The device includes a reception unit for receiving a target energy including a target altitude and a target speed, a computation unit for computing a target energy state relative to the target energy, a computation unit for computing an energy difference between a final energy state at a final position, a computation unit for computing a dissipation distance making it possible for the aircraft to dissipate this energy difference, a computation unit for computing a limit position situated upstream of the final position, along a future flight trajectory of the aircraft, by the dissipation distance, the limit position being the most downstream position where the aircraft can dissipate the energy difference of the aircraft up to the final position, and an information transmission unit for transmitting at least the limit position to at least one user system.

Despite great progress in the automation of the cockpit, the appropriate management of the energy of the aircraft during the last stages of a flight is still a difficult task.
A flight management and guidance system, of the FMGS (Flight Management and Guidance System) type, is capable of making the aircraft fly along a predefined trajectory—comprising appropriate energy management—with minimum intervention by the pilot.
Although potentially very efficient, this solution is not the most frequently used one in real operations. In fact, air traffic control often asks aircraft which are approaching an airport follow radar guidance well before a final approach point, until being authorized to carry out the final approach.
Radar guidance provides more flexibility to air traffic control for managing unexpected situations which can, for example, be caused by unstable weather or by risks of conflict with other traffic.
Moreover, once the aircraft has abandoned a pre-planned trajectory for radar guidance, no complete trajectory (from the aircraft to the runway) is then defined. The FMGS system cannot therefore compute the guidance and control commands.
In such a situation, the most convenient way for the crew to fly the aircraft is based on the use of the automatic pilot system AP (comprising an "autothrottle" or "autothrust" AT if available).
This system allows the crew to define altitude, heading and speed targets directly via the man/machine interface of the AP/AT system. Regarding the way in which an altitude target is attained, this is normally carried out either by entering a vertical speed or slope target or by asking the FMGS system to adjust the thrust (for a constant airspeed) in order to make the aircraft climb or descend. Once the targets have been entered, the AP/AT system computes the control commands which are intended for the appropriate sub-systems (for example the engines, the control surfaces, etc.) in order to attain and follow these targets.
However, the AP/AT system does not help the crew to manage the total energy state of the aircraft, except for the reduction of workload derived from the automated following of the components of the target vector.
From a flight mechanics point of view, the authorization or the clearance ("clearance" being the English term) given by air traffic control, at the end of each loop of negotiation with the crew, can be considered as a new target total energy state of the aircraft. In particular, the speed clearance represents a target kinetic energy state, whereas the altitude clearance represents a target potential energy state. The heading clearances have no direct effect on the target total energy, but they define a lateral path and thus the total distance that the aircraft will have to fly before reaching the threshold of the runway.
A certain number of solutions have been proposed in order to solve this problem and, in certain cases, have been installed in avionics systems in order to provide the crew with assistance in the management of the energy in radar-guided operations.
These solutions comprise graphical symbols, generally displayed on the navigation display ND ("Navigation Display" being the English term) which provide the crew with visual indications for a better evaluation of the energy state.
However, the crew must still manage the energy of the aircraft. It always has the complete task of monitoring the energy state of the aircraft and of modifying, if necessary, the way in which the aircraft flies towards the prescribed targets (that is to say by acting on the airbrakes or by changing the vertical speed value programmed in the window of the automatic pilot system).

Method and device for assisting the piloting of an aircraft for energy management during an approach phase


A ferrule assembly includes a ferrule having a through-hole, a first end portion, a second end portion, and an intermediate portion between the first and second end portions, and an optical fiber inserted and fixed in the through-hole. The ferrule has at the intermediate portion a cutaway flat portion allowing the optical fiber inserted in the through-hole to be semi-exposed, and the optical fiber has its entire circumference held by the ferrule at least at the first and second end portions of the ferrule.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ferrule assembly for connection with an optical part incorporating an optical fiber, and particularly to a receptacle-type optical transmission module using a ferrule assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent information communication field, increase of information amount is followed by a need to transmit a large quantity of information at high speed, and high-speed large-capacity optical communication networks such as optical subscriber systems are now spreading. For popularization of the optical subscriber systems, cost-down of optical modules is an unavoidable task. The cost of optical modules consists of parts cost, assembly cost, and test and adjustment cost; among others, the assembly cost and adjustment cost constitute a major part of the total cost. As a means of reducing the assembly cost, receptacle-type optical modules have come to be spotlighted in recent years.
Parts mounted on a printed wiring board to be incorporated in a communication device are generally classified into surface mounting type and through-hole mounting type. A representative example of the surface mounting type parts is LSI, which is so-called flat package type in shape. This type of parts are soldered by a technique called reflow soldering. Namely, a pasty solder is printed on a printed wiring board, a surface mounting type part is adhered to the pasty solder, and soldering is carried out in a conveyor furnace in which the solder surface temperature is brought to 220xc2x0 C. or higher.
Representative examples of the through-hole mounting type parts are high-capacity capacitors and LSIs with a large number of terminals (200 terminals or more). The LSIs with a large number of terminals have a terminal form called PGA (Pin Grid Array). These through-hole mounting type parts are soldered by a technique called flow soldering. Namely, terminals of the through-hole mounting type part are inserted in through-holes of a printed wiring board, and soldering is carried out by placing the opposite side of the part mounting surface of the printed wiring board in a solder bath at a temperature of about 260xc2x0 C.
For a technique of mounting optical modules on a printed wiring board by soldering just like the surface mounting type parts and the through-hole mounting type parts, the so-called pig-tail type optical modules with an optical fiber cord are unsuitable. Normally, an optical fiber cord has a nylon covering, which has a heat resistance of only about 80xc2x0 C. and, therefore, will melt in a soldering step. In addition, the optical fiber cord itself causes troubles or difficulties in containing and handling at production sites, thereby conspicuously lowering the efficiency of mounting on printed wiring boards.
Therefore, in order to enable soldering of optical modules and contrive a reduction in production cost, it is essentially required to provide a so-called receptacle-type optical module which does not comprise an optical fiber cord. The receptacle-type optical module is an optical module having a connector portion so that an optical fiber cord having a covering with low heat resistance can be fitted to and detached from the module. The receptacle-type optical module allows application of a solder reflow step at high temperature and, therefore, can be mounted on a printed wiring board simultaneously with surface mounting type electronic parts.
By simultaneously mounting optical parts and electronic parts on a print wiring board, a plurality of mounting steps using solders having different melting points required in the prior art can be simplified, which promises a large reduction of cost. As a means of reducing adjustment cost, a self-alignment technique has been investigated. In the technique, guide portions specified in positional relationship with optical parts at high precision are formed on the optical part mounting substrate, and optical wave guide parts (optical fiber, ferrule, etc.) are mounted along the guides, thereby accomplishing optical coupling. The self-alignment technique makes it possible to omit alignment steps which require a large number of steps and high cost.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 11-264926 (1999) discloses a structure of an interface portion between a PLC (Planar Lightwave Circuit) and an optical fiber. The optical module described in the publication has a structure such that a ferrule incorporating an optical fiber is mounted along a groove formed in an optical device mounting substrate. This structure is characterized in that optical coupling can be achieved automatically (self-alignment) by precisely designing the relative positions of the groove and the optical part.
An optical module disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 7-318764 (1995) proposes another mode of self-alignment in which a bare optical fiber is protruded from an end of a ferrule and the optical fiber is inserted and fixed in a guide groove formed in an optical device mounting substrate. This structure is characterized in that positioning of the optical fiber can be carried out directly by the guide groove and, therefore, a high mounting precision can be obtained.
As a further example of the prior art, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-171668 may be mentioned. An optical module described in this publication proposes a further mode of self-alignment in which a bare optical fiber is semi-exposed by cutting away a part of a ferrule and is mounted and fixed in a guide groove formed in an optical device mounting substrate. The optical module of this structure is characterized in that since a part of the ferrule is used for retaining the bare optical fiber, a retaining part can be omitted and adhesion area can be made small.
There are four characteristics required of an inexpensive and highly reliable receptacle-type optical module: (1) easy mounting, (2) high strength, (3) capability of end face polishing and measure against reflection, and (4) high positioning precision. Particularly, the end face polishing is expected much as a means of coping with reflection. Reduction of reflected-back light has become a major task in recent years, and in order to reduce reflected-back light from a value of about 25 dB at present to a value of not less than 40 dB required in future, a slant polishing structure in which a fiber end face is slanted against optical axis is effective. For realizing this structure, it is required that the fiber end can be polished.
The optical module described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 11-264926 (1999) has the following problems. It is required to form a guide groove having a depth corresponding to the radius of the ferrule (about 650 xcexcm in the case of an MU-type ferrule of standard specifications), so that etching time is increased and it is difficult to provide a protective film. In addition, a large sized optical part mounting substrate is required. The large guide groove leads to low controllability of width at the time of formation thereof, and long-time etching may easily produce an abnormal etched surface at a slant surface. Further, since positioning is carried out using the outer shape of the ferrule, a loss in optical coupling will be generated due to eccentricity of the inside diameter of the ferrule and eccentricity at the time of insertion of optical fiber.
The optical module disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 7-318764 (1995) has the following problems. It is impossible to polish end faces of the optical fiber. In addition, since the optical fiber is entirely exposed from the ferrule, there is a high danger of breaking of the optical fiber at the time of handling. Further, since an optical fiber fixing portion and a ferrule fixing portion are independent in the optical module, a stress may be generated at the boundary portion between the optical fiber and the ferrule, possibly producing bad effects on reliability.
The optical module disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-171668 has the following problems. End face polishing is impossible because there is a high danger of breaking of fiber. Besides, since the bare optical fiber cannot be fixed to the ferrule at the cutaway flat portion, there is the danger of breaking of the optical fiber.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a receptacle-type optical module suitable for reductions in cost and size.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a ferrule assembly required for assembling a receptacle-type optical module.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ferrule assembly comprising: a ferrule having a through-hole, a first end portion, a second end portion on the opposite side of the first end portion, and an intermediate portion between the first end portion and the second end portion; and an optical fiber inserted and fixed in the through-hole; wherein the ferrule has at the intermediate portion a cutaway flat portion allowing the optical fiber inserted in the through-hole to be semi-exposed, and the optical fiber has its entire circumference held by the ferrule at least at the first and second end portions of the ferrule.
Preferably, the ferrule has a cut worked portion at the first end portion and/or the second end portion. According to the ferrule assembly of the present invention, it is possible to realize all of the above-mentioned four requirements, which cannot be fulfilled in the prior art.
(1) Since the entire circumference of the optical fiber is fixed to the ferrule at both ends of the ferrule, the ferrule assembly can be handled like an MU-type ferrule of standard specifications, and mounting thereof is easy.
(2) Because the entire circumference of the optical fiber is fixed to the ferrule at both ends of the ferrule, there is no danger of breaking of the optical fiber.
(3) End faces of the ferrule and the optical fiber can be polished.
(4) High-precision self-alignment by a bare optical fiber can be achieved.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a block type ferrule assembly comprising: a block having a through-hole, a first end portion, a second end portion on the opposite side of the first end portion, and an intermediate portion between the first end portion and the second end portion; an optical fiber inserted and fixed in the through-hole; and a plurality of guide pins fixed to the first end portion of the block, wherein the block has at the intermediate portion a cutaway flat portion allowing the optical fiber inserted in the through-hole to be semi-exposed, and the optical fiber has its entire circumference held by the block at the first and second end portions of the block.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical module comprising: a substrate having a first groove and a second groove orthogonal to the first groove; an optical wave guide structure formed on the substrate, comprising an optical wave guide core portion having its one end aligned with one end of the first groove, and an optical wave guide clad portion covering the optical wave guide core portion; a ferrule having a through-hole, a first end portion, a second end portion on the opposite side of the first end portion, and an intermediate portion between the first and second end portions; and an optical fiber inserted and fixed in the through-hole, wherein the ferrule has at the intermediate portion a cutaway flat portion allowing the optical fiber inserted in the through-hole to be semi-exposed, the optical fiber has its entire circumference held by the ferrule at least at the first and second end portions, and the ferrule is fixed to the substrate at the cutaway flat portion so that the first end portion of the ferrule is inserted in the second groove, and the optical fiber is inserted in the first groove of the substrate with one end of the optical fiber abutted on one end of the optical wave guide core portion.
In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical module comprising: a first substrate having a first groove and a second groove orthogonal to the first groove; a second substrate having a third groove and a fourth groove orthogonal to the third groove; a first optical wave guide structure formed on the first substrate, comprising a first optical wave guide core portion having its one end aligned with one end of the first groove, and a first optical wave guide clad portion covering the first optical wave guide core portion; a second optical wave guide structure formed on the second substrate, comprising a second optical wave guide core portion having its one end aligned with one end of the third groove, and a second optical wave guide clad portion covering the second optical wave guide core portion; a ferrule having a through-hole, a first end portion, and a second end portion on the opposite side of the first end portion; and an optical fiber inserted and fixed in the through-hole, wherein the ferrule has first and second cutaway flat portion allowing the optical fiber inserted in the through-hole to be semi-exposed, the optical fiber has its entire circumference held by the ferrule at least at the first and second end portions of the ferrule, and the ferrule is fixed to the first and second substrates respectively at the first and second cutaway flat portions so that the first end portion of the ferrule is inserted in the second groove of the first substrate, while the second end portion of the ferrule is inserted in the fourth groove of the second substrate, and the optical fiber is inserted in the first and third grooves of the first and second substrates, with one end of the optical fiber abutted on one end of the first optical wave guide core portion and with the other end of the optical fiber abutted on one end of the second optical wave guide core portion.
In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical module comprising: a substrate with a first marker formed on its surface; an optical wave guide structure formed on the substrate, comprising an optical wave guide core portion, and an optical wave guide clad portion having a narrow first portion and a wide second portion each covering the optical wave guide core portion; a glass plate having a wide first groove, a narrow second groove, a third groove formed between the first and second grooves orthogonally to the first and second grooves and a second marker, said glass plate being fixed on the substrate so that the second marker is positioned to the first marker and the first groove contains the first portion of the optical wave guide clad portion; and a ferrule assembly including a ferrule having a through-hole, a first end portion, a second end portion, and an intermediate portion between the first and second end portions, and an optical fiber inserted and fixed in the through-hole, the ferrule having at the intermediate portion a cutaway flat portion allowing the optical fiber inserted in the through-hole to be semi-exposed, and the optical fiber having its entire circumference held by the ferrule at least at the first and second end portions of the ferrule, said ferrule assembly being fixed to the glass plate at the cutaway flat portion so that the first end portion of the ferrule is inserted in the third groove of the glass plate and the optical fiber is inserted in the second groove.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention and the manner of realizing them will become more apparent, and the invention itself will best be understood from a study of the following description and appended claims with reference to the attached drawings showing some preferred embodiments of the invention.

Ferrule assembly and receptacle type optical transmission module


A reference voltage generating circuit provides a stabilized reference voltage and includes; a clock generator providing a clock signal, a high voltage generator providing a pumping voltage in response to the clock signal, a ripple eradicator providing a static voltage by removing voltage ripple from the pumping voltage, and a reference voltage generator providing the reference voltage.

The present invention relates generally to a reference voltage generating circuit. More particularly, the invention relates to a reference voltage generating circuit having improved output voltage stability.
Many circuits and components within semiconductor devices require one or more reference voltages as part of their various control inputs. Accordingly, conventional semiconductor devices often include specific circuits providing uniform reference voltages. So-called reference voltage generating circuits generally provide a reference voltage (Vref) from an external power source voltage (VDD). For stability and reliability in the operation of the constituent semiconductor device, reference voltage generating circuits should output a fixed reference voltage regardless of variations in the operating temperature of the semiconductor device and/or the level of noise apparent on related signal lines and input/output points.
This simple requirement, however, can prove difficult to implement. This is particularly true where the level of the applied external power source voltage varies due to uncontrolled environmental factors, such as temperature. Fluctuations in the external power source voltage often cause instability in the reference voltage output provided by conventional reference voltage generating circuits. Such instability in the generation of one or more reference voltages can adversely affect the reliability and stability of the semiconductor device.


The present application relates to a panorama stitching camera, including: a base provided with a fixing plate; a main shaft passing vertically through the fixing plate; and a plurality of lenses disposed at one end of the main shaft, wherein, a limiting protrusion and a shaft end retaining ring that abut respectively against two opposite sides of the fixing plate are disposed at the other end of the main shaft. When the angle of view of the panorama stitching camera is being adjusted, the plurality of lenses can rotate around the axis of the main shaft simply by rotation of the main shaft. Thus, the adjustment of the angle of view of the lens along the circumferential direction of the main shaft is achieved, and the operation of adjusting the angle of view of the panorama stitching camera is greatly simplified. Thus, the problem that the angle of view of an existing panorama stitching camera cannot be adjusted readily during use is solved.

With the rapid development of electronic communication technology, monitoring cameras whose orientation is easy to be adjusted and auxiliary system thereof have been widely used in various industries to provide real-time surveillance and video records for scenes that may act as the basis of subsequent reproduction of the scenes. The cameras may be, for example, installed in a crowded place (such as a station) to prevent theft from happening to some extent, installed on a crossroad near a residential area or supermarket to improve safety in such areas, installed in a production line to monitor quality of products, or applied to a traffic intersection to monitor the movement of vehicles in real time. With the popularization and extensive application of monitoring cameras, demand for video information capture and monitoring is enhanced.
A panorama stitching camera is a monitoring camera that is typically used in large angle of field of view monitoring. A panorama stitching camera employs a plurality of high performance video sensors (i.e., a plurality of lenses) and generates a video stream with high resolution and large angle of field of view by using a fusion and stitching algorithm. The angle of field of view of existing panorama stitching camera is hard to be adjusted.

HANGZHOU HIKVISION DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Described herein are systems and methods for performing detection operations on secure ticket data to detect potentially malicious activity. Embodiments may involve obtaining encrypted data from an encrypted portion of a secure ticket, the obtained encrypted data having been communicated over a network; obtaining a decryption key corresponding to the encrypted data; decrypting the encrypted data using the obtained decryption key to generate decrypted data elements; comparing the decrypted data elements to at least one of known valid data elements and known invalid data elements; and generating an assessment based on the comparison, the assessment identifying whether the secure ticket is indicative of potentially malicious activity in the network.

Computer networks are increasingly under attack from malicious actors, including both actors with legitimate access to networks, and actors without such access. These targeted attacks may involve the malicious actor establishing a foothold in the network, conducting reconnaissance, moving laterally within the network, acting on targets and assets within the network, exfiltrating data, and more. Organizations may invest significant resources attempting to detect and mitigate attacks. Such detection or mitigation may focus on the network traffic, attempting to discern potentially malicious activity from normal, permissible activity. Activity may be considered potentially malicious, rather than actually malicious, in order to, for instance, avoid so-called "false positive" detection of malicious activity.
Network accounts may be entities for which authentication and authorization policies and processes have been configured within the computer network. In some cases, malicious actors may rely on compromised network accounts to engage in malicious activity. Network accounts may be compromised in various ways, including, for example, by credential hijacking (e.g., through keylogging or memory scraping), creation of new credentials by malicious actors, and account impersonation. Additionally, some malicious actors may attempt to circumvent proper authentication protocols within the computer networks. Some authentication protocols may operate using, for example, security access tickets, which allow parties communicating over a non-secure computer network to authenticate their identity to one another in a secure manner. Examples of authentication protocols include, for instance, the Kerberos protocol, Single Sign-On, Simple and Protected GSSAPI Negotiation Mechanism, S/Key, Secure Remote Password protocol, Host Identity Protocol, etc., which may operate in Windows® networks or other types of networks.
Thus, there is a need for detection of potentially malicious activity in computer networks. This potentially malicious activity may relate to authentication protocols within the network and/or to any other activity that can be abused or exploited by malicious actors. There is a further need for mitigation and/or remediation controls in computer networks. Such mitigation and/or remediation controls may respond to detected potentially malicious activity in order to, for example, prevent or minimize harm to an organization and/or computer network.

Systems and methods for detecting and reacting to malicious activity in computer networks


A method for managing a computer system includes monitoring first violations of a service level objective (SLO) of a service running on the computer system so as to determine a first statistical behavior of the first violations. Second violations of a component performance threshold of a component of the computer system are monitored so as to determine a second statistical behavior of the second violations. A model that predicts the second statistical behavior based on the first statistical behavior is produced. The component performance threshold is automatically adjusted responsively to the model, so as to improve a prediction of the first violations by the second violations.

Computer systems commonly use performance thresholds for monitoring and managing the performance of system components. Threshold violations are recorded and analyzed as possible indicators of system faults. Various methods for setting and managing component performance thresholds (referred to herein as "component thresholds" for brevity) are known in the art. For example, Hellerstein et al. describe a method for predicting threshold violations in "A Statistical Approach to Predictive Detection," Computer Networks, (35:1), 2001, pages 77-95, which is incorporated herein by reference. The method models the stationary and non-stationary behavior of threshold metrics and computes the probability of threshold violations. Another use of predictive algorithms for predicting failures in computer systems is described by Vialta et al. in "Predictive Algorithms in the Management of Computer Systems," IBM Systems Journal, (41:3), 2002, pages 461-474, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Another threshold setting method is described by Burgess in "Two-Dimensional Time-Series for Anomaly Detection and Regulation in Adaptive Systems," Proceedings of the Thirteenth IFIP/IEEE International Workshop on Distributed Systems: Operations and Management, Montreal, Canada, October 2002, pages 169-180, which is incorporated herein by reference. The author describes a method in which a two-dimensional time approach is used to classify a periodic, adaptive threshold for service level anomaly detection. The author asserts that the method provides improved storage and computational efficiency.
Agarwal et al. describe yet another threshold scheme in "Problem Determination Using Dependency Graphs and Run-Time Behavior Models," Proceedings of the Fifteenth IFIP/IEEE International Workshop on Distributed Systems: Operations and Management, New York, N.Y., November 2004, pages 171-182, which is incorporated herein by reference. The authors describe a method that uses dependency graphs and dynamic run-time performance characteristics of resources in an IT environment to identify the root cause of reported problems. The method uses the dependency information and the behavior models to narrow down the root cause to a small set of resources that can be individually tested, facilitating quick remediation of the problem.
Hoogenboom and Lepreau describe still another threshold management system in "Computer System Performance Problem Detection Using Time Series Model," Proceedings of the USENIX Summer 1993 Technical Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 1993, pages. 15-32, which is incorporated herein by reference. The authors describe an expert system that automatically sets thresholds, and thus detects and diagnoses performance problems in a network of Unix® computers. The system uses time series models to model the variations in workload on each host.
Some threshold schemes use a statistical model based on the historical behavior of the threshold metric. Such a scheme is described by Brutlag in "Aberrant Behavior Detection in Time Series for Network Monitoring," Proceedings of the Fourteenth USENIX System Administration Conference (LISA 2000), New-Orleans, La., December 2000, pages 139-146, which is incorporated herein by reference. An additional threshold scheme based on a statistical model is described by Hajji et al. in "Detection of Network Faults and Performance Problems," Proceedings of the Internet Conference 2001 (IC 2001), Osaka, Japan, November 2001, pages 159-168, which is incorporated herein by reference. Yet another statistical model is described by Thottan and Ji in "Adaptive Thresholding for Proactive Network Problem Detection," Proceedings of the Third IEEE International Workshop on Systems Management, Newport, Rhode-Island, April 1998, pages 108-116, which is incorporated herein by reference. A further model is described by Ward et al. in "Internet Service Performance Failure Detection," Proceedings of the 1998 Internet Server Performance Workshop, Madison, Wis., June 1998, pages 103-110, which is incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,876,988, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method and a system for computing a performance forecast for an e-business system or other computer architecture. The system obtains measured input values from a plurality of internal and external data sources to predict the system performance. The system can include both intrinsic and extrinsic variables as predictive inputs. Intrinsic variables include measurements of the system's own performance, such as component activity levels and system response time. Extrinsic variables include other factors, such as the time and date, and demographic factors that may effect or coincide with increased network traffic.
In some applications it is desirable to correlate component thresholds with service-level objectives (SLOs) of the computer system. For example, Cohen et al. describe a system analysis method of this sort in "Correlating Instrumentation Data to System States: A Building Block for Automated Diagnosis and Control," Proceedings of the Sixth USENIX Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation (OSDI '04), San-Francisco, Calif., December 2004, pages 231-244, which is incorporated herein by reference. The method uses Tree-Augmented Bayesian Networks (TANs) to identify combinations of system-level metrics and threshold values that correlate with high-level performance states.
Systems for threshold management and for correlating thresholds with SLOs are produced by Netuitive, Inc. (Reston, Va.). The company produces a software tool called "Netuitive SI" that learns the baseline behavior of a computer system. The tool issues alarms if deviations from the baseline behavior are detected. The company also produces a tool called "Netuitive Service Analyzer" that correlates SLOs with component alarms.
Hellerstein describes a quantitative performance diagnosis (QPD) algorithm, which produces explanations that quantify the impact of problem causes, in "A General Purpose Algorithm for Quantitative Diagnosis of Performance Problems," Journal of Network and Systems Management, (11:2), June 2003, which is incorporated herein by reference.
In "Data-driven Monitoring Design of Service Level and Resource Utilization" 2005 9th IFIP/IEEE Symposium on Integrated Network Management pp. 89-101, Nice, France, May 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference, Perng, Mass., Lin and Thoenen describe a method for optimizing the setting of resource metric thresholds and service level breach point thresholds. Perng et al.'s algorithm is based on maximizing the mutual information of the time series of component and application threshold breaching, which is used to calculate optimized threshold values.
In some cases, machine learning or data mining techniques are used to model the relationship between component thresholds and SLOs. For example, Diao et al. describe methods of this sort in "Generic On-Line Discovery of Quantitative Models for Service Level Management," Proceedings of the Eighth IFIP/IEEE International Symposium on Integrated Network Management, Colorado Springs, Colo., March 2003, pages 157-170, which is incorporated herein by reference. Other methods are described by Hellerstein and Ma in "Mining Event Data for Actionable Patterns," Proceedings of the 26th Computer Management Group (CMG) International Conference, Orlando, Fla., December 2000, pages 307-318, which is incorporated herein by reference.
In other cases, neural networks are used to learn the relationships between measured input values. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,289,330 and 6,216,119, whose disclosures are incorporated herein by reference, describe neural network systems that receive measured input values during a time trial, combine the information with prior information and learn relationships among the variables gradually by improving the learned relationships from trial to trial.

Automated and adaptive threshold setting

International Business Machines Corporation


An integrated circuit may be provided with a specialized processing block that performs floating-point addition and subtraction operations. For this purpose, the specialized processing block includes a fused adder and subtractor stage with an adder circuit and a subtractor circuit. The adder and subtractor circuits share an alignment stage for aligning the mantissas of incoming floating-point numbers and provide a simplified normalization stage with one right shifter and one left shifter. The specialized processing blocks may be arranged in rows or columns such that an input of a first specialized processing block is directly coupled to an output of a second specialized processing block and an input of the second specialized processing block is directly coupled to an output of the first specialized processing block.

This relates to performing floating-point arithmetic operations in integrated circuits and, more particularly, to circuitry performing floating-point addition and subtraction.
Floating-point operations are usually implemented in accordance with the IEEE754 standard, which defines a floating-point number as having a sign, a mantissa, and an exponent. According to the IEEE754 standard, the mantissa is required to be normalized at all times because the standard implies a leading "1." However, performing normalization can be expensive in terms of circuit area and operational latency. Some floating-point operations also require that the floating-point number operands be manipulated as part of a floating-point operation. For example, floating-point addition and subtraction require that the mantissas of the floating-point number operands be aligned such that the exponents of the floating-point number operands are equal.
Situations frequently arise where operations require the computation of the sum and the difference of the same two floating-point numbers (e.g. in a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)). Both of these operations may require the normalization of the mantissas for both floating-point numbers for the addition and for the subtraction.

Fused floating-point arithmetic circuitry


A spin-on filter that eliminates the use of a nut plate and reduces the number of separate components. Instead, the spin-on filter utilizes the end plate of the filtercartridge to perform a number of functions, including closing the open end of the filter shell, sealing between the dirty and clean fluid sides, sealing between the filter and the mounting head to prevent leakage outside the filter to environment, attaching the filter cartridge to the shell, and sealing the end of the filter media.

Typical spin-on fluid filters according to some prior art designs are mounted to the mounting head by the use of an internally-threaded metal nut plate. The nut plate is anchored to the filter shell and includes at least one flow inlet and a flow exit. A spin-on filter with a nut plate often includes a large number of components that are required to form the filter which increases the cost and assembly complexity of the filter.
Some known spin-on fluid filters eliminate the nut plate. Examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,434,697 and 7,614,504.
Whether or not the spin-on filter includes a nut plate, sealing must be provided between the head and the filter to prevent leakage outside the filter to environment, and sealing must be provided between the flow inlet and the flow exit to prevent leakage of unfiltered fluid from the inlet to the filtered fluid outlet. These sealing functions are typically provided by separate parts of the filter, including the use of installed sealing gaskets.
Improvements to spin-on filters are desirable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A novel process is disclosed for the synthesis of fluorinated dimethyl ethers of the formula CF.sub.2 HOCCl.sub.x F.sub.y H.sub.3-(x+y) wherein x is 0, 1 or 2; y is 1, 2 or 3; and wherein the total x+y is 1, 2 or 3. The process involves chlorination of methyl difluoromethyl ether to form a chlorinated reaction product, including at least one compound of the formula CF.sub.2 HOCH.sub.3-z Cl.sub.z, wherein z is 1, 2 or 3, which compound is then fluorinated with HF and/or an antimony salt and with or without separation from the chlorinated reaction product, to give a fluorinated reaction product including the aforementioned fluorinated dimethyl ethers.

Bis(difluoromethyl) ether has been prepared previously by chlorination of dimethyl ether followed by isolation and fluorination of bis(dichloromethyl)ether. The chlorination step gave a complex mixture of chlorinated dimethyl ethers some of which were unstable, e.g. to distillation, from which bis(dichloromethyl)ether was separated. Two of the ethers in the mixture, chloromethyl methyl ether and bis(chloromethyl)ether, are potent carcinogens.
Due to the difficulty and cost in preparing dimethyl ether products which are free of carcinogens, little effort has been focused on their synthesis. This is especially true in view of the well known, commercially available alternatives, such as "FREON" "HALON" and other well known chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which are used as refrigerants, etc.
However, the use of CFCs has been sharply curtailed and will eventually be phased out due to their propensity to destroy the ozone layer.
The use of bis(difluoromethyl)ether has been proposed as a propellant and as a refrigerant alternative to CFCs. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,041,148 and 4,961,321. The known processes for forming such alternatives are too expensive, have too low a yield and generate harmful (carcinogenic) byproducts, making the development of inexpensive CFC alternatives unlikely.
There is a critical need for the discovery and commercialization of practical, economical processes for the production of alternative environmentally safe compounds to replace the CFCs.

Synthesis of fluorinated dimethyl ethers


A cylinder lock includes a lock shell which confines a cylindrical hole and a rotatable cylindrical key plug provided within the hole of the lock shell and formed with a longitudinally extending keyway. The key plug is further formed with a plurality of first bores which receive a lower tumbler pin of a respective first tumbler set, while the lock shell is further formed with a plurality of second bores which receive an upper tumbler pin of a respective first tumbler set. A plug retaining sleeve has a front portion which extends into the hole of the lock shell and which confines a hollow space for receiving a rear portion of the key plug. The rear portion of the key plug and the front portion of the plug retaining sleeve are respectively formed with third and fourth radially aligned bores which receive a lower tumbler pin of a second tumbler set.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cylinder lock, more particularly to a cylinder lock with a removable and replaceable key plug.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cylinder locks are usually installed in door knobs and the like. A main drawback of conventional cylinder locks is that it is necessary to disassemble the door knob when it is desired to replace the conventional cylinder lock.

Cylinder lock with removable and replaceable key plug


A unitary electronic device includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM for storing a processing program for the CPU which program includes a command to execute, at each processing cycle of the CPU, the processing located at a predetermined address in the RAM, and an input means or the like, for entering in the RAM at the predetermined address, information for correcting a defect in the processing program stored in the ROM.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus such as a one-chip microcomputer incorporation in electronic devices, for example.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One-chip microcomputers incorporated in electronic devices are constructed by electronic apparatus in which a fixed memory means (ROM), a processing means (CPU), an input means, a variable memory means (RAM), etc., are unitarily integrated.
In such an electronic apparatus (one-chip microcomputer), a processing program for the processing means (CPU) is stored in the fixed memory means (ROM). That is, a particular processing is carried out in accordance with an information (processing program) stored in the fixed memory means (ROM). Therefore, if this fixed memory means (ROM) is formed by a mask ROM, then such electronic apparatus can be mass-produced inexpensively.
The above electronic apparatus are incorporated in electronic devices such as a consumer video tape recorder having a built-in camera, a small video deck or the like. Recently, electronic apparatus have been designed to have multiple functions in order to discriminate products. As a result, the amount of information (processing program) stored in the fixed memory means (ROM) is increased. In particular, as the size of the processing program is increased considerably, the occurrence of bug therein cannot be avoided.
If such bug is discovered after the electronic apparatus has been mass-produced, the mass-produced apparatus must be abandoned or mass-produced one more time. Further, external parts for patching the bug must be added to the electronic apparatus. If electronic apparatus are mass-produced one more time, then a lot of additional costs become necessary. Furthermore, external parts cannot be substantially mounted on electronic devices because the electronic device has many electronic parts mounted therein with high density.
To solve the above problems, the assignee of the present application has previously proposed a means that can correct such bug after electronic devices have been mass-produced (see Japanese Patent Application No. 3-118799). To be more concrete, according to this previously-proposed means, an electronic device includes therein a patch information memory means for patching a bug and an access change-over means. Then, a defective or bug portion of the information stored in the fixed memory means is identified and the access is changed over from the fixed means to the patch information memory means at that defective or bug portion.
In this previously-proposed means, however, the design of the electronic device itself (hardware) must be changed such as when there are provided the patch information memory means and the access change-over means. Therefore, this previously-proposed means cannot be applied to the existing electronic devices with ease.

Electronic apparatus for patching a read-only memory


The invention concerns a step-down gear unit with a rigid support ring (1), comprising a substantially cylindrical support surface (1), and with a radially flexible rolling collet (5) which has an outer generated surface (7) with a smaller peripheral length than the support surface (2), one or a plurality of peripheral sections of the outer generated surface (7) being held in substantially slip-free engagement in continuous exchange with the support surface (2) of the support ring (1) by one or a plurality of parts lying on an enveloping circle of a drive core (20) which is rotatably disposed inside the rolling collet (5) and is rotated by a drive shaft (14). The enveloping circle (20) of the driven elliptical drive core (20) has a substantially smaller diameter (Dh) than the basically cylindrical rolling collet (5). The rolling collet (5) is supported on the drive core (20) by a plurality of substantially radial transmission elements (32) which are all of equal length.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a step-down gear system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mechanisms of this kind are known in the technical field under the term "harmonic drive systems" (Dubbel, Taschenbuch fur Maschinenbau, 15th Edition, page 1069; company publication by Harmonic Drive System GmbH, 63225 Langen/Hessen).
These mechanisms essentially comprise three basic units, i.e.:
a) the so-called wave generator, being the actual drive unit. This includes an elliptical core, on which is mounted a ball bearing and which is also provided with the input shaft; PA1 b) the so-called flex spline, which is a fundamentally cylindrical but radially flexible steel bush (rolling bush) having external toothing, in which the elliptical core is arranged for rotation, and finally PA1 c) the so-called circular spline. This part is an internally-toothed stationary support ring, the teeth of which constantly mesh with the elliptically deformable flex spline, i.e. with said deformable steel bush. In this regard, the internally-toothed support ring has a greater number of teeth than the flexible steel bush, two diametrically opposing peripheral sectors of which constantly mesh with the internal toothing of the stationary support ring. As a result of the rotation of the elliptical core in the flexible steel bush, all the teeth of the steel bush are caused to mesh, one after the other, with the teeth of the internal toothing of the stationary support ring during each rotation, as a result of which a rotation of the steel bush by the difference of the number of teeth takes place.
Using these mechanisms which have a very compact structure, it is possible to achieve considerable speed reduction ratios or step-downs. The rotational directions of the drive and of the output are, however, opposite directions. The formula for calculating the respective gear ratios is: ##EQU1##
wherein Z.sub.1 is the number of teeth of the flexible steel bush, and Z.sub.2 the number of teeth of the stationary internally-toothed support ring. According to information received from the manufacturer of such harmonic drive mechanisms, gear ratios of from 1:72 to 1:320 are possible.
Mechanisms of this kind are used primarily in special purpose machines and industrial robots.
In a known design of such an harmonic drive mechanism (EP 0 514 829 A2), the radially flexible steel bush is designed to be pot-shaped and is provided with a stable end wall at an axial spacing from its external toothing. The thin, basically cylindrical, wall of the steel bush is flexibly deformable, such that it is capable of adapting, on the one hand, to the cylindrical shape of the end wall and, on the other hand, flexibly adapting to the rotating elliptical circumference of the core of the mechanism, i.e. the so-called wave generator.
In other designs of such mechanisms, as the transmission element between the flexible steel bush, i.e. the flex spline, and a transmitting wave (DE 39 06 053 C2 and EP 0 309 197 B2), in each case a second toothed ring comprising an internal toothing is provided and this is arranged coaxially relative to the first stationary internally-toothed support ring, and has, at least substantially, the same inside diameter as the stationary support ring, but a number of teeth differing from that of the stationary support ring. In this regard, the teeth of the flexible steel bush mesh both with the stationary support ring and with the rotating toothed ring, namely in a manner such that the rotation of the flexible steel bush is transmitted directly to the rotating toothed ring, moreover at a ratio of 1:1, since the rotating toothed ring has the same number of teeth as the flexible steel bush which, of course, during the rotation of the elliptical drive core, rolls in the gear rim of the stationary support ring.
The steel bush will hereinafter be referred to as a rolling bush.
In principle, the method of functioning of the generic step-down gear system resides in that peripheral surfaces of different lengths roll off on each other slip-free, as a result of which, during rolling, the shorter peripheral surface rotates by the difference in length.
Since all the individual parts of these known mechanisms are of steel or a similar material, and the mechanisms are, as a rule, equipped with radially flexible, i.e. deformable, ball bearings which are arranged between the peripheral surface of the elliptical drive core and the flexible rolling bush, these mechanisms involve considerable manufacturing costs, especially since a high degree of finishing accuracy is a pre-requisite for trouble-free functioning.


A card electrical connector apparatus (10) includes a connector section (40) connectable to a card (C) at a right angle with respect to a card insertion direction when the card is inserted completely into an electronics device through a receiving slot (12); a driving section (50) linked to the connector section for moving the connector section (40); and an operation section (37, 56) for operating the driving section from outside. The operation section (37, 56) movable between a first position where the card is allowed to be removed and a second position where removal of the card is either impossible or difficult. When the operation section (37, 56) is at the first position, the driving section (50) moves the connector section (40) to the release position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connector apparatuses for cards and, particularly, to an electrical connector apparatus capable of preventing accidental removal of a card.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent No. 3,095,337 discloses, in paragraphs (0039) and (0040), an electrical connector apparatus of this type. This connector apparatus is incorporated in an electronics device to receive a card, such as a PC card, through a front slot of the device so that the terminals of the card are connected to the electrical connector provided at the opposite end to the front slot.
The terminals provided on a side edge of the card are connected to an external coaxial cable. The terminals of the coaxial cable are pressed toward the side edge of the card for contact with the card terminals. To remove the card, the button of a removal lever provided in a card ejector is depressed to bring by way of a cam mechanism a retention member for holding the coaxial terminals to the spaced position against the above pressure, thereby releasing the contact of the terminals.
However, the rear end of a card projects from the front slot even before the release button is depressed so that the rear end of the card can be grabbed accidentally to remove the card. To protect the cable terminals from damage at such an accident, cable terminals cannot be connected by fitting to the card terminals but only brought into contact with them. The electrical connection by this surface contact, however, can cause poor conduction under vibrations.


In a pulse duty ratio discrimination circuit for discriminating duty ratios of input signals by comparing a count value with a threshold value through means of counting, with a counter using clocks, a time period starting with a reference level changing point occurring every predetermined period in the input signal and ending with a level returning point, the present invention is characterized by a pulse duty ratio discrimination circuit that includes not only period determination means for determining the periods of the input signals by resetting the count value of the counter at the period of the input signal and by comparing actual count values for a plural number of count patterns of the counter established in advance, but also clock selection means for selecting the frequency of the clock based on a determination result of the period determination means.

Conventionally a VHS system format for a home VTR has been adapted to a control coding system for recording a VHS index search system signal (VISS signal) and a VHS address search system signal (VASS signal) on the tape by changing the duty of control signals to be recorded on a magnetic tape (hereinafter simply referred to as a tape). This system uses two kinds of duty ratios, the 60 (.+-.5) % duty ratio and the 27.5 (.+-.2.5) % duty ratio for the control signals to be recorded, and modulates the control signals according to a predetermined format. Accordingly a reproducer side discriminates between the VISS signal and the VASS signal by discriminating the duty ratios of the control signals.
So, as a way of discriminating the duty ratios of the reproduced control signals, the time that the control signal stays in a high level state is counted based on a predetermined clock and is then compared with a threshold value. Provided that the threshold value is a predetermined constant value, the discriminating operation can not cope with a frequency change of the reproduced control signal. Accordingly, a way of changing the threshold value in response to the frequency of the reproduced control signal has been employed.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of conventional pulse duty ratio discrimination circuits for discriminating the duty ratios of the control signals. FIG. 2 is a time chart for explaining the operation of the pulse duty ratio discrimination circuit. 1 denotes a sequencer which generates a counter latch signal 200, a counter reset signal 300 and a sampling pulse 400, based on a reproduced control signal 100 and a reference clock 50. 2 denotes a counter for up-counting the reference clock 50. The counter 2 is reset by the reset signal 300. 3 denotes a latch for latching the count value of the counter 2 at the input timing of the latch signal 200. 4 denotes a divider for dividing in half the (n+1) bit output of the counter 2 and for outputting the divided value as an output A. 5 denotes a magnitude comparator for comparing the magnitude of the output B of the latch 3 with the magnitude of the output A of the divider 4 and for outputting a high level signal into a D-type flip-flop 6 when A>B. 6 denotes the D-type flip-flop for outputting the comparing result of the magnitude comparator 5 as a pulse duty ratio discriminating signal when the comparing result of the magnitude comparator 5 is applied to its data terminal D, and the sampling pulse 400 is applied to its clock terminal CK.
The sequencer 1 generates the counter latch signal 200, the counter reset signal 300 and the sampling pulse 400 from the reproduced control signal 100, as shown in FIG. 2(B). After the counter 2 is reset to 0 at the leading edge of the counter reset signal 300 output from the sequencer 1, as shown in FIG. 2(C), the counter 2 starts to count the reference clock. The count value thus increases, as shown in FIG. 2(A). After that, the counter latch signal 200 is output from the sequencer 1, as shown in FIG. 2(D), the latch 3 latches the count value of the counter 2 at that point, and sends the latched value to the magnitude comparator 5 as an output B (see FIG. 2(F)).
Additionally, the divider 4 successively divides in half the count value of the counter 2 and sends the divided value to the magnitude comparator 5. If the output of the divider 4 is smaller than the output of the latch 3 at the time that the signal 200 has been output, the output of the magnitude comparator 5 becomes a low level at that timing. If the output of the divider 4 becomes larger than the output of the latch 3 before the counter reset pulse 300 is generated in the increase of the count value of the counter 2, the output of the magnitude comparator 5 becomes a high level. If the output of divider 4 remains smaller than the output of the latch 3, the output of the magnitude comparator 5 remains in the low level. The comparing result of the magnitude comparator 5 is transferred to the D-type flip-flop 6 at the output timing of the sampling pulse 400. Therefore, when the duty ratio of the control signal is more than 50%, the Q output of the D-type flip-flop 6 becomes the low level (logic value "0"). When the duty ratio of the control signal is below 50%, the Q output of the D-type flip-flop 6 becomes the high level (logic value "1") and the pulse duty ratio discriminating signal 500 is output, as shown in FIG. 2(H).
Recently, VTRs have exhibited an inclination toward increasing the speeds of fast forwarding/fast rewinding operations for the purpose of improving their operability, so the frequency range of the reproduced control signal 100 is steadily expanding. Accordingly, to cope with this recent inclination the pulse duty ratio discrimination circuit must increase the speed of the reference clock 50 in order to keep the accuracy of the detection in a higher order, which correspondingly increases the bit scale of the counter 2. For instance, if 2% has been set as the accuracy of the detection so as to cope with the high speed of 300 times fast forwarding and/or fast rewinding operation, the frequency of the control signal is given by 30 Hz.times.300 times=9 KHz. Accordingly, in this case the frequency of the reference clock 50 is given by 9 KHz/0.02=450 KHz. To cope with a normal operation control signal 100 with frequency of 30 Hz, the required bit scale of counter 2 is given by 450 KHz/30 Hz=15,000, i.e., 14 bit (= 16384). This requirement increases the circuit scale of the pulse duty ratio discriminating circuit, thereby increasing its cost.
As described above, the conventional pulse duty ratio discrimination circuit, which discriminates the duty ratios of the reproduced control signals by initially counting the time that the control signal stays in a high level state based on a predetermined clock and by then comparing the count value with a threshold value, must use a high speed clock because of the inclination toward expanding the frequency range of control signals. Accordingly, the conventional. pulse duty ratio discrimination circuit has a drawback that necessitates using a large bit scale counter which causes the circuit scale to be enlarged, thereby increasing the cost of the circuit.


In a paintball gun in which projectiles are admitted into the breech from a feed port through a radial aperture, sensors positioned in line with the aperture detect whether a projectile is completely or partially inserted into the breech, or totally missing. An electronic logic circuit allows the firing of the gun only when the projectile is fully inserted, and prevents the firing when the projectile is only partially inserted into the breech. A dry firing of the gun is enabled if the breech remains empty of any projectile for a short period. The dry firing is intended to dislodge any projectile jammed in the feed port.

Contemporary paintball guns or markers are equipped with solenoid-driven firing mechanisms that allow rapid firing of a number of projectiles with a single pull of the trigger. Paintballs have a soft-frangible envelope which can deform and even break under pressure. A deformation of the spherical shape of paintballs can lead to jamming in the feed port of the gun or only partial insertion into the breech. The firing of the gun with a paintball only partially inserted results in the chopping of the ball and fouling of the breech and barrel.
Mechanical as well as electronic anti-chop systems have been proposed in the prior art which simply allows firing of the gun only when a projectile is fully and properly inserted into the breech. Although such a system is effective in preventing the chopping of the paintball, it does not provide the user of the gun with an indication of whether a paintball is only partially inserted in the breech or if the paintball is jammed higher up in the feed port or in the paintball magazine. A jamming of the projectile ahead of the breech can often be corrected by dry-firing the gun in order to shake loose the jammed paintball. However, firing the gun on a partially inserted projectile can lead to a disabling of the weapon.

Anti-chop electronic firing control for paintball markers


This application relates to graphite heat exchangers having a graphite block with graphite tubes disposed within the graphite block. The graphite tubes can include a coating that is cured in order to plasticize the coating and make the graphite tubes more corrosion resistant. The graphite block and the graphite tubes can be impregnated with a phenolic resin for improving the rigidity and structural integrity of the graphite block and the graphite tubes. The coating surrounding the graphite tubes can be a Teflon based coating, such as Tefzel, which can improve the durability of the graphite heat exchanger. The graphite tubes can be prepared by first coating the graphite tubes with the coating material and then curing or baking the graphite tubes in order to plasticize or otherwise cure the coating material.

Heat exchangers can contact a variety of chemicals when installed into a manufacturing process. Such chemicals may be corrosive to parts of the heat exchanger and eventually ruin some of the functionality of the heat exchanger over time. For example, certain metals and non-metals on the heat exchanger can corrode as a result of process flow through the heat exchanger. As many new chemicals become important for manufacturing certain products, many manufacturing processes need to be updated and improved in order to provide a manufacturing system that does not fail as a result of material corrosion.


In a heating/cooling unit for selectively heating or cooling a set of dies, oil received in a reservoir is supplied to a flow direction changeover valve by a first oil pump. In a stably mode, oil is returned to the reservoir through the changeover valve and a heat exchanger. In a heating mode, the oil is supplied to a second oil pump from the changeover valve through a check valve. The second oil pump supplies the oil to an oil heater, and the heated oil is introduced into a fluid path formed in the dies to heat the dies. The oil discharged from the fluid path of the dies is returned to the second oil pump. Thus, the heated oil is circulated in a closed loop in the heating mode. In a cooling mode, new oil is supplied to the fluid path of the dies from the changeover valve and the oil discharged from the fluid path is guided to the heat exchanger through a switching valve and the cooling oil is returned to the reservoir.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heating/cooling unit to selectively either heat or cool a set of dies used with an injection molding machine, particularly to such a heating/cooling unit devised to render service with use of a medium such as oil for dies cooling or heating.
2. Description of the Related Art
Of late, a great variety of injection molding machines are undertaking in great numbers various jobs. Of these, some injection molding machines, each running with a set of dies applied at normal temperature are nowadays confronted with a problem that plastic melt injected into a cavity created inside the dies start to set midway in a fluidity cycle due to spontaneous cooling therein, whereby the products are subject to bearing on their surfaces streaks, namely weld marks in another term, thus resulting in undergoing qualitative degradation.
The occurrence of weld marks can be prevented by heating the portion of a set of dies where plastic melt runs therealong following an injection cycle. However, constantly heating a set of dies entails some change of die thermal distribution, with not only the molding conditions getting unstabilized but also the setting time and the time up to a product take-out cycle commonly incurring some increases. To avoid these problems, the conventional injection molding process goes with heating prior to injecting plastic melt into the cavity within the dies, and cooling the dies before their opening after plastic melt injection.
In the prior art, there was developed a die heating/cooling unit for practical use, which runs, introducing heated oil as a thermal medium into the cavity within the dies in a die heating cycle, and in a die cooling cycle, likewise bringing cooled oil into said cavity.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of such a conventional heating/cooling unit as referred to above, wherein 1 is a reservoir to contain oil 2, and the oil 2 in the reservoir is sucked up by an oil pump 4 which is driven by a motor 3. A discharge port of the oil pump 4 is connected to a first port 6a of a flow direction changeover valve 6 via a first oil path pipe 5 while a second port 6b of the flow direction changeover valve 6 has a first oil return pipe 7 coupled thereto to flow back the oil 2 in the reservoir 1, wherein halfway along the first oil return pipe 7, there are provided a heat exchanger 8 to cool the oil 2 on the way to return to the reservoir 1, and an oil filter 9. A third port 6c of the flow direction changeover valve 6 is maintained in fluid communication with an inlet 13a of an in-die fluid path 13 formed inside a set of dies 12 via a second oil path pipe 20 and a third oil path pipe 21. Mounted on a third oil path pipe are not only a first check valve 15 to prevent a flow of the oil 2 from inside the die set 12 but also an oil heater 16 which is located midway between the first check valve 15 and the flow direction changeover valve 6 to heat the oil 2.
Further between a fourth port 6d of the flow direction changeover valve, and an inlet 13a of the in-die oil path 13, a fourth oil path pipe 17 is installed to provide fluid communication. The fourth oil path pipe 17 is connected to the third oil path pipe 21 and is further mounted with a second check valve 18 to prevent a back flow of the oil 2 from inside the die set 12.
An outlet 13b of the in-die fluid path 13 is coupled to an inlet of an oil cooler through a second oil return path pipe 19. The second oil return path pipe 19 to flow back the oil from inside the die set 12 into the reservoir 1 is coupled to the first oil return path pipe 7. A relief pipe 10 is provided which branches off from the first oil path pipe 5 and is connected to the first oil return path pipe 7. A relief valve 11 is installed on the relief pipe 11 to regulate the fluid pressure over a range of 10 through 20 kg/cm.sup.2 at the maximum. While the heating/cooling unit of such an arrangement as remarked above is maintained standing by, the oil 2 circulates in the direction of an arrow of a single dotted line in FIG. 1, getting cooled. More precisely with the mechanism of oil cooling, the motor 3 is driven with the flow direction changeover valve 6 held at a neutral position whereat the valve is kept deenergized, running the pump 4, whereby the oil 2 in the reservoir 1 is pumped up, flowing into the first oil path pipe 5. At this stage, the first oil path pipe 5 is blocked by the flow direction changeover valve 6 which is maintained at the neutral position, whereby along with the lapse of some time, the hydraulic pressure inside the first oil path pipe 5 goes up beyond a setpoint of the relief valve 11. Then, the oil 2 is forced to flow into the first oil return pipe 7 mounted with the heat exchanger 8 and the filter 9 through the relief pipe 10, thereby getting not only cooled by the heat exchanger 8 on the first oil return pipe 7 but also filtered with the filter 9 prior to the return to the reservoir 1. Therefore with the heating/cooling kept on, cooling of the oil 2 gets progressed.
In the process of heating the die set 12, the oil 12 is held circulating in the direction of an a solid line arrow, whereby the die set 12 is heated with heated oil. To be precise with the mechanism of heating the die set 12, driving the pump 4 with the right chamber of the flow direction changeover valve 6 energized concurs with sucking up cool oil 2 from the reservoir 1, with the oil 2 subsequently getting discharged from the third port 6c of the flow direction changeover valve 6 into the second oil path pipe 20, and then led into a third oil path pipe 21. Thus, the oil 2 is heated by an oil heater 16, and thereafter, the oil 2 flows into the in-die fluid path 13 via the check valve, transferring the energy of heat to the die set 12, whereby the die set 12 is heated up to a proper temperature where the occurrence of weld marks is not allowed.
In the meanwhile the oil 2 flowing out from an outlet 13b of the in-die oil path 13 is led into the first oil return pipe 7 by way of a second oil return pipe 19, whereby the oil gets not only cooled with the heat exchanger 8 but also filtered clean by the filter 9 prior to the return to the reservoir 1.
Further in the process of cooling the die set 12, the oil 2 is kept circulating in the direction of a broken line arrow in the figure, thereby the die set 12 is cooled with the oil 2 carrying coolness. Precisely with the mechanism of cooling the die set 12, driving the pump 4 with the left chamber of the flow direction changeover valve 6 energized coincides with pumping up cool oil 2 from the reservoir 1, subsequently discharging the oil into the fourth oil path 17 via the fourth port 6d, and then getting led into the in-die fluid path 13 via a second check valve 18, whereby the die set 12 is cooled. This results in quickly cooling a product molded within the cavity of the die set 12, following the injection of plastic melt, down to a temperature at which the product can be taken out with quickness.
Meanwhile the oil 2 flowing out from the outlet 13b of the in-die fluid path 13 is led into the first oil return pipe 7 via the second oil return pipe 19, whereby the oil 2 gets cooled with the heat exchanger 8 and then filtered clean with the filter 9 prior to the return to the reservoir 1.
Introducing a thermal medium into the in-die fluid path 13 inside the die set 12 as in the foregoing proved serviceable to selectively heat or cool the die set 12, whereby quality injection molding is assured with freedom from leaving behind welds in the surface of an molded product.
The conventional heating/cooling unit of a prior art is found failing to exhibit high efficiency over heating and cooling the oil 2, a thermal medium, with the result that much time is required to heat and cool the die set 12, and there comes up to the fore a problem over the failure to cut short the cycle time covering the process of injection molding and a job step of molded product take-out. It is further noted with the conventional heating/cooling unit that to undertake quick heating, the oil heater 16 with a large capacity is essential, and for quick cooling, the heat exchanger 8 owning a large capacity is required, and also that unless the pump 4 and the motor to drive thereof are provided each with a large capacity, the efficiency of oil heating and cooling worsen, resulting in impracticality to cut short the cycle time of an injection molding machine.
Analyzing such problems with the conventional heating/cooling unit and subsequent researches disclosed that the settlement of the following carries vital significance:
(1) With the conventional heating/cooling unit, the oil 2, a thermal medium is directly delivered to the oil heater 16 as cooled, with the efficiency of oil heating thus resulting in worsening, whereby it eaves behind an interference with high-speed oil heating over a very short span of time.
(2) Similarly to the case of heating referred to above, the oil 2 flowing out with a high temperature from the oil heater 16 is flowed back to the oil cooler 8 immediately after the passage through the in-die fluid path 13 so that the efficiency of oil cooling gets worse, whereby to make up for this, an oil cooler with a large capacity is required.
(3) Though energizing the motor 3 even with the flow direction changeover valve 6 kept at the neutral position drives the pump 4 thereby to suck up and discharge the oil 2, the oil 2 fails to circulate through a relief pipe 10 (a reservoir circuit) until the oil pressure is boosted up to a setpoint (10 through 20 kg/cm.sup.2) of the relief valve 11, which must remain unchanged. To force-circulate the oil through the relief pipe, the motor 3 must be driven, with some waste of electric energy as a result.
(4) Shifting the flow direction changeover valve 6 from one position to another for the process of oil cooling takes place flowing back the oil 2 thus far staying in the oil heater 16 directly into the oil cooler 8, thus giving rise to a problem in combination with a preceding problem remarked in (2) above.


A vehicle control device including a multi-speed transmission switching gear shift positions in accordance with a combination of hydraulic friction engagement devices operations and pressure control solenoid valves, the control device shifting gears by providing a shift output signal including a quick-apply signal to the valves after a first time from a shift request, the control device has: a pulsation drive control portion to control selectively pulsating the pressure control solenoid valves in a cycle; and a quick-apply control prohibiting portion to prohibit a provision of a quick-apply control using the quick-apply signal for a second time from a time of termination of the pulsation drive control, and to permit the provision of the quick-apply control after the elapse of the second time, for a valve having undergone the control, the pulsation drive control portion to terminate the control for a valve when the shift request is made.

A control device of a vehicle is known that provides a pulsation drive control of selectively pulsating a plurality of pressure control solenoid valves in a predetermined cycle in a vehicle including a multi-speed transmission switching gear shift positions in accordance with combination of operations of a plurality of hydraulic friction engagement devices and the plurality of pressure control solenoid valves respectively controlling the operations of the hydraulic friction engagement devices. This corresponds to a control device of a vehicle of Patent Document 1.


A heating device is provided for motor vehicles with a water-cooled internal combustion engine, which heating device has a heat exchanger which is acted on by the cooling water circuit of the internal combustion engine on the one hand and by an auxiliary heating unit which is independent of the internal combustion engine on the other hand. A thermostatically activated switching element causes the hot water to flow via the heat exchanger below a temperature prescribed by the thermostat, when the auxiliary heating unit is switched on, and to flow additionally via the internal combustion engine above this temperature, and causes the engine cooling water to flow via the heat exchanger when the auxiliary heating unit is switched off. In order to achieve low production costs and a large degree of robustness of the switching element it is equipped with a non-return valve whose blocking direction is directed from an outflow chamber to an inflow chamber. The inflow chamber and outflow chamber are connected to one another via at least one leakage hole. The thermostat is arranged in the inflow chamber and provided with an activation element which opens the non-return valve above a prescribed temperature in the inflow chamber and thus enables the through-flow from the outflow chamber to the inflow chamber.

The invention relates to a heating device for motor vehicles with a water-cooled internal combustion engine.
In a known heating device (German Patent Document DE 19 61 286 A1), a thermostatically activated switching element has three valves and a bypass between two inlets of the valve. A first valve is constructed as a non-return valve and is directly assigned to the outlet, connected to the auxiliary heating unit, of the switching element. A second valve which is controlled by the thermostat controls the connection between the first inlet, connected to the heat exchanger, and the outlet as well as the connection between a second inlet, connected to the water cooling circuit of the engine, and the outlet of the switching element. A third valve which is controlled by the thermostat is directly assigned to the second inlet of the switching element.
When the engine is deactivated (stationary mode) and the auxiliary heating unit is switched on, the third valve is closed and the second valve is opened and the heat exchanger is connected to the auxiliary heater. When a prescribed water temperature is reached, the thermostat opens the third valve and hot water flows via the heat exchanger on the one hand and via the cold engine on the other, and the engine is preheated. As the temperature rises further, the thermostat closes the second valve and blocks off the heat exchanger. The water which is heated by the auxiliary heating unit flows exclusively via the engine and brings it up to operating temperature. If the engine is started and if it supplies sufficient hot water via the cooling water circuit and if the auxiliary heating unit is switched off, hot water is pumped back to the engine via the heat exchanger, via the bypass and via the opened third valve by the water pump in the cooling circuit of the engine. Such a switching element with three valves, a thermostat and a bypass has a very complex structure and makes the heating device more expensive without substantially increasing its effectiveness.
In a known heating device of the type mentioned at the outset (German Patent Document DE 43 14 089 Cl), the thermostat which is arranged in the outflow chamber and is constructed as an element made of expanding material activates a main valve plate which is pressed in a sealing fashion under the force of a closing spring onto a flange ring which is arranged between the inflow chamber and outflow chamber. At a selectable set temperature of the heating water which flows from the auxiliary heating unit to the heat exchanger via the outflow chamber, the thermostat which is arranged in the outflow chamber lifts off the main valve plate from the flange ring and some of the heating water flows out of the outflow chamber via the inflow chamber into the cooling water circuit of the internal combustion engine so that the latter is preheated and reaches its operating temperature more quickly. The nonreturn valve which is also arranged between the inflow chamber and outflow chamber and has a blocking direction which points towards the inflow chamber is formed by a subsidiary valve plate which is pressed on to the main valve plate under the force of a compression spring and, at the same time, closes off the through-holes present in the main valve plate. The subsidiary valve plate lifts off from the main valve plate and thus clears the connection between the inflow chamber and outflow chamber if the pressure, produced by the circulation pump after the circulation pump in the cooling water circuit of the internal combustion engine is switched on, is high enough to overcome the pressing-on force of the compression spring. Thus, the heated-up cooling water which flows into the inflow chamber from the internal combustion engine returns to the internal combustion engine via the outflow chamber and the heat exchanger as well as through the auxiliary heating unit. If the temperature of the cooling water exceeds the set temperature of the thermostat, the latter also lifts off the main valve plate from the flange ring so that a greater flow orifice between the inflow chamber and outflow chamber is cleared. Such a switching element with two integrated valves is constructionally very complex, which results in substantially higher production costs of the switching element.
An object of the invention is to substantially simplify, and make less susceptible to faults, the switching element in a heating device of the type mentioned at the outset, and, at the same time, maintain the fundamental mode of operation of engine heating and stationary-mode heating.
This object is achieved according to the invention in a heating device for motor vehicles of the generic type discussed above by providing an arrangement wherein the inflow chamber and outflow chamber are connected to one another via at least one leakage hole, and wherein the thermostat is arranged in the inflow chamber and has an activation element which lifts off the valve element of the non-return valve from its valve seat above a prescribed temperature.
In the heating device according to the invention, apart from the thermostat the switching element only contains a single valve and constitutes a complete unit which is easy to produce, simple to mount and only has to be connected to the rest of the heating system at the three connectors. The switching valve which is constructed as a non-return valve with additional activation by the thermostat is robust and has little susceptibility of faults.


In combination with a device adapted for at least partial implantation in a living body to perform a function with respect to that body such as introducing a material into the body, relieving the body of a material, monitoring a condition within the body, or introducing electrical stimulus into the body, servicing apparatus is provided in association with the device for maintaining the device in effective operating condition. The device and servicing apparatus may be arranged in a single housing such that a portion of the device extends from the housing into operable position in the body, in separate but operably connected housings, or the servicing apparatus may be split between the device and a separate housing. The actual servicing of the device may be done within a service housing where the portion of the device to be serviced is drawn into the service housing and mechanically or chemically serviced, the servicing instrumentality may be moved from a service housing to the device to be serviced when servicing is necessary, or a portion of the servicing instrumentality may be built in or permanently positioned with respect to the device and operated by the remainder of the servicing apparatus located in a common housing with the device or in a separate housing.. Circuiting is preferably provided to initiate and control the servicing operation.

1. Field: The invention is concerned with devices for implantation or partial implantation in living human or animal bodies.
2. State of the Art: There are currently many devices that have been developed for full or partial implantation into a living body. These include heart pacemakers, pumps for administering medication, electrodes, sensors of various kinds, and attendant electrical leads, catheters, and tubing, for continuously monitoring certain body conditions.
These devices generally have limited life in the adverse biological environment of the body and need to be replaced periodically. However, each time such a device is replaced, it requires major surgery with the accompanying risks.
One reason that replacement of such devices is periodically required is the tendency for materials to build up on or in critical portions of the device, thereby seriously interfering with proper and effective operation. The build-up may be of natural body materials or of materials discharged by the device or it may be a combination or result from an interaction of these. Thus, when a device is implanted, because of the body's tendency to reject or isolate foreign material, body material will start to build up on and around the device.
If a sensor, for example, is placed in the blood stream, the blood will tend to coagulate and build up on the sensing surface. After a period of time, this build-up of material can severely interfere with the operation of the sensor, making replacement necessary. The same problem occurs in other parts of the body with build-up of cells, tissue, and various other materials, such as sheetings of protein. Also, where a membrane or other surface is used for passing only selected molecules, it may become poisoned, i.e., blocked or clogged, by other molecules. Again, with devices other than sensors, similar problems can arise. Such devices are rendered ineffective or inoperable after a period of time by the build-up thereon of foreign materials.
With devices which discharge a material during operation, such as pumps by which medication is continuously or periodically supplied to the blood stream or to other parts of the body through catheters or otherwise, the catheter or other passages often become blocked by precipitation of the material being pumped, by blood clots, or by other build-up, thereby rendering the entire pumping device ineffective or inoperable. For example, with pumps for pumping insulin or other proteins, the material being pumped into the body has a tendency to precipitate in the catheter, thereby clogging it. Also, materials from the device itself, such as gases or other chemicals released over periods of time from materials used in construction of the device, may build up or interact with body materials to thereby interfere with the device's operations. Again, under these conditions replacement of the device is necessary. With devices such as heart pacemakers, neuro-stimulators, or electronic bridging circuits where electrical leads extend from the device to body parts or between body parts, the leads themselves, particularly where they attach to body parts, may be subject to material growth or build-up to the point where conduction between the lead and body part may be seriously affected.
A second reason necessitating replacement of some devices, such as various sensors, is that the devices themselves will degrade or wear out with time, so that operation is no longer satisfactory.
Presently, there is no known way to restore, rehabilitate, clean, or otherwise service a device, whose operation has become seriously degraded, ineffective, inefficient, or has ceased completely, while such device remains in the body.
One of the current pressing needs for appropriate insulin administration is the development of a long term, implantable, glucose sensor. Such a glucose sensor is urgently needed to provide an adequate, closed loop, insulin administration system, as, for example, one in which an implantable insulin pump is used so that insulin administration will closely follow normal body routine. There are currently no glucose sensors available which will maintain sensing ability in vivo for more than a few hours or days. Since replacement of such a sensor on a daily basis is entirely impractical, implantable insulin pumps have had only limited use. However, if a known type of glucose sensor could be restored within the body, extensive use of implantable insulin pumps would become a reality.

Robotic implantable medical device and/or component restoration system


Hermetically sealed articles are provided which enclose a porous mass of material of relatively low heat conductivity and a charge of a gas having a coefficient of thermal conductivity lower than that of air and thoroughly permeating the porous mass of material or such sealed pouches may enclose only the porous mass of material evacuated down to about 10 mm. Hg. The pouches are useful as thermal insulation materials and are constructed of confronting sheets of multi-ply laminate material sealed along free edge portions thereof and comprising (1) a multi-layer film including a core layer of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer adhered on each side to nylon, each nylon layer being adhered to a layer of chemically modified polyolefin; (2) optionally, a low density polyethylene layer; (3) a layer of primer material suitable to effect adhesion between said modified polyolefin layer or polyethylene layer and the outer layer of oriented polypropylene or other material suitable for conveying toughness, flex crack resistance and moisture barrier properties to such multi-ply laminar construction.. The articles are useful as thermal insulation materials.

This invention relates to thermal insulation, and particularly to improvements in gas impervious pouch structure for containing a porous mass of thermal insulation or such a porous mass and a charge of gas having a coefficient of thermal conductivity lower than that of air.
Pouch structures containing insulation or insulation and gas as described have been found useful as insulation units for installation in the walls and doors of refrigerator cabinets. Such units both facilitate handling of the insulation and enhance performance of refrigerator cabinets and the like within which they are installed. These insulation units also have been found useful for other home appliances, such as, for example, freezers and water heaters, as well as for residential and commercial building structures.
Fibrous insulation comprising glass fibers or the like, in combination with an insulating gas such as difluorodichloromethane, commonly known as F-12 refrigerant, and enclosed in pouch structures of materials that are both gas and moisture impervious have been used.
The prior art is believed to be best exemplified by the following patents:
______________________________________ Dybvig 2,817,124 12/57 Sorel 2,966,439 12/60 Simms et al 3,004,877 10/61 Gaugler 2,863,179 12/58 Gaugler et al 2,779,066 01/57 Stickel 3,264,165 08/66 Bolsolas 4,054,711 10/77 Dillon 2,939,811 06/60 Jacobs 2,817,123 12/57 Strong et al 3,179,549 04/65 Janos 2,745,173 05/56 ______________________________________
Dybvig, U.S. Pat. No. 2,817,124, discloses an insulating unit having two side by side compartments wherein the inner and outer walls of one compartment are comprised of Mylar coated on both sides with vapor deposited metal coating which in turn is coated with polyethylene, Saran or Hycar vinyl while the outer compartment is formed of polyethylene having pinholes of sufficient size to admit air.
Sorel, U.S. Pat. No. 2,966,439, discloses laminated products of normally thermoshrinkable polyvinylidene chloride film bonded in thermoshrunk condition to a normally dimensionally thermo-stable material such as fibrous sheet material.
Simms et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,004,877, disclose heat insulating units for refrigeration cabinets comprising a porous mass and gas in a hermetically sealed bag formed of a multi-ply laminate including Kraft paper, Saran, Hycar vinyl cement and polyethylene.
Gaugler, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,779,066 and 2,863,179, disclose heat insulating bags comprising double bags and double insulation and Freon gas comprising laminations of Mylar or vinyl chloride or vinyl acetate or Hycar vinyl; metal coating; Mylar or polystyrene; metal coating; Mylar or vinyl chloride or vinyl acetate or Hycar vinyl; Saran.
Stickel, U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,165, discloses insulating means comprising insulating material enclosed by Saran or a copolymer of vinyl chloride enclosed by Saran or a copolymer of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate or Mylar adhered to a flexible closed-cell polyurethane film or multilayers of Kraft paper or foam; organic resin; metal coating; polyurethane foam; polyvinyl alcohol; metal coating; polyethylene.
Bolsolas, U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,711, discloses multilayer jacketing material for covering thermal insulation on pipes comprising a composite of metallized Mylar; adhesive; asbestos paper; glass scrim cloth; adhesive; polyvinyl fluoride film.
Jacobs, U.S. Pat. No. 2,817,123, discloses double bag constructions comprising an inner bag of laminated Mylar and Saran and an outer bag of fibrous insulation and polyethylene.
Dillon, U.S. Pat. No. 2,939,811, relates to heat-insulating units comprising hermetically sealed bags comprising deformable walls, a porous mass and gas wherein the bag comprises Saran, polyvinyl chloride, vinyl-nitrile rubber or polyethylene.
Strong et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,179,549, disclose thermal insulating structures of the vacuum type comprising hermetically sealed containers having internal pressures of less than 100 microns mercury wherein the walls are low carbon steel and stainless steel.
Janos, U.S. Pat. No. 2,745,173, discloses vacuum insulation wherein the filler material is compressed before assembly and caused to retain its compressed form and wherein the walls of the structures are stainless steel or low carbon steel.
Prior art structures as represented by the above disclosures have been deficient in one or more aspects. Most of such constructions utilize Saran to meet moisture barrier problems and are thus accompanied by the problems generated by the shrinkability and tendency of Saran to become plastic at higher temperatures. Structures substituting or combining Mylar or other plastics have been subject to puncture by the fibrous insulating material. To overcome such problems, plastic film has been protected with metal coatings or polyurethane foam or relatively thick multi-ply laminations have been necessary or the multi-bag compartmented constructions have been proposed.
In U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 929,305 filed July 31, 1978 of Nicholas Sheptak and James E. Dewine, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,915 issued Oct. 30, 1979 improved unitary thermal insulating units are disclosed and claimed wherein the pouch is formed of a multi-ply laminate consisting essentially of an inwardly facing sealing layer of low density polyethylene; a layer of vinyl primer; a layer of metal foil; a layer of low density polyethylene; and an outwardly facing layer of Mylar or oriented polypropylene.


Vibration of a rotating disc is dampened by means of a pair of weights which respectively lie in inclined tracks and are held against the opposite faces of the disc by the force of gravity.

One of the most difficult operations in a machine shop is that of machining flat faces on thin discs such as those used in automotive brakes. In the case of brake discs, for example, it was a common practice to subject the faces of the discs to a grinding operation to provide the relatively flat surfaces required to meet manufacturer's specifications and to provide good braking. More recently, such a grinding operation has in many cases been replaced by a machining operation carried out with the aid of a vibration dampener such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,878. Although that vibration dampener is satisfactory for many operations, it has its limitations. For example, attempts to resurface very thin stainless steel discs have not been entirely successful since some noticable vibration or chatter is present and causes an irregularity in the disc surfaces. There is, therefore, a need for an improved vibration dampener which may be adapted for use with thin brake discs during machining of the surfaces thereof.

Method and apparatus for dampening vibrations during turning of a rotor