Attachment of each of a pair of wires (12) in a cable (14) to each of a pair of opposed contacts (16) in a connector (20) is carried out by a connector attachment tool (10) which includes a cable clamp assembly (34) for clamping the cable in either a horizontal or vertical orientation. The clamp assembly holds the cable so that an operator can pull each of a pair of the wires along a separate one of a pair of wire guides (96,98) which each include retention springs (106,108,110) for grabbing the pulled wire. Each wire guide serves to align the wire pulled therealong with a separate one of a pair of opposed ram assemblies (86,88) located on opposite sides of a carriage (30) which carries the connector. Each ram assembly serves to force the wire aligned therewith into one of the opposed connector contacts aligned with the ram assembly. A mechanism (112) is provided for advancing the carriage once each of a pair of wires has been attached to each of a pair of opposed contacts so as to bring each of a successive pair of connector contacts into alignment with a separate one of the ram assemblies. Each of a pair of scales (116,118) lies on opposite sides of the carriage for indicating which of the connector contacts is opposite a separate one of the ram assemblies.

Although optical fiber is quickly supplanting conventional copper cable as the media of choice for carrying data, multi-conductor copper cables are still used, particularly for short-haul data transmission between various pieces of data communications equipment. A typical multi-conductor cable for interconnecting two pieces of data communications equipment usually has each of its ends terminated with a data connector, the most popular of which is the RS-232 type connector. This type of connector is comprised of an insulative (e.g., plastic) block containing two rows of opposed recesses, each recess seating a corresponding contact. An electrical connection between each contact and a corresponding wire in the cable is usually obtained by physically ramming the wire into the connector recess so as to be pierced by a barb on the contact. When the connector barb has pierced the insulation on the wire, an electrical contact will be established between the contact and the wire. Once all of the connections have been made in this manner, a hood is placed over the block to shield the contacts.
Attachment of an RS-232 type data connector to each end of a cable may occur either in a factory where the cable is made, or at a field site where the cable is to be installed. In the factory, the volume of connectors to be installed is usually such that an automated connector attachment machine can be employed. An example of such an attachment machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,087 and 4,034,472, issued in March 1977 and June 1977, respectively, to W. Cover et al.
However, in the field, the volume of connectors to be installed is usually too low to economically justify the use of a fully automated connector attachment machine because such machines are usually very expensive. Even if the volume were indeed high enough to economically justify such a machine, conditions in the field are often such that fully automated connector attachment machines, which are typically very bulky and complex, cannot be readily deployed. Rather, field installation of data connectors is generally accomplished by hand, typically with the aid of a specially designed pliers which serves to ram each individual wire into a connector recess so as to be pierced by the contact. As may be appreciated, manual installation of data connectors in this manner is tedious and expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,399, issued on Feb. 27, 1990, in the names of K. H. Billingham et al., and assigned to AT&T (herein incorporated by reference), discloses a tool useful in the field for attaching successive pairs of wires in a cable to successive pairs of opposed contacts on a connector, such as a "ribbon"-type connector used within the telecommunications industry. The Billingham et al. tool comprises a base that mounts a track along which a connector-carrying carriage is slidably disposed. The carriage serves to carry the connector, with its recesses vertically oriented, past a pair of wire guides on opposed sides of the track. Each wire guide serves to guide a wire pulled thereacross by an operator into alignment with each of a pair of ram assemblies, each located adjacent to a corresponding wire guide. Each ram assembly serves to ram the wire aligned therewith into a connector recess opposite the ram to attach the wire to the contact seated in this recess. After each of a pair of wires is attached to a separate one of the pair of opposed contacts aligned with each ram assembly, the carriage is automatically advanced to bring each of another pair of contacts into alignment with a separate one of the ram assemblies.
While the Billingham et al. tool has proven very useful for field installation of ribbon-type connectors, attachment of RS-232 type connectors with this tool has proven somewhat inconvenient. With some types of RS-232 connectors, the connector hood is adapted to clamp the cable so that the axis of the cable is at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the recesses in the connector block. This type of connector is known as a "right-angle" connector. With other types of RS-232 connectors, the hood clamps the cable so that the cable has its longitudinal axis generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the recesses in the connector block. This type of connector is often referred to as a "straight" type RS-232 connector. As presently designed, the Billingham et al. tool clamp the cable horizontally so the wires within the cable are perpendicular to the recesses in the connector block. Clamping the cable so that the wires are at a right angle to the connector recesses greatly facilitates the assembly of the right-angle type RS-232 connector. However, the fact that the Billingham et al. tool clamps the wire horizontally makes it difficult to employ this tool to attach "straight" type RS-232 connectors.
Another drawback of the Billingham et al. connector attachment tool is that the operator must continually pull and hold each of a successive pair of wires into alignment with a separate one of the ram assemblies as the ram assembly forces the wire against the contact. The need to continuously tension the wires during connector attachment can be tiresome, leading to operator fatigue. Further, there is currently no mechanism associated with the present day Billingham et al. tool to readily identify which pair of contacts is currently being attached to a pair of wires.
Thus, there is need for an improved tool for attaching successive pairs of wires in a cable to successive pairs of opposed contacts on a data connector which is not subject to the foregoing disadvantages.


In a method for controlling the driving speed of a vehicle that has a speed control device into which a set speed can be entered as driver command, a reference variable of the speed control device is varied within a specified or specifiable speed range of the set speed, based on an evaluation of a section of the road ahead of the driver and maintaining a minimum fuel usage in a first operating mode of the speed control device. To enable a better control of the driving speed, the method includes steps of i) detecting a change of the set speed; ii) changing over from the first operating mode to a second operating mode of the speed control device when a change of the set speed has been detected; iii) determining the reference variable in the second operating mode based on the change in such a manner that a tuning of the speed control device to a higher driving speed takes place with an increase of the set speed resulting from the change, and a tuning process of the speed control device to a lower driving speed takes place with a decrease of the set speed resulting from the change; and iv) changing back from the second operating mode to the first operating mode, if an interruption criterion is fulfilled.

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling the driving speed of a vehicle by entering a set speed into a control unit as a driver command. In a first operating mode of the speed control device, a reference variable of the speed control unit is varied within a specified (or specifiable) speed environment (that is, a range) of the set speed, depending on an evaluation a section of road ahead of the vehicle, and on maintaining a state of the vehicle which achieves a minimum fuel usage.
Methods for controlling the driving speed of a vehicle are known. The speed control device can be designed as a master controller, in which a target value (which can be changed over time) can be provided as reference variable. The reference variable can thus be varied within the speed environment of the set speed, so that a fuel usage of the vehicle is as low as possible results.
German patent document DE 103 45 319 A1 discloses a predictive speed control for a motor vehicle, which uses information relating to the current vehicle position and also the ground ahead to save fuel and to increase traveling comfort. A vehicle operating cost function is defined on the basis of environment parameters, vehicle parameters, vehicle operating parameters and road section parameters. Vehicle control parameters are calculated and stored, which minimize the vehicle operation cost function. Current vehicle operation is controlled based on the optimized vehicle control parameters.
One object of the invention is to provide an improved speed control device for a vehicle, and especially to provide an improved operability of such a speed control device.
This and other objects and advantages are achieved by the method and apparatus according to the invention, which provides a speed control device—also known as cruise control or cruise control regulator—into which a set speed can be entered as driver command. In a first operating mode of the speed control device, a reference value entered therein is varied within a specified (or specifiable) speed environment of the set speed, based on an evaluation of a section of road ahead of the vehicle and based on maintaining a state of the vehicle with regard to achieving a fuel usage as low as possible. The method according to the invention includes the following steps: detecting a change of the set speed; changing over from the first operating mode to a second operating mode of the speed control device when the change of the set speed is detected; determining the reference variable in the second operating mode depending on the change in such a manner that the speed control device is tuned to a higher driving speed with an increase of the set speed resulting from the change, and to a lower driving speed with a decrease of the set speed resulting from the change; and changing back from the second operating mode to the first operating mode if an interruption criterion is fulfilled.
The tuning process towards the higher or lower driving speed can advantageously be perceived by the driver, who has either increased or decreased the set speed as a driver command. After the change of the set speed, the speed control device advantageously behaves for the driver of the vehicle in a tangible manner that is the same as (or similar to) a speed control device where the reference variable (in the sense of a setpoint) is always set to the set speed. Advantageously, the driver can be signaled by means of the tuning process that the speed control device has registered the new set speed, so that an optical and/or acoustic display unit for symbolizing the set speed can advantageously be dispensed with.
After the feedback to the driver by means of the tuning process, the system can advantageously change back to the usage-optimal first operating mode, in which the reference variable is varied to achieve a minimal fuel usage. For this purpose, the interruption criterion can advantageously be checked, and, if it is fulfilled, the system can change back again to the first operating mode. The speed control device can be operated in a simpler and more intuitive manner by means of the feedback, where inadvertent multiple inputs can for example be avoided due to the feedback. The reference variable can be generated by means of a suitable device with regard to minimum usage, and the speed control device in the form of a master controller.
The following steps are provided in one embodiment of the method according to the invention: determining a difference value of the change of the set speed, determining an actual value of the reference variable at the time when the change occurs, and, setting the reference variable to a sum of the actual value of the reference variable and the difference value of the change. The difference value of the change of the set speed can take on both positive and negative values, it being positive with an increase of the set speed and negative with a decrease of the set speed. The currently existing reference variable (that is, the actual value of the reference variable) can advantageously be determined. The actual value of the reference variable issued at the time of the change can advantageously be increased or decreased by exactly the amount that the driver enters by means of a change of the set speed as a driver command. The tuning process thereby advantageously takes place in the second operating mode by exactly this amount, just as the driver is used to from a conventional speed control device with a setpoint jump. The driver can thus experience the feedback in a particularly concise manner, and know that the change of the set speed was successful.
The following step is provided in another embodiment of the method: setting the reference variable to the sum of the actual value of the driving speed at the change and the difference value of the change. A control deviation can result due to a reference behavior of the speed control device or due to outside influences (e.g., wind). The driver can advantageously be provided with a tuning process as feedback, starting with the current driving speed (that is, the actual value of the driving speed). The tuning process experienced by the driver as feedback is thus more similar to the one after a constant drive (that is, a target value jump with a tuned state of the speed control device) and can thus advantageously provide an even better and more intuitive feedback of the change of the set speed.
In a further embodiment of the method, the system changes back to the first operating mode as soon as a period of the interruption criterion has elapsed. The period can advantageously be chosen in such a manner that the driver experiences a sufficient feedback regarding his change of the set speed. It is possible, for example, to choose the period such that the tuning process known to the driver as such from conventional speed control devices is predominantly finished.
In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the following step is provided: changing back to the first operating mode as soon as a control deviation of the interruption criterion (15) falls below a threshold. Advantageously, the extent to which the tuning process has progressed can thus be determined by means of the interruption criterion. The threshold for the control deviation can advantageously be chosen so as to ensure that the tuning process is terminated; that is, the driver has noticed it certainly also as feedback.
In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the following steps are provided: switching from the second operating mode to a third operating mode as soon as the interruption criterion is fulfilled; calculating a target value of the reference variable at the interruption criterion which corresponds to the first operating mode; determining the actual value of the reference variable at the interruption criterion, and bringing the reference variable from the actual value of the reference variable to the target value of the reference variable at the third operating mode; and changing from the third operating mode to the first operating mode after the approach.
A sudden change of the reference variable—which would be seen by the driver as a further tuning process in an annoying manner—can advantageously be prevented during the changeover from the second operating mode to the first operating mode. The third operating mode can advantageously be interposed until the reference variable is brought up to the target value of the reference variable. The target value of the reference variable can thereby be calculated by the corresponding device in such a manner, as if the speed control device would be in the first operating mode. Indeed, another reference variable is supplied to the speed control device, which lies between the actual value of the reference variable determined at the change and the target value of the reference variable. An approach in this context can mean a steady progress, for example a monotonously increasing or monotonously decreasing progress, which is actually the reference variable passed on to the speed control device during the third operating mode.
With a speed control device for the predictive control of the driving speed of a vehicle depending on a set speed which can be provided and on a distance profile of a section of road ahead of the vehicle, the object is further solved in that the speed control device is arranged to modify the driving speed in response to a sudden change of the set speed aligned with the change of the set speed, preferably by the same amount of change, and to regulate it temporarily to a constant speed level. The variation of the driving speed, otherwise dependent on the distance profile, is disabled temporarily by the temporary control to the constant speed level.
The distance profile of the section of road ahead of the vehicle, especially its elevation and/or the curvature profile, is determined in a predictive manner by a positioning determining system supported by satellite and a digital map.
The invention also provides a motor vehicle having a speed control device for controlling a driving speed of the vehicle. The speed control device is designed, arranged and/or constructed for carrying out a method described previously. The previously described advantages result.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Method and apparatus for controlling traveling speed of a vehicle


A resistor includes: a first resin protruding part formed in the bottom surface of an exterior material (mold resin body), on an end opposite to a leading side of harness wires along the length of the exterior material near a through-hole piercing an upper surface and a lower surface of the exterior material, and a second resin protruding part, surrounding the circumference of a metal bush embedded in the through-hole and the entire circumference of the resistor substrate. Moreover, a concave part is formed in a region sandwiched between the first resin protruding part and the second resin protruding part.

Power resistors may be used mounted on a heat absorber such as a mounting housing, heat sink, etc. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a power resistor including an approximately rectangular main body made of synthetic resin formed around a resistive element having a resistive film that is provided on a ceramic substrate, a bolt hole passing through the main body, and a step part or a protruding part provided on the bottom surface near one end of the main body.
Patent Document 2 discloses a semiconductor device having a structure where a supporting plate on which a semiconductor chip is fixed and a part of an external lead wire are covered with a sealing resin. Patent Document 3 discloses a film-type resistor designed to be mountable on a printed circuit board, including a flat ceramic chip, a resistor film applied on a top surface of the ceramic chip, terminals electrically joined to the resistive film, and a synthetic resin main body in which front end sections of the terminals and the upper surface of the ceramic chip are embedded.


An underlay body includes a surface on which a writing medium is placed, and a sensor that detects a pressure distribution on the surface.

The following apparatuses are known as an apparatus that acquires handwriting of a writing tool (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Electromagnetic-induction-type pen tablet: A coil that forms an electromagnetic field is integrated with a ballpoint pen including a pressure-detectable apparatus, and a position of the coil, that is, the ballpoint pen is detected using an electromagnetic induction digitizer tablet.
Ultrasonic wave sensor clip: Handwriting is specified by communicating, as well as emitting ultrasonic waves from a paperclip-type apparatus to detect a position of a pen, a pen-point pressure detection state of an electronic apparatus-equipped ballpoint pen using infrared rays.
Camera-equipped electronic pen: Minute dots printed on paper are read by a camera of a camera-equipped pen, and coordinates of the pen on the paper are detected from an arrangement shape of the dots.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2011-123833

Underlay body for acquisition of handwriting information


A unitized intake air delivery assembly is provided which minimizes the size of an engine by integrating the intake manifold and intake air heater within the cylinder head of the engine. In addition, an intake air heater is provided which can be easily mounted on existing engines with minimal expense and modifications. The air heater includes a heating element and a supporting frame wherein the heating element and substantially the entire heater frame is supported in the intake air passage formed by the delivery conduit and the intake air manifold. The frame includes a mounting flange of minimal thickness extending between the cylinder head and the air delivery conduit so as to minimize the impact of the air heater on the height of the engine. An electrical connection to the heating element is provided through a connector aperture formed in the side wall of the cylinder head.

It is well known that when ambient air temperatures are sufficiently low, a diesel engine requires assistance, such as the heating of intake air, to enable the engine to start. As a result, efforts have been made to improve cold engine starting and warming-up providing a means for increasing the temperature of the intake air. In addition, modern turbocharged and aftercooled engines require heating of intake air during certain operating conditions to avoid the occurrence of white smoke and other undesirable exhaust emissions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,377 to Reid discloses one approach to heating the intake air which includes a burner for injecting a spray of fuel into a burner assembly for combustion with intake air. A flame is produced which heats the intake air sufficiently to permit start up or minimize white smoke emissions. However, the burner assembly requires a separate housing mounted on an intake manifold which is formed separately from the engine cylinder head. Therefore, the burner assembly of Reid disadvantageously increases the overall size of the engine. Moreover, burner type air heaters have been found inferior to other heaters in certain applications, and are often complex and expensive as compared to other viable heating systems.
Another type of conventional air heater is an electrical resistance heater using a pattern of wires which generate heat when carrying electric current. U.S. Pat. No. 1,276,083 to Lake discloses one type of electrical heater for an engine including a ring positioned in each cylinder of the engine. The ring is connected to a source of electric power and becomes sufficiently hot when subjected to current so as to raise the temperature within the combustion chamber prior to starting the engine thereby ensuring fuel ignition and engine starting. However, this design requires an electric plate in each engine cylinder and therefore is expensive and difficult to maintain. Moreover, this design requires a specifically designed cylinder head with various connections not found on many conventional engines. Therefore, the Lake heater could not be retrofitted on most existing engines without unreasonable costs associated with either major modifications to existing cylinder heads or providing a completely new cylinder head. U.S. Pat. Nos. 909,898, 909,899 and 1,327,384 all disclose electrical fuel vaporizers positioned in the engine cylinders for assisting in the ignition of fuel. However, these devices all suffer from the same drawbacks of the heater disclosed in Lake.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,682,576 to Nakamura et al. and 2,177,840 to Roulalet both disclose an electric air heater positioned in an intake air manifold. However, the electric heater is positioned upstream of the cylinder head and the intake manifold is formed separately from the engine cylinder head. Consequently, the mounting of the heater increases the number of joints along the manifold which must be sealed. In addition, the air heater and manifold add to the outer extent of the engine thus often increasing the size of the engine beyond the packaging constraints of a particular application.
German Publication No. 4121075 generally discloses an air heater positioned in a branch duct communicating with only one cylinder. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,139,777, 4,108,953 and 4,325,344 all disclose fuel vaporizing devices mounted in intake manifolds formed separately from an engine cylinder head. The heaters and air delivery assemblies disclosed in all these references suffer from many of the disadvantages noted hereinabove.
Consequently, there is a need for an intake air heater and air delivery assembly capable of simple, inexpensive integrated mounting on engines while minimizing the size of the engine.

Intake air heater and air delivery assembly for engines


A virtual teaching system includes a semi-autonomous device to perform a task such as cleaning a target environment. The semi-autonomous device includes one or more sensors configured to record environmental data from the target environment that can be used to construct a virtual environment. The semi-autonomous device is operably coupled to an analysis system. The analysis system includes a processor to perform multiple functions, such as constructing the virtual environment from the recorded environmental data and supporting operation of a user interface. The user interface can be operably coupled to the processor, allowing a human operator to teach a virtual device in the virtual environment to perform an action sequence. Once the virtual device has been taught an action sequence in the virtual environment, the analysis system can transfer the recorded action sequence to the semi-autonomous device for use in the target environment.

Embodiments described herein relate to a system and method to virtually teach a semi-autonomous device. Semi-autonomous devices can be used to perform labor intensive tasks conventionally performed by humans. Before performing a task in a target environment, the semi-autonomous device is generally first taught to navigate the target environment by a skilled human operator in order to ensure the task can be performed efficiently and safely. Typically, the skilled human operator physically pilots the semi-autonomous device. While the semi-autonomous device is guided through the environment, the path of the semi-autonomous device is recorded. The semi-autonomous device can then follow the recorded path during operation. However, this approach to teaching the semi-autonomous device can be time consuming and labor intensive. In particular, if the semi-autonomous device exhibits an error or an undesirable behavior, one or more portions of the recorded path should be rerecorded. Additionally, the human operator should have sufficient expertise to teach the semi-autonomous device how to navigate the environment, which can add additional cost.

System and method to virtually teach a semi-autonomous device


A method and apparatus for scheduling data burst transmission in a wavelength-division-multiplexing photonic burst-switched network is disclosed. In one embodiment, a scheduler determines a set of weighting factors at each wavelength for each of the lightpath segments among all the network nodes. These weighting factors may be used to calculate a set of coarse-grained bandwidth allocation factors, one for each potential lightpath formed from the available lightpath segments between an ingress node and an egress node. The scheduler may schedule the transmission of the data burst on one of the lightpaths that has a coarse-grained bandwidth allocation factor which indicates that it can support the requested bandwidth. The scheduler may periodically update the set of weighting factors at each wavelength for each of the lightpath segments.

Transmission bandwidth demands in telecommunication networks (e.g., the Internet) appear to be ever increasing and solutions are being sought to support this bandwidth demand. One solution to this problem is to use fiber-optic networks, where wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) technology is used to support the ever-growing demand in optical networks for higher data rates.
Conventional optical switched networks typically use wavelength routing techniques, which require that optical-electrical-optical (OEO) conversion of optical signals is done at the optical switches. Performing OEO conversion at each switching node in the optical network is not only a relatively slow operation (typically about ten milliseconds), but is also very costly, consumes a lot of power, and potentially creates a traffic bottleneck for the optical switched network. In addition, the current optical switch technologies cannot efficiently support "bursty" traffic that is often experienced in packet communication applications (e.g., the Internet).
It may be possible to create a network where the OEO conversion at the switching nodes need not be performed. In such a case, the data traffic maybe electronically buffered at the ingress/egress nodes, and their transmission to egress/ingress nodes is placed upon network schedulers. Prior art bandwidth reservation mechanisms may not be adequate for enterprise networks to support the requested bandwidths, as they did not take into account the specific network topology and available resources such as the number of active wavelengths permitted, the lightpath utilization, and many other network parameters.

Method and apparatus of data and control scheduling in wavelength-division-multiplexed photonic burst-switched networks


A method for making a cooled component for a turbine engine includes casting an airfoil assembly having an airfoil with an airfoil cooling passage and extending from a platform with at least one platform cooling passage, and forming a connecting passage between the airfoil cooling air passage and the platform cooling air passage via a tool inserted into a breakout opening in a slashface of the platform.

Turbine engines, and particularly gas or combustion turbine engines, are rotary engines that extract energy from a flow of pressurized combusted gases passing through the engine onto a multitude of rotating turbine blades.
Turbine engines can be designed to operate at high temperatures to maximize efficiency, and suitable cooling of engine components can be beneficial for engine efficiency, longevity, and costs of operation.

Method of making a cooled airfoil assembly for a turbine engine


An apparatus and method for improving warm-up of a catalytic aftertreatment device is disclosed in which the flow to a catalyst brick is controlled using a flow control device so as to restrict the flow of exhaust gas to only a central core of the catalyst brick when rapid heating of the catalyst brick is desired to reach a light-off temperature and to otherwise allow the flow of exhaust gas to the entire front face of the catalyst brick. By restricting the area of the catalyst brick to which exhaust gas can flow the energy density of the exhaust gas flowing to the central core is higher than it is when there is no restriction of flow thereby reducing the time needed to warm-up the catalyst brick to a minimum light-off temperature.

Exhaust gas emissions from internal combustion engines may be reduced through the use of exhaust aftertreatment devices such as catalytic converters located in the exhaust system.
The operating efficiency of a catalytic converter may be temperature dependent and a catalytic converter or, to be more precise, the catalyst brick forming the active part of the catalytic converter may reach a minimum temperature (light-up/off temperature) before effective conversion of the exhaust gases occurs. This minimum temperature may be equal to a temperature in a region of 350 to 400° C. There is therefore a finite time during which the catalyst temperature will be below this minimum temperature following a cold engine start during a warm-up period. During this warm-up period the exhaust gas hydrocarbon emissions out of the engine may be high and it may be desirable to heat the catalyst to its minimum efficient operating temperature (the light-off temperature) as quickly as possible.
Previous attempts to rapidly raise the temperature of a catalytic converter following a cold start may include supplying more fuel to the engine which can be by way of applying an additional load to the engine by, for example, recharging batteries or other energy storage devices which will also increase the temperature of the exhaust gas flowing from the engine or increasing the engine idle speed to an artificially high level. Another option to reduce the time needed to reach the light-off temperature is to directly inject fuel just prior to or directly into the aftertreatment device itself which combusts and thereby may increase the temperature within the aftertreatment device.
However, the inventors herein have recognized potential issues with such systems. As one example, the above heating operations include inefficient operating conditions because the fuel consumption of the vehicle will be high during this mode of operation and such approaches will result in an unacceptably high fuel penalty.
It is an object of this disclosure to minimize the time taken for a catalytic exhaust aftertreatment device to reach light-off during an engine warm-up period by rapid heating of the aftertreatment device while minimizing any associated fuel penalty.
In one example, the issues described above may be addressed by an emission control system having an electronic controller, an electrically controllable actuator operable in response to a control output from the electronic controller and a catalytic aftertreatment device connected to an exhaust outlet from an engine, the catalytic aftertreatment device comprising a housing defining an inlet flow passage, an outlet flow passage and a chamber in which is located a catalyst and a flow control device positioned upstream from the catalyst, the flow control device comprising inner and outer exhaust gas flow passages linking the inlet flow passage to the catalyst and a flow regulating means to selectively vary the flow of exhaust gas through the outer exhaust gas flow passage wherein the electrically controllable actuator is connected to the flow regulating means to limit the flow of exhaust gas flowing through the outer exhaust gas flow passage to speed up light-off of the catalytic aftertreatment device following a cold start up of the engine. In this way, a portion of the catalyst may be rapidly heated during the cold start up of the engine.
As one example, the flow regulating means may comprise one of a number of vanes and a number of flaps rotatable from a first position in which substantially no exhaust gas can flow through the outer exhaust gas flow passage to a second position in which there is substantially no restriction to the flow of exhaust gas through the outer exhaust gas flow passage. The outer gas flow passage may be an annular exhaust gas flow passage. The flow regulating means may comprise a number of vanes and the vanes may be spaced circumferentially around the annular exhaust gas flow passage. Each of the vanes may be arranged to rotate about a respective pivot axis that extends radially outwardly from a longitudinal axis of the catalytic aftertreatment device. The vanes may be linked together by a linkage mechanism so as to be moveable in unison between the first and second positions. The linkage mechanism may have an input member for connecting the linkage mechanism to a common actuator. The electronic controller may be arranged to move the vanes to the first position when it is desired to speed up light-off of the catalytic aftertreatment device and move the vanes to the second position when light-off has occurred. The system may further comprise at least one of an exhaust gas temperature sensor and an exhaust gas emission sensor to provide an indication to the electronic controller when light-off has occurred. The electrically controllable actuator may be connected to the input member of the linkage mechanism. According to a second aspect of the disclosure there is provided a motor vehicle having an emission control system constructed in accordance with said first aspect of the disclosure. According to a third aspect of the disclosure there is provided a method for reducing the time needed for a catalytic aftertreatment device forming part of an emission control system constructed in accordance with said first aspect of the disclosure that is connected to receive exhaust gas from an engine to reach a light-off temperature, wherein the method comprises establishing whether an engine start-up is a cold engine start up and if the start-up is a cold engine start-up using the electrically controllable actuator to control the flow regulating means to restrict the flow of exhaust gas through the outer flow passage so as to speed up light-off of the catalytic aftertreatment device.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Warm-up of a catalytic aftertreatment device


A method and apparatus for raising a self-propelled pool cleaner from a surface of a pool. The cleaner includes an interior chamber, a lower portion with an inlet and an upper portion with an outlet. Rotatably-mounted supports guide the cleaner along the pool surface. An interior water pump draws water/debris through the inlet, the debris is filtered in the interior chamber, and filtered water exits through the outlet to propel the cleaner during a cleaning operation. A buoy assembly is tethered to the cleaner via a retractable cable. When the cleaner is submerged, the cable is released and the buoy assembly floats on the water surface while tethered to the submerged cleaner. The cleaner can receive a command signal from a controller to exit from the pool, and the cable is retracted to cause the cleaner to rise from the submerged surface of the pool.

Self-propelled robotic pool cleaners include one or more drive motors to move or otherwise propel the cleaner over a surface of a pool being cleaned. Electric power to the cleaner can be provided by an external power supply via a power cable, which is typically fabricated from two wire conductors having sufficient length to enable the cleaner to move over the bottom and side surfaces of the pool. Alternatively, electric power for the cleaner can be provided by an on-board battery or battery pack. The power supply provides electrical power to drive one or more electric motors that propel the cleaner over the pool surfaces. For example, the one or more motors can rotate the wheels, roller brushes, and/or tracks directly or via a gear/belt drive assembly. Alternatively, a pump motor having one or more propellers can be used to discharge a pressurized stream of filtered water in the form of a water jet that also propels the cleaner in a direction opposite the water jet. The incoming power from the power cable can also be directed to an on-board controller that includes a microcontroller, logic circuitry and/or programs to control the movement of the cleaner. The movement of the cleaner can be random, but is preferably in accordance with a predetermined cleaning pattern.
The robotic pool cleaner includes one or more inlets formed at the bottom or base of the cleaner housing through which water and debris are drawn into the housing interior for filtering. The debris is retained by the filter and the filtered water is then discharged from the cleaner back into the pool.
Removal of the cleaner from the pool is often necessary or desirable in various circumstances, for example, once the pool has been cleaned, the on-board battery power is low, the filter is full or any other condition that necessitates the cleaner to be removed from the pool. The user typically removes the cleaner manually from the swimming pool by lifting the cleaner out and placing it on a pool deck or a cart brought near the edge of the pool. Where the cleaner is powered by an external supply via a power cable, the power cable is often pulled or otherwise "reeled in" by a user from the edge of the pool until the cleaner can be grasped by hand and manually lifted out of the pool. For robotic pool cleaners that are powered by an internal battery, the user must "hope" that the cleaner still has enough power to reach and climb the sidewall of the pool for removal while the user is present, and if not, must physically enter the swimming pool to retrieve the cleaner.
As some individuals find that manually removing the pool cleaner from the pool can be time consuming and physically demanding, it would be advantageous to provide a robotic pool cleaner that can better lift and rise up from the bottom surface of a pool in a controlled manner for retrieval by an end user along the deck of the swimming pool.

Self-propelled robotic swimming pool cleaner with retractably tethered floating buoy


An embodiment of the present invention provides a stereoscopic image displaying apparatus comprising a displaying panel that receives image data displaying an image and black data displaying no image for each frame section, and a polarization control panel that is located over the displaying panel and changes a polarization state.

1. Field of the Invention
This document relates to a stereoscopic image displaying apparatus and a method of driving the stereoscopic image displaying apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Stereoscopic image displaying apparatuses may be classified into stereoscopic technique-based apparatuses and autostereoscopic technique-based apparatuses.
The stereoscopic technique-based apparatus use binocular disparity between the left and right eyes and have a large three-dimensional effect. The stereoscopic technique-based apparatus include glasses type and non-glasses type, both of which are currently commercially available. In a glasses type device, left and right images having different polarization directions are displayed on a direct view type displaying panel or projector, or left and right images are displayed on the direct view type displaying panel or projector in a time-split manner. The left and right images can be seen by use of polarization glasses or liquid crystal shutter glasses. In a non-glasses type device, an optical plate, such as parallax barrier, is generally provided at the front or rear side of a displaying panel to separate the optical axes of left and right images.
The glasses type device includes a polarization control panel, such as a retarder, between a displaying panel and polarization glasses to change polarization characteristics of light. The glasses type device alternately displays a left eye image and a right eye image on the displaying panel, and changes polarization characteristics of light incident on the polarization glasses through the polarization control panel. Accordingly, since the glasses type device can display the left eye image and the right eye image in a time-split manner, a stereoscopic image may be implemented without a lowering in resolution.
In the related art glasses type stereoscopic image displaying apparatus, image frame data are supplied to the displaying panel through one gate line, and this increases a coupling region between the displaying panel and the polarization control panel. Accordingly, a difference in transmissivity occurs between the left eye image and the right eye image. Further, crosstalk occurs at at least one of the left eye image and the right eye image due to increase in an intersecting section between the displaying panel and the polarization control panel.
Accordingly, there is a need for a stereoscopic image displaying apparatus that may prevent crosstalk from occurring between the left eye image and the right eye image to provide a stressed stereoscopic feeling.

Stereoscopic image display apparatus and method of driving the same


An article of manufacture and system are provided for allocating storage space to a storage pool. A request for storage space for the storage pool is received. A list of locations associated with the storage pool is obtained, wherein the locations are capable of spanning multiple file systems or multiple directories within a single file system. One or more allocation techniques are applied to select one or more locations at which storage space is to be allocated. The storage space is allocated at the selected one or more locations.

1. Field
Implementations of the invention relate to storage pool space allocation across multiple locations.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are various known techniques for storing data for a storage management application. These storage techniques are often implemented using a storage management server (e.g., a Tivoli Storage Manager™ product marketed by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)) that can store data objects, such as user files, in one or more locations within storage pools. The storage-management server frequently uses a database for tracking information about the stored objects, including the attributes and locations of the objects in the storage pools.
After being stored on the storage management server, data objects can be moved and copied using data-transfer operations, such as migration in which objects are moved from one storage pool to another storage pool. For example, an object may be migrated from relatively fast and expensive storage such as a disk to relatively slow and inexpensive storage such as tape. Additional data transfer operations include storage pool backups in which objects in one storage pool are duplicated or copied to another pool for availability and recovery purposes.
Some computing systems facilitate all-disk storage solutions. However, these computing systems are not able to ensure that sufficient storage space is made available on-demand. That is, these computing systems require pre-allocation of large amounts of storage space in advance.
Storage pools are groupings of volumes, and the volumes may be represented by a grouping of data that may be physical or logical. In conventional computing systems, each storage pool is associated with a single directory of a single file system. A file system may be described as a system that manages Input/Output (I/O) operations to files and controls the format of information on storage devices. In particular, a file system allows applications to create and manage files on storage devices and to perform I/O operations to those files. A file system may also be described as a collection of files and certain attributes associated with those files.
A storage management server stores data from a storage management client in its own storage space. The storage management server is able to perform backup, archival, space management, and other operations in which data is stored in storage pools on behalf of storage management clients. This storage space may include random access volumes or sequential access volumes. When a file is used in random access mode, portions of the file may be written non-sequentially. When a file is used in sequential access mode, the storage management server stores the data sequentially. Both random access volumes and sequential access volumes may be pre-allocated or acquired dynamically. Traditionally, files are created and deleted from a volume on an as-needed basis, and space for the files is acquired on an as-needed basis. Such files are typically created and deleted within a single directory of a file system. This limitation prevents storage creation within multiple directories of a file system or within multiple file systems, which imposes a restriction on the capacity and scalability of random access and sequential access storage pools.
Thus, there is a continued need in the art for improved storage pool space allocation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Article of manufacture and system for storage pool space allocation across multiple locations


In a semiconductor memory device, a first load circuit is coupled with the column lines, first dummy cells are connected to a dummy column line, a second load circuit is connected to the dummy column line, a second dummy cell is connected to the dummy column line, and a sense amplifier senses the data stored in the memory cell in accordance with a potential difference between the column line and the dummy column line. In semiconductor memory devices thus arranged, the second dummy cell is set in an on state normally. The connection of the second dummy cell with the dummy line changes a current flowing to the dummy line at the time of row line switching, thereby to hold back a rise of the reference potential at the time of the row line switching.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device improved in a reference potential generating circuit for a sense amplifier and load circuits for memory cells.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional semiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 1 is an erasable and programmable ROM (EPROM) using floating gate MOSFETs as memory cells.
In the figure, MC11, MC12, . . . , MCln designate floating gate MOSFETs; DC a floating gate MOSFET as a dummy cell; WL1, WL2, . . . , WLm row lines; BL1, BL2, . . . , BLn column lines; DBL a dummy column line; 11 a row decoder; 12 a column decoder; BT1, BT2, . . . , BTn column gate MOSFETs for column selection; DBT a MOSFET that is equivalent to the column gate MOSFET and is normally in a conductive state with application of a power voltage Vcc to the gate of the MOSFET; 13A a first bias setting circuit made up of n-channel MOSFETs QM1 to QM6; 14A a first load circuit made up of a p-channel MOSFET QM7; 13B a second bias setting circuit made up of n-channel MOSFET QD1 to QD6; 14B a second load circuit made up of a p-channel MOSFET QM7; 15 a sense amplifier; and 16 an output buffer.
In the description to follow, MOSFETs whose channels are not specified will be treated as n-channel MOSFETs.
The dummy cell DC consists of a MOSFET equivalent to that of a memory cell MC that is any of the memory cells MC11 to MCmn. The dummy column line DBL is equivalent to the column line BL that is any of those column lines BL1 to BLn.
A potential V1 at the output node of a low potential generating circuit formed of MOSFETs QM2 and QM3, which is lower than the power voltage Vcc, is applied to the gate of a MOSFET QM1 in the first bias setting circuit 13A. A potential V2 at the output node of a low potential generating circuit formed of MOSFETs QM5 and QM6, which is lower than the node potential V1, is applied to the gate of a MOSFET QM4. The node potential V2 is set at a voltage which is the sum of a potential on the column line BL when a predetermined current flows into the memory cell MC, and a threshold voltage of the n-channel MOSFET containing an increased threshold voltage due to the substrate bias effect. The MOSFET QM4 is an initial charging MOSFET for quickening an initial charging to the column line BL in which the column line BL is charged from an initial voltage 0 V. The initial charging MOSFET is rendered nonconductive when the column line potential exceeds a potential on the column line when a predetermined current flows into the memory cell MC.
In the EPROM thus arranged, a reference potential Vref is generated by the second load circuit 14B on the basis of the data in the dummy cell DC, and appears at a node B. An input potential Vin is generated by the first load circuit 14A on the basis of the data read out of a memory cell MC as selected by the output signals of the row decoder 11 and the column decoder 12, and appears at a node A. The sense amplifier 15 compares the reference potential Vref and the input potential Vin to sense a type of the data stored in the memory cell MC. The sensed data is amplified by the sense amplifier 15, and outputted through the output buffer 16.
In each memory cell of the EPROM, data is programmed by selectively injecting electrons into the floating gate of the cell. For injecting electrons into the floating gate, a high voltage, e.g., 12.5 to 21 V, which is much higher than the normal power voltage, e.g., 5 V, is applied to the column line and row lines as are selected by the row decoder 11 and the column decoder 12. Under such a high voltage, an impact ionization occurs in the vicinity of the drain of the memory cell located at a cross point of the selected row and column lines, to generate electron-hole pairs. Of the generated electron-hole pairs, the electrons are injected into the floating gate of the memory cell. A threshold voltage of the memory cell injected with electrons is much higher than that of the memory cell not injected. The memory cell whose floating gate is injected with electrons maintains an off-state even if a signal of "1" level (power voltage Vcc) is supplied to the control gate of the cell, or the row line. Under the same condition, the memory cell not injected with electrons is turned on. Since the dummy cell DC is not injected with electrons, no potential difference is caused between the potentials Vref and Vin.
To avoid this, a channel width WD7 of the MOSFET QD7 in the second load circuit 14B is set to be larger than that WM7 of the MOSFET QM7 in the first load circuit 14A. With such a channel width selection, a conduction resistance of the MOSFET QD7 is smaller than that of the MOSFET QM7. To be more specific, the conduction resistance of the MOSFET QD7 is so selected that the reference potential Vref is between the Vin potential when the electron injected memory cell is selected and the Vin potential when the non-electron injected memory cell is selected. With such an arrangement, even when the non-electron injected memory cell is selected, a preset potential difference is caused between the potentials Vref and Vin. When the selected memory cell is an electron injected one, the potential Vin represents a potential which is the result of subtraction of the threshold voltage of the load MOSFET QM7 from the power source voltage Vcc.
In the subsequent description, the electron injected memory cell or the memory cell with a high threshold level will be assumed to be a memory cell storing "0" data. The non-electron injected memory cell or the memory cell with a low threshold voltage will be assumed to be a memory cell storing "1" data.
In the above EPROM, the data read out by the sense amplifier is received by the buffer 16, and the buffer 16 outputs the data. In the output buffer 16, it is necessary to charge and discharge an external large load capacitor. Therefore, when the output buffer 16 produces the data, noise is generated in the power source. The noise causes a variation in the power source voltage Vcc. As recalled, the conduction resistance of the MOSFET QD7 in the second load circuit 14B is different from that of the MOSFET QM7 in the first load circuit 14A. Therefore, these transistors respond to the power voltage variation in a different way. In an extreme case, a proper amplitude relationship between the potentials Vin and Vref is reversed, so that the sense amplifier may produce erroneous data. Such a malfunction of the sense amplifier should be avoided.
The EPROM of FIG. 1 will encounter a situation that a row line connected to the memory cells of "1" data that is currently selected is switched to another row line connected to the memory cell having the same data, and subsequently the data are successively read out from the memory cells on the new row.
In such a situation, the memory cells selected anew are insufficiently turned on in the initial stage, until the potential of the row line selected anew reaches power source voltage Vcc. Consequently, the potential of the selected bit line is temporarily increased. The threshold voltage of the memory cell of the floating gate structure is approximately 2 V. During the transient period of time that the row lines are switched one from the other, the memory cells connected to the selected column line are instantaneously in an off-state. Because of this, at the time of switching the row lines, there occurs a charging operation for the column line, and the potential Vin of the node A temporarily rises, as shown in FIG. 2.
Meanwhile, since the dummy cell DC is placed always in an on state by the power voltage Vcc, the reference potential Vref is always constant as shown in FIG. 2 showing waveforms of potentials Vref and Vin. When the potential Vin rises and crosses a line of the reference potential Vref as shown, the sense amplifier 15 temporarily produces the data of an improper logic level. As a result, the output data of the buffer 16 varies its logic level, "1".fwdarw."0".fwdarw."1", during a short period. Therefore, an inductance component existing in the lead creates a great variation of the earth voltage, possibly causing a malfunction of a circuit in the EPROM.
To prevent the malfunction of the circuit due to a variation of the earth voltage, there has been proposed an EPROM as shown in FIG. 3.
In this EPROM, the dummy cells DC1 to DCm are provided corresponding to row lines WL1 to WLm, respectively. The control gates of the dummy cells DC1 to DCm are connected to the row lines WL1 to WLm, respectively. And, the drains of the dummy cells DC1 to DCm are connected to a dummy column line DBL.
In the arrangement of the EPROM, the dummy cells are controlled by the signals on the row lines. Even in the situation that the row lines are switched from one to the other, and succeeding to the memory cell storing data "1" on the previous or old row line, the memory cell storing the data "1" on the present or new row line are subjected to the read operation, the dummy column line DBL is charged by the load circuit 14B at the time of switching the row lines. Accordingly, as seen from FIG. 4 showing waveforms, the reference potential Vref rises as the potential Vin ("1" level) rises. In the EPROM, the potential Vin does not cross the curve of the reference potential Vref. The output data of the output buffer 16 is invariable, and no variation of the earth voltage is caused.
The rise of the potentials Vin and Vref is caused by the charging operation at the time of switching of the row lines and hence the degree of the potential rise is different depending on the conduction resistances of the MOSFETs QM7 and QD7 in the load circuits 14A and 14B. As described above, the conduction resistance of the MOSFET QD7 is set much smaller than that of MOSFET QM7. Because of this, the reference potential Vref rises to a level (denoted by Vref in FIG. 5) much higher than a level (denoted by a broken line in FIG. 5) in which the reference potential Vref in the FIG. 1 circuit is. Therefore, the reading speed for "0" data of the circuit shown in FIG. 3 is lower by time T (FIG. 5) than that of the circuit shown in FIG. 1.
As described above, in a conventional semiconductor memory device, when the row lies are switched under the condition that a memory cell storing "1" data is selected to select a memory cell storing "1" data, error data is outputted, and a noise occurs in the power source to consequently cause a malfunction of the semiconductor memory device.
In another conventional semiconductor memory device solving the above problem, a variation of the reference potential is greater than that of the input potential. Therefore, the data reading speed when the selected row line is switched becomes slow.
A characteristic curve depicted by a solid line in FIG. 6 shows a voltage vs. current characteristic curve of the first load circuit 14A in the conventional semiconductor memory device. In the figure, the abscissa represents a potential Vin at the node A and the ordinates a load current flowing into the load circuit. It is assumed that Vin ("1" level) is a potential at the node A caused when the memory cell of a low threshold voltage is selected and a memory cell current Icell flows, and Vin ("0" level) is a potential at the node A and Vref is a potential at the node B.
It has been known that the time required for the row line selection and the time required for the charging or discharging of the junction capacitance connected to the row line greatly determine a data read speed of a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device of the structure shown in FIG. 1. A signal delay time in the row line depends largely on a resistance of the material of the row line. For this reason, tungsten silicide has recently superseded polysilicon used conventionally. The resistance of tungsten silicide is smaller than that of polysilicon, As a result, the data read speed depends largely on the charging and discharging speed of the junction capacitance connected to the column line. Particularly, when the column line is switched one from the other, and the memory cell of a high threshold voltage is selected, the charging to the new selected column line starts at the voltage of 0 V. Accordingly, capacitance connected to the column lines has become large, with the increase of the semiconductor memory capacity. Accordingly, to realize a high speed read operation, it is necessary to quicken both the charging speed of the column line and the read operation for reading out the "0" data. In conventional measures taken for this, the column line is charged at a high speed through the initial charging transistor QM4 when the potential is less than Vin ("1" level). When the potential of the column line BL exceeds Vin ("1" level), the transistor QM4 becomes nonconductive. At this time, only the p-channel transistor QM7 in the load circuit 14A charges the column line BL. Since the gate of the p-channel transistor QM7 is connected to the drain thereof, when the potential Vin at the node A rises, a conduction resistance of this transistor QM7 rapidly increases, and a charge current rapidly decreases. Therefore, it takes much time for the potential at the node A to rise from Vin ("1" level) to Vin ("0" level), lowering the data read speed. In other words, the time taken for the node A potential to rise from Vin ("1" level) to Vin ("0" level) can be reduced by increasing the the channel width of the transistor QM7 and reducing its conduction resistance. However, the decrease of the conduction resistance of the transistor QM7 creates another problem that a margin for the power source noise is narrowed.
In FIG. 6, a characteristic curve as indicated by a dotted line is obtained for the transistor QM7 whose conduction resistance is 1/2 that of the same transistor when the cell current vs. input voltage Vin characteristic thereof is indicated by a solid line. When the 1/2 conduction resistance of the transistor QM7 is set, the potential Vin at the node A when the memory cell storing the "1" data, viz., the memory cell of a low threshold voltage, is selected, is Vin ("1" level)'. The potential Vref at the node B is set at exactly the middle point between the potential Vin ("1" level)' at the node A when the memory cell of "1" data is selected and that Vin ("0" level) when the memory cell storing "0" data, i.e., the memory cell of a low threshold voltage. Accordingly, the conduction resistance of the p-channel MOS transistor QD7 in the second load circuit 14B is so selected that the potential at node B when the 1/2 conduction resistance of transistor QM7 is set is equal to Vref as {Vin ("0" level)-Vin ("1" level)}/2. As a result, when the data of "1" or "0" is selected, a difference between the potential at the node B and that at the node A is reduced by {Vin ("1" level)'-Vin ("1" level)}/2. Generally, the ground potential greatly varies when the data is outputted from the output buffer. At this time, the potentials at the nodes A and B also vary due to the ground potential variation. In the first and second load circuits 14A and 14B, the conduction resistances of the transistors QM7 and QD7 are different from each other. The variation in the potentials at the nodes A and B are different. Accordingly, a small difference of the potential between the nodes A and B causes a malfunction of the circuit.
As described above, the conventional semiconductor memory device improved in the read speed by using a small conduction resistance in the load circuit is apt to malfunction due to the power noise.

Semiconductor memory device with address transition actuated dummy cell


There are provided surge protection devices for undersea optical repeaters. An optical repeater drive circuit incorporating a diode chain design includes a diode array formed of a plurality of banks of two or more parallel forward-biased diodes, each diode in a given bank being in electrical contact with all the diodes in adjacent banks; and, optical repeater control circuitry connected in parallel with the diode array. A component for providing surge protection to an optical repeater incorporates a substrate formed of an insulating material and a first substantially planar conducting coil embedded within the substrate.

A typical optically amplified undersea cable system employs a number of optical repeaters and thus requires a power supply for operation. For conventional systems each repeater requires circa 30V at 1 A, and the system may contain as many as 200 repeaters on a typical 6000 km trans-Atlantic application. To power the ensemble of repeaters a series connection technique is chosen using a constant current supply and earth return. Typically cable resistances are circa 1 Ohm/km and as such a total voltage would be 6 kV for the cable resistive losses and 6 kV for the repeaters of the above example. Voltage clamping in each repeater is used to extract operational current and bypass the excess—allowing for any repeater ageing or line current fluctuation, whilst maintaining a nominally constant voltage within the repeater for its control circuitry.
The use of a local earth return at the Power Feeding Equipment (PFE), allows for greater power efficiency than by using an isolated return current cable. For instance a typical earth may be 10 Ohms so dropping 10V at each station if the line current is 1 A, where-as a return cable would be 6000 Ohm dropping 6 kV total, entailing a higher supply system voltage and additional costs associated with a return cable, and also there is the cost of additional copper
The example described gives a total line voltage of 12 kV. Such a substantial voltage is undesirable due to additional insulation requirements and stresses on the system elements. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical implementation, where here two PFE's are installed, one supplying +6 kV and the other −6 kV, each at 1 A. Thus half the maximum 12 kV is rendered on any system element. In addition a single PFE failure may be overcome by temporarily increasing the voltage of the remaining one to maintain system operation until repair may be undertaken.
Submarine cable is typically coaxial containing a power member surrounded by insulation and then an optional outer earthed screen which in turn will be in contact with seawater. The structure typically has a capacitance of 0.2 uF/km and characteristic impendence of around 28 Ohms. These features have to be carefully considered in the design, particularly with high voltage with regards to damage protection of repeaters from cable faults or current surges from shore end lightning strikes.
The large line voltages discussed above lead to significant stress on repeater components. Components capable of dealing with such voltages are typically large, and repeaters containing them are correspondingly large. This is a significant expense when considering undersea repeaters.
For example, conventionally, repeater circuitry is protected from current surges by Zener diodes connected in parallel to the control circuitry of the repeater and also by the provision of air cored coil inductors. However, these components are necessarily large (in view of the voltages and possible surge currents involved) and are unsuitable for the provision of miniaturised repeaters.

Repeater surge coil and diode chain design


A warming blanket having a temperature sensing element for sensing the temperature of the warming blanket. The temperature sensor may be a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) element that is threaded throughout the blanket. In one embodiment, the temperature sensing element runs perpendicular or transverse to the heating wires in the warming blanket, permitting the temperature sensing element to measure an average blanket temperature. In another embodiment, the heating element is supplied as a pair of buss wires extending along opposite sides of the warming blanket and having a number of heating wires extending therebetween. In this embodiment, the temperature sensing elements may run either parallel to or transverse to the heating elements. Temperature changes/signals in the temperature sensing element are sent to a microprocessor, which in turn changes the wattage of the heating elements to prevent overheating of the warming blanket.

The present invention relates generally to fabrics, and more particularly to electric heating fabrics such as warming blankets.
In general, a warming blanket, also called an xe2x80x9celectric blanket,xe2x80x9d or an xe2x80x9celectric heating blanket,xe2x80x9d is a blanket or another fabric material having an insulated electric heating element. The heating element is typically provided as one or more metallic wires threaded in a serpentine pattern throughout the blanket or arranged as a collection of parallel wires. The shape and size of the metallic wires varies, and in some cases the wires can actually be small metallic threads.
A warming blanket is typically plugged into a power outlet so that power may be supplied to the heating element, causing the production of heat. In this manner, the warming blanket may be a warm, comfortable cover used to warm a bed or may be wrapped around an individual as a heated, comfortable throw blanket, for example. A separate category of electrically heated bedding includes mattress pads. Mattress pads are typically placed under the warming blanket are utilized to warm the bed before use or to provide comfortable heat in the event the user does not wish to be covered with a fabric.
Contemporary warming blankets usually include a user control, such as a dial, that permits a user to set the amount of heat output of the blanket. This feature allows the consumer to set the blanket to a setting that offers the desired amount of heat for a particular temperature and in accordance with the comfort level of the individual.
The present invention provides a warming blanket having a temperature sensing wire threaded through the warming blanket to sense the temperature of the warming blanket. The warming blanket may alternatively be any type of warming fabric, such as a heated throw, mattress pad, heating pad, car seat heater, as examples. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the temperature sensor is a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) device that is threaded throughout the blanket fabric.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the temperature sensing wire runs transverse to the heating wires in the warming blanket. This feature permits the temperature sensing wire to measure an average blanket temperature, because the temperature sensing elements cross portions of the blanket that have heating wires, and portions that do not have heating wires.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the heating element is supplied as a pair of buss wires extending along opposite sides of the warming blanket and having a number of heating wires extending therebetween. In this embodiment, the temperature sensing elements may run either parallel to or transverse to the heating elements.
Information from temperature changes in the temperature sensing element of the present invention may be provided to a microcomputer so that the microcomputer may adjust the heat output of the heating element in the warming blanket. In this manner, the temperature sensing wire and the microcomputer behave similar to a thermostat. If PTC is used as the heat-sensing material for the temperature sensing element, in one example a reference voltage (e.g., 5 volts) is applied to a length of the PTC element. Because resistance of the PTC material changes with changes in temperature, the current flowing through the PTC sensing element will increase or decrease as a result of temperature changes. The current change may be measured, and correlates with temperature changes in the PTC element, either locally or over long lengths of the sensing element.
In one embodiment of the invention, the end of the PTC sensing element opposite the end where voltage is applied is connected to a fixed resistor, which in turn is connected to ground. A voltage signal is tapped from a point between the PTC sensing element and the fixed resistor, and information about the voltage is sent to the microcomputer. As the temperature of the PTC sensing element increases, its resistance increases and in turn the voltage signal to the microcomputer decreases. The microcomputer may then, for example, decrease the amount of power supplied to the heating elements, or may cut the power to the heating elements altogether.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the PTC sensing element is formed by extruding a PTC compound onto a nonmetallic core or carrier. As an example, the nonmetallic carrier is a polymeric material, such as a polyester core.
Because the core of the PTC temperature sensing wire is nonmetallic, the sensing element is flexible and has a thin profile. In addition, the sensing element is lightweight, and thus does not add significant bulk to a warming blanket. Moreover, since the temperature sensing elements cover the warming blanket, it is possible to detect localized overheating in the warming blanket, no matter where the localized heating may occur in the blanket.
The fixed resistor requires very little additional PC board area and may be added to existing warming blanket controls with little effort or cost. As such, adding the resistor and microcomputer to conventional warming blanket controls requires very little modification.

Temperature sensor for a warming blanket


The present invention relates to a laminated structural sheet material or board having a planar configuration and comprising a hollow core portion and metallic foil exterior surfaces especially useful for forming ductwork, headers and deflectors in heating and cooling systems. The sheet material is substantially moistureproof, smokeproof and fireproof for forming such ductwork, headers and deflectors in combination with ceiling and/or floor joists and flooring materials, the material or board being readily bendable and having scored edges for attachment to wooden ceiling and/or floor joists in planar or angled relation.

It has been conventional practice in building structural buildings for both residential and commercial use to form the major portions of heating and cooling ducts using sheet metal such as galvanized sheet steel. The ducts must be fabricated on the job site by metalworking personnel who must cut and shape the sheets to size to form the ducts and associated headers to lead to registers located in both floors and walls as well as ceilings. Many prior art forms of such ducts and headers have tried to provide insulated ductwork in the form of sheets, but virtually all forms have been either too costly or difficult to install in a timely and efficient manner. Many have involved sheets having spacer means therewithin for creating air gaps between roofs and ceilings, and insulation by providing the sheet with corrugations and insulating material.
The use of sheet metal in forming ductwork is expensive and time-consuming in the construction of buildings requiring special skills for metalworking and its installation. Such all-metal ducts experience damage due to dampness which can and does occur in the ducts resulting in deterioration of the ducts and adjacent wooden members such as floors and joists. The all-metal ducts have no insulating value unless some form of insulating material be additionally provided. The ducts when employed to carry heated or cooled air experience uncontrolled expansion and/or contraction which cause undesirable sound effects when the ducts create small to large unexpected and irregular boomlike effects. The dampness, over time, also causes rusting of the ductwork and its attachment means such as nails or staples.
In addition to the aforesaid types of metal sheeting for ductwork, other forms of heat-reflective insulation can be manufactured in collapsed form, such as being rolled upon itself into a compact cylindrical roll, for storage and transportation. The insulation can be unrolled and expanded for insulation by attachment to adjacent structural members such as floor and ceiling joists in a building. The insulation is folded in such a manner that the material in flat form, which may be folded by accordion pleats, can be cut to size for installation in lengthy runs as required. Such material is intended to provide heat reflective insulation of predetermined dimensions to fit within the framework of a building with marginal edge portions for attachment to structural members. Such insulation is intended to serve an insulating purpose only and is not designed to provide ductwork as such. Actually, it does not have the structural strength, or rigidity to form ductwork, deflectors or headers in heating or cooling systems.
In the manufacture and use of metal sheet material for ductwork, the material is normally called "panning material" for forming such ducts and headers leading to forced air or gravity flow air registers in floors, walls and ceilings. The term "panning" has become a generic word in the trade for material which is used in flat form in many cases and is bent into various shapes and contours for customized ductwork depending upon the structural requirements of the particular building.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a structural panning material or board for forming ductwork and headers, the material being rigid and yet plyable, moistureproof, fireproof and smokeproof for such purposes.
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved panning material which is economical to manufacture and install in many shaped contours in forming ducts and headers, the material being simplified in design, fireproof, strong and durable for long-term use for the intended purposes. The material combines the best features of corrugated paper board and heat-reflective metallic foil exterior surfaces as well as scored side edge portions for ready installation in both planar and angled relation.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a durable moistureproof, fireproof and smokeproof structural panning material which is relatively rigid yet plyable and bendable to form various configurations of heating and cooling ducts, and header members which are utilized therewith, the material having a substantial bursting strength and a suitable fire resistance rating for safe and approved use in both residential and commercial buildings.

Laminated non-combustible board for forming ductwork and headers


A direct current power system includes a common direct current (DC) bus configured to supply power to a plurality of loads. A plurality of alternating current (AC) to DC converter bridges supply DC power to the common CD bus. Each of the AC to DC converter bridges is connected to the common DC bus by at least one split DC link. The at least one split DC link includes a small capacitor connected across output terminals of the respective AC to DC converter bridge and at least one diode coupled between two terminals of the small capacitor and the large capacitor in a way to block an instantaneous current flow from the common DC bus to the respective AC to DC converter bridge in case of a fault of the AC to DC converter bridge.

The invention relates generally to power transmission and more specifically to a system and method for transmitting direct current electrical power to marine or subsea electrical equipment.
In the last few decades, the field of power conversion has grown tremendously due to its imminent advantages in motor drives, renewable energy systems, high voltage direct current (HVDC) systems, and the like. For example, a subsea oil and gas production system which requires hundreds of megawatts of electric power may employ a HVDC transmission and distribution system for delivery of electric power. Furthermore, in recent time, marine traffic has also increased substantially across the world due to tremendous rise in cargo transport vessels, warships, offshore oil ships, passenger ships etc. These vessels or ships have many electrical loads on board. Variable speed electric drives for pumps, fans, electric propulsion installations, lighting and air conditioning are some examples of the electrical loads on board of a ship.
Often subsea and marine power supply circuit arrangements include a direct current (DC) power system including a DC bus to which a plurality of power converters and a plurality of loads are connected. Power converters supply energy to the plurality of loads via the common DC bus. The common DC bus also includes a plurality of capacitors. Such a power system poses significant protection problems due to a large number of subsystems in the circuit. The protection problems are exacerbated by the subsea environment and the customer requests of system availability for several years without maintenance. It is therefore necessary to design the overall set of subsystems connected to the common DC bus in a way that limits the damages when even just one of the subsystem fails because of a short-circuit fault. The main problem is discharge of large quantity of energy accumulated in the capacitors that are connected to the common DC bus.
Utilizing DC circuit breakers for interrupting the DC fault current is one of the solutions for the above protection problem. Another solution is to use overdesigned sub-systems so that they can withstand the energy discharged by the capacitors during the fault. However, these solutions involve costly and bulky components which further involve problems such as space constraints.
Therefore, there still exists a need for a compact and a reliable system for transmitting electric power to subsea or marine equipment.


The present invention includes systems and methods for insert-molding. In some embodiments, a hook can be formed in a metal part by passing die-steel of a die-cast mold through the metal part during a die-casting process. This may, however, result in a hole in the metal part that is beneath the hook area. When plastic material is insert-molded over the metal part, the plastic material may flow through the hole and into the metal part. Accordingly, in some embodiments the plastic material can be prevented from flowing through the hole during the insert-molding. As one example, a tape material can be coupled over the hole. As another example, a wedge can be press-fit into the hole. As yet another example, a plug can be inserted into the hole.

Metal parts may often be formed through, for example, techniques such as die-casting. To perform die-casting, molten metal can be forced under high pressure into a die-cast mold of a desired pattern. The molten metal may then be allowed to cool and harden into the metal part. After the molten metal has cooled, the die-cast mold can be "opened" or otherwise removed from around the metal part.
In some embodiments, a metal part including a hook feature can be created via die-cast molding. However, generally a hook may not be created directly through die-cast molding. For example, since the pieces of the die-cast mold can be removed outwards from the metal part, the pieces of the mold may rip or otherwise damage the hook when these pieces are removed. Accordingly, in some embodiments, an additional machining step can be performed to create a hook in a metal part after the die cast molding. For example, a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) tool-cutter or other suitable tool can be used to cut the metal part after the die-cast molding to form a hook in the metal part.
Although creating a hook in a metal part through a CNC tool or through any other suitable machining step can be functional, it can have several disadvantages. For example, using a CNC tool requires an additional step to make the hook, which may cost extra time, resources, or both. As another example, due to the continual miniaturization of electronics (e.g., cellular phones becoming smaller in size, laptops becoming smaller in size, cameras becoming smaller in size, and other electronics becoming smaller in size), metal parts used in these electronics are increasingly smaller in size. As these metal parts become smaller in size, CNC tools or other such tools may improperly cut the metal part or otherwise be unable to meet the high precision required to machine these small parts. Indeed, due to the smallness and precision of these metal parts, creating features such as hooks can be very difficult or even impossible through techniques such as CNC tool machining.


The present invention relates to a drug-containing polymeric composition comprising at least one therapeutic agent encapsulated in at least one biocompatible polymer, wherein at least a portion of the therapeutic agent in this polymeric composition is crystalline. The at least one biocompatible polymer may form a substantially continuous polymeric matrix with the at least one therapeutic agent encapsulated therein. Alternatively, the at least one biocompatible polymer may form polymeric particles with the at least one therapeutic agent encapsulated therein.

In recent years, drug-eluting implantable medical devices, such as, for example, stents, stent grafts, anastomosis devices, vascular grafts, vascular patches, AV shunts, catheters, guide wires, balloons, and filters, have gained more and more acceptance in the medical device industry as an effective means for controlled and sustained local drug delivery. These implantable medical devices, or at least portions thereof, are typically formed of or coated by a biocompatible polymer (either biostable or biodegradable) that encapsulates or otherwise contains one or more therapeutic drugs. In this manner, the therapeutic drugs are confined in or on the surface of the implantable medical devices by the biocompatible polymer and can be slowly released into the surrounding environment in a controlled and sustained manner.
Injectable formulations that contain drug-eluting nano-particles and/or micro-particles have also been successfully used for controlled and sustained local drug delivery. These nano-particles and/or micro-particles are formed by at least one biocompatible polymer with at least one therapeutic agents encapsulated therein. The biocompatible polymer is preferably biodegradable, but it can also be biostable. After injecting the nano- and/or micro-particles into a target site in the body, the encapsulated therapeutic drugs are released from the particle surfaces in a controlled and sustained manner, thereby achieving a prolonged and high local drug concentration at or near the target site.
Stability of the therapeutic drugs contained by the above-described implantable devices or nano/micro-particulate formulations has a significant impact on the drug release kinetics of such devices or formulations. In other words, the drug release kinetics may vary widely, depending on the stability of the therapeutic drugs contained therein.
There is therefore a need for improved drug-containing polymeric compositions with improved drug stability, which are suitable for forming drug-eluting implantable medical devices or drug-eluting nano- and/or micro-particulate formulations.

Polymeric compositions comprising therapeutic agents in crystalline phases, and methods of forming the same


A deduplication system and method involves interaction between a software-based system that manages the overall background deduplication process and a hardware-based system that includes a hardware-based filesystem manager and a hash generator. A filesystem checkpoint mechanism is leveraged to manage the background deduplication process and also to reduce processing complexity with respect to identifying chunks that are candidates for deduplication and processing such chunks.

Deduplication is a mechanism for improving storage utilization. It mainly involves identifying duplicate chunks of data in a data storage system and eliminating the duplicates while maintaining only a single copy of that data along with references to this single copy. Among other things, deduplication reduces the amount of space required to store the data, e.g., on disk and/or solid-state storage.

System and method for managing deduplication using checkpoints in a file storage system

HITACHI DATA SYSTEMS ENGINEERING UK LIMITED


Embodiments relate to methods, systems and apparatus for detecting corrosion using a detector apparatus with a host component. The method includes a detector apparatus. The detector apparatus includes an energy source; a corrosion proxy thin film that corrodes at a rate where the normalized change of mass of the film over time is greater than the normalized change of mass of the bulk material of the host component in a harsh environment; and the detector, wherein the detector is capable of detecting a change in energy due to corrosion of the corrosion proxy thin film. The method includes exposing the host component and the corrosion proxy thin film to the harsh environment; and detecting a change in energy using the detector due to corrosion of the corrosion proxy thin film.

Monitoring of corrosion in different environments, subsurface environments including natural gas transmission and delivery pipelines, oil and natural gas wellbores and wells infrastructure, geological formations, and offshore underwater reserves for example, is critically important for a range of fossil energy related applications. These applications may include unconventional, deep and ultra-deep oil and natural gas resource recovery through drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques, environmental monitoring in reservoirs for carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration, and transmission and delivery of natural gas through the existing natural gas pipeline infrastructure and the like.
Subsurface conditions represent challenging environments for the development and deployment of sensing technologies due to an aggressive combination of temperature and pressure in addition to the presence of chemically corrosive species and a potentially high salinity. An overview of relevant downhole sensing environments is presented below in Table 1, which clearly illustrates that temperatures ranging up to 570° F. (−300° C.) and pressures ranging up to 30,000 psi (˜207 MPa) or even higher may be relevant for these applications depending upon the specific environment in question.
TABLE 1Overview of downhole environments relevant for unconventional, deep, and ultradeepresource recovery.Deep/BakkenBarnettEagle FordFayettevilleHaynesvilleMarcellusUtradeepStratigraphicLateMississippianCretaceous MississippianUpperMiddleVariousRangeDevonian toJurassicDevonianUpperMississippiaDrilling4,500-6,500-4,000-1,500-6,50010,500-5,000-30,000-Range (feet)7,5008,50014,00013,50010,00040,000TechnicallyOil: 3.6Gas 43Gas: 40Gas: 32Gas 75Gas: 410Gas: 85.88RecoverableOil: 2.9Oil: 419.88Gas (TCF)Oil (BbbL)Temp (F.°)Up to 200Up to 200Up to 340Up to 180Up to 380Up to 180Up to 572pressure (psi)5500-58003,000-Over 10,000Up to 30,0004,000PotentialFlow, T, P,MonitoringpH, gasParameterscomposition,gas saturationChemicalsHCl, CaCl, KCl, ZnBr, NaCl, H2S, CO2, CH4, H2 with many of the chemicals in solution at a wide range ofthat downholepH, with lower pH levels being realized during CO2 sequestration activities.sensors maybe exposed to
Such temperatures and pressures are beyond the limit of most electrical and electronic components used in sensor applications, due in many cases to the instabilities associated with packaging, wires, and interconnects. For this reason, approaches that eliminate the need for electrical components and connections at the sensing location can also eliminate a common mode of failure for conventional sensor devices. Optical based sensing methodologies offer this advantage and can also be advantageous from a safety perspective in the presence of potentially flammable gas and chemical species such as for internal natural gas pipeline monitoring. In particular, sensors that employ fiber-Bragg gratings (FBG) inscribed into specialty optical fibers which are capable of withstanding a subset of the high temperature and high pressure conditions of interest have already been deployed commercially for distributed pressure and temperature sensing. In contrast, optical based sensors for subsurface chemical sensing and corrosion monitoring applications have not yet been widely deployed due in part to the lack of optical sensor elements with useful, reversible, and rapid responses to particular chemical species of interest that are also stable under application relevant conditions. Passive, microwave sensor technologies such as surface acoustic wave devices also offer similar, unique advantages in that they allow for remote and wireless interrogation without the need for electrical wires or contacts at the sensing location but they have also not been widely employed for such applications. Due to their compatibility with scalable semiconductor-based manufacturing techniques, they can be made extremely low-cost and hence are directly applicable for wide-area monitoring based approaches.

Corrosion proxy material integrated sensor devices for distributed sensing of early corrosion onset and corrosion quantification


An improved method and apparatus for generating a pulsed RF power signal is provided. A DC pulse signal is generated which is compressed to increase its power to a predetermined level. The compressed pulse signal is applied to rapidly charge capacitive elements of a frozen wave generator. The capacitive elements may for example be lumped capacitors or transmission line segments. The charging step is accomplished in a manner such that the level and/or polarity of the charge for alternate stages are different than the level and/or polarity for the remaining stages. This may be accomplished by initially charging all stages to the same level and polarity and then either flipping the charge for alternate stages or otherwise altering the charge for such alternate stages or by initially charging alternate ones of the stages to a different level and/or polarity than the remaining stages. Once the capacitive elements for all stages of the frozen wave generator are charged to the desired level and/or polarity, the charges are permitted to propagate through the frozen wave generator to the last stage thereof, the desired RF output signal being taken at the output from such last stage.

There are many scientific, military and commercial applications where very high voltage and energy pulsed RF signals are required, the output power in some instances being in the megawatt to gigawatt range. Such pulse generators are for example useful in driving discharge lasers, including those used for laser radar, and in driving linear accelerators such as induction linacs. In the laser application for example, when DC electrodes are used to drive the laser head, such electrodes erode in the laser medium changing the breakdown characters of the laser, requiring replacement of the electrodes after only a few hundred hours of use and contaminating the gas of the laser head. Such problems can be overcome if an RF drive is employed, permitting the electrodes to be removed. However, the only RF sources heretofore available which are capable of generating the required power level have literally been as big as a house. Smaller, transistorized sources are unable to generate the required power. This has prevented such laser devices from being utilized in airborne, most shipboard and other portable applications and has substantially increased the cost and complexity of such devices.
A need therefore exists for an improved high energy pulsed RF signal source which source is small and light enough to be adapted for use in airborne and other portable applications and in particular which is far smaller, lighter, simpler and less expensive than existing high energy RF pulsed sources.

Method and apparatus for generating pulsed RF power