HUMAN NECESSITIES

PERFORMING OPERATIONS

TRANSPORTING

The following notes are meant to assist in the use of classes B01 - B09; they must not be read as modifying in any way the elaborations.

In this sub-section, the separation of different materials, e.g. of different matter, size, or state, is predominantly found in the following subclasses:

B01D

B03B, B03C, B03D
B04B, B04C
B07B, B07C

The classifying characteristics of these subclasses are:

the physical state of the matter to be separated

the principle of the process used

particular kinds of apparatus

The first of these characteristics involves six different aspects, assembled in three groups.

liquid/liquid or liquid/gas and gas/gas

solid/liquid or solid/gas

solid/solid

Theses subclasses are to be used according to the following general rules:

B01D is the most general class as far as separation other than solids from solids is concerned.

Apparatus for separating solids from solids are covered by B03B when the process concerned is regarded as the equivalent of "washing" in the sense of the mining art, even if such apparatus is a pneumatic one, especially pneumatic tables or jigs. Screens PER SE are not covered by this subclass but are classified in B07B, even if they are being used in a wet process. All other apparatus for the separation of solids from solids according to dry methods are classified in B07B.

If the separation takes place as a result of the detection or measurement of some feature of the material or articles to be sorted it is classified in B07C.

It should also be noted that the separation of isotopes of the same chemical element is covered by B01D59/00, whatever process or apparatus is employed.

The following scheme illustrates the classification according to these rules.

LIQUID/LIQUID 
      LIQUID/GAS 
      GAS/GAS 
  _____________________________________________________________________ 
                                             Subclasses dealing with 
  Operations                                   Method    Apparatus 
  _____________________________________________________________________ 
  General                                      B01D
						B01D
						
    by centrifugal force, using centrifuges 
    or free-vortex apparatus                   B01D
						B04B, B04C
						
    using magnetic or electrostatic effect     B03C
						B03C
						
  _____________________________________________________________________

SOLID/LIQUID 
      SOLID/GAS 
  _____________________________________________________________________ 
                                             Subclasses dealing with 
  Operations                                   Method    Apparatus 
  _____________________________________________________________________ 
  General                                      B01D
						B01D
						
    by centrifugal force                       B01D
						B01D
						
       using centrifuges or free-vortex 
       apparatus                               B01D
						B04B, B04C
						
    using magnetic or electrostatic effect     B03C
						B03C
						
  _____________________________________________________________________

SOLID/SOLID 
  _____________________________________________________________________ 
  Dry Methods 
  _____________________________________________________________________ 
                                             Subclasses dealing with 
  Operations                                   Method    Apparatus 
  _____________________________________________________________________ 
  General for material in bulk                 B07B
						B07B
						
  Individual sorting                           B07C
						B07C
						
     Screening, sifting, pneumatic sorting     B07B
						B07B
						
       using pneumatic tables or jigs          B03B
						B03B
						
     by magnetic or electrostatic effect       B03C
						B03C
						
     by centrifugal force                      B07B
						B07B
						
       using centrifuges or free-vortex 
       apparatus                               B07B
						B04B, B04C
						
  _____________________________________________________________________ 
  Wet Methods 
  _____________________________________________________________________ 
                                             Subclasses dealing with 
  Operations                                   Method    Apparatus 
  _____________________________________________________________________ 
  General                                      B03B
						B03B
						
     flotation, differential sedimentation     B03D
						B03D
						
     screening                                 B07B
						B07B
						
  _____________________________________________________________________ 
  Combinations = dry methods - wet methods: B03B
						
  _____________________________________________________________________

CHEMISTRY

METALLURGY

In section C, the definitions of groups of chemical elements are as follows:

ALKALI METALS: Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Fr

ALKALINE EARTH METALS: Ca, Sr, Ba, Ra

LANTHANIDES: elements with atomic numbers 57 to 71 inclusive

RARE EARTHS: Sc, Y, Lanthanides

ACTINIDES: elements with atomic numbers 89 to 103 inclusive

REFRACTORY METALS: Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta, W

HALOGENS: F, Cl, Br, I, At

NOBLE GASES: He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn

PLATINUM GROUP: Os, Ir, Pt, Ru, Rh, Pd

NOBLE METALS: Ag, Au, Platinum group

LIGHT METALS: alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, Be, Al, Mg

HEAVY METALS: metals other than light metals

IRON GROUP: Fe, Co, Ni

NON-METALS: H, B, C, Si, N, P, O, S, Se, Te, noble gases, halogens

METALS: elements other than non-metals

TRANSITION ELEMENTS: elements with atomic numbers 21 to 30 inclusive, 39 to 48 inclusive, 57 to 80 inclusive, 89 upwards

The following notes are meant to assist in the use of this part of the classification scheme; they must not be read as modifying in any way the elaborations.

Section C covers:

pure chemistry, which covers inorganic compounds, organic compounds, macromolecular compounds, and their methods of preparation;

applied chemistry, which covers compositions containing the above compounds, such as: glass, ceramics, fertilisers, plastics compositions, paints, products of the petroleum industry. It also covers certain compositions on account of their having particular properties rendering them suitable for certain purposes, as in the case of explosives, dyestuffs, adhesives, lubricants, and detergents;

certain marginal industries, such as the manufacture of coke and of solid or gaseous fuels, the production and refining of oils, fats, and waxes, the fermentation industry, (e.g. brewing and wine-making) the sugar industry;

certain operations or treatments, which are either purely mechanical, e.g. the mechanical treatment of leather and skins, or partly mechanical, e.g. the treatment of water, or the prevention of corrosion in general;

metallurgy, ferrous or non-ferrous alloys.

In the case of operations, treatments, products, or articles which have both a chemical and non-chemical part or aspect, the general rule is that the chemical part or aspect is covered by section C.

In some of these cases, the chemical part or aspect brings with it a non-chemical one, even though purely mechanical, because this latter aspect either is essential to the operation or treatment or constitutes an important element of it; it has seemed, in fact, more logical not to dissociate the different parts or aspects of a coherent whole. This is the case for applied chemistry and for the industries, operations, and treatments mentioned in Notes 1), c), d) and e). For example, furnaces peculiar to the manufacture of glass are covered by class C03 and not by class F27.

There are, however, some exceptions in which the mechanical (or non-chemical) aspect carries with it the chemical aspect, for example:

certain extractive processes in subclass A61K;

the chemical purification of air in subclass A61L;

chemical methods of fire-fighting in subclass A62D;

chemical processes and apparatus in class B01;

imnpregnation of wood in subclass B27K;

chemical methods of analysis or testing in subclass G01N;

photographic materials and processes in class G03, and generally, the chemical treatment of textiles and the production of cellulose or paper in section D.

In still other cases, the pure chemical aspect is covered by section C and the applied chemical aspect by another section such as A, B, F, e.g. the use of a substance or composition for

treatment of plants or animals covered by subclass A01N;

foodstuffs covered by class A23;

munitions or explosives covered by class F42.

When the chemical and mechanical aspects are so closely interlocked that a neat and simple division is not possible, or when certain mechanical processes follow as a natural or logical continuation of a chemical treatment, section C may cover, in addition to the chemical aspect, a part only of the mechanical aspect, e.g. after-treatments of artificial stone covered by class C04. In this latter case a note or a reference is usually given to make the position clear, even if sometimes the division is rather arbitrary.

TEXTILES

PAPER

FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

LIGHTING

HEATING

WEAPONS

BLASTING

Guide to the use of this subsection (classes F01-F04)
The following notes are meant to assist in the use of this part of the classification scheme.

In this subsection, subclasses or groups designating "engines" or "pumps" cover methods of operating the same, unless otherwise specifically provided for.

In this subsection, the following terms or expressions are used with the meanings indicated:

"engine" means a device for continuously converting fluid energy into mechanical power. Thus, this term includes, for example, steam piston engines or steam turbines, per se, or internal-combustion piston engines, but it excludes single-stroke devices. "Engine" also includes the fluid-motive portion of a meter unless such portion is particularly adapted for use in a meter;

"pump" means a device for continuously raising, forcing, compressing, or exhausting fluid by mechanical or other means.

Thus, this term includes fans or blowers;

"machine" means a device which could equally be an engine and a pump, and not a device which is restricted to an engine or one which is restricted to a pump;

"positive displacement" means the way the energy of a working fluid is transformed into mechanical energy, in which variations of volume created by the working fluid in a working chamber produce equivalent displacements of the mechanical member transmitting the energy, the dynamic effect of the fluid being of minor importance, and vice versa;

"non-positive displacement" means the way the energy of a working fluid is transformed into mechanical energy, by transformation of the energy of the working fluid into kinetic energy, and vice versa;

"oscillating-piston machine" means a positive-displacement machine in which a fluid-engaging work-transmitting member oscillates. This definition applies also to engines and pumps;

"rotary-piston machine" means a positive-displacement machine in which a fluid-engaging work-transmitting member rotates about a fixed axis or about an axis moving along a circular or similar orbit. This definition applies also to engines and pumps;

"rotary piston" means the work-transmitting member of a rotary-piston machine and may be of any suitable form, e.g., like a toothed gear;

"cooperating members" means the "oscillating piston" or "rotary piston" and another member, e.g., the working-chamber wall, which assists in the driving or pumping action;

"movement of the co-operating members" is to be interpreted as relative, so that one of the "co-operating members" may be stationary, even though reference may be made to its rotational axis, or both may move;

"teeth or tooth equivalents" include lobes, projections or abutments;

"internal-axis type" means that the rotational axes of the inner and outer co-operating members remain at all times within the outer member, e.g., in a similar manner to that of a pinion meshing with the internal teeth of a ring gear;

"free piston" means a piston of which the length of stroke is not defined by any member driven thereby;

cylinders" means positive-displacement working chambers in general. Thus, this term is not restricted to cylinders of circular cross-section;

main shaft" means the shaft which converts reciprocating piston motion into rotary motion or vice versa;

"plant" means an engine together with such additional apparatus as is necessary to run the engine. For example, a steam engine plant includes a steam engine and means for generating the steam;

"working fluid" means the driven fluid in a pump or the driving fluid in an engine. The working fluid can be in a compressible, gaseous state, called elastic fluid, e.g. steam; in a liquid state; or in a state where there is coexistence of an elastic fluid and liquid phase.

"steam" includes condensable vapours in general, and "special vapour" is used when steam is excluded;

"reaction type" as applied to non-positive-displacement machines or engines means machines or engines in which pressure/velocity transformation takes place wholly or partly in the rotor. Machines or engines with no, or only slight, pressure/velocity transformation in the rotor are called "impulse type".

In this subsection:

cyclically operating valves, lubricating, gas-flow silencers or exhaust apparatus, or cooling are classified in subclasses F01L, F01M, F01N, F01P irrespective of their stated application, unless their classifying features are peculiar to their application, in which case they are classified only in the relevant subclass of classes F01- F04;

lubricating, gas-flow silencers or exhaust apparatus, or cooling of machines or engines are classified in subclasses F01M, F01N, F01P except for those peculiar to steam engines which are classified in subclass F01B.

For use of this subsection with a good understanding, it is essential to remember, so far as subclasses F01B, F01C, F01D, F03B, and F04B, F04C, F04D, which form its skeleton, are concerned:

the principle which resides in their elaboration

the classifying characteristics which they call for, and

their complementarity

Principle

This concerns essentially the subclasses listed above. Other subclasses, notably those of class F02, which cover better-defined matter, are not considered here.

Each subclass covers fundamentally a genus of apparatus (engine or pump) and by extension covers equally "machines" of the same kind. Two different subjects, one having a more general character than the other, are thus covered by the same subclass.

Subclasses F01B, F03B, F04B, beyond the two subjects which they cover, have further a character of generality in relation to other subclasses concerning the different species of apparatus in the genus concerned.

This generality applies as well for the two subjects dealt with, without these always being in relation to the same subclasses.

Thus, subclass F03B, in its part dealing with "machines", should be considered as being the general class relating to subclasses F04B, F04C, and in its part dealing with "engines" as being general in relation to subclass F03C.

Characteristics

The principal classifying characteristic of the subclass is that of genera of apparatus, of which there are three possible:

Machines; engines; pumps.

As stated above, "machines" are always associated with one of the other two genera.These main genera are subdivided according to the general principles of operation of the apparatus:

Positive displacement; non-positive displacement.

The positive displacement apparatus are further subdivided according to the ways of putting into effect the principle of operation, that is, to the kind of apparatus:

Simple reciprocating piston; rotary or oscillating piston; other kind.

Another classifying characteristic is that of the working fluid, in respect of which three kinds of apparatus are possible, namely:

Liquid and elastic fluid; elastic fluid; liquid.

Complementarity

This resides in association of pairs of the subclasses listed above, according to the characteristics under consideration in respect of kind of apparatus or working fluid.

The subclasses concerned with the various principles, characteristics and complementarity are shown in the following table:

						
______________________________________________________________________ 
 Kind     positive             non-  Working fluid          Relations 
 of       ____________________ posi- ______________________ of gene- 
 dis-            rotary        tive                         rality in 
 place-   reci-  or os-              liquid                 respect 
 ment     pro-   cillat-             and                    of kind 
          cating ing                 elastic elastic        of dis- 
          piston piston  other       fluid   fluid   liquid placement 
______________________________________________________________________ 
 MACHINES 
__________ 
            X              X           X       X             F01B 
                   X                   X       X             F01C 
                                 X     X       X             F01D 
                                 X                     X     F03B 
            X              X                           X     F04B 
                   X                                   X     F04C 
 ENGINES 
__________ 
            X              X           X       X             F01B 
                   X                   X       X             F01C 
                                 X     X       X             F01D 
                                 X                     X     F03B 
            X      X       X                           X     F03C 
 PUMPS 
__________ 
            X              X           X       X       X     F04B 
                   X                   X       X       X     F04C 
                                 X     X       X       X     F04D 
______________________________________________________________________

It is seen from the table that :
- For the same kind of apparatus in a given genus, the characteristic of "working fluid" associates:
F01B and F04B )
F01C and F04C ) Machines
F01D and F03B )
F01B and F03C )
F01C and F03C ) Engines
F01D and F03B )
- For the same kind of working fluid, the "apparatus" characteristic relates subclasses in the same way as considerations of relative generality.

PHYSICS

In this section, the following term is used with the meaning indicated :

"variable" (as a noun) means a feature or property, (e.g. a dimension, a physical condition such as temperature, a quality such as density or colour) which, in respect of a particular entity (e.g. an object, a quantity of a substance, a beam of light) and at a particular instant, is capable of being measured; the variable may change, so that its numerical expression may assume different values at different times or in different conditions or individual cases, but may be constant in respect of a particular entity in certain conditions or for practical purposes, (e.g. the len gth of a bar may be regarded as constant for many purposes).

Attention is drawn to the definitions of terms used appearing in the notes of several of the classes in this Section, particularly of "measuring" in class G01 and "control" and "regulation" in class G05.

The classification of inventions in this Section may present more difficulty than in others because the distinction between different fields of use rests to a considerable extent on differences in the intention of the user rather than on any constructional differences or differences in the manner of use of inventions, and also because the subjects dealt with are often in effect systems or combinations which have features or parts in common rather than "things" which are readily distinguishable as a whole. For example, information, (e.g. a set of figures) may be displayed for the purpose of education or advertising (G09), for enabling the result of a measurement to be known (G01), for signalling the information to a distant point or for giving information which has been signalled from a distant point (G08); the words used to describe the purpose depend on features which may be irrelevant to the form of the apparatus concerned - such features as the desired effect on the person who sees the display or whether the display is controlled from a remote point. Again, a device which responds to some change in a condition, e.g. in the pressure of a fluid, may be used, without modification of the device itself, to give information about the pressure (G01L) or about some other condition connected with the pressure (another subclass of G01, e.g. G01K for temperature), to make a record of the pressure or of its occurrence (G07C), to give an alarm (G08B), or to control some other apparatus (G05). The classification scheme is intended to enable things of a similar nature (as indicated above) to be classified together, and it is therefore particularly necessary for the real nature of any invention to be decided before it can be properly classified.

ELECTRICITY

These notes cover the basic principles and general instructions for use of section H.

Section H covers :

basic electric elements, which cover all electric units and the general mechanical structure of apparatus and circuits, including the assembly of various basic elements into what are called printed circuits and also cover to a certain extent the manufacture of these elements (when not covered elsewhere);

generation of electricity, which covers the generation, conversion, and distribution of electricity together with the controlling of the corresponding gear;

applied electricity, which covers :

general utilisation techniques, viz. those of electric heating and electric lighting circuits;

some special utilisation techniques, either electric or electronic in the strict sense, which are not covered by other sections of the Classification, including :

electric light sources, including lasers;

electric X-ray technique;

electric plasma technique and the generation and acceleration of electrically charged particles or neutrons;

basic electronic circuits and their control;

radio or electric communication technique, including electromechanical transducers in general;

the use of a specified material for the manufacture of the article or element described. In this connection, paragraphs 56 to 58 of the Guide should be referred to.

In this section, the following general rules apply :

subject to the exceptions stated in I (c) above, any electric aspect or part peculiar to a particular operation, process, apparatus, object, or article classified in one of the sections of the Classification other than section H is always classified in the subclass for that operation, process, apparatus, object, or article, or where common characteristics concerning technical subjects of similar nature have been brought out at class level, it is classified, in conjunction with the operation, process, apparatus, object, or article in a subclass which covers entirely the general electrical applications for the technical subject in question;

such electrical applications, either general or particular, include

the therapeutic processes and apparatus, in class A61;

the electric processes and apparatus used in various laboratory or industrial operations, in classes B01, B03, and subclass B23K;

the electricity supply, electric propulsion and electric lighting of vehicles in general and of particular vehicles, in the "Transporting" subsection of section B;

the electric ignition systems of internal-combustion engines, in subclass F02P, and of combustion apparatus in general, in subclass F23Q;

the whole electrical part of section G, i.e. measuring devices including apparatus for measuring electric variables, checking, signalling, and calculating. Electricity in that section is generally dealt with as a means and not as an end in itself;

all electrical applications, both general and particular, presuppose that the "basic electricity" aspect appears in section H (see 1 (a) above) as regards the electric "basic elements" which they comprise. This rule is also valid for applied electricity, referred to under 1 (c) above, which appears in section H itself.

GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS

GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC

TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS

In this section, classes Y02 and Y04 are only to be used for tagging documents which are already classified or indexed elsewhere and which relate in a broad sense to specific major technical fields, these fields being defined by the notes following the title of the subclasses of this section.

As the primary purpose of the tagging according to Note (1) is to monitor new technological development and to tag cross-sectional technologies that do not fit in a single other section of the IPC, the tagging codes of this section do not in any way replace the classification or indexing codes of the other sections.

Class Y10 has been introduced in July 2012 in view of the CPC to accommodate for technical subjects formerly covered by USPC cross-reference art collections [XRACs] and digests