US3391860A

US3391860A - Air compressor

Info

Publication number: US3391860A
Application number: US578717A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas E Brandon
Original assignee: Thomas E. Brandon
Current assignee: THOMAS E BRANDON
Priority date: 1966-09-12
Filing date: 1966-09-12
Publication date: 1968-07-09
Anticipated expiration: 1985-07-09

Description

T. E. BRANDON Ju y 9, 1968 AIR COMPRESSOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 12, 1966 I N VE N TOR Thames .5 Brandon Warcus l. Bazs July 9, 1968 T. E. BRANDON 3,

' AIR COMPRESSOR Filed Sept. 12. 1966 s Sheet$Sheei 2 INVENTOR.

Y Mama; 5 firanaan fl/araas Z. Bafes July 9. 1968 T. E. BRANDON 3,391,860

AIR COMPRESSOR Filed Sept. 7 12, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 All-ll a mm m manual-Uni I IIHIIIIIIII II-lllh w u l| lllmllllllllm' ll flllllllllllllll llll IAHZEPJTCUK By Thomas 5 Brandon Mrcaa L. Bafes United States Patent 3,391,860 AIR COMPRESSOR Thomas E. Brandon, 1313 W. 3rd St., Odessa, Tex. 79760 Filed Sept. 12, 1966, Ser. No. 578,717 9 Claims. (Cl. 230-185) This invention relates to an air compressor of the reciprocating piston type.

In compressing air or gas, the work done on the gas in decreasing its volume is considerable and appears as heat, added to the heat that is due to friction losses. In an air compressor of the piston type, the final volume of the gas is generally small, and the temperature rise relatively large. In order to attain suitable efliciency in compression, the gas should be delivered at a temperature approaching that of the entering gas. That is, the compression should be as close to the iso-thermal as possible. Due to the heat that results from the work done on the gas, it has been found necessary to provide high pressure compressors with suitable water jackets in order to facilitate cooling. This is especially so in multi-stage compressors where the final pressure is in the range of 100 p.s.i. and higher. Where the pressure exceeds 100 psi. in multi-stage compression, it is generally necessary to provide interstage cooling between adjacently arranged series flow cylinders.

Accordingly, modern compressor design has tended toward large weight, unwieldy devices requiring water cooling and bulky intercoolers. Furthermore, large and close tolerance bearings are generally required in compressors because of the masses that must be moved and considerable attention must be given to proper cooling of the various bearing surfaces.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a compressor of light weight construction requiring a minimum number of moving parts so that the heat transfer problems are primarily concerned with the work resulting from the compression of gases.

Another object of this invention is to provide a compressor having air-cooled means in the form of fins for the dissipation of the heat of compression.

Another object of this invention is to provide a compressor that is extremely light weight in construction.

Another object of this invention is to provide a compressor having a distorted toroidal-like cam wheel that imparts motion to a double acting piston.

Another object of this invention is to provide a compressor having cylinder heads associated therewith that may be readily disassembled in a minimum amount of time.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a compressor having an improved valve means associated with each cylinder head.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a compressor having a piston arrangement that cooperates with a cam-wheel so as to be provided with reciprocatory motion because of the geometrical configuration of the cam-wheel.

Another object of this invention is to provide a compressor having interchangeable cylinders and pistons associated therewith, and wherein the pistons are provided with bearing means rigidly affixed thereto that cooperate with the distorted cam-wheel so as to enable reciprocatory motion to be imparted to the piston by rotational motion of the cam-wheel; and wherein the camwheel is afiixed to a shaft that in turn is journaled from either side of a split case housing.

The above objects are attained in accordance with this invention by the provision of a distorted cam-wheel suitably journaled within a split case housing wherein the outer marginal edge of the cam-wheel cooperates with a 3,391,860 Patented July 9, 1 968 "ice piston associated with a cylinder whereby rotational motion of the cam-wheel imparts reciprocatory motion to the piston thereby ingesting a large volume of fiuid and exhausting a smaller volume of compressed fluid through a novel flapper valve arrangement.

With these and other objects in view, the invention herein described consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of a fluid compressor whereby the objects above contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in the appended claims, and illustrated in detail on the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the air compressor, with some parts broken away and other parts removed in order to more clearly illustrate the details of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the invention with some parts shown in exploded view, some parts broken away, and other parts removed in order to more clearly illustrate the details thereof.

FIGURE 3 is an elcvational view similar to FIG- URE 2, but showing the opposite end of the device made in accordance with some of the teachings of this invention.

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the air compressor of FIGURES 1 and 3 that is made in accordance with the teachings of this invention, with some parts broken away, and other parts removed in order to more clearly illustrate the inside of the compressor.

FIGURE 5 is a nenlarged fragmentary view of part of the device illustrated in FIGURE 1, with some parts broken away, and other parts shown in section in order to more clearly illustrate the details of the device.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged plan view showing the details of a part of the device illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2, 3, and 5.

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 77 of FIGURE 6, with additional parts shown for clarity.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary view of a part of the device seen in FIGURES 6 and 7.

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIGURE 10, with additional parts shown for clarity.

FIGURE 10 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the device seen in FIGURE 9.

Looking now to the details of the various figures illustrated in the drawings, there is seen illustrated in FIG- URE 1, in conjunction with the remainnig figures, an air compressor having a multiplicity of radially disposed, horizontally aligned cylinder assemblies generally indicated by the arrow at numeral 14. The cylinder assemblies include two oppositely arranged cylinder heads with the cylinders each radially disposed about the split case 16. The split-case houses a distorted cam-wheel 18 which is suitably attached in a rigid fashion to a shaft 20. The shaft is suitably journaled within each half of the split-case 16 by a first bearing enclosure 22 and a second bearing enclosure 24. The split-case includes a base 26 to facilitate rigidly supporting the entire compressor to a suitable supporting surface.

The split-case is comprised of a first half 28 and a second half 30 that are mated together by a built-up reinforced bolt-ring 31 having a milled mating surface or interface along a vertical plane where the two join together, which is held rigidly together by bolts 32 disposed about the bolt-ring. A multiplicity of reinforcing webs 34 depend radially from the center of the case to suitably support the before mentioned second bearing enclosure 24. The second bearing enclosure of the split case is provided with reinforced bearing housing 36 that suitably houses the before mentioned second bearing within enclosure 24, and includes a bearing cap 38 that is secured by bolts 40 to the bearing enclosure 36. The first half of the case also includes a bearing enclosure 22 and includes an apertured cap 44 secured by bolts located in bolt holes 46 of the bearing housing 42. The apertured-cap 44 centrally receives the before mentoned shaft 20 therethrough. r I

A finned cylinder retainer plate 48 is associated with each of the cylinder assemblies 14 in the illustrated manner of FIGURES 1,2, and 4 to thereby suitably secure each cylinder assembly to the case 16. The inside peripheral surface 50 of the cylinder retainer plate 48 is contoured to the outside dimension of the cylinder assembly and includes .an inside flange surface 52 that suitably mates with an outside flanged surface 54 of the case so as to provide'an interface between the cylinder retainer plate and the case. Bolt holes 56 are adapted to receive a bolt that secures the cylinder retainer plate 48 to the split-case. Each half of the split-case is contoured as at 60 and in the same manner that the plate 48 is contoured at 50 so as to provide a saddle like arrangement for receiving the cylinder assembly 14. Vertical faces 59 located on each half of the split-case cooperate with a flange provided on the cylinder assembly to thereby arrest longitudinal motion of the cylinder assembly with respect to the case.

The distorted cam-wheel is provided with an outermost horizontal peripheral surface 62 that separates two vertically spaced apart inside surfaces, one of which is indicated by the numeral 64, that form the piston drive means. The piston drive means is connected by web 68 to a built-up hub 70 that in turn is suitably secured in rigid fashion to the shaft 20 by keying, or preferably a tight pressed fit, as is known in the art.

Looking now to the details of the cylinder assembly and its cooperative relationship with cam-wheel 18, there is seen illustrated in FIGURE 5 one of the cylinders 14 having a cylinder seating portion 72 that seats in the before mentioned saddle formed by the inside peripheral surfaces 50 and 60. The oppositely disposed flanges 73 provide a shoulder that abuts against the outside shoulder 59 of the saddle arrangement of FIGURES 2 and 4. An O-ring 74 cooperates in sealing relationship with the inside peripheral surface 50 and 60 of the case and retainer plate to thereby seal the retainer plate, case, and cylinder assembly together in a fluid tight manner. The cylinder assembly is suitably provided with a cut-out that is defined by oppositely arranged vertical walls 76 and horizontal wall 78. The cut-out is of a suflicient dimension to permit full travel of the outer periphery 62 of cam-wheel 18 as the cam-Wheel drives the piston in a reciprocatory manner within the cylinder assembly.

The outer cylinder wall 80 is preferably machine finished in the area 72 and the inside cylinder wall 82 is finished in the conventional manner. Fins 84 are provided in the illustrated manner of FIGURE 5 in order to suitably air cool the cylinder assembly. An inlet and outlet valve assembly 85 is disposed between the cylinder head 86 and the depending free end of the cylinder wall 80. The cylinder head 86 is provided with large fins 87 for proper heat dissipation. The cylinder head 86. is provided with an outlet 88 and an inlet 89 leading from passageways that are suitably aligned with the valve plate 85.

The valve plate assembly 85 is comprised of two disks 90 and 92. A

spring flapper element

94 and 96 are each secured within a crescent like

depression

97 and 98 respectively that permits the spring flapper element to flex into the depression upon opening and seal against the opposite flat surface to thereby act as a check valve. As seen in FIGURES 6 through 8, the inlet portion of the valve assembly is provided with inlet slots 100 and 101 and

outlet slots

102 and 103. The inlet slots are provided with the before mentioned curved or depressed areas such as seen at 97 and 98 so as to permit the spring elements to 4 flex toward the piston on the intake stroke with the amount of travel of the spring element being limited by the depth of the

depressed areas

97 and 98. On the exhaust stroke, the spring elements abut against the fiat surface defining the slots 100 and 101, thereby preventing outward flow of compressed fluid.

Outlet slots

102 and 103 are provided with similar depressed or recessed slots in the plate farthest opposite the piston and in opposite relationship to intake slots 100 and 101 so as to permit escape of the compressed air. Bolts 105 maintain the first and second disks-rigidly affixed to each other with the spring elements retained therebetween within the before mentioned four slots. Alignment pins 108 assure proper assembly of the two disks with respect to each other. Apertures 106 form the bolt-circle holes through which a multiplicity of bolts may be shared by the cylinder head and the valve plate assembly so as to secure the head and valve plate assembly rigidly aflixed to the remaining cylinder assembly.

Looking again to the piston 110 of FIGURE 5, there is seen a bearing shaft 112 associated therewith and having a first bearing 114 suitably journaled thereto. A-second bearing 116 is aligned with the first bearing 114 and attached to the piston in amanner similar to the first hearing. The space between the outside periphery of bearings 114 and 116 is substantially equal to the space between the two vertical walls 64 that define the outside periphery 62 of the cam wheel 18.

The horizontal portion of the cut-out in the piston, located between the first and second bearings, rides in close tolerance relationship with respect to the cam-wheel and thus provides an abutment at either side of the piston that is adapted to ride against the cam-wheel to thereby prevent rotational movement of the piston within the cylinder.

FIGURES 9 and 10 illustrate an alternate embodiment of the valve structure that may be used in conjunction with each of the cylinder heads 86 in lieu of the valve plate assembly 85. As seen in FIGURE 9, the valve assembly is indicated generally by the numeral 118 and includes a mounting plate 119 to which there is secured in an integral manner a closed cylinder 120 having an end wall 122. The cylinder wall 120 is apertured at 124 to provide multiple inlet or outlet ports, and includes a nut and bolt arrangement 126 that retains a circular spring element 128 that is properly positioned in aligned relationship with the cylinder so as to cover each of the apertures 124. An upstanding stud 130 having a cross arm 132 secured by stop nuts 134 provides secondary means for maintaining the spring flapper valve element 128 within the valve assembly. The valve assembly 118 may be placed in each of the

ports

88 and 89 by reversing the valve assembly so as to permit two identical valves to serve as the intake and outlet valves, by reversing'the relationship of the valves with respect to eachother. When two valves 11 8 are used in conjunction with the cylinder heads of the compressor, the valve assembly 85 is removed from the device.

In operation, the shaft 20 is turned by a suitable .prime mover so as to impart rotational motion to the cam-wheel 18. The cam-wheel 18, in the preferred embodiment of FIGURES 1 through 5, moves a longitudinal distance of four inches during each 90 of rotation of shaft 20. The outer periphery 62 of the cam-wheel 18 cooperates with the piston 110 in the manner illustrated by FIGURE 5 and accordingly, each revolution of the cam-wheel 18 reciprocates the piston 110 two complete cycles, or four strokes, or two compression cycles.

It will occur to others skilled in the art that the camwheel 18 may be made into various geometrical configura tions so as toimpart various other cycles to each of the pistons 110 upon each full rotation of the shaft 20.

Looking again' to FIGURE 5 wherein the piston 110 is seen at the extreme left hand position, it will now be understood that rotation of shaft 20 in either direction 90 will cause piston 110 to move to the right four inches thereby compressing the fluid contained within the right hand cylinder, while the left hand cylinder is on the intake stroke. Further rotation of the cam-wheel 18 another 90 will compress the fluid contained in the left hand cylinder while the right hand cylinder will in turn be on the intake stroke. Hence, each of the six cylinder heads of the three cylinder assemblies is associated with a double acting piston that cooperates with the cam-wheel 13 in a manner that rotation of cam-wheel 18 for 180 causes each of the pistons to travel through a complete compression cycle.

The valve assembly 85 contains an intake and an outlet valve that cooperates with passageways in each cylinder head 86 so as to induct air through port 89 and exhaust compressed air through outlet 88. The

spring flapper elements

94 and 96 are caused to be sprung or distorted Within the assembly so as to act as a check valve with one set of springs associated with slots 100 and 101 communicating with inlet port 89 so as to allow air to flow into the cylinder while the oppositely

adjacent slots

102 and 103 cooperate with the outlet 88 so as to allow air to travel out of the cylinder upon being compressed by the piston 110. It will occur to those skilled in the art that various cylinder heads may be interconnected in series flow relationship so as to provide multistage compression, where such an expedient is deemed desirable.

The check valve assembly illustrated in FIGURES 9 and may be used in conjunction with the inlet port 89 and outlet 88 in lieu of the disk valve assembly 85. As illustrated in FIGURES 9 and 10, the check valve is comprised of an upstanding cylinder 120 having a closed end 122 and a spring flapper valve arrangement 128 that covers the apertures 124 so as to admit air through the ports 124 into the valve assembly. Outward flow of air is prevented by the flapper valve 128 covering the aperture 124 upon reverse flow of fluid. The flapper valve 128 is maintained in alignment by the bolt and nut arrangement at 126 and the retainer means 132. Identical valve assemblies may be used as the inlet or outlet valve merely by reversing the relationship of the valve 180 when it is mounted by the mounting pad 119.

In order to remove a cylinder from the split-case 16, the four bolts holding the cylinder retainer plate 48 are removed, and the plate lifted from the split-case in a manner illustrated in FIGURE 2. Upon removal of the cylinder retainer plate 48, a complete cylinder assembly 14 may be lifted from the saddle formed by the curved shoulders 50 and 60 whereupon a new cylinder assembly may be rapidly substituted in place of the removed cylinder assembly.

The entire compressor may be readily disassembled merely by removing each of three cylinder assemblies in the before described manner, followed by removal of bolts 32 from the bolt ring 31, whereupon each half of the splitcase may then be separated from one another. This operation exposes the interior of the compressor and further disassembly may be carried out merely by removing the front half of the split-case from the cam-wheel and shaft.

While I have described my invention in conjunction with a compressor having three cylinder assemblies with double acting pistons that cooperate with a cam-wheel that reciprocates the piston 21 specific number of cycles per revolution of the cam-wheel, it will occur to otners skilled in the art that various numbers of cylinder assemblies may be radially arranged about the outer periphery of the split case, and that the cam-wheel can be made to cause reciprocation of the double acting piston various numbers of strokes for each revolution of the cam-wheel, it is to be understood that the specific embodiment of the compressor illustrated and explained herein is for the purpose of illustration only, and that changes in and modifications to my device will occur to others skilled in the art while still remaining Within the spirit of my invention. Accordingly, I therefore do not wish my invention to be limited by the above descriptive portion of this application for US. Letters Patent, but rather, only by the following claims which set forth in detail the metes and bounds of the intellectual property that I deem to be my invention.

I claim:

1. A fluid moving device including:

a shaft adapted to be connected to a prime mover, a case, a distored cam-Wheel, an elongated cylinder, a piston adapted to reciprocate within said cylinder, and a check valve means;

said cam-wheel including means by which it is rigidly attached to said shaft with said cam-wheel being rotatably received within said case;

means attaching said cylinder to said case with said cylinder being longitudinally aligned and spaced apart from said shaft;

said piston having spaced apart aligned bearing means adapted to receive the outer periphery of said camwheel therebetween;

said check valve means comprising two superimposed circular discs;

one said disc having means forming first and second slots therein to form intake and exhaust valves;

the other said disc having means forming first and second slots therein to form intake and exhaust valves;

said first and second slots respectively of one said disc being aligned with said first and second slots respectively of said other disc;

means forming a crescent shaped depression misaligned with the first slots of one said disc;

means forming a crescent shaped depression being misaligned with the second slots of said other said disc;

a spring flapper valve element located in each said depression and sprung against the slot in the plate located opposite said depression;

said check valve means being in communication With said cylinder to thereby allow fluid that is to be moved to enter and leave the cylinder through said check valve means;

whereby, rotation of said shaft imparts rotational motion to said cam-wheel, and said cam-wheel imparts reciprocatory motion to said piston which in turn reciprocates within said cylinder and thereby moves fluid through said check valve means.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said piston is a double acting piston;

said cylinder having depending ends with cylinder heads associated with each depending end; whereby:

rotation of said shaft moves the double acting piston to thereby move fluid through each depending end of said cylinder.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein said fluid moving device is adapted to compress a compressible fluid, and said distorted cam-wheel is symmetrically distorted whereby the outer periphery thereof describes a sinusoidal wave of 720 sinuosity during a complete rotation of 360 thereof.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein said cylinder includes a cylinder head, and said check valve is located between the depending end of said cylinder and said cylinder head, and said cylinder head includes means forming an inlet passageway being aligned with the respective intake and exhaust valves of said disk.

5. A fluid moving device including:

a shaft adapted to be connected to a prime mover, a

case, a distorted cam-wheel, an elongated cylinder, a piston adapted to reciprocate within said cylinder; and a check valve means;

said case including a saddle having semi-circular flanges generally contoured to the outside dimension of the cylinder wall;

a retainer plate of semi-circular configuration generally contoured to the outside dimension of the cylinder wall;

whereby said plate and said saddle form a circular retainer means for said cylinder;

a cut-out in said cylinder for receiving the outer marginal edge of said cam-wheel;

a cut-out in said piston for receiving the outer portion of said outer marginal edge of said cam-wheel;

spaced apart bearing means within said cut-out of said piston adapted to slidably receive said outer portion of said marginal edge of said cam-wheel;

6. The device of claim 5, wherein said check valve includes a second cylinder having a closed end, an open end, mounting means;

means forming apertures radially arranged about the said second cylinder;

a circular spring flapper valve arranged within the said second cylinder and biased into closed position against said apertures; and

means maintaining said spring flapper valve within said second cylinder and aligned with respect to said apertures.

7. The device of claim 5, wherein said piston is a double acting piston;

rotation of said shaft moves the double acting piston to thereby move fluid through each depending end of said cylinder;

wherein said fluid moving device is adapted to compress 8 a compressible fluid and said distorted cam-wheel is symmetrically distorted with the outer periphery thereof describing a sinuous curve of 720 sinuosity during a complete rotation thereof;

said cylinders including three spaced apart horizontally aligned cylinders having the longitudinal axis thereof substantially aligned in parallel relation with said shaft and spaced apart therefrom an amount whereby said longitudinal axis of said cylinder lies near the outer periphery of said case; and

said cut-out in said piston includes oppositely arranged shoulders that cooperate with said cam-wheel whereby said piston is retained in aligned relation with respect to said cam-wheel.

8. The device of claim 5, wherein said case is split along its vertical axis with respect to the shaftbeing in horizontal relationship therewith; said case including two halves that are each provided with a reinforced flange about the outer marginal edge thereof that substantially lies in the same general plane described by said cam-wheel;

said flange including means by which said two halves of the case may be rigidly bolted together.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein said shaft is journaled in each opposite end of said case, housing means in each end of the case; one journal of said shaft being received within said housing located in one half of the case opposite said flange;

and the other journal being received within said housing located in the other half of the case opposite said flange.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,339,276 5/1920 Murphy 103173 X 1,880,595 10/1932 Tursky 230-185 2,027,076 1/1936 Vollim'an 230-186 X 2,070,880 2/1937 Blum 103-173 X 2,176,300 10/1939 Fette 230-486 X 3,057,545 10/ 1962 Ransom et al 230-186 3,215,341 11/1965 Francis 230-186 DONLEY J. STOCKING, Primary Examiner.

W. I. KRAUSS, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A FLUID MOVING DEVICE INCLUDING: A SHAFT ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED TO A PRIME MOVER, A CASE, A DISTORED CAM-WHEEL, AN ELONGATED CYLINDER, A PISTON ADAPTED TO RECIPROCATE WITHIN SAID CYLINDER, AND A CHECK VALVE MEANS; SAID CAM-WHEEL INCLUDING MEANS BY WHICH IT IS RIGIDLY ATTACHED TO SAID SHAFT WITH SAID CAM-WHEEL BEING ROTATABLY RECEIVED WITHIN SAID CASE; MEANS ATTACHING SAID CYLINDER TO SAID CASE WITH SAID CYLINDER BEING LONGITUDINALLY ALIGNED AND SPACED APART FROM SAID SHAFT; SAID PISTON HAVING SPACED APART ALIGNED BEARING MEANS ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF SAID CAMWHEEL THEREBETWEEN; SAID CHECK VALVE MEANS COMPRISING TWO SUPERIMPOSED CIRCULAR DISCS; ONE SAID DISC HAVING MEANS FORMING FIRST AND SECOND SLOTS THEREIN TO FORM INTAKE AND EXHAUST VALVES; THE OTHER SAID DISC HAVING MEANS FORMING FIRST AND SECOND SLOTS THEREIN TO FORM INTAKE AND EXHAUST VALVES; SAID FIRST AND SECOND SLOTS RESPECTIVELY OF ONE SAID DISC BEING ALIGNED WITH SAID FIRST AND SECOND SLOTS RESPECTIVELY TO SAID OTHER DISC; MEANS FORMING A CRESCENT SHAPED DEPRESSION MISALIGNED WITH THE FIRST SLOTS OF ONE SAID DISC; MEANS FORMING A CRESCENT SHAPED DEPRESSION BEING MISALIGNED WITH THE SECOND SLOTS OF SAID OTHER SAID DISC; A SPRING FLAPPER VALVE ELEMENT LOCATED IN EACH SAID DEPRESSION AND SPRUNG AGAINST THE SLOT IN THE PLATE LOCATED OPPOSITE SAID DEPRESSION; SAID CHECK VALVE MEANS BEING IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID CYLINDER TO THEREBY ALLOW FLUID THAT IS TO BE MOVED TO ENTER AND LEAVE THE CYLINDER THROUGH SAID CHECK VALVE MEANS; WHEREBY, ROTATION OF SAID SHAFT IMPARTS ROTATIONAL MOTION TO SAID CAM-WHEEL, AND SAID CAM-WHEEL IMPARTS RECIPROCATORY MOTION TO SAID PISTON WHICH IN TURN RECIPROCATES WITHIN SAID CYLINDER AND THEREBY MOVES FLUID THROUGH SAID CHECK VALVE MEANS.