Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60L—PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL; MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES
  • B60L53/00—Methods of charging batteries, specially adapted for electric vehicles; Charging stations or on-board charging equipment therefor; Exchange of energy storage elements in electric vehicles
  • B60L53/10—Methods of charging batteries, specially adapted for electric vehicles; Charging stations or on-board charging equipment therefor; Exchange of energy storage elements in electric vehicles characterised by the energy transfer between the charging station and the vehicle
  • B60L53/14—Conductive energy transfer
  • B60L53/18—Cables specially adapted for charging electric vehicles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60L—PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL; MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES
  • B60L53/00—Methods of charging batteries, specially adapted for electric vehicles; Charging stations or on-board charging equipment therefor; Exchange of energy storage elements in electric vehicles
  • B60L53/10—Methods of charging batteries, specially adapted for electric vehicles; Charging stations or on-board charging equipment therefor; Exchange of energy storage elements in electric vehicles characterised by the energy transfer between the charging station and the vehicle
  • B60L53/14—Conductive energy transfer
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60L—PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL; MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES
  • B60L53/00—Methods of charging batteries, specially adapted for electric vehicles; Charging stations or on-board charging equipment therefor; Exchange of energy storage elements in electric vehicles
  • B60L53/30—Constructional details of charging stations
  • B60L53/31—Charging columns specially adapted for electric vehicles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H75/00—Storing webs, tapes, or filamentary material, e.g. on reels
  • B65H75/02—Cores, formers, supports, or holders for coiled, wound, or folded material, e.g. reels, spindles, bobbins, cop tubes, cans, mandrels or chucks
  • B65H75/34—Cores, formers, supports, or holders for coiled, wound, or folded material, e.g. reels, spindles, bobbins, cop tubes, cans, mandrels or chucks specially adapted or mounted for storing and repeatedly paying-out and re-storing lengths of material provided for particular purposes, e.g. anchored hoses, power cables
  • B65H75/36—Cores, formers, supports, or holders for coiled, wound, or folded material, e.g. reels, spindles, bobbins, cop tubes, cans, mandrels or chucks specially adapted or mounted for storing and repeatedly paying-out and re-storing lengths of material provided for particular purposes, e.g. anchored hoses, power cables without essentially involving the use of a core or former internal to a stored package of material, e.g. with stored material housed within casing or container, or intermittently engaging a plurality of supports as in sinuous or serpentine fashion
  • B65H75/368—Cores, formers, supports, or holders for coiled, wound, or folded material, e.g. reels, spindles, bobbins, cop tubes, cans, mandrels or chucks specially adapted or mounted for storing and repeatedly paying-out and re-storing lengths of material provided for particular purposes, e.g. anchored hoses, power cables without essentially involving the use of a core or former internal to a stored package of material, e.g. with stored material housed within casing or container, or intermittently engaging a plurality of supports as in sinuous or serpentine fashion with pulleys
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
  • H02G—INSTALLATION OF ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES, OR OF COMBINED OPTICAL AND ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES
  • H02G11/00—Arrangements of electric cables or lines between relatively-movable parts
  • H02G11/003—Arrangements of electric cables or lines between relatively-movable parts using gravity-loaded or spring-loaded loop
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60Y—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO ASPECTS CROSS-CUTTING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY
  • B60Y2200/00—Type of vehicle
  • B60Y2200/90—Vehicles comprising electric prime movers
  • B60Y2200/91—Electric vehicles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2701/00—Handled material; Storage means
  • B65H2701/30—Handled filamentary material
  • B65H2701/34—Handled filamentary material electric cords or electric power cables
• • Y—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
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
  • Y02T90/00—Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
  • Y02T90/10—Technologies relating to charging of electric vehicles
  • Y02T90/12—Electric charging stations

Definitions

• Cables are used to complete all manners of electrical circuits and are useful to connect a power source to a chargeable device (e.g., an electric vehicle (EV)), as the distance between the power source and the chargeable device may vary. While a cable having a long length may generally be desired to increase the possible distance between the power source and the chargeable device, such a long cable can be a nuisance when being stored or in use when shorter amounts of cable are needed. Furthermore, users are generally not dependable to neatly store an unwound cable after use.
• a chargeable device e.g., an electric vehicle (EV)
• Cables can be managed by being wound on a spool, where the spool can be rotated to dispense or retract a desired length of the cable.
• the spool may need a slip ring to maintain a connection with the power source.
• Slip rings may not be feasible in high voltage or high current applications due to their cost, reliability, or environmental considerations.
• Spooled cables pose additional problems when used in an active circuit, as the closely wound cable can generate heat at high current. This requires the operating current to be kept dramatically lower than the current rating of the cable. Such a problem is particularly prevalent in EV charging applications, where high current may be desired.
• the pulley assembly may further comprise a drive motor configured to drive a drive chain.
• the carriage may be fixed to the drive chain such that when the drive motor drives the drive chain, the carriage may move along the linear motion guide between the first position and the second position.
• the at least one movable pulley and the at least one stationary pulley may have a diameter of at least 5 times greater than the diameter of the cable.
• the at least one movable pulley may comprise a plurality of movable pulleys
• the at least one stationary pulley may comprise a plurality of stationary pulleys.
• the following portion of the cable may be alternately looped around one of the plurality of movable pulleys and one of the plurality of stationary pulley in series.
• the motor assembly may further comprise at least one pair of guide rollers arranged upstream and/or downstream of the pair of drive rollers.
• the at least one pair of guide rollers may be configured to alter the angular direction in which the cable is dispensed or retracted.
• the controller may be configured to control the speed of the drive motor to be slower than the speed of the exit motor when the cable is dispensing from the cable mechanism. [0020] In some embodiments, the controller may be configured to control the speed of the drive motor to be slower than the speed of the exit motor when the cable is retracting from the cable mechanism.
• the cable mechanism may further comprise a control switch disposed at the free end of the cable.
• the control switch may be in electronic communication with the controller.
• the control switch may be configured to send instructions to the controller to dispense or retract the cable.
• control switch may be configured to send instructions to the controller to dispense or retract a specified length of the cable.
• the method may further comprise moving the pulley assembly from the first position to the second position to dispense the cable, or moving the pulley assembly from the second position to the first position to retract the cable.
• FIG. l is a schematic diagram of a cable mechanism according to an embodiment of the present disclosure
• FIG. 3 A illustrates the exemplary cable mechanism in a first position
• FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram of a top view of cable wrapped around a pulley assembly of a cable mechanism according to an embodiment of the present disclosure
• FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram of a top view of a pulley assembly of a cable mechanism according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
• FIG. 9A is a flowchart of a method of dispensing or retracting cable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
• FIG. 9B is a flowchart of a method of dispensing or retracting cable according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
• the cable mechanism 100 may further comprise a housing 130, and the motor assembly 110 and the pulley assembly 120 may be disposed in the housing 130.
• the motor assembly 110 may be disposed in an upper portion of the housing 130, and the pulley assembly 120 may be vertically movable within the housing 130 beneath the motor assembly 120.
• the motor assembly 110 may be disposed in a lower portion of the housing 130, and the pulley assembly 120 may be vertically movable within the housing 130 above the motor assembly 110.
• the motor assembly 110 may be disposed in a left or right portion of the housing 130, and the pulley assembly 120 may be horizontally movable within the housing 130 relative to the motor assembly 110.
• the direction of the movement of the pulley assembly 120 may depend on the arrangement of the motor assembly 110 and the pulley assembly 120 within the housing 130.
• the direction of the movement of the cable 101 (i.e., dispensing or retracting) corresponding to movement of the pulley assembly 120 between the first and second positions may depend on the arrangement of the motor assembly 110 and the pulley assembly 120 within the housing 130.
• the first position and the second position may refer to a “raised” position or a “lowered” position of the pulley assembly 120 relative to the motor assembly 110. Any specific references to the “raised” position or the “lowered” position herein only refer to exemplary arrangements of the motor assembly 110 and the pulley assembly 120 within the housing 130, and are not believed to be limited herein.
• the housing 130 may be at least partially sealed from the exterior.
• the housing 130 may only have one output opening 131 in which the cable 101 is dispensed or retracted from the housing 130.
• the housing 130 may thereby protect the motor assembly 110, the pulley assembly 120, and the other components inside the housing 130 from damage that could impact the operation of the cable mechanism 100.
• the housing 130 may also protect users from contact with (or tampering with) high voltage/high current electrical transmission lines connected to the cable mechanism 100.
• the housing 130 may also have an input opening 132 to receive input power to connect to the cable 101.
• the locations of the output opening 131 and the input opening 132 on the housing 130 may vary, and are not limited herein. For example, as shown in FIG.
• the cable 101 may remain outside the housing 130 when the cable 101 is retracted, and some of the cable 101 may remain inside the housing 130 when the cable 101 is dispensed. Varying amounts of the cable 101 may be dispensed to remain outside of the housing 130, according to the demands of particular use cases.
• the amount of the cable 101 that can be dispensed from the housing 130 may be limited by industry standards. For example, some standards may limit the amount of the cable 101 that can be dispensed from the housing 130 to be under 25 ft.
• more of the cable 101 may be usable compared to other cable management systems, because the minimum length of the cable 101 disposed in the housing 130 in the second position may be less than other cable management systems.
• the fixed end 105 of the cable 101 may be positioned anywhere within the housing 130, depending on system design.
• the fixed end 105 of the cable 101 may be routed down to the base of the housing 130 to connect to an electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) system 140.
• the EVSE system 140 may be disposed within the housing 130 or may be an external component that is connectable to the fixed end 105 of the cable 101 within the housing 130.
• the location of the connection between the fixed end 105 of the cable 101 and the EVSE system 140 may be adjustable and can be changed depending on the position of the output and input of the cable mechanism 100 in the specific application.
• the free end 102 of the cable 101 may be connectable to a chargeable device (e.g., an electric vehicle (EV)).
• a chargeable device e.g., an electric vehicle (EV)
• the movable pulley 122 may move between the first position (shown in FIG. 3A) and the second position (shown in FIG. 3B) to change the vertical position of the movable pulley 123 as the cable 101 is moved in the dispensing direction or the retracting direction. As shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C, the following portion 104 of the cable 101 may be looped around the at least one movable pulley
• the at least one movable pulley 123 and the at least one stationary pulley 124 may have a diameter of 100 mm to 960 mm or larger.
• additional guide pulleys 127 can be used to ensure that the cable 101 fits inside the envelope provided by the pulley assembly.
• the guide pulleys 127 may be placed at a distance of 10 or more diameters of the cable 101 away from the mounting axis of the movable pulley 123 or the stationary pulley 124.
• Guide pulleys 127 can be placed alternately on tangent points to the pulley or cable bend arc to constrain the cable 101 to follow a desired path.
• the size of each of the pulleys of the pulley assembly 120 may depend on the interior space within the housing 130.
• the at least one movable pulley 123 and the at least one stationary pulley 124 may be the same size.
• the at least one movable pulley 123 and the at least one stationary pulley 124 may be different sizes. Accordingly, the combinations of pulleys of the pulley assembly 120 may be sized and placed for smooth operation of the cable mechanism 100.
• the angle 9 may be 5-15°.
• one of the sets of pulleys A or B may be aligned with the orthogonal, with the other is offset at the angle 9 relative to the orthogonal.
• the cable looped around the set of pulleys A is aligned with the orthogonal, while the cable looped around the set of pulleys B is offset at the angle 9 relative to the orthogonal.
• both the sets of pulleys A and B may be offset from the orthogonal, such that the sets of pulleys A and B are offset at the angle 9 relative to each other. For example, as shown in FIG.
• the cable looped around both sets of pulleys A and B is offset at an angle 9/2 relative to the orthogonal, resulting in the offset angle 9.
• the sets of pulleys A and B may be offset by equal or different amounts from the orthogonal.
• Either the plurality of movable pulleys 123 or the plurality of stationary pulleys 124 may be offset from the other.
• the plurality of stationary pulleys 124 may be offset at the angle 9 relative to the plurality of movable pulleys 123.
• the plurality of movable pulleys 123 may be offset at the angle 9 relative to the plurality of stationary pulleys 124.
• the non-parallel arrangement of successive pulleys may result in smoother operation of the cable mechanism 199 compared to parallel pulleys, which may produce undue friction between the cable 191 and the pulleys if the cable 191 is of significant thickness, stiffness, or both.
• Cables 191 comprised of copper or aluminum wire of a diameter greater than 6 mm, or multi-conductor cables of a diameter greater than 1 mm in particular may have issues at discharge levels of 89% of the cable length or more, as the angle in which the cable 191 must bend between successive layers of pulleys can create undue force on the pulley edges, or if using plain rollers, can cause transverse forces that could cause the cable to unseat itself from the rollers.
• the minimum angle 9 between successive pulleys may be determined by the cable diameter. For example, the minimum angle may be 6- 8° degrees for a five-conductor cable of 16.4 mm diameter.
• the closest the two pulleys with this cable diameter would be 199 mm or larger.
• the individual pulleys could have a radius of 19 mm, which allows the two pulley arcs to approach each other to a minimum of 29 mm.
• the arc shaped series of pulleys may minimize the amount of cable 101 that must remain in the housing 130 and thereby increase the amount of cable 101 that can be dispensed from the housing 130 for use.
• each pulley in the series of pulleys can be arranged such that the bearing surfaces of each pulley are perpendicular to the path of motion of the cable 101.
• the angle between successive pulleys Al and A2 may be defined by an angle (]>.
• the angle (]> may be defined by the diameter of the cable 101, and the sizes and arrangements of the pulleys.
• the angle between successive pulleys Al’ and A2’ may be 4> > 0°.
• Each of the series of pulleys of the at least one movable pulley 123 and the at least one stationary pulley 124 may be arranged such that the angle (
• Each of the plurality of movable pulleys 123 may move independently or in conjunction with each other.
• the carriage 122 may be configured to move all of the plurality of movable pulleys 123 together, or the carriage 122 may be configured to move the plurality of movable pulleys 123 separately or consecutively.
• each of the plurality of movable pulleys 123 may be disposed on the carriage 122, such that the carriage 122 simultaneously moves the plurality of moveable pulleys 123 between the second position and the first position.
• each of the plurality of movable pulleys 123 may be disposed on its own carriage (or separate movable parts of the carriage 122), such that each carriage can consecutively move each of the plurality of movable pulleys 123 between the second position and the first position. For example, starting with three movable pulleys 123 in the first position, the carriage 122 may move the first movable pulley to the second position, then the second movable pulley, and then the third movable pulley, after the previous pulley has moved to the second position or another position between the first position and the second position. In the same example, the carriage 122 may move the three movable pulleys 123 in reverse order (3, 2, 1) when moving back to the first position. Each carriage 122 may also be configured to move each of the plurality of movable pulleys 123 simultaneously, for quicker dispensing or retracting.
• the motor assembly 110 may comprise an exit motor 111 configured to drive a pair of drive rollers 112.
• the leading portion 103 of the cable 101 may be disposed between the drive rollers 112 such that when the exit motor 111 drives the pair of drive rollers 112, the free end 102 of the cable 101 is dispensed or retracted.
• the space between the drive rollers 112 may be sized such that the leading portion 103 of the cable 101 is squeezed between the drive rollers 112, so rotation of the drive rollers 112 causes cable 101 to be dispensed or retracted based on the rotation directions of the drive rollers 112.
• the motor assembly 110 may further comprise at least one pair of guide rollers 113 arranged upstream and/or downstream of the pair of drive rollers 112.
• the at least one pair of guide rollers 113 may configured to alter the angular direction in which the cable 101 is dispensed or retracted.
• the pair of guide rollers 113 may direct the cable 101 out of the output opening 131 of the housing 130 for use.
• the controller 150 may be configured to control the speed of the drive motor 125 and the exit motor 111 to control the tension of the cable 101.
• the controller 150 may control the speed of the drive motor 125 to be 5 to 15 percent slower than the speed of the exit motor 111 when the cable 101 is dispensing from the cable mechanism 100, and the controller 150 may control the speed of the drive motor 125 to be 15 to 30 percent slower than the speed of the exit motor 111 when the cable 101 is retracting from the cable mechanism 100.
• the relative speeds of the drive motor 125 and the exit motor 111 may also depend on the gear ratios and transmissions of the pulley assembly 120 and the motor assembly 110, respectively, which could also be designed to provide tensioning effects.
• the number of loops of the cable 101 may also impact the relative speeds, e.g., more loops may result in a higher ratio of speeds, while fewer loops may result in a lower ratio, trending towards a 1 : 1 ratio for a single loop.
• a control switch 155 may be provided to control the operation of the cable mechanism 100.
• the control switch 155 may be disposed at the free end 102 of the cable 101 and may be in electronic communication with the controller 150.
• the control switch 155 may be in wireless communication with the controller 150, or the control switch 155 may be wired to the controller 150 via the cable 101.
• the control switch 155 may be configured to send instructions to the controller 150 to dispense or retract the cable 101.
• the control switch 155 may instruct the controller 150 to control the exit motor 111 and the drive motor 125 to operate in corresponding directions to dispense or retract the cable 101.
• control switch 155 may be configured to send instructions to the controller 150 to dispense or retract a specified length of the cable 101 that is less than or equal to the maximum length of the cable 101 that can be dispensed from the housing 130.
• the specified length of the cable 101 may be one or more preset lengths or a user-defined length of the cable 101.
• the control switch 155 may be operable by a single button, by two buttons (one for each direction of the cable 101), or additional buttons configured to define a specified length of the cable 101 to be dispensed.
• the control switch 150 may be operable by pulling on the free end 102 of the cable 101.
• the cable 101 may be separated from itself by the pulley assembly 120.
• the pulley assembly 120 may prevent lengths of the cable 101 from being layered on top of each other, as the following portion 104 of the cable 101 is looped around the movable pulley 123 and the stationary pulley 124.
• the movable pulley 123 may also be distanced from the stationary pulley 124 in the first position, and even in the second position, there may be no contact between lengths of the cable 101 in adjacent pulley layers. This may result in dramatically decreased heating of any individual portion of the cable 101, such that even in the retracted position, the entire ampacity of the cable 101 can be used.
• the cable mechanism 100 may provide a simple and controlled manner of dispensing and retracting a cable 101 that may be suitable for high-current EV charging applications.
• Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method 200 of dispensing or retracting a cable. As shown in FIG. 9A, the method 200 may comprise the following steps.
• the pulley assembly is moved from the first position to the second position to dispense the cable.
• a length of the cable may be dispensed out of the cable mechanism, thereby providing additional length of usable cable.
• the pulley assembly is moved from the second position to the first position to retract the cable.
• a length of the cable may be retracted back into the cable mechanism, thereby providing efficient storage for the cable.
• steps 220 and 230 may be repeated any number of times to dispense or retract the cable in a simple and efficient manner using the cable mechanism of the present disclosure.
• the second position and the first position referenced in steps 220 and 230 may refer to any relative positions and movements of the pulley assembly.
• the second position and the first position may refer to the positions at the maximum range of movements of the pulley assembly or any positions within the range of movements.
• the second position may correspond to a position of the pulley assembly in which a maximum amount of the cable is dispensed
• the first position may correspond to a position of the pulley assembly in which a minimum amount of the cable is dispensed.
• the second position and the first position may correspond to positions of the pulley assembly in which other amounts of the cable are dispensed, and the particular length of the cable that is dispensed in either position is not limited herein.
• the cable mechanism may include a drive motor configured to move the pulley assembly between the first position and the second position, an exit motor of the motor assembly configured to engage the leading portion of the cable to dispense or retract the cable, and a controller in electronic communication with the drive motor and the exit motor. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 9B, steps 220 and 230 of the method 200 may be replaced with the following steps.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Power Engineering (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Electric Cable Arrangement Between Relatively Moving Parts (AREA)
• Storing, Repeated Paying-Out, And Re-Storing Of Elongated Articles (AREA)
• Transmission Devices (AREA)
• Electric Propulsion And Braking For Vehicles (AREA)

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• 2023
  • 2023-09-12 CN CN202380078334.8A patent/CN120202135A/zh active Pending
  • 2023-09-12 KR KR1020257012037A patent/KR20250067901A/ko active Pending
  • 2023-09-12 WO PCT/US2023/032565 patent/WO2024059088A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2023-09-12 CA CA3267404A patent/CA3267404A1/en active Pending
  • 2023-09-12 JP JP2025515331A patent/JP2025532015A/ja active Pending
  • 2023-09-12 EP EP23866130.0A patent/EP4587294A2/de active Pending

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