The present invention is a method and an eddy current system for non-contact determination of the resistance between the current lead stripe and the coating during continuous fabrication of chemical power sources such as batteries, supercapacitors, photovoltaic modules and the like. Both the method and the non-destructive test system for practicing the method are described. The method includes placing of an integrated measuring transducer containing two strap-type eddy current probes above the surface of the coating applied to the metallic current lead stripe in the region of the shaft guiding the stripe movement, so that all the points of the operating surface of the transducer being at an equal distance from the stripe surface coating so that the two probes would take measurements on the same area of the coating.

The value of the contact resistance between the metallic current lead stripe and the composite coating is among the key parameters of chemical power sources including batteries, supercapacitors, photovoltaic modules, and fuels cells.
This coating is formed by using powdered materials that have ionic conductivity, and additives of carbon, as well as soot and other materials in different combinations. The selected combinations of materials are subsequently fixed with a binder. For example, aluminum, copper, nickel, and titanium are usually used as the metal for the current leads. The specific electrical conductance of the coating is lower than that of the metal current lead by several orders of magnitude.
The value of the contact resistance between the current lead and the coating is a function of the ohmic contact area. The latter is determined by the micro-relief of the coating surface, as well as by the presence and the total area of an insulating film of aluminum oxide on the surface of the current lead. When the coating is being applied to the current lead stripe, the oxide film is substantially destroyed, while for some coatings (thin coatings of high porosity) it remains possible to partially restore this film due to the oxygen diffusion from the air through the coating layer, as well as due to the oxygen diffusion from the interior pores of the coating.
In order to determine the resistance between the current lead stripe and the coating on the fabrication line while the stripe is in motion it is necessary to use non-contact measurement methods. Any mechanical contact with the surface of the coating while the stripe is in motion would lead to the destruction of the highly porous surface of the coating at the point of contact. This effect would be exacerbated by the small thickness of the coating (10-150 μm) and the relatively low density of the coating material (1.5-3.0 g/cm3).
A destructive testing method that includes cutting of test samples from finished stripe with a coating, and subsequent determination of the transient resistance between the foil and the coating by a contact method is not practical due to the following.
First, to meet the requirement of making the sampling representative, the number of test samples has to be substantial, and the samples have to be cut from different regions of the stripe. To make the test samples representative they must be removed from areas that are uniformly distributed over the entire stripe surface. The cutting out of the samples will detrimentally affect the integrity of the stripe and substantially complicate the subsequent process of fabricating the final products such as chemical power sources and supercapacitors.
Second, the contact method of measuring the specific resistance of the coating material and of the transient resistance between the foil of the current lead foil and the coating has inherent problems. For example, the coating is highly porous. Its porosity usually equals more than 20 percent, and in some cases it exceeds 50%.
Due to the presence of substantial open porosity, the surface of the coating layer features a rather complicated stochastic micro-relief. By pressing the contact area of the measuring electrode to this surface the micro-relief of the surface will be disturbed. In addition, the area of the actual ohmic contact of the coating and of the contact region will be different at each measurement thus introducing substantial errors into the measurement process.
Among the non-contact testing methods for determining the resistance between the current lead stripe and the coating, the methods of eddy currents and electrical capacitance appear, in principle, to be the best suited.
Let us review the possibility of using the non-contact electrical capacitance method. The non-contact electrical capacitance method involves using two or more coplanar wafers placed above the coating with a certain air gap, as shown in FIG. 1. The interaction between the potential electrical field of such a strap capacitor and the object being tested is well reflected by an equivalent circuit shown in FIG. 2 for a capacitor comprised of two wafers.
Since the dimensions of the wafers in the strap type capacitor substantially exceed the distance between the surfaces of wafers 101 (FIG. 1) and the surface of the aluminum foil 104, a circuit of two plane-parallel series capacitors, is actually formed.
Each of these capacitors is formed by the corresponding plate of the strap capacitor 101 and by the field-screening surface of the aluminum foil. The connection of the wafers of these formed capacitors are effected in the foil, and the connecting point of these capacitors is schematically shown at an equivalent circuit (FIG. 2), and designated as "foil".
Each of these plane-parallel capacitors contains three layers arranged in series in the field between its wafers. The capacitance of the first layer, formed by the air gap between the capacitor wafer and the coating surface, is designated on the equivalent scheme (FIG. 2) as Cg (201). The second layer comprising a low-conductance coating is shown on the equivalent circuit as a chain of parallel-connected resistors Rm (203) and Cm (204). The third layer is comprised of the Al2O3 dielectric film formed on the surface of the aluminum foil. In the equivalent circuit scheme it is represented by the capacitor Cd (202).
The thickness of the Al2O3 film is rather small, usually not exceeding ten nanometers. Therefore the value of the capacitor Cd is higher by 3-4 orders than that of the capacitors Cm and Cd. Correspondingly, the capacitive reactance of the oxide film is close to zero. Therefore it is practically impossible to determine the presence or, absence of an oxide film from the change of the total capacitance value of the strap capacitor.
In certain cases a strap capacitor with coplanar wafers can be used for determining the distance from its electrodes to the conducting surface of a sample. So, for example, according to the U.S. Pat. No. 6,593,738, for measuring the thickness of thin conducting coatings on various structures, in particular of metallic films on dielectric or semiconductor disks, the eddy current method is used. However, the eddy current probe in this case is mechanically connected to an electrical capacitance probe, which is used for determining the distance to the surface of the metallic film.
The non-contact method of eddy currents is used for measuring electromagnetic characteristics of the conducting layers and of the coatings, including thickness, and for detecting faults in the layers.
In the literature some authors proposed the use of a multiple frequency method of eddy currents for detecting corrosion in two-layer structures. They note that the eddy current method has been widely used for detecting subsurface discontinuities in the structures of aircraft. In the work described, the coil is excited by a sinusoidal alternating current (the typical frequency range is from 50 Hz to 5 MHz), which induces eddy currents in the electrically conductive material. The coil impedance is then measured.
Discontinuities, such as fissures, corrosion and surface characteristics lead to changes in the amplitude and phase of the eddy current. At the same time the eddy current signal can be distorted by a number of interfering factors that drastically complicate interpretation of the signal. With regard to multiple layer structures, such as aircraft splice joints such factors as probe deflection and skewness due to the surface deformation, change of paint thickness, simultaneously occurring discontinuities, and changes in the gap between the layers can all affect the measurements and complicate signal interpretation.
Single-frequency testing provides little information for reducing the influence of these factors. At the present time, multiple frequency eddy current testing has been successfully used for detecting hidden corrosion and subsurface cracking in aircraft lap splices. In the literature the use of the eddy current method for determining the material loss as a result of corrosion in a two-layer structure while using four operating frequencies, namely; 30 kHz, 17 kHz, 8 kHz, and 5.5 kHz is described.
The eddy current probe that rotates in a hole for fixing a multiple layer structure is described in literature. The probe output signal subject to filtration is used for detecting the presence of defects, while the probe signal not subject to filtration is used for determining the boundaries between the layers in a multiple layer structure.
The literature also describes eddy current inspection systems for nondestructive detection of faults in the region of a multiple layer conducting structure in the place of the junction of the structure. In the first of them the eddy currents are induced in the structure by an aperiodic excitation current in the induction coil. Excitation and receiving coils are used, while a change in the height of the altitude connection and of the gaps between the intermediate conducting layers in the multiple layer structure is being compensated. In this case the eddy current transducer is excited by a pulsed current while the received signals are being filtered. The presence of the air gap between the layers of the structure is indicated. As a result of filtration the parameters of the intermediate layer, the thickness of the structure being inspected are determined. Quantitative measurements of the defect parameters are obtained by comparing the signal value with the calibration curve. The Fourier transformation of the signals is used for obtaining the amplitude-frequency characteristics. A frequency filtration is used.
A device and a process for nondestructive determination of changes of the ohmic resistance of a thin layer by using eddy currents have also been described. The induction coil is excited by a high frequency current. Its magnetic field induces eddy currents in the layer thus weakening the magnetic field of the coil. The coil forms a part of the generating circuit that is constantly maintained in the resonance by using phase correcting circuits. Under such resonant conditions, the reactive parts of the generating circuit may be neglected, and the current flowing in the generating circuit depends exclusively on the ohmic resistance of the induction coil, the changes in which determined by the ohmic resistance of the layer being tested.
The use of a parallel resonant circuit connected to the harmonic oscillations generator for measuring the electrical conductance of the media is also described in patent FR2782802A1.
Other researchers have described a method for eddy current testing of a minimum of one layer placed on a substrate. A minimum of one layer or the substrate conducts electric current. An inductance coil is used as a primary field source or to measure the secondary field parameters arising from the eddy currents induced in the conducting layer or in the substrate. The primary magnetic field is generated at a minimum of two frequencies. The measured values of the added impedance are used for determining the electromagnetic properties of the substrate and the layer, as well as the layer thickness.
An eddy current method for testing multiple layer coarse grain weld seams for the absence of defects has also been described in literature. It is noted that the detection of cracks in a weld seam is complicated due to the coarse grain material in the seam. U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,460 describes a method for determining the characteristics of metallic electrodes in ceramic sensors wherein the metallic electrodes are sprayed as layers and are subjected to subsequent annealing. The purpose of the invention, according to the patent description, is to develop a simple nondestructive and efficient method that allows automation of the sensor acceptance inspection process.
In accordance with the proposed testing procedure, the quantity and distribution of the sprayed gold, due to the fact that it is placed in the protective layer, is determined indirectly. This is done by measuring the layer thickness during the process of manufacturing the electrode, and of respective comparison procedures by means of the eddy current measuring process. To this end the electrode is placed in the magnetic circuit of the coil that is fed with the high frequency current, and the resulting impedance of the coil is measured using the LCR of the measuring circuit. It is noted that the coil can be switched into the resonant circuit by means of a capacitor.
A number of patents deal with the use of two eddy current probes usually operated at different frequencies for measuring the properties of lamellar conducting objects while various procedures for correcting the measurement signals are being used.
The eddy current method is also used for inspecting anomalies in conducting wafers. The excitation and the receiving coils placed at different edges of the wafer initially pass the electromagnetic energy in one direction, from the excitation coil to the receiving coil, then the excitation and the receiving coils change their roles and the energy of the magnetic field is passed in the reverse direction. As a result the defects are detected at an approximately equivalent sensitivity irrespective of the depth of their location in the wafer. The probes generate a periodic magnetic field. The excitation coil and the auxiliary unit direct the electromagnetic field into the wafer being inspected. In an alternative design the auxiliary unit is comprised of a coil controlled by a signal that has a phase and amplitude related to the corresponding signal parameters of the excitation coil. Laminated screens are also used for focusing the electromagnetic energy.
An eddy current measuring transducer containing measuring and compensating probes manufactured in the form of cylindrical induction coils, as well as a measuring circuit has been described. This system is intended for determining the material properties of the object being tested and its geometrical parameters. The measuring transducer operation method includes placing the object at a specified distance from the measuring and the compensating probes, measuring the impedance of the measuring probe at the first and second specified frequencies, determining the material properties, as well as the geometric parameters of the object, on the basis of the impedance measurements, while compensating the temperature influence on the measuring probe by means of the signal being formed by the compensating probe. The compensating probe is spatially smaller of the measuring probe and is located inside the latter. The turns of both probes are co-axial and their geometrical shape is identical. The compensating probe is placed so that the influence thereon of the object being tested is minimal.
The temperature compensation is comprised of subtracting the integrated impedance of the compensating probe from the integrated impedance of the measuring probe. For determining the material properties, as well as the geometric parameters of the object, the latter is initially placed at a distance from the measuring probe that exceeds the probe diameter while the impedance of the measuring probe is being determined. Then the object is brought closer to the measuring probe and its impedance is measured again. The obtained values form a basis for determining the added impedance of the probe which is used for determining the electrical conductance and the geometric dimensions of the object taking into account the correction being used.
The analysis of the patent information and technical literature show that the eddy current method has been widely used for non-contact measurement of the electromagnetic properties and the thickness of layers in lamellar structures and detection of faults in the layers.
However, no patents have been found that deal with the non-contact measuring of the contact resistance between the metallic foil and the thin low-conducting composite coating, the electrical conductance of which can change depending on density, a change in the concentration of its components, granulometric composition (granularity), and homogeneity of the composite mass after mixing of the components.

Method and eddy current system for non-contact determination of interface resistance


An IC connector receives an IC package which includes a plurality of J-bend type leads arranged in parallel rows along opposite sides of an IC package body. The connector includes a housing having package-receiving recess and a pair of rows of terminal-receiving passages. A plurality of stamped and formed terminals are received in the passages. Each terminal includes a contact section for contacting a respective one of the leads of the IC package, a retention section for fixing the terminal in a respective one of the passages and a tail section exposed exteriorly of the housing. The contact section of each terminal is generally channel-shaped to define a pair of rigidifying side walls extending in planes generally transverse to the side walls of the housing and a central base portion joining the rigidifying the side walls. A pair of resilient cantilevered beam portions are formed from the central base portion of the contact section and define a pair of spring contacts projecting into the recess for engaging a respective one of the leads of the IC package.

IC packages typically are square or rectangular and have a large number of short, stiffly resilient terminals or leads spaced along two opposite sides or all four sides of the package. The IC package typically is mounted in a connector having a dielectric housing or insulating body with a package-receiving recess defined by at least two generally parallel opposite side walls or four walls surrounding the recess, along with a bottom wall which generally closes the recess. Terminal-receiving passages extend through the bottom wall along the inside of at least some of the side walls.
A commonly known IC package includes a plurality of J-bend type leads. The leads are arranged in parallel relation at the sides of a body of the IC package. The tip of each lead extends in the vertical direction and is bent inwardly in a generally U-shape.
The IC package with its J-bend type wires is inserted into the package-receiving recess of the connector housing, and the leads engage the plurality of terminals inside the side walls of the housing surrounding the recess. These IC connectors often are used as test sockets to conduct burn in tests on the IC packages. The burn in process typically requires that the assembly be exposed to a temperature of 120.degree. C. for over 120 hours. If a single point of contact is made between each terminal of the test socket and a respective lead of the IC package, the main problem encountered is a phenomenon known as accelerated stress relaxation. While certain designs have been utilized to minimize this problem, the problem is more difficult to overcome with IC packages having the J-bend type lead wires.
In addition, some IC package manufacturers prefer to insert their IC packages into the IC connectors with the leads extending downward while other manufacturers prefer the leads to extend upward. In view of the alternative orientations, the manner of contacting the leads depends upon their orientation. Thus, while one terminal configuration may be desirable if the leads extend downward, a different configuration may be desirable if the leads extend upward. This can make the design of a desirable terminal that will perform well with packages of either orientation especially difficult.
The present invention is directed to providing the IC connector with terminals having two contact points with each lead of the IC package. The terminal design makes efficient use of the sheet metal from which it is stamped and formed and also permits the terminals to be gang-loaded into the terminal-receiving passages of the connector housing. In addition, it can be used with IC packages that are inserted with their leads extending up or down.


The disclosed invention is an apparatus for the distillation of liquids. The apparatus has a plurality of vertically-stacked, parallel disks which are rotated. The liquid to be distilled is introduced into the center of the disk stack and migrates by centrifugal force as a thin film across side 1 of each disk. During migration, the more volatile portion evaporates from side 1 and condenses on side 2 of a neighboring disk. Energy requirements for distillation are provided by heat transfer from side 2 to side 1. The apparatus is substantially adiabatic in that vaporization and condensation occur without external supply of heating or cooling.

The prior art distillation apparatus is described in the following U.S. Patent Documents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Date Inventor ______________________________________ 845929 3/5/07 Broonoippolito 2999796 2/9/59 Bromley 3136707 6/9/64 Hickman 3293153 12/20/66 Lustenader 3505175 4/7/70 Zalles 3536591 10/27/70 Lotz 3697383 10/10/72 Weaver 3837491 9/24/74 Humiston 3505175 6/17/86 Kusakawa et al. 4731159 3/15/88 Porter et al. ______________________________________
The prior art describes various types of stationary and rotary distillation devices. One type of prior art (e.g., Porter) requires heating (usually by steam) to partially vaporize a liquid. One drawback with this prior art apparatus is that a relatively large amount of energy is required to convert liquid to vapor. Another type of prior art (e.g., Bromley) is multi-effect in that some of the energy given off in condensation is used to vaporize additional liquid. The drawback with this type of multi-effect apparatus is that there is a pressure drop with each effect so that there is a limit to the number of effects. Another type of prior art as described by Hickman is a rotary distillation apparatus which transfers energy from the condensing to the evaporating surfaces by means of a compressor to condense vapor "at a sufficiently high temperature above that at which it is evolved". This apparatus requires an expenditure of energy to operate the compressor.


A misfire diagnosis apparatus for an internal combustion engine is shown including initial acceleration judging unit, delay unit, and a misfire judging unit. The initial acceleration judging unit operates to judge the initial state of a starting acceleration or a gear shift acceleration on the basis of the detected result of acceleration detecting unit. Subsequently, the delay unit operates to stop a misfire judgement for a predetermined time period when the initial acceleration is judged. The misfire judging unit operates to start the misfire judgement operation after a lapse of a predetermined delay time period. Since the misfire judgement is stopped during the initial acceleration, erroneous diagnoses of misfirings are avoided.

The present, invention relates to a misfire diagnosis apparatus for an internal combustion engine, particularly to a stopping system of the misfire diagnosis apparatus when a motor vehicle is in an accelerating condition.
In general, stable power output is desirable at any stroke for a multi-cylinder engine. However, combustion in each cylinder is liable to vary by the following reasons:
(1) Intake air to each cylinder is not uniformly distributed because of complicated configurations of intake pipes and interference of induced air.
(2) A difference of temperature between cylinders caused by a different route of a cooling system.
(3) A slight volumetric difference due to manufacturing allowance between each cylinder and piston.
(4) Slight discrepancy of air fuel ratio for each cylinder caused by unequal fuel injection quantity according to the manufacturing errors of injectors, etc.
Heretofore, the so-called combustion fluctuation has been suppressed to the minimum by the air fuel ratio controls and ignition timing controls of the individual cylinders. In a recent high-performance engine tending toward a higher output and a lower fuel cost, however, when any of the injectors, ignition plugs etc. has degraded or broken down, intermittent misfiring arises and incurs lowering in the output.
Even when the intermittent misfiring has occurred in one cylinder in the multicylinder engine, a driver often drives an automobile without noticing the misfiring. Besides, it is difficult to diagnose during driving the cause of the misfiring is temporary or is the degradation or the like of any of the injectors, the ignition plugs etc.
Therefore, according to the official gazette of Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 258955/1986 by way of example, a comparison is made between the difference of the minimum value and maximum value of the r. p. m. of an engine corresponding to a cylinder at the previous combustion stroke and the difference of the minimum value and maximum value of the engine r. p. m. corresponding to the cylinder at the present combustion stroke. The combustion condition of the pertinent cylinder is discriminated, depending upon whether or not the discrepancy between the compared values falls within a preset reference value. In a case where abnormal combustion has occurred in excess of a predetermined number of times, a misfiring is judged, and warning is given.
Meanwhile, when a throttle valve is abruptly opened at, e.g., a starting acceleration, the quantity of intake air to be fed into each cylinder increases, and a temporary misfiring is liable to occur.
With the prior-art technique mentioned above, the misfiring is diagnosed even in the regions of the starting acceleration, etc., so that the diagnosis is liable to become erroneous and poses a problem in reliability.

Misfire diagnosis apparatus for an internal combustion engine


A pressurized refill and a method for pressurizing a refill are provided. The refill has a plug secured at an end of the refill having at least one seal and preferably two seals between the plug and an interior wall of the refill. A valve extends through a channel of the plug allowing pressurized gas to be forced into an interior of the refill to pressurize or re-pressurize the interior of the refill. A spring loaded stem maintains the valve in a closed and sealed position when pressurization is not being effected.

The present invention generally relates to a pressurized refill for a pen. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sealed plug having a valve for use in selectively pressurizing a pen refill as well as sealing the refill.
It is, of course, generally known to provide a writing instrument with ink therein, commonly referred to as a pen. Often, pens are provided with a cartridge or a refill such that when the ink within the pen or refill is fully depleted, only the refill requires replacement. As a result, a number of decorative pen housings can be provided to receive a standard refill so that the housing can be repeatedly used, and replacement of the refill only is required.
It is also generally known to provide a refill with ink therein that is constantly acted upon by gas pressure. Such refills, when in use within pens, allow for a smooth and continuous flow of ink regardless of the orientation of the pen itself. However, such pressurized pen refills are typically only sealed at an end of the refill. Therefore, the gas pressurizing the refill slowly leaks from the refill rendering the ink refill inoperative or, at least, less effective.
Further, recharging of the refill with gas is often impossible or difficult to achieve. Therefore, after the gas is discharged from the refill or .substantially reduced, the refill may become inoperative. This results in a substantially shorter shelf-life for the refill.
A need, therefore, exists for an improved refill having a valved core plug and at least one seal peripherally extending around the plug. Further, an improved method for recharging a refill with a gas is also required.

Pressurized refill with double seal valve core plug and a method for pressurizing a refill


A method for flexible inverse multiplexing for ATM and for link grouping of communication links with different transmission rates and delay. The method of the present invention supports links which use a portion of the link bandwidth for one QoS objective (e.g., low delay) and another portion for another QoS objective (e.g., low cell loss). The method involves servicing each of a number of multiplexed flows with a predetermined number of cells. Cells are assigned to each flow during a number of cycles which make up an ATM frame. The number of cells assigned to each flow during each cycle is dynamically adjusted based upon the requirements of each flow, and may be different for each flow. The number of cells assigned to each flow during each cycle may either be fixed, or may vary from cycle to cycle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data transmission systems for transmitting various types of data, such as voice, video, and computer data. More particularly, the invention relates to inverse multiplexing for Asynchronous Transfer Mode ("ATM") over communication links with different transmission rates and/or delays.
2. Description of the Related Art
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a high-speed connection oriented switching and multiplexing communication scheme that allows for high speed telecommunications. ATM is essentially a packet switched communication scheme which utilizes fixed length packets or cells. ATM utilizes fixed size cells that are 53 octets long, with 5 bytes being header information and 48 bytes being payload information. The 48 byte cell payload may contain up to four bytes of information for the ATM adaptation layer, leaving at least 44 bytes for user data.
The term "asynchronous transfer mode" (ATM) was coined to contrast with "synchronous transfer mode" (STM). ATM is based on a time slotted transmission scheme in which data from different applications are multiplexed in accordance with their particular bandwidth, delay, and loss requirements. In ATM each time slot carries exactly one ATM cell. STM is also time slotted, however, in contrast to ATM, time is divided into a fixed number of slots which are grouped together to form a frame which repeats in time. All the time slots that are located at the same relative position in each frame can be grouped to form a circuit consisting of a fixed number of time slots and a fixed bandwidth. STM is inefficient in that the bandwidth associated with each circuit is dedicated full-time to each particular user, regardless of whether the user has data which needs to be transmitted.
ATM addresses many of the deficiencies found in STM communication. ATM networks enable a wide variety of communication devices to share common carrier communication links on a demand driven, as needed basis. The carriers used in ATM typically include relatively slow speed metallic wire links, such as the T1 carrier in North America (1.544 Mbps) or the E1 carrier in Europe (2.048 Mbps). The carriers used for ATM may also include higher speed optical links, such as SDH/SONET OC-3 (155.52 Mbps) and OC-12 (622.08 Mbps). ATM networks utilize statistical multiplexing to provide bandwidth on an as needed basis to individual users. This obviates the need for each user to have a dedicated, wideband communication channel for occasional communication. Instead, wideband communication is a shared resource which may be allocated on demand. Of course, if a number of users require wideband communication all at the same time, the capacity of the network may be momentarily exceeded, resulting in lower performance. To protect a link from overload, the ATM network and the user agree on a description of the user's traffic ("traffic contract") which the network uses to manage and allocate network resources (i.e., link bandwidth and buffer occupancy), as well as to monitor the user's traffic for compliance with the agreement.
The ATM header information identifies the Virtual Path (Virtual Path Identifier or VPI), Virtual Channel (Virtual Channel Identifier or VCI), payload type, and cell loss priority. The VPI and VCI together from a Virtual Circuit. The ATM header also provides flow control and header error control. All the cells of a Virtual Circuit (VPI/VCI) follow the same path through the network, which is determined during call set-up procedures or by assignment. The different users of the ATM network provide their cells to the ATM network interface where they are queued for cell assignment and transmission. Cell transmission in an ATM network is causal, i.e., the cells in a connection (cells with the same VPI/VCI) arrive in order at the destination or far end. This is because the cells travel over the same Virtual Circuit.
An ATM network can support different types of services, such as loss sensitive/delay sensitive, loss insensitive/delay sensitive, loss sensitive/delay insensitive and loss insensitive/delay insensitive. The required QoS (Quality of Service) is determined during call set-up.
T1 carriers are typically a cost effective way of user access to an ATM network, as well as connection between ATM network switches. However, with the proliferation of increased data transfer and transmission requirements, the need for transmission bandwidth greater than that of a T1 carrier is needed in many situations. T3 carriers may be used in such situations; however, the use of T3 carriers is disadvantageous in that their cost is still somewhat prohibitive. Also, the use of T3 carriers as dedicated communication links is inefficient in that oftentimes they are under-utilized in relation to their data transmission capabilities.
ATM inverse multiplexers (IMA) have been proposed which combine several communication lines, e.g., T1 carriers, into a higher bandwidth aggregate communication path. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,608,733 and 5,617,417 and the ATM Forum, "Inverse Multiplexing for ATM (IMA) Specification", Version 1.0, July, 1997, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. ATM inverse multiplexing provides a modular bandwidth for user access to ATM networks and for connection between ATM network elements at rates between the traditional communication rates, for example, between the T1/E1 and T3/E3 rates. T3/E3 links may not be generally available throughout a network, and thus, ATM inverse multiplexing provides an effective method combining several T1/E1 links to collectively provide higher intermediate rates.
The general concept of ATM inverse multiplexing is shown in FIG. 1. In the transmit direction, an ATM cell stream 100 is received from the ATM layer and distributed on a cell by cell basis by the ATM inverse multiplexer 102 to a number of physical links 103, 104, and 105 which collectively make up Virtual Link 106. At the far end, a receiving ATM inverse multiplexer recombines the cells from each link, on a cell by cell basis, recreating the original ATM cell stream 110 which is then passed onto the ATM layer.
The transmit ATM inverse multiplexer periodically transmits special cells that contain information which permits reconstruction of the ATM cell stream at the receiving end. These cells, referred to as IMA Control Protocol (ICP) cells, also define an IMA frame. The transmitter aligns the transmission of IMA frames on all links to allow the receiver to adjust for differential link delays among the individual physical links. In this manner, the receiver can detect and adjust for differential delays by measuring the arrival times of the IMA frames on each link.
At the transmitting end, cells are transmitted continuously. If there are no ATM layer cells to be transmitted within a given IMA frame, then the ATM inverse multiplexer transmits Filler Cells to maintain a continuous stream of cells at the physical layer. The Filler Cells are discarded at the receiving end. A new physical layer OAM (operation administration and maintenance) cell is defined for use in ATM inverse multiplexing and includes codes which indicate whether a cell is an ICP or Filler Cell. The individual cell sequence for IMA framing for the case of three physical links is shown in FIG. 2.
As shown in FIG. 2, the transmitter creates an IMA frame 158 on physical links 103, 104, and 105 by periodically transmitting an ICP cell 150 on each link. Although the ICP cell defines an IMA frame, the ICP cell 150 may be located anywhere within the IMA frame 158. The position of the ICP cell 150 relative to the beginning of the frame (frame boundary) is referred to as the ICP cell offset. The use of ICP cell offsets is used to reduce cell delay variation (CDV) caused by the insertion of the frame marker, i.e., the ICP cell 150 itself. The ICP cell offset is conveyed as protocol information in each link's ICP cell. For the IMA framing shown in FIG. 2, link 103 has an ICP cell offset value of 0, link 104 has an ICP cell offset value of 2, and link 105 has an ICP cell offset value of 1. Filler cells 152 are sent at the transmitting end if there are no ATM layer cells 154 to be transmitted in available transmit opportunities between ICP cells 150. Each IMA frame is defined as M consecutive cells, numbered 0 to (M-1) for each link. ATM Inverse Multiplexing Over xDSL Lines
The term xDSL is used to refer to various digital subscriber line technologies, such as DSL, HDSL, HDSL2, ADSL and VDSL and others, which typically involve the transmission of data in the portion of the frequency spectrum above standard telephone service. xDSL lines may be used as the physical links for data transmission in an ATM network. In such an arrangement, cells from the ATM layer are delivered to the physical layer and transmitted over the xDSL link (e.g., metallic wire pair). At the far end, the cells from the physical layer are delivered to the ATM layer.
Multiple applications may share the xDSL bandwidth, and each of these applications may require a different Quality of Service (QoS). Because of the operational noise inherent in xDSL environments, forward error correction (FEC) is typically used to reduce the effects of noise and to meet the required QoS objectives. Convolutional interleaving may also be used to provide low cell loss in the presence of impulse noise, however, it often introduces delay. Therefore, in order to meet the desired performance requirements, a dual (or more complex) FEC approach is often used. The dual FEC approach provides a low delay path with greater cell loss probability and a high delay path with less cell loss probability.
The existing telephone network infrastructure has limited capability for meeting required transmission rates over desired distances, while at the same time meeting QoS objectives. This is because the information carrying capacity (bit rate) of a line in the existing telephone network is limited due to several factors, including, (1) the type of cables and topology of the network (e.g., the use of bridged taps), (2) the condition of the physical plant, and (3) the noise picked up by the network (noise ingress). Also, a reduction in capacity may result from restricted use of particular frequency bands (e.g., amateur radio bands) because of potential radio frequency interference. These factors reduce either the usable bandwidth (bit rate) or the usable distance of the working line (reach).
For a given xDSL network architecture, a customer's line may not support the bandwidth required. One alternative for increasing the line capacity is to condition the line. Another alternative is to reduce the usable distance of the line, for example by providing service only to those customers within a certain distance (i.e., the usable distance) or by placing loop carriers out in the field at certain intervals (i.e, the usable distance). These alternatives, however, have obvious disadvantages. ATM inverse multiplexing may be used in such cases to increase the capacity of the customer's line and to avoid the undesirable consequences of the alternative approaches outlined above.
Conventional ATM Inverse Multiplexing
Conventional ATM inverse multiplexers are limited in that they may only be used to multiplex same-speed carriers into higher bandwidth, aggregate communication paths. All of the individual links which are multiplexed into the aggregate link must operate at the same speed. Also, cells from the ATM layer are transmitted on the individual physical links in a cyclic round-robin fashion.
The disadvantages of conventional ATM inverse multiplexers become quite apparent given the fact that dissimilar cell rates are quite common in many communication systems, such as xDSL. There are a finite number of lines available between any network access node (e.g., XDSL equipment located in a central office, or other main facility, or in remote cabinets such as digital line cards) and the individual customer premises. The condition of each line and the noise of each channel will vary from line to line. Given a reasonable bit rate granularity and operating noise margin, any two lines may operate at different optimal rates. According to conventional ATM inverse multiplexers, higher speed lines would be compromised by reducing their speed to the "lowest common denominator", i.e., the speed achievable by the slowest line in a group of lines being multiplexed. This limits the practical utility of inverse multiplexing by decreasing the combined bandwidth of the group of lines.
During operation, or as a function of time, temperature, or other conditions, the performance of a line in a group may change, resulting in dissimilar cell rates. Conventional ATM inverse multiplexing is not equipped to deal with such a situation, and will, presumably remove the changed line. This again leads to a decrease in the available bandwidth.
One of the likely reasons for different cell rates among lines is the difference in the allocation of a link bandwidth to FEC cell flows. For example, an ADSL line may have 20% allocated as a low delay path for delay sensitive applications, and 80% allocated as a low cell loss path for loss sensitive applications such as video. To increase the capacity for video, a second ADSL link is multiplexed at 100% low cell loss. Even though the bit rate or throughput provided by the line code (e.g., DMT, QAM) of the two ADSL lines is provisioned to be the same, the cell flows through the different FEC paths result in dissimilar cell rates. Again, because of the dissimilar cell rates, these lines may not be ATM inverse multiplexed using conventional techniques.
Using the case of two ADSL lines as an example, both ADSL lines may have the same cell rate and the same cell transfer delay for similarly allocated link bandwidths. Both ADSL lines may have 20% allocated as a low delay path and 80% allocated as a low cell loss path. Conventional ATM inverse multiplexing techniques are not capable of multiplexing links that have cell flows with different cell transmission delays. Conventional techniques can only operate with a physical link that is characterized by a single transmission delay, such as, for example, a T1 carrier that provides ATM cells in a 193 bit frame (192 bits plus one framing bit) every 125 milliseconds. In accordance with such conventional multiplexing techniques, additional delay is added to some links in order to make the cell delay uniform for all links. This approach, however, eliminates the desired objective of having a low delay QoS because its delay would be made equal to the low loss QoS path, which by the nature of FEC has much greater delay.
Certain conventional multiplexing techniques do compensate for delay, however, the compensation is for differences in transmission delay among links.
Accordingly, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that there continues to be a need for a method of ATM inverse multiplexing of links of different line rates, links having different cell rates but with similar cell transfer delay, and links that provide two or more cell flows that meet specific quality of service (QoS) objectives (e.g., cell loss and/or cell delay). The term "flow" is used to refer to the flow of cells over a service access point of the Transmission Convergence (TC) sublayer associated with a physical interface (or link). The present invention addresses these needs and others.


An apparatus and method for winding dynamoelectric machine field windings including a winding tool supported for longitudinal and rotational movement relative to a stator supported by a stator nest assembly. Upper and lower wire holders are supported on the winding, tool and are slidably movable relative to the winding tool. The upper and lower wire holders are located on opposite sides of a stator to be wound and are biased by compression springs in a direction toward a respective end of the stator. As the winding tool reciprocates in a longitudinal direction, the upper and lower wire holders alternately engage the upper and lower ends of the stator to alternately clamp upper and lower end loops of field windings being formed by the apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for winding dynamoelectric machine field windings and, more particularly, to such an apparatus including a mechanism for preventing the field windings from moving out of a desired position on a stator during a winding operation.
2. Related Prior Art
Stator coil winding, machines are well known that use a moving wire dispensing element for dispensing wire into stator core slots from end to end of the stator core, passing over the end of the core and to an appropriate return slot, returning axially to the opposite core end, and continuing this motion until the coil is completed. One recognized shortcoming of such winding operations is the tendency of the wire forming the coil to move out of the slots of the stator core radially inwardly toward the interior of the stator core, such as may result from tension applied to the wire as the dispensing element is moved between the stator core ends to position the wire in a slot, which may interfere with the proper performance of the winding operation, result in misformed coils, as well as reduced slot fill.
The prior art has proposed various mechanisms for overcoming the problem associated with movement of the wire windings during the winding operation. For example. U.S. Pat. No. 3,414,204 to Friedrich discloses providing wire guiding fingers located adjacent end faces of a stator being wound. In operation, wire is wound over the fingers whereby the wire is held in a desired position as the stator is being wound.
In an alternative approach, shroud members are provided on either end of a stator wherein the shroud members define guiding surfaces for guiding wire into the stator core slots and for preventing the wire from falling to the interior of the stator core, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,938 to Dryburgh.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,636 to Boesewetter discloses a further approach to maintaining the field windings within the stator core slot wherein a cylindrical winding tool is formed to closely fit within the interior of the stator core and includes opposing ends extending beyond the ends of the stator core such that the winding tool effectively closes off the slot openings to prevent wire from exiting into the interior of the stator core during the winding operation. However, this approach does not control movement of wire in the stator core slots to prevent displacement toward the central portion of the stator which can result in reduced slot fill.
Accordingly, in spite of the above described mechanisms for improving the operation of forming dynamoelectric field windings, there is a continuing need for a simple and effective mechanism for maintaining the field windings immovably in place on the stator core during the winding operation.


A method of manufacturing a sheathed electrical heater assembly comprising the steps of: molding a core element into a desired shape, the core element having an outer surface; heating the core element at an elevated temperature sufficient to release organic material from the core element; placing a heating element in communication with the core element; and, encapsulating the core, and the heating element in an insulation protection layer, whereby the heater assembly is formed. Additionally shown is a sheathed electrical heater assembly comprising: a core made of an organo-ceramic material; a heating element in communication with the core; an insulation protection layer encapsulating the core and heating element to produce the heater assembly, the protection layer comprising and organo-ceramic material; and, a sheath encapsulating the heater assembly, the sheath also comprising an organo-ceramic material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to the field of electrical heaters and more particularly to a method of manufacturing electrical heaters which produces high production rates and high reliability.
2. Discussion of Background
Electrical heaters and other heating elements are widely used in many industrial heating devices as well as in household devices such as ovens. U.S. Pat. No. 3,201,738 to Mitoff, for example, discloses a heating element surrounded by a layer of magnesim-oxide, lithium-oxide insulation material and an outer protective jacket. Mitoff is directed to decreasing electrical current leakage between the resistance coils of the heating element via the use of the doped insulation material.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,211,203 to Ragland discloses an improved monolithic cathode-heater having electron tubes and a mount for the tubes. Ragland further discloses a method of making a tube having such a mount. U.S. Pat. No. 3,238,489 to Hay discloses a means for insulating and dispersing the heat of electronic units such as an electrical resistor by providing a housing that will transfer heat to the atmosphere, as well as providing an insulator between the resistor and the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,063 to Willis discloses an improved printed circuit heating element useful for the sterile welding of thermoplastic tubes. And U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,951 to Benin et al. discloses an electric heating element for sterilely cutting and welding together thermoplastic tubes.
The method generally known in the art for manufacturing heating elements, such as those disclosed above, includes providing an insulator of some composition, generally ceramic, carefully wrapped with a wire heating element to produce a known watt density. An outer metallic jacket is then formed to conform to the inner core. Before the outer metallic jacket is mated with the insulator, a finely powdered material is usually introduced between the outer shell and the heating element. This material must be positioned to separate the metallic sheath from the wire heating element and to separate the heater elements from each other. This process is particularly difficult in the production process and, thus, reduces the production rates and the production reliability. Thus, there remains a strong need for a practical, economical, reliable method of manufacturing electrical heaters.

Method of manufacturing a sheathed electrical heater assembly


An apparatus and method for playing a game at a party for enhancing the enjoyment of a plurality participants during the party, while gifts are being opened. The game apparatus and method includes, providing a plurality of gift items, providing a concealing device for individually covering each of the gift items from view, providing a participant with a unit for advancing play during the game. The participant is further provided with a member for making the concealing device more difficult to remove during play. The goal is to remove the concealing device to reveal a gift item before the removing is stopped. If a gift is fully revealed during play, the participant may retain the gift item.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of games. More particularly, the present invention relates to party games played for amusement at a celebration where gifts are distributed. Specifically, a preferred embodiment of the present invention relates to a game that involves several people competing in the unwrapping of a package that contains several gifts.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Historically, the tradition of giving gifts at parties or holidays has generally been a rather routine and at times mundane affair. Further, people with large families may find it difficult, time consuming, and expensive to buy and carry individual gifts for all of their family members. Traditional gift exchanges involve passing a gift to the recipient and, on occasions where appropriate, a return exchange. At children""s parties or other events where a gift package is given out to those attending the party, such packages are merely distributed in decorated bags or packages at a predetermined time. However, because this is always an enjoyable experience, very few have sought to increase the enjoyment and excitement.
An equally respected tradition at parties and holiday celebrations is the playing of games to create unity and enjoyment among the gathering. Various games have been devised to facilitate the enjoyment of those gathered at a celebration.
The below-referenced U.S. patents disclose embodiments that were at least in-part satisfactory for the purposes for which they were intended. The disclosures of all the below-referenced prior United States patents in their entireties are hereby expressly incorporated by referenced into the present application for purposes including, but not limited to, indicating the background of the present invention and illustrating the state of the art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,457 to Shaw discloses a Bingo type game to enhance the enjoyment of partygoers while the guest of honor opens his gifts. U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,166 discloses an interlocking chamber pixc3x1ata. However, neither of these disclosed games combines the enjoyment of a party goer gift exchange with that of a party game. Therefore, what is needed is a game that combines the enjoyment of a party goer gift exchange with the thrill and excitement of a party game.
A primary object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that is a game that incorporates the celebration traditions of gift exchanges and game playing. Another object of the invention is to provide a game that increases the excitement of the celebratory gift exchange thereby increasing the excitement, enjoyment, and overall unity of the celebration. Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that has one or more of the characteristics discussed above but which is relatively simple to assemble and transport. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method that can be used to relatively inexpensively and conveniently enhance the enjoyment of a plurality of participants during a party. It as another object of the instant invention to combine the traditions of holiday gift giving with the tradition of the party game in a single package.


The present invention provides a fungicide composition which contains ingredients which are biocompatible for purposes of agricultural applications, and which are harmless to animals and humans. An invention fungicide composition in the form of a dry blend formulation remains non-caking and free-flowing under storage conditions. Illustrative of an invention fungicide composition is a formulation which has a content of sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, xanthan gum, dialkylsulfosuccinate salt and alkyl sulfate salt surfactants, and magnesium silicate anti-caking ingredient. The xanthan gum and surfactants function as an effective spreader-sticker and film-forming medium when the composition is diluted with water for agricultural applications.

The control of phytopathogenic fungi is of great economic importance since fungal growth on plants or on parts of plants inhibits production of foliage, fruit or seed, and adversely affects the overall quality of a cultivated crop.
Because of the vast economic ramifications of fungal propagation in agricultural and horticultural cultivations, a broad spectrum of fungicidal and fungistatic products have been developed for general and specific applications.
Of particular interest with respect to the present invention embodiments are fungicide compositions which contain an inorganic bicarbonate or carbonate compound. It is known that bicarbonate and carbonate compounds exhibit fungicidal properties for agricultural purposes.
Phytopathology, 48, 169 (1931) by R. H. Marloth describes studies involving the physiology of fungi. The reference reports studies which demonstrate that sodium and potassium bicarbonate and carbonate salts are toxic to fungi such as Penicillium italicum and Penicillium digitalum.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,560,558 discloses the use of salts such as lithium carbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, potassium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate as fungicide ingredients.
There remains a continuing need for the development of new and more effective fungicides which possess preventive, curative and systemic activity for the protection of cultivated plants, with a minimum of phytotoxic side effects.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a dry blend biocide composition which contains a bicarbonate ingredient exhibiting fungicidal properties, and a combination of surfactant ingredients, and which is harmless to animals and humans.
It is another object of this invention to provide a dry blend fungicide composition which is a non-caking and free-flowing formulation, and which contains particulate ingredients comprising a bicarbonate salt, and a combination of hydrophilic polymer and multiple surfactants which function as a spreader-sticker and film-forming medium when the composition is diluted with water and applied to plant foliage.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention shall become apparent from the accompanying description and examples.

Bicarbonate fungicide product with a combination of surfactant ingredients


Disclosed is a powdery material filling device with a redundant (i.e., excess or waste) powdery material recovering mechanism. The powdery material filling device may be used in a rotary compression molding machine. In certain aspects, the redundant powdery material recovering mechanism is capable of actively recovering and reusing a redundant (i.e., excess or waste) powdery material even upon production of multi-layer tablets.

Non-Patent Document 1 depicts a gravity feeder in FIG. 7.40 and describes "In order to achieve uniform filling, empirically known is that it is important to appropriately set a ratio of a new material and an old material having circulated in a feeder and uniformly mix these materials." It is well known that mixing a material leaked out of a die onto a rotating die table and recovered with a new material (powdery material) and uniformizing these materials are important in tableting by compression molding.
This document never describes specifically how to recover the material and how to uniformly mix the new material and the recovered material. In other words, Non-Patent Document 1 fails to describe any specific recovering means and any uniformly mixing means. Furthermore, on the basis of the expression "circulated", the technique described in Non-Patent Document 1 can be regarded as being applicable to a case where, in the rotary compression molding machine, a single type of powdery material is supplied and compressed and as being related to a common technique for circulating the single type of powdery material and recovering the powdery material on a rotating die table.
In a case where there are a plurality of powdery material supply devices in order to produce multi-layer tablets or multi-layer products, such a technique is not applicable to the means for circulating a powdery material and recovering the powdery material on a rotating die table because a plurality of powdery materials are mixed together.
Patent Document 1 relates to the invention of "a shoe box in a powdery material molding device" and clearly discloses a method of sucking and recovering a powdery material leaked out of the shoe box (i.e., feed shoe) corresponding to the powdery material filling device in this application. Such recovery by suction, in other words, the method using air causes segregation of particles configuring a powdery material due to particle diameters or specific gravity. This method is not applicable to a case where segregation seriously influences the quality such as non-uniformity of medicinal properties contents (drug contents) as in mixed powdery materials used for molding tablets containing medicinal properties.
Patent Document 2 relates to the invention of "a method and device of molding a powdery material" and describes, in FIG. 3 for example, a method of returning an unnecessary pre-molded product directly to a cavity (corresponding to a "feeder" in this application) by operating a powdery material returning pusher. However, this document does not relate to recovery of a leaked powdery material but merely describes pushing the pre-molded product in a conventional technique so as to return the pre-molded product again into the feeder with the push force. When the pre-molded product is returned directly, a molded product is molded again from a material including a powdery material and the pre-molded product mixed together. In this case, it is impossible to achieve homogenization and prevent segregation of the powdery material.
As described above, all of these conventional techniques relate to compression molding of a single type of powdery material and are not applicable to a case where a rotary compression molding machine having a plurality of feeders produces a molded product by compressing and molding a plurality of types of powdery materials.

Powder filling device with redundant powder collection mechanism, and rotary compression molding machine


A putter grip has at least one and preferably two stabilizing members each at least selectively extending generally radially outwardly from one of the front and rear surfaces of the body of the grip and each presenting a bottom surface which is designed to be engaged by a finger of a golfer. The stabilizing members help assure that the golf club will not twist or turn during a putting stroke and thus enhance the ability of a golfer to strike the ball squarely and to drive it along the intended line of travel. In the preferred case in which two stabilizing members are employed, one is preferably located slightly below the level of the other, and the bottom surfaces of both are curved so as to maximize comfort to the user. In a first preferred embodiment, the stabilizing members are molded integrally with the body of the grip. In a second preferred embodiment, the stabilizing members are pivotally attached to the body and are movable from a retracted, storage position to a raised, operative position.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to golf putter grips, and more particularly, to putter grips having stabilizing members designed to inhibit a putter from twisting or turning during a putting stroke.
2. Discussion of The Related Art
One of the most important, if not the most important, part of any golfer's game is the ability to make putts accurately and with constancy. Indeed, when one considers that putting strokes typically account for one-half or more of a golfer's strokes, the age old expression "drive for show, putt for dough" becomes quite apt. It is therefore of little surprise that golfers and golf equipment manufacturers for some time have striven to produce putters which aid golfers in consistently striking the ball on the intended line and with the intended hardness. Most such designs deal with the composition and/or configuration of the putter head. Accordingly, oversized putter heads, specially-shaped putter heads, putter heads with arrows and crosses, and putter heads made of brass and other materials designed to improve the "feel" of the putting stroke have all been proposed.
A few attempts have also been made to improve the putting stroke through improved shaft or grip design. Most notably, the so called "long shafted" putter, having an unusually long shaft, has gained increased acceptance in recent years as a mechanism for improving putting accuracy.
One problem experienced by many golfers, and particularly high handicappers, is the inability to hit the ball squarely. Even if a golfer having this problem manages to properly initially align the face of the putter with the ball, he or she has a tendency to twist or turn the club face either in or out during the putting stroke, causing the ball to veer away from its intended line after it is struck. This problem is especially evident in so-called mid-range putts in the range of 3-10 feet in which many golfers have a tendency to rush their putt and to look up before they should so that they can follow the path of the ball towards the hole. Mechanisms designed to help golfers align the putter with the ball and/or to improve the feel of the putting stroke do little if anything to alleviate this problem.


A user-level read-copy update (RCU) technique. A user-level RCU subsystem executes within threads of a user-level multithreaded application. The multithreaded application may include reader threads that read RCU-protected data elements in a shared memory and updater threads that update such data elements. The reader and updater threads may be preemptible and comprise signal handlers that process signals. Reader registration and unregistration components in the RCU subsystem respectively register and unregister the reader threads for RCU critical section processing. These operations are performed while the reader threads remain preemptible and with their signal handlers being operational. A grace period detection component in the RCU subsystem considers a registration status of the reader threads and determines when it is safe to perform RCU second-phase update processing to remove stale versions of updated data elements that are being referenced by the reader threads, or take other RCU second-phase update processing actions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer systems and methods in which data resources are shared among concurrent data consumers while preserving data integrity and consistency relative to each consumer. More particularly, the invention concerns an implementation of a mutual exclusion mechanism known as "read-copy update" in a user-level computing environment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By way of background, read-copy update is a mutual exclusion technique that permits shared data to be accessed for reading without the use of locks, writes to shared memory, memory barriers, atomic instructions, or other computationally expensive synchronization mechanisms, while still permitting the data to be updated (modify, delete, insert, etc.) concurrently. The technique is well suited to multiprocessor computing environments in which the number of read operations (readers) accessing a shared data set is large in comparison to the number of update operations (updaters), and wherein the overhead cost of employing other mutual exclusion techniques (such as locks) for each read operation would be high. By way of example, a network routing table that is updated at most once every few minutes but searched many thousands of times per second is a case where read-side lock acquisition would be quite burdensome.
The read-copy update technique implements data updates in two phases. In the first (initial update) phase, the actual data update is carried out in a manner that temporarily preserves two views of the data being updated. One view is the old (pre-update) data state that is maintained for the benefit of operations that may be currently referencing the data. The other view is the new (post-update) data state that is available for the benefit of operations that access the data following the update. In the second (deferred update) phase, the old data state is removed following a "grace period" that is long enough to ensure that all executing operations will no longer maintain references to the pre-update data.
FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate the use of read-copy update to modify a data element B in a group of data elements A, B and C. The data elements A, B, and C are arranged in a singly-linked list that is traversed in acyclic fashion, with each element containing a pointer to a next element in the list (or a NULL pointer for the last element) in addition to storing some item of data. A global pointer (not shown) is assumed to point to data element A, the first member of the list. Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the data elements A, B and C can be implemented using any of a variety of conventional programming constructs, including but not limited to, data structures defined by C-language "struct" variables.
It is assumed that the data element list of FIGS. 1A-1D is traversed (without locking) by multiple concurrent readers and occasionally updated by updaters that delete, insert or modify data elements in the list. In FIG. 1A, the data element B is being referenced by a reader r1, as shown by the vertical arrow below the data element. In FIG. 1B, an updater u1 wishes to update the linked list by modifying data element B. Instead of simply updating this data element without regard to the fact that r1 is referencing it (which might crash r1), u1 preserves B while generating an updated version thereof (shown in FIG. 1C as data element B′) and inserting it into the linked list. This is done by u1 acquiring an appropriate lock, allocating new memory for B′, copying the contents of B to B′, modifying B′ as needed, updating the pointer from A to B so that it points to B′, and releasing the lock. All subsequent (post update) readers that traverse the linked list, such as the reader r2, will see the effect of the update operation by encountering B′. On the other hand, the old reader r1 will be unaffected because the original version of B and its pointer to C are retained. Although r1 will now be reading stale data, there are many cases where this can be tolerated, such as when data elements track the state of components external to the computer system (e.g., network connectivity) and must tolerate old data because of communication delays.
At some subsequent time following the update, r1 will have continued its traversal of the linked list and moved its reference off of B. In addition, there will be a time at which no other reader process is entitled to access B. It is at this point, representing expiration of the grace period referred to above, that u1 can free B, as shown in FIG. 1D.
FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate the use of read-copy update to delete a data element B in a singly-linked list of data elements A, B and C. As shown in FIG. 2A, a reader r1 is assumed to be currently referencing B and an updater u1 wishes to delete B. As shown in FIG. 2B, the updater u1 updates the pointer from A to B so that A now points to C. In this way, r1 is not disturbed but a subsequent reader r2 sees the effect of the deletion. As shown in FIG. 2C, r1 will subsequently move its reference off of B, allowing B to be freed following expiration of the grace period.
In the context of the read-copy update mechanism, a grace period represents the point at which all running processes having access to a data element guarded by read-copy update have passed through a "quiescent state" in which they can no longer maintain references to the data element, assert locks thereon, or make any assumptions about data element state. By convention, for operating system kernel code paths, a context (process) switch, an idle loop, and user mode execution all represent quiescent states for any given CPU (as can other operations that will not be listed here).
In FIG. 3, four processes 0, 1, 2, and 3 running on four separate CPUs are shown to pass periodically through quiescent states (represented by the double vertical bars). The grace period (shown by the dotted vertical lines) encompasses the time frame in which all four processes have passed through one quiescent state. If the four processes 0, 1, 2, and 3 were reader processes traversing the linked lists of FIGS. 1A-1D or FIGS. 2A-2C, none of these processes having reference to the old data element B prior to the grace period could maintain a reference thereto following the grace period. All post grace period searches conducted by these processes would bypass B by following the links inserted by the updater.
There are various methods that may be used to implement a deferred RCU second-phase data update following a grace period, including but not limited to the use of callback processing as described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,209, entitled "Apparatus And Method For Achieving Reduced Overhead Mutual-Exclusion And Maintaining Coherency In A Multiprocessor System Utilizing Execution History And Thread Monitoring." Another commonly used technique is to have updaters block (wait) until a grace period has completed. It should also be understood that RCU second-phase update processing may comprise actions other than freeing stale data elements. For example, a data element being updated using RCU may correspond to an operational state. In that case, the RCU second-phase data update action may comprise changing an operational state following a grace period.
Read-copy update has been used in production for many years in various operating system kernel environments, including the Linux® kernel. Multithreaded user-level (a.k.a. user-mode) application programming provides an opportunity to use read-copy update for user-level environments. Although there have been user-level implementations of RCU, these implementations place constraints on the design of the user-level application that are often intolerable in practice. Examples of such constraints include (1) requiring well-defined or special quiescent states, (2) disabling of preemption and/or interrupts, and (3) periodic interrupt, signal and/or exception processing.
An example of constraint (1) is found in a prior art user-level RCU implementation that relies on the grace period detection machinery being called periodically from a quiescent state. Without an explicitly defined quiescent state, a library function using RCU might have no idea where a quiescent state might be for the various applications running in the system. The RCU library function would need to operate correctly regardless of the design of the application calling function.
Constraint (2) is needed when an RCU reader is in the process of registering for RCU critical section processing (e.g., by incrementing or decrementing a counter that is checked during grace period detection). Otherwise, the RCU reader could be disrupted at this point due to being preempted or interrupted by preempting code that then also attempts to register for RCU critical section in competition with the RCU reader (e.g., by incrementing or decrementing the same counter). In user mode, such preempting code would be a signal handler for the RCU reader application, and disabling signal handling is very expensive on many systems. Moreover, persons skilled in the art will also recognize that upcalls, notifications, and asynchronous system traps (ASTs) (e.g., in VMS/VAX systems) may also be handled similarly to signals.
Constraint (3) includes interrupt and signal processing used to coordinate RCU reader operations with grace period detection operations by executing grace period detection code on behalf of each application that has an RCU reader. This is analogous to the grace period detection state machine used in RCU implementations for preemptible operating system kernels, where grace period detection processing is periodically executed on each CPU to coordinate with RCU readers. Constraint (3) also includes exception processing of the type described in commonly owned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0130061. This publication discloses an RCU implementation that supports user-level operation by running an exception handler to determine if reader roll-back (and critical section reprocessing) is required for a preempted thread having an RCU critical section following a return from preemption. This recovery mechanism allows thread preemption to be considered a quiescent state, but also requires non-standard kernel modifications on most modern operating systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for a user-level implementation of read-copy update that does not place such onerous restrictions on application design.

User-level read-copy update that does not require disabling preemption or signal handling

International Business Machines Corporation


An energy-absorbing pad-type device is configured and sized to be inserted within the pants of the wearer adjacent to the wearer's hip and buttocks area, so as to provide an energy-absorbing barrier between the lower extremity of the spine, pelvic girdle, and bottom of the hip bone region, and thereby protect the wearer's hip and buttocks area against injury in the event the person wearing the pad should fall on a hard surface such as a sidewalk or street surface. The protective device comprises a generally flat pad made of elastically deformable multi closed cell polymer material. The pad has a top edge portion, a pair of tapered first and second side edge portions that extend from the top edge portion, and a bottom portion to which the first and second side edge portions extend. The bottom edge portion has first and second generally convexly curved edge portions adjacent to the first and second side edge portions, respectively, and is sized to extend in proximity of the lower hip area of the wearer when the pad device is placed within the wearer's pants adjacent to the buttocks. Pad material which is contiguous with the first and second generally convexly curved edge portions extends along and protects the pelvic girdle, bottom of the wearer's hip bone. A generally central portion of the bottom of the pad, has a slight concave shape that is shaped to generally conform with a crotch portion of the wearer's pants to stabilize the pad within the seat of the pants of the wearer and provide an effective energy-absorbing barrier at the bottom of the spine.

Persons who participate in sporting and exercise activities such as skateboarding and roller-skating, that customarily take place on a hard and unforgiving surface such as the concrete or asphalt of a sidewalk, parking lot or street, typically equip themselves with a variety of protective equipments, such as helmets, and elbow, wrist and knee pads, as safety measures against collisions and falls. Unfortunately, a major area of the body which remains unprotected in the event of a fall (a not-infrequent occurrence, particularly in the case of a novice) is the pelvic girdle, bottom of the hip region and the lower (tailbone) extremity of the spine, especially when the participant goes 'straight down and lands in a generally sitting or prone position.

Protective hip/spine pad for street sport/exercise activity


The present invention comprises an integrated electric connector for connecting an electrical circuit to a power supply. The integrated electric connector comprises an insulating and enclosure means for enclosing and insulating the electric circuit. The electric connector further includes a foldable connection and attachment means for securely attaching to the insulating and enclosure means and for making electrical connection between the electric circuit and the power supply. And, the foldable connection and attachment means further includes a pair of external power connection plugs each being pivotally connected via a rivet means to a corresponding internal circuit connection means wherein the external power connection plug being pivotally foldable while maintaining constant electric connection between the external power connection plugs and the internal circuit connection means.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an electric plug connector. More particularly, this invention relates to a flexibly foldable electric plug connector for connecting to associated internal circuits wherein the electric plug connector is configured to improve the foldable connection of the plug thus reducing the space occupied and providing improved electric connection and strengthening construction whereby the electric plug connector connected to the associated internal circuits is suitable for continuous portable operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Current trend in the miniaturization of electronic devices and computers imposes higher demand on the form factors of the electric power connectors, particularly those of the plug-in types of connectors. The demands on form factors include the requirements that these types of connectors be made such that they have smaller size, less weight, convenient for shipment. More importantly, they must be durable in order to sustain long term portable operation on a continuous basis.
These demands cause special challenges to the design of the plug-in type of connectors due to the fact that the plugs for making electrical connection of this kind of connectors are vulnerable as the plugging legs usually extend outside of the body of the connectors and can be easily damaged without protection. This could cause serious concerns for the operation of the portable computers. A specific need in the operation of a portable notebook computer is to carry along a rechargeable battery package which generally comprises a plurality of rechargeable batteries contained in an enclosure box which has the charging circuits and a plug-in connector to plug into the electrical outlet for recharging. It is highly desirable for the battery package to be small, light, and easy to be conveniently portable. On the other hand, this package has to be very durable and sturdy and the electric contacts between the charging circuits and the plug-in connector have to be reliably maintained so that the package is suitable for the portable operation with high degree of reliability.
Many of the conventional electrical connectors including some of these plugs for the battery chargers are made with a structure such that they are foldable. This types of battery charger generally is constructed with the shape of a box containing inside the box the circuits for charging the batteries. The battery charger also has a pair of outwardly extended electrical plugging legs for connecting to an external power supply. When the electrical connector is plugged into an external power supply, an electrical connection is established with an internal contact-unit through which the electrical power is provided to the internal circuits.
One example of these chargers is Sony's battery charger Model BC-3K4 which has a side-way foldable electrical plug as shown in FIG. 1 as a battery charger 10. The battery charger 10 comprises charging circuits 12 for charging the re-chargeable batteries (not shown) which are contained in a containing box 15. The containing box 15 has a concave confinement 18 containing a foldable electric plug unit 20 which includes a pair of outwardly extending plugging legs 22 for plugging into the external power supply (not shown). The extending plugging legs 22 are attached to a foldable fixture 24 which is attached to the bottom of the concave confinement 18 by use of a pivotally rotatable attachment spring 28. The foldable electric plug unit 20 can thus pivot the attachment spring 28 and the outwardly extended electric plugging legs 22 can be rotated along the A--A' direction to be either folded into the concave confinement 18 when not in use or can be deployed by rotating toward the A'--A direction such that the plugging legs 22 are fully outwardly extended to be plugged into an external power supply (not shown).
In order to establish an electric contact between the extending plugging legs 22 and the internal circuits 12, the electric plug unit 20 also has a pair of internally extending plates 30. Each of the internally extending plates 30 is electrically connected to a corresponding outwardly extending electric plug 22 and mechanically attached to the foldable fixture 24. The internally extending plates 30 can therefore rotate along the A--A' direction together with the outwardly extending plugging legs 22 and the foldable fixture 24 pivot the attachment spring 28. When the foldable fixture 24 is rotated toward the A'--A direction to unfold the outwardly extending plug 22, the internally extending plates 30 is moved to engage a pair of spring contact plates 32. The internally extending plates 30 first push the pair of the contact spring plates 32 which then spring back to tightly engage the internally extending plates 30 to establish an electric contact.
In order to assure that a good electric contact is established, the spring contact plates 32 assert a spring force which pushes the spring contact plates 32 to tightly engage the internally extending plates 30. The spring contact plates 32 thus provide a mechanical means for establishing and maintaining good electric contact. Sony's BC-3K4 battery charger however suffers several disadvantages. First, the spring contact plates may gradually lose its spring force under prolong use which may cause it to suffer mechanical fatigue. The loss of the spring force may further cause inadequate contact causing excessive heat and electric sparks to be generated at the contact point between the internally extending contact plate 30 and the spring contact plates 32. The electric contact may be further degraded because the heat and the sparks often cause the surfaces of these contact plates to oxidize thus forming an oxidation film on these surfaces which further prevent a good electric contact to be established.
Secondly, since the internally extending plates 30 have to rotate inside the containing box 15 when the foldable fixture 24 pivots the attachment spring 28 when the outwardly extending electric plugging legs 22 are to be folded or unfolded, more space has to be used for the movement inside the containing box 15. Even though the space required to allow the internally extending contact plates 30 to rotate may seem small and insignificant, for the purpose of being portable with a notebook or palm-top computers, every inch saved may often become important in order to reduce the weight and size of these battery chargers. Sony's design may therefore impose a limitation preventing the battery charger to become further miniaturized due to this requirement of extra space for internal rotation of the internally extending contact plates 30.
Thirdly, Sony's battery chargers and many other foldable electric plugs of similar designs have another major difficulty in the mechanical design. The foldable fixtures usually have weak mechanical structure for attaching to either the containing box or other structures of the electric plug connector. The requirement that the plugs have to foldable often imposes a limitation on the attachment mechanism which must be pivotally moveable. The attachment mechanism is frequently being designed as a single point or to the most single axial, two-point attachment mechanism. The weak attachment structure may cause the foldable unit to be less reliable and may also affect the establishment or maintenance of a good electric contact.
Therefore, there is still a need in the art of design and manufacture of electric plug connector to provide a foldable electric plug connector which is durable, compact and capable of reliably establishing and maintaining good electric contact.

Integrated foldable electric plug connector


There is provided a fiber channel fabric for interchanging frame by dividing a connectionless, variable length frame into fixed length cells without carrying out calling setup and/or releasing command between termination nodes, to thereby interchange cells, and further by reconstructing the thus interchanged cells into an original frame, the fiber channel fabric including (a) a fiber channel interface controller for communicating with a termination node or another fiber channel fabric to control a fiber channel in protocol, (b) an input data buffer for temporarily storing a frame received the termination node or the another fiber channel fabric, (c) a cell producer for dividing the frame received into fixed length cells, (d) a cell switch for interchanging data at the unit of a fixed length cell, (e) a frame constructor for reconstructing an original frame of the fixed length cells transmitted from the cell switch, (f) an output data buffer for temporarily storing a frame transmitted from the frame constructor, and (g) a congestion controller for monitoring a load of the cell switch to thereby avoid congestion. The above-mentioned fiber channel fabric can be readily constructed as a hardware for enhancing interchangability, and provides a congestion controller having a simpler structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fabric for a fibre channel which is one of data communication standards standardized as X3T11 by American National Standard for Information Systems (ANSI), and more particularly to a fibre channel fabric which is capable of higher speed operation and the greater number of nodes.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fibre channel, which is one of data communication standards standardized by ANSI as an I/O channel of computer system or communication medium for local area network (LAN), is characterized by making data communication at the unit of a variable length frame having 2148 bytes at maximum including header and other control data, having various flow control functions and a calling control function which is called class service, and being able to construct flexible communication system in line with various applications.
For instance, Ancor Communications-The World's Fastest Network, a version updated on Jun. 17, 1996, shows three topologies as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. Those three topologies are ones standardized as a fibre channel: a fabric type illustrated in FIG. 1; a point-to-point type illustrated in FIG. 2; and a loop type illustrated in FIG. 3. A fibre channel fabric acts as a data communication equipment which constitutes fabric topology of the above-mentioned fibre channels. Nodes which play a main role in data communication are connected to a fibre channel fabric in star-like arrangement.
A conventional fibre channel fabric interchanges a variable length frame as it is, namely, without converting a variable length frame into other forms, resulting in that a control thereof was unavoidable to be quite complicated, and that it was quite difficult or almost impossible to increase the number of nodes connecting thereto, and enhance interchangability thereof.
For instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-268255 has suggested a solution to a frame relay exchange system having the same problems as mentioned above. The Publication suggests dividing a variable length frame relay packet into fixed length ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) cells, to thereby exchange cells for enhancement of interchangability. However, ATM characteristics make it difficult to avoid cell loss caused by congestion. In order to this problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-202903 has suggested a system where a frame relay packet is converted into cells by utilizing cell loss priority control identifier for ATM.
However, since calling setup is basically connection-oriented in a frame relay, a frame relay has high affinity with ATM. Accordingly, it is expected that the above-mentioned Publications can enhance interchangability, but the above-mentioned prior art is not applicable to a fibre channel, as mentioned below.
That is, a fibre channel has connection-oriented calling setup, which is called "class 1 service" in the fibre channel standard, and a connectionless calling setup, which is called "class 2 or 3 service" in the fibre channel standard. If the above-mentioned prior art were applied to the connectionless calling setup, a fabric would have to carry out ATM calling setup/releasing command each time when a communication of one frame of a fibre channel is made.
FIG. 4 illustrates a calling setup/releasing command sequence for B-ISDN (Broadband aspects of ISDN) which is typical communication network utilizing ATM and is recommended as Q.2931 by ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector).
With reference to FIG. 4, in a system where ATM calling setup and releasing command are carried out each time before and after one frame having about 2000 bytes at maximum is interchanged, an overhead required for calling setup/releasing command is too excessive, resulting in reduction in performance greater than enhancement in interchangability brought by data communication utilizing fixed length cells. Accordingly, a fibre channel fabric needs to have a calling setup system which is capable of high speed operation and being constructed in simpler configuration, and which is not dependent on ATM calling setup system.
For the same reason, the above-mentioned prior art which attempts to avoid cell loss by virtue of ATM congestion control function is not applicable to a fibre channel fabric.
As having been mentioned so far, since the prior art fibre channel fabric interchanges a variable length frame as it is, namely without converting into other forms, the prior art fibre channel fabric is accompanied with problems that the control therefor is quite complicated, and that it is quite difficult or almost impossible to increase the number of nodes to be connected to the fibre channel fabric, and enhance interchangability thereof.
In addition, when a technique for enhancement in performance of a frame relay interchange system is to be applied to a fibre channel fabric, problems arise as follows.
First, a conventional system where a variable length data is interchanged by dividing into fixed length cells such as ATM has a problem that when a system for interchanging original variable length data is a connectionless one, an overhead concerned with calling setup is quite great, and hence interchangability is deteriorated to much degree. The reason is as follows. If original variable length data is connection-oriented, it would be possible to cause a time necessary for ATM calling setup to be contained in a time necessary for calling setup of the original variable length data, and it would be also possible to carry out data exchange after calling setup at higher speed by virtue of conversion into fixed length cells. On the other hand, in a system where calling setup is made frame by frame to a connectionless, variable length frame, a time necessary for calling setup is added to exchange time as an increase.
Secondly, the congestion control system suggested in a system where a frame relay packet is converted into cells requests a cell to be produced in accordance with ATM standards. Hence, if a cell were to be produced not in accordance with ATM standards, it was necessary to have another congestion control system in place of the above-mentioned one. The reason is that partial cell loss caused by congestion results that original variable length frame is unable to be reconstructed after cell exchanges, regardless of whether data is connection-oriented or not, and hence it is absolutely necessary to have any means for avoiding cell loss or means for detection and recovery.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-155648, based on U.S. patent application Ser. No. 773,380 filed on Sep. 6, 1985 by Jonathan Seals Turner and assigned to Washington University, has suggested a packet switch apparatus, and a method of distributing a copy of data packet to a plurality of addresses.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-321824, based on U.K. patent application No. 94303118.7 filed on Apr. 28, 1994 by Hewlett Packard Company, has suggested a chip used for cell switch fabric. The Publication suggests an integrated circuit chip which is applicable to cell switch fabrics having various structures and which is capable of interfacing a cell memory with N input and output ports.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-335038, based on U.S. patent application Ser. No. 58,185 filed on May 10, 1993 by Lawrence Baranye and assigned to American Telephone and Telegraph Company, has suggested a method of replacing interchange fabrics in a data communication equipment.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-501814, based on U.S. patent application Ser. No. 597,508 (PCT/US85/00557) filed on Apr. 6, 1984 by Royal M. Larthon et al. and assigned to American Telephone and Telegraph Company, has suggested multiplexed interconnection in packet interchange node package.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-350651 has suggested hybrid type data processing apparatus which can process a packet signal, a frame relay signal, and ATM cell.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-45944 has suggested an apparatus for encoding and decoding variable rate, which is capable of keeping quality in encoding and decoding data even if input data varies in an amount.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-291548 has suggested a matrix type time sharing label interchange system where variable length and fixed length frames are contained in a common interchange device to thereby carry out uniform interchange.