Method and apparatus for communicating on an electrical bus by generating a master logical signal on the electrical bus in the form of a pulse-width modulation signal. Generating a slave logical signal on the electrical bus in the form of a current signal. Reading the slave logical signal by sampling the magnitude of the current signal on the electrical bus, wherein magnitude of the current on the electrical bus is sampled at a point in the bit time when the voltage on the electrical bus has remained constant for a period longer than the shortest time that the voltage remains at any level during the bit time.

An electrical or communications bus (or simply bus) is a physical electrical interface where more than one device shares the same electric connection. Two-wire electrical buses are particularly suitable for use in vehicle systems as they are more robust and simple to install and configure. Various communication protocols may be used on such electrical buses and used to provide communications between electronic components located throughout a vehicle. In particular, airbag systems have many types of components that may be connected to a network. Airbag systems require robust and failsafe communications between the various components to avoid critical system failures or incorrect airbag deployment.
"DSI bus standard version 2.02", 29 Mar. 2005, TRW Automotive and Freescale Semiconductor describes the Distributed System Interface (DSI) message protocol. The DSI is a single master device multiple slave device data communications (electrical) bus implemented on two wires. The bus utilises voltage modulation (pulse-width modulation) signalling for digital messages sent from the single master device (master) to the slave devices (slaves) and current mode signalling from the slave devices to the master device. Slave devices only transmit in response to messages sent from the master device and are synchronised to the master signals.
A bit time is the duration of one bit or the reciprocal of the transmission frequency. For example, a 1 kHz (1 kbps) signal has a bit time of 1 ms. In the DSI message protocol the master voltage modulation is formed by separating each bit time into thirds. For a master logical zero the master produces a signal that is low for ⅔ of the bit time and high for the final ⅓ (a top hat voltage pulse). For a master logical one the master device produces a voltage signal that is low for ⅓ of the bit time and high for the remaining ⅔ of the bit time, i.e. the last ⅔ portion of the bit time.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram illustrating logical one and logical zero master logic signals according to the DSI message protocol.
According to the DSI message protocol slave responses to commands are sent using a modulated current signal, which is self synchronised to a falling edge voltage from the master voltage signal. Master and slave devices transmit simultaneously, i.e. the DSI is a duplex system of communication. During the response time the master device sends a pulse train of any combination of ones or zeros. The current mode bits are sent during the bit time and sampled by the master device at the falling edge of the voltage pulse generated by the master device. When the slave device produces a logical one, the slave device draws additional current above a particular threshold from the electrical bus during the bit time. If a logical zero is transmitted the slave device does not draw additional current during the bit time. The master device detects the current drawn from the electrical bus at a predetermined point in the bit time, i.e. the sampling point, to determine the bit type transmitted by the slave device.
FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the slave logical one and slave logical zero current signals, respectively. The dotted lines in FIGS. 3 and 4 indicate the sampling point, which in the DSI message protocol is on the falling voltage edge of the master signal, i.e. at the end of the bit time. FIG. 4 shows the decoded slave logical signal for any point in the bit time, i.e. how the master receiver would decode the current at any particular point in time.

System and method for communicating on an electrical bus


A display apparatus includes means for detecting gaze direction of user; processor configured to process input image based upon gaze direction to generate first and second images; first and second image renderers to render first and second images; optical combiner; first array of micro-prisms to split light emanating from second image renderer into multiple directions to produce multiple projections of second image; optical element to direct said multiple projections towards optical combiner; and optical shutter arranged between optical element and optical combiner, wherein optical shutter allows given portion of said multiple projections to pass, whilst blocking remaining portion of said multiple projections. The optical combiner optically combines projection of first image with given portion of said multiple projections, to produce on image plane output image having spatially-variable angular resolution. The processor controls optical shutter based upon detected gaze direction, whilst first and second images are being rendered.

Nowadays, several technologies (for example, such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and the like) are being developed for presenting a simulated environment to a user. Such technologies provide the user with a feeling of complete involvement (namely, immersion) within the simulated environment by employing techniques such as stereoscopy. As a result, when the user views the simulated environment, he/she is provided with an enhanced perception of reality around him/her. Moreover, such simulated environments relate to fully virtual environments (namely, virtual reality environments) as well as real world environments including virtual objects therein (for example, such as augmented reality environments, mixed reality environments, and the like).
Typically, the user uses a specialized device (for example, such as a virtual reality device, an augmented reality device, a mixed reality device, and the like) for viewing such simulated environments. Generally, the specialized device displays different views of a given image on separate display optics for both eyes of the user. As a result, the user is able to perceive stereoscopic depth within the given image. Furthermore, the specialized device also includes several optical elements which are employed to capture images, render images, optically modify images, direct projections of images, and the like. Nowadays, such specialized devices are being designed to imitate a physiology of human vision for displaying gaze contingent foveated images to the user. Examples of the specialized devices include virtual reality headsets, a pair of virtual reality glasses, augmented reality headsets, a pair of augmented reality glasses, mixed reality headsets, a pair of mixed reality glasses, and the like.
However, conventional specialized devices have certain limitations. Firstly, an arrangement of the optical elements within such specialized devices is extremely complex. Therefore, dynamically rearranging (namely, adjusting positions of) the optical elements according to gaze direction of the user is difficult. Secondly, since actuators are employed for physically moving the optical elements, power consumption of such specialized devices increases. Moreover, the physical movement of the optical components is slow and increases latency in displaying the simulated environments. Thirdly, in order to provide space for allowing movement of the optical elements, the specialized devices are designed to be large in size. Such large-sized devices are often bulky and cumbersome to use.
Therefore, in light of the foregoing discussion, there exists a need to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks associated with conventional devices for displaying simulated environments.

Display apparatus and method of displaying


A converter dolly comprising telescopic hitch means for adjusting the length between a first and second wheeled vehicle. The second wheeled vehicle having a kingpin projecting from an underside of the second wheeled vehicle in tandem comprising, a frame including a base portion and a telescoping hitch means comprising a tongue portion extending forwardly from the base portion. The tongue portion comprises a longitudinally extending, substantially rigid adjusting member and a mating member longitudinally slidably engaging the adjusting member. A hitch means carried by the mating member for pivotally connecting the converter dolly to the first vehicle about a first substantially vertical axis.

The present invention relates to tandem trailers and the difficulties encountered in improving the highway economy performance of these tandem trailers while maintaining sufficient maneuverability for city driving. A further aspect of the present invention relates to backing up these trailers.
Over the past few years, the use of tandem trailers has become popular and more are used on the road than ever before. The tandem arrangement permits a single truck to double its hauling capability. This is particularly important in the moving industry wherein it is desirable to move furniture in one trailer and move an automobile in the second trailer, whereas in the past the automobile either had to be driven to the destination or towed behind the first trailer.
In operation, the first trailer is connected to the tractor using a fifth wheel and kingpin arrangement commonly known in the art. Alternatively, the first vehicle may be a straight truck rather than a tractor connected to the first trailer by a dolly including a fifth wheel. The second trailer is conventionally attached to the first trailer using a dolly carrying a second fifth wheel. This arrangement does not significantly increase the cost to pull the two trailers and there is little or no loss in maneuverability so long as the tractor and trailers are traveling in a forward direction.
A problem with such tandem arrangements is that the gap between the first and second vehicle results in decreased aerodynamics which affects fuel economy at high speeds such as on highways. If the two vehicles are attached too closely, the first and second trailer will interfere with each other during turning maneuvers such as those encountered in city driving. Highways are constructed without any tight turns, allowing a much smaller turning capacity to be acceptable. However, tandem trailer assemblies must operate both on highways and in cities so a greater gap has conventionally been used to meet the minimum requirements for city operation.
An additional problem occurs when the driver of the tractor desires to back up the trailers such as when delivering or picking up a load. The trailers must be disconnected from one another and backed up separately. This is due to the arrangement of pivot points between the tandem trailers and between the front trailer and tractor. When the tractor and trailers are traveling forward there are three pivot points about which the tractor and trailers pivot, namely a pivot point between the tractor and the first trailer, a pivot point between the first trailer and the dolly, and a pivot point between the converter dolly and the second trailer. This arrangement permits the driver to make smaller radius turns, but does not permit the tractor to be backed up without disconnecting the trailers from each other. This is impractical because connecting and disconnecting the trailers every time the trailer needs to be backed up is time consuming and thus expensive to do.

Converter dolly for permitting backing up of tandem trailers


This invention relates to charging means which contacts with a toner to charge the toner and being installed in a developing machine for developing electrostatic latent images by a dry developer; the charging means comprises a specified imidazole compound selected from the group consisting of an imidazole metal complex, an imidazole metal compound and an imidazole derivative.

This invention relates to charging means which cause a toner for developing electrostatic latent image to charge.
A toner is charged positively or negatively according to the polarity of electrostatic latent images.
Only tribo-chargeability of a toner-constituting resin may be utilized to charge a toner. However, as sufficient charge amounts are not provided by this method, copied images become unclear and many fogs generate in the copied images. Therefore, a charge controlling agent such as a dye, a pigment or the like which reinforces chargeability is added in general to a toner to achieve a desired level of charge amounts.
However, particles of a charge controlling agent must be cropped out on a surface of a toner in order to enhance chargeability of the toner by adding these additives into the toner. Therefore, particles of additives drop out of toner surfaces by the friction between toner particles themselves, the collision between a toner and a carrier, the friction between a toner and a support of electrostatic latent images or the like, to pollute a carrier, a support of electrostatic latent images, a belt for a photosensitive member, a drum for a photosensitive member. As a result, chargeability becomes poor, and further the repetition of a copying process causes problems such as the decline in image density, the deterioration of reproducability of fine lines, the increase of fogs and the like.
It is proposed that the improvement of charging properties of a toner is achieved not only by the addition of additives into a toner but also by a transporting member, a toner-levelling member or a friction member (hereinafter, a material or a member which contacts with a toner in a developing process or prior to a developing process to provide a toner with charges necessary for development or to provide a toner with charge auxiliaryly is referred to as "charging means" in a general term, including the transporting member, the toner-levelling member and the friction member.)
Charging means can provide a toner with charges sufficiently, thereby, the addition of additives into toner for the improvement of chargeability is not almost needed. Therefore, it become possible to achieve the essential improvement for the problems as above mentioned.
However, charging means such as a carrier, a sleeve, a doctor blade or the like must possess not only a strong ability to giving charges but also excellent permanence such as friction resistance to a toner.
Recently, the miniaturization of a developer is required for the miniaturization of a copying machine, the low cost or a multi-color printing of a copying machine. Further, a developer is required to be used in an unit system from the view point of a maintenance service. A single component developing system has been paid attention to because of those requirements as above mentioned. However, it is difficult to charge a toner uniformly, because a toner is charged at the moment the toner passes through between a toner-levelling blade and a sleeve. It is proposed to overcome these defects as above mentioned that a surface of a toner-levelling blade is coated with a resin or the like having strong chargeability. It is also proposed for further improvement of chargeability that a charge controlling agent is contained in a resin-coating layer. However, electrification build-up properties and stabilization of charges are not improved satisfactorily.

Charging means with imidazole derivatives for use in developing device and method of developing


Embodiments herein relate to sensor based authentication between an implantable medical device (IMD) and an external device. In an embodiment, the IMD includes a wireless communication module and an internal inertial measurement unit (IMU) capable of measuring vibrations, movement, or rotation. The IMD is configured to record an internal IMU signal from the internal IMU. The external device includes a wireless communication module and an external IMU. The external device is configured to record an external IMU signal from the external IMU. The system further includes a data processing system to receive a first level communication that can include the internal IMU signal, the external IMU signal, or both, compare data from the internal IMU signal with data from the external IMU signal, and authorize a second level communication based on results of the comparison step.

Many implantable medical devices (IMDs) have significant onboard data storage capabilities. Sensitive patient data is included in the onboard data of many IMDs, as well as valuable and useful patient data. Many IMDs have functions that are life-saving, important to patient health, important to diagnosis, or multiple of these functions. Security of the data on IMDs and control of IMDs is a high priority. The ability to appropriately access the onboard data of an IMD and appropriately control the IMD are competing high priorities.

Implanted medical device authentication based on comparison of internal IMU signal to external IMU signal


A program code data structure is described. The data structure contains substantive code of a multithreaded computer program that includes a plurality of communicating instructions that effect communication between threads. The data structure further contains, at each of one or more points in the substantive code, an indication that, when the computer program is being executed, one or more communicating instructions that are in a selected relationship with the indication should be executed by any thread that reaches the point in a particular order relative to execution of one or more other communicating instructions by other threads. The contents of the data structure may be used to determine an order in which to execute communicating instructions.

A multithreaded program is a program that is capable of having two or more threads that can each be simultaneously executed by a different processor of a multiprocessor system or a different core of a multicore processor. Executing two or more threads of the program simultaneously can increase the processing speed of the program and/or the efficiency of the computer. Although each thread is executed by a single processor or core, it is common for threads to share other resources (e.g., memory) of the computer. As a result, two or more threads of a multithreaded program may access the same shared resource. For example, one thread may execute code that writes a value of a shared memory location at approximately the same time (e.g., shortly before or after) that another thread executes code that reads the shared memory location.

Using hints to direct the exploration of interleavings in a multithreaded program


The present invention relates to a crosslinked rubber composition based on at least one elastomer of ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer type (EPDM) and on at least one phase-change material (PCM), to a process for preparing this composition and to a multilayer pipe incorporating it. This composition includes at least 100 phr (phr: parts by weight per one hundred parts of elastomer(s)) of at least one phase-change material (PCM), and it is such that said at least one PCM is dispersed in the crosslinked composition and is provided with protection means that are capable of preventing its dispersion therein at a temperature above its melting point, which composition has a breaking strength of greater than 3 MPa and/or an elongation at break of greater than 100%, these properties being measured at 23° C. according to standard ASTM D 412.

The incorporation into polymer matrices of PCM materials such as fatty acids, salts or paraffins, especially, to release or absorb heat by a change of state by means of the latent heat of fusion which characterizes these PCMs, has been known for a long time. Specifically, these PCMs have the advantage of passing from the liquid state to the solid state while releasing heat during their crystallization, and conversely of passing from the solid state to the liquid state while absorbing heat during their melting. It is known practice to use these PCMs in powder form with nodules dispersed in a thermoplastic or elastomer matrix, or by encapsulating them in microspheres, for example plastic microspheres, or alternatively by grafting them onto a support, in a nonlimiting manner.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,332 teaches in example 3 thereof the preparation of a crosslinked rubber composition based on an EPDM in which is dispersed in powder form a PCM of paraffin wax type in an amount ranging from 33 to 66 phr only (phr: parts by weight per one hundred parts of elastomer). A major drawback of this composition lies in its relatively low content of PCM, which does not give it a sufficient change of state mass enthalpy MI in order to absorb and restitute the heat energy necessary to control the temperature of a fluid transported by a pipe.
Document EP-A 1-0 412 021 teaches the mixing in the melt state of amounts greater than or equal to 500 phr of a paraffinic PCM in powder form with a polymeric binder consisting of an EPDM, to obtain crosslinked compositions in which the PCM is not in the dispersed phase state but in the continuous phase state, due to its excessively high content in these compositions and to mixing and crosslinking temperatures above 100° C. which bring about a phase inversion.
As a result of this phase inversion, these PCM-based compositions do not have the flexibility and elasticity mechanical properties required to be used in multilayer hoses subjected to large operating deformations.

Rubber composition based on at least one EPDM and a phase-change material, pipe incorporating same and process for preparing this composition


A method and apparatus are provided for processing a delayed resource reservation request in an optical telecommunication network for transferring data between a source device and a destination device, wherein the control plane is different from the transfer plane. Upon a node device of the network receiving the resource reservation request sent from the source device to the destination device via a path including at least one node device, the request containing at least one first parameter relating to the start of the connection at the source device, the method includes the following steps: obtaining information relating to a signal transfer time via the path up to an upstream node device; updating the information by adding a signal transfer time at the intermediate equipment; and calculating a date for the start of the resource reservation at the node device using the value of the first received parameter and the information.

The current optical circuit switching (OCS) techniques are based on a reservation of the resources prior to the sending of the data. Resource reservation methods have been specified by standardization bodies such as the IETF in the specification of the GMPLS (Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching) control protocol or the ITU within the ASON (Automatically Switched Optical Network) control plane.
The reservation can, for example, be made as follows: the reservation of resources in each node of the connection is initiated at a source node on reception of a connection set-up request. The reservation relies on a signaling mechanism implemented using a signaling protocol. This mechanism consists in sending a reservation request message ("set-up") from the source node to the destination node and then returning a reception acknowledgement message from the destination node to the source node along the same path as in the outbound direction. On reception of the reception acknowledgement at the source node, the connection is set up and the data are transferred to the destination node over this connection. The resources available for the current connection are identified in each node as the reservation request message passes through each node. This information can be collected by the reservation request message.
The choice of the connection route (succession of the nodes ABCD) can be made by the source node. In this case, the source node must implement a routing algorithm on the basis of the topology that it will have worked out from other control messages (routing protocol) for example. The explicit route must then be indicated in the reservation request and reception acknowledgement messages in order for the nodes receiving these messages to know where said messages have to be transferred to. The choice of the connection route (succession of the nodes ABCD) can also be made hop by hop, each node computing the next jump on the basis of its knowledge of the topology. In this case, the request messages must contain the destination node and update the route so that the reception acknowledgement message correctly uses the same nodes as in the outbound direction (a combination of the two solutions is also possible).
In order to correctly separate the control processes of the network from the connection creation processes on the optical layer, the control plane and transfer plane formalism is conventionally used. Such a formalism is schematically represented in FIG. 2. A telecommunication network 1 comprises node elements A, B, C and D interlinked by optical links. Each node is present both in the transfer plane TP, because of the optical resources that it controls, and in the control plane CP, because it has functions that make it possible to understand and process the messages from the control plane.
The signaling messages are exchanged over the control plane CP whereas the resources are reserved in the transfer plane TP. As schematically represented in FIG. 2, the physical media LcAB, LCBC, LCCD of the control plane CP are not necessarily identical to those LTAB, LTBC, LTCD of the transfer plane TP. In other words, a control link between two nodes does not necessarily pass through the same optical fiber medium as the link of the transfer plane. Furthermore, the nodes do not necessarily have knowledge of the respective physical media of the links of the control plane and of the transfer plane.
The reservation of the resources by exchanges of messages from node to node make it possible to distribute the control of the optical layer in each node (distributed case), unlike the case where the reservation request and reception acknowledgement messages are sent and received by a single centralized entity (centralized case). The reservation of the resources can be performed in the nodes on the basis of the availability of the resources on reception of the reservation request messages (outbound reservation) or of the reception acknowledgement messages (return reservation).
Concerning FIGS. 1A and 1B, a route ABCD of an optical network 1 determined by the control plane of a telecommunication network 1 is considered. In order to transfer data from a node element A to a node element D, the node element A sends a signaling message comprising a reservation request REQ to the node element D via the path ABCD. FIG. 1A illustrates the case of a reservation in the outbound direction, according to which the nodes of the path ABCD initiate the reservation on reception of the reservation request message REQ. The destination node element D sends a signaling message RES to the source element A indicating that the reservation is effective. This message RES is received and retransmitted by all the intermediate nodes. The resources will then be released only on reception of a signaling message requesting the release of the resources. A period PU is then considered which corresponds to the useful period during which the resources are used for the transfer of the data and a reservation period PR corresponding to the total period during which the resources are reserved by the nodes of the path ABCD in order to transfer these data. It has been found that the data reservation time PRA is much greater than the useful reservation time and that the unnecessary reservation time is not negligible, in particular in the case where the useful period PU is of an order of magnitude similar to the signaling time. It will be noted that this unnecessary reservation time is all the greater when the data transfer time approximates to a signaling time, that is to say, a time encompassing the request processing times by the node elements on the route ABCD and the request propagation times over the optical links between the node elements A, B, C and D.
FIG. 1B illustrates the case of a return reservation, which means that the nodes that make up the route ABCD make the resource reservation effective only on reception of a reception acknowledgement message RES sent by the destination node element D in response to the request REQ. The result of this is that the reservation period PRB is less than the time PRA and therefore that the unnecessary reservation time is shorter.
In both cases, the reservation of the resources is effective before the start of the transfer of the data over the route ABCD, which leads to an occupancy of the resources during a period in which no traffic uses them. Similarly, the resources are released only after the reception of a release message, and the nodes managing their resources have not a priori indication concerning the moment when this message will arrive. In the case where the data propagation time approximates to the signaling time, these "unnecessary" reservation times are not negligible and limit the speed of sequencing of the reservations.
As a result, the current resource reservation techniques are poorly suited to a dynamic traffic consisting of a succession of short and frequent reservation periods. In such a context, it could prove useful to set up the connections on the basis of the requirements, whether in the network core or at a terminal element.
To improve the situation, the principle of reserving the resources in a delayed manner for a determined time ("Just Enough Time") has been described in the prior art, in particular in the document entitled "Improved Dynamic Lightpath Provisioning For Large Wavelength Division Multiplexed Backbones", by H. Kong and C. Phillips, in the Journal of Lightwave Technologies review, vol. 25, No. 7, pp. 1693-1701, in 2007. However, such a document does not explicitly describe how to compute the useful delay to be taken into account at each node element.

Method for processing a resource reservation request and related device and node device


A system for preventing the collision of two cutting tools in a computer-controlled cutting unit in which the two cutting tools may at times be moved toward each other. This system determines the actual position of each cutting tool during the cutting process. The distance between the two cutting tools is determined and is compared with a previously specified tolerated separation by means of a comparator in the computer. As soon as the tolerated separation has been reached, the system shuts off the cutting unit. In addition, an electrical safety circuit prevents the cutting unit from starting up again automatically after an automatic shutdown.

This invention relates to a system for preventing the collision of two cutting tools in a computer-controlled cutting unit, wherein the two cutting tools may at times be moved toward each other.
German Unexamined patent application OS 3,321,954 (equivalent to U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,639) discloses an ultrahigh-pressure water-jet cutting unit with a cutting system consisting of a cutting portal and a cutting-head support located thereon. The contours to be cut out of the material by the high-pressure jet located in the cutting-head support are entered manually into a computer connected to the cutting system, in the form of data comprising pairs of coordinates, and are then cut out individually with the high-pressure jet open.
Various systems have been proposed in an attempt to shorten the processing time required to carry out cutting operations on such a machine.
Particularly in the case where several patterns are to be cut out of a blank, procedures are disclosed in German Patent No. 3,544,251 (equivalent to U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,359) and German Unexamined patent application OS 3,627,110 (equivalent to U.S. Ser. No. 07/070,902 filed July 8, 1987, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,183) by means of which a rapid layout of the cutting patter becomes possible and, at the same time, the contours of the individual patterns and their positions are automatically reported to the computer. Then, in each case, these contours are cut out in the sequence in which they were received by the computer. With this procedure, however, only the portions of the processing time that previously depended on the speed of the operating personnel, namely the pattern layout and the contour data input, are improved.
In order to reduce the processing time required to cut material in accordance with several patterns from a web of fabric or a large plate-shaped material on a computer-controlled cutting unit, several cutting tools can be used simultaneously for the cutting process.
If two cutting tools are used, they can be arranged in such a way that, starting the cutting simultaneously from the outer edge of the cutting table of the cutting unit, they move toward each other and each cuts along one-half of each predetermined cutting line in the longitudinal and transverse directions.
To prevent a collision in the center of the cutting table of the cutting portals which receive the cutting tools, it is also conceivable to start the cutting from the center and to terminate it at the edges.
To increase the utilization factor (the ratio of the area of the material cut out, to the area of the original fabric web), one of the cutting tools is desirably moved from the center toward the outside and the other from the outside into the interior region, so that a seamless transition of the cutting lines can be achieved in this way.
With all of the previously mentioned procedures, the cutting time can be reduced by a factor corresponding to the number of cutting tools used, as compared with the cutting time required by a single tool. However, this can be achieved only when the cut is symmetrical with respect to the line on which the starting point and end point of the individual cutting tools is located. For an unsymmetrical cut, the time reduction depends exclusively on the contours of the individual patterns that are to be cut out.

System for preventing the collision of two cutting tools


A multi-band multi-path receiving and transmitting device and method, and a base station system are provided. The multi-band multi-path receiving and transmitting device includes a broadband antenna, at least two multi-frequency couplers, a multi-band transceiver, and a signal processing module. The multi-band transceiver is adopted to decrease the number of the transceivers, thereby reducing the material cost and the mounting cost of the base station system.

In the field of mobile communications, since capacity demands are continuously expanded, a plurality of frequency band transceivers works simultaneously for one base station system; meanwhile, with the development of antenna technologies, frequency bands supported by antennas are also continuously extended, and currently the antennas can support 790 MHz to 960 MHz or 1710 MHz to 2690 MHz. when realizing multi-band multi-path receiving, an antenna and a feeder are shared by a plurality of single-band transceivers through an external multi-frequency combiner can be adopted.
In the prior art, more frequency bands need more single-band transceivers, which increases the material cost and the mounting cost of the base station system; and the jumper between the external multi-frequency combiner and the single-band transceiver increases signal loss, which results in the reduction of the coverage performance of the base station. Additionally, the external multi-frequency combiner also increases the material cost and the mounting cost of the base station system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multi-band multi-path receiving and transmitting device and method, and base station system


A FinFET (p-channel) device is formed having a fin structure with sloped or angled sidewalls (e.g., a pyramidal or trapezoidal shaped cross-section shape). When using conventional semiconductor substrates having a (100) surface orientation, the fin structure is formed in a way (groove etching) which results in sloped or angled sidewalls having a (111) surface orientation. This characteristic substantially increases hole mobility as compared to conventional fin structures having vertical sidewalls.

Fin field-effect transistors (FinFET) are multi-gate transistors where the conducting channel is wrapped around a thin piece of silicon, often referred to and configured as a "fin." The dimensions of the fin structure determine the effective channel width of the transistor. Typically, the source, drain and gate are formed extending above the substrate, and the FinFET is viewed as a MOSFET device with a folded gate feature. FinFETs provide a promising candidate for small line width technology because of their excellent short channel effect control, scalability and higher current drive per unit width.
Turning to FIGS. 1A and 1B, there is illustrated a conventional prior art FinFET device 100 in FIG. 1A. FIG. 1B illustrates the relevant cross-section of the prior art FinFET device 100 along line 1B-1B. The device 100 includes a first source/drain (S/D) region 102, a second S/D region 104, a fin structure 106 and a gate electrode 108, all disposed on a substrate 120. The fin structure 106 includes a first fin portion 106a, a second fin portion 106b, a channel portion 106c and vertical sidewalls 107. Disposed between the channel portion 106c and the gate electrode 108 is a gate (insulator) 110 (shown in FIG. 1B).
As will be appreciated, a portion of the gate electrode 108 that normally overlies the channel portion 106c has been omitted in FIG. 1A (but is shown in FIG. 1B) to facilitate an understanding of the present disclosure. It will be understood that the first fin portion 106a forms part of the S/D region 102 while the second fin portion 106b forms part of the S/D region 104. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1B, a relatively thick dielectric layer 112 is disposed on top of the channel portion 106c between the channel portion 106c and the gate electrode 108.
It will also be understood that, depending on the type of FET desired, the S/D regions 102, 104 (and the exposed portions of the fin structure 106a, 106b not under the gate) will be doped with either n-type or p-type impurities, while the channel portion 106c beneath the gate electrode 108 will be doped with the opposite type—either p-type or n-type, respectively (usually doped as part of the initial starting substrate material).
Conventional MOS fabrication typically utilizes a silicon substrate having (100) surface orientation (such as in the FinFET device 100). Utilization of the (100) surface orientation is preferred due to the large application of nFETs and the higher electron mobility in the nFETs resulting from the (100) surface orientation. However, the (100) surface orientation limits hole mobility and thus degrades pFET performance.
Accordingly, there is a need for new p-channel FinFET device and structure (and methods of manufacture/fabrication) that increases hole mobility and enhances pFET performance.

Channel surface technique for fabrication of FinFET devices


Continuum robots and similar devices and methods and systems for controlling such devices are provided. The devices can include rods comprising strips, that are pre-curved, or both. Also provided is a system and method for modeling and controlling the configuration and operation of such devices.

Continuum robots offer a number of potential advantages over traditional rigid link robots in certain applications, particularly those involving reaching through complex trajectories in cluttered environments or where the robot must compliantly contact the environment along its length. The inherent flexibility of continuum robots makes them gentle to the environment, able to achieve whole arm manipulation, and gives rise to a unique form of dexterity the shape of the robot is a product of both actuator and externally applied forces and moments. However, existing designs for continuum robots provide a limited range of motion and thus limit their usefulness.

Continuum devices and control methods thereof


A system and method for the aggregation and grouping of previously identified, causally related abnormal operating condition, that are observed in a monitored environment, is disclosed. Agents are deployed to the monitored environment which capture data describing structural aspects of the monitored environment, as well as data describing activities performed on it, like the execution of distributed transactions. The data describing structural aspects is aggregated into a topology model which describes individual components of the monitored environments, their communication activities and resource dependencies and which also identifies and groups components that serve the same purpose, like e.g. processes executing the same code. Activity related monitoring data is constantly monitored to identify abnormal operating conditions. Data describing abnormal operating condition is analyzed in combination with topology data to identify networks of causally related abnormal operating conditions. Causally related abnormal operating conditions are then grouped using known topological resource and same purpose dependencies. Identified groups are analyzed to determine their root cause relevance.

The importance of application performance monitoring has constantly increased over time, as even short and minor performance degradations or application outages can cause substantial losses of revenue for organizations operating those applications. Service-oriented application architectures that build complex applications by a network of loosely connected, interacting services provide great flexibility to application developers. In addition, virtualization technologies provide more flexibility, load adaptive assignment of hardware resources to applications. As those techniques increase flexibility and scalability of the applications which enables a more agile reaction of application developers and operators to changed requirements, this also increases complexity and dynamic of application architectures and application execution environments.
In such complex and highly interconnected environments, it is vital to not only identify and localize abnormal operating conditions which may have adverse effects on the functionality of a monitored application Also the causal relationships between different abnormal operating conditions need to be identified to provide information for fast and efficient countermeasures.
Existing approaches detect abnormal operating conditions, use topology data specifying connections of components on which abnormal operating conditions are observed and data describing the abnormal operating conditions, together with heuristics to identify causal dependencies between the abnormal operating conditions, to create a data structure describing the causally related abnormal operating conditions, e.g. in form of a graph. In a next step, abnormal operating conditions are identified that most probably are the root cause of all other identified, causally related abnormal operating conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,083,073 "Method and System for Real-Time Causality and Root Cause Determination of Transaction and Infrastructure related Events provided by Multiple, Heterogeneous Agents" by O. Ertl et al describes a system that analyzes pairs of abnormal operating conditions to estimate their causal dependency to incrementally create graphs of causally dependent abnormal operating conditions. The identified graph of causally depending abnormal operating conditions is then analyzed to identify those abnormal operating conditions with the highest probability of being the root cause of all other abnormal operating conditions in the graph.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/519,428 "Method And System For Automatic Real-Time Causality Analysis Of End User Impacting System Anomalies Using Causality Rules And Topological Understanding Of The System To Effectively Filter Relevant Monitoring Data" by. E. Ambichl et al. describes a system that performs active identification of abnormal operating conditions only on a subset of the monitored environment. Identified abnormal operating conditions are then used as trigger events that initiate a rule-based, recursive search for other observed changes in the monitored environment that may have directly or indirectly caused the trigger event. The result of this recursive search is also a graph of causally dependent operating conditions on which further analyses may be performed to identify abnormal operating conditions that may be the root cause for the other abnormal operating conditions in the graph.
Although these approaches are capable to identify causal relationships quite accurate, and the result of a root cause estimation provides usable results for small to medium environments, they tend to fail for large environments in which typically large sets of causally related abnormal operating conditions are detected, because it is either impossible to identify root cause candidates directly for such large graph structures, or the set of identified root cause candidates itself is too large to perform required downstream analysis in a timely manner to e.g. implement appropriate countermeasures.
Consequently, a system and method are desired in the art that overcomes above limitations.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.

Forming root cause groups of incidents in clustered distributed system through horizontal and vertical aggregation


Light emitter components and methods having improved performance and related methods are disclosed. In one embodiment, a light emitter component can include a submount and at least one light emitting diode (LED) chip disposed over the submount. The submount can contact at least two different sides of the at least one LED chip. In one aspect, a submount can include surface portions adapted to receive portions one or more LED chips. In one aspect, one or more LED chips can be embedded within the submount.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) or LED chips are solid state devices that convert electrical energy into light. LED chips can be utilized in light emitter components for providing different colors and patterns of light useful in various lighting and optoelectronic applications. For example, light emitter components can be used in various LED light bulb and light fixture applications and are developing as replacements for incandescent, fluorescent, and metal halide high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting applications.
Conventional light emitter components utilize one or more LED chips mounted on the surface of a plastic or ceramic substrate or submount. In conventional designs, LED chips are mounted over a submount such that, other than the mounting area, the chips are completely surrounded by and exposed to air prior to any placement of an optical element, such as for example, a dome, lens, or encapsulant filling material if such material is used. In one aspect, LED chips can release heat directly into the air and/or the optical element, where used, both of which are not optimized for heat extraction. Thus, the increased heat can cause the LED chips to lose brightness resulting in poor light extraction and efficiency from the light emitter component.
Thus, despite the availability of various light emitter components in the marketplace, a need remains for emitter components and methods having improved light extraction and efficiency as well as improved thermal resistance.


A refrigerant system utilizes an expander to expand refrigerant and to drive or assist in driving an associated compressor. By varying the compressor load, the speed of the expander can be adjusted to achieve the desired thermodynamic characteristics of the expanding refrigerant and enhance expander operation.

Refrigerant systems are known to utilize refrigerant circulating throughout a closed-loop circuit to condition a secondary fluid. Typically, a refrigerant system includes a compressor for compressing the refrigerant, and delivering the refrigerant to a downstream heat exchanger. Refrigerant from that downstream heat exchanger passes through an expansion device, and then to an evaporator. In traditional refrigerant systems, the expansion device is a fixed area restriction or a valve that may be controlled such that the amount of expansion is tailored to achieve desired characteristics in operation of the refrigerant system.
In some advanced refrigerant systems, the work which is available from the expansion process of the refrigerant is utilized to drive or assist in driving at least one component within the refrigerant system.
In one known refrigerant system configuration, a secondary compressor operates in parallel with a main compressor. This secondary compressor compresses a portion of the refrigerant circulated throughout the refrigerant system. The secondary compressor is driven by the expander, with the expander operating much like a turbine, to receive the compressed refrigerant, and expand that refrigerant to a lower pressure and temperature. The work from this expansion process is utilized to drive the secondary compressor. This known combination of a compressor and an expander, located on the same shaft, is called an expresser. The use of the expresser is known in the industry, where the expander drives or assists in driving the corresponding compressor. The refrigerant exiting a heat rejection heat exchanger enters the expander, and then is expanded to a lower pressure and temperature. A two-phase flow exiting the expander enters the evaporator. The work extracted from the expansion process in the expander is used to drive the secondary compressor that is quite often located on the same shaft as the expander. In addition to extracting useful work from the expansion process, the refrigerant passing through the expander acquires a higher cooling thermodynamic potential, as it expands through the expander, since it follows a more efficient isentropic process. The use of the expresser technology is especially expected to grow in CO2 applications, where the potential for the expansion energy recovery is higher than for the conventional refrigerants.
One of the disadvantages of positioning the expander and the associated compressor into a closely coupled mechanical engagement, such as locating them on the same shaft, is that the expander speed is not actively controlled. In other words, the expander will settle at a speed at which the power extracted by the expander from the refrigerant expansion process is roughly equal to and is balanced by the power delivered to the compressor. Since the expander speed cannot be actively controlled, the expansion process through the expander is typically not optimal. If the expansion process is not optimal, then the amount of refrigerant delivered to the evaporator, and its thermodynamic state, cannot be precisely controlled. If a delivered amount of refrigerant cannot be adjusted, it may result, for instance, in less than optimal gas cooler pressure, in transcritical applications, and/or undesirable conditions at the compressor entrance.
In other words, to optimize the expansion process for given operating and environmental conditions, such as gas cooler pressure, suction superheat, etc., flexibility in varying the expander speed must be provided. One way to enhance the control of the expander is to install an expansion valve that is located in series with the expander. However, the expansion valve would reduce/limit the amount of the work extracted from the expansion process by the expander. This reduction would occur, as part of the expansion process would take place in the expansion valve, and not in the expander. Therefore, a need exists to optimize the expresser operation.

Refrigerant system with expander speed control


This disclosure provides an interactive electronic tag device communication system and method, including: a background server, a base station, an electronic tag device and an external device; the external device transmits first data to an electronic tag device through a second communication path; the electronic tag device receives the first data and transmits the same to a base station through a first communication path, and enters a fast monitoring mode; the base station receives the first data and transmits the same to background server; the background server generates a control instruction and second data, and transmits the same to the base station; the base station receives a fast wake-up instruction, the control instruction and the second data and transmits the same to electronic tag device through first communication path; the electronic tag device receives fast wake-up instruction, control instruction and second data, and switches to the normal monitoring mode after completing communication.

Based on a wireless communication protocol of an electronic price tag on 2.4 GHz, a conventional practice is that a radio frequency module of the electronic tag device automatically wakes up every other time period (hereinafter referred to as a "monitoring period" of the electronic tag device, such as 30 s) to monitor whether there is a communication request. If there is a communication request, the electronic tag device enters a data transmission mode for data reception, then executes or stores the received instructions and data. If a base station device which communicates with the radio frequency module intends to communicate with a certain electronic tag device, the electronic tag device needs to be waked up at first for a period (hereinafter referred to as a "wake-up duration" of the base station device, such as 35 s) longer than the monitoring period of the electronic tag device, and then instructions and data can be transmitted. In this case, it requires at least a duration longer than the "wake-up duration" to transmit an instruction to an electronic tag device, so as to complete the communication with the electronic tag device. Due to limits of the electronic tag device in terms of volume, weight, cost and the like in practical applications, the battery and capacity of the electronic tag device are limited, and frequent monitoring of the electronic tag device will cause an increase of power consumption. In order to take into account communication speed and battery life, a longer monitoring period (such as 20 s) is usually adopted to reduce the power consumption, so as to improve the battery life.
In actual usage scenarios, for example, when the operator operates in front of the electronic tag device (transmitting an instruction to the electronic tag device, changing data, etc.), it is hoped that the electronic tag device can provide immediate feedback (usually within 3 s). In order to improve the response speed of the electronic tag device, it is required to shorten the monitoring period (for example, 1 s). In a usage scenario of a large-scale electronic tag device, since it is uncertain which electronic tag devices need to interact, the monitoring periods of all electronic tag devices have to be shortened to meet customer experience requirements. In this way, the power consumption of monitoring the wake-up signal in the electronic tag device will increase significantly. For example, the original monitoring period is 20 s, while the existing monitoring period is 1 s. Under the existing monitoring period, the battery power consumption is 20 times of the original power consumption, and this situation will have a great impact on the battery life. For the usage scenarios of the large-scale electronic tag device, it will cause more frequent replacements and increase labor costs.

Interactive electronic tag device communication system and method


An expitaxial layer structure that achieves reliable, high speed, and low noise device performance in indium phosphide (InP) based heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) for high data rate receivers and optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEIC). The layer consists of an n+ InGaAs subcollector, an n+ InP subcollector, an unintentionally doped InGaAs collector, a carbon-doped base, an n-type InP emitter, an n-type InGaAs etch-stop layer, an n-type InP emitter, and anInGaAS cap layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the growth of an epitaxial layer structure in heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology. More specifically, the invention employs a double-etch-stop ledge (DESL) structure in the emitter and base junction on an indium phosphide (InP) based HBT.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In manufacturing three-terminal vertical devices, such as a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT), collector, base and emitter layers are successively deposited on a substrate using epitaxial technology. Epitaxial technologies such as metal-organic molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE), gas-source molecular beam epitaxy (GSMBE), and metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) are well known. Such epitaxial technologies are particularly useful for producing multi-layered structures. The advantages of HBT technology over high-electron mobility field effect transistor (HEMT) technology are simpler multi-layered structures, the ability to integrate directly with optical devices such as p-intrinsic-n (PIN) diodes, better uniformity, less stringent feature-size requirement, smaller chip area, large scale integrability, and hence, a lower fabrication processing cost. Such multi-layered structures employ an InP technology which has become a well-recognized viable technology for next generation high speed long-wavelength optical communication systems. Its applications in optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEIC) include front-end transmitters, receivers, and clock and data recovery (CDR) integrated circuits (ICs).
Indium phosphide systems are preferred over gallium arsenide (GaAs) based HBT material systems because of their higher frequency response due to the faster electron saturation velocity in indium-containing materials such as indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs). The lower surface recombination velocity in InGaAs material is also advantageous when InP HBT devices are scaled down to the submicron regime. Superior high-frequency InP HBT performance with characteristics including a transit frequency, fT of over 220 GHz and an oscillation frequency, fMax of greater than 400 GHz have been demonstrated using a wet-etching. See for example, Yamahata, S. et al., xe2x80x9cOver 220 GHz fT and fMax InP/InGaAs Double-Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors with a New Hexagonal-Shaped Emitter,xe2x80x9d 17th Annual GaAs IC Symposium, Tech. Dig., , pp. 163-166, 1995 and Lee, Q. et al., xe2x80x9cA  greater than 400 GHz fMax Transferred-Substrate Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor IC Technology,xe2x80x9d IEEE Electron Device Lett., vol. 19, pp. 77-79, 1998.
The problems encountered in InP HBT technologies include the unknown device reliability and the inability to lower noise performance. Various approaches have been used to grow conventional InP HBT structures employing DESL structure. See for example, Bitter, M. et al., xe2x80x9cMonolithic InGaAs/InP pin/HBT Optical Receiver Front-End Module for Data rates up to 40-Gb/s,xe2x80x9d Indium Phosphide and Related Materials Conference in Davos, Switzerland, p. 31, 1999, Huber, D. et al., xe2x80x9cInP-InGaAs Single HBT Technology for Photoreceiver OEICs at 40 Gb/s and Beyond,xe2x80x9d J. of Lightwave Technology, vol. 18, no. 7, pp.992-1,000, 2000, and Hafizi, M., xe2x80x9cNew Submicron HBT IC Technology Demonstrates Ultra-Fast, Low-Power Integrated Circuits,xe2x80x9d IEEE Electron Device Lett., vol.45, no. 9, pp. 1862-1868, 1998.
Designers of 40-Gbps systems can select devices manufactured using indium phosphide (InP) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology. InP is a promising technology that is growing in popularity due to its RF performance, which is greater than 150 GHz fT and fMax at moderate to high current densities (50 to 100 kA/cm2). The fT is high because of the thin base and collector layers employed in the epitaxial structure of the device. Thinner layers give rise to fast transit times for electrons in the base and collector that in turn enable a high fT. Also, scaling of the devices (especially by narrowing the emitter stripe together with heavily doping the base) significantly reduces the value of the base resistance, which in turn leads to high values of fMax. As a consequence of its high fT and fMax, InP HBT structures can offer performance margin in 40-Gbps transmission systems.
Accordingly, the present invention is related to InP-based HBTs using a double-etch-stop ledge structure in the emitter-base junction.
An advantage of the present invention is to provide an epitaxial layer structure that may potentially achieve reliable, high speed, and low noise device performance in InP-based HBTs for high data rate receivers and OEICs.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide an epitaxial layer structure that enables a robust and highly manufacturable wet-etching InP HBT fabrication process using well-known selective etching techniques.
A further advantage of the present invention is to provide minimized surface recombination current at the exposed emitter-base junction, and, hence, maintain the reasonable current gain as the HBT devices are scaled down to the sub-micron regime.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the thin alloy-through emitter layer that is sandwiched between the InGaAs base layer and the n-type InGaAs emitter etch-stop layer can be preserved for base metal alloy-through purposes.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, an indium phosphide heterojunction bipolar transistor layer structure formed on an InP substrate includes: an n+ InGaAs sub-collector; an n+ InP sub-collector; an unintentionally-doped InGaAs collector; a carbon-doped base; an n-type InP emitter; an n-type InGaAs etch-stop layer; an n-type InP emitter; and a InGaAs cap layer.
In another aspect of the invention, a method of making an indium phosphide heterojunction bipolar transistor layer structure on an InP substrate includes forming a first InGaAs layer having a first doping concentration; forming a first InP layer having a first doping concentration; forming a second InGaAs layer; forming a layer doped with carbon having a second doping concentration;
forming a second InP layer having a first doping concentration; forming a third InGaAs layer having a first doping concentration; forming a third InP layer having a first doping concentration; and forming a fourth InGaAs layer.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from that description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Indium phosphide heterojunction bipolar transistor layer structure and method of making the same


This invention relates to a segmental tire building drum (10) for laminating tire components (103, 106) having a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially movable base segments (30) each having a secondary segment (50) radially movable relative to the base segment for providing a cylindrical flat surface to support each of the tire components as it is applied and spliced on the building drum and to compensate for thickened edges of the tire components applied to the tire building drum.

This invention relates to a method of laminating tire components on a segmental tire building drum which has a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially movable base segments, each of which has a secondary segment that is radially movable relative to the base segment. This construction provides a crowned surface on the drum to compensate for the thick edges of the components which are applied to the drum and for supporting each of the tire components as it is applied and spliced on the drum.
In building tire breaker/belt packages including breaker plies and belt plies, the breaker plies are cut to length and after application to the green tire carcass, butt spliced together. Preferably, each breaker ply is spliced on a cylindrical, flat surface. With conventional cylindrical tire building drums, this is not always possible because the edges of the breaker plies are surrounded by gum strips and as the breaker plies are applied and laminated, the diameter gauge difference between the edges and the center of the belt plies creates a concave surface instead of a cylindrical flat surface as needed for a satisfactory butt splice of the breaker plies. This problem, i.e. wherein the edges and center of the plies are of a different diameter, is of special concern in the efficient automated building of breaker/belt packages, where the breakers are precut to a predetermined length so they can be applied to the drum without stretching them.
In the past, expandable tire building drums have been proposed, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,927 (""927), where the drum shoulders have been adjustable. However, the drum disclosed in the ""927 patent and other expandable drums known in the art have not disclosed adjusting the contour of the drum with center segments that can be repositioned during application of the various belt components in order to provide a flat application surface for each component in accordance with the present invention.
An object of the present invention is to provide a tire building drum with an adjustable contour and a method of building a tire on the improved building drum as defined in one or more of the appended claims and, as such, having the capability of being constructed and used to accomplish one or more of the following subsidiary objects.
One object of the present invention is to provide a tire building drum with an adjustable contour and a method of using the drum to form a cylindrical flat surface that supports the tire components as they were applied and spliced on the drum.
This invention relates to the construction of a tire building drum especially designed to laminate tire components, such as breaker plies, having thickened edges.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a tire building drum for laminating tire components including a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially movable base segments. Each of the base segments has a radially movable secondary center segment and operative structure for moving the secondary center segment radially outward relative to each of the base segments a predetermined amount to compensate for an increase in thickness of the edges of the laminated tire components applied to the tire building drum.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the tire building drum with a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially movable base segments has an inner cylindrical drum hub mounted for rotation and an outer cylindrical drum support disposed radially outward from the inner cylindrical drum hub and connected thereto by a circular support plate. Inflatable bladders are disposed between the base segments and the base drum support for urging the base segments radially outward. Each of the base segments has an end flange with an axially extending channel member for retaining a garter spring that extends around the drum hub to urge the base segments radially inward. The base segments also have stop flanges connected to the drum hub and engageable by each channel member for limiting the radially outward movement of each base segment. A nut member is slidably mounted in each base segment and fastened to the secondary center segment for moving the secondary center segment radially inward and outward. A multiple splined shaft member is rotatably mounted on the base segment and threaded in the nut member for radially moving the nut member and the secondary segment. The shaft member is slidably contained in a grooved sleeve member and engageable with a beveled ring slidably mounted on the drum hub. A first ring gear is connected to the beveled ring and is engageable with a spur gear on a shaft extending axially to a second spur gear engageable with gear teeth of positive drive belt pulleys. The latter drive belt pulleys are connected by a differential pulley, which in turn is driven by a servomotor in response to signals from an encoder.
In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of laminating and splicing tire components having thickened edges on a tire building drum comprising the following steps. A first tire component is placed on a first flat cylindrical drum surface of the building drum of a first diameter and the ends are butt spliced together. The diameter of a center section of the cylindrical drum is increased to position the first tire component to form a second flat cylindrical surface of a second diameter. A second tire component is placed on the second flat cylindrical surface and the opposite ends of the second component are butt spliced together. Next, the diameter of the center section of the drum is increased to position the second tire component to form a third flat cylindrical surface of a third diameter. Then, a third tire component is placed on the third flat cylindrical surface and the ends of the third tire component are butt spliced together.
The method can also include the following steps. The first, second and third tire components are laminated together. The diameter of the tire building drum is decreased the laminated tire components are removed from the tire building drum.

Adjustable tire building contour drum and method of building tire thereon