actuated by an external force. Please refer to step S305 : the processor 201 detects whether the latch circuit 202 is in a triggered state for a preset period of time. If the latch circuit 202 is activated for a predetermined period of time, the processor 201 determines that the battery B has expanded, and then proceeds to step S307 : the processor 201 generates a warning message. On the contrary, if the latch circuit 202 is in the trigger state for less than the preset time period, as described in step S309: the processor 201 does not generate the warning message.

Compared with the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , since the electronic device 2 of this embodiment is provided with the latch circuit 202 , the processor 201 can periodically detect the latch circuit according to a longer cycle time (for example, 10 minutes). 202 determines whether the trigger state is present, and then judges whether to issue a warning message according to its duration. Therefore, the calculation amount of the processor 201 can be reduced, the situation of overheating caused by the excessive calculation amount can be effectively avoided, and the service life of the processor 201 can be further extended.

Please refer to FIG. 7 , which is a top view of the electronic device 3 capable of detecting the expansion of the battery B according to an embodiment of the present invention. The main difference between this embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is that the membrane switch assembly 10 ′ of this embodiment includes a second membrane switch 102 and a third membrane switch in addition to the first membrane switch 101 . The membrane switch 103, and the computing component 20" further includes a transmission module 203. The second membrane switch 102 includes a second electrode group E2, and the second electrode group E2 has a second activation threshold; the third membrane switch 103 A third electrode group E3 is included, and the third electrode group E3 has a third actuation threshold. Similar to the first membrane switch 101, the second actuation threshold and the third actuation threshold also correspond to a pressure value, and each The actuation threshold can be the same or different, depending on the use requirements. When the applied pressure that the above-mentioned electrode group bears exceeds its corresponding actuation threshold, the electrode group presents a short circuit. It should be noted that this embodiment uses a plurality of Membrane switches realize the situation of the electronic device 3, that is, based on the first membrane switch 101 and the second membrane switch 102, and the third membrane switch 103 can be determined according to actual needs, which is an unnecessary element. The transmission module 203 is electrically connected to the processor 201, the first membrane switch 101, the second membrane switch 102 and the third membrane switch 103, and has at least one transmission condition built in. When the first electrode group E1, the second electrode group When both E2 and the third electrode group E3 are short-circuited, the transmission conditions are met, and when the condition lasts for a preset period of time, the transmission module 203 transmits a trigger signal to the processor 201 , and the processor 201 generates warning information or notification information accordingly.

As mentioned above, the transmission conditions may vary depending on the structure of the transmission module 203 . For example, the transmission module 203 can be designed as a logic circuit composed of multiple or gates, and as long as the electrode group of one of the membrane switches is short-circuited, the transmission condition is met. Alternatively, the transmission module 203 can also be designed as a series circuit, and the transmission conditions are met only when all the electrode groups of the membrane switches are short-circuited. For those skilled in the art, the above-mentioned technical means can design the transmission module 203 according to different requirements, and therefore will not be described in detail. Since the number of pins of the processor 201 is limited, in order to prevent the membrane switches from occupying too many pins of the processor 201 and reduce the computing load of the processor 201, each membrane switch is connected through the transmission module 203, and its short-circuit status is judged first. and time, after the warning condition is satisfied, a trigger signal is sent to the processor 201, and the processor 201 sends a warning message to inform the user that the battery is swollen.

In addition, in another implementation manner of this embodiment, the function of the transmission module 203 may also be implemented by a chip. When the short-circuit condition of the electrode groups E1-E3 meets the transmission condition, the transmission module 203 transmits a trigger signal to the processor 201, and the processor 201 generates warning information or notification information accordingly. The difference between the aforementioned notification information and the warning information is that the notification information appears when only part of the electrode groups of the membrane switches are short-circuited, while the warning information appears when all the electrode groups of the membrane switches are short-circuited. To be more specific, the notification information is used to remind the user that the battery B is currently slightly swollen, which has no serious impact on the electronic device, and the user can arrange the maintenance time; on the other hand, the warning information is used to remind the user that the battery B has been seriously expanded, and the electronic device needs to be powered off as soon as possible and sent for maintenance immediately.

Please continue to refer to FIG. 7 , and refer to FIGS. 8A and 8B at the same time. FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device 3 capable of detecting the expansion of the battery B according to the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8B is the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention. Cross-sectional view of the expanded electronic device 3 . The difference between the notification information and the warning information is described below with a specific example, wherein the transmission module 203 is implemented by a chip, and the chip can transmit a trigger signal to the processor 201 when any of the electrode groups E1-E3 is short-circuited. According to this transmission condition, when the second electrode group E2 of the second membrane switch 102 located in the middle of the surface BS first presents a short circuit (as shown in FIG. 8A ), and lasts for more than a preset period of time, the processor 201 sends a first notification accordingly information. By analogy, when the first electrode group E1 or the third electrode group E2 is short-circuited and lasts for more than a preset period, the processor 201 sends a second notification message accordingly. If the battery B continues to expand and all the electrode groups E1 , E2 , and E3 are short-circuited (as shown in FIG. 8B ) for more than a preset period, the processor 201 will issue a warning message. In the situation shown in FIG. 8B , because the battery B has been seriously swollen, it is recommended to power off the battery and replace the battery B immediately. Therefore, the processor 201 only generates a warning message and does not issue a notification message.

In actual operation, the notification information and the warning information can be distinguished by different lights; for example, when the first notification message appears, the electronic device 3 lights up a light or a yellow light, and when the second notification message appears, the electronic device 3 lights up. The electronic device 3 lights up with two lights or lights up in orange. By analogy, when the warning message appears, the electronic device 3 lights all lights or lights red. In addition, if the electronic device 3 has a display screen, corresponding information, such as text, icons or colors, can also be displayed on the screen. It is worth mentioning that the warning message can be designed to remind the user in advance before the power outage, so that the user can choose to shut down the device by himself first, so as to avoid the inconvenience of the user caused by the sudden power outage. In addition, it should be noted that the expansion range of the rechargeable battery is larger in the middle area of the surface BS, and smaller in the surrounding area. Therefore, the second electrode group E2 of the second membrane switch 102, the corresponding second actuation threshold can be smaller than the first actuation threshold and the third actuation threshold.

Please refer to FIG. 9 , which is a flowchart of a method for detecting swelling of battery B according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, please refer to step S501 : detecting an applied pressure with the first electrode group E1 and the second electrode group E2 of the membrane switch assembly 10 ′, and the applied pressure may be caused by the expansion of the battery B or other factors. Please refer to step S503: when the applied pressure exceeds the first actuation threshold and the second actuation threshold, both the first electrode group E1 and the second electrode group E2 are short-circuited and meet the transmission conditions; at this time, the first membrane switch 101 Both the membrane switch 102 and the second membrane switch 102 are actuated by the applied pressure, so step S505 is continued: the processor 201 determines whether the first electrode group E1 and the second electrode group E2 are short-circuited for a preset period of time. When the electrode groups E1 and E2 are short-circuited for a predetermined period of time and meet the transmission conditions of the transmission module 203 , step S507 is executed: the processor 201 generates a warning message. If the electrode groups E1 and E2 are short-circuited for less than a predetermined period of time, in step S509 : the processor 201 does not generate a warning message.

Please refer to FIG. 10 . FIG. 10 is a top view of the electronic device 4 capable of detecting the expansion of the battery B according to an embodiment of the present invention. The main difference from the foregoing embodiments is that the membrane switch assembly 10 ″ of this embodiment includes a first membrane switch 101 ′, and the first membrane switch 101 ′ includes a plurality of electrode groups E1 ′, E2 ′, E3 ′, And these electrode groups correspond to an actuation threshold respectively. In addition, the number and position of these electrode groups can be designed for different needs, which is not limited in the present invention. In this embodiment, the first membrane switch 101' has three electrode groups As an example to illustrate. As mentioned above, the second electrode group E2' located in the middle area of the surface BS can correspond to a larger actuation threshold, while the first electrode group E1', the third electrode group E1' located in the surrounding area outside the middle area, the third The electrode group E3' can correspond to a smaller actuation threshold. Similarly, when some of these electrode groups are short-circuited, the overall situation conforms to the transmission condition of the transmission module 203 and lasts for a preset period of time, according to different types of transmission. In module 203, the processor 201 can send out notification information or warning information. And, when all electrode groups E1', E2', E3' are short-circuited and last for a preset period of time, the processor 201 sends out warning information. Similar to the previous embodiment In contrast, in this embodiment, multiple actuation thresholds can be set for a single membrane switch, so the number of membrane switches used can be reduced, thereby simplifying the related circuit design.

In summary, the electronic device capable of detecting battery state and the method for detecting battery expansion disclosed in the present invention can detect battery expansion and avoid misjudgment caused by user's erroneous pressure. Send notifications or alerts while avoiding problems caused by severe battery swelling and direct power outages to the unit.

Although the present invention is disclosed in the foregoing embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Changes and modifications made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention belong to the scope of patent protection of the present invention. For the protection scope defined by the present invention, please refer to the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. An electronic device capable of detecting battery swelling, comprising: A membrane switch assembly is disposed above a surface of a battery, the membrane switch assembly includes a first membrane switch, the first membrane switch includes a first electrode group, and the first electrode group has a first actuation threshold , when the applied pressure on the first electrode group exceeds the first actuation threshold, the first electrode group exhibits a short circuit; and A computing component is electrically connected to the membrane switch component, and the computing component generates a warning message when the first electrode group is short-circuited for a predetermined period of time. 2. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the computing element comprises a processor and a latch circuit, the latch circuit is electrically connected between the membrane switch element and the processor, and when the first When the electrode group is short-circuited, the latch circuit presents a triggering state, and the processor generates the warning message when the triggering state continues for the preset period of time. 3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the membrane switch assembly further comprises a second membrane switch, the second membrane switch comprising a second electrode group, the second electrode group having a second actuation threshold, When the applied pressure on the second electrode set exceeds the second actuation threshold, the second electrode set exhibits a short circuit. 4. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the computing element comprises a processor and a transmission module, the transmission module is electrically connected to the processor, the first membrane switch and the second membrane switch, when the When both the first electrode group and the second electrode group are short-circuited for the predetermined period, the transmission module transmits a trigger signal to the processor, and the processor generates the warning message accordingly. 5. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first membrane switch further comprises a second electrode set, the second electrode set has a second actuation threshold, when the applied pressure on the second electrode set exceeds At the second actuation threshold, the second electrode set exhibits a short circuit. 6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the computing component comprises a processor and a transmission module, the transmission module is electrically connected to the processor, the first electrode group and the second electrode group, when the When both the first electrode group and the second electrode group are short-circuited for the predetermined period, the transmission module transmits a trigger signal to the processor, and the processor generates the warning message accordingly. 7. A method for detecting battery swelling, comprising: Detecting an applied pressure with a first electrode group of a membrane switch assembly; When the applied pressure exceeds a first actuation threshold of the first electrode group and the first electrode group is short-circuited, a computing component is used to determine whether the first electrode group is short-circuited for a predetermined period of time; and When the computing component determines that the first electrode group is short-circuited for the predetermined period, a warning message is generated. 8. The detection method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the computing element comprises a processor and a latch circuit, and in the step of determining whether the first electrode group is short-circuited for a predetermined period by the computing element, Include: When the first electrode group of the first membrane switch presents a short circuit, the latch circuit presents a trigger state; and The processor generates the warning message when detecting that the latch circuit presents the trigger state for the preset period. 9 . The detection method of claim 8 , wherein the membrane switch element further comprises a second electrode group, and the detection method further comprises: judging by the computing element whether the second electrode group is short-circuited for the predetermined period of time. 10 . 10. The detection method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the computing element comprises a processor and a transmission module, the detection method further comprises: When both the first electrode group and the second electrode group are short-circuited for the predetermined period of time, the transmission module transmits a trigger signal to the processor; and The processor generates the warning message accordingly.

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