A vise assembly has a pair of moveable jaws mounted on guideways for movement toward and away from each other. The moveable jaws are driven by a vise screw on the vise body through head members of a pair of jaw nuts. The head members fit into cavities on the underside of the moveable jaws and have projections on first ends that have surfaces engaging mating recessed surfaces formed on one end of the cavities. Adjustable plungers are mounted on the head members and are extendable outwardly from a second end of the head members to engage and drive against surfaces of the cavities in a second direction. The adjustable plungers are adjustable in length so they can be retracted into mounting bores in the head members so the moveable jaws can be mounted on and removed from the head members, and extended so driving surfaces of projections on the head members and of the plungers are both in engagement with surfaces of the cavities.

The present disclosure relates to a self-centering vise that has two moveable jaws mounted on a base, and driven by a single actuating screw to move together or separate, depending on the direction of screw rotation to provide work piece holding force in both directions of jaw movement. The jaws have clamping faces on opposite sides thereof and can be used for clamping internal surfaces of a work piece or conventional clamping of a work piece on external surfaces. A jaw nut is provided with a jaw engaging drive that ensures down pressure on the vise jaws in either direction of clamping movement.
The use of self-centering jaws on vises has been known, and for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,694 illustrates a vise that can be used without fixed jaws for reaction, and can clamp work pieces between the moveable jaws.
The use of single screws for moving two jaws simultaneously toward and away from each other is also known in the prior art, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,679.
The vise of the present disclosure has the ability to provide clamping with self-centering moveable jaws in either direction of movement of the jaws, that is moving together or expanding, and has a drive which provides adequate down pressure on the jaw support or guideway surface of the vise body, to provide adequate holding or clamping forces.

Self centering dual direction clamping vise


A reinforcement learning agent facilitates optimization of a radiation-delivery treatment plan. The reinforcement learning agent is configured to generate a radiation-delivery treatment plan that can exceed the quality of a plan or plans employed to train the reinforcement learning agent. The reinforcement learning agent is trained to evaluate a radiation-delivery treatment plan that is output by an optimization software application, modify one or more dose-volume objective parameters of the evaluated radiation-delivery treatment plan, and then input the modified radiation-delivery treatment plan to the optimization software application for further optimization. The reinforcement learning agent adaptively adjusts the one or more dose-volume objective parameters based on an action policy learned during a reinforcement learning training process.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Radiation therapy is a localized treatment for a specific target tissue (a planning target volume), such as a cancerous tumor. Ideally, radiation therapy is performed on a planning target volume that spares the surrounding normal tissue from receiving doses above specified tolerances, thereby minimizing risk of damage to healthy tissue. Prior to the delivery of radiation therapy, an imaging system is typically employed to provide a three-dimensional image of the target tissue and surrounding area. From such imaging, the size and mass of the target tissue can be estimated, a planning target volume can be determined, and an appropriate treatment plan can be generated. When implemented, such a treatment plan results in certain predetermined treatment objectives being met, such as the planning target volume receiving a radiation dose that exceeds a minimum required threshold value, surrounding tissue receiving a radiation dose that does not exceed a maximum allowable threshold value, homogeneity of the radiation dose to the planning target volume meeting a minimum threshold value, and the like.
Due to the geometric complexities in applying a radiation treatment to a three-dimensional target that can be in close proximity to one or more organs at risk (OARs), treatment planning is a complex process that can involve the participation of multiple highly trained medical professionals and analysis using sophisticated software. As a result, generation of a treatment plan that correctly doses a planning target volume without excessively dosing nearby OARs is a multi-step process, where each step can be time-consuming and often can only be performed by expert personnel. In intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), in which photon and/or proton beams are conformed to the shape of a tumor, one such planning step is IMRT optimization.
In IMRT optimization, one or more treatment plans are optimized for the treatment of a particular patient. That is, one or more beam geometries for implementing the planned treatment are determined and a dose distribution for each beam geometry is optimized. In some instances, a qualified dosimetrist employing a software application, sometimes referred to as an "optimizer," determines the one or more beam geometries and optimizes the associated dose distribution, then a physician responsible for the patient typically approves one or more of the treatment plans. In some instances, the software application may generate one or more beam geometries and associated optimized dose distributions during IMRT optimization, and a dosimetrist may select, modify, and/or review the output of the software application.
One drawback to conventional IMRT optimization is that scoring the tradeoffs between target coverage and OAR sparing heavily depends on the location of dose-volume histogram objectives. For a specific patient, such objective locations are not known before planning. Typically, an IMRT planner or dosimetrist starts with some initial guess and proceeds with repeatedly adjusting the objective locations for a planning target volume through several rounds of optimization until the treatment plan becomes clinically acceptable. For example, in such a treatment plan, a minimum dosage is applied to the planning target volume while a maximum dosage that can be tolerated by a particular OAR of the patient is not exceeded. Thus, the IMRT planner oversees optimization of various IMRT treatment plans until one or more treatment plans are generated that meet the clinical goals established for the specific patient. This implies that not only is generating a treatment plan time-consuming, the quality of the plan may vary among IMRT planners depending on the level of experience of the IMRT planner, clinical feedback available to the IMRT planner, and the time available to the IMRT planner to optimize a specific plan.
Another drawback to conventional IMRT optimization is that the quality of a particular optimized treatment plan is strongly dependent on the multiple conflicting dose-volume objectives associated with a particular planning target volume. For example, there is generally a trade-off between how high the dose applied to the planning target volume can be and how low the resultant dose received by an OAR can be. In another example, a relaxation of the homogeneity of dose in a planning target volume may enable lower dose in an OAR. Consequently, the threshold values for such dose-volume objectives are often modified by the IMRT planner to generate a higher quality-treatment plan. However, balancing such competing dose-volume objectives is generally considered to be an intuitive undertaking, and as a result, IMRT optimization does not include a rigorous exploration of the many possible treatment plans that can be optimized based on the many possible permutations of dose-volume objectives that can be considered for a particular planning target volume.

Using reinforcement learning in radiation treatment planning optimization to locate dose-volume objectives


A flow control valve (100;200;300) for a ventilation or exhaust duct comprises a housing (102;202;302), which defines a longitudinally extending passage (104;204;304) between a flow inlet and a flow outlet. A closing element (110;210;310) in the passage is movable between a fully open position and a fully closed position. A motor or actuator (116;216;316) is provided for moving the closing element. The motor or actuator may be located inside the closing element (110;210;310). The flow passage (104;204;304) through the housing may have sections of different diameters to obtain a venturi-like diffusor. A pressure difference sensor may be provided, which in combination with a position of the closing element allows for computation of the flow rate through the valve without the need for a separate flow meter.

One type of state-of-the art flow control valves, in particular air control valves for ventilation ducts, typically comprises a valve plate which is arranged in the flow duct in such a way that the plate is rotatable around an axis which extends transversely to the fluid flow direction through the duct and valve. For applications requiring accurate flow control, so-called iris valves are sometimes applied, which are typically designed on the basis of a plurality of mutually displaceable plates, whereby, depending on the position of the plates, a clearance of a variable size is provided for the fluid flow. In respect of relatively large ducts, louvre valves are often used, which include a plurality of rotatable plates, which are arranged and designed to entirely close the duct.
Most of such valves do, however, result in a relatively large flow resistance, i.e. energy loss, as well as unsatisfactory generation of aerodynamic noise as a consequence of sharp edges provided by the valve plates.
Venturi valves are used in demanding applications, such as in laboratory exhaust systems. Such valves include a venturi nozzle arrangement with a movable cone, which is displaceable in the nozzle, whereby the flow rate of the fluid through the duct is controllable. Venturi valves are, however, relatively expensive, and their installation is complicated.
Pneumatic membrane valves or sliding valves are also known. Membrane valves operate by forcing a flexible membrane surrounding the fluid flow to open or close by application of air pressure. Such valves suffer from the drawback that they require a complex and expensive pneumatic installation for controlling the membrane. Sliding valves include a translationally movable plate, which is arranged to open or close a passage having the size of the plate, e.g. by means of a pneumatic cylinder. Its installation is, however, complex and expensive.
Flow meters are sometimes installed in connection with flow control valves. Though flow meters are often required, they add to the overall costs of the flow control equipment, and provide additional pressure loss.


This document discloses a method, apparatus, and computer program for automatically detecting unallowed continuation of a communication protocol procedure in a communication device. The method comprises in a test tool: marking an invalid input applied to the communication device in a sequence of operations of the communication protocol procedure; marking, with a sequence marker, a location that should not be reached in the sequence of operations of the communication protocol procedure as a result of the invalid input; and upon detecting that the communication protocol procedure has reached the location marked with the sequence marker, outputting an indication that the communication device operates in an unallowed manner.

Execution of a communication protocol in a communication device may be controlled by a computer program carried out by at least one processor of the communication device. The execution of the communication protocol comprises reception of inputs from a counterpart device communicating with the communication device according to the communication protocol. The inputs may comprise authentication data, configuration data, other protocol control data, or application payload data transferred over the communication protocol. The communication device processes the inputs and provides a response to the input according to a program code of the computer program. The response to the inputs should comply with the specifications of the communication protocol, security parameters, etc. For example, reception of false authentication data as the input should not result in successful authentication.

Monitoring operation of communication protocol procedure


Aspects of the disclosure provide method and apparatus for detecting attributes of an input power supply. The method includes receiving a first signal generated based on a second signal that is predictive. The first signal includes a portion that substantially corresponds to the second signal. Further, the method includes detecting attributes of the portion of the first signal that substantially corresponds to the second signal, and determining attributes of the second signal based on the attributes of the portion of the first signal that substantially corresponds to the second signal.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Power circuits are used to regulate an input power supply to an appropriate form for driving a load. In an example, a power circuit includes a power factor correction (PFC) circuit to align phases of a driving current with a driving voltage in order to improve driving efficiency.


A semiconductor device has: a silicon substrate; a plurality of impurity doped regions formed in a surface layer of the silicon substrate; contact layers each in contact with a surface of associated one of the plurality of impurity doped regions, the contact layer being made of an alloy selected from a group consisting of TiMo, TiV, TiW, TiMoNb, TiMoTa, TiMoV, TiMoW, TiNbV, TiNbW, TiMoNbTa, TiMoNbV, TiMoNbW, TiMoTaW, TiMoVW, TiNbTaW, TiNbVW, TiMoNbTaW, TiMoNbVW, and the like; barrier layers each disposed on associated one of the contact layers and made of refractory metal nitride or refractory metal oxynitride; and a metal wiring layer disposed on each of the barrier layers. The semiconductor device capable of lowering contact resistances between the metal wiring layers and n-type and p-type impurity doped regions of the silicon substrate, as well as its manufacture method are provided.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and its manufacture method, and more particularly to a semiconductor device and its manufacture method capable of providing a low contact resistance between impurity doped regions in a surface layer of a silicon substrate and a wiring layer.
b) Description of the Related Art
A region heavily doped with impurities in the surface layer of a silicon substrate is electrically connected to a wiring layer of Al or Al alloy formed thereon by inserting a barrier metal layer therebetween for blocking solid diffusion of atoms in the substrate and in the wiring layer. The barrier metal layer improves the reliability of the contact area.
Known barrier metal materials are refractory metal silicide such as WSi.sub.2 and MoSi.sub.2 and refractory metal alloy such as TiW. In order to improve thermal endurance and barrier performance, a lamination structure of a refractory metal layer and a refractory metal nitride layer such as a lamination structure of TiN and Ti, and a lamination structure of HfN and Ti, has been recently used.
A contact resistance between a metal wiring layer and a semiconductor substrate depends on an impurity concentration of the semiconductor substrate and a work function of the metal. A contact resistivity .rho..sub.c is given by: EQU .rho..sub.c =C.times.exp(4.pi.(.epsilon..sub.s m.sup.*).sup.1/2 /(qh).times.(.phi..sub.B /N.sub.D) (1)
where .phi..sub.B is a Schottky barrier height at an interface between semiconductor and metal, N.sub.D is an impurity concentration of a semiconductor substrate, m.sup.* is an effective mass of carriers in the semiconductor substrate, .epsilon..sub.s is a dielectric constant of semiconductor material, q is an electronic charge, h is a Planck's constant, and C is a constant.
As seen from the equation (1), the contact resistance can be lowered by increasing the impurity concentration N.sub.D. However, impurities near a limit of solid solubility are doped presently and it is difficult to increase the impurity concentration higher than the present level.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing thereof


An apparatus for decontamination contaminated groundwater in-situ by increasing the quantity of dissolved oxygen in the contaminated groundwater and generating reactive initiators to remediate the contaminated groundwater. The apparatus includes a submersible pump, an electrolytic cell, and a distribution chamber attached to an outlet of the cell. The distribution chamber is vertically oriented and longitudinally-extending from the outlet of the cell. As the groundwater flows across charging plates of the cell, some of the molecules break into their component parts of hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. A selected vertical length of the chamber provides a resident time for the fluid allowing a majority of the gaseous oxygen to transition to dissolved oxygen.

Much attention has been given to the preservation of our water supplies and resources, particularly since the mid 1960's. Agencies have become aware of the health effects of toxic pollutants on humans and the increased demands for potable water in this country and the world. Government agencies, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), have responded by establishing maximum contaminant levels for many toxic chemical compounds. Today, once a chemical regulated under government law is identified in soil or water above the maximum contaminant level, facility operators or property owners are required to initiate assessment and remediation of the contamination. In some cases, the cost of cleaning up discharges of certain chemicals can greatly exceed the value of the contaminated property. In the past, the remediation of contaminated soil involved excavation and disposal of the impacted media. However, if the contaminant had reached the groundwater, the risk to the public welfare, remedial cost, and amount of time required to remove the contaminants increased substantially.
Biological treatment of water contaminants or organic chemicals with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and other contaminants has become an important process in controlling the pollution of the aquatic environment from industrial sources. The mineralization of organic chemicals depends on the nature of the chemical compounds involved. Some chemicals that find their way into the aquifer from industrial processes or natural processes resist degradation and are recalcitrant in nature; thereby accumulating in the environment.
It is well known that natural remediation occurs when facilitated by aerobic compounds in the soil. The injection of an oxygen release compound into the soil has been previously performed with a target of reducing the contaminants at a site. Some of these results are described in The ORC Oracle Newsletter 3:1, published by Regenesis.
This prior art method was a passive anaerobic biodegradation and was slow, incomplete and limited in its scope of impact. Since the system was passive, it was reliant on groundwater flow to distribute dissolved oxygen. Therefore, only groundwater downstream of the well was within the impacted area. Further, when the flow of groundwater was slow, the attenuation rate of the leached dissolved oxygen was correspondingly slow.

Decontamination method and system, such as an in-situ groundwater decontamination system, producing dissolved oxygen and reactive initiators


A system and method for multiplexing an integrated circuit pin include a plurality of registers for storing bit values; a plurality of functions to be multiplexed on receiving the bit values; a decoding logic for decoding the bit values for selecting at least one of the functions; a plurality of pads connected to the plurality of functions and the decoding logic; and external pin/pins acting as inputs/outputs for the selected functionality depending upon the bit values.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to method and apparatus for multiplexing an integrated circuit pin.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), there are a number of applications, which are yet to be explored. As a result of this, manufacturers of micro processor/controller have found it necessary to design their chips in a way so as to target more than one application (or customer) with a single die and simultaneously reduce the cost of manufacturing, maximize profit and reduce time to market.
Conventional IC devices are designed with dedicated pin configuration, i.e. each pin is dedicated to a specific functionality only. This certainly imposes a problem for IC devices having a low pin count.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,844 discloses two embodiments of the same invention that use a memory device to store information to configure the IC device pin. Input/Output logic is also used in both the embodiments in order to transfer data to and from the IC device pin when the IC device pin is configured as a digital I/O pin.
FIG. 1 shows a system for configuring IC device pins as a block input pin or as a digital I/O pin as described in the above patent. The system 10 may be used for any type of IC device 12 that requires a clock input pin and a digital I/O pin such as a PIC16C5X type micro-controller produced by MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY, INC.
The system 10 comprises an IC device pin 14. A memory system 16 is provided for storing a value to configure the IC device pin 14 as a clock input pin and for storing a value to configure the IC device pin 14 as a digital I/O pin. The memory system 16 is a nonvolatile memory bit. The memory system 16 may also use a volatile memory bit. However, the volatile memory bit must have a set known value upon power up of the system 10.
Input/Output (I/O) logic 18 is coupled to an output 16B of the memory system 16. The I/O logic 18 is used for writing data out of the IC device pin 14 and for reading data in from the IC device pin 14 when the IC device pin 14 is configured as a digital I/O pin, the data is transferred to and from the I/O logic 18 through a data bus 20 which is directly coupled to the I/O logic 18.
Clock logic gate circuitry 22 is coupled to the output 16B of the memory system 16 and to the IC device pin 14. The clock logic gate circuitry 22 is used for outputting a clock signal when the IC device pin 14 is configured as a clock input pin. The clock logic circuitry is comprised of an AND gate 22A having an input coupled to the output 16B of the memory system 16 and having another input coupled to the IC device pin 14, and an OR gate 22B having an input coupled to an output of the AND gate 22A and another input 23 coupled to other clock sources that may be internal or external to the IC device 12.
The memory system 16 receives program data through its input 16A. The program data will set the IC device pin 14 as a clock input pin or as a digital I/O pin. The program data will either be a high value "1" or a low value "0". When a "1" is inputted to the memory system 16, the IC device pin 14 is configured as a clock input pin. The memory system 16 will output a "1" at its output 16B and the inverter 24 will invert the high signal "1" signal to a low signal "0". The low signal "0" will in turn disable the I/O logic 18. With the I/O logic 18 disabled, when the IC device pin 14 goes high, the output of the AND gate 22A will go high causing the output of the OR gate 22B to go high. Thus, an external clock signal that is coupled to the IC device pin 14 will be outputted through the OR gate 22B to components in the IC device 12 that requires a clock signal to operate. Another input 23 to the OR gate 22B is coupled to other clock source signals. These other clock source signals may be internal or external to the IC device 12. When the IC device pin 14 is configured as a digital I/O pin, the clock logic gate circuitry 22 may still send out a clock signal. However, the clock signal sent from the OR gate 22B has to come from the one of the other clock source signals that may be sent through input 24 of the OR gate 22B. For most IC devices 12 and applications, only one clock source is active.
When a low value "0" is inputted to the memory system 16, the IC device pin 14 is configured as a digital I/O pin. The memory system 16 will output a low signal "0" at its output 16B and the inverter 24 will invert the low signal "0" signal to a high signal "1". The high signal "1" will enable the I/O logic 18.
The US patent as described above explains how to reuse one pin for different functionalities such as reset, clock or general-purpose I/O functionalities. It also describes how to share a single I/O for either reset/clock functionality or general I/O functionality by using a single configuration bit to configure the device into either of the functionalities.
While this idea is very useful in the sense that same die can be marketed as two devices (with Reset/Clock and with I/O functionality), it cannot be used for a normal package where both reset/clock and general I/O are present on dedicated pins. To fulfill this requirement, a different die is required as said patent uses a single I/O pad for this multiplexing. This amounts to again a new product design & testing cycle.
Also, when used for Reset functionality, the pad behaves as an input pin only. This limits the application, as the IC device cannot reset external devices.
Therefore, a need exists to provide a method and system in which the same die can be used for different configurations.

Method and apparatus for multiplexing an integrated circuit pin


An enclosure with a vortex-induced vibration suppression function and a method for suppressing vortex-induced vibration are provided. The enclosure is provided with suction through holes extending through a peripheral wall thereof, the suction through holes are distributed in a circumferential direction of the enclosure. The enclosure is further provided with a suction apparatus, and the suction apparatus can perform suctioning to the suction through holes from outside to inside, to restrain a boundary layer at an outer surface of the enclosure from being detached from the outer surface. By the suctioning, the boundary layer can be “adsorbed” on the outer surface of the tower, thereby restraining or directly preventing the boundary layer from being detached from the outer surface of the tower, and reducing or eliminating the cause of the vertex-induced vibration.

Reference is made to FIG. 1-1, which is a schematic view showing the composition of a wind power generation device.
The base of the wind power generation device is a tower 10, which carries and encloses the whole machine. Taking a tower 10 having a circular section as an example, the tower 10 may be a steel tower or a combination of a steel tower and a concrete tower. The tower 10 carries a nacelle 30, a generator, and an impeller 20 of the wind power generation device. A wind power generator set composed of the impeller 20 and the generator is used to acquire wind energy and convert the wind energy into electric energy. The converted electric energy is transmitted through a power transmission cable 40 or a power transmission busbar. The power transmission cable 40 shown in the figure is led out from the nacelle 30 and its position is limited by a cable retaining ring, the cable retaining ring is arranged at the top of the tower 10 and is fixed to a cable retaining ring fixing plate 50. The power transmission cable 40 then passes a saddle bracket 60 and is suspended along an inner wall of the tower 100 to a converter cabinet 70. A tower door 80 is further provided at a lower end of the tower 10.
The electric energy obtained by the conversion is controlled by a switch cabinet of the wind power generator set and is transmitted by means of the power transmission cable 40 or the power transmission busbar to a converter (in the converter cabinet 70) for realizing the electric power conversion, and after the electric energy is treated by the converter, the electric energy meeting the requirements of power grid access rule can be obtained. Therefore, the tower 10 of the wind power generation device can be regarded as a tower pole for wind power generation, and mainly plays a supporting role in the wind power generation device.
Moreover, the tower 10 bears structural wind loads generated by the nacelle 30, the impeller 20 and the generator, or the downwind vibrations and crosswind vibrations resulted from the structural wind loads, i.e., issues of wind-induced structural vibration.
Reference is made to FIG. 1-2, which is a schematic view showing the tower being hoisted in segments.
The tower 10 is generally installed in segments currently, and as shown in FIG. 1-2, as an example, the tower segments includes sequentially, from the bottom to the top, a first tower segment 11, a second tower segment 12, a third tower segment 13, a fourth tower segment 14 and a fifth tower segment 15. In the process of installing the wind power generation device, the first tower segment 11 is installed on a foundation 90 of the tower 10 first, and then other tower segments are hoisted individually, and after the tower segments are connected one another, the top of the tower 10 (the fifth tower segment 15 in FIG. 1-2) is connected to a yaw system of the nacelle 30, and the nacelle 30 is docked with the power generator, and the power generator (or a gear box) is docked with the impeller 20.
The specific hoisting process is as follows.
Before hoisting the tower 10, a foundation annulus of the foundation 90 configured to be connected to the first tower segment 11 is cleaned first, and multiple bolts (such as 120 bolts) are placed at an inner ring of the foundation annulus after threaded portions of the bolts are greased, and meanwhile, a control cabinet of the wind power generation device is hoisted into the foundation annulus.
A hoisting appliance is mounted at an upper end of the first tower segment 11, here the upper end of the first tower segment 11 is hoisted up by a main hoist, and at the same time, a hoisting appliance is also mounted at a lower end of the first tower segment 11, and here the lower end of the first tower segment is hoisted up by an auxiliary hoist for the tower. The two hoists hoist the first tower segment at the same time. When the altitude of the first tower segment 11 is greater than the maximum diameter of the first tower segment 11, the main hoist hoists up the upper end of the first tower segment 11, and the auxiliary hoist stops working. When the first tower segment 11 is hoisted to be perpendicular to the ground, the auxiliary hoist is removed, and the hoisting appliance at the lower end of the first tower segment 11 is removed.
After a flange surface of the first tower segment 11 is connected, the bolts are passed through the flange surface from bottom to top, and nuts are installed and are tightened by means of an electric wrench. The nuts are tightened by at least 3 times (till the hoisting procedure of the entire wind power generation device is finished, tower connecting nuts are then tightened by means of a torque wrench to reach a required torque value).
The hoisting processes of the rest tower segments are the same as that of the first tower segment 11, and after the hoisting of the uppermost tower segment finishes, it is prepared to hoist the nacelle.
The above installation procedures of docking and connection are all carried out under conditions where local winds in a small regional environment of a wind farm are unpredictable. Therefore, in the process of hoisting and installation, gusts of varying strengths or continuous light wind are often encountered. As described above, these gusts or continuous wind may induce vibrations of the tower, destroy the stability of the enclosure, and endanger the on-site people and equipment, and delay the installation period. For example, after the fourth tower segment 14 is hoisted, the fourth tower segment 14 may vibrate, such that the fifth tower segment 15 cannot be aligned; and even, the fastened bolts may break under the action of vibrations, thereby compromising security.
At present, the project safety requirements for the hoisting process of the wind power industry clearly state that hoisting of the blade group is prohibited when the wind speed is greater than 6 m/s; hoisting of the nacelle is strictly prohibited when the wind speed is greater than 8 m/s, and hoisting of the tower is strictly prohibited when the wind speed is greater than 10 m/s. Accordingly, the on-site hoisting progress and installation period are obviously limited by the wind conditions in the local region. For the construction of wind farms at high-altitude and high mountain regions, the project duration is even more apt to be adversely affected.
Reference is made to FIGS. 2 to 3-6, FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the structure of a tower having a certain vibration suppression function in the conventional technology; FIGS. 3-1 to 3-6 are schematic views showing the relationship between vortex shedding from a cylinder (bypass flow detachment) and six intervals of Reynolds number. The six intervals of the Reynolds number (Re) are respectively Re<5, 5<Re<15, 40<Re<150, 150<Re<3×105, 3×105<Re<3×106, and Re>3×106 from FIGS. 3-1 to 3-6.
According to different flowing patterns of airflow around object structures, the structures are divided into a bluff body and a streamline body such as an aircraft wing or a sail.
When Re<5, the fluid flow is attached to the entire surface of the cylinder, i.e., the fluid flow is not separated.
When 5<Re<40, the flow is still symmetrical, but flow separation occurs, and two symmetrically arranged stable vortexes are formed at a leeward side, and the vortexes are stretched outwards as the Reynolds number increases, resulting in malformation of the vortexes.
When 40<Re<150, starting from the Reynolds number Re=40, the vortexes will alternately shed from a rear side of the surface of the cylinder and flow into the fluid near the back of the cylinder to form a shear layer. The unstable shear layer soon rolls up into vortexes and flows downstream, forming the Karman vortex street, i.e., the vortex-induced vibration. The vortex shedding here is regular and periodic.
When 150<Re<300, it is a transition period from laminar flow to turbulent flow, here periodic vortex shedding is covered by irregular turbulent flow.
When 300<Re<3×105, it is referred to as a subcritical region. The cylinder wake is mainly presented as a turbulent wake after the separation. The vortex shedding begins to be irregular, and the period of the vortex shedding frequency can be roughly defined, however, the disturbing force in vortex shedding will no longer be symmetrical, but be random.
When 3×106<Re<3×106, it is referred to as a supercritical region. The vortex shedding point moves backwards, and the vortex street cannot be identified, and becomes a completely non-periodic vortex.
When 3×106<Re, it is referred to as a transcritical region, the wake at the rear side of the cylinder is very disordered, but also presents a regular vortex shedding.
When a uniform airflow flows by (sweeps past, flows around) a bluff body (cylindrical body), the periodic vortex shedding generated at the back of the cross section of the cylinder may produce a periodically changing action force, i.e., the vortex-induced force, on a structure (the contact surface of the tower). A lower end of the tower structure around which the airflow flows and the underground foundation constitute a single free end vibration system (i.e., an upper end of the tower is submerged in the airflow, and a lowermost end of the tower is fixed on the foundation). When the vortex shedding frequency consists with a certain order natural frequency of the tower structure, the periodic vortex-induced force (unbalanced force) applied on the tower surface will cause a response of vortex-induced vibration of the tower system structure.
The condition that the vortex shedding frequency is equal to the natural frequency of the tower of the structure system and its foundation vibration system can be met only at a certain wind speed. However, the tower and its foundation vibration system will have a certain feedback effect on the vortex shedding, to allow the frequency of the vortex shedding to be "captured" by the vibration frequency of the tower and its foundation vibration system in a certain wind speed range, to allow the frequency of the vortex shedding to not change as the wind speed changes in this wind speed range, and this phenomenon is referred to as locking, and the locking will extend the wind speed range in which the tower structure is induced by vortexes to resonate.
The tower height of modem large-scale MW level wind power generator sets can reach 60 m to 100 m. Main components such as a main frame, a sub-frame, a hub and blades (i.e., the impeller 20) are mounted at the top of the tower 10. When the wind power generator set is in operation, in addition to the gravity generated by the parts at the top of the tower 10 and the dynamic loads generated by the rotation of the wind wheel, the tower 10 is also subjected to the action of the natural wind, including two modes of action, i.e., the action in downwind direction and the action in crosswind direction. When the wind blows the impeller to rotate, it will apply bending moments and forces onto the tower. The bending moments and forces generated in downwind direction are the main reasons for the damage of the tower 10. The vortexes generated when the wind bypasses the tower 10 may also cause lateral vibrations that may cause resonance of the tower 10 and damage the tower 10 accordingly.
When the wind blows over the tower 10, pairs of anti-symmetrical vortexes arranged alternately and rotating in opposite directions, i.e., Karman vortexes, are generated at left and right sides of the wake. The vortexes shed from the tower 10 at a certain frequency, to cause the tower 10 to produce lateral vibration perpendicular to the wind direction, also referred to as wind-induced lateral vibration, i.e., vortex-induced vibration. When the shedding frequency of the vortexes is close to the natural frequency of the tower, the tower 10 is apt to resonate and therefore be damaged.
In FIG. 2, a helix line 10a (or a helix plate) is wound around an outer wall of the tower 10, to suppress vortex shedding occurred on the surface of the tower 10. The helix line 10a (or the helix plate) has different lateral vibration suppression effects when being arranged at different pitches. The increase of the height of the helix line 10a facilitates breaking the periodicity of the vortex street shedding. Vortex street generation and shedding are more irregular, which facilitates the suppression of vortex-induced vibrations. Moreover, the noises and resistances generated behind and in front of the tower are also gradually increased, and the amplitude of the pitching vibration along the wind direction may be increased.
The above technical solution has the following technical issues.
The wind speed of the airflow will change, and if the helix line 10a (or the helix plate) is machined to have its feature parameters (pitch of screws, height) changed according to the change of the wind speed of the airflow, the corresponding manufacturing cost and maintenance cost will be increased significantly.
The coverage rate of the helix line 10a (or the helix plate) on the tower surface will affect the lateral vibration suppression effect. When the coverage rate reaches (or exceeds) 50%, the effect of suppressing lateral vibrations is the best. However, in this case, the serious adverse effects of the wind-induced noise caused by the helix line 10a (or the helix plate) and the airflow on the living beings in the natural environment is not permitted by the ecological regulations.
The mounted helix line 10a (or the helix plate) is only used in the hoisting stage, which has a reduced significance and loses a lot. Considering the long-term operation and use, it is difficult for the helix line to adapt to the changes of wind speed and cope with different wind speeds due to the requirements of installation cost and environmental protection, i.e., it is hard for the helix line to function at any different wind speeds.
In view of this, an urgent technical issue to be addressed by the person skilled in the art is to improve the situation that the installation of the wind power generation device is restricted by regional wind conditions.

Enclosure with vortex-induced vibration suppression function and method for suppressing vortex-induced vibration

BEIJING GOLDWIND SCIENCE & CREATION WINDPOWER EQUIPMENT CO.. LTD.


An oral care implement with a handle includes a head with a releasable material (e.g., an oral medicament) and a tissue cleanser for cleaning the soft tissues and removing odor-causing bacteria from the mouth. In one arrangement, the releasable material is disposed on the surface of the tissue cleanser. In one arrangement, the releasable material is disposed behind the tissue cleanser. In one arrangement, the releasable material is incorporated in the composition of the tissue cleanser.

According to the American Dental Association, a major source of bad breath in healthy people is microbial deposits on the tongue, where a bacterial coating harbors organisms and debris that contribute to bad breath. Tissue in the mouth, and especially the tongue, is a haven for the growth of microorganisms. The papillary nature of the tongue surface creates a unique ecological site that provides an extremely large surface area, favoring the accumulation of oral bacteria. Anaerobic flora and bacteria residing on the tongue and other soft tissues in the mouth play an important role in the development of chronic bad breath commonly called halitosis. In general, the bacteria produce volatile sulfur compounds (VSC). If there is enough buildup of the sulfur compounds, the result can be lead bad breath or oral malodor.
While tongue scrapers have been used in the past, they have generally not been effective, easy to use, or socially acceptable for use in a public setting. Further, many of these scrapers cannot easily be used to cleanse other tissue within the mouth. Notwithstanding the benefits to be gained by cleaning the tissue in the mouth, many users avoid the use of such cleansers due to a lack of comfort and/or ease of use.
In addition, it has not been convenient or socially acceptable for users to clean their tongues and other soft tissue in the mouth in public settings, on the go or, away from home.
Hence, there is a need for an oral care implement with a tongue cleanser that provides effective removal of the tongue bacteria and other debris, maintains comfort to the user, provides a substance to treat tissues of the mouth, is easy to use, and is socially acceptable and convenient in public settings or on the go. There is also a need for an oral implement which combines the cleaning effects of a tissue cleanser and medicament.


A small, compact, relatively low cost, long life and very high speed hydraulic turbine drive. Typical power of this turbine is in the range of 5 to 20 horsepower with operating speeds of 50,000 to 200,000 RPM. The turbine blades are produced at low cost as a part of a thermoplastic turbine wheel and the strength needed for very high centrifugal forces is provided by compressing substantially all of the plastic turbine wheel, except for the blades, within a metal sleeve. A preferred embodiment is driven by a hydraulic pump geared mechanically to a motor vehicle engine and drives a compressor for supercharging the engine.

High speed rotating apparatuses are often driven by electric motors or internal combustion engines. In such cases a speed increasing gear box is needed. There is a great need in the engine industry for compact, light weight superchargers utilizing high efficiency drive systems which transmits the power the power from the engine shaft to the supercharger. According to an article at page 27 of the August 1993 issue of Popular Science, Miller cycle engines, developed by Mazda "requires a compact, high-efficiency air compressor-conventional turbochargers and superchargers just can't generate the volume of air required". The article further states, "Mazda teamed with heavy equipment manufacturer Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. to develop a belt driven, screw-type compressor supercharger. The new supercharger is expensive, which is one reason Mazda doesn't plan to use the Miller-cycle engine in small cars. Lean-burn technology makes more sense there . . . "
Turbochargers of many designs are driven by engine exhaust. One such model is Model To 4B 3S supplied by Turbonetics Inc. This unit produces a compressor ratio (output pressure/atmospheric pressure) of 1.52. The various parts of this unit can be purchased separately from Turbonetics as listed in its catalog.
Gear driven and belt driven oil pumps are commercially available in the 10 to 20 HP range for producing oil pressures in the range of 1,000 to 2,500 PSIG at flows of 20 to 40 GPM.
The Applicant has been issued a U.S. patent (U.S. Pat. No.: 5,013,214) for a high speed water driven fan. Disclosed in the specification was a turbine which produced 4 horsepower at 10,000 RPM. The specification referred to and provided guidance for increased horsepower designs and higher RPM's. The hydraulic design of the present invention is based of extensive tests of the Applicant's high speed water turbine driven high velocity fan with water pressure differentials of up to 450 psi and generating 19.6 HP at 14,250 RPM. Relatively low stress levels and low operating temperature of the reference fan turbine wheel has allowed for the 2.07 inch diameter wheel to be made entirely of Delrin type plastic.
It is known that plastic turbines are generally less expensive to produce than metal turbines, but at very high rotating speeds and high temperatures plastic turbines do not have sufficient strength to provide reliable performance. For very small steel turbine wheels, standard milling procedures are not feasible and electro discharge machining is typically utilized which is very expensive. Typical production costs of making a 0.80 inch diameter turbine wheel with 34 blades is on the order of $300. Sintering is another possibility, but its tooling costs and development risks would be very high.
Utilization of high temperature thermoplastics to make very high speed turbine wheels would lower the cost significantly since the blades could be milled with conventional techniques, but the combined effects of high centrifugal stresses and high oil temperatures would cause the plastic to deform and creep with time, especially in the hub area where precision fit between the shaft and the wheel bore is required at all times.
It is known that a significant advantage of superchargers over turbochargers is that the superchargers respond immediately to increased engine power whereas turbochargers tend to lag on acceleration. Superchargers driven by an oversized oil pump can actually anticipate increased demand for engine power by controlling the oil pressure to react with the accelerator. For motor vehicle superchargers high turbine efficiencies, low cost and long life expectancies are all of paramount importance.


A dual mass flywheel for a drivetrain of a motor vehicle includes a primary flywheel mass, a secondary flywheel mass and a coupling device. The coupling device includes at least two pivot levers associated with the secondary flywheel mass that interact with a control profile formed on the primary flywheel mass. The pivot levers are pretensioned against the control profile in a radial direction by an elastic element. A control segment of the elastic element is disposed radially inside the control profile.

Such a dual mass flywheel serves in a motor vehicle for the intermediate storage of kinetic energy during the idle strokes of the engine and for the taking up and damping of rotational vibrations between the engine and the drive train. For this purpose, the dual mass flywheel has a primary flywheel mass and a secondary flywheel mass which are rotatable with respect to an axis of rotation of the dual mass flywheel and which are rotationally elastically coupled to one another by a coupling device. The coupling device has at least two pivot levers which are associated with one of the two flywheel masses and which cooperate with a control section associated with the other flywheel mass. The pivot levers are in this respect biased from the outside to the inside toward the control section by elastic elements in a radial direction with respect to the axis of rotation.
A dual mass flywheel is, for example, known from WO 2004/016968 whose coupling device includes pivot levers which are pressed from the outside to the inside toward an inner cam by spring elements arranged in the radial direction.
DE 32 13 748 A1 describes a somewhat differently structured coupling device for a clutch disk. The spring elements provided for the biasing of the pivot levers toward an inner cam are here arranged tangentially to the axis of rotation about an inner cam.
It is disadvantageous with the known dual mass flywheels that on their operation an unwanted speed dependence of the coupling characteristics of the respective coupling device occurs due to the centrifugal forces acting on the individual components.


The spacers 3 and 4 and the recess is formed on the supporting substrate 2 to support the upper cladding layer 7. The intermediate surface 22 and 23 lower than the top surface of the spacers 3 and 4 and higher than the inner bottom surface of the recess is formed on the supporting substrate 2. Each of the height between the top surface of the spacers 3 and 4 and the intermediate surfaces 22 and 23, and the height between the intermediate surfaces 22 and 23 and the inner bottom surface of the recess of the second substrate 2 becomes thin compared with the total thickness of the lower cladding layer. Thus, when the resin for the lower cladding layer 9 is cured to shrinkage, the inner stress in the resin is dispersed and the occurrence of the wrinkle 12 and the void decreases.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to waveguide equipment, production methods thereof, and intermediates thereof.
2. Background Art
In a connected portion and an end portion of an optical fiber cable for optical communications, waveguide equipment is used to connect the end of one optical fiber cable to, for example, another optical fiber cable, a light projection device, a photo detector, etc. Such waveguide equipment has been made of a quartz material of low loss in an infrared wavelength region. Recently, waveguide equipment with a polymer waveguide has been made of polymer material with low cost. For example, the waveguide equipment comprises the polymer waveguide on a silicon substrate.
Inventors of the present invention produced the waveguide equipment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the waveguide equipment 1, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view thereof. The waveguide equipment 1 comprises a waveguide 10 on a supporting substrate 2. The supporting substrate 2 is made of silicon and has a recess. The recess has spacers 3 and 4 formed at ends of an upper face of the supporting substrate 2. A V-shaped groove 5 to position an optical fiber is formed on a top surface of the spacer 4. The waveguide 10 is disposed on a lower surface of a cover substrate 6 made of glass. The waveguide 10 comprises an upper cladding layer 7 which is disposed on the lower surface of the cover substrate 6 and is made of transparent resins such as a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), a core 8 which is disposed on the lower face of the upper cladding layer 7 and is made of transparent resin with the refractive index higher than that of the upper cladding layer 7, and a lower cladding layer 9 which is disposed on the upper cladding layer to surround the core 8 and is made of the same resin as the upper cladding layer 7. This waveguide 10 is disposed between the spacers 3 and 4. The end portion of the core 8 and the groove 5 is in a straight line as viewed perpendicular to the upper face of the supporting substrate 2.
As for the waveguide equipment 1, not only one piece is produced in a manufacturing process. As shown in FIG. 3, multiple pieces are produced at one time by separating. FIG. 3 is a plan view to show a gathering of several pieces of waveguide equipment before separating. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of FIG. 3 cut by X1-X1 line. A number "2A" in FIG. 4 shows a supporting mother substrate which changes to the supporting substrate 2 by separating finally. A number "6A" of FIG. 4 shows a cover mother substrate which changes to the cover substrate 6 by separating finally. For example, the cover mother substrate is made of a glass wafer. For making the gathering of several pieces of waveguide equipment shown in FIG. 3, the recess having the spacers 3 and 4, and the groove 5 for multiple pieces are formed by etching on the upper surface of the supporting mother substrate 2A. On the other hand, the upper cladding layer 7 and the core 8 for multiple pieces are disposed on the lower surface of the cover mother substrate 6A. Next, cladding resin to form the lower cladding layer 9 is poured on the upper surface of the supporting mother substrate 2A. The cover mother substrate 6A is upside down and placed on the supporting mother substrate 2A, and the cladding resin is spread out between the supporting mother substrate 2A and the cover mother substrate 6A. The resin for cladding is formed at a certain thickness by pushing the spacers 3 and 4 to the lower surface of the upper cladding layer 7. In this state, the lower cladding layer 9 is formed between the supporting mother substrate 2A and the upper cladding layer 7 cured by exposure of the resin for the cladding to UV radiation. A number "11" in FIG. 4 is a dam part to prevent the resin for the cladding from overflowing into the groove 5.
After this, each piece of waveguide equipment 1 is made by separating the gathering by dicing along the dotted line as shown in FIG. 3. The cover substrate 6 and the upper cladding layer 7 are diced at a place corresponding to an inside edge of the spacers 3 and 4, and unnecessary parts of the cover substrate 6, the upper cladding layer 7 and the lower cladding layer 9 (resin for the cladding) are removed. The waveguide equipment 1 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is provided by dicing an edge of the supporting substrate 2 and exposing an edge of the groove 5 at the end surface of the supporting substrate 2. If the resin for the cladding has a mask at a place opposed to the spacers 3 and 4, and the UV radiation does not reach the resin for the cladding, the cover substrate 6 and the upper cladding layer 7 corresponding to the spacers 3 and 4 can be removed easily. In addition, it is also permissible to remove the dam part 11 by cutting with the dicing blade.
As a result of making the waveguide equipment 1 as described above, however, minute wrinkles and voids occur in the lower cladding layer 9. This is because the cure shrinkage rate of the resin for the cladding is large (the cure shrink rate is around 10%). FIG. 5 is a plan view to show a sample with the whole resin for the cladding cured to examine the occurrence of the wrinkles. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of FIG. 5 cut by X2-X2 line. In FIG. 5, the part with the wrinkle 12 is expressed with a bold continuous line. It is easy for the wrinkle 12 to occur around spacers 3 and 4. In addition, a void also occurs with the wrinkle 12. When such wrinkle 12 and void occur, an appearance failure occurs to the waveguide equipment 1. Even more particularly, the upper cladding layer 7 and the core 8 is deformed by the residual stress, and there are problems due to the leakage of the optical signal propagating in the core 8 and a decrease of the optical signal propagation efficiency.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, when exfoliation 13 occurs between the upper cladding layer 7 and the core 8 by the cure shrinkage of the lower cladding layer 9, the waveguide equipment 1 becomes bad. Even more particularly, it becomes clear that the wrinkle 12 and the exfoliation 13 occur easier when the difference of height between the top surface of spacers 3 and 4, and the inner bottom surface of the recess is larger.
A resin with small cure shrinkage rate should be used to prevent such a characteristic deterioration. However, resin with small cure shrinkage rate is so expensive that the cost of the waveguide equipment 1 becomes high and the width of the resinous section becomes small. Therefore, an approach to prevent the characteristic deterioration by cure shrinkage without depending on a resinous kind is expected.

Optical waveguide device, manufacturing method for optical waveguide device and intermediate of optical waveguide device


A safety clutch which has a steel ball which is adapted to move from half in a hemispherical recess in its drive plate and half in a cylindrical hole in its driven plate to a position completely in the cylindrical hole. A conveyor conducts milk or like cartons to a point where caps are ultrasonically welded to the inside of the foldable tops of the cartons. The safety clutch discontinues power in the event of an overload.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a safety clutch. More particularly, it relates to a safety clutch for use in putting spout caps on milk cartons.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Putting spout caps on milk cartons has heretofore been done by means of a sprocket and chain arrangement. However, there have been difficulties in operating an assembly line to do this, especially because of not having a clutch suitable for such an operation and one which does not cause problems when a malfunction occurs.

Safety clutch and its use in capping milk cartons


A device for forming cast-in-situ piles in civil engineering work includes an auger which consists of a conventional lower part and an upper part comprising a hollow inner element and a removable outer element in the form of an auger having a longitudinal discontinuity which enables it to be fitted over the hollow inner element. The hollow inner element may extend, fixedly, as an elongation of the lower part of the auger or be mounted telescopically in the latter.

Making bored and cast-in-situ piles using a hollow continuous auger is a method which has been known and exploited for many decades.
In brief, it consists in penetrating the ground in which it is desired to construct a pile with a continuous auger, the shaft of which is a hollow continuous cylinder, and then, during the inverse (extracting) movement of the continuous auger, in discharging concrete into the bored hole through the conduit formed by the shaft of the auger so as to gradually fill the space which the withdrawal of the auger tends to create.
In order to do this, the continuous auger is generally driven in a combined rotational-translational movement via a rotating engine which is itself capable of being displaced parallel to the axis of the pile which is being formed along a slideway mounted on a stand forming the general framework of the pile machine.
In a first stage (boring stage), the descending rotational/translational movement of the boring engine is generally maintained at substantially less than the value corresponding to the direct screwing in of the auger, with the pitch of the latter being taken into consideration, thus causing the earth along the enveloping surface of the auger to be cut away and the material loading the turns to circulate and rise.
In the second stage of forming the pile, once the specified depth has been reached, the continuous auger is extracted without rotation by a lifting translational movement of the boring head, with pressurized concrete being discharged simultaneously by means of a pump so as to gradually concrete the bored hole as the auger is withdrawn. Perfect and continuous filling can thus be ensured below the moveable plug formed by the turns of the auger themselves, loaded with excavated material
The concrete is conveyed into the channel formed by the hollow shaft of the auger through an injection head mounted, via a rotating fitting, either directly on the hollow spindle traversing the boring engine or, in the case of a solid spindle, laterally below the nose of the engine, at the head of the boring line.
The fundamental condition for correctly forming a pile by the hollow-auger method is that the concreting, and consequently the main channel formed by the hollow shaft of the continuous auger, must be maintained continuously.
It is therefore impossible to envisage forming a pile, according to the method described, by successively adding and removing auger elements in order to obtain the overall length of the structure, as is normally the case for making a conventional borehole by adding or removing elements of drilling rod.
This fundamental constraint therefore requires the use of a continuous auger for a length which is at least equal to that of the pile to be formed, employed as a one-piece element and, consequently, requiring a slideway for guiding the boring engine with a corresponding usable length.
Since this slideway must stand up to torsional forces corresponding to the very considerable driving torque required to drive the continuous auger in rotation (up to 20 rpm with the current machines), it assumes, for deep piles, large dimensions and a heavy weight which, as part of the same development, influence the features of the support machine. Furthermore, on-site movements of a machine of this type equipped with a long slideway often pose difficult problems of stability and safety.

Device for making cast-in-situ piles using a continuous hollow auger

Sondages Injections Forages "S.I.F." Entreprise Bachy


A trailer hitch positioning aid having a magnetic switching unit mounted upon the hitch ball and a corresponding permanent magnetic field unit secured to the socket of the hitch. The magnetic switches are mounted about the ball in a triangular pattern, while the magnetic field is in a "U" shape, so that closing of one or more of the magnetic switches indicates relative position of the hitch ball and socket. No physical connection is necessary between the trailer and the towing vehicle.

1. Field
The field of the invention is devices for positioning towing vehicles for engagement of hitches with trailers and the like. More particularly, the invention is concerned with indicators visible to the operator of the towing vehicle, showing the relative position of the mating elements of the connecting hitches.
2. State of the Art
Typically, hitches for connecting towing vehicles with trailers include a coupling ball upon the vehicle and a mating socket upon a forwardly projecting tongue upon the trailer Both ball and socket are located centrally, at bumper level, and are thus not in direct view by the vehicle operator. Hookup requires much trial and error, the unaided operator typically dismounting repeatedly to check the ball position relative to the socket. Damage to the vehicle or trailer is a real possibility with such blind maneuvering. Many sighting devices have been put forth to solve this problem. Most such devices include a pair of co-operating visual aids, one secured to the trailer and the other secured to the towing vehicle, so that alignment of the hitch components may be made by maneuvering the vehicle from the driver's seat. Representative of these are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,918,746, 4,285,138 and 4,065,147. Most of these devices are either impractical, easily damaged, or prohibitively expensive. Some hitching assemblies have complicated pivoting components and mechanical guiding members permitting less precise positioning of the vehicle by the operator. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,197,157 and 2,844,390)
Other devices recognize the shortcomings of all of the line of sight devices, and provide for "blind" coupling, depending upon electronic sensors, signal transmitters and the like.
Many of these devices, however, are electromechanical, in that some physical connection between the towed and the towing vehicle is necessary. U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,775 utilizes a spool of wire with a micro-switch connected to a display to show how much of the wire is extended or retracted, which indicates relative coupling positions of the hitch components. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,563 utilizes a wire, with the added provision for indication of the direction of deviation of the wire from axial alignment as the towing vehicle maneuvers. Other patents utilizing a combination of electronics, display, and switching devices include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,797,406 (hitch contact switches carried by towing vehicle), 3,418,628 (position switches tripped by ball) and 4,187,494 (flexure of a member utilized as a sensing means for indication of relative angular and linear positions). U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,921 utilizes a wave emitter on the towing vehicle and a wave receiver coil on the trailer. A current is induced in the coil, which is monitored to show relative positions of the emitter and receiver coils. The physical connection between the towing and the towed vehicles is in this case an electrical conductor. However, a considerable number of components and electrical controls are necessary. In contrast, U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,257 employs no mechanical connection between the trailer and towing vehicle. However, an electrically powered transmitter must be provided on the trailer and a separately powered receiver on the towing vehicle.
Thus, all prior art devices, whether purely mechanical line of sight, electro mechanical, or completely electrical, are complex and expensive, perhaps more so than justified for solution to the problem. Clearly, there is a need for an effective trailer hitching aid which avoids the complexity and expense of line of sight devices, electromechanical combinations, and needlessly sophisticated electronics.


A search payload data shift part has n latch parts LT1 to LTn (n≧2), each of which can store 1-byte latch data, and obtains search payload data having an n-byte length, while shifting payload data inputted from an input terminal, in synchronization with a clock provided from the exterior. Data related to the search payload data is given to a CAM array, as search object data. When the search object data matches entry data of the CAM array, a hit signal ‘hit’ indicating a match is outputted from the CAM array.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit with associated memory function containing an associated memory such as a content-addressable memory (CAM).
2. Description of Related Art
In routers on networks, associated memories called CAMs are generally used as a routing table describing a media access control (MAC) address. The CAMs are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,542,391. Search operation peculiar to the CAMs enables high speed search.
However, the CAM is a mere memory having the function of detecting at high speed as to whether an object to be searched is present or not. Therefore, most processing in a router is executed in a control part such as a network processor unit (NPU) and an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The operation share of the control part is extremely large, and too great burden is imposed on the control part. This has caused the problem of having adverse effect on the performance of processing executed by the control part, such as queuing processing in consideration of priority, and accounting processing such as packet logging and statistics creation processing.

Integrated circuit with associated memory function


A signal delay device comprises a CMOS gate circuit having an input terminal to which a binary input signal to be delayed is applied, an output terminal from which a delayed signal is derived and power voltage supply terminals to which operation power voltages are applied. The delay time of the CMOS gate circuit depends upon voltage applied to it and, utilizing this phenomenon, voltage control means is provided in a power supplying path for the CMOS gate circuit for controlling voltage applied to the CMOS gate circuit. The signal delay device using the CMOS gate circuit is applied to various circuits including a FM modulator or FM demodulator. The signal delay device will assure undistorted signals.

This invention relates to a signal delay device a delay time of which can be controlled easily.
Known in the art of a signal delay circuit are various circuits such, for example, as a physical delay line, a distributed constant circuit, a bucket-brigade device (BBD), a charge-coupled device (CCD), and a shift register and a program control utilizing a random-access memory (RAM) in a digital system.
In various circuits to which a signal delay circuit is applied, there is a technical demand for arbitrarily varying a delay time of the delay circuit. Such arbitrary variation of the delay time can hardly be achieved by a delay line or a distributed constant circuit and, for this purpose, a bucket-brigade device, a charge-coupled device, a shift register or like device which uses a clock pulse for transmission of a signal is generally employed to control the frequency of the clock pulse.
In such delay system utilizing a clock pulse for transmission of a signal, a signal is sampled by a clock pulse and, accordingly, resolution of the system along the time axis is determined by the clock period. As a result, in a case where, for example, a pulse frequency modulation signal containing analog data along the time axis is to be delayed, a phase error tends to occur in the delay output. This defect can theoretically be eliminated by employing a very fast clock and thereby improving the resolution. This requires, however, increase in the number of stages of a delay element such as a bucket-brigade device, a charge-coupled device or a shift register with resulting difficulties in the circuit design and increase in the manufacturing costs.
It is, therefore, a first object of the invention to provide a signal delay device a delay time of which can be readily controlled without causing a phase error.
For achieving this object, the invention utilizes the phenomena that a CMOS gate has a delay time between its input and output terminals and this delay time changes depending upon voltage applied thereto.
The delay time of the CMOS gate depends upon power voltage and temperature. The smaller the power voltage, the longer the delay time and the larger the rate of change. As to the temperature, the higher the temperature, the longer the delay time. This is because conductance of the element of the CMOS gate changes due to the power voltage and temperature. Since dependency of the delay time upon the power voltage and temperature is too large to be ignored and influences of these factors are observed as instability in the oscillation period in an oscillation circuit and increase in distortion in the transmission system, it has been difficult to use the CMOS gate as a delay circuit in a circuit which requires a precision control. For overcoming such difficulty, it is conceivable to use a strictly stabilized power source and provide the CMOS gate in a thermostatic oven. This will however require a bulky and costly circuitry.
It is, therefore, a second object of the invention to provide a delay time stabilizing circuit capable of accurately stabilizing the delay time of the delay circuit utilizing the CMOS gate with a simple construction.
The above described delay circuit utilizing the CMOS gate is applicable to various circuits and devices. One of them is an analog delay circuit.
As described above, the prior art analog delay circuit using a bucket-brigade device, a charge-coupled device, a shift register or the like device uses a clock pulse for transmitting a signal. Since a signal is sampled by a clock pulse in this type of delay circuit, resolution in the time axis is determined by the clock period with a result that the distortion factor increases. Further, although the delay time can be changed by changing the clock period in this type of delay circuit, resolution also is caused to change with the change of the clock period.
It is, therefore, a third object of the invention to provide an analog delay circuit capable of delaying an analog signal with a high resolution and a low distortion factor and also capable of changing the delay time continuously without changing the resolution by employing the delay circuit using the CMOS gate.

FM demodulation device and FM modulation device employing a CMOS signal delay device


The invention relates to a method for testing a plant or plant part for exhibiting a reduced or absent wound-induced surface discoloration as compared to a control plant or plant part, which method comprises providing a plant or plant part that is obtained from a plant population that shows genetic variation, in particular a gene bank; optionally creating a wound surface on the plant or plant part; incubating the plant or plant part or the wound surfaces created thereon to allow for discoloration to occur therein or thereon; observing the discoloration in or on the plants or plant parts; comparing the observed discoloration with the discoloration that is observed in the control plant or plant part to assess whether the plant or plant part shows no discoloration or a discoloration that is reduced as compared to the control plant or plant part; and identifying a plant or plant part that shows no discoloration or a discoloration that is reduced as compared to the control plant or plant part as a plant that harbors the reduced wound-induced surface discoloration trait.

Harvesting and subsequent processing, packaging and storage of produce evokes a strong response of the plant material which in general leads to a fast reduction of the quality of the end product. Quality in this respect refers to several attributes, for example, color, taste, smell, and crispness, which is perceived by the consumer as freshness.
The response of produce towards processing may be of a combined physical, biochemical and physiological nature resulting in wilting, discoloration and senescence. In order to improve the quality of processed produce it will become increasingly important to develop plant varieties which show reduced levels of deterioration as a consequence of processing.
Lettuce is currently one of the fresh products that is increasingly offered to the consumer in a processed (e.g., cut, washed, packaged) form. This ready-to-eat product contributes to the convenience of the consumer and allows the development of new products like mixes of different leafy or other types of vegetables.
The most important problem that occurs during lettuce processing and storage is the wound surface discoloration. This disorder manifests as a pink or brown coloration at the wound surface of the cut leaves. The mid rib sections are especially prone to a strong staining in this respect. This negative quality trait is the most important trait to be controlled during processing, as packaged lettuce with a pink or brown discoloration is perceived by the consumer as a deteriorated product.
Although post-harvest treatments, for example, packaging under a controlled atmosphere, typically prevent discoloration and have improved the quality of fresh cut, packaged lettuce, a genetic solution is preferred. The reasons are that despite these treatments, a substantial part of the product is still lost due to causes such as damaged packages. Also shelf life after opening the package by the end user is typically very short, and, importantly, there is significant cost involved.
Therefore, breeding for lettuce plants that have improved processing traits, in particular reduced surface discoloration, is important for the lettuce processing industry. The same applies to the processing of other plant material, such as witloof and eggplant.
It is thus the object of the invention to enable the fast and efficient identification of plant material that has a reduced surface discoloration for use thereof in the production of crop plants that are less prone to post-harvest deterioration.
Citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for identifying plant material that shows a reduced discolouration, plants thus identified and use of the identified plants for the production of commercial crop plants showing a reduced discolouration


An organic EL element includes a substrate, a plurality of first electrodes which are arranged on the substrate in a matrix configuration, a wall-like insulating layer which is formed on the substrate, organic light emitting layers which are formed on the first electrodes, respectively, an auxiliary electrode which is formed on top of the wall-like insulating layer and a second electrode which is formed to cover the surfaces of the wall-like insulating layer, the auxiliary electrode and the light emitting layers and electrically connected to the auxiliary electrode. The second electrode is transparent to light from the light emitting layers.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic light emitting element, a display device including the same and a method for manufacturing the organic light emitting element.
(b) Description of Related Art
As compared with conventionally used cathode ray tube (CRT) display elements, flat display elements are more power-saving and slimmed down. As a wide variety of information processing apparatuses have been developed in recent years, there is a growing demand for the flat display elements. Examples of the flat display elements include, for example, liquid crystal display elements and electroluminescent display elements (hereinafter referred to as EL display elements). Among them, organic EL display elements have been actively studied because of their features of low voltage drive system, being made of solid material only, quick response and a self-light-emitting property.
The organic EL display elements are classified into those of passive matrix (PM) type and those of active matrix (AM) type depending on the drive system.
A PM organic EL element is driven line by line. Therefore, to realize a PM organic EL element of high luminance, a high instantaneous power must be applied to pixels (light emitting layers). This brings about significant deterioration of the light emitting layers, thereby reducing life of the PM organic EL element. Especially, in an organic EL element including a large number of scanning electrodes (i.e., high definition element), a higher voltage is applied to the pixels. Therefore, the high definition organic EL element is particularly short-life.
On the other hand, since an AM organic EL element includes switching elements (e.g., TFTs) for the respective pixels, switching among the pixels is allowed. For this reason, in principle, there are no limitations on the number of scanning electrodes in the AM organic EL element. Further, every pixel can be driven at almost 100% performance for a single frame.
That is, even if the instantaneous luminance is lower than that of the PM organic EL element, the AM organic EL element allows image display with high luminance and excellent quality. Further, since the AM organic EL element does not require as high instantaneous luminance as the PM organic EL element does, the AM organic EL element offers reduction in drive voltage and long life. Under these circumstances, the AM organic EL element has been actively studied in recent years.
FIG. 14 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional organic EL element 600.
The organic EL element 600 includes a substrate 601 and an organic light emitting layer 603 which is formed above the substrate 601 and sandwiched between a first electrode 602 and a second electrode 604.
The first electrode 602 implants holes into the organic light emitting layer 603, while the second electrode 604 implants electrons into the organic light emitting layer 603. The holes implanted from the first electrode 602 and the electrons implanted from the second electrode 604 are recombined in the organic light emitting layer 603, whereby light emission occurs in the organic light emitting layer 603. The substrate 601 and the first electrode 602 are transparent to light, while the second electrode 604 reflects light. Light emitted by the organic light emitting layer 603 passes through the first electrode 602 and the substrate 601 and is output from the organic EL element 600 (bottom-emission type).
Since the organic EL element 600 is operated by the AM drive system, TFTs and electrodes (pixel electrodes, gate electrodes and source electrodes) are formed on the substrate 601. In general, the TFTs and the electrodes are made of material which is less transparent to light. More specifically, the TFTs are made of silicon which is less transparent to light. Therefore, the AM organic EL element 600 has a problem in that the ratio of a light emitting area to a pixel area (aperture ratio) is low.
The AM organic EL elements are classified into those of current drive system and those of voltage drive system. The current-driven organic EL element reduces variations in display performance of the pixels and effectively prevents deterioration of light emitting material. However, the current-driven organic EL element requires more TFTs to be provided in each pixel than those required in the voltage-driven organic EL element. For this reason, the current-driven organic EL element has a problem of a further decrease of the aperture ratio.
In view of the above problems, top emission organic EL elements have been proposed (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-127551). In the top emission organic EL element, the second electrode is transparent to light and the first electrode reflects light. Therefore, light generated in the organic light emitting layer is output from the second electrode side opposite to the substrate side where the TFTs and the electrodes of low light transmittance are provided. Therefore, the top emission organic EL element has a higher aperture ratio than that of the bottom emission organic EL element. That is, the organic EL element is given with high luminance by employing the top emission system.

Organic light emitting element including auxiliary electrode, display device including the same and method for manufacturing the organic light emitting element


The invention relates to a radiofrequency transmission device comprising an electrical board, a transmission line, and an electroconductive fastening element which is intended to fasten the electrical board to a support, the transmission line being electrically coupled to the fastening element such that the fastening element forms at least one first radiating portion of an antenna arranged so as to emit and/or receive radiofrequency signals travelling along the transmission line.

Antennas are used in an extremely large number of a wide variety of applications, in all industrial fields: automotive, aviation, telecommunications, medicine, energy, etc.
In general, an antenna is fastened on a support of some kind by one or more metal fastener elements: screws, clips, staple, etc.
Thus, a whip antenna, e.g. an antenna mounted on a car, is screw-fastened by means of a screw or a thread situated at one end of the whip antenna.
Likewise, in a certain number of mobile telephones, there are one or more antennas, each in the form of a metal component fastened by screws on a support, e.g. on a printed circuit or on a housing of the telephone.
Metal fastener elements for antennas, and also other metal fastener elements, e.g. those used for fastening an electric circuit card to a housing, tend to hinder the operation of antennas situated in the proximity of said metal fastener elements.
Furthermore, in general, an antenna incorporated in or on a piece of electrical equipment occupies a relatively large volume of the electrical equipment. It is thus very advantageous to seek to reduce the volume occupied by the antenna.

Radiofrequency transmission device comprising a fastening element forming a radiating portion of an antenna


Disclosed is an aerodynamic bearing assembly for a spindle motor for hard disk drives, in which a hub of the spindle motor is pivoted in both radial and thrust directions by the ball bearing, which directly contacts the center of the hub, to perform rotation according to the rotational principle of a whirligig, and is subject to the thrust load through the aerodynamic bearing assembly with air groove(s) without being in contact with it, so that the hub maintains a rotational center without mechanical contact resulting in noise and starting failure of the assembly during an initial starting (low-speed rotation). The assembly includes air grooves, the air groove generating aerodynamic pressure between the hub and the aerodynamic bearing while the hub rotates.

Generally, a hard disk drive functions as an auxiliary memory unit of a computer, and is comprised of a platter, a head, a spindle motor, a head arm and a printed circuit board. The hard disk drive helps to operate the system of a computer either by reading out and regenerating information stored at the platter through the head or by writing new information on the platter through the head.
In the construction of the above-mentioned hard disk drive, the platter is a metallic circular plate coated with magnetic material, functioning to write various data. The platter is stacked in layers and rotates about a rotatable shaft. This rotatable shaft is named a spindle shaft. A motor for rotating the spindle shaft is named a spindle motor.
The head for reading/writing data stored at the platter is connected to the head arm so as to access desired information addresses. This head arm is driven by a head actuator, which is called a voice coil motor (VCM). A conventional spindle motor will be described below.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional spindle motor for hard disk drives employing at least one ball bearing, and FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the spindle motor of FIG. 1.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional spindle motor 10 for hard disk drives employing at least one ball bearing comprises a base 11 serving for a lower portion of the spindle motor; a spindle shaft 12 fitted at a center of the base in a vertical direction; a first ball bearing 13 fitted on a lower portion of the spindle shaft 12 positioned on the upper side of the base 11; a stator 14 fitted around the first ball bearing 13 and constructed in such a manner that a coil 14b is wound around a core 14a of the stator; a second ball bearing 15 fitted on an upper portion of the spindle shaft 12; a hub 16, being rotatable about the first and second ball bearings 13 and 15, for covering the upper portion of the base 11; and an annular permanent magnet 17 fitted on an inner circumferential surface of a lower portion of the hub 16 and generating driving force for rotating the hub 16 through use of the magnetic field produced in cooperation with the coil 14b.
In the conventional spindle motor 10 for hard disk drives constructed as mentioned above, when power is supplied to the coil 14b of the stator 14, a magnetic field (not shown) is established between the coil 14b and the permanent magnet 17. The magnetic field between the coil 14b and the permanent magnet 17 allows the hub 16 to be rotated in one direction.
However, the construction wherein the hub 16 rotates using the first and second ball bearings 13 and 15 makes it impossible to drive at a high speed with a strict rotational precision, which results in generating noise and vibration when the ball bearing rotates at a high speed. The following description will be made regarding the construction of an aerodynamic bearing shown in FIG. 3.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional spindle motor for hard disk drives employing at least one aerodynamic bearing.
The conventional spindle motor 20 for hard disk drives employing at least one aerodynamic bearing shown in FIG. 3 includes a base 21 formed as a lower portion of the spindle motor, a first ball bearing 22 fitted on an upper central portion of the base 21, a stator 23 fitted around the first ball bearing 22 and constructed in such a manner that a coil 23b is wound around a core 23a of the stator, a spindle shaft 24 fitted on an upper central portion in a vertical direction, a second bearing 25 fitted on an upper portion of the spindle shaft 24, a supported hub 26 that is rotatable about the spindle shaft 24 and constructed to cover the upper portion of the base 21, first and second aerodynamic bearings 27 and 28 fitted on an inner upper portion of the hub 26 for generating aerodynamic pressure for smoothly rotating the hub 26 about the spindle shaft 24, and a permanent magnet 27 fitted on an inner circumferential surface of a lower portion of the hub 16 for generating driving force for rotating the hub 26 through use of the magnetic field produced in cooperation with the coil 23b.
In the conventional spindle motor 20 for hard disk drives employing at least one aerodynamic bearing constructed as mentioned above, when power is supplied to the coil 23b of the stator 23, a magnetic field (not shown) is established between the coil 23b and the permanent magnet 27. The magnetic field between the coil 23b and the permanent magnet 27 allows the hub 26 to be rotated in one direction.
Once the hub 26 rotates, air begins to flow on the inner surfaces of the first and second aerodynamic bearings 27 and 28. The faster the hub 26 rotates, the stronger the air flows. As a result, the flow of air is changed into a layer of air having a predetermined rigidity between the first and second aerodynamic bearings 27 and 28, the spindle shaft 24, the first bearing 25, and the second bearing 22 in proportion to the rotational speed of the hub 26. Therefore, the hub 26 with a mounted platter (not shown) rotates about the spindle shaft 24 while overcoming the imposed load and disturbance from the air layer acting as a bearing between the spindle shaft 24 and the hub 26.
However, the conventional spindle motor for hard disk drives employing at least one aerodynamic bearing, constructed as mentioned above, enables rigidity of the air layer to be improved at a low-speed rotation, but rigidity of the air layer is maintained almost constantly without an increase in proportion to the rotational speed when the motor rotates beyond a fixed speed.
Further, the conventional spindle motor for hard disk drives employing at least one aerodynamic bearing constructed as mentioned above is designed so that the base is assembled with the first ball bearing, but the spindle shaft is assembled with the second bearing, so that the assembled two sets maintain a predetermined size of air gap with respect to the aerodynamic bearings. Therefore, there are problems in that the spindle motor has a reduced assembly capability and has a difficulty in constantly maintaining a constant thickness of the air gap. Moreover, the spindle motor is designed so that the hub is supported around the spindle shaft via the air gap without putting the hub into direct contact with the spindle shaft. Therefore, during initial starting, the spindle motor is subjected to malfunction, attrition losses of the aerodynamic bearings as well as the first and second ball bearings, noise and vibration, all of which are caused by friction.

Aerodynamic bearing assembly for spindle motor for hard disk drives


A device and system for lifting and transporting a rail panel is disclosed. The rail panel includes a first and a second spaced apart rail attached to a plurality of ties. The system includes a frame and a plurality of hydraulically operated pins coupled to the frame. When the hydraulically operated pins are actuated, the frame is fixed to the first and second spaced apart rails. The system further includes a piece of equipment capable of lifting the frame while the frame is fixed to the rails.

1. The Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to the laying or repairing of railroad tracks, and, more specifically, to a system for moving and placing railroad panels.
2. The Relevant Technology
Railroads and rail systems have existed since the middle of the nineteenth century. In a typical rail system, rail cars move along a pair of steel rails that are evenly spaced apart. These rails are secured to wooden ties that are laid in a bed of gravel or some other stabilizing material. This system of rails and ties is known as a railroad track.
Railroad tracks were originally laid down by a group of workers. The workers would manually set each individual tie on the rail bed. Once a sufficient number of ties had been laid, the workers would manually secure the steel rails to the ties. This was done by hammering large spikes into the ties at spaced apart intervals to hold down the rails. The process was very labor intensive, and potentially very dangerous. The ties and rails were quite heavy, and there was always the potential to drop one or both on, for example, a workers foot.
By the 1950's, railroad operators had devised a better system for laying and/or repairing railroad tracks. The operators started using rail panels to lay or repair track. A rail panel is made up of a pair of evenly spaced rails attached to a series of ties. In one standard configuration, the rail panel is 39 feet long and weighs approximately 10,000 pounds. The rails have joint bars on one end to allow the panel to be lined up with an existing section of track.
Modern railroad operators typically use a panel grabber that picks up a panel as a unit. The panel grabber allows a panel to be placed in position without having to individually lay ties and rails. Typical panel grabbers have a pair of arms that resemble two large pairs of pliers spaced about three feet apart. These pliers-like arms fit over the outside of the rails. The arms must be manually locked in place on the panel. As a lifting force is applied, the arms grab the sides of the rails, thus allowing the panel to be moved.
To use such typical panel grabbers, an individual must climb on top of a stack of panels to align the grabber. These stacks of panels are often delivered to a job site on the back of a flatbed truck. They can be stacked six or more high. Having been transported for potentially many miles, these stacks of panels may be unstable when tie downs securing the panels are released. An individual climbing on top of the panels must manually align the panel grabber, placing it very near the center of the panel, and then lock it in place. If the panel grabber is not placed near the center of the panel, it will lift only one end of the panel, causing the other end to tilt and/or drag. If it is not properly centered, the individual must climb back onto the stack of panels and manually attempt alignment a second time.
With the typical system, individuals with guide ropes generally manually stabilize the 10,000 pound panels when the panel is lifted and suspended in the air. This prevents the panel from twisting or turning in undesired orientations. Unfortunately, it is a challenge for an individual, or even a group of individuals, to exert enough force on a 10,000 pound panel to stabilize it while it is suspended in the air. Additionally, other individuals must physically align the joint bars with the existing track. This system can require as many as six men to place one panel onto the rail bed.